Noble Aspirations

The story seems to be your typical cliche story of a young person who suffers from tragedy and you follow him as he grows and matures and develops. I like how they got both Zhang Xiao Fan and Lin Jin Yu to suffer from the same tragedy and you can see how the two people develop differently giving you a comparison giving you a feel of the main antagonist. Through out the whole series you can see how Zhang Xiao Fan changes and become more mature throughout many life and death situation. Flash backs are used very well to show us the trouble all the different characters has face and how we could empathise with them.

I feel all the actors did a good job portraying their role but i want to especially mention the 2 females leads. Zanila who play Bi Yao did an amazing job as always. She must be one of the most sort after actress in China at the moment. She seems to be every other drama and always does a splendid job. Yang Zi who protray Lu Xue Qi, I feel is really underrated. She has good chemistry with Li Yi Feng and the rest of the cast. She protays a believable character who seems to hide all her trouble and with a cold attitude but is in fact very caring. There is a very big cast and all the members seem to make themselves stand out one way or another.

The music was done very well. The use of music during emotional scenes was just right and not too over the top. The music didn't over shadow anyone's dialogue and added enough dramatic effect for it to work. Both the OST were good to listen to and enjoyable.

I generally dont judge a show on re-watch value as sometimes a good show doesn't necessary have much re-watch value. I can say the Legend of Chusen is one of those shows as there are not many surprises and you can guess how most of the story pans out anyway.

Overall I enjoyed this drama a lot. It exceeded my expectations and I would recommend people to watch it if you are into this genre. It is your typical 'chosen one' storyline with a Romeo and Juliet romance. I am looking forward to season 2 even if it is not as long and I hope it gives us a complete conclusion.

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I was craving for a wuxia series when I started watching it. Maybe that's why I could tolerate a typical storyline and dragging pace of this series.
Nonetheless, it is one of the decent ones in recent wuxia/xianxia genre. It has good action/battle scenes. Even though it follows a typical wuxia storyline of a young naive boy becoming a hero, it is still enjoyable. The story is, however, quite dragging, sometimes it takes three or more episodes to go through a sub-plot.
As for acting wise, I am not that impressed with Li Yi Feng and most of the casts but I have always liked Zhao Li Ying since her older works.

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I'm not a big fan of wuxia dramas but this one.. I watched this from the moment I woke up to 3-4am. I JUST COULDN'T STOP WATCHING IT
At first I was discouraged to watch this beacause the reviews were kinda bad.. And to be honest, I started watching it by mistake on youtube while searching for a dramas and since the name of the episode wasn't 'legend of chusen' or 'noble aspirations' I thought it's a different drama. ANYWAYS.. I want to thank the person who named the first episode differently on youtube for letting me start this amazing series. I have no idea what others disliked to give a rating of below 8/9. Definitely a must-watch!

This drama is so addicting! I haven't seen a drama that obsessed me like this for a long time.. I had to watch season 2 immediately after finishing the first season and I can't wait for the 3rd season.

The teachings in this drama makes you think a bit about the choices you make daily, about future and happiness as well as confidence in oneself.
The story is beautiful, it has strong characters both physically and mentally; the love story is beautiful and pure; the teachings are amazing and the special effects are good.

I couldn't feel bored for even a second. I can't wait for the 3rd season!
I totally recommend this drama to everyone, even if you aren't a fan of wuxia tales. 10/10

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The Legend of Chusen is definitely a must-watch if you like Wuxia. It has great fight scenes, it has great special effects, and it has some pretty decent mystery (it's probably not going to completely surprise you, but they do it well). The soundtrack for it though is absolutely amazing. The songs they chose are awesome, soulful, and placed at pretty perfect places throughout the scenes, although I love the rest of the show choices, such as good actors for their roles and good characters, the Soundtrack was the most powerful piece of it all, since it was so well done.


I do not include Re-Watch value in the over-all grade of the series, since Re-Watch value is a divided issue on how important it is to determining how good a show is.

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On the whole, it is an interesting and entertaining drama, and is still worth the watch if you can afford the time.

As with a lot of Chinese dramas, it does well on the hygiene factors: beautiful scenery and computer graphics, strong cast (with both Yang Zi and LiYing Zhao in it), good looking actors and actresses, lovely costumes, lovely music. But the story is somewhat lacklustre - it is just a regular story of guy from good sect and girl from demon sect falling in love and faced a rough journey to be together.

There are a lot of frustrating moments/elements:

1. The first: too long. Series 2 is a continuation and the total of the 2 series is 73 episodes. As expected, when a drama is that long, there are a lot of draggy moments and flashbacks, to fill the time.

2. The evil always survived and lived to create further havoc. It was not until the second series that they were killed off one by one.

3. The main lead was always doing good but the top sector leaders failed to see it, busy with their adherence to rules and rather questionable principles. But instead trusted all the traitors. A bit like the bureaucracy of a large organisation.

4. It is all the cliche stuff - save the damsel in distress or the guy in distress. Not all that well executed for it to feel romantic.

5. The 2 lead characters were all ready to die for each other, and so are the 2 wolf demons. But really, life is that romantic? And Xiao Fen did not even turn his head at the beautiful Lu except for a short brief moment when he met her at the gathering for briefing at the competition?

6. It is all about loyalty. Again, really? Loyalty, adhering to promises and gratitude are good values but should not blind anyone to right or wrong. Xiao Fen's stubborn silence about his weapon and martial art was a the verge of stupidity.

7. Very judgemental and self-righteous: expecting the other person to act as they wanted them to and believing they knew what was best for them, regardless of the wish of the individual. When they refused, they are labelled stubborn. Jing Yu went as far as to sabotage his bro and leaked his seeking the resurrection stone to the enemies because he did not want him to save Bi Yao, indirectly causing his turning away from Qing Yun.

6 and 7 could be about the Chinese culture but 7 is definitely not pretty.

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This is one of my top list dramas. The story is not very original but the way it is screenplayed and filmed was just very interesting. Very beautiful scenes come out from this show that mainly deals with the eternal questions of knowing who is right and who is wrong. Different clans struggle for power and promote their own beliefs and values. Evil clans, rightousness clans, neutral ones. Can friendship grow among people from different clans ? Can love survive to forbidden rules and social pressure ? This is what a young simple mind and nearly idiot boy ( Xiao Fan/Li Yi Feng) is meant to learn. You don't expect this one to be a hero but fate will work for him. I was very much impressed with Li Yi Feng acting : I kept on asking myself for nearly half of the show if this guy was really a good actor or an idiot in real life because of his expressions and eyes ! Well, well... he is a genious ! As the drama goes on, Xiao Fan becomes a hero with suspicious inner power and forbidden love feelings for Demon Arch Lord's daughter... How can you deal with this when you are supposed to follow your clan's rightnouss rules and path ? How can you be sure that your heart isn't evil ? A pure heart and simple mind knows it. Evil comes from the one who wants to act evil. Demonic weapons can be used for achieving fine and noble purposes, everything dipends on your aspirations and your will to act bad or right. This is not only a wuxia fantasy romance it is also about friendship, power, bromance and learning about life while facing your own choises. The Untamed before the Untamed ! Very good show with great visual effects as well.

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The worst drama we have to love

We all have that one drama we know is terrible, but will love it regardless. That's Noble Aspirations for me. It's hard to find a campier drama that attempts to take itself so seriously, with such self-important imponent villains, a main couple with negative chemistry, and side characters who don't so much as shine but rather dull your senses until the only thing you have left is... Xiao Fan. Xiao Fan, my most favorite useless main leads ever, I would die for you! Perhaps it's a testament to Li Yi Feng's (lackluster?) acting, but somehow he comes off as the sweetest best boy ever, and that was all I needed? He is simple and adorable, and his smile brings healing. Sometimes you don't need a complicated hero, you just need a hero you want to hug.

Unfortunately, the rest of this drama is trash. Only half the arcs are worth watching once, the rest can be fast-forwarded if you really dare. Bad CGI I can handle, but combine that with ridiculous storytelling, flat villains, and serious misdirection of the rest of the characters (Shu Shu - you are the drama's only other exception) and it's nearly unwatchable. For real, I can't see Mao Zi Jun as anything other than Mr. Poison. This one character has ruined the actor for me forever.

Bonus: If you can actually make it through Noble Aspirations 1, honestly, the sequel is better. Go figure. It's shorter too.

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The Legend of Chusen (also Noble Aspirations) is one of the very first true wuixa drama series I've watched since a 17 odd year hiatus away from Asian dramas. I have to say that I am totally impressed after watching 55 episodes of Season 1 and all 18 episodes of Season 2. No regrets whatsoever. I am pretty fresh returning to watch dramas so I didn't find the series draggy at all. Perhaps because I was fully invested in all the characters. I also skimmed through bits of the novel as well. I found my love for Yang Zi in this series. Oh my god, so beautiful!! So cold and unwavering. Her costume was also very fitting. I loved both Yang Zi and her character of Lu Xueqi the most. Both actress and the character kept me going in the series. I also didn't mind Li Yi Feng as Zhang Xiao Fan. It was the first time seeing him in a drama as with the rest of the cast, I found him to be pretty good. I love the bond between the characters of Zhang Xiao Fan, Lu Xueqi, Lin Jing Yu and Ceng Zhu Zhu after the martial arts tournament. Zanilla Zhao played Bi Yao and seemed to have good chemistry with Li Yi Feng. But I wasn't cheering for Bi Yao in this drama, LOL. The cast and characters I found to be very interesting from Jin Ping Er to Qin Wu Man. The theme throughout is what is good and what is evil. A traditional wuxia theme and many characters discussed this in depth during the drama. I was actually shocked by the ending at episode 55 to be honest. But it's something new I guess. I loved the costumes which looking more traditional wuxia. My gripe against some dramas is they make cartoon or anime looking costumes. I then marched onto Season 2 which also had an interesting ending... Despite being incomplete I'd still recommend the series as one to watch. I can't see Season 3 happening with the same cast though. Which will be unfortunate. Like I said before, Yang Zi as Lu Xueqi really made this series interesting for me. I'd be really upset if she didn't return for Season 3 to complete the drama.

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Major problem of this series was that mc was a weak person but they way they shown his character in the beginning was not much different than others in power level except he couldn't fly. He was fighting on their level, if they had shown bigger difference in power level so that the journey to become stronger would have been more satisfying. (until episode 10) : 7.5

Now after completing the series i have to say the story keeps improving certainly a little to long -0.5 for that. : 8.5

If you like underdog journey to the top + romance this series is much recommended.

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A masterful ensemble drama

Noble Aspirations was one of the earliest C-dramas I watched, and it still holds a special place in my heart. I genuinely loved this drama, and honestly, its OST alone is enough to make me want to rewatch the entire series. There’s just something about those songs that brings back the feeling of watching it all over again.

Zhang Xiaofan is probably my favorite part of the drama. I really loved watching his slow and painful transformation from a simple, timid village boy into the demon-wielding Gui Li. What makes it so memorable to me is how natural his transformation feels. It never needed exaggerated melodrama to make his pain and inner struggle believable—you could feel everything through his character’s journey.

I also loved how the entire ensemble felt meaningful. Even the supporting characters had their own presence and purpose, and it never felt like anyone was simply there to fill a role.

It’s been years since I last watched it, yet I still remember the feeling it gave me. Some dramas you enjoy while watching, and some just quietly stay with you. For me, Noble Aspirations is definitely the latter.

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