I have been looking forward for this drama since its news reached my ears because of its star-studded cast and plot.

Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities is a Xuannhuan drama adapted from the novel "Jing - Shuang Cheng" (镜·双城) by Cang Yue (沧月). This tells us a the story of Su Mo, a merman, and Bai Ying, the eldest daughter of the Bai clan. While Su Mo bears the identity of the Emperor of Sea and has the responsibility of taking all the merpeople back to Biluo sea from Yun Hung, where they were mistreated and enslaved for their tears which turned into pearls, Bai Ying should marry the crown prince of Kong Sang, Zhen Lan, inherit the earthly power and become the crown princess.

The first episode starts with Su Mo coming back to Yun Huang, the place where he and Bai Ying met, after becoming the Emperor of Sea. During his journey back, he meets Na Sheng, who then states a prophecy which plays an important role throughout the drama. Then, the rest of the 1st episode and the next few episodes shows how Su Mo, Bai Ying and Zhen Lan met a hundred years ago in the Mirror Tower and how their lives changed as they were compelled to bear great responsibilities. For me, the first few episodes felt really rushed. Actually, Su Mo spends 3 years in the Mirror Tower before Bai Ying's crown princess seal was broken when she fell in love with Su Mo and she jumped off the tower. But, in this, it felt like a few days like they fell in love too quickly. The chemistry was not felt. Their love was neither love at first sight nor slow burn. In my opinion, they should have given more time for the character and love development.

By the half of the 5th episode, we come back to the present time and it becomes more interesting and watchable. In this we discover that Bai Ying is actually alive as the Earthly ring saved her. The entire Yunhuang was invaded by Cang Lui a hundred years ago and is now under its control. While trying to save Kong Sang, the crown prince fell in deep sleep which continued for a hundred years, until Na Sheng inadvertantly finds the Heavenly ring. To save Kong Sang's people from Cang Lui's army, the six princes opened Wu Se city by sacrificing half of their spirit. After a series of incidents, Su Mo and Bai Ying meets again but the lovers couldn't reunite because of the circumstances.

Eventhough the script is a little sloppy, the plot is compelling with many predictable as welll as unpredictable twists. Sometimes, the story feels rushed while some times it feels too slow. The editing is done badly and the CGI effects and sets are not lively. But, this has pretty good cinematography.

There are many side couples in this drama. The main one among these is Na Sheng and Yan Xi. Yan Xi is also a mermaid from Biluo. During their first meeting, Na Sheng saves his life and they fell in love. Some other side characters also have their own love intersts. While some unite, some are compelled to seperate. Also there is a love triangle in this but, it is not severe. As Zhen Lan knows Su Mo and Bai Ying loves eachother, he just let it be and didn't try to pursue her.

Anyways, the cast did a good job. Li Yi Feng looks so good in costume dramas and so does Chen Yu Qi. Zheng Ye Cheng too didn't disappoint me. But, Li Yi Feng and Chen Yu Qi are still a bit backwards in pulling out emotional scenes but, they improved a lot in comparison to their previous works

This has many good OSTs sung by famous singers:

Love Is Silent 爱若无声 - 毛不易 Mao Bu Yi
Returning Home 念归去 - 周深 Zhou Shen
Want To Go Home 念归去 - 周深 Charlie Zhou
Not Afraid 无惧 - 阿 Yue Yue
Not For Joy 不为欢喜 - 张碧晨 Diamond Zhang
I Am Your Rain 我是你的雨 - 银临 Yin Lin

The one by Zhou Shen and Mao Bu Yi are my personal favourites. I also loked the starting BGM.

Overall, the only plus points of this drama is the cast, the plot and the OSTs. The other aspects like set, CGI, editing etc. are just meh. The rewatch value is also really really low as I don't want to struggle to enjoy the bad editing again :(
I cannot say this is a must watch or anything but, I can say this is an enjoyable drama if you disregard the sloppy editing.