Who Rules the World (2022)

The essence of good Chinese dramas - must watch if you are new to Chinese dramas

Excellent cast, amazing on-screen chemistry between the leads, beautiful costumes, lovely ending theme song - pretty much sum up the drama. The story is especially interesting if you are new to Chinese dramas. But if you watch a lot of Chinese dramas like me, you might find some elements in the drama are more of the same.

This is the first drama I watched lead by Yang Yang and I am VERY impressed by his acting. He is one of the very few Chinese actors with slitty eyes, who is very handsome. If you have noticed, most Chinese actors and actresses tend to have very big eyes, with the exception of a few like Deng Lun.

The story started from Bai Feng Xi and Hei Feng Xi, two well-known celebrities in the martial arts world, being at loggerheads with each other. Their rivalry was interesting and amusing to watch. One day, Bai rescued Hei from nearly drowning in the river and discovered he came from a complicated family. Her sympathy for him changed her attitude towards him and romance started to blossom. You can indulge in the romantic scenes.

The drama has a lot of feel-good factors as the good and righteous always win, even when placed in a very disadvantaged situations and might at time be badly hurt. The evil and underhanded always eventually get punished. The drama at parts reminds me of Royal Nirvana where the crowned prince was always punished and hurt and eventually committed suicide in the sequel, But this drama was quite different. Feng LanXi was too clever and smart for his rival brother.

However, the story did not end as well as I wish it would. Although I would not call it a tragedy, I think it is a poor compromise. Chinese dramas do have a lot to work on regarding its ending. Time to change the approach that the righteous and capable eventually retire early - if they do, they place the evil and less capable in power. Although in this drama, the alternative to the throne was also capable and righteous, he was obviously less capable. Some dramas try to come up with clever endings but often end up with lousy ones instead.

In spite of some of my negative comments about the story, I would still recommend this drama.

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costume: 8.5
cast; 9
music: 8.5
Story: 8.5

Based on the average I would rate this drama around an 8, (8.6) to be more specific).

This drama has been a hit for me because it's been a while since I've seen a good martial arts fantasy drama. I like the acting very much, with both leads having their looks and acting skills. Yang Yang never fails me with his dramas and I've been looking forward to this one. Zhao Lusi I was a bit concerned that she wouldn't be able to bring out the martial arts heroine but to my surprise, she did an amazing job bringing out Bai Fengxi.

The costume was good, especially the plain robes of both Hei Fengxi and Bai Fengxi in the martial world. I also like the difference in their clothing when they switched from being in the martial arts world vs. their political court affairs.

Song Unpallared, at the beginning of the intro, had a good beat for a martial arts show like this.

The storyline was catchy in my opinion and had my attention. Though there was a lot of politics there was also a lot of action which is what I'd like to see. There were also times when a few romance scenes popped up making me want to ship, their ship name basically "Hei Feng Bai Xi" even more. The last few episodes leading up to the ending seemed a bit rushed and there were just too many things happening but I did like how the beginning episodes from 1-10 led me in. From my perspective, I didn't really like the ending for some reason. I don't really know why.

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Amazing fantasy-historical drama

Let me start by saying that I'm not typically a fan of fantasy historical dramas, but this one has truly changed my perspective. It made me realize that even in the realm of fantasy historicals, there’s a unique charm and storyline that can fully captivate an audience.

One of the strongest aspects of the drama is the cast. The actors were perfectly chosen for their roles. For example, Feng Chang in a positive role and Feng Ju as the antagonist—if their roles were swapped, the dynamic of the story would have been completely different, and I don’t think the drama would have had the same impact. Another highlight is the costumes. The wedding dress was absolutely stunning, and I couldn’t help but wish I had worn something like that on my own wedding day. :)

However, there were a few aspects of the story that felt unfinished. Several characters, such as Feng Chang, the former lord of Yongzhou, Bai Langhua, and Lanxi, were left with unresolved fates. It felt like these storylines were left for the audience to figure out, which was a bit unsatisfying. It would have been great to see more closure, especially with the sacred jade plotline. If they had included one more episode, they could have shown Feng Lanxi surviving and ruling the world alongside Huang Chao, which would have added a powerful conclusion. The death of Pu'er was heart-breaking that I cried for hours :(

Anyway, this drama is a must watch and mark my words you will love it :)

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season 2 please

i just love the cast, story & overall of it, super love it. Godbless and prayerfully for season 2 if possible.Love you all
i just love the cast, story & overall of it, super love it. Godbless and prayerfully for season 2 if possible.Love you all
i just love the cast, story & overall of it, super love it. Godbless and prayerfully for season 2 if possible.Love you all
i just love the cast, story & overall of it, super love it. Godbless and prayerfully for season 2 if possible.Love you all
i just love the cast, story & overall of it, super love it. Godbless and prayerfully for season 2 if possible.Love you all

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Very good chemistry between Zhao Lusi and Yang Yang

I watched this because of Zhao Lusi, and I ended up liking the chemistry between Lusi and Yang Yang. Lusi is very good at building chemistry with whoever her partner is.

Characte-wise, both of them (Hei Fengxi/Feng Lanxi & Bai Fengxi/Feng Xiyun) are great characters. They are smart, ambitious, good at playing tricks, and their martial arts are also at a high level. The supporting cast also has their own good characters and suits their respective roles. Their acting is also amazing, especially the senior actor who plays the role of King Yongzhou.

Yang Yang's role as Feng Lanxi made a deep impression on me. I really liked him as the Prince. He truly is an example of the ideal Prince apart from his handsome face.

Production-wise, I actually don't have many problems with their production. The only thing that bothered me was during the action scenes, Yang Yang and Lusi's faces are rarely seen clearly on camera, but I can understand, maybe because in some scenes they use stuntmen.

Then if you ask my opinion about the last episode, I can only answer honestly that I wasn't satisfied. You can watch it yourself, and judge for yourself whether the ending of their story can be called a happy ending or not.

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An Excellent Wuxia Prince and Princess Story

I was greatly entertained.
A great story with skilled actors/actresses.
So many times I held my breath as I wondered how the the perfectly-matched pair was going to solve their crisis.
The series has entailed some good amount of history, politics, wuxia world, intelligence network, patriotism, wars, spying, betrayal, kingship, and stress of humanity.

Things are not always what they seem .
One of the 4 fine gentleman Mr. Yu is not who you see or think he is.
His urge for peace turns out to be the false-face for the urge to rule the world.
He did it in a rather cruel way, but close to perfection eluding FenLanxi's intel network.

An unexpected ending - but it's a good ending.
Hope you've enjoyed it as much as I did.

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Another Historical CDrama to be added in your Must See!

OMG! I just finished watching the last episode! Haha I cannot say that I'm satisfied with the ending coz I kind of wanted them to at least have a child or for at least Bai Fengxi to get pregnant at the end but overall ending is a happy ending and I'm glad that they got their happy endings.

This was one of the many C-Dramas that I was looking forward to in 2022 because both Yang Yang and Zhou Lusi are one of my favorite Chinese Actors and Actresses. Also, the story line for this drama had Martial Arts in it so what more can I asked for?

I had wanted to wait for the drama to finish before watching but I couldn't hold off any longer. I ended up watching it and well, the rest was history. The drama had me hooked and grabbing onto my seat because the drama was just that exciting!

Who Rules The World brought about a refreshing feel to its viewers. It had the typical Romance, Martial Arts, and other things anyone would find in other Historical Chinese drama but it also had its own unique spin on things like the double identities of both the ML and FL, which I must say was portrayed excellently by both Yang Yang and Zhou Lusi. It also embodied several positive messages which the viewers of today can definitely relate to and look to for guidance or advice.

It is a story about love, friendship, sacrifice and ambitions. It showcased the talents of all its cast and how they portrayed their own characters did not disappoint.

I encourage everyone to watch this amazing Cdrama and let me tell you, anyone who watches it will definitely not be disappointed with how story unfolds.

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Expected a romance but got fight scenes and politics instead

From the first lines, an OTP was already established. Wherever Bai Fengxi is, Hei Fengxi will surely be there too. Just based on this you know we have a strong FL and that the ML is the one who's more invested/in love. Throughout the drama, I sometimes felt like FL can live her life just fine without the ML but he couldn't stay away from her and will most likely just die without her.

There are two social orders in the drama: martial arts world and real world. For us, this is like showbusiness and real life. In the martial arts world, people can take up aliases and just care about fighting skills while in the real world, people care about genealogy and wealth. Bai (white) Fengxi and Hei (black) Fengxi are the chosen aliases of the leads. Their martial arts skills are evenly matched with a rivalry going for 10 years. BFX seems to be carefree and seems to like the martial arts world more because she doesn't really care about positions. HFX seems to be secretive and always tries to solidify his position in the real world.

For most of the drama, you can see HFX trying to outwit people who wants him to relinquish his position and BFX trying to help her martial arts sect. There were banters, romantic scenes and even emotional scenes that showcase just how much of an OTP our leads were but this was overshadowed by action scenes and secret scheming scenes.

This is not to say that I didn't like the drama because I did. I liked that even though other characters seemed to be interested in BFX as a woman or HFX as a man, those did not progress to full blown love triangles and they only had eyes for each other. The OTP banters were funny sometimes especially the scene when BFX said 'did you just yell at me?' and HFX became speechless, lol. The battle scenes and people flying in the air were great too. This was the first drama where I saw Zhao Lusi doing such great action scenes. Maybe it was just that I was expecting a melty romance with lots of kisses but got political intrigues instead.

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At first when they announce the cast, I titled my eyebrow... Zhao Lu Si and Yang2 together...? What will it become, will they match for each other...? Yeah that time I still doesn't too like Zhao Lu Si, so yeah a little bit meh for me Yang2 can be cast with her. But turn out she deliver much more than I can expected. & Their partner up turn out to be one of the best Yang2 chemistry....

What I like:
+ I really like how free spirited Bai Feng Xi (BFX) combine with her brain, make it into one of the most interesting character. Really funny to see how easily her to be fished with food.
+ The chemistry between Yang2 & Zhao Lu Si. Is really a lot better that what I expected. Really like to see BFX & Hei Feng Xi (HFX) flirting with each other in their own way
+ No love rival, no silly misunderstandings, childish behaviour or whatsoever that usually make us rolled our eyes for the stupid trope.
+ Like Wanderer I also almost shipped BFX and Feng Qi Wu together. They friendship sometimes so questionable. Hehe....
+ The mysterious aura Yu Wu Yuan (YWY) has as the bad guy.

The lack:
- Very much forward of the ending. Yeah this maybe get hit by the China new policy of limited episode. So they must finished it by ep 40. So rush ending is the answer... After the war between Ji-zhou and You-Zhou everything just falling apart. They like very much hit fast forward button, it's like from one scene to another have something in the between, instead just the time stamp or jumping scene.
- Many people fate is very questionable. Like what happen in the end with Tianshuang Sect. Don't they supposed to investigate about Yu Wu Yuan or Ten Temple Devils, where is the result...? They just disappear without answer. Or the father of Huang Chao (HC), where is he...? Dead or what...? Why no respond or reaction from him when HC just become princess-husband of Hua Chun Ran.
- The very questionable reason for YWY action. For me it just have not enough reason for what he did....
- One of the most disappoint thing for me is the revealing of BFX real identity as Feng Xi Yun. It just like nothing important. Yeah I know most of us have a feeling BFX must be this princess but still it just like unimportant & usual thing.

The most ridiculous for me sometimes is the fighting scene. Many like it, but for me it just a little bit over the top. Yeah I have to admit their choreographer quite good. But with full fighting scene on the air is just kinda ridiculous... Especially the end fight between BFX, HFX & YWY.

Overall this is one of the most interesting Wuxia drama this year.

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not a bad drama, but also not like SUPER good

story:
the story started off a little confusing with like five different families/clans or whatever, but once you get into it, it makes a lot of sense. ngl the ending was a bit anti-climactic, so i wasn't really a fan of that. i also enjoyed the clan drama lol.

acting/cast:
i mean... it's 杨洋 and 露思, they're both amazing actors and honestly i didn't expect any chemistry but there is definitely some between them heh. i also saw many behind the scenes clips and they look like they have a lot of fun playing around backstage lmao.

music:
LITERALLY AMAZING i loved every single song. 刘宇宁 and 汪苏泷 are both on my top three favorite artists list. every single one of their songs are good.

rewatch value:
i don't usually rewatch many dramas. so idk about this one

overall:
a decent drama, good cast, storyline, and amazing music. i recommend it!

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