Fairyland Lovers | Recap and Review

Notable Actors/Actresses
Bai Yu: Bai Qi
Zheng Qiu Hong: Lin Xia
Li Ming De: Ah Li
Chen Yi Han: Xiao Xiao
Ji Xiao Bing: Yang Jian

Scriptwriter: 

Han Lu

Chinese Title:
蓬莱间

Genres: Contemporary, Romcom, Fantasy, Contemporary Romcom

Network: Tencent Video

Year: 2020
Episodes: 35

First Impression: 4/5

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Mini Recaps

Ep7: 180 turn in Bai Qi's character

Ep8: Hilarious. She overdresses to eat breakfast-cake because of her jealously.
Ep11: She’s angry/shocked cause he didn’t tell her he’s not human but how could she not know?

Ep16: He accidentally confesses; she bravely kisses him. Go girl
Hope the chef doesn’t die :( I like this mini story a lot.
Ep19: Dad returns home and gives his daughter a reality check: her romance with Bai Qi won't work.
Ep21: Okay. This double Bai Qi is draggy. He's giving her up so his other self can't hurt her. What kind of annoying plot line is this.
Ep23: His psuedo-identity won buuuut it's not as bad as I thought? It's actually hilarious that he's dealing with all of Lin Xia's wrath (in place of the good Bai Qi). Now he's got to pursue her all over again because of Ah Li's nonchalant advice. Ha.
Ep24: She knows he's not him.
Ep25: Alright, at this point, I'm not watching the drama closely. It just looks like he's got a multiple personality disorder.
Ep26: The ultimate villain has been harnessing hearts for thousands of years to keep himself alive. The heart he's raising now is Xiao Xiao's. Now the group is forced to save either Lin Xia or Xiao Xiao. Yiikes, bad Bai Qi plunges a sword through Yang Jian (but he lives).
Ep27: Dad comes flying in to save the day. Cool. Apparently he's a heaven soldier too.

Alright so I'm pretty darn confused with this episode. LX is dying. Pitiful (bad) BQ has to witness her death again (in the present and past). Bad BQ is getting flashbacks of not only Xiao Chou but also of Lin Xia, meaning he loves both of them(?). To save her, he gives her the magical bracelet risking his own life. Now BQ's life is in danger. But not so fast. This tree (from the plant in the earlier episodes) grows in mere seconds to save BQ. BQ's bad spirit has disappeared because he has let go of his desire/grudge. What was his desire you ask? The bracelet he gave LX. His true desire wasn't his inability to forget his love for Xiao Chou, he's moved on from that, what he couldn't forgive himself for was his inability to save her. However, now that he was able to save LX, his grudge has lifted. It's then revealed that LX is not XC (probably...) but LX has a mission to fulfill in her stead: to become a high class heavenly soldier(??).
In human-verse. BQ has forgiven himself and moved on from loving XC. The current BQ no longer loves XC instead he loves LX. Well that majorly sucks for XC who died for him and made him forget her so he wouldn't be in pain. 
Ep28: Loving her will quicken his death. Okay, show.

Ep29: So to stop loving her they make him forget her. But before that they have their last date
he proposes then marries her right then and there promising to be with her forever (a promise he cannot keep).
Ep30: Xiao Xiao is my favourite character right now. Her friendship with Lin Xia is cute.
Ep32: Although he's forgotten her, they're like magnets, always finding each other
Ep33: Ah so she is XC reborn. And her father is her father. He's the father of XC and also the leader of the heaven soldiers. He's the one who gave her the heavenly mission.
In real time the villain kidnaps BQ. Lin Xia and Yang Jian rescues BQ. BQ then swallows the holy seed that the villain wants. We get a little interlude to allow for BQ and LX's reunion.
Ep34: While the reunion is happening the villain escapes. He then steals the holy seed again. But hold up, there's still dad. Oh, dad's hurt. Don't worry, there's still Jin Xia/Xiao Chou. She defeats the villain and then accepts her holy mission: saving all the spirits and allowing the soldiers to return to heaven. She won't be gone forever but for an indefinite amount of time.
JX is saying her emotional goodbyes to BQ but there's soooooooo much product placement! Ugh.

Thankfully there's still something cute in this drama: Xiao Xiao and Yang Jian. XX thinks YJ will leave to heaven but he stays for her. He gives her the bracelet but XX hasn't realized this yet as she tearfully leaves. When she goes back to retrieve the bracelet she drops, she realizes he's given up on being a heaven soldier (for her).

He's attempting his first ever forehead kiss but he's too slow for her so she plants her forehead on his lips. Cute. Love the OST during their scene. 

Ep35:
→ Ah Li is CEO. HA. That pretend cool face he has on xD.
→ Yang Jian is a police officer. So fitting. Him and XX are married! &&& They have a kid!!
→ Chef is alive.
→ Basically everyone is happy and paired up except BQ who's still waiting for LX.

On the anniversary of LX's departure, he drops his engagement ring (the makeshift ring from a nut) but a mysterious figure picks it up. Surprise, surprise its LX. BQ thought he was daydreaming so he ignores her. Aw. But its her and they kiss.

Happily ever after.

Ending Remarks

Show was too greedy with the plot in 35 episodes. We have amnesia x2, kidnap x2, forget-me x2, XC leaves once, LX leaves once, multiple personality disorders, and then there's all these mini-stories and secondary love lines.

The show gave so little time for LX's character to develop since she met XC. She's not XC but she is XC and now she has to carry out the mission XC could not complete. I felt so detached from LX's character. The show lost a lot of its fun since bad BQ's (or Hai Qi) appearance.

Not only that but I don't like the way the show introduced new elements late in the game. For example, all of a sudden she needs to save the world, then we get a talking tree that saves him, then loving her will quicken his death so lets forget her, then everyone wants this sacred seed, oh and then dad is actually a tribal leader, etc, etc. I need rules set out properly not spontaneously.

So torn that I had to give this such a low rating. Loved the beginning; it was comedic, it was beautiful. Then the drama lost me at episode 21 and the chemistry between the leads dried up. The cute ending can't make up for my disappointment. I really did want to like the beautiful world the drama had set up.

The saving grace of this show are the actors. Love Ah Li although he does more product placement than anything. Love Xiao Xiao, a breath of fresh air when the drama needed it most. Of notable mention: Yang Jian and Chef.

Rating: 2/5