Editorials 
Go watch it, highly recommended !
If you like a story with intrigue political and also wuxia genre, this is the right one you looking for. First i don't put so much expectation but i fell in love in very first episode. This is so rare to find the relationship between master & his 'subordinate' as one of highlight of the story. Most of drama would tell about friendship with same age but this friendship between Xu Fengnian and Lao Huang even successfully make me burst into tears. (P.S another drama which have this relationship is Joy of Life).Second, the romance between ML and FL is so adorable without showing romantic scene whole time.
Third, the best thing...relationship between Son and Father. I think this is the biggest surprise hahaha.
Overall i love the plot, Xu Fengnian is hiding his cleverness and also his real character as a wise man but sometime i just think that Xu Fengnian really has a great luck by having powerful guards by his side. Xu Fengnian, how lucky you are!
Casting, perfect! Zhang Ruo Yun is right person to portray future king with his cunning character and but generous to other people. Another one who impress me is Finn Han, the little boy portray an leader of Sect Zhao Xuan Su. Damn how can a little boy can imitate an old man expression and have a good body language. He's going to be a bright star certainly.
Totally casting i found it kinda funny that it almost looks like Joy of Life in lite version, i mean if you have watched Joy of Life you will find some familiar faces in here too.
Another Great thing, LOCATION and CGI. sorry i have to capslock this. I really mean it. Since it's about someone's journey, there are many location that awe me especially the weeds field. CGI, is very well done! I'm pretty much sure it costs high budget to produce such a high quality of FX.
One word. Go watch it! Highly recommended.
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This review may contain spoilers
XFN's Journey
I was actually very surprised that I liked this series. Many people I usually chat with, dropped it without looking. But it had many good qualities. XFN is officially more cunning then his father. That finale was something else; truly hope seasons 2 and 3 don't take 10 years to make.Pros: Most of the characters were there for as long as they needed to be and greatly evolved. The main lead was the most obvious. His father was the 706 steps ahead thinking man planning everything in his son's path to both help him and test him. But as the series wore on he too became very much like his father; from a stubborn teenager who refused to learn martial arts until his closest friend and master martial artist died, did he realize he can still live his own way but be great at something.
It was great to see 3 actors from DC in this thing; old man booger aka Sword God, Ning Emei, and the death guard Qing. I totally saw the latter two as becoming a couple. The fantastical aspects were great but not overdone. Every loose end was one way or another always tied and not left along for too long. The ending episode was cool except for ZK talking for far too long after Xu big sister stabbed him. I particularly liked when XFN used the martial arts he learned to fight the bad guys.
The story in itself progressed well, with XFN growing, maturing, learning and ultimately embracing his destiny in his own way. The comical aspects were also a nice touch and progressing the story along. You never knew who was working for dad or by the end of it XFN himself and that was always comical when the audience learned along with other parts.
Cons: Many inconsistencies and really unneeded characters like the lady with the cat. I'll take the cat over the chick. Just the sheer number of people who wanted to kill XFN for reasons most of the time not well explained or if explained, didn't make sense. It reminded me a lot of Luoyang and the plethora of unneeded assassins. Ms. Hehe's sudden appearances, her lackluster explanation for why she was there and then final appearance, equally bizarre other explanation and disappearance. Her entire presence was like a whiplash each time.
I didn't see any point in the FL until she literally left. She didn't have (imo) any chemistry with the ML aside from wanting to kill him for reasons unknown. I know that readers of the book liked her and understood her purpose and perhaps she'll be given better development in the upcoming seasons but in this one, she just whined and repeated the same thing over and over; kill XFN, death and buying herself a coffin.
Each episode in someways felt like its own plot story or rather multiple episodes until yet another failed attempt at assassination happened and perps were revealed. Then we move on to the next plot and next bunch of assassins. It was very push and pull often and I wished other aspects of the series were brought. It needed smoother writing and overall transitions.
Would I recommend it? Sure. It's got great growth moments, funny moments, if you like fantastical stories and trying to figure out who's good and who's really not. It like everything else, has lackluster moments and errors, but overall it was fun to watch.
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Excessive exaggerations
Inconsistent ml character portrayal, from supposedly using his smarts without using martial arts, to super heavenly master of martial arts. Just feels cheap and he also cheated. If the story stayed consistent with just using strategy and the smarts, it would have worked, like a Zhu Ge Liang, strategist. The story should have stopped at episode 30, because everything after was nonsense and over exaggerated without any strong motive. If they were moving towards martial arts, then put in real choreographed fights, not some cheap CG and offscreen pretend fights. There were also excessive females in the cast and not all can act. Just too many characters to remember or make an impact on the story.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Quite enjoyable and never gets boring.
It only took few glimpses of this drama for me see how confident it is in its dialogue, plot, acting, execution.... everything. It doesn't waste time to make it apparent that you need a shift of viewing lens to watch it- as the characters are not gonna behave/plots are not going to unfold in the way you'd expect it to, therefore you need to brave yourself for a ride and let the story sweep you away in its witty, crackastic, dangerous glory. And the essence of Sword Snow Stride is perfectly represented via Xu Fengnian, and honestly there's no better man for this job like Zhang Ruoyun.At first you might think it's like Joy of Life. But as you go, it feels like a strange mix of all sorts of genres, but somehow it works. To me it felt like a mix of slice-of-life, deadpan humor, politics, prime wuxia and also some Greek Hero-friends-on-quest-across-the-world vibe.
And I think Sword Snow Stride is really good at creating atmosphere, and in fact one of the best I've seen recently.
Sure, the drama suffers from color palette issues, poor martial arts choreo issues and all, but in the scenes where it really mattered, they went all out creating the gravitas of the scene and I was blown with the impact. Also throughout the drama it had a particular affliction with using rain and wind to heighten the scenes, and not in a cringey way but in a way that you'd feel it in your bones through the screen. The following scenes are best examples imo.
1. The Capping Ceremony
2. The Naval battle (Reminded me of Argonautica haha)
3. Battle of the Reed field (goosebumps just from thinking about it)
4. The Thunderstorm battle
5. Sword cloud
And it has some really good wuxia logics/theories, you'd think the stuff they do would really be probable in real world, only if we had the extra oomph of Qi cultivation. It's definitely no casual scriptwriting. And overall Sword Snow Stride has quite solid planning, and lot of plot-within-plots.
(Though I won't deny it did have its lazy writing/deux ex machina moments, and the "Daddy Xu Xiao is the almighty Chess master/God" thing started to get old after a while)
But overall one of the best wuxia dramas I've seen recently, despite some flaws here and there. Though I have to say it's the kind of a drama that appeals to a specific palette. If it works for you it works, if it doesn't then it doesn't.
So I think SSS is definitely worth checking out, if you are a fan of *handwaving motions* any of the stuff I mentioned above.
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An entertaining adventure
Jumping right into it - if you enjoyed Joy of Life or Niravana in Fire, give this a shot. It has elements such as humor, fight choreography, interesting adventure that reminded me of JoL and political intrigue, story of betrayal, leisurely yet intense pacing that reminded me of NiF.I can't say much more without giving away bits of the plot. I have heard some criticisms such as female lead not being suited to play the role and color grading of the show appearing too green. However these points didn't bother me at all. I was definitely invested in most of the characters from the get go. Bear in mind you will have to be patient with the first few episodes, it takes time to reel you in however once you get hooked you are in for a treat.
"The journey is long, but you'll get there.
Persevere on the way, the future is full of hope.
Wish all the travelers know their way back home.
Wish all the lost ones find their path to the future.
Wish to meet again even though we bid farewell.
Every ending is a rebirth.
See you someday in the future."
Hence we can expect a second season. I hope it takes less time than its taking for JoL 2 :)
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Only 38 episodes? - enough
Hello allI enjoy this series a lot. Indeed one of the best
I wonder why in some places they say they are 50 episodes and here is listed as only 38?
does anyone know?
I am wondering if they will be able to have a satisfactory ending in episode 38? let's wait for tomorrow?
I hope it will not be a cliffhanger loke Joy of Life?
Acting is excellent, and the story is intriguing - watch it! it is worth it
Is this season 1? If it is I hope we will not wait for another 2-3 years for a second season - how it happened to Joy of Life - for which we do not have any update for a second season... even though they have announced it for a while now...
have a Happy New Year
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Entitled Rich Heir has to be saved by others
Entitled rich heir refuses to learn anything his father and elders tell him to. He thinks he's smart but has to be saved by his servants and random people all the time. Other characters wait around to help him. New characters are introduced to help him while he slowly tries to learn things he should have learned growing up. Random people walk in, help him then are gone.Zhang Rou Yun's acting is good, but everyone else it's hard to tell because it was written to be all about Xu Feng Nian so no one else gets to shine. The other characters seem interesting but you never get to know them because the writers only care about XFN. The Plot is XFN-centric, everything is about him.
The production, locations, costumes, and set design are quality, the VFX and camera work are decent, and the fight scenes are good but short.
I liked the dynamics with his family. The father-son relationship is offbeat, each of his sister-brother relationships is nuanced, and the brother-brother relationship is endearing.
I feel bad for the FL, Jiang Ni. I feel worse for the actress, Teresa Li. She is given so little to do that it can not be considered a "lead" role.
Ultimately this was not terrible but not great. Everything is handed to the ML. And he never fails because he always gets saved by others so there are no stakes. Save your time and just wait for Joy of Life 2.
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Extremely disappointing fighting scenes
+ Good plot (clever schemes, a touch of mystery), a lot of outdoor scenes, good acting and NO obvious goosebumps-raising "pose"-acting or tropes that are so pervasive and cringey (e.g. hero catches a falling heroine, looks at each other in the eye, time pauses.....)- Unrealistic martial journey from zilch (no foundation) to expert in a matter of weeks (months?) with few hints of practice (other than the very initiation to basic blade skills)
- Very, very, very crappy action pulls down the rating by at least 1 - 1.5 stars. I truly cringe every time it builds up to a fighting scene because more likely than not, it frizzles out or skipped completely!!! A lot of foreplay ..... and that's it! Totally unsatisfying.
Where there's fighting, there's so much slow-motion of v ordinary moves (eg just barely avoiding a blade) that it irritates. Maybe the actors and actresses are so rotten with action choreography that the only way to get away with it is to fill the scenes with close-up slow motion?
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This review may contain spoilers
an engaging story of Xu Fengnian's journey to become the lord of Beiliang
This drama was amazing! If you liked Joy of Life then I would highly recommend this drama or vice versa. The ML is the same person who played the ML in Joy of Life and the story is also similar with it's somewhat comedy/political vibe. The pacing in this drama is great, it never really lags or goes too quick.The story was very engaging with some parts of it being funny and some parts really hits you with emotions that Xu Fengnian is feeling. The story makes the watcher sympathize with Xu Feng Nian's and it will probably make you cry at some point.
The fights and overall martial arts sequences were very well executed (although some of the cgi wasn't the best) and the different types of martial arts in the show are show cased very well. The Romance was very subtle but also so sweet. Each character was fleshed out very well, with some remaining mysterious for perhaps a big reveal in the next season??
The schemes and logical side of the drama is well written as well. The twist and turns of the plot are not that predictable and the villain or antagonist is well written. The antagonist's goal of going against Xu Fengnian is reasonable and you may even sympathize with him in the end.
The casting is great and I honestly think Zhang Ruo yun should be in more dramas like this. A lot of these actors also prevously worked with him in Joy of Life.
The OST is very on par with the drama (and maybe even some other dramas with famous osts). Although the ost only has 3 songs, the three songs all fit well to the theme of the drama. One of the songs was even sang by Zhang Ruo Yun!
I hope they start making the second season soon as I can not wait!
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An Amazing Disaster. DO NOT WATCH.
This show started well and ended in a disaster. It's like a gigantic Christmas present that only has a small baby nail clippers inside. What a waste of time!I know that they wanted to create another Joy of Life but they failed flat on the ground.
The main character Xu Feng Nian is nothing but a phony strategist because half of the time he only gets saved by someone who pops out of thin air and not because of his cunning moves. As you can surmise from the poster, he was packaged to be a hero with great sword skills but really he's a lousy fighter who is saved by all his minions. And this makes his overly confident and annoying attitude unacceptable. He's not even at par with Wang Yibo's or Xu Kai's charm, so he doesn't have an excuse to be annoying and incompetent.
Oh, and don't be fooled by the action genre because the fight scenes here are 80% talk, 10% retreating, 7% choir conducting, and 3% actual fighting.
The main character, without sufficient reason (unless he's gay and he's into literally dirty old men), is overly attached to a character (old Huang, his groom) like a convicted obsessive ex-lover, but this is not enough reason to drive the story forward. The writer forced this drive (him wanting to get Old Huang's swords in Wudi City) for the main character and it's repulsive, disgusting even.
I don't understand how this got an 8.5/10 but hey, Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte became presidents so WTH.
Please don't waste your time on this.
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Amazing drama
Please watch this drama .In this drama sometimes you feel goosebumps,and sometimes cry .
Overall this is really worth watch . please watch.
Details
Title: 雪中悍刀行 / Xue Zhong Han Dao Xing
English title: Sword Snow Stride
Genre: Wuxia
Episodes: 50
Broadcast network: Beijing TV, Tencent
Broadcast period: 2021-Dec-15
Synopsis
About a young master named Xu Fengnian who went through hardships and growth to become the King of Northern Liang.
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It is the start of a beautiful journey.
Chinese wuxia dramas usually start with a bang but midway through the drama the story usually ends up getting draggy and boring.There were only 3 Chinese wuxia dramas that I have actually enjoyed in the past - 'Joy of Life', 'Nirvana in Fire' and 'Ancient Detective'. Looking at the type of wuxia dramas I have enjoyed one can easily tell that I like those political struggle drama with a great plot. Finally I can add another drama to that list - Sword Snow Stride. It is another hidden gem.
So as my headline says it is the start of a beautiful journey. Our ML goes on to a journey to lay down his foundation as well as the dramas. The tension and mind games in this drama are just otherworldly. This drama was a perfect example of action ,emotion and comedy. I was laughing at one moment, crying at other( especially because of the bond between Xu Feng Nian and Old Huang) and admiring the action scenes at other.
I think I have become a fan of Zhang Ruo Yun now. I loved him in Joy of Life. And he didn't disappoint me in this drama too. I think his character here was kind of similar to what he played in Joy of Life.
This season have laid out a perfect foundation for the upcoming seasons. Hopefully we won't be kept waiting for a long time. As I am still waiting for the second season of Joy of Life. At last I don't have much to say just watch this masterpiece. I bet you won't be wasting your precious time.
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