O Jogo do Amor em uma Fantasia Oriental (2024)

Boring and ordinary

I saw this on Netflix and the teaser got me interested.
The first few episodes were interesting but somehow as the story progressed it just got boring.
The writers tried to showcase the friendship and the romance within the friendship, their loyalty to each other but somehow I couldn't connect with any of it. It was all superficial and rushed.
The romance between the ML and FL as well as the 2Ls were meh. It was poorly developed. Perhaps if they added a few more longing glances and soft hand touches it might have helped, at least to strengthen the romance between the characters. Nuances of facial expressions and body languages are important to a story to capture and communicate with the audience. Unfortunately, the story lack such nuances to captivate the audience, well to me at least.
Maybe if they had developed the ML's demon side plot it would've been more interesting. Why did the ML choose to stay as a half human, hiding his demon side? Why didn't he choose his demon half as that character looked interesting?
The plot and the story didn't make sense.
I like the acting of the ML. That's one plus points for me here.
Also Cui Cui was so cute. Other than that, nothing really fantastic here.

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An average transmigration fantasy, with decent writing, tied loose ends, and great leads chemistry

Production:
The CGI, along with the set design, looked standard and there was nothing impressive about them nor were they unsatisfactory.

In here, costume design acts as a device to establish who the real main characters are: Miao Miao and Mu Sheng are the leads but have supporting roles inside the series’ novel/game, in which the entire plot is based on.

Miao Miao’s colorful and intricate wardrobe and makeup underlined her bright character, while Mu Sheng’s wardrobe and hair, made him stand out as the pretty male hero and protagonist—these set them apart from the secondary and supporting roles, who had a pretty bland color and wardrobe in contrast.

Storytelling:
The storytelling is not linear, but the transition and pacing still feel natural.

The story is engaging but the plot feels weak.

The writing is not perfect, but I admire the effort to weave together the plot and the different character arcs and connections—this is very tricky because without the consistency, the narrative will be overwhelmingly convoluted.

However, this type of plot leads to non-categorical interpretations, but personally, it’s not an issue since this is a fantasy genre, after all.

Despite this, the message is still pretty straightforward, especially in the first and last episode.

There was also an effort to tie loose ends, and ending does not feel rushed.

The characters are relatable and likeable as well, especially the female lead—this is actually the first time I find a female lead with a “bubbly” and “cute” personality pleasant.

Miao Miao’s character is bright, funny, and cute—typical traits of a female lead—but she was not devoid of thinking, understanding, and the ability of making choices. Personally, it’s has always been a miss for female leads of the same character type, but the writing made a good balance of charm and strength in her.

Mu Sheng, on the other hand, is extremely relatable as well, especially on his journey to learn about what it means to love.

Acting/cast:
Ding Yuxi became my first favorite Chinese actor and is now one of my favorite actors of all time.

He is a natural in using micro expressions and body language when portraying a character, and his eyes speak so loudly that the message has already been sent across even before he delivers his lines. He is also adept in making use of nuances.

This is my third Ding Yuxi series and I think that grumpy, tsundere roles suit him perfectly.

I personally think he is also made for costume dramas—beautiful face and right build (from scrawny Zhou Chuan in Moonlight).

Esther Yu makes a perfect Miao Miao. She was definitely made for the role.

The characters, including the secondary leads and supporting roles, are easy to love and they have good chemistry in general.

Music:
The OSTs are good, with soundtracks done by Ding Yuxi and Esther Yu themselves. The lyrics are very fitting for the both the plot and the genre.

Even with a fairly limited music in the series, the team made a good use of them to enhance the mood of the scenes.

Overall:
The series received polarizing reviews, and understandably so—while the story could appear straightforward to some, different interpretations are inevitable, particularly on the last episode and ending.

While the series offered nothing special, it is still a decent and worthy watch, especially if you are looking for a good binge.

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A Moderately Enjoyable Show That Fell Short

This drama started out good but became increasingly bland as it went on. By the last episode, it was a complete 'wht the fuck?'.

To mention the good parts, the costumes are beautiful, graphics are ok ( comparatively), and the acting was, well, tolerable. The ml is the highlight of the show but the fl was just there for me. The second couple held no inerest for me whatsoever, I didn't care whether they got together or not.
Plot was interesting at the beginning. Nothing life changing but it was enjoyable enough to have an escape from the horrors of real life. But the execution and dialogues were mediocre at best.
Some side plots were there, which are also mildly enjoyable. There was so much talk and buildup to the final showdown with the resentful woman but it was all just wrapped up in a very anti climatic way. By then the story was so sappy, I actively wished for the catastrophe of heaven to actually happen, just to the story would end.

If you value plot complexity, good execution and well developed characters, this one might not be for you. When I watched this I was just laying on my bed exhausted from work, so I needed something 'adequate' to set my mind on. I don't think I would've stuck with this under different circumstances. Still a pretty enjoyable drama with a lackluster ending.

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The heartwarming story struggles with its delivery, lacking clear direction

The drama’s main storyline is revealed episode by episode, which makes it difficult for a cohesive narrative arc of suspense to develop. It relies on the audience's attachment to the characters and their growing relationship, only to ultimately leave these elements underdeveloped. Unfortunately, the main relationship never fully blossoms into a love story—at least not on screen. The anticipated emotional revelations and romantic moments are more implied than explicitly shown, which I find to be a very odd creative choice. Even the dramatic revelations about Mu Shengs real identity, Liu Fuyi's guilt and Mu Yao's possession barely have any emotional impact. The rest of the plot simply isn’t strong enough to carry the series on its own, so as the finale approaches, the show regrettably becomes increasingly dull (but is still rather sweet).
The chemistry between the main cast is decent and effectively supports both comedic and dramatic scenes. Despite its flaws, this is the first drama in a while that I’ve actually managed to finish!

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THE BEST CHINESE FANTASY DRAMA IN 2024

*This is my first time writing a review here in MDL*

Although this might contain spoilers, it's actually not that much of a spoiler. But I just stated it here incase you hate 'hints'.

I just want to say how this was created perfectly. They added the explanations I wanted and showed me what I wanted to see. Ranges of emotions bursting inside me (not exaggerating, literally cried then laughed). Even a minute, I don't want to skip but instead, replay it for multiple times. How could I not, it was fascinating to see those scenes. Even as a huge fan of Ding Yuxi, I assure you that this is not a bias review. From the story to the rewatch value, it is exactly 10/10. If possible, it'll be 100%.

Starting with the STORY:
*Take note, I did not read the novel

[I LOVED THE FATHER-DAUGHTER SCENE, IT MADE MY DAY. I WAS ALWAYS IN AWE WHEN I SEE THOSE TWO TOGETHER. ] Actually, I loved many parts especially the entrance and episode 7.

In every part, there's a connection. One huge connection is when MS/ZQ was able to make a swing just by the explanation of MM and it's because it is _____. The story has a nice flow, which you can easily go through. Your questions in mind can be answered in the latter parts. DON'T OVERTHINK. The build of the love story of LF and MY is really lovely. I love how ZQ and LF loves MM and MY. They'll do everything for them. AND LIKE, HOW ON EARTH THEY CREATED THOSE SWEET LINES? Everything in this drama is on point. JUST HOW I WANTED! I really thought that MS would be that ruthless man at first, but bit by bit, we get to see his true-self. The ending part of MM, showed us the reality. This drama did not forget to serve us with the fighting, romance, friendship, and the bond. It's actually fulfilling if you just put yourselves in the shoes of MM, you'd understand the story more. CUICUI, the best cupid out there with his loyal grandfather. -will not introduce the other characters, see them yourselves. The drama is like when you ate something in the restaurant, and you loved the food then you'll say, "Compliments to the Chef". That's what I felt with this one, but instead of singular (Chef), I'll say 'Chefs'.

ACTING/CAST:

ACTING was superb with their micro expressions -- if you paid attention, you'll notice this. They made us feel happiness, sadness, sorrow, disappointment, anger, and etc. They were also funny in their own ways, may it be in acting or in real life. Casting of the actors and actresses were perfect, they match so well together.

MUSIC:

BGM was another way for a drama to get to you. Those background music when they start to 'save the world', it's like I was with them too. Props to the actors and actresses in participating in the making of the osts and also doing covers. They also made a Music Video for this. The effortttt!!! TRUST ME, WITH THE MUSIC, YOUR HEART IS HEALED. SOMETIMES BURNING WITH ENERGY/FUEL.

REWATCH VALUE:

- I seldom see a story like this in a cdrama.
- I also love watching their costumes.
- Fighting scenes is what I live for.
- I also want to focus in looking at their expressions so that I'll feel the story more.

So yeah, no doubt, I'll rewatch this drama.

OVERALL:

THIS DRAMA IS WHAT I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO AFTER A VERY TIRING DAY. VERY THANKFUL FOR THIS DRAMA.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[I really appreciate Ding Yuxi for doing/making the 'easter eggs' for us. It also presents how he really carried his character and how he cares.

You can watch those here:
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/black-lotus-tactics-manual/131698-ziqi-s-mini-theater?page=1

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Haveninmuse - for compiling and posting this for us to know. 'Kudos' <3]

Disclaimer: We have different opinions and reviews, if this did not seem up to par with you. It means, you/we have different preference/s.

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Why did this show have to have Esther Yu????

After watching melody of Golden Age, I was looking forward to another drama by Ding Yu Xi. I loved him in all the dramas I have watched with him so far, except moonlight, which I couldn’t finish because of Esther Yu, but I still wanted to give this one a try, despite Esther Yu, just because of Ding Yu Xi. I just managed to watch a trailer and that was enough to put me off the show completely. I am sorry Ding Yu Xi, but you need to choose carefully who you are being cast with, if you want your work to be appreciated. As for Esther Yu, what do I say, I feel she jinxes every male lead that she works with, by overshadowing their hard work with her kiddish, silly acting and her toddler-like voice, which is frankly like pouring burning hot oil in one’s ears. I mean the woman is almost 30, acting in a drama where she has been cast as an adult, can she not act her age for once? Do people seriously like her so much that they can overlook her pathetic acting and baby voice and keep showering her with false praises? Nothing against those who think this drama is worth ten stars, I seriously wanted to give it a sincere try, even if it was just for Ding Yu Xi, but the trailer was sufficient to put me off it forever! My sincere apologies to Zhu Shu Dan and Yang Shi Ze as well, I love you guys, and I wanted to watch you so much, if it was not Esther Yu I had to watch you guys with. Please do more dramas minus Esther Yu and I promise to watch all of them!

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it’s fun to watch

This drama is cute and funny.
I laugh out loud in first episode because I did not expect that comedy scene of closing credits.
I was not a fan of Esther Yu, because in her previous dramas especially her famous one with dylan wang, her acting of cuteness and voice is so cringe to watch. But in here, I think she tone down her way of acting cute and that’s why it became natural and isn’t cringe at all. I love her in this drama.
For yu xi, he is always one of the best.
The plot is really fun to watch and no boring at all. Chemistry between the leads is awesome.

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Started for Esther, stayed for everything else.

I actually had no plans to watch this drama. I am not a C-Drama fan but I have slowly started to watch some Chinese dramas here and there. I really enjoyed Esther's performance in LBFAD and I needed to download something to watch for my 1 hour flight back to my hometown so I said "Okay, why not?" I had no idea that this drama would grasp my attention so quickly. I went from a one episode watch to another and another until suddenly I found myself paying for the express subscription on WeTV.

The first half of the drama was amazing. This drama introduced Ding Yuxi to me and WOW what a face and what an actor! I had never heard of him before but I was blown away by his acting especially during episode 7-8 when Miaomiao pulled his ribbon off for the first time. His eyes are filled with a thousand words and now I am a 100% fan. Esther was great as always but this role seemed to fit her like a glove. I actually think that if it was another actress that played this role, they wouldn’t have captured my love for Miaomiao as much. And guys when I tell you about the CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THEM. I was really rooting for them since the first episode.

I think what the drama was weak on was the second half of the drama. I believe it is because Miaomiao loses her memories of reality in the second half so what gave the 1st half of the drama life was suddenly taken away from us. And from a story standpoint, I understand what they were going for. But as a viewer, it did feel like suddenly the drama lost its spark for a moment. They also stopped focusing on the main couple and they’re the reason why this drama was super enjoyable in the first place. This is why I deducted a point off. Now they do bring the magic back as the series nears its end, especially the last 3 episodes but I think it felt like those moment could’ve been more stretched and fleshed out. And I deducted another half point because THEY DIDNT SHOW THEIR REUNION AT THE END LIKE WHAT THE HELL?????

Like I feel like if they did show his face in the end of the drama I would’ve given the story score st least like 9 or 9 and half but NOOOO. Anyways rant over but I really did enjoy the drama. I actually even enjoyed the last episode up until the very last moment.
I am now such a big fan of the whole cast and I hope that Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi will work on another drama in the future (and they need to make out at least once please)

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Light hearted drama with a refreshing start and a few stumbles

*Story*
As most of the comments mention, the first half was very strong and well written, despite the decline in quality, I still found the second half to be quite decent (maybe because I watched it once it was finished airing). However, I wasn't a huge fan of the last episode. I get their intention of having Ziqi talk to his younger versions in reality but it felt quite abrupt to me and a huge shift in the story. The ending itself wasn't too terrible since we know that Miaomiao and Ziqi/Fu Zhou meet up, and Cuicui and his grandfather also exist in the real life, but I wish we had a more fleshed out happy ending. Not only in terms of the main couple properly interacting, but also maybe meeting Mu Yao and Fuyi in the real world, especially since Miaomiao didn't really get to say good bye to them at the end.


*Acting and Characters*
For the main couple, I really enjoyed the writing for Miaomiao and Ziqi, and I think that Yu Shuxin and Ding Yuxi were the perfect actors to pull off those roles. That being said, I still am not the biggest fan of YSX's acting. She's so different from her peers in that she does heavy emotional scenes really well, but tends to overact in the simpler scenes. Ding Yuxi on the other hand really shone in this show, I really don't have any criticisms for him because I was really impressed by his acting. He pulled off all the heart-wrenching scenes perfectly but also did well in the ones where he was just supporting Miaomiao.
Their chemistry admittedly went down after they got together but I still liked their dynamic in most scenes, and I like the fact that after going back in time, they defeated the Resentful Woman together!

The side couple were the complete opposite for me. All of original Miaomiao's complaints of Fuyi's character still occurred in our version of the story as well. I found him incredibly bland, and I think the way the actor chose to portray him made it even worse. He was like a piece of wood to me, I can't emphasize enough how much I didn't enjoy his scenes. Mu Yao was great, though I disliked her self sacrifice at the end because we already had her go through an arc where the lesson she learned at the end was not to carry everything on her shoulders alone. Zhu Xudan was great in the role, I genuinely loved her, no notes. Their chemistry... was not great though, I blame it on the ML's woodenness lol.


*Music*
The main OSTs were amazing, especially the ballad for the emotional scene and the fast paced one for the action scenes. I can't remember very accurately so don't quote me on this, but I think there were a few music arrangements that I found a bit out of place (not OSTs but background songs). No huge complaints though, especially since I adored the ballad so much.


*Overall*
If you're looking for a light-hearted drama with really good production and beautiful costumes, I recommend that you watch this show. Keep your expectations tempered since it's far from perfect but I found it a very enjoyable watch overall!

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I really want to love it but I have so many bones to pick with this drama.

I was so hooked in the beginning and I love the main couple and 2nd couple so much. But I feel like for me the cp carried a lot of it. The end of the drama especially just felt super rushed because the main point of the whole story they were in was to defeat the 9th level demon (I forgot I her name in english) but the scene kind of felt underwhelming as it was just one stab/one move and boom done nothing else. And at some point it felt like rather than having everything tie all together from information from the beginning it seems like they just kept on adding more and more new powers that weren’t previously mentioned before for the purpose of fitting whatever was going on. Which is fine and makes sense but there are so many new powers for what reason that would have changed the entire trajectory of the story if it were mentioned a lot earlier and it did not seem like new information they learned as it was just spoken. I like how it was complex but at the same time it felt kind of unnecessary at times and to the point where it loses the plot. When miaomiao goes back to the modern world she sees cuicui and grandpa at the book signing which is adorable but I feel like it would have made more sense if it was mu yao or liufuyi because in the end they are the second leads and if cuicui and grandpa are there wouldn’t muyao and liu fuyi too technically speaking. The ending of just fu zhou calling miaomiao name felt like it definitely needs more to add on to clarify or even give base to support the information they just dumped the last episode. How did miaomiao even end up going back? How did ziqi go back? Why is ziqi just remember now he’s fuzhou and how did he even get in there? I feel like the story between miaomiao and fuzhou little crush thing could have also had some more to it. Maybe I am just a little nitpicky here but it really just ended off with a lot of holes.

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Funny and Addictive.

I am honestly not a fan of Esther, but for this drama she is the perfect fit. She makes the drama fun and so does the rest of the cast, they are all doing a great job. Although the premise of the story is cliche but the exexution of the plot is done wonderfully, it is funny and interesting. I am on episode 18, there hasn't been a dull moment in the drama yet. It has amazing action sequence and VFX is just brilliantly done.

I would recommend that you give this drama a fair chance, It won't disappoint you.

Edit: I hated the ending. Loved the plot. Deducting points for the ending.

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This drama is surprisingly good, but the ending leaves much to be desired.

Tropes: Book transmigration, hater to friends to lovers, found family

This might be the best idol-period fantasy drama of 2024. The plot and themes of the drama are nothing new; we have seen this story time and time again but what differentiates this drama from others similar to this one is the pacing, storytelling, and acting. The director has done a good enough job of setting up the characters and their background stories so that they feel real and relatable. I like how they have shown bits and pieces of the FL´s life in the real world. It helps us understand her character better and the actions she takes. I also like that they have tried to explain why she transmigrates to the novel world game and it doesn´t feel random.

The best parts of the drama are definitely the cast, music, and CGI. This is the second collaboration between Esther Yu and Ding Yu Xi, and you can clearly see that they have great chemistry. Every scene they have together is just so charming and makes you root for Miaomiao and Ziqi. The SFL and SML have also done justice to their characters. And of course, Cuicui is the most adorable character in the drama.

I am most impressed by Ding Yu Xi´s portrayal of Mu Sheng/Ziqi. He completely embodies the character and his micro-expressions are on point. He is just perfect for the role. Even tho he´s dubbed in this drama I think they could´ve kept his original voice. As for Esther Yu, I personally find this to be her best performance so far mostly because the character Miaomiao is close to her acting style and it´s her comfort zone. I can't imagine anyone else doing this role. Though I'll be honest there are moments where she goes overboard with her child-like mannerisms, expression, and baby voice but for some reason, I was able to get by those in this drama mainly because I was invested in the story.

The relationship development between Miaomiao and Ziqi is quite nice from the beginning but once they are together the director just kinda leaves the romance to the viewers’ imagination and it´s a bit disappointing. There are so many missed opportunities for a nice romantic kiss that never happened. Still, I am most disappointed with how they handled the ending. I would never get why the writer and director couldn't just give us a satisfying ending. Feels a bit sadistic on their part. The stupidest thing they did was to not show us Ding Yu Xi´s face in the end when he calls Miaomiao despite him shooting the scene. like please, make it make sense!!!!!

They totally robbed us of a good ending and ik many people are okay with the ending and consider it HE but I think it´s more of an OE and ruined otherwise a good drama.

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