Acting/Cast: My favourite character besides Wu Xin is Lord Gu. The interactions between the two of them (aka Bromance) is downright funny. Lord Gu is a loveable character and I am sure many who had watched this drama would remember his character well above others. My least favourite character is ironically, the female lead, Yue Ya. This is purely personal preference as I don't quite like Yue Ya's practical, no nonsense, bickering, bossy and some what annoying character. Although I like dominant female characters, for reasons unknown, I dislike Yue Ya's character. I feel Yue Ya has a rather boring, flat and one-dimensional character and to build an epic romance story around such a character does not make sense nor did it appeal to me. Granted, she and Wu Xin do share some touching scenes together and some of their interaction is quite entertaining, the chemistry that I get from them is more of a long-time good friend rather than the passionate and hot attraction of lovers. In fact, the evil Yue Qi Ruo exhibits more passion and chemistry towards Wu Xin than Yue Ya. Too bad she's evil and suck people's spirits to maintain her youth and beauty or I'll be in camp Qi Ruo and Wu Xin. And to those of you who got suckered in by Mike D'Angelo's beautiful pose in the poster, Mike has a very small and minimal role in this drama - only appearing occasionally at the last 2.5 episodes of the drama. His appearance is so sudden that one could even call his character as an afterthought to prepare for the abrupt ending.
Music: Some people might like the slow and poignant music. I am impartial to it. As far as I'm concerned, it suited the feel of the drama.
Rewatch value: No hurry to re-watch. No unforgettable romantic scenes to re-wind to. Although the demon and monster fighting parts are nice, I do not know anyone who would re-wind back to those scenes unless they get their kicks out of watching supernatural beings running amok and people getting murdered?
Overall: Despite the weak ending and the lack of lovers' chemistry between Wu Xin and Yue Ya, I did enjoy this drama for the monster killing, the mystery and the investigative parts. And although the mystery of Wu Xin hangs in the air like an unsolved mystery even to the end, I liked the character Wu Xin and the potential for a Season 2 (if they want to continue with it). Otherwise, this is the end and life just continues to go on (forever) for our monster killing hero, Wu Xin.
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I am so glad this series exposed me to Elvis Han who's got this sense of charming maturity and appropriate acting chops to give a very honest performance in his Wu Xin role. But who am I kidding without the following mention: the boy's got abs !!! But the best (and also favorite) performance probably goes to Ian Wang as Commander Gu Xuan Wu. The series wouldn't be the same without him - he is as loyal as a friend as he is obnoxious and grandiose, a comedic relief and above all a refreshing contrast to our main male lead Wu Xin. He dominates the screen with his humor and charisma and his expressions are such a treat to watch.
I did not expect myself to like it as much as I did, since track record for this kind of genre in the past seemed more about eye candy than anything substantial. If that's what you were thinking then be prepared to be proven wrong and taken in for a pleasant surprise . Although categorized as action/thriller and for some - horror, I really enjoy the humor in this. It is smartly done and appropriate. Where they managed to insert humor in the most unlikely or random of places is something audiences do not expect but will thoroughly enjoy.
The soundtrack is great, I particularly love 'The Longest Journey' by Li Qi and the beauty of its lyrics.
Overall I am glad I gave this a chance (the fact that it's a short 20 ep series sold me on it to be honest) and here I am now hoping for a sequel. "Don't judge a book by its cover" is best way to describe this series - get ready to be taken in for a surprisingly eventful and emotional journey, you will not be disappointed. I can promise you that you will be getting more out of it than you ever expected .
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The story is well executed; the premise is pretty well thought out and has tons of potential for prequel/sequels. There aren't any huge plot holes bothering me, although the ending was a bit upsetting (but who knows, maybe season 2 might develop on it a little? there's always hope.) The series didn't drag on either, it was engaging and strong from start to...almost the finish. Not the best ending, but not the worst either.
I thought the acting was extremely good - particularly with Gu Xuan Wu (Wang Yan Lin) - he plays out the role of a boisterous and ambitious commander very well and throws in comedic relief in an otherwise dark setting. Chen Yao (Yue Qi Luo) also plays the role of a creepy little girl very well (not sure if that's a compliment?... think girl from the ring.) She delivers an unsettling feeling just by looking into the camera. Although the rest of the cast all played their roles well, these two in particular stood out to me in conveying and developing the story-line.
Although I'm far from a cinematography buff, I also want to add that the scenes were all very beautifully shot, color is juxtaposed very well. If I have to pick out one thing I don't like, it would be the cgi, but since they're emulating the supernatural that's forgivable. Extra points for not having the cheesy wuxia fight scenes I grew up watching.
Nothing in particular stood out about the music, the creepy little witch laugh did get a bit old towards the end, but in general most of the score went well with what was going on on the screen. Honestly, one of the best series I've watched in a while, since I've pretty much been sticking to rom-coms and the like due to reasons I mentioned in the first paragraph. Maybe because I only recently finished the series, I don't feel a pressing urge to rewatch it - yet. Definitely give it a go if you like fantasy or a good story, and still give it a chance if you are apprehensive about bad cg ruining things like I am.
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Acting/cast
The only problem I have is with the female lead. She is pretty 2D. Her acting isn't bad, but isn't great. She is the least interesting character out of all leads, in my opinion. She needs to be developed a lot more.
Everybody's favorite is Commander Gu. He was a bit annoying in the trailer for me but now I love him a lot. He is funny and tries to act tough even though he is scared. He always tries to flirt but fails. He is just so funny and isn't afraid to annoy Wu Xin and Yue. I like how he is there for Wu Xin even though he is terrified.
Wu Xin is perfect. He loves Yue Ya, can kill monsters, nice voice, handsome, and has good, developed abs and shoulders.
Music
I like the beginning song. It sounds good and matches the drama. It talks about time and how love doesn't last in time. (this is my understanding of the drama, but keep in mind, I'm not that good at Chinese). It sounds very good though. The instrumentals is really good. The singer's voice is also very soft and sounds very comfortable.
Overall, this is more on the light side of dramas but the end is a bit of a tearjerker, but the reason is not because of what you would expect.
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Wasn't expecting anything amazing but the story pulled me in, with a simple story line combined with great character development which brought out the emotions. This drama is more than your average martial arts story, rather battle between good and evil, and the way love can change people. Unlike some dramas, the music was simple but moving can captured the emotion. This isn't a complicated story about strategy or war or anything deep as such, but rather a simple love story.
The sets were well done, I think there must be some authenticity to bring out the feel of the day, to set the tone and environment and bring out the story.
Acting is great - all characters did a great job, both the good and the evil. Special effects were pretty well done too, nothing really tacky as in some older dramas. Watch i!
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This review may contain spoilers
I really didn't expect this drama to be so entertaining. I originally was not going to watch it but at the time I had finished all my reserved dramas and was looking for new ones then bam!! I see this pop up and I was like ok it won't kill me to check it out so I did and I have no regrets it was entertaining and although he lost his girl in the end I would watch this over again and I am not a fan of sad ending deamas they make me too emotional. So all in all it exceeded my expectations and out did itself job well done to the actors and those who worked with them to make this drama Was this review helpful to you?
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pleasantly surprised
This is such a superb drama with beautiful music to match it. There is less of a focus on the romance genre, but the cute little scenes that do occur are always worth it. I think you will enjoy watching it if you're down for fighting Chinese supernatural beings.When I first started it, I had no idea I'd end up enjoying this so much. I love all the characters (leads and supporting). I cried a looooot towards the end but that just speaks volumes to how well everything was portrayed and acted out. Initially, I was also not a big fan of this time period, but the variety in costumes and sets were certainly a breath of fresh air. There are some special effects and CGI that I felt were cheesy, but didn't ruin the experience for me. I haven't seen the sequels yet, but I am happy there is a continuation of this story!
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Good story, interesting characters
Having watched Wu Xin: The Monster Killer 1 to 3, I find the first one to be the best in terms of the supernatural elements. There is a clear villain from the start, but there are interesting revelations about the villain as the story unfolds. The character relationships are nicely developed, particularly with the friendship between Wu Xin/Yue Ya and Gu Xuan Wu.This series has the ingredients that make a successful series, from an well developed story with intriguing supernatural elements to interesting characters and relationships. It also has romance though the ending isn't exactly satisfactory. Another weakness is the somewhat hurried and sudden introduction of another couple of characters towards the end of the series (who feature more prominently in Seasons 2 and 3). Nevertheless, the weaknesses do not mar the series. The theme songs are also moving and evoke the right mood for the story though I'm not sure why the theme song is changed after a few episodes. It comes as no surprise, then, that it has spawned two sequels.
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But immediately after that we only have one main enemy, a girl who looks like 13 has a voice of a 4 year old, and the most annoying character I've ever seen in television. Everything from her looks to her voice to her intensely annoying laugh irked me, I could barely watch her scenes. They built up a good background story for her, something that made me like her a bit and feel for her, but no, after few episodes it turned out it's a lie and she ended up being a simple monster who is way to overpowered without reason (like wtf are those stupid paper dolls?). Boring as hell.
From mid show I could only watch it by skipping huge chunks of scenes, it was that hellish, boring. I am so angry I wasted my time for such a piece of shit! Not to mention Wu Xin, like wtf was that when he turned into a worm and a hairy child? I love Asian humour in TV shows, but this had nothing, you can clearly see that they try, all their humourous scenes are sooo forced and not funny at all.
I don't get why this is rated so high, the only thing I can give credit to this show is because the cinematography is great, the fight scene, CGI and animations looks pretty decent, but overall this is an unwatchable ,not funny, horrible boring nonsense of a creation that made me not care about any of their characters or the story.
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