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This review may contain spoilers
We need more like this...
I almost dropped this halfway through the series. Why? Because the very realistic nature of the main four leads were driving me insane. After having gone through unspeakable trauma, people need a designated someone or destination to hate and to blame. So the deaths and pain the leads caused through their obsessions to fulfill their own needs was quite torturous to watch. Their complete disregard for others and how their own pain blinded themselves to the pain of others made them into absolute hypocrites. But... this is also what made their journeys very real.
The acting was superb, the actions scenes were fantastic, and the production was done well. What makes this one really special for me was this layer of connection to the Shaolin temple. It did a fantastic job in portraying the difficulties in separating the secular way of life from the country's politics. But what continually brought about the heartaches and tears, was watching the very different paths the three male leads took and how each decision they made were layered on their individual pain. I also appreciate how much the series highlights how harmful and dangerous ignorant kindness can be. Those who are passionate in being "righteous" while causing greater harm versus those who take on the heaviest lifting while knowing they'll be enduring the heavy label of villain.
The greatest disappointment here would be the female lead. I kept waiting for when she was finally pushed off her high horse but she was fortunate enough to have so many protectors in her life. She's the only one who never owned up to any of her mistakes, the only one who never thought about anyone but herself, and the one who got away unscathed in comparison to the others. But this is also part of the real world.
This series will take you on a heavy emotional journey of healing and it's added a layer for my own healing. This is also the type of series that makes me biased with my lifelong preference towards Asian series versus American series. Despite many filters and searches, it took a while to finally across this one on MDL. There just isn't enough of them that are subtitled. My review is based on the 38-episode version on YouTube as I couldn't find the 42-episode one.
The acting was superb, the actions scenes were fantastic, and the production was done well. What makes this one really special for me was this layer of connection to the Shaolin temple. It did a fantastic job in portraying the difficulties in separating the secular way of life from the country's politics. But what continually brought about the heartaches and tears, was watching the very different paths the three male leads took and how each decision they made were layered on their individual pain. I also appreciate how much the series highlights how harmful and dangerous ignorant kindness can be. Those who are passionate in being "righteous" while causing greater harm versus those who take on the heaviest lifting while knowing they'll be enduring the heavy label of villain.
The greatest disappointment here would be the female lead. I kept waiting for when she was finally pushed off her high horse but she was fortunate enough to have so many protectors in her life. She's the only one who never owned up to any of her mistakes, the only one who never thought about anyone but herself, and the one who got away unscathed in comparison to the others. But this is also part of the real world.
This series will take you on a heavy emotional journey of healing and it's added a layer for my own healing. This is also the type of series that makes me biased with my lifelong preference towards Asian series versus American series. Despite many filters and searches, it took a while to finally across this one on MDL. There just isn't enough of them that are subtitled. My review is based on the 38-episode version on YouTube as I couldn't find the 42-episode one.
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