Review: Love in the Clouds (2025) 入青云
Summary: In the universe that holds the Six Realms of Illusion, there is an annual “Qing Yun Spectacle” where warriors fight for the auspicious power to fuel their realms. Reigning champion Ming Xian (ft Lu Yu Xiao 卢昱晓), who’s always been disguised as a man, suffers defeat at the hands of Ji Bo Zai (ft Hou Ming Hao 侯明昊). She discovers she’s been poisoned with an extremely rare poison and goes undercover to build a “fake” relationship with Ji Bo Zai in order to obtain the antidote. Through fiery clashes and emotional entanglements, they gradually uncover a far greater conspiracy and the secrets of their intertwined destinies.
Platform: Youku
Episodes: 36
Airing Date: Oct 8, 2025
Rating: 6.9/10 – A fantasy drama infused with plenty of modern humor and surprising emotional depth. Hou Ming Hao and Lu Yu Xiao share great chemistry that carries much of the show. However, the series stumbles with bloated subplots and a few tired, frustrating tropes.
Ji Bo Zai 纪伯宰 Hou Ming Hao 侯明昊
Warrior representing Ji Xing Yuan who appears to enjoy wine and women
Ming Yi 明意 Lu Yu Xiao 卢昱晓
Warrior representing Yao Guang Shan who has a hidden identity
Si Tu Ling 司徒岭 Yu Cheng En 余承恩
Abused a boy, he will do anything for the one person who showed him any kindness
Mu Tian Ji 沐天玑 He Nan 鹤男
Princess of Ji Xing Yuan who must navigate a dangerous political landscape
Yan Xiao 言笑 Yuan Yi Lun 全伊伦
Young imperial doctor for Ji Xing Yuan
Fu Yue 浮月 Zhu Li Lan 朱丽岚
Loyal fox of Si Tu Ling
Zhang Tai 章台 Pan Jun Ya 潘珺雅
Friend of Ming Yi from their days in the brothel
Mu Yun Bai 沐云柏 Hu Yun Hao 胡耘豪
Power hungry uncle to Mu Tian Ji
Overall Thoughts
A visually stunning (for the most part) fantasy drama that boasts a beautiful cast and strong chemistry between Hou Ming Hao and Lu Yu Xiao. When it leans into its character-driven subplots, the series delivers genuine emotional depth and growth, supported by elegant cinematography and intricately created costumes that make it an easy, pleasant watch.
The story starts off briskly, quickly setting up Ming Yi’s motivations before shifting to some fun banter between her and Ji Bo Zai. However, I thought early episodes leaned a little too much on the comedy with several meta jokes that undercuts the fantasy tone. The drama finds its rhythm in the middle stretch, where plot, pacing, and emotion align, but the final act loses steam, recycling tropes and repeating beats despite several major reveals. Confusing world-building further dulls the overall impact which made it at times a frustrating watch but never enough to make me stop watching.
Both leads show noticeable improvement in their acting. This marks Lu Yu Xiao’s third leading role of the year and Hou Ming Hao’s first return to center stage after supporting appearances. While there’s still room for growth, their performances anchor the series. The drama had an ok run, breaking the 10,000 Youku popularity index which is great for both leads, but it seems unlikely to exceed 20 million views per episode, placing it second among Lu Yu Xiao’s 2025 dramas behind The Perfect Match.
Despite its flaws, this is a competent, engaging fantasy that rewards viewers with striking visuals and heartfelt moments.
What I Liked
- A drama carried by strong chemistry and decent performances from Hou Ming Hao and Lu Yu Xiao: Hou Ming Hao and Lu Yu Xiao are easily the heart of this series. The drama wastes no time introducing their characters or the reason Ming Yi goes undercover, which means the two leads are front and center from the very beginning. Their dynamic is playful, charged, and built on a steady drip of suggestive banter that makes their chemistry believable at every stage of the relationship. Both actors deliver improved performances compared to their recent projects and seem far more at ease in these roles. If you’re simply here to watch two attractive leads flirt, bicker, and fall for each other, this show absolutely delivers. Side note: I personally wish Hou Ming Hao would bulk up a little bit. He’s already so thin and it forces the female actresses to be even thinner. I couldn’t help but feel his chemistry would be even better if he was slightly bigger.
- A sensual visual style that elevates the romance: One of the standout surprises is the lush, almost sultry cinematography, especially in the early episodes. Much of this can be credited to co-director Zhi Zhu, an emerging female director who recently gained recognition with the extremely popular game The Road to Empress which required actors and actresses to film scenes for the game. Her fingerprints are unmistakable in many of the rather steamy scenes between Ji Bo Zai and Ming Yi, which are framed with a cinematic intimacy and tension rare in this genre. These moments add texture to the romance and make the emotional beats hit harder. Zhi Zhu is clearly a talent to watch.
- Emotional beats really land: The drama truly settles into itself after episode eight or so, when the worldbuilding and mysteries start to unravel and the story branches into character-driven subplots. These arcs place Ji Bo Zai and Ming Yi in morally difficult positions that test their loyalty and convictions as they have to skillfully navigate the politics and powers of other characters. They often work toward the same goal without realizing it, and watching them navigate these dilemmas together is genuinely rewarding. The emotional payoffs feel earned because the journey to get there is anything but easy.
- Enjoyable “Good Guys” that add charm: Even though the drama is squarely focused on the two main characters, it nevertheless gives side characters a chance to shine. The “good guys” keep things light with humor rather than petty infighting. The women build beautiful friendships as they are off developing their own agency in their respective roles and the men each have their own roles to lead. It feel pretty balanced. Quan Yi Lun continues his streak of appearing in practically every drama, but he’s solid and one to watch. I really enjoyed the banter between the animal spirits because they were literally providing commentary about the whole relationship between Ji Bo Zai and Ming Yi as the objective observers and giving relationship advice.
What Didn't Work
- Communication Communication Communication!: One of the most persistent issues in this drama is its heavy reliance on lack of communication as a plot device. Nearly every major character chooses silence over honesty, framing it as a noble sacrifice or a way to protect someone else. While this may work once or twice, the drama repeats the pattern so often that it becomes predictable and frustrating. The show even jokes about this behavior through the characters themselves, but acknowledging the problem doesn’t make it less repetitive. It would have been more compelling to see emotional conflicts resolved through genuine interaction rather than recycled misunderstandings.
- Repetitive story beats: Although the overall pacing is fairly brisk, certain story beats are repeated to the point of exhaustion. The clearest example is the pair of characters caught in unrequited love: they sacrifice themselves, get rejected, reaffirm their devotion because they blindly just “love”, and then loop right back to the same point again. By the halfway mark, I could predict their scenes before they even began, which made those segments feel like filler rather than meaningful development. At times, it almost seemed the show was stretching for additional screentime.
- Unexplained world building and confusing powers: The world-building also leaves some noticeable gaps. The narrative introduces Six Realms, yet only three are shown , and even those feel lightly sketched. Immortals in this world behave largely like humans, with some born possessing special powers and others gaining them by illicit means, but the drama never clearly defines the hierarchy or mechanics of these abilities. Because both “regular immortals” and gifted ones have powers, the uniqueness and scale of these abilities become unclear. This leads to several moments where power levels feel inconsistent or confusing. Characters lament their abilities and powers but then they are off casting powerful spells which made for some head scratching moments.
- Nitpicking on dubbing and enunciation: There are some technical performance issues worth noting. While both Lu Yu Xiao and Hou Ming Hao deliver generally strong work, their enunciation and dubbing were sometimes distracting. Lu Yu Xiao’s speech becomes muddled when she’s emotional, which makes certain lines difficult to understand, and she sometimes blends words together, losing clarity entirely. For example, the name of her spirit cat, “27,” often comes out sounding blurred. For both leads, there are emotional scenes where the vocal dubbing conveys intense feeling, but their facial expressions remain more or less blank, creating a disconnection between sound and performance.
