Ashes of Love (2018)

Absolute fluff and no stakes for a xianxia

Fell in love with Luo Yunxi after Till the End of the Moon, and I heard this drama is where his popularity exploded. And the masses are right; his character, Runyu, is the only interesting thing about this drama. I honestly NEVER get 2nd lead syndrome (the kdrama Startup is the rare exception), and Runyu takes the cake here.

ML (Xufeng/Deng Lun):
He is just a spoiled mama's boy. He has no character development at all. His only character trait is "I want Jinmi", yet witnesses his mother attempting to KILL HER, and he still protects her. He ignores all the abuse that Runyu gets from his stepmother, and does nothing to rebel against his parents even though they all want him to marry Suihe. Where are his motivations? What does he actually do to get what he wants? He just kinda sits there and reacts to whatever is happening around him. It really makes it hard to root for him, because he really doesn't deserve Jinmi.

FL (Jinmi/Yang Zi):
I'll give her a pass for her childishness, since I guess that part of the plot but she is absolutely useless. Why two people fall in love with her baffles me. Really nothing else to say, just a really bland girl. I liked her mortal arc character because she actually had some skill and spunk.

Runyu:
The screenwriters really were like "What are all the things a main character can suffer?" and gave them all to Runyu. His infamous scene where his mother dies gave me LITERAL CHILLS as I watching his transformation from begging on the ground to finally rebelling against his unfair life. I found myself rooting for him, even though I knew he was inevitably going to be doomed. I never cried over the main CP because I really didn't see any stakes in their love, but I cried at Runyu's unrequited love all the time.

Music:
I love the opening and ending songs, and by themselves, and they are wonderful to listen to. But because there are literally only 4 songs total on the soundtrack, they are all heavily overused in a 63 episode show and it is very easy to get tired of them. The music editing is also VERY awkward, and instrumental tracks will suddenly start or stop, and it really takes you out of the atmosphere of a scene.

Leia Mais

Because this drama is often compared to Eternal Love, I will be writing my review with reference to Eternal Love to give you readers a sense of where this drama's at. Here's my review:

Story: I will not repeat the drama's synopsis here which you can read from the drama description. Instead, what I'll say is the story in Ashes of Love is much more addictive than its most popular rival, Eternal Love. Both dramas belong in the same genre with similar themes:- gods and goddess, demons, heavenly politics, war, rebirth into the mortal world, triangle love, missed chances, three lifetimes of romance involving three worlds, angst and more angst etc. While Eternal Love has a good story, Ashes of Love has a better story pace and story development. Therefore, Ashes of Love wins by a small margin over Eternal Love when it comes to story rating. Those of you who love excellent story and story pace, you will probably rate Ashes of Love slightly higher than Eternal Love, but I did not. I gave both dramas the same rating and the reason why can be found below under "Acting/Cast".

Acting/Cast: This is the part where Ashes of Love rated slightly below compared to Eternal Love. Those of you who had watched Eternal Love probably couldn't forget Mark Chao's Ye Hua. Because of his portrayal of Ye Hua, Mark Chao went from an almost unknown drama actor in China (he's popular in Taiwan but not in China and the world in general) to an overnight International success! It was as if the man's born to take on the Ye Hua character! The charisma....the aura.....the screen presence....the silent gentlemanly smoldering look.....everything was perfect! He was totally reborn as Ye Hua!

Now, we go from Mark Chao's Ye Hua to Deng Lun's Xu Feng. Sure, Deng Lun did a good job, especially towards the end of the drama where he demonstrated some good crying skills, but somehow I feel that the role of Xu Feng was a little too big for Deng Lun to fill. He failed to attract me the way Mark Chao's Ye Hua attracted me. And I feel he lacked that heavenly princely-general aura. It was clear that he was acting. This is not to say that Deng Lun did not do a good job. He did. It's just that, in a baker's term, once you've tasted natural vanilla, you will not go back to using artificial vanilla/vanilla essence. Both get the job done but the natural vanilla's a class of its own! However, if you haven't watched Eternal Love before watching Ashes of Love, you will not notice this difference in the acting skills of the male leads.

As for female leads - both female leads in Eternal Love and Ashes of Love are of the same par in terms of acting, Same goes for the supporting cast. They all did a great job! So the slightly lower rating for "Acting/Cast" I gave for this drama was due to the fact I thought that Deng Lun's Xu Feng didn't quite impressed me. Instead, it was Ashes of Love, THE DRAMA AS A WHOLE which impressed me.

Music: The music's good. Check them out!

Re-watch value: It's 60 eps (DVD version) or 63 eps (TV version). That's quite a bit to be re-watching. So, I've rated the re-watch value as mediocre. In the meantime, if you are unable to immediately let go of this drama after watching it, you can fuel your need to slowly say goodbye to it by watching snippets of the main couple or your favourite scenes.....unless of course, if you are suicidal or fanatic enough to re-watch the entire drama again!

Overall: As an overall rating, I've given Ashes of Love a rating of 9/10. Definitely worth your time, effort and box of tissue!

Leia Mais

Overall it’s a good drama, but I wouldn’t recommend this drama if you don’t like triangle love story, male lead and the other support character fighting over for a girl.

Acting: They are did a good job with acting. Luoyunxi’s acting really touched me. The other actors also did a great job on carrying the storyline.

Plot: Honestly, I would say this drama’s storyline makes no senses. Other characters are okay except for Jinmi, she annoyed me so much, that I have to skip her scene. She just annoyed me so much, like every time she gets in trouble and someone have to go and save her. Like she rarely defended herself. And this character is just brainless, like she’s literally so extra. The story would be better without her. The other liu ying is more likable.

Thank you for reading, bye. :)

Leia Mais

Ashes of Love has become my favorite c-drama of all time. And this is coming from a person who never watches dramas with more than 20 episodes, dramas with heavy cgi, and dramas that are melodramatic. Ashes of Love broke all of these rules, so I was highly skeptical when I started it, but by the time I had completed the series, its effects on me were irreversible, and I experienced the worst withdrawal syndrome in my life. I found myself constantly re-watching the scenes with the OTP, quoting the lines from the drama, and singing along to the theme songs. Ashes of Love was THAT good. It is a roller coaster of emotions, from the heartwarming moments of a blooming love that never cease to bring a smile to your face, to the most melancholic nights of separation and loss that can drive tears down your cheeks. It has the most realistic and genuine portrayal of love, and how different people approach love. There’s one love that never extinguishes even if death does you apart, there’s another love that’s filled with yearning and the desire to possess, and lastly, the love that’s hard to notice but is always there to protect, the love that wishes you eternal happiness with another person.

Story (9.5/10)
The story is beautiful, sad, bittersweet, and at times humorous. Character interactions are fun and witty, and it is easy to resonate with some characters or understand where they are coming from even if you do not agree with their actions. The main couple had overflowing chemistry and all their dialogues are quote-worthy. The plot development and pacing are mostly proportionate, and the story can be separated into several distinct arcs, each serving a good purpose to provide depth and weight to the characters. The only downside is that too much focus is given to Yunyu in the latter half of the story and less on the main couple, causing him to be the most established character throughout. Luckily, most of the important characters had backstories that explained their personalities and motives, and all the main characters either had major character development or were given a good closure by the end of the series.

Characters (10/10)
All the actors did an excellent job portraying their characters, except for the Empress whom I felt was too over the top in her facial expressions (especially her glaring eyes). Whenever the characters cried I also felt heartbroken with them. And since the drama spanned across quite a lot of episodes, I felt emotionally attached to the characters like they were my friends. As for the individual roles, Yunyu was exceptionally well-portrayed and the most 3-dimensional character I have ever seen in a c-drama. The casting of Luo Yun Xi was perfect, as he looked, sounded, and emoted exactly like how Yunyu should be. Luo Yun Xi is not acting as Yunyu, he IS Yunyu. Yang Zi also nailed the role of Jinmi, which if done wrong would have caused the character to become stupid or obnoxious. Deng Lun, in comparison, was more tame in his facial expressions, but his aura matched the character of Xufeng like no other person could. Other side characters like Yianyou, the Water God and the Moon God were also memorable and sparked my interest. The entire cast was very fitting for their roles, and there was no single character that was out of place.

Music (10/10)
The OST kept ringing in my ears even weeks after I finished the series. I now have to listen to the opening song several times a day to move on with my life, and whenever I do, scenes from the drama would flood into my mind and I feel an urge to re-watch the drama again.
Fun fact: The artist who sang the ending song, Sa Ding Ding, also played one of the characters in the drama. She was a funny character and did a good job considering that she is not a professional actress.

Conclusion
This drama is a must watch. Do not shy away due to the number of episodes. A good drama will make time zip by, and before you know it, you will be wishing it to never end.

Leia Mais

Don't let the number of episodes hold you back !

I was debating for quite a while before I decided to watch this drama since it has 63 episodes, but I'm really glad that I ended up watching it. This is now one of my favorite Chinese romance drama. The story was so interesting that it kept me glued to my screen and impatient to start the next episode. All the actors were incredible and portrayed their character amazingly well. The chemistry between the leads is undeniable and they obviously know how to make our heart flutters. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this drama. I just wished it was longer. I highly recommend it!

Leia Mais

I must admit that I found myself skipping through a few scenes. However, as the story unfolded, I was completely drawn in and captivated by the overall production. The attention to detail in the costumes was simply stunning, and I found myself completely immersed in the romantic storyline.

The show had me hooked. The characters were well-developed and the plot was engaging, with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Leia Mais

Broke Me!

19/01/2023

Love Between Fairy and The Devil awakened me, Ashes of Love totally broke me and Love and Redemption brought me much needed relief and healing.

Taken from Netflix:. "Hidden away by her mother, the Floral Goddess, the naïve Jinmi is drawn to Xufeng, the Heavenly Emperor's son. Yet forces conspire against them."

So, the story more or less is about XuFeng and Jinmi and what others do to keep them apart to never be together no matter what it takes or what is at stake.

And this is all done in the Heaven, Demon and Mortal realms (that order) with so many episodes dedicated to each realm starting with the Heaven realm.

It took me awhile to get into this series and I had to re-watch the first 20 episodes to appreciate the lighter side of it before it got so so so heavy.

Once it hooked me in there was no point of return, however, so I enjoyed each and every moment of it, but especially the human realm and final arc.

The scenes I liked the most were the tomb, puppet show, the betrayal and killing of the "Phoenix", the death of the demon princess's true love, the demon realm wedding and the humour throughout the earlier episodes.

What I didn't really like was the person who betrayed the Phoenix the most so I still find it hard to forgive!

Also, before I forget, Jinmi's character mightn't be for all. I had no problems with her though.

However, moving forward, I don't think I'd opt for any drama series with females depicted as weak and helpless unless it is a baby or child

What else can I say?

Oh yes! I didn't know what my life was missing until I watched all three above, but especially Ashes of Love and Love and Redemption.

Also, since watching these and a handful of others, I have come to the realisation that I prefer dramas with less angst or drawn out build ups to relationships - so for me romance or love is not the main priority, but rather the story telling.

Give me a great story with lots of action, drama, adventure and fight scenes anyday with strong male and female characters!

If you are a person who has watched several dramas, unlike me, either you will be use to 60+ episodes and therefore forgiving of the imperfections and slow burns with some of them or maybe not willing whatsoever because you prefer substance in the first 5-10 episodes as anything beyond that is a waste of time.

Also, if it is a cliched story line it will not be tolerated either.

I reckon this drama series deserves to be given a chance because it does have a great story line and fantastic cast plus the main theme song throughout it takes it to a totally different level.

On hearing that song again when rewatching those first 20 episodes made me feel so sad with this feeling of foreboding. I actually had this knot inside my stomach because I knew what was to come...

I will say that a few series after this one I watched IMMORTAL SAMSARA which has the same female actor cast in the main role of that one only I stopped two episodes short of episode 38 as the story wasn't the greatest at all for me. Giving it a chance was wrong! The actor, Cheng Yi, was superb in it and well worth watching, however, the story for me was quite boring.

Ashes of Love comes highly recommended and is re-watchable, but may not be for everyone especially if some have 200+ dramas under their belts that are flawless and A+ dramas.

Leia Mais

The first half started out strong. I liked a lot of the characters (both main and supporting), then the FL Jin Mi started grating on my nerves. She blames all her actions on others despite apologizing for them and people keep making excuses for her. If she weren't the main FL, she would probably be the same as the villainous 2nd FL. It just depends on perspective. Surprisingly, I liked the good-turned-bad, illegitimate-prince-turned-heavenly-emperor the most. Run Yu is a very complex character and Luo Yun Xi delivers as the long-suffering, eldest brother who was always expected to do the right thing yet his step mother keeps assuming the worse of him. He's like Cinderella, if Cinderella were to exact revenge on those who hurt them. We can't all be perfect. I thought this drama would equal or even surpass TMOPB/EL but it suffered from being too ambitious on the back end of the story and it is no fault of the cast because most of them are amazing.

Leia Mais

My rating is probably totally biased. This was my very first Xianxia, I didn't know what to expect. There were no major flaws, so I didn't look for any either. If I had to complain about one thing, it would be those plastic flowers. I'd rather take bad CGI instead of plastic... But it's a ver y minor complaint, so it's neglectable (and it's probably a thing in C-dramas, so I can't avoid them in other ones anyways).

The story was well woven and well told. It was capable of chaining me to my seat and making me binge this in no time. There were minor and major key scenes all the time, that kept me guessing what could happen next and made me unable to stop. They also built up a captivating amount of tension before every event. To say that certain things were predictable might be right. But it's not meant to sound negatively. It's more like you fear what would happen and wait in anxiety.

The acting of almost everyone was soooo good, I enjoyed it alot (except for SML's mother... that was really bad). What I appreciate the most is that the leads never led me down. Not even once. Maybe they didn't always do things to my liking, but it was always reasonable and just the effect of past events. They stayed true to themselves (as far as that was possible considering the Yun Elixir). They touched me with their love, passion and made me feel their pain and suffering, as well.

The side cast did their job well in supporting the leads and the story. Especially the snake, the fox and the phoenix's guard were my favorites. And what I liked about the ending was that every character, good or bad, got one that fit in regard to past happenings. There's no mysterious incomprehensible happy ending for everyone.

What a ride... I'll definitely re-watch this some day!

Leia Mais

Sad and happy while watching this drama

At first I didn't want to watch it thinking it's not worth my time but I'll give up everything to forget it and watch it all over again. What I like about this drama is

Music:
It's OST is so good that I can't stop listening to it everyday

Story:
The story is nice but I cried a river all through the drama because Jin Mi went through so much and it isn't her fault

Cast:
I must say that I don't know the main leads because I don't watch a lot of Chinese dramas but their acting is majestic. They portrayed their characters effortlessly

There's only one thing that I dislike about this drama is that like other dramas the heavenly empress hates the female lead. Why can't I for once watch a drama where the heavenly empress is good not evil

Leia Mais

I really enjoyed this series. One of the best ever. It is totally compelling viewing from beginning to end. I laughed and cried with the characters, as the acting is just that good.

The fantasy world of the realms is vividly brought to life with breathtaking colour, light and forms. The costumes are stunning. The layers of beautiful fabrics in the costumes is particularly sublime. The cgi adds to the mythical, magical feel.

Every character is complex. As their stories unfold I could better understand why they act as they do, and even be sympathetic to their mistakes. It was good to watch their characters develop over time. Initially some were almost child-like, but experience matures them. The hardships endured are truly heartbreaking so it is quite emotional to watch those moments.

It is refreshing that the realms are presented without the usual perception of being either: good/bad; black/white; heavenly/demonic. Every realm has a mix of people who make either good or bad choices, and who could learn from their mistakes and choose to change their mindset or not.

The main love triangle is between Jin Mi, Xu Feng and Run Yu. The acting is phenomenal and deeply moving. The chemistry between the two main leads is sizzling. Deng Lun is the perfect Phoenix. I just loved all his scenes, and cried with and for him at those big moments. There are several other love stories with the wonderful side characters. The bonds between all these characters were delightful and many types of love, friendship and loyalty are explored. While love triangles are not unusual, there were many twists and turns that were total surprises, so top marks there.

The chasm in thinking between the more upright characters who never scheme when it comes to love, and those who rely on scheming is vast. Both the intended and unintended chain of events that these schemers set in action is often truly tragic for both themselves and for innocent others. I found myself crying out: “NO.o.o.o….” at times when my favourites had to suffer unimaginably cruel circumstances and misunderstandings due to the actions of the schemers.

“The flowers bloom and the leaves fall. Things change and stars shift. But it’s all preordained by Heaven. “
There is that place where fate ends and destiny begins.
Often all that can be done is to let nature take its course…..

I highly recommend Ashes of Love. It’s awesome!

Leia Mais

Plot: Honestly its probably the most entertaining wuxia drama I've watched this year. Technically I guess its almost as good as Ten Miles of Peach blossoms, some might say its even better. The story line was very well written, although I felt bad for RunYu (found him super cute ;) ). SO MANY EMOTIONS, cried so many times during the middle to last episodes (so like GET A TISSUE BOX WITH U). Tbh theres gonna be so many times where u wanna chuck your tissue box at the empress, cuz like HOLY JESUS does she get me angry.

Acting/ Cast: If you've watched any of Deng Lun's other dramas, then u know this ones gonna be good. There's so much chemistry between him and YangZi ( ITS AMAZING!). The actress who played the empress was also super good, cuz u know that when an actress plays an antagonist and GETS U MAD, you know she's good . RunYu (aka Leo Luo) did such an amazing job at portraying his character. His character was honestly willing to do anything for Jin Mi, like he would be willing to die for her. But felt bad for his character because even though he loved Jin Mi so much, she never recuperated the same feelings back for him :( .

Music: Holy cow don't even get me started, CUZ THE OSTS ARE AMAZINGGGG. Mao bu yi has such an amazing voice, his singing shows so much emotion in it. So even if you don't like the drama at least listen to some of Mao bu yi's other song. The second OST of the drama is pretty much a female version of the OST that Mao bu yi sang, but personally I like Mao bu yi's version better. Also if you like the song Bu chou or unsullied (English translation) and Leo Luo, he sings a short cover version that you can find on youtube.

Rewatch: Totally gonna rewatch this, cuz u know a dramas good when its got good OSTs and you don't skip though it :)

Leia Mais