This review may contain spoilers
Okay, I cried at the reunion scene in the last episode. It was so well done and in my opinion one of the best reunion scenes in dramaland. When I started the drama, I went from ‘Zhaolin, the things I do for you…’ to ended up enjoying the drama for real. This is a great story about brotherhood, friendship, forbidden love, responsibility, sacrifices, obsession and what one has to do for the greater good. The drama unfortunately didn’t start up as interesting and the CGI is terrible. But if you can stand the horrible CGI in Ten Miles of Peach Blossom or other Chinese fantasy dramas in general, then you can surely can stand this one as well. :P But the budget is actually more on the moderate side since they used really a lot of extras and different sets for 6 different arch stories. Not to mention that the costumes that the extras wore were pretty much not cheap and even the extras change their costume regularly which shows that the budget is definitely in the moderate side. Plus, Hanyan’s hanfus are really pretty! I always looking forward to her costumes since its really awesome and beautiful. :D
This drama is about a famous Chinese deity; Zhong Kui which in charge of vanquishing all demons and evil beings in the Underworld and this drama tells his story before he become a deity and the trials and judgements he has to go through. That is why Zhong Yunfei is constantly being tested and can never catch a break since his noble beliefs are being tested again and again. And he has his sworn brothers Hanyan & Fuqu on his side to kill and battle all the demons in the mortal world in his journey to deity-hood.
Throughout the drama, we seen him being tested where he constantly in the battle between himself and his inner demon (human’s feelings). Sometimes, he succeeded and sometimes he failed since after all he is still human with real feelings. But one thing we should pointed out is that how selfless he is when he is against the evil – regardless anyone status, he is willing to sacrifice himself in order the defeat the evil. Which is why when he sacrificed himself to save his brother Fuqu from becoming a demon, it is enough to show how his noble belief is one of his strongest strengths and the reason why the demon realms wanted his immortal body since his noble belief itself is enough to shake the heaven’s realms.
The last 12 episodes of this drama is especially great. This is when Yunfei is tested with his biggest trial with the appearance of his long lost lover Nian’er in the form of a Butterfly Demon and this is where he’s inside is tested on what he should do for the right thing between defeating the evil or wallowing in his regrets of not being able to protect Nian’er in the past. When Nian’er decided to sacrifice herself to save him, he was adamant to follow her words to continue living a happy and fulfilling life but when Hanyan & Fuqu decided to sacrifice themselves in order to kill the Demon King for him later on the same day, it is what that broke him and make him lose his faith. He lost the 3 person he loved the most in the world on the same day and one can assume the great sadness he is feeling despite the great evil is defeated.
I actually really love the message the drama wants to tell us at the end. His inner demon is right, that it is better to be happy despite it being short rather than spent centuries in love-sickness. Yunfei knew this as well since it is him who feels those regrets and loneliness but with LOVE, comes RESPONSIBILITIES. The love he felt towards Nian’er is the ultimate forbidden love since they can’t be together no matter how he struggle and fight the heaven since it will end with both of them being struck with lighting with no chance of reincarnation. It is cruel and unfair, but some thing can never being done no matter how much you try to fight and resist it. That is why despite I am crying tears of happiness when he reunite with Hanyan & Fuqu, I can’t help but feeling sad as well. Those longing look everytime he sees Nian’er – wanting to hold her but he can’t is just heartbreaking. But he can’t be selfish and sacrifice her for his own regrets and obsession and he know this as well. I like it since even his inner demon comes term with his own obsession and chose to do what is right which is to let go of Nian'er. True love can never be selfish but wanting happiness for the person that you love although it is not with you.
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I love the strong bond of brotherhood between Zhong Yunfei, Liu Hanyan, and Wang Fugui. Although they were the "good guys", they constantly faced temptations and setbacks that threatened to erode their compassionate hearts and turned them away from the righteous path. Often times, their buddies had to point out that they were crossing dangerously to the dark side. Sometimes, they had to slapped each other back to their senses. In every story arc, I looked forward to see how the Team Trio support each other through thick and thin.
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A fun journey with ghosts and exorcists
Very rarely I see a drama soo good that it touches my soul. Everything about this drama is just pure goodness. The plot is very strong and without any bs unlike most dramas. The drama focuses on Zhong Yunfei an exorcist and his brothers Liu Hanyan (sister) and Wang Fuqu. They go on vanquishing evil while meeting and solving the problems of the people they meet. Their are several sets of characters each with a unique story and a pretty good conclusion. I loved each and every one of them. My favourite part of the drama was actually the friendship between the three. Very rarely we see a brotherhood so strong with zero backstabbing. This was also one of the rare instances that the heaven was actually fair. I would recommend this drama to anyone and everyone!! The word underated itself proves to be underated for this one.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Watched for Xuan Lu, stayed for Xuan Lu... and the plot, I guess!
As indicated by my review headline, I chose to watch this show because of Xuan Lu acting in it. After watching The Untamed, I wanted to check out her other projects with her in a larger role. I also saw several images of her character- Liu Hanyan- with another actress, Wang Lu Qing, playing Liu Que [Courtesy name Hetian], shown as a sapphic relationship, and wanted to see more. I was not disappointed- the arc that the pair showed from the first 8 episodes, as well as the little reminders of each other and a certain scene in episode 32, was well worth it. Hanyan's arc of self acceptance and character growth was so wonderful to watch, alongside her two sworn brothers.The Unknown is very well done with the way it's set up, split into the several story arcs that take place over 6-10 episodes before moving onto the next. I really enjoyed how they worked with character dynamics, different relationships, and how this impacted them. The main trio- the three siblings- were enough of a reason for me to continue the show, even when it started lagging in places. They have an unbreakable bond and will do anything for each other.
The flaws and the traits of all the characters were highlighted too, which makes you even able to sympathize with the "villains." I found myself crying for the "demons" they were fighting, not just the "good guys". This show showed that there isn't really a black and white when it comes to these matters, and how these heroes have to deal with their morals and beliefs.
The only things I'd have to critique are the repeating clichés when you get to arc 4 and onwards, and how the last few plots weren't very engaging to me. Apart from that, I'd definitely recommend this show to any Xuan Lu and Cdrama enjoyers, she's incredible in this one! I've already made a video edit for this show, and I can't wait to make more content for it even if I'll be the only one! <3
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Dropped the show by episode 16
I guess this wasn't just for me. Dropped the show by episode 16.Watched the show because some of the actors of the show are already familiar to me. Curious, I guess. I wanted to know who's who. Who's considered the main lead? Who's gonna have a happy ending? My curiosity brought me up until episode 16.
But by episode 16, I was so bored and decided to just skipped to the last episode. If in any case, watching the last episode would ignite my interest, then I would continue on. Sadly, it did nothing for me. So I've decided to dropped it.
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Drama was a big disappointment.
I had high hopes and looked forward to watching this drama because the Official Trailer used to advertise the drama looked exciting, however, I watched a little more hoping for something interesting would happen, but I was so disappointed with the opening through the third episode that I stopped watching. The story was too slow moving with nothing happening to keep my interest. I like watching Xing Zhao Lin in his other dramas but this drama didn't help his career as an actor. I may give this film another try, later on, to see if it may spark my interest.Was this review helpful to you?
