7
46
2
Heracin
Epic love story in a well built fantasy universe despite some little shortcomings in the making
The drama depicts the love story between two characters diametrically opposite and that are brought together unexpectedly. It explores many narrative arc through its 36 episodes, allowing some much needed character growth for both the heroine and the hero. Annoying at first, with some real childish and quite frustrating / stupid behaviours, they both improve drastically over the run of the TV show.
Even though some arcs were stronger than others, the story was well-paced and never boring as the romance develops with some heart-warming and heart-wrenching scenes, as well as a lot of epicness and cool fights scenes. It provides a feeling almost reminiscent to the one you have when reading some fantasy mangas.
In addition to the romance, the fantasy universe portrayed here is really well-built with 3 very different realms with factions with various goals, as well as multiple heterogenous secondary characters with each their own motivation and backstory. Some are quite one-dimensional and may lack nuance but they make it up by being key in driving the plot and increasing the stakes.
The acting was good overall. It was really an ensemble cast with no obvious weak link. The stand-out for me were the actors Xu Hai Qiao and Zhang Chen Xiao playing respectively the best friend of the second male led and the brother of the hero. Those two had the most interesting secondary characters storylines and I would have loved to see them even more.
One of the strongest point of the show is its music. I found the OST simply beautiful, each one of the songs were complementing amazingly well the story. They were very present but I never got tired of them. Overall, all the sound effects were nicely done and brought added value to many scenes.
Contrary to the soundtrack, the quality of the visual FX felt a bit unequal to me: some were suitable while some were clearly lacking and looked a bit too cheap. Similarly, some of the props looked a bit plastic as well as some of the scenery conveying an uncanny impression.
Despite these little shortcomings in the making, I found that the overall vision and directing was full of great artistry. All the drawings shown in the opening and ending generics were magnificent. The production of the series was not able to match totally the quality of the concept art but still managed to approach it enough to allow the viewers to properly immerse themselves in the universe.
I would recommend this to people looking for a fantasy romance with some epic scenes in a well-built universe. If you love manga such as "Yona of the Dawn" or drama such as "Alchemy of Souls", this show is likely for you!
Even though some arcs were stronger than others, the story was well-paced and never boring as the romance develops with some heart-warming and heart-wrenching scenes, as well as a lot of epicness and cool fights scenes. It provides a feeling almost reminiscent to the one you have when reading some fantasy mangas.
In addition to the romance, the fantasy universe portrayed here is really well-built with 3 very different realms with factions with various goals, as well as multiple heterogenous secondary characters with each their own motivation and backstory. Some are quite one-dimensional and may lack nuance but they make it up by being key in driving the plot and increasing the stakes.
The acting was good overall. It was really an ensemble cast with no obvious weak link. The stand-out for me were the actors Xu Hai Qiao and Zhang Chen Xiao playing respectively the best friend of the second male led and the brother of the hero. Those two had the most interesting secondary characters storylines and I would have loved to see them even more.
One of the strongest point of the show is its music. I found the OST simply beautiful, each one of the songs were complementing amazingly well the story. They were very present but I never got tired of them. Overall, all the sound effects were nicely done and brought added value to many scenes.
Contrary to the soundtrack, the quality of the visual FX felt a bit unequal to me: some were suitable while some were clearly lacking and looked a bit too cheap. Similarly, some of the props looked a bit plastic as well as some of the scenery conveying an uncanny impression.
Despite these little shortcomings in the making, I found that the overall vision and directing was full of great artistry. All the drawings shown in the opening and ending generics were magnificent. The production of the series was not able to match totally the quality of the concept art but still managed to approach it enough to allow the viewers to properly immerse themselves in the universe.
I would recommend this to people looking for a fantasy romance with some epic scenes in a well-built universe. If you love manga such as "Yona of the Dawn" or drama such as "Alchemy of Souls", this show is likely for you!
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