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The Legend of Shen Li chinese drama review
Ongoing 24/39
The Legend of Shen Li
9 people found this review helpful
by cornbread
Mar 30, 2024
24 of 39 episodes seen
Ongoing
Overall 10
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0

The Gold standard for mythology inspired dramas

I couldn't hold myself back from writing this review. I started watching this drama as a FILLER while I waited for some kdrama. I don't care about the kdrama anymore because this xianxia has exceeded my expectations in every way.
1) Acting - if you have cringed at some highly marketed xianxia with actors selling eccentricism and loudness as "good acting", this drama is for you. Both the leads have made the characters extremely believable and have picked up the nuances so well. They are SEASONED actors ! By that, I simply mean, they know a lot more than screaming to show great pain, widening their eyes to show anger and staring into each other's eyes to show love. Its a treat to watch them. As for the side characters, many of them are exceptional actors while some are slightly weaker but serve their purpose (comical). IF FU RONG WANTS A LAWYER FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE...I am available!

2) Story - Its surpassed any mythology inspired chinese (and korean) dramas I have seen. Many dramas have used similar tropes but they failed to do justice to it like this drama does. They let the story breathe in the beginning and take time with character introduction of the FL but manage to not make it boring. The female lead is ferocious yet very level headed. As for the ML, his complex character is introduced a few episodes later and kept slightly simpler as we are focusing on the FL's journey in the beginning. This God needs to write a book called "HOW TO BECOME A GREAT GOD" and that is all I will say about him. The side characters also had interesting arcs but never overshadowed the main story. The politics between the realms (which is the boring part of xianxias in general) is surprisingly engaging here and serves as a perfect tool to move the story forward. The romance is THE SLOW BURN kind of romance but I wouldn't have preferred it in any other way.The writers did a great job.

3) Music : They have used elements of chinese folk music and that's my favorite. The flute music is quite beautiful as well. There's a perfect description of the flute music in the drama which I won't spoil for you. If the story is a bowl of ramen, the music is MSG.

4) SPECIAL EFFECTS - This is where I will give it a 5/10 but that's because I am comparing it to some movies and high budget shows. For a chinese wuxia, its pretty good. This would have reached a much larger global audience had the CGI been great.

overall, its a great drama and I highly recommend it. I wish to add a few more points but I shall have to wait for it to end which will be a bitter sweet experience regardless of the happy/sad ending.
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