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A man found a woman hanging by her neck from a bare tree. He was about to steal her things when she woke up and killed him instead. This is Ye Liuxi, a woman with unknown identity and scattered memories she could not make head and tails of. She had a bag with her, and in it were clues that led her to Chang Dong, a desert guide with a tarnished reputation after an expedition he led turned into a sandstorm disaster with him coming out of the desert as a sole survivor. With Chang Dong’s friend Fatty Tang a materialistic antique appraiser, along with Ding Liu the heir of a desert tomb-raider gang and Gao Shen her bodyguard, they ventured into the desert back to the exact place where Chang Dong lost his last expedition team. Each came along with various objectives, Ye Liuxi to find her origin, Chang Dong to bring back the bodies of the Camellia expedition team which includes his fiance, Fatty Tang to get his hands on the antique in Ye Liuxi’s possession the Sheep Horn Goblet, Ding Liu to bring back her godfather’s friend’s body, only to find themselves caught in a deeper mystery and conflict of a dystopian-like parallel world.

This is waaaaaaaaay beyond my expectation. I have seen many tomb raiding-desert-adventure action chinese flicks but none really came close to this, I have dropped many due to boring introduction, uninteresting characters with the plot going too dang slow. It is a total opposite with Parallel World. Not only does it has stunning cinematography, the plot is very engaging and each character is unique with a certain appeal that keep enticing the audience for more. The breathtaking beauty of the desert view only made it even more intriguing. The modern meets magical-ancient world made the story unique and extraordinary. Here they have laptops and computers with Ding Liu constantly taking selfies on her smartphone, and the next moment we could see magical creatures, sorcerers and armored soldiers using arrows and shields. It has such amazing characters and plot I could not believe this show never came across my line of sight before this. You can see why this show is so good when you see the supporting roles being filled by actors who are now big stars of the industry. From Li Yunrui to Meng Ziyi, Chen Duling, Lu Yuxiao and Xia Meng, theyre all making their mark as idol stars now.

I first saw Ni Ni in Love and Destiny so many years ago, and i thought she looks very ordinary with small slanted eyes and very much the usual chinese look. But when I saw Parallel World, I realised why people has been calling her a beauty. She really is stunning in Parallel World I barely recognized her as Ling Xi from Love and Destiny. Her freakishly badass and brilliant character only made the story more appealing and interesting. She really fits the badass role more than the gentle and demure one like she did in Love & Destiny. Ye Liuxi went through great character growth from being hardheaded and selfish to loyal and upright towards the end.

Although Bai Yu isnt extraordinary looking like most idol stars I know, he is still handsome in a class of his own. His bearing as Chang Dong is something that grows on you. Chang Dong is the type of guy who stands for no nonsense, it’s either he goes for it or not at all. He knows what he wants and he would do everything necessary to achieve his goal. You could not go wrong when you finally gets on his good side as he is very loyal and trustworthy. I love the chemistry between Baiyu and Nini, they look good with each other and isnt cringe-worthy at all.

I totally love Xia Meng’s Ding Liu here. She looked tough and crass in the first part of the show, but this mask is ripped once she is comfortable with her surroundings. She gets cheeky and cutesy every now and then but I could never find her annoying like I did with similar characters in other shows. Best of all, I finally get to see the work of Wang Deshun, the famous 80yo Grandpa with muscles that once been called the Hottest Grandpa in China after walking shirtless in Beijing Fashion Week in 2015.

And lets not forget Valley and Ocean Guardian! OMG the idea of having chickens as opposed to the usual cat or dog as pets is out of this world. The novel writer is so damn creative if they picked this up from the novel, but if this character isnt in the novel then mannnnn the screenwriter is so brilliant and creative. The chickens didnt look robotic or cartoonish too. I like the effort they put on the chickens, cuz they carry their own characters really well with Valley Guardian being the coward troublemaker and Ocean Guardian as the brave and reliable from the duo, and they really add colours and work magic into the show.

The action is so good, although you won’t see typical forms like in wuxia. It’s totally streetfight, ensuring the main characters to suffer injuries like their enemies do. I love the bit about magical beasts that could transform into people and imitate others, cuz everyone who had to play the impersonated persona did really well at portraying different personalities in one character.

I was dumbfounded when I saw the chats saying this is slow paced. Then I realized theyre all looking from the romance angle, so yeah, when it comes to romance it is really slow burn, but come on! The whole genre of the show is action-adventure. For an adventure-type show, Parallel World is fast paced! Honestly this is truly one of those shows I could not find much flaws because of how good they are. Even if they had plotholes, you somehow won’t notice it or it gets drowned by the rest of unexpected plot twists, unless you really mean to nitpick of course. If youre an action fan, then this is definitely going to make it to your favourite shows list.