Zhan Zhao Adventures

The choices we make along the way

Yang Yang is an actor, who's work I'll always check out. While I hope, that he stops being typecasted and will get a chance to diversify his acting abilities in the future, I still love him in these hero roles, he masters so well.
This drama is no exception.
First of all:
The sword fights, the BGM and the cinematography were amazing. Big big compliments to the team, which choreographed these parts. By the sheer amount of fighting in this show that must have been a ginormous chunk of work, and it was excellently done. 👏👏👏👏
It was a pleasure to watch.

The same goes for the actors.
All 3 main leads plus the supporting cast did a great job and had a good chemistry with eo. A special appreciation for our female lead, because she held her own in these martial arts scenes. I was impressed by her. And I loved the casting choice regarding her. Her role is seemingly fragile and timid, but under the surface no wilting flower. The character stood its ground and spoke up, when needed.

Thankfully they didn't push a romantic angle into the storyline. It would have watered down the story and distracted from the main point/question:
How to uphold justice, when the corruption and crime seemed to be overwhelming and the regular system not functioning properly.
Does one start being a vigilante (represented through the Yaksha) and exercise self justice (the comment section was definitely leaning towards that solution with all these kinda bloodthirsty comments to "just kill the guy, he deserves it") or does one take the much more difficult route and uphold the law in form of a legal process with trial and verdict.
The show challenges our protagonists constantly with this conflict and we are witness, how they are struggling to make the right decisions and trying to find the right solution again and again.
And fail sometimes, when pushed to the brink.

As a viewer it is easy to say do this or that. We have no real stakes in the game and see more of the whole picture.
But everyone, who stood in front of a similar situation in real life, knows, how difficult it can be to do the right thing, if the vigilante solution seems so much easier and much more rewarded by society.
So it is no wonder, that our protagonists learned some lessons the hard and bloody way. Lifelong regrets included.

And how they recover, after they took the wrong action. In these moments the dynamic between our 3 leads shone the brightest.

There is a lot of complaining by viewers, that the drama got boring.
I guess, it depends on your expectations and what you see under the surface, when you watch the show.
I loved it from start to finish. Tbh, this drama made me think so much about, how we struggle with the same questions in our daily life.
Do we uphold our moral values under duress? Or are we starting to take shortcuts, even if these erode our values one little sediment after sediment, until the foundation is gone.

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SHOCKED, MOVED, GAGGED!! 3XS

Watching Zhan Zhao Adventures made me realize how much some earlier dramas this year struggled with recycling overly familiar plots, overusing romantic tropes, and delivering performances that didn’t always feel convincing. When compared side by side, those weaknesses became even more obvious.

This drama genuinely surprised me. It had the badass swordsmen, swordswomen, martial artists, and action sequences I expected, but what made it stand out was the humility and emotional restraint beneath all the excitement. The story didn’t rely on exaggerated romance or the usual “googly-eyed” love trope to keep viewers invested. Instead, it allowed the characters, writing, and atmosphere to carry the drama, and it worked.

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An ode to well-crafted entertainment

Zhan Zhao Adventures begins with a significant advantage for anyone familiar with Yang Yang’s career. There is an almost automatic expectation that his projects will deliver adventure, martial arts, mystery, or fantasy in a way that justifies the journey. Once again, that expectation is rewarded. The drama embraces the spirit of classic wuxia adventures, guiding viewers through a world of action, friendship, and discovery without becoming distracted by excessive romance or unnecessary emotional detours. Yang Yang remains a charismatic and dependable lead, but the production’s most pleasant surprise comes from elsewhere.

Alen Fang as Bai Yu Tang steals scene after scene with remarkable ease. His performance brings humor, warmth, and vitality to the story, turning every appearance into an event. Rather than simply supporting the protagonist, he becomes a genuine co-lead in spirit, and the series is better for it. The narrative maintains an impressive level of consistency throughout, avoiding noticeable drops in quality or unnecessary diversions. The experience unfolds with sustained enthusiasm, feeling like a celebration of adventure storytelling at its most accessible and enjoyable. By the time the epilogue arrives, emphasizing friendship, loyalty, and the bonds forged along the way, the ending feels completely earned. The desire for another season comes not from dissatisfaction, but from the simple pleasure of wanting to spend more time in this world.

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High Quality Wuxia

Well, this drama got all the ingredients to please me the most, maybe to be the best wuxia ever seen, thanks some good elements that I could feel even without start to watch.

The cast. Yang Yang is an excelent performer, I liked him a lot, and all the dramas I have seen before with him are backing my expectatives. I never forget his performance in old dramas like Whirlwind Girl, so simple, so patient, so wonderful, or Martial Universe, with a complete different role, but the same high level performance. I loved until more his character in The Inmortal Ascension, with superb fighting skills, and of course I was waiting to see him in this long awaited drama. Well, it hasn’t disappointed me, and I can easily say that this is his best performance in martial level; the choreography is incredible, without cgi or nonsense effects, all here is made with the actors prowess and the wirework, and the result is the best ever seen, I can’t deceiving myself. My favourite dramas are often pure wuxias, and Zhan Zhao Adventures is one of them.

Alen Fang, while his performance in martial skills is indeed wonderful, where it stands out the most is in playing tricks or deceiving people, hahaha. His character adds more “color” to the scenes, the dialogues, etc. It is funny to watch, the classical rogue who can achieve anything simply by talking, hahaha.

The female cast, I had average sensations. Zhang Ruonan was fine in her role and plays beautifully all the fighting scenes, but I feel that maybe her character could have been more developed; no clear goals, always following the others, without clear purpose. A lot different is the case of Zhang Yuxi; her performance as the Moon Envoy is really a highlight on the drama, and the plot of her revenge is somewhat incredible, pure wuxia, it has really surprised me. I have seen her in Love and Redemption and a little bit in Destiny and Saving, and I was not really convinced with her skills, but here is totally different and all her appearances are simply wonderful. It’s a shame that ahead episode 19 the character dissapears, a real shame. I praise her a lot, what a magnificent performance by this actress.

The martial choreography. I believe it was the strongest point of this drama. All of the cast was excellent in his/her performance, not only the mail leads but all the support roles. The fights are real, credible, and often are not in weapon based fights but rather in pure martial arts movements, sometimes bare knuckle, something that is not that common in wuxia, of course.

The amazing settings, the wonderfully crafted costumes, the magical filmed landscapes and scenarios, everythings works perfectly and adds an aura of quality that turns this piece into a little work of art, there are no doubt about it. Superb!

The lack of romance. This is something that fits perfect in this kind of fighting centered dramas. There’s no need of romance in each and every drama, always, of course, and in ZZA there are not nothing about it. The total Independence of the Moon Envoy character, with her motivations aside from nothing but revenge is something that I praised the most, there is no need to entangle certain romance around every female character.

Long story short, the series is amazing, very amusing, well crafted and I can’t do anything but recommend it. Thumbs Up!!!

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A nostalgic wuxia adventure with great fights, endless mysteries—and some wonderfully questionable logic.

Zhan Zhao reminds me of the Hong Kong wuxia dramas of the 1970s. If you enjoy kung fu and sword fighting, this drama certainly delivers. The action scenes are well choreographed, and there are plenty of them.

The story begins when an old friend of Zhan Zhao is captured and tortured. Before dying, he entrusts Zhan Zhao with an important item—something supposedly powerful enough to shake the dynasty and even dethrone the emperor.

Sent by the Emperor and Prince Hui to investigate, Zhan Zhao is seriously wounded and rescued by Huo Ling Long and Bai Yu Tang. Ling Long is the only daughter of Ling Long Villa who has run away from an arranged marriage engineered by Prince Xiang Yang. Bai Yu Tang, nicknamed the “Rat”, is impulsive, cunning and one of five sworn brothers from an island.

The three become unlikely allies in an investigation that keeps producing new mysteries.

First: What is the mysterious item, and why is it so important?

Then: Who is trying to kill Zhan Zhao—and why?

Next: Who framed Bai Yu Tang’s brother?

And finally: What secret is the Huo family hiding, and why are they being forced to honour Ling Long’s arranged marriage?

Rather than one central mystery, the drama gives us one after another. The ultimate question becomes: How are they all connected?

Special credit goes to Chen Yu Zhe as Chang Hong Bi. He is immensely likeable, with a natural charm and a strong performance to match. I hope this is the beginning of a great acting career for him.

Allen Fang, as usual, brings that cheeky charm that makes him so entertaining to watch. And of course, being good-looking and a fine actor certainly helps!

Unfortunately, the pacing is uneven. Some episodes move so slowly that I found myself wandering off to do other things. Pacing is an art: too slow and the audience gets bored; too fast and the story has no time to develop the characters and emotions properly. Zhan Zhao occasionally struggles to find that balance.

There are also some frustrating moments.

Zhan Zhao repeatedly avoids killing people who are quite enthusiastically trying to kill him. He hits them just hard enough to stop them. I understand that he is a constable and reluctant to kill—but when you are surrounded by armed assassins intent on murdering you, surely self-defence allows a little more enthusiasm? I found his restraint rather difficult to swallow.

Then come the wonderfully questionable bits.

There are strange poisons that kill you—but somehow do not quite kill you. There are antidotes that work—but somehow do not quite work either.

My biggest laugh was the cultivation technique that apparently can only be practised by women—and can be used to locate gold mines. Isn't that what geologists were for? Apparently, I have underestimated the versatility of martial arts cultivation.😂

And how exactly did Zhan Zhao kill the mastermind? He was holding a sword, yet suddenly the man was killed by a dart. Where did that dart come from?

Even better, characters who appeared to have died during the final mission suddenly turned up alive, with hardly any explanation of how they survived. It felt like another awkward attempt to reverse a tragic ending in favour of the almost compulsory happy ending.

Beneath all the wuxia action, however, the drama does raise some interesting themes. When justice cannot be obtained through legitimate means, people may turn to revenge instead. This is particularly relevant to the criminal underworld, where seeking official justice may expose their own crimes.

Another recurring lesson is the danger of keeping secrets. Again and again, characters hide important information, creating misunderstandings and preventing others from helping them. As so often happens in dramas, half the trouble might have disappeared if everyone had simply talked to one another.

Although this drama features some of my favourite actors, including Allen Fang and Yang Yang, I still cannot bring myself to rank it among my highest-rated dramas.

Overall, I was torn between an 8 and 8.5—somewhere between “above average” and “good” on my rating scale. As usual, generosity won, so 8.5 it is!

Although enjoyable, Zhan Zhao also makes me think I need to revisit my rating system. These days, even well-made dramas often recycle familiar plots and old tropes. Perhaps being “good” is no longer quite enough to deserve the same score it once did.

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a thrilling journey!!

It usually takes me at least a handful of episodes to get into a show, but I was HOOKED on Zhan Zhao Adventures from the first few minutes. As a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge fan of fight choreography, this is definitely some of the best fight scenes I've watched — they were always such a delight. I loved that this whole show is about righting injustices, including one prevalent arc about sex trafficking and our trio of heroes destroying that network (and also Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang giving one of the trafficked women drugs that would be the equivalent of castrating the men who try to take advantage of them 😍🥰). Another theme of the show was Huo Linglong's desire to pave her own path instead of the following her family's expectations. She's been arranged to marry a man that she has no romantic interest in, so she runs away and she remains steadfast in wanting freedom, even after being exposed to the ugliness of the jianghu. While it's certainly not at Fated Hearts level of interrogating misogyny, it's not nothing, and I love that the show had frank discussions about these topics. (That being said, it definitely wasn't perfect wrt these topics. There's a plot thread about a woman who holds a child hostage and uses him for medical stuff and she never really faces any justice for this........ The kid just manages to escape and she's kinda like "well, people know about our secret now so it's more of a risk to keep holding him hostage, might as well let him leave ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" Like........... we have no smoke for the child abuser just bc she agreed that sex trafficking is bad and begrudgingly helped Zhan Zhao get the access he needed so the trio could free those women???? HUH??????)

And let's talk about the trio bc the exquisite polyam vibes!!!!! Zhan Zhao and Huo Linglong just immediately deciding to trust each other and protect each other. Bai Yutang just happening to be in the right place at the right time and noticing that Huo Linglong had no interest in being around Shao Jizu and butting in to keep him away from her. Bai Yutang helping her save Zhan Zhao and then immediately getting him medical help. Like it's amazing how they just immediately care about each other and want to keep each other safe when they don't even know each other yet. And then as they do get to know each other, it becomes so so so clear that they are an inseparable unit. I loved that the antagonists realized the way to defeat Zhan Zhao was to destroy the trust the three of them had built and that the attempts to do so were utter failures. Whether you read it as platonic or romantic, it is undeniable that the three of them love each other deeply and that they can't bear the thought of anything happening to the other two. (Altho w the way that Zhan Zhao was looking at both Huo Linglong and Bai Yutang, lbr it is romantic lmfao.) Also Zhan Zhao/Huo Linglong was clearly the overt romance of the show and wow them...................... I knew it was over for me when Huo Linglong was about to abandon Zhan Zhao but then came back and protected him when they were ambushed. And the scene where he touched her hair when he was trying to comfort her........... Oh I'm soft............

Unfortunately though I do think the final episode was a flop. A character needlessly being killed off solely for our protagonist's angst (bc if it hadn't happened, literally nothing would have changed), stretching believability about one character surviving given how badly his health had been declining for the past few episodes, Huo Linglong being separated from Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nearly the whole time................ I was just really not a fan of like 85% of the last episode which is..... a bummer. But regardless, this is still absolutely one of my fave cdramas, and who knows, maybe the ending will grow on me in time.

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ZZA. When Contrast Creates Chemistry… and Makes You Wonder What an Idol Actually Is

Zhan Zhao Adventures is not an outstanding drama.
It has charm, a pleasant adventurous atmosphere, some very good action scenes and a cast I genuinely enjoyed watching. It also has a problem fairly typical of long Chinese dramas: there is simply a little too much of it.
Some storylines could have been shorter, some episodes tighter, and there are moments when the story clearly loses momentum. This is not one of those dramas that left me thinking I had just watched something extraordinary.
But it did leave me thinking about something I hadn't expected at all.
Acting, stardom — and what the Chinese idol industry actually rewards.
And it started with two actors who could hardly be more different. One stands still. The other circles around him.
Fang Yilun is pure energy here.His character is quick, clever, reactive, slightly cheeky and wonderfully fox-like.
Foxy Mode: 100%. He has the energy of a man who has just had five ideas at once, three of them are probably terrible, one is dangerous, and he is already halfway through trying the fifth. But what I particularly enjoy about Fang is that he never stops participating in a scene. When he talks, he acts. When he listens, he acts. When somebody else is talking, he reacts.
Information arrives, something changes in his face, a thought appears, another one replaces it. Sometimes you can see the idea before the character says it aloud. Fang doesn't need dialogue to give the camera a reason to stay on him.
And next to him we have Yang Yang.
Almost his complete opposite. And paradoxically, this is precisely why they work so well together.
Yang is restrained and controlled. His physical awareness is genuinely impressive, and his fight scenes can be beautiful — precise, fluid, almost balletic. He understands line, posture and movement extremely well.
This man knows how to look good in a frame.More importantly, he seems to know exactly how to look good in a frame.
The problem, for me, begins approximately from the neck upwards. His face sometimes behaves as though it has been treated with metaphorical Botox. Metaphorical. 😂
Facial movement appears to have been granted a very limited operating licence, while the eyes occasionally seem subject to even stricter regulations: DISPLAYING UNAUTHORIZED EMOTIONS IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH.
And yet — or perhaps partly because of it — Fang and Yang have chemistry.
One brings movement, the other stillness. One throws energy into the scene, the other absorbs it.
One is the fox. The other is an exceptionally elegant pillar of salt. And somehow: contrast creates chemistry.
The more I watched them, however, the more their contrast made me wonder about something much larger than either character.
Because Fang Yilun can act That sounds ridiculously simple, but it matters.
Fang can be funny, emotional, quick, dangerous, romantic, physical, clever. He can make a scene feel alive without demanding that the scene revolve around him. And Shadow Punisher later gave me an unexpectedly useful test of this observation.
Take away the fox. Take away the humour. Take away the hundred-ideas-per-minute energy.
Give Fang a quiet, serious, disciplined character who stands so unnaturally straight that swallowing a broomstick would probably improve his posture by no more than two degrees.
And the person inside is still there. He listens. He processes. He thinks. He doubts. He decides.
You can watch information travel through the character. Apparently, Fang Yilun can play a human lamppost without switching off the human being inside it.
Which brings me back to Yang Yang.
Because asking simply whether Yang is “wooden” suddenly seems far less interesting.
The more interesting question is: What exactly does the Chinese idol market reward?
Yang Yang possesses another kind of skill, and I don't think it should be underestimated.
His level of physical self-control is remarkable. And I don't mean general posture.
I mean control of detail. The angle of the head. The shoulders. The back. The hands. The chin. The way he stands.
The way he sits. The way he turns. The line his body creates during movement. The profile presented to the camera.
Nothing seems accidental.
At times, it feels as though somebody installed a metaphorical stick up his backside years ago and the poor man has been maintaining perfect posture ever since. And frankly, the stick deserves a supporting-actor credit. 😂
But that control is also part of what makes him so effective as an idol.
When I look at younger Yang Yang, I see more spontaneity and youthful energy. And it makes me wonder whether years of functioning as one of China's biggest idols gradually strengthened that extraordinary self-control.
Perhaps the industry taught him not merely how to look good in front of a camera, but how to never stop looking good in front of a camera.
Those are two very different things.
And something enormously useful to an idol may occasionally become restrictive for an actor.
Which brings me to three men who, for me, represent three completely different kinds of idol presence.
Zhang Linghe — BEHOLD, I EXIST.
Zhang Linghe's greatest idol asset, to me, is presence itself. He is extremely tall, extremely slender, highly photogenic, spectacular in costume and blessed with a face the camera clearly enjoys. He can enter a frame, stand there, and an image already exists. That is: BEHOLD, I EXIST.
Not necessarily: What am I doing? Not yet: What am I feeling? First and foremost: LOOK. I AM HERE.
Sometimes, with Zhang, I get the impression that the idol gets in the way of the human being.
As though there is an additional layer of premium packaging between spontaneous human behaviour and the outside world — and he himself doesn't always seem entirely sure what to do with it.
I imagine Zhang arriving at an awards ceremony.
Where is my chair? There. He sits. He looks good. Task completed successfully. Does he need to find the camera? No.
The camera has eyes. It will find Zhang Linghe.BEHOLD, I EXIST.
Yang Yang — I AM THE BLUEPRINT.
Yang's idol presence feels completely different. He doesn't simply photograph well.
He sometimes seems extraordinarily aware of how he is being photographed.Camera. Light. Profile. Shoulders. Back.
Chin. Hands. Legs. Posture. The Stick.
Everything is under control.
Down to the smallest detail.
And that is why I AM THE BLUEPRINT feels like the perfect description to me.
Not merely: I am beautiful. But: This is how an idol is supposed to look. Pure perfection, by design. If Zhang's presence says “Notice that I exist,” Yang's seems to say: “Notice how correctly I exist.”
And this is where I would reverse my observation about Zhang:
With Zhang Linghe, the idol sometimes gets in the way of the human being.
With Yang Yang, the human being sometimes gets in the way of the idol.

Because some of Yang's most interesting moments, for me, are precisely those in which that extraordinary control briefly disappears. He laughs naturally. His posture loosens. Something surprises him.
He reacts before apparently remembering that he is Yang Yang. And suddenly there is a spontaneous man where the perfectly constructed idol had been standing. Then somewhere deep inside the system:
WARNING: HUMAN DETECTED. RESTORE THE BLUEPRINT. 😂
At our imaginary gala, Zhang has already found his chair and is sitting peacefully, trusting the camera to locate him.
Yang enters. He finds the camera. Checks the light. Calculates the profile. Sits. Back straight. Shoulders correct. Chin perfect.
Hands positioned. Metaphorical stick firmly operational. I AM THE BLUEPRINT. 🧍
Arthur Chen — I AM ABOVE. And then there is Arthur Chen.
A third kind of presence entirely. This is no longer:“Behold, I exist.” Nor:“This is how perfection should look.”
The energy feels closer to: “I assume you have noticed that I have arrived.”
This is: I AM ABOVE. 👑
If Zhang Linghe enters the gala and finds his chair, and Yang Yang checks which profile will look best while sitting on his...
Arthur Chen enters. The chair positions itself for Arthur Chen. The staff adjusts. The camera focuses. The atmosphere reorganizes itself. Is the camera ready? That sounds very much like the camera's problem.
And suddenly these three actors become interesting to me not because they are the same kind of idol, but because they aren't.
They represent three very different ways of occupying celebrity space.
Zhang Linghe — BEHOLD, I EXIST. Presence itself is the event.
Yang Yang — I AM THE BLUEPRINT. Presentation is perfected down to the smallest detail.
Arthur Chen — I AM ABOVE. Status seems to arrive in the room before the performance does.
All three forms of presence are extraordinarily marketable. On a poster. At a gala. On a red carpet. On a magazine cover.
In a luxury campaign. And none of them is exactly the same thing as acting.
Which brings me back to Fang Yilun.
And where does Fang fit? He doesn't fit neatly into any of those categories for me. He doesn't carry the same superstar status.
The room doesn't seem required to reorganize itself when he enters. I don't constantly feel that every second of his screen time has been engineered to remind me: THIS IS AN IDOL.
But when the scene starts? There is an actor. And suddenly the question I have been asking for years —
“Why isn't Fang Yilun a superstar if he is such a good actor?” — may be the wrong question.
Because that question assumes that the idol industry creates its hierarchy primarily according to acting ability.
Perhaps it never promised to do that.
Acting may simply be one component among many others: beauty, height, proportions, photogenic presence, recognizability, fandom, marketing power, commercial value, image control and that difficult-to-define ability to remain a STAR while doing absolutely nothing.
And that is what Zhan Zhao Adventures, despite not being an extraordinary drama itself, unexpectedly made me think about.
It put a very good actor next to a very big idol.
Their differences created chemistry. But their differences also made me wonder whether:
“Best actor” and “biggest star” are even competing in the same competition.
Perhaps they aren't. And maybe that explains at least part of what fascinates me about the Chinese idol industry.
Sometimes an actor's job is to make me believe in a human being. Sometimes an idol's job is to make me unable to stop looking at him. And occasionally, someone manages to do both. Those are probably the really dangerous ones.
And somewhere in the background: Zhang Linghe is sitting. Yang Yang's posture is flawless.Arthur Chen's chair has moved itself seventeen centimetres to the left.
And Fang Yilun is still acting.

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Zhan Zhao Adventures Had Me Hooked From Start to Finish

I absolutely loved this drama.

From the very first episodes, the cast completely drew me into the story. Every character felt believable, and the actors did an incredible job bringing their roles to life. It never felt like anyone was simply going through the motions—every performance added something meaningful to the drama.

But I have to give special credit to Yang Yang.

I've always enjoyed watching him, but his performance here reminded me why he's one of the most captivating actors in the industry. He brought so much depth, charisma, and intensity to his character that I found myself glued to every scene he was in. Some of his emotional moments were especially impressive and elevated the entire series.

And the fight scenes? Absolutely epic.

The action sequences weren't just visually stunning—they were genuinely suspenseful. There were multiple moments where I found myself tensing up, wondering who would come out on top. The choreography was sharp, fast-paced, and exciting, making every confrontation feel important.

If you're a fan of action-packed historical dramas with strong performances, compelling characters, and fight scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat, Zhan Zhao Adventures is definitely worth your time. It's one of those dramas that reminds you why you fell in love with wuxia and historical adventures in the first place.

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Amazing action, chemistry, and mystery.

Zhan Zhao Adventure is an absolute masterpiece of modern wuxia. From the very first episode, the show hooks you with a gripping conspiracy that masterfully unravels a massive web of corruption tied to Prince Xiang Yang.

What truly elevates this drama to a 9.5 rating*(according to me)* is its phenomenal, top-tier fight choreography. The action scenes are nothing short of amazing—crisp, dynamic, and beautifully executed without over-relying on choppy editing.

The dynamic between the characters is the beating heart of the show. The trio of the stoic Zhan Zhao, the passionate Bai Yu Tang, and the fiercely talented Huo Ling Long brings an electric chemistry to the screen. Watching these like-minded individuals evolve from cautious allies into a tight-knit team fighting for justice across both the imperial court and the dangerous underworld is incredibly satisfying.
I appreciate whole cast and work and amazing ost...
Watch this show you never disappointed and this has happy ending... include post credit scene in last episode

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a new top drama

Yang Yang's name was what drew me to this show initially, and I was over the moon when I discovered I would actually be able to watch it with my current subscriptions, but other than having Yang Yang as the lead, I did my best to find out nothing about it so that I could go in without any expectations, but in hindsight it wouldn't have mattered if I'd had expectations because Zhan Zhao Adventures completely blew them away.

Yang Yang's acting was gorgeous (and so is he, naturally), but he wasn't the only one. Zhang Ruo Nan handled the complexity of her character wonderfully, balancing Huo Ling Long's personal desires with her familial obligations and still managing to pull off some excellent martial arts. Alen Fang was the real surprise for me, though. I'd not seen him in anything previously and his skills as an actor, especially his comedic timing, were a delight, and he also did a wonderful job portraying Bai Yu Tang's emotional growth from a petulant pest to a sincere friend. Credit, too, to Xu Wai Luo as Ming Zhi Er and Chun Yu Zhe as Chang Hong Bi. Those two young actors kept up with their more seasoned cast members and did a superlative job in every scene and I hope to see them taking on bigger roles as they grow up.

A final thing I want to touch on in this review are the martial arts on display in Zhan Zhao Adventures. Simply put, they are breathtaking. The fights are beautifully choreographed and the actors and martial artists perform with tremendous skill. I found myself wishing I could slow them down to appreciate them more fully, and had to make do with going back and re-watching them over and over. Seriously, Yang Yang and Alen Fang were incredible, and the stunt artists did their jobs convincingly. I loved the martial aspect so much.

This is easily one of my top dramas, and even though I've already watched it twice, I know I'm going to want to rewatch it again just to enjoy how exquisitely it was executed.

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I'm glad that I found out early in my watch that this show "doesn't have a romance," even if I disagree with that assessment. That said, the lack of romance is the source of the only complaint I have about this show. My soul yearns to see the hinted-at romance between Zhan Zhao and Huo Ling Long realized on screen. There are lingering looks, obvious pleasure in the other's company, and genuine concern for each other's well-being, but not even a press of hands, let alone a kiss. Obviously, I'll have to go looking for fanart.

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