07222023

At one point, we shifted from a lot of action to a lot of crying, but still a better story than “Pursuit of Jade”.

My algorithm is messed up from Pursuit of Jade OSTs marathons, and when fan edits say “Fangs of Fortune” is a must-watch—I listened. Tian Jia Rui didn’t impress me in “Pursuit of Jade,” but he shone in FOF in every amazing way. This review includes details of the show, so spoiler alert! Though I hope anyone reading this is here because he/she’s seen the show.

Pros:
- Why the show isn’t called “Mr. Zhou’s Journey” is beyond me. Mr. Zhou isn’t just the glue that holds the group together; he’s the first to act when danger arises. Zhou Yichen is one of the most lovable characters I’ve seen in a minute, from his softness to his intelligence. He’s naturally a gentle and kind human, so his dynamic and relationship with every character is heartwarming. If Mr. Zhou were a female, he’d be chosen as the Goddess because he’s the purest soul the show saw.
- Ying Lei. Our moodmaker, half god, half demon, joined the group last and left first. His death wrecked me. He was always so fearless, yet his last words were “I’m scared”. It’s been a while since I bawled my eyes out for a character. And Pei Siheng. In my opinion, Heng (Pei Sijing’s younger brother) had the saddest story yet. From being ill since childhood, ignored by his family, killed by his own sister, and used by demons to no end—Heng had it worst. Every time he showed up to protect Sijing, I’d be so happy. Then I’d get mad when Sijing watches him get beaten up. For some reason, whenever Heng shows up, Sijing takes a backseat.
- Bai Jiu’s admiration, loyalty, and relationship with Mr. Zhou and Ying Lei were the best thing about this show. Every time this trio is together, I rewatch their moments at least thrice. They’re never not funny, chaotic, and sweet.
- If you’re a sucker for bromance and strong friendship stories, then Fang of Fortune delivered to the max. The bantering, bickering, and roasting each other were super funny and cute.
- The music. 100/10. There was not one bad song. I now have a playlist just for FOF’s OSTs. First show ever with all good OSTs.
- The ending credits. Whoever’s idea it was to make the cast dance needs a raise.
- The CGI was satisfactory. Wasn’t impressive but wasn’t ridiculous either.
- Storywise, since it's fantasy and based on folklore, it's hard to tell what's going to happen. A lot of the plot twists (though not all original or very interesting) kept the show moving at an enjoyable pace. The callbacks to certain words and/or moments were nice. The show is easily watchable. I binged it in 3 days.

Cons (in no particular order):
- The action was great in the first half, then they became sloppy, and there were a lot of errors and hiccups to detail. Like characters suddenly standing too close together after jumping and flying around. Certain moves defy gravity. Some cuts ruin the realness and smoothness of the fights. I noticed the show can’t or won’t handle more than two characters fighting the enemy; when a character or characters are inhibited, other characters capable of fighting stand around rather than interfering. The show had an opportunity to showcase Yichen, Yuanzhou, and Lilun working together simultaneously to take down the bad guy, turning it into an epic fight, but it didn’t.
- There’s a lot of standing around, glaring at the enemy, and talking during later fight scenes.
- The last big fight was a huge letdown. Except for Lilun showing up to redeem himself, it was draggy and boring. Since Zhou Yichen is a water dragon demon and Wen Zongyu a phoenix, I thought we’d get some water dragon on phoenix’s action, but we didn’t. For two episodes, Wen Zongyu was just launching fireballs at Yichen, Yuanzhou, and Lilun. I’m surprised Zongyu never tried to attack them from behind, especially when Lilun made his ultimate sacrifice. Since Lilun is a tree demon and a small amount of Zongyu’s fire can burn him to ashes, I’m both surprised and not surprised that Zongyu wasted a lot of his demonic energy to burn Lilun quicker. Zongyu is obviously a desperate and impatient guy, so he didn’t make a fun last boss fight.
- The romance is nonexistent and never should have been a thing in the first place. Yuanzhou and Wen Xiao had little to no romantic chemistry. Most of the time, Wen Xiao treats Yuanzhou as a pet or something she talks to. The characters are only in love because their roles said they are. Yichen and Yuanzhou had more meaningful moments.
- Wen Xiao was not the female lead that the show deserved. From manipulation to hollering names, she didn’t possess the pure soul and abilities to protect the wilderness and mortal world. Wen Xiao was poorly designed, written, and executed. She’s completely useless in battles, and the worst part is she wants to be part of these battles. Instead of staying behind to help someone or ensure their safety, she’d run off to face bigger challenges that she cannot win against. In the opening episode, Wen Xiao expressed disappointment in herself for being too weak to protect a demon. She also got angry and sad that she wasn’t strong enough to help Yichen at Bingyi’s Cave, yet she never worked on improving herself and simply relied on her goddess power, which she also doesn’t use a lot. They had a chance to highlight Wen Xiao’s selflessness when she spent 300 boring years in the sundial, but it was fast-forwarded, and we didn’t see her do much. Would have been nice if she had also had to defend the divine tree from other creatures, but nah, the worst thing in the sundial is solitude.
- As stated before, the music was 100/10. However, the show started relying on music towards the latter half to do most of the emotional weight-lifting. At times, the music didn’t work for the scene (Ying Lei’s death, especially), and/or was spammed. Otherwise, the audio work worked for the most part.
- Ying Lei and Bai Jiu’s deaths were sped through. Both times, only Yichen mourned AND cared. Wen Xiao asked Sijing if she was sad about Ying Lei’s death, instead of expressing any. It was odd. The whole group didn’t deserve Ying Lei’s sacrifices.
- Thousands of years old demons are dropping like flies. Also, age doesn’t determine strength. Hundred-year-old demons can easily defeat thousand-year-old demons. It’s hard to gauge how strong anyone really is.
- Yuanzhou was called “evil” a few times, but his actions and words weren’t malicious, so I don’t see how he’s evil. They’re usually hard truths, but I guess it was a good way to showcase how sensitive and emotional humans can be.
- Acting was great but sometimes Xu Zhenxuan, who played Ying Lei, is seriously trying to hold back laughter. Lester Lin who played Bai Jiu did amazing! He also did Lilun justice.
- Whenever something sad happens, Yichen has a habit of making it about himself.
- The characters were practicing social distancing at times. Why couldn’t someone catch Heng? Or Yuanzhou? Why did Yichen have to take Jiu from Ying Lei?
- There are very few people except the cast. We saw people at the Demon Hunting Bureau and Chongwu Camp, but they all vanished later on. Towns are pretty empty.
- The idea of demonized humans was very interesting. Sadly, it wasn't explored more, though we did get a taste of it, and it was delish!
- Here are other glaring issues and plot holes:
Yuanzhou said Lilun wouldn’t do anything to Ying Lei because of his friendship with Ying Lei’s grandfather. Fun fact: Lilun kills Ying Lei without an explanation.
Lilun knows that Yichen, or someone with Bingyi’s blood and chosen by the sword, can slay Yuanzhou. Instead of killing Yichen and letting someone else kill Yuanzhou, why did Liliu break the sword?
Sijing said she burned her demon-turned brother because that’s protocol, but so far, all demons and gods have turned into ashes after death.
The Baize Token was split in half and jointly managed by a Baize Goddess and Great Demon, but which Great Demon managed it with Wen Xiao’s master? If the Goddess or Great Demon dies, what happens?
In episode 7, Yuanzhou wanted to use Ying Lei’s Shanhai Portal and said it needed a Mountain God to cast the spell, but throughout the show, other characters used it without Ying Lei.
Demons' ages are a constant contradiction. They’re said to be immortals but also have a lifespan, and the older they get, the weaker they become?

Still, I’d recommend this show to anyone and everyone. If I were to rewatch it, it wouldn’t be the whole thing but parts of it.