Twists and Turns of a Strategist
Yun Xiang is a direct disciple of Yuntai sect master, who came down the mountain to save his benefactor Wen who was imprisoned in Nandu. Wen saved ML’s life when his village was massacred 15 years ago, so other than saving Wen, ML was also looking for clues to find the real perpertrator behind the massacre. Equipped with nothing but his brains, he entered the Jiang Hu and later befriended Warrior Jin and Shu Yanan, inadvertently turning them into his bodyguards in his quest for the truth.I can’t say I liked the ML, this character is too complexly calculative and conniving, but he gets the job done indeed. FL isnt any better, although she has many secrets in her sleeve, one thing I was sure of is their love for each other. But i liked the side couple better, Warrior Jin and Tianhu. Tianhu isnt all that pretty, but she is very cute and appealing in an innocent way. The combination of the brute and the beauty is what makes it spark. I am impressed with the one playing Warrior Jin, i just realized he was actually Heavenly King in Legend of Shen Li. What a contrast from his character here. They actually aged up the actor to play the king i never thought the actor had been in his early forties!
I am not sure in which era was this story is supposed to be, but heck the costumes are so hedious, the men look like theyre stuffed into ragbags and the women had unappealing long dresses too. Even the Su family who are supposed to be the richest family in Nandu didnt look good in their clothes. I thought women costume in Blossom had been ugly enough, it’s even worse here.
The songs sound so soothing, i especially love the Cloud Farewell song by Liu Yuning, gosh the lyrics are so nice!
Although the story is okay, i dont think i will be watching season 2. Im not all into strategic/political genre cuz i have a hard time concentrating to details.
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Bluffing your way to Survival & Victory
In the first season, this special talent of ML, Zichuan Xiu, did not come into light much, but when he was stranded in Yuanzhou after feigning loyalty to North Clan just to seek revenge, ending up getting branded as traitor by the kingdom he served and criminal by the enemy, this uncanny talent of his became the major highlight of the show - bluffing and acting his way out of hurdles and coming out as the victor. With his batallion being hunted down as they too was branded as traitors as they failed to report back to camp when they decided to wait for ML for regroup, they resolved to becoming bandits before reuniting with the severely injured ML after his narrow escape from North Clan capital. No where to go, no one to turn to, ML had to lead his men to survive in the desolate land of Yuanzhou, fighting off North Clan and hiding from Zichuan, and along their path, they somehow reunited Yuanzhou under a free banner. This was their amazing journey.Honestly I don’t get the low rating cuz I seriously think season 2 is waaaaaaaay better and more engaging than season 1. There’s more action and more screentime of ML and his troops, and less of the political struggle in Zichuan capital, navigated by his 2 sworn brothers Di Lin and Si Yilin. S2 has a wholesome intro for those who did not watch S1, which i think they shouldve done for S1 as well. I feel that S1 had been rather messy with so many question marks (which can be seen as plotholes) that are only answered in S2. We finally know how and why ML was exiled to Yuanzhou at 13yo too. Initially I thought he was framed for something that he didn’t do, but it turned out he did do it, Yang Minghua only twisted everything to be against ML’s favour and turn it into his crime instead. That political bastard had wanted to take the 13yo boy’s life, but failed because Ning and the revered great general Ge Yinxing pleaded for him.
I especially love his love-hate relationship with his deputy Baichuan, most notable dialogue of hers is, “My Lord, after so many years with you, I’m truly reluctant to part from you. But at the thought that you’re finally going to be someone else’s trouble, I am somewhat relieved,” Omg 🤣 these two are my favourite characters indeed. Although Baichuan is the most serious character in his troops, she is definitely loyal and able to play out good acting to carry out ML’s strategies against the enemy while he was absent. I really had fun seeing her trying to reign in ML and keep up with his antics.
Zichuan Ning grew a lot in this season. From the childish, naiive, spoilt young lady, she emerged to be quite resourceful as she finally steps into the clan’s political scene. Baby steps, but impressive nonetheless, compared to how her character was framed in S1. I hated her interactions with Ma Wei though. Fastforwarded most of their scenes. But I’m glad she stayed true to ML.
S2 is where Liufeng Shuang finally makes an appearance. A young female general of Ning’s peer, she was like a version of ML but with Baichuan’s countenance. She was very quickwitted and intelligent, it’s like she was made to spar with ML intellectually. It didn’t take long for her to figure out ML’s identity both in Zichuan and Yuanzhou. Honestly i feel she would make a great 4th xiongmei in the young generals brotherhood.
Although the ending wasnt as cliffhanger as S1’s, i still think they should make S3. This Zichuan novel sounds so exciting, especially when ML’s true origin hasn’t been disclosed at this point of the adaptation, it’s just too bad I couldn’t find an english translation of the novel. It’s gonna be hard to move on from. But the ending is truly not bad even if there never will be S3. There were many loose ends, considering they didnt finish adapting the whole novel, but acceptable still with lots of room to continue from if they ever decided to pick it up again.
The songs really stuck in my head. Dangit i need to search them on youtube and add to my playlist!
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Brothers for Life.
Zichuan Xiu is one of the 3 great generals of Zichuan known as Flower of Xichuan due to his mischievousnous and cunning. He is aided by his 3 loyal subordinates, Lou Jie, Lu Ming and Baichuan. Some time in his teenagehood, he was accused for something not diclosed, hence exiled to Yuanzhou, where made his name as a promising commander, though much to Zichuan clan’s leader disdain, Zichuan Canxing due to disapproval of ML’s close relationship with his niece and heir of the clan, Zichuan Ning. Xiu batallion had just scored big victory in a battle against North Clan, and he was called back to the Capital in the name of receiving reward, but in reality to eliminate him as potential threat. Facing the impending rebellion planned by Yang Minghua the minister of war, ML with the help of his 2 sworn brothers Dilin and Si Yilin made their move to counter this and later North Clan’s invasion of Yuanzhou.ML always shows a mischievous and reckless front, but everything he does usually has an outcome he desires. This smoke screen of having people see him as incompetent, reckless fool actually made his hidden enemies let their guard down that in turn makes it easy for ML to outmaneouvre them. His methods are unconventional, giving off the idea that he was fooling around and doing shady business that always get misunderstood by his deputy commander Baichuan, ending up getting reprimanded and questioned by Baichuan the moment she felt that he was straying off their main course. Although ML looked like a loose cannon and nobody really takes him seriously other than his sworn brothers and his childhood sweetheart Zichuan Ning, he is actually very intelligent and meticulous leader who knows how to manipulate, strategize and make use of the people around him to serve his purpose. On top of it, he has a clear conscience with a genuinely good heart, and isnt as ruthless and cruel as Dilin, so he never actually manipulate people in a bad way to make them in the losing end. His manipulation actually brings the better side of these people instead.
As for his sworn brothers, the other 2 of the 3 great generals of Zichuan are Di Lin, the ruthless Executioner of the Battlefield, and Si Yilin, a very honest and upright man who knows only Black and White and nothing in the middle.
Zichuan Ning is ML’s love interest, they grew up together as ML was adopted by Ning’s father at a very young age. But because of ML’s dubious background, he never felt he was good enough for Ning, especially when the clan leader disapproves of their relationship. Ning is a very sheltered young lady who has never known any hardship at all. She was raised to become the next leader of the clan, hence her future husband should be of similar status, which sidelines ML. She is spoilt by both her uncle, and ML. It is rare that I come to like a character as dense and childish as Ning, but somehow her rash antics of always chasing after ML is entertaining and understandable even. I never likes this type of cutesy, bratty, rash, weak female character, but somehow i felt her character is hard to hate especially when she treats Princess Ka Dan with sincerity. I somehow ship her relationship with ML, but I have a feeling they might not end up together. It’s frustrating that I can’t find the novel’s translation.
My favourite character is Baichuan, a very straight forward and honest young woman, she is like the one who keeps ML in check. I feel that she is like a protective big sister looking out for a little brother who always gets in trouble every chance he’s let out into the world. She would not put up with his nonsense antics but would always be the one to help him whenever he is in a tight spot.
The flow of the story is rather slow paced as political struggle is a major part of the plot, so i don’t mind doing things in between episodes, unlike other engaging shows that makes it hard for me to put down the phone. The ambience is kinda broody-gloomy like My Journey to You. The action is nice to watch though, and the relationship between ML and his sworn brothers and his 3 deputies are really fun to watch.
The songs are rather nice and kinda lingers in my head too. They made a good job in that department. The costumes are nice, not too showy and dangly. Overall its a good show and quite memorable.
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Bloody Throne that Haunts.
Kang Chul was a serpent diety who was thrown back down to earth during his ascension to the heaven to become a Dragon because a human baby saw his ascension. Due to this, he loathed humankind and created mayhem in the world, cited in legends as an evil diety. Fast forward 100 years later, come Yeo Ri, granddaughter of a powerful shaman who inherited her grandmother’s shamanism talents. Kang Chul caught sight of her and went to pester her, as becoming the guardian spirit of a great shaman would help him ascend to heaven. When Yeo Ri then told her grandmom about him during one of her purging rituals, the townspeople began to label her as the jinx who had attracted an evil diety, hence she was blamed for her loved ones dying around her and any misfortunes that befell the town. Left to fend for herself at a young age after her grandmother was killed during a ritual which she was convinced orchestrated by Kang Chul, she came to resent the diety in her entirety. 13 years later, Yeo Ri now makes a living as spectacle maker, while far in the capital the royal family got riddled with spirit possession. Royal Scribe Yoon Gap, the only friend and first love of Yeo Ri, remembered about her and thus went to fetch her in pretense of becoming the king’s glasses maker. On the way to the capital, Yoon Gap was killed and Kang Chul decided to possess the body so he could latch on Yeo Ri. When Yeo Ri realized Yoon Gap had been possessed by Kang Chul, a fight ensued and both fell down a cliff, but fate had a better plan for them as both ended up in the palace upon rescue. And there starts their journey around palace conspiracy and intrigue which would unfold the real reason behind the possession of the king’s son.I am not really a fan of Khorror cuz i find all the jumping and dancing ritual very disturbing and ridiculous, but because I’ve read so many positive review about it, so here I am. I can’t say I hate this show, but can’t really say I love it either. The storyline is okay, but somehow I really dont like this Kang Chul guy. I liked Yoon Gap, but Kang Chul really gets on my nerves even though both had the same face. Although I like his banter with the king, i really am not crazy about his personality as a whole. Something about his bearing just irks me. And i can’t feel the spark between him and Yeo Ri when they ‘supposedly’ realized that they liked each other. Urghh. The idea just didnt come through. I basically fast forwarded all their romantic scenes after that.
Yeo Ri is typically straightfoward, naive girl who longed for companion after years of being alone, so she jumped right up when Yoon Gap invited her to the capital. She was determined to save Yoon Gap’s soul and would stop at nothing to ensure the people she care about is safe. She lacked proper planning and strategy though, it’s like she bulldozed her way through disregarding possible risks that couldve improved the outcomes had she mitigated it. Urgh since i got here right after watching cunning and scheming FLs in Blossom, Queen Woo, Prisoner of Beauty and Qingchuan’s Veil of Vengeance, i really felt Yeo Ri lacks so much and wouldnt have survived the palace intrigues had not for the serpent diety next to her.
I really love the king and the queen though, and was looking forward to see their romantic scenes more than main leads’. The king and queen’s chemistry is so striking, i can really feel how deep their love for each other is. The King is probably the star of the show for me, he is righteous, selfless, down to earth and good, a far cry from the usual selfish, domineering and power hungry king/emperor on screen. And with the queen being so kind, gentle and demure, and strikingly beautiful, they made a perfect pair. I love it when they came up on screen. And I teared up when the queen fell victim to the eight-legged spirit, and then when the king sincerely seek for forgiveness from the vengeful spirits for what his ancestors had done 100 years before. The actor playing the king is so dang good, he could really pull off playing two different characters. I could feel his remorse as a king who uncovered the family’s skeleton, and i could also feel his resentment and fury when he was possessed by the spirit. And he is so dang handsome too 😭 hey why am i talking about this side couple more than the main leads? 😆😂 i failed to feel anything when mishaps happen to the main couple, thats how ‘meh’ i feel their relationship is.
I can say that I only stayed to the end because of the royal couple and the mystery behind eight-legged spirit. Take out these two, i wouldve dropped this so fast.
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Lovebirds that are not meant to Grow Old Together
I was contemplating to start on this one because Wu Jinyan's character in The Double didn't give me much of a good impression, but eventually decided to get on with it anyway because the novel was good. It is basically about the assassin FL whose mission was to kill the ML, solely driven by the urge to avenge her parents because ML had been the general fighting off kingdom's enemy in her hometown Qingzhou which later burnt down, killing her parents in it. Little did she know, it turned out he was the one who called for the assassination of himself to frame the evil Crown Prince as he was trying to avenge his army who died in Qingzhou after being framed of burning down the whole town. ML lived for 10 years carrying this guilt and labelled as "The General who Killed All". When FL realized ML wasn't the one who burnt down her hometown and killed her parents, she shifted her objective somewhere else - the real culprit - which of course aligns with ML's own objective so they ended up becoming partners instead of enemies. So they kinda worked together to bring down the Crown Prince, as of course fell in love with each other in the process.Honestly, the first 2/3 of the story was definitely good despite it being totally different from the novel, all the power struggle shows how brilliant the ML, Murong Jinghe, and how resilient the FL, Mei Lin is. However, after 24 episodes of engaging plot, it took a total nosedive from there on. With the Crown Prince out of the picture, the story became bland with just inner struggle of the feelings of each FL, ML and SML. From a ruthless, brilliant strategist, ML became a lovesick puppy who spent his free time lamenting his awful luck in love. The show lost its appeal right there and then, it became a pure drag to finish each episode, and I kept ff those boring flashbacks of each main leads and SML.
Who do they wanna fool by having the FL hide from ML and SML in the very town ML governs, bordering the SML’s kingdom, in her own hometown which everyone, even the villains know, walking around freely only donning a sheer veil that is so see-through she should've just ditched it already? 😑 at least in the novel she hid in a secluded rural village so far away that it took ML 1 year to find.
I don't know why cdrama is obsessed with having lengthy episodes. When i read the novel, it only had 24 chapters so i thought even if the production had expanded on side plots it wouldnt have exceeded 25-30 episode. But danggg it turned out to be 32 episodes, complete with so many unnecessary side stories and draggy plots. Even with the expanded plot they did, it shouldve concluded within 25 episodes. All those hours wasted, gosh. The whole expansion on Princess Zigu’s character was one of the draggiest and totally unnecessary, the fast forward button really had to work hard for me. That little side plot with Wei guy from Laowuzi with A’Jia was also too forced and detached, totally unnecessary at all.
And all those torment of ML by FL would've been more satisfying to watch had the ML was the novel Murong Jinghe who kept denying his feelings for FL, emotionally tormenting her while indulging Lou Mei, instead of the lovesick TV Murong Jinghe who had done so much sacrificing for FL until the end. For the tv, it would've been satisfying if the ML had died and left FL heartbroken and forlorn for the remainder of her short life.
However dissatisfied I am with the last 10 episodes, I had to admit the show is indeed rather good with amazing cinematography. Definitely didn't look cheap. The ML and FL did a phenomenal job and their chemistry went right off the chart. This is the first show I saw the actor for ML, and his performance was superb even the screenplay made the characters out to be inconsistent and confusing. The most confusing character is definitely the SML, Yue Qin. I don’t even want to elaborate on him, he is a dodgy little fella right from the start, one point going his all to capture FL’s heart, the next so eager to send her off to Qingzhou, then he wants her back again just to send her off again? What the hell? 🥴 Although, the Yue Qin in the novel had only been 15yo, met FL during the hunt, owed her his life and went to be the sweet little brother she doted on that ML somehow grown to be jealous of. 😝 But anyway, the actors truly rocked their characters really well.
The kissing scene is rather good too! Both worked on them really well unlike most wooden lips stuck together like most cdrama i saw. So far only Prisoner of Beauty and Kill Me Love Me manage to pull this off.
Anyway, the song’s tune kinda got stuck in my head so I’ll give an 8 for that.
The ending is kinda appropriate although not quite the happy ending as written in the novel. I wouldnt say it was a sad ending at all. However, i would still prefer the ending in the novel. So those of you who are not satisfied with the tv ending, go read the novel to quench yourself!
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Vengeance that turn to love
Basically FL is Lu Zhaoyao, who was born at the Sealed Demon Mountain where she lived with her grandfather. Years ago, the Demon King sealed his son in the mountain and casted a seal on the mountain so that none of the nearby villagers can go out and none can come in too. FL is part of the Lu clan who was tasked to guard the sealed mountain, so she never stepped out and never saw anyone from outside. One day Luo Ming Xuan, titled Golden Diety from the Immortal Sect, came to the mountain to kill the son of demon king, but failed and was injured by the seal. He was found by FL and she took care of him secretly as she was smitten with how handsome he looked. He was the first person she ever saw other than her grandfather, so she clung to him and asked him to marry her as payment for her taking care of him. LMX brushed it off as a joke, and he told FL to be a good person and to live for the good of others. LMX left and after pestering by FL, the grandfather agreed to let her out if she could train hard enough and lift the seal herself. After a while, she managed to do this and set off to see the world, clutching tightly to LMX’s advice to be good and live for the prosperity of the world.Little that they know, when seal was struck by LMX and backfired, it was broken momentarily and the son of demon king managed to slip out. So all this while the son of demon king was wandering outside, becoming an outcast because he didnt know how to interact and communicate with others. Disciples of the Immortal Sect started to notice him hence captured him to be killed. On the day of the killing, with all other 10 immortal sects convening to commence the sentence, FL came flying and freed him, as she heard from the people that this kid had done nothing wrong besides of being the son of demon king. They fled together and FL named this kid the ML, as Mo Qing with nickname Little Monster because of the mark of the seal on his face . Being the naive girl that she was, FL decided to confront the LMX as she didnt believe he would order the execution of an innocent kid just because he was the son of demon king. LMX imprisoned and tortured FL to force her to reveal the whereabouts of ML, and when he was about to kill her, the grandfather appeared and whisked her free. He cast a spell to open a portal and tossed FL through, and as he did this, LMX killed him. This event marked the point where FL swore defiance against Immortal Sect, where she started her own sect called the Wanlu and fought with Immortal Sect whenever she could. With the title Demoness, she became the worst enemy the Immortal Sect has ever seen. She crashed LMX’s wedding and sealed him, but later died when she tried to obtain the Wanjun sword that was sealed by the Demon King. ML managed to get the sword, unsealed his powers, lost the mark, and he became the Wanlu Sect leader ever since. 5 years passed, FL was revived when Qin Zhiyan’s blood was splashed on her ice tomb. She awoke but realized she had Qin Zhiyan’s face instead. With a huge grudge for ML’s betrayal, FL agreed to help Qin Zhiyan seek revenge for her father’s death if Qin Zhiyan would help her get around Wanlu Sect as a disciple so she could find an opportunity to kill ML and retained her position as leader again. But as she spent time in the sect, she realized everything did not seem like what she believed anymore. At the same time, 2nd ML Jiang Wu appeared, who was actually a demon in the heart of the purest person the immortal sect Qin Qianxian that had materialized while Qin Qianxian was meditating in front of FL’s ice tomb. Jiang Wu wreaked havoc in Jiang Hu and the immortal sect and wanlu sect was forced to join hands to defeat him, which led to a series of events that would unveil the true colours of the Golden Diety that the immortal sects has revered for years.
Gosh that is super long summary. No wonder i was puzzled by the summary in dramalist and other sites, they didnt tell quite the exact story cuz they all started when FL already became notorious as demoness. This super long show took 30 episodes for the ML and FL to reconcile and 32 episodes for the misunderstanding between them to straighten out. OMG cant believe I stayed for that long. 😂
Anyway, i think this show is okay, it’s too long but okay enough to keep me watching. Better than Burning Flame that i watched prior to this one. But the theme is kinda the same. The immortal sect that was supposed to be good and uphold justice turned out to be the real demon, and the
bad, demonic sect that was ostracized all this while had been the good one.
I especially loved the way the story is strewn. There were goofy parts and there were serious parts. Love the goofy parts when FL was walking around the sect with Qin Zhiyan’s face and thought she was seducing ML, when in reality ML had seen through all her facade right from the beginning. The proposal scene is probably the sweetest yet the goofiest that I’ve seen on screen of all cdrama so far.
This is the first time that I saw Bai Lu, and I thought she has an uncanny resemblance to Li Qin. From her facial expressions, the way she portrays the arrogant Lu Zhaoyao, the way she acted as the mischievous and haughty Qin Zhiyan double, the way she dress, looked exactly like Li Qin’s characters in Princess Agents and The Song of Glory, so from start to finish i keep seeing Li Qin instead of the one named Bai Lu. Anyway, the actress executed this character well, love her domineering act as demoness and the cutesyness when she was impersonating Qin Zhiyan. She is really good playing different types of characters at one go.
I think the one playing ML was extremely handsome with a boyish look. But even with such boyish look, he managed to pull off the look of a strict and arrogant sect leader, and that look of evil as the demon was consuming him. He didnt get much dialogue at the beginning of the show, so I failed to feel the attraction between him and FL, but as the story unfolds, the attraction becomes strong and real really quick. He was really good at sad scenes too. I really like the blue hue of his hair. The red hair on Jiang Wu is brilliant too, it kinda gives off good-bad vibe on their characters ML and 2nd ML. Blue being good and red being bad.
I need to specially mention Qin Zhiyan as the 2nd FL, gosh at first i hated this character, so cowardly, always making silly mistakes bringing trouble to FL, very childish and weak too. But I guess this character was important to nurture FL into what she became towards the middle of the story, as this may be considered the first friend she ever had after ML. This character started to be useful when the Wanlu Sect almost broke apart with Jiang Wu’s intervention as she helped with the sect management. And the ending for her is truly unpredictable cuz I never imagined it to be as such. But she looked the part so I guess this 2nd FL character must have the biggest progress among all. She became wise, reasonable, and capable in the end.
I have not much memory of the music, i think they were good but not captivating enough.
I love the fighting scenes. Although the CGI in the last few episodes especially of ML in limbo is horrible and those zapping sounds when he was fighting the dragon only make it worse, the rest of the show is bearable and okay, definitely better than Burning Flames.
SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE !!!!!!
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When i was watching, i thought the editing isnt as bad as the chats have been mentioning, because I have seen worse edits than this, but when i reached episode 53, okay this show really topped it out of having the worst editing ever. How come everything got jumbled here and there and not streamlined? They really love to keep the audience confused and frustrated is it? The ending episode is the worst, although it shows they finally got together, the scenes are all haywire! One scene FL was all in white and reminiscing her memory while waiting for ML outside the sword tomb, looking all mature, soft and aloof, and the next where ML and FL were grinning and laughing while holding hands, walking down the street filled with people, in the attire they were in was what they wore years before. Omg is this a flashback or what!!! And the next scene was of a pair of their teenage kids reenacting the scene where supposedly the parents met. Omg yes this is the most unfulfilling ending I’ve ever seen. 😡
Edit: i was not satisfied with the ending, did not comprehend it at all, so I decided to read the novel. My gosh the novel’s ending was so damn perfect and even more exhilerating! Why the heck did the writers decided to change it into this abomination of all endings? Duhhhhh. So those who feel as i did about the series horrible ending, go read the novel instead.
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Weird Xianxia Universe
So in this BF universe, there are Immortal Realm, Mortal Realm and Demon Realm. There is no God or way of heaven like the usual xianxia because in this universe, instead of being the one maintaining order of the three realms, the Immortal Realm became the evil one with no one to constrain them, the demon realm is actually the good ones, theyre the original immortals who lost the immortal war back 100,000 years ago and were forced to live underground by King of Immortal. And the mortal realm is in chaos with people being enslaved to do the immortals bidding.ML is Wu Geng, a prince of the Xin kingdom in the mortal realm. His father is King of Xin, and the story opened up to him declaring war with the immortals and fight for freedom for the mortal realm. He was very strong and gifted and he was beating the immortal army to pulp, which forced the Immortal King out of his seclusion to fight him head on. You see it was supposed to be a big deal if u can get the king of immortal to come down to the mortal world as in a sense his henchmen should be fighting it off first. So you should get an idea how powerful King of Xin was. Although King of Xin had forged a bond with the Undying bird, an ancient divine spirit, it was still not enough so of course the Immortal King won and King Xin died. Empress of Xin brought ML to the palace tower for their last stand but in the end decided to kill both his son and herself when the immortal high priestess Xinyue Kui arrived to the tower.
Wu Geng, however, had his soul transported into A Gou, a dumb orphan of Xin Kingdom. Apparently, A Gou was a wisp of Wu Geng’s primordial spirit which the Empress had casted upon his birth into the mortal world as backup for this event that she foresaw coming. The Empress, whose name was Xinyue Hu sister of current immortal high priestess, was actually a priest of the immortal realm before she defected to the mortal realm when she fell in love with Wu Geng’s father. And so began Wu Geng’s new life as A Gou where he lived in a hut with FL - Bai Cai, and 4 other ophaned kids.
After the fall of Xin Kingdom, Bai Kingdom took over as they were in cahoots with the immortals. Under the Bai Kingdom reign, all able bodied adults are enslaved into mining bloodstones for the immortals. Bai Cai and A Gou were taken to Northern Mountain mine and stayed there for a few years before A Gou led an escape and start his journey of leading the league of anti-immortal army across the three realms. The objective was to defeat King of Immortal Realm - Hei Long, and set those who had been oppressed by the Immortal realm free of slavery and oppression.
The concept on this show took some time to sink in. Instead of the immortals usually being the ones sacrificing themselves to maintain order of three realms, they became the source of chaos instead. There was no entity that can keep them in check and the world was left in chaos for more than 100,000 years since Hei Long won the Immortal war. The demon realm was the remnants of the immortals who lost the immortal war and most of them were good, and the immortal realm was actually filled with new immortals that Hei Long had created to do his bidding, so most were evil and brutal.
The CGI was truly horrible for a 2024 production, and how they introduce skills used by the experts were so comical - with big caption of the name of the skill running across the screen. It reminds me of those shows back in the 90s.
I first saw Ren Jia Lun in The Blue Whisper, so thought this show hadnt exploited his talents to the max as they did with TBW. His character here is too one dimensional. Even as a prince he was still upright, although quite arrogant and brash, but the good trait was still similar to what he carried on as A Gou. This prince only lasted for 2 episodes so there’s not much depth of his character as Prince Wu Geng of the reigning Xin Kingdom.
The FL, Bai Cai, is one hell of an annoying character. So clingy always calling my a gou here my a gou there. The only thing she’s good for was for her healing ability. And I also don’t get the ancient divine soul thing. How come she becomes evil once this soul is awakened? It’s weird cuz divine power shouldve been good and just cuz theyre supposed to be the thing that keeps the world in order but here, everything that relates to immortality and divinity seem to be bad and evil. The universe here was so weird.
I truly pity Xinyue Kui. She was supposed to be the closest one to King of Immortal, the supreme high priestess that governs the three realms on his behalf, but she always gets her butt kicked all over by mortals, immortals and demons alike 😂😂 whats even more pathetic was that all the evil things she did to protect the reign of King of Immortal was due to her crush on him only to find out that all the things that the king did for the past 100,000 years was because to revive his loved one 😂 Gosh that is so lame.
2nd FL, A Lan is an immortal from Shenyin clan that turned their back upon King of Immortal’s reign after the war. She tries hard to fulfill the high priest of shen yin clan’s last wish that is to protect Wu Geng at all cost. The shen yin high Priest is Wu Geng’s grandfather, and father of Xinyue Kui and Xinyue Hu. He was the immortal clan’s high priest before being toppled out of his position by his own eldest daughter. I first saw Zhu Xu Dan in Fateful Love and i see her performance here hasnt improved at all. Still beautiful and yet still as wooden as ever.😂
The good thing about this show is that there was no love tug of war between the 3 women who fell in love with ML. A Lan knew ML and FL was in love with each other and she maintained her distance as a friend to both instead. The third love interest was not even worth to mention because she was like a teenage kid who just had a crush for the first time. She also got killed off quite quickly after being introduced (within a few episodes). so because everyone acts amicably, there was no tricks and jealousy drama to win ML’s heart between the women. FL also fully put her trust on ML and never wavered come what may.
The battle scenes are horrendous and hard to watch, both the first battle with Xin King and the final battle on immortal island. The CGI was bad in the first, and the manpower was laughable in the final. It’s like they came to wage war in the immortal island with less than 50 footsoldiers. 😂 gosh what a joke. Really tell you theyre on a super tight budget.
For me personally, i think Burning Flames belong to the same category as Ancient Love Poetry, the category where I had been duped by the reviews to think that theyre good. 😂 but yeah at least Burning Flame had a good enough plot to keep me watching to the end compared to ALP which i dropped after 5 torturous episodes.
SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE…….
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In this show, the ML’s skills are vastly acquired by other people giving him their cultivation years or skill. I dont know, i still think as a half immortal, ML is still too dang weak to take on the king of immortal who had reigned for 100,000 years. Even at the final battle i didnt think it’s logical even in xianxia terms. All the skills and strength he acquired was from people of the recent 2-3 generations, except for the remnant power from Sea spirit ancestor who of course was much weaker even at his prime compared King of Immortal - thats why the sea spirit ancestor ended up dead in tue immortal war.
There was no special skill from ancient people at all. Then how come he was able to win against an entity who had cultivated since over 100,000 years ago? How come he won just by using Nitian Erxing’s last breath? Nitian Erxing isnt ancient. He’s of the same generation with ML even. Although he’s the grand marshall of the demon realm and the descendant of ancient immortal, he’s a far cry from a notable ancient figure compared to king of immortal. I would understand if the ML came across really ancient power while he was gaining his skill and strength to fight King of Immortal. I could even understand if he was granted a power by a supreme being after he got pummelled to death by King of Immortal. I could also understand if somehow all the sages came together and supported him at the last minute so they somehow won over the king, but really none of that happened. So the result of the final battle is baffling to me.
I’m puzzled at the last episode too. FL is just a mere mortal, so how come she gets to be revived back after she was killed compared to other demons and immortals with higher cultivation than hers? For example A Lan. It’s puzzling even in xianxia concept of rebirth and reincarnation.
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Great show with promising storyline
This is the second show i saw with Dylan Wang, the first had been Evernight, which he didnt disappoint. Despite the criticism that I read for his role in Evernight, i thought he did a good job in accordance to the novel.The show is about ML who got immersed in a game that he was playing with his friends in modern time. When he started playing, he went right into the game, playing the ML Xu Qi An, a somewhat low rank policeman in Dafeng. He rose through the rank and martial skills as he met with numerous significant people along the way, captivating them with his poetry, investigative skill and no nonsense persona.
I must say this ML is quite a character. I especially love his handphone-like gadget (complete with earbud 😂) when he got involved in the heavenly-something guild. I particularly love the relationship he had with his family, which didnt sound good before but improved after he got into the game. Love how they built his working relationships too, progressing from hateful superiors to loyal ones who would jump in to save him in a blink of an eye.
I didnt really want to mention FL much cuz i thought that her character was absolutely unnecessary. Had she not have that relationship with Princess Pingyang, which provided somewhat backstory information for ML’s investigation, she really doesnt function at all. The romance is totally negligible and unnecessary cuz this show is more to investigative/martial/comedy type. I feel squat spark between them, nada,zero. Honestly speaking, i thought ML has so much stronger chemistry with Cai Wei and consort of Zhenbei, even Princess Huaiqing! Whenever ML and FL got on screen, all i see is sibling vibe rather than a couple. And because FL’s character is so damn annoying in the earlier episodes, i ended up fast forwarding her scenes later on. Although this character progressed for the better towards the end after she discovered the true fate of her best friend Princess Pingyang, i still fastforward all scenes with her especially the romantic ones.
Other supporting characters are all great. All costumes are so nice, the uniforms/armours are smart and cool, and the female costumes are apt and not too flamboyant.
What did i dislike about this show? Well some of the comedic scenes are just over the top and extra. The final showdown was too short and i believe since they plan for season 2 (based on the post credit scene), the cliffhanger is somewhat a downer.
Although this show come close to Joy of Life vibe, it still falls short of it. Still a good show though, and i especially love ML’s powers and upgrades here. Overall it’s an enjoyable show and i hope season 2 wont take 4-5 years like JoL 😭 anyway, im off to read the novel since the series provided no proper ending.
Edit: ive just reached the arc where Xu Qi An beheaded the traitors Que and Cao in the novel, and as expected, novel Xu Qi An isnt as stupid as the series Xu Qi An who easily got duped by the second princess posing as Imperial Princess. Thats the one flaw of the series that doesnt compute with Xu Qi An’s intelligence. It’s impossible that he cannot deduce that Second Princess was an impostor with that many tell-tales shown. Even before reading the novel, I’ve felt that production somehow dumbed down Xu Qi An with that Second Princess. Glad i dont have to read so much of Second Princess in the novel. They shouldnt have changed this character and made her the FL. What a pointless character. Btw I liked the book’s version better than the adaptation cuz there was no memory erasing of Xu Qi An on the population at all. Everyone remembered him as a hero and the despicable Emperor was forced by his ministers to issue self reproach which exonerates Official Zheng and Xu Qi An of any wrongdoing. Wow what a satisfaction to read that part in the novel. I wonder why didnt the show follow the same line. Why make everyone forget XQA? Just for the sake of cliffhanger?
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Impressive storyline for a zombie show.
It’s a survival story of a group of townspeople who had been attacked by black smoke that came from a sinkhole, which can turn people into super athletic zombie-like mutants upon inhalation. In the chaos, ML, a towtruck driver met with FL, a detective from Seoul on the hunt for a serial killer whose among victims had been her husband, although they got separated in the beginning of the disaster, they eventually cross paths again and joined hands in their quest to find a safe place for the survivors.First off, I am not a fan of zombie stories. I especially dislike korean zombies cuz once turned, they instantly become superhumans. When i clicked this title, i thought it’d be a sci-fi mystery show of some sort. Nuh-uh, in fact this show has the highest functioning zombie-mutants of all, some of them can even read, speak, think with vengeance! Wth man. Almost dropped it when I realized it is a zombie show, but decided to stay on cuz I was curious to see the showdown between the FL and the serial killer, and how the mainleads were going to defeat the shaman who can control zombies, and the thing in the smoke that controls everything that got infected.
I must say, Lee Hwa Seon the FL, is the most combatworthy Kdrama female detective I’ve ever seen. Other policewomen ive seen so far usually rely on brains and wits while pretty bad at hand-on-hand combat. Not Hwa Seon. She’s not No Mercy type of fighter who does the martial artist kind of fights, but a realistic ordinary person who fights with brawn and wits. She also doesn’t give a second thought at going against higher ranked elders. One pet peeves of mine on kdrama is as asians are people who puts high regards on our elders status, we rarely talk back to them, let alone fight with them. And the elders with power and status (especially those despicable chaebols) in kdrama are usually exceptionally loud, foul-mouthed, super domineering and extremely abusive. It’s satisfying to see FL standing up against those types for once. She’s not rude or disrespectful, she’s just brave and firm and people back down due to the authority she exudes. Lee Hwa Seon has become the most badass female detective in kdrama in my eyes.
I really like the chemistry of the main leads. They do not have any romantic relationship, but the chemistry is damn striking. Both are willing to go out of their ways to save strangers, even at the risk of their own lives. In earlier episodes I couldnt understand how this tow truck driver suddenly becomes a hero ready to save everyone around him disregarding his own safety without even giving it a second thought, i even got annoyed and thought this character as reckless. then they revealed who he was before and then only everything falls into place. Pretty neat, really.
The screenwriters are also really good at suspense building. Else how can anyone explain how someone who hates zombie shows like me got hooked? How humans can be desperate and sinister enough to stay alive even if it means to kill others in the name of cult sacrifice. How each characters’ dark secrets are thrown into the plot is also rather brilliant. As each secret is revealed, I got impressed even more.
One thing i noticed about kdrama is that they do so many flashbacks! I get it that it’s to build background of each character, but the flshbacks on this show is just waaay too much. For example, The scene of ML telling his partner that he got fired from the police force, was shown at least 4 times. I mean come on, 4 times? It’s no longer character background building, it’s background overload! I think if the repetitive flashbacks are compiled they couldve filled up an entire episode (or more!).
Also, I really dont get the staring contest in kdramas. They stare at each other in fights when there are still enemies around and they stare after the fights when time is essential. It’s really getting on my nerves. And when they do it in zombie shows where people can get attacked from literally anywhere, it becomes annoying af.
I can’t shake off the thought of how the enemy in here is somewhat like a combination of Train to Busan and Stephen King’s The Mist. Scary right? Superhuman zombie plus mysterious monster in the smoke. However I am glad this show has better and much more satisfying ending than the two shows.
If youre someone who love zombie or disaster survival shows, then this is definitely for you. Those who arent, well it doesnt hurt to give it a try. You can always drop it if u dont like it. Personally it has been an entertaining ride for me.
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Good storyline, Amazing Chemistry, Satisfying Ending
Gangster boy ML turned his life into an interesting one when he followed his mom’s footsteps to become a lawyer. He made his living with conniving methods of helping out his gangster kingpin uncle to work around the law, up to tricking a policeman to catch him red handed asking for bribe, has earned a luxurious life with quite a reputation in the lawyer community. While FL, a hot-headed lawyer got suspended after she beat the crap out of the judge who sentenced her client unjustly for killing her wife beating stalker husband. They end up working together in ML’s Lawless Law Firm taking uncanny types of clients.Good start for the first episode, and it got me hooked. The following episodes revealed a much sinister plot that revolve around the life of ML, FL and the most revered person in the city - Judge Cha.
The screenwriters did a superb job in laying out the storyline and mysteries, then have the main leads unravel one secret after another in the courtroom. Both main characters spare no effort if they need to use force while chasing the leads to free their clients.
Although I was impressed by FL’s resort to brute force in Episode 1, the following ones become a downer before they never show her in action anymore. All the fightings are done by ML and his stooges. Although it is undeniable that theyre pretty good ones. Every episodes kept me on the edge of my seat, anticipating ML’s next unconventional move.
I hope they make season 2. Would really like to see the Lawless Law Firm in action again.
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Intense action packed sci fi series
The show is about an ex-navy officer now working as a bodyguard to infiltrate corporations that he believed to be linked to a bombing of a korean foreign military base a few years ago, that killed a number of local children, his best friend and injured the prime minister of that time. He is now working with the former prime minister to track down the mastermind behind the bombing, which eventually brought him to BF, a biotechnology company that specializes in cultured meat - or so he thought. His time there unravels things that he could never have imagined, and eventually led to the real culprit behind everything that was happening around him then and now.This show started off rather slow in building the plot, i almost dropped it cuz I thought it was more to corporate power struggle rather than an action packed show. Glad that I stuck through, it actually turned out to be quite an intense action packed thriller sci fi show. The Finale is mindblowing with plot twists I didnt expect.
The performance of every single person involved in this show is excellently mindblowing. I mean, even the unnamed lady who were lining up to send off the prime minister Seonu Jae was full of facial expressions that looked really genuine - she really looked like a staff who loved and admired her boss and is sad to see him leaving the office. The casts are THAAAAAT good.
The action is really intense, fights are superbly choreographed and thrilling. It really blows my mind how much fake blood had to be spilled for those action scenes. Theyre aplenty 😳
The music is good too. Sounded modern and intense in dual language. I think im looking it up. And i really love the futuristic setting with the Jang Yeongsil AI that gives off the ironman vibe.
They didnt leave any untangled knots regarding the conflicts at the end of the finale. No cliffhangers on the main plot. Everything is amicably resolved at the end although they kept the viewers on edge for hiding our leads throughout the last quarter of the episode, I really hope theyre making season 2.
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Path to Revenge that turned into Patriotism
Story is about the road to revenge of a fallen princess of Tang Dynasty who ended up defending the person whom she believed to have killed her whole family. Along this revenge seeking adventure, she met with rival kingdom’s lead general, Ashile Sun - the ML - and they ended up going through life and death together. She eventually realized the right path for her was never revenge, but to live on without hate as her late mother had intended and to help ensure peace across the land.The show had a good storyline and great line of actors and production. I must say the production is actually quite clever in reducing cost. Instead of hiring enormous amount of extras for battle scenes, or great hours of CGIs, they resorted to sketches instead. Im actually disappointed that there are no actual battle scenes. There were just sketches of battles and the lead actors waving their swords around on the foreground. Although undoubtedly a fresh idea, it made the show look rather cheapskate. Although they went frugal on battle scenes, im very satisfied with hand-on-hand combat performed by ML and SML. The fight sequence are seamlessly elegant which doesnt look rehearsed and awkward.
This is also one of those shows where they spend little effort in making the actress disguising as a male look convincing because she looked so damn feminine with ample contour on the chest area. Although, admittedly there really not much u can do when u hire an actress as gorgeous as Dilireba. She can never pass as a male no matter how much they disguise her. Her features are just too feminine, her voice cant get any deeper and well, her demeanor is much too graceful. It’s because of shows like this that I value shows like Fighting for Love where they go all out to make the disguise believable.
A fair warning to romance lovers, this story aint a feast for the lot of you. There is not much romance going on, as the story focuses more on revenge line and how each character developed into maturehood. The development of FL, ML and SFL is pretty significant. Even the small support characters gets their characters developed along the way, like how Wei Shuyu changed into a more confident man, Hao Du into a flexible and humane person, even Shiba got a decent growth into a real free woman. Her love story with Xu Jing is the cutest because she had always been this stone-cold fighter who cares nothing but for her master. Meanwhile, the main love story is pretty slow moving. The ML had shown fondness towards the FL quite early on, but he didnt realize it was love yet until quite to the middle of the show, and this had only been reciprocated by the FL towards the last 10 episode. It took a life-threatening arrow through ML’s chest before she finally confesses (when ML was unconscious) that she cannot live without him.
The music score of this show isnt that memorable and catchy enough so they didnt stick really stick in my head. Although, i especially liked the tune they use each time the scene with Ashile tribe is on.
The reconcilation scene on the episode 46 is gold! Throughout the show, I have never viewed both of them as any other than father and daughter, even as FL hated him so much. I knew there’s something behind her mom’s death that wouldnt have been his fault. I just hope FL wouldve hugged him before she left for good. I really like the Li Shimin character.
However, it is unconvincing to see Hao Du as general in the last 2 episodes. Throughout the show he had always been that lone ranger imperial guard and has always been working alone. He had shown no military prowess before this other than his brawn as an imperial guard. Pretty ridiculous to see him donning the general hat all of a sudden. So yeah maybe after being Prince Consort he’s given an army of his own, but to lead one as general is rather unconvincing. Just doesnt go in line with his character at all. It is more believable if it was Changge leading the troop to intercept Princess Yicheng’s fake carriage, she had always shown to be a military strategist and have actually fought in battles.
Leo Wu has proven he’s no longer that actor with a babyface. I was not convinced in the earlier episodes, but his look as a fierce general kinda grows into you.
All in all the show as a whole does not disappoint. A plus plus for having a happy ending too. This covered up for the loss of star in music score. After A Journey to Love, I’m so sick of tragic endings already. Is it worth a rewatch? I wrote this review after a rewatch, so yeah definitely worth it.
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Anyway, This s2 moved at a much slower pace than s1, cant say much about that because even in the novel, the arc after Fan Xian’s return from Northern Qi until before his wedding was indeed pretty boring. I love the fight at Xuankong Temple though.
I really loved the book, i think its one of the best that ive read so far. And the fact that its a sci fi in a wuxia premise made it a thousand times better cuz i definitely did not expect this plot twist when i was reading the novel. As i was reading, i tried to imagine how would it look if it were made into a tv show it wouldve been so gooood. The action in this book is aplenty and very satisfying. Cant wait to see them materialize on screen in s3. Thats where all the heartpounding actions are. Special Kudos to the screenwriters for smoothing out the Fanxian character into a loyal lover. I love everything about novel fanxian except how he constantly cheats on Wan er. Glad the fanxian on screen is nothing like the novel’s in the love relationship department.
So far the production has done a tremendously well done job on this show. The actors have given their top notch performance. A must see for a court politics/wuxia fan. U wont regret it.
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Memorable wuxia drama
This is one of the best xianxia series I've ever watched, action packed with court conspiracy (which I love to skip though). Best thing is Main Character is not quite the best in cultivation but can survive each battle cause he's witty and intelligent. No mushy-mushy love scenes so you can forget this series if youre looking for one, and not quite the harem type too. As for me, this is definitely my cup of tea.Arthur's Ning Que is so on point and adhered to the novel's Ning Que. His air and antics are truly spot on and I cant really see anyone else playing this role. Song YiRen's Sangsang is superbly played, she really looked and behaved like a teenager, I was shocked to see that the actress is already 27yo! Thats truly a wow!
I love the action sequence. This series gives off particularly special air which made it stand out compared to other series. The plots are unique and unpredictable. Real nice adaptation indeed.
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Promising up to the Middle, Boring towards the End
A modern real estate self-proclaimed queen, Qu Xiao Tan found herself waking up into the body of a timid, constantly bullied illegitimate second daughter of Qu Family, Qu Tan’er, living in a strange land called Dongyue which Qu Xiaotan figured was a different realm and time than her own. After awhile, they found themselves taking turns possessing the physical body every time the other lies. While Qu Tan’er was forced into becoming a spy for the 1st prince who is also her ex-lover, Mo Yihuai, by her family by wedding the 8th prince, Mo Lian Cheng, Qu Xiao Tan was eager to escape the marriage and make a full run for it. Although Mo Liancheng was convinced that the wife he married was a spy for his elder brother, he was somehow interested in the vast difference of personality that his wife appeared to have. Soon enough, he realized he had fallen in love with the lively and strange Qu Xiaotan, and while manoeuvring the court politics together, they realized their souls were entangled in a deeper sense that they couldve ever imagined.I was reeled into this series solely due to Xing Zhaolin cuz I loved his role as Yue Qi in Princess Agent. Although the story was somewhat interesting all throughout the 3rd quarter of the show, it somehow fell short and plummeted into oblivion of ridiculousness after the fight for the crown prince arc ended. Took me days to finish even an episode after ep 17 or 18. I could no longer handle the cheesiness and clingy, acting cutesy FL after Ep 23 (didnt even finish it). The FL character was doing great for most of the show, though i admit i was kinda of turned off when she started to get super clingy to 8th prince after they professed their love for each other. I realized this is supposed to be a love story, but it is the kind that i cannot really handle. I am more into tough, stubborn kind of female characters, not super clingy hyper cheesy kinds.
I think the FL needs to polish her acting skills too. She looks horrible when trying to portray the demure, soft-hearted Qu Tan’er, which i cant help but rate it as fake. If her version of acting demure means to act sickly, talk very slowly like a 1yo learning to speak, and fall and pass out every chance she gets, then her range of acting is somewhat limited. I can’t stand the weakling Qu Tan’er, and I definitely can’t handle the super clingy Qu Xiaotan even more. Like seriously, the clingy Xiaotan gives me the creeps. I liked the fiesty Xiaotan before she fell in love, too bad her screentime was pretty short.
I honestly felt that the lead actors had chemistry, it’s just that i couldnt handle how the FL was written to be after 3rd quarter of the show. Some might like it, but not me. Sorry Yue Qi, i couldnt finish this even for you. Your FL character just ticks me off every time she speaks when you guys arrived in Liancheng continent. The plot seems extremely ridiculous and riddled with plotholes too. It looks like the screenwriter was trying too hard to immitate love transcension across multiple lifetimes of the xianxia theme, and failed at it.
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