The Love By Hypnotic Review

I started watching The Love By Hypnotic (明月照我心) with little knowledge of what this whole drama is about. Furthermore, the main female lead is unknown to me. So, you can say that I have no particularly high expectations for this romantic costume drama. To cut a long story short, it is a watchable production especially if you are into the romance genre. For a more detailed look into this mainland drama, you can check out The Love By Hypnotic review that I have written below.

Type: Romance, Costume
Episodes: 36
Release Date: October 2019
Images Credit: Tencent

The Cast Of The Love By Hypnotic

• Alen Fang Yi Lun as Li Qian / Prince Zi
• Ling Mei Shi as Li Ming Yue / Princess Ai Mai La
• Zhang No Han as Li Xun / Prince Ling
• Zhou Zi Xin as Qiao Hui Xin
• Leo Dong Yan Lei as Si Kong Zhen
• Li Jin Yang as Song Jin Yu
• Ni Han Jin as Pu Gu Yun Si
• Liao Hui Jia as Princess Kang Le
• Marcus Zhang Tian Lin as Kai Er Bi
• Zhang Zheng Yang as the Emperor

The Main Characters

Li Qian / Prince Zi

Li Qian is the 9th prince of Beixuan and son of the Emperor. He witnessed his mother being burned alive in a fire while he was 9 years old which caused him to fall sick. After he recovered, he lost all memories of the incident and his childhood. Li Qian was told that his mother died after a long illness. As a prince, Li Qian is smart and capable. He is disciplined and needs things to be clean, tidy, and organized.

Li Ming Yue

Ming Yue is a princess from Xiyue. She is a free-spirited and adventurous lady who loves to explore and eat. Ming Yue is skilled in hypnosis and uses her Zhuxin Bell bracelet as a hypnotic tool.

Li Xun / Prince Ling

Li Xun is Li Qian’s elder half brother. His mother is the Empress. Li Xun can be deceitful as he covets after the crown prince position and sees Li Qian as his competitor. Although his relationship with Li Qian is strained, he has no intention of killing him. Li Xun has deep feelings for Qiao Hui Xin.

Qiao Hui Xin

Hui Xin is a minister’s only child. She is a demure lady who is presentable and comes from a respected family. Hui Xin has known Li Qian since they were young and they were playmates then. She loves him deeply but it is a one-sided affair.

Si Kong Zhen

Zhen is a good friend of Li Qian. He is a matured and rational man who can often see through problems. Li Qian frequently consults him for advice and they share a special bond.

Song Jin Yu

Jin Yu is a happy-go-lucky man and often seen as a playboy. He is also a friend of Li Qian and Zhen. The one woman that he is afraid of is Princess Kang Le.

Princess Kang Le

Kang Le is the Emperor’s daughter. She is also a good friend of Ming Yue. Kang Le has a loud and fun personality. She likes Jin Yu and often looks for him but he prefers to avoid her.

Pu Gu Yun Si

Yun Si is one of Yixue’s army general. He is skillful but has a stubborn streak. Yun Si loves Ming Yue and they go back a long way.

Kai Er Bi

Kai Er Bi is a prince of Xiyue and Ming Yue’s elder brother.

The Emperor

The Emperor is a fair ruler. He can read the undercurrents between his 2 princes but he may not always be aware of the details that go on behind the scenes.

Synopsis

Li Qian and Ming Yue is forced into a marriage alliance to strengthen the relationship between the states of Beixuan and Xiyue. This is a marriage that Li Xun is not happy about because it would give greater powers to his brother. Neither does Hui Xin because she loves Li Qian. While the 2 newly-weds do not particularly like each other, they soon discover that they need to work together because each has something that the other needs. Li Qian wants to regain his memory of his childhood and he knows only Ming Yue can help him. On the other hand, Ming Yue cannot afford a divorce because Xiyue would never accept her back.

As they gradually fall in love, Hui Xin still does not want to give up her dream of marrying Li Qian. At the same time, Li Xun is patiently waiting for Hui Xin to accept reality and forget Li Qian. Then, Yun Si comes by for a visit with Kai Er Bi. Ming Yue sees Yun Si as a childhood friend. What would it takes for Hui Xin to give up on Li Qian? Will Li Xun be able to convince Hui Xin? Who is Yun Si exactly and what are his intentions? You can also check out The Love By Hypnotic episode summary if you are interested in all the details from start to finish.

The Love By Hypnotic Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

The Love By Hypnotic has a happy ending. The drama ends with a kiss as Li Qian tries to hypnotize Ming Yue into loving and kissing him. So, it is indeed a sweet ending to a love that begins with hypnosis as Ming Yue tries to help out the man she marries. Li Qian wants to find out what happened to his mother. It turns out that she was framed for giving poisoned pregnancy medicine to another concubine which causes the concubine’s death. The Emperor banished her to a temple whereby she was eventually killed in a fire.

The person who plotted all of it is the Empress. She did it out of jealousy. Li Xun pulled Li Qian away from the fire and saved him. He also knows his mother is guilty but keeps it a secret. When Li Xun dies after being accidentally stabbed by Hui Xin, the Empress confesses her crime to the Emperor out of guilt and the belief in karma. She isolates herself thereafter.

The Fate Of Hui Xin

Li Qian has never shown any romantic feelings for Hui Xin and treats her coldly. But she is unable to let go of him. The love finally turns to hate when she sees her father dead on the ground with Li Qian holding a sword. Her father is linked to the previous dynasty and planning to topple the current Emperor. Li Qian didn’t kill him but he rushed forward to pierce himself against the sword that Li Qian is holding. In fact, Hui Xin’s father pleaded with Li Qian to spare his daughter to which Li Qian agreed.

To gain revenge, Hui Xin marries Li Xun and makes use of him to carry out her plan. Li Xun is an unwilling party but couldn’t help himself as he loves Hui Xin too much. He begins to feel guilty after being hypnotize by Ming Yue. When Hui Xin rushes forward to kill Li Qian, Li Xun uses his body to shield his brother. He dies at the hands of Hui Xin but does so willingly so that Hui Xin will wake up from her obsession to gain revenge. Hui Xin begins to regret what she has done.

Li Qian had promised Li Xun earlier that he will spare Hui Xin’s life. So, Hui Xin is freed after Li Qian requests the Emperor to do so. After she is freed, she bids Li Qian goodbye from outside a room as he refuses to meet her.

Yun Si And Ming Yue

Yun Si and Ming Yue are actually lovers in Yixue. She was hypnotized by Kai Er Bi to forget Yun Si when she was sent to Beixuan to marry Li Qian. But even after regaining her memory of her past love with Yun Si, Ming Yue still chooses Li Qian. This makes Yun Si even more determined to get back Ming Yue. He works with Hui Xin to do so but in the end, discovers that he has been made use of. Instead of getting back Ming Yue, he has put her in danger as Hui Xin’s intention is to kill her off. Hence, when Li Xun’s soldiers attack his camp, Yun Si sacrifices himself to keep Ming Yue and Li Qian safe. He is killed by Li Xun’s men.

The Love By Hypnotic Review

If you like a romance drama with a lot of kisses, then The Love By Hypnotic will fit the bill. I have lost count of the number of times that Li Qian and Ming Yue kiss each other. I think there are kisses in almost every episode in the second half of the drama after they discover that they love each other. However, the kisses are not the steamy type that you would find in K-dramas like Her Private Life or What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim. They are more of the sweet kind that leaves you feeling fluffy.

I personally find Ling Mei Shi to be pretty good in her acting for a newcomer. However, the character that she plays is something else altogether. It takes time to warm up to Ming Yue because of her immaturity. So, patience is needed to sit through this drama completely. It gets better as the show progresses (around the halfway mark to me) but I’m not sure how long one would be willing to wait to warm up to this princess. Alen Fang also did well as the prince. Together with Ling Mei Shi, they do have a certain level of chemistry as a couple. So, it makes the drama watchable if you are looking at the romance angle.

The Plot

Unlike other costume dramas that tend to be complicated with lots of twists and turns such as Princess Silver, The Love By Hypnotic is pretty simple to understand. Neither is it like Love And Destiny whereby you have a lot more characters to remember and you need to figure out who is who in the initial stages.

Sometimes, it is easier to get into a simple plot especially if you are just looking for something relaxing to watch. I think The Love By Hypnotic successfully gives us that. So, don’t expect any surprises here. Everything is pretty predictable. It is the chemistry of the leads plus the cinematography which help to enhance the romantic effects of this simple story.

My Verdict

There is a bit of comedy in this drama especially the scenes that show Li Qian sleepwalking. I would consider this to be a light watch with just a tiny bit of angst to conclude my review of The Love By Hypnotic. In fact, it has a bit of everything from comedy to romance to power play. Would I recommend this drama? Yes, if you are looking for a romantic theme that isn’t too intense. But is it a must-watch? No, because I wouldn’t categorize it as great either. It is just something pleasant to give you a feel good factor at the end. That is if you can get over Ming Yue’s immaturity as mentioned above and the possible annoyance over Hui Xin and Yun Si’s inability to take no for an answer.