One of the most underrated series so far...

Right, I wont write a long-ass essay for the review but, all I can say is it's nice how this is fast-paced and not too much drama about female exes or whatnot. I loved how cleverly they solve each cases and how the female lead was made to portray as a strong one who redeemed her family when they fell from grace. Some twists are unexpectable and they really got me racking my brains for possible answers and further clues. Jeremy Tsui's acting surprised me here, he proved he can show versatility in his facial expressions and it's really refreshing to see. When he smiles, he reminds me of Lee Dong Wook haha

Anyway, the series was arguably good as I found myself doing super few skips on some episodes. If there's one thing I didn't like, was how the writers unnecessarily inserted a negative twist in the last episode which made the happy ending not totally satisfying. Why on earth reveal that Liang Yi's mother voluntarily poisoned the old marquis when its already established that the noble consort did it out of fear that her Northern Liang lineage would be revealed? I find it useless. Qiu Yan and Liang Yi could have gotten a few more screen time to enjoy their happiness at last, but it was jammed into one scene by making them reunite in that same peak. They also left the guessing with the audiences how Liang Yi was able to appear as if Qiu Yan hadn't lied about his mother's death. Hope these writers could stop doing that in series.

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One of the best series I've seen so far...

Strong plot, epic love story, tear-jerking moments, and superb story-telling. This is the kind of drama many audiences would get hooked, with it's fascinating and deep elements. Wu Lei took his acting into greater heights by displaying his role well as the revenge-stricken general. Zhao Lu Si, as usual, can step into any character she plays. I love it whenever the male character shows deep love to his girl, even just by the look in his eyes. He doesn't need to get so mushy, his gaze and actions says it all. It's really worth the wait and the 56 episodes did it justice. I wish they could've spared a few more scenes showing the couple getting married at last and having kids on their own.

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Not Bad But....

24 episodes is quite fine with me, but there parts that were seemed to be hurried. Everyone's got their own opinions about dramas but here's mine:

STORY
I gave it 4 stars, simply because dramas like these are totally my thing. Not too much complications, fast-paced and a bit of enough romance to enjoy it. I just didn't like how they portrayed the ending, cause it left everyone confused if it's just Su Yin Yin's dream that she reunited with Ning Xiu Rui or some higher god rewarded the second prince for his noble deeds that he allowed him to regain a fixed form. Would have also been nicer if they showed a bit of what happened to Li Ji and Lin Lin after they got married. And I had to also guess that Li Si died soon after 3 years because of his heart complications and depression.


ACTING/CAST
I really don't like the fact that they chose Camille Hua for this. She seemed older than the male lead, and her voice irritates me every time she speaks. I just had to ignore her acting in this drama all throughout the 24 episodes. She doesn't fit the role of being a bouncy and joyful young mistress cause it gives me the cringes every single time. Sorry to Camille's fans out there, but this is my opinion. Maybe she's better for other roles, but not this one. Wang Run Ze's acting is lukewarm at the beginning, but at least it got better from middle to end. He was able to show the right facial expressions and emotions and that's progress. And damn, he's reallllllllyyyyy good-looking... I enjoyed Li Ji / crown prince's character, he's such a comedian. As for Tang Lin Lin, I loved the scene where she fired funny questions to Yin Yin about her and Xiu Rui and about the latter being a dragon.


MUSIC
Oh...No question about this, I like the soundtracks! Good thing they chose the right ones.


REWATCH VALUE
Not sure if I'd be willing to rewatch this cause of the FL.


OVERALL
A bit of bore at first, but it decently progresses in the succeeding episodes. I just wish they expanded the characters and showed the dragon palace's court members and royal family more. The inverted dragon scale should have had a background story to solidify it's supposed divine origin and the extent of it's powers. Would have also been nicer if they showed more romance for the leads and if they didn't make a blur of the ending. Confused a lot of viewers if it's just Yin Yin's dream or not. The ending script messed up what they wrote about Ning Xiu Rui's not having a definite form once he casts out the rain. And if he did managed to regain a fixed form in the end, was it enough that it's just 1 year worth of a miracle? Oh dear writer, next time please re-evaluate the story lines and refrain from these kind of endings.

Overall, its not entirely a bad drama. I actually enjoyed some parts of it. Hope to see more of Wang Run Ze. He definitely is fit for wuxia / fantasy dramas.

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Cheng Yi nailed it again....

I swear to God, Cheng Yi perfectly suits wuxia and xanxia roles. He plays each character as if they were made for him and seemed like his other selves in another world.

I rarely watch series without romance in it, but MLC was another exception. Instead of a fast-paced drama, they focused on solving each case, like a detective novel. My fave part was the Yipin Tomb. The martial arts scenes were on point. Was quite entertained everytime Fan Duo Bing got duped by Li Lian Hua, being the gullible and a kind-hearted guy that he is. Di Fei Sheng's character was a bit impressive as well, being the formidable leader of the Jinyuan Alliance but later on became friends with the two. Having highly skilled friends traveling along with you, LLH doesn't even have to lift a finger. They can wipe out any sect, honestly. If there's one thing I didn't like in this series, is Qiao Wan Mian. Her role may have been Li Xiang Yi's former lover, but she wasted a decade of her life pining for someone who might've been dead. She could've made use of the time to revive the Sigu Sect, as she was also considered a senior member and a master. I would've wanted her to become someone dependable, just like Shi Shui.

As for the open ending...Well, It would've been perfect if they just found a way where Styx flower grows and have Li Xiang Yi / Li Lian Hua take it. At least give him another couple decades to live and roam the martial arts world with his two buddies. Any maybe give Su Xiao Yong a chance to be LLH's end game? Haha.

Anyway, kudos to the staff and cast for a great show. Congratulations to MLC for bagging high spots in Weibo rankings as well.

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Good drama, still waiting for season 2 !

The only thing I didn't like is the rushed ending and the utterly short confrontation between his dad Tang Hao and the chief of Martial Soul Hall, Bi Bi Dong. It would've been better if they had shown a bit of showdown between the two most powerful Grand Soul Land Masters. that could explain how they got away instead of immediately showing the last scene of Xiao Wu's farewell to Tang San. As for the ending, it was a damn cliffhanger. I wish they could have made Tang San wake up, recover from his injuries and allowed some of them to have a chat about what Xiao Wu needs to do and why she needs to leave temporarily. That would've been the perfect finale towards season 2.

Well apart from those things I mentioned above, this was a good drama to watch. I liked the character development and their adventures. This is the kind of story that I'm fond of in terms of how a hero progresses with his extraordinary skills and how his friends mature along the way. I loved how Tang San was totally protective and devoted to Xiao Wu that he would be in a towering rage whenever she gets hurt or in danger. The loyalty and passion is there. Tang San's master, Xiao Gang was a fine character too. He had noble characteristics, despite having two soul rings only. He had served as Tang San's father figure, guiding him along the way and helped other students understand their true potential and value teamwork. Truly a good teacher.

Not sure if there will really be a season 2 for this, as Xiao Zhan's schedule for drama projects is fully booked. I saw in MyDramaList a season 2 teaser poster, but the female lead is no longer Betty Wu. No other casts are shown. I hope they do consider doing the 2nd season.

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Someone said this has a bad ending but I'm glad I still watched it!

STORY
Okay, I was kind a spoiled before that this had a bad ending..But I thought, damn it I'm just gonna watch and endure whatever comes. Whoever wrote that, well you almost killed my buzz. Immortal Samsara was just like any other xanxia series I've seen - lots of sacrifices, betrayal, friendship and ultimate devotion to a loved one. The only downside for me here is that I think, the writer unnecessarily prolonged Yan Dan's resentment towards Ying Yuan and made her forgive him only on the last few clips in the entire 60 episodes. Although she kept being cold towards him on a few occasions, Ying Yuan could have at least had an idea that he's already forgiven. His lady wouldn't just say it out loud and continued to be indifferent. I had a small surprise when Tao Zi Qi turned out to be Huan Qin's girl - - and it was really a sad revelation for Xuan Xiang. Poor guy, he was duped and died clinging on to a delusion. The story is touching to a point you would realize some life lessons that love isn't about just getting the person to be with you- but rather seeing them safe and happy. Although this kind of drama content can already be seen from other series, it still stood out due to the message the story wanted to convey.

CAST
Well, what can I say...This is not the first drama of Cheng Yi that I watched. He's totally perfect for this. He suits the role of a noble immortal or a royal celestial being even in Redemption of Love. He pulls out the role almost immediately when he steps into it. His cold expressions and the change in his eyes when he acts is very commendable. Yang Zi was kinda okay for me, I liked her being boisterous in her character as a carefree Lotus immortal. She had a similar role too in Ashes of Love. Yumo's character was very impressive. Although he personally likes Yan Dan, but he would definitely set that aside and prioritize their friendship. Even more so when he had a chance to go through adventures with Ying Yuan when he had his earthly trial as Tang Zhou. He gradually grew closer with him too, and finally accepted that Yan Dan will never look at him the way she sees Ying Yuan. His character development was my favorite out of all. It was nice to see that he showed genuine concern for his love rival too. Loved the old Marshall Huo De as well. He might be too loud and war freak, but he is undoubtly loyal.

MUSIC
Not really liked the OST's here. None of them truly hit the spot. Zhou Shen would have been better and Mao Bu Yi.

REWATCH VALUE
I think I would only want to see my favorite scenes and not see the entire 60 episodes again.

OVERALL
I rate this 9 out 10, as I had a few minor comments on this series. But Immortal Samsara is worth watching and it satisfied me with the setting, story, phasing, acting, and the grandeur of the plot that I always look for in a series. Thank goodness they created special episodes - - and that this really had a GOOD ENDING.

To summarize the two special episodes, the way that I understood it was this - - - Although Ying Yuan and Yan Dan both chose to die, in every xanxia series there's a commonality that was applied here. Even if an immortal's heart was crushed or their bodies gets destroyed, as long as their essence or primordial core was preserved - - they can be revived. Ying Yuan's core essence was undamaged, and Yan Dan's lotus heart became whole again and it continually protected and healed Ying Yuan's essence. Their cores needed time to recover, and the agarwood artifact became their temporary refuge. Later on, when they are strong enough to take human forms again, that's when they appeared in Yelan Mountain's healing pool garden.

I think they both became cultivators instead, seeing as they still retained their old memories and enjoyed a blissful new life with their son. The supreme god was revived, and for sure he had a hand in helping the two. Yan Dan became a famous playwright, and their friends occasionally went down to the mortal realm to watch Yan Dan's stage plays. Really a very good ending for everyone.

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Quite decent for a horror flick...

It's got enough suspense to make you sweat at the edge of your seat, but my most favorite part was The Caretaker.
It would be good if they also added a bit of a backstory about the GwangLim Church and what horror lies in that closet.
From how the cult leader looked, he must've been in that basement for decades, with all that spell plastered on his body.
But then I kinda knew from the start that the caretaker would be the end game. This is already familiar to me.

At the end of the movie, my guess is that his girlfriend already knew that he's no longer her boyfriend the moment she saw him.
Instinct kicked in.

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If it weren't for the leads....

Watched it right after LBTI and at first the trailer is kinda promising. I only watched it because of Li Hong Yi and Zhao Lu Si. Honestly LBTI is a bit more better than this. I'd like to commend the other casts, specially the leads for their effort. After all they worked hard for it. But the writer is truly disappointing.

The moment Tian Yiao fell for Xing Chen and started being a bitch, I knew it'd go downhill. I was so annoyed with her character. It was frustrating that her role was given a lot of chance to butt in with the leads almost everytime. And how the writer made Li Hong Yi's character too lax about Tian Yiao's intentions. I thought he was going to teacher her a lesson when she poisoned Yun Chang cause he looked livid. But the damn writer just decided to give her role a redeeming ending. A lot of characters died which was a bit too much. They also could have made Yun Chang's character a bit more strong during Tian Yiao's display of clinginess to Xing Chen. That might've been more tolerable to watch.

I agree with one of the comments here. They should've focused on the parts where they went back to the tribe and enriched the plot from there while inserting few ones from the city. The Japanese side story is uncalled for and it consumed most of the drama. Ah Hu and Yue Ying shouldn't have died. They could have ended up quite okay once the chaos was over.

Worst, they didn't even explain how Yun Chang survived the blast during the battle with Kong Chan. She just magically appeared standing on the Holy Tree's branches, just like that, looking brand new.

VERDICT : Okay to watch and tolerable if you're here for the leads. But the whole story is pretty messed up. They just wasted the production effort and budget. I hope Li Hong Yi and Zhao Lu Si can have the chance to get paired up again, but this time I hope they hire a good writer and evaluate the whole story line.

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Arguably A Good Series So Far....

This is the 2nd time I watched Darren Chen's drama, cause the 1st one was Meteor Garden back in 2018. Back then I didn't know he's of Taiwanese descent. Anyway, here's my review for this drama:

STORY
Fortunately for me, I found this series quite enjoyable to watch since the story pacing is just the right amount of speed compared to others. I'm quite contented with the love story line as it showcased the portrayal of true love between the leads.
I also like the fact that they were able to show a full story about Duanmu's past 1000 years ago and kinda made it like a separate story within the drama. If there's anything I would've wished they did, was to at least show other deities too not residing in Penglai, but from the divine palace as well. Would've been great if the writer got Jiang Wen Qing punished by the higher gods in the end for trespassing in the heavens and wreaking havoc among the three realms. I also didn't like how they made the antagonist too powerful enough to suppress Penglai - which I believe btw, was not really the main heavenly court itself. They claimed in the story that Yang Jiang, along with Duanmu Cui were the pioneer co-creators of the world, which is a mistake in the plot. Cause even if its a fantasy story, no one will buy the idea. How can they be creators when they only existed a thousand years ago in a complete civilization of humans, and during that time, Penglai already existed along with the other deities? Totally unrelated to the idea of world creation.


ACTING / CAST
Acting is on point and I'd have to commend Darren's ability to show the appropriate emotions and gestures all throughout the drama. I liked his expressions when he started to notice Duanmu's attempt to hide herself and her true emotions from him, it brought me giggles... haha.... I sooooo liked Zhang Yi Shang, she suits the role perfectly. Thank the heavens she's not like the other chinese actresses that sounded overly demure as a female lead. Always gives me the cringe when they look , act, and sound too girly. So far, no negative feedback on the other casts since they were able to give justice on their roles.


MUSIC
It so epic, I loved it !!!!!


REWATCH VALUE
Hmmm, not bad to see this again if I have the time. But I'd only see my favorite episodes.


OVERALL
I can say that for me its not totally a bad drama. It kept me entertained so far and I like the fair amount of love, loyalty , and friendship lessons from it. I was kinda surprised I enjoyed the drama. Its just that, I felt there was no need to make the godfather escape the Abyss and come back in the story again. His wickedness should have ended when he got trapped in the past. Seemed to me that the series dragged on for too long just because of it. Btw, Wengu is so cute.

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Satisfied Audience Here :)

I actually put off watching this drama for months, and I'm so glad I finally finished it weeks ago. Well, despite some negative critics on the review section, of how they got bored..this and that...This is my opinion so for me, this is worth watching.

STORY
IT WAS GREAT. The plot grandeur I was looking for was there, the concept, the right amount of phasing, and the exact emotions. I cried buckets on 40th episode onwards, had to pause several times to pull myself together and rearrange my emotions. But of course, the drama has also several romantic scenes and bits that's definitely gonna make you smile like an idiot. ;) This had a happy ending, but I wished they added a few more scenes where Bai Jue and Shanggu enjoyed their time together with their son and the rest of the gang. And allowed at least 1 episode interval before they skipped 60,000 years in the future where both leads were reborn. It was a bit hurried for me when they did it right away on the next episode.


ACTING
The leads did justice to their characters, Xu Kai nailed all his four personas. But I really liked his Qingmu role better. Don't get me wrong, Bai Jue is so majestic and you can feel the sincerity as well from him towards Shanggu but he's a bit more reserved. As for the FL....well her acting is fine, except for her Houchi character. I know she's meant to be compared to Shanggu the chief god but, the writer could have at least thrown in a bit of Shanggu's personality in her. I dunno, she's so nerfed in that version.
I liked Tianqi too, his character gave a solid foundation for Shanggu to have someone as dedicated as Bai Jue to be relied on. He proved to be a true ally and a real friend. In dramas, its always good to have characters like Tianqi who did not really turned against them. Not at all impressed by Wuhuan's character. She's a walking red flag from the moment she showed up.


MUSIC
Okay. No words to describe. I added it to my Spotify playlist. So epic and always gave me goosebumps. Glad they chose Zhou Shen as one of the OST singers.


REWATCH VALUE
Definitely yes. Already downloaded the series!


OVERALL
I would recommend this. Its like the prequel story long before the worlds of Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and Eternal Love of Dream. The existence of the god realm that predates all others. Congratulations to the cast and entire crew cause this was a hit overseas. Xu Kai is sooo right for this drama.

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