The Fan & the Sash and the Locust & the Cricket & the ◾️bird & the ◽️bird °7.5° °VG°
WRTW is a 2022 release that is rated a whopping 8.7 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 40 45-minute episodes. Based on the novel: "Qie Shi Tian Xia” / Let's Try The World, by Qing Lengyue, it's directed by: Yin Tao, Yu Yonggang & Shi Zhanli. Director Yin Tao is a master - a grand shifu. His credits include Ancient Love Poetry-8.6, Love and Redemption-10, and Under The Power-8.6 - powerhouses, all.
I've seen a few of these actors before. Yang Yang plays Feng Lan “Xi” / Hei Feng Xi, the ML. This is the show where I had determined to decide ~ once and for all ~ if he can act, other than playing a smug know-it-all. {I wrote that prior to his 1st appearance in the show. Right from the start, he's a know-it-all😏, but he's not excessively smug, at least} As beauteous as he is, long hair does not suit him. That I already knew from Love 020-6.8. This especially applies when it is done up tightly. When it's loose or disheveled it looks better. His acting ranges from thoroughly acceptable to VG, but I think that on acting sk8ll alone, he's high average. He gets his gigs for his looks. He is a beautiful man. Here, he has some nice moments as a romantic lead. Zhao Lu Si is FL “Feng” Xi Yun / Bai Feng Xi. She's a natural, and she keeps getting prettier. She walks with an athletic spring here and her backbone is ramrod straight. Feng is wrapped tightly.
Kai Jiang plays the Tianshuang Sect leader, where Feng makes her home. He played the emperor in the marvelous Rebel Princess-8.5. What’s interesting is how he looks much healthier and younger here, just a year later, so it must all be by design. Leon Lai is the prince, Huang Chao. He was in Ancient Love Poetry as a wronged husband as well as a devoted disciple and father. In Overlord-8.4, he's a fussy, downright persnickety clothing designer who has his world turned upside-down by a street ruffian, and in The King's Avatar-7.9 he's a gregarious gamer who's not afraid to take fashion risks. These parts are all nothing alike, and he is wonderful in all of them. I am a fan. Feng Qi Wu, the proud and strong matriarch of the Feng family, is played by Xuan Lu. In The Untamed-9 she plays the quintessential sweet and feminine sister. I hardly recognize her, so it's easy to recognize her superb acting skills.
WRTW is the same old fare: A jumble of factions, a fight for the throne, decades old machinations, and wheels within wheels. It's all still tasty to me. Our leads first build a tentative trust and see that their goals are aligned. Teamwork quickly becomes love, but the heavy weight of responsibility may not leave any space for love to thrive. Their relationship is truly cute. They generate sincere warmth, but most of the time, it stops short of actual heat. There's a whiff of perfunctory ceremony about them, but that does fit their parts. WRTW is not really a romance, though it is /about/ a romance. This is not a political thriller, either. It is supposed to be both but it stays on the surface and never reaches any depths. There are funny moments on the way to love. A lady minister of the court is interested in Xi but he only has eyes for Feng. He introduces the two women, and they end up getting on so well that Xi can never get Feng alone to confess his feelings!
WRTW suffers slightly from big-budget disease. Is Tianshuang Sect any good? It's hard to tell. At times they are vanquished rather easily. The fact that it makes us wonder is a problem in and of itself. Yin Tao is exceptionally talented - probably a genius. His past successes cleared the way for bigger and bigger budgets. At times, the money and the expectation to deliver can create an environment where creativity is stifled. WRTW is a visual masterpiece, but it doesn't have the plot intricacy and range of human emotions that some of Yin Tao’s past works have. I settled into watching one episode per day. That was enough - the show never created the fever or the hunger to keep going in order to see what comes next. I won't be in a hurry to rewatch it. It doesn't have the Yin Tao magic that has enchanted me in the past. WRTW is good - it's VG, but not excellent. The last handful of episodes even started to feel a smidge like a chore. I found I was not emotionally invested in the characters. Not one of them. Love and Redemption has some decent special effects but, with 55 action-packed episodes to fill, most of the effects are clumsy to the point of being uncomfortable. I talked my son into watching an episode and he shook his head at Sefan's first fight scene with a CGI beast in ep1. CGI and special effects are important, but they won't make me want to watch a show again. I watched L&R twice in a row, despite the sometimes deficient effects, because the story, acting, and dialogue are superb. WRTW is more visually sophisticated, but I feel indifferent as to whether I'll ever watch it again. I expect I'll watch L&R 10 or 20 times before my life is over. That is the essence of big-budget disease. All the $$$ distracts from the matters of the heart - the essentials.
No doubt, WRTW is worth a watch. The filming is gorgeous from the start. The costume set my heart aflutter. The towns and sets are gorgeous. The art in the show is sublime. One of the Interior sets has all the woodwork painted a pale green. I may just copy that. Batsuits! We see a ninja flying around in a bonafide BATSUIT. That's straight FIRE! It's cool how their fighting styles reflect their personalities. Feng is compact, tidy, economical, and understated. Yet, she's shockingly effective. Xi's style is flashy, expansive, sweeping, and downright showy. It all leads to cool fights, super cool weapons, and bad@$$ moves. Ep37 has particularly impressive battles and fights.
So, fantasy fans will definitely enjoy this sampler platter. For fans of this show, wait until you see some of the even better features! China rules the fantasy world, and a world of wonders awaits you!
QUOTES📢
The more powerful you are in cooperation, the more benefit you'll get.
Have you convinced yourself of your own lies?
〰🖍 IMHO
📣7 📝7 🎭7 💓6 🦋7 🌞7 🎨9 ⚡6.5 🎵/🔊6 😅3 😭5 😱3 😯4 😖3 🤔4 💤3 🔚7
Age 12+ Rated TV-PG-13: Parents Cautioned
Re-📺? It's likely since I'm such a fan of the director and the FL.
In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:
🔮🐉-
C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain-7.5,
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Story of Yanxi Palace-10
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style),
The Rise of Phoenixes 9
K🇰🇷:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl 8.5;
The King's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9
I've seen a few of these actors before. Yang Yang plays Feng Lan “Xi” / Hei Feng Xi, the ML. This is the show where I had determined to decide ~ once and for all ~ if he can act, other than playing a smug know-it-all. {I wrote that prior to his 1st appearance in the show. Right from the start, he's a know-it-all😏, but he's not excessively smug, at least} As beauteous as he is, long hair does not suit him. That I already knew from Love 020-6.8. This especially applies when it is done up tightly. When it's loose or disheveled it looks better. His acting ranges from thoroughly acceptable to VG, but I think that on acting sk8ll alone, he's high average. He gets his gigs for his looks. He is a beautiful man. Here, he has some nice moments as a romantic lead. Zhao Lu Si is FL “Feng” Xi Yun / Bai Feng Xi. She's a natural, and she keeps getting prettier. She walks with an athletic spring here and her backbone is ramrod straight. Feng is wrapped tightly.
Kai Jiang plays the Tianshuang Sect leader, where Feng makes her home. He played the emperor in the marvelous Rebel Princess-8.5. What’s interesting is how he looks much healthier and younger here, just a year later, so it must all be by design. Leon Lai is the prince, Huang Chao. He was in Ancient Love Poetry as a wronged husband as well as a devoted disciple and father. In Overlord-8.4, he's a fussy, downright persnickety clothing designer who has his world turned upside-down by a street ruffian, and in The King's Avatar-7.9 he's a gregarious gamer who's not afraid to take fashion risks. These parts are all nothing alike, and he is wonderful in all of them. I am a fan. Feng Qi Wu, the proud and strong matriarch of the Feng family, is played by Xuan Lu. In The Untamed-9 she plays the quintessential sweet and feminine sister. I hardly recognize her, so it's easy to recognize her superb acting skills.
WRTW is the same old fare: A jumble of factions, a fight for the throne, decades old machinations, and wheels within wheels. It's all still tasty to me. Our leads first build a tentative trust and see that their goals are aligned. Teamwork quickly becomes love, but the heavy weight of responsibility may not leave any space for love to thrive. Their relationship is truly cute. They generate sincere warmth, but most of the time, it stops short of actual heat. There's a whiff of perfunctory ceremony about them, but that does fit their parts. WRTW is not really a romance, though it is /about/ a romance. This is not a political thriller, either. It is supposed to be both but it stays on the surface and never reaches any depths. There are funny moments on the way to love. A lady minister of the court is interested in Xi but he only has eyes for Feng. He introduces the two women, and they end up getting on so well that Xi can never get Feng alone to confess his feelings!
WRTW suffers slightly from big-budget disease. Is Tianshuang Sect any good? It's hard to tell. At times they are vanquished rather easily. The fact that it makes us wonder is a problem in and of itself. Yin Tao is exceptionally talented - probably a genius. His past successes cleared the way for bigger and bigger budgets. At times, the money and the expectation to deliver can create an environment where creativity is stifled. WRTW is a visual masterpiece, but it doesn't have the plot intricacy and range of human emotions that some of Yin Tao’s past works have. I settled into watching one episode per day. That was enough - the show never created the fever or the hunger to keep going in order to see what comes next. I won't be in a hurry to rewatch it. It doesn't have the Yin Tao magic that has enchanted me in the past. WRTW is good - it's VG, but not excellent. The last handful of episodes even started to feel a smidge like a chore. I found I was not emotionally invested in the characters. Not one of them. Love and Redemption has some decent special effects but, with 55 action-packed episodes to fill, most of the effects are clumsy to the point of being uncomfortable. I talked my son into watching an episode and he shook his head at Sefan's first fight scene with a CGI beast in ep1. CGI and special effects are important, but they won't make me want to watch a show again. I watched L&R twice in a row, despite the sometimes deficient effects, because the story, acting, and dialogue are superb. WRTW is more visually sophisticated, but I feel indifferent as to whether I'll ever watch it again. I expect I'll watch L&R 10 or 20 times before my life is over. That is the essence of big-budget disease. All the $$$ distracts from the matters of the heart - the essentials.
No doubt, WRTW is worth a watch. The filming is gorgeous from the start. The costume set my heart aflutter. The towns and sets are gorgeous. The art in the show is sublime. One of the Interior sets has all the woodwork painted a pale green. I may just copy that. Batsuits! We see a ninja flying around in a bonafide BATSUIT. That's straight FIRE! It's cool how their fighting styles reflect their personalities. Feng is compact, tidy, economical, and understated. Yet, she's shockingly effective. Xi's style is flashy, expansive, sweeping, and downright showy. It all leads to cool fights, super cool weapons, and bad@$$ moves. Ep37 has particularly impressive battles and fights.
So, fantasy fans will definitely enjoy this sampler platter. For fans of this show, wait until you see some of the even better features! China rules the fantasy world, and a world of wonders awaits you!
QUOTES📢
The more powerful you are in cooperation, the more benefit you'll get.
Have you convinced yourself of your own lies?
〰🖍 IMHO
📣7 📝7 🎭7 💓6 🦋7 🌞7 🎨9 ⚡6.5 🎵/🔊6 😅3 😭5 😱3 😯4 😖3 🤔4 💤3 🔚7
Age 12+ Rated TV-PG-13: Parents Cautioned
Re-📺? It's likely since I'm such a fan of the director and the FL.
In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:
🔮🐉-
C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain-7.5,
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Story of Yanxi Palace-10
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style),
The Rise of Phoenixes 9
K🇰🇷:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl 8.5;
The King's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9
Was this review helpful to you?
