Sword and Fairy (2024)

A journey of group with full of mysteries ...

As this is my first drama which is adapted from a game rather than of a novel , it is a perfect drama in every aspect ...this drama starts from cute and fluffy and is going on a way to angst ...

in this drama there are two people who wake up together after losing their memories with great martial arts powers . one thing i want to clarify is they are not siblings , FL do not remember her surname so ML gives his surname to her ...
so in journey of finding their memories they start to unravel mysteries of martial world and in their way they meet their companions ..

Casting is really great , both xu kai and yu shuxin knows how to express emotions with their eyes , even side characters are showing their ultimate level of acting ...
Double role of Xu kai is the key concept for me in this drama ..

Production - Tencent has done a great work in the production of this drama , set , CGI , dressing everything looks perfect ...

OSTs - as expected the music is the heart of this drama ... after a long time there are such good ost ...

this drama is continuously breaking records in every charts of dramas in china and the upcoming teasers are all more exciting , because many mysteries are ahead of our young heroes .

although i do not want to write review now but because of some haters i have to write this one ...
when this drama ends i will edit this one ...

love for Xu kai and yu shuxin ......

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Where was this Sword and Fairy?

Like the many others I thought that you'd have to watch the other Chinese Paladin series to start this one. Luckily you don't have to do that! The series is based off of video games, and each series pretty much stands alone.

This adaptation of Chinese Paladin 6 is called Sword and Fairy, and weirdly enough it's airing at the same time of another Chinese Paladin series. Between the two I chose to watch this one because of Xu Kai,

It's not extraordinary (but it had the makings of a fantastic drama. At the beginning drama is fun and not too dense with mellow, and I can go either way honestly. I like a lot of different dramas and was skeptical because of the wondrous nature of this one. A handful of episodes in and I'm buying into how the world works and where the drama seems to lead. Which is an interesting place considering its main premise is surrounding a looming disaster brought by a demon lord that may or may not be our FL? What is even better than that is the cult that worships this Lord Ming and hilariously mistaken our FL, Qi, played by Esther Yu, as this demon lord. So her and her sworn brother (lol not buying that) are in the middle of it all trying to reclaim their (mainly Qi's identity). Surely enough handfuls of more episodes and there is a lot I can't buy into so easily. I think the show started being bad when a certain someone found out their origins. Then it was a lot of back and forth between two settings and not a lot of organic sets. I am someone that is more into real life settings and weather and etc.

I haven't seen anything like it honestly. It's unique with the costumes, and especially the dynamic between the FL and the ML. Qi is very dumb and I see the complaints about the dubbing and the 'annoying' voice, but be serious with yourself on this. This character only knows three years of life other than a reoccurring dream. She is naive and how she sounds equals to that, I have always been wary of Esther Yu because of the voice but why? It works so well here and she is hilarious. She doesn't phone in what she is playing and make it annoying, she has charm and the acting chops to fill in many diverse roles and funny and naive ones alike. Xu Kai who plays the ML, Jin Zhao, isn't as naive as her, but they are both as unfortunate honestly. They both know nothing about their whereabouts, other than that they woke up together so that makes them to be born on the same day. He is protective of her and just as skeptical as anyone that wants anything to do with her. I am loving the dynamic between them, their teasing is great to watch and that makes me excited for a potential romance at the beginning slowly falls into a mess. Their relationship isn't developed and instead you watch the other characters and their relationships. I really didn't get what I bargained for.

The mystery behind the leads is interesting, as. you don't know exactly what the two even are. Are they human? Demon? Are they bound by fate? Again, I don't know how the Chinese Paladin series really work, but I see a lot of fights, characters, and wonder if it will get heavy into plot or if they will just go place to place. The latter is what happens.. honestly a mix of both. It is hard to take seriously at times with how fake everything looks.. the effort is there but it just overall seems cheap by the end of 36 episodes.

I think about what the drama is trying to accomplish and rate based on that. So if this drama is appealing to the demographic in China it is doing very well. People are happy and better than that, this drama has been acknowledged by one of the producers from the source material. So that alone tells me it is doing something right.

Although upon watching the whole series it seems I am asking myself... what really happened? What was the point? All of these pretty faces in this drama can't amount to anything if they are barely in it by the time the series ends. Xu Kai and Esther Yu are still great.. but unfortunate.

There is a lot of what I care about and nothing of what I do. So that is really less Xu Kai and more side characters. The chemistry between the leads is the best it can do I guess.. but it's not electric when comparing to much better dramas with much better performances. It is due to the script.. because I know the leads have it in them. This story is just convuluted. There is so much happening and it is hard to keep up, but it is pretty entertaining. In the end I am wishing for more stories with more heart. This one was just a video game adaptation, that really didn't have its own unique narrative to tell. There was only so much that could happen and in the end it was pretty stale.. but it had Xu Kai and I love him to death.

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Loving It

The Well Blended adventure plot and Romance subplot captivated me.

Xu Kai and Yu Shuxin have chemistry no doubt. It is that I wonder if Luo ZhaoYan and Yue Qi if this is in an GL line. The chemistry of the two characters is captivating although they have different love line which is also makes me feel giddy, hahaha. The characterization is perfect.
Cutie girl with Strong Fighting Skills x Dignified Master who pretend as a guy.
I'm fond of the two actress.

Back to the review, The show is comedic and you will not get bored. The 1st episode for me is captivating that you want more episodes.

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Dramas are an escape from the reality not a tool to express your jealousy

I want to start saying that I don’t watch a lot of dramas in general , but sometimes when life becomes a bit hard a like to watch dramas that makes me escape the reality and for me this drama became really fast my comfort show because for me watching a drama ( whatever genre it is ) is a good thing to do when you feel unhappy, for there, in a drama, you may find encouragement and comfort. And S&F its just like that, i really like the chemistry between the leads, i love how the characters are presented and I especially love the beautiful landscapes that are shown and especially in the episode 6, and i am positive that as the story progresses we will see even more captivating things. As for the acting, I love how both leads act, they are really natural and their chemistry is through the roof, but then again i feel like Yu shuxin has chemistry with everyone, she just have that talent, same with Xu Kai.
I will write another review in the end.

So to the people that are just not grown up enough to be sincere please at least be grown up
To not leave negative comments and reviews without even watching it and leave your jealousy aside and move on!

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" If I am a Weapon, only you can be my Swordsman "

'Sword and Fairy' as a drama, delivers deeper thoughts than it appears on the surface. The characters are deep and complex with an integration of different backgrounds, thoughts and emotions. No matter how different their paths maybe, even if the ending is controlled by fate, they are still willing to overcome the obstacles together, because, there are greater goals to live and die for.
Unlike other wuxias, the drama doesn't really start with a backstory, so viewers may find it confusing. But I won't label it as confusing because the story actually follows the journey of exploring the backstory, the reasons of where they are today.
Still, I will be stating a little bit of introduction ( typically things you need to know) first, before going to review.

- The story basically follows Yue Jinzhao and Yue Qi, two amnesic orphans (NOT SIBLINGS) who neither remember their past, nor their roots were stranded in Wuyan Village 3 years ago. Unaware of their past, both orphans found solace in each other's presence, being emotionally bound, to the point that they could not live without each other. The duo set off on a journey to find their roots and their identity. On their voyage, they encounter evil sect 'Qiyuan sect' who try to scam them. In the process for seeking justice from Qiyuan sect, they discover that the sect may be way more complicated than just scamming. This sect may also hold secrets to their past and origin.

That was an extremely brief introduction, cause anything more than that could be a potential spoiler.
The drama has wholesome level of ANGST, no misunderstandings, and great potential TEARJEARKER!
The main leads are extremely dependent on each other, being each other's support for 3 years, they have grown a level of trust and maturity that no external forces can break.
The angst basically occurs due to the common troupe of 'sacrifice for the better world'. And ofc to protect the world, sacrifices are inevitable. Letting go of somethings are bound to happen. But there are too many sacrifices, too many to bear.

The first half of the drama brews the beautiful relation, friendship, romance, and memories to ensure worser heartbreaks, y'all HEARTBREAKS (plural) in latter half of the drama. So prepare your tissues.
Once again, the start of the drama may not be everyone's cup of tea as I mentioned before, afterall we are so used to knowing the background story in the very first episode before the main story starts, especially in wuxias. But this drama is instead about unraveling the background, the back story, cause we have two amnesic youth who have no idea about their history. Since the journey follows them finding clues to their identity, we know the story only when these two characters unravel them. So this has good amount of mystery too.

Its particularly saddening to certain extent because even the villains have a sad backstory, and so you cannot even hate them. Because their backstory and dark past are gonna rip you off everytime you are about to label them as 'black characters', yet at the end these VILLAINS are the ones who were the most SELFLESS ones from the begining. That is why, the characters are way MORE DEEP and COMPLEX than you could think.
All ' stranded threads' that you encounter in the first half of the story will be woven in the end. Everything will be in place by the end of the story.
This plot of this drama does a lots of play with emotions, so if you are able to figure out the backstory and emotions of the characters, you would actually realise that the plot and emotions run too deep. So you need to keep constant track on the dialogues, understand the meaning and emotions the every sentence represents. We gotta remember the fact that most main characters are basically in their 20s or even younger. They are forced to grow up lonely facing the antics of the society. So it has good integration of thoughts of both old age and young age, making the younger characters appear more mature than their mindset at that age should be.

I personally found the plot quite engaging, especially, since we had little bit introduction of every character posted by other fellow viewers ( I will write up the character introduction in the end), so it made my understanding of every characters' emotions very clear. The past titbits of memories, the timing of unraveling a particular mystery were well timely inserted. The pacing of story was quite good. The cgi wasn't the best, considering the fact that it's a tencent drama, but it has done a way better job than some of its last dramas. Besides the plot and the acting actually makes the CGI problem pretty much unnoticeable, and tbh it's not even that of a major issue, tho- I would label it as, has a room for improvement, since it wasn't the best.

The OSTS are beautiful, like so beautiful and once again, very well timed, earning brownie points to the scenes.
This drama, it's TOO BEAUTIFUL, and leaves too deep IMPRESSION, so do not miss it! You will definitely not regret watching!
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Now, let's go for a CHARACTER INTRODUCTION ( no spoiler, but I feel you may find it necessary to understand their emotions and thoughts better)

1) Yue Jinzhao - He is a mature thinking and decision maker when it comes to the Yue pair. He has great thinking cognitive skills. But he actually very careful and doesn't trust anyone except Yue Qi.

2) Yue Qi - basically has great IQ, but 3- year old EQ. She may be naive and have childlike thoughts but definitely not on spoilt side, but she is quite thoughtful and straightforward. She values friendship and relations a lot. She appears to be adorable and cute softie, but is quite sharp, strong and powerful. Latter episodes reveal that she is probably stronger than Jinzhao. She is dependent on Jinzhao, when it comes to decision making and taking sides. She trusts Jinzhao more than anyone else and is always willing to Jinzhao.

3) Bi Luohuan - mysterious complicated character? Let's unravel what secrets does his character holds. He basically seems very engaged with the life of Yue-pair, especially Yue Qi?

3) Luo Zhaoyan - A woman dressed on man's cloth. She is an upright head of the family. She puts protection of the people and sacrifice for people above anything else. She is always considerate of others even if that causes neglection of her own happiness. Bound by the curse ' Luo family twin's death, she holds many secrets and complicated emotions'.

4) Xian Qing - A thousand year old wolf demon. Demons are not really favoured in the world of chaos, so he faces lots of struggles in the journey.

5) Ming Xiu - has a dark past, hence she hates demons, but she trusts Xian Qing, since he is her master's friend. Growing up lonely with only her master around, she is emotionally very dependent on her master and doesn't like to approach people. She appears very cold and distant.

6) Ju Shifang - An orphan, who lost his parents at an young age. His mother was a well-known genius in gadgets and mechanics, so he has always lived with the motto, to learn his mother's skill, protect his mother's only gift for him ( DouBao), continue a hierarachy and be a hero who is respected by people, because he has always been neglected and looked down upon, since an young age.
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ENDING: (spoiler)
The ending, I personally feel is very satisfying. It leaves us with a message:
" No matter what fate holds for us, in the end, we are still destined to meet "
It is beautiful and leaves a deep impression, basically a happy ending, but in a different way.
They meet again and fall for each other again. But this time, not as a swordsman and a weapon fated with a short life with heavy responsibilities to protect people, instead as normal humans with emotions, feelings and freedom to live and love like normal folks, a carefree life.
So I would conclude it as a happy ending, I mean compared to them forcibly growing up and maturing, and leading rest of their life in such 'sacrifice for the world' like motto, isn't this a better ending. This time they can live a carefree life. No need to care about responsibilities of people, of the world. Just themselves in their own little world filled with peace and happiness.

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Solid Start, But Loses Momentum Midway!

Starts off with a lot of hype—Xukai and Esther Yu are awesome as leads, and the whole mystery with amnesiac Yue Qi and Yue Jin Zhao has you hooked at first. The action scenes and the story's vibe are pretty solid too.

But honestly, as the episodes go on (and there are 36 of them), it starts to drag. The whole "who am I?" search for the male lead gets kind of old, and by the end, I was really hoping for a bigger payoff. The ending felt a bit flat after all that build-up.

That said, the actors are great, and the soundtrack totally adds to the mood, especially if you’re into the LBFAD vibe. The character dynamics are hit or miss—some might find Yue Qi’s personality a bit much, but her growth is cool to see. Xukai’s double role was interesting, but it didn’t feel like they made the most of it.

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From A Non Gamer/Actor's Fan Perspective: One of the Better Xuanhuan Out There

I don't play Chinese Paladin games and don't remember watching any other drama/movie live adaptation of the installments. Although I watched several of Xu Kai's and Yu Shu Xin's dramas, I cannot regard myself as their fan. Since I mostly watch Chinese dramas more than dramas from other countries anyway, I would eventually see their dramas. Thus, this can be called a bystander's perspective as to why I rated this drama a 10 (without detailing the aspects, the spoiler is only for the drama ending, scroll to the bottom of the review)

1. Xuanhuan is always (more) fun to watch, as long as the screenwriter does a good job writing the script

This drama is a xuanhuan. According to the MDL tag definition, xuanhuan means: "Mysterious Fantasy. A broad genre of fictional stories which remixes Chinese folklore/mythology with foreign elements and settings." It's slightly different than xianxia, which MDL describes as: "A Chinese martial arts novel genre developed from the wuxia genre that is heavily influenced by Taoism and Buddhism. The literal meaning of xianxia is 'immortal hero'. It's essentially a 'fantasy-fied' version of Wuxia: with magic, demons, immortals, and cultivation." Therefore xuanhuan dispenses the Taoism and Buddhism elements. Therefore imo, xuanhuan is more fun the watch than xianxia and wuxia, because it has more freedom in creating the world and culture of the clans, including their unique artifacts (costumes, weapons, magical items, etc).

There is a condition that a xuanhuan is entertaining to watch, as long as the screenwriter does a good job transforming the original version into a script. Since this is based on an RPG game, not a novel or manhua which details the plot and conversations, the screenwriter has to create rich plots, subplots, and dialogues to make the drama entertaining to watch from the beginning to the end. A satisfactory ending (I will spoil it at the end of the review) makes me rate the drama higher than a non-satisfactory ending.

Broad creativity in xuanhuan plot requires watchers to pay attention to the names and terms, as you may not seen them anywhere else before. Since I watched it while it's currently airing, it's easy for me to get information in the comment section. There is also the drama's discussion forum section that details some aspects if you're lost in the comments section since the drama has finished airing now.

There is also a synopsis based on the game in Wikipedia which gives details of the game to give a broad understanding. Of course, as usual, the drama plot is different than the game plot:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Sword_and_Fairy_6

2. Deep friendship/found family is crucial along an arduous journey

Since this is based on an adventure RPG game, it's necessary to create a group of companions (characters) with each strengths and weaknesses teaming up to face whatever they'll encounter along their journey (game). I always loved deep friendships in dramas, which even became a found family. Close bonds of friendship in a drama always leave special marks in my heart to give an extra point when rating a drama.

I also think that the casting of the protagonists of this drama befits the characters. Besides Xu Kai and Yu Shu Xin, I watched Fu Xin Bo (as Xian Qing), Wan Peng (as Zhao Yan), Bai Bing Ke (as Ming Xiu), and Zhou Zhan (as Shi Fang) before. The drama gives enough background and stories for the other leading characters as well.

3. Pure and cute Romance with great chemistry that does not overwhelm the main adventure plot

I'm not sure if the game contains romance as well, but romance is an important aspect of the drama, it's not overwhelming or takes over the adventure plot in which the group embarks on a journey with various missions.

Xu Kai and Yu Shu Xin did a great job portraying the non-blood-related siblings Yue Jin Zhao and Yue Qi. From the bonding of siblings, because they found themselves without family members or background memories to remember their families, to the intimacy of lovers, the actor and the actress exude an overflowing chemistry. This is commendable, considering that they have never collaborated before.

4. Xu Kai acting as a doppelganger Jin Zhao and Bian Luo Han

I don't want to describe much about Bian Luo Han, only that he is a mysterious character to discover in the drama. Because Yue Jin Zhao and Bian Luo Han are lookalikes, Xu Kai played both characters but with different personalities. Jin Zhao is an extroverted teenager with high spirits and energy. Bian Luo Han is an older character, introverted, quiet, and mysterious (while wearing a mask in many scenes). There is a particular scene later in the drama in which Jin Zhao and Bian Luo Han (without a mask) have a heart-to-heart talk, and I could see the differences between both personalities, although they are played by the same actor!

5. The cinematography and details of props

Places in xuanhuan dramas more likely have more colorful costumes, props, and sets than places in xianxia dramas (mostly consist of heavenly realm, demon realm, mortal realm). Since the group go to different places during their journey, we got to see intricate designs of each places. My favorite place is The Sea of Clear Skies with all its beautiful oceanic-theme designs and architectures. Yue Qi particularly looks very pretty with costumes from that place!

6. OST

As usual, OST in Chinese costumes drama deliver. My favorite in the opening theme "Miracle" sung by Taiwanese duo of brother and sister JS (an abbreviation of their names Justin and Sophia), and the insert song "Resonance" sung by none other than king of OSTs Zhou Shen. Yu Shu Xin, as usual contributed OSTs songs in her dramas, this time she sang "Pray" and "Hope".

7. The satisfactory ending (Scroll below for the spoiler. Otherwise, you can stop reading here 😊



























Yue Jin Zhao dies at the final battle. Yue Qi goes to Dragon Pool to exchange life with him. Before she did, Guardian Ying Xu Wei also went to Dragon Pool to exchange life with Yue Qi, as he felt guilty of the Yue's sacrifice. Sometime in the future, Jin Zhao is reborn and walks in the midst of crowd. He overhears a storyteller told about the bravery of some Mr Ju (who is Shi Fang, died in a battle). Shi Fang apparently is reborn, running as a child and bumps into the blind Ming Xiu. 'Jin Zhao' (not sure what his name now) help them up. Ming Xiu seems familiar hearing his voice but he said he never met her before. Ming Xiu is on her way to reunite with the two long time friend Zhao Yan and Xian Qing, who are now a couple. 'Jin Zhao' walks further and passing 'Yue Qi' who is holding a sugar candy with a goldfish design and a dandelion. Both wears the half size of fish pendant, a gift of their birthday as seen in the first episode. Yue Qi brought both the pendant pieced to Dragon Pool during the life exchange. The pendant pieces they wore touch each other that creates the resonance (explained further in the drama) and cause the dandelion to disintegrate. 'Jin Zhao' and 'Yue Qi' are in awe watching that. Although they walk away, since they're basically strangers, in the end the resonance seems to attract them to stop and look back at each other and smile. It's like fall in love at first sight.

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My first game drama..

This is my first drama which is based on game, and I am more than happy that I started watching this one...
I do not want to talk about story because there are many mysteries which are still unsolved...
But I want to clarify that our leads are not real siblings they just share the common surname..

Oats of this drama are very emotional ND very pleasant to ears...
Production of the drama is also very high quality ..set, costume , CGI are all top notch ...this time tencent has spent a lot of money on this drama...
If there is no restriction from government they will highly promote this drama and this drama break all the heat indexes and many more records ...
Must watch drama from tencent...

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Drama is confusing. Initially, it seemed like the female protagonist was sent to resolve the conflict between the Devil and humans on her own, but unexpectedly, a male protagonist joined her. However, this male character had a dual role - one as her lover and the other as her master, complicating the storyline. Despite his love for her (her master), his role was ultimately sacrificed, leaving me puzzled. I anticipated that both characters would merge into one, but the conclusion revealed they were distinct individuals. Overall, I'm dissatisfied with the ending and strongly disagree with it.
I shipped the second leads especially the female lead.

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Six youths on a self-discovery journey with romance, friendship & adventure

This drama is about two non-biological orphans who have lost their memories and together investigate their origin. Alongside their journey, join them four newfound friends who’s backstories are also explored. The drama is a mix of mystery and adventure with romance as the main focus.

All Sword and Fairy dramas are stand alone, they take place in the same world but have different stories. This drama is based on a video game of the same name thus the atmosphere feels quite different from the usual wuxia cdramas (in fact I believe it’s xuanhuan genre). The costumes and set designs do reminisce a video game vibe but in a pleasantly good way.

The best thing about this drama is hands down the main six characters. All of them have distinct personalities that make them stand out but at the same time they all work well together as a team. This is one of those rare dramas where I absolutely loved all six main characters, all six backstories, all of their romantic stories and how their friendship as a group was portrayed. All of them brought a great depth to the story and their character development was fantastic to watch.

POSITIVE:
- Top-notch romance. The love stories are the main focus so expect lots of cute romantic scenes. If you are a hopeless romantic you will love this for sure.
- All six main characters are well written with an intriguing past, romance and great character arcs.
- All couples have fire chemistry. They are different and yet exciting to watch (if you are a romance lover).
- Friendship group that you fall in love with. They fight together and sacrifice for each other. You can’t help but love them.
- Love triangle (hear me out), that’s done well. We all hate love triangles but this is probably the only one where you root for both equally. And it’s because the male lead and second male lead are both played by the same actor.
- Xu Kai (male lead) did not disappoint. Yet again I loved his acting performance. He played two different characters so well.
- Besides the two main leads, the four other cast members blew me away with their performance too and their presence elevated the plot.
- Mystery plot line was done well + the suspense vibes were on point.
- Biggest plot reveal is complex and yet explained very well and shown in the drama in great detail (which I really appreciated).
- Many twists and turns that kept the story engaging.
- Second couple stole my heart. They had lots of screen time and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

NEGATIVE:
- Second half of the drama lost my interest and the emotional impact was reduced. I easily cry and yet I didn’t shed a single tear during any of the emotional scenes towards the end.
- Final villain was very boring to watch. I always believe that good stories require intriguing villains and this one was NOT it. The final fight scenes were also quite lacklustre to watch.
- Cliche ending that I’ve seen in way too many cdramas at this point + I didn’t fully like how it was executed.
- Plot felt a bit all over the place at times.

OVERALL:
If you are looking for a drama with tons of romance, lovely friendship and well written main character arcs + adventure and mystery vibes, watch this drama now.

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