Ancient Love Poetry – (very) Brief First Impression Thoughts

Ancient Love Poetry, the latest romance fantasy that involves an ice-versus-sunshine lead couple dynamic and a Three Lifetimes Three Worlds theme.

So…

WHAT’S GOOD

Zhou Dongyu – What else?

As far as a bubbly, innocent, naïve, and sassy little fairy goes, Zhou Dongyu is a reasonable casting choice. Even though the script and the camera-work somewhat limit her potential due to this being a small-screen production, Zhou brings Shanggu to life without difficulty.

The sets actually look good – I have stopped caring about sets and CGIs in fantasy dramas a long time ago, but Ancient Love Poetry seems to have made a point to invest in this department.

The humor of the side characters – it exists, and it works (most of the time).

If you like Helian Zheng from Rise of Phoenixes, here he is without a beard:

This character seems to be morally grey at the moment and promises exciting development.

WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD (at least for now)

Xu Kai’s performance – The cold and indifferent male lead has reigned at the top for a long time in romances and fantasies, he is usually accompanied by nobleness and the unwillingness to communicate as his unshakable traits.

While there is nothing wrong with Bai Jue, he is generic, which presents a challenge for Xu Kai, who seems to struggle to establish his mark with the character. More so when this kind of male lead has been played by many actors before, most of whom already had a certain amount of experience at the time they took on this role.

The rushed beginning – Ancient Love Poetry has a similar set-up to Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, Ashes of Love, Love and Destiny, etc.

As the first successful drama of this particular motif, one of the things that make Ten Miles memorable is that the drama takes the proper time to build up the characters it wants the audience to care about.

Ancient Love Poetry rushes this phase instead, pushing the two main characters at each other right away and having them develop feelings without letting the viewers connect with them as individuals first. The same thing happens at the beginning of Love and Destiny; but of course, not all dramas have Ni Ni to make up for their flaws.

Baijue is cold and strict towards Shanggu, demanding her to do things that seem significant for her development – destroying her possessions, correcting her manners, cleaning his classrooms, etc – but the story itself fails to explain Baijue’s preferences, making their interactions and, consequently, emotions seem random.

Too little world-building – Perhaps most of us have seen at least a few romance fantasy dramas by this point and should be able to figure out who does what, what explodes when, and what happens when someone puts their palms on someone else’s back. But if this is your first drama of this type, you might find it hard to decide what is important and why some characters have to take the risks that they take.

OTHER THOUGHTS

Yes, for long-time drama viewers, the plot of Ancient Love Poetry is nothing new, it’s something we have seen more times than we should.

To be honest, however, if you see a cold guy, a bubbly girl, and a dangerous demonic force and STILL decide to keep watching, then… erm… you’re not allowed to complain about the clichéd plot.

(I’m just kidding, complain away.)