Given that Kill My Sins (掌心) and Love of the Divine Tree (仙台有树) premiered on the same day on February 7, 2025, viewers are inevitably comparing the two. While both are historical dramas, their styles couldn’t be more different—one is a revenge thriller, while the other is a xianxia romance.
Kill My Sins: A Heroine Who Kills in Dreams
Liu Shishi plays Ye Ping’an, a woman who sets up a mysterious clinic as a front for her elaborate revenge. Dou Xiao plays Yuan Shaocheng, a ruthless official born into the lower class, determined to climb the ranks of power. Having a heroine who’s said to have the power to kill in dreams is quite a unique premise. When we learn of her backstory, it becomes clear why she’s carrying both vengeance and guilt. She’s joined by an all-female revenge team, adding another layer of complexity.
With a suspenseful plot, intricate mind games, and fast pacing, Kill My Sins is delivering on its premise, not to mention Director Bai Shan, known for Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, brings his signature style as he adds to the drama’s credibility, ensuring a tightly woven mystery. The cast also includes Zheng Yecheng, Xuan Lu, Xu Jiao and Chen Jin.
Love of the Divine Tree: A Tortured Male Lead
Starring Deng Wei and Xiang Hanzhi, Love of the Divine Tree brings classic xianxia romance with destiny, sacrifice, and heartbreak. Deng Wei plays Su Yishui, the quintessential pitiful male lead—marked with a tragic backstory and a dark fate. While there’s been some criticism about the acting and the premise being typical xianxia; for Deng Wei fans, it’s certainly a rollercoaster of emotions to see his character put through the wringer. He once found warmth in his master, only to lose it to a devastating misunderstanding.
Adapted from Kuang Shang Jia Kuang’s novel, the story follows Mu Qingge (Xiang Hanzhi), the master of Xishan Sect and her disciple, Su Yishui (Deng Wei) who’s destined to have a dark fate. Her actions to save Su Yishui lead to her tragic downfall by his hands. Years later, their roles are reversed—Mu Qingge is reincarnated as Xue Ranran, now Su Yishui’s disciple, with no memory of her past.
Whether you’re drawn to Kill My Sins or Love of the Divine Tree, both dramas offer something different. Which one are you watching?
avarachika
I’m watching Kill My Sins and loving it! The first 2 eps went really fast and was packed with infos and character, but then the backstory in ep 4 and 5 helps you understand why our leads need to do what they need to do. It gets better and better after ep 5.
Arduinna
Not a difficult choice. Kill My Sins has leads who can act and the story is intriguing.
I don’t care much about idol boys with plastified faces trying to look intense 😂
blueclue
Kill My Sins because of Shawn Dou, plus it’s not an idol drama. I’m not crazy with the whole slo-mo ML catch the FL and stare at each other. I want something where everything is normal and not all pretty.
So far, my only complain with Kill My Sins the dubber for Shawn Dou.
Spider
Currently in a break and have enough time to watch the both of them and absolutely loving the both!! Xinxia is my favourite genre of dramas (although repetitive) and Love of the divine tree is giving me everything I want in a xinxia. I have been a fan of Liu Shishi since Scarlet Heart days and am absolutely loving kill my sins. I am waiting everyday to watch new episodes and I kind of regret not waiting for both of them to end before starting to watch because it is so difficult to wait everyday!