This review may contain spoilers
this completely rewired my brain
Literally thee best show of all time. Hou Minghao gives one of the most exquisite performances I've ever seen, and while he stands out among the rest of the cast, everyone else is also incredible in this too. The Zhao Yuanzhou/Wen Xiao romance was everything to me and the polyam vibes were off the charts as the second half of the show devotes quite a bit of time to Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen's dynamic. The found family story was beautifully done and you really believe that these people will risk absolutely everything to protect and/or save each other. Every song on the soundtrack is perfection and no matter how many times I hear some of the character themes (especially the themes belonging to Li Lun and Zhao Yuanzhou), I will still go bonkers insane every time.
I have some minor gripes with some writing decisions which is why I give this a 9/10 on story, but this is an absolutely must watch show for me.
EDIT Nov 2025: I want to keep my original review bc I like the idea of my reviews being immediate reactions to a piece of media, but I have watched a handful of other CDramas since that have made me start viewing the writing for this show negatively and I definitely no longer consider this a 10/10. (probably more like a 7/10 if I'm being charitable.) I've had issues with the narrative's treatment towards Bai Jiu since I watched but my frustration has grown so much — the reveal in ep19 (iykyk) is Bai Jiu having been abused/groomed into trusting someone but the show seems to put the blame on this CHILD for trusting an adult who wanted to use him. And then his ending gives the vibe that he is "atoning" for this...... It comes off very much as victim-blaming and then add in the fact that he sacrifices so much when he shouldn't be in this position in the first place bc again. he is a CHILD. Having just come off of Fated Hearts and Blood River and seeing good communication between the leads and also being surprised without constant fakeouts (that end up being fairly meaningless) has also made me sour a lot on Fangs of Fortune. Like what do you mean that Zhao Yuanzhou-Zhuo Yichen-Wen Xiao trust each other with their lives and are willing to sacrifice anything for the others but then they are STILL withholding information from each other even when we reach the the last five episodes????? 🙄 Anyway watch Blood River for the Su Changhe-Su Muyu-Bai Hehuai triad :)
I have some minor gripes with some writing decisions which is why I give this a 9/10 on story, but this is an absolutely must watch show for me.
EDIT Nov 2025: I want to keep my original review bc I like the idea of my reviews being immediate reactions to a piece of media, but I have watched a handful of other CDramas since that have made me start viewing the writing for this show negatively and I definitely no longer consider this a 10/10. (probably more like a 7/10 if I'm being charitable.) I've had issues with the narrative's treatment towards Bai Jiu since I watched but my frustration has grown so much — the reveal in ep19 (iykyk) is Bai Jiu having been abused/groomed into trusting someone but the show seems to put the blame on this CHILD for trusting an adult who wanted to use him. And then his ending gives the vibe that he is "atoning" for this...... It comes off very much as victim-blaming and then add in the fact that he sacrifices so much when he shouldn't be in this position in the first place bc again. he is a CHILD. Having just come off of Fated Hearts and Blood River and seeing good communication between the leads and also being surprised without constant fakeouts (that end up being fairly meaningless) has also made me sour a lot on Fangs of Fortune. Like what do you mean that Zhao Yuanzhou-Zhuo Yichen-Wen Xiao trust each other with their lives and are willing to sacrifice anything for the others but then they are STILL withholding information from each other even when we reach the the last five episodes????? 🙄 Anyway watch Blood River for the Su Changhe-Su Muyu-Bai Hehuai triad :)
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