A Thrilling, Edge-of-the-Seat Visually and Emotionally Satisfying Treat
(Note: This review was written after finishing 40 episodes.)
What a gripping tale "Legend of Zanghai" was. I say "gripping" because if I can lend a tactile description of what this series did to me, it's that it snatched me up, held me down in a tight grip and didn't let go. I am your habitual "watch 1 or 2 episodes and leave" kind of girl. I've come across so many highly recommended C-dramas but only a handful was able to hold my attention long enough to the finish.
“Legend of Zanghai” feeds you with just the right mouthful of suspense and intrigue with each episode, pulling you into a steady stream of thrill just enough to power you through the next episodes.
One thing that was explicit in this drama was that in his mission for revenge, ZangHai was mentored to be skilful in many things except for martial arts. This was the arc I was most worried about not because I feared for ZangHai’s life but because it might convolute the plot and ultimately ruin the story.
Because picture this: You train a child for 10 years to equip him mentally and emotionally enough to launch an attack against his enemies but you don’t teach him skills to defend himself in case a physical fight breaks out? We have a war general as one of his enemies and you do that to him? If out of the millions of viewers there was only one who’s obsessively concerned about this, I would be that person. So I carried on to wait and see how this questionable creative decision will untangle itself from a coil of possible narrative doom.
And I’m glad I stayed because as each episode breezed past, I saw how physical strength is trumped by patience, intelligence and cunning, how one without even physically touching his enemies can choke them out of their power and greed.
What I also took away from ZangHai’s story is that, yes, you can win the battle by being smart and skilled, but it’s having the right people to root for you and love you that makes you win the war…
…and oh yes, ZangHai did.
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Note: The review was written 7 episodes in.
Zang Hai can step on me and I'll thank him for it. This is how much this character has brought me under his spell without doing any magic. For revenge drama suckers like me, this is a humongous buffet of things that we like.
the sweetness of Zang Hai's childhood innocence
the bitterness of the innocence lost
the sourness of life's despair and anguish
the drizzle of salt and spice that create a visceral avenger
and the umami of the big fat revenge a-cooking
I paid extra $ just to watch some episodes in advance. WORTH EVERY DAMN PENNY.
----
What a gripping tale "Legend of Zanghai" was. I say "gripping" because if I can lend a tactile description of what this series did to me, it's that it snatched me up, held me down in a tight grip and didn't let go. I am your habitual "watch 1 or 2 episodes and leave" kind of girl. I've come across so many highly recommended C-dramas but only a handful was able to hold my attention long enough to the finish.
“Legend of Zanghai” feeds you with just the right mouthful of suspense and intrigue with each episode, pulling you into a steady stream of thrill just enough to power you through the next episodes.
One thing that was explicit in this drama was that in his mission for revenge, ZangHai was mentored to be skilful in many things except for martial arts. This was the arc I was most worried about not because I feared for ZangHai’s life but because it might convolute the plot and ultimately ruin the story.
Because picture this: You train a child for 10 years to equip him mentally and emotionally enough to launch an attack against his enemies but you don’t teach him skills to defend himself in case a physical fight breaks out? We have a war general as one of his enemies and you do that to him? If out of the millions of viewers there was only one who’s obsessively concerned about this, I would be that person. So I carried on to wait and see how this questionable creative decision will untangle itself from a coil of possible narrative doom.
And I’m glad I stayed because as each episode breezed past, I saw how physical strength is trumped by patience, intelligence and cunning, how one without even physically touching his enemies can choke them out of their power and greed.
What I also took away from ZangHai’s story is that, yes, you can win the battle by being smart and skilled, but it’s having the right people to root for you and love you that makes you win the war…
…and oh yes, ZangHai did.
------
Note: The review was written 7 episodes in.
Zang Hai can step on me and I'll thank him for it. This is how much this character has brought me under his spell without doing any magic. For revenge drama suckers like me, this is a humongous buffet of things that we like.
the sweetness of Zang Hai's childhood innocence
the bitterness of the innocence lost
the sourness of life's despair and anguish
the drizzle of salt and spice that create a visceral avenger
and the umami of the big fat revenge a-cooking
I paid extra $ just to watch some episodes in advance. WORTH EVERY DAMN PENNY.
----
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