[Mainland Chinese Drama 2022] Immortal Samsara 沉香如屑

[rabbit_casa]

This drama had so much potential in the beginning with the amazing acting of Cheng Yi and Yang Zi, but the messy post-production has ruined it, especially in part 2. I understand the need to cut down the length of the drama for license approval but why not other parts, but why the parts when it is already close to the climax? 

It feels like the drama is already halfway showing and they are like: 'oh, it is too long, how's abt cutting the bits here and there and we will make it down 21 eps'!!!

At least if they are going to cut bits here and there, they could make it less conspicuous. The jumping between scenes made me so confused about what was going on. It feels like a joke that they said this drama was high budget as the post-production work was so unprofessional.

I really feel for Cheng Yi, Yang Zi, other actors and staff who have worked so hard for this project only for it to be completely messed up by the patchy editing.

[leo2020]

4 hours ago, rabbit_casa said:

This drama had so much potential in the beginning...

 

At least if they are going to cut bits here and there, they could make it less conspicuous. The jumping between scenes made me so confused about what was going on. It feels like a joke that they said this drama was high budget as the post-production work was so unprofessional.

I really feel for Cheng Yi, Yang Zi, other actors and staff who have worked so hard for this project only for it to be completely messed up by the patchy editing.

Yes, I should say the first "Heavenly Realm" part was very good, and almost all "Mortal Realm" arc from part 1 was good as well...and when we got this "part 2" and unfortunately I immediately smelled disaster coming our way...I got hope again when they were back to Heavenly Realm, there were many very enjoyable moments there. And then those ending episodes came...and I lost it completely. Now I can only pray those additional episodes could tie all ends and show us some satisfying moments to remember this drama on a positive note...

 

[Keekiii]

13 hours ago, leo2020 said:

Thank you for sparing my time to type everything I wanted to say. Exactly my thoughts here. 

I literally made it through eps 56-59  only bcs Cheng Yi and Yang Zi did a very good job. 

Everything else-a complete mess, logic and sanity died somewhere at ep 55... at some moments I really couldn't understand what is going on like at all, bcs they seem to just chop some info/backstory. Such a huge disappointment(((. 

Overall, part 2 could be brilliantly characterized by @SC2019 

Re YM character- I actually liked the character in general, but not the way they  portrayed him, and sorry, but the actor just couldn't deliver at all. Such a waste.

 

Thanks for all who mentioned additional episodes coming, I sincerely hope they would respect the viewers and give proper endings to all the main cast. 

Lol. Unfortunately this is one of those shows that had such potential but due to not being able to show the full story it just crashed. Really not sure what was going on with the edit team there. It seemed like two diff people edited part 1 and part 2… sigh. I felt like part 1 had too many useless scenes while they could have used them for part 2 story. 
 

 still do love the main actors. They’re def one of the top. I saw in a BTS where Yangzi was really crying then it was a cut and she laughed at something then cried again. I don’t even know how you would do that. Lol I either don’t cry or I cry hard and forever. I do know I think the golden hairpin is one of her next big shows coming out and then lotus casebook for chengyi. 

 

ugh can’t believe we still have to wait few days for the special. But I’ve heard it’s going to be good 

 

Now I can focus on love between fairy and devil at least. Not sure what to watch after that lol. 

[杨过是大哥哥]

completed the drama with no fast forward except the opera part around ep19

 

I rate it 6.8/10

very slightly above average

disappointing it didn't match the hype

the middle part drag too long and lost momentum

too many scenes of transferring power while injuring themselves , similar to this production studio's 听雪楼

repetitive scenes of the lamp spirit and the young dragon queen fawning over their idol

 

about the final episode when they had a sword duel and stab each other , next scene they were not injured

I was momentarily confused , did he unlock his father's spirit for a revival ?

after the scene completed , the duo is just his imagination , to bid farewell and let go of his regrets as an orphan , the dead did not revive and his father's spirit still had regrets @ that moment of death

[leo2020]

8 hours ago, 杨过是大哥哥 said:

 

I rate it 6.8/10

very slightly above average

 

Hi, so you think it's in general of better quality than Love Between Fairy and Devil (I just remember you put it around 6.5, that's why I ask )?

[杨过是大哥哥]

3 hours ago, leo2020 said:

Hi, so you think it's in general of better quality than Love Between Fairy and Devil (I just remember you put it around 6.5, that's why I ask )?

Yeah i think LBFAD had a more restrictive or narrow CGI world while ImmortalSamsara used more physical prop and actors.

 

example LBFAD describe their immortal city SYT having thousands of citizens , but they are all masked people and behaved more like henchmen , too similar to the masked henchmen people living in the cave in 新萧十一郎 (youtube any episode, front theme song 1:05)

 

There is something wrong with this forum or my browser adblock

for the past 1 week , it takes me incredible amount of refreshing to post once

[BreezeC]

14 hours ago, 杨过是大哥哥 said:

about the final episode when they had a sword duel and stab each other , next scene they were not injured

I was momentarily confused , did he unlock his father's spirit for a revival ?

after the scene completed , the duo is just his imagination , to bid farewell and let go of his regrets as an orphan , the dead did not revive and his father's spirit still had regrets @ that moment of death

 

My interpretation of this scene -

Spoiler

In the demon realm, they can conjure up a person's worst nightmare and fear - that's why HuanQin conjured up YY's father because he knows YY's bloodline is YY's greatest fear and that stem from his father. Remember YY grew up thinking that his father from the Asura clan seduced his mother and he is born out of deceit, believing he is the product of wrongdoing and can doom the world. I believe the scene is to show that YY's finally resolve his childhood 'fear' and that he is born out of love. His father loves his mother and willing to shorten his lifespan to continue reversing time to revive his mother, as it doesn't matter how long a life you live but how meaningful you live it. Also, YY realized that his mother died to protect the world but at the same time, he is born to protect the world because with his birth, his father stopped to dominate the world. Overall, there is no resolution to his father and his mother characters or story because they died already but this is the resolution and interpretation of their story by their son in his mind. I actually quite like this scene. 

 

In addition, I really like the fact that the message behind the story regarding 'bloodline'. You will think that once they exposed YY's bloodline, everyone will be against him but those people who benefited or received his kindness in the past are willing to believe him and stand by his side. Actions speak louder than your bloodline. His father's follower wanted him to live up to his bloodline and revive his people, but YY stand strong as he said he is not defined by his bloodline but himself. Absolutely love it when he said his title to Lingjiang when he kept calling him young master. Also YY said that one's righteousness can only be achieved through understanding, not cultivating (also, in the lyric of the themesong) I can't help but compare that to HuanQin who removed his 'bloodline' to be a god, but his greed and hatred ultimately defined him.

 

[leo2020]

2 hours ago, 杨过是大哥哥 said:

新萧十

2 hours ago, 杨过是大哥哥 said:

Yeah i think LBFAD had a more restrictive or narrow CGI world while ImmortalSamsara used more physical prop and actors.

 

example LBFAD describe their immortal city SYT having thousands of citizens , but they are all masked people and behaved more like henchmen , too similar to the masked henchmen people living in the cave in 新萧十一郎 (youtube any episode, front theme song 1:05)

 

There is something wrong with this forum or my browser adblock

for the past 1 week , it takes me incredible amount of refreshing to post once

 

I'm not familiar with this drama "新萧十一郎",  but I've checked the opening as you recommended, thanks))). Actually you're right, they used masked people

in many dramas already.

Sorry to hear you have problems while posting(((.

@BreezeC hi, may be you can help me with smth- during that scenes towards the ending, when YY has gone pretty crazy when he lost His Supreme Magesty's spirit, I really couldn't understand why YY wasn't able to control his Asura powers by himself and only with the help of the spirit? Bcs other Asuras seemed to be completely fine with their powers, even his dad.  Have I missed smth? 

 

[BreezeC]

1 hour ago, leo2020 said:

 

@BreezeC hi, may be you can help me with smth- during that scenes towards the ending, when YY has gone pretty crazy when he lost His Supreme Magesty's spirit, I really couldn't understand why YY wasn't able to control his Asura powers by himself and only with the help of the spirit? Bcs other Asuras seemed to be completely fine with their powers, even his dad.  Have I missed smth? 

 

 

Good question  I don't think they explained the 'why' but that it is a fact. (anyone feel free to correct me if I missed anything) However, I did saw a weibo post of someone's interpretation of this and it makes the most sense to me - 

 

YY is not a pure Asura - he is a mix of the two most powerful bloodline in this world (Asura's king and Primordial goddess), therefore, his existence should be forbidden. The world should be a place of balance, the two great powers should balance each other, right and wrong, light and dark, good and evil etc and not coexist. Both powers cannot coexist in one being and that's why if he released his Asura power, he would lose his mind completely beyond his control. That's why the heaven king need to help him suppress his Asura power as it will result in catastrophe in three ways (which I was hoping the drama could explain it better, but they just said this will happen without any explanation on the 'why')

 

1) YY will lose his mind and bring chaos to the world

2) His mother's seal will be broken, and no barrier will exist to divide the three realms for peace

3) All the Asura soldiers will be resurrected for war

 

Some other thoughts about the ending - 

Spoiler

Some people were comparing YY's destiny as a dead-end chess match - since the day he is born, he is doomed for this ending as the only way out is to sacrifice...But remember that YD is an expert in chess match and always able to turn things around... at the end, when YD sacrificed herself to be with YY, we see that YY still have that small bit of gold spirit left and YD's pink spirit was wrapping around him. 

 

I don't know what's the extra surprise tomorrow, but my thought is that at the ending of 59, when both of their spirits fly into the censer, they will be revived since based on their previous dialogues, the agarwood never turned to ashes - hence the chinese name of the drama for Part 2 - so I am hopeful 

 

[leo2020]

38 minutes ago, BreezeC said:

 

Good question  I don't think they explained the 'why' but that it is a fact. (anyone feel free to correct me if I missed anything) However, I did saw a weibo post of someone's interpretation of this and it makes the most sense to me - 

 

YY is not a pure Asura - he is a mix of the two most powerful bloodline in this world (Asura's king and Primordial goddess), therefore, his existence should be forbidden. The world should be a place of balance, the two great powers should balance each other, right and wrong, light and dark, good and evil etc and not coexist. Both powers cannot coexist in one being and that's why if he released his Asura power, he would lose his mind completely beyond his control. That's why the heaven king need to help him suppress his Asura power as it will result in catastrophe in three ways (which I was hoping the drama could explain it better, but they just said this will happen without any explanation on the 'why')

 

1) YY will lose his mind and bring chaos to the world

2) His mother's seal will be broken, and no barrier will exist to divide the three realms for peace

3) All the Asura soldiers will be resurrected for war

Wow, thanks a lot, this info definitely helps me to understand why he went off rails

Spoiler

and sacrificed himself in the end(all that mother's seal story was very ubrupt, btw). 

 

I was totally not expecting any sort of death or bad ending, honestly, bcs they have that photo of YY and YD together dressed in Heavenly Realm-style garb, with YD wearing smth like a pearl crown/ leader of Magic Artifact Pavillion's head piece - smth like that-,  and I thought that might be he becomes a Heavenly Emperor and she is his queen (or at least head of the Pavillion).  Silly me

 

[杨过是大哥哥]

I remember in the very early episodes , YY had total control in suppressing his bloodline.

 

It's after the magic barrier was damaged and he overused his powers to repair it .... that left his powers too low and unable to continue suppressing his internals. The emperor back-filled what was required like a patch on a cracking wall.

[Keekiii]

8 hours ago, 杨过是大哥哥 said:

I remember in the very early episodes , YY had total control in suppressing his bloodline.

 

It's after the magic barrier was damaged and he overused his powers to repair it .... that left his powers too low and unable to continue suppressing his internals. The emperor back-filled what was required like a patch on a cracking wall.

I don’t remember the earlier scene but in the last few episodes 

Spoiler

Apparently the emperor left a bit of his soul in YY so he won’t be demonized if the asura powers were open. (I don’t remember this happening in the earlier episodes but when he opened HQ coffin and realized it’s the emperor he then mentioned it ). I don’t think it’s really explained that well tho. 

 

I just  watched watched the “special surprise” and am even more confused

 

Spoiler

The first one was just super awkward lol. It’s like few mins of them awkwardly kissing lol. But I’m not quite sure what happened. Maybe when they died they reincarnated into mortals? But didn’t they destroy their souls? Then next one was cute but it also felt like they just inserted it randomly  

im still deciding if I want to rewatch before I make an opinion. But I was def disappointed in part 2. This drama really had so much potential and I’m a bit sad they choose to rough edit and cut out scenes.  

[SC2019]

for those who are wondering what happened in the two special episodes or easter eggs as they are called (released today), it's finally up on a site, about 8 minutes each! 

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

For the first special, it's a scene of the Emperor and the celestial beings celebrating as peace has now descended among the three realms. Lots of dancing, drinking and merry-making. Then we see the place (I think its the retreat where YY was nursing his eyes in part 1 where he was blind, sorry I've not really watched all episodes but I guess it's so because the place has a pond with lots of lotuses OR it's the place where Tang Zhou was soaking in the lake in  the mortal world, one of these places anyway...). It's full of lotuses and there's some energy nurturing the lotuses, zapping around. YY first materialises and he touches his heart, look of wonderment on his face. Then, he looks at the lotuses and calls out YD's name. She replies and calls him turtle-flipping deity. This is followed by scenes of hugging, kissing and walking around in the mortal world at night. They release a lotus lantern into the lake (the faint words on the lantern roughly translate to "the agarwood incense did not extinguish, together forever". [THE END]

 

Second special

Yu Mo receives a report that the neighbour is intruding into their special grounds again. He goes to check and sees a little boy by a lake trying to catch fish. It's Yan Dan and Ying Yuan's son called Goudan. He's trying to catch fish for his mother because it's her birthday and the mother loves fish. Yu Mo comments that his skills are inadequate for catching fish and asks him if his father has not taught him how to. He then tells the little boy to watch closely as he demonstrates how to catch fish (using his magical skills). Fishes fly from the lake into the basket.

 

[The little boy calls him Hei Tu and doesn't know who he is.] The next scene shows the little boy serving the parents food and the parents ask him how he got the fish - did he steal it? He is indignant and tells them where he caught it from - the lake (he names a place). The father says it can't be because the lake owner doesn't like people taking things from the lake. The boy says he had help, it's someone he doesn't know who's called Hei Tu (Yu Mo). Both parents smile and YD tells the son to thank him in future if he sees him again.

 

The next scene shows the mortal world, it's an indoor theatre (?) where YD showcases her plays. I think it's the sort of place where you can eat, drink and watch people perform a stage play. It's probably a place that YD opened. Some of the celestial beings have sneaked from the heavens to watch the play. And of course, Yu Mo and the rest are here too. They made a bet as to who would marry first, Yu Mo or Chao Lan, and it turns out that Chao Lan's father held a competition to see who can win the daughter's hand in marriage and the winner was someone who she fancies. They all congratulate her. The turtle spirit (the one who married the vixen) asks YD where is the little devil, and the mother retorts what do you mean by little devil, my son is out fishing with Zhi Ling. The turtle spirit says the son is exactly like someone (YY) who keeps wanting to flip him over (like father like son), and tells them to watch out for him. Yu Mo complains to YD that her son is just like her, always looking for someone to back him up/ a strong supporter. YD chides them and tells them not to call them by their nicknames. I think one of the nemesis from Part 1 appears, reincarnated asking YD for her signature (I suspect it's the one that was formerly a lamp?), claiming to be an ardent fan. YD gives her the autograph and wishes this person well. YD passes a remark to YY that she is happy to be here surrounded by friends and family and wishes that this moment would stand still. YY says that cannot be, they still have yet to spend a thousand years together, and to watch as her plays unfold, one story at a time. They reach out to hold each other's hands.

 

Before the next scene is shown, there's a header - it roughly translates into "heart stopping moment" and it's essentially a wedding scene with YY and YD decked in the white celestial-looking gowns. There is no explanation as to when this was and where it was, it's just there. 

 

There you have it folks, the summary of the two-part special.

 

[杨过是大哥哥]

The fan asking for autograph was from episode 19 , the opera singer Jiang Chen , her first friend after reborn into mortal world. She is happy she got reborn just like herself and YY.

 

Since there is this reborn function , I will take a few minutes to recall which magic characters died and console myself ....

hmmm , maybe her sister ? the tomb trap magician ?

 

When watching these extra clips with revivals , I was very worried this is an "inception" or fake world inside his/her mind in time dilation.

 

 

 

In my opinion this 7 + 8 minutes could have been the proper ending.

Since it is not an official episode I will not change my rating score , it remains an unacceptable bad ending.

The director or editor should give us a reason for doing this.

[Cayu18]

24 minutes ago, 杨过是大哥哥 said:

The fan asking for autograph was from episode 19 , the opera singer Jiang Chen , her first friend after reborn into mortal world. She is happy she got reborn just like herself and YY.

 

Since there is this reborn function , I will take a few minutes to recall which magic characters died and console myself ....

hmmm , maybe her sister ? the tomb trap magician ?

 

When watching these extra clips with revivals , I was very worried this is an "inception" or fake world inside his/her mind in time dilation.

 

 

 

In my opinion this 7 + 8 minutes could have been the proper ending.

Since it is not an official episode I will not change my rating score , it remains an unacceptable bad ending.

The director or editor should give us a reason for doing this.

I quite agree it’s short enough where they could have included it in the ending. It actually seems like it originally was the actual ending to the episode to be honest. The episode they aired seemed to end abruptly and seemed unfinished too. I feel like they separated it to get the reaction the got. Seems like a case of any publicity is good publicity and then come a week later to give the true ending. But at this point it’s too late to redeem my final thoughts. It a no rewatch for me because the ending last week left a bad taste in my mouths. It’s also a don’t recommend as well because I would never want another person to go thru the same experience as I did when watching the end.

[BreezeC]

Well...that's a wrap lol 

 

Spoiler

I didn't expect anything more than they get revived with a HE ending and they just gave us that - nothing more - no further explanation on anything other than a sweet epilogue...

 

Even sad, I prefer the original ending which had a lasting impression for me rather than combining it together... I may be the minority, but I felt that the meaning of their sacrifice is more meaningful that way... and then later we get a snip of the epilogue of their happy ending which is sweeter that way...

 

I just realized that all three main leads; wishes did come true at the end with this epilogue -

 

YY - World peace

YD - Well-known play writer

YM - YD's happiness

 

Also, some minor observations 1) Poor YM is not only obedient to YD but to her son as well, he had to close his eyes when he helps the child catch fishes 2) YY is finally eating crabs with his own hand (assuming he will be serving YD now lol) 3) At the theater, did someone said Lu Ming planted the watermelon? Does that mean Lu Ming is still alive? 4) YD's latest play is call "Chen Xiang Ru Xie aka Agarwood Like Crumbs" - I suddenly have a wild assumption that the entire Part 1 of immortal Samara is written as YD's play (in which it ended with YD regaining her memory and deciding to leave YY) or the actual novel is YD's play (in which she chose to be with YM instead). In real life, she got her happiness with YY but in her play, she chose to give YM a happy ending instead? Just my wild thoughts lol 

 

 

All in all I did enjoy this drama a lot - mainly for the main leads' performance and I still plan to rewatch some part of the drama for the leads but probably not the entire drama. I think I need a break from Xianxia (unless the longest promise decided to drop on us) but both CY and YZ's drama will be on my to-watch list going forward 

[leo2020]

@SC2019 thank you so much for the summery of the additional mini-episodes

 

OK people, I'm really tired of this drama...

 

I'm totally with @Keekiii and everyone who is still dissatisfied with all they presented us. And that two 2 special episodes are just meeee

 

I pity some characters whose screen time was waisted for nothing, starting with YM and CL. With YM I partly blame actor's lack of acting skills here, but overall the production put YM in a position of a useless third weel, especially in the end. I insist they should have better sticked  to the original idea they put in our heads at the beginning of the show. They clearly set it themselves- he rang CL's bell and this means he is her significant other by fate. Should he have fallen in love with her in the end, or should she have died, or some another variation- it doesn't matter. And instead, look where it all ended up . She is marrying some tournament champion?!!! And even fancies him?! Ridiculous (((. 

Not to mention that weird "love trio" with Huanqin, Liu Wei Yang and Tao Zi Qi. I loved the last two as a couple in Love and Redemption, and they really did not convince me here. Very "weak" characters in terms of onscreen chemistry(((.  I felt like Huanqin had more "chemistry" with YY, and LEY - with the girls from his sect in the Mortal world(((. 

 

Ohhh, I'm certainly not going to rewatch part 2. I remember when they announced the project I read some rumors that Yang Zi took the role only bcs she had contract obligation, that she didn't want to play the role. She still did her job great,  as her partner did as well, but honestly I think she deserved better.  

[Keekiii]

9 hours ago, leo2020 said:

@SC2019 thank you so much for the summery of the additional mini-episodes

 

OK people, I'm really tired of this drama...

 

I'm totally with @Keekiii and everyone who is still dissatisfied with all they presented us. And that two 2 special episodes are just meeee

 

I pity some characters whose screen time was waisted for nothing, starting with YM and CL. With YM I partly blame actor's lack of acting skills here, but overall the production put YM in a position of a useless third weel, especially in the end. I insist they should have better sticked  to the original idea they put in our heads at the beginning of the show. They clearly set it themselves- he rang CL's bell and this means he is her significant other by fate. Should he have fallen in love with her in the end, or should she have died, or some another variation- it doesn't matter. And instead, look where it all ended up . She is marrying some tournament champion?!!! And even fancies him?! Ridiculous (((. 

Not to mention that weird "love trio" with Huanqin, Liu Wei Yang and Tao Zi Qi. I loved the last two as a couple in Love and Redemption, and they really did not convince me here. Very "weak" characters in terms of onscreen chemistry(((.  I felt like Huanqin had more "chemistry" with YY, and LEY - with the girls from his sect in the Mortal world(((. 

 

Ohhh, I'm certainly not going to rewatch part 2. I remember when they announced the project I read some rumors that Yang Zi took the role only bcs she had contract obligation, that she didn't want to play the role. She still did her job great,  as her partner did as well, but honestly I think she deserved better.  

 

i do remember reading somewhere that yangzi had to do this due to her contract with (can’t remember the name now lol) and I also remember fans were not happy she took this. This was before the airing but said something like fans were angry since she’s way above this role. Which I do get. Both the mains are. But she def owned it. 
 

 

ugh YM Would have def been better with any other actor that showed emotion. Even the tears made me cringe .. i don’t even get why they had the bell for chaolan.. felt like they wanted to do more with it but was like ehhh we gotta cut it shorter. Also towards the end I completely forgot about the sea dragon characters until they randomly popped up again. I actually do not think i’ll be rewatching as well. I thought about it and then was like eh i’ll prob be even more confused. But almost done with love between fairy and devil and that one I highly recommend. 

[杨过是大哥哥]

Other than the first ending song duet , getting a music video released months before airdate .....

 

there is no other music video on official youtube channel ... unless i missed it

 

I think it's a wasted opportunity , other drama try to stuff 2-3 music video as promotion materials

[leo2020]

1 hour ago, 杨过是大哥哥 said:

Other than the first ending song duet , getting a music video released months before airdate .....

 

there is no other music video on official youtube channel ... unless i missed it

 

I think it's a wasted opportunity , other drama try to stuff 2-3 music video as promotion materials

I've noticed a long time ago Youku is very bad in marketing and promoting their dramas. Especially compared with other major platforms.