anitfa
A Rare Drama with Perfect Cunning Antagonists and Wise Conflict Resolution
There is no use to repeat what other reviewers have pointed out. The romance of this drama is glorious. The love theme is crystal clear and strong. So, lets take other perspectives which are rarely taken for discussion. It is one among only view C-dramas with deep exploration of righteousness and evil, and perfect story execution.
Story wise, this drama is not boring at all. 59 episodes are truly intimidating, but there are things in the story that keep us in the edge of our seats. For some aspects, it is not so different from other xianxia (Chinese fantasy genre). There are four realms (mortal, demon, devil, and heaven), five "righteous" sects of mortal cultivator, a great war in the past, fallen god of war and demon, martial arts tournament, an adventure exploring the realm, facing villains, and heading to cosmic war to defeat the final strongest villain. However, few things make it really different. First, good team building and teamwork. This drama starts by telling the friendship of four teenagers: Yu Sifeng, Chu Xuanji, Chu Linglong, & Zhong Minyan. Later, the group grows bigger (add Little Yinhua the snake and Ruo Yu) and they (six people) go adventure together. Almost all problems they face are solved together, sometimes with the help senior supporting characters. All characters have their own unique contribution and nobody are suddenly missing mid game or just left without explanation.
Second, the story is so consistent to its theme: love and redemption. There are several sub love stories aside the main pairs and all are finished well. Love to the romantic partner, love to family and friends, love to community/ sect group, love to the realm and other being. None of them involves love triangles, jealousy, and competition to grab other person's lover. Love is depicted as something a person must be true, loyal, selfless, and devoted to, and experienced with consent and acceptance. Also, there are several redemption stories that make viewer super satisfied with the ending. The happy ending in this drama is not merely defined by each/ main character's love life, but also reward and punishment each character received as their karma. Everyone get what they deserve justly.
Third, the villain/ antagonists in this drama is so brainy, charismatic, powerful, and good looking (Yuan Lang and Hao Chen). They are so sly, cunning, manipulative, meticulous, and careful. They think before act and always prepare back-up plan. They are so successful so that they can survive until the last episode. They characterization is perfect. Yuan Lang is so mysterious behind his mask and his inner states are well depicted through the movement of his fan. He never lose his composure. He is ambitious, confident, independent, daring, cold, non-emotional, scary, and ruthless. His emotional expression, like when he kneeled before Sifeng fearfully, is just an act. He never shows his true heart. He manipulate people with his rational/ logical words His enemy is the deity. Mean while, Hao Chen is a moralist, ambitious, and self-righteous. His enemy is Sifeng. He has egoistic personality and believes that he is righteous and never wrong. He manipulates other, especially Xuanji, through victimization of himself and finding Sifeng wrongdoings. He is a great liar and full of prejudice. Also, we have fake antagonists: just tragic characters that have goodwill but without means to achieve it, or a person that is (seemingly) bad in the past and later he turns good after experiencing betrayal.
Four, the conflict is very well developed. We never know the real problems until later. It is surprising that the story turns from mortal vs demon to demon/ devil vs deity. The scale of the conflict is grand, built from bottom to up. At first, it is just a quest to find the shards of a magic mirror to help Xuanji becoming a normal person. At the same time, a mysterious sect is searching four keys to release a demon. Slowly, the real identity of Xuanji is revealed, and surprisingly, the real identity of Sifeng. Midway, the story turns into a star-crossed lover story, a forbidden love between a demon and a mortal. It is getting bigger when all things are related to the greatest threat of the realm. Near the end, actually the story is a tragic one. The god of war is an anti-hero. The overall story of Xuanji is her way to redemption. In the end, it becomes revenge vs forgiveness, to force a change vs to let it flow with nature/ fate. Truly, a daoist story. Interestingly, the story ends in Heavenly Palace. The Heavenly Emperor is a wise person and becomes part of the conflict resolution. From the beginning, he already tried to solve to problem with the help of his son to guide the god of war through her tribulations and to achieve redemption.
***
Honestly, I watched this drama after Till the End of The Moon's fan comparing Tantai Jin and Sifeng, who is the king of blood vomiting. It is hilarious because I am really curious after that. IMO, Sifeng's blood vomit is more realistic because it is caused by apparent severe injuries, like heart stabs and heavy physical torture. So, the blood is expected. And he didn't start to vomit blood in early episodes. His vomits in later episodes indicate the intensity of danger, his physical limit, and that he is almost died/ very sick. That bloods along with facial expression and face complexion, send a visual message that he is really in pain.
Story wise, this drama is not boring at all. 59 episodes are truly intimidating, but there are things in the story that keep us in the edge of our seats. For some aspects, it is not so different from other xianxia (Chinese fantasy genre). There are four realms (mortal, demon, devil, and heaven), five "righteous" sects of mortal cultivator, a great war in the past, fallen god of war and demon, martial arts tournament, an adventure exploring the realm, facing villains, and heading to cosmic war to defeat the final strongest villain. However, few things make it really different. First, good team building and teamwork. This drama starts by telling the friendship of four teenagers: Yu Sifeng, Chu Xuanji, Chu Linglong, & Zhong Minyan. Later, the group grows bigger (add Little Yinhua the snake and Ruo Yu) and they (six people) go adventure together. Almost all problems they face are solved together, sometimes with the help senior supporting characters. All characters have their own unique contribution and nobody are suddenly missing mid game or just left without explanation.
Second, the story is so consistent to its theme: love and redemption. There are several sub love stories aside the main pairs and all are finished well. Love to the romantic partner, love to family and friends, love to community/ sect group, love to the realm and other being. None of them involves love triangles, jealousy, and competition to grab other person's lover. Love is depicted as something a person must be true, loyal, selfless, and devoted to, and experienced with consent and acceptance. Also, there are several redemption stories that make viewer super satisfied with the ending. The happy ending in this drama is not merely defined by each/ main character's love life, but also reward and punishment each character received as their karma. Everyone get what they deserve justly.
Third, the villain/ antagonists in this drama is so brainy, charismatic, powerful, and good looking (Yuan Lang and Hao Chen). They are so sly, cunning, manipulative, meticulous, and careful. They think before act and always prepare back-up plan. They are so successful so that they can survive until the last episode. They characterization is perfect. Yuan Lang is so mysterious behind his mask and his inner states are well depicted through the movement of his fan. He never lose his composure. He is ambitious, confident, independent, daring, cold, non-emotional, scary, and ruthless. His emotional expression, like when he kneeled before Sifeng fearfully, is just an act. He never shows his true heart. He manipulate people with his rational/ logical words His enemy is the deity. Mean while, Hao Chen is a moralist, ambitious, and self-righteous. His enemy is Sifeng. He has egoistic personality and believes that he is righteous and never wrong. He manipulates other, especially Xuanji, through victimization of himself and finding Sifeng wrongdoings. He is a great liar and full of prejudice. Also, we have fake antagonists: just tragic characters that have goodwill but without means to achieve it, or a person that is (seemingly) bad in the past and later he turns good after experiencing betrayal.
Four, the conflict is very well developed. We never know the real problems until later. It is surprising that the story turns from mortal vs demon to demon/ devil vs deity. The scale of the conflict is grand, built from bottom to up. At first, it is just a quest to find the shards of a magic mirror to help Xuanji becoming a normal person. At the same time, a mysterious sect is searching four keys to release a demon. Slowly, the real identity of Xuanji is revealed, and surprisingly, the real identity of Sifeng. Midway, the story turns into a star-crossed lover story, a forbidden love between a demon and a mortal. It is getting bigger when all things are related to the greatest threat of the realm. Near the end, actually the story is a tragic one. The god of war is an anti-hero. The overall story of Xuanji is her way to redemption. In the end, it becomes revenge vs forgiveness, to force a change vs to let it flow with nature/ fate. Truly, a daoist story. Interestingly, the story ends in Heavenly Palace. The Heavenly Emperor is a wise person and becomes part of the conflict resolution. From the beginning, he already tried to solve to problem with the help of his son to guide the god of war through her tribulations and to achieve redemption.
***
Honestly, I watched this drama after Till the End of The Moon's fan comparing Tantai Jin and Sifeng, who is the king of blood vomiting. It is hilarious because I am really curious after that. IMO, Sifeng's blood vomit is more realistic because it is caused by apparent severe injuries, like heart stabs and heavy physical torture. So, the blood is expected. And he didn't start to vomit blood in early episodes. His vomits in later episodes indicate the intensity of danger, his physical limit, and that he is almost died/ very sick. That bloods along with facial expression and face complexion, send a visual message that he is really in pain.
Was this review helpful to you?
