Great Production, Visuals and Memorable Perormances
Since seeing the promotional material for Whispers of Fate, I've been anticipating this Wuxia-Xianxia series with the male lead as Luo Yun Xi. But after its release, and watching all 40 episodes, I'm struggling to articulate how I really feel about the characters and the story.
Okay, first let's talk about the positives:
Production: Great. The sets, the handmade costumes for each character and the makeup are of the highest quality. OSTs and original songs that most of the cast sing fit their characters’ stories are amazing! (Actually, the same studio that produced the international hit
Till the End of the Moon is the same one producing Whispers of Fate. So, I knew it would be great quality in terms of overall production.)
Action scenes and choreography: Good, especially in small-scale and one-on-one duels. The movements are fast and there is not much slow motion (which is a plus, because it disrupts the flow of the scene and it's just annoying!)
VFX and CGI: Decent but not great. For different sets and places within this fantasy world, you can tell they mostly used green screens. But the lighting and the details in each set are very good. On the other hand, when it comes to animating giant moving objects and fantasy creatures, it ranges from average to bad.
And now onto the story and its characters…and this is where it gets a bit complicated. Whispers of Fate is actually an adaptation of a Chinese series of novels featuring a martial artist called Tang Lici and his companions Chi Yun and, later, Shen Long Huan as they traverse Jiangu (the martial arts world) to try to find the culprits behind the deadly and addictive “Nine Hearted Demon Pills,” the mysterious and dangerous organisation of Fengliu Parlour.
This is more or less the overall plot of the novel series. However, the original novel, as of now, is still unfinished. So naturally, for purposes of adaptation, the writers changed parts of the story and created a different ending.
I don't know, but maybe this is why I have mixed feelings about WOF’s story and characters. To me, it felt more like a character-driven story than a plot-driven one. Sure, the plot is very important, and you'll see interesting twists and turns along the way. The world of Jianghu, with its many different characters, is also important. But the main focus in this story always remains on Tang Lici and his personal journey and growth. His origin is quite different in the drama from the one in the novel. But in terms of personality, he shares many aspects of his novel counterpart: Seemingly cold, aloof and even arrogant; suspicious and always plotting ahead and trying to remain one step above others. Yet as we see more, his exterior hides a sensitive, fragile and tormented spirit, one whose nature and motives are mostly misunderstood by others. In a way, Tang Lici is very much like a child who mentally hasn't fully matured into adulthood; he has unhealthy ways of dealing with grief, abandonment and cannot accept loss.
So, watching the drama, I saw it as his personal story and journey of growth, as he faces a myriad of challenges and becomes a better version of himself. However, the ending left me feeling confused and a bit unsatisfied. I won't go into details (because it'll spoil the whole plot). But in terms of character development, I thought it made the whole journey of Tang Lici and his personal struggles moot. It's just my personal opinion, but I think it is this way because the novel is unfinished and the writers had to write the ending themselves. So, of course, some major incongruities in the overall themes of the story will be unavoidable.
But setting my reservation for the story aside, the casting is very good. Luo Yun Xi, as always, dedicates himself to the roles he plays and excels at them! For instance, through his macro facial expressions, tone of voice, eyes and posture, he conveys the character’s inner state very well. The others are fine too. But as I said, the main focus is always Tang Lici. Therefore, when it comes to other characters in this story, I found very few to be interesting.
As for the romance storyline … let's just say you will be disappointed. To be honest, before watching the drama, I knew romance wasn't a main driver of the story and was totally fine with it. But after watching the whole thing, I just wish they had scrapped the whole subplot or whatever it was, because it was very lacklustre to me (and a bit forced?) Yes, I know in the drama, it is part of Tang Lici’s personal journey. But I don't know if it's just me, but I felt no or very little chemistry between our protagonist and his supposed “love interest”, and the story doesn't really take the time to expand on it. So, to me, this subplot was the weakest and the least interesting aspect of the drama. It's nothing against the actors; you can tell they were really trying, but ultimately it comes down to the script and the narrative choices within it. To be fair, the romance isn't spectacular in the novel either, so it's understandable.
With that said, is Whispers of Fate worth watching? Yes, and I think it might improve my opinion and rating with a rewatch. In terms of casting, performance and the overall production quality, it is top-notch, but it is not flawless either.
Okay, first let's talk about the positives:
Production: Great. The sets, the handmade costumes for each character and the makeup are of the highest quality. OSTs and original songs that most of the cast sing fit their characters’ stories are amazing! (Actually, the same studio that produced the international hit
Till the End of the Moon is the same one producing Whispers of Fate. So, I knew it would be great quality in terms of overall production.)
Action scenes and choreography: Good, especially in small-scale and one-on-one duels. The movements are fast and there is not much slow motion (which is a plus, because it disrupts the flow of the scene and it's just annoying!)
VFX and CGI: Decent but not great. For different sets and places within this fantasy world, you can tell they mostly used green screens. But the lighting and the details in each set are very good. On the other hand, when it comes to animating giant moving objects and fantasy creatures, it ranges from average to bad.
And now onto the story and its characters…and this is where it gets a bit complicated. Whispers of Fate is actually an adaptation of a Chinese series of novels featuring a martial artist called Tang Lici and his companions Chi Yun and, later, Shen Long Huan as they traverse Jiangu (the martial arts world) to try to find the culprits behind the deadly and addictive “Nine Hearted Demon Pills,” the mysterious and dangerous organisation of Fengliu Parlour.
This is more or less the overall plot of the novel series. However, the original novel, as of now, is still unfinished. So naturally, for purposes of adaptation, the writers changed parts of the story and created a different ending.
I don't know, but maybe this is why I have mixed feelings about WOF’s story and characters. To me, it felt more like a character-driven story than a plot-driven one. Sure, the plot is very important, and you'll see interesting twists and turns along the way. The world of Jianghu, with its many different characters, is also important. But the main focus in this story always remains on Tang Lici and his personal journey and growth. His origin is quite different in the drama from the one in the novel. But in terms of personality, he shares many aspects of his novel counterpart: Seemingly cold, aloof and even arrogant; suspicious and always plotting ahead and trying to remain one step above others. Yet as we see more, his exterior hides a sensitive, fragile and tormented spirit, one whose nature and motives are mostly misunderstood by others. In a way, Tang Lici is very much like a child who mentally hasn't fully matured into adulthood; he has unhealthy ways of dealing with grief, abandonment and cannot accept loss.
So, watching the drama, I saw it as his personal story and journey of growth, as he faces a myriad of challenges and becomes a better version of himself. However, the ending left me feeling confused and a bit unsatisfied. I won't go into details (because it'll spoil the whole plot). But in terms of character development, I thought it made the whole journey of Tang Lici and his personal struggles moot. It's just my personal opinion, but I think it is this way because the novel is unfinished and the writers had to write the ending themselves. So, of course, some major incongruities in the overall themes of the story will be unavoidable.
But setting my reservation for the story aside, the casting is very good. Luo Yun Xi, as always, dedicates himself to the roles he plays and excels at them! For instance, through his macro facial expressions, tone of voice, eyes and posture, he conveys the character’s inner state very well. The others are fine too. But as I said, the main focus is always Tang Lici. Therefore, when it comes to other characters in this story, I found very few to be interesting.
As for the romance storyline … let's just say you will be disappointed. To be honest, before watching the drama, I knew romance wasn't a main driver of the story and was totally fine with it. But after watching the whole thing, I just wish they had scrapped the whole subplot or whatever it was, because it was very lacklustre to me (and a bit forced?) Yes, I know in the drama, it is part of Tang Lici’s personal journey. But I don't know if it's just me, but I felt no or very little chemistry between our protagonist and his supposed “love interest”, and the story doesn't really take the time to expand on it. So, to me, this subplot was the weakest and the least interesting aspect of the drama. It's nothing against the actors; you can tell they were really trying, but ultimately it comes down to the script and the narrative choices within it. To be fair, the romance isn't spectacular in the novel either, so it's understandable.
With that said, is Whispers of Fate worth watching? Yes, and I think it might improve my opinion and rating with a rewatch. In terms of casting, performance and the overall production quality, it is top-notch, but it is not flawless either.
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