O Jogo do Amor em uma Fantasia Oriental (2024)

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.

Leia Mais

One of the best c-dramas in this genre released this year

This drama started out strong and ended strong and that is something we rarely get to see these days.

PROS:
1. Realistic reactions to unrealistic situations
2. Great world building
3. Great acting
4. Amazing chemistry (despite the lack of skinship)
5. unique backstories to all characters
6. Amazingg ost

CONS:
1. I felt like the ending could have been less rushed? Even though I loved the ending I wish they gave us a lot more time to process everything
2. The fantasy - reality connection didn't really make sense....The logic behind it was completely left open ended (or un-logical) and I was really interested to see how she transmigrated there
3. lin fuyi felt very unnecessary: I dont know if this is a personal bias but I felt like his acting was lacking compared to his co-stars

Overall I really loved the drama and the cons were very insignificant compared to the pros and this drama is definetely something memorable...I would definitely recommend that you watch this provided skinship (or lack of it) is not a deal breaker (there were only 1-2 kiss scenes and that too wasn't in reality *sigh* )......The plot is not very unique but very well executed and the main cast did a great job and all supporting cast had their own stories to tell...

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Made my day better by watching it every day

First of all, I don’t usually watch this type of series for a few reasons. I’m not into fantasy and I rarely watch or finish series that are 32 episodes long. But the funny thing is, this series made me like fantasy! The fights were amazing, and I was really impressed by their powers. And as for the 32 episodes—what do you mean? It didn’t even feel that long; it felt short to me.

I’ve watched almost all of Esther’s works, but I’d say this is my favorite because, aside from the fact that her character wasn’t annoying here, she was effortlessly cute. And Ding Yu Xi? Wow, this man can really act! He’s not here to play but to serve. I love the combination of the two, and I’d be happy to see them work together on a third project because their chemistry made this series so much better.

The characters were really lovable for me, especially CuiCui. That kid can make you smile even when he’s doing nothing. I also loved Mu Yao’s character. She’s strong but also has a sweet side, and she’s a great actress as well. However, Mu Yao and Fu Yi didn’t really stand out to me as a couple. Maybe in the later episodes, but their chemistry still felt lacking.

I really appreciate the fact that this series didn’t stress you out. It has some sad moments, but they didn’t linger for too long. There were many events, but each one had a solution.

My favorite parts of the series were probably the first few episodes and the last few. I love that he wasn’t into her at first and was really cruel to her, but they showed how he slowly fell in love with her. As for the last part, I was really impressed because this series doesn’t just give you great chemistry, good laughs thanks to the characters’ humor, good romance, or even exciting fights—it also gives you a lesson in the end. You’ll realize and understand a lot, even though it’s quite predictable, but you’ll still be impressed by it. Usually, I get bored with the final episodes of other series, but in this one, a lot happened without feeling overwhelming. I enjoyed it so much. I'm gonna miss watching this. :(

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the best drama this years?

the long awaited drama is finally here ... i saw this couple in the modern drama MOONLIGHT. and I really liked them, I wanted to see them again and now I see them in a beautiful historical drama. which is very interesting fun, they have such a great chemistry they could be a couple in real life.... the story is very interesting, there are many great scenes, I like to see them together, I also like the other couple .. I love dramas for example, in the era with from the modern world to the ancient historical one, if you like this genre, definitely check it out. This is exactly the kind of drama I needed in this winter weather, with a cup of tea and candles, relaxation and lots of fun, let's go! ester is an actress who never disappoints, all her dramas are interesting, I don't know how she does it... but I'm not a big fan of her.. I only fan the actress DILRABE, so my review is not because of the idol, but because of the interesting drama and ester IS very beautiful cute girl She look like a doll

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Disappointing Otome Isekai, with extra cringe on the side.

WHO RATED THIS A TEN???

Okay, I am a sucker for Otome Isekai, especially those where the MC is reborn as the villainess character. They are one of my favorite subgenres and I would like to think I have watched enough of them to be a bit of an enthusiast. However, this drama was not it for me. The plot is that of a typical mediocre otome isekai story, MC transported to another world into the body of the villainess in her favorite book series. I did have high hopes for this series as the plot description caught my attention. However, the storytelling just wasn't there. The writers made the weirdest choices, and it felt like honestly they were just asking Chat GPT to give them conflicts and character depth. Not to mention, the FL gave me so much second hand cringe. Her acting was so bad, it was difficult to keep watching. I felt like my skin was crawling as I watched her attempt to portray this character, it fell flat and she just seemed like a goofy moron who made the worst choices possible, and needed the ML for everything. (A departure from typical really good villainess otome isekai which is female-centric with a powerful FL.) In her defense, the character isn't that great to begin with, and the script was also really bland. But also, she's just really, really bad at acting. There was not a drop of chemistry between her and the ML and I wondered how they could even end up together. To be honest, it felt like they were more friends than anything, and sometimes felt like she didn't like him at all despite what she was saying. His acting was so much better than hers though, so the balance was off as well - it was like he held all the chemistry and she was just goofy and oblivious, nonchalant and uncaring. The special effects were cool, the music was pretty decent. I will never rewatch this. I barely slogged my way through it the first time.

Leia Mais

Writing this review to get things off of my chest like Miaomiao did

First things first: THIS DRAMA IS INCREDIBLE!

I've been in a drama rut both for K-dramas and C-dramas. I don't see anything worth the watch anymore. Then I saw AvenueX recommending this, and of course, I gave it a shot. The pilot episode sealed the deal for me. I loved the humor, and the story was really interesting. It's the first time I've seen Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi's pairing, and at first, I was skeptical about their chemistry. But the more I watched it, the more I understood and liked their dynamics. All of the characters, both leads, supporting leads, and extras, are also well-written, and they all act very well. My personal fave was the actress playing Mu Yao. They don't have a lot of the OSTs, but the opening and the ending ones definitely sufficed.

Now here's the catch. I would've given it a perfect 10 if the context about Zi Qi being Fu Zhou was established in the earlier episodes. The moment Miaomiao and Zi Qi met, I knew that he's probably the same as Miamiao who's also "teleported" to a fantasy world. They've shown scenes where ZQ was questioning the origins of MM and I think that could've been a good tool to establish the said context. I just felt like the ending was a bit rushed and there was too much information divulged in one setting. I just found it funny because the last episode was straight-up a fantasy in a fantasy drama. There are just so much unrealistic things that happened in one setting that I just couldn't bear but laugh.

I never would've minded if the ending ended like that as long as they didn't end it abruptly. Although I know that the operation was successful and that they ended up seeing each other in the end...but why in the world would they not show FZ face? They even showed Cuicui and his grandpa but not the main lead? But then again, I guess their tactic worked because now I'm here complaining about it, making a commotion about the ending, while adding into the engagement that they wanted.

Nevertheless, I'm just glad I finally found a good watch after all this time. I definitely recommend it to those who are looking for a light and refreshing watch.

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