Lost You Forever (2023)

a cut above your typical run of the mill boys over flowers reverse harem story

If you had told me that i would genuinely enjoy a reverse harem drama w four suitors, one of whom is basically a vampire, i would've never believed you.

on principle i don't particularly enjoy love triangles unless like, there is a clear endgame and one of the options just exists for the main character to learn from (for ex. fuheng in yanxi palace). this is because usually they exist in dramas for melodrama and fantasy scenarios of what if these two different hot boys were into you lol. maybe i just haven't seen that many but i've just always written them off as understandably popular for a reason but generally silly and cringey dog blood.

lost you forever/chang xiang si was very immersive because it offered a similar reverse harem formula or structure, but the basis and core of WHY there are multiple options is a cut above the typical boys over flowers reverse harem story. it is not simply that xiaoyao is a stand in for the audience, and her options are a good boy and a bad boy please choose which one u like more, y'know? xiaoyao is a multi faceted character who has been deeply traumatized and has a host of abandonment issues that affect her relationships as an adult. her two main options, tushan jing and xiang liu, represent two different pathways for her to progress- and the reasons why she likes them are also informed by her trauma and experiences. tsj offers her kindness, softness and gentleness, unquestioned support and care, he represents way for her to truly heal and learn to trust other people again, to grow in a positive manner. while xl’s coldness, darkness and danger are attractive to her because he is a kindred spirit, and also what she knows and understands. xiang liu's love on the other hand doesn't push her personal growth, but rather supports who she is in the present. he abandons her, pushes her away, never allows her to know how he loves her, and puts the bigger political picture above her. he teaches her archery so that she can continue to stand alone without relying on others to protect her. but tsj will come to prove that she CAN rely on others (or should at least in s2). it makes complete sense why narratively tsj is endgame, but her storyline with xl is equally, if not more compelling exactly because it makes complete sense why they love each other, but ultimately won't be together. not even gonna touch on cx because he’s a non-option whose relationship with her represents the worst possible route you can go post trauma. congrats y’all actually got me to enjoy a love triangle!!!! sort of pentagonal!!

the strengths of the story are the character and relationship writing. the doomed trauma bonded siblings, xiaoyao and cangxuan are the core relationship of the story and both characters are nicely done. i particularly like cx, what an ambitious little freak who got his wires crossed and is too weird about his sister! zhang wanyi is really excellent, i enjoyed watching his acting SO much... his tight little smile that never reaches his eyes…LOL yang zi is also great and particularly committed, especially as wen xiaoliu. xl and tsj are generally well written too, as is chenrong xinyue, and even the minor support character sang tian'er was well written and so memorable (honestly her role as a former sex worker was more progressive than the entirely of a dream of splendor). However you can really tell the writer only cared about Some characters while others only exist to cause conflict, namely fangfeng yiying is just Evil for like no good reason, and tushan hou is similarly just senselessly evil. i think the writer definitely struggles with villains and they are pretty one dimensional. generally however, the characters are pretty good, and good character writing can really drive home the themes and take a story so far! AND YET......

the plot........ my absolute biggest gripe with cxs is the PLOT. i find the plot so incredibly inept at supporting its characters, and unable to push the narrative forward. the story is extremely character lead, to the point where most of the show is just conversations, with very little Events Happening. why does cx achieve the throne at the end? HOW does he even achieve the throne at the end? because grandpa said so. thats why. as an avid lover of political court dramas and little plots and schemes, this show was so disappointingly short of that. and like, i'm not asking for nirvana in fire or rise of phoenixes, because that would just be a different show, but like.... just a little bit of plotting please.... just more sense as to HOW cx is power hungry and ambitious, cunning and calculating instead of just telling us over and over again. mainly all i saw was him getting hooked on drugs and building good relationships with the right people. i wanted him to take down his uncles and enemies one by one!!! doing more and more dastardly things to do so!! it just felt like the crown was given to him instead of him having worked to achieve it. i get that the author seems to mainly just want cx to represent this kind of classic cold, ruthless, power hungry character, and doesn't actually care for politics itself but like i can't help but feel kind of cheated out of what was promised in the first episode and the premise of his character. china's political drama genre is very popular and there are plenty of sources to pull from!! the princes’ struggle for power is a classic! as a result the story feels flat and like the characters are just existing in a blurry aesthetic background. these parts are just SO weak. like i don’t know who cx is as a ruler, i don’t know what his relationship is like with the common people, has he done anything for them? a ruler doesn’t exist without citizens, idg why we aren’t shown the ways cx built up power and support from the people. literally it’s just him interacting w the same ass two nobles who are already committed to him. similarly, tsj’s family is literally CARTOONISHLY evil, from torture to rape they’ve fuckin done it all!! they exist to purely just be evil and it doesn’t even make sense, why are they forcing him to be clan leader and marry ffyy when tsh and ffyy want to KILL him so she can openly be w tsh and he can be clan leader. idk maybe it will be explained next season but so far it’s just weak and lazy story telling. there are ways to tell a story about an abusive family that uses confucian values like filial piety and duty to manipulate its members and make it resonate in a real way- the same way that xy’s fear of abandonment resonates. if the writing was stronger they would be able to explore how they keep tsj trapped in this toxic family without resorting to the most outlandishly evil dog blood tropes. and xl too!!! his relationship w the chenrong army is SO WEAK and poorly written. like everything is for his adopted dad, but it just doesn’t feel enough, esp when the army others him for being a yao. if they had more scenes that developed his relationship with them, his devotion would be so much more believable. a scene of them singing around some burning bodies does not communicate the strength of their bond or conviction. nobody in the army is even NAMED. like if we actually got to know them and hear their stories, see how xl came to bond with them, it would just be so much more believable. in general this is the issue with the scriptwriting. cx, tsj and xl are all pretty well written by themselves, but they don’t have support from the plot to make it all make sense.

Not only is the plot writing weak, at times it is pure dog blood trash. for example, the entire plot abt xy getting tortured and killed by some complete RANDOM. clearly this random guy who we have basically NEVER met or heard of was being influenced by 5 wang and 7 wang who wanted to get rid of xy to get at cx, but there was so little build up, so little development. when it happens it feels like it's out of nowhere, and just happens in order to plant the seed that she's chi chen's daughter and to compare how our three leading men will react. i wanted it to be much more clearer why xy is a target politically, instead of like, just this random guy's revenge. just felt SOOO out of nowhere, shitty writing, poor development, and really took the quality of the story down sooo much. even worse tsj’s rape and forced marriage.... i have too many frustrations, the way they handled the rape was so abysmal i don’t even wanna talk about it lmao.

i found everything more successful and enjoyable in the first arc when they were still in qingshui town and xy was wxl. honestly i am also just a sucker for stories about the common people with common every day problems so that also contributed, but it truly felt so much stronger. i think that when the stakes are lower, more grounded, the writer is much more adept at creating a plot that can support its characters. the little political things that happened felt reasonable and believable, rather than later on when the stage is bigger and stakes are higher. i loved wxl’s found family, his everyday problems, and his relationship with xl and tsj was already well developed and fully communicated the themes and messages of the story. once wxl becomes xy and we are now in princesses and nobility and palace world it loses so much of the heart and charm it had originally. also all of the gender stuff! i appreciate that tsj often takes a narratively feminine role, but nothin’s gonna come close to how fun and queer and trans the first arc was.

on the whole this show boasts some strong characters in a weak plot. a reverse harem being used to examine the different paths one can take after trauma gives this show substance that most reverse harems don’t have, if only everything could be backed up by a carefully cared for plot. excited to see how things develop season 2!

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IM HOOKED UNTIL NOTHING LEFT

Not gonna exaggerating or adding MSG for a review purpose, but this one deserves to be one of the best Cdramas Ive ever watched so far. Been watching a lot of Cdramas throughout my life, only a few managed to catch my heart and soul. This one is one of it.

Wonderful theme, scripting, and acting. Definitely incorporated information into the storyline very well.

This is also my first time to participate on Wangyi's performance here as I am not familiar with his projects before, he really BELONGED to Zhuan Xu's portrayal . The rest of the casts also played their part brilliantly and so far, I am invested and there is no turning back. Yangzi as a beautiful lady Xiaoyao, and man in disguise Xiaoliu, Dengwei as a sweet sly fox Tu Shan Jing, Tan Jian Ci as a seductive 9 heads demon and last but not least our baby Hongyi as a clueless - no - woman-beside as Feng Long. I wanted to raise my praise for every casts here, but it would be too long but they are all giving brilliant acting.

I have read the novels before during the Covid, the plot is interesting and stay true to novel. My review does not contain spoiler as I knew probably all the watchers have already read it and understand how it went until the end.

For people who is questioning whether to watch it or otherwise, please dont stop yourself from watching this MASTERPIECE . you gonna miss a lot

thank you

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₍ꕤᐢ..ᐢ₎

simple review!

I love this drama in every way. I haven't been this emotionally invested in a drama in a long time. The music is beautiful, acting is great, and the characters are complex. There is nothing more that I can ask for. I was hooked since episode two. Watching it was really enjoyable. It made me laugh and it made me cry. I definitely recommend watching this drama and I will miss staying up till 3am to watch the episodes... Needless to say, I will be looking forward to season 2 and what it will bring. Hope it will air soon because I feel so empty right now lol ˙◠˙

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If you are a sucker of good acting,wonderful storyline and beautiful casts then go for it!

I'll try to not give any spoilers.

So if you're searching for a good historical drama and you're considering watching this then just go for it. This drama is adapted from a very famous novel written by Tong Hua and she's also the screenwriter of this drama. So ofc she won’t destroy her own work
But still I was a little afraid of this adaptation because they're not good at adapting these dramas as same the novels. But when I watched the first episodes and trailers I was so assured. I didn’t have any doubts about Yang Zi's acting. She's nailing this role again!
I'm ranking the acting of main characters
Yang Zi>Zhang Wanyi> TanJianci>Dai Luwa>Deng Wei
Tan Jianci did so good!

If we talk about the story, Xiao Yao is disguised as a male character named Wen Xiaoliu and works in a small town as a physician. So naturally this appearance or hers will be shady,poor,no makeup like a hard working male. I heard some people who are rating this drama with 1 star just by watching the poster saying that she's not beautiful enough to get this role ?
Like how badly you wanna say that you didn’t even watched a single episode not even trailers ?

As for Tan Jianci's character, he's a nine header demon serpent. So naturally his character is a bit cruel and ruthless. Idk why some people are taking advantage of this and saying that it’s supporting female abuses! Xiang Liu abuses her cause It's in his nature, and Cang Xuan doesn’t even know she's a girl and as for A nian, well she's also a girl.
I didn’t rate rewatch value 10 because this story will make you cry every in episode!?

It has a great storyline,MARVELLOUS acting and ofc handsome and beautiful casts! If you just have some patience and watch this you’ll get hooked up for real!

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Let the story lead you

Fantasy and wuxia dramas aren't usually my kinda thing but this one is really intriguing to me. The characters are well rounded and have good and bad moments as the plot twists this way and that. Difficult to choose who is the best ML at this point but they all have their merit, and all are handsome. I really got pulled into it and can't wait for each epsiode, I have no idea where the plot will go so it's quite entertaining. The acting is also very good and they chose the cast well. I also like that the FL actually could pass as a guy for once and she has a strong character without being annoying. I hope this drama keeps getting better as I'm loving it so far.

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best chinese drama for me so far

Ive never been excited to wait and watch for every episode, mesmerized by the charisma and charming Xiang Lu " Tan Jian Ci" and the soft hearted Tushan Jing "Deng Wei" , feeling super kilig ?. Being not a chinese, its been hard to recall their names but with these two, especially Tan JC, OMG been in love with them. Hope to see them in real person. ???

Ofcourse, Xiaoyao "Yang Zi" performs very good in this drama as well as the ambitious guy Cang Xuan "Zhang Wan Yi".

Im not so avid fan of C drama and at first and during the first posters ive saw, i thought it was a sad and boring drama got it from the title itself, who would want to watch something like "lost you forever", its like a tragic drama that will give you pain at the end.

But then, i got to like it since episode 2, and begun to love it in episode 3 when i saw Tan JC.

I hope in the end i will not cry...

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This drama on the surface looked to me like a typical romance xianxia, but after watching it I have come to realize that the romance part of it is very atypical and unlike other dramas of the same genre that I have watched before. For me what stood out most was how drastically different each pairing was, which was a good thing, because if all the pairs were similar, the entire drama would be a bore. Another plus was I felt that the entire drama was centered around the sibling relationship between Xiaoyao and Cangxuan. It was ultimately a story of brother and sister conquering the world, and everyone else were just supporting roles along the way. My thoughts on each of the CPs will be written down below to avoid spoilers in my more generic review.

The plot itself was streamline and I did not feel it dragging, though it did slow down after all the action moved to the courts and politics became more prominent. The best part of the drama had to be the episodes spent at the little town of Qingshui where it all began. As I said above, the majority of the plot revolves around the siblings, and we get to follow along Cangxuan’s journey to power. What made it relatively easy to follow was there were minimal important characters, and the world that the story takes place in is relatively small. In other words, we didn’t have to spend too many brain cells to remember a ton of names and places. This is also a plus because it meant there weren’t many useless characters.

However, I have to speak out (rant) on my dissatisfaction for episode one. It really left a bad taste in my mouth and almost made me reluctant to continue. First, I feel that it was a very unnecessary episode. If it wanted to introduce us to background story, it could’ve done it in a different way, a way that the drama used for the rest of the episodes - flashbacks!!! If flashbacks are done well, their purpose is to tell the audience the background story. This introduction was not effective, and I did not understand any of the motives behind what the adults chose to do (ahem a certain grave jumper). Second, fine, you want to start off with an introductory background story episode, then why do you need to add in a narration. It seemed like they just gave up on telling the background story and resorted to the typical narration followed by a time skip format. Anyway, enough ranting. Luckily I chose to move on from episode one and immediately the scenes that followed the 300 years later time skip were drastically improved.

Before the spoilers, I would like to applaud the acting of the entire main cast. I never doubted Yang Zi’s acting. Zhang Wanyi, Deng Wei, and Tan Jianci were pleasant surprises as I have not seen any of their past work before. They were truly the one and only fit for their role and did a phenomenal job. Can’t wait for season two.

SPOILERS AHEAD. Now on to taking about each CP.

First we have Yaojing. I fell instantly for 17 as soon as he made an appearance. He also had a great advantage in that he was the first male lead to make an appearance. I think what struck me most was his devotion towards Xiaoyao that began from the instant she saved his life. Usually this type of relationship is backwards in dramas, where the female lead is the one that needs saving then falls in love with her savior. It was refreshing to see this trope flipped in this drama. 17 was doing great and ahead in the race for me up until he had to resume his identity as Jing. As politics entered, although he wanted his heart to only belong to Xiaoyao, he could not help but carry some of the burden of being his clan’s future leader. What is heartbreaking is he did nothing wrong, but I think it is intentional to make the audience feel that he is no longer at a position where he can be a good partner to Xiaoyao.

As Jing was slowing down in the race, Xiang Liu quickly overcame him and became first place in the race. At the beginning I hated him. He hurt Xiaoyao without batting his eye and was abusing her by drinking her blood without her consent. But I got to understand him more, and he quickly became the most suitable partner for Xiaoyao in my mind. I see Yaoliu as soulmates. They were both in the same tragic conditions as children, and both fought their way out of their struggles, and made a life for themselves. They are both emotionally cold, strong, but also soft for the right people. Xiang Liu was there to pick Xiaoyao up whenever she was down. He was the one who taught her practical skills and how to defend herself. In return, Xiaoyao allowed him to take her blood as medicine, she accepted his identity and purpose, and never condemned him because he is a nine-headed “monster”. Their relationship was well balanced and Xiang Liu is the only person that I feel Xiaoyao can really be herself around.

Cangxuan’s over-protectiveness of his sister is a result of his tragic past as a child, losing all of his relatives in a short amount of time. Xiaoyao is the closest person to him, and he cannot emotionally bear losing her too. I never saw Yaoxuan as a couple, but they are probably the best sibling CP that I have seen in a drama. They are soulmates in a way that is different from Yaoliu. The pair had some of the best cry-worthy scenes in the drama. Two that are worth mentioning are when Xiaoyao mistook A-nian’s mother as her own mother, and her identity was therefore revealed in a heartbreaking scene with Cangxuan. Another one is when Cangxuan was being attacked and Xiaoyao protected him with her life from Fang Fengbei’s arrow. I can’t wait to see more of these two in season two.

Lastly, we have Fenglong. I don’t even know if I should include him in the race or not. I never shipped them, and I never felt that Fenglong would be a good partner for Xiaoyao. As he said himself, they are more like bros than anything else. I appreciate his frankness because he admits that he wants to marry her partly because of her identity.

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Not the ending I hope for, but worth watching

Am I the only one who find this whole part about 4 very good potential guys chasing after one girl a bit too cliche? It's like Boys Over Flowers / F4, but in ancient drama. Don't get me wrong, I love how the characters played out but I guess I'm not a huge fan of the romance plot. Every guy seems to be pining for one girl, it does seem like the entire world only has one potential girl worth chasing after.

If I strip away all the romance, each character is multi-dimensional and I love how the actors / actresses play out their characters.

1. The character whom you should hate but couldn't because he makes you feel more sad than angry - Xiang Liu
2. You also have this character who is playboy (with reason), powerless but extremely capable and the most loyal to one - Chang Xuan
3. A character who has everything but also has nothing - Tushan Jing
4. This girl who has gone through the worst things possible in life from being abandoned, abused, surviving alone and heartbroken - Xiao Yao

Who am I rooting for with Xiao Yao? To be honest, I really would love Chang Xuan together with Xiao Yao. The chemistry between the two characters is honestly off the charts. Chang Xuan is so firm on protecting Xiao Yao, that nothing could get in the way. Without hesitation, he would sacrifice anything to keep Xiao Yao from harm.

Of course, the one person who could match Chang Xuan is Xiang Liu. I feel bad for him. The whole time, he seems to always be alone. Other than Xiao Yao, I don't think I see him having a genuine good time with anyone else.

I always thought Tushan Jing is quite acceptable. Until when Xiao Yao was "assassinated". Dude went into coma the whole time because of his unwillingness to live without Xiao Yao. Dude, that guy just went to sleep while Chang Xuan went around taking revenge for Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu sacrificing his life to save Xiao Yao's. When CX and XL were out doing whatever they could to keep Xiao Yao alive, this guy given up. How this guy is the perfect match, baffles me.

All in all, the plot turned out to be pretty good - the politics, the fight scenes, the story behind every character, the different clans and kingdoms - I love them all. Just the romance - not my cup of tea.

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One Of The Best Chinese Drama I’ve Seen

A beautiful story of these characters who are extremely broken and abandoned, desperately fighting to find that love and happiness.
Yang Zi, Deng Wei, Tan Jian Ci and Zhang Wan Yi, all did a phenomenal job portraying their characters.
The intertwined relationships of not two but four people, was captivating and not boring throughout the entire series. It is impressive how they successfully captured a great individual chemistry between the female lead and her leading men. I was mesmerized and invested in each of her relationships with all three men. I have my favorite and I’m hoping he will be her happy ending and that is Tushan Jing / Ye Shi Qi.
Deng Wei has found the role he was "born to play” which is an ethereal character. He is so beautiful that he sparkles and if he kisses you will sparkles and turn into a Deity. FYI, that kissing scene of him pulling her up, one of the sexiest I’ve seen in Cdrama. The scene with his grandmother passing away and him holding his “baby”. Without overly dramatic cry or reaction, he successfully pulled off a brilliant performance of someone who just felt lost all over again and abandoned. That’s great acting!
His character is the one that broke my heart into pieces.

I highly recommend this drama and looking forward to season two.

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I havent been this heavy hearted from watching a drama in a while!

When I first saw the teaser for this drama way, way back in the beginning, I was going to try and watch this drama because I'm a fan of Yang Zi and have watched most of her dramas. Mainly all her costume dramas. I loved her in Ashes of Love and Immortal Samsara. And didn't think this drama was going to top those. Cause they were master pieces and Yang Zi had amazing chemistry with Deng Lun. And its pretty hard to top. Also especially since I didn't really know the ML that were casted in LYF. I thought it would be carried by Yang Zi only so it won't be that good. I was even a bit reluctant to start it but since there wasn't really any dramas out at the start of this drama, I gave it a try. But man was I so wrong. And I am happy that I am wrong!
To start off, the cinematography of this drama was amazing. The color, set, scenery, just everything was so beautiful and dreamy. The costumes were amazing too. Everyone's costumes highlighted their personality.
Next, the actors. Man did I fall in love with Zhang Wan Yi and Tan Jian Ci. I have never really seen them in any other dramas before. But they really stole the show with their acting. My favorite actors are ones that act with their eyes. And these 2 definitely fit the category. The longing, sorrowful, and even happiness they displayed in their eyes were amazing. It made me empathize with them so much. Just amazing.
The relationship that XY has with each of her ML is amazing. The complexity, the history, the story. I love all of it. Each ML shares something different with XY which makes the story has so much depth to it. Im a sucker for sibling dramas, which is why Go Ahead is one my of favorite dramas of all time. CX and XY's relationship makes me so sad. I love it. What they mean to each other and what they're willing to do for each other is crazy. Makes me want a gege in rela life too! Don't get me wrong, I love romance dramas too and all the scenes with TSJ are super cute. But my heart has always had a special spot reserved for sibling love.
The OST damaged me hard. I haven't heard an OST that made me want to cry like all the time in a while. I have been listening to it on repeat. I love that each character kind of has their own theme song. Cause the lyrics of it relates solely to them. And its so much more meaningful. Whenever I hear CX's song, it makes me want to cry cause him and XY suffered so much and you can just see CX's longing for XY. When i hear the song, the scene in ep 22 pops up in my head when XY is using her body to protect CX from FFB's arrow. That moment is so heartbreaking and also heartwarming at the same time. An the song is played whenever CX misses XY. Whenever i hear XL's song. Im just so sad cause he's so lonely and XY will never know how much he loves her. The song especially hits different because Tan Jian Ci sung it himself. Love love love all the songs.
While waiting for the drama to continue coming out, I read the novel. Cause I couldnt wait any longer to see what was going to happen next. The drama does follow the novel pretty closely which I really appreciated because the details of the novel are amazing. You know a drama is good when I pick up the novel to read because I cant wait any longer. And I do have to say from reading the novel, they really did nail the casting. I cant imagine anyone else playing the FL and the MLs. They all are exactly how I would imagine them to but if brought to life. Amazing. Im happy this Tong Hua novel wasnt butchered.
Eagerly waiting for season 2 to come out so I can be even more emotionally damaged than I am already. I know the scenes in Season 2 are going to be so much more emotional. We will get to see Yang Zi and Zhang Wan Yi display their amazing acting skills then!

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I LOVE THIS DRAMA!

I went into this drama expecting something good because I am a fan of the FL and I always watch her dramas.

I did not expect though that she will be surrounded by such effective actors starting with Zang Wan Yi. I have not seen his acting before and I was blown away by his depth. His acting is exceptional, the emotions he conveys is spot on. I love watching him, he simply owns the screen. Very impressive!

Deng Wei and Tan Jian Ci are also proving to be so efficient as if these roles were tailored made for them.

Yang Zi, as always, delivers. She means business, she has serious acting chops and it's amazing how she always has chemistry with whoever actors working alongside her.

When I watch a drama, I usually skip dragging scenes, I mean you can easily recognize when the writers are messing around. In this, surprisingly, I watched faithfully and listened to the dialogues which I think were done beautifully. I really appreciate what they've done here.

Not sure how this will pan out for season 2. But whatever the ending is, I am eagerly anticipating to watch until the end.

It is a pleasure watching this.

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