Love and Redemption snuck up on me and now I can't function.
I don't want to make this a post about comparing and sh*tting on another show but I'm gonna say this for people who like me tried to watch/watched Ashes of Love and didn't like it and now they are not sure if they should check this out because the two shows seem similar: This is like Ashes of Love if Ashes of Love was actually good! I’ll say give it a chance!
Okay, trash-talk over, moving on to positive review!

I'm going to give a tiny summary because the description here is bad.
A thousand years ago, there was a war between the heavenly realm and the demon realm. The demons were winning thanks to a very powerful general called Star of Mosha. Then this God of war showed up, annihilated Star of Mosha, and the heavenly realm won the war. But because Mosha was very powerful, they couldn't fully kill him and a part of his soul was put in a jar and was hidden in one of the sects on earth. A thousand years have passed and it seems that stars are (literally) aligning for Mosha’s return.
Now, the story really starts when during a cultivation tournament, the younger daughter of the Shaoyang sect leader, Xuan Ji, meets the star disciple of Lize palace, Si Feng, and they become friends. Xuan Ji doesn’t have the six senses (She is color-blind, can’t differentiate sounds, smells, and tastes, has no sense of pain or touch, and doesn’t process emotions.) Si Feng, Xuan Ji, her sister Ling Long and senior disciple Min Yan form the most adorable quartet of friends and decide to help Xuan Ji regain her sense by finding this magical mirror. They end up uncovering some serious demonic activities regarding Star of Mosha and what happened a thousand years ago…

This show has every trope and concept that my romantic heart could possibly crave:
1)star-crossed lovers
2)Falsified history
3)Hot men with wings
4)Ride or die group of misfit friends
5)The rejects are the good people and they get together and are cute and adorable and heroic
6)Some serious subversion of romantic dynamics and gender-norms
7)Happyily-ever-after
8)Complex female characters
9)Did I mention FRIENDHSIPS TO DIE FOR?
10)No instalove. It’s a S L O W B U R N!
11)Mythology, fantastical creatures and figures
12)Love that lasts lifetimes…10 of ‘em!
13)No love-triangles, ridiculous cheatings, or other boring shenanigans that make hetero-romances garbage…
14) Subplots that are actually interesting and engaging
15)Perfect foreshadowing work…PERFECT
16) HOT MEN SUFFERING WHILE LOOKING PRETTY

I did not expect to love this show as much as I did. However, I loved the story. I loved the execution and everything in between.
One of the strong points of this show was its plot and story. Unlike a lot of other shows which just drag out the plot with melodrama, love-triangles and etc. this show is actually dragged out by action-packed plot and complex narratives. There is a lot happening in every episode and even if sometimes it becomes overwhelming, it’s definitely still moving the plot somewhere. Even episodes that slow down to develop romances and such are very well-paced and seem justified. I could maybe shorten it for 3 episodes but eh, it’s fine. A problem that I have with some cdramas is their boring B plots that I just want to fast-forward through but L&R manages to have such an endearing supporting cast of characters that I was genuinely invested in all of the side-romances and their plots. There are some mind-blowing plot twists in the show that you realize were all foreshadowed. They leave a mix of spot-on clues in addition to fake clues to both give you information and confuse you and then they deliver for every.single.one. fake or real clues. *mind: blown* Overall, I would say the plot develops and moves in an incredibly satisfying way. Something I really love is that despite an obscene number of misunderstandings in the show, at crucial moments there is always one character screaming at everyone else for being idiots and misunderstanding the situation. The show ends up also being very feminist with some very positive messages about women and identity, trauma, agency, and autonomy over one’s body which I consider an inherently feminine issue but also one with [SPOILER] [SPOILER] tones and the story has BOTH…you’ll get it when you watch the whole thing!

The casting in this show was just perfect. The main leads did an amazing job. Crystal Yuan was wonderful as Xuan Ji. She actually made me endeared towards a character who if done badly would have been very frustrating. She actually has nuance in her performance because slowly as Xuan Ji gains her senses and catches feelings, you can see the little changes in her behavior and it’s the most satisfying thing ever. Cheng Yi also knocked it out of the park! That man carried this show on his shoulders. Definitely the emotional anchor of the show was Cheng Yi’s portrayal of Si Feng and the many, many, MANY tribulations he goes through! Lol, I can’t recall the last time I watched a male character suffer so terribly on screen. But the perfect acting doesn’t end there. Liu Xue Yi plays his character so well… a little too well at times. I am obsessed with every acting choice that Bai Shu made for his portrayal of Teng she. Hou Meng Yao made me tear-up TWICE. Fu Fang Jun might just be the most charismatic man on earth and Li Xin Ze had no right breaking my heart like that.

The music, I didn’t love. It wasn’t bad. I just…I think I’m just not the right person to give an opinion on music. Sorry

The production of this show was also better than most you’ll see in Xianxia shows. The CGI was very good. The sets were quite lovely. We have three realms, five sects, and at least four random towns the characters visit and each had distinct styles and aesthetics. There were some grey wash “bare meadows of misery” where action sequences occurred but I guess that’s just how life is; sometimes the background is grey! I especially loved the design for Lize Palace for SPOILER reasons. It was a very nice little clue left for the viewers who were paying attention to details.

The costumes: I wasn’t crazy for the girl’s costumes and hairstyles but I guess most of the budget went into providing Si Feng with his majestic wardrobe and I respect that decision.

The negative: There are a lot of misunderstandings. I know at some point a lot of viewers hated Xuan Ji and were blaming her. I personally didn’t and there were certain things going my way even during the darkest episodes of the show which made me really excited to keep watching so I was satisfied. However, the misunderstandings can absolutely be a turn-off for some viewers. The show is also tropey as hell while subverting some other tropes. I love my xianxia tropes and I haven’t watched so many that I’ll be annoyed by the repetitions yet. I actually enjoyed recognizing certain tropes and calling them out. There are also some “convenient” McGuffins in the story if you are going to be nitpicky about it.
But I believe, once you start enjoying a show, and you are so invested in the characters, and the story keeps delivering in a satisfying way, the occasional plot hole, bad lighting or framing, and whatever else won’t really matter anymore. It’s only when you are not enjoying yourself that you will get hung up on the technical aspects of the production.
Somewhere between episode 2 and 3, I started to love this show and I just loved it all the way, and those minor issues didn’t matter at all.

Love and Redemption is also one of those shows that require a rewatch because there are so many things that will be revealed that actually affect the way you perceive the whole story. These will come through in a second watch once you already know all the plot twists and outcomes and will look out for those foreshadows.

I will recommend this to anyone who likes the things I listed above. It’s definitely the best Xianxia show I have watched so far and I will probably not be over it for a while.