I went into the series knowing barely anything about the plot or the characters; my main motivation was that its female lead was Bai Lu and I wanted to watch her in it. And after watching all the 55 episodes I can tell with absolutely certainty that the only memorable thing about it was Bai Lu’s character.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad C- drama! In terms of set designs and customs it is very good and the actors for the most part, are fine too. However, I think the weakest aspects of this series is its script, pacing, characters and the overall storytelling.
From start to finish, I couldn't tell what was the focus of the story. Was it Li Chen Lan’s struggle against the evil in his heart? Was it that the immortal sects are mostly a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites who claim to be upholders of Justice and good, all the while their actions portrayed the opposite and actually harmed others? Or was the story about Lu Xiao Zhao Yao’s (a.k.a the Demoness) character growth from an arrogant sect leader with questionable morals to a softer and more self-reflective version of herself? I don't know and I think that is the biggest issue.
But aside from a lack of focus in the story, the pacing is uneven. Until almost halfway into the series (when Zhao Yao reveals herself) the pacing is good and I was watching every episode to see what happens next. However, after that point, it drags and it's not until the last 10 episodes that it picks up the pace again.
To be honest, it is a fairly common issue in a lot of C-dramas. But I argue that if the plot and the editing were tighter, I wouldn't feel its uneven pacing, because recently, I have watched another C drama that was 70 episodes long and I didn't mind at all the number of the episodes, because I was so engrossed in its story and characters.
But other than the pacing and the lousy editing, I couldn't get into most of the characters. Sure, I liked the Demoness, her quirky and fierce attitude, coupled with her flexible morality. But I struggled to care about most other characters. The male lead Li Chen Lan (played by Xu Kai) is the Demoness’s love interest and the chemistry is fine…I guess. But…I'm sorry, because after watching Love Is Sweet and Until The End of The Moon, it pales in comparison with Bai Lu and Luo Yu Xi’s effortless and natural chemistry; but it's just my take.
Of course, there were secondary male and female characters. But in the end, nothing about them made them memorable. And again, it ties back to the issues in the script and storytelling. If more care and effort were put into crafting a tighter story and fleshing out the characters properly, I think it would have been a great show. Instead, a lot of scenes and subplots were unnecessary and took too much screen time that could have been used better.
So all in all, the Legends wasn't a bad drama, but it wasn't great either. But if you like Bail Lu as the main FL you can give it a try!
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad C- drama! In terms of set designs and customs it is very good and the actors for the most part, are fine too. However, I think the weakest aspects of this series is its script, pacing, characters and the overall storytelling.
From start to finish, I couldn't tell what was the focus of the story. Was it Li Chen Lan’s struggle against the evil in his heart? Was it that the immortal sects are mostly a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites who claim to be upholders of Justice and good, all the while their actions portrayed the opposite and actually harmed others? Or was the story about Lu Xiao Zhao Yao’s (a.k.a the Demoness) character growth from an arrogant sect leader with questionable morals to a softer and more self-reflective version of herself? I don't know and I think that is the biggest issue.
But aside from a lack of focus in the story, the pacing is uneven. Until almost halfway into the series (when Zhao Yao reveals herself) the pacing is good and I was watching every episode to see what happens next. However, after that point, it drags and it's not until the last 10 episodes that it picks up the pace again.
To be honest, it is a fairly common issue in a lot of C-dramas. But I argue that if the plot and the editing were tighter, I wouldn't feel its uneven pacing, because recently, I have watched another C drama that was 70 episodes long and I didn't mind at all the number of the episodes, because I was so engrossed in its story and characters.
But other than the pacing and the lousy editing, I couldn't get into most of the characters. Sure, I liked the Demoness, her quirky and fierce attitude, coupled with her flexible morality. But I struggled to care about most other characters. The male lead Li Chen Lan (played by Xu Kai) is the Demoness’s love interest and the chemistry is fine…I guess. But…I'm sorry, because after watching Love Is Sweet and Until The End of The Moon, it pales in comparison with Bai Lu and Luo Yu Xi’s effortless and natural chemistry; but it's just my take.
Of course, there were secondary male and female characters. But in the end, nothing about them made them memorable. And again, it ties back to the issues in the script and storytelling. If more care and effort were put into crafting a tighter story and fleshing out the characters properly, I think it would have been a great show. Instead, a lot of scenes and subplots were unnecessary and took too much screen time that could have been used better.
So all in all, the Legends wasn't a bad drama, but it wasn't great either. But if you like Bail Lu as the main FL you can give it a try!
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