Burning Flames (2024)

A unique drama that used deceptive storytelling to tell its story with solid, layered & tight script

If you want to watch drama that have solid and quality script, brilliant & smart leads, couple that actually communicate & trust each other unconditionally, compelling supporting characters and interesting villains, then Burning Flames delivered in all departments. No stupid misunderstandings, characters that behave out of character or turned 180 degrees or frustrating plots that test your patience --none of this is in this drama. All you have to do is overlook the horrible CGI in the first 2 episodes and then you realized all that are only superficial and secondary to what gem that the drama truly possessed which is the story -- a truly engaging story with fantastic and layered writing with lot of social commentaries and great messages.

And it worth to note that the Director chose this campy and over the top vibe purposely as part of its storytelling. The performative acting, the 80's fashion, the vibrant & over the top colors, the splitting of screen for the fighting scenes -- yes, it's all intentional. It served as a secondary character to the drama -- I'm cringing the choice while admiring it at the same time.

The uniqueness of the plot makes the whole story very engaging and compelling as not many dramas actually covered this topic yet. The drama is structured with specific objective in each arc and I love how every arc has its own meaning and goals that they want to achieve and despite supporting characters come and go, they are written with depth with their own back stories -- even the villains. Everyone in the story served a purpose, no matter how small they are -- that would include the adorable ZhaZha as well. You didnt notice this at first until the same characters come back into the story again with purpose to contribute to the main story. Despite the fast paced nature of the plots, I love how they actually took time for characters' development and exploring the various parts of its central theme. And despite the main theme is Immortal VS Human, they also dwelled into different conflicts such as the selfishness of human's nature, the internal conflicts between the immortals and also hypocrisy of the demon clan in upholding justice -- it all being covered to make it such a compelling story.

And, this drama has done many foreshadowing for future events as hints to a lot of things. And all these hints are so glaringly obvious as signs to us the audiences about the characters such as how smart is Wu Geng or how sensible is Bai Cai. The way the drama plays around with the hints while showing us different things are all kind of brilliant. This deceptive kind of storytelling is very unique of how the drama is showing us a narrative while also dropping hints all over for us not to trust that narrative that being presented. The script has been so amazing that soma parts of it actually exceeded my expectation especially during Xinque Kui's scheme arcs -- it was angsty and was kind of a torture but the deceptive storytelling the Director and Writer chose to opt certainly made the twist highly satisfying. Everything was shot exactly to deceive the enemies (as well as the audiences) while also giving the audiences clues all over the story on why we should not trust of what we see on screen. I love when I encountered this kind of unique storytelling once in a while since it makes your watching experiences even more colorful and interesting.

Ren Jialun is doing his usual magic, being charismatic and all but he isn’t aloof in this role so you can see him be very expressive as Wu Geng and he doesn’t have to resort to micro expressions much while playing the character. One thing I like about Wu Geng is how self aware he is. He sure start as being impulsive but you can see how he matures and fit into the leadership role slowly -- winning everyone's heart whether it's human, monster, magical creatures, basically everyone that he encountered during his journey. What I like the most about him is that he always put his people as #1, it wasn’t actually revenge on his mind but rather wanting to release all people from suffering under the Immortal’s reign. I like how the writer always highlighted that -- whether in his monologue inside his head or his actions. It also being portrayed with little details -- like how he will see them and acknowledge their well wishes to how he doesn’t like to be praise when they start worshipping him. He really sees them as people he needs to protect -- a true leader at heart. While Xing Fei is being her usual self and being a sunshine and lovely character she is known of in her other dramas. The most amazing thing about Bai Cai is that despite she is a human and ordinary with no powers, she makes herself useful in every situation. Lot of people like to gloss through her contributions but she is the one who helped Wu Geng the most in his journey -- from protecting him, stopping his impulsive behaviors or just simply being there as a total support to him. Xu Xudan as A'Lan is probably one of the coolest 2nd female lead out there -- the way she stands on her ground, unwavering support and loyalty towards Wu Geng to her protection and teachings -- now I understand why Xudan took this role since the writing for her character is truly fantastic. Then comes Zheng Ting as Nitian Erxing. I truly feel the Director has a field day recording his scenes -- the Director always capture him from above or below to highlight his beautiful eyes, long eye lashes and perfectly shaped eyebrow. I'm laughing with how his scenes totally distract me from the plot, the character is magnetic and full of passion. His female commander said that Wu Geng's arrival at the Demon Clan has makes Erxing's eyes sparkle with hope and you can literally see how its glistering brightly & clearly there and then. And I love to see all the popular cameos especially Han Dong (please be a cameo in all dramas lol), Peter Ho (which is charismatic as hell), Jeremy Tsui, Ming Dao, Joe Chen and many Thousand Years For You support actors come back to this drama to play a part like General An, Bai Prince & Leader of Sea Spirit Clan.

And the lead couple's relationship is certainly one of the strongest points in the drama. This is why I love romance in non-romance dramas. It’s usually one of the strengths of the drama as it served as 'soothing effects' for the characters -- the home they go to when the world is driving them crazy. Just like Wu Geng & Bai Cai's relationship here. I love how they always discuss, trust and reassure each other along the way like a true married couple. That is why when Bai Cai revealed her true identity to Wu Geng, she did it with a smile on her face since she knew Wu Geng will accept her regardless of her race -- there is not even a single double when she told him that despite she also struggle with her identity in the beginning. Their trust and loyalty towards each other is unwavering that no matter how the villains try to put discord into their relationship, it will fail miserably.

And I just love how the script keeps coming back to the main theme of the story which is 'Fate is in your hand' -- so you yourself decide on how you are going to fight against it. Wu Geng's conversation with Uncle Ziyu is all kind of awesome on how they touched the topic about fate and how his father will fight for it even when he knew the outcome and the effect on him and his family and the condemnation that he is going to face -- which being brought up multiple times in the drama. But change is needed, you can't just stay at your place and wait for everything to change on its own.

I also love the fact the drama went back on the topic how Xin King's decision to rebel against the Immortal robbed the chance of ordinary people of choice -- choice to join the fight or choice to just live their lives peacefully. Just because the main character decided on something, doesn’t mean they get spared from being criticized from with it. That is why with Wu Geng now, all the people who joined him are with choice -- a choice that they made on their own. That is why there is people like Chen Jing or Xiao Sheng -- despite supporting Wu Geng, yet, still making a choice of not to join his fight. I love how the drama paint all these people as different, and have their own thinking -- entities that just don’t exist for the main leads or just exist as plot device -- they are their own people, making their own decisions on how to live their lives.

Regarding the ending, I love how they actually took time for the ending -- the battle with Hei Long, the aftermath, and all Wu Geng visits, and later the end. It wasn’t rushed at all and it is beautifully written carefully with an awesome message on how Wu Geng's legacy is not him inheriting the throne but rather how he lives in people's hearts. And tbh, I didn’t expect to cry, like it’s a battle dramas with fighting scenes from beginning to end but the script is amazing since they let everyone have their own emotional moments -- starting with the Grandad, not gonna name anyone here as it will be spoiler but even the evil Xinyue Kui? Like they have to show the Dad and the sister from her memories and all her regrets, and there I was shedding a tear for her as well.

I love even how in the end, the drama showed it wasn’t Wu Geng ALONE who defeat Hei Long but rather a collective efforts and helps from everyone. Wu Geng used the analogy of how even 'ants can defeat a Giant' as foreshadowing before the battle and that's how they designed the ending as well. So many twists and turns in merely 3 episodes -- and they actually property spent 3 episodes for the ending alone. At first, I am ready to give the drama a 9 but the emotional mess it made me feel for the last 3 episodes deserved a 9.5. Whoever wrote the script deserved a brownie point. This is how you write a good drama and a good ending.

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A REALLY GOOD DRAMA, a heroic drama yet touching with a wisdom

Burning Flames is really soaring high on the list of my FAVORITE DRAMA

As someone who watched both the anime and the drama, I dare to give 10 points to this drama, it's so well-executed!!!  I think I will write a long essay, so please bear with me.

To be honest, I underestimated this drama a little because it is an adaptation of a big IP anime (we can see that it needs a lot of cg, the anime is complicated with many characters, how can they execute it) and the drama production team is from Thousand Years For You (I was a little disappointed with that drama), but all those worries were blown away by the quality of the drama. Burning Flames. IT IS REALLY A GOOD DRAMA.

The drama is presented very well, I can't say anything else about the extraordinary CG, cinematography, and editing that is like an anime/comic, as if the anime/comic came out in a real life, plus cool fighting scenes and good color grading as well as a great ost which makes watching this drama feel exciting and you don't want to miss even a single scene.

Kudos to the script-writer for writing such a good, detailed, well-written script, and well-written characters. Burning Flames presents a solid story from start to finish, a heroic anime story, which has been successfully developed into a story which is of course heroic, but also touching, beautiful, and which definitely provides a very strong moral message for the audience, "you must control your fate, you can find your own path, only by surviving can there be hope", I think that is the rope that holds the story together from beginning to the end, until finally Wu Geng and his friends managed to win. Each arc is a moment of character development for the cast, for Wu Geng, Bai Cai and friends. Not a single arc is zero, they are written in great detail and have the goal of achieving something, to gain somethig, becoming stronger, becoming more unified.

All the characters are written very well from beginning to end, every character in this drama is written very very brilliantly, details and will shine in their own way. So, it's not only Wu Geng story, but it's also their story. Without misunderstandings, there is only work together to achieve one common goal until the end of their lives that make our hearts, the audience, also break when these heroes die. Including the villains are also written in a good way, Xinyue Kui's love which turns out to be just a futile obsession and Heilong who destroys the universe just for the person he loves, they are villains but they also feel very miserable, which also makes us feel touched and of course  makes us cry.

Wu Geng, the main character is very very well written, even better than the original anime/manga. The team changed his character in the drama, the anime version he is more arrogant and cocky (at first), but in the drama even though he is a little arrogant and impulsive but from the first day he was a benevolent prince, ready to fight for his people. Wu Geng's relationship with his parents is also changed in the drama version, and needs to be given a thumbs up, because their excellent relationship (which is very touching) is a reminder of Wu Geng's motivation that he must continue his father's legacy to save his people (this is also slightly different from the anime/bcs Wu Geng relationship with his dad wasn't good, in the anime there's a part where he does this to take revenge on his parents, but not for Wu Geng in the drama, he does it for the peace of the world, his Dad's dream for the people). Wu Geng's character growth is extraordinary, from being a spoiled prince, he had to survive as a slave, understanding the suffering of the people, had a hard training in Shenyin's tribe, gained comrades in every place, until finally he was able to show his charisma as a leader, the chosen one, the real god of war of the human race. A character who never gives up, smart, strong, and kind (who wouldn't fall for him). Until the end, even though he was considered the right leader for the 3 realms, he still humbly rejected it, and preferred to travel around the world looking for his lover, because he loved Bai Cai, because she was his home, but he would always be ready to help the world peace. I also like the change in the story of Agou, Agou in the anime is an ordinary human, but in the drama it is changed to a shell created by the Wu Geng mother to save her child (the detail is amazing). And as always, we need to praise Ren Jialun's acting a lot in this drama, because he managed to present a very expressive character, from sad, happy, angry, cheeky, gentle, even a cute, silly and innocent Agou. And we need to talk about Ren Jialun's chemistry with every of his co-stars, even with child-stars. It's really amazing. He's really a good actor.

Bai Cai is a very weak character in the anime, but was successfully transformed into a strong character in the drama with her cheerful strength, kind heart and of course Crystal Glory, who always accompanies wugeng/agou wherever and whenever they are. It is really match with Xing Fei's sunny character. I really like the addition of Crystal Glory details to Baicai, because she is one of the key contributions and links from what happened 100,000 years ago to the war in the final. Her tacit understanding with Wu Geng is also very good, she understands and accepts Wu Geng/Agou as its form, whoever it is, and will never stop being Wu Geng's support system, bein Wu Geng's home.

The relationship between Wu Geng and Bai Cai, I think it's really beautiful, a healthy relationship, without misunderstanding, always discussing everything together, "wherever you go, I'll follow". They are each other's home. Bai Cai has no family and Agao is his home, while Wu Geng lost his family and he met Bai Cai who kindly helped him, supported him, was willing to protect him, endured Wu Geng's tantrums, until she succeeded in making Wu Geng fall in love and she is his home now, "whatever happens, I will always protect you forever."  The mutual trust and understanding of this couple is extraordinary.  So every time they part, we can feel the pain they feel and every time they meet again we can feel the touching butterfly effect (it's not a romance drama, but I do feel their romance, their relationship, their bond is very strong, once again bravo to the scriptwriter). And I can say that Ren Jialun and Xing Fei's chemistry in this second collaboration is truly extraordinary, is very good, is very beautiful.

A Lan (I fall so hard for this girl), if everyone has 2nd ML syndrome, I have 2nd FL syndrome.  I love her character so much. She who was previously cold in the anime, was changed to a character who (although also cold) is also an ordinary woman who likes a man, and will very sincerely protect him, not only because Wu Geng is her mission, her disciple, but also a man who really she loved. She will do everything to keep the person she loved safe and happy, even though she won't be able to be with him and she knows there is no place to ask for love because she believes that love between humans and gods is a curse and she knows Wu Geng loves Bai Cai, if she expresses her love, him will also be hurt more. Silent and unrequited love is indeed a very beautiful love story and I always fall into its pit. And what's more, Ren Jialun and Zhu Xudan's chemistry is insanee, just when their eyes met each other, there is a spark of feeling that cannot be expressed. Ren Jialun was able to portrays his adore, respect and care to his shifu, while Zhu Xudan was really good at portraying her love in silence. "I will protect you even if I die" and she really did, protecting Wu Geng until the end of her life. I cried so hard when she's gone.

If talking about each character (though I really want to do it) would be very long, Nitian Erxing, Ziyu shushu, Shi Xing and also every couple in this drama is also written very well and touches the hearts of the viewers. Plus the family relationship between Wu Geng itself and his parents, Chen Jing and Zha Zha, Lilt Dragonfly and her father, also shows the value of human's relationships with our family and the people we love.

The end of the story, I'll say that the last 4 episodes are the best episodes, feelings of sadness, destruction, pride, happiness, all mixed together. So devastated to see Wu Geng's dearest ones fighting until the end of their lives with their beliefs that they would win. Proud because of all the work they worked hard on, they finally won, they gained their freedom. Sad to see Wu Geng once again lost his beloved one, Bai Cai. Happy, because I know Wu Geng managed to find Bai Cai in the end (I know that they will live a happy life now, though actually I want to see their hug even just 1 in the ending).  Even though Wu Geng lost many of his loved ones, he still upholds all the moral messages left by them and will always maintain the world peace. Burning Flames really has a GOOD ENDING. It's also not a rush ending, because they show how good the life of each tribe is, how beautiful life will be after they gain freedom and peace.

I still want to talk about a lot of things, but it will get longer. Burning Flames team aims to give a moral message to the audience, and I agree that there are many moral messages with much wisdom, that we can take from this drama, never give up, we control our destiny, if there's a will there's a way, if we become leaders put people first, we have to protect our loved ones and so on. It's really nice, beautiful, heroic yet touching drama.

This drama is included in the ranks of the best dramas on my list, I do love this drama so much. Congratulations Burning Flames, I'm proud to have been a part of your journey. I will miss you guys so much, our HEROES ♡

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