The Legend of Shen Li (2024)

Accompanying the phoenix, Romancing the god.

The appeal of xian xia dramas to me was always the power, strength and magic of the characters. But many dramas I have watched over the years left me wanting. How I have suffered through 'powerful' leads spitting blood every second frame.
THIS DRAMA DELIVERED
It showcased a strong male and female lead.
They showed us romance, foreplay, and affection in a tastefully done way.
The fight scenes were amazing.
The costumes and CGI beautifully done.
And very importantly engaging little side stories that did not take all the air time.
I write this review happily. Yes, I will miss the drama but it finished well that I can also move on without regrets. An easy one to rewatch in the coming years.
I gave it a perfect 10 well aware that it has some flaws. This rating is because in spite of the flaws it is a show well worth one's time.

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I can't fall in love with you... But, I can't control it either...

Overview of Plot:-

Adapted from the novel "Yu Feng Xing", the drama "The Legend of Shen Li" tells the tale of Shen Li and Xing Zhi, and their love that grew under heavy responsibilities.

To maintain peace between Divine and Spirit(Immortal) Realms, an arrange marriage was forced on Shen Li for political alliance. Shen Li run away from Immortal Realm to escape the marriage. But during her escape, she got wounded and fell into Mortal Realm. Due to her injuries, she temporarily lost her powers, resulted her to lose her human form. She transformed back into her pheonix form and caught by a vendor. The vendor mistook her as a fat chicken, so plucked her feathers and put her on sale in a cage.

Xing Yun, a bored and frail man, bought the chicken-cum-phoenix from the vendor and helped her to treat her injuries. Shen Li finds that this man is no ordinary. Strange enough that he can understand what she's saying, on the top of that, knows many strange divine formations but has no trace of spiritual powers. He loves to prank her but takes care of her at the same time.

In Shen Li's life, it's the first time that someone get to see her vulnerable side and she felt the warmth of protection from someone else. Just like that, the fate of these two got intervened.

Who is this mortal? Is it just a short and unimportant encounter in Shen Li's thousand of years of life? What else the fate is holding in its book for these two?

Main Characters:-

Shen Li (Zhao Li Ying): A pheonix and God of War of Immortal Realm, who was born with a pearl in her mouth. In terms of powers, she stands in tops of the three realms and very few can compete with her. Even if the sky fall, she can still stand on her own. Skilled in battles and the top General that worshipped by many. Whenever she engages in battle, she alone upholds the morale of all her immortal army.

Xing Zhi/ Xing Yun (Lin Geng Xing): Xing Zhi, the last Ancient God, possesses formidable powers but is forbidden to have personal feelings, for the greater good of three realms. A God, who is on such a high pedestal that no one is there to keep him company. After living a lonely life for thousands of years, he always wanted to experience the fun of the world. A thousand years ago, in the fierce battle of Xutian Abyss, he single-handedly sealed away thousands of Chimeis, that were wreaking havoc upon the three realms. After the battle, he secluded himself and is nowhere to be found.

My Impressions:-

The plot is a typical Xianxia but very well executed. The drama has very slow pace and the angst part starts in later half. Though it is slow paced but a lot of light-hearted and humorous moments keeps the audience from getting bored.

Coming to the acting part, it's as expected as from experienced actors. Main leads are great in portraying their characters. Zhao Li Ying immerged on screen as a power lady showcasing her abilities especially in battle scenes. Lin Geng Xin's portrayal of Xing Zhi is such a wonderful piece of art. The God who is bearing the responsibilities of three realms and is lonely and indifferent for years, yet has a different level of sense of humour and teasing. The chemistry among leads is extremely good. One is fierce as fire and other is calm as ice. They understand each other's every concern and responsibilities.
The love of Shen Li and Xing Zhi developed bearing the heavy duties.

Epic CGI and sublime OSTs are the highlights of the show. This level of CGI, I have only saw in ALP and TTEOTM before. The OSTs are great, adding the sentiments to the scenes and fit perfectly. Costumes for Shen Li are so beautiful and her jewellery has a modern touch which look appealing together.

In supporting cast, I loved Furong Jun and Shen Mu Yue. Furong is such a fun character and finally, as I expected, he got matured by the time it was needed the most. The ones I don't like at all are the Heavenly Emperor and the maid of Shen Li.

Pros:-

• Even being a typical Xianxia story, the plot is still very well executed.
• Strong, matured and independent female lead who doesn't always need someone to save her in trouble. She knows how to get her way right and how to lead others.
• Calm yet funny male lead who knows how to make viewers smile and feeling butterflies with his flirting skills which is paired with calm and serious face. He always has solid reasons for his every action.
• Responsible leads who keep their responsibilities of safeguarding the people all above, even above than their personal feelings. And they did it from starting to end.
• Mutual understanding and trust among leads and the spirit of realizing their love but without compromising their duties.
• Male lead let the female lead deal with her matters herself, as this is what she prefers the most, until it's out of her control and no other person can deal with it.
• High quality production, therefore, great CGI and pleasing OSTs.
• Some modern elements are added in the drama.
• No secondary couple till the very last episode hence proper screentime given to main leads.
• A full episode of happy ending which is rare in Xianxia genre.

Cons:-

• The drama is very slow-paced which may feel boring to few viewers.
• Few episodes are like fillers so it would be better if it has 30 to 35 episodes rather than 39.
• The divine realm seems like a bunch of idlers who can't even protect their own realm and still try to boss around. They go to find Xian Zhi for help every time and even try to make decisions for him. This is a bit annoying.
• Too much skin smoothening filters used which affects the overall quality of expression delivery.
• Sometimes lighting is a bit off or too bright, specially in first half of the drama but it gradually improved.

Conclusion:-

If you wanna see a powerful and wise female lead and a Xianxia with appropriate balance of humour and angst with slow burn romance, then this is for you guys....

"Life is a journey from nothingness to nothingness but I still want you to accompany me on this journey of nothingness."

In the first quater of 2024, this is the best drama I've watched. So I highly recommend it...

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An unconvincing story

The first half was generally quite enjoyable, but the pace just dragged to a halt around episode 20 and the story never really recovered. I don't think I've ever seen any drama that abuses flashbacks the way this show does. The amount of filler time is just insane, and it completely kills any momentum. And all of the pacing problems are made worse by the story not being at all creative to begin with, so the margin for error was always low. There were way too many scenes of characters just going around in circles saying the most cliched lines possible.

I generally liked the acting here, and visually it was quite impressive. But the story is just so poorly written, it really lets the actors down.

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It has good romance, but the story is the weakest.

This xianxia drama has several strong points. First, it brought to us the long awaited pairing, Zhao Liying (as FL, Shenli) and Lin Gexing (as ML, Xingzhi), after the phenomenal Princess Agents (2017) which gave us such a disappointing cliffhanger. Second, the characterization of FL as a war general and ML as the last ancient god is so fresh. We got a non typical main female who is not bubbly, childlike, naive, and damsel-in-distress type as well as a god who is really can do something majestic and wonderful with his tremendous power. Third, this drama is very good in the department of CGI, costume, make up, setting, and worldbuilding. It is visually so pleasant to eyes and satisfying. Fourth, it shows us the perspective of common people to the events in the story, like the joy of people when Shenli and her troops won the war and the sadness of people when Shenli and others died. Also, it describes daily lives in mortal world, immortal sect, and heavenly palace. It makes the story is pretty relaxing, easy to follow, and suitable for comedy. Fifth, the story shows us how love evolves step by step from zero. It gives us the reason why Shenli falls in love to Xingyun/ Xingzhi, and vice versa. Sixth, it gives us a very happy ending. As a romance, this drama is undeniably so good.

However, this drama still cannot escape the trap of xianxia tropes, therefore is unable to create new/ unique direction for Chinese fantasy story. Xianxia is a highly predictable genre. The ingredients are somewhat determined by the heaven: Three realms, power struggle between immortal sects/ divine gods and demon clans, war between good and evil, sweet romance, angsty forbidden love, evil/ pitiful/ passionate third wheeler, self sacrifice, (pseudo) sad ending, and resurrection as the definition of final happy ending. Every xianxia out there are just changing the dose, concentration, and emphasize to make their "dish" different. The Legend of Shenli is no different. It just emphasizes the sweet romance, lovey-dovey, and chemistry between FL and ML more, while decreases the dose of power struggle, angsty forbidden love, and the war of three realms, and makes the impact of the third wheelers to minimal. Plot wise, there is nothing distinctively new. Because of that, the story is so boring. It starts the same and ends similarly. If you don't watch this drama, you have nothing to lose. It is not a drama which set a higher bar for future drama.

The storyline is the weakest point of this drama. It is such a pity, because this drama has unique FL and ML introduction and relationship dynamic. The ML is not a god with pitiful backstory. He is just the last ancient god who is bored by his lonely life and very long existence. He enjoy mortal realm to experience its liveliness and playfulness. He is indifferent to things. He really has immense power, dependable, and unbeatable in every battles as he is the highest god. And, the FL is a female general. She is very strong, mature, selfless, achievement oriented, and thinking the big picture. She is fierce and bloodthirsty hero. Interestingly, deep inside her heart, she wants to be cared as a ordinary woman and to have normal life. This has been a very good story premise. BUT, this drama lacks exploration to their psychological dynamic (internal conflict) and too late to introduce the enemy to defeat and their stakes (external conflict).

The story would be very unique if they keep the initial premises and don't change the FL and ML's dispositions easily out of love (after the first moral arc), and make sure to fix every plot hole. Personally, I don't like the idea of humanization of god which is a special being. It is actually not reasonable for thousands years god to fall for merely 1.000 years female immortal, like he has never met a woman before and the FL is the only woman in the entire universe. Love makes him weak, stupid, stubborn, suffered physically, ashamed, confused, etc. Where does his wisdom from living for thousand years go? When ML dramatically froze the entire sea just to find Shenli, where does his omniscient go? He should be a transcendental being, with transcendental mission, and achieve it with transcendental love to other beings. And, when he is died due to fatal injury, it is really a problem of power scaling. Above him, there is only the Heaven which is greater in power than him. But, how come he is powerless when facing the King of Demon and dealing with the crisis in Xutian Abyss? How come he is more vulnerable than Shenli, a mere immortal and a phoenix? Is he really a god? What a fantastic being!

Also, the enemy is laughable. Just non intelligent flying black smokes going rampant in the air (miasma)! What is so fearful about that? It lacks personification and has no motive. It is created by unknown process, by a crazy power hunger immortal, yet so powerful because people said it is powerful and fearful. The furthest ability it has is just killing people or causing bruises. And Fu Sheng and Mofang (the agents behind the resurgence of miasma), how can they be that powerful and able to "kill" Shenli? What cultivation do they have or how do they train? We never know. They just exist like a decoration, to make the story has some actions and for Shenli to show off her spear play. And, it is really not good for the story because "Every hero needs a villain. Without a great villain, there are no great heroes." So, what is the point of Shenli's designation as a great war general? She just beat the villain using brute force, no intelligent maneuvering, and strategic action.

This drama indulges us so much with romance, BUT without problems to solve decently using Shenli and Xingzhi's great potentials as a war general and a greatest god in the realm. For you who love lovey-dovey couple, you might love this show purely for the romance. But, it you watch for some depth and substantive theme, I suggest you to save your time. This drama would only cause you a desperation.

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I Watched It So You Don't Have To!

It’s astonishing how average and mid modern dramas have gotten. This shouldn’t be normalized, it’s borderline criminal and just continues to prove that it’s young kids that’re writing these storylines and handing them to teenagers to select actors and direct the dramas. This drama in particular (just like any other to be fair) overlooks the viewers, thinking we’re all stupid and I don’t know if this is as a result of the actors’ sheer incompetence or just the basic shortcomings of this storyline. For one, the actors keep showing us subtle hints of what’s about to happen making it really easily and at best ‘basic’ to predict how things pan out 10-20 episodes later.

The beginning (episode 1-4) to be fair had me hooked as I expected a lot from the lead pair following their astounding success in Princess Agents and honestly speaking it’s been underwhelming, and the saddest part is this is not new to most of us, we’re pretty much used to these average shows. The storyline is WEAK, all over the place, and lacking a sense of direction. Loads of pointless scenes taking up most of the screen time (this isn’t new tough), and most scenes just lacking the gravity of maybe what the writer would’ve wanted to be depicted. Take for example “The Extra natural Heaven.”, it looked just like any other mortal palace AT BEST and throughout the entire drama I never even understood what the extra natural heaven looked like, just some blue mountains drawn in Adobe Illustrator and rendered into the footage.

The CGI was another aspect of the drama that I thought was all over the place as well. I got the sense it was all designed by an overworked drunkard. There didn’t seem to be any kind of articulation in the CGI or any form of distinction. I’ll just save your time on this: The CGI is rubbish basically.

And finally, on to the acting which wasn’t that bad to be honest mainly from the lead pair but beyond that it was such an average or less than average display. The storyline doesn’t seem to help out and compensate for the average actors at times instead all I saw was them getting more screen time. And then the amount of the times the FL got saved by the ML were countless that it even got boring and predictable. You could literally see it coming miles away. LAZY WRITING!! I think the Western women will have to skip this one lol.

It's the first time I’ve seen two useless episodes in a drama that had me question WHY. They were better off just ending the drama at episode 37 but guess what, they needed to remind us of some annoying and irrelevant character and give her a happy ending. Them shamelessly adding two episodes to the drama simply because they needed to build up a quick love story for the woman in red (couldn’t be asked to search for her name) that no one cared about and hardly even remembered. To this point I’m still wondering why they did that and as if that wasn’t enough, they spawned a new character (potential husband to woman in red) that they just shoved into the last episodes and left it for us to figure out his background or even who he is. Honestly do these guys thing we’re this thick.

Just to sum this up, this drama suffers from lazy incompetent writing that’s been given a platform and a reckless director who couldn’t be asked to get more from the actors.

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Stunning visuals & OST but weak plot

This xianxia stands out with its stunning CGI/visuals, an OST that elevates each scene and unfortunately with a very weak plot. The drama is about the daily life of the Phoenix Warrior (the female lead) and her love story with the only remaining Ancient God (the male lead), who’s tasks are both to protect the realms.

The first 10 episodes start in the mortal realm and show us how the main leads fell in love. The main lead’s chemistry was great and the writers did a great job in balancing their maturity with the ability to still joke around. The fight scenes stand out here with beautiful CGI and the added OST elevates these scenes, giving me chills with its otherworldly vibes.

The middle of the drama is where it got boring for me. Many things were happening but at the same time I felt nothing significant was actually happening plot wise. We were mostly following the female lead and her engagement with her three men (her lover, her arranged husband and her loyal subordinate). I did love their scenes together but I needed more angst and complexity or at least some faster movement and development. Many of the scenes in the Immortal Realm felt like fillers and I had to ff/skip a lot. There was a lot of back and forth between the leads with the vibe “will-they-won’t-they”.

The last 10 episodes delivered in terms of plot and angst. They were action packed and well-paced. The final episode was very unique as it felt like an extra special episode. The drama explained everything well and wrapped up all loose ends.

It’s worth mentioning that there were guest appearances with side love stories that I loved watching. Some were even as short as only 2 episodes but they touched my heart. These love stories for me were a great addition to the drama.

POSITIVE:
- Otherworldly OST. I’ve never heard such a mesmerising OST, it was very unique and made each scene 100x times better. In fact I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have felt strong emotions if it wasn’t for the music.
- Great chemistry between the leads.
- Badass female lead with strong on screen presence especially during fight scenes. Her deadpan look is so good.
- Male lead who can crack jokes with a straight face. He is one of the best jokesters I’ve watched.
- The only drama where I 100% ship a chicken with a man.
- Stunning CGI! One of the most visually beautiful xianxia I’ve ever seen.
- Great fight scenes that can rival Marvel cinematography.
- Hot intimate scene (one but totally memorable).
- Side love stories from guest appearances that are short but totally touch your heart.
- No love triangles.

NEGATIVE:
Only two points but they are very significant!
- Plot was weak as it lacked the complexity and angst that I was looking for. Many things were happening but at the same time, it felt like nothing significant was actually happening plot wise. A lot of back and fourth. Perhaps if the drama was shorter I would have enjoyed it more. I’m pretty sure the whole plot is around 5-10% of the drama.
- Too slow paced and boring at times. As mentioned above, everything was just too calm and I had to ff/skip a lot of scenes (especially in the Immortal Realm).

OVERALL:
This wasn’t exactly my cup of tea but you might enjoy this drama if you want a slow paced and calm xianxia that focuses on the love story between the leads and their daily lives + you want beautiful visuals and music.

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Easy watch

Drama starts weak but quite comical. The main guy eventually proves to be overpowered which waters down the overall experience. We expected the weak sickly guy to grow strong and get the girl from others by force, by defying fate, but it's the exact opposite.

The main female character doesn't have enough qualities to be called a legend. She kills human foes as if they are cockroaches but shows mercy for some lowly pets instead, disgusting set of values.

Immortals, divines and such don't hold the wisdom associated with their titles, just plain people joining the drama as if they were all belonging to the same political realm. How did they get so high anyway?

Overall, fun to watch, but nothing special.

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THE NOVEL AND THE ADAPTED CDRAMA IS AMAZING.. WELL DESERVED FOR ITS FAME!!

I cannot bear to stain this novel with my curses so I shall be formal and happily say that this series left me with a big smile and this will always be my comfort cdrama series.. (I apologize if there's any wrong grammars!)

☆ STORY & ACTING (both the novel and Cdrama): It's beautifully written, even though the english translation was not that good (considering that it came from a chinese novel). I am so so thankful for being able to read the novel and had the chance to read it before the whole Cdrama episodes were released.. I cannot explain enough on how ZLY and LGX acted and how their chemistry and charisma was so so fulfilling. It made me cry and laugh so much again and again.. The responsibilities that both the characters had were realistic and seeing how they went through hardships where they had to rely on themselves plus with eachother made me feel so much emotions. (I can never forget those scenes from ep37 and ep38 ever again.. ) The comedy made it even better too! Youlan, Furong jun, and the rest made it even funnier! ZLY and LGX were both perfect for this role (also the whole team <33). All i know is they used to be legends based on their old work together (Princess agents) and after finishing this whole series, there is no doubt left in me that they don't deserve their popularity! I haven't watched their old series yet however i knew how the ending went.. So, i am sure this series will heal the hearts of the old PA fans~ This is definitely worth your time you guys!

☆ VISUAL FX/CGI: The cgi for this series is HEAVENLY. I cannot comprehend enough on how good the fighting scenes were! Truly a well executed xianxia drama! ZLY was one of the producer too, and for me, her hard work (including those soldiers, etc.) of practicing all those fighting scenes for this series totally paid off! They deserve it honestly..

☆ MUSIC: The Osts are IMMACULATE. It is BOMB (it means its well done). I have been streaming the osts nonstop for more than 24 hours now (yes im crazy).. I have never loved a certain ost like this one before. IT HITS HOME OKAY T_T when i listen to each song, it instantly brings back all my memories of them including the happy and sad moments.. (It makes me teary-eyed sometimes too) ALL I BADLY WISH THAT WOULD HAPPEN is for them to upload the "instrumental version" of Liu Yuning's ost for this series (in english, its titled "Ages") because i heard it in ep19 (the leaf scene) and i BADLY NEED IT ASAP. i have been going crazy trying to find it for a few days now so if anyone knows, I BEG U to please share or tell me..

☆ REWATCH: I will absolutely rewatch again and again not gonna lie.

All in all, watch it and see it yourselves everyone. This is my review of this series and its a 10/10!~
Ep39 was definitely the best episode ever!
I am immensely proud of how they conveyed the characters thoughts and made it seem so realistic.. They followed almost everything from the novel and added extra parts that made it even more perfect!!!! I am 100% sure that they will bag all the awards soon (they are already breaking records ;D) and I am proudly ready for it! Kudos to the whole team especially to ZLY and LGX for blessing us with this 2nd drama of them being together~ I will never ever forget this series and i will rewatch this when I'll miss them (which won't take long haha–)

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Amazing Xianxia!

When I started watching this drama, I didn't expect much, but I found myself enjoying every second, even the scenes with the CG chicken! Despite hearing about potential angst, it barely showed up, which surprised me. I thought I might not like it because of that, but I kept watching and discovered it's actually pretty good. There's no love triangle or misunderstandings, just pure romance between the main leads, who happen to be the most powerful individuals in their respective realms. The actors' facial expressions are amazing; sometimes words aren't even needed because their faces say it all. One of the best aspects of this drama is definitely the OSTs; they're some of the best I've heard in a Chinese drama. The songs for romantic or dramatic scenes are great, and the background music for fight or sad scenes is even better. It's not your typical Chinese drama OST; it's simply divine. This drama doesn't require much thinking to watch, making it perfect for unwinding. It's definitely going on my comfort drama list, something I can always pick up again when I need to kill time. Overall, it's slightly underrated given its current rating, but it's truly amazing!

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THE ENDING IS SL BEAUTIFUL. ICAN ASCEND TO HEAVEN

I love everything from start to finish. Angst, forbidden love, comedy, romance is so plenty. They really are cute and beautiful dynamic. The ending is so beautiful I'm very SATISFIED. Everything is TOPNOTCH. Such a masterpiece. This is how directors should start and end their drama! Also I really love the CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT of many characters especially FurongJun and Youlan. Ms. Jin is so beautiful, hope Zi Chun will love her forever. Shen Li and Xingzhi had beautiful relationship, they protect each other, no miscommunication even though they think they should've never been inlove, "I can do everything without hiding it from you", "if there's a will there's a way". They're so stubborn that I can't help but sigh and cheer. I also love Mofang tho I feel betrayed still he protected her until his last breath. I also love the story of Liu Yu and Fenglai, such tragedy. I can't help but cry on her parents love story and the way Fenglai meet her daughter Shenli. Her holiness, the soldiers are all bad ass, they did well. I love everything aaahhhhhhhhhhhh. The best of the best! They go all the way and not very stingy in kissing scenes too. I think the director doesn't want to repeat the tragedy of princess agent hahahaha. I love you writer and director. Thank you ZingShen couple. ???

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