Review of Love Between Fairy and Devil / 苍兰诀

I am going to admit: Chinese dramas historically have not been my groove. Whenever I’ve tried to watch a mainland Chinese dramas I’ve typically been unable to finish it by the time it hits a certain episode.

Part of the problem there might be the fact I tend to click play on Chinese dramas that have an insane amount of episodes compared to what I’m used to, but you’d think as someone who speaks advanced level Mandarin I could get into them. I don’t know what compelled me to press play on this drama, if we’re going to be honest.

I had never heard of it before and I also typically don’t go for fantasy dramas, let alone Chinese historical fantasy dramas. But from the depths of my Netflix Love Between Fairy and Devil appeared from the abyss, and I pressed play on it.

At first, I was rolling my eyes, but, a week later, I was pressing pause on the very last episode. I’d spent hours binge watching the show, cheering whenever the highs appeared and booed whenever the lows. It was one of those rare shows that had kept my attention almost all the way through. That’s impressive.

Onwards with the review!

An orchid fairy accidentally sets free an imprisoned Devil Lord, changing their fates forever.

Love Between Fairy and Devil is an absolute rollercoaster of thirty-six episodes, but let me recap as much as possible without getting too deep into what every single episode is about.

In the beginning, we meet Xiao Lanhua, an orchid fairy who lives in Shuiyuntian. Her master has left her a long time ago in order to travel the realms, but there’s something special about Xiao Lanhua already: her root has been damaged.

It becomes a source of insecurity, but we learn pretty early on that Xiao Lanhua is destined for greater things. Although the other fairies might get jealous of her relationship to the God of War, who clearly has a crush on her, Xiao Lanhua ends up accidently freeing the Lord Devil Dongfang Qingcang.

They end up switching bodies, and the only way for them to switch back is if they kiss. Dongfang Qingcang wants to eliminate Lanhua immediately upon switching back into his body, but as he discovers, whenever she gets hurt or feels a certain way, he is also able to feel whatever she is. So when she gets harmed by a series of circumstances, he comes to rescue her.

The beginning of the show builds in a way that Lanhua can’t seem to survive on her own without him. She is weak and kind of whiny, but one of the more remarkable elements that threads throughout is that she manages to hold her ground by the end.

As nefarious forces come together to try and create evil in the realms, it’s up to these two to try and stop whomsoever is lurking in the shadows. But as Lanhua’s inner secret—that she might be a reincarnation of a goddess—comes to the surface, she is exiled from Shuiyuntian and sent to Dongfang Qingcang’s kingdom after she is tortured by her own former comrades. Thus begins many more subplots where they head into the human world, turning this into a historical fantasy drama even more, and meeting the human counterparts of those in the higher realms.

A new arc begins in Qingcang’s kingdom, as the people there are not fond of her, and when her shopkeeper friend appears to be chased out of Shuiyuntian, Lanhua has a new friend to keep her company. Her friend also falls in love of sorts with the protector of Qingcang, his loyal dragon. But even her intentions aren’t pure as we find out she is being manipulated by the enemy to lead Lanhua to them.

As all of this is happening, the two are falling for each other. In the earlier episodes, Dongfang Qingcang refuses to acknowledge Lanhua as a human being, but the care for the girl, stemming from the need to protect her, leads into love and devotion. When he decides to turn her into his queen, he tortures himself for the right to prove their love is worthy.

When he goes absolutely insane, driven by the power of darkness, and Lanhua is killed, he grieves for her and takes care of the plant that created her. Granted, the final arc is one where she turns into her original form as the goddess, and the show goes on one last rollercoaster narrative arc.

Overall Thoughts

This is a really fascinating drama with a lot of complex world building, and I could never do that fact justice in retelling what happened in it.

Like I said before, the fact I kept watching was fairly impressive in itself, and I thought that the production value in this drama was next level, even if some of the graphics and CGI were corny at times.

My only major complaint is that the narrative felt like it was dragging itself out, especially during the arc when they are in the human world. I thought that it could’ve been shortened a bit, especially because towards the end we are thrusted in a full sprint towards the final events. Things happen quickly and I felt there wasn’t enough time to process that fact in the end.

All in all, what a good drama this was. The acting was also fairly solid from both leads.

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