2
12
3
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Lost in Dramaland
This review may contain spoilers
They died, they didn't die... they died, they didn't die. Did they die or not??
Completed - 5/5/2022
In Part 1, I praised the drama for its beautiful and colorful cinematography and costumes. Part 2 made a 180-degree turn due to its primary setting in the wintery North. We see snowy trees and mountains, frozen lakes and a beautiful house with unique blue lanterns. The wintery scenes are definitely beautiful. However, after a while, I crave colors instead of bright, shining, white backgrounds and black costumes. How I miss the colors in Part 1!
If I base my review solely on the first ⅓ of the drama, I might have given it a 7 or 7.5 rating. The pacing is so slow. After 4 episodes of seeing our FL being so sickly, and talking like she’s half-dead, I became very bored. This lasted for about 8 episodes (too long). I did not like Dilraba’s acting and/or her character in these episodes at all, and I also became annoyed with the voice actress. Of course, this is all very subjective and you might think this is Dilraba’s best acting, as she’s not cute and innocent, like her usual roles.
If Part 1 is all about misunderstandings, then Part 2 is about who can die sacrificing themselves the most. Let’s take turns doing that! Also, did they die or not? How many times did a character die and then not die?
Our leads are not that interesting in Part 2 and I am not really feeling their chemistry. This might be due to the fact that most of the romance happened towards the end of the drama. I am actually liking the other romances. I like the weird and adorable odd couple, and the opposite-attracts couple. I think both couples are more fun to watch and have better chemistry than our main leads. Additionally, there really aren't any annoying characters. There are no evil second leads due to unrequited love not returned! How rare is that in a xianxia drama! I think my favorite character is Shunde Fairy. She’s an interesting and complicated character, and I enjoy Cristy Guo’s acting.
Costumes and accessories continue to shine. Allen Ren and Dilraba continue to look handsome and stunning. Actually, every single actress looks beautiful in this drama. Props to the make-up artists and costume designers. I love the wedding gowns with the ocean theme - scales designs and mermaid tails. Also love the sea animal sky lanterns.
The songs are the same ones as in Part 1. The more I listen to the songs, the more I like them. I think my favorite song in Part 2 is Mao Buyi’s version of 如你所想 (As you thought). The male version, to me, sounds better than the female version.
The CGI in Part 2 seems inconsistent. There are scenes when the graphics are good. But others, such as the fight in the desert between the Head Immortal Master and the Jade Phoenix was very bad. It seems like they run out of money towards the end of the drama for special effects.
Lastly, without going into spoilers, the editing on the ending could have been a lot better. At first glance, the director seems to want viewers to come up with their own explanation. However, are scenes cut due to censorship? Is that intentional? Something seems to be missing. Thanks to MDLers in the comment section, I read the article with the explanation.
It is a pity that English subtitles are not readily available yet. Although this is not my favorite xianxia drama, I think many would enjoy it.
Other Observations:
1. For someone who until recently hasn’t had that many kiss scenes in dramas, Allen Ren surely has many fish kisses here. He's a fish afterall. ?
2. The secret room with the painting doesn’t seem to be that secretive, since so many got in.
3. Leaders in this drama like to keep plans hidden from others, and then others keep on messing up their plans.
4. Tian Jun (Heavenly Emperor) only has 2 gods to keep him company? Where are the others?
In Part 1, I praised the drama for its beautiful and colorful cinematography and costumes. Part 2 made a 180-degree turn due to its primary setting in the wintery North. We see snowy trees and mountains, frozen lakes and a beautiful house with unique blue lanterns. The wintery scenes are definitely beautiful. However, after a while, I crave colors instead of bright, shining, white backgrounds and black costumes. How I miss the colors in Part 1!
If I base my review solely on the first ⅓ of the drama, I might have given it a 7 or 7.5 rating. The pacing is so slow. After 4 episodes of seeing our FL being so sickly, and talking like she’s half-dead, I became very bored. This lasted for about 8 episodes (too long). I did not like Dilraba’s acting and/or her character in these episodes at all, and I also became annoyed with the voice actress. Of course, this is all very subjective and you might think this is Dilraba’s best acting, as she’s not cute and innocent, like her usual roles.
If Part 1 is all about misunderstandings, then Part 2 is about who can die sacrificing themselves the most. Let’s take turns doing that! Also, did they die or not? How many times did a character die and then not die?
Our leads are not that interesting in Part 2 and I am not really feeling their chemistry. This might be due to the fact that most of the romance happened towards the end of the drama. I am actually liking the other romances. I like the weird and adorable odd couple, and the opposite-attracts couple. I think both couples are more fun to watch and have better chemistry than our main leads. Additionally, there really aren't any annoying characters. There are no evil second leads due to unrequited love not returned! How rare is that in a xianxia drama! I think my favorite character is Shunde Fairy. She’s an interesting and complicated character, and I enjoy Cristy Guo’s acting.
Costumes and accessories continue to shine. Allen Ren and Dilraba continue to look handsome and stunning. Actually, every single actress looks beautiful in this drama. Props to the make-up artists and costume designers. I love the wedding gowns with the ocean theme - scales designs and mermaid tails. Also love the sea animal sky lanterns.
The songs are the same ones as in Part 1. The more I listen to the songs, the more I like them. I think my favorite song in Part 2 is Mao Buyi’s version of 如你所想 (As you thought). The male version, to me, sounds better than the female version.
The CGI in Part 2 seems inconsistent. There are scenes when the graphics are good. But others, such as the fight in the desert between the Head Immortal Master and the Jade Phoenix was very bad. It seems like they run out of money towards the end of the drama for special effects.
Lastly, without going into spoilers, the editing on the ending could have been a lot better. At first glance, the director seems to want viewers to come up with their own explanation. However, are scenes cut due to censorship? Is that intentional? Something seems to be missing. Thanks to MDLers in the comment section, I read the article with the explanation.
It is a pity that English subtitles are not readily available yet. Although this is not my favorite xianxia drama, I think many would enjoy it.
Other Observations:
1. For someone who until recently hasn’t had that many kiss scenes in dramas, Allen Ren surely has many fish kisses here. He's a fish afterall. ?
2. The secret room with the painting doesn’t seem to be that secretive, since so many got in.
3. Leaders in this drama like to keep plans hidden from others, and then others keep on messing up their plans.
4. Tian Jun (Heavenly Emperor) only has 2 gods to keep him company? Where are the others?
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