De Retour du Gouffre (2023)

A fresh and very amusing love story

Back From the Brink is a true gem among historical c-dramas, charming with its compelling narrative of love, betrayal, and vengeance. It truly sets itself apart from other dramas with a delicate balance between lightheartedness and seriousness, often injecting moments of delightful humor.

Tian Yao and Yan Hui not only make a remarkable couple but also stand as enchanting characters in their own right. Yan Hui, in particular, breaks the mold of the typical female lead. Her unwavering determination, when added to her feelings for Tian Yao make for a refreshing change, deviating from the common trope of pining for love. Furthermore, her fear of death (although it may seem like something basic and obvious) adds a nuanced layer to her character in many moments, distinguishing her from other FLs in the genre.

At first glance, Tian Yao may appear as the archetypal male lead, but as the story unfolds, we witness the unveiling of a pure-hearted individual with a touch of innocence and youthful charm.

While the story may have a slightly slow start in the initial episodes, it quickly gains momentum and it becomes quite interesting moving forward. However, there are some plot points in the middle, particularly the love triangle involving Bai Xiaosheng, that feel underdeveloped and lack proper buildout. Another issue lies with the main antagonist, Fu Yin. His origins and true desires remain unclear, leaving his motivations seemingly rooted in baseless anger towards the world. This shallow portrayal fails to elevate him to the status of a formidable major villain. In contrast, Suying proved herself as a stronger antagonist with a comprehensible motive. Her obsession with Lu Musheng, which she misconstrues as love, drives her to take extreme measures to save him and get him to love her again.

Despite these flaws, the drama's strengths outweigh its weaknesses. The romance, in particular, is expertly executed, eschewing the tiresome cycle of on-again-off-again relationships. Once Yan Hui and Tian Yao come together, they remain steadfast, a welcome departure from the endless obstacles that often plague main couples. However, more passionate and intimate moments between them would have further enriched their connection (and the few kiss scenes felt somewhat lacking passion).

Zhou Ye once again delivers a stellar performance, portraying an immensely funny and charming female lead. Her ability to convey emotions and provide comedic relief is commendable. Hou Minghao also impresses as Tian Yao, showcasing remarkable facial expressions that effectively convey his character's emotions (the reactions when Yan Hui unloads his own trauma onto others are especially noteworthy for their hilarity.).

Regarding the OST, there is little to critique. It is good overall, with a great opening theme, but it fails to leave a lasting impression or emerge as a standout aspect of the drama.

In conclusion, while Back From the Brink may not be a drama I would rewatch in its entirety (although certain parts, such as the Dragon Valley arc, Tian Yao baby arc, and the episodes surrounding the wedding, are worth revisiting), it is definetly a drama I recommend to anyone who enjoys xianxias. This drama does particularly well what it sells and brings a fresh perspective to the genre, offering something new and captivating to watch.

Lire davantage

Love this so, so much

This is possibly my favourite drama of all time.

Luckily I had a Mandarin speaker in my house to translate the final part to better understand the ending— this is a drama that will take weeks to recover from.

There was no filler; no weak, self conscious acting; and I even loved the effects as they seemed like children’s book illustrations and fit the mood. In short, for me there were none of the usual interruptions that push you out of the world that has been created. If you want to make me cry, just play me the opening song and watch me melt into a snotty mess on the floor.

For the ultimate, unequivocal show down between good and evil; for the most worthy couple; for side characters that get enough vibrancy to live on in your mind, rather than just existing to move the plot; this drama is the one.

Lire davantage

A hot mess of finding my dragon body parts!

DON'T TRUST THE OTHER PEOPLE WHEN THEY SAY THIS IS THE BEST DRAMA OF 2023. THIS DRAMA IS FAR FROM IT... Had high expectations due to reading the reviews from others. This drama started good but lost me during half of it.

Like the storyline was for the male lead to find his missing body parts that the cruel ex lover scattered all over the world. The female lead got the protection scale which became her heart. She and male lead are destiny to be together. They go on a journey to find the remain parts of the male lead dragon body.

If they just focused on that part it might of been interesting , but adding too much on the sidelines really confused me. Like the male lead took his revenge pretty early on in the drama. i watched to 29 ep and still they only have found his leg, and his teeth aka sword? too slow...

Plus the leads get together really late. The male lead is just too afraid of getting hurt again... Poor female lead.

The female lead is pretty hilarious in the fact that she is really bold and not afraid of others.She stands up for the truth and for people/demons who are weaker than her. She also loves punching people.

Lire davantage

Just cause Neo Hou & Zhou Ye

Another drama that make me hang till the end cause of the actor & actress, this time of course Neo Hou & Zhou Ye, they are also the reason I'm watching in the first place.

So long not watch a drama that I don't care about the story of the drama, but hang till the end. Truth to be told, I don't too understand the story in the first place. Don't know the story just make me uninterested to follow or just to care. But they just pick the right actor/ess so for me seeing them still make me interesting to keep watching, at least to see them in my screen.

This drama open with stupid woman [Su Ying (SY)] that willing to do anything in the name of love, in this case killing Tian Yao. Stupid why...? Cause later on we learn the man that she love not even love her. Even after knowing that, SY still do anything just for hang him around her.

As usual with XianXia world we always deal between dark/evil & good force. As the story goes we learn that evil already infiltrate from long long ago. And as usual too always interesting to see how they try to combat their inner evil force, especially this time for Yan Hui

Even though the story not very interested to follow, but every time I start get bored they give us cute scene or story to attract us again. Like with the story of Tian Yao become pure like baby again, really cute to see Neo Hou act baby like.

Overall this just another XianXia story that ever exist....

Lire davantage

" I live so I can meet you. "

If I was to compare BFTB with the other xianxia I've watched this year, I enjoyed this more than The Starry Love but slightly less than TTEOFTM. My actual rating : 8.7/10.

The plot : A story of a human girl and a broken dragon who went on an adventure, healing each other along the way, facing challenges together and later fall in love with each other. I think the plot was excellent . One of the best I've seen. It was neat and detailed. I liked that everything happens for a reason .Most of the times the plot will left you confused at first but later will give answer to all your questions when the time comes. You just need to be patient.

The acting: This was my second time of watching Neo Hou after AGLM which I did'nt finished .Visually, ML is as pretty as FL and it was distracting lol. His acting was good and I enjoyed watching our Pretty Dragon in action ( Here is what I could'nt understand and find it annoying when everyone - village people,taoist people- called him Evil Dragon everytime they saw him. What evil thing he did that they saw I really wanna know. Like come ooon he had done nothing bad and never harming anyone how could they be so blind and keep believing on hearsay. Stupid people...) . This was my first time watching Zhou Ye as FL and I enjoyed her acting too. I think she did great at every emotional scene she was in. Acting of the other cast also not disappointing. My favourite was Riley Wang as Bai Xiao Sheng , our michievious third-wheel/ matchmaker. His character provide comic relief in this drama and his synergy with FL and ML never failed to entertain me while watching.

Romance : To describe the romance here, it was sweet with little angst. Both leads had good chemistry with each other. I liked the fact that our couple except for that one time always practice healthy communication with each other. There's nothing better than watching a couple being honest to each other about their feelings like what shown in this drama. Any conflict they had usually get solved right away and not predictably dragged to 5 till 10 episodes like in most drama. We did have 2nd and 3rd couple here but I skipped most of their scenes as I'm not deeply invested in their stories.

Cinematography & CGI: I have no complaints and thought it was great.

Music /OST: It was just okay. None made me eager to download it and put it on my spotify playlist.

Overall, BFTB was one of the best xianxia I've watched this year. If you like dragon, kind male lead, headstrong and kickass female lead, adventurous plot, romance with healthy communication & little angst in your story , watch this & you might enjoy it as I do.

Lire davantage

great chemistry between the main leads

I started this drama not having any expectations mostly because I was not particularly interested in Zhou Ye and did not even know who Hou Ming Hao was.

The first 8 episodes were slow, story was average and relationship between the two main leads was very typical of c-drama couples who first met: bickering like enemies.

I watched on, however and was gradually drawn into the story and drawn into the developing camaraderie of the two main leads, from getting used to each other to falling in love and even dying for each other.

Basically, the entire story was simple, about the male lead finding the decapitated parts of his body after being harmed by Su Ying and the female lead helping him albeit initially unwilling. Lots of adventures along the way as they tried to find the parts together and lots of things happened which also tested the strength of their love for each other.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this drama more than I expected and was glad that I started and continued with it because it became one of those dramas I waited for episodes to drop and couldn’t bear for it to end. I was touched by the love they had for each other, something which was not sudden or out of the blue but developed as they went through each adventure. This was largely because of the strong chemistry between the main leads - Zhou Ye and Hou Ming Hao - a winning factor in any xianxia and they look good together in the drama, like a real couple.

There were some comedic parts in the show, you know it when the music changed, I was perfectly fine with them. It gave the show a lighter feel and I did find some humour in some of those parts.

There were no illogical moments or irritating characters in the drama, at least nothing that I want to make a hoo-ha of. The only negative thing would be the amateur acting of some of the cast. Though they were not important figures in the story, when you could see the flaws, your emotions would somehow be affected.

So, yes, all in all, this was a good watch, I would recommend this to anyone who likes to watch xianxias with adventure and a strong chemistry between the main leads.

And yes, Hou Ming Hao did look rather charming in the drama.

Lire davantage

A PERFECT DRAMA ???

I just can't believe it has ended. It 's the best drama for me. It was full of sweetness, comic, angsty, sad, happy mix together. I fully enjoyed every bit of it.


They are best couple gor me. The leads here support each other, solve things together and go through every hardships together.


The supporting characters are are also good here. They are funny and supportive of the leads and help them fullfill their goals.



After this i hope that they work together in another drama. I will rewatch it after sometimes. For future viewers, don't hesitate, don't confuse just start watching this.

Lire davantage

A light-hearted Xianxia with one of the best power couples out there

The story: The story is refreshing for a Xianxia as it takes place entirely in the Human realm and there are no Gods and endless reincarnations and lifes to go through. Instead it is more of a fantastical journey of healing and treasure hunt for the missing body parts for the ML. Although it deviates from the novel I enjoyed most of the changes as it fleshed out the characters arc and emotions. There are a few story points that seemed a bit convenient ( but no more than in the usual Xinxia Drama) but for the most part the story was logical. One needs to be a bit patient though because things that leave questions in the viewers mind are often explained but in a much later Episode where it all comes together. I also enjoy that heavier moments are never dragged out for too long and there is a good rhythm of emotional moments and moments of levity. BFTB even keeps this rhythm in the second half of the story where XianXia typically become heavy and joyless.
There are no misunderstandings that are unnecessarily dragged out. Instead the strong communication between the characters is one of the Highlights of BFTB.

The characters: The main couple is one of the best I have seen. I enjoyed that Tien Yao is not the typical cold OP lead but starts instead as very weak and traumatized. Originally pure and naiv we first meet him at his low point corrupted by the horrible things that happend to him.His journey of finding his old self and learning to trust and love again is very beautiful. I also liked that he makes mistakes on the way and isn't perfect ( which is also a change from the novel, that I personally found enriching to the story, aka the famous EP 16 so many viewers were complaining about.)
Yan Hui is a gem. She kicks ass, is honest and protects our dragon. Although she also grows as a person on their journey she is the rock that braces the storm. She is steadfast and true to herself, not to mention straightforward, brave and hilarious. She takes a lot of rejection from TY early on but she is not a push over and Tian Yao has to fight for her to get back in her good graces. There are a few instances where she wasn't the smartest cookie around, but I think that was mostly played for comedic effect. Most of the time she is smart and thoughtful.
The side characters were also lovable but in this drama the MLs are really the focus of the show which I prefer. Especially BXS functioned as a stand in for the viewer who is rooting for the MLs. He was convincingly cunning and broken but at the same time funny. He does try to insert himself between the couple for a few episodes but I didn't mind because Tien Yao really really needed the competition as a wake up call. Also BXS remained harmless and never steered into obsessive 2nd ML territory that cannot let go.
On the downside I found the villains too one dimensional and their obsessions went too far. Their motivations did not make much sense to me because they lacked any form of self reflection and self-awareness. It also made it difficult to imagine how Tien Yao could fall for Suying in the first place, because I can't imagine her icy face being able to pull off the deception required to fool him.

The Acting: Both the female and male lead are pure eye candy.
I was impressed with both of their acting, especially the emotional scenes where handled well by the leads. The acting for Tien Yao required a subtle change over time as our Male Lead is healing from his emotional Trauma and is beautifully portrayed by Hou Minghao who has very beautiful and expressive eyes. So it makes sense that he come across as repressed in the beginning. But he becomes more majestic and emotive as the story progresses. Also he manages to convincingly portray someone very young at one point which impressed me. I was almost wondering if that was really the same person, if Hou Minghao has some secret youth elixier I want it.
The other actors do a good job as well especially BXS cunning and mischief was well portrayed by Riley Wang. The actor who portrayed both the fox king and his twin also deserves to me mentioned here because he pulled of the double role really well.

Skinship: This couple has some of the most natural interactions and really delivers a feeling of closeness throughout. The kissing scenes are sadly few and very underwhelming ( the typical lips touching not moving kind) but all the other interactions and hugs, which are plenty, make up for it in this case, so I didn't mind the lackluster kissing as much as I would have otherwise.

OST: The Soundtrack is epic and beautiful. My personal favourite is the song sung by our very talented ML Hou Minghao which features lyrics that reflect the MLs heart perfectly. Especially because Tien Yao is not very expressive about his feelings having the ML sing them is especially meaningful.

Costumes: I really liked the costumes as they become more luxurious as the ML regains his strength. They are not as eye catching as those in LBFD but given that this Drama does not deal with Gods and ancient Demons but instead is set in the human realm the more sutle costuming suits the setting better. I also liked that the colors of the clothing reflected the purity/ naivety of the characters.
If a character becomes "dark" chinese Drama s always have the same evil makeup for the actors which BFTB does as well. I wish they would change that up a bit, especially since the greatest aholes usually live in heaven, but it was not as over the top as TTEOTM, so I can look past that.

CGI: The CGI is not the best but I got used to its quirkiness. The monsters look like pokemon which seems weird in a Live Action setting, but I got used to it by the end and now like their uniqueness. I liked that the spirits where portrayed in various stations of development with weaker spirits not having a completley human form, that is something I haven't seen before. The Backround CGI looked really beautiful. The wirework for the fights could have been a bit better as well, but it was not something I mind since Xianxia fight scenes seems a bit ridiculous most of the time anyway. If anyone has watched TSL one will notice that some of the same sets were used for both Dramas. But given that BFTB had a medium budget I think the Drama looks really good for its budget.

The ending: Although it is a happy Ending it felt similarly rushed as the one LBFD had. This seems to be a trend recently, that really annoys me especially when the novels ending had no such issue. This is also the reason for not giving BFTB full points.

All in all I really loved this show and BFTB has become my second favourite Xianxia Drama behind LBFD. It' s story is a welcome change from the usual Xianxia storys and while I dig all powerful cold characters like Dongfang Qingcang I loved the pure, tortured and emotional Tien Yao because these types of characters are much rarer. Also Yan Hui is easily the most kickass and awesome FL in all of Xianxia. Objectively I have to give LBFD the edge in terms of overall quality and its villains but my obsession with BFTB was as great if not greater.
I prefer these lighter more fun Xianxia shows over the angsty, noble idiocy induced melodramas such as AOL, TMOPB, ALP or TTEOTM. I think we are really lucky to have such high quality and light Xianxia Shows released so close after another, after TSL was also very nice this year.

Rewatch value is high for me ( already rewatched 3 times) as I get to really appreciate the subtle changes in TY. Watching it again especially after the reveal in the last couple EPs makes me see the earlier EPs in a new light.

Lire davantage

ngl they had me going in the first half

for some years now i've been feeling quite burnt out from modern xianxia/wuxia (not enough to stop watching lol), one of the main reasons being that so many shows seemed to be following a set of exhausting tropes. main character has mysterious origins and tuns out to be reincarnated/reborn/memory sealed ultimate goddess/princess/savior/demon/apocalypse bringer, her love interest is a super powered ultimate high god/war god/crown prince/demon lord. if the stakes are not high from the outset, they become THE HIGHEST WORLD IS ENDING STAKES EVER, the ultimate battle of good and evil, dark and light (which is also a concerningly judeo-christian western value found in western fantasy (lotr, harry potter, star wars) but maybe there is chinese precedent for this and i just dont know enough but idk), the entire world Will Be Destroyed unless one of the main characters sacrifices their life!!!! sometimes they even go back and forth sacrificing their lives for each other/the world REPEATEDLY!!!!! then one character dies and the other waits for them to come back/regenerate/reincarnate and then they DO for one last brief appearance/reunion in the last two minutes!!! because no one dies and actually suffers the consequences of self sacrifice!!! nothing matters!! what is the meaning of self sacrifice when they are gods and deities and will just come back???? the stakes are so high and yet there are no real stakes!!!! instead everyone is just rewarded over and over with a happy ending for sacrificing themselves!!! its EXHAUSTING!!!!!!! it's like writers don't know how to get people invested and care about stories anymore unless the stake is their LIFE or the WORLD!!! and more often than not the 'world' is such an abstract concept where they don't even truly express why this world is precious, valuable or worth saving. i've been calling this the the marvel cinematic hell zone because the stakes are SO high that the story loses humanity, relatability and empathy from the audience (me at least) and just becomes meaningless.

what made huxin so special in the beginning was that it was very clearly NOT this. it was SO refreshing, a true breath of fresh air that felt nostalgic of older wuxia in so many ways. the stakes were simple and lower, it was about adventures and fights and collecting all the body parts and gaining powers! fighting injustice! the main characters were special not because of their birthright or their destiny, but because they were just skilled fighters or spirits. yanhui is a normal girl part of a normal sect and even though tianyao is powerful, he's also just a yao dragon. like thank you for giving us HUMANITY!! RELATABILITY!!!! charm and sweetness they had it all!!!!! i truly LOVED this show in the beginning and binged it so quickly, it felt like i was watching my fav childhood wuxias, but still new and fresh! zhou ye and hou minghao are perfect as the main leads, they're both so cute and have great chemistry and charisma! the villains were hateable and HUMAN! the taoists and suying were lead by human constructs and emotions- racism and prejudice, obsession, desire for power and control! NOT an indescribable incomprehensible innate EVIL. the lower stakes adventures, the themes of oppression and inequality, the relatable heroes and villains, and the character and relationship development too all made this show an amazing standout that allowed me to truly care about the story and characters.

sadly, and inevitably, this did not last, and the show eventually became everything it wasn't, everything that i hate abt modern xianxias and wuxias. it lost everything that set it apart from the others. listen, unlike many other viewers, i was okay w many things, i was ok w tianyao stabbing yanhui, i was ok w them having communication issues, i was ok w their relationship being set back and tested, and them having to work and expend time and energy to gain yanhui's trust again. that was all fine and i thought it made sense for both of their characters and i don't think it was terrible writing. what i am NOT okay with was the new ULTIMATE EVIL DARK LORD with the WORST NOSE CONTOUR I'VE SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!! why the terrible drag make up???? WHY???? why did he have to show up and ruin literally everything??? why can't the villains just be the taoists?? why can't the stakes just be that tianyao needs to retrieve his body parts and get revenge and yanhui wants to survive?? that was a wonderful story i was enjoying that story!!!!! now it's no longer a fight against systemic oppression, a battle to settle personal vengeances!! now it's saving the world from apocalypse... AGAIN....!!! the taoists aren't just shitty actually they are being POSSESSED and MANIPULATED by the evil dark lord!!!!!! actually every single thing that has happened from the beginning wasn't driven by human motivations, greed and cruelty, but by the EVIL INCOMPREHENSIBLE DARK THING!! pulling the strings from the beginning for the big dark master plan of apocalypse!!!!!!!!!!!!! like come on!!!!!! can we not?????? can we please not do this it is literally ruining all of the villains and shifu!!!!!!! shifu whips and tortures yanhui not because he is a shitty but complex man who values adherance to taoist sect traditions and orthodoxy over his own daughter, but because he's a goddamn idiot who got TRICKED by the evil darkness into thinking it was yanhui's life or the WORLD. like this kind of writing RUINS characters! they damn near got suying too by saying the idea to manipulate and kill tianyao was evil dark lords idea instead of her own. at least she stayed terrible and obsessed w lu musheng till the end but still!!! don't even get me started on lingfei!!! truly abysmal writing for the story and characters, a great way to get me to stop caring because nothing matters anymore, everything is about the great evil big bad who also has no character writing and is just a psycho and manifestation of everything bad in the world. i didn't even care about yanhui and tianyao and their relationship anymore and i had loved them so much in the beginning. everything and everyone just loses their charm, bai xiaosheng is destroyed once they turn him into a love rival, and then the show just completely forgets about his existence for the latter half. i never cared for the side characters but they get even more grating. at a certain point i was just finishing it to finish it.

all too often we have main characters in cdrama who give up EVERYTHING and sacrifice themselves for the greater good, for the world, for their lover, etc. etc. and for once we got a main character who didn't do that. who believed in self preservation, and was still a good person. yanhui was a normal human being who valued her life like normal humans, who wanted to live and wasn't willing to give up EVERYTHING for other people. that isn't a bad thing lmao, human beings should not be taught self sacrifice as the ultimate marker for goodness and moral purity. in fact it's really unhealthy to live your life for other people. so it was extremely disappointing to have her character go down that road like all the rest... like does anyone have anything new to say???

all in all.... the beginning was a 10/10 and the ending was a 0/10 generic boring meaningless pointless garbage.... final score
5/10.

Lire davantage