An enjoyable light drama that I would recommend if you have some time to waste.

Episodes 1-9 : Fun romantic comedy that progresses well.
Episodes 10-15 : Feels like watching a cliffsnotes version of a plot. The story is edited so quickly it is just barely cohesive, and it feels like any comedic moments were left behind on the editing room floor.
Final episode 16 : Returns somewhat to a normal story-telling pace to have a rounded out ending, seemingly setting up for further story in a second season...

...the problem being I can't find any news of a second season. If that was what the production crew was aiming for, they really shouldn't have rush-edited eps 10-15, and dropped the comedy out. Honestly the added comedic moments/acting were what really made it shine in the first half. The lack thereof, with the addition of the rushed editing, made the second half bland to watch.

Music : nothing much to remember. Neither nauseating, nor attention grabbing. 5.

Rewatch value : If they revised this originally released version with the second half better fleshed out, or if there was news of a second season release, yes. Otherwise no. Score a 2 for the outside chance of a second season - though given the rushed editing of the second half of the first season, I think a second season unlikely.

Acting/Cast : Generally a 10. They were all entertaining to watch with no off notes.

Story : The story itself could've been fairly high score, if not for that cliffsnotes feeling the rushed editing of the second half gives. 9.5 for first half. 5 for the second half. (9.5 + 5) / 2 (for the average) = 14.5/2 = 7.25. 1 point off for the cliched crazy hermit medicine man. It's more the fact he's a cliched character than the acting, hence the point taken is from story, not acting/cast. I've seen this type of character a number of times in cdramas now and while it was fun the first time or two, its become more than a little tired to watch. Particularly when the overall editing of the story is so rushed. If you're going to have a crazy side-kick, at least give them enough screen time for the viewer to actually get immersed by them. Final story score = 6.25 rounded to 6.5.

Despite my overall score of 6 not being particularly high, in the end I would still recommend it as a watch to friends, if they have some time to waste on their hands and aren't fussy.

Lire davantage

Not so much 'drama' as it is cotton candy fiction.

If you're sick and tired of contrived melodramatic plot devices used to drive angsty drama, then this is a salve for your soured soul.

(I wanted to use 'cynicised' instead of 'soured' because it flowed better in that sentence, but a double-check online says that 'cynicised' isn't recognised as a word as such. Pity.)

Filled with fluffy feel-good romance of two good-looking people.

Regular moments of the people who are anti the main leads getting their just deserts, without the main leads suffering anything particularly difficult.

Mostly angst-free.

It's no great literary or dramatic masterpiece. Once you've seen it, you've seen it. There is nothing about it that demands your attention really, unless your soul is personally in great need of said 'candy', so the rewatch value is very low. I'll give it a quarter score for those soul-soother seekers out there.

If it has any value it is a small time capsule of modern life. The gaming trend. The ease of, and type of communication devices. The impact of social media. The over-valuing of 'celebrity'. The under-valuing of smarts. A significant moment in China's space-faring history. Things along those lines. Doesn't really record any of the significant hardships of modern life, though. The characters are all doing well financially (relatively speaking). Again, it's a simple cotton candy fiction.

The music/sound track I really have no memory of. This fact says it wasn't particularly good, nor bad (it didn't intrude upon the story). As such I'll give it a half score.

The acting was great. Couldn't remember any sour notes to speak of. The actors sold their characters to me. But let's face it, it's not like this cotton candy fiction would have been particularly demanding of them in the first place. Simply because I don't think the parts would have been demanding I'll take 1 point off from full points. Full points should only be given for dramatic roles that are more demanding.

Frankly the lead female character being a little too childish (high squeaky voice, some particularly immature moments) was a bit off-putting for me. But that is just my personal perception/bias so I won't score the series down for it.

The story? As said in this review's summary/heading, not so much complex flavoured 'drama' as it is a sugar laden cotton candy piece of fiction. I don't want to over value a production that isn't going to be remembered past the actor's popularity shelf life. But then, for what there was of it, the overall production and presentation of the series hit the mark. It was precisely what it aimed to be, without any sour notes that brought the overall production down. Full marks because it was produced well, but 1 point off because the story isn't really worth remembering.

For the overall score, I'll round up a point simply it was packaged and presented so well. Good job all round.

(9.0 + 9.0 + 5.0 + 2.5)/4 = 6.375
+1 = 7.375
~7.5

Lire davantage

Entertaining, well packaged series to spend your time on.

There was this background musical theme occasionally used that was almost - but not wholly - a copy of a musical theme used heavily in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (aka Eternal Love). I was thinking of scoring the music 7.5-ish, but because of that TMoPB rip off track I'm ruthlessly hacking off two whole points. Of course I don't actually know who it was who created the tracks, so if it turns out to be the same person who did the TMoPB tracks, well I'll add the points back on coz you can't really blame someone for falling back on their own work. But, as it stands, 5.5 for music.

Because they dared to compare themselves (if only in a background musical theme) to TMoPB, I've been trying to figure out why this series just doesn't do it for me like TMoPB did (putting aside the plagiarism controversy for a minute). I mean, the themes were similar (gods and realms, multiple lives, memory loss), and they even had one of the actors from TMoPB, plus the production was overall top notch as an end package, and for what it's worth the acting here was solid.

I think what it was, is the main characters seemed to lacking in passion.

Not specially passion in a sexual chemistry sense, more passion in a general sense.

Comparatively in TMoPB while Ye Hua was fairly stoic character, when the character was dealing with shit I still got caught up in it, plus Yang Mi's successive characters were all delivered with great whole body feeling.

I don't know that I can blame this series for having less passionate main characters in comparison because I think maybe it's due to how the characters are written ...? I dunno. It's not that the acting as a whole was in any way flawed (because it wasn't) so I'd be looking at scoring it a 10 usually but with this issue of being somewhat lacking in 'passion' (for want of a better way to describe what I'm feeling), I'm gonna knock 2 points off the acting. I'll also do the same for the story score since, as I said above, it might simply be the way the characters are written. 8 points.

Special mention for Leon Lai for his Gu Jun (especially the latter dad/sect leader portrayal), and I particularly liked Liu Xue Yi's Tianqi, to the point where I'm going to make an effort to look into Liu Xue Yi's previous work.

Story - cohesive, entertaining, loooooong (well, there's the multiple lives lived thing so that will drag it out), but as mentioned above, I'll knock off 2 points just because, comparatively to TMoPB, I wasn't as engaged with the characters. 8 points.

Rewatch value - hmmm. Well, it is re-watchable, but would you? When you have other rewatch options available? 1 point is too low though. So, 1.5 points.

Add on 1 point for a well packaged final product.

(5.5+8+8+1.5)/4 + 1 = 6.75
= ~7.0

Lire davantage

The occasional wholly idiotic character action ruined it for me. Otherwise it was watchable.

Sweet and fluffy light entertainment?

Sure.

However... dropped at episode 13 due to crimes of the script.

All she had to do in the face of the ML's "stay or else" attitude was say "my parent had a {insert major incident}, I have to go home". One line, from a supposedly unversity degree in psychology level intellect. Yet apparantly that can't fit in the script.

Should have listened to my inner judgemental reviewer when, in the first episode where there was a person practising violin in the park, she decided to sit next to him, put her ear buds in, and then loudly and very out of tune scream out a tune discordant to the violinists' practice. Totally rude and inconsiderate ... from a character who is supposedly completing a psychology degree ... and who also works for a radio station.

As a viewer I can sometimes be very forgiving for wholly idiotic plot moments like this. What can I say, today I just don't feel like giving it another pass.

Lire davantage

A mythic tale told through savouring the small moments.

It does really require patience to get through the slow build up of those small moments as it is a long series, and it savours those small moments by investing time on them - to be clear, enough time, not excessive time.

So ... don't rush it.

I'm ashamed to say I skipped forward through a number of scenes that dwelled more on the side characters I wasn't particularly invested in. Ashamed enough that I've promised myself to re-watch it in full, with far more patience next time around.

I liked it precisely because
- it is a mythic tale (fantasy and myth being my favoured kind of genres);
- it does take the time to savour those individual scenes that make up the longer story;
- the characters aren't excessively stupid in order to advance the dramatic narrative (which seems to be a common failing in too many a fantasy c-drama I've watched, or maybe that's just dramas generally).

Another common c-drama failing is they use flashbacks to a large extent - though they at least kept the flashbacks relevant and edited appropriately. Being such a long series I suppose a large amount of flashbacks nearing the end was inevitable.

I regularly find myself getting lost in early stages of asian dramas, as they seem to presume understanding of certain story elements which I fear I don't have. I didn't get lost with this one. Even though it flips between a number of the opposing viewpoints, the narrative remained clear for me as foreign language viewer.

The storybook art use to narrate the tales of ages past that relate to the current story arc is beautifully done.

The main theme is beautiful and heart breaking, though I agree with others in that it is a tad overused. This tale deserved a few more musical pieces to give its soundtrack more range.

I find no fault with the acting at all. There were no off notes in the performances for me. Every now and now I found myself thinking I'd just watched a perfect moment.

I consider the fact that I reverted to skip forwarding not the failing of the production, but my failing as a viewer. I've long wished for stories told that celebrate the story by investing in the individual scenes within that larger story (and I don't mean fillers of fluff) then when I'm finally watching one I revert to skip forwarding due to my own impatience.

I advise prospective viewers to do what I intend to do next time around: don't rush through the series within a few days ... take your time with each individual episode. If you find yourself having the urge to skip forward, stop and take a day or two before you continue watching. Contain your impatience and savour watching it the way it deserves to be.

A warning for those needing a shiny bubbly happy ending. Myths aren't particularly known for their Happy Ever Afters.

I'm truly amazed this is currently scoring in the low 7s on MDL, and I'm feeling bereft that the main couple's love story was so heart-breakingly unfulfilled. But as above, not everything is a H.E.A.

Lire davantage

A reflection on our era of MMO socialising, but offline the characters are fairly shallow and vapid.

Overall it's an entertaining watch. However as per summary, be prepared that the characters depicted are somewhat shallow and vapid. The acting of those characters is also somewhat shallow and bland at times, but I don't know really whether it's the actors, the direction provided them, or the script which has caused that blandness.

Music : Neither nauseating nor notable. 5.

Story : Yes, it tells a story. 3.

Ok ok.

Will add on 2 points because of the modern life in-game MMO socialising depiction, and there actually being a plot in the second half of the story where they have met irl and the ML is trying to start up his post-study career in being a game dev - 4. So, overall a 9.

Acting: as above. Has 'off' moments where the attempt to act is obvious. As above I don't know whether blaming the actors specifically for this is correct to do or the direction. Character depictions are somewhat shallow and vapid. I don't know whether the finger should be pointed at the actors, or the script/direction. Special mention of the 2FL though. Her character was the highlight for me. Overall an 7.

Rewatch value : 0. Unless you're into re-living the high school fantasy where you're the most popular high school girl and the most popular high school boy notices you and every other contender for most popular girl is totally schooled by your awesome good looks. In which case, it's rewatch of 10. Seriously, it's that shallow. Averaged out, that's a 5.

Lire davantage