An impressive Xanxia drama

Let’s start with personally - I think the drama surpassed my expectations. I remembered very clearly watching the trailer and being uninterested when the hype was all over social media. I honestly didn’t think much of it.

I decided to give it a try to humour my love for Xanxia dramas, it was after all, my very first genre I started with to get into C-dramas. ALP gave me the same feels I felt watching things like Ashes of Love and Ten Miles of Peach Blossom which was what started my love for C-dramas. I can safely say, I wasn’t disappointed at all.

The Story:
Though the storyline did feel like they dragged it between episodes 1-15 (to me), I think to some degree it was necessary to show the backstory of each character. But that in itself resulted with the show getting its initial low ratings. Having said that, it’s not long until it picks up and I can reassure you, if you’ve stayed past episode 15-20, then you’re good!

I especially liked episodes 47-49 because you finally see everything coming together and all the emotions coming into play. Bai Jue and Yuanqi’s rekindled relationship was so sweet to watch, watching Bai Jue tear up at the sound of Yuanqi calling him “father” was pulling on my heart strings.

I personally felt they rushed episode 49 to try and wrap things up and to personally explain what everyone’s ending would be, and if you’ve already watched spoilers (like I did) you would know what the outcome and endings were, so there wasn’t much surprise but I wished they didn’t rush it so much. I would have loved more of the ending of Bai Jue and Shanggu’s reunion.

The Cast:
Firstly, I think the negative comments about Dong Yu were uncalled for. I personally felt her character suited her. She was after all meant to play the youngest out of 3 ‘siblings’, naive and carefree, she had to learn to bear the responsibilities of the Three Realms—she had to portray a child that had to learn to grow up quickly and I think she played that so well. You could tell her physical transformation aided in her ‘growth’, I loved watching her looks change and evolve as she matured i.e. with her fringe down vs her hair back. You could also tell by the colour of her clothing changing.

Very similarly with Bai Jue’s and Tianqi’s characters having to evolve. You see their personal character develop as well as their relationship with others. Though I admit, there were scenes which I felt could have evoked more emotion i.e. when Bai Jue was watching Shanggu be blown into pieces during her tribulation, I expected the level of emotion of Fengran crying as Jing Jian sacrificed himself in episode 47.

BUT I think as an actor having to play 3 different characters and be able to tell them apart for the viewers let alone themselves, is amazing. I don’t doubt that there would obviously be set backs or things that they could have ‘done better’ or ‘said differently’. But for what it was, I think Xu Kai and Dong Yu played their characters so well being able to differentiate between Bai Jue, Bo Xuan, Qingmu, Shanggu and Hou Chi. This was my first drama watching Xu Kai and it’s what made me watch ‘Falling into your smile’ as well. You can clearly see his different acting skills in both.

As much as I hated watching Wu Xuan, I think her character development deserved it just as much as the rest. If she was able to make you feel annoyed and angry, then I think she portrayed her character well. Same goes with Jing Zhao. You will always have one of those in every Xanxia drama. But I must say, her acting was great, I didn’t feel like she was having to fake much (except her evil laugh), she was mean when she needed to be and she was honest and raw especially in her final days.

I think you’ll hear a lot of people say that they cherished Qingmu’s and Hou Chi’s relationship most, because it was the sweetest. But I beg to differ. I thought Bai Jue’s and Shanggu’s love was so honest and raw. It wasn’t without effort that the two developed their relationship. They were the real MVP’s in my opinion for having to learn about friendship, then love, then sacrifice and then having to relive that over again. Can you imagine how difficult it must be, to have to push the one you love and not be able to tell her that EVERYTHING you did in the last 60,000 years was actually for her wellbeing? Like, how can you say that wasn’t the sweetest love. Just because he didn’t give her as much forehead kisses or hugs and wasn’t sweet with his words, I thought Bai Jue’s love for Shanggu was so beautiful. I mean, without Bai Jue and Shanggu, you wouldn’t have had Qingmu and Hou Chi.

Also! Much admiration for the child actor that played Yuanqi, I find some child actors to come across really fake especially with subbed voice overs that make them sound really high pitched. I think he played his role so professionally.

The Production:
For the level of CGI that was in this, I think it was spectacular. I can imagine the amount of post production work this took. As a fellow creative (for context, I’m a graphic designer by trade), it’s so easy to point fingers and say some things could have been done better. But I don’t think you understand the amount of work it probably took them. I could say that this was just on parr with Ashes of Love and Ten Miles. There wasn’t anything too cringey watching, I thought the monsters were going to look a bit fake, but they didn’t. The part that amazed me was the overview of each palace that they displayed to show you where things were taking place. You can clearly differentiate all of them and the props, colouring and decor of each palace internally was taken into consideration. So much thought process! I loved it.

The costumes were fantastic. I really liked most of Shanggu’s and Yuemi’s wardrobe! You can tell there were so much detail in it. Can’t forget Wu Huan’s extravagant display as well, I actually liked her with white hair and her appearance as a devil was actually quite stunning all in black.

The Soundtrack:
I HAVE to make mention of this. They literally pulled all the big names in C-drama artists to sing in this drama. I love all the tracks—they’ve all got their own vibe but overall has the general theme of like ‘chasing one’s destiny’ (to me at least).

I can’t remember which episode it was, but definitely somewhere between 1-5 where I think they first played Mao Bu Yi’s “Yearning” in a sad/emotional scene and I had goosebumps. I still to this day, get goosebumps every time I hear it.

I honestly think that the soundtracks in this drama made the conversations and scenes so much better and much more convincing. I really think that’s what made me cry in the scene with Qingmu being replaced by Bai Jue’s awakening. Mao Bu Yi’s track is my favourite out of the lot— there’s something so haunting but comforting about the melody and lyrics. SO SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN.

Zhou Shen’s track “Penannular Love’ also has very notable scenes attached to that song, which to me gives out that affectionate and fleeting vibe. The kind you find in a Disney movie. Hah! But his humming version which is in the intro is just as beautiful. It really gives you that period drama feel.

Overall, I think this was a beautiful drama. I think it’ll be hard to top this for a while. I think it’s important to watch the show with an open mind and have patience. Considering this was only 49 episodes and shorter than some if not most Chinese dramas, it does pick up it’s pace and you won’t be disappointed! I’m going to miss watching this!

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