One of the nicest dramas I've watched in 2022 despite some hiccups

Personally, I dislike dramas that have dark stories, but Being a Hero somehow kept me hooked on right from the beginning.

This is one of the nicest dramas I've watched in 2022 despite some "bugs", and almost everyone's acting is good, especially the Villian/ Villian-Victim characters. I have to be fair and say that Chen Yu, Yang Yi and Anran's acting sometimes fall short, especially Anran. Her best acting was when she went undercover to get close to Wan Mengmeng. Chen Yu gets better towards the 2nd half of the drama (not the romance ones though lol), and Yang Yi did a great job when he played dumb to stall Yang Xingquan (I was really hoping he didn't stay there alone without telling anyone else though...?).

This is a majority unpredictable story of revenge, trust, betrayal, friendship and a daily test on your view of what's right and wrong, what's real and what's not.

I love how I am unable to guess most of the storyline until the back episodes, and this is probably why I got hooked to continue this drama.

"Bug 1" : When WZF was being buried alive in ep 11, one scene changed very quickly and I got confused on how WZF went from being "in control" to suddenly begging for his life (?)

"Bug 2" : There seem to be very short lost scenes in 2 episodes, as 2 scenes do not seem to connect.

"Bug 3" : This drama is generally fast-paced, but the last episode was draggy and a little odd at parts (like the story doesn't flow for 1 or 2 scenes.

"Bug 4" : The final scene showed how each Villian is punished, but some of the names are of people who already died. Have to say that this bug is really bad. ?

Special mention : The final scene made me wail and swear and hence I marked down this drama's score after finishing Up 32.
However, after my friend shared with me about a Short Special released just yesterday that shows the "real ending", I decided to come back and submit my first-ever review after watching it.

Lastly, I'd like to relay a message to everyone who cursed and swear at the last episode like me : Please go and watch the Short Special. You'll feel better lol. (Though they should have made it the real ending lol...)

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Had rather high expectations, but show fell flat halfway through

I've been wanting to watch this show ever since I saw the trailer, as the genre is mystery (which I love), and I have to say that the scenes and sets are really beautiful.

Luoyang actually started off really well despite the first 2 episodes making me giddy watching it, then suddenly, it slowed down and the storyline became a bit odd from the middle (right after the reveal of 十六夜).

Basically, the good parts for me were the beautiful sets, the acting and certain parts of the story including the uncovering of truths and fighting at the back (not the ending ones, the last few episodes were ridiculous).

So, the bad points - A big issue for me was the excessively loud and creepy woman singing/screaming (?) BGM that appears too many times (basically whenever each mystery is solved / each truth is uncovered), and that BGM always comes out too loud and drowns everything else. It was so excessive that the BGM alone successfully made me 出戏 a couple of times.

Next, it is kind of disappointing how the assassin who "succeeded" 十六夜's role in the secret organization does not really have a presence/character per se. I kinda expected more from the villians, although I have to say I didn't expect Er Lang's brother to be one of the impt figures of the secret organization (I cannot rmb the name now as I finished this show at the beginning of the year lol) until after something happened and it got obvious.

Next, who can forget - the highly irritating Liu Ran and her unfortunately useless, trouble-creating family. It seems to me that the Liu family exists to serve as an obstruction and destroyer to everything.....? (Though I have to say, I was sad when her father died).
The anticlimactic and ridiculous ending was the highlight of the stupidity of the Liu family. I don't understand how her stupid brother can infiltrate the security and hide somewhere to assassinate Wu Si Yue's brother. It. Doesn't. Make. Sense. ?

Lastly, it's basically connected to the above - I don't understand why must Wu Si Yue be killed off...? Was the director just trying to create a really emotionally sad scene at the end and hence it happened...?

In any case, the last few episodes were so draggy although everything is already obvious, hence I think it's really unnecessary. The pace was slow even when I watched the last few episodes on 1.75x speed mode. I'm guessing, maybe, the editor(or director) wants to make the death of Wu Si Yue a highlight and 意难平 for viewers, but it's really... Unnecessary and kind of stupid (sorry to say that).

All in all, despite my many complaints (lol), I conclude that this show is really still worth a watch, but probably not a rewatch (at least not of the whole show).

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A show that made me smile yet cry badly

Although I was left confused and thinking how fake the CGI effects were after Ep 1-2, I pressed on as I was spooked by some scenes and so I wanted to know what happened (confusing and mysterious start).

As the story of what happened 16 years ago slowly unfolds, it got much better and I ignored my initial thought about this drama. The first few eps introduced me to a happy-go-lucky character named Wei Ying, who is utterly cute and mischievous yet smart. He is so adorable he makes me smile whenever I see him (and him messing with/ irritating Lan Zhan hahaha). ^^ Also, the various "sets" of the different clans are really pretty, especially Cloud Recesses and Lotus Pier.

I am glad I continued the drama as I ended up falling in love with it. Although slow at parts and some parts are actually unnecessarily long, the various tragedies that followed tugged on my heartstrings so badly that I cried so much throughout the entire show...

Not gonna say much about the story but what I can say is after my first watch, I immediately watched it again. My heart ached (and eyes swollen lol) for Wei Ying on my first watch, and it ached Wei Ying + Lan Zhan on my 2nd watch. I managed to understand Lan Zhan's character and small emotions better after my 2nd watch, and hence my heart cried for him too.

It's painful to watch someone choose to leave the world feeling desolate and disappointed. It is also painful to watch someone who is willing to wait for what seems like an eternity for someone he doesn't believe is already gone.

Oh and the OST is also good in my opinion! The lyrics of Wei Ying, Lan Zhan and Jiang Yanli's character songs made me feel so sad... (T^T)

Putting aside the sometimes cheap-looking CGI effects and some draggy scenes, I really love this show! In fact, I am on my 4th watch now hahaha. ?

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