Noite Eterna: 2ª Temporada (2020)

This is a nice sequel but the plot splits into two storylines with one having Ning Que protecting Sang Sang after her identity is discovered until she ascends into Heaven where her character becomes almost non- existent and out of main characterization, to the other storyline with Ning Que becoming the Tang Empire’s protector while he and the Academy characters take center stage battling enemies of Tang. The last episodes are wasted by Sang Sang trying to humanize the cold and vicious Goddess of Light with whom she shares spiritual energy until, at the very end, the story gives the impression that Sang Sang is going to win the spiritual battle and comes back to Ning Que. Although Dylan Wang does a good job as an older and “more mature” Ning Que, the chemistry between Ning Que and Sang Sang from the first season is amiss. The first part of this season was going well until the main characters get separated. Now, to wait for the third season and hope that Sang Sang and Ning Que will recover the strength and chemistry that their characters had on the first season. Let’s hope!

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It isn't the cast change; it is the script.

I don't recommend season two - Go out on the finale from season one. By the time you get done with this, the questions you had at the end of season one will be unanswered, and that other dramatic finale will be the only thing you remember from this series. Because from this moment on, this story changes, and becomes an unrecognizable repetitive loop not vested in the original adventure except in title only. It isn't the cast change; it is production without continuity.

Season one's characters are regulated to little screen time, if they show up at all. Even, the effects, and choreographed action season-one was loved for, are absent from the screen. The main couple disappear into a cart for 75% of the episodes. I personally think the director just wanted to showcase the character Ye Hong Yu in this season - Pretty visuals, with no invested substance; filler. While, Sang Sang and Ning Que, the female and male leads, became secondary characters by omission.

Where, in the previous season the leads were the highlight of an intricate couple's tale (Sang Sang and Ning Que) of fantasy, revenge, and mystery. I blame production, that took the lively couple, and split them into a triangle, that was as devoid of color as they could paint it. With repetitive scenes, and dialog that sucked life out of a dynamic tale-of-adventure we came to know in season one. It was a waste of time, a waste of talent in 42 more episodes of what should have been amazing. I can't recommend it, not even for closure.

(Watched as aired.)

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Ning Que and Sangsang as they were meant to be

The change in the male lead helped me delineate the younger Ning Que from the more mature one. To me, Arthur Chen's Ning Que was the teenage version and Dylan Wang's Ning Que was the grown up version. In terms of acting, they are both up there and were excellent choices. I cannot say that one is better than the other as I believed them both to be Ning Ques just at different ages. Dylan Wang did not drop the ball either in fight scenes. He indeed worked hard to keep the pace that Arthur Chen set in Season 1. In fact, I felt more of a romantic chemistry with Dylan and Ireine Song (the actor playing SangSang on both Seasons). It could have been because they were closer in age than Ireine and Arthur.

Whatever it was, had there not been a change in the face of the male lead, I doubt I would be able to accept that a brother and sister love as pure as Ning Que's and SangSang's in Season 1 would develop into a romantic love as it did in Season 2. Since this love weighs heavily on the story line, it had to be believable to propel the story forward. With all the adversities that Ning Que had to go through because of his love for SangSang as well as the reason why SangSang could fight Hao Tian to stay on earth albeit with some assistance from the Sage, to me, the love component had to be believable. And with Dylan Wang's performance, I truly was in the thick of it 100%.

Should you want to read more about my opinion on the two ning ques, please see link: https://thislifehappened.me/the-two-ning-ques/

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Ever Love Against Ever Night

One of the best Chinese series from mainland China to date in the category of period/wuxia/xianxia drama. Yang Yang, the first female director for this type, did a magnificent job for the series in all aspects. The cinematography is stunning with picturesque locations where we get to see the beautiful sceneries Xinjiang and Guizhou have to offer, complimenting the storyline, not just within the studios or propped-up filming sets. The fight scenes and choreography are a must to be mentioned as they are superbly done with fun-to-watch CG images. I normally am not too fond of flying Gong Fu or over-the-top slow-mo aerial, heavily-wired and weird-looking fight scenes but this is different. The main cast, whether in season 1 or 2, such as Arthur Chen and Dylan Wang, portray their male lead role nicely as a capable fighter, skillfully integrating with the studio-adding special effects and the camera work makes the fight/war scenes so stylish and exciting. Yang Yang and her teams do not hold back to make it as extraordinarily enjoyable as Mao Ni's novel that the series is based on.
I particularly adore the character of Song Yi Ren, my most favourite Chinese actress, who plays the miserly, ever-so-humble, kind-hearted and ever-so-dedicatedly-submissive to her Shao Ye's Sang Sang. The characteristics of this main female lead though differently depicted from the novel where she is in a status far more equal with her Shao Ye, the part is truly made for her or the other way round. She acts less for more with her diminutive body and endearing, friendly face, not to mention the soft, gentle voice of hers which is a huge change to not having to listen to the annoying, high-pitched and excessively cute, childlike voice of female leads like in so many Chinese series. She's so good in emotional teary scenes that can make the audience feel what the character feels.
Of course there are flaws, majors and trivials, but that's not uncommon for series of this production scale and I willingly overlook as long as I think those imperfections are minimal and do not degrade the overall atmosphere of the story and its development.
Those may include the voice-over for some actors or supporting roles that are not synched to a T or some scene continuity errors or the conspicuous stand-in shots and prolonged dialogues in politic setting, especially in the first season of over-stretched 60 episodes with many pseudo moments.
I have to admit that when I first see Dylan Wang as Ning Que in season 2, I frowned a bit but after a short while I started to get used to his way for the role and after a round of back-to-back watching all episodes, I do feel that he too is totally up for the part and he makes up for what Arthur Chen otherwise lacks of. They suit for the antagonist role in their own way, dictated by different scripts and how well they purportedly act out their own personality and charisma for being the playful and daring Ning Que in different timelines. Though Ning Que adequately entertains in the first season, I have qualms during the parts where he is flirting away (being so young and proud to be liked by a beautiful lady) and insufferable enough to keep hurting Sang Sang emotionally (the part of Mo Shan Shan is elaborated for the dramatic love story in the series which is very different to the novel. At the end of day he anyway realised Sang Sang is his life and soul so he dumped the lady). It would be very interesting how Arthur Chen would fare if he reprised the role in season 2 where the main leads are supposed to be more mature and scripted to express their love and care as a couple defying the world to try to stay alive together.
A little letting down on the change of cast for some other supporting roles such as the Tang Wang Ye and his Empress, Li Yu Gong Zhu and of course the Xi Ling Dao Maniac Ye Hong Yu. Praises to Adam Cheng as Fu Zi and the entire cast of his disciples at Shu Yuan who always warm the heart just by looking at them interacting together as people with nothing to do enjoying everyday life.
The OST are extremely good to the ear. Irene Song and Dylan Wang did a duet for one of the theme songs.
I can say that this is the series that pulls me back to the Wuxia delight again after so many disappointments and endlessly boring romance installments, putting me off to desperately turn to k-drama for some long years (not that much better, truth be told, in terms of the overwhelming romance genre).
Hopefully season 3 will commence soon to end the long wait and have the series completed to the satisfying end just like in the novel.

Leia Mais

Initial adjustment to the characters are needed with the changes of new actors. Dylan Wang played Ning Que well with his own talents which is not the same as Arthur Chen; after a few episodes, you will learn to forget the "Arthur's" personality and accept "Dylan's." It seems the quality of directing, makeup, and cinematography were lower. Even some personalities of the actors changed even though they were the same actors. I'm surprised since the director is the same. There were too many instances where the camera just focuses on one thing when nothing is happening or else it focuses on something with no dialog such as a character walking for 30 - 40 secs of screen time which is long for the viewer to sit and watch. The last two episodes were pretty much all dialogues which can be fast forwarded to the finale and you won't miss much. Season 1 had 60 episodes which didn't feel long and Season 2 had 43 episodes which was way too long. I had fast forwarded a lot of walking scenes, senseless dialogues, and flashbacks; hoping to get to the end as soon as possible just for an ending. Similar to Season 1, this drama also ended without a cliffhanger so I can accept it as the end and not waste time for the third season. The whole drama gave me the impression that the production was short on finances so there were a lot of cuts and reductions. I should have stopped after Season 1. After Season 2, I've lost interest in wanting to read the novel.

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Une saison un peu décevante mais qui se regarde bien.

Nous sommes des fans de la saison 1. Nous avons laissé le temps passer avant de visualiser la saison 2, la raison est bien sur Arthur Cheng! Nous l'avons adoré dans la saison 1 et sa relation avec ses frères, Fu Zi, l'empereur et surtout SangSang étaient extraordinaire. Je ne vais pas refaire le topo pour la saison 1, j'ai déjà écris un avis dessus. C'est donc avec pas mal de recul que nous avons entamé la saison 2. Dylan Wang s'en sort plutôt bien. Il est évident pour nous qu'il n'a pas interprété Ning Qe aussi superbement qu'Arthur Cheng. Mais j'avoue que je ne vois personne d'autre qu'Arthur pour être Ning Qe. Dylan s'en sort comme il peut, il ne joue pas mal, il joue bien mais il n'a pas l'essence du premier, et je dois avouer que l'alchimie entre Ning Qe et SangSang est moins forte et moins palpable que dans le 1. Alors oui, la relation est devenue plus adulte et la saison 2 veut nous montrer que Ning Qe est vraiment amoureux de SangSang. J'aurais tellement aimé voir Arthur transi d'amour pour SangSang...car j'avoue que non, Dylan/Ning Qe ne semble pas aussi amoureux que Ning Qe/Arthur et c'est bien dommage. le changement de personnage n'est pas perturbant seulement pour Ning Qe. La maniaque du taoisme, nous l'avons préféré dans la S1. Idem pour la Princesse Tang. L'empereur Tang aussi a changé et au départ, nous étions déçu mais pour lui, l'acteur a magistralement pris le relais de Leon Lai. L'empereur a été un coup de coeur dans cette saison, il nous aura bien fait rire....
L'histoire semble moins intense que dans la S1 ainsi que les combats et les effets spéciaux. C'est dommage, car nous étions impressionnés dans la S1 des combats et effets spéciaux qui sortaient de l'ordinaire.
Un des défauts majeurs de ce drama c'est qu'il tourne en rond parfois et souvent, il saute des étapes et on se retrouve d'un épisode à un autre, avec des explications qui n'ont pas été données et c'est l'incompréhension. Il est donc arrivé souvent qu'on soit " What the heck???"
Sans parler de la non-consistance de certains personnages comme Long Qin...Il avait une telle prestance dans la 1 et ici, dans S2, il est presque inutile.
Heureusement que certains personnages restent géniaux comme Fu Zi, l'empereur Tang, second frère, premier frère et 3ème soeur....
Je suis aussi très déçue de la fin...je ne veux pas spoiler, mais bref, comme dirait mon mari "tout cela pour ça??" . Les derniers épisodes trainent en longueur, tournent en rond pour au final une fin incompréhensible....pourquoi? comment? quoi????
Bref, une saison décevante. Il y a des points positifs mais pas assez pour que je le note plus haut que 7 :(

Leia Mais

My wife and I are probably the greatest wuxia fans in the UK. I have over 10 TBs of wuxia series and films on HDD/SSD.

Ever Night 1 was one of the best we have watched. The music can drive you mad but the casting was superb and the acting great. Roll on Ever Night 2

A new cast including Dylan Wang as Ning Que. He is probably the worst person they could have chosen to play the part. My wife immediately said how effeminate he was and could not act out the fight scenes. He has no rhythm and his moves have no style whatsoever. Not a patch on Chen Fei Yu who was a great actor and really put his soul into the part. He is a very poor casting and all we can think is that he has relatives in high places who got him the part.

There were other poor casting choices but I guess that's the price you pay for filming so many wuxia series at the same time. The great actors and actresses are in demand and Ever Night 2 got the C team. The one saving grace was Ireine Song, a very talented young lady and a great actress.

As a footnote, we now realise that due to Dylan Wang's lack of acting ability, the director and producer had to adapt the filming to try and cover up. This led to a very slow and boring series with a lead actor who can only scream and shout running around like a demented stick insect.

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An Entierly Different Show, And Not For The Better

Let me start by saying Ever Night season 1 was and still is my favorite wuxia drama of all time. I've never been more disappointed and let down by a season 2. If this didn't have the name "Ever Night" on it and Irenie Song, I would have dropped this after a few episodes.

I don't know what happened between seasons 1 and 2, maybe it was cost issues, or investors/sponsors pushing them to finish fast and cheap, maybe there wasn't enough story to tell to fill a season 2, or filming schedules and conflicts and having to replace a significant amount of the cast, maybe the censors and govt got involved to change the story... I have no idea. All I know is season 2 is like an entirely different show, and not for the better.

First of all, the recasting of the ML with Dylan Wang. This was a jarring choice. He is a very different actor from Chen Fei Yu and therefore a very different character from season 1. This dramatic change could have been minimized had they kept the same production style and feel from the first season. Even if they just kept the same storylines and plot from season 1, Dylan Wang could have eventually made a decent run with his own version of Ning Que, but neither of those was left intact.

Those weren't the only changes. Gone is the lush and cinematic camerawork from season 1. That vast and expansive world full of interesting locations and eclectic characters they built up in the previous season? Gone. Now we only have a few characters and are limited to a few locations, often only seen in small sets. Remember those dynamic and exhilarating fight scenes? Those are gone too. Now we have generic wuxia from the 90's style, with cheap-looking VFX.

Not to mention a significant portion of the cast, several of them major players from season 1 were recast. Not only were the actors different but their character's personalities changed as well. Even the actors they managed to keep from season 1 behave like they're from some bizarre alternate universe. I think this leads to the biggest issue of Ever Night season 2: the writing. The writing is atrocious. I honestly feel bad for the actors. It's as if the writers wrote out all the dialogue of what needed to be said, then randomly distributed the lines to different characters. They aren't saying things the characters would say, they're just reading lines. Not only is the dialogue noncorporeal, awkward and unusual, but they also use this terrible dialogue to fill long and drawn-out scenes, often shot in a small 1 room set with just 2 actors spewing exposition at each other, most of it full of unnecessary or repeated information that does nothing to move the plot forward. There were many episodes full of them with just scene after scene of 2 people in a room talking about nothing. I get that this is a cost-saving measure and a tool to stretch a thin plot but this was painfully dull and excruciating to get through. This basically takes up 60-70% of season 2 so brace yourself.

The overall plot also falls victim to odd and nonsensical choices. Characters do things completely out of character, sometimes even with no explainable motivation. They just do things abruptly without reason. Instances happen just to happen. There's an entire arc of 5-10 episodes that could be completely taken out without any consequence to the characters or story. It's like some useless side quest in a game. And the decision to spend a large amount of time with an entirely new actor and character is questionable. Spending long stretches of the season with the ML and FL apart from each other is baffling. Not continuing any of the previously set-up storylines from season 1 and giving us ridiculous narratives that don't go anywhere? Ludicrous. I could say more but that would wander into spoiler territory. I think you get the idea.

I hate to be entirely negative so let me highlight what I did like. Ireine Song. I could watch her watch paint dry. She is the lone saving grace to this travesty of a dumpster fire. She has such range as an actress that there were times when I almost forgot about the shoddy backdrops and painful dialogue and just watched her stretch her acting wings. Season 2 definitely gives her more to do and there is a decided focus on her character. I also warmed up to Dylan Wang's alternate version of Ning Que, which is why I think they could've salvaged season 2 had they kept the preexisting storylines from season 1.

Luckily for those who loved the previous season, Ever Night season 1 stands well on its own. We can just throw this bizzaro alternate universe season 2 straight into the garbage and appreciate what we got in season 1.

Leia Mais

The worst drama

A lousy drama directed by a worthless director. The scenes and story plot didn't even match. How did anyone give this drama a 10 rating? Laughable. Those give this drama a 10 are idiots. Story plot kept changing illogically, the director didn't even have big picture of plan how the storyline progress. The screenwriter doing a lousy job in creating story plots and cutting scenes. Story plots just forced it way illogically even though it's clear reasoning of truths in the storyline. The director and screenwriter must be thinking most viewers are idiots, that's why they're not doing their job. Surprisingly, the rating acknowledged it as idiots rated the drama a 10. Conclusion, this drama is a mess up storyline and plots. It doesn't even worth watching.

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Watching the 1st ep,I can't help but to compare Ning Que Chen Fei yu with Dylan Wang.It's not about Dylan Wang acting.He is good but Chen Fei yu has engraved a fix potrayel of Ning Que in my mind.it's weird to see other actor as Ning Que.This is the consequences the prod have to face when they changed main lead for Ning Que.Also I think the story in season 2 has become more complicated,messier and once again..no Chen Fei yu which for me had a great impact for the whole story.Chen Fei yu is Ning Que.it's difficult to watch,when he is not there.Chen Fei yu has this kind of playful side which is perfect for Ning Que.while Dylan Wang..I don't know..something just missing.
This is just my opinion.For me season 1 is far more great and epic in everyhing.from cast to the story and music.I wish they not changed the cast.that for me is the real issue with ever night season 2.

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I watched it because Mo zan zan ! Timeless to watch it.

I am the one who finished first season. Only one thing happy in the season is fighting scene !! That happen only 4 ep from 43 ep.

The story : too long in conversation, useless and timeless. Editor is not good so many scenes are not make sense and not continue.

Editor : it is bad from first season a lot ! Angle of camera is not good, it make actor fat sometime lol

Music : same as first season but they add too much of music ! And took time to much for music ! I lfelt like i was not watch series but i was watching MV.

Actor : I like Dylan wang but his character is not same as first season ! However he did it well in fighting scene and more charming than the old one. Oh yes ! I watched it until the last ep because of Mo zan zan even his scene in this drama is not much but she is charming and her character is clearly character. On the other hand, Sang sang new version is no mood and acting not smooth ! She felt no mood yes her face is no mood but her acting is no mood as well !


Even this season changed a lot of actor, i opened mind to watch it but it is too disappoint ! I was waiting for a year to watch it.

No valuable to rewatch.

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Not as good as the ever night

It could have been better if the wagon was not shot in one location. Overall I'm surprised the new actor was good. You can't compare him to Chen because they are two different men.

Overall it is good not great as the original Ever Night. It is more of a dragging.

The ending was confusing. I don't understand if the Light became San San at the end or what.

Was San San dreaming?

That part I was confused. It could have been stronger plot. The end was boring.

I would make the story differently.
I could see why Chen would not want to make the sequel when he had better drama to put his effort.

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