A Truly Hidden Gem of 2025
Tang Lici was a man of mysterious background who took shelter in Zhoudi Tower, known for its deadly music scores. Somehow after 7 years living under the tutelage of Fang Zhou, owner of Zhoudi Tower and also a renowned figure in the martial world, he was accused of killing Fang Zhou by his fellow disciple brother Liu Yan. Liu Yan slit his throat but somehow Tang Lici managed to survive and by a twist of fate, was taken in by the emperor’s father-in-law as adopted son. Since then, it has been 4 years that Liu Yan had been pursuing Tang Lici in the name of revenge. This time, Liu Yan mechanized a plot of the slaughter of people at a wedding and pinned it on Tang Lici. Tang Lici had no choice but to come out from seclusion to clear his name as he was investigated by Central Plains Sword Society - a sort of Wulin police- , encountering numerous people along the journey that would soon shape his new world other than his obsession over Fang Zhou.
Honestly when i picked this up, i was ready to drop it at any time. After all, 3 shows before it had been dropped too for various reasons. With this one, i recognized the ML was the SML in ashes of love, and boy i hated the character, and i thought he was too pale and gaunt. So yeah, since i dont really like him, i dont have a high expectation. I just chose this title out of whim, because i dont have any interesting shows to watch yet. But hell he proved me wrong. The whole production proved me wrong. The story was so engaging and fast-paced that i somehow couldnt put it down. Completed 14 episodes in under 12 hours, and all 40 episodes in under 3 days and i only put it down cuz i know i needed to sleep to function the next day!
Luo Yunxi surpassed my expectation by miles! He was awesome as the cunning yet lonesome Tang Lici with enormous inner turmoil and struggles. Tang Lici was no ordinary man, and when he first fell into this world, the good hearted Fang Zhou was the one who took him in and nursed him back to health, taught him to read and write and life values, despite the mysterious air around Tang Lici. Fang Zhou became Tang Lici’s sole reason for living and the drive for him to push through the many hurdles that came his way after the Zhoudi Tower incident. I also love how ML would outmanoevre the bad guys with his shrewd celestial brain. I remembered how i get annoyed everytime Runyu appears in Ashes of Love, but here i absolutely adore Luo Yunxi’s performance. His expressions, his lines, his body movements made sense all the way throughout. Not to mention, I totally fell in love with Tang Lici’s hair. Omg those full head of black and white at the end of those curly hair was beyond gorgeous. Though it did make the script look rather ridiculous when ML was escaping the sword society’s arrest warrant by putting a veil over his face while the whole head of hair was visible. Come on you dont come across that kind of hair on central plains anywhere else except on Tang Lici’s head, that alone is a huge-ass signature 🤣🤣 it wouldve been more convincing had they made him wear those large veiled straw hats instead of face veils.
The script was amazing, filled with philosophical lines concerning the meaning of humanity and complex interpersonal relationships between father-son, mother-son, friends, lovers and master-disciple. There was hardly any useless dialogue or draggy speeches at all. I especially liked how they manage to make the fiercest plot twists by turning unassuming characters into someone opposite its own traits at unexpected points of the storyline. One of my favourite lines was when ML admitted that Liu Yan, the SML, that Liu Yan only turned so evil due to ML’s own indulgence, due to the fact that ML had always believed he could turn SML around given the chance.
I usually get annoyed when the ML keeps getting injured or poisoned out of the blue, but with this show, it always makes perfect sense as to why ML would keep getting injured and his condition could only deteriorate with each injury. I didnt get annoyed or roll my eyes everytime the ML fall at the end of battles.
And the battles. Oh lord, i rarely praise high-CGI-neili-infused battles, but this time, they look really good and magnificient. Internal power battle in xianxia usually bore me, but the one on this show keep taunting me to want more. I totally love the Tenet-like time travel concept, and as a star wars fan, i squeled each time the mechatronic guy Qiankun came on screen with his Pacific Rim-my beast spouting laser out of its mouth zapping away all the good guys. Yeah diabolical indeed but i totally love the laser-like neili shells even though Qiankun was one of the bad guys.
I truly love Alex Fang’s portrayal of Liu Yan here. This is the first time that I saw him as a villain and he rocks! His expressions were never over the top and gosh i love his evil laugh. This character started as a good and kind hearted man with medical knowledge, but turned truly evil after a misunderstanding that he refused to straighten out. The devastation when he finally came to his senses was surreal.
The one who played Gui Mudan, the real villain behind Liu Yan was so strangely familiar but I couldnt pinpoint where I’ve seen him. Running through Jeremy Xu’s past works, I came across Royal Rumours, yeah he was the scheming prince from Royal Rumours. His facial expressions here in Whisper of Fate is exactly like of that prince, no wonder he looked so darn familiar. His face totally fits a cool, calculating villain.
And the songs!! Gosh the music scores for each scene are so perfectly matched and the themesongs got stuck into my head. I am soooo gonna add them to my playlist! Many good songs here, and a special mention of What Makes Us Humans by Jeremy Xu, the lyrics and music is so unique.
This is a great masterpiece and because i started watching with a low expectation, adding to the fact that it isnt a romance-centric piece made it come out so much better in my eyes.
On a side note, although the ending and background of the 4 brothers were vastly different from the novel, and even though in the novel Tang Lici was the only one who survived the storm, i felt that the ending in the adaptation was more impactful and memorable. Kudos to the production for that.
Honestly when i picked this up, i was ready to drop it at any time. After all, 3 shows before it had been dropped too for various reasons. With this one, i recognized the ML was the SML in ashes of love, and boy i hated the character, and i thought he was too pale and gaunt. So yeah, since i dont really like him, i dont have a high expectation. I just chose this title out of whim, because i dont have any interesting shows to watch yet. But hell he proved me wrong. The whole production proved me wrong. The story was so engaging and fast-paced that i somehow couldnt put it down. Completed 14 episodes in under 12 hours, and all 40 episodes in under 3 days and i only put it down cuz i know i needed to sleep to function the next day!
Luo Yunxi surpassed my expectation by miles! He was awesome as the cunning yet lonesome Tang Lici with enormous inner turmoil and struggles. Tang Lici was no ordinary man, and when he first fell into this world, the good hearted Fang Zhou was the one who took him in and nursed him back to health, taught him to read and write and life values, despite the mysterious air around Tang Lici. Fang Zhou became Tang Lici’s sole reason for living and the drive for him to push through the many hurdles that came his way after the Zhoudi Tower incident. I also love how ML would outmanoevre the bad guys with his shrewd celestial brain. I remembered how i get annoyed everytime Runyu appears in Ashes of Love, but here i absolutely adore Luo Yunxi’s performance. His expressions, his lines, his body movements made sense all the way throughout. Not to mention, I totally fell in love with Tang Lici’s hair. Omg those full head of black and white at the end of those curly hair was beyond gorgeous. Though it did make the script look rather ridiculous when ML was escaping the sword society’s arrest warrant by putting a veil over his face while the whole head of hair was visible. Come on you dont come across that kind of hair on central plains anywhere else except on Tang Lici’s head, that alone is a huge-ass signature 🤣🤣 it wouldve been more convincing had they made him wear those large veiled straw hats instead of face veils.
The script was amazing, filled with philosophical lines concerning the meaning of humanity and complex interpersonal relationships between father-son, mother-son, friends, lovers and master-disciple. There was hardly any useless dialogue or draggy speeches at all. I especially liked how they manage to make the fiercest plot twists by turning unassuming characters into someone opposite its own traits at unexpected points of the storyline. One of my favourite lines was when ML admitted that Liu Yan, the SML, that Liu Yan only turned so evil due to ML’s own indulgence, due to the fact that ML had always believed he could turn SML around given the chance.
I usually get annoyed when the ML keeps getting injured or poisoned out of the blue, but with this show, it always makes perfect sense as to why ML would keep getting injured and his condition could only deteriorate with each injury. I didnt get annoyed or roll my eyes everytime the ML fall at the end of battles.
And the battles. Oh lord, i rarely praise high-CGI-neili-infused battles, but this time, they look really good and magnificient. Internal power battle in xianxia usually bore me, but the one on this show keep taunting me to want more. I totally love the Tenet-like time travel concept, and as a star wars fan, i squeled each time the mechatronic guy Qiankun came on screen with his Pacific Rim-my beast spouting laser out of its mouth zapping away all the good guys. Yeah diabolical indeed but i totally love the laser-like neili shells even though Qiankun was one of the bad guys.
I truly love Alex Fang’s portrayal of Liu Yan here. This is the first time that I saw him as a villain and he rocks! His expressions were never over the top and gosh i love his evil laugh. This character started as a good and kind hearted man with medical knowledge, but turned truly evil after a misunderstanding that he refused to straighten out. The devastation when he finally came to his senses was surreal.
The one who played Gui Mudan, the real villain behind Liu Yan was so strangely familiar but I couldnt pinpoint where I’ve seen him. Running through Jeremy Xu’s past works, I came across Royal Rumours, yeah he was the scheming prince from Royal Rumours. His facial expressions here in Whisper of Fate is exactly like of that prince, no wonder he looked so darn familiar. His face totally fits a cool, calculating villain.
And the songs!! Gosh the music scores for each scene are so perfectly matched and the themesongs got stuck into my head. I am soooo gonna add them to my playlist! Many good songs here, and a special mention of What Makes Us Humans by Jeremy Xu, the lyrics and music is so unique.
This is a great masterpiece and because i started watching with a low expectation, adding to the fact that it isnt a romance-centric piece made it come out so much better in my eyes.
On a side note, although the ending and background of the 4 brothers were vastly different from the novel, and even though in the novel Tang Lici was the only one who survived the storm, i felt that the ending in the adaptation was more impactful and memorable. Kudos to the production for that.
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