drama-insomnia

Legend of Zang Hai starts off with a bang. The first episode will have you on the edge of your seat and rooting for him to do absolutely anything to achieve his revenge. There are many historical revenge type dramas out there and this one felt very different, which in large part is because Zang Hai can’t fight. He’s not physically strong, he can’t take anyone in a fight, he’s not doing any crazy martial arts or flying around like in many others. His lack of physical strength means that he has to accomplish his revenge mostly just through his own wits. Seeing Zang Hai act as a puppet master to enact his revenge was fascinating.

My main complaint is that the end of the show had a bit of a pacing problem. They killed off the most interesting and complex villain in the middle, and the final villain felt incredibly flat in comparison. The most interesting relationships to watch ended or disappeared for much of the end, which did reduce my interest in this drama.

Legend of Zang Hai had unique writing and felt like it was playing with some drama stereotypes in an interesting way. Not only can the male lead not fight, but the female lead can and is able to act as his executioner or backup. While the romance was a pretty minor focus, they also avoided the very overdone trope where they have to choose between love and revenge. The female lead had a very interesting backstory and personality herself, and while it could have been more developed, it was clear that this was meant to be about Zang Hai.