October 28, 2023

Blooming | Open Thread + Reviews

Blooming
A man tries to avoid his fate of turning into a demon.
Notable Actors/Actresses
Fang Yi Lun: Cui Chen 
Huang Ri Ying: Zhao Tan Tan
Director
Chinese Title
一念花開
Blooming With Yearning
NetworkYouku
Year2023
Episodes: 30

Jump to Reviews | Remarks | RecsComments  

The Alternative Poster



Cast


Fang Yi Lun:
Cui Chen (Mo Bai)
Huang Ri Ying:
Zhao Tan Tan
Ma Xin Mo:
Feng Bao
Qiu Shi Lun:
Qiu Yue Bai
Fang Pin Qi:
Xue Yi
Cui En Qi:
Hu Meng
Wu Hai Long:
Zi Meng
Yang Jin Cheng:
Huai Meng

Qian Yong Chen:
Qing Zhu Feng (Shifu)


Romcom/Romance Checklist



How much of the plot is angst/romance?
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 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 / 15 / 16* / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30
# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Ending:
Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

Screencaps


[Ep1]
[Ep2]
[Ep3]
[Ep4]
Salt Sesame Bae XD!!
[Ep5]
[Ep6]
[Ep7]
[Ep8]
Don't get in his way.
His smirk.
[Ep9]
He's pouting.
[Ep10]
[Ep11]
Flattering. lol
[Ep12]
[Ep13]
She's in love.
[Ep14]
Horrifying...to have three of her.
[Ep15]
[Ep16]
[Ep17]
[Ep18]
[Ep19]
2ML's doll of FL. xD!
[Ep20]
[Ep21]
[Ep22]
[Ep23]
[Ep24]
[Ep25]
[Ep26]
[Ep27]
[Ep28]
[Ep29]
[Ep30]

Remarks


by FanFanX



[First Impression (Ep1-4)] This is a weird one. I've been uninspired by most of Fang Yi Lun's newer series, because, for me, they've been unable to surpass my favorite character of his, The Love by Hypnotic's Li Qian. His sweet spot (for me) is in costume with silliness enough. Yes, this series is definitely low budget, as you can tell from the costumes, set design and CGI application. I'm really here for him. >_> My screencaps are slightly biased. [But not my review.]

I honestly do not like Zhao Tan Tan (FL) right now – So annoying! Of note, there are many spirits/supernatural beings... 
 
FYI: This is the same director behind The Romance of Tiger and Rose with South Wind Knows' scriptwriter – neither of which I've watched (nor will I). 

[Behind the Scenes

→ Ep12. Fang Yi Lun has gotten more toned since TLBH. 😲🫣
→ Well, he also can't break a stick. xD 


[OST

MV of Fang Yi Lun's song (with the cast!)
Trouble 麻烦 | 双头怪 - I hate this one and it matches nothing. 
 

[Ending] Happy. Viewer is not though.


Reviews



Five (5/5)


Four (4/5)


Three (3/5)


Two (2/5)


One (1/5)

Reviewer: FanFanX
Date: November 2023
Just skip this. Don’t let Fang Yi Lun in a costume fool you, like he did me. I barely made it through the first 20 eps and then took a break. When I returned, I had to fast forward through the remaining eps as the plot just disintegrated into utter nonsense. This is so poorly written, and clearly on a low budget with its set and costume designs and has a peculiar use of CGI. I imagine that a scurry of squirrels got into the writers’ workstation while said writers were inebriated one night. And whilst nursing hangovers later, they decided to submit this pile of garbage to the higher-ups. This is insulting to Fang Yi Lun, who continues striking out as ML, and Huang Ri Ying, who plays an unlikable FL. I hope both forget about this one as will I. 30 eps is clearly too long, as this series might’ve been more palatable at maybe 20 eps at best. It tried so hard to be a xianxia, which it isn’t, and never recovered from its mid-series slump. If I could rate this lower than a 1, I would do so on a massive headstone. However, I’ll settle for a board and some paint as it would be more on par with this series’ budget. Avoid this series.

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Rating: 1/5



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