Ariay
This review may contain spoilers
Finally a wuxia with a wise, clever, badass FL
This drama has a lot of reasons why to watch, but I'll just focus on the ones that I loved most about the story, characters, relationships and ending. I didn't read the novel, so my review is solely based on what I saw in the drama.
Characters:
We have a very good character development of the main leads, but I just wanna emphasize the FL since I loved it so much.
In the first place, I LOVED how she's strong and badass (referring to the martial arts and wisdom) in comparison with other wuxia/xianxia dramas where she may know a little bit of martial arts but still portray her as a damsel in distress.
In this one, she's equally strong with the ML (maybe stronger, even though he is also very skilled). From beginning to end her character stayed like that.
Another point that I loved is Bai's and Qiwu's (2FL) relationship. They became besties since day one!
Even though Bai Fengxi hadn't acknowledged her feelings for Hei Fengxi when she met Qiwu, so there wasn't a sign of jealousy on her part, I loved how Qiwu didn't focus on the fact that she was meeting a love rival, but instead, she was mature enough to recognize and value Bai as a person. There weren't evil plots against Bai, instead, she recognized how great Bai is, complimented and lifted her. Hei even felt like a third wheel when they were together because of a meeting! Hahah! XD
FL and ML relationship:
Their communication was on another level. They always told each other everything, leading to almost NO MISUNDERSTANDINGS between them (meaning the dramatic ones we usually see in wuxia/xianxia dramas). They were such a mature and realistic couple.
Plus their chemistry was fabulous. Most people say is a slow-burn romance, but I think their flirting since ep 1 compensates it. XD With every look you can see how much they like each other, even though they don't express it with words, specially Hei. You can clearly see from ep 1 how he starts getting interested in her leading him to be head over heals around ep 10-13 already. Hahah!
Story:
I won't resume it, since you may know it from the plot description, so I'll just give my honest opinion regarding some parts of it.
Overall, is a great story about learning what truly means to live this life, knowing that love is more important than power (I'll elaborate on this later).
It starts really strong with a lot of action, which is what made me get hooked, but in the middle then gets a little slow, since they focus more on politics and the fight between characters to "who rules the world". I kinda get why they did it like that, is just that it started so hyped up and then suddenly dropped the intensity. They created a great expectation about the villain and then suddenly changed the subject, so that's a kinda let down. But I guess it was a strategy. First to get you hooked and second, to give context on the characters, specially the leads.
BIG SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION
About Lanxi's sacrifice and giving part of his lifespan to Bai Fengxi, I honestly loved how they explained it and things unfolded. Much people didn't like this part of the story, but I honestly liked it.
In drama land (especially wuxia/xianxia), they normally die to save each other: FL dies to save ML's life, but then when he recovers and learns the FL died, he just looks for a way to revive her, even if it means to die. I find this storyline pretty frustrating. She just gave her life so you can live, and you dying for her is like making her die in vain.
In WRTW, is not like that. There is sacrifice from both parts, but the reasons are different. She sacrifices to save her people, and he sacrifices to save her life because "he can't let her go".
I think these 2 quotes from him explains it better:
"They said you had to lose one thing in order to get another, but some things are too painful to let go. I can't let go of her no matter how hard I try. I can let go of all my mortal desires except for this one." (which is actually something he says way earlier even before been together as a couple)
"She showed me what's worth living for.
If I only have ten years with her, I'm already more than happy
He just couldn't let her go so following the logic of the drama it was best for him to die first. He said he used to live because he wanted to rule the world, but after knowing her and falling in love with her, his interest changed. There was no reason to live in a world where she wasn't in it. There was no reason to rule the world if she wasn't beside him.
I think this was the best and original way of saving her, he saved her but didn't actually die.
And another amazing thing about this, is that when they get to see each other after this event, HE EXPLAINS TO HER WHY HE DID IT. Apologizing for his selfish decision of leaving before her and that she''ll have to mourn him. So I think this is amazing. Not always you see the ML explaining why he sacrificed himself for her.
Ending:
It was a nice and simple one. Since he will only live 10 more years, they decided to live as commoners in a mountain. Which was actually Fengxi's long desire. She once told Pu (a child she rescued) that after the war, she just wanted to live as a commoner. And with this way, Lanxi was fulfilling his promise to his dad of prioritizing and giving time to family.
With this ending, they let us know that they lived his final years to the best, without regrets. They chose love above power, knowing that is best to enjoy life to the fullest, not having regrets and not thinking about the "what if's".
They would've been married for 15 years and altogether around 20 (just counting since they started to know and flirt with each other) But this is just my calculation and deduction from the story.
So, of course you'd like to spend more than a 100 years with your lover, but realistically speaking I think 20-30 years is fair.
Overall:
This is a drama very different from others, where you have a little bit of every genre, but without the cliches. I really recommend it if you wanna have a break from the typical wuxia/xianxia.
Characters:
We have a very good character development of the main leads, but I just wanna emphasize the FL since I loved it so much.
In the first place, I LOVED how she's strong and badass (referring to the martial arts and wisdom) in comparison with other wuxia/xianxia dramas where she may know a little bit of martial arts but still portray her as a damsel in distress.
In this one, she's equally strong with the ML (maybe stronger, even though he is also very skilled). From beginning to end her character stayed like that.
Another point that I loved is Bai's and Qiwu's (2FL) relationship. They became besties since day one!
Even though Bai Fengxi hadn't acknowledged her feelings for Hei Fengxi when she met Qiwu, so there wasn't a sign of jealousy on her part, I loved how Qiwu didn't focus on the fact that she was meeting a love rival, but instead, she was mature enough to recognize and value Bai as a person. There weren't evil plots against Bai, instead, she recognized how great Bai is, complimented and lifted her. Hei even felt like a third wheel when they were together because of a meeting! Hahah! XD
FL and ML relationship:
Their communication was on another level. They always told each other everything, leading to almost NO MISUNDERSTANDINGS between them (meaning the dramatic ones we usually see in wuxia/xianxia dramas). They were such a mature and realistic couple.
Plus their chemistry was fabulous. Most people say is a slow-burn romance, but I think their flirting since ep 1 compensates it. XD With every look you can see how much they like each other, even though they don't express it with words, specially Hei. You can clearly see from ep 1 how he starts getting interested in her leading him to be head over heals around ep 10-13 already. Hahah!
Story:
I won't resume it, since you may know it from the plot description, so I'll just give my honest opinion regarding some parts of it.
Overall, is a great story about learning what truly means to live this life, knowing that love is more important than power (I'll elaborate on this later).
It starts really strong with a lot of action, which is what made me get hooked, but in the middle then gets a little slow, since they focus more on politics and the fight between characters to "who rules the world". I kinda get why they did it like that, is just that it started so hyped up and then suddenly dropped the intensity. They created a great expectation about the villain and then suddenly changed the subject, so that's a kinda let down. But I guess it was a strategy. First to get you hooked and second, to give context on the characters, specially the leads.
BIG SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION
About Lanxi's sacrifice and giving part of his lifespan to Bai Fengxi, I honestly loved how they explained it and things unfolded. Much people didn't like this part of the story, but I honestly liked it.
In drama land (especially wuxia/xianxia), they normally die to save each other: FL dies to save ML's life, but then when he recovers and learns the FL died, he just looks for a way to revive her, even if it means to die. I find this storyline pretty frustrating. She just gave her life so you can live, and you dying for her is like making her die in vain.
In WRTW, is not like that. There is sacrifice from both parts, but the reasons are different. She sacrifices to save her people, and he sacrifices to save her life because "he can't let her go".
I think these 2 quotes from him explains it better:
"They said you had to lose one thing in order to get another, but some things are too painful to let go. I can't let go of her no matter how hard I try. I can let go of all my mortal desires except for this one." (which is actually something he says way earlier even before been together as a couple)
"She showed me what's worth living for.
If I only have ten years with her, I'm already more than happy
He just couldn't let her go so following the logic of the drama it was best for him to die first. He said he used to live because he wanted to rule the world, but after knowing her and falling in love with her, his interest changed. There was no reason to live in a world where she wasn't in it. There was no reason to rule the world if she wasn't beside him.
I think this was the best and original way of saving her, he saved her but didn't actually die.
And another amazing thing about this, is that when they get to see each other after this event, HE EXPLAINS TO HER WHY HE DID IT. Apologizing for his selfish decision of leaving before her and that she''ll have to mourn him. So I think this is amazing. Not always you see the ML explaining why he sacrificed himself for her.
Ending:
It was a nice and simple one. Since he will only live 10 more years, they decided to live as commoners in a mountain. Which was actually Fengxi's long desire. She once told Pu (a child she rescued) that after the war, she just wanted to live as a commoner. And with this way, Lanxi was fulfilling his promise to his dad of prioritizing and giving time to family.
With this ending, they let us know that they lived his final years to the best, without regrets. They chose love above power, knowing that is best to enjoy life to the fullest, not having regrets and not thinking about the "what if's".
They would've been married for 15 years and altogether around 20 (just counting since they started to know and flirt with each other) But this is just my calculation and deduction from the story.
So, of course you'd like to spend more than a 100 years with your lover, but realistically speaking I think 20-30 years is fair.
Overall:
This is a drama very different from others, where you have a little bit of every genre, but without the cliches. I really recommend it if you wanna have a break from the typical wuxia/xianxia.
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