xiaoyezi
This review may contain spoilers
A worldly affairs’ story called longing
一念关山
…A Journey to Love,
…A longing to Guan Shan,
…A longing to one’s hometown.
It records the story of an assassin who learned what she truly wanted to live for other than killing, revenge and missions (oh, and child bearing), after joining Wu State’s Delegation group’s mission to save their King.
It’s the story of Ren Xin becoming Ren Ruyi.
It’s also the story of Wu State’s Delegation’s voyage.
In the first couple of episodes, AJTL didn’t waste time to introduce the story’s context and how our main cast came together. We have Princess Yang
Ying as the royal envoy and Mulan of Wu State; Ning Yuan Zhou’s respected leadership and strategic thinking skills; Yu Shi San’s charm and comic relief moments; Yuan Lu’s intricate and fascinating inventions; Sun Lang’s near-impregnable and often-overlooked defense; Qian Zhao’s jack of all trades’ capability; and Ren Ruyi’s knowledge of An State political affairs.
Oh, what dream team.
Oh, how I love the pacing (early parts), the cinematography, the dynamics, and their sense of humour in these early days.
Shoutout to the screenwriters for the sincerity in giving us non-NPC supporting characters.
Shoutout to the cast for bringing their characters alive on screen, especially He Lan Dou, the actress who portrayed Princess YY.
Shoutout to the directors who captured them well.
Shoutout to the OSTs - Richie, Nicholas, Liu Yuning, Zhang Jie! I love the BGMs too.
If these aren’t enough to hook you in, wait till episode 8 when the first battle and crisis happened. Each and everyone had their moment to shine as they faced a highly disadvantaged battle. Even Minister Du who is the supporting cast and Princess Yang Ying who was a crybaby had logical and satisfying contribution to their hard earned victory.
While the story quality remained on a passable high bar thereafter, I somehow steadily lost part of my momentum and interest halfway way through - starting from around the time when NYZ and RY got together, and Li Tong Guang, Ren Xin’s delulu’s disciple, came into the picture.
First on NYZ and RY’s coupleship
For the record, they are one of the healthiest couple I admire, love, and wish to have. NYZ and RY had similar background, and thus intuitively understood each other. They had complementary strengths that made 1 plus 1 more than 2. There were lots of instances where RY helped NYZ do things he wanted to but couldn’t in his position. They had matured conversations when met with challenges.
Maybe it’s the CP vibe and on screen chemistry. Unfortunately something feels lacking for me and I can’t put a finger to it. Liu Yu Ning and Liu Shi Shi portrayal was fine. I just feel neutral most of the time watching their couple’s moments.
Surprisingly, I shipped Princess YY and YL more. And they only had 2 HTHT scenes.
Second on LTG’s arc
…and where my rambling start (sorry not sorry)
Here is another obsessive character’s arc that’s almost done right. Almost is the keyword here. I can accept that he needs time to undo a decade-long obsession. Truth is, I thought LTG is one of the better obsessive characters that had made me felt for him and truly looked forward to his eventual growth. After all, he got the multiple tough love moments from our dear RY and NYZ. I even rooted for LTG & YY pairing, slightly, after accepting YL’s death.
Him forcing Ruyi to marry him after all that canceled all the expectation I had for him. I am sorry I thought you were a diamond in the rough, LTG.
I suppose what AJTL represents to me personally is the journey of Delegation Group and Ruyi’s becoming. How Ruyi came to learn care and trust with them. How the group overcame the obstacles. How Princess YY grows under NYZ’s and RY’s tutelage - now this is a diamond in the rough. Their lovely dynamics and day to day interactions amidst this stressful, impossible mission.
So even though the other storylines were solid and interesting too - LTG’s rise up in An, Emperor Wu’s redemption, the cunning Emperor Wu, the underlying tone of feminism as well as the overlay symbolism of loyalty, war and peace - I found myself not connecting much to them. There’s simply too much to cover and it’s probably 1 storyline too many. It shows in the choppy pacing of the last 6-8 episodes. So something had to give. In my case, it’s my momentum.
I felt that AJTL should’ve ended after they’ve rescued Emperor Wu and the resolution of it. They could’ve made QZ successfully killed this emperor to make a message. They could’ve made getting the antitode for NYZ as the climax instead, if they decided to kill off the emperor without the Beipan’s interference. Or they could’ve just show us a happy ending with them having their Xiao Chuan and save the fight with Beipan for Season 2.
In other words, battling Beipan as the last arc here and now felt inappropriate. For each of them to die because of a battle with some random undying never ending barbaric felt upsetting even though I recognised the well written symbolism of their death as highlighted by another reviewer, songfalcon.
Even if I were accept Beipan as the final arc, I still felt it didn’t need 3-4 episodes to wrap this up. To see Prime Minister Zhang, Prince Danyang and Empress Wu handshaked in the name of peace. To see LTG needing someone to clean up his mess yet again. To see them keep battling this group that seem to spawn and not getting NYZ, RY and YSS in the final showdown. It felt unnecessary and draggy.
The official ending is up to interpretation and debate. I am on the camp that they all, including RY and NYZ died. It fits with the story of their journey. It fits with the feel of longing that Chu Yue had for Wu’s Delegation - and hence her “dreaming” of their reunion in the afterlife in the last scene.
…Or maybe CY died too since it was rightfully pointed that it’s odd for her to be the one who had “this reunion” and not YY.
Anyways, my rambling is probably 1 para too many. Since it’s an Open Ending, I suppose everyone can choose 1 that fits with the journey of our lovely Ruyi and Wu State Delegation you connect with the most.
Overall, AJTL is a great ride. It has been awhile since I come across a jianghu wuxia story that I enjoyed.
红尘有你 The world has you,
红尘也有我 The world also has me,
红尘还有梧国使团 Last but not the least, the world has Wu State Delegation.
~~~~~
P.S. This review’s headline is adapted lyrics from Jay Chou’s Song, Inn of Mortal World (Hong Chen Ke Zhan) - 红尘的故事叫牵挂
…A Journey to Love,
…A longing to Guan Shan,
…A longing to one’s hometown.
It records the story of an assassin who learned what she truly wanted to live for other than killing, revenge and missions (oh, and child bearing), after joining Wu State’s Delegation group’s mission to save their King.
It’s the story of Ren Xin becoming Ren Ruyi.
It’s also the story of Wu State’s Delegation’s voyage.
In the first couple of episodes, AJTL didn’t waste time to introduce the story’s context and how our main cast came together. We have Princess Yang
Ying as the royal envoy and Mulan of Wu State; Ning Yuan Zhou’s respected leadership and strategic thinking skills; Yu Shi San’s charm and comic relief moments; Yuan Lu’s intricate and fascinating inventions; Sun Lang’s near-impregnable and often-overlooked defense; Qian Zhao’s jack of all trades’ capability; and Ren Ruyi’s knowledge of An State political affairs.
Oh, what dream team.
Oh, how I love the pacing (early parts), the cinematography, the dynamics, and their sense of humour in these early days.
Shoutout to the screenwriters for the sincerity in giving us non-NPC supporting characters.
Shoutout to the cast for bringing their characters alive on screen, especially He Lan Dou, the actress who portrayed Princess YY.
Shoutout to the directors who captured them well.
Shoutout to the OSTs - Richie, Nicholas, Liu Yuning, Zhang Jie! I love the BGMs too.
If these aren’t enough to hook you in, wait till episode 8 when the first battle and crisis happened. Each and everyone had their moment to shine as they faced a highly disadvantaged battle. Even Minister Du who is the supporting cast and Princess Yang Ying who was a crybaby had logical and satisfying contribution to their hard earned victory.
While the story quality remained on a passable high bar thereafter, I somehow steadily lost part of my momentum and interest halfway way through - starting from around the time when NYZ and RY got together, and Li Tong Guang, Ren Xin’s delulu’s disciple, came into the picture.
First on NYZ and RY’s coupleship
For the record, they are one of the healthiest couple I admire, love, and wish to have. NYZ and RY had similar background, and thus intuitively understood each other. They had complementary strengths that made 1 plus 1 more than 2. There were lots of instances where RY helped NYZ do things he wanted to but couldn’t in his position. They had matured conversations when met with challenges.
Maybe it’s the CP vibe and on screen chemistry. Unfortunately something feels lacking for me and I can’t put a finger to it. Liu Yu Ning and Liu Shi Shi portrayal was fine. I just feel neutral most of the time watching their couple’s moments.
Surprisingly, I shipped Princess YY and YL more. And they only had 2 HTHT scenes.
Second on LTG’s arc
…and where my rambling start (sorry not sorry)
Here is another obsessive character’s arc that’s almost done right. Almost is the keyword here. I can accept that he needs time to undo a decade-long obsession. Truth is, I thought LTG is one of the better obsessive characters that had made me felt for him and truly looked forward to his eventual growth. After all, he got the multiple tough love moments from our dear RY and NYZ. I even rooted for LTG & YY pairing, slightly, after accepting YL’s death.
Him forcing Ruyi to marry him after all that canceled all the expectation I had for him. I am sorry I thought you were a diamond in the rough, LTG.
I suppose what AJTL represents to me personally is the journey of Delegation Group and Ruyi’s becoming. How Ruyi came to learn care and trust with them. How the group overcame the obstacles. How Princess YY grows under NYZ’s and RY’s tutelage - now this is a diamond in the rough. Their lovely dynamics and day to day interactions amidst this stressful, impossible mission.
So even though the other storylines were solid and interesting too - LTG’s rise up in An, Emperor Wu’s redemption, the cunning Emperor Wu, the underlying tone of feminism as well as the overlay symbolism of loyalty, war and peace - I found myself not connecting much to them. There’s simply too much to cover and it’s probably 1 storyline too many. It shows in the choppy pacing of the last 6-8 episodes. So something had to give. In my case, it’s my momentum.
I felt that AJTL should’ve ended after they’ve rescued Emperor Wu and the resolution of it. They could’ve made QZ successfully killed this emperor to make a message. They could’ve made getting the antitode for NYZ as the climax instead, if they decided to kill off the emperor without the Beipan’s interference. Or they could’ve just show us a happy ending with them having their Xiao Chuan and save the fight with Beipan for Season 2.
In other words, battling Beipan as the last arc here and now felt inappropriate. For each of them to die because of a battle with some random undying never ending barbaric felt upsetting even though I recognised the well written symbolism of their death as highlighted by another reviewer, songfalcon.
Even if I were accept Beipan as the final arc, I still felt it didn’t need 3-4 episodes to wrap this up. To see Prime Minister Zhang, Prince Danyang and Empress Wu handshaked in the name of peace. To see LTG needing someone to clean up his mess yet again. To see them keep battling this group that seem to spawn and not getting NYZ, RY and YSS in the final showdown. It felt unnecessary and draggy.
The official ending is up to interpretation and debate. I am on the camp that they all, including RY and NYZ died. It fits with the story of their journey. It fits with the feel of longing that Chu Yue had for Wu’s Delegation - and hence her “dreaming” of their reunion in the afterlife in the last scene.
…Or maybe CY died too since it was rightfully pointed that it’s odd for her to be the one who had “this reunion” and not YY.
Anyways, my rambling is probably 1 para too many. Since it’s an Open Ending, I suppose everyone can choose 1 that fits with the journey of our lovely Ruyi and Wu State Delegation you connect with the most.
Overall, AJTL is a great ride. It has been awhile since I come across a jianghu wuxia story that I enjoyed.
红尘有你 The world has you,
红尘也有我 The world also has me,
红尘还有梧国使团 Last but not the least, the world has Wu State Delegation.
~~~~~
P.S. This review’s headline is adapted lyrics from Jay Chou’s Song, Inn of Mortal World (Hong Chen Ke Zhan) - 红尘的故事叫牵挂
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