Ashes of Love (2018)

I am Luo Yunxi biased. Read my rant about him and how perfect he is in costume dramas

I really liked this one. It was my first xianxia, a fantasy drama. I am writing this off of the long-lasting memories this show left me from 2 years ago.

Story: Jinmi is a lowly little fairy who becomes entangled with the higher-up of the heavenly realm, the fire Phoenix, Xue Feng, and the night immortal, Run Yu.

Characters:
- Jinmi, played by Yang Zi is a bit annoying at the beginning, but it really isn’t her fault. She grows and becomes more mature.
- Xue Feng, played by Deng Lun, is kind of mean to start off with, but love really changed the guy. He just wants to love Jinmi. He will do anything to be with her. Let the man be happy for once.
- Run Yu, played by Luo Yunxi, a seemingly nice, perfect immortal, who turns out to be scheming and selfish.
I say that Yang Zi and Luo Yunxi really shined in this drama. Those two know how to act. Deng Lan fell a bit short for me. His acting was not the best, but I still bought into the story. I felt for the guy. The scene with Run Yu and Jinmi at the end is my favorite. I still think about it from time to time. Yang Zi and Luo Yunxi just are so good in that scene. It is bone-chilling.
- I skipped everything about the second couple. I found them, especially the girl, to be very annoying, and a waste of time.
- Other side characters, like the moon immortal were good comic relief.
- All of the villains are well done. I hate the mother, I hate the girl who simps over Xue Feng. I love to hate Run Yu.

Chemistry:
Xue Feng and Jinmi’s relationship is so tragic and good. Their love for each other was so so strong, strong enough to break the curse that Jinmi had in her heart. Some parts of their relationship even got me crying.
The mortal realm was the best part of their relationship; it is where Jinmi and Xue Feng really fell in love with each other. I cried my eyes out at the end of that. The whole concept of these fantasy characters going to the mortal realm seemed to be innovative to me. I had never seen it be done before (granted this was my second costume drama). Once you get to the mortal realm, the story just gets better and better. So tragic.

Editing/Setting: Pretty believable for me. The editing is not the best. Some of the CGI looks really cheap, but it gets the point across. I really enjoyed the fantasy world. The heavenly realm is beautiful. Where Jinmi lives with the other fairies is pretty too. Excited to see what the team who created this world has in store for Immortality.

Music: The Osts were so so good. Appropriate music is played at appropriate parts of the show. Especially the opening song. They played that song during the parts that were really emotional and now just by hearing the opening of it I tear up. I listen to the most to this day. It’s a shame Luo Yunxi didn’t sing an ost for this show because he has a great voice and I would’ve loved to hear a sad, tragic song sung by him.

Final Thoughts: I am a sucker for tragic stories. I am aware that this story is cliche, but I had never seen anything like it before. I had no idea that they could go to the mortal realm. I just thoroughly enjoined this story. I really did. It was really good, at least for me.

Now for my rant about Luo Yunxi...

Run Yu is amazing. You love to hate the guy. He carries the show a bit at parts when it is falling. I fell in love with Luo Yunxi because of his acting here. It is phenomenal.

Run Yu is a cheeseball from the start and I love it. He is manipulative and slimy. He used JinMi from the start. She is right, he never loved her, he only just loved himself and a higher position. Haha and the scene where he watched Jinmi and Xue Feng do the devil's tango, was so great, he really deserved that one. Run Yu was a gaslighting manipulator throughout this whole show. But I don’t hate him for it, you see why he acts the way he does. Man’s has got a tragic backstory. He really knows how to make emotional scenes just so good. Tears fall effortlessly from his eyes. He is a beautiful cryers. His scales were torn off. His mother died in his arms. His stepmom openly hated him to the point where his mom died. He never had a chance with Jinmi and he knew it; he was friend zoned since the beginning. His wontons were thrown in his face and he got spat at for it even though he died trying to save his disciples ungrateful a**…. Wrong story

- Scene, where the Moon Immortal is pretending to be Run Yu, is hilarious and cute.
- The wedding scene is so beautiful and tragic. I love it. Run Yu is so beautiful in that scene. Peak Chu Wanning (besides the torture bit at the end).
- Scene, where Run Yu’s mother dies, is Chu Wanning also. Gosh, Luo Yunxi is just so beautiful in costume dramas. He transcends the beauty standards that are on Earth. Even if this show were sh*t I would still watch it just because of Luo Yunxi wearing a pretty costume, with his hair all long and majestic and his mannerisms being like that of a graceful professional ballet dancer (which he was).
- Ahh and the ending!!! I love the fact that Run Yu willingly chose to put himself in that much torture in the end. He willingly chose to gasp and moan and tie himself up on his bed (we love the little gasps and moans). It is amazing. Very Chu Wanning of him. I go back and rewatch those scenes every so often just to get my Chu Wanning kick.
Every time Run Yu was on screen I became so engaged. Luo Yunxi is just so beautiful. That man is so ethereal. He cried, I cried. - - He laughed, I cried. He started yelling, I cried. He was shown on screen for a split second, I cried. He just looks that good.

I can see why Luo Yunxi got called in to be Chu Wanning after watching this show. I see Chu Wanning in him. He seriously was born to play the role. Have you seen that man with his hair down gasping and moaning for fresh air? Like… come on now! Makes sense why the casting team of Immortality didn’t even consider anyone but him. The man is the living breathing epitome of Chu Wanning. He is graceful and delicate, yet strong and stern.

I chose to watch this show after reading Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun because I wanted to watch a costume drama with Luo Yunxi in it to really get that Chu Wanning feeling. And wowwwwwwwww did it deliver. Obviously, Run Yu is no Chu Wanning, he is quite the opposite actually, but the look alone is just !!!!!

After writing this I think I might rewatch just to really take in Luo Yunxi looking all pretty, beautiful, handsome, attractive, fair, righteous, lovely, impressive, clean-cut, gorgeous, radiant, ethereal, wonderful, riveting, (all the words that describe someone looking good).

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Overall a good drama

I finally watched this drama. After deliberating to watch or not for almost a month, i finally watched this drama. So, safe to say my expectations were over the roof. It had a very decent start. Unlike everybody here, naive jinmi did not annoy me. I mean i did read a few reviews so i knew what i was getting into. But what did annoy me was the main leads' protrayal of love. A good part of the show is lost with jinmi unable to feel. I didnt get that soulmate feeling between the leads until later half in the show.At times i even wondered if xunfeng was even the male lead. There was no depth to his character and it felt bland to me. But i really really wanted more of his character. Also it kinda felt illogical how he fell for her just like that in 10 episodes. But mortal and demon xunfeng made up for that. I was like finally they did something with his character.The later half of the drama excluding the side plots was my fav. Though there were less scenes ,the angst was *chef's kiss*. I wish the demon realm part was a bit longer.
I would say runyu's character singlehandedly ran the show. Getting into this , I knew he was the villain. I was waiting for his scenes to hate him. To my shock, i still could not hate him.His scenes were a whole rollercoaster ride. It made me want to root for him. His scheming did not annoy me, in fact i admired how tactical he was. I loved his character the whole drama except in the last couple episodes. Though i do not like him with jinmi.I was surprised at how well his character arc was portrayed. Like until upto 30 episodes, i kept questioning how he could turn out evil. His character proved no one is truly evil. That there is no black and white. A person you least expected could betray you.
Coming to acting, everybody did a great job. Yang zhi's acting was top notch. Every jinmi crying scene made me cry. Also love the ost. Overall a pretty decent watch.

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I am the weird one...

Ok, I admit I am the weird one here because I don't like this drama so much. Once I watched it out of curiosity because million praises to the highest. I am not into super fluffy sweet surrender kind of love story, Yang Zi giggled and act in childish way, makes me want to slap her (get a grip, woman) Ok I know she supposed to act that way but it crawled my skin just to listen high pinch giggle in whole drama. Deng Lun and Leo Luo made story come alive, so much sadness from one sided love..so much aggravation from ambition...so much visual effect that kind of fake. So, I am not a fan, don't want to re access it. I don't watch Yang Zi since then. The positive note: I love the soundtracks.

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Lack of attention to details makes it hard to immerse in it

The story line is quite good, but not well rounded. The entire thing was written from the same perspective. Heroes are heroes and can do no wrong (even when they do, it's forgivable). Villains are villains and everything they do is wrong (even the good things they do are considered negative). There's also a very obvious good guy/bad guy. Everybody likes the good guy, and hates the bad guys.
With that said, it's very hard for viewers to hate the bad guy because of the very one-sided perspective of this drama resulting in very unfair treatment of the said bad guy. We feel that he is very unfairly treated so we root for him and can't hate him.
Acting is good but it's only acting after all. There are dramas where the actors are merely acting and then there are dramas where the actors become the character. This one is the former. Good acting, but not true to life. For example, a woman who does not know love doesn't mean she is childish. And a person who's about to die does not talk very fast and with the same usual energy. But, this could be a problem with the script or director, not actors, because these are reputable actors. And I suspect it's the director because there are scenes that are quite ridiculous. A character takes a leisure walk through a forest (seems quite careless and humming happily). All of a sudden she trips over an arm, she looks down and is shocked to see a forest full of dead bodies. Her acting was very good through the whole thing. But I ask, who in the world would walk through a forest of dead bodies without seeing one until you trip?
Overall the drama is very beautiful. But it's very unfortunate that it misses so many small details. For those who are only into the love story, they'll love it. It's a great love story. But it's a very modern love story that's very selfish. It's does not have any of the ancient values we know about. All that is thrown out of the window.
I gave up 3 times before I decided to come back and finish it. It's quite hard to immerse in it. Sometimes I succeed only to get pulled back to reality by another detail that's not true to real life, and I remember that I'm just watching a drama. Needless to say, has no rewatch value for me. (And I'm the person who watched Pride and Prejudice more than 10 times.)

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Stock up on tissues! Started off laughing and then cried my eyes out. This is a show you’ll definitely go back to watch again and again. I’ve done it twice already.

The only thing I didn’t like about this drama is that it spent too much time on secondary characters instead of the main couple. The mortal realm plot was my favorite, it was funny and sweet but a chunk of the time was also ate up with Mu chi’s story. In addition, although I loved learning the backstory for Run Yu, it still was way too much focus on him without giving the same detailed attention to the main character. I think Xu Feng was an under utilized character in the drama which is sad since the he is such a lovable character. They wasted screen time on unnecessary plot lines and rushed the ending.

My other issue with this drama is the ending. I maybe in the minority here but I found the ending a little underwhelming. After the emotional roller coaster we went through i would have loved to have seen a little more of happy couple time, a little more of the romance. I was curious to see, after everything they have been through, what kind of couple they would be.

My heart still aches for Xu Feng, I think he suffered worse than most. He paid the price for his parents mistake, his brothers ambition/vengeance and his loves betrayal. The actions of people around him caused so much pain. Although I believe Jin Mi also suffered for her actions it’s still not comparable to Xu Fengs’s.
As for Run Yu, I think that hateful fish got off way too easy.

Am I the only one disappointed that the last kiss we saw between Xu Feng and Jin Mi was the one where he pretended to be drunk in the demon realm? Huh- did not like that at all!

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Luo Yunxi makes this unbearable drama bearable

This was painful to watch. I wanted to give up by episode 15, but kept going because the reviews were high and some said it got better after episode 30. So i got to episode 35 and was about to give up, then read that it got better at episode 40. At episode 46, I gave up.

The only saving grace thus far has been Runyu's storyline and Luo Yunxi's terrific acting, but he can only carry this drama so far...

The love story is a mess...there was no love between the ML and FL. ML and his uncle basically manipulated the FL into "loving" the ML while the FL was engaged to Runyu. ML even had intimate relations with FL while FL was engaged. So sad and disgusting. ML was spoiled and used to getting everything he wants. FL was weak and annoying throughout.

At episode 15, i started playing with speed of 1.5x, by episode 30 i was fast forwarding and only stopping when Runyu's parts were shown. There is NO comparison to Ten Miles of Peach Blossom/Eternal Love. In TMOPB, both FL and ML experienced real hardship together and were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good (saving people and the realm). Up to episode 46, the ML and FL in Ashes of Love had no love for the people/realm, other than themselves. Only Runyu was willing to go against a corrupt Heavenly Realm to save the ordinary people living in it.

Even though I watched it up to episode 46 for Runyu, I decided to stop and just watch another cdrama with Luo Yunxi in it. I'm sure any other drama with him as lead would be better than this.

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(Full, spoilerful review here: https://dramavixen.tumblr.com/post/178041972179/
I had a lot of fun with this one.)

Ooh, baby. Should’ve jumped aboard this hype train sooner because this is quite the ride.

From my perspective, Ashes of Love is the definition of a dark horse drama. It possesses a star cast with Yang Zi and Deng Lun at the top of the list, but its synopsis only lets on that this is a rather typical romance in which everyone happens to be dressed in layers of colored silk. And everything about it proves me wrong.

For all intents and purposes, the story of Ashes of Love is not the strongest I’ve seen. It’s fairly creative, but still incorporates the tropes of “aloof male lead,” “let’s kill the person that killed this person that I rather liked,” etc. However, the writing allows you to not mind any of those stereotypes as they surface because of how the characters grow and evolve in the grand scheme of things. Though set in a fantasy land of immortals, the struggles of every character in this story is poignantly human and wrenches at your heartstrings. I might even argue that the romance isn’t even the star plot of this show. While the main couple is very enjoyable to watch, my lasting impression lies with the revenge story of the second male lead—and I usually despise revenge stories.

But let me rave about the characters some more. Their success was half due to writing and half due to acting. May I shake the hand of the casting director; because I can’t remember the last time I was this impressed with every single actor. I entered for Yang Zi, but stayed for Yang Zi, Deng Lun, Luo Yun Xi (this guy makes me speechless and I could talk about only him for ten hours if someone would listen); even the “minor” characters add so much emotion to the story. The depiction of each individual is amazingly spot-on, whether it be in comedic moments or scenes that make you exhaust your tissue supply. You may be able to identify someone as good or bad; but you absolutely cannot point a finger at anyone and define them as purely one way or the other. That acknowledgement of a dual human nature is Ashes of Love’s true strength.

All things considered, I find it somewhat of a blessing that I charged into episode one with no knowledge of the emotion that was about to slap me in the face. It’s quite a pleasant (and heartbreaking) surprise when you get deeper and find that this isn’t just a pretty drama with pretty actors and pretty visuals. It is those things, too, but the value of Ashes of Love lies much further beneath the surface.

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This is definitely one of the best xianxia dramas out there.
Story-wise, I have to say it is quite unique in a way that JM could not love and did not know what love is due to Unfeeling Pill. This set the whole story different from others. The first part was really entertaining and funny and also created a base story for every angst and drama that happened later. Characters are really well-written - RY and XF's characters complement and contrast each other. JM's character development was also quite strong - from an naive innocent girl to a woman who would do everything for her love. I particularly like RY's character arc - how he became what he was - things that he did are not justifiable but understandable, I would say. I do think that the story took a bit too long in the first arc and also wasted a lot of time in the story of demon princess and MuCi.
Acting-wise, I liked all the three main leads. YZ is one of the actresses I look forward and she did a really great job portraying different emotions. She is such a versatile actress. JM's character would not have received so much love without YZ's acting skills. LYX also did a fabulous job in portraying such a complex character, RY, - from a quiet, gentle man to a man cold with hatred. I first noticed him in My Sunshine drama but didn't know he is that good. As for DL, I have never watched his dramas. He is also a good actor; his character was just outshined by YZ's and LYX's.
If you like xianxia genre, this is definitely the one to watch. Most would compare it with TMOPB; I don't want to because these two are two different dramas apart from the fact that they are in the same genre.

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As compared to all the top dramas - Eternal Love, Untamed etc, Ashes of Love might not have the best storyline but they definitely got the BEST production!! Costumes, CGIs, Soundtracks, backdrop, it is just amazing how a Cdrama can produce such quality of fantasy drama!

Next let's talk about storyline, I personally wouldn't recommend this to people who is looking for a comedy piece, because the entire series is just very saddening throughout, many twists and turns going on and on... I don't really like how the male lead fall madly in love to her so quickly when the female lead hardly done anything, it would have been better if they had more stories before the male lead is willing to sacrifice so much for her (which the second half of the show got better) That's why I think the show wasn't that appealing to me until the last 25 episodes where the climax of the story begins (If you have watched the series before you will definitely know which part I meant XD) I love those parts!

Besides that, I personally felt female lead's innocent acting in the front part wasn't that ideal, no doubt she was pretty good in crying scenes but not the very front part where she was a grape sprite, I know she was supposed to not have any love feelings, but her acting was a bit off TBH, not so natural. But she really pull off the heartbreaking scenes though, that part needs to give her a huge credit.

I wouldn't want to rewatch probably because the main leads are just too miserable haha, but it was a good piece overall, worth watching!

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Just Simple Word for this Drama.! it is pure masterpiece believe it or Not this can catch up with eternal love Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms otherwise u know how great this drama was.! I dont need to write long review and tells about plots/story.! but yeah Of cause The cast did really amazing Job here all of them were superb..for me it is 10/10 100%..and also if u wanna watch pure love story then this is for u..and get ready tissue pocket Cause u will cry a lot..as I did.! but before watching its up to u if u wanna read novel first or Not! cause I start watching it first before reading novel cause I have heard that there is changes from novel.! so I drctly start watching it

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Although this drama is 63 episodes long but it’s worth it! Not boring at all. Gotta say, I can’t get enough of it. If you’re looking for beautiful historical/wuxia, deep true love, mature love, great ost, great acting skill, interesting storyline type of drama then this one is for you! But get 10 plies of tissue prepared because you’ll need it, trust me.

The actors did a really great job expressing their emotions. The ost of this drama are so touching and emotional. Everything about this drama is great except for the fact that it broke my heart too many times ?? I didn’t expect so many tragic events would happen. But somehow, those tragic events are what made this drama speacial. It showed what true love is and it carries deep meaning.

I didn’t sleep for so many nights just to watch this drama. I’ve watched hundreds of drama but this never happened before. This drama just kept me hooked up. I just finished it this morning but now I’m missing it a lot.

I waited for months for this drama to air because of my favorite actor, Deng Lun, is the male lead. But it’s worth the wait.

Give it a try y’all. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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