Title	The Journey
Credit	China Wit Media Co., Ltd.
Media	Chinese Drama
Genre	Romance, Supernatural, Time Travel, Comedy, Adventure
Year	2017
Character Type	1 Yandere, 1 Obsessive Character, and 3 Yanderes (Minor)

Ye Yin had just turned eighteen, and Si Yin, her Shifu (master) had tasked her with missions from new clients. To resolve the clients’ troubles, Ye Yin must go back to their past lives and right the wrongs. Will she be able to complete her tasks smoothly? Will the completion of these tasks unveil her own past?

SPOILERS AND PERSONAL OPINION

The Journey consists of 2 seasons with 12 episodes each. It follows the journey of Ye Yin as she carries out the missions assigned by Si Yin, travel back in time, and correct the wrongs of her clients’ past lives. Notably, Ye Yin travelled to the different timelines in this order: Qin, Shang, Tang, and Ming Dynasty.

Ye Yin first got to meet Ya Long, a vampire, on her first time-travel mission to the Qin Dynasty. Initially fearful, she soon became friends with Ya Long. Ya Long, who originally treated all humans as just food, started to see Ye Yin differently due to her kind and innocent personality. Their relationship grew even stronger as they met again Tang and Ming Dynasty. Although Si Yin warned Ye Yin multiple times not to get close to Ya Long, and Ye Yin tried her best to adhere to his wishes, it was undeniable that the two shared mutual affections for each other.

Meanwhile, Ye Yin had also met Si Yin’s reincarnations in each of the four dynasties she travelled to. In each dynasties, Ye Yin always formed the closest of bonds with him. He would always stay with Ye Yin and help her to complete her missions till the end. Each time, Si Yin’s reincarnation would end up falling deeply in love with her.

Upon completing all the missions, it was revealed that Ya Long and Si Yin had always been in loved with Ye Yin, even in their past life in the celestial world. In fact, it was where everything started. In their quest for love, Ya Long and Si Yin had each committed grave sins. Ye Yin, who was embroiled in the struggle, had also unknowing did wrong. As punishment, they were sent for reincarnation and redemption in the mortal realm.

Unfortunately, the revelation of truth did not end their lifelong feuds. As neither of them is willing to give up Ye Yin, Ya Long and Si Yin went into an all-out-battle to settle their scores once and for all. This act did not end well for the both of them, and they both succumbed to their injuries. Ye Yin ended up losing the two of them, but it is implied that they had reincarnated (or at least Si Yin), and not all hope is lost.

The Journey is an extremely comical drama in all aspects. From its low budget settings and ridiculous costumes to its hilarious CGIs and dramatic scenes, there’s got to be something in it that can make you laugh (no matter if it’s in a good or bad way). The drama’s on crack, so you needn’t take it seriously. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.

The Journey tells its story in well-defined arcs; each arc is unique and interesting in its own way. Because of the everchanging settings and circumstances, I always look forward to the next sequences.

Despite being hilarious and light-hearted most of the time, the drama also have several touching and sad moments. In particular, I always felt the worst for Si Yin’s reincarnation in the different dynasties.

Each time Ye Yin leaves after her time-travel mission and return to her own timeline, Ya Long can wait for her until she appears again in the next timeline. He can afford to do so due to his eternal life as a vampire, even though the wait is torturously long.

On the other hand, Si Yin’s reincarnations in those timelines are all mortals. So each time Ye Yin leaves, he knows that he will never get to see her again, not in his lifetime. So, the parting between the two is always extremely sad for me. And it hurts more to know that after Ye Yin left, his reincarnations never did stop missing and pining for her.

Speaking of Si Yin’s many reincarnations, I would like to give his actor, Fu Xin Bo, some due credit. This guy really acted the heck out of his roles. Ye Yin’s actor just time-travelled, Ya Long’s actor didn’t even have to time-travel through tens of thousands year, so they just stayed the same mostly. Meanwhile, Fu Xin Bo had to act as Si Yin in his current life, Qin Emperor in Qin Dynasty, wizard in Shang Dynasty, magician in Tang Dynasty, Jin Yi Wei (secret police force member) in Ming Dynasty, and Sha Ka in the celestial world!!! I don’t know about salaries of actors and actresses. But if it’s up to me, this guy is definitely getting a huge pay raise.

I would also like to give a shoutout to whoever is in charge of the CGIs and the epic fighting sequences. Intended or not, I was laughing so hard throughout the fight scenes in the last episode, I almost grew abs.

Literally, Ya Long and Si Yin were dressed up in budget cosplay costumes hurling super saiyan power balls left and right. They fought in the teahouse, up in the skies, on the road riding cool motorbikes (still wearing their costumes), throwing and dodging their flashy superpowers. Heck, Ya Long even pulled a big-brain move by charging himself up with a broken electrical cable which was conveniently available, so I guess now he can hurl even larger power balls.

But that’s not enough to defeat Si Yin, so the two ended up pulling pillars off a building, and smashing each other like you would in a pillow fight, except with concrete – so it’s a pillar fight. I have no idea why there were so many unnecessary pillars in a single storey, but I know the CGI artists must have had the time of their lives adding them there. Anyways, the two ended up dead from pulling such ridiculous stunts, and I don’t even know if I should feel sad after sitting through the entire fiasco.

Back to the main point of yando characters, this drama contains a huge number of them. In only 24 episodes, there are a total of 5 such characters I spotted. Some you may like, while some not. Either way, it is definitely worth it to check The Journey out. Even if not for the yando characters, the drama is seriously so funny, it would surely lift your mood.

Last but not least, I also want to give a special mention to the cute animal mascot of the drama: green birdie! Despite the low budget CGI, the design of the bird grew on me quickly. Top it off with a cute and quirky personality, the little bird totally won my heart. Not to mention, it is also incredibly useful, helping Ye Yin every so often in her missions, and accompanying her through the hard times.

All in all, I think The Journey is a low budget, but interesting series that is worth a look, especially if you are a yando lover!

CHARACTER SPOILERS