I often saw other people’s review on Mirror: Tale of twin cities and some of them are negative so I decided to watch the drama myself and share my thoughts about it. I didn’t read the novel but I heard that the drama is different from the novel, they made a lot of changes. In the novel, Su Mo has no real feeling for Bai Ying at all. All he did was use Bai Ying to overturn Kongsang and try to rebuild the sea kingdom but it’s a different story in the drama.
First Impressions.
Firstly, I’m familiar with both Li Yifeng, Yunkee Chen and Zheng Ye Cheng, I watched Legend of Chusen, Ashes of love, Love of thouand years, Princess Weiyoung to name few of their dramas. I always talk about my expectations for a certain drama but I didn’t expect much from the drama because it’s regarded as a S+ drama, which means that they definitely worked hard to make this drama one of the best dramas to air. In the first episode, the opening music didn’t grab my attention, it would have been better if someone was singing but their opening theme great. The starting point of the drama quickly hooked me like a fish in the sea. This is how clever the writers are, they showed us the present situation for few minutes and then they take us back to 100 years ago where the main story began. You eventually ask yourself these questions, What happened 100 years ago? what will happen in the future? the more curious you get, the more interested you will be in the story. The storyline was on and off a bit but it’s just the first episode.
The Good.
1. Hooked fish.
I already talked about how the writers managed to get me interested in the drama because of the flashbacks but that’s not the only reason. The ending of the first episode also nailed down the last nail in the coffin by leaving me with more questions.
2. Cast.
I want to start with Yunkee Chen(Chen Yu Qi)’ character as Bai Yin, she has improved a lot with her acting skills and I’m glad she i finally getting the recognition but she it seemed like she a tough time tapping into the Bai Ying character. Li Yifeng was just Su Mo throughout the whole drama, it was hard reading his emotions but he can act! Zheng Ye Cheng was actually better than the two, if I can be honest and when you include other supporting cast especially those from Cang Liu, it’ full proof that there’s talent out there.
3. Chemistry.
I actually don’t consider this as good or bad but I just want to talk about it here. Look, if you’re looking for a drama that’s fully invested in romance episode after episode, don’t think about watching this drama. The main leads are obviously developing their relationship but the chemistry wasn’t enough. By looking at their actions towards each other you can feel the love but it didn’t click whenever they were together, maybe it’s because there were lots of missions and fights in each and every episode. In the first 10/12 episodes, they had great chemistry but the writers decided to move away from the romance and pair them together in missions… this is more like Legend of Fei main leads. You can decide if lack of chemistry is a good or bad thing but from my side, I want to put it here because the writers wanted to focus on a different angle and that’s why they made the main leads’ missions their number 1 priority.
4. Storyline.
It may have had one or two flaws but the storyline is fantastic and I really can’t wait to see what The longest promise has for us. It would’ve been better if The longest promise aired first then we can see Su Mo and Bai Ying and kids. The storyline had some great concepts like the “reincarnation”, it was unexpected and it’s rare to find a concept like this whenever there’s a merman involved.
5. Playlist.
As you are reading this, I have already downloaded the full playlist of this drama. This is the best playlist ever since Ancient Love Poetry.
The Bad.
1. Nearly became another Legend of Fei.
If you can remember Legend of Fei, viewers were annoyed by endless battles between the same sects in all episodes, same thing happened in this drama too. It’s been Kong Sang, Quan Xian sect vs Cang Liu since the beginning and they have had more than 20 battles but none of the leaders dies, either they get hurt or they run away. It’s one thing to have many battles but it’s another thing to set up the same ending in all the battles. Su Mo and others had many challenges to kill the generals of Cang Liu but they always gave them a chance to escape death, this is an insult to the viewers intelligence. I swear if this drama wasn’t good, I’d have dropped it because of this.
2. Bad Fighting scenes.
From the beginning, this drama didn’t invest a lot in fighting scenes but they should’ve at least give us epic battle scenes instead of 5 seconds of showdown with magic and then boom!!! The fight is over. Speaking of fights, that sky sword looked more like a toy for my little brother. I wasn’t convinced by that sword, it’s a good design but it was plain and a bit big which made it look awkward whenever they stabbed someone with it.
3. Editing.
I must admit, the underwater scenes were edited well compared what I saw in hear of loyalty but it wasn’t enough for a S+ drama. Another thing, I saw a ghost (spirit) shaking when the ground was shaking… a spirit that can float in the air was shaking!!!
4. No answers.
I don’t want to add spoilers in this review so I will circle around it. There are still questions that are left unanswered especially those that involves Zhi Zhe, how come he survived for 7000 years? Where did he get the powers? I think we deserve the answers unless if there’s a season two.
Conclusion.
43 episodes felt like 12 episodes if I can be honest, it took me only a week to finish this drama. The ending was a bit emotional, well executed compared to other dramas. Su Mo looked great with the white hair by the way and I wish producers could use the white hair idea on Li Yifeng in another drama. I totally recommend it but I wouldn’t watch it again even if I have time to spare. Again, the drama is awesome but it’s not the “rewatch” material, it’s more like a one hit wonder. It premiered, we watched it and gave it good ratings and reviews… that’s it, no more rewatching because the story will bore you if you watch it again. It’s more like listening to a new album from a certain artist, the album is fire but it doesn’t have that “play me again vibe”. Anyways, it was a great drama, I’m glad I took my time and watched it even though some people had negative views about it.
Ratings.
7.5/10
Exactly. I used about 5 days in watching it. Anyways, I had nothing to do though. I also don't feel like watching it again. I've tried about twice or so but anytime I watch an episode, I don't finish it. It kinda bores.