Why it's driving me crazy not to talk about Till The End of The Moon

Posted by kara-karina@Nocturnal Book Reviews April 11, 2023

Why it's driving me crazy not to talk about Till The End of The Moon

Gals, gents, here is the thing. I've been shifting towards watching more Chinese dramas rather than k-dramas in the last few years for a few reasons.

First, I am far more interested in fantasy, sci-fi and period dramas than modern day life. Call it escapism, but it's what I prefer in my books as well. Korean TV is limited in that regard. You would find plenty of good paranormal romance and urban fantasy in modern day setting or rarely in Joseon era, but the only full scale fantasy I've seen based in ancient times was The Arthal Chronicles (amazing series, by the way, and it's on Netflix, so go watch it!).

China on the other hand does film a huge amount of wuxia and xinxia dramas, lots of period pieces as well. And in the recent years, there were a lot of phenomenal dramas.

Secondly, there is a fantastic sense of aesthetics, tons of excellent CGI and great acting. Definitely, c-dramas have been becoming more and more pleasing to the eye.

Third, I love the rich history, culture and language. (I'm studying Chinese, so it helps.)

So, shift to these types of dramas for me was inevitable, and in the last year especially I've watched quite a few of incredible dramas, and sobbed at their endings too. This year, I'm on my third unforgettable drama, by the way. First two were reviewed on this blog already (Blood of Youth, The Starry Love).

Till The End of The Moon is my third, and it takes the cake only at 16 episodes in (it has 40 in total). Its greatness have been driving me crazy to a point when I really want to talk about it.

First of all, people have been buzzing about this drama for a couple of years before it stated airing. The expectations were high because it's based on a popular novel and it has Luo Yunxi (one of my favourite actors) and Bai Lu. Also, Luo Yunxi is amazing in xinxia, and at playing morally grey characters. His character, Tantai Jin, is a total antihero!

This drama so far showing his whole range as he goes through a mass of difficult transformations. From a perfectly evil devil lord, to a bullied little boy of his own past unable to feel and process emotions, to a devious young man craving power to protect himself and destroy those who made him their victim (he totally reminds me a psychopath/sociopath there). As he amasses power there is one person besides him who through their love-hate relationship manages to change him and his behaviour. So, in other words, love changes him and his destiny.

Bai Lu plays a difficult character or even characters. First, she starts the drama fiercely hating Tantai Jin as their first encounter happens in the future where he destroys everyone she knows and loves while looking for an artifact as the devil lord. In order to stop him she is sent 500 years into the past, when Tantai Jin is still human and where she needs to try to stop him from dying and turning into the devil lord before she figures out how destroy the evil bone which would make him transform. Tantai Jin of the past is a weak hostage prince and a person without any political power, with strange cold appearance, bullied and betrayed all through his life by those around. Bai Lu , ironically, is sent into the body of Tantai Jin's wife, Ye Xiwu, one of his bullies, who tortures him for spoiling her devilish plans daily. Susu, the young immortal sent into the past, becomes a very different Ye Xiwu from the sadistic wife Tantai Jin remembers and hates, and slowly starts getting close to him, desperately trying to succeed in her mission. She is trying to be his moral compass and his anchor but ends up slowly falling for the would be evil god.

There is a lot going on here, folks, and I don't want to spoil it for you, but suffice to say, the plot is EPIC. The heroes pretty much live through three lives (at least the heroine), just like in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (a 2017 c-drama which started my obsession). And can I just say, that Leo Luo (Luo Yunxi) is such an amazing actor for the character. He kills it. He is fragile but fierce on the edge of cruelty, full of sharp angles. His chemistry with Bai Lu is also off the charts. They are incredible to watch together. Magnetic.

CGI, world-building and sets here, the fight scenes, the overall aesthetics all add to the excellence of this drama as well. I am hanging on each episode by the way and watching fan made videos, which means I am obsessed. So much so, that I didn't want to wait till the drama finishes airing before starting to gush about it.