Love Like the Galaxy: Part 2 (2022)

Probably best historical drama in 2022

After enjoying Who Rules The World ( first / only Cdrama to enter Netflix Top 100), I searched similar costume dramas with the same leads, and this is how I stumbled upon Love Like The Galaxy.
I believe from all I've seen, this is the best wuxia of 2022 - in a galaxy of dramas, this one shines the brightest !
Story - epic, based on the novel Splendid Stars
Cinematography - spectacular, and note that some of the images you will think are CGI are actually real ! For instance, the fire at the Lantern festival - they built the restaurant frame and burned it..
Director Fei's attention ti details of the era, from costume, to different hair style girls/ ladies, up to the small pieces placed on the floor to hold the mats - it's amazing !
Casting - perfect ! I can not say there is any actor evrn lowest support role, that does not fit the character described in the novel.
OST matching the atmosphere of the drama, has just been released on youtubd fir your listening pleasure..add ti it the flute songs played by the FL.
Acting - best performance award goes to Wu Lei and Zhao Lusi, who succeeded in portraying very complex characters. From microexressions to grand fighting scenes, from stunts performed by themselves to riding horses, they did it without fail - and they are in their early 20's !
Their characters are totally original for Cdrama - both are " damaged" from tgeir childhood and had to rely on themselves, ehich made them smart, cunning, secretive, untrustfull and revengefull. Kindness from others is always viewed with suspicion in the beginning, but their heart is in the right place, discerning right from wrong, irrespective of being family or strangers, they don't condone injustice and betrayal from anyone.
In the midst of rebellion, war, palace fights, family disasters, these two learn to trust and love each oth - their romance is slow burn, but it sets the screen on fire !
The side characters are well developed, bringing both comic relief ( in good taste) like her village grandmother and his sidekicks, tragedy and even misstreatement from her mother ( tough love?!), the array of emotions in each episode range from tears to angst, hate, frustration, pity, laugh until you tear again.
Rewatching value - 10 ! I already rewatched the first season, even changed the setting fir lower speed, because are so many magic moments I might miss while reading the subtitles.

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one of my favorite cdrama

I started to watching this because of Zhao Lusi, the amount of episode made me hesitant to watch. However i ended up loving it.

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From the beginning there's Cheng Shaoshang with her abandonment issue, her only-depend-on-myself attitude, and how she always on her wits to fight back anyone who bully her or people around her.
Her issues were believable and i could relate to her sometimes. I love that her attitude changed little by little to portray her growth.

I also noticed Shaoshang's Mom growth. She was really harsh at first and motivate Shaoshang by always comparing her to the 'perfect' cousin. Then her slowly realizing the good in her daughter.

The portrayal of the Cheng family were great.
They're mostly funny, especially the Grandma, who has downry addiction, and Shaogong, who loves to do divination.

Ling Buyi story was quite a plot twist for me, that i don't know how to explain about it without spoiling everything.

The romance started real slow, but had great build up. I really enjoy watching how litle by little their love for each other grow.
How 2 people with their own issues tried and failed to understand each other, how they got to overcome their differences. Their struggles & the damage were realistic. But they could added a bit more build up to the relationship and a bit more intimate scenes. ZLS and WL have good chemistry.

I really like Emperor Wen, it's funny how he always urge LBY to get married. There's also the lovable Empress Xuan and straightforward Consort Yue. It's my first time seeing such healthy relationship between Empress and Consort.

Side characters like, Yuan Shanjian, Lou Yao, Wan Qiqi, Qiu Fei and Qiu Qi were a good addition to the story.

For others the political side of the story could felt boring and repetitive, but for me it was easy to understand and i like it.

I can't forget the fact that the pacing in the first half were too slow. There's too many side characters that showed up, forgotten, or suddenly moved to the next stage of their lives. And the amount of wicked woman are just ridiculous.


The acting were great! Everyone did they roles perfectly.
When Ling Buyi in a bad mood he scared me out. Sometimes even when he's happy he creeps me out too. WL's acting is spot on, he did good job as LBY.
I'm used with ZLS doing funny/cute roles all the time. It surprised me seeing how good she is in the emotional scene. Also I'm really amazed with Xu Jiao, i can't believe she was the same kid in CJ7. Versatile actresses indeed.

Other thing I love is the cinematography/VFX. They indeed give a lot effort in it. It's just very screenshot worthy. I feel like i took screenshots of the scenery in every episode. However there's too many scenes were in slo-mo, probably for dramatic effects, which gets me frustrated at times. They could've cut it and use the screentime for something else.

Both intro and outro didn't include spoilers like how way cdramas usually are.
The music used were good, my favorite is the outro song and the flute instrumental.

It might be a bit of a long drama, but I'd definitely rewatching this.

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With all being said, Love Like The Galaxy is not the perfect drama. But watching the whole thing was a great journey. I couldn't count how many times i go from laughing, crying, squealing, angered, then laughing, crying again and again. This is now one of my favorite cdrama. I'm gonna miss it so much.


I'd recommend this if you like historical drama that has a lot of funny moments and slow burn romance.

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It's a long and full of grammatical error review, but thank you for reading (◍•ᴗ•◍)

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