Guardians of the Dafeng (2024)

Drama full of laughter and good vibes

This drama is PERFECT if you are looking for a light enough drama that won't have you bust out crying every 5 minutes. It is so funny and has a unique sense of humor to it. Of course, this doesn't mean there aren't angsty or sad moments—because there were. But to me, it was well-balanced and made the drama even more engaging. The plot was amazing; there's not a thing that I would change.

As a main-character-centric drama, this drama did XQA justice. I love how they wrote his character. He's witty, unserious, and follows his own rules. But he's also loyal, compassionate, and so so kind. XQA gained the trust of so many people simply because of how good and admirable his character is. Not going to lie, he is like a rolemodel to me. XQA said and did all the things that everyone was too afraid to say or do.

I personally loved the romance. Yes, the misunderstanding was a little frustrating, but thankfully since romance is a subplot, a lot of the misunderstandings and second-hand embarrassment acted more as a humorous part of the plot rather than a conflict in XQA's life. And after the misunderstanding cleared up, they had good communication, and their relationship advanced quickly. I am interested to see more of them in season 2 (hopefully coming soon).

Now I have to give appreciation when appreciation is due. Dylan Wang was the PERFECT Xu Qi'An. I cannot imagine anyone else as this character. This is the first drama I actually finished of his, and it instantly made him one of my favorite actors. I just love it when actors can act well! He showed so many emotions and embodied XQA.

Overall, this drama was so so good. I will definitely be rewatching this in the future. This is actually my final drama until May since my classes start soon, and I am so glad it is. A very satisfied watcher; I am looking forward to season 2!! :)

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"Dafeng's not worth it " Lol. After so long, here comes a very good Wu xia

This Series ended with a major Cliff hanger and it's damn interesting and makes me to wait for season 2. I really really love this series, I'm actually contended that finally there is one good Wuxia. Dylan Wang's acting was the cream on top. He just killed it. Lors wei was also one of my faourite characters of this series.

Other than him the chemistry between the other actors truly deserves applause, Lord Wei's character was so well written and well executed. The comedy was on point that made me laugh wholeheartedly. I loved the fact that the series is well balanced in everything except for romance which was actually not necessary given the story line. Though at the first Lin An role wasn't matched with the phase of the story, as the story moves on her role was much satisfied. Though there was not much romance, the screenwriter gave us what was actually needed.

The relationship between the family members, superior and his colleagues was lovable and heart touching and funny as well.
The emperor was creepy for the whole time and was really ambiguous till the end.
I didn't find this series rushed at all but I felt that they gave us a lot of content in 40 eps which was the limit and that made them to miss many details and major fights wasn't shown, like the one in chuzou was too short, I expected a big fight at that time but too bad it didn't happen. Things were going really fast towards the end.

Mysteries to be unveiled:
There were so many mysteries which has to be unveiled in the next season:
The other 2 members of that jade mirror realm
The kui's story
The witcher sects story
The man whose name was erased from the history and the reason
Su su's father
Lord Wei and Empress relationship
The emperor's goal
The supreme sword
The supervisor's game



The end***( A spoiler):

I couldn't accept the fact that everyone forgets Xu qian at the end of the story after all the thick and thin he has gone through. I wasn't ready to accept Lord wei's death. season 2 without lord wei is unimaginable Plus the ending was really intriguing and making me to wait badly for season 2. I hope season 2 comes soon and reveal the truth.

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A missed opportunity

Going to start by saying, this was my most anticipated drama, and having read the novel, I was 100% invested in how it would come to life. Fantasy lore as genre has always interested me and knowing this would be a high budget drama got me excited since the grandeur, action and effects would be top notch. But, after watching, I am left with nothing but disappointment. While the show had it's highlight moments which gave me hope that it was finally getting back on track, but it veered off almost immediately making this journey a "damn it, what it could have been", rather frustrating, hence the long review.

Positive- I loved Wang Hedi as Xu Qi An. I know there were conversations around accent, but since I am not a chinese speaker, i only focused on the expressions & emotions and he definitely delivered on those. He was funny when he needed to be and serious when the story demanded it and I loved that for him. His emotional breakdown in the Chuzhou case was very well done. Loved the way he executed his one slash skill, I had hoped to see more intense action, considering all his BTS practice, but alas, that's a plot issue (and I am ranting about it below). His character and how he stands for his ideals and defends people was an instant winner.
Defintely loved the family dynamics, our little glutton Lingyin was such a cutie. The Pingyan and LinAn friendship was heartwarming to see, that entire sub plot though different from the novel was a good emotional journey albeit long. The whole Guardians cast was the absolute best as well. Ep 38-39 were definite highlights, made me cry and remember why i wanted to watch this show in the first place. Great CGI, makes it even worse they didn't use all this great CGI in creating more thrilling action scenes.

Negative- SCRIPT/DIRECTING- 99% of my problems with the show are concentrated here. Just sticking to the original material in terms of the big sub plots could have made this a 100/10. But there was no effort to introduce the Dafeng universe, the various sects and ranks among them which would have greatly benefitted viewers. The scriptwriter seemed determined to ruin the show, and the director adding fuel on fire, by introducing chracters at random focusing on making it "funny", not bothering with their stories & ruining the depth of them. The show should have focused on the action, the lore, but all the crew could think of is cringeworthy comedy. I was bored for so much of it. The original book is peppered with naturally funny moments, there was no need for this forced humour. It was infuriating to watch them completely ruin the character of Xu Xin Nian, who was SUPPOSED TO BE A SMART, LEARNED SCHOLAR specialising in strategy by making him a complete parody. They made him such a loser, all his little points of wisdom, especially the scene where he comes to scolds the king for hours which was so well written in the book, had no impact whatsoever.
I understand the need to focus on the romance angle, but come on. The unnecessary Lin An moments, did nothing for the story, made her more dislikeable as it wasted precious runtime that could have been used for plot continuity and most importantly, took away from developing Huaquing as the smart, accomplished female character that she could have been. They had time to show Lin An's stupidity at the Bureau and no time to show Heng Yuan teach Xu Qi An the Lion's roar that was a perfect compliment to his primary skill and a major part of him defeating Tianyu later. And this tradeoff is still not the worst thing. Post Episode 15, when the progress begun, I hoped the best is yet to come. But no. Major plots where the action and emotion were all just skipped over, or showed in a minute or in some cases narrated. Xu Qi An is a martial artist, the whole story revolves around his journey of developing and ultimately becoming a martial god, but all of it was deemed unimportant. I could cry at how they skipped over his heroic & emotional death in Yunzhou case which cemented his reputation in the world & showed it in one scene as just him retriving silver. His strength i.e., investigating, deleted. And was further apalled at how they cut short the Xu Qi An and Duke's battle, one slash and that was it. They completely undermined a 3rd rank warrior's strength to the viewers and ruined a highlight intense action moment? Did the budget dry up, it was literally my most anticipated scene of the show. Could have taken out that 15 mins from the unnecessary Xu Xin Nian and Li Miaozhen moment or the uncle trying to break into & getting caught by the Guardians or that seriously unfunny and long Lin An poetry plotline or the Xu Xin Nian & Wang Simu's unnecessary running meetups. And that ending summary of Wei Yuan's battle, I was going to pull my hair out. Xu Qi An and Wei Yuan's remarkable relationship, his reactions and action to defeat the Witcher Sect and avenge Wei Yuan, the grand bow he made at the end in the book all just skipped over? I would rather they have completely saved it for next season instead of doing it this way.

My hope for the next season, if there is one- Add the stupid when you have developed the plot. Don't add fillers at the expense of killing major, game changing moments.

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A little deceptive

I’m at episode 29 and, I can’t understand why they have listed Tian XiWei as a FL lead when she has barely been seen in multiple episodes. She is the only person he has shown any affection, but there has other females who have had a lot more screen time than her. If they just just wanted to showcase Dylan Wang , then just do that. I felt the cast list is misleading. I happen to like Tian XiWei, as much as Dylan Wang, so far I’ve been a little disappointed, the storyline has been okay a little bit more on the comic side than I thought, but okay. Hope I see more of her in these last 11 episodes

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Xu Qi An Show

The fantasy elements are used very well and very harmoniously in this series. There is no excess, it is also blended with comedy, very nice. I especially liked the family atmosphere comedy. Personally, the knowledgeable attitudes of the scholars, their arrogance and thirst for knowledge are reflected in a funny way. The Imperial Guard Corps in a serious institution and a cocky guard in this unit, a funny, sarcastic but intelligent, secret person who knows what he doesn't know because he came from the future. He fascinates everyone. This adds a mysteriousness to the event, as I said, it is blended well. Only too much information is placed. A man who creates miracles on his own and breaks all the rules of that period, challenges everyone in high places and destroys the powerful with a single blow. It can be criticized a little that he is shown as having such incredible intelligence and power. In other words, the over-inflated Xu Qi An character was very harmonious in my opinion. The actors were also very good. I liked it very much. I watched it with pleasure. We understand that there will be a second season by looking at the end. Because it was such an ending. A shocking ending. I personally did not expect such an ending. I recommend it to those who haven't watched it.

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My take

**may contain spoilers**

First of all, I am so confused, let me preface that I have no idea about the origin of the story (books, novels, etc).

In the first 20 episodes, I was so hooked, I like how the story progresses, with so many intricate web surrounding Xu Qi An’s cases. I love DW's portrayal although sometimes he can be stiff and there are some cringe moments however it doesn’t bother me much because overall I like it. The fl is ok but not too much exposure except for the latter part but I'll delve into that later.
The thing that surprises me is the comedic part, I love it, especially the one involving Xu Xin Nian, also his acting chef’s kiss, always in point!

About the story, like I said, I'm so confused! After episode 28 onwards the story suddenly becomes confusing, there are elements that I cannot follow especially involving the Duchess Zhenbei to Chuzou, it’s like there’s no time anymore and they have to finish the story, for me, there’s no rhyme and felt force. I was left confused since no explanation leading to that moment. I guess there’s part 2 since the ending is a cliffhanger with his father, the supervisor, the resurrection of Wei Yuan, Witcher’s sect, Shen Shu, the reason to erase all memories, and many more!

With all the disappointments I experienced in the latter part, would I recommend it, still yes. The actors especially XQA and his family are too endearing and most episodes are really solid! I would love the 2nd season and hope that it can clarify all the confusing part.

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