The Starry Love
星落凝成糖
A 40-episode fantasy romantic comedy on Youku in which twin princesses of the human realm are sent to the wrong husbands, one in the Heavenly Realm and one in the Void Realm.
Save- Premiere
- Feb 16, 2023
- Episodes
- 40
- Where to watch
- Youku
- Also known as
- Xing Luo Ning Cheng Tang · 星隕凝結成糖果 · 星落凝结成糖 · Love When the Stars Fall
About the drama
Chinese fantasy romance often means heavy suffering and a lot of tears. The Starry Love (星落凝成糖, Xing Luo Ning Cheng Tang, "stars fall and set into sugar") sets out to do the opposite. Its premise is an old comic device, the bride who lands in the wrong wedding, moved into a world of gods and beasts, and it plays that for laughs.
The director, Zhu Ruibin (朱锐斌), told Beijing News that he wanted a fantasy drama that was "not too mysterious" and closer to ordinary life. He said the script took three years to polish and was meant to give viewers something cheerful. The result runs on quick banter, a supporting cast with storylines of their own, and a lead actor, Chen Xingxu (陈星旭), who plays several versions of one man. The China Arts Daily (中国艺术报) praised the light-comedy tone and the sisters' loyalty to each other.
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At the opening, the human queen gives birth to twin girls, Qing Kui (青葵) and Ye Tan (夜昙). Qing Kui, the elder, is gentle, adored by her people and promised to the Heavenly Realm as its consort. Ye Tan is clever and quick-tongued, treated as an ill omen from birth, and is promised to the Void Realm (沉渊界, Chenyuan Jie, "sunken-abyss realm"). When the two wedding processions arrive, the sedan chairs are switched.
Ye Tan ends up with the Heavenly Realm's calm, aloof lord Shaodian Youqin (少典有琴), played by Chen Xingxu. Qing Kui is carried into the Void Realm to the third prince Chaofeng (嘲风), played by Chen Muchi (陈牧驰). Li Landi (李兰迪) plays Ye Tan and He Xuanlin (何宣林) plays Qing Kui. Each couple starts out irritated with the other, and a larger plot over the twins' origins and the fate of the four realms gradually comes into view.
The setting is a mythic one: four realms (human, heavenly, void and beast) with no real historical period. The series is adapted from the novel of the same name by Yidu Junhua (一度君华) and is the third part of the "Honey Trilogy" from Perfect World Pictures, after Ashes of Love (香蜜沉沉烬如霜) and Sweet Dreams (冰糖炖雪梨). Zhu Ruibin also directed Ashes of Love.
It premiered on February 16, 2023, on Jiangsu TV and Zhejiang TV with simultaneous streaming on Youku. Beijing News reported that subtitles were prepared in more than ten languages and that the Youku channel on YouTube had passed one million views in Vietnam.
China Arts Daily credited the drama with strong word of mouth during its run, and criticized the camera work, which it likened to a spinning washing machine. The drama also carries Sichuan and Chongqing touches, from hotpot to mahjong, which the director said were meant to make the world feel closer to daily life.
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