My Journey to You (2023)

Characters Needed Work

I had to drop this drama, after many attempts at picking it back up. Mainly because I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters enough to try to properly identify the different clans and their kin.

Maybe I don't have what it takes to be a Wuxia watcher. Maybe you need to care about the Martial Arts World to watch Martial Arts centered dramas. I couldn't believe that the FL was played by the same dough-faced actress I hated so much in "Love Between Fairy and Demon". Could her role have been played better by a much better actress? Absolutely. But, she wasn't bad. She just doesn't have depth to her, naturally. She looked absolutely ridiculous in her wig, which was too large for her head. In scenes where she was supposed to outshine the other potential brides, she looked remarkably plain in comparison. Now, I am a huge fan of the moral story of a prince that chooses not the most beautiful, but the most innocent bride as his, but true goodness of character has to be expressed by the bride for us to fall in love with her.

The SFL is one that I fell in love with. They showed her vulnerability in flashbacks. They really fleshed her out. Not to mention that her beauty outshone the FL many times over.

The FL kept being saved by the SFL, the ML, and others, and without beauty, or character (like the SFL), I needed a reason to root for her, yet I found myself unable to come up with any except that she was the FL. I hated seeing the other female characters being harmed. I cared for them more than the FL, even though I knew less about them than I did about her. Without being able to care what happens to the FL, there was no tention left for me to care what happens next.

The cinematography was above and beyond the standard. It was big-budget cinematography, and bursts of colours were used sparingly and to good effect in high-drama moments.

It's not a boring drama, exactly. Just.... you have to really care about the main characters to keep your interest, as their lives are the "stake" of the entire drama. Without the two main characters, there wouldn't be a story, so if you can't care about the main characters, then you're really out of luck.

Lire davantage

Excellent series❤️❤️ with roller-coaster of emotions.

SPOILER ALERT



I would have given a 10 rating if it wasn't open ended, even if it were to be a sad ending. It doesn't appear that there will be follow-up according to the news articles (as at 21 September 2023) which is unimaginable.....

Draw back..... The last 4 minutes of the final episode. Open ending which ended with Zi Yu waiting for Yan to return and at the final seconds of the episode hearing the doors opening....

Back to what I think of the series:
Story 9 (taking into account the open ending) a great plot with lots of twists which kept the viewer engaged and also gave very subtle hints on certain things. At times I didn't want to watch the next episode because I will then finish it too quickly. Roller-coaster of emotions and routed for the main couple as well as Jin Fan and Zhi Shang. Cried with deaths of family members of the Gong Family as well Han Ya Si and Yun's 'sister'.

Acting: 9 in my opinion for all Main actors as well Jolin Jin (loved her so much), Tian Jia Rui (he did a great job of portraying Yuan Zhi) and of course Sun Chen Jun.

Production and Visual FX : 10 loved all the costumes and different sets / backdrops - everything was beautiful

OST: 10 Beautiful songs and Sound effects were great.

Will definitely Rewatch. I'll just make up my own ending!

Lire davantage

A masterpiece with plenty of tear-jerking moments

My Journey to You is an absolute gem, and I nearly give it a perfect 10 score had it not been for some loose/disjointed logics story telling midway into the drama. However, it is still an excellent Cdrama that is worth investing your time on. It is a typical good vs evil wuxia drama: with the good side being the Gong Family and the baddie being the mysterious assassin group called Wufeng. Eventually these two groups would fight it out. This drama would tear you up would give you plenty of emotional roller coaster with its intricate storylines, and strength of some of the main characters.

This drama is quite short consisting of only 24 episodes. However some of the episodes were really long well over 1hr. It could easily have been a 30-36 episode drama but for some reasons, it was shortened to 24 episodes. That makes editing process a nightmare trying to squeeze so much screen-time into 24 episodes and cutting out all scenes featuring Chu Zi Jun, who was allegedly questioned for a rape case. And this editing rears its ugly head as some scenes were disjointed and convoluted leading to a question whether it was precipitated from the need to squeeze the drama into 24 episodes, or because of the last minute editing required to delete all scenes featuring Chu Zi Jun.

First thing one would notice with this production is its rather darkish and gloomy undertone. The darkish and gloomy undertone gives the Director plenty of room to maneuver his melodramatic scenes into the drama. Unquestionably, My Journey to You is a melodramatic drama with plenty of heartbreaking scenes and tears. The makeup and costumes were purposely tone-down and not too strikingly bright and ostentatious. One could even say the makeup and costumes were too bland, albeit with some Japanese aesthetics especially on YWS, SGQ and Young Master Xue ChongZi. Nevertheless, it does not take away from my enjoyment, even though it struck as odd why the Director would go along the route knowing that this production was replete with controversies such as alleged plagiarism and the rape allegation even before its premiere.

Lu Yuxiao is the star of the show. She steals the show from Eshter Yu (Yun Weishan/YWS) with her memorable and electrifying portrayal of SGQ. She made the character exciting, and I was rooting for her more so than YWS. Her scenes were very emotional such as the torture scene in the dungeon where she revealed that she is an orphan from an extinct clan. Her chemistry with Ryan Cheng (GSJ) is off the chart, and her off-bantering with Tian JiaRui (GYZ) was exhilarating and enjoyable. Her character is full of mystery and you would never know whether she is lying, or still loyal to Wufeng until the last episode. More screentime would have been preferred for this couple.

I don’t quite like the main love pairing of Zhang Linghe (GZY) and Eshter Yu (YWS). I thought the downside to this relationship was that it was smooth without any hiccups. Even when YWS was detained in the dungeon, everyone in the Gong family including those from backhill joined forces to break her from the dungeon. GZY character was fully developed and was allowed to shine from an average martial artist to an expert one after he had mastered the 3-Realm test, but somehow YWS’s character was flat from ep1 without much development. The only good thing about YWS was when she interacts with her Raven – Han YaSi. Han YaSi’s role in this production is a minor one, but he left a lasting impression as a mentor to YWS and her sister, Yun Que.

The Cdrama ends with a cliff hanger, and gives rise to the possibility of Season 2. But it could also be the way how the Director wishes to end the drama and let the audience forms their own minds as to the fates of the female lead. But Wufeng has not been totally eradicated and still have 3 strongest members – the Head and the 2 Liang - yet to appear. Season 2 could still be on the card though.

9.5/10.

Lire davantage

Superior drama!

I was not going to write a review but I started jotting down some notes and here we are. I just finished the drama so my thoughts are not well organized but here is my reflection on this drama. I will try not to rehash the same things most people have already said.

First off, the actors blew my mind away. I came for Zhang Ling He and Yu Shu Xin but by the end, I fell in love with Cheng Lei and Tian Jia Rui just stole my heart with his childish antics. All the actors without exception did a fantastic job. I wasn't a fan of the actress playing Shang Guan Qian and I was not rooting for their romance because, in the end, she broke my dude's heart. However, I can admit that, for a moment, she had me fooled when it looked like she had turned against Wufeng.

Talking about our main couple, I love ZLH and YSX but I didn't feel the chemistry between them at all. I didn't care about this couple's story one bit. I'm not sure if the reason for that was her lack of emotions. Don't get me wrong, her acting was fitting for the role of a spy, but not so much for that of a new bride who is supposed to fool her husband/ lover and endear herself to him. She got lucky that Gong Zi Yu fell first because she made zero effort to entice either Zi Yu or Shang Jue to give her a second glance during the bride selection, unlike Qian. Maybe I'm being too hard on her because this is the character YSX was given but this took away from my enjoyment of their relationship. It was so much of him being infatuated and her "being stoic as long as it fulfilled her agenda" until she fell too in the later parts.

That being said on the subject of love, I feel like everyone was treated equally. By the end of the show (with the info we're left with at least) there is only one happy pair (Jin Fang and Zi Shang). I wish we'd seen more of them.
The drama wasn't about romance which is why I overlooked that and still rated it pretty high. The qualities of this drama lie in everything else that it did. I particularly love how the things that seemed like plotholes or were not making sense in the earlier episodes, were all tied together at the end.

For me though, aside from the intrigue and the story itself, I found the emphasis on the Gong family's relationships so touching. I don't usually care about family ties and lessons in dramas. Here though... man! They made me bawl my eyes out in those last episodes...
The brothers' relationships with each other and as a whole (minus Huan Yu)... all different but similarly loving and supportive.
The parents' love and support for their kids in hidden ways... (minus Zi Shang's asshole father)
The love that the Gong family has for their members and the people they love is so deep.
From an outsider's perspective, all those things may seem cruel, isolating, and harsh but once you're in, it's an unbreakable bond that a lot would envy.

The ending seems to suggest a second season, but it could also mean that the writers are letting us interpret it the way we want. All I can deduce from Zhang Ling He's face is that whatever was behind that door was not good news or not what he was waiting for.

It's not satisfying but I'm not upset by it. In my mind, she died and I hope Zi Yu recovers soon but would it be this drama if it was that simple? Too many things are still left unanswered. They defeated the Wang warriors of Wufeng but not the Wufeng as a whole. What if the Liang warriors exist? What about his brother? Has he truly given up and been defeated? Could the whole martial world unite against Wufeng with the Gong family? Could the Gong family eventually become more open to outsiders if the former point happens? So many questions and that's why I love this drama, regardless of whether we will get an answer to them or not.

As you can tell, My Journey To You has impressed me beyond words with all its twists and turns.

If I can end this long review with a small quibble (aka what I referred to above as plotholes), I wish the story had been told more linearly. There were a lot of flashbacks and retelling of stuff that the audience had no way of knowing. It worked the way in a lot of moments but for example, when I wonder where Shang Guan Qian was amidst all the final Wufeng chaos, it feels like there is a disconnect between scenes. She only reappears during the Huan Yu showdown. It seems like it's not all happening at the same time. This did not deter me from enjoying the show, however, if there was another season, I wish there'd be less of that style of storytelling.

Lire davantage

A very mature and original wuxia drama....

I don't know what else to add as previous reviews have already beaten me to it....but I will say that I enjoyed the depth and development of the characters in this drama - this even applies to secondary and tertiary characters'good' and 'bad'.
I am quite new to Cdramas ( switched to them only in 2023 after 4 years of kdramas....😂) and this is the most 'mature' chinese fantasy wuxia drama I have watched yet - even most of the scenes and shots have a dark blue or cool hue to them adding to that realism and maturity.

Both the ML and FL already worked together on 'love between Fairy and Demon' 2022 with Dylan Wang, and from their past performances, I am very glad to see them act again, upgrading their choice of characters, showcasing their talent and versatility.

There is also an unexpected plot twist that even more savvy cdrama fans might not pick up on or maybe, but it definitely reflects the age old 'truth' that sometimes the most dangerous and unlikely enemies are much closer to us than we think, causing more harm than we can ever imagine!

I might be 'old fashioned' but I appreciated how the use of 'magic' was minimal in comparison to other Chinese fantasy dramas - yes the characters have super martial arts skill and strength, but for example, when the ML is requested to pass the 3 trials, he uses his brain, wit and socio-emotional intelligence! And when 'magic' is 'identified' it is referred to as 'witchcraft' causing some of the characters to fall sick or become consumed into evil by it- which is what it is, and none of that faffing around!

**Spoiler Alert**
There is news of a pregnancy in the last episode between the main characters ( not who you might assume and I won't say who....) which actually made me hopeful that the creators of this drama produce a second season, or expand the world or universe the story is based in.


Pleeeaeeeeeasssse! 🙏🙏🙏

Lire davantage

yey or naurr???

First of all, I'd give this cdrama the credit for making me CRY A LOT, AND I SAY A LOT, this cdrama made me rethink for the ending (seriously) after a lot of thought I have decided to rate and give review because I just think that this drama deserves recognition in having a great storyline (although the ending made me REALLY MAD) I'd say that the story have given a lot of justice to each characters, given that I have time to rethink my thoughts about this wu xia, I would say that a lot of viewers would really think that this cdrama is a naur, but after some days I have realize that this was actually a yey although each leads didn't have their own happy ending I just think that it was just not the right time for the FL, and as per the rumour she might have already known about her twin sister and even if they won, she might have still be constantly finding the justice that she might felt she deserve after all those years of pain (emotionally, mentally, and physically) while she's still with wufeng) after all they haven't really killed all those who are the root cause of all the evilness. It was a good wu xia, but then again, the ending really made a big hole on the viewers heart and up until now a lot of viewers wants season 2, but I guess that would be in the future or not?? knowing the status of the director and the film itself, but I really wish that this cdrama would be given a chance to redeem itself.

Lire davantage

Dark and different

This is probably the first time I had a little difficulty to keep up with a cdrama,though how bad the execution maybe.
Firstly,the total atmosphere and sets of the Gong house is very dark which was not very eye appealing and pleasing for me.Somehow I couldn't accustom myself to the House of the Gong's and especially the back hill.
I didn't get why in the first place the back hill existed and why do they need to live so discreetly.Its whole and sole purpose was only the 3 trials and not much more,which I felt was to drag on the story for a longer time.
The male lead,Gong Ziyi, and his aide Jin Fan were the only characters which were a bit pleasant.Others never made me interested in them.The romantic tracks between the 2 couples never attaracted me throughout the drama.They either lacked intensity or were always filled with suspicions.The track between Shangguan Qian and Gong Shangjue was very boring for me.The main lead couple were a bit better than the second couple.
From the beginning,each and every scene was only written to either arouse suspicions or just put us in suspense,but a solid plot was never presented.Every frame was only to keep on making us guessing but nothing else.
The constant fighting between brothers of Gong family,even though they face threat from Wufeng organisation,did not make any sense to me at all.
The last episodes has too many twists to be revealed and too many questions were answered but everything was a bit confusing.
Though the start of the drama seemed interesting,somehow I could not adapt to the drama,but the costumes were good.
Maybe it's not my cup of tea or maybe I didn't understand,but the plot failed in execution though it has an excellent story.

Lire davantage

How is this not being renewed

Everything from the acting to unpredictable storyline to incredible fight scenes was mind blowing. I've never seen Esther Yu in a completely serious role and it was AMAZING. The casting was done so well I'm not sure if they could have picked anyone better. Also, the fight scenes were just mind blowing. I know the ML and FL had amazing chemistry and were the focal point but I think my favorite storyline was Cheng Lei and Lu Yuxiao. My only regret is that I can't watch this show for the first time again. That and the absolutely insanity that this is not getting more seasons.

Lire davantage