This review may contain spoilers
To the moon and back
The moon shines brightly on this drama, which I consider to be one of the better recent Wuxia productions, and certainly in the top list for 2020, alongside The Handsome Siblings, Love in Between, and Ancient Detective.The Moon Brightens for You (TMBFY) is adapted from the novel of the same name (明月曾照江东寒) by Ding Mo (丁墨), a romance novelist whose literary works cover cross-genre or hybrid genre themes. It is directed by Allen Lan (蓝海瀚) and ably assisted by Wang Fei (王飞) who also helmed the underrated gem, Young Blood which was released last year. This is a story about how good triumphs over evil and how true love is finally attained, through much patience, perseverance and no lack of challenging obstacles along the way.
TMBFY is a fusion of classical Wuxia with contemporary romance and humour, and has been beautifully crafted for the enjoyment of not only long-time fans but also the new generation of fans of this genre. It contains distinctive elements of the vibrant Jianghu world set against the backdrop of tumultuous conflict between the Xiao and Western Yan Empires. We have the customary Wulin community comprising various affiliations to established Houses, Sects, and the directorate that presides over this community of pugilists.
Fantastic innovative martial arts styles, and names, have been creatively conceived for this show, in the form of the Zhan Family Swordplay (Cloud Attack, Bolting Sword, Calling Back the Tiger to Make the Mountain Collapse, and there’s one nameless move which I’m going to call it “The Exhaust Fan”), Reverting Yin Palm, and the ultimate skill of all, the much coveted 7-Star Swordsmanship (Phoenix Starting Prairie Fire, Crazy Wolf Hunting the Moon, Roaring Jumping Dragon, Rhinoceros Divides the Sea, Leaping Tiger, Left and Right Deputies of the 9 Dipper). If their titles don’t scare you already, their slick moves certainly will! All of this contribute towards an exceptional quality martial arts choreography that is showcased throughout and, amazingly even more so in the final showdown. So too the excellent cinematography and the thrillingly inspirational BGM (incorporating the Dizi or Chinese flute) that accompanies scenes of Wulin assemblies, confrontations and sword fights.
This drama is filled with countless intriguing martial artists and colourful characters. These include the villainous trio of evil, Ghost 3 comprising the masked arch villain King of Million Demons, the infamous burglar-thief (and his signature back-scratcher) and the master of poison. In addition, there’s the miraculous heavenly physician (with his pet ginseng), the conniving and wealthy (self-proclaimed most handsome) master of the lavish manor filled with ancient beauties, the cold blooded assassin (complete with straw hat and twin blades), exotic dark arts practitioner adept at conjuring pestilence at will, and many more.
It’s also worth mentioning the inclusion of an amusing recurring side story throughout the show involving the “Wulin Insights”. It is a form of communal storytelling at tea houses (like ancient social media) for delivering up-to-date happenings and gossips on the Wulin to the general public, while at the same time used as a means to secretly convey coded messages to relevant parties of interest. Along with this is a subsidiary service, the “Wulin Rumours” which provides personalised door-to-door delivery of information and parcels (like ancient DHL).
The plot is straightforward and uncomplicated, which enables viewers to grasp the background and motivations of the various characters and in understanding the incidents of the past that shape current events. There are certain pivotal but tragic moments that transpire as the story unfolds, thus inducing considerable emotional distress to more than a few viewers. I appreciate the fact that the show emphasises the key Wuxia themes of brotherhood, chivalry, loyalty and righteousness. This focus doesn’t suffer or waver even in the presence of romantic themes and love triangle involving the OTP and 3 other side couples. So often we see in other dramas such as Love a Lifetime, And the Winner is Love, and The Love Lasts Two Minds where the Wuxia theme is drowned out or in the first place was used merely as a plot device to accentuate the primary emphasis on romance between the leads. Here, Wuxia and romantic love blend harmoniously to create a masterful piece of storytelling.
The main cast has done exceptional work here in this drama. Xing Fei, as the FL and main character Zhan Qing Hong is the driving force that propels this show forward. She is the epitome of the Wulin hero whom most fans would be proud of and is certainly deserving of her title, the Cloud Fairy (as befits her Cloud Sword fighting style). Displaying tremendous character growth from the day she leaves the Zhan Manor to explore the outside world up to the point where she experiences much personal loss and suffering, her belief in benevolence, friendship, justice and the Jianghu spirit never falters. Xing Fei’s portrayal of carefree innocence and kindness, joy and happiness, as well as pain and sorrow are so on point that it’s hard not to completely empathize with her character. Her crying scenes are some of the best in the business and I challenge anyone who says otherwise.
Alan Yu Meng Long… is an enigma. I hesitate to use the phrase that he has improved in his acting. I’m not even sure if it was his acting that was the issue in the first place, or whether it was the role, directing or script. When you see him in BTS footage, he carries himself naturally as normal people would. Even countless viewers commented that he did well in Eternal Love (which I did not watch). And then The Love Lasts Two Minds happened (along with Legend of White Snake) and it makes you wonder how his “trademark stoic and wooden” acting came to be. He is so much better here where he has smiled and cried more often than I could recall. His micro-expressions seem more nuanced than ever before and he was even capable of being flirtatious and mischievous.
At the end of the day, because of his portrayal, the character of the ML Lin Fang became someone you could actually relate to and root for. I hope he continues on in this vein and prove to everyone who ever made fun of him (including myself, I admit) how wrong we were to have ever doubted his ability. Certainly he’s not perfect and there’s plenty of room for improvement but this is a very good step towards the right direction, and hopefully better roles are given to him rather than the usual sickly and emotionless characters.
As the OTP, the interactions between Xing Fei and Alan Yu were such a pleasure to behold. From the initial awkwardness as superior and subordinate, the short-lived love triangle arc, the seemingly fake marriage and finally to acceptance and consummation as husband and wife, the romance has been slow burn but the chemistry remained strong throughout. They may lack the steamy kisses of Love and Redemption, Maiden Holmes or even Love is Sweet, but their short kisses and pecks on the cheeks and foreheads are no less adorable and sweet. I truly enjoyed the beautiful moments of meaningful conversations and deep reflections shared by the OTP particularly during their brief sojourn at Tian Xin Pavilion (the physician’s abode), following their escape from the villains.
In many ways, this pairing makes perfect sense. Although the ML possesses no martial arts prowess, his intelligence complemented the FL’s strength and together they form a truly formidable couple indeed. Our dynamic duo demonstrates spectacular teamwork during the final showdown, the fight to the death in the last episode, where the ML acted as the FL’s “ring-side coach”. To be fair, he did do a bit more than that, by casually walking up and delivering the final blow (after his wife did all the hard work!).
Merxat, oh Merxat, how I sympathise with his predicament all over again. In Legend of Yunxi, he was friend zoned. Here, just when he almost got the girl, the cruel twist of fate took the love of his life away from him with such savage force that he was rendered utterly helpless and hopeless, becoming a docile pet of the primary instigator who is none other than the dreaded spoilt and bratty royal princess, depicted convincingly by Ma Yue. Fortunately he came good in the end and reverted to the heroic character he initially was. I hope Merxat gets the FL one day, and nail the role of the ML more often because he is such a fantastic actor and I would hate to see him playing second fiddle all the time. His natural ability in playing polar opposites is underlined here, from the swashbuckling swordsman to the submissive puppet consort.
The main antagonist is played by veteran HK actor Kent Tong Chun Yip, who portrays the dual roles of King of Million Demons and the Prime Minister (it’s really not that hard to figure out the deception, plus the mask doesn’t exactly conceal much). As far as villains go, his character is written to be the garden variety and not the venomous and vile evil (except for that thing he did in the final episode). Don’t expect too much angst and frustration from the bad guys in this show. If anything, they are rather fun to watch, especially Yan Su’s depiction of the bungling and obsessive master thief, Feng Bu Fei. It turns out he really isn’t all that evil (just a little deranged) and redeems himself in the end. Sort of. At least he is seeking “medical treatment” for his condition.
The secondary couples are equally fun to watch, with the exception of the SML and the princess (although by the end, he did fall in love with her). Zhang Kai Tai’s courageously loyal Huo Yang and Ma Xi Er’s Xiao Lan got together in the most hilarious of circumstances. They were the only couple that gave us a truly epic cinematic moment, the elaborate scene of “kissing with straw in the mouth” involving aerial, widescreen, zoom-in and 360 degree immersive shots. Xiao Lan also takes home the honours for being the only maid in a C-drama of any genre who literally tripped as comically as she often did throughout. The third couple is one of quiet and reserved romance, between the stoic General Xia Hou Ying and the elegant Lady Wen You, played by Su Jian Quan and Lan Man Yu respectively. The way that their chemistry naturally progressed from the initial resistance to eventual acceptance is truly delightful to observe.
Special mention goes to the veteran Qi Zhi whose hilarious depiction of the miracle physician Jian Ling as the comic relief of the show is simply amusing, much like Teng She was in Love and Redemption. His eccentric mannerism and favourite phrase of, “simple, simple!” is extremely endearing and heart warming. He is also the only physician ever, in addition to keeping acupuncture needles on his head/ in his hair, to have a ginseng root BFF. Really.
The entire OST is simply incredible. While the opening track is excitingly upbeat and employs the use of traditional Chinese instruments, the closing theme (performed by Alan Yu) is more subdued and emotional. Tracks 2 and 3 are the love themes of the OTP while tracks 5 and 6 accompanied the secondary couples’ romance. Track 4 captured the sombre moments in the show. Track listing as follows:
1. 片头曲: 今實 (银崎) Opening song "Jin Shi" (Yin Qi)
2. 不醉不忘 (胡夏) Never Drunk Never Forget (Hu Xia)
3. 广寒光 (徐良&郭静) Guang Hanguang (Xu Liang & Guo Jing)
4. 一念 (栗锦) One Thought (Li Jin)
5. 融化（女生版） (曾咏欣) Melting (Girl Version) (Zeng Yongxin)
6. 融化（男生版） (郑繁星) Melting (Boy version) (Zheng Fanxing)
7. 片尾曲： 月光 (于朦胧) Ending song: Moonlight (Yu Menglong)
This drama honestly had me fooled in the beginning. What started out as being very light hearted slowly evolved into something more serious and profound. The storytelling never became stagnant or monotonous and the evolution was evenly paced. While certain tragic events were used as typical plot devices, they were balanced out by the many meaningful and poignant little moments between the cast, which helped to create greater depth and appreciation for the story. TMBFY is in many ways a pleasant surprise and vastly superior to many so-called Wuxia dramas released this year. Especially with a thrilling climax and overall a happy ending (minus that final piece of tragedy at the end), this show certainly went beyond my wildest expectations!
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The Sound of Wulin with A Lot of Romance
This is a delightful wuxia drama which I almost skipped because I wasn’t very fond of Yu Menglong after The Love Lasts Two Minds. However, the overwhelming positive comments on the MDL page urges me to watch for myself, and I’m glad I did. The storyline of this drama is very typical of the old days wuxia stories whereby wǔ shù (martial arts) practitioners leave their sects and go to the world for experience and do good deeds by helping anyone in need.The Story
This is a story about a very young girl, Zhan Qinghong (Xing Fei aka Fair Xing) leaving her home and sect with her closest friend/maid to see the world. She comes to meet Lin Fang (Yu Menglong) who is the most handsome man in the country. Lin Fang doesn’t date women but somehow he falls head over heels in love with her secretly. For her, she falls in love instead with another man, Wen You (Merxat Yalkun) with whom they have gone through life and death together, helping and saving each other. Their romance continues for more than half of the drama before they separate due to circumstances beyond their control. Zhan Qinghong is devastated but Lin Fang is there with her all the time helping her getting through her pains and heal. She begins to fall in love with him. Together, they discover a greater conspiracy and eventually save the country.
I really enjoy watching wuxia stories like this about wulin, having all wulin virtues and values with “yi chi” as the utmost quality. Many of the wuxia heroes would sacrifice themselves for this virtue. Like the government providing a formal law and order for the country, wulin provides an informal law and order for people in the “jianghu” (pugilist communities). In this story, the flexibility of wulin is interlaced with the discipline of the government military, making it a formidable soldier with an intriguing story of supervillains, ingenious super doctor who can cure anything, mysteries, treason, espionage, conspiracies, battles, and more.
As with many wuxia dramas, the logic and dialogues are at times over-simplistic, shallow and repetitive, and yet, there are moments they are deep, endearing and intelligent, especially when it comes to the principles of sword fighting and the duty of wulin.
The Characters and The Acting
Zhan Qinghong is a forthright, naïve, happy-go-lucky girl with “yi chi” being her main calling. With a pair of forever-wide-open eyes and a frozen smile, Xing Fei’s portrayal is cute at the same time receiving a lot of criticisms from viewers. Despite this (flaw or not), Xing Fei gives the viewers an air of energy and as Zhan Qinghong, with her everything-is-good charisma, she always manages to turn anything bad into good. Together with her best friend maid, they create silly and happy moments, making the viewers laugh out loud; their dynamics are incredible and endearing, and earn the honor of being called stupid and dumb from Huo Yang (Zhang Kaitai). Flanking Lin Fang's side, Xing Fei makes a convincing protector, and her sword fighting choreography is also beautifully executed and very believable.
Lin Fang is an intelligent and meticulous strategic thinker. Having a sickly body due to poor health (he has been poisoned), he doesn’t know any wukong (martial arts), but he understands the principles of wukong as his father was one of the prominent wuxia heroes leading the wulin as its “Mengzhu” (united master). He outwits everyone and becomes the “Mengzhu” himself and has two top fighters, Wen You and Zhan Qinghong, flanking his sides as protectors. I have not been impressed by Yu Menglong because of his poor performance in The Love Lasts Two Minds, but in this drama, he seems to have improved slightly. Perhaps it’s the character that he’s playing, he still seems rather stiff, moving not unlike a robot. Despite this, I still love the Lin Fang character. Though sickly, he’s a mastermind of everything, always a few steps ahead of the antagonists. He feels like Mei Changsu (Nirvana in Fire) without the latter’s charisma. In later episodes, Lin Fang does transform into a more animated person, joking and moving around more freely and naturally.
All the other cast members’ performances are equally good and believable, in particular Tong Chun Yip (aka Kent Tong) who portrays the supervillain Wang Dun and Merxat Yalkun who portrays Wen You, each bringing out life in their characters on the screen.
There are multiple very adorable second couples here, with one couple ends in tragedy. My favorite couple is of course the Huo Yang / Xiao Lan pair with a super handsome cool guy and a direct innocent silly girl. The pair is simply hilarious and brings a lot of colors to the scenes especially when things are going intense.
My Verdict
This is absolutely a very well told story deserves our attention and precious time. It has all the tension and suspense coupled with silly actions and dialogues from the main characters. The cinematography is great and the CGI is convincing. Perhaps the only obvious flaw (among others which I don’t really mind) I find is the attention to details in particular the unmatched wedding gowns worn by our main characters. Overall, this is a very wonderful wuxia story with a lot of romance.
Enjoyable watch. Don't miss it!
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This review may contain spoilers
Hot beginning, cold ending.
This is the kind of drama that angers me the most... it started great, with good dialogs and ideas and the casting was awesome, the fighting scenes were also cool.In the middle of the drama the plot started going astray... I had the feeling they were complicating things so that the drama would get more exciting, but instead it became confusing and boring, with the fastfoward button being my BFF.
By the ending I was totally annoyed. They treated the FL like a dumb little girl that was always excluded from the machinations of her "genius" husband (who loved her so much that he couldn't waste a chance to put her in danger mentally (by lying to her, or blatantly not telling her something important that concerned her) and physically (be it by using her as bait or not includingher in his plots). I mean, everyone thinks he is so smart and stuff but couldn't he talk to his significant other and ASK her opinion? She never got upset (which upseted ME), but I ended up frustrated with her being so mistreated.
Really I couldn't understand why they got something so nice and transformed into a messy plot, with no chemistry between the leads (the second lead was better), and underdeveloped characters.
I was left unsatisfied, so I would recommend you to pass on this one.
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Overall a distinct and a surprisingly good watch
I'm on a binge-watch spree and I've been loving C-dramas.I saw the trailer for this months ago and decided I will not watch it largely because of the comments about Alan Yu's acting. He is one of my favourites, if not my most favourite character in Ten Miles of Peach Blossom along with Zheyan so I was the most surprised when I found out the amount of dislikes towards his acting.
However I noticed how many surprisingly positive comments about the story in general, and his acting, there were in here. And even more surprised and intrigued when instead of going down, the deluge of the positive comments were consistent until the end so I decided to give this a try.
Going into here, it definitely it took me a while to warm up to the characters. Although I liked the general story and character traits, some details took longer to get used to.
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*SPOILERS BEGIN*
First off - there's the classic case in Chinese dramas of the female leads being exhaustively immature and annoying. There is a large difference between being naive and immature. The heroine is playful and outgoing in nature and her character was fun until she came down from the mountains. There, I found her actions really quite stupid and too impulsive for her own good. There were a lot of events that escalated a lot quicker than I could catch on or believe was necessary. A lot of the sequences regarding her actions and reactions were illogical.
Putting up a fight every chance she could get without thought was not attractive even more so when there really isn't a big reason for them. That really turned me off and made me think about dropping the drama.
Fortunately, there was a turning point for her character and the actress really delivered. In fact, she was extremely good on her more emotional scenes and it really pulls you in as a viewer.
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Second, the fight scenes were Impressive. Probably up there with the best ones in that they were choreographed so beautifully and with perfect build up. My most favourite one that showcased this was definitely the fight in Mianyang. Again this time, the female lead delivered with her fight scenes and was convincing in her skills.
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Thirdly, Lin Fang was quietly attractive. At first, I found he lacked that powerful silent charisma this kind of character would usually have and it's one of the reasons I felt fine with the female lead and male lead being together in the beginning. He has however, must have been effective enough to find myself really being attached to his character later on. More than the plot, the main thing I will remember about this drama would be Lin Fang and Qing Hong, the female lead. I really loved the way he silently loved QingHong in his own way. The main scene that stood out for me was when he was helping her tie the knot on the jade heirloom QH wanted to give to Wen Yuan/Zisu as a betrothal gift. It was a subtle but the kind, gentle, loving and at the same time the look of surrender on his face was painful in its own way.
I had no problem with the female lead and second ML getting together (in fact, I was just wanting a storyline like this) but the problem would be the development of the romance between the actual leads. Although there was no doubt later on that she loved Lin Fang, the speed at which she admitted she liked him and forgot about the sml was not convincing. It was rather a lot more of a tell than show. Which was a shame because I feel like it was building up to be quite an angsty love story of does she/does she not love Lin Fang and of how would she show that convincingly enough to leave no one with any doubt. The direction there could have been a lot better and more satisfying.
The end of the feelings between QH and Zisu could have been more solid and clean cut rather than feeling that there were some lingering feelings, which at times felt stronger than QH's love for LF.
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Which leads me on to the next one:
Lin Fang's poison. Again, what a shame and a waste of a good trope. Being poisoned in C-dramas is like amnesia in K-dramas. Cliche but if done well, there really is nothing bad to shout about.
As much as I liked Uncle, the poisoning could have been a good plot device to show more the depth of QingHong's feelings towards LF. I felt like they spent way too long in that place. The way the poisoning cure went felt a bit anti-climactic. It was always shown to be the big, dark cloud over LF's future, only for it to be magically solved away. Those scenes weren't less impressive but definitely not what you'd expect so it kinda fell flat.
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The Princess - the actress who played her has done a good job in still making her look lovable in the end. Did not like how her character was written throughout. She was such a selfish character and so out of touch with everything other than her own feelings that there was nothing to sympathise with her. Even the way Zisu fell in love with her wasn't believable. It sort of just happened when there was nothing lovable about her selfish ways. Definitely no development for her.
The rest of the characters and couples were adorable, especially Wen Rou and Xia Hou Ying. Xia Hou Ying just exudes a natural charisma which makes him so believable as a soldier. And they make such a good couple.
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And ofcourse, the OSTs.
Again, one of my favourite collection of OSTs! Much like with the rest of the drama, I did not expect this to have such good osts. They weren't utilised as much as I would like but they certainly worked when they played in the background. I especially like "Melting" (my favourite!), "Guang Hanguang" and also "Moonlight" which was sang by the male lead.
It felt like the director was quite ambitious in what he wants to portray and you could really see that in certain scenes, especially at the final battle and again in Mianyang. There was a strong message and that was visible in the way they very symbolically placed the dead Wang Dun at the emperor's chair.
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The actors' performance are really one of the strong points in this drama. The amount of illogical actions, plot holes and at times the classic unnecessary deaths were frustrating but these were all covered up nicely by their performance. Especially Zisu, probably the most tragic character in this story also got one of the complete development here. He was devoted and wilful to start with but certainly reacts first before thinking. Later on, he proved to be determined and matured. The final battle showed him in his best form.
My favourite scene of Lin Fang would be at the chess battle. That's one of the best and unpredictable scenes in this drama which was really impressive and made me keep watching. It certainly was also one of the reason I didn't drop this. The contrast between how he and QH reacts towards their child in the end is also one of the best examples of Lin Fang's nature. His quiet and calm disposition really is comforting and confident in a way only he has.
There was so much potential for this to be REALLY good and the actors delivered however, ultimately, the direction mellowed down a little and took it down a notch. It never really built up to the peak I could foresee in the beginning. Still good but less of the promising impression I had at first.
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Like others have pointed out, I didn't expect this to have quite a sombre feel in much of the episodes. Which was fine but the obvious effort to make it a bit more light hearted later on came at the expense of the female lead's evolution. Really loved her at the battle of Mianyang right until they jumped off the cliff, only for her to be back as immature as the beginning episodes. I get it is to show her natural characteristic but some of the lines she had did not come across in a playful, light way as I think they were hoping. They felt a bit more immature more than anything. Although not exactly like the first half, it wasn't a turn around you'd expect.
I'm not going to talk about much of the villain because it was just fine, nothing that's not already been shown in other stories, both in execution and story.
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*END OF SPOILERS*
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Overall, this was a good drama I'm glad I gave a try watching. Above essay is more of a nitpicking just because I felt like it had the potential to be as surprisingly good as Love and Redemption in regards to the overall quality of the story.
Takeaway those nitpickings and this drama is a show to watch and one where you just go with the flow. Taking it for what it is and just enjoying the story. I have certainly been attached to the characters especially to Lin Fang by the end, unexpectedly.
Apparently it is the female lead's first historical which is impressive. I'll be looking forward for more historical dramas with her. Her and Alan Yu has also got a nice chemistry with each other, and it would be interesting to see them together in another historical drama with slightly different relationship dynamics.
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One Of The Best This Year
I almost skip this drama but I am a fan of Alan Yu and decided to watch it. A very well written drama. I fell for it when I watch the first episode and could not stop watching it. A fantasy story with the lead female characters as a wonderful young swordswomen. She is silly and immature but a great martial art fighter and you see throughout the episodes how she matures. I love when they make the female lead strong and with character. The 2 male leads are also very good. You fall in love with both of them. But there are even more characters that you will fall in love in this drama. I love the romance of not only the lead characters but many of the supporting characters had also romance and a story about their life. Throughout the drama every episodes keep you engage in what is going on and all the characters that you meet keep going through each episodes. There are a lot of twist and suspense and great fighting. There is comedy and cuteness in the relationship that is form among friends, brothers and couples. The ending was perfect and does not leave you hanging with any of the characters. Great drama.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A good watch over all. My first time watching Fair Xing in a historical drama and her role here is a mix of playful and serious. I was pleasantly surprised how good she pulled off her role. Now I know she is versatile, she can do cutesy and heavy drama. I also enjoyed watching her action scenes. My first time watching an Alan Yu drama and was wary of the comments about his stiff acting, I guess its true but then it suits his role in this drama. The supporting cast did very well. Production quality is good. I would have given a higher rating if this series was shorter maybe 30 episodes or less. Also needs a bit more romance although the happy ending for the main leads made up for it. Was this review helpful to you?
Contrary to...
Story: very immature, silly and just tiresome FL with great martial arts looking for????? No emotion ML.Acting: just can’t. The one actor as a villain-monkey like was good and had memorable qualities
Music: okay
RW: not ever again
Overall: started and had serious apprehension as to the FL ability to develop. Nope! Sped through the remain eps to say I was generous. Watch at own risk if you like strong women. This impish FL shames them all, sadly. This story felt like a storybook for an child. Thinking the child might even get tired of this story line.
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The good thing is he gets a bit better later on when the relationship with the female lead begins. He loosens up more then apart from just displaying a poker face. But I still feel that he lags behind other actors who have also played cool and stoic roles such as Zheng Ye Cheng in The Sleepless Princess and Allen Ren in Under The Power. They were able to inject more life and nuances into their characters while Alan Yu’s Lin Fang just seems rather bland in comparison.
Chemistry
Qing Long is a lively character and Fair Xing makes it work with her grins and a dash of mischievousness. As opposites attract, a dose of chemistry is automatically generated in Qing Long’s interactions with Lin Fang. As their relationship progresses, the chemistry improves further as the teasings begin and Lin Fang starts taking the initiative for a welcomed change. So, while I don’t quite enjoy Alan Yu’s acting, I can still feel a bit of the chemistry between him and Fair Xing in the drama to make the loving moments watchable.
Generally, Fair Xing has her way of generating the required sparks with her co-stars. She also has a good couple vibe with the male leads in Put Your Head On My Shoulder as well as the more recent My Little Happiness.
A Role Reversal For A Change
Another positive aspect of The Moon Brightens For You is the role reversal of the male and female characters. Typically, it is the male lead who will protect the female lead with his excellent martial arts skills or they are equals at the very least. But in this drama, Lin Fang is weakened by poison and has no martial arts skills while Qing Hong is his protector instead. It is something different from the usual which I think is refreshing for a historical drama.
However, if you are used to the typical heroes and prefer a more macho character, Lin Fang may fall short of your ideals. At times, he may seem useless when being confronted by enemies. His strength lies in his strategic thinking and intellect that has its advantages but he would always be in need of someone to protect him in physical fights.
A Good Number Of Fighting Scenes
Being a wuxia drama, good fighting scenes are necessary to raise the excitement level. In The Moon Brightens For You, there is a sufficient number of such scenes which are well choreographed that should pleased fans of this genre. In fact, the drama has all the hallmarks of a wuxia story with turmoil in the wulin, the fight for a manual with a bit of politics thrown in, the eventual increase in the protagonist’s martial arts skills, and a romance. It does have a good plot to work with and the story does suck you in especially after the first 10 episodes.
What Could Make You Drop This
As mentioned, the male lead’s acting might put some viewers off. If you can’t get used to Alan Yu’s expressionless acting, it is indeed a little difficult to get invested in the story.
On the other hand, if you like to see more of Lin Fang with Qing Hong, it might also annoy you that the romance between Qing Hong and Wen You takes up a big chunk of the drama. You need to have the patience to sit through almost three-quarter of the drama before the relationship of the main couple begins. For me, I’m not watching this for the romance and thus, it is fine with me. But if you are, then you would have to decide if the slow-burn romance of the main couple would be worth the wait.
My Verdict – Watch If You Are A Wuxia Drama Fan
Overall, The Moon Brightens For You is one of the better wuxia dramas for 2020. At the very least, its story and execution is interesting enough to draw viewers in compared to say, And The Winner Is Love. Of course, it won’t be able to match the fighting scenes in the bigger budget wuxia dramas like Heaven Sword And Dragon Sabre. But these scenes are still sufficiently engrossing to me that I’m happy to watch till the end.
Personally, my main complaints about this drama is the slow start-off and Lin Fang’s character. I just find the first dozen episodes to be a tad boring before the story really kicks up in intensity. As for Lin Fang’s character, I’m not too keen that he keeps hiding things from Qing Hong including Wen You’s marriage to the princess. He also hides the fact that he has been poisoned. Hence, I’m not particularly gung-ho about their romance. But then again, I’m not watching this for their love story which makes it easier to sit through.
For this The Moon Brightens For You review, I think a score of 7/10 would be fair. It has its weaknesses and still falls a little short of being a really compelling wuxia drama as the ultimate bad guy and overall direction of the plot is still kind of predictable. Nevertheless, do give it a go as it does have a unique story with some level of suspense.
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Comedy Romance that will brighten your day !!!
Zhang Yan Yan as Qing Hong's mother (Jin Mi's mother on AOL and Chu Xuan Ji's mother on L&R).Huang Hai Bing as Zhan podi = Zhan Qing Hong father (Heavenly Emperor on L&R) :D
Li Xin Ze as Lin Fang foster brother "Gu Yan" (Luo Huo Ji du at L&R) .
Fair Xing portrayed as Zhan Qing Hong a bright, lively and happy girl.
She is a daughter of Zhan Podi, her father work with Lin Fang father. But when Lin Fang father die, Zhan podi went to exclusion with his wife till the election of new director. He sent his daughter Zhan Qing Hong to join the director election where she will meet 2 guys who love her (Lin Fang and Wen You)
Alan Yu portrayed as Lin Fang very well. Lin Fang is the most handsome man in Jun An City.
He like Qing Hong when he saw her at first sight. He secretly protect her with his intelligence.
Sadly he was poison since he was young so he has no martial art. He dare not to confess to her due to his poison.
Lin Fang is always protected by Zhan Qing Hong because she know that Lin Fang has no martial art.
Merxat Yalkun portrayed as Wen You. He is a son of duke and playmate of princess Hua Tao which she like him.
Due to some misunderstanding and after several meet up with Qin hong and somehow both fall in love.
It kinda funny when you see the process when Wen You always protect Zhan Qing Hong and she always protect Lin Fang, so there is a part when Wen You jealous with Lin Fang .
Sadly something big will happen to the Qing hong that will change her love and life.
Will you curious? Well I do curious to see ...
how Lin Fang will have a courage to confess to the Qin Hong
how Lin Fang will cure his poison and reveal his father murder
how eventually Zhan Qing Hong will fall in love with Lin Fang.
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This review may contain spoilers
I started the drama long after it released. However as soon as I started it, I finished it in 4 days. It was such an amazing drama. The storyline, the cast and everything was perfect. A martial arts drama where the main male lead doesn't have any kungfu skills; this was what I liked about it. Even though Lin Fang didn't know how to fight, his tactics and strategies were enough to defeat the evil. Qing Hong was such a cute character as well. She always protected her loved ones but when her parents died, I couldn't have cried more in my whole life. The fact that they showed her leading the army commanders was good because we got to see the full process. One of my favourite parts of the drama (along with many other parts, of course).
Although the main couple's love life started very late, those last episodes were sweet enough to make up for all the time they missed. Even in the starting episodes, their scenes were worth loving.
The maid, Xiao Lan added the fun to the drama and without her I must say the drama could have been a little boring. I was glad they gave us such a character.
I felt a little sorry for Wen You, he shouldn't have died, after so many efforts he finally was happy with his wife yet he died in the end. Another thing I loved was that the main female lead got together with the second male lead at the beginning of the drama. Something we see very less in dramas nowadays.
Overall, I am going to recommend the drama to everyone I meet and I myself will re-watch it several times.
I LOVED IT!!!!!
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is a must-watch
I really love this drama and so I will try my best to not leave any spoiler. This is one one of the best dramas I've ever seen, also as a viewer there wasn't a single moment when I felt bored or felt like skipping a scene or two. Every scene keeps you hooked to the screen and some of them might even give you goosebumps. All the actors have portrayed their characters well, bringing justice to them. Personally I liked the WAR scenes very much. They literally gave me goosebumps. For me its a must-watch if you like to see unexpected things coming all of a sudden.Was this review helpful to you?
Don't miss this gem just because the name is dumb
I have watched A LOT of wuxia C-dramas and this is one of the best I've seen. The story is complete, moving in a logical progression that keeps you interested and finishing with a satisfying ending rather than the choppy, rushed ending that many C-dramas are guilty of. It's a nice balance of suspense-driven action, a decent amount of romance, and some comedy to lighten it up. I personally really liked the set-up of having the martial arts skilled FL act as the protector of the physically weak yet mentally strong and courageous ML; it's a nice complementary relationship. I also really appreciated the artistic shots--just unnecessarily beautiful.As others have said, Alan Yu's character is very subdued for most of the drama, so the chemistry is not where it could have been. But he loosens up a bit in the latter episodes and his teasing of the FL will make you smile.
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