Cthelan

This drama deserves praise as the story was well written, provided insight into the internal conflict of China’s Republican era and its conflict with Japan pre WW 2. For me though, this drama provided the best example of character growth and development of a character in I have seen for a long long time. Yu Chang Xuan (played by Ryan Cheng) was so compelling. Going from an angry, brutal and bitter young man to someone who was trustworthy, loyal and kind. His character didn’t just evolve because of love but by a growing self awareness due to him learning of his family’s hidden secrets and their trauma, his friendships with the other soldiers, and experiencing the horrors of war. Ryan Cheng’s acting was awesome.

Unfortunately the script writer didn’t put the same effort into Ye Ping Jun’s character (played by Xu Ruo Han). I often felt frustrated by her character as she was too flat, too serious and consistently righteous. I’m not sure she had much passion for Chang Xuan either all the time it felt more like gratitude, comfort and a feeling of safety (even at the end). It may have been the acting was flawed I’m not sure.

I actually enjoyed watching the supporting actors as they all played their roles brilliantly. Chang Xuan’s friends really complemented his character and brought warmth, humanity and humour into the drama especially when it was sad and dark.

The drama has lots of war-action scenes for those who want it. However for me it was a bit too much, this together with the nationalistic pride, long reflective moments and memory flashbacks (repetitive scenes) made me fast forward often and a lot to get through the 40 episodes. The drama was very slow and bleak. This maybe was the point that the writers were trying to achieve as I am sure that during the Republican era in China, times were bleak, violent and especially brutal for women making each day drag on.