This review may contain spoilers
Decent start, draggy middle, confusing end
If anything could be the saving grace of the show, it would be the visual candy of Cheng Yi and Xu Zhen Xuan, along with the fight scenes which were truly quite epic.
Plot: The start was entertaining enough, and felt reminiscent of ADWAD but with a slight spin to the usual delivery, which led to some interest in how they would resolve the time travel (spoiler: the conclusion was unsatisfying). But somehow the pace or direction of the show was lacking, and quite a few scenes were fast forwarded as opposed to watching it in the entirety to understand/appreciate the plot. Said plot ended up being too convoluted, with too many sub-plots without a clear direction, like a cook adding too many ingredients when the focus should be on a few key ingredients and making the flavors pop.
Characters: Not sure if it was the direction or acting skills itself, but most of the supporting characters did not make much of an impression. There's not enough backstory to explain why they acted the way they did, and sometimes the actions of the main villain/antagonists just did not make sense, or overly contrived. Yeah sure some parts could be inferred, but cramming so many different subplots made it feel more like the additions were an afterthought, instead of intentional characterizations to bring the story to life. To be honest, even Xiao Qiu Shui's character growth seemed a bit bizzare, and the portrayal of his headstrong/childish (?) moments also feel a bit flat. The brief moments of supposed chemistry/sparks between XQS and Tang Fang also felt rather dull...
OST: Other than that one main OST, the other songs didn't make much of an impression.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what the show was trying to convey (other than serving great visual candy, lol). Granted, yes, there was quite a bit of exposition on ideals and how to fight the big baddies, with the usual notes of brotherhood, sacrifice and care for others, but maybe the message was not strong enough to hammer in the points? idk. As compared to ADWAD, A moment but forever, there were certain themes or messages that could be gleaned from the story, which made it feel more than surface visual entertainment, and left some food for thought.
Nonetheless, there were some highlights such as the pairing of Li Chen Zhou and Zhao Shi Rong, and the camaraderie in the brotherhood, especially with Tang Song. It's actually really enjoyable to see both LCZ and XQS together, because Cheng Yi portrays them so distinctly - but it also raises some questions on why they look similar. Afterall, they could have just pretended that the characters did not notice the similarities in appearance, but no, the similarities were highlighted multiple times! But even till the end of the show I had no idea why the creative direction was as such, other than wagering a guess that they were representing two opposing approaches to achieving their goals for the martial world/country??
TLDR, can watch just for Cheng Yi and the fight scenes, but don't expect to gain much out of it, and possibly feel a bit disgruntled even at the ending hahaha.
Plot: The start was entertaining enough, and felt reminiscent of ADWAD but with a slight spin to the usual delivery, which led to some interest in how they would resolve the time travel (spoiler: the conclusion was unsatisfying). But somehow the pace or direction of the show was lacking, and quite a few scenes were fast forwarded as opposed to watching it in the entirety to understand/appreciate the plot. Said plot ended up being too convoluted, with too many sub-plots without a clear direction, like a cook adding too many ingredients when the focus should be on a few key ingredients and making the flavors pop.
Characters: Not sure if it was the direction or acting skills itself, but most of the supporting characters did not make much of an impression. There's not enough backstory to explain why they acted the way they did, and sometimes the actions of the main villain/antagonists just did not make sense, or overly contrived. Yeah sure some parts could be inferred, but cramming so many different subplots made it feel more like the additions were an afterthought, instead of intentional characterizations to bring the story to life. To be honest, even Xiao Qiu Shui's character growth seemed a bit bizzare, and the portrayal of his headstrong/childish (?) moments also feel a bit flat. The brief moments of supposed chemistry/sparks between XQS and Tang Fang also felt rather dull...
OST: Other than that one main OST, the other songs didn't make much of an impression.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what the show was trying to convey (other than serving great visual candy, lol). Granted, yes, there was quite a bit of exposition on ideals and how to fight the big baddies, with the usual notes of brotherhood, sacrifice and care for others, but maybe the message was not strong enough to hammer in the points? idk. As compared to ADWAD, A moment but forever, there were certain themes or messages that could be gleaned from the story, which made it feel more than surface visual entertainment, and left some food for thought.
Nonetheless, there were some highlights such as the pairing of Li Chen Zhou and Zhao Shi Rong, and the camaraderie in the brotherhood, especially with Tang Song. It's actually really enjoyable to see both LCZ and XQS together, because Cheng Yi portrays them so distinctly - but it also raises some questions on why they look similar. Afterall, they could have just pretended that the characters did not notice the similarities in appearance, but no, the similarities were highlighted multiple times! But even till the end of the show I had no idea why the creative direction was as such, other than wagering a guess that they were representing two opposing approaches to achieving their goals for the martial world/country??
TLDR, can watch just for Cheng Yi and the fight scenes, but don't expect to gain much out of it, and possibly feel a bit disgruntled even at the ending hahaha.
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