Love and Redemption (2020)

Misunderstandings repeat, then repeat, then repeat again . . .

Chu Xuan Ji and Yu Si Feng are enemies turned lovers in lifetime after lifetime. While the mythology and creativity of the world, and the different lifetimes are intriguing, there is no huge change in character growth or plot dynamics 40 episodes in. Chu Xuan Ji and Yu Si Feng are caught between their duties to their family/clan and their love and over and over and over again the same pattern repeats . .

The actor who plays Yu Si Feng is an excellent mix of intensity, brooding, with a bit of playfulness. Chu Xuan Ji has more of a split personality: innocent and hapless or arrogant and powerful. Everyone else dramatically overacts.

Music is fine, I would not rewatch. I grade on other criterias well:

Themes: 7.5
Elders can be misguided and not know what is best. Appearances can be deceiving: what's on the surface does not always reveal ones true character. Love that support, cherishes and empowers is far superior to love that suffocates and controls.

Character Growth/Development: 5.0
Yu Si Feng warms up a bit, and Chu Xuan Ji reveals her 'powerful' side every couple episodes, but that's about it.

Complex women/relationships: 7.0
Chu Xuan Ji does have relationships with an 'aunt,' her sister and friends she meets along the way. They do mostly talk about men or act as plot devices, but they do exist.

Cinematography/Production values: 7.0
Shows in this style (see Ashes of Love) are attempting a kind of deliberate, 2010 era video-game type CGI and it works decently well here. I wouldn't say there was anything shockingly beautiful or unique. Action scenes were competent but not particularly innovative.

Leer más

Almost done. I need sleep! ???

I'm binge watching this series because it's just that good. I had it on my Amazon watch list for at least a month and honestly the first 2 episodes kind of put me off because one characters kept whining and I thought, not 50+ episodes of her ass 🤣😂.
But everywhere I looked everyone's recommending this drama so I said okay let me give it another shot and I am hooked!!🥰🥰
I've watched over 30 episodes in probably 4 days because I'm home recuperating from hip surgery and can't get out much.
My roommate asked if I was leaning Chinese🤣😂.
So many plot twists and the actors do a good job relating to their characters.
Can hardly wait to finish!! Thank you Viki, Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube for bringing us Cdramas❤️❤️❤️!

Leer más

Enjoyable although very cliché

An immensely enjoyable drama but not without its faults.

Here are some of the positives and negatives for me personally that I’ve noticed while watching!

+ comparatively fast pacing for a xianxia (especially at the beginning)
+ great actors
+ some reversed stereotypes (ex: the FL is mostly saving the ML)
+ starcrossed lovers
+ surprisingly nuanced characters —> not all cultivators are good, not all demons are evil

- soo many overdone tropes (spoon feeding each other, the ML always catches the FL, so much blood spitting it’s getting funny (and difficult to take the MLs suffering seriously) etc)
- I’m starting to get sick of the overly childlike behaviour of FLs in Xianxia (although here it does make more sense and she starts changing)

Leer más

Don't expect too much

I have visited this website for drama informations a plenty of times, but this drama really urged me to create an account and post a review. I can't help but post my review because I don't want others to end up like me (quite disappointed 😞).
Because of the reviews and high rating of this drama, I started to watch it, luckily it's available on YouTube.

Starting off with the first episode, visual effects are really nice that it hooked me. Then comes the start of story which is interesting, but I am not quite convinced with how they come up with "without six senses" basically it isn't really "without six senses" because she can see and hear. I was actually curious how would she live "without six senses" (how can she communicate with others) but dhurrr, she can actually see and hear. Continuing, because Zhang Yuxi only got the role for supporting, I was actually expecting more for this drama. For me, the acting skills of the main leads are just so-so, I mean that they have the potential and I'm sure they can cultivate it to be better. There are parts in this drama where scenes are abruptly cut then jumped on a completely different scene that got me wondering if I have mistakenly tapped forward, but I really didn't.

It was interesting at first few episodes but as I watch the next episodes, it's like I'm just watching it for the sake of just to "complete" it. From 1-12 then jumped to the last episode.

I don't think I will continue to watch this, because I find it quite boring.

P.s. I find this is not really a review because it contains much of my personal opinions that are quite biased on my taste lol.

But honestly, If you really want to watch this drama don't start to expect highly so you won't get too disappointed.

Leer más

10 LIFES , 1000 YEARS AND 3 REALMS .... I ONLY LOVE YOU

fell in love with cheng yi by this masterpiece ... he made the character alive .
the story of drama was really epic and heart touching, they were many misunderstanding between the leads but it solved out in the end and because of those misunderstanding their feelings for each other got stronger in the end.
there were arc of their past lives i hope it got more scenes or a bit more story of their past lives. the story of FL made me feel sad like how she was created and become war god and do things she doesn't want to.
i like how ML sacrifice everything for FL and things he did for her without her knowing. it was very well written as well . how they show the past life of both the actors was very good.
the cast have done a very good job in doing there role , i liked all the supporting role especially fox and monkey ( you know)
when they were all together to do a job was really a fun thing to watch. i didn't skip anything in whole show.
all the character have their own story to tell and each one was good .
i definitely didn't like hao chen at all. i hate his character very very much ... on the other hand i liked the actor more . he done well in portraying a character which was this bad.
the ost of the drama was really good and it's hits different on later episodes.
if you are looking for a drama with great love story , little adventure, amazing supporting characters , hateful villain , great ost then it is for you.

(P.S. TYR NOT TO GIVE YOUR HEART TO ANY CHARACTER SOON BECAUSE YOU WILL FELL IN LOVE WITH TENG SHE......)

Leer más

un drama qui m'a marqué à tout jamais

Ce drama était incroyable. Cheng Yi est magnifique. Les paysages 10/10

Les scènes de combat étaient excellentes. Sifeng est un personnage marquant. Je ne pourrais jamais l'oublier. Il es si pur et il n'est jamais à l'encontre de ces valeurs une seule fois dans la série. Il n'a jamais pris avantages des autres pour ses propres besoins. C'est le seul personnage qui est restée fidèle à lui même. Par contre, j'ai détesté tous les autres personnages. Ils étaient tous des hypocrites. Le Diable Mosha, Sifeng, la renarde et le roi singe étaient les seuls personnages qui étaient sympa. J'ai détesté Xuanji. Elle croit tous ces menteurs sauf Sifeng. C'est un démon et alors? Elle était copine avec la renarde. L'animal spirituel de Sifeng aussi m'a énervé.

(Je n'ai pas regardé les épisodes 40 à 50 à cause que mon coeur était trop fragile pour voir Sifeng souffrir encore et encore)

Malgré tous les misunderstandings, j'ai adoré ce drama. Et je ne cesse de le recommender. C'est le meilleur drama que j'ai vu de ma vie et je n'ai jamais rien trouvé de mieux que celui-là.

Limite, je pense encore à Sifeng ahaha

Leer más

A Rare Drama with Perfect Cunning Antagonists and Wise Conflict Resolution

There is no use to repeat what other reviewers have pointed out. The romance of this drama is glorious. The love theme is crystal clear and strong. So, lets take other perspectives which are rarely taken for discussion. It is one among only view C-dramas with deep exploration of righteousness and evil, and perfect story execution.

Story wise, this drama is not boring at all. 59 episodes are truly intimidating, but there are things in the story that keep us in the edge of our seats. For some aspects, it is not so different from other xianxia (Chinese fantasy genre). There are four realms (mortal, demon, devil, and heaven), five "righteous" sects of mortal cultivator, a great war in the past, fallen god of war and demon, martial arts tournament, an adventure exploring the realm, facing villains, and heading to cosmic war to defeat the final strongest villain. However, few things make it really different. First, good team building and teamwork. This drama starts by telling the friendship of four teenagers: Yu Sifeng, Chu Xuanji, Chu Linglong, & Zhong Minyan. Later, the group grows bigger (add Little Yinhua the snake and Ruo Yu) and they (six people) go adventure together. Almost all problems they face are solved together, sometimes with the help senior supporting characters. All characters have their own unique contribution and nobody are suddenly missing mid game or just left without explanation.

Second, the story is so consistent to its theme: love and redemption. There are several sub love stories aside the main pairs and all are finished well. Love to the romantic partner, love to family and friends, love to community/ sect group, love to the realm and other being. None of them involves love triangles, jealousy, and competition to grab other person's lover. Love is depicted as something a person must be true, loyal, selfless, and devoted to, and experienced with consent and acceptance. Also, there are several redemption stories that make viewer super satisfied with the ending. The happy ending in this drama is not merely defined by each/ main character's love life, but also reward and punishment each character received as their karma. Everyone get what they deserve justly.

Third, the villain/ antagonists in this drama is so brainy, charismatic, powerful, and good looking (Yuan Lang and Hao Chen). They are so sly, cunning, manipulative, meticulous, and careful. They think before act and always prepare back-up plan. They are so successful so that they can survive until the last episode. They characterization is perfect. Yuan Lang is so mysterious behind his mask and his inner states are well depicted through the movement of his fan. He never lose his composure. He is ambitious, confident, independent, daring, cold, non-emotional, scary, and ruthless. His emotional expression, like when he kneeled before Sifeng fearfully, is just an act. He never shows his true heart. He manipulate people with his rational/ logical words His enemy is the deity. Mean while, Hao Chen is a moralist, ambitious, and self-righteous. His enemy is Sifeng. He has egoistic personality and believes that he is righteous and never wrong. He manipulates other, especially Xuanji, through victimization of himself and finding Sifeng wrongdoings. He is a great liar and full of prejudice. Also, we have fake antagonists: just tragic characters that have goodwill but without means to achieve it, or a person that is (seemingly) bad in the past and later he turns good after experiencing betrayal.

Four, the conflict is very well developed. We never know the real problems until later. It is surprising that the story turns from mortal vs demon to demon/ devil vs deity. The scale of the conflict is grand, built from bottom to up. At first, it is just a quest to find the shards of a magic mirror to help Xuanji becoming a normal person. At the same time, a mysterious sect is searching four keys to release a demon. Slowly, the real identity of Xuanji is revealed, and surprisingly, the real identity of Sifeng. Midway, the story turns into a star-crossed lover story, a forbidden love between a demon and a mortal. It is getting bigger when all things are related to the greatest threat of the realm. Near the end, actually the story is a tragic one. The god of war is an anti-hero. The overall story of Xuanji is her way to redemption. In the end, it becomes revenge vs forgiveness, to force a change vs to let it flow with nature/ fate. Truly, a daoist story. Interestingly, the story ends in Heavenly Palace. The Heavenly Emperor is a wise person and becomes part of the conflict resolution. From the beginning, he already tried to solve to problem with the help of his son to guide the god of war through her tribulations and to achieve redemption.

***
Honestly, I watched this drama after Till the End of The Moon's fan comparing Tantai Jin and Sifeng, who is the king of blood vomiting. It is hilarious because I am really curious after that. IMO, Sifeng's blood vomit is more realistic because it is caused by apparent severe injuries, like heart stabs and heavy physical torture. So, the blood is expected. And he didn't start to vomit blood in early episodes. His vomits in later episodes indicate the intensity of danger, his physical limit, and that he is almost died/ very sick. That bloods along with facial expression and face complexion, send a visual message that he is really in pain.

Leer más

must watch for Xianxia lovers

I didn't plan to watch this drama becoz of the unfamiliar cast but its honestly one of the best xianxia romance series I have watched I think the ending is definitely a work of art, The execution,acting,music everything is just so beautiful in an unexplainable way. My fav characters that stood out from the cast is Bai Shu the Lord Flying Snake and Li Xin Ze the
Rahu Ketu idk why but they have some specialty about them. Character arcs that actually is satisfying!
Disclaimer if you don't have patience to go through frustrating romance I won't recommend since it could take a toll on Ur mental health if u not mentally prepared lol.

Leer más

My very first memorable c-drama

My adventure in the world of c-drama couldn't have happened if it wasn't for Love and Redemption. Looking from the synopsis, I have been hyped by this show and always wanted to watch it until I got the courage to.

In the first few episodes, everything was great especially the Hairpin Conference in which they had to catch a legendary monster in the wilderness. This conference also contributed to the first encounter of the ML and FL. Later, after 4 years old separation, they bumped into each other again, but ML seemed to stay away from the FL many, many times. As the story progressed, FL found out shocking evidences and the real identity of the ML. Then, they tried to heal each other and began spending more time together.

In my opinion, it could've been shorter, though. I skipped nearly all the scenes of the 'so-called self-righteous' sect leaders and the evil sect's scheme, crafted by the second lord of Lize Palace.

The friendship between Yu Sifeng, Chu Xuanji, Chu Linglong, Zhong Minyan, Xiao Yinhua, and Ruo Yu is one of the great aspects of the show. Their cute banter in the beginning is very funny before the show got angsty.

I become a hardcore fan of the ML because of this drama, but not for the FL (who is banned for tax evasion).

I've rewatched this, perhaps, 4 times already. Yeah, it's a very amazing drama and I love it very much. But, I do remind you to only look for the couple's scenes and skipped those unnecessary stuffs.

Leer más

I'm glad I came back.

I started watching this drama and stopped after the first 10 episodes. The story was hard to follow, and some of the reviews I read indicated an ending I wasn't sure I wanted to invest watching 59 episodes for. But after a few days of not finding something else to watch, I came back, and am I glad I did!

These fantasy themes are not for me - but I liked the actors, so I gave it a shot. Loved the ML - loved him! And OMG when he spread those golden wings - he looked very godly to me!! The chemistry between he & the FL was really believable (although she was annoying in the beginning - and if she had a dollar for every time she called his name, she would have been rich!) The supporting actors were great too, and the relationships between them was very endearing.

Star of the show, the Flying Snake - Teng She! LOVED his character. That hiss in his sentences was just terrific. And the most annoying character was definitely the Silver Snake. What an ass! I wasn't even sorry for her in the end - because she deserved everything she got - in fact, I'd even say she didn't get the karma that she deserved. And I skipped past some of the disgusting behavior of the 'seniors' and sect-leaders. For a bunch of leaders and supposedly wise people, they were dumb and stupid and small-minded.

How many times could people be wrong about the ML's character? Especially the FL!!! I loved how the truth finally got thrown at her in full force. I rewatched that part a couple of times. They could have given the ending a little more time though... after 59 episodes we deserved a little more than 5 minutes of togetherness as a group.

I think I would definitely watch this again, but I would fast-forward through the fight scenes and some of the draggy parts, just to see the ending.

Leer más

Very good. But can be better

This drama is almost perfect- from visuals, cast, acting, story. What I dont like in this drama is that they give too much emphasis to Yu Si Feng. What I mean is that they make the side characters too dumb especially those seniors of the sect. Like isn`t it obvious that though si feng is a demon, he meant no harm? Well that is my only complaint. Everything else is okay. The best part of the story in this drama for me is the revelation of who really is Rahu Ketu. Very unexpected. Love the plot twist. Second favourite part of the drama is when si feng got a view of his previous nine lives. Aww cried a lot. Want someone like him ahahha.

Leer más

Worth Watching

I actually wasn't planning to watch this until a friend highly recommended it and I was like okay, I'll try a few eps first and see whether I like it, and if worst comes to worst, I'll just drop it (even though I hate dropping series halfway).

Well... turns out I ended up loving it, and is definitely up there as one of the best cdramas I've seen so far. The pacing for this was great - I know I've said this in other reviews before, but for fantasy dramas, it usually takes me around 10 or so eps before I become interested and the plot even becomes interesting, but right off the bat for this drama, I was pulled in.

The acting was top notch for the most part, especially for the two main leads, and the chemistry between them was undeniable. In fact, I didn't expect to, but I grew attached to almost all characters and couples on the show, which is surprising for me because usually it's one or the other. However, there were times when the misunderstandings between the characters made me want to rip my hair out from frustration (hello... episode 42 which took me forever and a half to finish) but the payoff in the end was worth it.

I didn't have many issues with this show, but maybe with the character and acting for Ruo Yu which was uh... not great and not believable. Luohou Jidu acting as Xuanji also completely took me out (as in it gave me major LOLs) and made that whole last arc maybe a bit unintentionally funny for me.

All in all, this show is definitely worth a watch, and the hype is well deserved.

Leer más