Have you ever consumed a piece of media where the characters felt so clichéd and uninspired that you found yourself thinking "if I was a character in this story, I would be smarter"? Well, they say that a tragedy is when the tropes are hungry and the hero is in the wrong story, and I personally think this series makes the case that sometimes a comedy is when the villain is in the right one!

Right off the bat, the effects are impressive enough for its budget, the costuming is nice to look at, the acting gets the job done, and the overall atmosphere is pretty much what you'd expect from a wuxia... and then the villain gets replaced by the writer and the tone takes a hard shift into the ridiculousness of Just A Guy trying to Not Die in a world where his reputation has already stacked the odds against him. I admittedly haven't watched much wuxia as of this point, but I appreciate the little tongue-in-cheek moments about the genre. Despite the comedy sound effects being more in-your-face than I typically prefer and the episodes being very fast-paced, I quickly got used to it as I settled in to enjoy the pretty scenery and fun character arcs.

I am a simple creature: I like a good enemies to friends to lovers(?) plot and this miniseries served its purpose. There is something so intriguing about the Yu Ling Feng / Chu Ye relationship - one suffering for years at the harsh hand of his superior, then suddenly the dynamic shifts because unbeknownst to him a new person has taken over the role and starts working to build up trust, affection, and companionship - so if that's your jam but you don't feel the need to see it explored in a drawn out slow burn narrative, this bite-sized story may be for you.