A Cornered Wolf Fights for Survival
19yo Fan Changyu had just lost both her parents last month, and now she was left to care for her sickly younger sister Fan Changning by taking up her father’s job - pig butcher. She is known throughout the Xigu Street where she lived as the girl with extraordinary strength, having to knock out a full grown pig with one slap. On her way back from work, she stumbled upon Yan Zheng in the snow. Seeing him unconscious and heavily injured, Fan Changyu was unable to turn her back and went to carry him home, despite knowing she had no means to support another mouth to feed. In the same courtyard as the Fan humble house there is another house of the Zhou couple, almost like an adoptive parents to Fan sisters. As Yan Zheng was recuperating, numerous incidents occured that led to Fan Changyu proposing to Yan Zheng to be her married-in husband. Seeing this as an opportunity to lay low and further investigate the Jizhou massacre 17years prior that involved the death of the crown prince and his father, Yan Zheng readily agreed. Little that he knew, his fate and Fan Changyu’s ran deeper than even the murky waters of revenge he was in.
I am happy to say that this is definitely a great adaptation work, not surprising that the production team include the people from Blossom team that managed to turn a crappy novel into a masterpiece adaptation. Although Zhu Yu novel wasnt as bad as Blossom, the character for ML is particularly horrendous in the last quarter of the story, much like the grapist Wei Shao from Prisoner of Beauty novel (not the adaptation of course). It’s one of the turnoff when i finished reading the novel last year, and hoped so badly that the production wouldnt follow the crappy ML characterization by the original author. I had my wish come true and beaming with joy all throughout the show!
Zhang Linghe as Xie Jiuheng/Yanzheng was perfect! I’ve always rooted for him after watching his fine work in My Journey to You, he even double triple his performance level since then! Hurrah! I am more than satisfied! I feel so happy that the production purified this character compared to the novel, which left me thoroughly resenting the ML by the last chapter.
And Tian Xiwei as Fan Changyu is picture perfect! Breathtakingly beautiful but fighteningly strong in physique and character, Tian Xiwei nailed it to the core! I first saw her in Guardians of Dafeng and boy i hated her character to the bones, but when i saw her in the trailer last year, i somehow feel she would do a good job. She just had that Changyu aura. And she did!! Although she is small and slim, her depiction of physically strong woman is very much convincing, and her fight choreographs look extremely believable and amazing. I could tell she worked really hard in this part just by her performance on screen.
The rest of the cast was amazing in performance hence why i rated 10/10. Deng Kai as Sui Yuanhuai was phenomenal and he depicted the wretched character of the novel really well.
And I couldnt help feeling sorry for the main mastermind in court Wei Yan, the person who orchestrated a grand ploy 17years ago that shaped a different courtscene as seen today on the show. As he is this cornered Wolf that was forced to fight fiercely for its survival. What the adaptation didnt include that the novel had written was the reason why Wei Yan had been very harsh towards Xie Jiuheng’s upbringing, which is to forge the sharpest blade for the kingdom. Wei Yan practically threw away his life, future and reputation as a statestman so he could raise a warrior that would protect the people. He had to be the villain so he could produce a hero. I feel so bad for this guy at the end of the novel, really. Hated him for so many chapters just to feel horribly sorry for him at the end. In this part, which is creating a great plot and storyline, i must say the original author had been remarkably brilliant. I just question the author’s moral compass due to how the ML character is molded towards the end of the story.
Fight choreograph is superbly done, fierce and strong aura filling up the screen in every battle, i cannot criticize anything at all. And the funny parts in the show worked put very well and are not cringy at all. And the songs are so nice!!! They stuck in my head for quite a while. Dangit i love them!
However, there’s actually one small thing that is bothering me, one that is prevalent not just with this drama but also most of other idol dramas with military general characters. I just wish they would do a more messy makeup for these characters to make it more believable. Something like the ML on The Rebel Princess. Now that is a pure ancient military general look closest to reality. That messy, harsh, brute look. Not the clean and slick, flawless porcelein-looking skin after battles with minor red scratches across the cheek. I get that idol dramas do tend to feminize ML characters, but coming from a wuxia freak i find this extremely cringy and ridiculous. Yan Zheng was also too flawless-looking when living in Changyu’s humble household. I was expecting something like Jang Siyul’s look from The Murky Stream, after all he wasnt supposed to bathe regularly since he’s injured and hot water is not readily available for poor household like Changyu’s. I am totally NOT against beautiful men, I love looking at them of course, but at least make them look that part when they just got out of (or still in) a hellhole. Nobody looks fine and flawless after battles, the words ‘battles’ and ‘looking flawless’ just dont go in line. Would it really hurt the rating if they look messy at certain parts of the story? I honestly doubt it. Fans would still swoon and non fans wouldnt have a thing to criticize.
I also dont get why people fall head over heels after unrealistic-looking characters and then get mad when their idols dont have as much screentime as they anticipated. It’s funny because the novel itself is a female centric piece which focusses more on the FL than ML. What’s even funnier is that many are complaining on iQiyi’s ep 38 of the lack of bed scene of the main couple. Gosh go watch some porn if you guys needed the action so badly, why demand to see it on screen of legitimate platforms? What a weird fetish. Get a life, folks.
I am happy to say that this is definitely a great adaptation work, not surprising that the production team include the people from Blossom team that managed to turn a crappy novel into a masterpiece adaptation. Although Zhu Yu novel wasnt as bad as Blossom, the character for ML is particularly horrendous in the last quarter of the story, much like the grapist Wei Shao from Prisoner of Beauty novel (not the adaptation of course). It’s one of the turnoff when i finished reading the novel last year, and hoped so badly that the production wouldnt follow the crappy ML characterization by the original author. I had my wish come true and beaming with joy all throughout the show!
Zhang Linghe as Xie Jiuheng/Yanzheng was perfect! I’ve always rooted for him after watching his fine work in My Journey to You, he even double triple his performance level since then! Hurrah! I am more than satisfied! I feel so happy that the production purified this character compared to the novel, which left me thoroughly resenting the ML by the last chapter.
And Tian Xiwei as Fan Changyu is picture perfect! Breathtakingly beautiful but fighteningly strong in physique and character, Tian Xiwei nailed it to the core! I first saw her in Guardians of Dafeng and boy i hated her character to the bones, but when i saw her in the trailer last year, i somehow feel she would do a good job. She just had that Changyu aura. And she did!! Although she is small and slim, her depiction of physically strong woman is very much convincing, and her fight choreographs look extremely believable and amazing. I could tell she worked really hard in this part just by her performance on screen.
The rest of the cast was amazing in performance hence why i rated 10/10. Deng Kai as Sui Yuanhuai was phenomenal and he depicted the wretched character of the novel really well.
And I couldnt help feeling sorry for the main mastermind in court Wei Yan, the person who orchestrated a grand ploy 17years ago that shaped a different courtscene as seen today on the show. As he is this cornered Wolf that was forced to fight fiercely for its survival. What the adaptation didnt include that the novel had written was the reason why Wei Yan had been very harsh towards Xie Jiuheng’s upbringing, which is to forge the sharpest blade for the kingdom. Wei Yan practically threw away his life, future and reputation as a statestman so he could raise a warrior that would protect the people. He had to be the villain so he could produce a hero. I feel so bad for this guy at the end of the novel, really. Hated him for so many chapters just to feel horribly sorry for him at the end. In this part, which is creating a great plot and storyline, i must say the original author had been remarkably brilliant. I just question the author’s moral compass due to how the ML character is molded towards the end of the story.
Fight choreograph is superbly done, fierce and strong aura filling up the screen in every battle, i cannot criticize anything at all. And the funny parts in the show worked put very well and are not cringy at all. And the songs are so nice!!! They stuck in my head for quite a while. Dangit i love them!
However, there’s actually one small thing that is bothering me, one that is prevalent not just with this drama but also most of other idol dramas with military general characters. I just wish they would do a more messy makeup for these characters to make it more believable. Something like the ML on The Rebel Princess. Now that is a pure ancient military general look closest to reality. That messy, harsh, brute look. Not the clean and slick, flawless porcelein-looking skin after battles with minor red scratches across the cheek. I get that idol dramas do tend to feminize ML characters, but coming from a wuxia freak i find this extremely cringy and ridiculous. Yan Zheng was also too flawless-looking when living in Changyu’s humble household. I was expecting something like Jang Siyul’s look from The Murky Stream, after all he wasnt supposed to bathe regularly since he’s injured and hot water is not readily available for poor household like Changyu’s. I am totally NOT against beautiful men, I love looking at them of course, but at least make them look that part when they just got out of (or still in) a hellhole. Nobody looks fine and flawless after battles, the words ‘battles’ and ‘looking flawless’ just dont go in line. Would it really hurt the rating if they look messy at certain parts of the story? I honestly doubt it. Fans would still swoon and non fans wouldnt have a thing to criticize.
I also dont get why people fall head over heels after unrealistic-looking characters and then get mad when their idols dont have as much screentime as they anticipated. It’s funny because the novel itself is a female centric piece which focusses more on the FL than ML. What’s even funnier is that many are complaining on iQiyi’s ep 38 of the lack of bed scene of the main couple. Gosh go watch some porn if you guys needed the action so badly, why demand to see it on screen of legitimate platforms? What a weird fetish. Get a life, folks.
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