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An incredible depiction of the real struggles that average, mundane, normal, people have to go through in their everyday lives. Yet, the story itself is nothing but mundane. We get to look at the turmoil that goes on in an office setting and in within the people themselves. It's hard to believe that an office drama, of all types, can get your heart racing, keep your eyes glued, and feed your anticipation for the next scene. As someone who frequently cries over dead characters in fantasy/historical dramas, I found myself crying over simple decisions made by these characters that had such great impact on their colleagues.
Acting was superb! Super impressed by Bai Jingting who was able to shed his outer "idol image" and give us such a pure Sun Yiqiu. Loved how all the other actors portrayed their characters in a way that was so believable. I especially loved the portrayal of the "villain" characters, as they did such an amazing job making the characters look like people that we really could picture to appear in our lives.
I'm disappointed that there doesn't seem to be available Eng subs for a wider audience, but I hope that gets done in the future.
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I think this iconic quote from the drama pretty much sums up the message that the story is trying to convey. This quote is applicable to pretty much every plot, story, and character. The drama discusses the line, or lack thereof, between what is considered good and what is considered evil.
After watching, rewatching, and watching others watch it, I’ve come to really appreciate the great attention to detail that the crew put in. There are so many little moments throughout the drama that are intertwined and connected, and many of them went unnoticed the first time I watched it. It was only after rewatch after rewatch did I notice these moments that added so much deeper meaning to the story. Speaking of detail, I also was impressed that there were no unexplained plot holes*. Some may disagree with me on this, but I think that even if something wasn’t explicitly explained, it was implicitly implied enough so that I could understand. This made the story flow really well. I am well aware that the drama does not fully follow the original plot, but I think they did a pretty good job adapting to some of the changes that they had to make because of censorship. I understood the story pretty well even without the background knowledge from the novel.
Another aspect of the story that I really appreciate is the stories of each character, and how the actors portrayed the characters. Each character had their own story that added significance to the plot or the message. There was no character that was shallow or dull. I salute the actors/actresses for putting their efforts into portraying their character convincingly and carefully.
Of course I cannot ignore the fact that the production quality was not top notch, but I find it easy to ignore the technical difficulties and focus on the story instead. After all, it seems like it is easier to have great production than to have a great story, from what I’ve seen of other dramas. It may seem like I'm overrating by giving straight 10's, but like I said there are flaws. It's just that the flaws are not enough to bring down the overall score.
I have to disagree with those that say the beginning few episodes are “boring” because those episodes were really critical in developing the relationship between not just the main leads but also the supporting characters. Most dramas that I’ve seen are like this in that there has to be some sort of introduction before the action can kick in, not to say that the beginning wasn’t full of action because it was.
This drama won’t be for everyone, especially those looking for a soft romantic drama to sit back and enjoy. I assure you this one is the complete opposite! There are many many sweet moments, but that’s not the point of the story. On the contrary, I think this one is full of action that forces you to sit on the edge of your seat in order to take in every single detail because most of them are essential to the plot. It will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions ranging from deeply sad (sad is an understatement to describe the wreck that this drama will make you) to fluffy and cute.
Finally, what I really learned from this drama is that there does not have to be any physical romantic scenes to “prove” there exists some bond between two people.
“I am satisfied for having one person in my life that truly knows me.”
*Edit: After rewatching and reading discussions, I realized that what I said above about no plotholes is actually wrong because there are some questions that do not get answered in the drama. However, since I understood the story just based off the drama (without help from novel or anime background) I would say there are no plotholes that are significant enough to affect the main plot.
**Edit for edit: I added the edit in case people define "plot hole" as anything significant or insignificant that may contribute to the plot, but like I said in my edit, there are no such holes that take away from the main plot. It's just that there are a few small questions that remain unanswered.
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Cast:
I decided to watch it because I believed in the acting of Zhang Ruo Yun, Li Qin, and Xiao Zhan. But then as I watched more and more I really have to applaud for the entire cast!! Very very very phenomenal acting by everyone.
Story:
I went into this drama blind and with no knowledge about the original novel, but that’s ok because the story was logical and easy to follow. I’ve never watched a drama with this many plot twists and turns, but I liked that each event followed after another in a logical way. I am not a fan of political dramas, but this one was an exception. The politics were the most intriguing parts of the story and tbh the main leads’ love story was the most boring lol (no offense to Li Qin but I did not find much significance to her character…but perhaps she will become more important later on, idk). The ending left me hanging and I have so many questions GAH!! I’m tempted to read the novel to find out but at the same time I would prefer to learn the secrets by watching it acted out so I’m conflicted…
Other notes:
-The fight scenes are SO GOOD!!! And there are so many!!! I especially love that our protagonist is good at everything haha
-I LOVE the humor. Unlike humor in other dramas, the ones in this drama actually made me laugh out loud. Being a native Chinese speaker, I had the advantage of getting the humor straight on, instead of through translation. It may be hard for non-Chinese watchers to get the humor since there are a lot of word plays and homophones.
-My only critique would be the lighting and overall visual look of the scenes aren’t very good. There were times where I had to turn my brightness to max and still couldn’t see what was happening. But technical flaws for me aren’t very important when the story is good.
Tldr, one of the highest quality dramas I’ve watched in terms of storyline. I am really looking forward to watching the next seasons. For anyone who hates plot holes and cliff hangers, don’t watch this until the next season comes out lol. It is filled with unanswered questions.
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Romantic comedies are very rare on my watchlist. I am not sure if that is the reason why this drama is so fresh for me, or is it because this drama is truly unique on its own. Every drama has to follow some sort of typical storyline progression and add in tropes, and this drama is no exception to that, but it feels like this drama puts a unique twist to every “typical” trope in a storyline. It draws me in because while I can guess where the trope will lead us, it surprises me by taking a slight deviation off the path before returning back on the main road again. This is so hard to describe, so it’s just something that you have to watch on your own to know what I mean. This makes all of the tropes that do appear less trope-y and much more acceptable, enjoyable, fresh to watch. For this reason I have mad respect towards the production team for adding uniqueness into something that could’ve been just a typical formulated rom-com. They could have handled a scene one way, but because they handled it this other way, it transcended the scene.
I am a huge fan of dramas where the audience can really see that the production team paid attention to small details. Sometimes it really is the littlest of things that make a single scene complete. There are so many moments like this in the drama where a single expression, a single line, or a single gesture, all made the scene much more complete for me. These acute details add depth and warmth to the drama overall. At one point I remember thinking to myself, there has to be someone in the production team that has a deep understanding of psychology and human interactions to be able to create something like this that speaks so much to the audience.
Not only does this drama address fine details well, it also address big picture themes very well. The stark power contrast between Lu Zhaoxi and Ye Shilan is very obvious right from the start, but the drama does not shy away from this. Instead, this theme is accentuated throughout the drama, and both leads are not afraid to address this elephant in the room. The drama also boldly portrays changes in power in characters, such as stepping down from a higher position due to one’s wrongdoings. A major insecurity that Ye Shilan’s has in her relationship with Lu Zhaoxi is the fact that she is not as well off than he is, and she is not afraid to point that out. On the other hand, Lu Zhaoxi is also very accepting of this insecurity and lets her know that he is accepting and understanding.
Ye Shilan also has a very realistic purpose in life, and she is strong enough to continue pursuing this purpose despite her hardships in doing so. Her purpose also stems from a realistic family background, which also heavily influenced her career and personality. Despite having a rich boyfriend, she does not ask of him to contribute anything, and would rather reach her goal on her own. This isn’t necessarily good or bad, it’s just realistic and shows she is an independent character. Lu Zhaoxi also respects her decision and does not pressure her with his wealth. He offered to lend her money, but did not make any decisions on his own before asking her input. What I really like about Lu Zhaoxi’s character is that he knows he comes from a wealthy family, and he acknowledges his privileges. He is very grateful of his background and uses what he has to manage the hospital to the best of his ability. He is a very humble and down to earth character despite his background.
Lu Zhaoxi and Ye Shilan have tons of respect, admiration, empathy, and love (among much more) towards each other, which makes their relationship so organic and fun to watch. The two are very different characters, Lu Zhaoxi being much more optimistic and sunshine-y and Ye Shilan more pessimistic and withdrawn, they complement each other very well. I really enjoyed watching the push/pull dynamics during the majority of the drama, and I respect that the production team took the time to portray this part of their relationship, instead of rushing to push them together. This does make this relationship much more realistic, because in real life there is indeed a lot of uncertainty between two people that make them hesitate to confess their feelings for one another. I also liked that both of them in their heart knew that they liked each other, and the other person liked them, but both were scared that there was a small chance that they could be wrong. It just felt very real to me. The confession scene was very relaxing and peaceful to watch. It did not need the grand gestures and lengthy speeches. It felt very real and fitting for them. As someone who has a personality similar to Ye Shilan, I really appreciated the way Lu Zhaoxi maturely handled the confession scene and I felt the patience that he had with her knowing that she is someone who needed the time to think and respond. Although on the surface it may appear that Lu Zhaoxi seems to know how to respond to everything in a perfect manner, as if he was speaking from script, I thought it really fit his character well. His character is naturally a very charming person who knows how to talk, so his “perfect” responses were perfect for his character. He is also a very empathetic person, as I can see from his body language when he interacts with everyone, he would turn his body towards them, maintain eye contact, and use his facial expressions to respond. I guess I can say he is a good listener and a good speaker — very rare. I know it can be a hit or miss for some audiences that Lu Zhaoxi seems to be too perfect as a character, that it seems a bit unrealistic. But to me, these perfect characters are pretty rare to find, so when one does appear, I cherish them!
Lastly I wanted to just comment that the BGM of this drama is just pure genius. The production team played with the music and sound effects so perfectly. The “HO! HA!” one is pure gold. I also like that at times they would completely pause the BGM at comedic moments for a few seconds to let the joke pass before restarting it. I’ve never encountered such usage of BGM before in other dramas and moments like that really added so much more to the scene.
I impulsively wrote this review before the drama even finished airing because I just couldn’t contain my love for it anymore. Who knows if the drama will end up with a poor ending or not, because anything can happen, but with the way it is going so far I think it should do fine. Anyway, hope this doesn’t come around to slap me in the face when the drama does end (:
Edit after completing the drama:
I loved the way the drama switches the roles between the guy and girl in a relationship that one would stereotypically think of. There are examples of this throughout the drama, but was especially obvious in the last few episodes. I also loved seeing Ye Shilan's growth throughout and how she's turned into almost a completely different person, except not really, she's just become a better version of herself with the help of Lu Zhaoxi. But just like he said, he's not her savior, she is her own savior, he was just cheering for her on the sidelines. Sometimes one just needs such a drama that brings so much positive energy and does it in a way that appears real. I love the message that this story brings to us, we can all really learn from it.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama on the surface looked to me like a typical romance xianxia, but after watching it I have come to realize that the romance part of it is very atypical and unlike other dramas of the same genre that I have watched before. For me what stood out most was how drastically different each pairing was, which was a good thing, because if all the pairs were similar, the entire drama would be a bore. Another plus was I felt that the entire drama was centered around the sibling relationship between Xiaoyao and Cangxuan. It was ultimately a story of brother and sister conquering the world, and everyone else were just supporting roles along the way. My thoughts on each of the CPs will be written down below to avoid spoilers in my more generic review. The plot itself was streamline and I did not feel it dragging, though it did slow down after all the action moved to the courts and politics became more prominent. The best part of the drama had to be the episodes spent at the little town of Qingshui where it all began. As I said above, the majority of the plot revolves around the siblings, and we get to follow along Cangxuan’s journey to power. What made it relatively easy to follow was there were minimal important characters, and the world that the story takes place in is relatively small. In other words, we didn’t have to spend too many brain cells to remember a ton of names and places. This is also a plus because it meant there weren’t many useless characters.
However, I have to speak out (rant) on my dissatisfaction for episode one. It really left a bad taste in my mouth and almost made me reluctant to continue. First, I feel that it was a very unnecessary episode. If it wanted to introduce us to background story, it could’ve done it in a different way, a way that the drama used for the rest of the episodes - flashbacks!!! If flashbacks are done well, their purpose is to tell the audience the background story. This introduction was not effective, and I did not understand any of the motives behind what the adults chose to do (ahem a certain grave jumper). Second, fine, you want to start off with an introductory background story episode, then why do you need to add in a narration. It seemed like they just gave up on telling the background story and resorted to the typical narration followed by a time skip format. Anyway, enough ranting. Luckily I chose to move on from episode one and immediately the scenes that followed the 300 years later time skip were drastically improved.
Before the spoilers, I would like to applaud the acting of the entire main cast. I never doubted Yang Zi’s acting. Zhang Wanyi, Deng Wei, and Tan Jianci were pleasant surprises as I have not seen any of their past work before. They were truly the one and only fit for their role and did a phenomenal job. Can’t wait for season two.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Now on to taking about each CP.
First we have Yaojing. I fell instantly for 17 as soon as he made an appearance. He also had a great advantage in that he was the first male lead to make an appearance. I think what struck me most was his devotion towards Xiaoyao that began from the instant she saved his life. Usually this type of relationship is backwards in dramas, where the female lead is the one that needs saving then falls in love with her savior. It was refreshing to see this trope flipped in this drama. 17 was doing great and ahead in the race for me up until he had to resume his identity as Jing. As politics entered, although he wanted his heart to only belong to Xiaoyao, he could not help but carry some of the burden of being his clan’s future leader. What is heartbreaking is he did nothing wrong, but I think it is intentional to make the audience feel that he is no longer at a position where he can be a good partner to Xiaoyao.
As Jing was slowing down in the race, Xiang Liu quickly overcame him and became first place in the race. At the beginning I hated him. He hurt Xiaoyao without batting his eye and was abusing her by drinking her blood without her consent. But I got to understand him more, and he quickly became the most suitable partner for Xiaoyao in my mind. I see Yaoliu as soulmates. They were both in the same tragic conditions as children, and both fought their way out of their struggles, and made a life for themselves. They are both emotionally cold, strong, but also soft for the right people. Xiang Liu was there to pick Xiaoyao up whenever she was down. He was the one who taught her practical skills and how to defend herself. In return, Xiaoyao allowed him to take her blood as medicine, she accepted his identity and purpose, and never condemned him because he is a nine-headed “monster”. Their relationship was well balanced and Xiang Liu is the only person that I feel Xiaoyao can really be herself around.
Cangxuan’s over-protectiveness of his sister is a result of his tragic past as a child, losing all of his relatives in a short amount of time. Xiaoyao is the closest person to him, and he cannot emotionally bear losing her too. I never saw Yaoxuan as a couple, but they are probably the best sibling CP that I have seen in a drama. They are soulmates in a way that is different from Yaoliu. The pair had some of the best cry-worthy scenes in the drama. Two that are worth mentioning are when Xiaoyao mistook A-nian’s mother as her own mother, and her identity was therefore revealed in a heartbreaking scene with Cangxuan. Another one is when Cangxuan was being attacked and Xiaoyao protected him with her life from Fang Fengbei’s arrow. I can’t wait to see more of these two in season two.
Lastly, we have Fenglong. I don’t even know if I should include him in the race or not. I never shipped them, and I never felt that Fenglong would be a good partner for Xiaoyao. As he said himself, they are more like bros than anything else. I appreciate his frankness because he admits that he wants to marry her partly because of her identity.
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Li Xiangyi carries a heavy burden, a poison that is slowly killing him. He has managed to escape death and his glorious past life as #1 in Jianghu. He is simply tired and wants to live out his life, however long that is. He does not want to die, but knows that it is inevitable. Yet somehow, he finds himself entangled with old friends, new friends, and a series of crimes that all seem connected in some weird way. But he just wants to retire as Li Lianhua, why can’t Jianhu just let him do that! But an innate part of him draws him into his new situation because he slowly uncovers a hidden secret that is entirely against his own morals, so he decides to pitch in whatever effort he has left to make things right again.
Cheng Yi’s masterful performance of Li Xiangyi/Li Lianhua brought BOTH personas to life. They are the same person, yet both have their own distinct characteristics. Li Xiangyi is a headstrong, upright youth who will put his #1 martial art skills to use to uphold his own morals. Li Lianhua has gone through *life* and has long given up on his youth. The only thing they both share is their chivalrous spirit. Li Xiangyi/Li Lianhua is the calmest, coolest person in all of Jianghu and Cheng Yi did an amazing depiction of that. The audience is able to understand Li Lianhua as much as Cheng Yi wanted us to understand, meaning sometimes we knew what he was thinking and sometimes we had no damn idea what was on his mind. As satisfying it was to watch him calmly solve cases like a natural born detective, it was just as satisfying to watch him explode into action and his CLEAN fight moves. Just as Cheng Yi said in an interview, Li Xiangyi’s character development is very unique in that in most cases, characters develop from a lower position into a higher position, but Li Xiangyi’s development went the opposite direction. Despite that, he still learned a ton in the 10 years that he traveled Jianghu. Even though his ultimate state was nothing like what he had 10 years ago, his entire outlook on life has completely changed for the better, and I think he got the ending he felt most suitable for him.
This drama was a perfect example of having a plot that builds upon itself. Even though the entire plot was basically case solving followed by case solving, there were clues cleverly and mysteriously hidden from the beginning. This drama does a good job of keeping the audience engaged because we have to actively remember clues that appeared several episodes ago (with a million things that happened in between) in order to understand the logic behind the progress of unraveling the hidden secrets. Many times throughout the drama I found myself saying “OH YEA, that happened” as I tried to piece together the information. Of course I gotta applaud the SEVERAL major plot twists (no spoilers here) that happen, damn I did not see them coming. But it’s weird because I feel like I should have seen them coming. I felt like I was walking in Li Lianhua’s shoes when the plot twists were revealed, and maybe that was on purpose.
Lastly I wanted to talk about the supporting characters. Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng are actually very simple characters, compared to Li Lianhua. We already knew from the beginning that Fang Duobing is Li Xiangyi’s #1 fan and Di Feisheng is Li Xiangyi’s #1 (fr)enemy. Fang Duobing’s character development was more on the side of him growing to become a better detective and martial artists. His chivalrous spirit was already there from the beginning. Di Feisheng is actually kind of the opposite. He was already a top martial artists from the very beginning, and his only goal was to fight his way to become the ultimate #1 in Jianghu. His character development is actually building his chivalrous spirit and becoming someone who not only wants to win, but also wants to win for the greater good of Jianghu.
My favorite supporting character has to be Jiao Liqiao. Aside from Cheng Yi’s performance, her performance was my favorite. Her character was so simple minded, dumb, yet smart too??? She wanted one thing and one thing only, and she had solid plans for getting it.
Unfortunately as the story went on, I found that I had forgotten most of the characters that appeared at the very beginning. There were just too many to remember, and most of the important characters appeared near the middle/end. I wouldn’t call this a flaw of the drama, but I just wish they made some of the supporting characters that appeared (or died) in the beginning few cases more memorable.
Damn this is a long review. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this drama from beginning to end. There were no dull moments, and the whole thing was very fast paced. A perfect example of an epic Jianghu story.
Edit: note to self so I can go back to it later. This drama perfectly integrated comedic moments, mostly coming from Li Lianhua and his ability to lie with a poker face haha. My favorite funny scene had to be the one at the beginning of Ep 13 when a certain puppy found out he got left behind again...
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I would like to start off by saying that I came into this with a mind full of stereotypes and full of expectations. It’s not the right mindset to bring with me to something that is new, but I didn’t know a single thing about the realm of street dance before watching this show, so I could only go off of what I thought street dance was. Twelve episodes later I have learned so so many things that broke my stereotypical depiction of what street dance was/is and I learned so much new terminology! My prior knowledge of street dance was limited to only a few styles—now with my newfound knowledge—I can identify as sort of like swag/jazz/urban/hiphop. In other words, Jackson’s style is what I typically thought of as street dance. Locking, waacking, breaking, house, etc…what’s that?! Lol I never heard of those before watching! Not to mention the entire dictionary of terminology that I learned about battles! More on battles later…
I was initially pumped for this show because of Wang Yibo, so initially I automatically rooted for his team. But after a couple episodes, I was so caught up with a ton of other contestants across all teams that I really didn’t have a team I was rooting for anymore. I mean in the end, this is mainly a competition for the contestants and not the captains anyway. Jackson, Yixing, and Wallace all were superb and their interactions with each other were so f hilarious and genuine. It was just like watching a bunch of good bros rave about their love for dance. All the captains did amazing jobs handling their teams, and I loved the obvious respect that each and every single captain and dancer had for one another. Sportsmanship was huge and I liked that every person respected that. Friendship first, competition second. Each person had such different personalities onstage and offstage, and they did not let the competitiveness interfere with their friendship. “Love and Peace” y’know?
Aggressive, is the word that I used to describe what I thought street dance was all about. Aggressive language, aggressive behavior, aggressive attitude, etc. But I learned after watching this that the most important factor was aggressive passion. It’s always a joy to watch other people perform the things they love, especially in artistic forms like dance. Each person on this show showcased their passion for dance and it’s something like this that really captivated me as an audience. I think this passion can really be seen in the battle rounds, and oh boy, they were liiiiiit. It always amazed me how they are able to choreograph complete routines in just mere minutes, and even more impressive when they have to come up with moves in mere seconds during 1v1 battles. All the battles were intense for sure, and it’s not something I can describe in words. You’ll just have to watch for yourself. P.s. I also love the MC for the battles :D
The type of art showcased in this show can be appreciated by anyone, and I really encourage people to watch this show. As Jackson always liked to say, “this is art!” Indeed. Even if you can’t understand Chinese and skip all the commentary, you can still enjoy if you only watch the performances. Although I do know that there are English subbed versions out there, so there’s no excuse not watch this! I really appreciate following along with this show over this summer, and it was definitely the highlight of summer 2020 for me. The goal of the show is to let more people appreciate and learn about the culture of street dance, and they definitely reached that goal.
Edit: can't wait for SDC2021! Heard the OG captains will band together again ;).
P.s. the slogan on the winning scarf is "Peace and Love" ._.
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Acting was phenomenal. As I said above, I could easily tell how the characters thought about other characters, especially in the difference for how Li Jianjian treats both her brothers. The drama cleverly wove in some subtle hints from the start and I could easily figure out how she felt about both her brothers. Tan Songyun and Zhang Xincheng acted out the relationship between their characters so well. I cannot imagine their characters being acted by anyone else. Song Weilong's character was very complex, and he did a great job too.
Of course I can't talk about acting without mentioning some of the older actors. Tu Songyan's portrayal of Lin Haichao was so convincing, and he really became the embodiment of his character. His dialogues and behaviors were so smoothly executed it was like he was the character, not acting at all. I love that the drama gave enough attention to the struggles of the parental figures, and the realistic depictions of their conflicts. Chen Ting is a super complicated character and Yang Tongshu portrayed her so well. There were moments where I hated the character, then other moments where I really empathized with her internal struggles. I thought it was a great depiction of mental health struggles that people could be going through in real life.
Despite this being a family style drama with not too many dramatic scenes, it did not fail at all in making me cry. There were times when one episode made me laugh so hard my cheeks hurt and I had tears then the next episode would make me sob. I have to say that part of the middle episodes started to get a little draggy and stagnant, but the plot still was able to move along and picked up near the end. I gotta say I think the ending is perfect and really fits the overall theme of the drama.
Lastly, I wanted to strongly praise the sound effects. I rarely encounter dramas that purposely use comedic sound effects to make the audience laugh, but this drama did, and I greatly appreciated it. The comedic sound effects really added points to the scenes (that were already really funny), but they made the scenes knee-slappingly funny. At one point I was feeling the drama drag a bit, so I watched on 1.5x and oh boy the comedic scenes were 200% funnier.
I'm extremely glad I watched this drama, and I am happy I am venturing out into more genres outside of my typical xianxia/wuxia. Please don't hesitate to give this drama a try!
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