cang lan jue is 10000% the best xianxia of this specific celestials branch (gods + immortals + 100000s of years, etc.) that i have ever seen. This show did it and made a genre that i thought i would despise forever actually watchable and ENJOYABLE. yes it’s silly and cringe, i spend as much time laughing AT the show as i do with it, but xianxia is p inherently cringe. it’s exactly as good as it needs to be and sometimes we deserve to indulge in candy!

For many years I’ve watched xianxia, always in SPITE of the genre and storytelling, never because I actually enjoyed it. (why would I watch something I dislike? I guess it’s part of my chinese american complex of needing to understand what is popular in mainland right now. C-dramas are something I have easy access to, compared to books and web content since I can’t read Chinese v well.) I thought this whole genre was stupid and goofy as hell. like hello, i’ve lived 70000 years and loved you for 50000 years but had to forget you and reincarnate for 10000 years and it was all because of a miscommunication or something stupid and toxic and now we hate each other!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE BE SERIOUS??? y’all are 100000s of years old and you are suffering whatever fantasy torments of hell because of a miscommunication or patriarchal ideas of ‘strong, noble man’???? seeing the repeated relationship dynamic of an idiot weak innocent emotional baby girl x MOST powerful COLD aloof and uncaring sect leader/war god/whatever over, and over, and over could only be described as a punishing slog to watch. it’s not that i had no hope for this genre whatsoever, but i didn’t think that it could offer anything very great if all we saw was meaningless suffering, male leads who were too cowardly to stand up against authority/orthodoxy/hierarchical order/oppressive ruling class, female leads who are given no logical reasoning and believe lies and miscommunications at the drop of a hat, etc. etc.

cang lan jue took all of these tropes, these character types and plot lines we know so well and they made it meaningful and actually contribute to the story they want to tell. for ex. dongfang qingcang is not just a Powerful Controlling Villain Lord type for the romantic fantasy. he's like that because it's his story the script writer wanted to tell, and every part of his backstory, his arc, his motives and his progress are well thought out in terms of how they inform the themes of the story... AND he's a romantic fantasy! it's a very simple story with simple characters and messages but it does every single aspect near perfectly. its ambitions are not high in terms of storytelling, but what it accomplishes are the absolute best in terms of what it is and what the genre is. the plot is generally agreeable, the pacing is great and easily gets you addicted to what's gonna happen next as the stakes and problems keep growing higher and higher, though it never feels overly convoluted. i of course have problems with it, but that's more in terms of general problems i have w xianxia and a lot of chinese media. i think the issue is that the writing for the show has these glimmering moments that are genuinely really good, smart storytelling, which made me think it could be better than the conventions of the genre but these hopes were dashed by the end. in particular they wrote dfqc and xlh to be a couple whose relationship is built on communication, respect, trust and working together to solve the problems they face. by the end this is all turned to dust in favor of endless self sacrifice as proof of love. they also had a nice theme of defying fate by positing love and identity as a CHOICE built by your experiences and values.... they are still defying fate by the end but only through self sacrifice. i just think self sacrifice is a very cheap and easy writing tactic to show the depth of love, rather than actual work or other ways that build upon character arcs and relationship arcs. AND it's extremely unhealthy and just a pain to see! all that said, i DID cry my heart out though all those scenes because they made me love xlh and dfqc SO much throughout the series, even tho my rational brain was disappointed. ultimately clj is exactly the kind of silly but addicting fun trash that i originally thought it was- and i STILL LOVE IT.

i absolutely adore our main leads, and i was already a fan of yu shuxin from seeing her on youth with you. she’s PERFECT for this role. tbh i never would’ve watched this show had i not heard she would be the female lead. not many actresses can do the silly innocent baby well, in fact i would say i have never in my life seen it done as well as yu shuxin. She is incredibly talented at making it look effortless, charming, and natural. She’s genuinely just adorable instead of annoying. Like i’ve seen many many amazing, highly skilled actresses make their attempts, but at the end of the day, playing the baby is its own thing that is incredibly difficult and out of their comfort zone. yu shuxin embraces and embodies it without reservation, she’s a cutesy idol, like, this is her THING. and i was worried she wouldn’t have the range to play dfqc during the body switching scenes, (as well as the duty bound xilan goddess) but she did it SO well, and she’s surprisingly great in all the serious angst scenes too. xiao lanhua is so wonderfully lovable, if she were only kind and pure she wouldn’t stand out, but because of her resolute bravery and her quick thinking, her emotional wisdom, it absolutely sets her apart and makes her an admirable protagonist. she has so much basic human logic and reasoning that many female xianxia leads completely lack. while i miss her silliness in the beginning, it’s also nice to see her grow and learn from dfqc, as well as from her experiences in Canyan Sea and the mortal realm, to become so confident and self assured, no longer caring about her identity and status background. i was extremely happy with her character arc, so i was of course quite disappointed with her return being full Goddess time even though i know it's still her. in a lot of ways it felt like we lost what a wonderful fate defying, blood and birthright defying, shuiyuntian-familial-class-based system defying, i- choose-who-i-love-and-who-my-people-are-based-on-my-values-and-my-experiences Xiao Lanhua we had!!! idk i think i still need to process the ending more, i just loved our heroine so much.

As for dfqc, i would say not only am i not attracted to his character type, i find it abhorrent. but i guess that completely changes when he’s in the hands of competent writers because i LOVE dfqc. The set up is PERFECT because by making him suffer, by making him the butt of most of the jokes, and making us laugh AT him, it takes away his power because it doesn’t take him seriously. his seriousness, threats, violent intent, domineering presence and murderous energy all become THE JOKE when you make him have to serve xiao lanhua's every whim. i would never have grown affection for him unless they stripped him of his weapons metaphorically as they have done in this show. he is still cruel and powerful, but he can’t do anything to hurt you. because of this set up we get to have our classic toxic relationship dynamic, AND have it all be bearable. there were absolutely times after the first arc where his behavior made me feel uncomfortable, after all at the end of the day, this is still a narrative that sells possessive, controlling and aggressive powerful men as a romantic fantasy. I understood that, but it was never bad enough where it felt like it crossed a line and made me want to stop watching (like every other show). i like him so much to the point that when they played the cringe ass goofy electric guitar during his ‘’’cool’’’ scenes and literally made his eyes glow with goofy blue fire and covered the screen w more goofy blue fire in the most embarrassing shameless final fantasy anime nerd way i literally cheered for him out loud without even realizing it…. i would not do that for any other reason other than genuinely liking a character and it also helps that he’s super hot LMAOO. i like how his general character arc is written too, and i came to actually love his character when he dealt with his father and how he grew. like i know he is a fictional character but i weirdly felt proud of him. seriously kudos to the script writer for allowing dfqc to accept and understand his father, while still standing his ground, and not forgiving or making up with him. seeing every step he takes to become a better person felt difficult and genuinely deserved.

also!! changheng was quite nicely written, with a very clear arc. this guy is basically the ye hua archetype of all these xianxias and yet he surpassed them all by doing what all of them were too cowardly to do - he stood up for the girl he loves and for what’s right in the face of authority and his own social position and duty in the oppressive ruling class!!!!! he even LEFT shuiyuntian and gave up his position and escaped from his brother's oppressive thumb to find his own happiness!!! literally who the fuck else actually did that??? ye hua could NEVER!!!!! AND changheng still wasn’t even as good as dfqc??? the standards for all the main characters in this drama are higher and i just can’t thank the script writer enough. i actually thought it would’ve made for an interesting character if changheng was a straight ye hua type who never goes against heaven, but it’s also SOOOOOOO nice to have a better man than that lmfao. changheng best boy 2 award!!

All in all, it’s not the smartest, or the most complex show with the most groundbreaking things to say. it’s not perfect but it never strived to be nor does it have to be. it’s just incredibly fun, created beloved characters and doesn’t resort to unbearable miscommunications or evil jealous women or other hell tropes to up the stakes or drive meaningless conflict. i haven’t had this much fun or been so consumed by a drama in years (literally have only been eat sleep breathing this show for 3 weeks and kneeling doing the moon ppl's hand clap salute when dfqc shows up on screen) and it made me believe that xianxia is a genre with space and possibilities for good and interesting storytelling and characters!