A cheesy well produced GL historical drama, an hour well spent!
I am always searching for good GL shows to watch because as much as like BL shows, as a lesbian I want more content that caters to me. A lot of the dramas with lesbian/sapphic characters and relationships is awfully serious and/or tragic which is fine, but sometimes I just want something that is cheesy and ridiculous. Let me tell you that this was exactly that! And it feels really, really nice to find that content.With a runtime of about 1h, this drama won't take too long to watch, but manages to create a story that got me emotional in the last few episodes because I had started to care about the characters.
The first few episodes of the show are quite humorous and full of clichés of the genre with a character (Xiaoqian), very excitable and decidedly cute, travelling to the past and meeting Muyun, the stern and serious character, and then said character travelling to the modern world and discovering said modern world with every moment that you would expect (special mention for her meeting Xiaoqian's cat). The story then starts to become stronger and denser with the introduction of the character of Hongyan. I don't want to reveal too much, but this arc which culminates in the last few episodes is what made the drama go from a cheesy romcom to a feeling of "dang, this is actually quite good".
They manage to pack enough backstory and background world information in an hour to make a somewhat coherent story and world that works within the limited time.
The actresses do a good job at portraying their characters and the archetype they each represent whether the peppy happy Xiaoqian, the serious Muyun whose shell was broken by Xiaoqian, or the broken Hongyan. They managed to sell me those characters which I wasn't convinced would happen when I first started watching the show. Wang Laoji (Muyun) and Peng Jingxian (Hongyan) in particular do a good job. Wang Xiaoyu manages to sell the character of Xiaoqian well enough, which can be hard (it's like being able to sell the character of the Prince in Cinderella without making it too cheesy or a caricature).
There is clearly 0 budget, but with that limited budget, they got some nice costumes, some nice music, and created a coherent whole in terms of photography and cinematography. It is very in line with this type of historical Chinese drama from what I am picking up from my watching (the slow motion in fights, the close-ups, the looks, etc.) and it works well. The editing isn't done really well, but the story flows well enough that it is not too much of a bother. If you don't have too high of expectations for it, you'll be fine.
I don't know that I would necessarily rewatch it on my own, but if a friend wanted to watch it and asked me to watch it with them, I would for sure rewatch it without an issue.
In conclusion, it delivers on what it promises and gives me exactly what I wanted. A cheesy and slightly ridiculous, but well produced within a limited budget show with a nice story and pretty girls who fall in love. What more could I ask? (A lot more, but for tonight, this is just right.)
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I got a bit lost in the story around ep 5/6 , but overall it was quite nice. I think that the crew did what they could, since the series was so short (approximately an hour overall) and it is a cdrama after all. The production was quite good too, I was just a bit confused about the clothing and why they didn't change it.
The actors also did a great job and both of the leads were so prettyyy; I am unashamedly simping for shifu and I really need a top like her in my life! I wouldn't be surprised if I rewatch this like ten times.
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This review may contain spoilers
GL that everyone needs to check it out!
First of all, i really love how simple and funny the story was. i have a great time watching this series! the comedy also the actresses is 10/10 !!♡♡ the way shifu and xiao qian slowly becoming close, also when shifu protecting her too! a lovely sight.i really am wish that this story have a long duration because it's such a waste in my opinion.
i don't really like the ending, comedy aside, this story is actually a little bit heartbreaking. xiao qian ended up leaving shifu all alone in this world... and that red bish- ugh
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Wish it was longer
You can watch the entire series in 1hr so there isn't much time to develop characters and relationships.I wish it was longer because despite everything being rushed I still enjoyed it, so I just wish they had a better time to establish they world, the magic in it, the backgrounds of the characters, relationships and friendships. I think they did what they could with the time but they still needed more space to develop.
However, I still recommend it. It's short, cute, fast paced but not forced.
And Its pretty gay for a chinesse series, If I didn't already knew about the censorship in China this series definitely would not make me think there is any.
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Great watch, emotional, but some plotholes
Love and need more baihe xianxia series, I am begging.I loved the chemistry between the main two characters, and the interesting storyline that came about. It's really cute and sweet. Each episode is only 4 minutes long, so it's quite a quick watch (only one hour total!) Worth checking out. :) The story is also contained within the series and is paced okay, as well as some cute fluff side scenes that was so adorable and funny.
But... there are some plotholes that never really get resolved, hence docked points. I thought they'd resolve them but, unfortunately not. I don't think that counts as a spoiler, but just be warned. LOL
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I honestly can't believe how this got past Chinese censorship because damn this was definitely full of lovable lesbian moments and there was even an off-screen kiss but it was definitely there! :3
The actresses did a really great job, cheerful Xiao Qian was really cute and I was simping so hard for shifu Mu Yun tbh. <3 also notice how the title of the drama is just basically their shipname lol
Wish it was longer but despite its shortness it didn't feel rushed. Some plot holes occured along the way but I forgive them for the rest of the drama was amazing. We really deserve more wuxia GLs!
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give me more!!!
for a low budget drama with short episodes and nonsensical plot, in a span of an hour, i was pleasantly surprised by how much i enjoyed it.sure, maybe at some point, the weird transitions, editing and sudden odd choice of music did irk me. however, the acting of mu yun, hongyan and xuanyu were impactful enough to keep me watching.
the whole time travel deal could've been interesting and explored more. it also would've been helpful to delve deeper about hongyan and the fans. what a shame that the duration of the episodes wasn't enough to produce more depth.
overall, this somehow gives me hope that in the future, there'll be full length gl wuxia dramas or whatever kind of genre. i hope it'll be soon.
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This review may contain spoilers
I feel like this could have been a amazing series but it still needed a lot more buffering imo.I love the actresses that played in this even if the FL's voice did grate my nerves sometimes. Lol but if I'm honest I was totally there for Lao Ji Wang. She's a woman after my own heart. Lol
I really did like this series but it just felt like something was missing and from episode to episode it seemed really choppy. I don't regret watching it though.
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Like a compilation of clips, but ones worth watching
This is one of those series that I'd talk up so much that when people actually watch it, they'd be confused.I. Loved. Yun. Qian. I'm in love with their love. Also...BADDIE WUXIA GAY GIRLS?? I think yes.
Because the world is lesbophobic (and because censorship is terrifying), the budget for this show was probably very minimal and the runtime is about 60 minutes total. Each episode is about 4 minutes long. However, I am still impressed with what they were able to put together.
The stunning visuals, beautiful costumes, good acting, surprisingly decent SFX, and chemistry between the leads make up for the forced absence of adequate development. The plot had the potential to be good as it was witty, cute, funny, sad at the right times, and had a bit to offer to everyone, but because of the lack of resources, it ended up being rushed and campy. Overuse of on-screen text and comical editing (present in every light-hearted Chinese interview ever) normally annoys me, but I think it added to the cuteness of the production. What was annoying, though, was the excessive amount of music changes. Like, not necessary, but the music was good. The storyline got kind of confusing in the middle and I kind of lost track of the plot at one point, but who cares? There were gorgeous, badass women with swords...
Although it was more like a compilation of clips put together, the fact that this show contained an actual storyline with charming (and really pretty) characters makes it impressive and definitely worth a watch. It made me soooo happy to see queer girls in my favorite Asian drama genre (wuxia lol) and I really hope that we can get shows like Yun Qian in the future with more time, money, plot, and other resources. I know that they will be amazing :)
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Ridiculous, Cheesy Fun
Ah, but there is just something special about these mini C-dramas.It's true, they suffer from a lack of budget, a lack of plot, and a lack of being allowed to have their goddamn mains kiss on screen for once, but they are also incredibly skilled at circumventing all those issues.
Here, the plot, even if it is weak or densely packed into a very short runtime, is compelling and easy to follow and the likeable (and let's not kid ourselves - beautiful) characters are more than enough to keep the audience captivated and entertained for the, sadly all too brief, duration of the show's runtime.
Furthermore the series never takes itself too seriously. The team clearly knew exactly what kind of show they were making and they went all-in. And that's precisely what makes it work. It's that commitment, combined with just a few moments of tongue-in-cheek meta humour that makes the entire thing so wholly charming and fun to watch.
Yes, I wish there were more depictions of queer people in general and queer women specifically in our media and yes, I wish I could get to see the makers behind these shows get to produce something unafraid and wholly, explicitly queer and yes, it breaks my damn heart that, for now, we can't have any of those things.
But I also feel heartened by shows like this. They are ridiculous, bold, unflinching little acts of defiance and seeing more and more of them produced in the last few years has been a real treat.
For now, these will do. For now, we at least get to see cute girls with swords turning the world on its head to be with each other. And that's not nothing.
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Un GL de muy bajo presupuesto pero bonito y entretenido
Trama: Los discípulos de la Secta Lingchuan han cuidado los Abanicos del Paraíso y La Tierra durante casi un siglo. Mu Yun y Hua Yue son las únicas discípulas que quedan. La obstinada y desobediente Hua Yue descubre por accidente que el Abanico del Paraíso posee el poder de viajar a través del tiempo, y para escapar de ser forzada por Mu Yun a estudiar y practicar artes marciales, viaja al futuro. En el presente conoce a Xiao Qian, quien se ve exactamente igual que ella, y se le ocurre una idea para escapar de sus responsabilidades en la Secta.Contando con tan sólo 15 capítulos de unos 4 minutos de duración cada uno, no hay mucho tiempo para contar una historia. Tomando esto en cuenta, se intentó construir un conflicto complejo propio del Wuxia, que es tan parte de la trama principal como la relación de las protagonistas. El mayor problema para mí es que la serie tiene una edición rarísima, con cortes extremadamente abruptos todo el tiempo que no ayudan a disimular la prisa con que la historia avanza. No obstante, sigue siendo admirable lo mucho que te cuentan en aproximadamente la hora total que se tarda en ver toda la serie, pero quedan montones de agujeros de guión, final incluido.
A pesar del presupuesto claramente bajo, está bien aprovechado: el vestuario es lindo y el CGI es aceptable. Lo único que se me hacía extraño es cómo la protagonista cambia su aspecto constantemente entre su estilo real contemporáneo y el de época, porque literalmente lo cambia como si de un cosplay se tratara, incluyendo el largo del cabello, obviando que utiliza una peluca.
La relación de las protagonistas es súper bonita y se desarrolla tan lento como puede dentro de las prisas, pero es muy creíble y tienen mucha química. Hay momentos que pueden ser graciosos por caer en lo cliché pero igual son muy lindos. Le aplaudo sobre todo a la serie cómo hicieron de obvio el romance, me sorprendió que pasara bajo el radar de censura .
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