The young may enjoy this.

This drama was produced over a decade ago. It is high quality for its time. I think young people would love this story as it is highly idealistic and portrait a bunch of young high-spirited lovely people setting on a journey to discover the world, and finding the love of their lives.

This is the first drama Hu Ge acted in. I must say he was good but he has got better over time. His acting in later years was outstanding as shown in Nirvana in Fire and Sound of the Desert - his portrayal of emotions was heart-wrenching. By comparison to his later Chinese dramas, this is more of the older wuxia story and style - entertaining but does not show much depth.

I think a young cast set it back as the expression of emotions is rather superficial and does not bring out the emotional reaction in me. However, young viewers may like it more as the young good-looking heartthrobs (at that time) are definitely appealing.

However, if you have not watched the newer epic Chinese drama production, you may still appreciate and enjoy this, and be less critical.

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If you are into romance stories, this is a must-watch.

Wow... An amazing combination of romance, wuxia and fantasy, this is a must-watch. I place this drama in the same league as Ten Mile Peach Blossom.

The story development was filled with twists, turns and revelations throughout. The double twists in the ending were both heart-wrenching and beautiful. The script writer did an excellent job with the ending. I am a sucker for the underdog - for the couple who had gone through so much denial and trials... I shall not reveal too much of it. I felt really good after watching it and highly recommend it.

I love the music pieces especially the ending theme song, and the instrument pieces written for the zither and harp. The instrument music is very calming and the ending theme song is very sentimental.

And of course, the dashingly handsome Wallace Huo definitely mesmerises. He looked so cold throughout the drama until towards the ending when he broke down and a torrent of other emotions emerged. Zhao Liying was great too - you see her character develop from a playful silly young girl into a mature smart woman. MaKe was also very outstanding with his portrayal of the demon king.

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Following the footstep of 'The Untamed'

This drama follows very much in the footsteps of 'The Untamed' - a bromance, a cheeky 'fallen' hero, 2 gorgeous male leads, theme songs co-performed by the male leads, and the list goes on. And in a lot of pre-broadcast reviews, it has been marketed as its parallel. So I cannot help but make the comparison.

Although I enjoyed this drama, I still think 'The Untamed' is much better produced - who could beat a combination of Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan? Also, the dark scenes were a lot better crafted - the death valley Wei Ying (Xiao Zhan) fell into was eerie. The entire production was much better edited with the mystery and suspense very well built up. Wei Ying's fall off the cliff was dramatic - the Wei Ying's heartbreak at the death of his 'sister' and Lan Zhan's desperate attempt to save him. I must also say the theme song was very well sang.

In some of the early episodes in Word of Honor, I was about to write it off as just another average wuxia drama. But it got better. There were some humor in the drama, and some of the plots actually got me really mad. And the story was interesting.

Gong Jun's (Simon) acting was really good. One of the greatest skills of an outstanding actor is in his facial expression and Gong Jun is excellent in this. Mischief, anger, evil, caring, flirting - he did all of these remarkably.

Although I am not homophobic, I really do not appreciate romantic scene between same genders in dramas or movies - do not work up any sentiments in me. I respect the rainbow community but I do not share their romances. This drama was a little bolder in this regard but it did nothing for me. Any production of such dramas must make up for this lack of empathy with the general audience (other than the rainbow community) with good story, cast, scenery, cinematography and editing.

Considering all of these, I rated it a 9 overall.

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Who is the Dark Lord - the hero or the villian?

I watched this drama because of Joe Xu, after encountering him in Journey of Flower and Lost Love in Times. He acted really well in all these 3 dramas, besides being good-looking. He brought out the mischievous yet scheming character of the hero in this drama. This drama was entertaining and I burst into loud laughter during the comic scenes although some were quite slapstick. It captivated me to keep 'chasing' episode after episode. Overall, as with a lot of well produced Chinese drama, acting was excellent, story was interesting and scene setting was great. It is interesting to see how the hero of the story tricked the bad guys and upheld justice. The final episode was somewhat disappointing and more of an introduction to a sequel. Until the final episode, I still could not figure out who is the dark lord - the hero or the villain - since both were cunning and underhanded.

To give some feedback to the production team if they were to read this, some areas could be improved. Music was not that great - the attempt to reproduce music of the south was dismal - it was neither opera nor folk music.

The tricks of the hero were quite underhanded and somewhat brutal. For example, he killed the five serial rapists - while I agree that since they were so unrepentant and arrogant, they might as well be dead - it is a little harsh by western standards - even though I am not a fan of western standards. I am highlighting this out of concern about the influence of such dramas on the moral values of young impressionable generations. Working in a university, I have seen some bad behaviours and questionable moral values. Themes of successful dramas tend to be emulated by later dramas and the consistent re-enforcement of this value is not necessarily good. I can tolerate the occasional drama for entertainment value, I am not keen on seeing a perpetuation of such production.

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A far-cry from series 1

This sequel is a far cry from its prequel, not only because of a change in some of the cast but in the tempo and ending. The first 15 episodes were filled with time fillers as Ning Que and Sang Sang tried to escape persecution as her identity was uncovered. The new lead actor is good looking and acted well but does not make up for the lack of other elements. The last couple of episodes were a drag - with me hanging on just to find out the conclusion.

There were intense moments as the battle against the Tang and the academy were underway and possibly the best part of the story. The story very much climaxed at this battle and then went downhill again. The ending was unimpressed.

The only thing that I am happy with this sequel is that the story is a continuation from the prequel, unlike a lot of other sequel where the sequel is an attempt to leverage on the name of its predecessor.

To make it worse, I was watching the Pillow Book along with this as they were released around the same time. I was glued to YouTube for the Pillow Book and watched this only to fill in the time in-between the releases of the Pillow Book. The contrast was immense. Although the Pillow Book had its occasional slow moments but it held my attention to the very end.

The script for all dramas should be carefully reviewed before production. This script did not keep up with the grandeur of the set and investment, and not worth the time of the audience.

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The Ascension to the Throne

My review to Season 1 and 2 are at:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/7403249/reviews/402084
https://mydramalist.com/profile/7403249/reviews/402278

Could Tanya be the descendent of Asa Sin and therefore the rightful religious leader of Arthdal? If so, then the Wahans could also be the descendents of Aramum Haesulla and Asa Sin. This mystery was unveiled in Season 3.

With the help of Taelha and Tanya, Tagon rose to become the Union Leader. Asa Ron was not going to let Tagon rose to power so easily. Tagon hid two secrets and Asa Ron knew one of them and he was determined to expose it to the tribal leaders to topple Tagon. He set a trap for Tagon. To hid both his secret, he massacred the tribal leaders and set out to be a king. Tagon had wanted to become a benevolent leader loved by his people. But this rebellion changed him and he became a tyrant.

Meantime, Eunseom escaped from the mine. He rescued a Momo tribal leader and her baby. The Momo tribe had a motto of returning favours. The tribe became indebted to him.

Unfortunately Eunseom was captured again, this time by the Ago Tribe who captured humans to be sent to Arthdals to be sold as slaves. But by a twist of fate and help of his fellow prisoner, a sly and treacherous man, he became recognised as the Isainagi re-incarnate. The Ago tribe was a lost and disunited tribe. They had been hoping for a powerful leader and Eunseom fitted the role.

Now, two powerful regions were formed. One led by Eunseom and the other by Tagon. Friction between the powers were inevitable. And this was to be presented in the sequel produced 4 years later in 2023.

Might I also add that Song Joong Ki did an excellent job acting a pair of twins with opposite characters - one was kind and innocent, the other ruthless and cunning. I rated 10 for all seasons.

Now I am going to start on the sequel filmed in 2023, 4 years later but covering Arthdal and Ago 8 years later. But in the 2023 sequel, Song was replaced by Lee Joon Gi who is also and excellent actor.

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The Fight Continued and the First Prophecy was about to be unveiled

You can refer to my review on Season 1 at https://mydramalist.com/profile/7403249/reviews/402084. Each Season comprised six episodes. Season 2 started from episode 7.

The Wahan tribe in Iark where Eunseom had taken refuge was attacked by the Arthdal Samaras. A peaceful tribe without any advanced weapons, they were quickly subdued. The Wahan villagers were taken to Arthdal as slaves. However Eunseom escaped and vowed to rescued them and his love, Tanya. In one of his rescue missions, Eunseom was captured and sent to a mine as a slave miner. He was also blamed for the death of Sanung, the Union Leader.

Tanya's mother was killed by the Samaras. Tanya was set to be the next tribal mother, a religious leader in the tribe. In Arthdal, Tanya discovered a man hidden in a Tower, who looked very much like Eunseom.

Legend had it that Aramum Haesulla was the hero who united the Arthdal Samaras. It was said that he ran away with Asa Sin, the Arthdal's supreme religious mother. It was not known where they went.

The current Asa clan was led by Asa Ron, a power-hungry religious leader. This clan was known not to be a direct descendant of Asa Sin. Prophecy said that the direct descendant of Asa Sin would return one day and led Arthdal. And this person would be able to find the bell hidden by Asa Sin.

Asa Ron disliked Tagon as he was viewed as a hero in Arthdal for his military conquest and set to sabotage his ascend to power. Tagon and Taelha were eager to find this descendent. If found, she would replaced Asa Ron as the rightful leader of the religion sect.

A lot of viewers said that this season was better than Season 1. But I find them equally good. In Season 2, there were some draggy parts around the miners. My Season 3 review would follow soon. I had given all 3 seasons a full rating of 10, in spite of some small imperfections.

This drama was interesting as it had so many events borrowed from events in history. More about the entire drama can be found in my review of Season 1.

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Ruthless fight for power in ancient barbaric times

The three seasons spanned a total of 18 episodes. This is to-date the best Korean drama I had watched, in my opinion beating the Goblin or Hotel Luna. The story was intriguing, convoluted and kept the audience wondering. There are some predictable bits, and fighting and wallowing in sorrow dragged it out a bit, but by and large it locked-in my attention. This drama was only the first of four sequels and set the stage of more to come.

The ancient world of Arthdal was dominated by two homo species: the bronze-age humans, Sarams, and the Neanderthals. The Neanderthals was the physically stronger of the two species. There were inter-species mating between the two races giving rise to a mix-blood race called Igutu.

The Sarams tried to make peace with the Neanderthals but unfortunately were rejected. Tagon, son of the Saram Union Leader proposed a devious method to eliminate the Neanderthals by infecting them with a deadly disease which both weakened and killed them. They took the opportunity of a Neanderthal festival to present them with gifts carrying the disease.

Asa Hon was deceived by the Sarams to bring the gifts to the Neanderthals. When the Sarams attacked the epidemic ridden Neanderthals, Asa Hon discovered too late that she was used. She rescued her Igatu baby, named Eunseom, and brought him to Iark, a land separated by a high cliff and a desert and unknown to the Sarams. Eunseom was brought up by the Wahans in Iark, and was kind and trusting.

Tagon discovered an Igatu baby. He took him away and raised him in secret - his intention for doing this was unclear. Saya, was brought up by the TaelHa, Tagon's lover, and was cruel and distrustful.

Tagon went on to kill the remaining Neanderthals and Igutus, and further military conquest to become a powerful general. As an Union Leader, his father, Sanung faced a power struggle with Asa Ron, a religious leader who used the superstition and ignorance of the ancient humans to manipulate their obedience.

Numerous prophecies circulated among groups of people. My reviews on the rest of the seasons will follow.

I found this drama such a good amalgamation of borrowed historical events, very nicely pieced together. It showed how a more developed civilisation subjugated the more primitive tribes with their 'advance' bronze weapons. You would have seen this in modern history with western colonisers taking over Africa, Americas, Oceania and parts of Asia.

The killing of the Neanderthals certainly reminded me of how the white settlers killed the American natives by spreading leprosy through gifts of blankets used by lepers in their own countries.

And Asa Ron reminded me of the various religious cult leaders who distort facts to instigate people and manipulate them. Tagon, Eunseom and Tanya, all used this tactics as well later in the drama. Humans were so easily manipulated by words and a good show. In contemporary times with all the high-tech digital communication, it is difficult to tell fake and real apart at times.

All the three seasons were very good.

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Not the usual theme

What I appreciated most about this drama is that it was based on the decline and revival of a family's fortune. This was a departure from the usual themes of fight for the throne, god vs demons, gang/clan revenge type of stories - these had become very stale for me since I watched a lot of Chinese and Korean dramas.

The head of the Hua family offended the emperor who was narrow-minded, narcissistic, domineering and wicked. The family was driven out of their home and the men were sent into exile, leaving the women and young children to fend for themselves. Worse to come was they were cheated out of whatever minimal valuables they could bring with them.

The newly appointed Commander of the Security Bureau, was assigned the duty of driving them out and confiscating all that Grandfather Hua had written. Hua Zhi, the grand-daughter rose to the occasion to lead the family to earn a living through selling whatever they were capable of producing. The family, being of scholastic background looked down on such careers and it was a challenge to overcome their mindset and stereotyping.

It was interesting to watch how a young girl struggled against family's prejudices against new means of earning a living, and also the bullying that came from business associates and the public as a girl with no backing. You would witness how the different characters in the family responded to the situation. - some were supportive, some resentful, some had other schemes up their sleeves.

Along the way, the younger generations girls found their marital partners - each leading to different outcomes. The older generation Hua daughters were bullied as soon as the Hua family fell from grace. And you get to see how each situation was dealt with, often with keen intelligence, although some were tragic.

Although unknown to her, YanXi, the martial arts instructor was a nephew of the emperor, and he had grown very fond of Hua Zhi. The emperor wanted all of YanXi's loyalty. He could not tolerate his affection for HuaZhi and became a major obstacle to the development of any affection between the two.

In addition to an interesting story was a great cast who acted well, and chemistry between the leads were great. Costumes were beautiful, music were befitting to the mood of the drama, cinematography was excellent.

What was more interesting was some of these happening could happen to any family, even today. So it was easy to empathise with them.

The only doubt I had about this drama was it seemed all too easy to get rich in such a short time, especially in view of the setbacks. The family was moving back to the capital and setting up their businesses in less than nine months - gauged by the time it took for one of the aunts to give birth.

And also, not another child emperor again. :(

In spite of these small nitpicks, I rated it 9.5. Overall, I highly recommend this drama.

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Talk, sob, kneel

This drama was produced 13 years ago. I guess based on the standard of Chinese dramas at that time, this was outstanding and was a blockbuster then. However, with the advent of newer and better dramas releases, this drama had become somewhat jaded. In comparison to some of the outstanding production like Till the End of the Moon, Kunning Palace, The Untamed, Ten Mile of Peach Blossom, Scarlett Heart had dropped from the top league in today's drama scene.

Additionally, I watched the Korean version of Moon Lovers, Scarlett Heart Ryeo which was a remake of this drama but was based on the Goryeo dynasty, before watching this drama. The storyline was similar but I found the Moon Lovers a lot more action oriented with its fighting scenes, a lot more dramatic and faster paced. It was very clear why their 'Ruo Xi' shifted her affections from the 8th Prince to the 4th Prince. as the latter was hot in pursuit and was very proactive in winning her heart. In contrast, this Scarlett Heart drama featured a lot more talking, sobbing and kneeling. The 4th Prince was a lot more subdued in his approach and courting. Other than some gifts and a couple of scenes when he stood up for her and saved her, there was nothing very dramatic.

I was impressed with the cast of Princes - many of the sires subsequently became big names in the Chinese drama scenes - this drama had brought them to fame.

Overall, the acting was very good, story was interesting and Liu Shi Shi had excellent chemistry with her four suitors. It is worth the time to watch this especially for someone new to the Chinese drama scenes and had not been spoilt by the newer productions.

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If you have not watched much of Chinese xianxia fantasy dramas, you should absolutely watch this.

YanDan and ZhiXi were the human transformation of and the only surviving members of the Four-leaves Lotus which had great medicinal value. YanDan had a tiff with the Heavenly Lord YingYuan, God of War when she discovered that he had been bullying a turtle in the garden, flipping him over every time he saw it. Unfortunately she was sent to serve him in his palace.

A war broke out between the immortals and the demons. It was a bloody war and YingYuan returned seriously wounded although victorious. YingYuan knew that he was not going to survive and left his palace to die alone in the forest, so that he would not harm anyone when he went crazy. Fate had it that YanDan would find him already blinded in the forest and nursed him while hiding her real identity. She found out that the heart of the Four-leaves Lotus, of which she was one, would save him and decided to carve out half of her heart to do so. YingYuan knew this healing method earlier and had resisted it.

The immortal realm had a rule that immortals were not fall in love. Breaking this rule brought about severe punishment. Unfortunately for YingYuan and YanDan, the jealous fairy YingDeng who wanted YingYuan for herself was always around to sabotage them. To save YanDan from punishment, YingYuan had to play along very often with the scheming fairy YingDeng to stop her from spilling the truth about them. Part 1 of the drama continued onto Part 2.

I am surprised that Part 1 was rated better than Part 2, although I think Part 2 was more interesting after YanDan was banished to the mortal realm. She forgot who she was and called herself Bai Piao Liang.

Part 1 was very stale and more of the same to me. It was too much like the Ashes of Love where Yang Zi (YanDan) was the female lead, Love and Redemption where ChengYi (YingYuan) was the male lead and some of the earlier Chinese xianxia (fairytale) fantasy dramas. The moods, settings, some scenes and even the title of the drama were too much like these earlier dramas. For example YanDan crossing the WangChuang (River to Forget) reminded me of Ji Mi (Yang Zi) crossing the river to the demon realm to visit Xu Feng (DengLun) in Ashes of Love. There was also a jealous love rival who actively sabotaged - Sui He in Ashes of Love and YingDing in this drama. Part 1 was very emotional but did nothing much for me as it was mainly about one of the lover pretending and pushing away the other while one of them clinged on, so the chemistry between them was almost non-existent. Similarly the character Si Feng in Love and Redemption was always pushing away Xuan Ji - a similar situation of forbidden love. It was draggy, and all about deceit and hiding the truth - a lot of them were very annoying to me.

When the other party pushed one away, one should learn to move on, especially when so little was committed from the other person, regardless whether they reciprocated in their hearts and said nothing.

I will continue with my assessment in Part 2 for the rest of the drama.

However, if you have not watched Ashes of Love and much of Chinese xianxia fantasy dramas, or like to re-live those stories, you will enjoy this drama tremendously. A good drama to get you introduced to the world of Chinese fantasy dramas.

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Fantastic episodes 1-29 but a questionable 30

I enjoyed episodes 1-29 thoroughly and was wondering during these episodes why it lost out to 'A female student arrives at the Imperial College' in rating on mydramalist.com. Both dramas featured the tall handsome Xu KaiCheng with settings in an academy. Being a fantasy drama, this story was definitely more interesting. My question was answered in the last episode when it ended wishy-washy and open-ended with a lot of unanswered questions. In contrast, the ending for the Imperial College drama was very well crafted - heart-rending and yet with positive vibes.

The beginning and ending of a drama are very important. The beginning determines whether we would watch on, the ending leaves the parting impression. This ending looks like it is preparing for a sequel but as we all know, sequels can take years before it can even start filming - just look at Joy of Life. And at times a flop - like the sequel to Journey of Flower.

However, I enjoyed the humour during the initial one-third as the reincarnated and cunning Feng Wu (lead female) tricked Jun LingYuan (lead male) and Yu Ming Ye (second male lead) who were from two opposing camps and played them against each other. Her ultimate aim was to steal the celestial fruit to help her regain her lost power. Subsequently, they ended up in the same academy while a conspiracy was brewing. The intense rivalry was attention riveting too.

The second lead was Wang Hao Xuan who acted the good-looking evil Xue Yang from The Untamed, who left a deep impression. As I realised, he has a lot of fans from that drama. In terms of actresses, the leading actresses were all very good looking, especially the second lead.

Excellent backdrop, interesting scenes (except the last), good looking cast and some would even say nice music. Watch and you may enjoy it but be ready for a disappointing ending.

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An interesting drama, good acting and mysterious plots. I could guess who is the killer in the first murder scene but the later ones were mostly surprises. The ending was an interesting twist that seems to suggest a sequel might be coming.

Entertaining, but there are some lull moments. Very well produced but i won't rate it among the top league. Nevertheless worth a watch and it is quite a short series. Almost like Dr Qin but with a setting in ancient times.

I would have ended my review here but it would not allow me to submit the review because it is less than 500 characters long. So i have to add a few more comments.

If there is a sequel, i am likely to watch it as the ending suggested that there is more than meets the eye.

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Wow! Comparable in standard to Ten Mile Peach Blossom but livelier

The ideas of a peach garden, God of War, fighting the demon king, six realms are all ideas from the Ten Mile Blossom. But this drama has its own story line entirely different from the former. It has all the ingredients for a great drama - story, acting, costume, music, computer graphics, directing. And in spite of the intense emotional settings, there are some humorous moments which make me laugh real hard.

I can understand why more mature actors and actresses are chosen for certain dramas - few young ones could pull off the intense expressions of emotions and chemistry that Ni Ni and Zhang Zhen could. There are not that many Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo - even these two took a while to warm up to their roles in the Untamed.

I knew Ni Ni from the Rise of Phoenixes but I knew nothing about Zhang Zhen. Before I started watching the drama, I did for a moment wonder whether he could measure up to some of the popular drama actors like Hu Ge or Wallace Huo and he did. He acted the character of JiuChen very well - a powerful, responsible, canny, very stern, yet tender and loving God of War who protected the world and capable of harsh action when required. He is equally capable of showing extreme tenderness as well as giving hard, angry, stern looks.

As I started checking up on Zhang Zhen, I realised he was the handsome bandit lover in Crouching Tiger and Sun Quan in Red Cliff. I remember the 2 characters but unfortunately his name was not given much prominence in these movies. But I am sure his talents was recognised as he had a lot of lead roles, and was nominated for and won several awards in movies.

Ni Ni is an excellent actress who can demonstrate different facets of a character. In this drama, she started off as an innocent mischievous playful girl infatuated with the God of War into a mature sophisticated lady, both capable of winning his heart. The lead characters had this amazing chemistry. It was heart warming to see how they relate to each other, and how NingXi coyly seduced JiuChen, and how JiuChen fell hard for her. Their flirting moments were entertaining. Her expression of emotions was just as good as the lead actor.

If we are to nitpick, we will always be able to find some small flaws even with the best dramas, and I can pick one out here. Much as I love most of the costumes, I must say the designer for JiuChen did not do him justice - he is the God of War not a peasant or scholar. And this black cap he wore was terrible.

Finally, I re-watched this drama and love it even more.

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Deserves its current top rating on the list

I am very selective of dramas I watched online and typically I only watched those with high ratings. I must say this drama deserves its current top rating for Chinese dramas. Good looking actors and actresses, bromance, mystery, beautiful cinematography, special effects, comic moments, heart-wrenching scenes, melodious music rolled into one.

The initial couple of episodes were rather confusing. But I was intrigued by the mystery of Wei Ying's death and resurrection, and I watched on - great job of introducing that at the beginning. When I reached the episode he was thrown off the cliff, I revisited the two initial episodes and they all started to make sense. Similarly, I was not impressed initially with the cast. But the drama improved further down the track and so did the acting of the actors/actresses.

I had not read the novel, but this drama deserves credit in its own rights. From the reviews of readers of the novel, there were suggestions of homosexuality in the relationships. But the drama was tastefully done and there were no homosexual scenes. Although I am not homo-phobic, I really do not appreciate homosexual scenes so I am glad of there were none - I do not share and appreciate the emotions - in fact, they are a bit of a turn-off.

However, intense feelings and camaraderie were enacted. The looks that Lan Zhan gave to Wei Ying were full of quiet intense emotions, and the feeling of pain at his death and suffering was well expressed. Wang YiBo acted Lan Zhan well. If WeiYing or LanZan is replaced by a female, coupled with a bit of tweak, this could become a romance story. In dramas, I have a type - I am strongly attracted to the charismatic, calm, intelligent, handsome hero of little words.

The mystery of what happened in the 16 years that Wei Ying was dead was not quite satisfactorily explained. Did he stay dead for 16 years until he was resurrected? If not, what happened to him in the 16 years? How did Mo Xuan Yue found and resurrect him?

And I love the music pieces - the theme song at the end and the music piece at the beginning.

I was impressed with the attention to details - they had chosen a boy who had dimples on his cheek to act the young Jin GuangYao - consistent with Zhu Zan Jin who had very obvious dimples and acted the adult.

Finally, to those who had started watching this drama and are the impatient type, stay on for a few episodes before you give up. And if you have not started, go ahead and you would not regret it.

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