The Legend of Shen Li (2024)

THIS ISN'T LIKE THE BREAKTHROUGH PRINCESS AGENT

Of course this isn't. So far, this isn't amazing drama, it is an okey drama. Nothing spectacular like we anticipate it, the anticipation of being a great drama like Princess Agent. Story about Gods and Devils are overused - nothing original synopsis - we have watched hundreds of similar Xian xia genre C-drama before. As I would hope this's another great saga famously known Princess Agent, unfortunately not even close.

ShenLi or Gen Bi Chang (Zhao Li Ying) run away from arranged-marriage to earth, chose to fight for her freedom rather than accept the match. Sustaining injuries, ShenLi reverts to her original form and falls into the human world as a phoenix where she is picked up by a mortal vendor and sold as a plucked chicken at a local human market to Xing Zhi (Lin Geng Xin). With that little purchase, Xing Zhi inadvertently intertwined his fate with ShenLi. She didn't know Xing Zhi real identity, he's a God who descendant to earth for divinity as a weak mortal. He's born as a man who could predict future, many people came to see him for his vision, Shen Li involved in his life and willing to protect him from those who tried to do harm. Shen Li fallen in love but she knew they won't have future together as one was immortal and the other was just a mortal. As she got a calling back to immortality, she's gone.

Positive note: It looks like a big budged production, CGI works better than usual/generic Xian Xia C-drama. I love the opening credit, love the opening chorus.

Negative note: ** It's weird acting when they're up close staring each other without so much emotional attachment, no tenderness & sincerity in their eyes. ** 35-36 yo Lin Geng Xin were awkward act cute like a little boy "awww...awww...it's hurt". ** Xian Xia drama - God & Devil story's been used many times over, no originality in whole production. **At some point he'd bend his knee to get close to her face.

Ep 12 decided to drop it. It's over advertised..

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My favourite xianxia to date

I gave this straight 10s. Is it a perfect drama? No, of course not, no drama is. But I felt that if any deserves a perfect score, it's this one.

Everything about it was top-notch, from production to acting and chemistry not only between the leads, but between the whole crew. No bullshit misunderstandings which plague this genre usually, and we even get to see the wuxia kryptonite in action - a very satisfying ending.

Although the cinematography and choreography are close to perfect, the real engine behind the high quality of this series are the characters. Although there is a plot about saving the world and whatnot (as you would expect from a xianxia), this is a story about two people: the feisty and straightforward FL and the cunning and shameless ML. Everything gravitates around them, willingly or unwillingly.

That is not to say that the supporting characters are weak or irrelevant, almost all of them show great growth during this drama, some even jump from unlikeable and straight-up villains to fan favorites.

I don't want to say more, to avoid spoilers, but you should give it a go, if this genre interests you. I dare say that you won't regret it!

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Best Xianxia of 2024

Probably one of the best Xianxia in terms of production value and acting. Shen Li (Zhao Li Ying) has one of the most badass portrayal of FMC I have ever seen. I would love to just watch 39 ep of her going through waves of enemies. The Romance is also very satisfying and well paced contrary to other popular Xianxia.
Both the Female and Male MC's are comparatively more mature than traditional portrayals. They felt like actual long lived immortals and not just overgrown children. Although the story is simple still the visuals make for a great rewatch value.
Overall the drama is treat for Romance and Fantasy lovers.

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Engaging but not as good as expected

Story:
In my opinion, the story of this drama felt little bit flat. The strong point is the characters. The main characters personality is very strong, both of them and they are very likeable. They are powerful, dominant yet vulnerable at the same time. I found the conflict in this drama is rather absurd, was not developed well enough. And the ending... though I craved more romantic scenes, the ending felt more like an extra than a part of the whole story.

Acting:
Although the chemistry between Zanillia Zhao and Lin Gengxin is cute and addictive (their look also give a huge reason why I shipped them so much), I think their acting in this drama are little awkward. Too many blank stare at each other. I haven't watched their other dramas except Princess Agents which they also collaborated as main characters, but I thought the chemistry in that drama was better than this. Maybe the blank stares are supposed to make the romantic scene more dramatic, however too much portion make this drama feel dragged. I never read the source novel, but I guess this drama supposed to be a fantasy romance drama. Yet in the romantic scenes, somehow I felt the two lead actors were holding their emotions. Zanillia's eyes expression need more improvement.

Music:
I love the music, it gave the scenes more depth either in the battle scenes or the romantic scenes.

Overall:
I enjoyed this drama so much but not loved it. I also thought this drama is a quiet satisfying answer for Princess Agents's couple shipper since it has the ending. I wish they will collaborate again in the future, either in costume drama or modern one.

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entertaining but a little long

I loved the story that has a lot of unique aspects. I loved the way they depicted gods and the graduation of powers down to basic humans. I loved the fact that everyone is depicted with flaws, even gods. I loved how complicated it was from the beginning to the end, while watching it I remembered the first scenes and thought "so many things happened and now the story is completely different". but some development took a little too much time.

when to watch: if you have a lot of time ahead, you wont regret it. it's very long so manage your time so you won't miss your sleep time.
audience: I think it could be better to watch after some maturation. there is also some violence so I'd say not under 18; and if you do some cultivation, it'll be interesting to watch again after you mature on your 40's. life and death matters are easier to understand when you have encounter it in your own life.

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Brilliant drama with great actors

I love this drama. Although I was a little confused by the beginning (first few minutes) and the mediocre sound quality on Youtube (background sounds are way too loud), I became addicted in no time.

Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin really rule this drama. They play quirky characters that will stay in your head after watching the drama. And the chemistry on screen is just fantastic! Personally, I'm also glad that it's a drama with two great actors in the lead roles who are not teenagers, because you can tell that they have experience and acting skills that some protagonists in C dramas sometimes lack.

The plot is really intricate, but not too complex to make you lose track. And what I also love is that there is not a single flat character. All characters undergo a certain development or have some surprises in store for you.

Really, this is one of the best Chinese dramas I have seen in a long time! And now go an watch it ;)

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Another C-drama i am dropping this year! what is happening in C-dramaland!?

Sooo where do i start? yes i am about to rant.

1- The first scenes were a huge dissapointment for me, like damn give us some nice CGI.

2- I really couldn't feel the chemistry between the leads and that is the reason why i am dropping this drama, i mean the plot was nothing new (the same plot that has been used and re-used several times lol) and at this point so many things didn't make sense to me (Was i surprised no lol, at least the romantic part could have saved it for me).

3- I don't recommend it, there are better dramas out there, no need to waste your time watching this, hence the rating.

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More of the same

Let me start out by saying that the synergy between the ML and FL was amazing, just the way he challenged her and looked at her was convincing enough to assume they could be on a certain level in a real life romance ( Not likely however ) . That being said, here we go.....

One of the silliest and ridicules drama series I've ever watched and no, I couldn't take anymore past ep 21. I understand that this type of television program is carefully crafted and engineered to cater to a specific audience complete with the overdone music queuing every two minutes in order to manipulate the viewers emotions and that's fine if you like this sort of thing but please stop tagging these series as wuxia, they have absolutely nothing to do with martial heroes. I've made the same statements about other series as well.

I really do like Zhao Li Ying and I get that she helped produce this but stories like this are not only becoming unbearably common but they are also becoming increasingly annoying and predictable. Now lets break it down a bit from the perspective of who would have an interest in this.

We have another super female lead who want's to act like a man, lead the troops, kicks everyone's ass and assumes authority in everything, out drinking with the soldiers and basically putting herself in every situation that involves being one of the guys.

The entire theme of this series is , I am Super Woman. But it doesn't stop there because she's also so amazing that she has the number one general ( who is clearly younger than her ) pining away after her, pouting and acting jealous toward other men, confessing to her while she snubs him so on and so forth. But , that's not enough because the supreme god of the universe is also in love with her lol. and of course he should be the one because no one else is good enough for Super Woman.

Wow she's just so amazing and sadly so unbelievable at the same time. But this is why these stories have to take place in a fantasy themed world as it is because lets face it , men in real life aren't attracted to women that act like men and while the writer has created some interesting works in the past like " The Legends " for example, the ever popular strong female lead theme is getting played out to the point of being silly.

I love a strong female lead and love them even more if they're displaying amazing fighting skills but this " I can do anything a man can do and do it better" is just not providing anything positive to the audience. I mean the FL was really the only man in the story, I literally had to stop watching when all of the soldiers got on their knees and started crying in front of her.

So the difference between this kind of industry cheese and and an actual story that has depth and meaning to it is becoming increasingly clear the more I come across these mediocre television programs. Guys, you can do better. Just ask yourself one question, why have Jin Yong's works been adapted relentlessly time and time again even up to this day. I love the wuxia world and to me the wuxia world is historical but also timeless. Go watch "I am nobody " and figure it out.

In which case, I'll leave this mediocrity to those who are better suited for it.

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TBH I don’t know what I was expecting.

First off not a huge fan of ZLY. I could never get into any of her other dramas other than the one with FSF. However, I tried to like this one due to people being happy she was back with Kenny. Since her princess agents days. But, man I dropped this drama at episode 14. I got tired of the back and forth with both leads, the comedy. There were times when it was too much giggles and humor moments than storytelling. Some of the characters were uninteresting mostly the leads. I only liked the Mo guy who was her second in command and the heavenly grandson. Both were a joy. The highlight for me was them and the music score as it was pretty good. Especially with Liu Yuning singing OST. How can it not be. Would I watch it again. Yes, but for only 1-14 or maybe less than that. Happy for those who loved it but this wasn’t my cup of tea. Not sure when I’ll be able to love a ZLY drama.

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Another disappointing series from this girl..

Another disappointing series from this girl... Not sure on how 8.6 ratijng can come... both look old.. so even the charm factor is missing and bad storyline....Stopped watching at the end of 3rd episode
Issues of this show - in the first 3 episodes, a formidable general who is feared by immortals decides to fight because she is forced into marriage..... Wow .. so what's the point of immortal world...we should call it a demon world ... So lets say its demon world and this girl who is awesome falls in love with a very weak Hero character because he can cook well and ... Give me a break... Is she an idiot that's one of the most formidable character in Immortal realm... when you say someone is God like character - please work on your script... to make them look smart... A weak hero is not your answer but someone is wise or powerful enough .. waste of money in graphics and actors compensations

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