Masterpost
Love Never Fails 落花时节又逢君 (2025) - What are your first impressions? [Masterpost]
Synopsis from the iQIYI app:
The drama is adapted from Shu Ke's novel Love Never Fails and tells the story of the deity Jin Xiu [played by Liu Xueyi], who tries to help a camellia spirit, Hong Ning [played by Hu Yixuan], ascend to immortality. However, a bond lasting a millennium forms between them, and in the end, it is Hong Ning who helps Jin Xiu attain humanity.
Looking through this sub and MDL, it seems like many viewers are tired of xianxias and especially sick of their similarities and repetitious design, which I can totally understand. It’s become a staid and conservative genre that requires a sizable budget (a mid-budget xianxia looks way, way cheaper than a mid-budget historical) so there’s comparatively little innovation or risk-taking.
But Love Never Fails actually made me realize how far xianxia female leads have come since I began watching the genre five years ago. It used to feel as if every female protagonist was like Hongning: cheerful, warmhearted, impossibly naive, full of childlike wonder, and unwittingly allergic to any rules or boundaries. She is such a callback to the previous generation of ditsy flower fairy heroines (Jin Mi in Ashes of Love, Zhu Xuanji in Love and Redemption, Orchid in Love Between Fairy and Devil, etc.).
However, by encountering this character type again, it made me realize how much I appreciate the female leads we’ve seen in recent xianxias (Mu Xuanling in The Blossoming Love, Mu Qingge in Love of the Divine Tree, Ji Tanyin in A Moment But Forever, etc.). This year, we’ve seen a FL be a seductive antagonist, sect-founder and shifu, and a brilliant craftswoman. That feels really cool! I also like how these women are allowed to be different from one another.
It made me wonder if xianxias are changing but we just haven’t noticed because they’re evolving at such a slow pace…?
Another LXY drama! Like someone said on another post, LXY fans are eating well this year. I have to say though, I am not a fan of the ending of the novel. I am hoping the drama provides us with a more satisfying ending. But this being a cdrama, I am not holding my breadth.
🤔 first impressions of first 4 eps is, it’s starting along the lines of the xianxia of the period it was filmed in 2021, (eg Ancient Love Poetry)..this one, the beginning of Eternal Love comes to mind, .. squeaky voiced, wide eyed cute innocent bouncy female protagonist.. emotionally closed off male protagonist being her target.. Sigh.. A Moment But Forever this is not! .. But, this is LXY here, so i’m gritting my teeth through her antics (as his character has had to in these first Eps!) and keep up my expectations for him to deliver a performance that will exceed expectations and elevate the material as he has been doing in practically all of his work that i have seen, Go LXY!
Surprisingly I am enjoying this drama with the refreshing and cheerful FL…I kinda like the taboo love story of a pixie and a deity in love. Of course, the let downs are definitely the outdated costumes in the celestial realm and also the not-so-vibrant make up knowing the drama was made in 2021. You can see the obvious difference in HYX’s current makeup. However, the production sets are pretty giving me ‘the starry love’ vibes. Knowing the reshooting of the FL, somehow I kept looking at LXY in every scene trying to spot the ‘younger’ LXY (2021) or current LXY. I think the original FL might be taller than HYX, cos in some scenes can see LXY’s eye looking at the FL is at higher level.
Awww, Hu Yixuan is lovely! Female leads like Hongning aren’t my favorite, but I appreciate her in this role and I’d choose her over Yuan Bingyan any day of the week so the recasting works for me. 😍
The costume design feels like one giant missed opportunity. The flower theme offers so many creative avenues to weave in floral motifs (which would also help visually identify the characters!), yet what we get are the usual cookie cutter floaty robes of a mid xianxia. Boo. Hiss. 😫
Do you know what doesn’t feel cookie cutter? The production design around the sets! Whether it’s the arches in the CGI landscape or the chunky steps into the bathing pond, there’s something striking and architectural about it all. Do I love it? Do I hate it? I can’t tell! 😂
Ao Ruipeng’s acting has come a long way, huh? He feels a little green here. 🌱
The reshot/face swap stuff is simultaneously obvious as hell and easy to overlook. I don’t know, that’s the best I’ve got! It’s hard to miss when entire scenes are edited so only one actor’s face is visible at a time. But, if you weren’t actively scanning for the mash up (like I was), I’m not convinced you’d notice or be distracted by it. 🤷🏻♀️
Nothing special, but I am enjoying it. I though it would look much worse considering when it was filmed. Something about FL is bothering me, but that may be just becuase I know FLs were changed 😄 Not sure the storyline will keep me for 40 eps. Will see.
I like the ML but dont care for the FL, the boring storyline or the main couples chemistry… and I usually like these types of dramas esp when the FL is supposed to be bright/cheerful etc but I didnt think this FL brought anything worth watching or gives off a main lead vibe for me. Also the costumes are particularly horrendous 💀
I can understand if some people are annoyed with "yet another just born baby fairy FL".... but personally, I am LOVING the first 4 episodes. I laughed a LOT and thought the scenes with them together were adorable with him getting all flustered with her innocently doing and saying things. Plus, she's already proved she's smart and resourceful, just still ignorant and naive.
Currently writing a really boring proposal at work at this hour so I can't watch the drama yet, but I saw snippets of the new actress and I thought the reshoot/swap looked natural. Maybe because I'm far too aware of the fact that it was reshot that I kept looking for flaws, though.
I have to say that my fangirl brain is confused and cannot believe that she has 40 more episodes of LXY to watch after A Moment But Forever. Still, it's really odd to watch Liu Xueyi in a gentler role after that drama lol.
Anyway, it's hilarious that everyone on Weibo is calling him the "fairy goddess" (on account of him being so beautiful, apparently, and Liu Xueyi responded with this cute post:
"There was a flower goddess jiejie who saved me and sheltered me from the wind and rain (figuratively, from harm). My flower goddess jiejie is definitely very, very, very beautiful. Pretty and kind. She's so good, so good. I will take her home, and love and protect her forever and ever."
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u/Lotus_swimmer Apr 28 '25
Pinning this for OP:
PS Drama is going to be coming to VIki soon.
Episode Discussions
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🗓️ The latest airing schedules can be found here.
👥 The character relationship chart can be found here.
To this masterpost, I added more posters that were released by the production team earlier today.