I came across the first trailer last year. It was outstandingly enticing, action-packed and beautifully choreographed, with excellent VFX fighting scenes between demons/devils and the Immortals/Gods. It immediately drew me to this series and I penned it down as a must see xianxia c-drama of 2021. It did not hurt that last year, I thoroughly enjoyed “Love and Redemption (L&R)”. The female lead was Zhou Dongyu (ZDY) – an actress who is internationally acclaimed and the top actress listed in Forbes Top-100 Chinese Celebrities. Another reason to watch is that this is ZDY first foray into the small screen costume drama. And the fact that there are not many interesting new releases of costume drama as of late, “Ancient Love Poetry” seemed like a good enough drama to spend my time on complementing another period drama I am currently watching – “Court Lady”.

First, let me say that the choice of Zhou DongYu as the female lead baffles me. This is her first small screen appearance in a costume drama where she is depicted as the most beautiful woman across all Realms/Kingdoms. Her stature and popularity is similar to Yang Mi, Zhao Liying, etc ie she is an extremely famous actress in China and she took up a job that pitted her against an actor – Xu Kai – who is considered solid but not a top notch or calibre material. Xu Kai is not in the same league as say Kris Wu, Wang Yibo, Karry Wang, Xiao Zhan, Lu Han, Liu Haoran, etc (well you get the pictures). There were rumors that ZDY was forced to take up this role as it was rejected by Angelababy when they were at the same agency – Mountain Top Entertainment. I tend to believe in this rumor because this c-drama role does not suit her at all.

No wonder there are a lot of noises from Chinese netizen about the casting of ZDY as Shang Gu in this fantasy romance. To them, ZDY is not pretty enough to play the role of Shang Gu. She does not have the traits or characteristics of classic Chinese beauty. What is significantly clear to me is that ZDY was particularly beautiful when she was Shang Gu on the Ancient God Realm, but 60,000 years later as Houchi, ZDY was pedestrian looking. Did they change the make up artist halfway though this fantasy romance series? The difference in beauty is evident for all to see. To me, ZDY looks like a little girl who has never grown up. She has a teenager’s body – petite and undeveloped. She does not have those typical classical Chinese beauty features like good height (tall), double eye-lids, under-eye bags, etc. I am not body-shaming her, and she is a tremendously beautiful actress and the main reason why I’m watching this chinese series, but she is not suited to play the role of the most beautiful God/person/entity across all realms in 100,000-150,000 years. Luo Qiu Yun (Goddess Yuemi) or Jenny Zhang (Wu Huan) seem like a better choice to play FL.

Now to the real crux of the matter – the storylines – the achilles heel of most c-drama productions. Ultimately, you can’t watch “Ancient Love Poetry (ALP)” without comparing it against “Love & Redemption (L&R)”, “Love & Destiny (L&D)”, and “Ten Miles of Peach Blossom (TMoPB)” because all these xianxia dramas share the same theme and concept – ever lasting love story across millennia, reincarnation, trials and tribulations, unrequited love, sacrifices, etc. This is where I believe ALP absolutely fails its viewers. Where are the sub-plots? Everything is about Zong Dongyu (ZDY) and Xu Kai (XK). There are hardly any sub-plots worth mentioning. There is hardly any character development for the rest of the supporting cast. They are treated with contempt and non-essential to the main plot or story line – which is the love story between the two (2) lead characters. This is the real weakness of this period drama which makes it a torture to complete 49 episodes. 49 episodes of watching ZDY and XK professing their love to one another, having occasional spats like all love-birds do, experiencing flashbacks of the past life’s love story, protecting one another, sacrificing for the greater good, etc is just too much to bear even for a hardcore costume-period fan like myself.

Absolutely no character development at all during the 1st phase of the story up to the Trial of God of Chaos/Shang Gu. It took only 16 eps, and yes I am being sarcastic here to reach the ending of Shang Gu-Bai Jue love story in their first life. Even the 2nd lead Tian Qi (Liu Xiu Yi), who plays a similar role to The Ghost Lord (Vin Zhang) in TMoPB and Jing Xiu (Ethan Li) in Love & Destiny, does not get much mention and Tian Qi is potentially the 3rd most important character in the novel. At least the starting of the 2nd phase, 60,000 years later after the trial of Shang Gu provides some relief to the story. It should be a total reset and the beginning of the second life. But…. But…. You get Houchi pining for Bo Xuan already in Ep 17, the introduction to their second life 60,000 years later. God Gu Jun, one of the only few surviving gods from her first life and happens to be Hou Chi’s father in the second life, appeared once in Ep 17 and reappeared 13 episodes later in Ep 30 to protect Hou Chi from Wu Huan. WTF…. this is all about the two (2) lead characters. Thought that their second life would be a breath of fresh air, but other than the love story sub-plot between Feng Ran and Jing Jian, the rest of minor stories/sub-plots were not explored at all. The writer has a lot of opportunities to introduce support cast in the sub-plots like the triangle love story involving Gu Jun, Wu Huan and Mu Huang. Is this not a huge and significant story line here that culminates in the birth of Hou Chi and forms the basis of the enmity between Heavenly Realm and QingChi Palace? Enough ranting on the story line – the real weakness of this series and reason enough not to watch it.

Now to the positives. The Computer Generated Imageries (CGI) and Visual Effects (VFX) are simply outstanding. This is what draws me to the series from the trailers. The color hues, contrast, detailing, lighting, etc of the special effects and CGIs are among the best I have seen. Maybe the God Realm looks like it is coming out of Star Trek movies, but Gods are supposed to reside at outer space. The fighting scenes between Gods and Qiong Qi in Ep 11 are an excellent example of CGIs intertwined with excellent VFXs. The level of sophistication must have cost the Producers/Directors plenty of money and these are simply world class CGIs/VFXs. But no matter how good a VFX is, it is still fantasy world. I specifically would point out to Ep 29 where Hou Chi and Qing Mu were enjoying the scenery at the Heavenly Realm with water falls nested within clouds. It just feels weird because such scene plays into one’s imagination. I don’t think there is anyway the VFX experts could get it right. Also, the constant overhead shot of the Ancient God Realm in Shang Gu’s first life, and Heavenly realm overhead shot in her subsequent life was too futuristic – looking more like Star Trek rather than the place where Gods, Immortals and Demons live. At least that is my opinion.

The costumes are glamorous, albeit very plain and simple in nature. The Immortals/Gods tend to wear lighter shades, while the Demons are mostly in darker color. As I was watching “Court Lady” at the same time, I detest the Tang dynasty clothing in the Court Lady, the hair-do, etc. Even a beautiful Li YiTong could sometimes look horrendous in Tang Dynasty clothing. That did not happen here with the ladies – they all look elegant, gorgeous and refined.

On the studio set design, it does not have the fake looking and feeling even though the setting is in the make-believe fantasy land. When reproducing a set purely from imagination and fantasy, it is easier to get it wrong. Your creativity could backfire. The setting reminds me a lot of “Ashes of Love”. The God Realm, Heavenly Palace and the Lookout Shelter are especially beautiful. I wish “Legend of Fei” producers/directors could learn a thing or two from this production when it comes to studio set design.

Nothing on the music front draws me to this series. Nothing. I am not drawn to the sound track at all, and there is not a song within this c-drama series that keeps playing in my head. A good sound track will add more interest onto a series. It is like an appetizer before the main course.

When the series is very good, and there are quite a few of them in my book like Evernight Season 1, Novoland Eagle Flag, Nirvana in Fire 2, Joy of Life, etc, you tend to worry when the series are at the end. You keep counting how many episodes are left. When the series are over, you experienced withdrawal syndrome. I am sure it won’t happen to me with Ancient Love Poetry. No wonder Douban rating by Chinese mainland viewers hovers at the pedestrian 5.2 with only 1 out of 4 reviewers giving it a good/fair rating (4/5). While international viewers like those at Mydramalist.com website, tend to be more generous with their rating (8.3 rating at Mydramalist).

Give it a miss if you have not started watching it and go for other c-drama!