Kotori
Singapore
9.5 for the first 30 episodes, 5 for the remaining
This is really a difficult review:
If I would only rate the first half of the drama, I would give it a 9.5; the second half a 5; so altogether, it became a neither here nor there 7.
This drama, adapted from a popular internet novel, revolves around a notorious evil ex-sect leader Lu Zhao Yao and her story of revenge at the supposedly benevolent sects. But the story truly after she has died and wanders as half spirit half-human body, taken the shape of another girl, Qin Zhi Yan, whose personality is 180 degrees different than hers. The other great aspect is her romance with the new sect leader, Mo Qing, whom she saved in the past, but due to a misunderstanding she wanted to kill at the start but later hopelessly fell in love with.
What I love about this drama:
** The first half (up to about episode 30): except for the first 2-3 episodes at which the story was a bit confusing, the remaining episodes up to episode 30 were executed extremely well as the story and character development stick fairly close to the original work, which is original, light-hearted and funny. The episodes have a good pace, the progress logic but unexpected. There is a clear path towards a climax and an "ending" to it, that leaves the audience satisfied.
** The romance and chemistry between the main leads: the way how the relationship between LZY and MQ has developed is extremely natural and sweet. My emotion was going wild moving up and down together with the progress of how their misunderstanding got slowly resolved. There are a few really romantic moments in this drama, especially the kiss scenes are probably the best ones I have ever seen in a c-drama. Bai Lu is wicked, strong, and cunning on the outside, but righteous and caring on the inside. MQ is kind-hearted and caring but also easily jealous, strong and would do everything to protect LYZ.
** The acting of the main leads: Both Bai Lu and Xu Kai have done a fantastic job bringing LYZ and MQ to life. Through this drama, I have fallen helpless in love with Xu Kai. I have seen him in Once upon Time in Lingjian Mountain but did not think much of him at that time. But now I know why he is this popular. He can project this affectionate and kind gaze, the kind of gaze of being deeply in love with the female lead that is just heart-melting. His facial expressions showing sorrow, jealousy or anger are extremely to the point, I am in awe. The same can be said to Bai Lu. Her character is one of the most interesting female lead characters I have seen in a c-drama.
I also need to give big praise to the second main leads Shane Yan playing Qing Zhi Yan and Daixu playing Jiang Wu. Shane Yan had to play two opposite characters which she did excellently. Her character showed the most growth in the drama. Jiang Wu is bossy and malicious but developed a very loving side towards the end.
** The supporting characters. The Legends has a great set of supporting characters: Gu Han Guang, the doctor, and Zi You, the narcissistic sect lead are my favorites. Most supporting characters, even the evil ones, have a story that made them 3-D and the audience becomes empathetic with them. However, some of the stories were too long and often cut in at the wrong moment.
** The music: the title song Zhao Yao (same as the Chinese name of the drama) is extremely beautiful and I have been listening to it non-stop since the drama.
What I disliked about the drama:
** The second part of the drama starting from episode 30 onwards: The episodes start to fill with filler episodes with little involvement of the main leads. The characters of the main leads start to change to a state of none-recognizable. The audience can clearly see that there is less effort made to make the scenes look professional. Esp. the last few episodes are a disaster: the editing and story development are all over the place and nothing made sense anymore which left me feeling a little... WTF’ish. My train of thought during the early part of this drama went something like this:
“Oh no, how can this happen? Oh, good, nothing bad happened ... Wait, what are you doing...? Hm, isn't this the scene that supposed to come earlier...? But then where is this scene coming from?... Oh no, he is gone?! Oh, he is back again!... Is this a sad ending?... Should I cry?... Is this a happy ending? Should I smile? ... utter confusion.
I found out that the scriptwriter, the novel author herself, adapted the drama to fit a 28-episode long drama, which had a different ending than the original script. Later she was told to extend it to 40 episodes, which she barely made it. However, then she was asked to extend it to 56 episodes which forced her to completely rewrite everything last minute. Thus it completely derailed from its original story, including the personalities of the leads as well as the bad editing and the fillers in later part of the drama. The fans started to criticize this drama in the middle of its airing that the makers start to cut the final episodes so the direction of the final episodes changed completely to be closer to the original story to please the audience. Even the makers themselves had to issue an official apology after the final episodes have been aired.
After watching it, I felt so dissatisfied that I went back to read the original novel to reimagine how the drama would have been if it had stuck to the original story. So far, I like it very much. With what I can see, the drama had the potential to become a "second Untamed" but failed to do so due to the awful capitalism of Chinese drama land that made this drama a complete disaster at the end. (Yes, you heard it right, it is the same director as the Untamed! Now you know, next to the actors, the director, it's the scriptwriter who is the soul of every drama).
All in all, If you are a fan of Bai Lu or Xu Kai and have a good imagination you might want to watch it to the end. Otherwise, I would recommend you watch it to episode 30 and just take the interim climax as an ending which is satisfactory in itself.
If I would only rate the first half of the drama, I would give it a 9.5; the second half a 5; so altogether, it became a neither here nor there 7.
This drama, adapted from a popular internet novel, revolves around a notorious evil ex-sect leader Lu Zhao Yao and her story of revenge at the supposedly benevolent sects. But the story truly after she has died and wanders as half spirit half-human body, taken the shape of another girl, Qin Zhi Yan, whose personality is 180 degrees different than hers. The other great aspect is her romance with the new sect leader, Mo Qing, whom she saved in the past, but due to a misunderstanding she wanted to kill at the start but later hopelessly fell in love with.
What I love about this drama:
** The first half (up to about episode 30): except for the first 2-3 episodes at which the story was a bit confusing, the remaining episodes up to episode 30 were executed extremely well as the story and character development stick fairly close to the original work, which is original, light-hearted and funny. The episodes have a good pace, the progress logic but unexpected. There is a clear path towards a climax and an "ending" to it, that leaves the audience satisfied.
** The romance and chemistry between the main leads: the way how the relationship between LZY and MQ has developed is extremely natural and sweet. My emotion was going wild moving up and down together with the progress of how their misunderstanding got slowly resolved. There are a few really romantic moments in this drama, especially the kiss scenes are probably the best ones I have ever seen in a c-drama. Bai Lu is wicked, strong, and cunning on the outside, but righteous and caring on the inside. MQ is kind-hearted and caring but also easily jealous, strong and would do everything to protect LYZ.
** The acting of the main leads: Both Bai Lu and Xu Kai have done a fantastic job bringing LYZ and MQ to life. Through this drama, I have fallen helpless in love with Xu Kai. I have seen him in Once upon Time in Lingjian Mountain but did not think much of him at that time. But now I know why he is this popular. He can project this affectionate and kind gaze, the kind of gaze of being deeply in love with the female lead that is just heart-melting. His facial expressions showing sorrow, jealousy or anger are extremely to the point, I am in awe. The same can be said to Bai Lu. Her character is one of the most interesting female lead characters I have seen in a c-drama.
I also need to give big praise to the second main leads Shane Yan playing Qing Zhi Yan and Daixu playing Jiang Wu. Shane Yan had to play two opposite characters which she did excellently. Her character showed the most growth in the drama. Jiang Wu is bossy and malicious but developed a very loving side towards the end.
** The supporting characters. The Legends has a great set of supporting characters: Gu Han Guang, the doctor, and Zi You, the narcissistic sect lead are my favorites. Most supporting characters, even the evil ones, have a story that made them 3-D and the audience becomes empathetic with them. However, some of the stories were too long and often cut in at the wrong moment.
** The music: the title song Zhao Yao (same as the Chinese name of the drama) is extremely beautiful and I have been listening to it non-stop since the drama.
What I disliked about the drama:
** The second part of the drama starting from episode 30 onwards: The episodes start to fill with filler episodes with little involvement of the main leads. The characters of the main leads start to change to a state of none-recognizable. The audience can clearly see that there is less effort made to make the scenes look professional. Esp. the last few episodes are a disaster: the editing and story development are all over the place and nothing made sense anymore which left me feeling a little... WTF’ish. My train of thought during the early part of this drama went something like this:
“Oh no, how can this happen? Oh, good, nothing bad happened ... Wait, what are you doing...? Hm, isn't this the scene that supposed to come earlier...? But then where is this scene coming from?... Oh no, he is gone?! Oh, he is back again!... Is this a sad ending?... Should I cry?... Is this a happy ending? Should I smile? ... utter confusion.
I found out that the scriptwriter, the novel author herself, adapted the drama to fit a 28-episode long drama, which had a different ending than the original script. Later she was told to extend it to 40 episodes, which she barely made it. However, then she was asked to extend it to 56 episodes which forced her to completely rewrite everything last minute. Thus it completely derailed from its original story, including the personalities of the leads as well as the bad editing and the fillers in later part of the drama. The fans started to criticize this drama in the middle of its airing that the makers start to cut the final episodes so the direction of the final episodes changed completely to be closer to the original story to please the audience. Even the makers themselves had to issue an official apology after the final episodes have been aired.
After watching it, I felt so dissatisfied that I went back to read the original novel to reimagine how the drama would have been if it had stuck to the original story. So far, I like it very much. With what I can see, the drama had the potential to become a "second Untamed" but failed to do so due to the awful capitalism of Chinese drama land that made this drama a complete disaster at the end. (Yes, you heard it right, it is the same director as the Untamed! Now you know, next to the actors, the director, it's the scriptwriter who is the soul of every drama).
All in all, If you are a fan of Bai Lu or Xu Kai and have a good imagination you might want to watch it to the end. Otherwise, I would recommend you watch it to episode 30 and just take the interim climax as an ending which is satisfactory in itself.
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