July 13, 2023

An Ancient Love Song | Open Thread

An Ancient Love Song
An historian has four chances to time travel to his beloved "evil queen".
Notable Actors/Actresses
Zhang Ya Qin: Lu Yuan
Guo Jia Nan: Shen Bu Yan
Chinese Title
古相思曲
Networkbilibili
Year2023
Episodes: 14 + Special Ep

Jump to ReviewComments

Cast


Zhang Ya Qin:
Lu Yuan
Guo Jia Nan:
Shen Bu Yan
Zhu Lin Yu:
Yi Hua
Quan Yi Lun:
Lu Shi 

Romcom/Romance Checklist


How much of the plot is angst/romance?
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4.5 / 5
The ML
Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General /
The FL
Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better than ML / Noble Idiot / 
Describe the Relationship (the tropes):
Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / 
Relationship Progress (officially togetherfirst (official) kiss; breakup*):
Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 
# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 
2 / 3
Ending:
Happy / 
Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

Screencaps


[Ep1]
[Ep2]
[Ep3]
[Ep4]
[Ep5]
Empress.
Fate locked.
[Ep6]
[Ep7]
[Ep8]
[Ep9]
[Ep10]
[Ep11]
[Ep12]
[Ep13]
[Ep14]
[Special (Reversal) Episode]
"Goodnight Lady Lu" 

The last sound was from a Hawk. That's our Lu Yuan (yuan = baby hawk) flying away. She's finally free from the kite-string that kept her bounded.



Reviews



Five (5/5)


Four (4/5)

Reviewer: cynlynn
Date: July 2023
!! Spoilers in review !!
A love that transverses time.  A ridiculously perfect ending. A masterfully constructed narrative

Never have I seen a more perfect tragedy told with such exquisite beauty. Zhang Ya Qin is so convincing at every age. It's a love story that truly transcends time in the most heartbreaking way, a predestined tragedy that cannot be rectified. 

If only the ML showed up. The 2ML beats him in visuals. And every actor is a better actor than him. The character is also written questionably. Did his appearance push her towards her tragedy? Isn't he supposed to be smart with a wealth of knowledge? Honey, why don't you activate that brain?

The biggest flaw for me is that such a visceral romance like this didn’t capture my heart. My feelings just weren't that deep into this one. I don’t know whether it’s too tragic and I’m just bracing my heart or the ending is too obvious from the beginning or it’s ML. Regardless of my feelings though, this is the type of drama that needs to win awards. 

!! Ending Spoilers !! 

This show is ridiculously perfect in ending itself. Usually there are things to explain, thoughts to extrapolate, but with the special episode, absolutely everything is eviscerated, dissected inside out, backwards, and forwards. There’s no ground they left untouched. I'm only a messenger of these ending details: 
  • The snapped chord (段弦) means widowed. It’s derived from the saying that Qin and Se (琴瑟) are two string instruments that play in perfect harmony, akin to marital harmony. To snap a chord in one of them means a break in that harmony. Essentially to Lu Yuan, she’s already married to Shen Bu Yan. 
  • The jade allowed Shen Bu Yan to time travel 4 times. The two extra times they got to meet was because they made a wish to the tree. Lu Yuan hung hers on the tree. SBY left 5 RMB at the stand (see comment for picture). The first and last episode is where they both saw each other for the first and last time.
I also really like the message that the ending might be predestined, immutable, but the narrative can be changed. Our perspectives can. 

Goodbye Lady Lu. I hope you can fly like an eagle now, free and boundless. (And find a better guy in your next life!)


Three (3/5)


Two (2/5)



One (1/5)




Recommendations


Time Loop Fantasy Happy Ending
Reset Oh My Drama Lover Forever and Ever

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