My Ranking of the Moonlight Mystique Trilogy
So, for those of you who do not know, Moonlight Mystique is an adaptation of the novel Chasing the Moon, which is the third part in author Xing Ling’s trilogy, with the first part being Ancient God (Ancient Love Poetry) and Hidden God (The Last Immortal). I’m a big fan of the series so I decided to do a ranking of all three drama adaptations even though they’re technically stand-alone dramas due to copyright issues and you don’t have to watch one to understand the other.
The Last Immortal - For starters, in my opinion Wang Anyu does not suit costume dramas like he just does not have the face or physique for them. So, he was a complete miscast for Yuan Qi for me. Zhao Lusi suited both A Yin and Feng Yin, but her costumes and the costumes in the dramas as a whole were a big letdown. They looked fake and cheap, especially the one she wears when she awakens as Feng Yin. She’s supposed to be the future ruler of Wutong Island and represents the highest level of nobility in the immortal realm, but that’s what they come up with? I also did not enjoy the whole misunderstanding trope and I know, that’s on the novel but it was just too cliche and poorly executed. Lastly, I do not see the need for the open ending?? If the novel has a happy ending, then why give the drama an open one? Just completely unnecessary.
Ancient Love Poetry - I’ve mentioned this in another thread, but again the leads were completely miscast for me. Shang Gu is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in all the realms and as beautiful as Zhou Dongyu, she has a more modern beauty instead of a fairy-like one. The character itself did not suit her at all and she looked rather awkward playing Shang Gu. Having seen her other works, her performance wasn’t convincing enough for me to dissociate her from her other roles. Xu Kai was a bit better but his acting was heavily criticised in the drama and rightfully so, imo he does not suit stoic and tsundere roles and truly shines in humorous ones. The styling, especially the hair wasn’t doing much service for his visuals either. He’s really handsome but the drama didn’t do a good enough job at portraying it. Lastly, the CGI for the drama was not my cup of tea, it just looked very unreal and not in a good way.
Moonlight Mystique - I know it hasn’t ended yet and we’re just 17 eps in, but it’s already one of the most enjoyable xianxias I’ve seen in a long long while. And this is not just me being biased because I really wanted to see Yuemi and Tian Qi’s second chance at love. Let’s start with the casting choices, Bai Lu is literally the perfect Bai Shuo. Couldn’t have casted anyone better. I had my reservations for Ao Ruipeng, because I’ve only seen him in The Blood of Youth and was apprehensive about how would do in a major IP like this but he has left me pleasantly surprised. He looks great as Fan Yue and is doing an excellent job portraying him too. For example, he plays both Mu Mu and Fan Yue but you can immediately tell which is which just by his eyes and posture. His chemistry with Bai Lu is also elite and I literally get butterflies watching them and rewind each sweet moment atleast twice. The styling is absolutely gorgeous. Bai Lu has never looked prettier and neither has Ao Ruipeng. I also like how there’s only a few focal characters that the storyline centers on (Bai Shuo, Fan Yue, Chong Zhao and Fu Ling) which means we don’t have to feel confused for a good 5 or so eps trying to figure out all the different plotlines. The second leads are also extremely interesting, which imo wasn’t the case in the former two dramas. The soundtrack is beautiful and so is the CGI. I love the dark purple theme they have going on. It looks so dreamy and visually pleasing. Moonlight Mystique is really shaping up to be one of my favourite xianxias unless they completely butcher it in the later eps and give us a trainwreck of an ending, which I hope not since the source novel for this drama is still unfinished, which means the scriptwriters wrote the ending on their own. I hope it ends pleasantly and satisfactorily.