Hua Rong (2023)

Identity Theft.

Here we go again - yet another ill-fated master disciple relationship! This starts predictably with a jinxed mortal Wei Zhi barely squeaking through into the prestigious Egret Academy. There her astounding lack of talent catches the attention and empathy of her master, Yan Yue. He is an immortal sent to discover and vanquish the remnant of the phoenix bloodline that is a threat to the Three Realms. You would never guess who the hidden phoenix is or that this cold faced inheritor of the realms falls in love with his enemy?!?

Within a tired and tropey premise, the plot design of Beauty of Resilience is actually pretty good with some interesting and innovative takes. I found the Egret Academy's challenge arc to be very enjoyable in a way reminiscent of the Triwizard competition in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And I was intrigued by the mysterious Zihua Book Pavilion and its Shylock like master who extracts his pound of flesh. I also like that the Heavenly Empress is not just a decorative vase but has a rather important function as the mistress of time. Even the concept of Hua Rong is fresh and mysterious. Yet these ideas just don't quite come together in a good way in terms of plot and character progression.

Indifferent character blueprints, mis-cast roles and uninspired portrayals are this drama's weakest features. While Guo Junchen's portrayals of multiple roles is technically faultless, he is not given much to work with. Yan Yue is just a cardboard xianxia archetype. He only gets to shine briefly as the morally conflicted Chen Yan and in his darker personas but enough to impress as a diverse young actor. He and Ju Jingyi look fantastic together and they actually have decent chemistry. While her acting here is more nuanced, Ju Jingyi, once again delivers the same old vapid, completely indistinguishable portrayal that is her comfort zone. This is compounded by her default styling with atrocious Persian princess head gear and heavy handed and unflattering eye makeup that makes her look like she just waltzes from one set to another. She actually has excellent comedic timing which sadly this humourless script gives her no chance to showcase. Mu Nan is the only engaging and empathetic character but is sadly matched up with the most tedious and mis-cast role. And that is just the tip of the ice berg in terms of how shabbily the writers treat him.

The supporting roles are one dimensional and the cast lacks experience, chemistry and rapport. Everyone is obviously acting and their relationships and interactions are so forced I couldn't engage with or care for any of them. There were way too many identity thefts going on where even the lead actors in the swapped roles are unconvincing as the characters whose identities they stepped into. It was so bad at times it was kind of funny. The villains are quite obvious from the beginning and they weren't satisfactorily dealt with. One of them perished so quickly I literally blinked and missed it. I went episodes thinking they were lurking for the right moment to pop out again. My hope for a satisfyingly long, painful and drawn out demise was never met.

This drama's strongest arcs are the early ones that take place in the mortal realm. After that the drama loses momentum and gets more ridiculous as it progresses. The ending however is quite original and quite cool but was so rushed and poorly executed that it took awhile for what actually happened to sink in. I would say this is something that you could watch up until the wedding in the second arc, skip all the messy and time wasting latter arcs and you'd still end up in the same place. The early arcs were a watchable 7.0/7.5 for me but I'd at most rate the latter arcs 5.0 for an overall rating of 6.0. Watch at your own risk.

Read More

The ending??

I loved this drama even though many people are disappointed because of the story and I agree. The only negative thing about this drama is the story. The story was a bit messy and many characters died for no reason. The end was a bit confusing. I still don't know what exactly happened with the FL and Ml?

I must say that the OST is lovely! Especially all the OST's FL (Ju Jing Yi) sings and the ending theme that she sung with ML.

I loved how the FL and Ml acted. How they portrayed their different personalities. The visual was also on top! The FL and Ml look so good together.

Read More