CHINESE FULL-LENGTH DRAMA REVIEW
Love Game in Eastern Fantasy / 永夜星河
Chinese title永夜星河
2024 · 32 episodes · Chinese Full-Length Drama · Fantasy / Romance / Transmigration / Demon Hunting
Yu Shuxin (Esther Yu) as Ling Miaomiao / Lin Yu · Ding Yuxi as Mu Sheng / Mu Ziqi / Fu Zhou
Main Couple: Ling Miaomiao × Mu Sheng / Fu Zhou
THE ROMANCE CHECK
Quick Answers
Relationship spoilers below.
- Does Love Game in Eastern Fantasy have a happy ending?
- Ambiguous/Open Ending. A modern-world reunion is strongly implied, but the adult couple is not explicitly shown together in the final shot.
- Do Miaomiao and Mu Sheng break up?
- No formal breakup. Magical bracelet interference around Episodes 18–20 is involuntary coercion, not a breakup.
- When does the romance become official?
- Mutual feelings are confirmed around Episode 20. They become mutually committed without a formal modern-style dating declaration.
- Do the main couple kiss or marry?
- No proper on-screen lip kiss and no on-screen wedding. The near-finale physical kiss is a forehead kiss.
A PERSONAL VIEWING JOURNAL
🌸 My Review
This was cute, funny, visually gorgeous, and somehow I still landed at 3/5. 😂
The setup is actually fun. Ling Miaomiao gets sucked into a fantasy novel she already complained about and lands in the role of the annoying villainess. To survive and get home, she has to complete missions—including raising Mu Sheng’s affection level to 100%.
Naturally, he starts somewhere around:
Mu Sheng: I hate this woman.
And slowly turns into:
Mu Sheng: I will rearrange reality itself for this woman.
Now THAT part I approve of. 😂❤️
Yu Shuxin fits Miaomiao because the character is supposed to feel like someone from our world who wandered into a drama and refuses to behave properly. The game graphics, system messages, resets, and comedy made the earlier episodes especially fun.
And Ding Yuxi is very good at playing Mu Sheng’s particular flavor of:
👀 suspicious 🙄 annoyed 😒 jealous 🔥 mildly murderous ❤️ hopelessly in love
But again: Ding Yuxi and his voice.
Except apparently it is not even his voice. 😭🤦♀️
Mu Sheng is dubbed by Wei Yifan (魏一凡) rather than Ding Yuxi using his own voice.
So yes, once again I am watching Ding Yuxi while somebody else talks for him. 😂
❤️ Miaomiao & Mu Sheng
Their romance works more through jealousy, caretaking, emotional attachment, protectiveness, and devotion than through physical romance.
The feelings become obvious around the middle of the drama. Miaomiao eventually admits she already loves someone else when rejecting Zhao Ruoshi.
Then the magical bracelet mess happens.
The bracelet manipulates Miaomiao into believing she loves Zhao Ruoshi and agreeing to marry him.
Mu Sheng: 💀
Me: WHO PUT THIS NONSENSE HERE.
This is not a breakup. Miaomiao and Mu Sheng were not formally dating yet, and her behavior is caused by magical coercion. Once the bracelet is removed, her real feelings return and the relationship continues.
💋 WHERE ARE MY KISSES?!
Thirty-two episodes.
A fantasy romance.
Ding Yuxi.
And still no proper on-screen lip kiss between the main couple.
There is a fantasy/hallucination-style romantic moment, but the actual physical kiss we get near the end is a forehead kiss.
THIRTY-TWO EPISODES.
A forehead.
Sir.
Madam.
Tencent.
I have questions. 😭
⚠️ The Ending
I would not classify this as a clean Happy Ending.
Mu Sheng and Miaomiao face the final catastrophe. His affection reaches 100%, and Miaomiao eventually returns to the modern world.
Fantasy-world Mu Sheng appears to sacrifice himself/disappear during the collapse.
Back in reality, Fu Zhou—the author whose identity is deeply connected to Mu Sheng—is revealed to have cared about Miaomiao since childhood.
At Fu Zhou’s signing event, Miaomiao hears him call her name.
She turns around.
And the drama ends without properly showing the adult couple together.
So yes, the reunion is strongly implied.
But no, I am not giving the drama a clean Happy Ending label when it refuses to actually show me the reunion. 😂
Official Shen Zhiyi ending classification: Ambiguous/Open Ending — strongly HE-coded.
Not tragic.
Not really bittersweet.
But not explicit enough for my Happy Ending Finder either.
RELATIONSHIP MILESTONES
❤️ Relationship Timeline — Ling Miaomiao × Mu Sheng / Fu Zhou
Romance builds through the adventures; mutual feelings become clear around the middle. Magical bracelet interference is coercion, not a formal breakup.
-
Attraction
Develops gradually through their adventures; Mu Sheng becomes increasingly jealous and protective.
-
Major romantic shift
Around Episodes 15–17.
-
First kiss
No proper lip kiss; romantic fantasy/hallucination moment only.
-
Miaomiao admits she loves someone
Around Episode 18.
-
Magical bracelet conflict
Around Episodes 18–20; involuntary magical manipulation, NOT a breakup.
-
Mutual feelings confirmed
Around Episode 20.
-
Official relationship
Mutually committed, although there is no especially formal modern-style dating declaration.
-
Breakup
None.
-
Separation/conflict
Magical bracelet interference plus major endgame/world separation.
-
Final affection milestone
100% near the finale.
-
Marriage
None on screen.
-
Final status
Miaomiao and Fu Zhou/Mu Sheng are strongly implied to reunite in the modern world, but the final reunion is left partly off-screen.
Final Relationship Status
Reunion with Fu Zhou/Mu Sheng strongly implied in the modern world; no marriage and no explicit final couple shot.
💗 Shen Zhiyi’s Drama Reality Check
Finished all 32 episodes. Full relationship and ending spoilers.
- 💕 Romance
- Plenty of romantic buildup, but restrained payoff.
- 🔥 Chemistry
- Good. Yu Shuxin and Ding Yuxi sell the jealous-black-lotus-to-devoted-boy progression.
- 💋 Kissing
- Very low. No proper main-couple lip kiss.
- 🤗 Skinship
- Moderate-light. Hugs, touching, caretaking, hand-holding, and closeness.
- 🌶️ Spiciness / Adult Intimacy
- Basically none.
- 🚩 ML Red Flag
- Starts high—suspicious, threatening, manipulative, and dangerous—but improves substantially.
- 👑 Female Lead Competence
- Clever, adaptable, and good at using her knowledge of the story/system.
- ⏱️ Romance Timing
- Builds throughout; mutual feelings become clear around the middle.
- ❤️🔥 Relationship Payoff
- Medium-low. Emotional payoff is much stronger than physical/relationship payoff.
- 💔 Breakup
- None.
- ⏳ Separation / Conflict
- Magical bracelet interference and major endgame separation.
- 💍 Final Relationship Status
- Reunion with Fu Zhou/Mu Sheng strongly implied; no marriage and no explicit final couple shot.
- 📖 Plot
- Creative transmigration/system concept with strong comedy and fantasy world-building, but the ending gets unnecessarily complicated.
- 🐾 Animal Harm
- No notable dog/cat harm found; fantasy creature violence occurs.
About these assessments
My impressions cover what I watched. Later research is labeled on dropped reviews. Kissing, affection and adult intimacy are separate; coercion does not count as romantic spice. Being apart does not automatically mean a breakup.
⭐ Final Rating: 3/5
Finished
Cute, creative, visually fun, and Ding Yuxi absolutely knows how to play a jealous little black-lotus menace. 😂❤️
But the romance needed more actual ROMANCE, the kissing department was robbed, and the ending could have given me ten more seconds of footage and saved everybody from debating what happened.
And finally:
Again Ding Yuxi and his voice—
EXCEPT IT WAS WEI YIFAN THE WHOLE TIME.
I cannot win. 🤦♀️😂
U.S. Availability / Where to Watch
Rakuten Viki — official licensed platform
Tencent / WeTV original series; Rakuten Viki lists 32 episodes with English subtitles. Availability may change.