The King of Blaze (2018)

Good story and beautiful cast- I recommend as a pass time drama

I started watching this to pass time while waiting for my other shows. I thought the first few episodes were just okay, then the story got better before reaching a cycle of repeated elements and crashing in the final episode. The characters however, were interesting enough to see it through to the end. The second couple had more chemistry and an even more interesting story line than the main couple. I grew to love many side characters like General Li, Chu Yuanzhi, Touer and the crown prince. I really like that the crown prince always stood up for himself and pursued what he wanted unlike in many other dramas. The comedic relief in the drama were well placed and not over the top. The ending sucked as is the norm for most Chinese time dramas but hey, we get a S2. There were plots that were never explained (e.g. the Empress), and the time passage was unclear. I lost interest in the main couple's love story halfway through the series. It lacked depth and freshness due to the overused plot and many repeated tropes.

As for the acting, the actors playing Hao Yue and princess Ying did a fantastic job at conveying emotions. However, I got too distracted with Chen Bolin's over-exaggerated facial expressions. His "angry" face especially got me cringing every time. I thought Jing Tian's acting was okay although I must say, her acting in the god realm was more fluid. Her crying scenes were somewhat unbelievable in the earthly realm and I couldn't empathize with her character...especially because she cried every 3 episodes or so after meeting Zhong Tian and this did not suit the strong, independent character we were made to believe she was. I will only be watching S2 because of the second couple. Hopefully the story is better.

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Review for both seasons together

This is a fairly good drama. The plot had a lot of potential but the storyline between the lead couple had the same elements even though there were centuries in between each existence. The acting is good for the most part but the feelings are not well developed. Zhang Yi Jie (as Hao Yue and Lei Hao-Season 2) and Lai Yu Meng (as Princess Li Ying and Wei Yong Qian- Season 2) had a great storyline and very good chemistry. The first season was more entertaining and the characters were better developed; the CGI’s and the music were great and the action was nice. On the second season, the characters lost depth and luster due to the overused plot. Even though this is not a drama with strong re-watch value, it’s still entertaining.

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