This review may contain spoilers
Finally, real chemistry & intimacy among the lead characters
I really enjoyed Legend of Fu Yao, minus the mystical part. The reason why this drama did not get a 10, is because I am not into magic and mystical dramas. The male lead actor, Ethan is fine! I think he is the most attractive male actor in Asia. Legend of Fu Yao was the first C-drama that I watched, in which the characters had authentic intimacy and chemistry on screen. The second drama is Princess Agent. I also like the fact that both of those dramas, have actors who look older than 21.I am American, and I am really turned off by the overlysexualized romantic scenes in American movies and dramas. However, with most C-dramas and K-dramas, sometimes it seems like there is no romance and that kind of bores me when I watch dramas. I think Legend of Fu Yao, did a perfect job of showing intimacy and chemistry, without being overlysexual. I also think it could have ended around episode 40 (after they win the first major battle), it would have been perfect. I tend to stop watching dramas when they are dragged out unnecessarily, by having two major conclusions. That is one on the reasons why I stopped watching Rebel Princess; it had two major conclusions.
Was this review helpful to you?
Storyline was OK
I don’t have much to say except I didn’t read the novel. My biggest problem was with the female led actress being 35 years old when the character is a teenager. Are there no younger actresses that could play this role? She did a good enough job acting, but I just can’t get past the age differential.I don’t know about the book, but I wonder how a slave girl became such a martial arts genius (in her mind). She also is very arrogant even when she loses every fight with the male lead. She says she loves him, yet is nasty to him when he continually saves her.
The movement of the story was good and most times kept my interest. I guess my only thing is I couldn’t relate to the main character.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Amazing acting and storyline, worth the time spent watching.
So this is my most favorite C drama and despite it being 66 episodes long, I've rewatched it because I totally loved it the first time.Story: The story is very well written, i don't remember any plotholes. The first part in Xuanyan sect where the ML and FL meet, and Taiyuan kingdom where they develop feelings was really the best part in the entire drama. Tiansha kingdom affairs felt a little draggy, especially the Yao City part was the worst to me. Xuanji kingdom was filled with evil lol. Tianquan was the centre of the major incidents. Well could've invested a little more time to the last episodes because they did feel a little rushed despite the show having so many episodes. I think the tiansha arc took a lot more episodes than it needed, thus making the ending this rushed.
Characters and acting: Yang Mi won my heart in Eternal love and this one just made me an even bigger fan. Her acting was on point and she was amazing. Ethan Juan was sweet, charming and caring throughout, except he was a little too kind to be a king. His acting was also great. They had mind blowing chemistry. I especially loved the character of Zong Yue. Yalan Zhu and Zhan Beiye.. their pair up seemed kinda forced, like yalan zhu did so much for him so he accepted her out of pity. And Fuyao's adoptive father was so good. There are quite a lot of evil b's like Feng Xuan, Folian and Pei Yuan. Qi Zhen was very evil but i didn't hate him more than Folian. I felt bad for Yang Jingchen as he was a pathetic character throughout. Yun Hen was so dumb and annoying. Zhangsun Pinrong was absolutely disgusting. Zhangsun Jiong was kinda pathetic though he was evil. I didn't like Wuji's mother at all. Everyone's acting was natural and felt great. Well that's it for the characters.
Ending: This is an open ended drama. So everyone who is disappointed with the ending, it was meant for viewers to imagine how they might have lived after the climax. Wuji and Fuyao standing together in a palace garden is already a hint. Well the ending was kinda bizarre because I wanted to know what happened to the others too. But from what i read, the novel which this is based on has a happy ending, so I'm just gonna go with that.
Others: The cgi was okay. Cinematography, costumes, sets and backgrounds in this drama were amazing. About the music, i especially loved the closing theme.
Would watch it again after watching twice already because i never get tired of it and highly recommend watching it.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This is one of my favorites of all time.
(Standard warning: Likely spoilers below, read at your own risk).This was my gateway drug into Asian dramas. I have rewatched this one enough times that I have now set a limit on when I can watch it again, lest I get tired of it.
ML & FL probably have one of the healthiest relationships ever portrayed in Asian drama land. They always support each other's goals and achievements. They communicate, they do not manipulate (though ML tried it a little during the Deep Water arc). ML was never threatened by FL's abilities, never put her down, and was so proud of her when her true identity (in her birth country) was discovered rather than threatened.
The ending was a bit of a let-down. There appears to be debate as to what it actually represented. In my opinion, it shows them in Megrez, but others would likely disagree. I would have liked to have seen an epilogue that wrapped everything up better. There are some dramas that never seem to end and others that could use a bit more explanation.
I did not really ship the SML and SFL. She's sweet but this super crazy stalker-type and he clearly denigrates her intelligence (tells his mother so directly). I actually think the character portrayed by the same actress in "Ancient Love Poetry" was a far better fit for Ven Gao's character than the one she played of LofFY). At the least the love triangle was half-hearted at best and never a cause for angst.
There were some periods of illogic. Such as, why wouldn't they have disguised Fu Yao better as a man (like they disguised her as another person in Deep Water). I hate when the girl crossdressing is soooooooo obviously still a girl, especially when in a made up, magic kingdom you have plenty of options to make it work in a logical way. The show drags in the middle with an unnecessary drama over bandits in the desert, then it picks back up again.
There were some amazing fight scenes. Perhaps the most romantic (?) fight scene ever in the royal bath at Deep Water and then the most amazing fight for survival when she's kidnapped by Prince Assist in Megrez. The first arc and the Deep Water arc are my two favorites--my third is perhaps the arc in the country run by women.
I recommend this one if you like the fantasy genre (my personal favorite) or are just getting started with Asian dramas. I apologize in advance for any lost sleep and lost study time. :D
Was this review helpful to you?
I want to thank all the cast, the producers, the directors, the visual effects, the musicians and music creators, the makeup artists, the costumes... All of it! I give you your due respect! Awesome!
I want to thank the screenwriters for bringing awareness to rape.
I think I already wrote a review for this already, but don't see it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Plus - storyline pace kept me engaged and wanting to see the next episode [induced binge-watching all 66 eps)
Thats a good sign of a good series
Minus- inconsistencies with the logic of some plot storylinex - there were better options for some actions to follow in a story
Plus - costumes and scene sets elaborate, ornate and intriguing .... great portrayal of asian culture
Minus - the lack of detail to the main characters origins and purpose from the beginning to set the context
Plus - Main lead female was par excllence Yang Mi is an outstanding actress who i hope well see in western movies and same with ethan Juan both characters filled the screen with mean as emotion theyd rock in western movies
“Minus - the lack of connectedness from the opening scene to the ending and the way the ending was executed the main LETDOWN for me was the ending it had no connectedness to the opening scene out of the millions of ways this series could have ended this one did not do justice to Fuyao’s journey and achievements or to Wuji’s role in her life either....i would have given 2 episodes to lead in an epic ending instrad was left hanging and wondering why that ending
Overall im a fan of this movie but the ending spoiled it for me
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Yang Mi does it again!
Definitely worth watching. I love the female lead- Fuyao, played by Yang Mi, absolutely carries the show. She’s strong, clever, and determined, and it’s so satisfying watching her grow and fight her way through every obstacle. Her crying scenes and yearning is so heartwrenching!The story blends martial arts, court politics, destiny, and romance in a way that keeps you hooked. It has that epic, adventurous vibe- a little messy at times, but always entertaining. I’ve rewatched it a couple of times and it still holds up well.
Yang Mi’s performance is fantastic, and the chemistry between her and Ethan Juan (the male lead) is solid- they have this grounded but intense dynamic that fits the tone of the drama perfectly.
The costuming is gorgeous and gives the whole thing that sweeping, historical–fantasy feel. It’s not flawless, but if you like strong female leads and big, dramatic stories, this one delivers.
Was this review helpful to you?
High recommend this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
I however, was more drawn to the chemistry between the two leads. The story line seemed all over the place to me, and confusing. At times, I'm still not sure who Fuyao is, and where she comes from. After reading the reviews, I finally realized there are moments where Fuyao blacks out = breaking seals, but there were times where she blacks out and it was more than 5x. When the last seal broke, I thought it was like the 6th or 7th time.
I pretty much just enjoyed the cast.
Was this review helpful to you?
I dropped this (milder spoilers ahead)
Few days ago I asked chatgpt to suggest me some ancient dramas where there's brave, heroic, smart and cunning or in one word a strong female character as the main character. And it recommended me Legend of Fuyao with few other great historical dramas like the long balad or the rise of phoenixes which I loved and unfortunately already watched. So I thought of giving Legend of Fuyao a try and here we go.The first few episodes were good. Even if our main character needed some savings time to time at first(which was understandable cuz she wasn't too good at martial arts at that time and didn't had much knowledge about a lot of things) when she kicked her senior brother's arse in that fight it felt very satisfying and I thought this one is worth watching and anticipated a great character growth from her where she can stand equally with her male counterparts. But no. Everything started to turn upside down after that. That great character(fuyao) I had so much hope of suddenly started to turn into a typical damsel in distress who needed constant saving. I was very disappointed and dropped this drama few times but started to watch again and again because I thought that this will change and fuyao will be strong enough to at least to save her own arse one day. But no it didn't change and it got worse. I can't even count how many times she got knocked out ( martial artists tend to have heightened awareness and reflexes compared to an average person) or how many times she needed saving from the male lead and others or how many times author dragged her into random unwanted romantic entanglements. And I think romance weakened her too like many other female characters in cdrama and kdrama. And the male lead is not even worth mentioning. This drama started with a good potential but it got worse and worse later on so I dropped this around ep 25.
This is only just my personal opinion and looking at the other reviews I saw that a lot of people enjoyed this (good for them). After all not everyone think alike and everyone has their own opinions. For me it's not my type of drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
A must see top reference for C-drama!
An amazing chemistry between the renowned talented actors, an excellent director, choreographers, writers.
Fascinating characters with an entangling superb balance of women and men roles.
The script is captivating to the extent of overwhelming.
Excellent production and special effects production!
All in all an emotional rollercoaster and an aesthetic pleasure!!!
Thank you!!!
Was this review helpful to you?



