Are you a fan of the good girl falls for the bad boy trope? Or the body-switch trope? Then here is the drama for you! Love between Fairy and Devil not only delivers an adorable love story, but also questions our preconceptions of good and bad and reminds us of the prices we have to pay for both love and hatred alike.
Plot
Two people from opposing worlds, statuses and power are forced together due to a mishap that leads them to switch bodies whenever they kiss under thunder storms. This result in an unexpected love story between the innocent Orchid Fairy (Xiao Lanhua) and the ultimate threat to the universe, the demon Dongfang Qingcang.
Orchid accidently free the demon who had been locked away for over 30,000 years, in the process both of their bodies come to be linked together. Not only do they switch bodies when kissing each other, but Dongfang Qingcang feels every sensation and emotion Orchid does, ultimately tying the demon lord’s life with the innocent and powerless fairy’s.
Dongfang Qingcang has no choice but to put up with the fairy in order to attain information necessary to free his army of 100, 000 soldiers who had been sealed away in the same war that led to his imprisonment in the fairy realm. Orchid has to face issues of her own in her struggles to find her true identity and desires. In the process the two become indispensable to each other, but their different backgrounds and the curse that binds them together continues to be a hindrance despite the lovers’ attempts to choose one another in a world that threatens to split them apart.
Reasons to Watch this drama:
The Characterisation: The drama presents complex characters that go beyond definitions of good and evil. The supposedly weak and innocent fairy is unwilling to let go of her principles despite her love for someone tagged as the ‘enemy’. It is this characterisation that makes what is an otherwise common storyline exceptional.
The Castings: Wang Hedi aka Dylan Wang and Esther Yu cannot be replaced by anyone else. The casting is what balances out the tension with the cuteness in this drama, both these actors can carry out both the intense and comical elements perfectly.
The Humour: Not only do the main characters switch bodies at instances, but the so called cruel and callous emperor is also linked to the emotions the fairy feels. There is a scene where the demon king in his throne room goes though a spectrum of emotions because of the fairy that never fails to make me laugh.
The Visuals: It’s a very pretty drama. From the castings, the cinematography, to the CGI everything is visually breath-taking, if nothing else, just staring at Wang Hedi would be worth watching this drama. The high budget is very much well spent.
The Costumes: Is it practical to have your God of War wearing what seems to be an armour made of glass? Maybe not, but does he look good in his full get up? Definitely yes. You can tell that they’ve spent good money and time on the costume design at least for the main characters. Everything is so colourful and sparkly, I love it!
The OST: This show has the best OST I’ve seen in a drama this year. The opening song gives you chills every single time, and all the songs are very apt and adds an emotional punch to the scenes of our protagonist struggling and eventually overcoming their hardships.
The Storyline: The story might not be very new to the Xian Xia genre; it is very predictable at instances. In fact, I generally dislike this genre because of this reason, but this drama provided a coherent and capturing storyline which continues to get better with every episode.
The Themes: This drama also questions the idea behind wars and long held hatreds. It shows how there are victims and criminals on both sides, and how the glorifying stories people tells of wars and ‘criminals’ varies from the lived reality. It is a story emphasising on the values of love, understanding and companionship that break down definitions of heroes and villains.
Rating, Remarks and Recommendations:
7.9/10: Highly recommend it. The rating would have been higher if the beginning of the drama had been as exciting as the latter parts.
This is a show that keeps getting better with every episode, exciting yet adorable, it’s not too serious and yet it’s not nonsensical either. It’s a perfect blend of my Favorite tropes with someone of the best characters I’ve seen so far this year.
Watch it if you liked: Scarlet Heart, Snow Drop, The Day of Becoming You, Meteor Garden (Wang Hedi plays a similar but more mature, interesting and a much less asshole-ish version of Dao Mingsi), Alchemy of Soul.
Watch it when you: Want to have a good laugh with a half decent plot, feeling heartbroken and want to mend your heart, craving stories with a high fantasy element or just want to stare at pretty people/sights/ visual effects.
