Ashes of Love (2018)

Is the ability to love worth the pain it brings?

Ashes of Love (Netflix) was quite an intriguing romance to watch. It starts off with the death of the flower goddess after she gives birth to the next goddess. The secret of her daughter's divinity was kept from the 6 realms to protect her from assault. The flower goddess dies as a result of the murder by the goddess of heaven due to her jealousy of her husband's wandering heart. The flower goddess curses her daughter to never experience the feeling of love, under the philosophy that love brings more pain than it is worth.

The two princes of the heavenly realm fall in love with the heir to the flower kingdom, and a bitter rivalry ensues.

Aspects of Buddhist philosophy are explored. Revenge and forgiveness are pushed to the limit. Self-sacrifice for a noble cause is emulated. Love for one another is taken to the utmost extremes in that they are willing to suffer and be tortured on each other's behalf, to atone for each other's sins.

Of the six realms, the heavenly realm takes on the role of the hypocritically sanctimonious hegemony. The demon realm has some unique virtues that destroy the stereotype that all demons are bad - they are the few that are brave enough to stand up against the heavenly tyranny. The floral realm surpasses the others in outward beauty, yet the mortal realm is where inner beauty is cultivated. These immortal gods deign to descend into the mortal realm where they lose their memories and learn how to truly love.

Unique types of magic are explored. Each immortal functions like a human, but they contain the spirit of some unique plant or animal. Their magic is connected to their spirit form and inspires their personalities.

The plot immediately captured me from the first episode, was consistently gripping with complex subplots and schemes along the way, and silenced me in awe at the concluding finale.

More philosophical reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas

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I watched this drama 2 years ago and this was my very first C-drama. I loved it and became kind of c-drama addict ! The whole drama was amazing to me : not only this deity/fantasy/love story was totally new to me (I knew nothing about wuxia) but I was also very pleased with the actors, music, storyline, settings and visual effects.
I was very interested in the main love triangle with all the misunderstandings, hurtings, evil thoughts and wrong doings while progressing. I skipped the support roles love stories, because I couldn't get interested in those.
This drama is emotional with pleasant happy moments and upsetting ones. Somehow, it really moves you and your inner own is touched. In this drama, no one is complety right nor completely wrong, and you will hate the ones you loved and vice versa. I rewatched plenty of scenes of this drama, the lovely ones, the terrible ones and the awkward ones ! The sound track is really amazing and fits perfectly to this drama. Great director, great actors.

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I cried many times

When I first watch it I fell in love with the visual, Xu feng , Jin mi and Runyu even the villain lady is really pretty. The costume are mesmerizing and set are amazing too. Their acting are top notch I can't find fault with any of the main characters.
The OST are so beautiful I can feel the emotions everytime the ost are playing. It matches the theme of the drama vey well.

SPoilers alert
The story is really heartbreaking. I cried many times watching this drama, and I don't cry a lot when I watch drama, because I usually watch romcom or action.
They are characters that you symphatized, love and hate at some points of the drama, and .Except for the pair of queen and emperor you hate them all the time. I read some comments they hated the FL because of her stupidly naive character.
Initially, Jinmi was so naive but I don't hate her I even find her cute and endearing. However later in the story her stupidly naive traits cost other people lives , that's when I hate her.
As for the story, although there 63 episodes , it might seem long but I think it well paced, there are nice transition between the 3 realms. though I did fast foward scenes from side character which I think unimportant.
I keep coming back at youtube for clips and ost

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Best historical drama

Ashes of Love. Where do I even begin? I have watched countless dramas and I rarely give 10s. Even when I give 10s, they are never perfect 10s. Ashes of Love is a PERFECT 10. Before I start my review of this drama, let me be upfront and say that I had my reservations about it. Most of the dramas I watch are set in a more modern setting and are more realistic than this. Though I have watched dramas like While You Were Sleeping (Korean drama) which dabble in supernatural elements, I normally don’t watch full on supernatural or mythical dramas. I came across this drama when I was reviewing a list of the dramas that people deemed the best of 2018. I watched the trailer and put it on my watchlist and I am glad I did.

The first episode itself hooked me. The chemistry between the main characters, the story line, and the incredible actors all made me want to continue watching. As I kept on watching (more like binging) the episodes, I fell more and more in love with it all. I will admit, there were times when I was beyond frustrated. I was frustrated that the Yun Elixir prevented Jinmi from loving phoenix (Xu Feng). I was initially frustrated by how naïve and indifferent to love Jinmi was, despite knowing that it was not her fault. I was mad at the late floral immortal who put the Yun Elixir in Jinmi to keep her from loving anyone. However, all my frustration was worth it. When that stupid elixir finally broke and Jinmi finally realized that she loved Xu Feng, I felt as if her emotions were my own. And this is a big deal. I have NEVER cried during watching a drama. But this drama made me cry, laugh, scream, and everything in between. The credit goes to the incredible actors who will make you feel as if THEIR pain is YOUR pain.

Personally speaking, I think my favorite part of this 63-episode long show were the episodes that showed Jinmi’s trial in the mortal world. HOLY CRAP. The chemistry between Xu Feng and Jinmi in those episodes is ridiculous. When she admits to liking him (in the mortal world) and he asks her to marry him, I couldn’t stop crying. The pain of waiting and watching the before episodes was definitely worth it. Another aspect that made this show great was the villains. I have never hated any character as much as I hated the Heavenly Empress. She is a scheming and conniving lady who is utterly ruthless. Her and Sui He (bird lady) plot and scheme together so much and it annoyed me greatly. Don’t even get me started on the Night Immortal. He knew that Jinmi didn’t love him and yet took advantage of her ignorance of love to get her to agree to marry him which led to an excruciatingly painful love triangle. However, at points you find yourself sympathizing and even admiring these villain characters. That’s how good the actors were. Sui He and Fish Fairy (Runyu-Night Immortal) were the most tragic characters in my opinion. They both loved someone who didn’t love them back and it drove them to do evil things. Normally, when I binge shows, if I have time I fly through the episodes. With this show, I kept having to take breaks despite having time to watch because the episodes were so emotionally charged. I had to stop and let my heart adjust before I could watch anymore of the show. That is how affected I was. The characters are all dynamic and develop so much as the show goes on. Runyu changes from someone who is kind and merciful to someone who is cold and rather ruthless. Jinmi changes from being naïve and innocent to someone who discovers her love only after she’s lost it. While this show has a happy ending, there were points in the middle where I was seriously doubting it.

All in all, if you have any sort of reservations about this show, LET THEM GO. SEND THEM OUT THE DOOR. If I could love this drama this much and cry over it, you will absolutely enjoy it. The plot is incredible, and I honestly wish I could read/speak Chinese so that I could more fully appreciate the attention to detail instead of relying on subtitles. THE MUSIC WAS GOLDEN.

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The drama is not as good as they say

We can't deny that it's a classic, I even see several new fantasy dramas with references and some things similar to ashes of love. However, I thought that in some parts they wrapped up a lot, including some scenes you could go easy to move forward without missing anything significant in the story. In others, they passed in excess memories and flashbacks. I think that if there had been 30 episodes instead of 60, the story wouldn't have been dull and it would be much more interesting to follow. I also found myself several times preferring Run Yu to Xu Feng, and even rooting for Run to stay with Jin Mi.. I think for having watched until the end of the moon before ashes of love and loving Luo Yunxi's performance as Tantai Jin.

One thing that bothered me in the story was the lack of development of some secondary characters. Mu Ci and Liuying's romance did not have enough development to like the couple, cheer and suffer for them. When the couple showed up I always went ahead because it was indifferent to me.

It's these details that made me not put ashes of love as one of my favorites. Despite being a classic, I think other more recent doramas (lost you forever, story of kunning palace, love between fairy and demon, until the end of the moon) won my heart more and this made me have a high evaluation rule especially in period/fantasy doramas.

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Nice love story but I don't like male lead ending up as demon.. I wanted to see heroine to be continued in flower realm.. but ending is too sentimental for a lost love!!!!! Scheming of male lead villain is tooo ruthless!!! Anyways it's good to watch for a couple who want to have some good times!!
Music is good...
Also female lead is gorgeous ....
Male lead performed exceptionally well.. loved to watch him when there's a war plot.... for a change,
Writers of this story should come up with nice script next time with a plot of male lead in demon realm and showing demon realm as a good place compared to heaven realm...

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To be honest I started this drama with high expectations, story looks nice, cast was good (pretty boys) , ost great, scenaries gorgeous.

BUT this drama start so slow nothing happen, fenix fell in love so quickly as night inmortal , after a story about parents that by my side needed more deeply details, We realy no sure about love between water inmortal and flower queen, I didnt feel they love.

More or less at the middle of drama everything becomes predictable, she just fall in love but now he "hates" her and other girl lies about who saves him...bla bla bla.

In the end I expected something good but again allwas predictable and a little unlogic, Really she live in a mortal world and he never see her during 3 years?

Is no a bad drama but I really expected more!!

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You'll not regret watching

This was my very first Cdrama and did I happen to pick a winner! The sad part is I started watching this Sunday afternoon about 1pm on Netflix - thinking that it's like a 'western' drama - you know - maybe 15 at max episodes... by 3am I'm still glued to my tv thinking... kay - one more episode, only to find out it has 63 episodes!

This drama has it all- Yang Zi is so pretty - and her acting blew me away as she looks so young! All the acting was fantastic - the story does not drag. The visuals, the costumes and hair was amazing. (I hate the drama's where you can see the meshing on the side of the men's wigs! It's a pet peeve of mine as it's sloppy work by the makeup artists.).

Over all, it's a classic and in 25 years from now I can see this drama being just as popular as it is now!

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A tale of two brothers

Love rivalry between half-brothers in the Heaven world, the Night Immortal and the Fire Immortal, two different characters who fall for Jinmi, a fairy in the Floral world who later becomes the Water Immortal.
A very appealing story line with several twists and turns. Particularly interesting are their sojourns in the Mortal world and then later in the Demon world.
Run Yu, the Water Dragon and Night Immortal, is a handsome and huggable character, the more cerebral of the two brothers, he has love and passion, but alas cannot communicate the warmth needed to reach Jinmi's heart. He disregards Kuanglu's love while enjoying her admiration and his control over her. Later he becomes petulant and jealous of his brother.
Xufeng, the Phoenix and Fire Immortal, is the handsome, very huggable and kissable Immortal with an easy manner projecting the warmth Jinmi so desperately needs despite the Yun Elixir. He's very dashing when wearing black or armour and is always ready for action.
The other love story in the plot is Muci & the fiery Liuying's. Their enduring love has many tender moments.
Ashes of Love is very watchable and I've done so more than once. The downside is that the translation could do with revising as some words and expressions are not quite right in the context they are used.
I look forward to the sequel.

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This was my first ever Chinese fantasy drama tv show. I've seen many other Chinese dramas but this was my first dive into the fantasy world and I fell deep and fast! I was not only watching the tv show, I was watching myself fall in love step by step.

First, I fell for the the visual effects right when I started watching it - episode 1-2. When you first start watching the show you are hit by the beauty of visual effects. All the scenes are beautifully crafted and its a visual delight for your senses. Each scene is set up just like you would imagine it. The floral realm has the right amount of flowers and heaven has the right amount of clouds. You are just captivated by the sights.

Second, I fell for the characters. This was happening by episode 3-4. When you are done appreciating the visual effects in the first couple of episodes you get engrossed in trying to understand the characters. There are a lot of characters in the show. Each one is crafted with a back story. The backstories help you to understand their actions and the motivations behind their actions.

Third, I fell in love with the deeply entangled story. By the time I got to episode 7-8, I wanted more of this story. This happened at the same time as I was falling in love with the characters. Just like any long dramas, there are parts you can do without but in this drama all the parts are interwoven carefully so you just keep falling in deeply. The number of episodes may have made the story progress slow but I found that I was craving to know what was going to happen next in the story. So many intriguing story arcs that you just keep wanting to know more.

Lastly, you fall in love with the actors portraying these characters. I fell in love with Male Lead and the Female Lead by the time episode 10 hit. Their acting was just so pure and raw. There are subtle changes in their expressions that express deep thoughts. Some of the episodes have the Female Lead with half of her face covered and she is still so expressive in her portrayal of the emotions. The Male Lead has this smirk that is just so fitting for the character. The casting director of this show did an excellent job and I couldn't picture anyone else playing any of the characters.

I had a great time watching this show. It was totally engrossing and I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to dive into Chinese fantasy dramas.

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Mesmerizing, appetizing, and unlimited rewatching.

Ashes of Love is one of the few "Damn, this is so good" dramas that ever existed. You might think it's a bit lengthy but it's really well planned out.

Story
Romance, comedy, drama, tragedy, etc. its all in there! The story is huge and overwhelming especialy during the scenes that will make you bawl your eyes out because of the ache and the scenes that can make you smile in content.

Acting/Cast
^^ The cast picked out were really great and they really deliver emotions that can make you hate their chracter or even love them!

Music
BEST OST, or one of the best! I can't listen enough of the songs and how bittersweet they are. There was this one song that talks about how heaven and earth can't ever meet(*bawls*) and another song that talks about feeling lost and loss (*bawls even more*). It's so good.

Awesome production! Awesome CGI! Mesmerizing costumes!

A HUGE MUST WATCH! 10/10

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