#after rant

As I have mentioned before, the novel and the live action is quite different. Both versions were nice and I can see many of the similarities but if you were to ask me which one I prefer, I think I enjoyed the live action one just a bit more. The main problem in the live action seemed to be the spirit masters killing spirit beasts and it seemed like the main goal was to somehow find a way to "level up" without murdering the spiritual beasts. While in the novel, that aspect does not seem to be the main problem that the characters have issues with, even Xiao Wu. While she did not really kill any spirit beasts in the novel, she also did not discourage the rest of the Shrek devils from killing spirit beasts. All the characters from the live action are in the novel as well - with some (major? idk, depends on how you feel about it I guess) changes.

The world building of Douluo is seriously one of the best I've ever seen. While some of the lore explanations are a bit draggy, I thought it was interesting enough and added to this sense of completion for the entire world of Douluo. So the system of levelling up and gaining rings is the same as in the live action and I think the novel really provides a much clearer explanation of the world's rules and the lore. But one of the main plot points of the novel is that Tang San is actually from another world, a world where he was forced to commit suicide because he stole some of his sect's top secret works for hidden weapons. It didn't really serve a main purpose other than to make him more OP to be honest. It is because he has these special skills from his previous world that he is able to evade and outsmart many opponents. Absolutely loved the characters in the novel though. I was lowkey horrified by the characters of Ou Si Ke and Ma Hongjun when I first started the novel because unlike the live action, Ou Si Ke's spirit is not just producing food but more specifically, producing sausages. So his spirit is literally a sausage. Ma Hongjun's spirit is still the Evil Phoenix fire but..... the explanation for why it's evil phoenix is honestly, quite awful. Not awful in the way that it is badly written, but awful in the way that you wish you didn't know about it :') Tang San in the novel seems cooler to me, just because he seems a bit more tough and determined compared to the live action. Xiao Zhan really made live action Tang San the SOFTEST little boy :((((

Of course, the novel is a lot richer in terms of plot and side characters compared to the live action. Many of the characters were actually cut out from the novel in the live action adaptation which I felt like was fine. A lot of characters were softened and made more appropriate for TV as well, which was fine because it fit what the show was trying to go for. And a lot of the storyline is still the same so if you want to read the novel to find out what happens to Xiao Wu and Tang San after she was exposed and chased down by Spirit Hall, you will definitely have answers when you read the novel. Absolutely loved the direction the novel went in charting Tang San's journey to gaining more power and re-establishing his sect from the previous world in this new world. He and Xiao Wu are also really cute :(

The only bad thing I can think of for the novel is how the author really focused a lot on Tang San and there are many interesting side characters that end up becoming forgotten or left behind towards the end. The Seven devils are all there till the end, but very little is done for their characters once the novel gets past the spirit hall competition stage. Other interesting characters like Dugu Yan, Yu Tianheng, Tai Long also eventually get left behind by the narrative. I thought it was a shame because it would have been nice to include them even in just the final battle against Spirit Hall towards the novel's end. Just to show how everyone has come together and united against Spirit Hall. Would also have been nice if there was some reference to Tang San's previous world involved in the storyline as well, like just to show how the two worlds are related or something like that. Because there is one very interesting scene towards the end that suggests that there are other worlds out there

The entire plot is one that is really complicated and takes you on an emotional roller coaster. I think I was more taken by the amount of thought that was put in to creating the world of Douluo and there is still so much potential to explore the whole concept of other worlds outside of Douluo. I do strongly recommend reading the novel though! The direction the story takes after the Spirit Hall competition is amazing, full of twists and turns that you discover together with Tang San. It is really a world full of wonder and is so cool to think about.

I guess it’s mostly because I’m a sucker for happy endings and the fact that our main leads didn’t get one made me really sad. Overall though, I enjoyed the story and the characters. 

Wasn’t super into the story’s plot as much as the romance and character interactions. The villains were hyped up to be so strong and intense that when we finally met them I felt like it didn’t really meet what I was expecting? The show tried to make us sympathise with our eye-patched villain through his backstory with Chu Min and his willingness to change for the better etc. that his sudden turn to becoming a criminal who tortures children felt sort of weird to me. But the king was an interesting one though. He was the one controlling everything and ultimately who’s to say if he was right or wrong? The question of morals in the plot was intriguing. While the king did do some shady shit, he really DID improve the lives of people. He’s not an awful king who only wants power and doesn’t care about the country.  

I mainly kept watching the show because I loved seeing the friendship between the main heroes. Watching the few scenes with all six of them just hanging out and fighting together gave me such a nice sense of fulfilment? I’m not sure how to describe it haha but I guess I just really enjoy seeing friends being friends and stuff like that. All of them were great in their roles. I saw that a lot of people were hating on Cheng Xiao for her acting which I feel is unfair. Personally, I felt like she did a great job for her first role. Most of the comments were about how she always looked serious/angry - but to me, it fits with her character. Her character is a serious character who wants to get things done and hates it when someone (Lu Ping) inconveniences her. It’s not terrible although of course there are scenes where maybe she could have relaxed a bit more. It’s not like it completely distracted me from watching the show though. Guess we all have our own opinions :)

At the start, I really liked Ling Ziyan as a character and thought she was very brave despite her timid appearance. But as the show went on she became a very morally grey character that I wasn’t sure about in the end. It was an interesting direction to take her though and watching her change from someone who is very scared to do anything and becoming someone who will ruthlessly step out for what she wants. I wish the show gave us more scenes of Ziyan with Qinsang in the later parts of the show though, I really liked watching their relationship. For two girls who grew up together, I thought that more of that could be played up, even after they went their separate ways. Like more little scenes of them looking out for each other would have been nice :’)

In general, I didn’t have any problems with the main cast of heroes. All of them were pretty well thought out and the acting was good. Absolutely loved the characters of Mo Lin and Su Tang. I was actually way more invested in them compared to anyone else in the story. Glad they didn’t actually kill off Mo Lin in the end. The characters that I really liked all died so that also took out some of the joy of continuing the series. Like Guo Youdao and Qin Qi :( I really would have loved to see more of them. Qin Qi’s death was honestly a crime. They gave him the stupidest death which I felt didn’t really do his character justice. I hate it when they have a character acting all fine and dandy then suddenly collapsing and dying because he had a hidden injury all along. sigh. 

The show was really brave about the ending though. Rarely, do they kill off one of the main leads a few episodes before the show ends. Even when the main leads die, usually it would be in the last episode during the final battle or whatever. This one though, we had to watch Lu Ping continue the fight without Qin Sang and then move on to live a lonely life ;-; All his friends found their other halves and were doing things with their lives while his ending seemed more sombre. The last scene where he runs off while Xifan watches him leave made me really sad for some reason. Like... while they saved the country and whatnot, they could not save their friendship and happiness :( It seems almost impossible for them to gather as a group again because of how much Lu Ping has gone through.

I actually enjoyed the drama more than I expected to. It was a really great 20 episodes. I loved the steampunk, victorian vibe laced throughout the show. I thought the different vibes fit together well. I think this is the first time I’ve watched a Chinese drama that has steampunk/victorian influences that managed to stay true to its Chinese roots. The story and characters were great as well. Let’s not forget the amount of eye candy in this show too :’)

The Demon/Human love story has been told a billion times in almost every culture. Yet for me, it always holds a kind of appeal because I love fantasy, super natural stories. The visuals in the promotional posters were also stunning. The story follows Qing Cheng (Li Yi Tong), a half demon, and her lover, the police chief of their town, Ming Xia (Zhang Zhe Han). Qing Cheng’s life is threatened when the daughter of a mad scientist, Jiang Xue Wu (He Rui Xian), discovers her true identity and wants to expose her. It doesn’t help that Qing Cheng has already made enemies with her. 

Most of the actors in this show are quite new to the industry (I think). With the exception of Chen Zi Han, this is the first time I’m watching all of them.

I liked the element of science in the show, which was something I did not expect to see. Also, watching Qing Cheng’s interaction with her family was very heartwarming. I fell in love with her character almost immediately. She is a quietly strong female character, in the sense that physically she is unable to fight or be tough, but she is mentally strong, willing to face her fears and do what it takes. Also, Li Yi Tong was amazing! She’s actually going to be Huang Rong in the upcoming remake of Legends of the Condor Heroes so I’m really excited to see more of her. 

Honestly Ming Xia’s character was pretty bland for me in the beginning and throughout the show I found him quite stupid at times. Such as when he asked Xue Wu to marry him out of spite. That scene really put me off his character. Yet he can be so sweet and his love for Qing Cheng is something that can never be questioned. He was really captivating when he first appeared in the show though, not going to lie. Obviously his face helps, but he had a charisma that kind of pulls you in. Zhang Zhe Han is a really good actor.

OKAY BUT the one who really stole the show was Mi Re. He’s the first male Uyghur actor I’ve seen and wow, I can see why they chose him to be the second male lead. His looks are very otherworldly which fits his demon character and his appearances always had a strong aura that seems to fill the entire screen. He was great at portraying You Tong who is a tough, lonely and sometimes childlike character. Mi Re managed to mix innocence together with You Tong’s dark personality which was what really tugged at my heart so much during his scenes. 

He Rui Xian’s portrayal of Jiang Xue Wu was another scene stealer. Xue Wu is a doctor and the daughter of a scientist who was obsessed with trying to prove that demons are real. Xue Wu is also another strong character, but while Qing Cheng has a kinder edge, Xue Wu is vicious and manipulative when she wants to get what she wants. She was so good at bringing Xue Wu to life. I really, truly, hated Xue Wu with everything I had. Xue Wu was well-written and her own backstory and story arcs were captivating for me. Her descent into ‘madness’ was also carried out subtly and it Rui Xian played it out perfectly. 

I liked how they started off each episode with a narration of the mythology of demons that helped shape the way the story progressed. It was originally a male voice from the beginning but in the last episode it suddenly changed to a female voice narration and for lack of a better word, I was SHOOKT. I have a theory that the previous narrations were done by Ming Xia and the last one was actually done by Qing Cheng herself. 

The soundtrack of the show was something that I really enjoyed as well. The opening theme, We Are One, is sung in English and it is a beautiful, haunting and captivating tune. 

The visuals in the show were beautiful and the cgi wasn’t too bad I think. I wasn’t sure if I found it cheesy or not, I think it bordered the line of being really cool and overdone. 

There is going to be a Season 2 for the show so I can’t say much about the ending. It was a nice open ending, giving the couple some form of hope. And I just want to say that I hope You Tong gets to have his final happy ending in Season 2! I love him so much I just want him to be happy.

I need to scream for about 30 seconds to let out my frustration over the ending. I swear it got me all kinds of fucked up T.T

This was one of the funniest shows I’ve ever watched because there were so many ridiculous scenes. I really liked how Crystal Zhang played Zhang Peng Peng, it was hilarious and touching at the same time. It’s a very light-hearted show with many funny moments. Even some of the serious scenes had a hilarious twist to it, which took away some of the tension from the show, preventing it from becoming angst. In fact, I never actually cried during the show, but I teared up near the ending, when Peng Peng brought food to Yang Yan when he was in jail. Seeing the kid cry and eat made me feel all twisted in my heart :(

I loved how there was so much drama over the portrait the king drew for all the girls, but the portraits turned out looking like this:

The use of so many sound effects helped to enhance the silliness of everything, making everything all the more ridiculous. I like how they kept with Zhang Peng Peng’s character of being a ‘modern man’ throughout the show, bringing in modern jokes and slangs. I especially loved the frequent references to Korean dramas and her occasional “Oppa!” Throughout the show the character was maintained so I thought that was a pretty good touch. After the ‘self-acceptance’ scene when Zhang Peng/Zhang Peng Peng accepted the princess’s body, I was worried that halfway through the show the character would suddenly just change and become a full historical Chinese princess. But despite that scene the random spurts of english and the character’s modern ways were still maintained. The only difference was that the male thought interludes were gone. 

I liked the story because they took an interesting character (the modern man) and put him in a strange story world (a female’s body and in ancient china). Just based on this one line alone and it already sounds like the story would be really intriguing to watch. And it was! There were so many hilarious moments. 

I especially liked seeing the development of Zhang Peng’s acceptance of his new body and eventually becoming Zhang Peng Peng instead of separating himself from her. 

I actually started out really detesting Qi Sheng because he seemed so selfish. He was cheating on Peng Peng and afterwards he still tried to make her fall for him despite the fact that he tried to kill her. I mean, you tried to kill her, bro! What makes you think she’s going to forgive so easily? And I didn’t like how he would try to go out of his way to make 9th Prince’s life difficult. 

The story was great and entertaining throughout, although I was expecting to see more from Jiang Ying Yue (An Yong Chang). Other than the painting issue and her trying to make Peng Peng jealous, she didn’t do much so I was hoping to see her stir up more trouble after she was spared from death. Although she did end up going to the enemy’s side during the war, she didn’t cause that big of a stir other than being caught and used as a bargaining piece by the enemy. After that we never heard from her again because she was killed by the Empress Dowager.

But let’s talk about these two now. I loved their chemistry and their bromance! It was so so cute. It was next to impossible to dislike the 9th Prince (Alan Yu) even though he was supposed to be the ‘bad guy’ of the show. I felt so bad for him because he was always under Qi Sheng (Peter Sheng)’s shadow and given all the shitty jobs. Literally. I mean he was in charge of the toilets in the palace. I mean if Qi Sheng gave him more important things to do instead of constantly trying to suppress him, then maybe he wouldn’t have gone down the wrong path. But then we wouldn’t have any story to watch so oh well. But Yang Yan was so cute. Like we only see 9th Prince’s derpy moments when he is with Yang Yan, the two of them going through thick and thin together.

Again, this scene is another example of how they turned a serious mood into comedy. The two were on the run and were in pretty deep shit for betraying their country, but this scene of them shuffling into the frame behind the large leaves managed to evoke some laughter despite the situation they were in. So I need to applaud the script for being able to weave in so much comedy into the otherwise serious story.

I hated the logic for the ending unfortunately. Qi Sheng actually giving up his throne and abandoning all thoughts of ruling his country for Peng Peng? It felt rather out-of-character to me. I mean he’s always been very focused on running his country well, doing all that he can to preserve it. Although he did say that he can finally put his mind at ease because his son has ‘grown up’ (his son is only about 7 or 8 though...) and can take over the throne, I felt that it wasn’t a strong enough reason. For a person who puts in so much effort to rule his kingdom, how can just put down everything at forget it at once? What about his son? Is he not going to care about how his son runs the kingdom and not look after him anymore? His son is still so young! And earlier in the show he was already so protective of his son, it doesn’t make sense for him to just wash his hands off his son and his kingdom? 

And also, what was up with the random and sudden death of Peng Peng and Qi Sheng at the end??? I mean I was expecting to see some transition back into the modern world, but not like that! It made zero sense to have the two suddenly assassinated when Qi Sheng should already have no enemies. It wasn’t explained clearly and came without warning. Having Peng Peng suddenly slip and fall into the ocean made more sense to me, rather than this random assassination because it made zero sense and I absolutely hated it. Alright, so after killing the two, we have Zhang Peng awaken back in the modern world, heartbroken. So he tries to drown himself and.....what? I tried to interpret the ending but I just couldn’t.  It didn’t make sense to me. Maybe he drowned in the pool and his spirit got sent to his ‘dream world’ where he could continue living life as Peng Peng with Qi Sheng. Maybe he was really sent to ancient China and he went back to the locations of all his memories as Peng Peng and couldn’t handle it. I... don’t know.

Anyway it wasn’t a clean ending that tied up the story nicely, it was a mess and it made me all kinds of messed up and I hated it. 

But despite the pretty bad ending and logic holes, I loved the aesthetics of the sets. They were all so vibrant and colourful! I will elaborate more on this in another post I think.

Again, my number 1 complaint about this show would be the clothes. 

WHAT IS THIS?!

Bro this armour ain’t gonna protect you.

.......why. That’s way too revealing for a woman of ancient China. 

I know that the show had low budget and all that but they still could have put in more effort into making the costumes follow the traditional ways of the past instead of putting a modern twist to it because it takes me away from the story. Like, the ‘realism’ of the world is shattered. 

I honestly don’t like this show as much as I hoped to like it, despite the happy ending. The writers were just being mean and simply wanted the audience to cry. There was no purpose to so many events. It started out fine, I loved the interactions of her and Zi Hua. And then it all just went to shit towards the last third of the show.

Ok firstly, the CGI was pretty cheesy. 

I think the visuals kinda explain it. The bun was cgi guys, believe it or not HAHA. (( although caterpillar tang bao was sooo adorable )). Most of the cgi looked unrealistic and it threw me off for a bit. There are more examples but I didn’t get to screencap them. I found the bun one off google and I don’t really feel like hunting through 50 episodes for some CGI effects haha. Just watch ep 1 and you’ll already have a taste.

Regarding the story, I wish they had a backstory for Hua Qian Gu, to explain why she was born with poisonous blood and a strange demon attracting odour.

Hua Qian Gu was tortured so terribly and then they tortured her so much more. I felt like it was needless because it made the entire show become more draggy from episode 30 onwards. Since that episode, it has just been a crying mess for me in every episode that followed because of how cruel everything was for Hua Qian Gu.

Things should have moved much faster after Zi Hua got poisoned but it dragged on for a few more episodes before Qian Gu finally went on the journey to save him. While I understood the Wu Gou story arc was necessary to show a foreshadowing of what could happen to Zi Hua and Qian Gu because of the fated calamity, it dragged on too long for me. Some of the accusations against her were rather unbelievable. Mo Yan himself said that he would go through anything to get the antidote for Zi Hua, so I would expect that he understand her slightly for breaking the rules and getting all of the deity devices to heal Zi Hua. Everyone doesn’t want Zi Hua to die, shouldn’t they show a little more mercy to her? Ni Man Tian’s want for her to die is still believable, but eventually Mo Yan’s dislike for her just became an excuse for the writers to put Hua Qian Gu into deeper shit.

Some of the deaths seemed pointless, especially Shi Yi’s and Sha Qian Mo. There was absolutely no reason for Shi Yi to die, it just seemed like the writers wanted him to die so he died. SQM already lost his most valued thing - his looks and he was still killed off after crying for awhile. Which to me, didn’t really make much sense. However, it was still very touching to see SQM giving up his looks for his favourite ‘Tiny thing’.

I hated seeing how they all killed her light and caused her downfall when all she had ever wanted to do was save her teacher’s life. While in many shows we see that things are always unfair for the characters, I can sometimes understand the villains for doing what they did. In HQG’s case, I didn’t. Why does Mo Yan hate her so much? She has never done anything, in the show, he is just portrayed as being unreasonable and extremely stubborn. Even Zi Xun could bring herself to understand Qian Gu and realise that she has done nothing wrong. Ni Man Tian was blind with jealousy and so she hated Qian Gu from then on. Shan Chun Qiu loves his master in his own twisted way and hates Qian Gu for ‘distracting’ his master from ‘his’ goals. I could understand all of these villains, but Mo Yan just seemed like he hated her because the writers wanted him to. The reason of him trying to ‘protect Zi Hua’ was too weak to convince me.

Some parts of the show were rather unbelievable and too dramatised for me. Such as the amount of times Zi Hua catches Qian Gu in mid-air to save her. I think that was done too many times. If I’m not wrong, it was about 4 times throughout and it got old. Then there was her getting drunk and having such an elaborate dance for the fragrances... Also... her rolling off the cliff when they went to the Seven Murder Faction’s realm was a little..... ._. Awkward and forced. I mean, SERIOUSLY?!

Of course, there were some hilarious moments in the show although they all disappeared after episode 30 -.- Ma Ke really steals the show as Sha Qian Mo. I loved it every time he appeared on screen. He is so sassy and he definitely got his priorities straight... like his hair.

Yup.

Also, Tang Bao and Shi Yi were the cutest???? However in the end the writers made it seem like Tang Bao didn’t care for Shi Yi and only Qian Gu. She got rather annoying, constantly getting Shi Yi to do her every whim and always crying and whining. But they did make me laugh and squeal my little fangirl heart away in the early stages of their relationship.

And how can we forget these two who never failed to lighten the mood of the show? Even till the end they never got tired of betting against each other.

The acting by the main characters were amazing. They were so sincere and realistic in their portrayal of emotions. I think Wallace, Liying and Jiang Xin(who played Zi Xun) were perfect for their roles. Liying is so adorable, she has the innocent girl look and she was able to pull off the demonic and cruel front for Qian Gu in the end. Jiang Xin always looks sad for some reason, no matter what show I see her in.

Do you see what I mean ._.

Thus I think she managed to play the heartbroken Zi Xun convincingly. I did feel sad for her character despite the amount of shit she put everyone through. But because she made me believe her character, it didn’t seem unnatural.

But there were so many complex and interesting characters, with so many backstories to sit through.

Some characters in the show became annoying towards the end, especially Xuan Lang. He was so blind to Qing Shui and so cruel to her. It made me hate him for constantly pining for Qian Gu while Qing Shui was doing her best for him. In the end, he drove her crazy and he regretted it. However, I did have some respect for him as he was the only one who stood by Qian Gu in the end, telling her that he would always support her.

Dongfang Yuqing was probably my favourite character. Although he tried to use Qian Gu for his own means, in the end he did try to right his wrongs. His relationship with Dong Hua made me cry. Although Dong Hua appeared for such a short time within the story, the show still managed to highlight their profound relationship and made me feel so much. He was the one who orchestrated the whole mess which does make me feel some resentment towards him. But every step of the way he was there for Qian Gu, sacrificing himself for her in the end.

Bai Zi Hua, the leading man himself, also got annoying. I really disliked this character. He did so much harm to Qian Gu, he cruelly refused to tell her he loved her, cutting off the scar from the Emotionless Water. Sure, he did suffer too, but for what? He could have saved himself so much trouble if he just stopped being a stubborn oaf. Yes, it is true that he is a stubborn character, but it just got too draggy. It took 50 episodes before he could finally admit to Qian Gu he loved her and then he tried to get rid of it. Only after Qian Gu ‘died’ near the end of the entire season did he finally accept it. I just felt like the writers wanted to delay this moment as long as possible with all the tragedies, just so that people will keep watching the show. When he finally admitted it in the end it felt rather sudden to me. It felt like he suddenly had a personality change and went. ‘oh I should love her now boohoo what will i do without you etc.’ It didn’t seem natural. It felt forced.

As a whole, I did feel intrigued by the story in the beginning but I started to get sick and tired of crying during the later episodes. What could have been a great story became a tool for the writers to make the audience cry. Sometimes, it is essential to kill of characters and torture them, but I felt like it was too much.

I did think it was clever how they weaved in the story of Zhu Ran in the beginning and then have him appear in the end. His role was to instigate the sect war and it is because of him that Sha Qian Mo came to adore Qian Gu. Shuo Feng was a character I felt could have been explored further, but he was only there to give Man Tian a reason to hate Qian Gu even more. He did nothing that made Man Tian change her ways, she was still as bratty as ever. Hence I think he was a rather useless character as he didn’t help to push the story forward. Why have him there? Why not just let Qian Gu collect all the deity devices and have the Crystal materialise from somewhere else?

After Qian Gu finished collecting the deity devices I didn’t like the way the story turned out. The story became so tragic and pointless. Everything about the show became forced after that. It didn’t make sense that Tang Bao would not care about Shi Yi’s feelings, it didn’t make sense that Mo Yan suddenly keeps insisting on wanting to kill Qian Gu, it didn’t make sense that Shi Yi would be so selfish and lie to Tang Bao.

Worse of all, the ending didn’t make sense. Sure there was a scene where Mo Yan was doubting himself (ugh finally), but suddenly sacrificing himself to let Qian Gu live? How does that even work? Was it explained in the novel? I’m not sure because I never read it, but I didn’t like how I was put through a shit storm of emotions and heartbreak only to suddenly see that, HEY look it’s alright, she is alive! All is well! I felt so cheated. It’s like they went through so much shit and then suddenly “oh it was a dream”. Zi Hua’s sudden understanding of how not everything in the world is split into right and wrong did make my heart ache a little because Wallace did such a profound job with the character. However, it was so ridiculous that Zi Hua was only feeling all this after Qian Gu ‘died’. I would rather have them leave that as the ending rather than force a happy one because I didn’t buy it. Mo Yan sacrificing himself all of a sudden? And Zi Hua not feeling guilty or upset? What? It was confusing and strange and I didn’t like it.

OHMYGOD. So I just finished watching Sound of the Desert, like I just finished watching it like two minutes ago so I’m still in tears over the ending. I can’t get my feels in place. This show is just breathtaking. It’s one of the best romance story I’ve watched so far.  

/deep breath/ I need to organise my feels. Ok, so the show started off being really light hearted and fun, with many adorable moments that made me so happy to watch, I could have melted into a puddle in my chair. As I’ve posted before, I love the interactions between Xin Yue (Liu Shishi) and Hong Gu (Kristal Tin). Seeing the two of them joke with each other warms my heart. Kristal did an amazing job at playing Hong Gu, she made her such a hilarious character that I can’t help but love. 

I do have to point out the amount of New Years in the beginning though. I know that it is to show the relationship between Xin Yue and Jiu Ye(Hu Ge) but I was just like, “Wow that’s plenty of New Years in these few episodes” It’s understandable before of the limited amount of time they have to broadcast the show, but i just thought it was rather funny and a little abrupt. Still, it didn’t really affect much, so I guess that’s fine.

I also need to highlight how adorable Wei Wuji (Eddie Peng) is?!

Is he not adorable?! I’ve never really watched much of his shows, since I don’t exactly follow the Chinese media industry that closely, so I always end up watching shows like 10 years after they are released. The only other show I’ve seen him in is Chinese Paladin 2005. At that time he played the foolish Tang Yu, I didn’t notice him much since I didn’t really like that character, but seeing him as Wei Wuji in Sound of the Desert made me think again. He’s able to play Wuji so convincingly! In the beginning I didn’t like Wuji, but the scene where he stood under the flowers after being abandoned by Xin Yue for Jiu Ye made my heart hurt. Thanks to that scene I began rooting for Wuji.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Hu Ge. His dynamic acting abilities will never fail to amaze me. It’s refreshing seeing him take on a different style of character. The brooding Mo Xun who shoulders such heavy burdens, I could literally feel the enormous weight pressing down on him with his facial expressions. He manages to look happy and troubled at the same time, making me really empathize with his character. Mo Xun is yet anoher complex character who rarely expresses himself, and there is a risk of the character becoming boring. This time Mo Xun doesn’t have 7 other spirits to show his different sides, so it’s all up to Hu Ge to bring the character to life and I daresay he did a wonderful job. The above picture is one of my most memorable scenes of the show, when Mo Xun finds the leaves and the broken flute left behind by Xin Yue. It was horribly heartbreaking for me to watch. At that moment, he wasn’t Hu Ge acting as Mo Xun. At that moment, he was Mo Xun.

As usual, I thought Liu Shi Shi was amazing. She’s so adorable in the funny moments of the show, yet she manages to pull off the cool lady demeanor in the scenes where she talks to Qin Xiang or anyone of higher authority. I love how Xin Yue lets her guard down around Jiu Ye and Wei Wuji, showing the different sides of this intelligent and cute desert girl. I feel that she is just perfect for this role. Liu Shi Shi is another talented actress who can play different roles. The first time I saw her was when she acted as Long Kui in Chinese Paladin 3. Long Kui is a completely different character from Xin Yue, but Liu Shi Shi played them both flawlessly. I prefer to play the more mischievous characters as compared to the gentle and ‘helpless’ maiden type, I think seeing her as Xin Yue was really fun to watch.

I thought it was clever how we always see Jiu Ye in white and Wei Wuji in black. The contrasting colours also seems to emphasise on the personalities of the different chracters. Jiu Ye is gentle and calm always wearing a serene smile, which goes harmoniously with the white. Wuji is slightly darker in character, since he is involved in wars and killing, not to mention he comes with the danger of being from the royal family and has a more fiery personality, thus I felt that the black compliments him quite well.

As for the ending, I have such mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I’m so happy that Wuji and Xin Yue got their happy ending and they reunited with their son and are free from the struggles of the royal court. On the other hand, seeing Jiu Ye all alone in the desert made me cry so hard that I felt guilty about being happy for Xin Yue and Wuji. Even till 2014, Hu Ge’s characters forever having sad endings. The ending was tragically beautiful. I think it’s going to take awhile for me to get over it.

Now, for the OSTs. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I CANNOT. They are all so beautiful and well sung, fitting in perfectly with the atmosphere and the characters’ thoughts in the show. So here’s the tracklist.

01 为你平定的天下 (Ballad Version) –  李剑青 The World for You – Li Jian Qing  02 有一种勇气叫放弃 – 丁当 Courage of Giving Up – Della Ding Dang 03 好好过 – 胡歌 Keep Moving On – Hu Ge 04 白头吟 – 丁当 White-haired Lament – Della Ding All the songs are wonderful and so bittersweet. They bring out the mood of the show so well.