A poetry read out loud to us....

“Throughout my life, I've never let anyone down, but Eleven”

The above line kind of summarise the feelings this drama holds. Zhousheng Chen and Shiyi, it's a story about them and their love for each other. It's a story about their restrained love. The moment it begins, it's easy to guess what you are in for. You are here to witness a breathtakingly heartaching story told in a very cinematic manner. Both the protagonist never needed those grand words to convey what they felt for each other, the love between them is pure and beautiful.

ACTING
Allen Ren and Bai Lu have impressed me through their acting, it's so evident throughout the drama how much good of actors they both are, those subtle feelings, changes portrayed by them through their body is enough to adore them at heights. Their eyes have acted much more, words truly were not needed. ZSC is a character who's selfless, the essence of his character is that. He's a hero who has always been plagued by rumours, a hero who needed to be restrained in displaying his emotions, inner thoughts. Allen as ZSC is perfect and eternal. Shiyi, a crown Princess before even birth has to be caged but luckily she was sent to Nanchen Mansion as great changes took place in her life including ZSC. She was devoted to Nanchen Mansion and him, she was the family of them. I realised Bai Lu has an ability to make the whole world cry with her. Have I cried enough already with ZSC and Shiyi? No I haven't, I still tear up seeing them. I never thought I'll see ZSC crying so much either. Their scenes are heartbreaking, their lives were heartbreaking. If only they were free...
The supporting cast is no less either, I've come to adore them as well especially people around ZSC. No matter how much I hate a character but it's undeniable that they have acted great, majority of them have.

SOUNDTRACK
If you have heard even one of the OSTs, you'll know what my heart feels right now. Zhang Bichen, Allen, Zheng Yunlong, Jin Long...they are just a few names who have sung those tracks. There's isn't a single ost which doesn't move you. Such beautiful OSTs conveying the emotions going on within the scene feels so good making the already emotional scenes more emotional. Your heart just bleeds more and more. I was surprised by Allen's voice, I never knew this drama will give me full package Allen. I admire him so much now. The lyrics holds such an immense power. The bgm score is finest too. Can you appreciate these enough? Nope. The music has made this already top notch drama, an epic.

The drama feels grand, epic, magnificent, mesmerizing and in short beautiful. A cinematic portrayal. Everyone deserves a praise. ZSC and Shiyi have become eternal for me. There are speculations, suggestions and many alternatives that people would like to put forward as an ending but if you have watched the show or in midst of it, you'll know that no one had a choice and this was the most perfect ending ever. You cannot expect ZSC or Shiyi to do things which will mess up with the core of their character, the essence of their character lies in who they were, are and will be. It's all same, their core values remains unshaken. That's the most attractive thing about their character. Ending has to be in line with the plot, not with the fantasies you have in your head. The show for me is very realistic, that's how the era and palace politics works and to weave such a gorgeous tale within it is commendable. No matter how much I've cried throughout the show, I do not regret watching it. I'm grateful instead that this was the drama I was anticipating like crazy. I'll never bargain this drama experience for something else. One unique experience this is. The adaptation has been done very well as well, every little thing added is just gold.
I only have heart and teary eyes for this drama. This is one unmissable experience. I'm glad my Shiyi and ZSC will come greet us in sequel, we all have endured so much, eventually it's all happiness.

TOP TIER DRAMA OF MY LIFE

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It will remind you of the people around you especially your friends, family and lover- Leo Wu

This show is essentially about the bonds you make throughout your life, the importance of it and certainly about peace with oneself and the world. The synopsis might tell you it's about Li Changge's journey on foot and in mind, but it does not tell you that the show also covers a similar journey for many other characters. The depiction of all the characters growing day by day is beautiful, clear through their words and your eyes. The two major characters, A'Sun and Li Changge meet amid the ugliest situation and how they stood by each other from then on is something you'll remember for life. The other two principal characters have their own growth journey as well. Each supporting and minor character only adds to the layer of the story, all of them are important. The show is complex, including the plot and the characters. Most of them are human closer to reality because the world does not exist in binaries but in the grey area between them. It's useless to bind things in simpler terms such as good-bad, black-white, right- wrong. Emotions are complex here. You have too many characters to root for here.


People learn from their circumstances and experiences but in degrees and it's clear here too. You might love a character or not but you definitely empathize with them, you understand where they are coming from. The plot is spine chilling with twists at every turn, it's gripping. Action and Romance are in an equal amount enough to hold you at your seats. It's hard to skip even a few seconds. The fights and the game are well-choreographed, they suck you in. The animated scenes in between is a great idea too as they are there to pay homage to the manhua writer. I certainly love them as they add another layer of beauty playing on my screen. The toxicity that usually exists in drama relationships and male characters are nowhere to be seen here. You have one of the healthiest relationships between leads making you soft for them. There are plenty of memorable characters. Female characters are well done and are strong with brains! Too intelligent and emphatic people all around. There are no loose ends either. The ending is perfectly apt.


ACTING

My first time with almost every actor except Zhao Lusi and I'm impressed! They have played their characters so well; I was scared for them, felt for them. More than words, this show depends on actions and they delivered. I'll be looking forward to more of their dramas in the future. They have impacted me, especially Leo Wu and Dilraba. This show has a stellar cast.


MUSIC

The soundtrack is beyond amazing, goosebumps all over you feel every time they play it in between the scenes. I'm glad they translated the lyrics too, they add another layer to the scene going on. You ought to add them all to your Spotify and feel the chills, sadness, warmth, goosebumps to the core. It's just not about the soundtracks, only the background score is so on point! I paid attention to bgm for the first time; they are hard to ignore. Your ears will bless you while watching TLB.


REWATCH VALUE

I'm already re-watching it and not skipping to my favourite scenes at all. A lot of first times happened with this show. How can you feel the same emotions when you are aware of everything? A lot is happening in every scene and re-watching makes you link things even better. You see details which shouldn't be missed.


To summarize,


PROS-

Strong FL and ML

Great supporting characters

Strong plot

gripping action scenes

Immense character growth

Healthy relationships

Music at its best

The show is pleasing to the eyes at every point



CONS-

None for me but some people think the ending is unsatisfactory which would not be the case if you have watched all 49 episodes with eyes. It's certainly a happy ending. There is a discussion below on ending read it once you are finished.


The review above does not capture the actual heart and soul of mine, words are just not enough. Try it so that your heart and soul can thank you. Indeed, family, friends and love are important, irreplaceable they are. These characters learnt it a hard way but you definitely can learn it softly by just watching it.

It's a GEM in every area!

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Revenge drama done exceptionally well!

PLOT-
This drama was engaging from the get-go and remained that throughout. The plot and characters just hooked me, there wasn't a single scene where I felt like skipping, It was interesting how it started with Xue Fang Fei's revenge story mainly but if looked closely, almost every character was on their journey for revenge in some way or the other which made the show even more colourful. They showed how revenge and power can take people in so many different directions, the same ambitions can lead you anywhere because, at the end of the day, it all depends on your choices. The show never dragged for me. The beginning, the middle and the end were equally gripping and completely action-packed. One of the highlights for me was that the XFF to take revenge was never careless, always precisely calculative.

ACTING/CHARACTERS-
Wu Jin Yan and Wang Xing Yue, both gained a fan. I still question my ignorance of Wu Jin Yan before this, such a great actress. Wang Xing Yue made an impact as well. I am still in awe of XFF's character just like Duke Su, this lady has brains and she was always a step ahead. Actors playing Shen Yu Rong and Princess Wanning are impressive here as well. The cast overall has done a phenomenal job. One thing which I like the most is the backstory of the characters which helped me understand them a bit better, to know the WHYs behind them. so no one came across as arbitrary. They made me feel bad for them here and there but you never stop hating them as well. One character who creeped me out throughout was SYR, kudos to the actor. It is a job well done. Way too many characters I hate and love, quite balancing.

ROMANCE-
My favourite kind of romance is when FL and ML gradually build trust helping each other along the way and supporting each other through thick and thin eventually leading to the healthiest relationship with lots and lots of respect, and unwavering trust in each other. The slow-burn romance ended up hitting all the spots, loved the couple way too much. Their scenes together were making my day.

ENDING-
The ending was satisfying, especially after watching so many 10/10 dramas with such crinkled endings, this one was done well. Nothing came across as random.

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"Memories don't disappear instead they all are smeared into your soul."

I am high on this show, engulfed by it. I am 10 feet under somewhere with hands on my heart coz it won't calm down. Finally a kdrama with such a perfect end. This is how you wrap up things, this is how! The audience should feel this much by the end forgetting all the sorrows endured by them and the characters throughout, forgetting the hiccups if there were any. I was guessing a lot while watching, wondering how are they going to answer these questions and if they could wrap it up with ease and they did. For me, they did.

"Memories don't disappear instead they all are smeared into your soul. Even if my brain forgets, my soul hasn't. It's been keeping every piece. of it"

The quote above by Sol's grandma encompasses the essence of this show. There were so many resets, changing plots, actions and whatnot, but Sun Jae's soul retained everything. His emotions were everywhere because his soul had memories but his brain didn't. My heart felt too much for him and Im Sol. They met many times and started their story together again and again only to end up with that fate. Push and pull to alter the fate in vain. Seeing Im Sol alone hurt my heart, but seeing Sun Jae falling in love again made it go pity-pat. The show wasn't about why things were happening the way they were happening or what ticked the killer to go after them like that. I believe that the killer was just a plot device to change the time, to show us the love Sun Jae and Im Sol had for each other across time and space. They were the centre of the story. One of the best romances in Dramaland.

Comedy in this one is gold, second-hand embarrassments that I felt for them and with them lol. The other characters supported the plot well. In Hyuk's reactions were everything. And I can only accept the love triangle like in this one. SML, you deserve all the happiness too. Acting is 10/10. PERFECT!

The music in this one is again top-tier, been listening on loop, obsessed. I mourned the loss of Sonaki too. I can name at least five songs I am obsessed with rn. Combining QOT and LR music albums, ig we are in the golden era of kdrama music.

The ending of this show had me giggling throughout, finally after all that angst ( I loved that too). Cried too many times and laughed in equal measure as well. All worth it. Deserving of all the hype.

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