The thing that im liking is that they were not lazy with the fight scenes. Some Xianxias just rely on the fact…
wire-work is dangerous although spectacular. There are some impressive BTS, I remember one of Zhao Liying in a sort of safety ring being tossed as though she was in deep space playing an astronaut! I wondered how she was not getting seasick by such movements! Hard working actors and actresses!
Lin Yi and Li Landi have proved that romance can touch on serious matters convincingly. Despite this is a story that has a heavy theme, lot of sad moments, hope is at the heart of it, and bringing experience in a meaningful positive way faced with what looks disheartening and bound to fail. Life is a struggle and there are moments when the hopeless spiral will seem to be invincible, but teaming up against it may bring solace and more shared moments of satisfaction, even joy such as in the wedding scene of the two best friends. Solidarity and resourcefulness are important. Examining what it means to be parents, not just caretakers. What is love, family support, and belief in life.
Some pictures were very beautiful, although the music sometimes got too hypnotizing, and side stories might distract in a double edged fashion. 9.5 for the wholesome and sometimes difficult messages, so well interpreted. Knowing that cures can be found for some forms of the deadly disease is uplifting in the belief that hope should not be abandoned on the difficult path of sufferers.
Kudos to Lin Yi and Li Landi for having tackled this story and made us love Lin Tuo and An Zhi Que. Support cast was often very good too.
perhaps. I'm WeTV VIP subscriber so no problem for me continuing on original platform now. Viki usually has nice subs, so perhaps I'll peek there for rewatch if I love the drama enough! 😀 It starts nicely !
On YT this notice posted by C-Drama Q&A 4 hours ago : [Legend of Shen Li] Airing calendar (for Tencent/WeTV official website subscribers) : 4 eps today (8pm China time), 2 eps/day (March 19 to 21) ; 1 ep/day (March 22 to 24), the rest episodes to be scheduled soon. New trailer released today : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljYEM5GJGCQ&t=0s (2'15) on Kukan drama channel.
I don't agree with the " too many eps., and wide-eyed staring scenes" ; if you hate billiards yes, this will feel overlong. I did not know anything, was not interested in the sport, so I went to do research and posted a thread about it in DIscussions, satisfied that I did learn something from the drama despite this was not the primary goal of the drama (but it was indeed intended as one that would boost awareness of the game).
Wide eyed stares. Well some prefer explicit porn with naked bodies and open mouthed slobbering kisses. I like the implied meanings of intense gazes, and am not the only one who believes Wu Lei is very skilled there he could melt stones with his gaze. The character is designed as a man of few words, who prefers to show what he means differently from those who rely on long talks. One of his ways to express is gazes and playing with the eyes.
Zhao Jinmai is also very good at it, although differently. That's why I noticed her back in Reset. She is a very skilled actress and I enjoyed every moment she was on screen, feeling like many here the deep chemistry she has with Wu Lei. She acts Yin Guo's falling for Lin Yiyang very well, not head over heels baby like at all : she is conscious that she needs to keep some distance, because she has a job which is not a simple game. Lin Yiyang who is of similar mindset, is supportive of this other priority which does not exclude him, although the supposed enmity of the clubs could have. She is fortunate that she need not be torn between her loyalty to her vocation, her family, and her new found love, and that he is the first to hold back when he "wants her".
He knows the risks for her of getting lost in love-sickness since she is so much younger and inexperienced in relationships, so he keeps her close but is the one who decidedly does so with a distance, because he is conscious of realities : he is not poor at all, but he can't go back to China without building his career again, and that will mean long-distance relationship which is a danger if someone else catches her affections. Lin Yiyang is older and wiser than Yin Guo, but he has not chosen to fixate on a clueless wide eyed doll who would throw everything over board and become a mindless puppet faced with a "handsome and amazing man" : for herself as well as for him, she needs to become worthy of him as a peer, not just as a companion. It's not just fluff, so it is not boring at all to me and those who appreciate the drama. It is a good message that love does not mean women need to lose their mind and initial goals in life when they are infatuated.
Nor should love or setbacks allow severing loyalties to families and elders: Lin Yiyang suffers just because he was that reckless and did not manage to react as he should have done in the past. This mistake caused him to lose years, although he did not let it drag him completely down. He chose to study abroad, having earned enough to do so and being able to support himself and more although (with heartaches) appearing to have lost the will for sports competition. He is ashamed that he was part of the break with his former teacher and benefactor, and given the opportunity he will try to make up for it, especially when he realizes that his former team mates did not grow bitter against him but were patiently waiting for him to realize and correct his mistakes.
Likewise then, Lin Yiyang would not want to be a cause of rift between Yin Guo, her team, and her parents, even her sister whom he did not know to be so much against him before late in the story, but who will also realize her own mistake there. The family values and teacher-disciple values are very much upheld in the drama, while shown not to be incompatible with love life.
Yin Guo can let Lin Yiyang take the lead and be playful with him as a kitten when they have a short vacation on the "island". But she will be focused on her job, not to the point of being crushed by defeats: there will be opportunities to win another match, so she accepts being runner up in wait for her next becoming the champion. That's also a very positive take-out from this drama : focus, don't let setbacks hinder from sharpening one's edges in jobs.
Wu Lei is indeed an experienced actor, who has his own studio and manages his own career: he is not a puppet of others, be they directors or companies; he clearly stated repeatedly that he chooses his own scripts, and does read the underlying material to agree with it's being worth of his attention. Zhao Jinmai is not as free, but is also quite thoughtful about the roles she decides to do.
So, I don't agree either with your accusation of mediocre writing for this sweet story. It's well done to achieve weaving these positive messages for personal growth into a sweet story. A 9.5 from me, in light of all that when it ended. Perhaps I should even have gotten to 10.
Despite the drama has reached final episodes, it is still going on well both on international and national platforms : it was still in the top ten in this week's audiences computing of the top ten dramas watched in China. Many dramas would envy this position !
thanks for warning. I think I'll temporarily leave this on hold then, because of the avalanche of dramas looming ahead. Planning to watch the 8 last episodes on March 21 or 22. As of 16 which could have been a nice end, I already like it enough to leave a favorable rating, even if I am not sure I will go all the way to write a review (perhaps I will, to show support, once I have seen it complete).
it was already filmed so yes it will air sometime ahead, when exactly, not sure. Hopes are before end of June, but there are hurdles that may get in the way. I answered about that, to your more recent comment.
Thats all ive got after spending much time just to watch this now and the ending is just like that?!!!!
It's not an ending, it's a "to be continued" episode like the other before : the drama was filmed as 48 episodes (or more) back in the summer of 2021, but cut artificially and divided in two recently because of the 40 eps max regulation, so there is a so called "part 2" that will be upcoming sometime ahead. Frustrating I know.
And those who followed EB1 have even less say in making so called part EB2 get on screen as those who clamored for LLTG part 2 to be released with no delay after end of so called part 1, when the 40 eps limits was first applied to limit length of what could be aired in one go. What's made that reg worse is that later, a provision was added that "season 2" of a drama would have to submit to an up to one year gap with "season 1" (although there were exceptions envisioned for dramas that had been shot before the 40 eps one was introduced: that's the category in which EB falls, so perhaps the King of Light will not have to wait that long to... see the light again :-)
From a Baidu comment that was highlighted in the Chinese online encyclopedia drama page that is usually best informed and reliable, there is some hope that EB2 could air before end June. This EB1 part became titled Zichuan - Three Brothers ; EB2 was retitled Zichuan - The King of Light, which was originally also the English title of the complete series before the 40 eps reg.
But that hope is also to be confirmed because the platform has a competing donghua (animated version) derived from the same novel, and this donghua is also cut in two parts, first one already aired back in 2021, but second part perhaps still not ready in post production and perhaps intended to air before the live action version, despite they are not totally similar.
Showing support for the drama may help to not let it get buried under the hurdles that got heaped on it !
You can look up more about the drama production, cast, crew, illustrated character gallery in the Discussion section.
It's a "tough love" story, so not at all like what you may be used to. I was very lukewarm about it, to start with, even found it triggering (not liking the mistreatment of the girl by her relatives), hung on, comforted by those who had read the book and without spoiling, told me it would get better. They were so right. I ended up as a fan of that drama, which grew better and better for me. The characters who looked outrageously greedy and uncaring, or conceited, torturous, were not as bad as they first felt. There were reasons for their behavior.
I got back again to beginning, better understanding what I found I had not seen properly. The slender hand and Ling Buyi's thoughtful gaze when he rode up to the narrow road the carriage took. The piercing gaze which noticed the girl crouching in hiding behind the railing. So many small details. The names of the twins and their connection despite different upbringing. Shaoshang is a string of the guqin, a difficult instrument with a long history and esoteric values. It's one I was fortunate to get to learn to play from one of the last masters in Beijing in the 2000s. A scholar's instrument, not so much for dance tunes or songs, because it sounds muted and mournful or introspective. It's not really designed for orchestras and concert playing : more to serve as counterpoint for solitary meditation or reading of poetry in a quiet garden or alongside a brook on a mountain. Like one of my homes. Playing the guqin can be an aside from doing divination, like Shaoshang's twin (also named from another string) does, with simple stones instead of hexagrams from coin tosses or sticks, interpreted from the Yijing mysterious oracles.
Those twins resonate differently, but have a deep connection. Their tune is different from Zisheng/Ling Buyi,/Shiyilang/Huo Wushang (played by the spectacular Wu Lei) who is playing along another very complicated tune, with his murky past, his secrets, ruthless cruelty except for the woman he chose, and his links to the imperial family as unofficial prince, held in high esteem by the emperor, his Consort and Empress, and the future Crown Prince.
I watched the BTS of Wu Lei studio, admiring his routine to keep fit, and fit the character in its most challenging episodes, and taking pains to learn the rudiments of guqin playing. Wu Lei is a serious actor who really likes to improve his skills along his acting journey. Zhao Lusi is a guzheng player, so she also has some affinity with the sounds of ancient China and ancient poetry, and she is a gifted actress. The Emperor, the Consort, the Empress, Shaoshang's family and best friend, her suitors, were all playing remarkably well.
But enough about it. Either you'll get into the story or you won't. It takes a certain mindset and patience, and I am not surprised many drama watchers get daunted by this drama. It's like guqin or Chinese opera: some like the sound, some can never appreciate it. Most people like one sort of flavor, and frown at alien tastes. Same thing. On top of it, it gets so addictive that it cannot easily be watched simultaneously with something else: it "commands exclusive attention" and time for it; So if you plan to watch another drama, you may not be able to get into LLTG.
It is not as easy a watch as say, Love between Fairy and Devil. It is not wuxia, only ancient History of a period at the very beginning of the Eastern Han dynasty with values that are not the same as ours.. Some reading about the period ( or watching the companion piece videos on Youtube ) is helpful. Those who have as a strong belief that a drama should show everything with a complete introduction might not like this story, become disoriented, fidgety. Those who like being challenged to do some research and learn more than they knew might love it, as I did. Different mindsets and views about drama watching experience are at play there.
So, 8 episodes more. Ah yes, the cool site has them, but still in "raw" after 16. YoYo English releases 2 episodes a day on YT, so that's a small week to go before getting to the dramatic episodes foreseen in episode 1, "one month and a half later". I am not in a terrible hurry to finish it : taking time is ok. I may either continue snacking on it as dessert from the main fare, or go back to watch the end later...
It was a nice aside from the main fare of two longer and heavier dramas I am watching simultaneously. But now, Legend of Shenli is about to drop on screens.... which may cause me to put on hold something for lack of time. Will decide on that tomorrow.
I believe he knows what he is doing and I hope the Best for HimI enjoyed him in all of the drams I saw of his.…
Dramas and movies can be a risky job, fraught with accidents, when it's costume especially. I remember Chen Xingxu mentioning he got almost paralyzed, hurt his back so bad he had to stay away for a while after he got trampled by a horse, when the saddle he was on got loose and he fell off. LYX has been repeatedly injured, and Wu Lei almost lost an eye when a prop exploded into his face. There's the instance of the gun that went on with live ammo to kill one actor some time ago in the US. Jeremy Tsui already had health concerns. Perhaps he's decided it's time to do something less risky. Wishing him all the best in new career (maybe teaching drama, if he doesn't want to do something completely different?) I hope he made enough money from his career on screen to retire peacefully and be remembered as the fine artist he was/is. Added a heart and a 10 for Yong'an Dream (which I really enjoyed): that's free for everyone here, whereas flowers may be too expensive for some to show appreciation.
The end was mawkish and crap. The turtle bit was not even half checked with Google and veterinary advise: anyway,…
oooooh you're also harsher than I am! But I agree with you there 😂 Remember her stuffing a lollipop into poor Lin Yi's mouth while he was supposedly driving ? Cringe festival in too many moments. I am now working on forgetting that drama.
2 
5 
1 
1 
1 
There are some impressive BTS,
I remember one of Zhao Liying in a sort of safety ring being tossed as though she was in deep space playing an astronaut! I wondered how she was not getting seasick by such movements! Hard working actors and actresses!
Always looks nice.
Despite this is a story that has a heavy theme, lot of sad moments, hope is at the heart of it, and bringing experience in a meaningful positive way faced with what looks disheartening and bound to fail.
Life is a struggle and there are moments when the hopeless spiral will seem to be invincible, but teaming up against it may bring solace and more shared moments of satisfaction, even joy such as in the wedding scene of the two best friends. Solidarity and resourcefulness are important. Examining what it means to be parents, not just caretakers. What is love, family support, and belief in life.
Some pictures were very beautiful, although the music sometimes got too hypnotizing, and side stories might distract in a double edged fashion.
9.5 for the wholesome and sometimes difficult messages, so well interpreted.
Knowing that cures can be found for some forms of the deadly disease is uplifting in the belief that hope should not be abandoned on the difficult path of sufferers.
Kudos to Lin Yi and Li Landi for having tackled this story and made us love Lin Tuo and An Zhi Que. Support cast was often very good too.
Xing Zhi & "CluckCluck" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm WeTV VIP subscriber so no problem for me continuing on original platform now. Viki usually has nice subs, so perhaps I'll peek there for rewatch if I love the drama enough! 😀
It starts nicely !
[Legend of Shen Li] Airing calendar (for Tencent/WeTV official website subscribers) : 4 eps today (8pm China time), 2 eps/day (March 19 to 21) ; 1 ep/day (March 22 to 24), the rest episodes to be scheduled soon.
New trailer released today : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljYEM5GJGCQ&t=0s (2'15) on Kukan drama channel.
Wide eyed stares. Well some prefer explicit porn with naked bodies and open mouthed slobbering kisses. I like the implied meanings of intense gazes, and am not the only one who believes Wu Lei is very skilled there he could melt stones with his gaze. The character is designed as a man of few words, who prefers to show what he means differently from those who rely on long talks. One of his ways to express is gazes and playing with the eyes.
Zhao Jinmai is also very good at it, although differently. That's why I noticed her back in Reset. She is a very skilled actress and I enjoyed every moment she was on screen, feeling like many here the deep chemistry she has with Wu Lei. She acts Yin Guo's falling for Lin Yiyang very well, not head over heels baby like at all : she is conscious that she needs to keep some distance, because she has a job which is not a simple game. Lin Yiyang who is of similar mindset, is supportive of this other priority which does not exclude him, although the supposed enmity of the clubs could have. She is fortunate that she need not be torn between her loyalty to her vocation, her family, and her new found love, and that he is the first to hold back when he "wants her".
He knows the risks for her of getting lost in love-sickness since she is so much younger and inexperienced in relationships, so he keeps her close but is the one who decidedly does so with a distance, because he is conscious of realities : he is not poor at all, but he can't go back to China without building his career again, and that will mean long-distance relationship which is a danger if someone else catches her affections. Lin Yiyang is older and wiser than Yin Guo, but he has not chosen to fixate on a clueless wide eyed doll who would throw everything over board and become a mindless puppet faced with a "handsome and amazing man" : for herself as well as for him, she needs to become worthy of him as a peer, not just as a companion. It's not just fluff, so it is not boring at all to me and those who appreciate the drama. It is a good message that love does not mean women need to lose their mind and initial goals in life when they are infatuated.
Nor should love or setbacks allow severing loyalties to families and elders: Lin Yiyang suffers just because he was that reckless and did not manage to react as he should have done in the past. This mistake caused him to lose years, although he did not let it drag him completely down. He chose to study abroad, having earned enough to do so and being able to support himself and more although (with heartaches) appearing to have lost the will for sports competition. He is ashamed that he was part of the break with his former teacher and benefactor, and given the opportunity he will try to make up for it, especially when he realizes that his former team mates did not grow bitter against him but were patiently waiting for him to realize and correct his mistakes.
Likewise then, Lin Yiyang would not want to be a cause of rift between Yin Guo, her team, and her parents, even her sister whom he did not know to be so much against him before late in the story, but who will also realize her own mistake there. The family values and teacher-disciple values are very much upheld in the drama, while shown not to be incompatible with love life.
Yin Guo can let Lin Yiyang take the lead and be playful with him as a kitten when they have a short vacation on the "island". But she will be focused on her job, not to the point of being crushed by defeats: there will be opportunities to win another match, so she accepts being runner up in wait for her next becoming the champion. That's also a very positive take-out from this drama : focus, don't let setbacks hinder from sharpening one's edges in jobs.
Wu Lei is indeed an experienced actor, who has his own studio and manages his own career: he is not a puppet of others, be they directors or companies; he clearly stated repeatedly that he chooses his own scripts, and does read the underlying material to agree with it's being worth of his attention. Zhao Jinmai is not as free, but is also quite thoughtful about the roles she decides to do.
So, I don't agree either with your accusation of mediocre writing for this sweet story.
It's well done to achieve weaving these positive messages for personal growth into a sweet story. A 9.5 from me, in light of all that when it ended. Perhaps I should even have gotten to 10.
Despite the drama has reached final episodes, it is still going on well both on international and national platforms : it was still in the top ten in this week's audiences computing of the top ten dramas watched in China. Many dramas would envy this position !
As of 16 which could have been a nice end, I already like it enough to leave a favorable rating, even if I am not sure I will go all the way to write a review (perhaps I will, to show support, once I have seen it complete).
And those who followed EB1 have even less say in making so called part EB2 get on screen as those who clamored for LLTG part 2 to be released with no delay after end of so called part 1, when the 40 eps limits was first applied to limit length of what could be aired in one go. What's made that reg worse is that later, a provision was added that "season 2" of a drama would have to submit to an up to one year gap with "season 1" (although there were exceptions envisioned for dramas that had been shot before the 40 eps one was introduced: that's the category in which EB falls, so perhaps the King of Light will not have to wait that long to... see the light again :-)
From a Baidu comment that was highlighted in the Chinese online encyclopedia drama page that is usually best informed and reliable, there is some hope that EB2 could air before end June. This EB1 part became titled Zichuan - Three Brothers ; EB2 was retitled Zichuan - The King of Light, which was originally also the English title of the complete series before the 40 eps reg.
But that hope is also to be confirmed because the platform has a competing donghua (animated version) derived from the same novel, and this donghua is also cut in two parts, first one already aired back in 2021, but second part perhaps still not ready in post production and perhaps intended to air before the live action version, despite they are not totally similar.
Showing support for the drama may help to not let it get buried under the hurdles that got heaped on it !
You can look up more about the drama production, cast, crew, illustrated character gallery in the Discussion section.
and, for a laugh, pause with this fanvid :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYd8dENwbFI&pp=ygUnbG92ZSBsaWtlIHRoZSBnYWxheHkgZmFuIHZpZGVvIGxldml0YXRl (you can piece out where all this fits in, in the drama, if you are patient and interested enough to watch it.)
It's a "tough love" story, so not at all like what you may be used to.
I was very lukewarm about it, to start with, even found it triggering (not liking the mistreatment of the girl by her relatives), hung on, comforted by those who had read the book and without spoiling, told me it would get better. They were so right. I ended up as a fan of that drama, which grew better and better for me. The characters who looked outrageously greedy and uncaring, or conceited, torturous, were not as bad as they first felt. There were reasons for their behavior.
I got back again to beginning, better understanding what I found I had not seen properly. The slender hand and Ling Buyi's thoughtful gaze when he rode up to the narrow road the carriage took. The piercing gaze which noticed the girl crouching in hiding behind the railing. So many small details. The names of the twins and their connection despite different upbringing.
Shaoshang is a string of the guqin, a difficult instrument with a long history and esoteric values. It's one I was fortunate to get to learn to play from one of the last masters in Beijing in the 2000s. A scholar's instrument, not so much for dance tunes or songs, because it sounds muted and mournful or introspective. It's not really designed for orchestras and concert playing : more to serve as counterpoint for solitary meditation or reading of poetry in a quiet garden or alongside a brook on a mountain. Like one of my homes. Playing the guqin can be an aside from doing divination, like Shaoshang's twin (also named from another string) does, with simple stones instead of hexagrams from coin tosses or sticks, interpreted from the Yijing mysterious oracles.
Those twins resonate differently, but have a deep connection. Their tune is different from Zisheng/Ling Buyi,/Shiyilang/Huo Wushang (played by the spectacular Wu Lei) who is playing along another very complicated tune, with his murky past, his secrets, ruthless cruelty except for the woman he chose, and his links to the imperial family as unofficial prince, held in high esteem by the emperor, his Consort and Empress, and the future Crown Prince.
I watched the BTS of Wu Lei studio, admiring his routine to keep fit, and fit the character in its most challenging episodes, and taking pains to learn the rudiments of guqin playing. Wu Lei is a serious actor who really likes to improve his skills along his acting journey. Zhao Lusi is a guzheng player, so she also has some affinity with the sounds of ancient China and ancient poetry, and she is a gifted actress. The Emperor, the Consort, the Empress, Shaoshang's family and best friend, her suitors, were all playing remarkably well.
But enough about it. Either you'll get into the story or you won't. It takes a certain mindset and patience, and I am not surprised many drama watchers get daunted by this drama. It's like guqin or Chinese opera: some like the sound, some can never appreciate it. Most people like one sort of flavor, and frown at alien tastes. Same thing. On top of it, it gets so addictive that it cannot easily be watched simultaneously with something else: it "commands exclusive attention" and time for it; So if you plan to watch another drama, you may not be able to get into LLTG.
It is not as easy a watch as say, Love between Fairy and Devil. It is not wuxia, only ancient History of a period at the very beginning of the Eastern Han dynasty with values that are not the same as ours.. Some reading about the period ( or watching the companion piece videos on Youtube ) is helpful. Those who have as a strong belief that a drama should show everything with a complete introduction might not like this story, become disoriented, fidgety. Those who like being challenged to do some research and learn more than they knew might love it, as I did. Different mindsets and views about drama watching experience are at play there.
I am not in a terrible hurry to finish it : taking time is ok. I may either continue snacking on it as dessert from the main fare, or go back to watch the end later...
It was a nice aside from the main fare of two longer and heavier dramas I am watching simultaneously. But now, Legend of Shenli is about to drop on screens.... which may cause me to put on hold something for lack of time. Will decide on that tomorrow.
Jeremy Tsui already had health concerns. Perhaps he's decided it's time to do something less risky. Wishing him all the best in new career (maybe teaching drama, if he doesn't want to do something completely different?) I hope he made enough money from his career on screen to retire peacefully and be remembered as the fine artist he was/is.
Added a heart and a 10 for Yong'an Dream (which I really enjoyed): that's free for everyone here, whereas flowers may be too expensive for some to show appreciation.
Remember her stuffing a lollipop into poor Lin Yi's mouth while he was supposedly driving ? Cringe festival in too many moments.
I am now working on forgetting that drama.