An existentialist Jianghu adventure
MLC is what I heard somebody described as classic wuxia. It’s got adventure and mystery, good-looking heroes with impressive martial arts abilities, and well-choreographed fight scenes. It's also got a good dash of humor.
I was a bit hesitant going for this show because it has no female lead. I don’t particularly need romance, but I do like a strong FL to root for. However, after watching another show where I felt the romance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable story (Ancient Detective), I decided I could set aside my feminist leanings and just enjoy this story about men.
Ultimately what I really love about this show is its underlying existential crisis. From the beginning, Li Lianhua is waiting for his death. He just wants to tie up a few loose ends first. As I watched, I desperately hoped it would not happen, but I also understood that he was already on this path and it would be a win if he survived rather than a loss otherwise. At least his friends were right there with me, hoping and trying to turn this around.
This show contains a series of mystery cases strung together with an overarching storyline. I felt the cases themselves were a bit of a mess… they were so convoluted that they were hard to follow. There was often no chance of the audience solving it together with the characters, if only because the answer often involves strange magical feats. That aside, it just felt unrealistic that any detective could identify and then put together such a random set of clues to come up with such complicated explanations. But hey, our boy is a genius, so whatever- I just sat back and enjoyed watching them kick butt.
The three main characters are really loveable and where I think a lot of the fanbase lies. The brotherhood and also the humor between them is really great. Li Lianhua’s casual lying is hilarious; people have complained about Cheng Yi mumbling (they all dubbed themselves) but I think it captures Li Lianhua well, and not a problem if you use subtitles! Fang Duobing is sillily naïve and lovable, and Joseph Zeng’s anime-like expressions had me laughing. Xiao Shunyao as Di Feisheng unfortunately gets less screentime, but he is so grumpy badass when he shows up. I think all three actors did a great job capturing the spirit of their characters and making them likable, and their looks and styling all suited their characters well.
The show doesn’t have a female lead, but it does have some female side characters who are not too useless. Fang Duobing’s mom is a fan favorite. Qiao Wanmian, who is Li Lianhua’s ex, got a bit of hate but I actually really sympathized with her situation. I felt her arc was handled very well, a breakup she doesn’t want but has to accept- like the rest of the story, it's sad in a realistic way. I just feel she got a little shortchanged because they could have let her show off a little more. Her one sword strike showed no technique at all. Su Xiaoyong, I saw one snippet from the actress saying “I am you, the audience!” and that’s a good description- Li Lianhua’s fangirl. But in the end, neither she nor the princess actually factors in much (not that I would have wanted some random love story muddling the waters). Probably the strongest female character is Jiao Liqiao, who is batshit crazy and whose sole purpose in life seems to be to get the man she likes. So, across 40 episodes, I’d say this one might not even pass the Bechdel test. But I guess that’s ok, it’s a story about men in a men’s world.
The fighting in this show is well choreographed, aside from a few nonsensical sword strokes. In general it’s also fairly well performed. Unfortunately Di Feisheng doesn’t really fight, he just swings his sword and everyone goes flying. Fang Duobing’s fights look great- this actor seems pretty athletic- but as a character, he leveled up a bit too quickly. I find it unbelievable that he was a sickly child… but, who needs logic.
In all these fight scenes, especially towards the end, I do think there was a bit too much strike-and-pose with hair blowing in the wind. Once upon a time I might have thought it was cool, now I find it cheesy.
Once again, I think the main draw of this show is its existential undertones. I really appreciated, under the very well-done humor and swashbuckling adventure, the sadly realistic tone of the entire saga. Li Xiangyi was a genius and admired by all, but also a legit difficult and arrogant person. Such a character is very realistic, reminding us that people at the top are not always perfect. Li Lianhua lives with guilt and memories and needs to find his peace; this is also something that we ordinary people struggle with. The realistic, life-isn’t-perfect message resonates with us as we navigate our own lives. This alone, to me, gives it a high rating, despite other flaws like nonsensical cases, dismissible female characters, and too much posing.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is, controversially, a forced open ending. I think it broke a lot of peoples’ hearts, but at least it gives you the option to believe what you want. Lengthy critical analyses abound on the internet arguing one way or another, I could totally see a high schooler writing a 5-paragraph essay for English class.
Personally, although I wish it were simply a happy ending, I also think that would have been too forced for a show like this and might have cheapened it a bit.
…that aside, I don’t see why he couldn’t have just eaten the flower and then saved everyone else afterwards using yangzhouman. The Styx flower was not even in the book, it was a gimmick added to the drama. It gave us all hope, then was ultimately used to generate dramatic flare. Honestly, the self-sacrifice theme was so overused and tired by this point. In this context, the whole plot device of the Styx flower was also a bit cheap.
I was a bit hesitant going for this show because it has no female lead. I don’t particularly need romance, but I do like a strong FL to root for. However, after watching another show where I felt the romance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable story (Ancient Detective), I decided I could set aside my feminist leanings and just enjoy this story about men.
Ultimately what I really love about this show is its underlying existential crisis. From the beginning, Li Lianhua is waiting for his death. He just wants to tie up a few loose ends first. As I watched, I desperately hoped it would not happen, but I also understood that he was already on this path and it would be a win if he survived rather than a loss otherwise. At least his friends were right there with me, hoping and trying to turn this around.
This show contains a series of mystery cases strung together with an overarching storyline. I felt the cases themselves were a bit of a mess… they were so convoluted that they were hard to follow. There was often no chance of the audience solving it together with the characters, if only because the answer often involves strange magical feats. That aside, it just felt unrealistic that any detective could identify and then put together such a random set of clues to come up with such complicated explanations. But hey, our boy is a genius, so whatever- I just sat back and enjoyed watching them kick butt.
The three main characters are really loveable and where I think a lot of the fanbase lies. The brotherhood and also the humor between them is really great. Li Lianhua’s casual lying is hilarious; people have complained about Cheng Yi mumbling (they all dubbed themselves) but I think it captures Li Lianhua well, and not a problem if you use subtitles! Fang Duobing is sillily naïve and lovable, and Joseph Zeng’s anime-like expressions had me laughing. Xiao Shunyao as Di Feisheng unfortunately gets less screentime, but he is so grumpy badass when he shows up. I think all three actors did a great job capturing the spirit of their characters and making them likable, and their looks and styling all suited their characters well.
The show doesn’t have a female lead, but it does have some female side characters who are not too useless. Fang Duobing’s mom is a fan favorite. Qiao Wanmian, who is Li Lianhua’s ex, got a bit of hate but I actually really sympathized with her situation. I felt her arc was handled very well, a breakup she doesn’t want but has to accept- like the rest of the story, it's sad in a realistic way. I just feel she got a little shortchanged because they could have let her show off a little more. Her one sword strike showed no technique at all. Su Xiaoyong, I saw one snippet from the actress saying “I am you, the audience!” and that’s a good description- Li Lianhua’s fangirl. But in the end, neither she nor the princess actually factors in much (not that I would have wanted some random love story muddling the waters). Probably the strongest female character is Jiao Liqiao, who is batshit crazy and whose sole purpose in life seems to be to get the man she likes. So, across 40 episodes, I’d say this one might not even pass the Bechdel test. But I guess that’s ok, it’s a story about men in a men’s world.
The fighting in this show is well choreographed, aside from a few nonsensical sword strokes. In general it’s also fairly well performed. Unfortunately Di Feisheng doesn’t really fight, he just swings his sword and everyone goes flying. Fang Duobing’s fights look great- this actor seems pretty athletic- but as a character, he leveled up a bit too quickly. I find it unbelievable that he was a sickly child… but, who needs logic.
In all these fight scenes, especially towards the end, I do think there was a bit too much strike-and-pose with hair blowing in the wind. Once upon a time I might have thought it was cool, now I find it cheesy.
Once again, I think the main draw of this show is its existential undertones. I really appreciated, under the very well-done humor and swashbuckling adventure, the sadly realistic tone of the entire saga. Li Xiangyi was a genius and admired by all, but also a legit difficult and arrogant person. Such a character is very realistic, reminding us that people at the top are not always perfect. Li Lianhua lives with guilt and memories and needs to find his peace; this is also something that we ordinary people struggle with. The realistic, life-isn’t-perfect message resonates with us as we navigate our own lives. This alone, to me, gives it a high rating, despite other flaws like nonsensical cases, dismissible female characters, and too much posing.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is, controversially, a forced open ending. I think it broke a lot of peoples’ hearts, but at least it gives you the option to believe what you want. Lengthy critical analyses abound on the internet arguing one way or another, I could totally see a high schooler writing a 5-paragraph essay for English class.
Personally, although I wish it were simply a happy ending, I also think that would have been too forced for a show like this and might have cheapened it a bit.
…that aside, I don’t see why he couldn’t have just eaten the flower and then saved everyone else afterwards using yangzhouman. The Styx flower was not even in the book, it was a gimmick added to the drama. It gave us all hope, then was ultimately used to generate dramatic flare. Honestly, the self-sacrifice theme was so overused and tired by this point. In this context, the whole plot device of the Styx flower was also a bit cheap.
Was this review helpful to you?
