Travesía a Tu Corazón (2023)

Hypervigilant household | Beautiful woman are the most dangerous

"Do you know what tool the lions use to hunt? Patience." - Gong Shangjue

My Journey to You is a complex yet addicting story that will make you buckle up to your seat for how exciting it gets each coming episodes. Definitely one of the best espionage drama I have ever seen for the last couple of years. The production was taken seriously and they did not hold back even one bit in executing suspenseful and exciting sequences till the very end. Although it ended on a cliffhanger which made me contemplate so much on how should I rate it but considering on how good it was constructed, I still ended up throwing all those dissatisfaction off of the window simple because I know that this drama deserves so much more in comparison to all the contradicting reviews it has gotten from its viewers who probably came watching it looking for some lovey-dovey clichė love story following the success of The love of Fairy and Devil.

One important factor of this show that I really wanna talk about is its balance. I love that they went all out with this drama in terms of providing thrilling and hilarious scenes by incorporating a lot of funny antics through Gong Zi Shang. She may seem weird and absurd at first for her slapstick personality but she of all the characters has made the greatest difference for me to enjoy this drama even more. She's like the comedian among the pack of wolves—silly, clumsy and delusional. The story has become more brighter and entertaining thanks to her huge presence all throughout the show.

I also wanna talk about the word plays and the atmosphere of the drama. The exchange of sarcasms and double edge proverbs has always fascinates me but the way they're delivered here felt even more lethal and sensational. Each character has this mysterious aura to them that will make you wonder how will they react to each situation every single time simply because of how unpredictable they all can be.

Another thing I found unique is their way of showing the flashbacks. I find it amusing and puzzling at first because of how melodramatic, emotional and long it can typical be but then I realized later on that it is their other way of story telling. I love how they efficiently utilized it to make sure that no mysteries are forgotten and unaddressed which is ingenious and innovative now that I finished the drama. I also just wanna mention how intricate and expressive they are in making all those flashbacks; because you can feel that they're perfectly put together not to simply show what has happened behind the scenes but to also express the emotions during those scenes. Brilliant and satisfying!

Lastly, the chemistry between the Main leads. I find it really frustrating how people are saying that Yu Shu Xin and Zhang Ling He (and their characters) got no chemistry at all. Like, are they blind? Those two has showed the most chemistry of all the pairings of this drama (not including Gong Shang Jue and Gong Yuan Zhi cause they're on a different tier list Lol) and I still feel the butterflies in my stomach whenever I reminisce through their cute and intimate scenes! So, what are they talking about? Maybe it was overshadowed by the plot and all the mess going on with the story but certainly both of them has good chemistry and synergy. Same level of chemitry I feel for Jin Fan and Gong Zi Shang.

P.S. Episode 19 is peak martial arts exhibition!! Insane camera works, amazing swords play and top class choreography! Definitely my most favorite episode of all.

Story - 10, It was intricately created and may seem complex at first but the more you dive into it, the more exciting and entertaining it gets. The show is highly concentrated on the plot and how it goes and not your typical drama where it focuses on the love story. Which is great because this is an espionage themed drama after all.

Acting/Cast - 10, I'm sold! This made me realize how good of an actress Yu Shu Xin is. Her expression and body movements are all on point, same goes with Zhang Ling He. Another actors/actresses I want to mention for portraying their characters flawlessly are Ryan Cheng, Tian Jia Rui, Lu Yu Xiao and most specially Jolin Jin. What an spectacular set of great actors!

Music - 10, Honestly, I was quite bothered by the use of music during the Sword Wielder's tribute flashback but as time goes on, I just naturally resonated and got moved by the emotions brought by the BGMs used. So, Good Job to the Music department for bring in your AAA+ game.

Rewatch Value - 10, This is one of those dramas I got no problem re-watching at all. I even think that we could have gotten more episodes. Not to mention each episode is mostly an hour long yet I still need more! And honestly, I find it more appealing and entertaining compared to those highly romanticize Idol dramas. So, don't even hesitate and just go watch it!

Overall - 10, Definitely the superior Yu Shu Xin and Zhang Ling He drama together. If you know what I'm saying. Hahaha! I like almost everything about this drama aside from that cliffhanger at the very end... but even with that, this drama's still a precious one for me. It executed and greatly delivered!

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

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The story really have a plot twist that will shocked you.

Yu Shuxin is the main female lead in My Journey To You that played the character role of Yun Weishan, the secret spy that will enter the Gong's residence. She proved to everyone that she's a very versatile Chinese drama actress and singer that can accept challenging and not her usual roles just like in Love Between Fairy and Devil and A Romance of the Little Forest and Sword and Fairy 6. She even lost some weights to be able to satisfy her role as a spy and requirements of the director. All the casts are very promising and the story is well written that the viewers will be captivated to watch until the end and having a 24 episodes is a bit short. For me I want it to be a long series or having a season 2.

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Cheering for Season 2

I'm really into this kind of drama, and here's what I love about it: The cinematography is stunning, the dialogue is captivating, those slow-motion fight scenes are just perfect, and the mystery keeps me hooked.

But there's one little thing that bugs me about this drama – the lip color they put on the male leads. It's not a big deal, but it stands out to me.

I get that not everyone might share my passion for this genre, but I'm a big fan, just like I am of "Sword Snow Stride." I'm really hoping for a second season for both of these shows, and I'm definitely cheering for it!

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A little too murky for me …

I’ll keep this short since I’m in the middle of binge-watching. I just wanted to share a few things about my first impressions.

this drama looked to be very grounded to its mystery, and dark edge from watching the trailer. it’s proving to be just that; and isn’t misleading it’s audience to being more campy or a romantic comedy. Instead this drama has a dark mood and starts off with a very promising story.

I’m already interested in seeing the characters develope and grow to know eachother more. From the first episode alone it gives off a lot that keeps me wanting to watch more. Especially with the cinematography.

It’s better than average right now and in seriously anticipating that the ratings will score high and this drama will be successful. It’s not like many others airing around it, it’s very unique with its mood and costuming that sets it apart already. I’m glad I picked it up and will be keeping up with it daily until it’s done. There is something about this drama that makes me believe it is so promising.

The further in, the more the setting feels constricting. I understand why some want out, and why some chose to stay. I hope they explore their surroundings though, but I am still pretty early into the drama. I must say that Ester Yu is so impressive here, she usually is casts in roles that are naive and aloof, but here she is very intelligent and cold and cunning. Zhang Le He also is too handsome to not pay attention too, and I am looking forward to more projects from him (Eternal Faith)


In the end I get what people say when they want Zhang Le He to have a break out role that gets him really popular. He has the face and the talents and the height, but this drama didn’t help him. He’s a great actor here, but the chemistry lacked and that wasn’t any of the leads fault. I fear it was because of their pairings in others dramas and the comparisons I can’t help but making. Ester Yu is very good here also, I just think the whole atmosphere ended up bogging this one down a little too much for me. I felt like I didn’t get what I asked for with the leads, I wanted a mature and steamy romance but instead I didn’t think they are in it enough to keep me watching. I also heard there is a cliffhanger so in the end if this drama doesn’t fulfill anything that it’s not worth finishing. It isn’t like the leads aren’t in anything else, and since I liked them enough here.. I’ll check them out elsewhere.

This drama is simply too dark and so much plot with little action to keep me satisfied. I have a low attention span and am a simple person sometimes, so it just got caught in the middle of other dramas I just liked better. Not bad but not great.

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solo quiero saber!!

It is one of the dramas that I couldn't stop watching it, because It is very interesting and for me, it is relaxing . I get into the story deeply. So i don't care if reh final is happy or not... i want more... the quality in each category of this drama is awesome and high... i just want to know: HOW IS THE FINAL?
SOMEONE DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN AND GIVE DETAILS , PLEASE... THEY STAY TOGETHER? I DONT CARE .. PLEASE SAY ANYTHING...
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

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I am seeing Yu Shu Xin and Zhang Ling He in a different light and I absolutely love it...

iQiyi have only realeased 3 episodes and I am hooked. Episode 1 got me hooked. I will extend the review as the episodes come along. I am not up and up on the names of the characters yet, I am bad enough with English and Filipino names, so I am more confused with Chinese names. So if I get the names wrong, sorry. My bad, I did not mean to.

I love love love Yu Shu Xin here. I've watched her dramas and I am so used to see her playing cutesy, charming, always giggling, sometimes brainy but mostly shallow, bordering ditsy FL roles so I am so happy she has a chance to play something a bit more serious. I can only imagine the hours she put in to make the few martial arts moments she has in the first 3 episodes released make it seem believable, especially the fight scene in muddy water. I just hope if Yun Wei Shan does succeed, she doesn't get poisoned and killed because of a "no one leaves Wujeng alive" kinda thing. All that to say I am greatly enjoying this Yu Shu Xin that I am watching right now...

I like this Zhang Ling He here. I am not his biggest fan, I have only seen him in 2 dramas Love Between a Fairy and Devil and Sparkle Love, the later I stopped watching coz I got bored with the story. So I wasn't really sure how he'd be as the ML. I like it so far. He starts out as character in the story that those around him doesn't pay attention to, believing his playboy persona. Are they going to make his character start so-so then show he really was smart and very good at martial arts down the road as the story progresses? I hope so, they are certainly building up for something. I like how when he was told he was inheriting the Sword Wielder position, he was crying for his loss but he was also observing his father. I also like how they set up the scene for Ziyu's character to shed his easy-going, playboy persona. I hope it goes on and Ziyu's character develops better. Also, I like how the first episode they already made him fight. I hope to see more action scenes from him.

Lu Yu Xiao's character here is a surprise and not. I mean I have seen her play as the "bad" character in Love You Seven Times where Jin Lou started out as the enemy but ended up not being the enemy. So I am thinking, that may also be the same here, just a feeling mind you. I like how her character was mostly just being manipulative and have not really shown her hand. I am curious about her and her, what did they call their handler in the story? Raven? Him, the dude with the shaved head. I wonder what is going on between them. But I am enjoying her character so far. She said in the story she has a different target than Weishan's so when she claimed she is interested in Shangjue when the bride-to-bes were having a powow session, was she setting up the scene coz he is her target? I'm curious.

Gong Shangjue. I know I remember him in the drama A Familiar Stranger. I don't recall him having a fight scene there, I doubt but I maybe remembering it wrong, but all that to say I like his character there. That is the only bar I can gauge his acting from. So far, I like how they are setting his character up. So he is like known as smart and very good in martial arts in their village but I like his one scene where he put the innkeeper in his place when he said "... instead of worrying about the gong family, he is more worried about the succession..." or there about. I do now remember the line word for word. But when you see it, yeah. I like his character at that moment. Let see how they develop his character more as the story goes. I wanna know if he is gonna fight Ziyu for the position or like when he kept trying to interrupt Ziyu's dad from saying he should be the next Sword Wielder, he really does not want to be the successor and will support Ziyu in his new role.

The poison expert guy. I dont remember his name. I want to see how his character progresses. I mean he is being defiant at Zhang Ling He when he became the Sword Wielder because he genuinely believes that it should be his brother and not Ziyu. I understand that. But is he going to relent later down the road or what?

Will I continue to watch this drama? Duh! Dumb question. I am repeating all 3 episodes as soon as I am done writing this initial review. I only want to be able to share my excitement for this drama. Will I recommend it? ABSOLUTELY. Even if you are not as invested in the characters as I seem to be, I want to share how very well choreographed and executed the fight scenes are in this drama, even with only 3 episodes. I hope it keeps up until the last episode. I am not a big fan of the internal politics they have going on in the Gong Family so forgive me if I don't say much about it. Even IRL, I don't play politics so I don't mind it so much. It adds to the story but I am not racking my few remaining braincells with what's going on and how it will affect things and what not. I will just wait for whatever they wanna share in the drama. I am not going to nitpick and overthink about it ahead of time. I am not big on costume drama music but so far I can say what they used seem to match what I have seen so far. I have not heard anything that seemed off. Now if the lyrics are saying something else, I would not know, I haven't checked any of the music translations yet.

So. that's it for me. I am going to rerun the drama from episode one and will update my review when I get done with the whole drama. Have fun and enjoy watching it!!

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A Beautiful Nothing

I cannot describe to you how much I wanted to like this drama. Truly, like, hinged my whole month on it. I remember thinking, after watching Wuliang, that I hoped Edward Guo would direct a whole series someday. Maybe I was wrong.

Espionage and plotting/scheming political stories are my favorite, especially if they're more serious and mature. I don't mind romance, as long as it's not the main plotline and doesn't force itself into the main plotline. It can even add something, done right. So really, this should have been perfect for me.

To preface I should say, I really enjoyed Edward Guo's Wuliang and his Yin Yang Master. However it's my belief that his visuals, while stunning, are often used as a kind of gauzy filler-type decoration for a simple, straightforward plot that doesn't really need actual exposition. By which I mean that he uses beautiful cinematography to tell the substantive "details" of the story but this leaves actual facts and details unclarified in even the vaguest sense and forces the viewers to fill in the gaps with the emotional aftertaste of the offered imagery. If the plot is simple, as in Wuliang, this is fine. If it's more complex it really only works if you're going for that heady mythological fever dream kind of atmosphere, as in Yin Yang Master. A complex warring sects political and espionage drama can't really take this kind of approach. The end result will be too sumptuous without a definable foundation. Like cotton candy wrapped around a sugar framework, it will dissolve on contact with water. Or, in this case, if you try to think about it at all. I like Edward Guo. I just think his style doesn't work with the complex type of story this was meant to be. You'd need a more crisp directing style that focused on relaying facts as concisely as possible.

The idea of a completely insular clan that was heavily structured and full of its own politics was already fascinating. Couple that with an antagonistic sinister enemy clan that was gobbling up the rest of the world one sect at a time and you have the makings of something excellent. Throw in the opening situation of "assassin among the brides" and you've got yourself a good story.

However, right out of the gate the story's logic was taking critical damage. Sinister clan sends an assassin (or two) to their enemy within a group of brides. A fantastic trojan horse strategy. But then they deliberately let slip that an assassin is among the brides. In order to conceal the identity of another assassin among the brides? How does the sinister clan not foresee that their enemy's only logical response to learning that an assassin is among these random ladies is to, at best, refuse them entrance? Thus foiling their own trojan horse plan?

I'm imagining a random Greek sailor walking up to Priam while he examines the giant wooden horse on the shore and saying "there's definitely one Greek guy inside that thing." Number one: like he'd believe there's just one. That's just psychology: if you are told there's one, you'll suspect there are more. If you discover for yourself that there's one, you'll be so satisfied with your own cleverness that you'll believe it was the only one. Thus, I doubt Priam would've cared about angering the gods at that point. Burn it or leave it. No sane person does otherwise. So what sane Greek would tell him there's a soldier in the horse? You're creating a problem you then have to come up with a brilliant plan to fix. But you've now wasted all this time and energy on that brilliant plan, so what about the main plan? Actually managing to plant a spy among the women who are on their way inside the impenetrable compound of their enemy is so, so valuable. And the risk that revealing this strategically creates is so huge that it completely negates the value of their rare opportunity. It makes no logical sense that the Wufeng clan would do it. I could understand sending two instead of one because then even if the Gongs are suspicious and one spy is discovered (by the rogue plotting of the other, perhaps), the core plan is safe. It doesn't make any sense for them to reveal it before the women are even let through the gate. This felt like a weird attempt to outsmart the audience that looped back around and smacked the story in the face. This is such an illogical plan. And the sinister clan's explanation was muddy and unclear. That they had some other motive? Okay, but you still have to get through the door, do you not?

I only watched a few episodes, so really banging on about this issue with logic isn't quite fair. A few efforts were made to "explain" the illogical behavior of certain characters. But this created an atmosphere of wildly unnecessary complexities. A byzantine level of complexity that ends up being so inefficient it cancels itself out. I was expecting to be confused as to people's motives and allegiances. I was disappointed to find that I was more confused by the absurd actions taken by the characters which could only be explained by "this scene would look really cool." And not "oh I wonder what the aim is here, I can't wait to find out." Or something.

Example: the prolonged conversation between the two spy brides that moved in and out of the hanging screen: that should have been amazing. I love those long, tricky conversations where you're hanging on every careful word. But it ended up being actually quite boring. Partly because their analysis of each other's actions didn't quite hold up to that level of scrutiny, by which I mean that the characters were attributing a lot of thought to actions that had not been portrayed carefully enough to withstand even the possibility that something else might've been going on. This partly because the other actress (not Esther Yu) had to carry the scene and didn't have the space, writing, or acting skills to do so. And Esther Yu basically just looked surly and confused the whole time. It takes an enormous amount of subtle skill to pull off those intricate conversation scenes. There were much better versions in the overlooked gem The Ingenious One between the male and female main characters in which more was communicated with the movements of their eyes than every combined line of dialogue between these two spy-brides.

I would allow the naïveté of the male lead. His impulsive insistence on bringing the Trojan horse into the city instead of burning it on the beach was completely believable. His general impulsive dumbness was fine. The way he leapt without looking or thinking was what I would expect.

But his behavior later when he suddenly had all this responsibility was way too diametrically different from who he was initially. He seemed to have become... not MUCH smarter, but so much of his dumbness had vanished, to the point that I was wrenched out of the rhythm of the story. He seemed to be dumb when the story needed him to make mistakes and then to be smart when the story needed him to figure things out.

I get that he's the throwaway son, the drunken playboy, but we were never really shown that at first. In fact, it was a little jarring to see everyone treat him so poorly given that the first time the audience saw him, he was waxing poetic about the snow, behaving with gentility and displaying a tremendous amount of intelligence and foresight. But everyone treated him like an idiot they would cross the street to avoid. We didn't find out till later that he normally behaved like an unlikable loser. Sure, it was explained, but it shouldn't have been necessary. This was poor storytelling. It would have been better to portray the drunken nobody and then gradually reveal the intelligent nobility. As it was, I found his characterization uneven and odd. Later, when he was shoved into a position of power, the self-doubt and hiding-away attitude seemed to vanish. Perhaps if I'd watched more I would have seen more about it. But gaining power shouldn't have made his doubts and fears disappear or even just diminish, it should have made them larger. It was hard to care about him because things that should have been clearly understood were unnecessarily muddy and uncertain.

His acting was fine. I feel that he would've done good work if the writing of his character had been properly mapped. I really like that type of character. The failure who has unwanted power thrust upon him and has to somehow grow into it before he loses everything. That's why I tried to watch this. But they jumbled his development in those crucial early episodes, so I didn't really trust them to get any of the rest of it right.

I don't particularly like Esther Yu when she's acting seriously. If I'm being honest, this was a bit of a problem for me with Love Between Fairy and Devil. I found her serious, darker acting to be stiff, overwrought, and unwatchable. She was the same here in the three episodes I watched. Her other bride-agent counterpart was portrayed with more nuance and more agility, in my opinion, and even she left much to be desired. (I can't help but be reminded of the restrained complexity of Angelababy in Wind Blows From Longxi who did more with her stone smile and stiff eyebrows than both of these actresses combined, and with less screen time in the entire series than these two actresses in the first handful of episodes) Esther Yu wasn't inscrutable, she was a block of wood. She was beautiful and elegant and moved through fight choreography like a dancer, but even though her character was written extremely layered and complicated, her portrayal flattened it like an 80s perm in high humidity.

Not to mention that she's a woman who was supposedly trained for years to infiltrate, deceive, etc. and in one of the most critical moments immediately begins acting in a way that makes her stand out? If I'm to believe that this woman is an even somewhat competent spy then she should be going out of her way to behave in a way that makes her disappear in the crowd of brides. She needs to do what they do, be frightened when they're frightened, angry when they're angry. Her training should have made her allergic to standing out. Blending in should be second nature to her. It's her whole point. She would be trained to read people. She would have immediately picked up on the younger brother's sympathetic desire to save the women, spy and all, and played into it. Instead of randomly launching her own half-assed escape attempt? From one of the most heavily fortified mountains in the world? And the speculation that she did this to stand out deliberately doesn't hold water because her specific behavior didn't say "delicate bride in need of saving," it screamed "sneaky enemy agent."

The badass female spy is a nifty idea in the twenty-first century I guess. But in any society in any time the best spy isn't the best fighter. They aren't the prettiest, handsomest, tallest, strongest, etc. They are the ones that no one sees. The ones you forget after you talk to them. A female assassin who can't rely on guns and is necessarily going to be smaller and less strong than most of her targets would probably be heavily trained in poisons, which I guess they did get mostly right. And if you just want to write a story with a cool badass female fighter, that's great. But to be believable she has to have spent at least as much time learning tea ceremonies and the zither and how to invisibly guide conversations as she did learning how to elbow people in the teeth. And I mean years, not days. Walking in a circle for a week and a half with her hands held just so is not enough to learn how to blend in as a noblewoman. It just isn't. Pretending it is does a disservice to the female spy, the female noblewoman, the integrity of the story and the intelligence of the audience. And if I'm being completely honest, it's unlikely a man would be able to teach her even a quarter of what she'd need to know to pass as a noblewoman. But that's okay, see, because he at least covered what she'd need in the bedroom. Which is all a woman really needs to know, right? What are we doing here, Edward?

Which doesn't even make sense, honestly, because while a noblewoman would know about the birds and bees, in those days a typical noblewoman wouldn't have a comprehensive working knowledge of "erotica" unless she was in the trade. And if she did that would be suspicious. Either because it would call into question her reputation or her entire identity. Did nobody in the writing room have their coffee for this one or what?

I'm reminded of the scene in The Secret of the Three Kingdoms when the emperor thinks he knows how to eat grapes until the empress shows him how the wealthy do so and he realizes that this might have given him away.

I'm reminded of Maggie Q's Nikita series in which that one teacher would train the girls exclusively in ways to disarm men with their mere company, how they carried themselves, what color their clothes were, etc. This training took years and years.

I'm reminded of the completely overblown and kind of ridiculous scene in Inglorious Basterds which nevertheless had the right idea. You know the one I mean, when he asked for three drinks the wrong way and then everyone died.

Furthermore, presumably all these women were from martial clans which is why, I'm assuming, no one was too suspicious when Esther Yu's character could hold her own in a fight with the young Gong princeling. But if they were so capable of fighting, why didn't they attempt any such fighting when their lives were in danger? Either they could fight or they couldn't. But again it seemed that the plot choices were made based on what would look best on the screen. And that elegant fight on the riverbank was lovely, but made no sense to me. And if they all could fight on that level I feel like more precautions would have been taken? Especially if such skills were so expected as to be unsurprising.

If I were the Wufeng clan, I'd have a spy stationed in the brothel the younger brother frequents. If she could become his go-to, I'd have an invaluable source of information about the interior of the compound. I would know when there was tension within the main family by the mood of the younger brother, I'd be able to glean details about the politics of the whole clan based on little specifics that he'd let slip without even realizing it. In that sense, the youngest brother would be the one the Wufeng clan would know the most about as he was by far the easiest to access for information. Because most men, even good and noble men, of that type of society would naturally let their guard down around serving women. That's not as stylish or cool as the slick, trained ninja assassin, but it makes more sense and is therefore more fun to watch. For me at least. For all I know, if I kept watching I might find out that they do have a spy there. But I doubt our man Edward had time to think of that what with all prolonged sequences of young, shirtless, sweaty men sparring and the slow motion mud pit fights...

Maybe I'm not the target audience here. I don't mind when a guy is shirtless in a way that makes narrative sense or when a women has to strip to change her clothes or something. But I am not a fan of deliberate, excessive, full-eye contact physical objectification of either gender. Like that long sequence introducing the King in The Forbidden Marriage. It was like an early 00's music video the way they slowly panned over closeup shots of his bare body in candlelight. Compare that to the scene in Lovers of the Red Sky when he was working out shirtless. That made narrative sense, we were being shown his surprising physical power and fighting ability which came into play shortly thereafter. If you insist on putting a person's body on display for your personal enjoyment, at least make sure the plot benefits, for god's sake.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stand on some soapbox and shout about the poor treatment of women in a random ancient society. I know what I'm getting into when I fire up an historical drama. It's fine, it's a story, let's all calm down. However, why are we having literal mud wrestling for no narrative purpose whatsoever? This is the problem with this drama. A great story could have been put here but all the narrative space was filled with meaningless visuals like an artistic slow motion sequence of women trainees in the period equivalent of underwear fighting in a mud pit while their male handlers looked on. I mean, Edward, what's the aim here?

The atmosphere was dark and moody and gothic, the cinematography was unbelievably gorgeous, the costumes were stunning, and everyone was very beautiful, if that kind of thing is important to you. And there were some undeniably cool scenes (that guy going up the stairs on horseback gets the 2023 award for Best Entrance). But all of that was so heavily weighted in production that the story, which is hidden behind all those smoke and mirrors, is full of holes, built on flimsy framework, and barely withstands any close examination before collapsing in on itself. Which is a shame, because a good story paired with the stunning production design would have made this an actual masterpiece.

Maybe it would improve if I continued. But I doubt it. And I don't trust it enough at this point to waste my time.

I will say: the actual instrumental background soundtrack was SO good. I desperately need to find that.

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Could not get pass episode 5. Too slow, boring, and annoying background music

My Journey to You is a historical drama about Yun Wei Shan, a spy longing for freedom, who infiltrates the Gong residence to complete a mission and falls in love with Gong Zi Yu.

I cannot pass episode 5 of this drama. It is so slow, and the interjection of the background music is so much that it is annoying. The flashback between scenes is too confusing to follow for me. I like Esther Yu in Moonlight with Ryan Ding, but anything after that was so unbearable for me, especially the high-pitched voice that was her character in "A Romance of the Little Forest," which makes her dislike her even more.

I don't know how people like her acting; she has now been delisted from my favorite actresses list. Her onscreen chemistry with Zhang LingHe is not great either. I am dropping this drama and give it a 4.0

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Very powerful start

Seeing Esther yu and ZLH together is very amazing even tho I watch 5 eps My Journey to You was interesting and amazing Esther yu acting was amazing and it’s really good it’s already got me hooked and I love love love Yu Shu Xin here. I've watched her dramas and I am so used to see her playing cutesy, charming, always giggling, sometimes brainy but mostly shallow, bordering ditsy FL roles so I am so happy she has a chance to play something a bit more serious. I can only imagine the hours she put in to make the few martial arts moments she has in the first 5 episodes released make it seem believable, especially the fight scene in muddy water. I just hope if Yun Wei Shan does succeed, she doesn't get poisoned and killed because of a "no one leaves Wufeng alive" kinda thing. All that to say I am greatly enjoying this Yu Shu Xin that I am watching right now... I hope to see more amazing scenes


So. that's it for me. I am going to rerun the drama from episode one and will update my review when I get done with the whole drama. Have fun and enjoy watching it!!

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So disappointed

I was really looking forward to this drama, and now I am sorry I wasted so many precious hours watching it. All because of the way it ends. Really?! Who leaves a story hanging like that?
Zhang Linghe, Esther Yu are all among my favourites. The main cast members as well as supporting roles were great, but the ending?! What the heck? I won’t even bother watching it again. I’ve watched Love Between Fairy and Devil 6 times, Till The End of the Moon 4 times, because the story is good. Whoever wrote the script for My Journey to You was very confusing. The great fight scenes aren’t even enough to redeem this drama.

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One of the best of 2023!

This is not your typical idol drama but it's definitely an eye candy fest. You'll see many so many familiar good looking actors/actresses all gathered in 1 drama.

This is a quality production in a very dark setting. Ep 1 instantly got me hooked with the female assassin concept which remotely reminded me of Bloody Romance. The cinematography, CGI & fight scenes are all really good.
Make up on the MLs are a bit overwhelming but it works well on the FLs with the dark costumes. Costume designs are very beautiful with lots of black and fine gold detailing. Even the plain monk costumes you can see the fabric texture detailing. Quite impressive.

Storytelling & dialogue is engaging to where full attention is required at least the first 1/2. Story revolves some power struggles , murder mysteries, assassin frenemies making me wish this series is longer than just 24 eps.
Only parts I don't care for is the sister of ML. OTP forced humor feels out of place for this drama. A few lines were funny I admit but most I can do without. 2nd half though she did grow on me to my surprise. It's been a while since I loved almost every character and every fight scene!

Overall:
2nd FL & 2ML out acted the ML & FL
2ML's brother makes a great trio dynamic
Ending is.... tragically messy to the land of no where. Hoping S2 will magically appear one day and answer all unanswered questions.........................

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GOOD LOOKING CASTS

Only 4 episodes that I watch his drama, not so much opinion but I notice few things that make this drama stand out. All the cast are so good looking, easy on the eyes. Esther Yu looks like her real age, could see clearly Zhang LingHi was a much younger man. Only the oldest JieJie that's light (although she's suck in dancing), setting and costumes are beautiful, too much dialogue exchange without story progress: dramatic monologue. No much entertainment..

1. Background music / Ambient
Over dramatized background music. Simple scene accompanied with music that focus to create a certain atmosphere or state of mind, a dark edgy one, intended as cinematic thriller background. Everybody talk alot; scheming, explaining, threat, smirking, intimidation, all done in talking. Appeared there's none of happiness or cheerful on the scenes.
2. Denigrated Women
Survival fight on the mud (ep2), selecting a bride from 10 women and when they don't get selected they'd be killed - women tried to win favors from the male counterparts - to be the bride of Gong family she needs to be in perfect health like weekly health check up or something; felt like worst selection of a Queen (oh...but whatever). Hmmm...not a great,

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