Ashes of Love (2018)

Amazing visuals

I never watch chinese drama cause I've never liked the visual of the characters and before the way they make fantasy dramas seemed like unworthy of watching, however, Ashes of love got me hooked. No episode is unworthy of watching, I cant even fast forward or skip cause I dont want to miss a single second and that's a lot for me cause I have a habit of skimming through episodes. Anyway, I'm giving 5 stars and if I can, I can give billions of stars for this cause of the story plot, and the beautiful charactera that made me hooked even more, then there's also the beautiful fantasy world that got me hooked. Deng lun's phoenix made all other phoenix characters from other dramas look like chickens. I love his version of phoenix and he looks hot as well. Then there's the innocent flower fairy. It really fitted her role. And her growth to being bubbly and childish to mature and loving is amazing. And she's very pretty so she really made an amazing chemistry with deng lun. Then the night immortal. I loved men with an obsessive personality so his character made the drama amazing.

If I can point something is the lack of romance. Its too short. I mean, the best romantic scene they had is the outdoor sex they did and after that, plenty of drama instead. I hope the next time they make an amazing drama like this, its filled with romance between the characters. 🥰🥰🥰😍

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*slightly offensive language and spoilers ahead*

this fucking show, if Moon Immortal and Lord Puchi weren't present throughout this entire show i'm not sure i would have survived it , i don't recommend it for casual watchers , it will shatter your tiny hearts thousand times in a row and when you think you can't bear it anymore it will trow them into a pit of hellfire - you've been warned, but besides that the show is great and actors are excellent, and they have one of the best cgi's i've ever seen in dramas-breathtaking scenery, especially the flower realm, also - that final battle was amazing - good job to everyone who were involved in that episode

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Okay, I love Ashes of Love. The actors were wonderful and the action sequence was awesome. My only annoying complaint: this series could’ve been 45 episodes instead of 63. Like so many Chinese drama, the show drags on for way too long. Honestly, after episode 45, I just fast forwarded the last 18 episodes because my patience was running out lol.

I thought after the wedding scene that the rest of the story just kind of dried out. I finished the last 19 episodes in two hours by fast forwarding.

The graphics were good, actors were cute, storyline was good. But way too long. The last half was like another series in itself.

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PERFECT BALANCE OF COMEDY, ROMANCE, AND DRAMA

Usually I dislike annoying, foolish, or weak female lead character however, this drama is different. If you watch the whole drama series and undertand it, it is not the female lead character's fault on why she is foolish in love or with her own feelings. That is why I love the plot of this drama. I love the perfect balance of it's comedy, romance, and drama. I also love how the drama not only focuses on the lead's love story but also other aspects in life like family, friendship, and leadership. In which, that kind of stories is what I always look for in a drama. I also love how their love survived all those trials. I love the drama's CGI especially in the war scene. It looks like an expensive movie. Their costumes are all gorgeous. Their make-up are on point. Last but not the least, Deng Lun and Yan Zi's chemistry is superb. I hope they will team up in another drama. Plus, Deng Lun is freaking handsome.

The feeling I got after watching Reply 1988 is the same with this drama. It's hard to get over with Ashes of Love huhu. I have not yet found a drama that could continue my satisfaction with Ashes of Love.

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A must watch series !!!

I don't normally watch TV drama. I just came across this series from watching a trailer and i got hook. I finished the series, read the novel and rewatched the series. I watched with subtitle at first, later i rewatched with Viet dub. Each time, i found something more interesting with this drama. Dang Luan was perfect for his role at "Phuong Hoang". He has the same feature that the book described his role. The human life "lich kiep" was such a heartfelt love story and a great addition to the original novel. The drama did a great job to expand and explain the novel.

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I honestly don't know how and where to start.
One random day, I came across Ashes of Love on Netflix. I didn't check what it is about and I just saw the trailer. I found it interesting and decided to TRY to watch. I THOUGHT IT WAS K-DRAMA! I was so surprised when I realized it's actually a chinese drama because I wasn't really big on watching any asian dramas before.

I think what makes Ashes of Love special to me is because it's everything unexpected. From not knowing it's actually a c-drama and the first asian drama I finished from start to finish.

Here are my thoughts about the show -
THINGS I LIKED:
* DENG LUN, DENG LUN and DENG LUN
* Childish banters of Xu Feng and jin mi
* Friendship of jin mi and Yanyou
* Friendship of Jin mi and Matchmaker
* Matchmaker being and Xu Feng and jin mi shipper
* Loyalty of floral generals to their late goddess
* Cheerful personality of jin mi
* The characters' development from being child-like to mature personality
* The soundtrack!!! Just one note from the soundtrack brings me right back to their world
* Liuying and Muci's storyline
* Wind immortal's personality
* Xu feng's badass-ness

Things I didn't like:
* Evil people at demon realm are so annoying
* I know this is the point of the story but I hated that jin mi was given the yun elixir because Xu Feng has always been clear with his feelings. This is me saying this if I were jin mi.
* Suihe just wont give that shit up omg i wanted to kill her myself
* Tuyao is worse lol
* I think there are too much flashbacks?

General thoughts:
* Xu feng and jin mi's love story touched my heart so much. Their journey was satisfying but when they reunited at the end at demon realm it felt lacking for me. I kind of wanted to see them finally together more on screen specially at the very end. I hope there was more screentime finally together.
* Luo Yunxi delivered Runyu very very well!!!! He became so hate worthy when he's becoming super obsessed but it only means he's such a great actor
* I never once attempted to fast forward scenes because of how much I loved it. Now I rewatch it to go back to xu feng and jin mi scenes, but on my first watch I dare not forward anything.
* They have outstanding costumes
* I think Yanyou is underrated, I find him very loyal to Jin Mi and such a good friend
* Kuang Lu’s loyalty to Runyu is also underrated and I admire her character for that

When I finished the last episode, I started crying as if someone broke up with me. I cried for a long time just listening to the soundtrack. I feel like I just parted with someone very important. Everything just felt nostalgic for me. I'm very high risk to panic attacks due to mental health issues and my heart just felt so heavy because I love this drama so much and it will be forever in my heart. Even just going back to fav scenes makes me so emotional. It really hit me good.

Disclaimer that everything above is not EVERYTHING I feel about the drama. There’s many many more and I just dont know how to explain it.
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Update: 2 months after watching this drama and I really can’t bring myself to move on. Unfortunately i’m not a good writer and I can’t express just how special this drama is to me but im just so!!! idk :((( i can’t explain.

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AMAZING LONG BUT WORTH IT! ( Biased review)

Sorry abt grammar and the rambling in advance.

This is just amazing, it is my first chinese drama and still one of the best dramas i've ever watched although many will say that it has a lot of fillers i def think it it worth watching it one of the staples of c drama. If you have not watch it yet What are you doing with your life! Although the quality may not me the best compared to 2020-2021 dramas it is still amazing considering when it was filmed the growth of the characters was also amazing we can see how the character grow from young and innocent to more mature( specifically the FM). def has Second male lead syndrome but still nothing beats xu feng.
I just cant explain my love for this drama one thing i do know is that it is one of the best dramas i have ever watched .

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Wow! I have just finished watching this for the second time, and plan on watching for a 3rd before New Year’s Eve. This is probably the best fantasy I have ever seen. It has everything: love, hate, revenge, good, innocence, evil, callousness, redemption, rebirth, and best of all, MAGIC! I started watching this because I saw that Adonis - Daniel Jin Feng Liao (Lord Pu Chi / Yan You / Snake Immortal) was in it, and aside from being unbelievably handsome, he is quite mesmerizing to me as an actor. Surprisingly, I fell in love with Deng Lun, Yang Zi, and Leo Luo. They were entrancing, along with the rest of the cast. They were all superb. The sets, costumes, and flow of the drama were all spectacular. There were only a couple of times I felt it was a little slow, but that is by no means a criticism. Bravo to the entire experience of Ashes of Love!
The problem I had with watching this as an English speaker was the translation. The drama critic, Artemide, described it, “The action takes place in the prehistorical era, in a time when the six realms were reigning independently in harmony.” After reading his description, we know that this was LONG before the “Age of Slang.” But, slang and culturally specific terminology determined by modern concurrent events abound in this translation. Two examples are “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” and “Have a casual hang-out and chill together.” Another example is “Roger that!” This was repeated time and again in the drama and could not possibly have even been dreamt of due to the lack of technology during the ancient times. Roger came from the WWII use of two-way radios as a verbal signal of recognition and confirmation. Its use in this drama was just silly! Also, the calling of women LORD or GOD (this occurred mostly in the beginning of the drama and was later corrected) would not have been permitted since women were NOT equal to men even in Heaven. They would have been called Lady or Mistress or Goddess or something appropriate that has recently been discarded by the PC police of this era. The prime example would be calling a female an actor instead of an actress to eliminate gender.
The list of the following were used. I have reinterpreted them to better suit this particular drama’s era. Phrases used in the drama are followed by something like it should be. Roger that!- Right away, I understand, I will get that done; No Worries!-It’s alright, or It can easily be remedied; My bad!-My fault, or It was my grievous fault; Freaked me out!-Scared me, or Frightened me; Sure!-Yes; Pushing my bottom line-Pushing my patience, or Endurance; What a joke!-This must be a jest!; Every Jack has a Jill-Every man has a woman; It’s a deal-We have an agreement; I’ll be darned!-I am amazed: This is weird-This is very strange or odd; Stuff!-Should be specifically named; Tough nut to crack-Difficult person; Whatever!-It is of no consequence; The bigger picture-The larger scheme; Get it?-Understand?; Buck the trend-Go against convention or tradition; Hit below the belt-cheat or harm; Buck up!-Try to feel better; Some new-fangled thing-something new; It’s a piece of cake-It’s easy; Get back on the right track-Begin again correctly; You jerk-anything appropriate would do: ingrate, monster, traitor; True THAT!-You speak the truth; No such thing as a free lunch!-nothing is free; You WISH!- That is only your desire; Same to YA!-You are, or do, exactly the same. (I truly expected to hear “Dude” or “Back in the day,” which is the most ignorant of all phrases. If you don’t know it was back in 1920, or back in the 30’s, or 25 years ago, or back at the turn of the century, then just keep quiet. Using a phrase like “back in the day” doesn’t make you sound knowledgeable, intelligent, or credible.)
As to the song that keeps playing over and over again, it translates to let’s get drunk again when the flowers bloom. Honestly, that is such a crass translation for such beautiful, touching moments. I thought, let’s drink wine again, or let’s share wine again would be softer. The consequence of drunkenness is expected and doesn’t really need to be expressed as the outcome, and it is NOT very romantic.
I let many of the grammatical errors “slide” because I would not have a clue as to how to translate any language since I only speak English. I am in awe of anyone who speaks another language. But, I will point out one example: Phoenix asks Jin Mi, “Will you marry me?” She says, “You know I do.” Of course it should be, “You know I will.” This is of no consequence; I mean “no worries.” We knew what she meant.
I would have just liked the translation to have been a little more AUTHENTIC for the supposed era and a little CLASSIER for such a grand endeavor. These ARE Gods and Goddesses conversing, NOT common street hipsters, and since they are considering a second season, even if it is about the children, the verbal exchanges would still be antiquated, not contemporary.
Again, I think this is one of the finest offerings ever, and I am thankful to whomever translated this masterpiece into English, no matter how incongruous. It has been THE HIGHLIGHT of my 2018 Christmas season!

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This is not just another C-drama!

Wow.

I remember binge-watching the entire 56 eps in 2 days. Now that speaks volume, even for a career binge-watcher like myself.

STORY:
If you like Eternal Love and Journey of Flower, this is the next to go on that watch-list. I normally find C-dramas a bit draggy about 1/3 way through but not this time. If you’ve seen Fighter of Destiny you’ll know what I’m talking about (no offence Luhan). This is a fairly structured plot with quality character development and irresistible cliff-hangers that left me on my tip-toes at the end of every ep. I can see that the director and scriptwriters are trying their best to stay true to the novel. Bravo.

CAST:
Not only do Jin Mi and Xu Feng look good together, they have chemistry. For me, couple chemistry is the main reason I’m in dramaland. A good chemistry would be able to make you laugh, cry and more than most scream in frustration if they’re not together.

Deng Lun has caught my attention ever since Princess Agents and I’m happy he finally landed an MC role in a big-budget historical drama. As for Yang Zhi, she is the perfect choice for this. As much as I enjoy seeing Zanilia and Yang Mi in beautiful historical costumes, Yang Zhi really brought out the essence of Flower Goddess while still remained refreshingly childlike and gullible.

Before I forget, the 2nd lead and other supporting actors are also very impressive. Run Yu and Sui He are extremely effective in moving the plot along at a steady pace while not being overly dramatic. I'm surprised they even got such a good young and fledgling actor to play the childish match-making god.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Breathtaking. Vibrant yet very subtle and delicate palette made the watching experience extremely surreal, reflecting much of the immortal world. The CGI is flawlessly incorporated and none of those cringy and awkward magic moments from outdated CGI. Costume design is spectacular with fabric layers light as feathers, capturing the swift body movements of spell incantations.

MUSIC:
Theme songs are not particularly catchy but still memorable and enhance the drama really well at crucial moments. I like the soundtrack sang by Yang Zhi (Love Frost) especially because it’s bitterly and nostalgically sweet. Otherwise, Unsullied by Mao Buyi really set the scene as the intro.

OVERALL:
Ashes of Love is definitely the epitome of what Chinese historical / fantasy dramas should be. Cdramas are normally 2 to 3 times longer than Kdramas. So in order to remain competitive within the Asian market as well as others, not only does the cinematography have to be outstanding the plot also has to have a strong backbone. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of the new era for world-class quality Cdramas. So far this should be my fav C-drama, not gonna lie.

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Perfect
The best drama I've ever seen
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I hope Deng Lun and Yang zi can play together again pleaseee

This drama has no shortcomings to discuss, everything is perfect.
Beginning with the effects used, the storyline, the players in the story all have a perfect blend and good character.
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Spent too much effort into developing amazing villains but neglected to make the protagonists heroic

Seriously, show!!! A rich man feeding a starving orphan with leftovers doesn't make him heroic. It only makes the orphan looks more pitiful! You need to understand the difference between being nice and being noble/heroic. It's 45 episodes, but the male lead hasn't established himself as being worthy of my admiration. He had everything handed to him on a silver platter and the show never demanded anything from him to prove he was the hero. Meanwhile, everyone was entitled that the antagonist acted like a freaking Buddha... When you have an antagonist who was actually a nice guy, you need the protagonist to be more than just nice to prove he was better than the antagonist. The protagonist needs to do something the antagonist could not to prove he was the better man. It's not being done here. Instead, the show asked the antagonist something the male protagonist himself was incapable of doing. They even showed how nice the male protagonist was to the antagonist, to make you feel bad for the antagonist instead of to make the protagonist heroic. Why TF are you treating your male lead as a plot device to make the audience feel sorry for the antagonist?!!!

It's not bad... Just infuriating that I wouldn't torture myself to rewatch!

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