kiera
Singapore
The story is brilliant in itself and I am honestly sure it did the book justice. I think if you're watching this without reading the book beforehand, you would love the show a lot more because you're watching without expectations plus either way, Eternal Love will blow you away (even if you're not a fantasy/xianxia/historical genre kind of person) Also, If you like The Journey of Flower, you will love this without a doubt.
Everything, every single thing is so stunning from the costumes, to the set and the cinematography. And the most beautiful part is, of course, their love story. The different clans coming together and all the magical elements and all are very interesting. I won't delve into the story too much because its pretty complicated but fear not, you will never be bored of it for a second.
The acting was spectacular. Yang Mi did a fantastic job as always. Although it was my first time watching Mark Chao, his character as either Mo Yuan or Ye Hua is so easily to fall in love with because he is that good at acting. Chemistry was flawless. A transparent love was beautifully portrayed; you could feel their love and pain and share their happiness. Kiss scenes are very good too. They're not exactly rough but tender and deep? I honestly did not expect so many kiss scenes because I was quite disappointed with the lack of intimacy in The Journey of Flower but you're blessed here :')
Every other character was very likeable having their own unique personalities. The other side characters and love stories are also super sweet especially Dong Hua's and Feng Jui's.
It seems like everything about the drama is perfect even its music is so apt. The entire OST is so enchanting played at right timings. The duet is so haunting which really gives Bai Qian & Ye Hua moments that goosebumps. So, so good.
The only problem I have (not with the drama) is that I hate misunderstandings that cause conflicts in a relationship which my heart cannot handle. Ye Hua and Bai Qian's relationship has many 'tragedies' that can really break your heart because they've been through so many tribulations caused by some side bitches but in the end, everything for this drama is worth it.
Rewatch it? Definitely. No qualms about it.
This is truly a masterpiece and I can safely say Eternal Love is my favourite C-Drama.
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If you like a show that tackles real life issues and more mature topics with dashes of romance on side, I'd say Ode to Joy is pretty fitting.
The story of these five girls struggling to make the best of life is a very real situation so many people face that sometimes you can't help feel sorry for them or even realise you might be in the same position.
The five characters have been criticised a lot and cited as annoying/loud/boring girls who aren't interesting. While I agree with that on the most part, I think thats what makes the story a lot more realistic. In life, you meet people you dislike and like a lot more. In Ode to Joy, the girls don't click immediately. On the contrary, they bond more nearer the end when they are faced with their difficulties. And when I see all five of their clashing personalites overstepping their comfort zone to help each other, regardless if they are annoying or loud or boring, I can't help but love them all. you witness all their problems and demons firsthand whether they are rich or poor, smart or average.
Another thing I really like about this drama is that it also displays very raw human emotions and the thought process of each of the girls. Its just very fascinating to see how sensitive all the characters are to each other.
While the story isn't all that captivating, each of their life story is pretty entertaining to watch (sometimes, maybe not). Some characters you might find a little intolerable but empathise with them and you might see a little of yourself in all of them. I'd say the romance is a little bland but season 2 in my opinion, looks very promising for that part. The acting is alright, nothing very special but watchable.
I don't really rewatch my dramas so I wouldn't judge based on my rewatch value or any rewatch value for that matter.
In all honesty, Ode to Joy isn't a mind blowing, outstanding piece but what it is is a thought provoking show with a healthy dose of warm, sisterly love and romance and I must say that I am very excited for season 2.
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STORY:
My favorite combination ever is fantasy+romance+historical so I was very hyped for this, as were many others. The fantasy aspect of the sorceresses was really cool (possibly the most unique factor of the show for me); their costumes were pretty and all their powers and all that were just really pretty and well edited. Really loved Qing Chen's golden butterflies. But I'd wished that there was just a liiiiil more fantasy scenes which brings me to the next point; politics. There's loads of it in Lost Love in Times as expected in historical dramas.
Throughout the 56 episodes, you see how most of the brothers come together and it's especially nice to see them looking out for the Mages and Qing Chen. Then there's the romance which I thought was a bit of a letdown. I didn't really see it being the main focus which I thought it would be considering the whole title and all but after the first half of the series, it kinda felt that the romance died out a bit.
Also, another thing that bugged me was the lack of extras in the show. During scenes when both parties went to battle with one another, their armies looked small and not thousands. Of course, its not possible to bring thousands to the set but it wasn't well manipulated to look it. So in regards of the setting of the people, it wasn't that convincing. But other than that, the set looked alright and also super gorgeous at the valley.
ACTING/CAST:
I thought Qing Chen & Yuan Ling's love story was a beautiful one but how it was portrayed made it look a tad lackluster. It really is a shame because I absolutely adore Cecilia and William. Overall, their chemistry was believable but barely, in my honest opinion. They had a good amount of kiss scenes though, some of which made me squeal a lil.
The entire cast is great and their acting is decent, nothing shabby. I loved Yuan Li's most out of all the brothers because his character was the most interesting. It's not explicit but their bromance was a nice watch. Side couples were OK, nothing that cute. I didn't find myself hating any particular character wholeheartedly so the acting isnt a wow for the evil characters.
MUSIC:
I think the music was the one that really cut it out for me, the OST was very beautiful. William's song was it man; its so good, so heartbreaking. His voice is haunting. The rest of the OST is amazing as well and its out on spotify so yay.
REWATCH:
I don't rewatch dramas so I wouldn't judge base on the rewatch value.
OVERALL:
I really had high hopes for this and I think it had immense potential but it had let me down quite a bit. I was debating between a 7.5 or an 8 but ultimately I chose an 8 because it is a good watch with some intelligent characters, solid OST and a splash of cool sorcery power coupled with romance, but a believable one or not, I'll leave it to you to decide. So if you really like political, historical dramas with a twist of fantasy perhaps this is more for you :""")
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The acting was so much on par with their characters especially the actor that played Lee Bom. The feelings of any child finding out that she has an illness and that nobody would want to go close to her was portrayed flawlessly. The relationship between mother and child will tug at your heart because they are just that good.
In my opinion, the music wasn't memorable for me and i can't remember anything distinctively bad about it.
This is the kind of drama you would watch once and feel so sad while watching it that you wouldn't want to watch it after again. Its not that its not good or anything but you just have some dramas that are too painful to rewatch and this is one of them. Its the norm 16 episodes, 1 hour each so if you're really into it then its worth watching it again.
I can't imagine a child having to go through knowing she has HIV (she doesn't know at first) and having her friends, neighbours distance themselves away from her but this drama has so many strong feelings about that. Don't watch this for the romance but watch it for the very impactful story. If you like touching stories you won't regret watching this one.
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The story of The Mystic Nine to me is quite a boring one. I never really liked tomb mysteries and I still don't. Some parts of the story are intriguing and cool, some boring and complicated. But what I really liked is the few gates all plotting on how to take the bad guys down that sort of thing. I'm quite a sucker for 'friendship' shows and the bromance in The Mystic Nine is very good plus its not just between two guys but a couple of them which is really what kept me watching.
The romance in this is a bit of a meh, the love story between Ya Tou and Er Ye is pretty boring. The scenes between Xin Yue and Fo Ye is very cute though albeit not frequent enough. So if you're watching only for romance/ Zhao Li YIng x William Chan, don't bother. But the scenes are still cute.
The cast is great I would say. I think everyone suits their roles quite alright and I love all their characters especially Lieutenant Zhang and Ba Ye !!!!! The on set and off set chemistry between the entire cast is good in my opinion. Some of the acting is off (esp with the caucasian actor maybe it was his accent that annoyed me lmao) but nothing THAT offputting.
OST is not bad. Really like the opening song, I listen to it every now and then.
All in all, although the plot is a tad bit boring with complex situations, the bromance and friendship of most of the characters (Fo Ye, Er Ye, Ba Ye, Lieutenant Zhang and Xin Yue) are really heartwarming. And with all the quirkiness of Ba Ye, you'll have a few laughs here and there. So if you have some time with nothing to watch, consider The Mystic Nine. You might like it.
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