Some good parts but ruined by too much fillers and bad ending

Fast forwarded 25% of show because so much fillers after the first half.

First half was really good. Lots of interesting characters and ML powering up.

But so much silliness and so much fillers in 2nd half. Honestly didn't feel that much chemistry between the leads.

Stupidness level is above average unfortunately. Quite a bit of stupidy in characters.

Sacrifice level is low thank goodness. Not many people sacrificing themselves.

Humor is cringy.

Not recommended if you have anxiety or needs emotional support because lots of cliff hangers at the end of each episode.

Plus the ending 2 episodes leave open even more cliff hangers. I dropped at episode 18 and after reading comments about final 2 episodes not resolving a single plot, decided not worth wasting anymore of life on it. I rather spend time reading comments to be honest because I know it would be more satisfying than watching an agonizing 2 episodes that brings zero closure and more anxiety of more waiting.

To me the best part was the mystery and revelation of who the FL is. But they just did not deliver. From comments on threads seems the Hong Sisters are known for great stories but never can end it right. Just like all the Novoland TV dramas. And Luoyang. That was also an huge disappointment like this show. Such tremendous start and ending ruined everything.

There are lot of fana of this show who get emotionally charged due to script playing on people's emotions and anxiety with cliff hangers. Many rave about cuteness of leads or kisses etc. I also like romance but scenes fell flat for me.

I think older audiences would be turned off by it and prefer something more solid and better plot and pacing.

Recommend Ever Night which is also magic users but so much better show. It's on YouTube. One of the best shows ever.

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I can't take it after 9 episodes

There is way too much stupidity in the plots and after 9 episodes I couldnt take it anymore and jumped to episode 15 and it was still bad so jumped to the finale and still seemed kind of weak

I thought somewhere in between the 16 episodes is a really good story but it got killed by the constant weak characters who seem powerless to do anything even though they possess a lot of powers.

You have this group of people who can heal, jump tall buildings, read minds. And all they can do is keep getting outwitted and outsmarted by idiots at every turn.

The biggest waste is the girl with ability to read minds as well as read any history via an object. With her in the team, you would think anything can be solved. Instead, they run around like idiots and constantly let the bad guys go with warnings and constantly look for clues even though they have the most powerful person who can find answers to anything. It's just so stupid.

And at the beginning of show, the restaurant is so popular there is a 2 hour wait outside. But after that, the restaurant is empty everyday

It's brain dead things like this that just drive me crazy. This show is not for people who want intelligent characters who can think or act with some sort of intelligence. It's for people who like exaggerated stupidity and powerful good characters that allow criminals multiple chances to try and kill people over and over again.

After watching this, you really have to watch something like Equalizer 3 or Die Hard or Taken just to see how a real person would deal with someone who hurt their family or friends.

Acting is good. Action was good. Just stupid characters unfortunately. What a waste of talent.

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Worthy wuxia show to binge watch for 2023

If you like Sword Snow Stride and other wuxia movies, I think you will like this one.

The script is not as good as Sword Snow Stride but the pace and fighting is better. The characters we meet throughout are interesting and with interesting powers but I think side characters are kind of weak.

The main characters are interesting and sort of flushed out. The 3 male leads are excellent characters.

I thought it was a good balance of seriousness and a few bits of light hearted humor. But fortunately, it doesnt have too much silliness or silly romance humor.

Fighting is top notch and way better than Sword Snow Stride. Whoever did the choreography and action did a fantastic job.

Direction and pacing was great. Nice work with pacing and camera work.

Overall, not too draggy and great show. I enjoyed it.

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Best C-Drama so far 2023

Catches you from beginning. I couldn't stop watching to the detriment of my sleep.

First 16 episodes are great. Later episodes are bit draggy and 15% fillers.

But overall writing and dialogues are good. Writers of show move at pretty good pace. And most important the storyline and characters are not brain dead like most fairy dramas recently. People's behaviors and actions actually make sense most of the time. Characters actually look out for their own interests and don't speak aloud in crowded room about poisoning the food.

There's not too much 3rd grade humor like in many fairy shows. Or stupid brainless silliness or wacky music.

There are certain parts that make no sense. But overall I like it better than many recent disappointments. The biggest disappointment for me last few years have been Sword Snow Stride. It began as an absolute masterpiece and ended up being garbage by the end.

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Pacing too slow and weak indecisive main character

I had finished a River Runs Through It and wanted something similar so based on reviews went with this one.

I did not like it as much. I thought the female lead was fine as actress but the damn script and dialogues just made her into such an annoying character.

She is constantly indecisive and weak minded. Every scene is her on the verge of crying or feeling sorry for herself.

I think this drama might appeal more to younger girls who feel sorry for themselves.

I did not like it much. Music and videography was fine.

Pacing was not good.

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Finally a TV series with main character that does what is in everyone's mind

In the past we've had so many Korean and Chinese dramas where the main character is always outsmarted, lie to, betrayed, tortured, and they are unable to fight back with dirty tactics. The reason being the main character is supposed to be morally rights and uncorrupted and sticks to principles.

I'm happy to see a drama that finally lets us all experience satisfaction of fighting criminals the way they're meant to be fought, no holds barred.

This is such a refreshing approach and I love the story and mind games and strategies. This show is not for the village idiots who want the heroes to win because they have a heart of gold and stick to their principles and Good Triumph over Evil.

No. This is about you get what you are willing to fight for. The game of power don't give a crap about feelings, pity, principles, friendships. It is about gaining and leveraging advantages. Luck. And fight fight fight. Nothing comes free

It was non stop...

Great series.

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Amazing chemistry and stoey

Just finished it and what a refreshing change from ongoing shows I have been watching.

Just happened to run across it somehow and it's a true gem. Intelligent characters and not much fillers for once in this drama.

Doesn't have the best music but the production quality is incredible. Food actually looks like food instead of other shows that show high end food using food you can buy frozen. Settings and locations are top notch. They really spent all out in production costs for this show.

Great chemistry and not too much fluff or cutesy nonsense. I think it will appeal to 18+ and less for teens.

Great story and realistic romance and difficulties in romance. Love actress who played the 2 moms.

It's a gem and definitely you will enjoy it.

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Season 2 is boring and stripped down to nothing but talking

What a BORING season 2. I loved Season 1 and was looking forward to this after years of waiting.

What a complete waste of time.

This is nothing like Season 1. It's like you are watching a completely different show. There is nothing that made Season 1 interesting in this Season 2. Gone are interesting characters and characters with special skills. His protector never again appears. There's no fighting or martial arts. This show is for old people who love palace gossip shows.

What the hell happened to the original team? What a disappointment and disservice to fans.

I watched up to episode 7 and found it so boring so I skipped ahead to 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22 just to watch some scenes and guess what, it's all just chatting and palace intrigue.

If you liked Season 1, it's best you just avoid this disastrous Season 2 and save yourself the heartache of watching a much inferior product. I would rate Season 1 a 9/10 and this is 3/10. That's how far the gap is.

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Started really strong up to episode 8 or 9

I watched it on Netflix and thought it had a very interesting start although it was a bit hard to believe. Why would someone get that attached to someone that's writing letters to them and putting it in a birdbox. Makes no sense whatsoever. But whatever, I went with it and it was an interesting start.

But what made no sense was how the girl could develop such strong feelings just based off a few letters and she lived her adult life avoiding relationships based on letters from 15 years ago. That made no sense whatsoever. It's like she is a monk or saint or something in between.

I thought the female lead was really good. I watched her in another Netflix show (I think it was Doona) and she was really good there too. She glows on the screen and great acting and expressions. Can hardly tell she was the actress for the other show. She just changed so completely.

Also the male lead, I watched him in Hometown Cha Cha Cha and thought that was a good show as well.

But there is something missing in this show towards the end. I am not even sure what that is. But it just felt it was not leading to anything after episode 10 or so. I just skipped and fast forwarded a lot after that. I lost interest in many parts of it and felt it was not really moving forward much or there was anything left to explore.

Music was good and acting was good. Story was good up to a certain point but then I just lost interest towards the end.

It was OK.

If you work in tech, I think some of it might produce a bit of anxiety. The constant work, competition, struggle, layoffs.

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The only reason I kept watching was purely to see Seo Ye-ji in all her beauty

The show makes no sense. Plus really cannot stand shows where the brother sacrifices love and family for a disabled brother. That kind of story always bugs me to no end because it's so unrealistic.

Plus what kind of human being could resist Seo Ye-ji? But alas, after living life and seeing the world, the monster is indeed crazy mental women. No matter how beautiful they are, if they have mental issues, they will always cause your downfall. Gorgeous women with mental issues are like the Titanic. It's not worth the ride. Avoid!

But back to the show. Seo Ye-ji is absolutely gorgeous in every single scene she's in. I thought the cast was okay but the story was horrible. So bad... I stopped at episode 7 and skipped to the last 2 episodes. And I am sure glad I did because the ending was just ridiculous as I expected.

Love Seo Ye-ji and the male lead. But the story just sucks. Sorry.

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Finished it... sacrifice type movie - plots are a bit infuriating

The fighting scenes are good. No slow motion torture like Sword Snow Stride. Fighting is pretty good for the most part. A lot of wuxia chi power and flying swords, and flying, etc.

The weakness are weak character development and plot. It does progress nicely though. You dont get torturous ending like end of each Sword Snow Stride episode. Pacing moves quickly but the thing that bugs me is the ML and his PERFECT personality and morals. It's just infuriating. His dad treats him like crap and he would never defend himself. Everything is about sacrificing yourself for the state. It's almost like propaganda and written by someone who works in the government and created this story to brainwash people to sacrifice their lives for the State.

The pureness of the ML and constant sacrifices makes me puke at times. If you like characters that's constantly sacrificing themselves for the good of the state or the people.. you will love this drama.

I love Zhao Lusi and it's not her best work. She's so much better in Love like the Galaxy. That type of role fits her so much better than playing the heroic wuxia hero.

I still got addicted and finished it all in 3 days. So it definitely drew me in and entertained me and got me addicted to finish each episode.

Ending was OK...

There was some stupidity by characters. Like obvious things such as knowing the identity of the main villain but not telling anyone and resulting in their own death as well as people around them. Yeah that kind of stupidity.

Still... it was filmed pretty well.

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One of the better teen romance stories

Unforgettable characters. I hope it's one of the shows that I remember and not one that after 2 years, I stumble on YouTube again and watch and keep wondering... 'have I seen this already?' and not remember.

BTW, if anyone likes this, you will LOVE "Go Ahead" another series on youTube.

Anyways back to my review. what I love most is the female lead. She is absolutely perfect for this role. Just captures everything perfectly. And she's intelligent and smart. Even when she does the stupidest things, I don't hate her like other shows with similar stupid characters.

This show focuses a lot during their college years. And developing romance. I liked the supporting characters as well but definitely it's the female and male leads that I really care most about in this particular series.

It's authentic story and feelings and dialogues. Just fantastic and amazing.

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Best Wuxia out of China! Better story than Ever Night but less action

I would rate this one above Ever Night, which is one of my favorites. Even though action is not as good, the story and the characters are better than Ever Night.

Update after 22 episodes - the constant use of slow motion for every single freaking scene is so frustrating. Why is the director using slow motion for every scene? Just a guy walking up a step becomes a 10 second slow motion. It's so juvenile. He uses it for every freaking scene. You will notice it after episode 17 or so. Every episode after that never gets resolved because half the show's length is spent on slow motion.

I would love to see more of the action but at the same time the story is so good that I do not miss it.

The pace is GREAT and the intelligence of script and dialogue is far above everything else before. I only wish it went up to 60 episodes because 38 episodes seem too quick. I love the world the writers are building and getting to meet new characters along the way.

Finally we get characters that don't start out with high skills and remain the same throughout entire story and repetitive dialogue and never-ending mysteries. And whiny girls or girls that keeps sacrificing themselves or people that constantly talk about sacrificing their lives for someone else. Worst are constant heroes who are cold and aloof and cannot love any women. Or the woman who keeps sacrificing herself for someone else. Just stupid.

We have characters that actually dress with some dirt on them. And no constant focus on close ups of dialogues all the time with their perfect makeup and they speak for 30 minutes and story remains the same. So many C-dramas that constantly yap yap yap and zero progression of the story other than more tears or people expressing emotions non-stop.

And so many c-dramas that rely slow motion on EVERY freaking scene. Someone stepping through the door, fighting scenes. None-stop slow motion every 2 seconds... Don't mind it once a while but not every freaking second of a fight. And fights that last 30 minutes and never ends because of slow motion. I hate those.

Update 12/24/2021 merry Xmas. At episode 20 and seems every fight scene is all slow motion. Sad. Episodes 17-20 just drags and drags.

And so many c-dramas with characters that are brain dead. Like fugitives running away and in middle of night, start singing or playing musical instrument. Or facing an army of soldiers and instead of running away, stays around fighting for no reason and gets others killed. Or when trying to escape a place, walks around without any disguise like an idiot and goes to center of town to wait for friends. So many c-dramas with such idiotic characters. Thank god we dont have too many of that here.

This is 10/10 and I have not seen anything last 20 years that's as good as this one. Would rate it like:

1) Sword Snow Stride
2) Ever Night
3) Joy of Life
4) Fight through Heavens
5) Luoyuan

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