This review may contain spoilers
Surprisingly well-done, brutal wuxia
I read all the reviews here first as well as the episode recaps on Cpophome to make sure this was going to be worth my time, and it was. I agree that the martial arts is not that impressive but it's serviceable for the story. I don't really agree with the reviewers who say that the plot is messy and doesn't make sense, I think everything made sense and tied together. I don't feel like any events betrayed the earlier characterizations or motives. The ending did not feel rushed or non-sensical, which has been the plague of many recent dramas in the last 3 years or so. The only thing I will agree on is that Su Mengzhen really taking a liking to Wang Xiaoshi and Bai Choufei so much as to want to become sworn brothers really quickly seemed a bit forced. I get that they rushed to help him without any obligation, but why he loved them SO much and why he was willing to immediately make Bai Choufei as Vice House Master right away over other loyal subjects does feel like it's just required machinations for the plot.
I also found some of the reveals and twists to be shocking in the moment, but after you think about it, there was enough foreshadowing for it to make sense. That's a sign that a reveal was done well: you shouldn't necessarily see it coming but it will make perfect sense after the initial shock.
Overall a really good but brutal, grim wuxia, so you have to be in the mood for it. Liu Yuning and Baron Chen were the standouts as far as acting goes, with Meng Ziyi a strong runner-up (this was before she got all the botox and lip filler that made her face immovable). Liu Yuning as Bai Choufei: incredible, enough things have already been said in other reviews so I won't prattle on. Joseph Zeng did well in his role but his role didn't demand that much as far as range in emotions. I was pleased with the character: oftentimes the morally-just ML is also a bit dimwitted, but thankfully Wang Xiaoshi was just but smart, aware, and still willing to kill without hesitation for those who deserved it. This is in contrast to Su Mengzhen (played by Baron Chen), who was also a moral beacon but he let himself be restrained by it in a way that Wang Xiaoshi did not. You could argue that it was because Mengzhen had more responsibilities as the House Leader though, so I guess that makes his character all the more tragic. Either they let Baron Chen use his real hair, or he had a fantastic wig, because it did not look like a wig at all, particularly the half-down look with the natural waviness of real hair. His hair didn't have the characteristic unnaturally-wide sideburns that most cdrama wigs do so I'm 99.99% sure it's his hair, at least in the latter half (I didn't pay much attention to his hair in the first half.) He looked gorgeous as the sickly, conflicted beauty. You can tell he's older than the others but he could pass for being 10 years younger than he is.
Yang Chaoyue as Wen Rou, as others mentioned, was a letdown but a lot of FLs in old wuxia and xianxias are kinda one-dimensional pouty girls so she didn't have a lot to work with anyway. Meng Ziyi as the 2nd FL really was more of the FL in that she had a lot of scenes and did the heavier emotional lifting between the two. I've never seen anything with the actor who played Di Feijing before, but he was great in his role as well.
Quick spoiler: I forget the episode, but there is a child's death at the hands of Guan Qi, so just be prepared for that.
As a total aside: Either they let Baron Chen use his real hair, or he had a fantastic wig, because it did not look like a wig at all, particularly the half-down look with the natural waviness of real hair. He looked gorgeous as the sickly, tortured moral beacon. You can tell he's older than the others but he doesn't look that old at all.
I also found some of the reveals and twists to be shocking in the moment, but after you think about it, there was enough foreshadowing for it to make sense. That's a sign that a reveal was done well: you shouldn't necessarily see it coming but it will make perfect sense after the initial shock.
Overall a really good but brutal, grim wuxia, so you have to be in the mood for it. Liu Yuning and Baron Chen were the standouts as far as acting goes, with Meng Ziyi a strong runner-up (this was before she got all the botox and lip filler that made her face immovable). Liu Yuning as Bai Choufei: incredible, enough things have already been said in other reviews so I won't prattle on. Joseph Zeng did well in his role but his role didn't demand that much as far as range in emotions. I was pleased with the character: oftentimes the morally-just ML is also a bit dimwitted, but thankfully Wang Xiaoshi was just but smart, aware, and still willing to kill without hesitation for those who deserved it. This is in contrast to Su Mengzhen (played by Baron Chen), who was also a moral beacon but he let himself be restrained by it in a way that Wang Xiaoshi did not. You could argue that it was because Mengzhen had more responsibilities as the House Leader though, so I guess that makes his character all the more tragic. Either they let Baron Chen use his real hair, or he had a fantastic wig, because it did not look like a wig at all, particularly the half-down look with the natural waviness of real hair. His hair didn't have the characteristic unnaturally-wide sideburns that most cdrama wigs do so I'm 99.99% sure it's his hair, at least in the latter half (I didn't pay much attention to his hair in the first half.) He looked gorgeous as the sickly, conflicted beauty. You can tell he's older than the others but he could pass for being 10 years younger than he is.
Yang Chaoyue as Wen Rou, as others mentioned, was a letdown but a lot of FLs in old wuxia and xianxias are kinda one-dimensional pouty girls so she didn't have a lot to work with anyway. Meng Ziyi as the 2nd FL really was more of the FL in that she had a lot of scenes and did the heavier emotional lifting between the two. I've never seen anything with the actor who played Di Feijing before, but he was great in his role as well.
Quick spoiler: I forget the episode, but there is a child's death at the hands of Guan Qi, so just be prepared for that.
As a total aside: Either they let Baron Chen use his real hair, or he had a fantastic wig, because it did not look like a wig at all, particularly the half-down look with the natural waviness of real hair. He looked gorgeous as the sickly, tortured moral beacon. You can tell he's older than the others but he doesn't look that old at all.
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