The Legend of the White Snake first caught my eye because of the beautiful opening ost and the incredible set. Everything is just so pretty! The sets are so lush a pretty, though albeit unrealistic but either way- very pretty- which is kinda expected when produced by a large company like iQiyi.
And given that iQiyi has produced quite a few hit dramas like Legend of Yunxi which also starred Ju Jingyi, I thought I might give it a try.

I was pretty disappointed. I've always prided myself in being able to push through dramas all the way to the end, but this one- sorry just no. It's not worth my time, thank you.

First and foremost, let's start with the acting. The acting is obviously the most important part of any TV drama, that's something anyone should know. Even though Ju Jingyi's acting is not horrendous, it's rather empty, you really don't feel the emotions she is trying to portray. But Bai Suzhen's character was already rather bland to begin with. To make matters worse, it's the same with Yu Menglong. And to make matters even worse, the two lead actors have zero chemistry. It's just problem upon problem.

Whoever was in charge of casting- I have no words.

On the bright side, however, I feel the character of Xiaoqing ( Bai Suzhen's sister-figure and best friend) was pretty well casted. the actress did manage to successfully give Xiaoqing that edge of spunkiness and fun. I also understand that she also gets her own romance arc later on... from the snippets I saw in the opening OST, it looks okay. It's my loss I guess.

The script, when compared to the casting, is slightly better. I rather enjoyed it when it came to mystery parts. But when it came to characters, it fell flat. The villains seem rather typical, their motivations were pretty typical and the two main leads' characters are probably the most typical of the typical. But I suppose that kind of has to be blamed on the original storyline.

In short, it's boring really. And dare I say it, the production company seemed far more interested in earning money through aesthetics and looks rather than the raw quality of the story. So I'm dropping it. I'm bored.



NOTE - Ju Jingyi's acting has improved since Legend of the White Snake, I saw her in the Blooms at Ruyi Pavillion and thought she did an okay job, the character of Fu Rong really amplified what she was strong at. Plus, she was collaborating with Zhang Zhehan again (who's acting is *chefs kiss*) and they share some decent chemistry.