27
121
7
PeachBlossomGoddess
Hong Kong
My name is Nalan Yue, you killed my father, prepare to lose your daughter!
Once upon a dark and scary time, jianghu was controlled by Rong Jingfeng, master of the sinister Dragon Roar city. His favorite daughter Rong Hua (Zhang Huiwen) is rescued by Nalan Yue (Ren Jialun) and they fall in love. They uncover the secrets of JIngfeng's dark power over the sects and a continuing blood fued between their families. Evil jianghu dictator, revenge plot, Romeo and Juliet romance... yups, those are pretty much the most overused wuxia tropes out there. And yet this drama takes a very different and often enjoyable approach to these common cliches which is what kept me watching. I won't lie however, the editing is terrible and while there are some really fun parts, the whole thing does not come together that well.
The story itself is a simple one that isn't that difficult to follow despite the annoying, often discontinuous editing. The action scenes are exciting and generally well done and is one of the drama's highlights. While it is at times hit or miss, they make a decent attempt at dark comedy, which I love. Unfortunately, as much as I respect Ren Jialun's attempt at taking on more versatile roles, his portrayal of Nalan Yue is not memorable. He takes the character's transition from a lighthearted and chatty young man to a darker, more mature and more burdened character well enough but fails to convey who Nalan Yue is at the core. His comedic timing is just not good and trying to grin while he is talking at high speed is a fatal error that must be as uncomfortable as it looks. That said, I respect and support actors who take on different roles and try to test their limits so I am pleased he didn't try to pull another Lu Yi here. I was wary of Zhang Huiwen because I really dislike her performance in NIF2, one of my all-time favorite dramas. But while not perfect, I definitely saw improvement in her acting and she is surprisingly good at dark comedy, which requires much more subtlety than silly rom-com humor. Her best moments in this show is when she vindictively has a beloved tree chopped down and her hilarious initial interactions with Bai Su.
Where this drama falls down is the two main romances were not properly developed. Both lead couples fell in love so quickly I had to rewind to make sure I didn't miss their courtship. As such, there is no buy in as to how as a couple, they would overcome the dreaded Romeo and Juliet trope - one of the hardest tropes to convincingly pull off a happily ever after with. And Ren Jialun's wife (just kidding, don't start rumors) must run the censorship bureau because there is no lip locking and not much in terms of eyeballing each other either. They just jump right into a mature, trusting and intelligent relationship with limited misunderstandings and only mild noble idiocy at the end. But it is still great to see the romance avoid a bunch of cliches and it is particularly refreshing the way the Xueman triangle is so smartly resolved. I also love how both brothers fall for such different sisters and oddly enough, it is quite clear why Rong Su and Liu Yizhou "click" but less so Rong Hua and Nalan Yue. Despite a lot of screen time together, Rong Hua and Nalan Yue have zero sizzling, squeal worthy moments together. For me, Xuanye and Liuli's romance is the most convincing and endearing one.
There are many very cool and properly dimensioned characters in this show. Even dark characters like Mohuan and Jingfeng have shades of grey and likable sides, no one is just simply black or white. They are all capable of love and doing good but tragically chose to do evil instead. Outside of Meiying, who to me is the most despicable character, I am moved to pity for the vain, lonely and ultimately futile quest for power and dominance that drove our main villains. I also like how the drama explores revenge not as an eye for an eye and is willing to free the next generation from the past generations greivances. I think if this drama went went down the route of "My name is Nalan Yue, you killed my father, prepare to die!", I would certainly have dropped it early on. It is differentiated in new ideas and interesting approaches to cliche tropes and a decent attempt at dark humor. It is a shame it doesn't hang together as well as it should have but I still enjoyed it. To me this feels like a 7.5 or possibly an 8.0 for not boring me with stale ideas.
The story itself is a simple one that isn't that difficult to follow despite the annoying, often discontinuous editing. The action scenes are exciting and generally well done and is one of the drama's highlights. While it is at times hit or miss, they make a decent attempt at dark comedy, which I love. Unfortunately, as much as I respect Ren Jialun's attempt at taking on more versatile roles, his portrayal of Nalan Yue is not memorable. He takes the character's transition from a lighthearted and chatty young man to a darker, more mature and more burdened character well enough but fails to convey who Nalan Yue is at the core. His comedic timing is just not good and trying to grin while he is talking at high speed is a fatal error that must be as uncomfortable as it looks. That said, I respect and support actors who take on different roles and try to test their limits so I am pleased he didn't try to pull another Lu Yi here. I was wary of Zhang Huiwen because I really dislike her performance in NIF2, one of my all-time favorite dramas. But while not perfect, I definitely saw improvement in her acting and she is surprisingly good at dark comedy, which requires much more subtlety than silly rom-com humor. Her best moments in this show is when she vindictively has a beloved tree chopped down and her hilarious initial interactions with Bai Su.
Where this drama falls down is the two main romances were not properly developed. Both lead couples fell in love so quickly I had to rewind to make sure I didn't miss their courtship. As such, there is no buy in as to how as a couple, they would overcome the dreaded Romeo and Juliet trope - one of the hardest tropes to convincingly pull off a happily ever after with. And Ren Jialun's wife (just kidding, don't start rumors) must run the censorship bureau because there is no lip locking and not much in terms of eyeballing each other either. They just jump right into a mature, trusting and intelligent relationship with limited misunderstandings and only mild noble idiocy at the end. But it is still great to see the romance avoid a bunch of cliches and it is particularly refreshing the way the Xueman triangle is so smartly resolved. I also love how both brothers fall for such different sisters and oddly enough, it is quite clear why Rong Su and Liu Yizhou "click" but less so Rong Hua and Nalan Yue. Despite a lot of screen time together, Rong Hua and Nalan Yue have zero sizzling, squeal worthy moments together. For me, Xuanye and Liuli's romance is the most convincing and endearing one.
There are many very cool and properly dimensioned characters in this show. Even dark characters like Mohuan and Jingfeng have shades of grey and likable sides, no one is just simply black or white. They are all capable of love and doing good but tragically chose to do evil instead. Outside of Meiying, who to me is the most despicable character, I am moved to pity for the vain, lonely and ultimately futile quest for power and dominance that drove our main villains. I also like how the drama explores revenge not as an eye for an eye and is willing to free the next generation from the past generations greivances. I think if this drama went went down the route of "My name is Nalan Yue, you killed my father, prepare to die!", I would certainly have dropped it early on. It is differentiated in new ideas and interesting approaches to cliche tropes and a decent attempt at dark humor. It is a shame it doesn't hang together as well as it should have but I still enjoyed it. To me this feels like a 7.5 or possibly an 8.0 for not boring me with stale ideas.
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