Wenxia
Hopefully hiking somewhere in the world's mountains as far away from civilization as possible:)
Visually rich, twisted fairytale. Best enjoyed if you let your imagination off the leash.
Once upon a time, there was a poor tender-hearted girl who got betrayed by her own father and sold to a brothel. Cruel fate then sent her to a hotbed of evil - a danger-filled city of assassins! There she encountered a handsome tortured prince in disguise. Oh wait, make that two! Sigh, if only it weren’t for the evil queen…:)
Don’t watch this as wuxia, watch it as a collection of fairy tales tinged with the blood of many lovers. This drama has a distinct magical flavour, eerie and timeless, thanks to amazing art direction, imaginative use of animation and a vibrant palette of characters! Story wise, it’s wuxia meets gothic romance with a dash of mystery and horror. It's one of those dramas that you need to try before deciding if it's to your taste.
I have to applaud the creative team behind this drama for being able to build such a sinister, unnerving atmosphere even with all the mature elements toned down. There's no gore, no sex, not even a kiss on screen. Yet, this drama overflows with passion, allure, menace and dark morality.
Actually, it played with my imagination a little too well… There's a scene of three people eating soup. One is supposed to be blind, but isn't. The other two want to catch him out. Now, we never know exactly what’s in that bowl. Just that the other two are pretty horrified by it. It's all in the masterful acting and the tension building in that long scene. It created such vivid images in my head, I very nearly threw up… Ok, fun anecdote time over - back to review;)
Another thing that drew me in early on was , what I called earlier in a comment, bunch of nutty characters that I just couldn't help but adore. Starting with the sexually frustrated, ingenious torturer, cat mommy villain with a pastime of skinning people:)
The portrayals were just enough to give the characters an unconventional, eccentric feel, without crossing over into grotesque. As for the three leads, they were exceptional.
Wan Mei: My love for the heroine was of a tempestuous nature. A lot of the time I wanted to reach in and shake some sense into her. At other times, I felt like cuddling her to death. She was charming and clever, but also frustrating as all hell. I think her character suffered the most from the censoring of the original novel. She was a ridiculously unconvincing assassin. A big part of this drama is Wan Mei going on various missions. That arc was both too episodic in nature and brought a lot of inconsistency to the character. Generally, I felt her purpose wasn't written as clearly as the other two leads.
Gong Zi and Chang An: The two tortured princes! Complex and charismatic characters with very different understanding of what love is. They both have a classic wuxia thirst for revenge/hidden identity storyline in the background. I felt Chang An's story was underdeveloped. But it was pretty obvious they didn't have the budget.
Personally, I liked him best in their early scenes with Wan Mei. Qu Chuxiao infused the character with such a magnetic charisma I couldn't take my eyes off him.
If Chang An was irresistible, then Gong Zi was just striking! Wang Duo's stylish, melancholic portrayal of Gong Zi brought such a unique, unearthly feel to this series. One of the most memorable characters in the whole dramaland for me.
Now, on to negatives
Well, this is a medium-budget web drama from 2018. The CGI is better not mentioned:)
For wuxia, the fight scenes are nothing to speak of. The final battle between our heroine and the evil queen was extremely underwhelming. Li Yitong is a wonderful dancer. But a fighter? Not so much.
As I said earlier, the plot in the middle is meandering and episodic. I put it on hold for a few months because the story seemed to be going nowhere. Also, the whole Wan Mei being an unwilling assassin part is far too sentimental for my taste. It lacks any real sense of danger or thrill.
Even though the music is quite beautiful, I felt it was overused and oft-repeated. Seriously, I challenge anyone not to know the lyrics to the theme song by heart after 30 episodes.
Not enough attention to detail. For example, I got confused about who knew of Gong Zi's cured blindness at which stage. The actor seemed to randomly alternate between the two looks.
Can’t remember any more. Go watch the drama. Enjoy the magical spectacle, Wan Mei’s awesomeness, Chang An’s devotion and Gong Zi’s wily ways.
Don’t watch this as wuxia, watch it as a collection of fairy tales tinged with the blood of many lovers. This drama has a distinct magical flavour, eerie and timeless, thanks to amazing art direction, imaginative use of animation and a vibrant palette of characters! Story wise, it’s wuxia meets gothic romance with a dash of mystery and horror. It's one of those dramas that you need to try before deciding if it's to your taste.
I have to applaud the creative team behind this drama for being able to build such a sinister, unnerving atmosphere even with all the mature elements toned down. There's no gore, no sex, not even a kiss on screen. Yet, this drama overflows with passion, allure, menace and dark morality.
Actually, it played with my imagination a little too well… There's a scene of three people eating soup. One is supposed to be blind, but isn't. The other two want to catch him out. Now, we never know exactly what’s in that bowl. Just that the other two are pretty horrified by it. It's all in the masterful acting and the tension building in that long scene. It created such vivid images in my head, I very nearly threw up… Ok, fun anecdote time over - back to review;)
Another thing that drew me in early on was , what I called earlier in a comment, bunch of nutty characters that I just couldn't help but adore. Starting with the sexually frustrated, ingenious torturer, cat mommy villain with a pastime of skinning people:)
The portrayals were just enough to give the characters an unconventional, eccentric feel, without crossing over into grotesque. As for the three leads, they were exceptional.
Wan Mei: My love for the heroine was of a tempestuous nature. A lot of the time I wanted to reach in and shake some sense into her. At other times, I felt like cuddling her to death. She was charming and clever, but also frustrating as all hell. I think her character suffered the most from the censoring of the original novel. She was a ridiculously unconvincing assassin. A big part of this drama is Wan Mei going on various missions. That arc was both too episodic in nature and brought a lot of inconsistency to the character. Generally, I felt her purpose wasn't written as clearly as the other two leads.
Gong Zi and Chang An: The two tortured princes! Complex and charismatic characters with very different understanding of what love is. They both have a classic wuxia thirst for revenge/hidden identity storyline in the background. I felt Chang An's story was underdeveloped. But it was pretty obvious they didn't have the budget.
Personally, I liked him best in their early scenes with Wan Mei. Qu Chuxiao infused the character with such a magnetic charisma I couldn't take my eyes off him.
If Chang An was irresistible, then Gong Zi was just striking! Wang Duo's stylish, melancholic portrayal of Gong Zi brought such a unique, unearthly feel to this series. One of the most memorable characters in the whole dramaland for me.
Now, on to negatives
Well, this is a medium-budget web drama from 2018. The CGI is better not mentioned:)
For wuxia, the fight scenes are nothing to speak of. The final battle between our heroine and the evil queen was extremely underwhelming. Li Yitong is a wonderful dancer. But a fighter? Not so much.
As I said earlier, the plot in the middle is meandering and episodic. I put it on hold for a few months because the story seemed to be going nowhere. Also, the whole Wan Mei being an unwilling assassin part is far too sentimental for my taste. It lacks any real sense of danger or thrill.
Even though the music is quite beautiful, I felt it was overused and oft-repeated. Seriously, I challenge anyone not to know the lyrics to the theme song by heart after 30 episodes.
Not enough attention to detail. For example, I got confused about who knew of Gong Zi's cured blindness at which stage. The actor seemed to randomly alternate between the two looks.
Can’t remember any more. Go watch the drama. Enjoy the magical spectacle, Wan Mei’s awesomeness, Chang An’s devotion and Gong Zi’s wily ways.
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