The Starry Love: Spoiler-Free Mini Review
- Jul 27
- 2 min read
Title: | The Starry Love (2023) |
Platform: | Viki, Youtube (free), Youku |
MDL Rating: | |
Genre: | Xianxia (High Fantasy)/ Romantasy |
Episode Count: | 40 |
Parental Guidance Rating: | PG-13: Fantasy violence and blood |
Staring: | Chen Xing Xu (Love Between Lines) Landy Li (Coroner's Diary) Luke Chen (Land of Warriors) He Xuan Lin (Dawn is Breaking) |
RBTS Rating: | 3.2/5 Stars (A cheesy Xianxia that subverted tropes and focused on sisterhood, but got lost in the episode count and repetitive storylines. Still worth a watch for fantasy lovers.)  |
Synopsis:
The queen of the human tribe gave birth to twin girls. Respected by the entire tribe, the older sister Qing Kui, who is gentle and kind, is betrothed to the heavenly prince. The younger sister, Ye Tan, smart and cunning, shunned by her own people, is betrothed to the demon prince. Due to a mix-up, the two sisters are married off to the wrong husbands. It paves the way for two beautiful romances and also ignites a conspiracy that shakes the four realms. @MDL
Stay Tuned: Full Review Still to Come!
Spoiler-Free Mini Review:
Starry Love is a refreshing Xianxia that shy's away from tired tropes, and embraces comedy and sisterhood in an accidental bride swap that explores family bonds, sacrifice, duty, and self determination. The drama doesn't feel like the usual fantasy fare and actually gave me Disney Channel vibes. I think it was the cheesy and goodhearted nature of many of the characters and the sets. It gave Descendants for some reason lol.
The Female Lead, Ye Tan, is chaos embodied and I thought she was hilarious. Her hijinks never ceased and I loved how the drama used her character to explore the idea that people have the individual choice to be good or evil, and nothing is really predetermined. Her sister, Qing Kui, complemented her nicely, and I loved her story with Chao Feng. It cracked me up how oblivious she was to his machinations. He Xuan Lin wasn't as strong of an actress as Landy Li, who I adored in this, but both sisters were engaging to watch.
Now for the boys: I liked the Male Lead character and his growth, but Chen Xing Xu never sold me as the right fit for the role. Luke Chen was fine as Chao Feng, but his brother stole his thunder lol.
Although Starry Love broke away from traditional Xianxia trope, it still carried the curse of repetitive storylines and too many episodes. The second half dragged a bit too much for me. But I do think Starry Love is still worth watching if you enjoy fantasy, sisterhood, and a nice splash of comedy.
Story=3.75 (expect alot of repetition), Acting=4, Production Quality=3.5, Rewatch Value=3, Ending=3, Enjoyability= 2.75
Trailer:
Director: Chu Yui Bun (Moonlight Mystique, Fated Hearts, Story of Kunning Palace)
Screenwriter: Ma Jia (Ashes of Love)
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