This review may contain spoilers
Okay, I am not gonna start with the biggest spoiler regarding the ending, because I am afraid that I will hinder you who have planned to watch it. Let me tell you. Despite the not-so-well-done ending, this drama is still awesome. This is my 3rd Chinese drama to date, as I have been a loyal K-dramas watcher for 13 years, while the first and second Chinese dramas I watched were Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and Ashes of Love which I also loved very much. Then, I was looking for dramas with a loyal and swoon worthy male lead but had not been able to find any until one day I stumbled upon this drama. I saw the trailer and was intrigued by it, then I proceeded to watch the 1st and 2nd episode. Though not as beautiful as TMOPB, but I was hooked! This drama is all about the demons, mortals, and immortals, not kind of heavenly immortals like TMOPB and AOL though.
STORY: (Funny and absolutely romantic)
The story flows quickly in the first 4 episodes without wasting any time for unnecessary scenes though the parts with Immortal Sects was quite confusing at first. It is a story between the goods who was claim to be treacherous and the baddies who claim to be the good ones who will punish those whom they think are demons.
Our female lead, Zhao Yao, is the legendary demoness who was once a really naive and good girl but turned to evil after her grandfather was murdered by her crush while our male lead, Mo Qing, is a shy and timid demon king's son who is sealed in a cave and finally saved by Zhao Yao. Our lead characters are unlike the mainstream characters in other dramas. The female lead is just so badass that she does not need to be saved so often unlike other dramas. The male lead is also not the kind who will tell I love you, word by word to make his feelings known, instead, with actions and loyalty. No matter how evil his girl's attempt to kill him, he still loves her and dotes on her until she falls in love with him.
After episode 5 when Mo Qing has turned into the mature, reliable, and powerful Wan Lu Sect Leader, the story really begins to be interesting, funny, romantic, and enjoyable. Zhao Yao who believes that Mo Qing has betrayed her, tries to kill him many times but absolutely fails because our male lead is invincible now and God, he is a really one-woman man type! Not fearing anything if it means to protect his Zhao Yao!! He willingly risks his life to take the Heaven Sword for his girl though he knows it will cost him life as he is a demon, because he just wants his girl to be happy. Mo Qing has set the standard for a male lead too high.
The only part that I find really annoying is Jiang Wu! He is really annoying and his part was dragged too long. So, be prepared for an annoying second male lead.
I watch the last 4 episodes from the fan edits in soompi forum so I do not have much complaints, except that I just wish they can add 1 minute of a real happy ending or if it is supposed a sad ending, then be real sad, not that hanging. Based of the version I watch, the ending is when the Heaven Sword rises from the bottom of the tomb and Mo Qing calls Zhao Yao which means that he finally can free himself from the Wanjun Spirit and also the stab of the Heaven Sword. Based on the Youtube version, the series ends with the children scene and thus if the fan edit version and the youtube version are compiled, then after he calls Zhao Yao, he finds her and finally get married and live peacefully in their private place they first met. It has potential to have a great happy ending, but sadly it did not.
ACTING:
I like Xu Kai as Mo Qing/Li Chen Lan and Bai Lu as Zhao Yao. Bai Lu is really badass as Zhao Yao. The way she smiles arrogantly is really contrast when she acts girlish towards Mo Qing which make her a really good actress. Xu Kai as Mo Qing, OMG, he is so suitable as the powerful, handsome, young, smart, and quiet sect leader. He is the same age as me but he can look both young and mature when he acts. When he cries, he really cries as if the world has fallen especially when he is afraid that Zhao Yao will die in episode 43 and also when he can not find Zhao Yao's body in the Sword Tomb. When he fights, he can act as if he really fights his soul off. The chemistry is good.
MUSIC:
Just so so.
Overall, I am really in love with this drama. Li Chen Lan aka Mo Qing has set the male lead standard definitely too high. He is almost in the same level as Ye Hua. If I can put it in rankings regarding the male lead character in Cdramas I watched:
1. Ye Hua of TMOPB
2. Li Chen Lan/Mo Qing
3. Xu Feng of AOL
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This drama has everything that wuxia fans like me look forward to watching. It has a great premise that draws you in right away. Awesome cinematography/ CGI and compelling characters. The main female lead is amazing and carries her role well. The character development as the story progressed is flowing smoothly for me too. There's a lot of lighthearted fun along the way, as well as tragedy that helps shape the lead's character. The male lead is also doing a great characterization along with the rest of the cast. I liked the period costumes, magic and fantastic kung fu. But, the main light at the end of the tunnel of this drama is that there is incredible chemistry between the main leads. Their love is convincing when they look into each other's eyes. It makes you root for them through their hard times and celebrate their happy moments. The rest of the cast did good too and I especially love Zhi Yan and Shi Qi. Xiao Yan portrayed her role well switching between her character and Zhao Yao when they still shared a face and was spiritually connected. I liked the progression of their characters from acquaintance to becoming close like sisters.
Another comedic relief was Shi Qi or Seventeen who was fun, loyal and super cute as she attaches herself to her Sect Leader Zhao Yao and Qian Xian. Without these good points and the main "meat" of the story, the drama would totally fail. It was so drawn out with sub-plots and other romances that ended unhappy. I did like the way the main antagonist died at the end but I didn't like the ending when they used the same actors as siblings. Sure, it did have a happy ending but I would have liked to see how they settled and not abruptly showing their grown children who looks like them. It's just weird that they used the same actors that acted as lovers and at the end, acted as siblings. It just threw me off, that's all. Anyway, I still loved this drama although it dragged a bit towards the end and I still think I didn't waste my time.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
the chemistry
Storyline was decent but the editing of this drama really threw it off for me. The chemistry between the main leads was the main reason I watched the whole thing. I loved them so much that I even spent hours watching their bts.I also really liked that the FL was a badass. Bai Lu is so beautiful and fiesty. Xu Cai was adorable but I think it’s his character that was adorable not so much the actor. I tried watching a few of his other shows but nothing got me hooked like this one.
I wouldn’t really say this is a great show but I would reccomend if you’re looking for cute romance scenes to giggle over.
Was this review helpful to you?
Even the butchering of editing couldn't defeat this gem of a drama
I''ll keep this short:Honestly, I want to give the drama a 10 'cuz the storyline and acting were damn good and had me captivated with first episodes and even got me to watch the raws, buuuut...
#1 The editing...it's like the editing department tried to butcher it and nearly succeeded. This is the most horrendous editing I have ever seen - misplaced and cut scenes, forgotten cgi effects, forgotten light/darkness...like...wtf???
So damn sad. They're ruining the actors, director's and so forth work put in.
In fact, the editing is so bad, fans are attempting to fix it!
So 9.5 down it goes.
#2 Then to me personally, there were too much scenes for secondary characters later on, honestly, I didn't care for them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So 9 it is for me.
Can't give the drama a lower rating despite the butchering 'cuz it does deserve those 9 stars for sure - the plot and actors earned it.
Music was ok - love the ed song ;D
Definitely re-watching, but totally skipping the secondary characters scenes XD
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Sassy demon girl saves the future love of her life
I knew from the very beginning that I would love The Legends. The female lead Lu Zhaoyao was right up my alley of sassy, strong and independent women. Her outfits were literally so stunning I posted pictures of her on Instagram saying how much I adored them. By the end of the series she had gone through some changes to her character but never lost that spark that made her so unique and sympathetic. Mo Qing was an amazing male lead which was mostly thanks to Xu Kai whose performance was outstanding. His role was definitely a complex one as Li Chenlan was the demon king's son and had difficulty handling that other side inside of him at times. What ultimately broke my heart was the way he "died" but then came back years later. The ending is the only thing I would criticize because it didn't sit right with me. I was also really confused when the same two faces appeared at the end and they turned out to be their Children???? The side characters consisting of Zhi Yan, Jiang Wu, Qin Qian Xian, Gu Han Guang, Qian Jin and Sima Rong (plus a dozen other ones) gave this drama the right amount of humor, spice and tragedy. I'm gonna be honest, the story of our grumpy doctor and his beloved Qian Jin was very poignant and brought me to tears. In conclusion: the side plots were engaging and did not feel forced at all. What stood above all else was the ending song "Lu Zhiyao" by Sa Ding Ding. I never, I repeat, NEVER skipped this glorious song once and immediately downloaded it on my phone afterwards.Was this review helpful to you?
And of course, those of you who had watched Xu Kai in Yanxi Palace and liked him would enjoy watching him again in this drama. I must say there are a lot of excellent acting talents in China and good-looking as well. Every Chinese drama I watched, which was rated above 8 on mydramalist did well on this point. This is no exception.
Music was not highly impressive. A theme song was consistently muted in the drama whenever it was played - I could only suspect that it was awful or had copyright issues.
The ending was a little sad as of all the couples in love in the story, only 1 couple eventually live happy ever after. But it could hardly be rated as a tragedy and I should not say the reason so as not to be a spoiler alert.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Story - I loved how the story started with a few plot twists up till it's mid point where it's obvious how the drama would end. I also loved how each and everyone in Wan Lu Men has a different and very interesting personality which suits the clan well. However, the storyline could be better if Zhao Yao could still be the old her after getting together with Mo Qing, instead of being a passive and abiding woman, she should just be like the old savage maniac she was last time as she ruled the entire pugilist world.
Acting/Cast - I love Bai Lu's take on Zhao Yao! Her acting was great but I felt her on screen chemistry with Xu Kai could be better. The supporting casts were also super amazing as they perfectly portrayed the weird and strange attitudes and personalities of the different sub-leaders in Wan Lu Men. Bai Lu and Shane did a great job back and forth as each other, really alike. *PS I love Seventeen as she is just so cute and innocent.
Music - Good OST that suits the drama - Not much fault or praise
Rewatch Value - I would watch it only for Zhao Yao's epic kickass moments.
Overall - This drama could have been a much better one with the help of a better team. The ending was somewhat rushed and obvious as you can clearly see what the ending is like mid-way through the drama (expected ending). The plot was meh, CGI wasn't great and the character development and the transition between scenes were average. Overall a decent drama to watch if you have spare time.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
If I were to rate the love story and storyline of only Lu Zhaoyao and Mo Qing it would be 9 stars. However if I’m rating the entire show it’s more of a 6.5 stars.To begin with there were a lot of unnecessary parts, like Luo Mingxuan dying and coming back alive, like it just the same plot over and over and it gets boring. Like there’s was probably 3 big fits that we saw, they were trying to kill Luo mingxuan. It’s useless and we don’t need it in the show.
The show was way too long, it really should have been like 30 episodes, especially if we cut out the entire Luo mingxuan dying and coming back alive. It’s really unreasonable.
The love story is also pretty good, I like the entire plot of lu Zhaoyao dying and coming back to life, but looking like Qin Zhiyan, I think it’s funny and adorable. The costuming is pretty good and same with ost.
Was this review helpful to you?
The C- drama that dragged its story
I chosed this drama because wanted to see another Xu Kai's act after watching ancient love poetry but honestly speaking, the legends' plot story was not my cup of tea perfectly.I m used to watch long episodes of C drama, but I dont like dragging ones. While in beginning of the episodes and the theme of the story was promising, but latter episodes were like extending unnecessarily. I rarely fast forward, but I did it several times in this C drama.
The ending was kind of confusing as well, and somehow not executed as good as expected for the final.
I expected more actions since it's wuxia genre from both female lead and main lead, as the title is the legends, but not to satisfactory level.
The casts are great, many of them frequent ones in the genre, but the execution of the story wasn't really well. Well that's my POV to put into your consideration , thanks for reading
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Promising Start w/a Chaotically Edited Plot; Xu Kai is Pretty & Dai Xu & Bai Lu Shine Thru The Mess
The Good:*Xu Kai is gorgeous and I love his visuals in this drama. His wardrobe palette had beautiful nightsky/space themes that complimented his dark blue-black hair and caramel-honey eyes wonderfully. He looked great both with and without his "dragon scars". I thought his scene at Zhao Yao's grave when she was lying on the ground unconscious and he had to submit to Jiang Wu in order to get his help was so powerful and so raw. I re-watched his kneeling scene several times and how he held and cried over Zhao Yao and admitted how afraid he was; the despondency and fear on his face made his otherwise powerful figure seem small and child-like, and I thought it was very wonderfully done. He has moments of weakness in the series as well, but I'd honestly put more blame on the writing and editing over his skills as an actor. It seemed like he tried his best but his character did seem to lack a more dynamic bandwidth of emotions.
*Bai Lu as Lu Zhao Yao. WHAT. A. QUEEN. I loved her. She's powerful, arrogant, sarcastic, cunning, and an absolute delight to watch on screen. She did a wonderful job showing the growth of her character from the sweet and naive mountain guardian, to a powerful and ruthless sect leader, to a vengeful and cunning ghost, to a woman in love. I do think her strength evolved as she grew in character and for those who enjoyed her physical scenes as a "badass rule breaker", they may be a little irked by who she becomes in the later episodes as she spends most of her strength trying to protect and love Li Chenlan.
*Dai Xu as Jiang Wu. Absolute scene-stealer. I looked him up on kisskh the minute I saw him on screen. He's like the CDRAMA wuxia Loki. He's chaotic, he's funny, he's handsome, he's cunning, and he's got a giant heart that he veils beneath his ridiculous bravado and sarcasm. I looked forward to all of his scenes and laughed out loud from his antics while he shared leadership with Zhao Yao and Li Chenlan. I was devastated when he died and audibly whooped at the screen when he "showed up" again to give his sword to Zhao Yao (what a powerful scene!). Can't wait for more of his dramas.
*OST is not necessarily memorable, but it was pretty enough.
The Bad:
*The editing is horrendous. Some scenes end abruptly, while others are thrown in that obviously belonged elsewhere and with no rational explanation. How many times am I going to watch the same dragon-nightmare montage that Li Chenlan sees in his head? I swear, it must have been shown like 10 times in 1 episode alone whenever he struggled with his inner demon. I felt like the editors got especially lazy near the end of the series; it was clear this drama should not have been made into 56 episodes. It would have been perfect for 20-25. As is, we have to deal with a lot of filler episodes and a lot of plots getting dragged out and thrown into stereotypical tropes in an effort to carry the plot along.
*The plot drags and drags. As mentioned earlier, it was obvious to me that this show was meant to be much shorter in length and it was seemingly dragged for longer and longer segments. It would have been perfectly paced with 20-25 episodes.
*The CGI - Good. Lawd. It was bad.
*Standard CDRAMA wuxia tropes. 1st FL falls in love with the antagonist in sheep's clothing. He turns out bad and breaks her heart. 1st ML falls in love with FL before FL realizes her feelings for him. 2nd FL is close to 1st ML and is possessive and jealous of 1st FL and so she dangerously concocts ploys to put 1st ML in harms way in order to "save the day" and become his hero, thus making her the apple of his eye but it backfires and makes things worse (wow a surprise!) and she gets more and more careless and violent in her attempts to woo him. - why is this *such a trope* for c-dramas. I literally just watched this same plot in Ashes of Love and Eternal Love.
*Voice dubbing seemed really off with some of the characters and it hindered my ability to appreciate their performance pretty significantly. I'm talking specifically about Xu Kai's performance as Li Chenlan. Visually, I thought he was believable and I empathized with his emotions but I literally had to mute some of his more angsty scenes because the voice actor did a very poor job of sounding convincing. If I muted it and just watched, I could feel his pain. If I allowed the audio to play through, it literally made an otherwise convincing scene seem very elementary in skill. Specifically when he's crying over Zhao Yao in the cave, and later during any moment when he's experiencing pain (which happens more frequently in the later episodes as he fights with his inner demon).
OVERALL- Worth a watch? Yeah, there are aspects I really liked about the drama. It's the plot type that I normally totally eat up (handsome dark-soul male lead who struggles against his inner demons and evil side for his love; funny bromance, fantasy elements, backstabbing, steamy kisses, etc). Worth a rewatch? Nah. Way too much real estate for a drama that should have been 1/3rd in length. I would say, if anything, to skip through for Jiang Wu. He's really not to be missed.
Was this review helpful to you?
