Love When the Stars Fall (2023)

Un très bon wuxia drôle et émouvant

Super agréable et drôle, ce drama nous a tenu captifs malgré des faiblesses de réalisation et de scénario.

C'est donc un wuxia des plus classiques qui nous est offert avec de très gros points positifs :
- Un humour qui se démarque par un ton léger et à la limite de l'absurde et surtout au détour d'une réplique de manière totalement imprévisible! Bien que parfois tirés par les cheveux, nous riions de bon coeur et j'apprécie tout particulièrement que ce ton humoristique ne perde en rien de sa force jusqu'à la fin du drama (bien que la dernière partie sois moins drôle).
- Des personnages ultra-attachants! C'est un des plus gros points forts de ce drama. Les personnages sont drôles et attachants. Certains nous étonnent même par leur sensibilité et l'émotion qu'ils ont pu nous faire découvrir. Une fois n'est pas coutume, certains nous surprennent par des actions que nous n'avions pas anticipé. J'avoue avoir une préférence pour les personnages du Void, qui ont su me faire rire et me faire fangirliser de la manière la plus inattendue. Certains personnages nous étonnent par l'étonnant tournure de leur actions comme le père des deux personnages féminins ou Wu Dai. Et d'autres comme Hao Chao brille par des répliques intelligentes et drôles, ce qui je dois l'avouer en faisait un de mes personnage préféré.
- Des relations émouvantes et évoluant de manière logique, sensée, avec toujours beaucoup d'humour et de sensibilité. J'ai tout particulièrement aimé la relation : Youqin/Chao Feng, une bromance pétillante, l'amour des deux soeurs qui est le moteur de ce drama, l'émouvante relation de l'empereur et ses filles, la relation classique de Chao Feng/Hao Chao mais si poilante, et enfin Wudai/La sainteté dont j'aurai aimé un peu plus de présence à l'écran.
- Des protagonistes féminins qui sortent de l'ordinaire de par leur force et leur éclat. Brillant de générosité autant que d'un caractère bien trempé, j'ai adoré voir les 2 soeurs affronter les obstacles sans jamais se lâcher la main. C'est une chose que j'apprécie tout particulièrement dans les dramas chinois et qu'on ne retrouve pas beaucoup ailleurs, même chez les coréens (du moins dans leur drama récent), l'importance, la force et la solidité des relations familiales. L'opposition entre la maline et caractérielle de l'une complétait à merveille l'intégrité et la noblesse de l'autre.

Il y a des points à améliorer qui n'entache en rien le plaisir d'avoir regarder ces 40 épisodes. Mais si ces points avaient été plus minutieux, cela aurait été sans nul doute un must pour moi :
- Malgré une alchimie que l'on ne peut dénier entre nos deux couples, je trouve que cela manquait peut-être parfois de "battement fous". Je pense que les scènes où Youqin décide d'aller à l'encontre de tous en choisissant Yetan manquait d'intensité.... Par exemple, lorsque Youqin prend la défense de Ye tan devant son père, je n'ai pas ressenti d'émotion forte durant cette scène, cette rage de vouloir la défendre envers et contre tous. Par exemple, Lorsque Nin Qe dans "Ever Night" balance " si le monde doit aller à l'encontre de Sang Sang, alors j'irais contre le monde", cette rage dans la voix, ce visage ferme et décidé, aish mon coeur s'est emballé furieusement. C'est donc dommage d'avoir rendu ces dialogues assez plats et loin d'être épiques. Je revois d'ailleurs encore la scène incroyable de "Love Between Fairy and Devil", lorsque DongFang apparait et attrape Orchid par la taille, devant tous les immortels et déclamant de sa voix de stentor " Qui ose toucher à ce qui m'appartient ?", une scène où l'intensité du couple explose! C'est donc ce qui manque en grande partie ici.
- Ce drama est avant tout l'histoire des deux soeurs, il est donc logique de les voir affronter le monde. Ce que je trouve dommage c'est qu'une fois leur pouvoir révélé (celui des deux soeurs), les deux protagonistes masculins ne servent presque plus à rien. De par leur immense pouvoir, de par leur force indéniable, ils sont relégués au second plan et ne servent plus que soutien. Il n'y a donc plus d'équilibre entre les couples où tout est presque décidé exclusivement par les deux soeurs. Les autres ne feront que suivre.
- Les scènes d'actions du début disparaissent et moins bien réalisés par la suite. J'aurais aimé une participation de tout le monde, une guerre en bonne et dû forme. Je trouve dommage que tous les pouvoirs soient donnés à Ye Tan et qu'elle seule parte en guerre. Bien sur, sa douleur d'avoir perdu sa soeur lui donne ce droit, mais je trouve frustrant de la voir décimer à elle seule les deux "realm", les autres étant quasiment inutiles. J'aurais aimé quelque chose de plus grandiose comme dans la saison 2 d'Ever Night, lorsque tous les frères et soeurs de Nin Qe prennent le parti de se battre pour lui et Sang Sang. Mais ici, c'est une opinion personnelle.

Ce drama reste malgré ses petites faiblesses un grand moment de divertissement agréable où l'on rit facilement et où l'on suit les aventures de ce groupe solide avec beaucoup d'intérêt.

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A Xianxia filled with love, friendship, disaster, and most importantly, comedy.

If you, like me, did not have your eye on this drama but decided to watch it on a whim, you will be pleasantly surprised by The Starry Love. And understandably so, because the past few years of Xianxias have exposed us to the ‘overuse’ of familiar Xianxia tropes. Fortunately, director Chu Yuibun (朱锐斌) seems to have realized this and decided to add a unique comedic spice to The Starry Love that significantly differentiates this drama from the rest of the modern Xianxia genre. Overall, The Starry Drama is a story of the love between two main couples as well as their adventures with friends, and what it means for the world to love or hate you.

The Starry Love (星落凝成糖) is adapted from the Xianxia novel of the same name by Yi Du Jun Hua (一度君华), and is the last installment of the Honey Trilogy, three romance dramas directed by Chu Yuibun. Therefore, you might notice the vast similarities between color selection, setting appearance, and costume design between The Starry Love and Ashes of Love. The Starry Love also has several actors that also played major roles in Skate Into Love, and its catchy OSTs are once again sung by the talented Sa Dingding and Mao Buyi, as well as Liu Yuning and Shuang Sheng. Here's another thing that may motivate you to watch The Starry Love: the leads voice their own characters, with the exception of Chao Feng. (no need to be worried about the high FL voice this round!)

Once again, the story is established with many of the usual Xianxia tropes. The world is composed of Four Realms, the Immortal, Demon, Mortal, and Beast. However, the Mortal Realm is fully aware of the other realms and works with the other leaders to maintain world peace. The Immortal Realm is again the ‘good’ realm, the Demon Realm is the ‘bad’, the Mortal is the ‘weak’, and the Beast is basically the ‘extra’. The main female leads, Ye Tan and Qing Kui are twins with a sealed fate, which they don’t learn about until later in their lives. Qing Kui is the hailed princess, the girl living everyone else’s dream. She is the destined Heavenly Consort, the future wife of Heavenly Deity Shao Dian You Qin. On the other hand, younger sister Ye Tan is not as fortunate. She was deemed a ‘bad luck star’ from birth, never having experienced the warmth and love from her father and servants. Destined to marry the future king of the Demon Realm, she vows to be a powerful evil being to defeat those who have always down on her. However, the sisters’ wedding carriages are swapped, and they end up in the wrong realms.

As you can see, we’re presented with a pretty unoriginal premise, so what makes this drama so interesting and keeps us on our toes? Well, to say this in the simplest way possible, it’s the way comedic scenes are inserted into the drama at the most surprising of times that makes The Starry Love such a fresh breath of air. One minute, you might be sad or even crying because of a certain scene, and a few seconds later, you are laughing so hard you might even be clenching your stomach. I personally really enjoy this unique addition, as I’ve certainly never seen this before in Xianxias and loved the comedic aspect.

The Starry Love is 40 episodes long, as with many of the new dramas after the maximum 40 episode rule. (in which some dramas divided the series in two parts to bypass this new Chinese law) The drama is well-paced, without many, or perhaps even any, filler scenes, unlike a few of the long dramas. I really enjoyed how there was understandable time spent on each You Qin arc, and how each couple was given enough time per episode to bond and give us the sugar we deserve.

Onto the acting. The acting here was PHENOMENAL, especially when it comes to Chen Xingxu. This man here had to act five totally different personalities. In the usual Xianxias we may get one or two reincarnations, but Shao Dian You Qin here went on a total personality-changing spree. From the cold You Qin, he was also the cute and heartwarming La Mu, greedy but caring Mei You Qing, elegant womanizer Wen Ren, and of course, the You Qin at the end, all of his previous personalities melded into one. Chen Xingxu pulled off his roles perfectly, effectively showing the great contrasts between each personality and making them seem like totally different people. (fun fact: (Mei You Qin) 没有情 means Emotionless)

As I was watching a drama with Li Landi for the first time, I loved her acting and her role as Li Guang Ye Tan. The changes her character experienced were phenomenal, and Landi displayed this through her acting, especially in the eyes. Not only is The Starry Love about the strong love between lovers, but between friends and family as well. Ye Tan and Qing Kui’s sisterly love is a strong relationship that not many others can compete with. The contrast between the two sisters’ personalities was also a sweet treat. Although Qing Kui always received the love that Ye Tan never had in her first 18 years, Ye Tan never blamed her older sister for it. Instead, they were always worrying about the other. While Ye Tan is a girl afraid of nothing, Qing Kui’s pure kindness guided her younger sister to the path of happiness.

The chemistry between both couples was just right. You will be gushing for not one, but two extremely compatible couples. As I was rooting for the Heavenly Couple, I was also squealing for the love story that was blossoming in the Demon Realm. As they say, you’ll always find each other if you’re destined to be together. It’s amazing how each of the characters influenced others to change and become better versions of themselves.

Of course, a Xianxia drama would not be complete without both loveable and hateable characters. Ye Tan, who had never received much care and love in her life, felt so fortunate to have become friends with not only Man Man and Di Lan Jue, but with Qing Heng, Zi Wu, the three senior immortals, and even with her future brother-in-law, Chao Feng. It was so heartwarming to see everyone warm up to this princess, who had always longed for a happy life. On the other hand, we have the power-hungry Immortal and Demon Emperors who put their own power before their family’s happiness. The Heavenly Empress demonstrated her true love for her children before any noble title or riches, while the Demon Empress’s power-hungry eyes not only showed her pure-evil heart but her universal love for her only son. The side couples were all very cute and fun to watch.

Production-wise, The Starry Love did a phenomenal job. The special effects for magical spells in all realms complimented their respective backgrounds and were all natural to the look. Like previous Xianxias, the Immortal Realm is given an almost-whitewashed look, while the Demon Realm is a land of darkness. However, the fireworks and magical trees were gorgeous to look at, to name a few magical elements of the drama.

Like Ashes of Love, the OST for The Starry Love includes songs sung by Mao Buyi and Sa Dingding, as well as Liu Yuning and Shuang Sheng, and were epic as always. Sa Dingding once again awes us with her amazingly high vocals managed with immaculate precision, while Mao Buyi and Liu Yuning sing with longing emotion. Shuang Sheng once again displays her lovely voice with a sweet tone. The soundtrack is as follows:

[Theme Song] “The Starry Love” (星落凝成糖) - Sa Dingding
[Opening Song] “Speak with You” (与子成说) - Liu Yuning
[Ending Song] “Flawless World” (天地无瑕) - Mao Buyi (with another version sung by Sa Dingding)
[Additional Song] “Twin Flowers” (双花儿) - Shuang Sheng

If The Starry Love is not THE Xianxia drama 2023, it is one of the best. Although it includes many Xianxia elements used in previous Xianxia dramas, the comedic aspect of this series differentiates it from the rest of the group and will certainly brighten up your day. The emphasis on strong sisterly love is also something that is not to be missed. (there’s eye candy too!)

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