So iQiyi decided to roll one well received C-drama Story of Kunning Palace into another anticipated drama A Journey to Love and has now hit the double jacket. I just finished Wonderland of Love and was planning to finally start Kunning Palace but decided to sneak a peek at A Journey to Love and now I’m a goner. This drama is custom tailored crack meant for my wuxia loving heart. The leads are perfect in their roles and great together, so entertaining and interesting to watch onscreen. Liu Shi Shi plays the assassin’s assassin, this isn’t a job but who she just IS, while Liu Yu Ning is the wuxia warrior/spy zaddy who can assassin just as easily. If he’s Godzilla then she’s Mecha-Godzilla and I love that she’s the emotionally neutered weirdo and he’s the oddball but comparatively normal one. They get smooshed together on a suicides mission to rescue his Kingdom’s emperor from her his Kingdom’s emperor’s clutches, and along the way they are accompanied by a motley crew of misfits, goofballs, and sweethearts and nearly all with kill switches.
I love how Liu Yu Ning assembles his crew the Avengers and swaggers off to take names and kick ass, the warrior dudes are all super fun to watch. There are no secrets between the leads as he knows right off the bat she’s no simpering miss and she quickly dispenses of the pretense since he’s no fool. She also hilariously decides that she needs to have a kid for posterity sake and since he’s tall/smart/good fighter then he’s the perfect sperm donor. No, I’m serious, this is done so well and so unexpectedly haha. Bonus points for the reunion of Liu Shi Shi and actress Ye Qing in a cameo to start the drama harkening back to their sis-mance in Bu Bu Jing Xing and once again Ru Yi/Ruo Xi can’t save Ling Long/Yu Tan to set things in motion here. I love the story (not too twisty), the direction (sleek but not overly stylized ala My Journey to You), and all the supporting characters who are given room to showcase their personality and purpose in this story.
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I'm loving the whole thing and the characters
I was expecting to find a big bunch of very annoying flaws but so far nothing
I'm loving everything about this drama! Both leads are perfectly casted. Liu Shi Shi and Liu Yu Ning oozes so much chemistry and sexual tension in all of their scenes together. I'm glad we get so much humor in the beginning because everybody be living a happy normal life as best as they could until it gets serious later on. Never had an impression of Alen Fang before but boy does he do comedy and dramatic well.
It's actually So GOOD. And LYN is smoldering. Lol. It's not even how he looks (although he is styled So WELL), but how he carries himself, OMGAH. Haha. A+ casting for an actually entertaining story. Hopefully it can ride its freaking amazing start 'til the end!
Ooooh, thanks for the review. I will put this ahead of my other To-Be-Watched. It sounds really good! Hope the ending is good too.
Why I don't have it at my iqiyi....what's wronged
I just watched ep 1. Interesting drama! I haven't seen this in C costume for a long while. No fillers and the pace is fast. I did not expect Liu Yu Ning can act though. Liu Shi Shi looks all badass and I love it so much. She has that Chinese classical mannerism that stands out apart from all other cultures and THAT is exactly what I'm looking for in Chinese actresses. I can't help comparing her with Esther Yu who also played an assassin in My Journey to You but actually Esther isn't even comparable to LSS at any level including visuals, acting, lines, and temperament. Comparing these two is as if comparing authentic traditional beef noodles to instant noodles. LOL. The younger generation of 95-90ers just lacks real Chinese beauties like some among the 85ers.
I was watching Wonderland of Love and binged 8 eps straight to ep 18 within the past 48 hours. It was a very solid drama. There were some unexpected turns and highs but lukewarm plot-wise most of the time in general even the story is logically well written and I think I'm a fan of the director now given that he also did a fantastic job directing The Untamed. I love his artistic styles of laying out the plot details methodically without many plot holes and how he transitioned scenes from camera to camera. I also love his obvious strength of building characters' relationships and make them relatable to audience. I saw this same directing style in The Untamed too and I love how it's done the same way in Wonderland of Love. But I may want to switch to AJtL for now while slowly following Wonderland of Love when there's extra time spared because the former is just more exciting to watch.
I highly disagree. Esther's personality and characterization in MJTY wasn't like LSS's here. LSS actually has the script enabling her to fight and kill others like an assassin. Esther's role was basically all fluff, and there were barely any fighting scenes where you've seen her killing others for safety. This boils down to a characterization issue, not an acting one.
I have to admit I did not follow MJTY till the end. I dropped it after a few eps. My comment was based upon those few eps alone, admittedly. Esther did look pretty lame in those eps though and that's part of the reasons I also lost interest in following MJTY.
Me too, I was going to watch 1 ep, but now I'm hooked. Love it so far.
Loving the drama and the Liu Liu pairing so far as well. LSS dancing and fighting (I'm reminded of Won Bin's knife fight in the Man From Nowhere) was done well. And of course, LSS coming on to LYN like a bullet. I find myself lol'ed at random things, like certain expressions or lines. Even when they look serious.
I like that the drama takes off right away and I'm just running with it. Hoping the drama continues to be engaging and fun to watch.
I do think LSS looks skinnier in here because from her profile, her cheeks look slimmer. But it could just be me. Last saw her in Love Lost in Time.
Ooh I just finished obsessing over Kunning Palace and now there’s another one?! I should wait until it’s over before I torture myself too much waiting for new episodes again
Man I am so bummed iqiyi hasn't released this in my region.
Its not available in IQIYI Indonesia either, I watch this on VIU.
Finally a well-written costume drama (so far) with leads that can actually ACT. And Liu Shi Shi is such a gorgeous and talented queen.