#2stars — Public Fediverse posts

Seeds of Scarlet Longing

I admit it—I didn’t watch this drama because it had a compelling storyline or deep themes. The primary reason was that I wanted to support Zheng Yecheng, who I think does good work and need more publicity. Still, I was curious why he agreed to star in a short drama.

I was initially pretty amused by how Show didn’t waste any time—they went straight to the jugular with the sexy scenes.

It was hilarious to see how they were going to up the ante. In the beginning of the show, I was looking forward to every single episode, really anticipating every update. Unfortunately, it fell off the deep end midway.

In the end, as delightful it was to see Zheng Yecheng’s abs constantly, the importance of a solid story is still undeniable.

Like all short dramas, Seeds of Scarlet Longing suffered from a slapdash approach to storytelling. A slapdash story can still be palatable, but Seeds glossed over world building —the origins of the demons, the rebellion, were intriguing, but weren’t given enough of a foundation to be impactful. The characters were paper-thin, especially our main couple, and characters suddenly have changes of heart as if their brain had been hijacked by … the spirit of the screenwriter, I suppose!

The characterization is poor, to say the least, and our main couple suffered the most.

Also, the producers were truly trying to max out the sexy scenes by pushing the envelope as far as possible.

Stringing together hot scenes don’t automatically make a sexy drama. In fact, much of the scenes ended up very cringe as there was no solid character or world building backing up the scenes. Some were meant to be titillating, but they fell flat.

This is a pity because there was so much potential to the story, and the sexy scenes would’ve been so enhanced with a more solid story, and if they had spent more time establishing the “enemies to lovers” angle of our main couple’s story.

I couldn’t deal with how the couple went from zero to 100 so fast.

Basically, there’s no slow burn, or, hell, not even any burn. They just went straight to business without hesitation. (I mean, granted he was under a ‘love spell’, but after their first night, it’s as if they spent the whole night playing word puzzles or something.)

On the one hand, I liked the premise: the female lead has no social inhibitions, so she doesn’t think of sex as anything special or embarrassing. In fact, her transactional approach to sex was rather fascinating, and they could have done a lot with that! Instead we get the pixie xianxia heroine trope; innocent, naive, bubbly, and a little bit of an airhead even after multiple hot nights with our hero.

And our hero! What wasted potential. The writers could’ve shown his despair at being entrapped, his will stirpped away, by one of the demons he loathed. After all, it sounds like there’s nothing worse than becoming a love slave to the creature you’re hunting. But we see very little of that because he becomes a simp almost immediately.

For a relationship which began with such a rocky foundation, there’s hardly any friction in their relationship. (I think it lasted one episode.)

In the end, I guess Seeds of Scarlet Longing is okay—a short drama that you can watch while you’re stuck in a very long train ride.

However, it’s not Zheng Yecheng’s best work.

Final rating: 2 out of 5

Moonlit Reunion (子夜归) review

The story

In Chang’an, a fragile peace is maintained between the human world and the hidden realm of demons.

Wu Zhen, a socialite and sister of the Empress by day and half-human, half-demon Cat Lord by night, keeps the chaotic forces of the Demon Market in check.

Her carefully balanced life is upended when she meets Mei Zhuyu, an upright and low-ranking official of the Arcane Appraisal Bureau, the city’s largely ineffective supernatural investigation arm.

To the public, they are a noble lady and her current suitor, engaged in a playful daytime romance. However, Wu Zhen and Zhuyu end up solving supernatural crimes together.

Unbeknownst to her, Zhuyu also possesses his own hidden talents and is secretly investigating a dark conspiracy tied to a tragic event from the past.

Characters

Mei Zhuyu (played by Xu Kai): A powerful member of the secretive Changxi Palace, Zhuyu is on a mission to find out what happened to his family.

Wu Zhen (played by Tian Xiwei): The Duke of Yu’s spirited second daughter and sister to the Empress, Wu Zhen is famous in Chang’an as a carefree socialite. But she’s the “Cat Lord,” ruler of the Demon Market.

Liu Taizhen (played by Wang Jiayi): Known as the “Snake Lord,” Liu Taizhen is one of the two guardians of the Demon Market.

Wuzi Shu (played by Wu Junting): Wuzi Shu is Wu Zhen’s trusted deputy. His true form is an ancient tome containing the world’s hidden secrets, granting him wisdom and mystery beyond human reach.

Mei Si (played by Yi Daqian): Mei Zhuyu’s cousin.

Huzhu (played by Fan Shiran): Huzhu is a fox spirit and close ally of Wu Zhen.

Shuangjiang (played by Shan Jingyao): Zhuyu’s junior of the same sect.

Pei Jiyaa (played by Zhu Zhengting): An aloof young lord whose proud nature masks the complexity of his double life.

Elder Hui (played by Zhang Shi): A member of the elder council.

What I liked

• This is the most gorgeous, colourful xuanhuan or zhuōyāo (demon hunting) drama I’ve seen. I thought Feud was beautiful. I thought Immortal Ascension was breathtaking (only to dump us into uninspiring sets after the scenery). Well, I have to say Moonlit Reunion just takes it even further. Goodbye pastels, cheap gold armour, and washed-out lighting. This show embraces colour.
• Tian Xiwei is eating up this role as a notorious “playgirl” socialite. I love her character’s playful, haughty, who-cares-about-the-rules attitude. We don’t get enough characters like these, especially female ones. Demon king by night, glamorous socialite by day—I love her superhero persona.
• I also really love the actress who plays Lady Liu. She truly embodies the cold Serpent Lord in both attitude and looks.

What I didn’t like

• Info dump. The first episode drops us into the middle of the story with zero foundational groundwork. Why are you introducing all these characters to me? Why should we care about them? What are they doing? Speaking of which—what kind of world are we in?
• Weak world-building. I wish we were given a better idea of how the world worked. I wish we got to see what Zhuyu does beyond staring stoically as he goes about his business. I wish we understood more about the nature of demons.
• I felt zero chemistry between Wu Zhen and Zhuyu. I think this is due to Zhuyu being so, well, stoic about everything and not doing much beyond reacting to Wu Zhen’s antics. He seemed bland beside her.
• The main theme or storyline seems disjointed, barely built upon, barely there. As a result, I still don’t feel anchored in the story. It just feels like a disparate number of short mysteries swirling together.
• It’s… boring. Many episodes were slow-paced, and it took me a while to get through them.

Thoughts about the ending

Before the ending, there was amnesia.

All I can say is that if it takes a mind wipe to “solve” a couple’s problems… maybe they shouldn’t be a couple in the first place? It’s a cop-out, and it doesn’t help that amnesiac Wu Zhen is like a Stepford dream wife—totally in love and childlike. There’s just something… weird and empty about it.

If it takes a memory wipe to make your relationship work, I’d be seriously worried.

Wu Zhen’s body is being consumed by the Undecaying Bone’s energy. With time running out, Zhuyu decides to use a forbidden time-reversal technique to find a way to save her, despite the risk of annihilation.

This arc was so rushed that towards the end, we still do not know how Zhuyu survived this—or why he is now a cat demon.

Conclusion

So, you’re probably wondering, do I like the drama? For the first 10 episodes, I enjoyed it for what it is: a fun, light romp. It’s very easy to digest and perfect after a very heavy day at work (or while watching very heavy shows).

But after episode 10, with the pace and the storytelling not improving, the main storyline being so weakly fleshed out, and the acting being so wooden… I lost interest.

Alas, I have a hard time cheerleading a show written as haphazardly and badly as this.

Here’s the rundown:

Story: I think the story’s shallow and lacks connective tissue. Sure, sometimes we need saccharine, but we also need substance. There isn’t much of it here.

Acting: Xu Kai can definitely have chemistry with his co-stars (he had oodles of it with Jing Tian in Wonderland of Love), so I’m not sure why he seems so wooden here.

Costumes and sets: The show is absolutely freaking gorgeous.

Camerawork: I think the only reason why I like Moonlit Reunion so much is that I get to see well-shot pretty things flit past on my screen.

Final rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I’m pretty forgiving by nature, but Moonlit Reunion was, to put it bluntly, pretty boring.

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