Ben Yue (2022)

This Drama is good :)

So i see this drama get a lot of bad review. First of all, i watch a lot of K-Drama, C-Drama and fantasy is one of my favourite genre. I'm picky and dropped dramas before.
BUT this drama is good. To be honest, after watching like a hundred C-drama, if i see its gonna be long, i know exactly what to expect. Evil side leads, a love what can not come true, and hopefully a partially happy ending. I'm ready for all this, and i don't mind. Of course it would be better with 25-30 episode, but we all know that this is how c-dramas are. They are long. To be fair im so happy to see this 38-40 episode dramas, compare to the normal 56-60.
I think this years best was Love between Fairy and Devil, and its hard to do better, but i think they don't need to. :)

I think the first 15-20 episode is really strong, we have romance and fight, some conflict what actually compare to other dramas are solved pretty quick ( this was a good surprise), but then from 20-30 we have some boring parts what are obviously for more screen time, and maybe because this is also a drama thing :D
i enjoyed the last 10 episode, and cried a lot near to the end. This is a must by these dramas i guess.

There are characters who i loved like He Na, who was truly amazing, as a true friend, who is not selfish and always put the persons he love in front of him. It was heartbreaking and lovely to watch him . I also liked Liu Ning, and i think her story is really sad, but a must and adds a lot to the main storyline.

The 2 main leads are totally fine. I'm not amazed but i do think the way how they portrayed the characters, was loveable. I didn't read the original novel, but i do think they where a good choice to this.

I think the costumes where good, and so the CGI.
I think this drama is worth watching, but i will not rewatch it again. I think this a strong one to watch one time.
The music is heart catching and the songs went strait to my Spotify list.

Lire davantage

I love this drama as a spinoff but......I will (probably) never make peace with the ending.

More to how I feel about the ending at the end of my review, if you don't mind ending spoilers, or spoilers in general then read on!

Let's start of with the actors, the male lead Vin Zhang (Zhang Binbin), really did an amazing job in featuring four different characters in this story: God of Moon(Yue), Lu Li, Luo Ge and Dark God of Moon(Dark Yue), each have their own distinct personality, and I'm so glad he uses his own voice in this drama!!

This isn't the first time I see Zhang Binbin to be honest, since the first drama I ever watched him in was as Li Zing in Ten Miles Peach Blossom, and I did like his character in there, even when he had made that one mistake that caused his tragic fate at the end. Back then he made an impression for me, enough to still remember him all these years, but my love for his acting and his character portrayal has cemented in this drama(Song of the Moon)! I love how he portrayed his emotions well, and I really, really love him as Luo Ge! I got to say that while I don't like to see pain being inflicted upon Luo Ge, Lu Li or God of Moon, but I will be lying if I say I didn't enjoy his pain-scenes or scenes where he expresses pain/suffering because he is JUST THAT GOOD in acting out those scenes that made it believable!! I love his love for Liu Shao and how he expresses it through his micro expressions (when he's holding back in openly expressing his love for her), so no matter what I never got tired of scenes that have him in it! He can literally carry the show! I love Luo Ge as a character, because he is one of the most reasonable male leads I have seen in a long time! I also love the way he loves the FL (Liu Shao) as well, and I do see chemistry between them!

Also, I just want to touch on the fact that Luo Ge is NOT weak, and it really bothers me how some people don't know how to pay attention to the story at all to be saying this. People need to bear in mind that spiritual powers aren't limitless, if you overuse it, then it can worn you out, and it could also put your life at risk.

It has been stated several times in the story already that Liu Shao's spiritual powers influence Luo Ge, their spiritual powers are both mutually destructive on each other, if they were to use it on each other. Without spoiling too much of the later-story, you can see later what will happen when the extreme Yin energy does to Liu Shao. So this alone, along with what the Immortal Master said to Luo Ge earlier when he(LG) was helping Liu Shao open her Qi Hai to help her cultivate on her immortal path, he got hurt in the process, when the symbol on Liu Shao's forehead (which was God of Sun's divine spirit) activates. Luo Ge got hurt because he withdrew some of his powers in the last minute, so Liu Shao life was save. If not, not even her bracelet would have saved her in the end. She would have died..

So in context of understanding that situation, every time when Liu Shao is hurt/injured, and Luo Ge use his powers to heal/help her, it hurts him in the process, and we can make a conjecture here because Liu Shao is fine each time when Luo Ge heals her or use his powers on her, and only Luo Ge is affected by this, shows that Luo Ge is holding some of his extreme yin energy/powers when he use it on Liu Shao, when he does that you can say that it leaves him defenseless against Liu Shao's extreme yang energy so this hurts him....When he is hurt, just like everyone else, it takes time to recover, and it was pointed out that when Liu Shao is beside Luo Ge, he can't recover back fully (that's why Immortal Master was so against them being together). So what Liu Shao is like to Luo Ge when he's injured is similarly opposite to what Wan Shui is to Liu Shao when she is hurt (after Luo Ge received the three lightning punishment in her place instead). Wan Shui said that him being near her will benefit her recovery quicker because of the medicinal effect of Wan Shui being the 10,000 years king herb. But for Liu Shao, unfortunately that doesn't benefit Luo Ge because of their conflicting spiritual powers of being extreme yin and yang.

Even when he was already injured, he can still cast the formation in the yin-yang cave, that strong formation does not come without great spiritual powers, you need to have enough spiritual powers to be able to use it... So let's refresh our memory here, and put these into step by step, Luo Ge was already injured earlier because of the conflicting powers, then he went and set up the formation in the yin-yang cave.... And then when he returns as he was trying to recover back his spiritual powers, the evil spirit have to continue to throw all these at him where he have to use up (again) most of his spiritual powers to seal them all into the sphere when he was in the Bone Melting Pool.... So honestly, can anyone just cut him a break there... Even Wan Shui said it himself, that he can't continue on like this, because he will eventually die... And again, spiritual powers aren't limitless. People need to understand this... BUT even when that is the case, why don't people ever consider the fact that yeah, Luo Ge wasn't at 100% of his powers, but he can still stand his own against the Evil Spirit and what the Evil Spirit throws at him... Isn't that good enough to prove that he's strong, and NOT weak!

Moving onto the Female Leading actress Xu Lu who portray her character as Liu Shao, this is the first I've seen of her, but I do think that she's not as bad as some people make her out to be, I don't mind her acting cute/having a different side to her where she only shows towards Lu Li/Luo Ge because I see that is a form of affection she has for Luo Ge. Some people don't like her character, but for me, I don't mind it, since I don't think she's weak at all. Strong female characters doesn't necessarily have to be physically strong... Because those who are physically strong but lack the brains and not mentality strong, are female characters I don't really like. What's the point of having physical strength but your heart is weak. I also disagree to how some calls her the weakest female lead in Chinese Drama's like if they really think that then just WOW! They have NOT seen any yet! To me, Liu Shao is 1000x better than the FL to Ashes of Love (Jin Mi). At least Liu Shao actually works hard to cultivate and get stronger to becoming a God, unlike Jin Mi (Ashes of Love), where she just so stupid and takes it for granted and get her cultivation handed to her on silver platter! Jin Mi to me is the WORST FL ever!

Main pairing Luo Ge x Liu Shao is my favorite in this drama, and I have made quite a few MV's on them as the drama was airing, so if you're interested, you can check it out here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/ben-yue/84027-mv-sharing. I love Luo Ge and Liu Shao relationship, because when I think of the main pairing, I picture them as touching and sweet and I really love how they are always supporting each other and that's the kind of relationship that appeals to me and I love Liu Shao strong love for LG and how she always there to support him! They also both have trust in each other, which is an appeal to me as well. This is refreshing to see instead of the usual misunderstanding so I honestly don't know why some people say is boring! When there's no trust in a pairing and there's misunderstanding they complain! When there's trust between a pairing they still complain! Can they just make up their mind and stick to it! Even when the focus was dragging on for the 2nd pairing..... I never get bored of seeing Luo Ge and Liu Shao moments when they come onscreen. During those times, I see them like a married CP almost like this is what their life will be like when they are married! So for me, I will always love the main pairing no matter what! I also love their domestic life during these times almost like they are married and how I pictured them to be like when they are married and protecting the three realms together and Liu Shao is cultivating her powers as we can see. If those actually paid attention to it at all, the main pairing did have their own developments very early on. But I guess we can watch the same drama but feel very different to interpreting the drama. That's all I have to say.

2nd pair A Fu x Luo Ning: To be honest I did started of shipping the second pairing at first and was looking forward to their story, but over time I just got to the point of not seeing a future for them anymore. If I am going to say my feelings on how I describe this pairing is disappointing and unhealthy. Disappointing comes from the fact that A Fu actually fed her the Phoenix tears against her will. This wouldn't have happened if he trusted LN's love for him a little. He should know what Phoenix tears does and in the end he ended up punishing himself for this... Unhealthy because I can't picture a future for them. It got to the point where it felt forced coming from A Fu side because he would rather lock her up and not respect what LN really wants. Yeah they love each other but I don't see it as a healthy relationship and honestly I don't see A Fu genuinely cared for LN and her feelings when he plotted to hurt those she cared for. He was the one who destroyed their future. Did he ever consider how LN would feel when he plotted to kill or hurt those she care for? -_-

This drama has 2 alternate endings, which is according to the choices made by Liu Shao! (Well I know there's a secret ending was filmed but got deleted, and I am still pissed about their decision to delete that perfect ending for me)! T__T

Ending 1(Ep 39) is when Liu Shao decided to sacrifice herself to save Luo Ge from the evil spirits by drawing it all into her, because her being the God of Sun (reincarnation)/that has the Sun Spirit, her powers are Yang, and the Evil Spirit is tied to Yin(which is the power from God of Moon), so when Liu Shao draws the Evil Spirit into her, because of their conflicting opposite powers, they will both in the end die from it. In this ending, Liu Shao made the decision to sacrifice herself to protect Luo Ge and release him of the Evil Energy. This ending is more tied to the Novel ending, although not exactly the same reason, but it's the same where Novel Liu Shao sacrificed herself and God of Moon in the end, was looking all over the world, and with great efforts to find her again, which is similarly to how the ending played out in this episode (Ending 1). In the Novel Extra's it was revealed that God of Moon was able to find Liu Shao again, and they managed to get their happy ending!

In terms of the main pairing ending goes , I felt like ep39 touched me more... I felt more emotional in that one even when it didn't have an on-screen happy ending. Between one of them who have to "die"(sacrifice), I rather that to be Liu Shao not Luo Ge...Lu Li "died" in Liu Shao's arms back then so I felt like ep39 ending where it shows that scene where Liu Shao "died/sacrifice" herself is like a contrast to that part. Tbh, I prefer Liu Shao's choice in ep 39 ending better since that's how I see she would decide on her end especially when she have been saying all along that the person she wants to protect the most is Luo Ge. I still love what she said to Luo Ge that "10,000 years ago, Yao Ling have to painfully kill the one she loves, 10,000 years later, Liu Shao can finally protect you" ~ that's a powerful quote for me that I love. It kinda gives a sense of growth to her character for me since this time it's her turn to protect him instead of the other way around.

I really urge viewers to NOT skip it since you're missing out such an emotional heartfelt episode if you do IMO. Even if Liu Shao "died" in ep39, I didn't have doubt that she will come back, and get their happy ending in the end, just like in the novel. I love Luo Ge so much and seeing him died again just doesn't sit right for me. I just felt episode 39 ending coherently makes sense to me. I much rather they stick to Ep39 ending, where they have Ep40 wrap up to Luo Ge finding Liu Shao again that would be nice since that would tie in similar to Novel!

Ending 2 (Ep40) - This ending is when Liu Shao have no choice but to kill the Evil Spirit (Dark God of Moon), so in the end, Luo Ge have to "die" for that to happen... I'm not saying I don't like some of the scenes in episode 40, I'm just saying I don't like the ending scene in episode 40 since it raises questions for me... If they changed that ending to the ending to the deleted secret ending (will touch on this later) I would say I happily accept that at least it doesn't leave doubt. In this ending, Liu Shao said at the end that she hopes that her dream (which is in context what she wish for) will come true, and she said and implied through what she said is her dream (wish) is for Luo Ge to come back to her and then we see that scene of Luo Ge being back shows her wish has been granted. When it comes to the ending I want it to leave no doubt and this is why I am not happy with how it ended since it's open for interpretation. At first I was confused about this ending, but after watching that final episode several times. I ended up picking some details on my end. GOD, YOU REALLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO PICK UP SUBTLENESS WHEN IT COMES TO THIS DRAMA!!

So when Luo Ge "died", we see that Liu Shao was playing with her Corroding Harp where you see both Luo Ge's Moon Sword and Moon Bell was there. And you know what the effects of Corroding Harp actually does. Then we have Liu Shao was wandering the mortal realm and she saw A Fu and Luo Ning reincarnated, so this signify there's a time skip here (seriously writers, you can't even put in that effort to tell us this?!) And then in that ending scene, we saw Luo Ge using his fan to tap on Liu Shao's shoulder lightly to show that he's back.. And he have his moon bell back with him even when this was kept with Liu Shao in the immortal palace..

I honestly wish the ending to Ep40 was handled better... But after watching that ending scene in Ep40 again a couple of times I do think he's back but can they not exchange a few words or something... I think Luo Ge have his full memories intact and there's a time skip after he "died" before he can form a physical body to return to Liu Shao again. And lastly Luo Ge did promise her that he will return to her... So while this ending scene to Ep40 felt rushed but he did return... So yeah.. while subtle but the hints is there..

Secret Ending - Is coming from this deleted scene, where they did filmed it, but was not included in the Finale. To whoever made the decision to delete this scene, you really make a stupid decision for doing so, because this would have been perfect at the end for ending 2 then what we were given! (Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLCqJyUn4Hc). In this ending, Luo Ge 100% did return to Liu Shao in the immortal palace, and when he returned Liu Shao ran up to him and hugged him and scolded him for why he took so long to come back, I really like this ending and I am still sad why they would delete it....THIS will always be my fav ending!

In terms of story, I enjoyed it, it is fast pace, yes, but it was good enough to make me want to watch each ep after the ep ended. I didn't have a problem understanding the story, and what I love about this drama is when I finished the episode it made me want to watch more! I also love how this story made me want to make guesses and theories about what actually happened, and I like it when some of them I analysed was right! Although I have to admit that I was wrong about my views on Hei Yue (Dark God of Moon). With that being said, I will be lying if I said I don't enjoy Dark Yue scenes when he's being intimate with Liu Shao... For me, I guess this is one of the reasons why I love Vin Zhang, that is, no matter which character he plays as in this story, even if it's the evil God of Moon, he still perfected it to the point that it's hard for me to really hate him you know! LOL

In terms of faithfulness to the Novel? SOTM is NOT faithful at all.. The Story direction, and Character portrayal is completely changed in the Drama. So I can only take this as a spinoff. Which is sad, seeing how I love the Novel on my end. Maybe one faithful part in the Drama was at the end, Luo Ge was searching for Liu Shao again.

Characters I love in SOTM: Luo Ge, YueGuang, YaoLing, Lu Li, Liu shao, He Na. To an extent I love Zhang Binbin portrayal as Dark Yue, and even when he's back as Luo Ge, I love him in that dark costume! I also love Shang Yurong and his Shijie relationship, I am happy they get to be together in the end. Xie Lingqi was a jerk at first, but after learning his back story, I came to like his redemption arc.

Rewatch Value: I will watch this again, but only on the scenes I love/enjoy.
Fast forward scenes for me: A Fu, Baifeng, A Fu and Bai Feng plotting, A Fu x Luo Ning scenes...
Sad that Lan Chi (which he is a Novel Character) did not make it into the Drama, since I love his interactions with God of Moon in the Novel, but then, the Novel and Drama is very different so... Not surprising though...

Editing to the drama side of things, I do agree it went downhill, and honestly, I will never forgive the editors/those who deleted some of my favorite CP scenes that I know it was filmed but never made it to the aired version. It's a huge insult to the actors doing their best to play out their scenes, but in the end, it just went down the drain. It's not the actors fault but those who chose to delete them!

Lire davantage

Deep calling into the deep: Powerful production with strongly influential effect

This work will meet you at the level of your knowledge and understanding of creation, kingdoms, both visible and invisible realms and may (if you allow) bring a deep message.

This is my first review - watched this one month ago - around New Year and was absolutely impressed. I started recently watching China drama productions, and watched a lot - day and night, but for the fitst time I encounter something like this.

Song of the Moon is probably the first of the genre Fantasy, but it was made and presented in a highly realistic scope than almost all I watched before -and I watched a lot. This is due to the quality of production, the phenomenal visual effects and picture resolutions, which installs the impression that the invisible realms are, as real as the visible, and more than that.

The story develops with quite a good intensive temps - once you start it, you get fascinated and so captured that you simply cannot stop watching it.

It tackles important issues and may not be equally undersood by all views depending on viewers' views and believes.
Song of the Moon is a non-religios, non denominational, highly beautiful art production that infuses positive emotions and will boost your energy level, yet it may not be everybody's perception.
For example, I come from Christian background and many of the Bible scriptures may not be easy to understand in the nowadays western people. The core of Christanity is a new person, being a 100 % man and a 100 % God, who knew no sin but took the responsibility for all mankinds' transgrassions. Watching this wonderful production, I have been visualising truths and virtues that are rare to see in the "mortal" world.
or visualize verses like - "Deep calling into the deep, with the roar of your thunderstorms'. So real.

Watching it, paramount questions come out of the series like that of love, trust and relationships, as well as the choices we make, and many questions are springing out while watching it but down are some examples:

How can you love, and protect all the mankind, if your heart cannot contain love for a single person? How can you take care of all the Universe, if you cannot take care of one human being, where love is prohibited?

Regarding relationships, interestingly Song of the Moon raises the theme of a lifetime relationship. Now, being immortals, this life-time relationship turns into an ethernal relationship, the relationship a man chooses to enter into with the living God.
The other point regarding relationships - well. I have met certain comments that Song of the Moon did not have a strong romance line. Maybe, because this has not been the producer's focus - I would say it's more the relationship, that the romance.

Regarding the cast - what can I say - this is my fist time watching all of them actors, and if they have succeeded to make a fantacy production look more realistic than non-fantacy productions, then cogratulations - they have all done a very good job.

I have also read a comment that the ML actor is being underestimated. Well, those who humble themselves, will be promoted.

I have been re-watching the episodes following 21 and really very good acting, moreover he is playing several charaters and cases of one interwening into the other.

Actually, a month after watching it, it is exactly Vin Zhangs' moments from this drama that come to my mind, like the the Immortal responding to peoples' prayer with "Granted" "Granted."

Last thing to note is the overall positive message that Song of the Moon brings. This is for me a rear find amongst China TV productions. Out of the many I saw I can say in terms of influence on the viewer, only the Long Ballade can be mentioned, which is an overall fascinating production, as well, with many merits, when Song of the Moon gives even a deeper message, and is a newer production.

Lire davantage

There's a hidden gem

Alright I'm going to review things that I appreciate in this series. I believe all series have their own pro & cons. It's just this one have some things that I need to emphasize.

1. The sibling relationship is gold
Both the sibling interaction A Fu-He Na or Luo Ge-Luo Ning is precious. They have their own way to protect each other. But sometimes the option is not right. Especially for A Fu-He Na, their story of brotherhood has a dynamic that it makes me touched, mad or sorry on them. Gonna appreciate them.

2. A touching side story
Aside from the demon brothers story, we got to see other story that really touches my heart like the story of Lu Li and his master, also the story of Luo Ning. Can't be helped but feel sorry & appreciate them. Kindness really touch people's heart.

3. Good chemistry of main lead
Honestly I kinda like the chemistry of Lu Li-Liu Shao they can be cute/funny at times. I also like the fact they trust each other. There's misunderstanding but thankfully it's not dragged. This is just personal opinion.

4. Great cooperation of Demon & Immortal
I like how this series has been teaming up between Demon & Immortal way early. It's unlike until the last minute finally we can see justice for demon. I think this series fight the prejudice of demon. Not all demon is bad thankfully they made it clear earlier.

5. Perfectly matched BGM arrangement to suits the mood.

6. It's not dragging for the first 20 eps? That's what I feel since I like fast paced story. The rest eps is fine for me. It's developing just slowly later on.

Lastly, there's some things that need improvement like side characters' acting on some parts but so far it's fine. I don't want to leave comment that can ruins someone first impressions. Have fun watching!

Lire davantage

What is going on with this drama?

Hoenstly this drama started out really strong with an amazing set up to the plot, and strong characters;

Liu Shuo being a very strong, independent woman who is capable of making decisions on her own, as well as handling herself. She isn’t as naive as some other female leads, and actually uses her intellect to try and solve the issue.

Lu Li is a cheeky, yet charming man who primarily just wants to enjoy life whilst serving his master and he ends up falling for the main lead which is a complete and utter opposite of Luo Ge the counterpart to Lu Li, whom originally is very cold, reserved and does not want to waste time in useless situations.

The story starts off in the mortal realm, when Liu Shao meets Liu Li and their stories become intertwined as they attend an academy together essentially to become immortals. Afterwards, the setting of the story changes to the Immortal Palace, where a situation arises resulting in Liu Shao and Luo Ge meeting, and continuing on the story.

Throughout the drama we meet many side characters like Demon King, He Na whom befriended Liu Shao, Li Lu and Luo Ge throughout their journeys.
His brother Fu, whom has evil intentions to try and free his people whom are imprisoned by a curse brought upon the actions of their ancestors.

Luo Ning, the little sister of Luo Ge and eventual lover of Fu. Whom gives off the personality of a “naive” young girl, when in reality she’s merely a sweet, sheltered, girl whom enjoys discovering new things and learning about the world.

As the story developed throughout the episodes, the plot began to drag and showed repitition. Whether it was the constant mentioning of “power clashes” between the cultivation levels of the main leads, the unstable three realms of the world, the constant back and forth of the main leads romance and even the side romance which resulted constant moments of each party hurting each other without proper communication, and thought as they constantly repeated actions over and over again.

It got to the point I was getting frustrated and yelling at the characters through the screen, or running scenes forward.

With such strong actors, characters and even a storyline and they let it all go to constantly repeat tropes to try and make it as dramatic as possible. In all honesty, the story could be completed in 16-26 episodes at most, without the unnecessary need to drag the plot on, stretching it to the point it loses its original creative intent.

Six more episodes to go and I already want the drama to end. I am unsure as to how they are going to end it, but we shall see how my review changes after the drama is completed.

Lire davantage

This will definitely be a rewatch for me. Oh man, I love a great fantasy that's for sure. Vin Zhang, whom I once hated because of "Eternal Love", wouldn't even watch another drama with him in it. I gave in because that was pretty selfish of me to think he was the type of character he played in real life. lol smh, I got over myself and started to watch other dramas and I fell in love with Vin Zhang's acting. He was great in this fantasy playing the character of Luo Ge. Xu Lu did an awesome job of playing Liu Shao, the Sun Goddess. The romance between Luo Ge and Liu Shao had great chemistry. Now let me say something about Wang You Shuo who played He Na, OMG wished I was younger. He was terrific and handsome, and so was his script brother A Fu Jun played by Riley Wang. My first time seeing those two. Need to see more of them. Zheng He Hui Zi (Luo Ning) was so cute and spunky. She played the sister of Luo Ge and was great. A lot of fantasy, great fantasy, and the visuals were pretty awesome. The storyline, wow, I applaud the writers. I just love Immortals. The ending had me confused but I figured it out... but it was a little tricky and twisted. Viewers will have to watch this to know what I mean. Thanking the rest of the staff for bringing this story to the front.

Lire davantage

Beautiful drama for fantasy lovers

It was quite surprising how much I loved this drama. Story was very good and actors were seriously good. On top of that, this whole drama is full of "eyecandy" for the ladies. I usually choose one lead as favorite and pay more attention to her/his story but in this drama that was impossible due to all three male leads being talented and good looking actors. Wang You Shuo has amazing ability to show emotion with his eyes. Loved those shy glances as well as curious observing He Na does. This is first time I see Riley Wang in historical setup and he nailed it. Plus, whoever did his costumes and makeup needs to get a raise. In my opinion, Vin Zhang is better suited in his kind of drama then modern one. Xu Lu was wonderful once again.

All in all, I would recommend Song of the Moon to all wuxia/fantasy lovers but be ready for battle of heart if you want to choose a side.

Lire davantage

Great start…

Honestly, I was really excited about this drama since this is my favourite genre. It started off great but then plateaued for me. The ending was not my favourite, I hated that there was 2 alternate endings and they weren’t written the best. Personally there were some parts of alternate ending 1 and alternate ending 2 that I liked so maybe if they took the good parts and made an actual ending, it may have turned out alright. I was also frustrated at some of the character developments since I believe there was so much potential. I wish this series did better since it had so much potential, but those endings really ruined it for me.

Lire davantage

How to do wuxia with all of the basics but make it better

I have to say this is one of my favorite c-dramas that I have seen. It's not perfect but I actually enjoyed it, so that is how I base my score.

First this is a wuxia / fantasy drama so it follows the same pattern.... a little long, kind of innocent female lead, stoic almost too good to be true ML, silly bad FL evil person, misunderstandings, etc. It's really a matter of extremes that determines whether I like a show or not.

SPOILER: Second is the 2 endings.... personally I feel the first ending was the correct one even if it left a sadder feel. The 2nd ending made no sense, kind of destroyed the character growth of the FL, although He Na lives in the 2nd ending and Fu Jun / Luo Ning had a nice moment. But again based on story, 1st ending was still correct cause Fu Jun needed to take responsibility and become the person he should have always been for his brother and not just sacrifice himself. I feel him being the demon king and following through on what his brother wanted was more important and He Na would never have wanted Fu Jun to die for him.

So the story is a little messy, the first arch is about the Lu Li and Liu Shao in the mortal world. I know some did not like this arch but to me it was important cause it showed why they loved each other and why Liu Shao would even tolerate the immortal Lu Ge. I found the first part of the story fast past, and any of the troupe misunderstandings were quickly resolved - which was a blessing to me. The immortal arch (like 20 - 30) was OK. I missed some of the people in the human realm the rest of the show. The last arch is about the evil spirit (good of the moon) and his plan to take over the three realms ... he shares a heart with Lu Ge,

Why it was better than a lot of wuxia.... the misunderstandings are small in duration. The evil people are not caricatures and actually have personality. The FL while still the innocent type is no where near as annoying as other ones (Ashes of Love still has the worst FL) . The ML is less perfect and unemotional (just for a few episodes). Even the immortal realm, which is normally the most hypocritical group of people, were actually ok in this show. So in generally some troupes but they are far less annoying.

Acting was good to great. Vin Zhang was great playing really 4 roles: the playful and loving Lu Li, the someone stoic but loses up Lu Ge, the god of the moon (original good one) and the evil good of the moon. Xu Lu was ok as the FL, to was harder for me to judge her cause the voice dubbing was the over childish female whining that grates on my nerves. So it may be more that than her actual acting. The rest of the mortals and immortals were fine, some better than others. Zheng He Hui Zi was cute as Luo Ning and had some good moments that helped her character grow and change, unlike the FL. not sure if that is story or acting related,

The real stars (and this has been said in other reviews) are Riley Wang as Fu Jun, the demon king's brother and the second couple with Luo Ning. his acting was fantastic especially when he was with his bother. Which leads to the star and absolute best part iof the show Wang You Shou as He Na the Demon King in White. I haven't felt this connected to a character and actor since Xiao Zhao as Wei Wuxian. He was just that good, I looked forward to every scene with him and felt more for his ending (ep 39 vs 40) than I did when either of the leads had their death scene. I can hardly wait to find all of his other shows!

Music was good.... sometimes it was a little distracting to have songs playing while people were talking so they should have toned it down a bit.

I see this as a rewatch, but more just the scenes with He Na.

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