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Title: Ashes of Love [香蜜沉沉烬如霜]
Genres: Romance, Wuxia, Drama, Fantasy
Type: Drama
Episodes: 63
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS!
Synopsis - In ancient times, the Flower Goddess died after giving birth to her only daughter, Jin Mi. She had a sense that Jin Mi would suffer a great love trial that would break her down, just like her. To prevent that from happening, she gave her daughter the Loveless Pill. This magical pill prevents Jin Mi from feeling and expressing romantic love. The Flower Goddess ordered her subordinates to keep the girl's birth a secret and keep her within the Water Barrier for 10,000 years, hoping that Jin Mi could avoid the love trial. Jin Mi grows up thinking she is a Grape Fairy as all plant spirits are forbidden to leave the Water Barrier.
4,000 years later, the Heaven Emperor's second son, Xu Feng, was sabotaged by someone during the development of his phoenix spirit and accidentally landed in the Water Barrier. He was saved by the innocent Jin Mi, who thought he was a crow because of how burnt he looked. After living together, Xu Feng gradually developed feelings for Jin Mi. Jin Mi later meets Xu Feng's older brother, Run Yu, who also develops feelings for her. Caught in a love triangle, Jin Mi learns a bitter-sweet lesson about love, revenge, and life. Together, Xu Feng and Jin Mi overcome the obstacles that try to pull them apart as fate intended for a happy ending.
Reasons for Recommendation:
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Cover Poster: 5/5
Nothing is more visually appealing than the cover poster for Ashes of Love. A soft pink color dominates the composition, and some of the characters on the left are wearing hanfus in a similar color, except for the golden colors that perceive someone of royal status. The right side contradicts and overwhelms the left side with the introduction of blacks and more golden colors. The poster emphasizes beautifully the whimsical, the mystical, the mythical, and the fantastical.
Characters: 5/5
Jin-Mi: A grape fairy, her true form is a six-petal snowflake. The daughter of the Flower Deity and Deity. She is naive and kind but does not understand the true meaning of "love" due to the forbidden love pill implanted in her at birth by her mother who predicted that she would experience a love trial in the first 10,000 years of her life.
Xu-Feng: Legitimate Prince of the Heaven Realm; the Fire Deity, his true form is a phoenix. He's the second son of the Heavenly Emperor and Empress. Xu Feng is a kind and noble god. He is frequently more trusting of his mother than he needs to be. He is willing to sacrifice anything for Jin Mi due to his deep affection towards her. He also does not tolerate betrayal of any kind.
Run-Yu: Eldest Prince of the Heaven Realm; the Night Deity, his true form is a dragon. He is the son of the Heavenly Emperor and water realm's Princess Su Li. Initially a gentle and calm person with no ambitions for the throne. He is not respected as a prince in the Heaven realm due to his illegitimate birth and pressure from the Empress. After his mother is killed by the Empress, he rebels against the Heavenly Emperor and ascends the throne to become the next Heavenly Emperor. He has a love for Jin Mi as well and they later have a marriage promise.
Sui-He: She is the leader of the Bird Clan, her true form is a peacock. She's the niece of the Heavenly Empress. She is hard-hearted and insecure and would do anything to secure her power. She listens to her aunt well and has an unrequited love for Xu-Feng. She hates Jin-Mi just because Xu-Feng loves her instead of Sui-He.
Liu-Ying: Demon princess and later becomes the Demon Lord. She is a very cheerful and forthright girl and a heroic warrior on the battlefield. She is in love with her bodyguard and companion, Mu Ci. But they have a tragic romance.
Qi-Yuan: A reaper who was adopted by Liu-Ying's father, Lord Biancheng after his tribe was killed, and became Liu Ying's bodyguard. He was forced to work for the Heavenly Empress after being fed a deadly poison. He eventually gives into the love Liu-Ying has for him but the romance falls tragic but gives Liu-Ying a welcome present.
Plot: 5/5
I originally wanted to mark this a 4/5 instead of a 5/5 due to the slow start the first 4 episodes had. However, I increased my rating to 5/5 due to the latter half of the show. You're in for a treat and you'll want more Ashes of Love by the time episode 63 comes around. You'll wonder why there isn't a season 2 and you'll want to see the story of the descendants of the main characters and how other characters are doing since unfortunate situations occurred.... Or is that just me?
Appearance/Costumes/CGI: 4/5
The character costumes and appearances are regal and beautiful and offer a majestic grace of fantasy with a historical fiction twist - since the characters wear hanfus. Long beautiful hair - the costume designers did extremely well to ensure that the wigs and such appeared as realistically as possible. But I did dock a single point due to a minor less-than-stellar CGI creature.
Music: 5/5
Ashes of Love is not only vibrant with visual whimsical beauty but the wonders of sound will keep you immersed throughout the show. Check out this video which has been compiled here:
Lastly: Ashes of Love is available to watch on the following streaming platforms; Netflix and Viki
