except for XL, everything else meh

well, my s1 comment still stands. with better director and screenwriter, this show can go down to be one of the memorable ones in recent years. shucks.

things I don’t like were many compared to those I like.

even for XL, why they think it’s good idea to turn him into this mopey mess? TJC saved this OOC with his acting thank goodness.

illusion scene? what? they trying to be twilight 2.0? epic fail.

I’m even surprised Jing felt nonexistent in most part of the show given that he’s 2ML. but even so, his scenes were dull.

we might have a better storytelling if eps weren’t cut to 23. but who knows.

just how many times XY need to wait and burst out like a mad woman? in s1, the mum scene was really good and effective. in s2, we have her crying scene with mum AGAIN, then yelling with CX, burst out during Jing….then we have the “underwhelming” cry for XL. Too much, no matter how you tell me oh that was good. it’s repetitive, and no nuance.

my problem with this show in overall, the growth of female lead was nonexistent. while in book, the ending was the start of her real growth, in here, she’s just love brained. that very person who said she’s lonely and don’t mind temporary companionship/lifelong to someone who needs a man or else she can’t survive. must it be a man? lol. I rather she don’t end up with anyone.

I won’t say anything about the CP here because S2 successfully destroyed all the ships.

lastly, all the actors here suffered from bad editing and inefficient production team. so, don’t blame the actors. the director, screenwriter and the production team are solely responsible. doesn’t mean Tonghua is a good novel writer means she’s good screenwriter.

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Love/Hate with this drama

Finally able to sort out my thought about this drama.

This drama is one of those "What could have been" with a better screenwriter (I know Tong Hua is in charge) and more experienced director.

What I love:
Qingshui Town. Amongst all the scenes throughout the 39 episodes, those in Qingshui Town were the best ones. Real and the character interactions were good although pacing here was quite slow.

Not gonna touch on the CP but scenes between XL/XY & XY/CX were aesthetically amazing.

What I hate:
When WXL became Xiao Yao.
Her growth graph suddenly plummet and it stayed constant till the end had me baffled. What Tong Hua wanted me to understand here? She stated her 3 things in earlier show, but later on, she looked like a love brain kid. Vague and fragmented.

How can she love normally when her childhood experiences affected her psychologically?

CX arc
This supposed to be the main arc, apart from the emotional arc from other male leads. This storyline should be tight and interesting enough to pull the emotions but the overall arc is just weak. Having watched shows like NiF, i'm expecting something from this but it's just disappointing.

Downplay of characters
In short, i just wish the writer retain most of them because this is my main source of frustration amongst all the points above.

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One of the best wuxia in a while

I went into this show without any expectations and came out amazed by the whole production of this drama. Started out as solving mystery cases and ended with probably one of the most amazing drama I’ve ever watched in a while.

there weren’t any parts that felt slow (except for palace scenes because honestly I personally have qualms when a story takes place in palace, with its boring political plots BUT MLC managed to keep it short, thankfully)

Story was amazing, acting was superb. Cheng Yi was exceptional, his best to date character. my first time watching Joseph & Aero and I felt they did very well and do justice to their roles. supporting casts too did well.

Music is important element while watching a drama and MLC served it very well. *Cue Li Xiangyi BGM (*cries)

Now, im on my 3rd rewatch. so even you don’t plan to rewatch whole thing, this drama have a LOT of amazing scenes that’s worth rewatching, especially the fight scenes.

For those who haven’t watch it, give it a try!

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One of the best Xianxia drama out there

Good points:
- No misunderstandings
- Straightforward main leads
- good share of humours and heartbreaks
- Mature main leads (sometime just lol-ed at Xingzhi)
- One of the shows with better CGI (except for the chicken phoenix lol)

Not so good points:
- one dimensional villains? (not so into their mission)
- some parts are draggy (e.g. heavenly lord scenes, sometimes Furong & Mofang)
- revelations of certain scenes (e.g. where she knew Xingyun is Xingzhi, i geddit that she's smart, but i guess from Xingzhi's childish behavior, lol, she sort of get it. Another one is, Shen li's parents reveal, this part was SOOOOO underwhelming.)
- it wasn't mentioned what is the purpose of Xingzhi's task, was it destroying of Tianwai Tian (i can't remember the english word lol) ?

Regarding ZLY & LGX:
- Initially i was quite bothered by LGX (not because he's old whatsoever), this is my first time his drama, and LGX look so mature for this. ZLY too. since both already transit to mature acting/dramas now. But eventually i got used to him, and his funny scenes were so naturally good but the scene at ep38 (iykyk), was the killer. Both display their capabilities as actors, that scene was sooooooo heartfelt and immersive.

The show has its merits and not. However, i do enjoy. Especially it gave 1 whole ep of FLUFF at the end.

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while it’s a good show, something was lacking.

honestly don’t know what to expect after watching first 10 episodes of the show.

the plot is like moving from one “zhou” to another “zhou”. then there’s plot about the great imperial grandson which was there till mid way then it was forgotten until it popped up again after 3/4 of the show. then the rebellion between the sons, to be honest for them to come to this point, who started all this? if Cui Lin wasn’t so insistent of wanting Shiqi to be the CP, and wrote that request to the imperial court, these won’t escalate into such big tragedy.

shiqi’s life is hanging by the thread even if he didn’t become CP. and the worries he told Pei Yuan if he become one, it made sense. for Cui Lin, he’s the only one who can correct the weight from wrong and ensure peace. if she wants to be his Crown Princess, she jolly well know that her reputation can’t be as strong as Li family. and Cui Army’s disbandment is inevitable. this part could carry more emotional plot for both of them. but it just went off poof fast, and they reconciled. maybe I’m expecting too much.

I’m hoping for less angst for I started this show and while the show did less angst, overall, the show is not giving that punch.

I honestly don’t know what’s lacking in this show that prevented me enjoy it fully. I dozed off at some parts but I enjoy some parts too.

both main leads showcase their wits and intelligence, proving them to be equal. I’m glad that here their chemistry was quite strong. (having both equal characters can have issue showing chemistry)

ep30 was chaotic and escalated down fast and I broke down. it was one of best downfall scenes I’ve watched.

villains in this show aren’t worth mentioning.

acting wise, Jing tian was okay. Xu Kai was good. his crying scenes are good too. their banterings were entertaining.

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don’t know what went wrong

dropped this after ep17.

a show with very good start. the sisters arc, I wish they delve more on the ML arc too and him sending her to school, writer, you can expand all this, make her grow in terms of gaining manners and powers.

while the sister flourishes as a physician, the other one have to endure the loss of her future husband and go and find his shards when they arent yet showing affection towards each other? bridge of fate? yeah, whatever. or chemistry issue btw both leads? I don’t know.

the shards arc was where I decided to drop the show entirely because this arc is too early and I’m not feeling the FL. does she have feelings for him? the stares ain’t making it up.

I appreciate the humor the show portrayed. but as each episode passed, the story flow got worst.

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2024 unexpected gem

saw snippets on tiktok and decided to give a try. only to finish it within 2 days, enjoyed every single episode.

a solid story accompanied by stunning visual cinematography. some might think it’s choppy because some scenes doesn’t seem to add up but I didnt feel anything out of place, in fact, the consistency the drama delivered from ep1-10.

do Hwan mentioned that this drama is like a road trip. in fact from the start, the drama brought us along on their journey, wandering without destination (sailing without a map <- rmbr Start Up, anyone?). this is more about their journey rather than focus on each character and their backstory, which is why throughout the whole drama, I didn’t mind when they didn’t focus too much on their past and history because it’s all about living in the present.

some mentioned that this drama is like uncontrollably fond v2.0. that drama was pure depression. lol.

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First RJL drama that I got so annoyed.

I had doubts when I plan to start this show.
So, I watched 1st episode b4 deciding to continue.

From the first look:
- Both leads no chemistry
- First time RJL act as this quirky, cheerful guy (he looks natural in more happier role)
- FL acting is weird
- Nothing impressive from first look

So when I decided to continue the series, I gave up hoping for any spark of chemistry between both of them and focus on the story. The first 10+ episodes were painfully slow. And, I think within these episodes, the ML expressed his desire to settle down with the love of his life. I was like, wait, so you already fell for her? Want to get married? No indication of the romance, then they are suddenly together.

In the middle, it was okay, still nothing too spectacular.

Then, after Lingxu Pavilion massacre, everything started to fall apart.

Storyline, script, acting slowly go down the drain.

Few examples:
- Mei Ying. How many lives this guy have? I should call him immortal. It’s no joke, he could live through all his reincarnations back to back.
- Both ML and FL initially know this is their past generations feud. So they want to end it in best way possible. But when Lin Jing harrowingly went through the whole massacre, FL was in her own bubble, still the same FL of the past. Things has changed but she still bent on solving things on her own, ask him to spare her father, doubting her husband etc.
- The brief pregnancy scene. When this popped up, I just rolled my eyes in disbelief. It came as nothing, as show don’t implied they consummated but it also doesn’t serve any kind of purpose. Look at Nalan Yue’s face after he knew? No expressions. He was calm. This plot was unnecessary and didn’t serve anything.
- I’m expecting FL to understand Nalan Yue, but her character seemed disconnected from then till the end. And her flat acting didn’t help.
- Nalan Yue is bent on taking revenge. But in the end he let go of those people. I’m not sure it’s because of Hua, but yeah, many times I want Yue to just kill off Rong Jing Feng but he always thought of her first, meanwhile FL always thought of HER FATHER, rather than try to understand Nalan Yue.
- Characters from Dragon Howl. Really, I’m speechless. Rong Jingfeng betrayed Ling Sect, stole the Chihua Pills from Nalan family, established his own sect, and claimed the pills belonged to Dragon Howl City. These people, Ziyan, Bai Weizhi, Rong Su… Do they know what this guy did? Or they just closed one eye and supported him blindly? I’m just appalled that these characters are either too dense or too stupid to differentiate what is right from wrong.
- Mo Huan. She almost became a calefare in the middle because her backstory wasn’t really explained until towards the end. The production under utilise her making her redundant most of the time. The villain is jumping between Rong Jingfeng, Mo Huan and Mei Ying.
- REN JIA LUN HAD SUCH AMAZING CRYING SCENES but the FL failed to keep up the momentum. This show might fare better with if paired with better actress with at least palpable chemistry.
- When towards last episode, show showed Lin Jing, I was so pissed off. So the show is saying Nalan Yue is just a fake persona, and when he said he buried it for good, I’m just speechless! Nalan Yue was the star of the show. Goodness, how messy this was. No, don’t tell me because Hua in love with Lin Jing, not Nalan Yue. This is not split personality issue. The fact that he’s born a Nalan. That doesn’t change. So, to throw away this identity is just so idiotic.

I didn’t have so much complaints in the earlier part of the show. However as episodes went by, I’m just growing more frustrated.

The only good thing was Lin Jing/Nalan Yue.
Although his characters have flaws, but Jialun’s acting hard carried the whole show.
I persevered through because of him. Nothing else.

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overall a not bad production but can be better

I’ve mixed feelings after finishing this drama. there’s good and bad.

storyline:
the cases and the politics got too complicated till I’ve forgotten what happened in first episode. the only thing that got me going was when the main leads gonna have feelings for each other.
for the ending, why Lu Yi use that scroll after Yan Shifan was dealt with? emperor kept issuing edict. so annoying. from death sentence to life imprisonment within 10 mins. this is funny. knowing Jinxia was Xia generation why the villain didn’t try to imprison Lu Yi for protecting Xia family instead? the ending for him taking the blame was unnecessary.

acting:
I swear, as time passed, Yan Shifan’s acting grew on me. his expression looks calm but you can see the psychotic side he portrayed with ease. Han Dong has been on my radar ever since he’s in Burning Flames but here he’s just good.
Ren jialun looks good as Lu Yi but he’s not intimidating enough. he’s known to be ruthless and I expected his expressions to be more cold and daunting. but but his 8 year old and 13 year old Lu Yi was AMAZING!
Tan Songyun, my first drama from her and she’s so tiny here lol. I love her jovial character but she’s good at crying scenes too.

their chemistry was palpable not too much and too less. however, there were scenes where I don’t feel the intensity of their love. I don’t need any romantic skinship scenes (One and Only proved it to me) but theirs did work out well, so not much complains here.

there were bad edits in the drama but I laughed it off as I watched. well, I don’t blame them. if they could put more effort in being more detailed.

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at least I’m entertained.

firstly, I don’t watch modern cdramas. watched this because I’m currently going through Allen’s list of dramas and because I’ve watched Burning Flames and wasn’t a fan of the CP there, I wish to see how their chemistry fares.

main leads have good chemistry. however second main leads were amazing! love them and every of their scenes made me laughed out loud. at the end, her confession made me cry and touched.

storyline wise, it was ok until I reached around ep30ish when story started to drag, especially Xiao Ning’s parents and the embezzlement issue. it lingers in the background for too long that I lost interest in those scenes.

the scenes between Chuan and Xiao Ning after they got together, also felt too long and dragged. this series should either be a 24 or 30 episodes long.

about the mechanical heart. I mean I don’t get it. the main doctor is gone and the assistant have no materials to refer how to update the heart? then in the end, she established her own research team and they able to salvage all this mess? sorry, this sounds so fairytale like. I wouldn’t want Chuan to die because it defeats the purpose. at least, they should spend some of the scenes focusing how they able to save him or something.

acting wise. Xing fei, I don’t know what happened to her in Burning Flames but she’s very likeable here. her cheerful and bubbly character won me over.

Allen. I think after bingeing 3 shows from him, I’ve grown accustomed to his line delivery. his name here Chuan, can also panting or gasp for breath. lol, how irony. it’s funny that as much as I’m not satisfied with his delivery, I just like how he delivers his image of Gu Chuan.

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one of the best fusion of modern and ancient adaptation

went into this show without knowing anything about it. it was in the last episode i knew it was adapted from a webcomic and subsequently an anime.

and usually adaptations tends to be worse and not good but this show is one of those that do justice and right up amazing!

my favorite character: Feng Baobao.
damn, her weirdness is a vibe. haha. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE her.

my favorite CP: Wang Ye & Zhuge Qing
come on, who doesn’t? their onscreen chemistry was solid.

my favorite side character: Feng Shayan
I love badass female characters and even though she wasn’t the inheritor to her father’s power, she still prove to be badass.

other supporting characters were awesome too, include Lv Liang etc.

I have to admit some parts I have to FF because I just want to reach the climax part and they still keep talking. but other than that overall a very good and well done production.

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Not bad but not that great either

I hardly watch modern cdramas for their fillers and unnecessary scenes. because of “one and only” I came here with open mind that the modern version have to omit the reincarnation theme due to censorship. thus, I watched without much expectations.

there are few things that bugged me throughout the show.

1) story of junior nanchen which was changed into a story instead of her real past life memories. how that tie to the ending when ZSC read what she wrote in the book and when she woke up, narrated what she dreamt. it’s disjointed, knowing in the show, it’s based on “story” so it felt like she had this fantasy or fetish (lol) towards ZSC.

2) supporting characters. honestly, some are fine but characters like Wenchuan is questionable. he seems like a lingering emo guy who don’t appear much then suddenly he’s going full bad guy. those good ones are Mei Xing, Uncle Lin and the stepmother. but still I just feel it’s not enough?

3) acting. I know the leads shot this first before “one and Only” the chemistry for both dramas were on fire but I guess due to the plot that’s not driving them anywhere, they seemed to shine lesser here. also, abit of personal opinion about RJL’s line delivery. as episodes goes by, hearing him sigh at every sentences made me tired too lol. Bailu here is just okay.

even though the pacing is much slower than the other drama, I managed to finish it means it’s quite a nice show to give a try but won’t be something I’ll rewatch.

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truly heartbreaking ending.

the drama made full use of 24 episodes without any fillers impressed me much.

from story, acting to its execution and breathtaking cinematography, this gonna be one of my top personal favourite drama that scores high in every level.

the slow burn, unspoken romance was heartfelt and emotional. my first drama from BL, 2nd from RJL, their chemistry was off the chart just by staring at each other, mesmerising!

Nanchen Royal Mansion, it’s army, as time passed, it felt that has become my home and the army, my family. how I felt and connected with the supporting characters and their warmth.

ending wrecked me hard. beautiful tragedy.

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so messy but quite interesting storyline

there’s so many things I wish to say about this show. mostly aren’t good ones.

good points:
- interesting storyline
- Liu Yuning song

heard that it’s based on donghua. the assemble is good and interesting.

bad points:
- cringey
there are some parts are so cringe, e.g. the father & son scenes, some scenes supposed to be serious but it’s just cringe.
- Wu Geng
yes, the main character himself. he’s one of the main reason why I’m just frustrated. his character buildup is lacking and he doesn’t seem to have his own power? after losing his colorless realm, it seems he’s relying on others to give him power. that’s why the end when he’s the mortal god of war, it’s just a disappointing moment.
- RJL’s line delivery
honestly, this is my first drama from him. and his line delivery is really poor. be it angry or frustrated, his tone is the same. and it’s his own voice (have watched F&E, now I know how he sounds like)
- Bai Cai
honestly, she’s redundant. period. had enough with her A gou.
- RJL hairstyle
why why why?
- underutilising Hei Long
dude is such a hottie, and his presence giving me Voldemort-ish. why he only appear at the start and the end? such a waste!

characters that stood out:
- Shi Xing
- Xinyue Kui
- Zha Zha and his father (their scenes were just lol)

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one of the best underrated xianxia.

honestly, years ago I did try went into this show but it was boring. and, heard about people said it was boring and also the criticisms about the actress’ looks.

went into it again few days ago, and by ep3 I was already quite interested to proceed. as episodes went by, I was quite amazed by how I didn’t even fast forward any single scenes until the end. compared to other xianxia I’ve watched, many were unnecessary filler scenes or misunderstandings that keeps piling up just to torture the viewing experience.

story
while many think first arc was boring, it was the base to understand the characters and while they solidify the main characters, the supporting characters were good too. then second arc, my fav arc, my fav couple. and those side couples didn’t disappoint too. I love Qingmu & Houchi. their love was much deeper compared to BJ&SG. things they do for each other and things they went through together. and that’s why the scene she stabbed him, it was really heartbreaking and sad. all those feelings, both side carried. ugh, my tears.
one thing I wish to praise is the villain. it was not those one dimensional villain. but a villain that stem from somewhere relatable in human nature. Wu Huan reminded me so much of Jin Guangyao from untamed. and to show how she grew from being a maid, to the ultimate villain and her downfall. it was just amazing journey.

acting
this is my 2nd XK’s drama. he’s good here as usual. sad boy is his forte tbh.

Zhou Dongyu. can I say this girl is amazing? like really. apart from some scenes where she smiled too much until I thought she did bloopers or something. her acting is damn solid. her smiles were really sweet, her crying scenes were heartbreaking.

OST
Ugh, this drama has one of best range of OST. Mao buyi, Ah Lin… just wonderful.

CGI
my previous drama was Shenli. while it was good, ALP was one level higher. it’s much big scale. see those dragons, qiongqi, Kylin etc it shows a lot.

ALP is one of the best xianxia I’ve seen. while following tropes here and there, what I appreciate here was the storytelling and believable characters. they don’t waste on any scenes and that is already one of contributing factor of a good production.

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