O Amor Estrelado (2023)

Romantic Comedy-Fillings, Logically Cooked & Baked to Near Perfection

Discover the first and only Xianxia drama of its kind within the genre. As we know, xianxia drama are basically mythical fantasy ties in with chinese gods, immortals and demons or multiple realms of different species and races where almost anyone can cultivate themselves to attain magic power. Writer can make anything possible happen in such a story setting and for this particular drama, they went for the most unexpected and crazy route that none before them had ever attempted - logical character interrelationships and comedy.

For longtime drama watchers, its not uncommon to expect the usual cliches like jealous siblings, backstabbing, misunderstandings, miscommunications between leads/ friends, annoying evil bitches lurking behind every corner, leads that fall prey to their own stupidity/naivety, long angsty arcs, heck or even lives of doom reincarnated romance. In fact whether you're new or old to the xianxia genre, throw those kind of expectations out the window. Those usual draggy tropes don't exist here because this drama handle those problems like a pro, cool and mature; adult-style wisdom with clarity and rationality.

There are reasons behind every characters' behaviors and motivations. Very logical character developments and morally driven interactions that doesn't make you pulled your hair out in frustration. The main circle of relationships are built on unconditional love, trust and hope. They form an unbreakable bond and used their intellect to overcome the many challenges the universe or fate throws their way. Perfect example of human quality done right even when we're talking world altering godly powers or voids devil curse magic.

While this drama is filled with comedy, that doesn't make it light-hearted. Underneath it all, this drama make fun of all the mind-boggling issues we see so often time in a typical xianxia. They turn it into child's play to draw many beautiful and inspirational life lessons from, that keep on giving long after its finale.

Above it, the actors and actresses acting skills deserve high praise with their naturally level microexpressions that are both funny and complex. Every touching, emotional and heartwrenching scenes were carry out so immersively - you can't help but to shed tears along with them. With an undeniable chemistry between not only the main leads but every support characters and casts, this drama has forge a strong and unforgettable foothold in the heart of its audience.

The OSTs are another lovable addition to this wonderful drama. Every song match breathtakingly well and every single one tugged at your heartstrings at the right moment. And when you pair western instrumentals to scenes in xianxia, it produce a surprisingly comedic masterpiece, ensuring impeccable strings of laughter.

There are no perfect dramas but whether its story, characters, music, SXFs, CGIs to costumes and props; the feeling when everything in a drama was done to near perfection, it truly felt good and exhilarating. So good that you can't get enough and had to give it another taste to fathom how truly rich it really is.

Leia Mais

Wow!

I just finished this TSL and I don't know for how long I've cried. My eyes hurts and are super puffy, my nose is so swollen and I have a headache because of my crying. I just have positive things to say about this drama. From the story, to the acting and music. It was amazing and absolutely one of the best cdramas I've seen in my life (and I've seen a lot).

The only negative thing or something I wished they included was when they the sisters regained their human form again. I wanted them to reunite with their lover and live a happy life. It just felt strange how they turned into a sacred tree again - how do you go from a tree to a human?

Otherwise, I literally have nothing bad to say about this drama. I really recommend this drama, but I have to warn you to have a lot of tissues by your side ;)

Leia Mais

I don't understand the hype to this drama tbh

This drama was airing around the same time as The Journey of Chongzi, and people were going to MDL in The Journey of Chongzi and was saying how great this drama was and recommending this drama was better than The Journey of Chongzi...

I wanted to not leave a review about this drama, until I fully watched it.

I did tried the first episode back then to "The Starry Love", and I couldn't get into it... So I left it on hold and then waited until this drama finished airing before giving this another chance.

After finishing this drama, I honestly don't get the hype to this drama to be honest, like to me, it's just "Okay...." at best, and I felt like I am just watching it for the sake of passing time, since I have nothing to watch at this stage.

The story and characters is okay, but it wasn't memorable to me.

The Male Lead Actor, Chen Xing Xu, I have seen him before as Yang Kang in "Legend of the Condor Heroes", and he's my favourite character in there.

This is my first time seeing the Female Lead actress.

I have to say that I didn't like the time when she have to collect the "Soul Shards" (the three different version of him) to revive Shao Dian You, because after he successfully got one, he left him at this place, and moving onto the next one.... And during that time, I felt bad for "La Mu" because he thought that his "Wife" Ye Tan was out chasing the other 2 more Soul Shards of him to revive Shao Dian You, and during that time, it is really off-putting because it really did felt like she was jumping between one guy to the next, even when they are all the same soul (person) in the end, but I cannot rub off that feeling that it gives off in the end for me... Since they each is their individual person.

Anyways, for me, the main pairing is okay, it wasn't enough for me to fangirl for them like I do for some other pairings I fell in love with in the drama.

Music was okay too, but it reminded me to the music in The Blue Whisper.

Overall Drama was OKAY (LOL)

But if I have to say something here, while this drama (The Starry Love) is airing around the same time as "The Journey of Chongzi", for me, I love and enjoyed "The Journey of Chongzi" >>>>>>>>> The Starry Love. The Starry Love, didn't make me love it like it did for some people in here... I guess this really goes to say something, i.e. every one is different.

Like I said, for me personally, this drama was OKAY at best. It wasn't enough to keep me motivated, or absorbed into the story/characters. Most of the time I was like "When is this episode going to end?" So yeah, I am not really a fan to this drama, only watched it to see why people keep comparing it, and what's the hype about, I don't get the hype on this drama....


Well, not a memorable drama for me to want to watch again, I can move on to watch the next one ~~~

Leia Mais

It takes a while to get into it but I came to like it

Initially I was not impressed when I watched the first five episodes; I'm not a big Xianxia fan. Since then this it has really grown on me. Patience was rewarded. The special effects are cheesy and the acting for some of the characters were so-so. I started this because I've seen the ML in Goodbye My Princess and the FL in Dreaming Back to Qing Dynasty. The realms in this fantasy are between the Immortals, Mortals, Beasts, and Void. The Immortals and Void are enemies.

The ML is an upright and uptight immortal prince destined to save the Immortal Kingdom, he was supposed to marry the FL's sister who is the SFL. The FL is a rebellious princess mortal meant to be married off as a Void bride. The SFL is the proper naive mortal princess who plays by the rules and she was meant to be married off as an Immortal bride. An identity switch happens during the marriage ceremony which leads the sisters to switch identities. The SML is a scheming outcast third prince in the Void royal family; he lies, cheats, and takes big risks to scheme his way with his family members and with the SFL.

I am probably in the minority on this but the SML and SFL's storyline really stood out in the episodes so far, it is a good pairing between the two. In most dramas I don't really get that into the SML and SFL's storyline but for some reason they took the torch in this drama for me. I really slugged it through the first 10 episodes because of that. You will get some slapstick laughs when it comes to the competition for the SFL's affection between the SML and his first brother. One funny scene is when his first brother tries to get the SFL to teach him her special technique to disable an opponent in a fight with her medical skills. It causes the SML to become jealous and the antics to payback his brother ensues. The mortal and beast realm storyline with the ML and FL was good and one of the best between them even though I found myself more drawn to the SML and SFL's story.

It's a light youth fantasy with some comedy, its worth a watch and I plan to finish this one.

Leia Mais

I laughed, I cried—no, seriously, totally did. I’m not being sarcastic.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “loved”.

What I liked:

I loved that this was a comedy—and not just slapstick/fart-jokes comedy, but actual, laugh-out-loud comedy (omg, the scene where the SML was pretending he didn’t know how to fight and kept wounding his brother…I was rolling!). I honestly don’t think I’ve ever watched a c-drama before that made me actually laugh out loud with tears in my eyes, rewinding to watch the scene again. I loved that all the relevant characters were very three-dimensional (why did you have to do that to my Man-Man!?), the evil-knievel kings of the Void and Celestial Realm excepted. I was rarely tempted to fast forward through any of the scenes not involving the main couples. I loved that nearly every female character was strong and there was only one b@tS*** crazy jealous woman; she had a minor role (and in fact, was written out about 2/3rds of the way through). I loved that the character who caused all the trouble at the end did out of deep seated trauma and desire for revenge—not because she was hopelessly in love with an ML! Even though the drama threatened to start with the dreaded (to me, at least) stoic ML trope, he turned out to be a very emotive character—and not sure why there were complaints about his real voice, but I liked it (I’ve never understood the dubbing thing anyways…). As someone with good relationships with her own sisters, I loved the relationship between the FLs in this one—cried so hard!

What I did not like so much:

Not much, really. For a very good review of what could have been better about this drama (& all the good stuff, too), please check out AvenueX’s YouTube channel—but I have much lower standards than she does (tee hee). Okay so the ending could have been done better, but other than that, there wasn’t really anything that made me scream wtf!? at the screen.

Definitely going to rewatch. I highly recommend if you like fantasy and/or comedy. And after suffering through Journey of Chong Zi, I’m glad there was another xianxia out there to restore our faith in them.

Leia Mais

Love between the Flower and her Guardian

The Starry Love (2023) is the best Xianxia I've come across in a very long time since most plots have been done to death and it's quite difficult to find something even minutely refreshing. This drama, to my delight, exceeded my expectations in many ways.

Let me start off with what this drama did best- it created an unforgettable romance between two multi-layered characters. Their interactions and feelings for each other blossom into a realm of pure love that consistently upholds the values of trust, understanding and emotional reciprocity. So if you’re tired of angst, betrayals and the overused trope of unnecessary misunderstandings between the primary love interests, you won’t ever regret giving this drama a shot. Their love was mature yet playful, passionate yet deep, challenging yet healthy, tragic yet readily blossomed through all the adversity. The emotional atmosphere created by their connection will swallow you whole leaving you yearning for more.

The main leads Shaodian Youqin and Liguang Yetan are characters that I love with every fibre of my being. Chen Xingxu is perfect for the role of Youqin, who isn't your typical cold Xianxia hero. He would be stern and stiff in the hands of a less skilled actor but Xingxu plays a young, lonely and socially awkward male lead extremely well. Most of the male leads in Xianxia dramas are cold, inexpressive ice blocks who hide their love behind grand gestures. I don't know about you but I found this trope to be quite lacklustre and exhausting to watch. It makes their everyday interactions feel very one sided and at worse, we spend majority of our time feeling sorry for the female lead who is the only one being expressive and completely desperate for the male lead’s affection and attention. Thankfully, this drama takes a wonderful turn away from this cliché.

Yes, the story starts off by painting Youqin as distant and cold but they justify his behaviour with a solid backstory that makes us empathise with him. However, as soon as he realises his feelings for his bride to be, he becomes the person Yetan truly wanted as a romantic partner- someone who puts her first before everyone and everything. He becomes truly consistent in displaying his affections and communicates his emotions very well with her.  As the show progresses, you can actually see how his dedication and admiration continue to grow for her. 

Some of my favourite scenes included Lamu/Fiery calling Yetan "wife". His innocence and devotion left me breathless and turned the butterflies in my stomach into crazy love-struck chimps on steroids. Thank you Shaodian Youqin and Chen Xingxu for revealing to me what I love most in a man.

The female lead on the other hand is an extroverted, mischievous and tough girl. She is funny not to the extent of being too annoying. Her actions whether morally right or not are true to herself, her values and are backed by solid reasoning. Her transformation from a girl who cares only about herself and her loved ones, someone who believed that the world was not worth saving due to her traumatic past breeding within her a wormhole of distrust as a defence mechanism to someone who is taught through love that the world deserves to be protected simply because love and kindness exist is very moving to watch. Through her we learn the negative consequences of revenge and how it can come back to inconvenience our loved ones even if it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Morality, ethics and emotions are complex topics and this drama did a good job of showcasing that.

Li Landi in my opinion is one of, if not the most beautiful woman my eyes ever had the pleasure of gazing upon. I mean, I started this drama because Pinterest randomly decided to drop a gorgeous Yetan in my feed. This drama does not fail to present her in all her vivacious attractiveness- her smile being a deadly weapon you cannot escape from. She looks best in her black and purple outfits as the ‘Devil of the Void’.

Speaking of the drama's other merits, we have to appreciate how the director teases the ridiculousness of ancient times by poking fun at certain recurring themes in Chinese Fantasy Dramas- Yetan being weirded out by the concept of a 2,700 years old immortal getting married to an 18 year old girl or the scene that involves Youqin desperately pleading with his mother to allow him to get married to his beloved quickly as the couple ended up sleeping together before marriage because fuck ancient customs, right? Annoying characters are also kept to a minimum though occasionally I just wanted to wrap my fingers around General Cremation's neck- that son of a b-*coughs*. Additionally to my relief, they refused to follow the predictable plot line of turning the sisters against each other but rather chose to strengthen their bond and deepen their love for each other with each episode. This drama is truly a sismance at its core.

I have to admit that I wasn't as interested in the romance of the side characters even if independently as characters, they were all well-written and shaped with their own individuality and motivations. The reason why the side romances seemed dull in comparison was because the romance between the leads was so profoundly captivating and touching that the insane amount of screen-time allotted to anyone else seemed wasted in my eyes. With each episode, I wanted to see Youqin and Yetan more frequently AND with each other. The side couples merely distracted me from the romance that mattered.

The OST on the other hand, is brilliant. Liu Yuning, Mao Buyi and Sa Ding Ding never fail to deliver and I’ve been listening to them all day everyday since their respective songs were released. The songs are a perfect fit for the drama.

As someone who took a break from Xianxia for 7 months, this drama surprised me in the most wonderful of ways. I hope it does that to you too. I’ll conclude my review by stating what the Empyrean says to the Heavenly Emperor as it perfectly sums up my feelings about this drama- “Forgetting the past may be easy. But forgetting this love is…. difficult.”

Leia Mais

Need to read

Ok after watching this I need a season 2 of with the same main couples as their is some stuff that need to be answered 1 is Do the twins get reborn as babies or adults with or with out their memories
Like would we get a YQ 1.0/2.0 and stuff

Do the twins get a happy ending will they have a true wedding and kids

Plus I need Li LanDi and Chen XingXu as main couple in other dramas together again their chemistry is off the chart on/offscreen sometimes when you watch other dramas they seem kinda forced or cringy but maybe cuz they’ve know each other since 2017 that why they have such an amazing relationship chemistry

Leia Mais

A Refreshing Addition to the Xianxia Genre

Some watchers might be put off initially by this drama's unusual approach to the xianxia genre and indeed I've seen it described by a few viewers as too "silly for a xianxia drama". However I find it absolutely refreshing because for a genre that is renowned for excessive melodrama, this one decided to do something different by following the comedic route. The jokes are timed well and the actors manage to pull them off without coming off as cringy. It's almost as though the writers don't the viewers to be depressed for too long because most sad scenes and tear inducing scenes are usually followed up by lighter scenes. The near perfect balance between comedy and angst is really impressive.

The appearance of common tropes of this genre like unnecessary sibling rivalry/jealousy, love triangles, jealous fangirls, amnesia etc are either non-existent in the drama or are not allowed to overstay their welcome and are resolved very quickly without testing the viewers patience.

The CGI while not the very best the industry has to offer is good enough and it's obvious that a lot of money has been spent on it. The OST also features some of China's best musicians.

The best thing about the drama is the actors. From Chen Xingxu who played 5 different versions of one character so well enough to make you believe they were actually different people to Li Landi that stepped out of her comfort zone to play a comedic role and also moved us all to tears with her crying scenes. He Xuanlin was amazing as the absolutely gorgeous, intelligent and righteous Qingkui and Chen Muchi stole all our hearts with his gorgeous face and devilish charm. Even the supporting actors made us endeared to their characters and root for them.

The ending while being a happy one leaves something to be desired. However, it's no fault of the production team but could be as a result of the greed of streaming platforms. Conclusively, it's a memorable drama that would enter the top 10 lists of a lot of viewers.

Leia Mais

sweet opening for my journey into cdrama world

let me tell you, this drama is beyooooond my expectation.. which is good !!
Im a newbie in chinese drama, before watching the starry love, im just not into the Chinese drama bcs the voice of FL sometimes annoys me(?) like fake cute.. eventhough i see some of their clips on tiktok, i just can't start myself to watch.
but my oh my, when my friend recommend the starry love to me, i thought ok just give it a try.. annnddd it blooooow my mind. this drama is soooo good . after watching 2 eps i immediately subscribe Youku.. like i loooove this kind of story with strong Bond of sister, friendship, and love. everyone has done their role perfectly. the set design, cgi, costumes and osts were so beautifuulll. i found myself look forward to the next episode everdayyy!! like can the day be more faster !! overall, this drama Will always have special place in my heart. such a wonderful journey i have. thank you for all the actors, director, screenwriter, producer, staffs that Made this beautiful drama

Leia Mais

My favourite xianxia drama of this year until now?

if you are thinking you should start it or not then I would say YOU MUST!!!!! This is a great xianxia drama!!!! Comedy emotions are totally on point!!! acting is also so good!!!
I like the ml I saw him in fall in love which is a great drama too and liked there so much. and I was searching for his drama and got to know its airing and was so excited and as expected its a great xianxia drama and the chemistry between leads are soo good. I am going to watch goodbye my princess too....this is my first drama of landy li and her Acting is also so good. I like the those all other couples soo much. they are so funny and they also have a great chemistry!!! overall this is a xian xia drama you must watch!!!

Leia Mais

A lovely xianxia about pure, respectful love, trust and growth

'The Starry Love' is a lovely xianxia story about pure love, respect, kindness, finding your true self, the importance of accepting your emotions, an art of making decisions and having trust and faith in others. It's hard to talk about this beautiful story, you just have to see it yourself like I did.

I've seen many xianxias. Or most likely I gave them a try. Each time I hope it would bring me the same amount of emotions that the unforgetfull classic from 2017 did. I mean Eternal Love - my first xianxia and my most favorite of all the time. Each time I watch xianxia I can't stop comparing it to the Eternal Love - I don't mean the story, but the vibe, the thrilling, the emotions.
I often find most xianxias disappointing, boring, predictable. How many time we saw the classic tragics, reborns, this genre has its own cliches. The Starry Love follows some of them but it also give the freshful punch. And surprisingly, it gave me the thrilling and fun that my beloved Eternal Love did.

The humour! The jokes! The story surprisingly doesn't contain as many tragic, sad moments as most xianxias do. Most of the time it's a heartwarming story, that would often make you laugh and bloom some hope for humanity in your heart.

The characters are very respectful to each others. Each person has a deep, well-written story. Characters do change. They evolve. They learn to understand themselves and others. The Starry Love is a beautiful story about finding your true self and accept it. Accept the change in yourself. It's about learning what's important in your life. Each characters is strong, even when they seem weak. Kindness doesn't mean weakness.
The love the characters give and receive it's one of the purest and greatest - there is no place for distrust, they have only faith, they believe in each other, they don't part, they will support each other and stay together no matter the price. There is a strong loyalty and trust in each pair. And that beautiful smile from Chen Xing Xu... Did you see it? The way Xuanshang smiled at Yetan - it tells everything. It's pure, honest, full of love. It warmed my heart many times. And also, Luke Chen's hairstyle and all the design - such a hot man! :D Honestly, I watched first 7 episodes or so only for Chaofeng and Lanjue - these characters were sooo cool. I couldn't stop watching them :D And later on our female leads and Xuanshang stole my heart and then I hadn't even realised when I started to being attached to every character.

The OSTs are very powerful and addictive - I'm gonna listen to them for some time... I mean, for a long time. It's strong, yet subtle, it's building its own story and brings a huge emotional impact.You can't stay indefferent listening to it. Your heart and your soul will melt only from listening to these songs.

The CGI is okay. It's a nice quality, nice standard that we can watch nowadays in dramas and some movies. It's a nice watch.

Honestly, I usually get tired of the story around 30s episode - the story gets draggy in most dramas. And here I binged all 40 episodes in 4 days and I wish there were more. The pace was great, all the time. The whole plot wasn't draggy at all. They could add more episodes, and I bet the story would still be interesting and not draggy at all, but... you know, the 40 episodes chinese limit. Ehh... :( I'm gonna miss all the characters I'll definitely rewatch some of my favorite moments (there were many of them!) and keep the story deep in my heart :) It did bring me so much joy and I'm starting to believe that there is a hope that we will live to see some more master xianxias and not only the tragical cliches.

Leia Mais