Dylan Wang nailed it
What I liked:
1. Dylan Wang as Dongfang Qingcang completely nailed it. In the beginning he's robotic and unfeeling. Later he's depressed and angry. Finally he's loving and self-sacrificing. Wang delivers the many comic scenes with impeccable timing-and even plays a woman in a man's body without missing a beat. Added later: I just found out that a “line actor” dubbed Dylan’s voice in this series, so maybe not as great an acting job as I thought. But his visuals and expressions are still quite good.
2. Other actors also do a stellar job: Yu Shuxin as Orchid was warm, loving and believable as Dongfang's love interest. Although I agree that her nasal, whining voice almost made me change the channel in the beginning. Another great performance was that of Charles Lin who played ShangQue, Dongfang's faithful servant who is sometimes a man and sometimes a dragon-mobile. His facial expressions and general cluelessness were a wonder. Also Hong Xiao added feminine guile and energy along with a good dollop of humor. And I have to mention Zhang Linghe who goes from earnest to dissipated and back again--and is as charming as they come.
3. Costuming, CGI, and set design were gorgeous and magical. While the story got a little tedious with all the misunderstandings and downright deceit, plus the breakups and reconciliations between Dongfang and Orchid--the pace never slowed.
4. This is the first Chinese series I've seen that was genuinely both touching and funny. The humor worked seamlessly, which is rare with international dramas. Yes, it got a little sentimental in places, but otherwise-- not many missteps.
Things that could have been better:
1. A few blunders. I love the mournful flute solo that Rong Hao plays intermittently throughout the series. There's one scene where he's playing his song and then puts the instrument down-and the flute melody (at least on my screen) keeps playing. What happened to the spikes in Dongfang's body? They're supposed to cause him excruciating agony every night. We see them once, and then suddenly they're gone. Also some plot devices got recycled a bit too often. Repetitive ordeals of pain and suffering start losing their impact after the third time.
2. The music, in general, was OK, although some of the songs got a little tiresome by the end.
3. Speaking of the ending--there were a few dangling threads. For example, what happened with the romance between ShangQue and JieLi? They seemed happy, but were they dating? Were they married? Get with it, guys. It's been 500 years. Also, one of the main characters is supposedly gone forever, but then abruptly comes back. Why? How? Enquiring minds want to know.
Overall very enjoyable.
1. Dylan Wang as Dongfang Qingcang completely nailed it. In the beginning he's robotic and unfeeling. Later he's depressed and angry. Finally he's loving and self-sacrificing. Wang delivers the many comic scenes with impeccable timing-and even plays a woman in a man's body without missing a beat. Added later: I just found out that a “line actor” dubbed Dylan’s voice in this series, so maybe not as great an acting job as I thought. But his visuals and expressions are still quite good.
2. Other actors also do a stellar job: Yu Shuxin as Orchid was warm, loving and believable as Dongfang's love interest. Although I agree that her nasal, whining voice almost made me change the channel in the beginning. Another great performance was that of Charles Lin who played ShangQue, Dongfang's faithful servant who is sometimes a man and sometimes a dragon-mobile. His facial expressions and general cluelessness were a wonder. Also Hong Xiao added feminine guile and energy along with a good dollop of humor. And I have to mention Zhang Linghe who goes from earnest to dissipated and back again--and is as charming as they come.
3. Costuming, CGI, and set design were gorgeous and magical. While the story got a little tedious with all the misunderstandings and downright deceit, plus the breakups and reconciliations between Dongfang and Orchid--the pace never slowed.
4. This is the first Chinese series I've seen that was genuinely both touching and funny. The humor worked seamlessly, which is rare with international dramas. Yes, it got a little sentimental in places, but otherwise-- not many missteps.
Things that could have been better:
1. A few blunders. I love the mournful flute solo that Rong Hao plays intermittently throughout the series. There's one scene where he's playing his song and then puts the instrument down-and the flute melody (at least on my screen) keeps playing. What happened to the spikes in Dongfang's body? They're supposed to cause him excruciating agony every night. We see them once, and then suddenly they're gone. Also some plot devices got recycled a bit too often. Repetitive ordeals of pain and suffering start losing their impact after the third time.
2. The music, in general, was OK, although some of the songs got a little tiresome by the end.
3. Speaking of the ending--there were a few dangling threads. For example, what happened with the romance between ShangQue and JieLi? They seemed happy, but were they dating? Were they married? Get with it, guys. It's been 500 years. Also, one of the main characters is supposedly gone forever, but then abruptly comes back. Why? How? Enquiring minds want to know.
Overall very enjoyable.
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