2
1
1
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.
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
