Ashes of Love has a really strong plot with a core theme - selfish, destructive 'love' vs a selfless, supportive love. The show explores this in a variety of ways through familial, friendship and romantic relationships.
The star of the show is Xufeng/Phoenix who undergoes numerous transformations, has immense character growth, and is very compelling to watch. His chemistry with the main female character, Jinmi is excellent. The amount of ups and downs these two characters go through and how they change as a result is really striking to watch.
The weakness of the show for me was the demon princess/demon politics storylines. I wanted to skip the associated romance and plot points. In addition, the peripheral/supporting characters are often a bit one note. As a result, I felt the series started to drag a bit in the second half.
The two main songs were uncommonly good for the genre. Really sweeping without being corny or overblown..In the last episode, they really added to the 'epic' feeling of everything the characters had gone through.
I have other criteria I score by:
Complex Themes -10
(There is really strong themes about selfish vs. selfless love, setting ego aside, and others that were extremely well done.)
Character Growth -9
(The two main characters change, grow, and transform believably over the course of the series. Unfortunately, the rest of the characters are not given much space to do much more than act as plot devices)
Nuanced Women -7
(There are a fair amount of female characters, but only the main female lead seemed to have the room to play a full character).
Cinematography/Production Values - 7
(I personally found the CGI a bit hard to take seriously - it seemed to be most (if not all??) filming was with a green screen with not much attempt to blend in real elements with fantasy elements. Costumes were competent, but it was clear most of the budget went to CGI - they wear the same things lots of episodes in a row, and the costumes lack detail adequate accessories in closeup shots)
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If you want a drama where it can get emotional, this is the one. I was hesitant to watch this series because i only found this drama through Sa Dingdings song Upwards to the Moon, i did not regret finding this drama. The OSTs are the best, it fits this drama well. Not many OSTs are good (C-drama or K-drama) but the OSTs from this are very good.
I watched this drama thinking it was going to be comedic and more action due to the first episode, but didn't know it was so damn emotional. It actually made me, a man, cry hard and actually get emotional.
Unparalled in the world - Deng Lun and Yang Zi
Love frost - Yang Zi
Upwards to the moon - Sa Dingding
Unsullied - Sa Dingding
These are the best versions and best OSTs i have ever heard in any drama.
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First of all, I am a huge fan of the book. I became so obsessed with the book, that I have read it 3 times in less that 2 months. When I found out that the book will be turned into a drama, I couldn't have been more happy. I was literally stalking this site, wikipedia, weibo etc so I can get more information about the drama, trailers, music etc. The OST of the drama has been on repeat way before the drama aired.
Long story short, let's discuss about the drama.
1) Plot: what I liked about the drama in comparison to the book, is that some aspects was presented better. We get to know the stories behind our characters, we get to understand the reason for their action and the consequences for their actions. At first I liked that they kinda respected the flow of the actions like in the book, then I got a bit disappointed that they chose to add things that weren't in the book. Sometimes I felt that the flow of the action became a bit boring, so I skipped some scenes ( ex. side character's scenes). Other times I felt that they exaggerated a bit the stories behind some of the characters. I suppose they did this to enhance the melodramatic feeling of the drama. Maybe I wanted them to follow a bit more close the book, that's why i rated the story 9.5.
What I didn't like also, was the fact that they created a weaker Phoenix in the drama. I missed the Phoenix from the book. In comparison to him, Night's character has a better development, but he also became more cruel and heart-less. Jin Mi on the other hand was smarter and kinder, and much more adorable.
Overall the story is amazing, it really captures your heart, but still, it didn't impress me as much as in the book. In the book I felt all that angst, the pain, all the power of their love. Here in the drama, their love was god-like indeed, but I didn't get the same feeling of authenticity as in the book.
2) Acting: Overall, the acting was good, though like other people said, Deng Lun was not so immersed in his character. He didn't succeed to convince me all the time of the authenticity of his feelings. But he looked exactly like the Phoenix in the book :)) Yang Zi is really really talented. She indeed was the perfect choice for Jin Mi. I consider also that the actor that played Run Yu did a better job than Deng Lun. Regardin The other actors, I especially liked the actors that played Moon God and Master Puchi. These 2 bring liveliness to the show.
3) OST: AMAZING!!!!!!! The best OST in a chinese drama ever! Especially the beginning and the ending songs. When I first heard the beginning song, one month before the drama started to air, I fell in love instantly. Ever since it has been on my repeat list.
4) GCI: 10/10. In comparison to other chinese dramas, they invested a lot in CGI. The scene of the battle is the most amazing scene of the whole drama in my opinion, is EPIC! HSALF it's the first drama where I saw such an attention to CGI.
5) Rewatching value: 9.5/10 (mainly because of the draggy moments regarding development of the side characters. I skipped all the scenes between Biacheng Princess and Mu ci and it didn't affect the flow of the action).
6) Overall: with all the flaws, it's still an amazing drama. I literally finished the drama in 3 days and I slept 2-3 hours per night. I cried, I laughed with the characters, I suffered with them, it was like I was living another life together with them. Is this my favorite chinese drama? Unfortunately no, but it's close (Journey of Flower remains still my favorite drama, because the acting and the story were better). So do yourself a favor and watch the drama. You will not be dissappointed.
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First of all, I didn't get hooked onto it the first time. As someone who has watched the amount of dramas that I have, it's inevitable that I'm going to be particularly picky about what I devote my time to. Shamefacedly, I mistakenly came up with preconceptions of the drama based on the CGI in the first episode, thinking it was too fluffy and overly cutesy, and even cringeworthy. I thought it foreshadowed some equally as shallow a plot down the line, and never imagined it would present us with such a beautiful story. Good things take time to come, and you best believe that for this drama. Thank the lord I came back a second time and pushed through to step straight into the beautiful maelstrom that was to come.
From beginning to end, most of the actors portrayed their characters pretty well. Of course, extra credit will definitely have to go to our two main sweethearts, Jin Mi and Phoenix, as well as the broken antagonist, Run Yu. Never have I ever felt so much sorrow and empathy for an antagonist; when you can't help both wanting him dead for all that he's done, yet understanding fully well that for what he's been through, his actions are far from cruel and wholly justified, that's when you know this drama succeeded at producing a heart-wrenching antagonist. Don't even get me started on the two protagonists - their love has got to be the single most phenomenal thing this drama brought to life, and it is bound to make your own heart encounter every feeling that ever existed. It is quite literally set aflame by Phoenix's fire the entire time.
As you'd expect, the two protagonists experience huge mountains of obstacles that stand before them, as testaments to their love for one another. No, unlike many other dramas, there isn't just one single, blindingly obvious reason as to why they shouldn't be together. In actual fact, rather than any reasons per se, it's more like the two lovers EXPERIENCE too many misunderstandings and unfortunate events, which ultimately make it harder for the two to trust each other.
As for the storyline, it was masterfully crafted and pieced together in a very reasonable sequence of arcs; the flow of this story was exceptional on the grand scale of all dramas, which made it pretty easy to binge in 3 days. Most c dramas throw at you a hectic number of episodes, and 99% become tedious and burdened with too many desperate plot add-ons, which results in the drama itself losing sight of its initial goal ending with a rushed conclusion. Typically people (including myself) will start to give up around halfway through, unable to spend any more effort in learning how yet ANOTHER unnecessary plot twist will wreck everyone some more. But in AOL, the focus never leaves the main plot, while at the same time also allowing us to enjoy several side characters' stories that become flawlessly intertwined with the bigger story. Due to a certain plot hole you wouldn't understand now, our protagonist Jin Mi has a frustratingly overly happy-go-lucky nature, without much care for anything in the world. This results in the first chunk of the drama being predominantly comical and heartwarming. It is when she's able to slowly come out of that phase that the angst becomes all too real. The time she spends in the mortal realm with Phoenix is my favourite arc in the entire drama; as normal human beings who meet by the red string of fate, we are blessed with a Jin Mi who's truer to her heart, and a sauve Phoenix for king. Although the fight scenes are somewhat diminished by the underwhelming CGI, they're definitely convincing enough to get you by, and most importantly, lives are actually lost from them. I'd take that over countless fight scenes that focus on pretty cameos and melodramatic blood-spitting any day.
Another big concern in many Chinese dramas is the ending, as all too many times we've been left with tragedy and devastation; however, without revealing any spoilers, I can say that if you make it through all 63 episodes, the ending will be the most gratifying reward one could ever hope for. It is 100% worth all your tears that were shed leading up to that moment.
All in all, everyone must give Ashes of love a watch. On the rewatch scale, I know that this is one I will choose rewatch over and over again without a doubt. If you're prepared to go on a journey that's really a whirlwind of feels, angst, heartbreak, euphoria, and every other emotion - one that will take your breath away at every moment and never let you stop to take a break for air - then go right ahead. You certainly won't be left with any regrets.
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I have seen widely different opinions regarding this drama and I am on the extreme spectrum of LOVE for the drama. I know the story isn't perfect but it's pretty damn close because the best parts outweighed all flaws. Plus, it was super entertaining so I couldn't help but give it a full 10. This drama was sheer perfection when it comes to the romance and the beautiful leads. It's been ages since a drama affected me this much.
Our heroine starts off as ditzy and naive, and remains (frustratingly) so for majority of the drama. But her initial dense version was super cute. I was super skeptical about the male lead Xu Feng because it was hard for me to buy his crush on Jin Mi. I honestly was not very interested till the first 4-5 episodes when it started to make more sense.
The things Xu Feng did for Jin Mi initially seemed like no big deal but as the story went on and his actions started making sense - OH MY HEART. My heart kept on breaking for the entire duration of the drama. I think the 'Unfeeling' Jin Mi was drawn out longer than necessary but it gave way to loads of angst which was my favourite. Their mortal realm romance was nothing short of epic. The ending of their mortal realm had me so emotional.
I will give a lot of credit to the actor who played Xu Feng because he did a great job. I thought it would be run of the mill cheesy drama, but the actors made all the difference. The actress who played Jin Mi was also quite good. She was freaking adorable the entire time and when it came to the emotional part, I think she did it well. Plus they make a beautiful pair. :D
There were a lot of interesting side characters also. The evil mother and 2nd female lead were predictable as hell, until they weren't. One particular evil deed of theirs was a game changer and was something I couldn't have guessed.
I think I know the theme of C-dramas now where the leads always keep dying and coming back to life. I would prevent certain cliches if I could but I've come to accept that this is the formula these dramas work with. In short nothing much can be done about it except get over it.
I think I have seen a lot of comparison with Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms for this drama, but they are honestly so different. Like I said, the formula remains the same but looking back, I didn't feel anything like this while watching TMOPB compared to the feels I had with this one. It was all round perfect!! Some struggles towards the end got resolved too quickly for my taste and I wish the Demon Realm plot was longer. But it was highly enjoyable and will stay as the one of the most memorable dramas for me.
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The best xianxia
The best xianxia that you gonna find.The acting is simply amazing.
Be ready to feel all kind of emotions the entire time. You'll catch yourself crying, smiling, screaming and always thirsty to know what's coming next.
I love how damn well the characters were deleloped. You can easily see how they changed through all the pain and challenges they had.
The plots are really heartbreaking, from all aspects, because you can hate but at same time can understand a little bit what let then do what they've done.
I've seen myself watching it for the third time already 😁
1000+/10.
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Pls watch it...its amazing.
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Actors:
Deng Lun's amazingly nature acting just draws you into the story, his cute goofy smile and masculine and pensive voice is a big plus. I rarely find actors with such depth in acting. How Deng Lun portrayed a powerful war god cluelessly in love is PERFECT. WAN MEI!
YangZi's naive character was cute (usually I despite brainless leads) but it made sense in her case and her character development through the story was great.
Leo Luo also did a great job with his emotionally intense storyline.
The Demond princess, Puchi Jun, Red Strings Uncle, and even the Evil Queen were all great and lovely actors/actresses.
Technicals:
Stunning visuals, the sets and CGIs together is a whole piece of art.
Dung Lun, Yang Zi and Leo Leo use their own voices (super rare in Cdramas, makes the character more realistic)
Beautiful music, Sa Ding ding's voice is powerful and it goes with the epic storyline. Deng Lun and YangZi also sang for the OST, they actually sang pretty well. Beautiful OST.
Slight Misses:
*Maybe I was just too eager to find out what happens to the main two so I skipped a lot of irrelevant scenes. LOL.
Parts that I fast forwarded:
-Run Yue's mother subplot
-The Demon world power fights
- Demon princess' love storyline
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1)The plot of the story sounds great on paper--but in the first 1/3 of the show, it is held prisoner by the main plot--the fact that the female lead ate a pill--hence it is frustrating because of her foolish choices--she can appear dumb and utterly unaware of how her actions impact others. To make it more frustrating, once she seems to be ready to break free of the pills hold, some jerk decides to repair it.
2)The show really pulled me in following the falling out--an understatement--of Phoenix and Jinmi. After that the show takes a noticably dark turn. Leading up to it are a number of events that are dark in themselves but did not change the tone of the show. Even the mortal arc, which pulled at my heart a little, failed to really capture my interest the way the latter arc did. After that it is very fast paced, and Jinmi grows a great deal--and I will call it survives--sucker punch after sucker punch. She isn't a victim herself and tries so very hard to escape her circumstances and address issues, but she lacks the power to do as she wishes. At one point in the show she wonders what she can do because she is neither smart like a strategist nor is she a warrior.
3)A key plot point that makes the show stand out from other show is a shift in how they treat revenge and punishment regarding villains and something that REALLY stood out to me was the scene in which the male and female lead actually have on screen relations--normally the lights go out but they actually show enough that in the West it would be like a pg-13 movie i.e. naked parts hidden only by a thin screen. It really is a great example of the inconsistent ratings in China.
4)I cried a lot. I don't want to spoil anything because I think it would ruin the impact the show had, but I trudged through about 40 episodes and don't regret it. If you have the patience for that, then I think it will pay off.
5)A lot of people were rooting for one guy over the other and taking sides like Twilight. I think that the two leads, phoenix and Jinmi, had such great on screen chemistry, and the person who played Night God did such a good job as a person who cared for her but it was clear why he could not be with her--and it really boils down to the difference in personalities between the two men and what they each prioritize. I never found the love triangle annoying because it really wasn't a triangle. It was always apparent. There were no annoying moments where she seems to like someone more. If anything tose moments are related to who she likes less. Which doesn't make a lot of sense.
I think this isn't a great review but I don't want to give away spoilers. I think the music was very good, sets were not so great, nor were the costumes but the CGI looked very good and they use a lot of it for magic. The fight scenes in the mortal world with Phoenix were great. Ultimately though you won't know until you watch it. I understand its a commitment but I was quite surprised by the turnaround. And I tend to really only like what I like and I still don't know how to really place this one. For the record, I did not like the King's Woman too much (love the actors) and I disliked Princess Agents, I did not like Fu Yao but finished it. I liked Journey of Flower and Eternal Love, the Flame's Daughter was descent. I liked Prince of Lan Ling. I keep trying to get into Ice Fantasy but never can finish it.
I took a point off in my rating because the 1/3 wasn't that great and 2/3 was getting better but not mind blowing, but the final 1/3 WOW.
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My Favourite Drama Ever!
This is by far my favourite Chinese drama ever.The character development here is impressive.
The only story arch I skipped is the Demon Princess. Only because this series totalled up to 60 something!! But I do love the Demon Princess character especially her loyalty to Xu Feng.
The music in this drama is just awesome. I love Sa Ding Ding's voice!
I have read some criticism for this drama. And I still think it's perfect. So enjoyable to watch. Started more light-hearted and progressively turned harrowing.
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My Top #1 Drama
I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do with my life now. I stumbled upon this show and before I new it I'm 3 episodes in and completely hooked! This series is based on a xianxia novel, it falls under fantasy and romance. The book is written by Dian Xian called Heavy Sweetness, ash like frost. I have not read the novel because they don't have an English version yet, but I do hear that there are some slight differences from the novel but all in all the TV series was even better than the book. I came across the series and fell in love! It is in mandarin, but it has English subtitles so that was how I watched and interpreted it. And I couldn't have loved it more! It's Everything! Jinmi is so wonderfully naive and innocent, she is the embodiment of happiness. She flits around unknowingly causing chaos and stealing hearts! I loved her so much! There were so many laugh-out-loud moments, this storyline is absolutely epic! It's so intriguing and you just get swept away in the story trying to find out the past and what the future will hold. I loved Xufeng, He was handsome and captivating. He is arrogant and softhearted, you fall head over heels for him and the way he treats his little demon/grape fairy jinmi. I shipped them from the get go but I was not ready for the everything they were about to put me through! Man, they are absolutely brutal on the heart! Their love is unlike anything I have ever read or seen yet! It's oh so worth it! I loved the Matchmaker and Mr. Hu, they were absolutely ridiculous and perfect in every way! Puchi/YanYou was another favorite of mine! He was so charming and mischievous, such a trouble maker with a heart of gold! And last but not least Fish Fairy/Runyu, he broke me. I love him and want to string him up! He made my heart hurt and exhausted me! This man made me so torn. There were so many moments where I was just like "ugh, him, pick him". I think out of all the Characters RunYu was the one who changed the most. And I was just so broken for him. This series seriously put me through the wringer! These characters steal a piece of your heart! They each are going through their trials and fighting for what they love and believe and it's so addictive! All I did for 4 day was binge this show! And it was Fantastic! I'm left so overwhelmed and full of so many emotions. I'm buying this series, the book and show(amazon) because I just need to always have this readily available to rebinge. If your thinking about watching it, do it! You will not be disappointed! I now have it extremely bad for these characters and left glaring at my husband asking him just what lengths he go through for me! SIGHHHHHHHHHH! Deng Lun & Leo Yunxi are my Current Crushes!Esta resenha foi útil para você?
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It's a great drama if you actually watch it
This is more of a response to all of the other reviews talking about how AOL has such a bad plot or like it's "illogical." The entirety of this drama was based around Jinmi's love pill which prevented her from being able to feel and express romantic feelings like that of "normal people". That's why in the first half of the drama, you don't get the normal love chemistry that you typically see in other films. It was many of the little things and events that the main leads experienced together that developed their relationship. And apparently there are people saying how Xufeng was a "manipulator" for Jinmi's feelings like wtf are you talking about? Yes, he wasn't aware of the pill that Jinmi had but she made it clear during her time with Xufeng in the moral realm that she truly loved him. So xufeng wasn't wrong about that when he. tried to explain to everyone that Jinmi did love her. Runyu actually found out about the pill that Jinmi had later and went as far as to "fixing" it when she was sleeping to prevent her from developing feelings since it was already breaking apart. "Fixing" that love pill basically set Jinmi back to square 1 and so in a sense she "lost her feelings for xufeng." That's why she married runyu and had trouble affirming her feelings for xufeng. After Jinmi spit out her love pill, she realized that Xufeng was the person she loved all along and whom she innocently killed. All of that guilt washed over her and shaped her into the character she was in the second part of the drama. Like, if you were to put yourself in Jinmi's shoes there, you would've likely acted the same too. There was even a person who went as far as to saying that Xufeng couldn't see past all of the cruel things his parents have done and how he has stood by what they've done because of the swiftful life he lived. Like, to understand this, you just need to be human. Nothing else. Xufeng was very much aware of the atrocious things that her mother was committing, but at the end of the day she was still his mother. HE confronted her about it but his mother never listened. If your mother committed a crime, you obviously may not agree with what she did. However, you're not just gonna say that she deserves to die. Same logic applies here in the drama. Almost everything you see in the drama either has an explanation for it if you actually watched it and paid attention to the little details or just requires you to have the basic ability of empathizing with the characters. At the end of the day, humans are emotional creatures that are driven by emotions. When we are overwhelmed with feelings of anger, jealousy, happiness, or whatever it is, we don't always act in the most rational way ever and that was very nicely conveyed in this drama. Xufeng was never really able to empathize with how runyu felt (his tough past and parents being killed) because of how blinded he was from his love for jinmi. Yet, runyu wasn't any better. He let his feelings of hate and jealousy to take ahold of him. IN a sense, he justified his entitlement to Jinmi because of his tough childhood past, parents' death, and the buildup of resentment he had towards xufeng since when they were young. Runyu couldn't let go of JInmi and was being extremely delusional about it. Jinmi for the most part was falling victim to Runyu and Xufeng fighting for her and most of the poor decisions she made was still ultimately driven by the love pill.IF you prefer the very logical dramas where everything that the characters do "make sense" then I'm afraid that fanatical romance dramas are not right for you and perhaps you're better off with dramas that are based in real life. Love isn't based on rational and logical decisions, ITS DRIVEN BY EMOTIONS. That's why I love this film so much because it's driven by the chemistry of the characters and not the rationality of their decisions (jinmi still falling for xufeng despite the love pill). Everyone prefers different kinds of romances so if this ain't the type for you, then I respect that. But please don't make irresponsible and misguided reviews of the film if you never truly watched it fully or understood the plot well enough to begin with.
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