lilmeow

Classic wuxia with well-developed backlore

I absolutely loved this show for the first 10 episodes or so. The humor is excellent. Lei Wujie is so adorably dumb, in the best and cutest way (I also like that he totally just owns up to it, not offended at all). Xiao Se is kind of the opposite, but hilarious in another way- deadpan sarcastic. Add in Wu Xin, who has his own style of calm quipping, and I was laughing every episode. It is so much fun to watch them and their other friends traipsing across the Jianghu, that I barely cared that such a deep friendship came out of nowhere.

Sadly, the fun and games don’t really last. I will credit this show with maintaining some excellent flashes of humor all the way to the end. But the sparkling fun tone doesn’t make it through, and by the second half it’s pretty much devolved into classic power struggles and throne drama. These are not badly done, but power struggles can only be so interesting to me. I would have preferred more focus on the characters, their development, and their interactions.

This show does have a band-of-friends feel and a focus on camaraderie. But in the end, it’s mostly Xiao Se’s story. I found him to be a likable protagonist with his own set of relatable emotions; a sullen streak and some past trauma, but mostly a good guy and of course a very smart mastermind. In his orbit are some other likable characters as well, but it was this show’s loss to relegate Wuxin- one of the best characters- to the back burner for the majority of the show.

There are a lot of other characters of varying importance, plus a lot of complicated relations, a lot of gradually revealed backstories, and a lot of traditions and lore in this universe. Some of it is straight up told to us by Xiao Se through dialogue- lazy storytelling but still helpful to an overwhelmed viewer. Still, I had a hard time keeping track of everything. I found the show better on a second pass when I already knew a little of what was going on, but I only rewatched because I took a long break; I didn’t like this show enough to rewatch for fun.

I think the plot is not bad, just all the power struggles did not fully captivate me. There is a good amount of pathos, a realistic emperor, backstories with depth (hence an entire prequel for it!), and a villain that is easy to hate. It also, to its credit, stays strong until the end. But I think the real strengths of this show are its humor and snarky characters, which they did not lean into nearly enough.

Unlike most Cdramas, the title is actually relevant. “Blood of Youth”- there is indeed a consistent focus on the youth of the heroes and how they must forge their own paths. It’s especially relevant since this Jianghu is filled with the legends of the past generation, who’s prior actions brought us to our present state. The way this idea of youth comes up regularly and in different ways, is actually quite well done.

Unfortunately, it’s just not a theme that particularly resonates with me. It might be more meaningful to a younger person. The show in general feels very shounen, or maybe classic wuxia. For example, the endless parade of powerful legends, each more powerful than the last, and the obsession with who is more powerful than whom. Lots of posing, looking cool, and being proud to be a badass.

Some parts of this martial world I do appreciate. It feels very RPG-esque how everyone has their own characteristic weapon, as well as a few distinctive abilities that are accompanied by flashy CGI sequences of dubious functionality (what are all those flower petals for again?) It’s all good fun, but sometimes they go a little overboard trying to make people look cool. I am too old to be impressed by somebody yelling some noble-sounding catchphrase.

This show is also kind of casually sexist. Everyone seems to care a bit too much about the beauty of the women. At least it is mostly just the culture of the show’s world, rather than baked into reality- there are still plenty of strong, capable female characters. Even they, though, also seem to think that beauty is a woman’s most important trait. And don’t get me started on Li Hanyi; some of her interactions seem like they came out of my HR training.

And while we’re on it, many of the female characters come with romance stories, and the romances are not done well. I never understood “no chemistry” until I saw Xiao Se and Sikong Qianluo. My goodness, it was so awkward and cringe, but at least not that important. Plus Qianluo is not developed enough for me to care about her. Lei Wujie’s romance was funny as comedic relief only; when it seemed like it might work out, I started to cringe. Luckily, also not that important.

Acting-wise, I think this cast did a pretty good job. My favorite is probably Ao Ruipeng as Lei Wujie- this is still the best role I’ve seen him in, managed to make the guy 100% lovable instead of dumb or annoying. The emperor also did a great job.

The fighting is very CGI-based, sometimes very fake-looking, but not bad if you think of it as a CGI sequence in an RPG. The flashiness of a particular technique means nothing. They all look infinitely destructive and are countered by equally destructive-looking things.

The costumes are nice, and also color-coordinated well. Somehow nobody seems to look very good wearing them, though.

The music is very good. The songs are more energetic rather than slow or romance-y, which matches the tone and focus, and the BGM in particular sounds good and is used well to set mood.

Overall, this is an enjoyable show that I liked but did not love. I would watch the sequel when that comes out, but I don’t care enough to, for instance, watch the anime. There is also currently a prequel and spinoff that gives background on some of the other characters; however, since I already know how they end based on this show, I have no intention of watching them.

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This show has a happy ending. The main conflict ends in the second to last episode, giving us an entire episode to wrap things up peacefully and send Xiao Se and friends off to happily travel the world. Some people scatter, but there is a promise to meet again. There is even a special which shows Tang Lian coming back. It’s a pretty satisfying ending. I have wanted a sequel more for other shows than this one, but I'm sure they'll come up with something good.

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Badass heroine, but kind of a dark show

This is a lesser-known show about a fallen hero’s quest for revenge. It’s rather dark and heavy, which isn’t usually my preference, but short (18 ep) and well-executed.

What I really like about this show is its casual female empowerment. Even aside from the FL, there are multiple strong female characters, including some where gender is irrelevant (eg Jiang Kui, the doctor)- they just happen to be female. This is how it should be!

Mo Qingchuan, the FL, is the strongest of them all. She is truly badass. Even better, she is also deep and complex. She is a heroine, but not idealized. She seems so all-knowing and in control most of the time, yet her trauma is very real, and you can see how it affects her. She is angry and hurt.

Cristy Guo really did a great job with this role. I just watched three female generals in a row (Legend of the Female General, Shadow Love, and this), and Cristy’s is the most convincing. I think it’s her gravitas and aura. Her commanding presence feels natural, not just acting cool.

…well, it’s hard not to compare between the shows, released so close together, but maybe not fair. All the characters are different. Mo Qingchuan has already been to hell and back, so the cold, lethal feel is perhaps more fitting than for a general building rapport with her soldiers. I will say, though, that I’ve seen Cristy in two other roles, both (at least partly) sifu-type characters, and I liked her each time. Maybe it is or will be her niche.

Turning around traditional gender roles, the ML is her disciple who has a little puppy crush on her. I dismissed him for most of the show, but he kind of grew on me. I think his crush is appropriate, and I could see where it’s coming from. There is room to interpret it as somewhat reciprocated, if you so choose, which I did not.

Overall, I like that the romance is minimal. I could relate to how the ML felt, even if I didn’t think anything should come out of it, as it would be out of character for Qingchuan. And Zhou Zhan did a great job with his ML role, which might have been lame with less sincerity.

The plot covers two blocks of revenge. As they play out, the relevant background is revealed as memories. The first block I felt pretty good about; the second, less so. It wasn’t poorly done, it was just making me unhappy (more in spoilers section). But one of the benefits of a short show is that it’s easy to finish.

The short length also means tight pacing. At the beginning I had to rewind a few times to figure out the background, but afterwards I found I enjoyed not watching filler. Minimal drawn-out cheesy scenes, minimal pontifications about saving the common people, etc. Just story.

In terms of production, the budget seems lower, but I find that often results in diligent execution. The cast is small, but everyone did a good job. There aren’t that many songs, but I liked them, as well as the BGM. Costumes were fine, and I especially liked Jiang Kui’s fun costume to match her fun personality. The fighting is… also lower budget; some of it looks a little fake and there isn't that much, but the few choreographed duels or sword forms look pretty good.

Overall, I think this show is well done, and I appreciate the strong and complex female lead. It's just a little too dark and heavy for me. On merits I might give it an 8, but it’s probably just my personal preference that I was left with a slightly sour taste, resulting in the 7.5.

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At first it seems like an open ending- she gets all her revenge and closure, but she may or may not have sacrificed herself to defend her hometown. That would be sad but fitting. She kind of had that suicide bomber aura, especially towards the end.

But then, in an after-credit epilogue, she comes back and all is good. …ok, I like happy endings and all, but is this maybe just a little anticlimactic?

And no, we don’t find out what happens to anyone. Unusually, I was ok with this. It would have made it even more anticlimactic.

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I mentioned the second block of revenge (episode 13 on) left me with a slightly sour taste, and here’s why.

Empress Dowager:

There is some moral complexity because deposing her would destabilize the nation. Qingchuan at one point is ready to choose hatred first; I loved how real this is, rather than some idealized cartoon heroine.

…but nope, it turns out she was working with the kid emperor all along, and it’s all self-sacrifice for the good of the country. Right, back to cartoon heroine. Well, I was a little disappointed but ok with this. The show is so dark, it was nice to see something go right.

Feng Shiye:

This was the one that made me feel sour. Ok, so this guy legit did some awful stuff. But I also felt bad for him because he seemed to genuinely like and care for her.

His defeat was supposed to be the final triumphant closing arc, but I just couldn’t feel good about it. I guess I just don’t really like a story where somebody’s love is used against them. Regardless of what else he’s done, I still find it sad.

At the same time, taking a step back… not that I’d understand what’s going on in a twisted mind, but I am Confused. Their history together is so horrible (sidebar: also weird, that we end up here from there), and she’s never hidden her hatred for him. How in the world would he ever think anything could work out between them? He doesn’t even try to resolve or work through those things, he just glosses right over it.

His love seems genuine, but some of his actions are bizarre for a person in love. Don’t you usually, I dunno, try to make the other person like you?

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Enjoyable with some suspension of disbelief

There are so many things that don’t make sense in this show, I won’t bother calling them all out. Enjoying this show for sure requires some suspension of disbelief. But why not just take it easy, give up on logic, and try to enjoy it?

The main thing I had to get over was the FL’s characterization, which honestly gave me some cognitive dissonance. With her background, you’d expect He Yan to be dark and angry. But NOPE! She is somehow bubbly, bright, and down-to-earth, constantly babbling her way out of trouble. For a moment I wondered if it was just Zhou Ye doing what she does best, but I don’t think the actress has that much agency.

He Yan really has no business being so spunky and cheerful, even as an act or pretense. And yet, despite my confusion, I still very much enjoyed watching her. I really like a down-to-earth FL. Just some of her expressions alone made me laugh out loud. And there were many situations that seemed about to get dramatic and sappy, but she defused it with some ridiculous comment. It’s great.

At the same time, she’s also smart, quick-witted, brave, morally upright, and after some hard work, incredibly skilled at combat (classic Cdrama where overtraining somehow works).

It’s not realistic, and the badass and endearing parts of her character aren’t blended well. But it happens to be a combination I really like, so after mentally compartmentalizing my confusion and setting it aside, I found her very enjoyable to watch.

The ML is Xiao Jue, a slowly melting ice cube with whom the FL shares a touching history. He starts out so angry, I enjoyed watching him get softer as He Yan rubs off on him. Their interactions are cute, and their relationship develops well- assisted by drama tropes, it's still not too sudden or too easy, and has some good banter along the way. I liked the romance in this one.

And then there is Chu Zhao. For a while I was wondering where they were going with him, since he seems to have streaks of both darkness and light. He is an interesting character for sure, but I was pretty much worried about/for him the entire show, and not sure I liked that.

There are some pretty great supporting characters, like the FL’s band of army friends, and the two doctors. It’s nice to see other strong female characters, rather than the FL just being an anomaly. These lovable support characters get a lot of screentime earlier in but fall away afterwards, almost to cameo level. It’s really too bad- I wish they’d continued to develop them.

As for the villains, there are some easy-to-hate antagonists that let us root for our leads without complication, at least for most of the show.

Plot-wise, there is a good amount of fluff as He Yan is climbing her career ladder in the army. Again, not what I expected, but solidly enjoyable.

At a certain point, it gets more serious. The fun part of He Yan’s character fades away, and only the badass remains. She’s finally acting like a general. Even though this is finally the character I expected, I still found it less fun to watch.

As the leads tackle their main conflict, there is a lot less challenge than I expected. The cartoon villains are no match for them. I still liked watching them succeed, but I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as the earlier fluff.

And then. I was wondering why everything was resolved with still 4 episodes remaining. Surely they wouldn’t throw some random, rushed, and poorly conceived last-minute drama at us, right?

…of course they did. There are a number of pieces to this last story arc and I found almost all of it stupid. Sometimes if I find a show’s ending dumb enough, I’ll just pretend it didn’t happen, but in this case I think it would have been too easy for the leads otherwise. So I guess, all I can say is: weak ending.

As an aside, this show also has a weird streak of female empowerment. Now, I love female empowerment, I agree with everything she says, and it’s so great- and all too rare in these shows- that a woman who’s broken through, thinks to look back and try to lift up others.

But it just doesn’t quite fit. Not just because it’s an anachronism, but also because it isn’t properly developed as a theme. It almost feels like they’re just missing a few lines here or there tying it all together and explaining why this is a meaningful topic for our FL.

Acting-wise, Zhou Ye excels at outgoing and down-to-earth characters. Cognitive dissonance aside, I very much liked her cute and lovable He Yan. Her badass and authoritative He Yan was a little less convincing to me. Cheng Lei did a pretty good job as a melting ice cube and I thought side actors were fine, even the AI face (Cheng Lisu). Zhang Kangle did a good job as Chu Zhao, showing both darkness and light, but… sometimes talked a little too slowly for my patience.

The fight choreography is really flashy. It’s more spins than solid blows, but very creative, lots of interesting moves. Technique seems fine, though it’s hard to tell between all those spins. I haven’t seen Zhou Ye fight before, and trying not to be biased (because I like her, and also don’t think of her as a fighter), I thought she did a good job. They went a little bit overboard at times, though… especially the very last battle, now wtf was that? This is a battleground, not a dance hall.

Finally, I know there are a lot of complaints and hate for this show out there. I think it suffered from too much hype and too high expectations, as well as comparisons with the novel. From what I read, I can very much believe that the show doesn’t quite do the novel justice. Having a real rebirth would already smooth out the plot and remove one subset of nonsense. Unfortunately, rebirth is banned for dramas, so they had to fudge around it.

However, judging the show for what it is rather than what it isn’t, I still liked it. Weak ending aside, massive and constant plot holes aside, not being what I expected aside, I still very much enjoyed its soft, fluffy interior, and had fun watching it.

Edit: I’ve read the webnovel now, I loved it and recommend. With He Yan’s inner monologue and the author’s snarky commentary, her personality makes a lot more sense. Gender issues / female empowerment are also a lot better done. Between novel and drama they changed quite a few plot points, so I think one would not spoil the other, but I’d recommend drama first.

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It’s a happy ending, but one of the worse I’ve seen. The leads get married and their careers remain intact, but we don’t find out what happens to anyone afterwards.

I was afraid they would kill off some of the lovable side characters, but the emotional impact sacrificial deaths are pretty much limited to Yingxiang (Chu Zhao’s underappreciated maid) and Yan He (their general friend). Both of these deaths are lame, unconvincing, very abrupt (or was that my 1.5X speed?), and also things people wouldn’t normally die from.

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I honestly think the last three episodes are really dumb. Chu Zhao, no matter how much the actor tried to sell his mental breakdown, is still way too smart to think that what he did was a good idea. Xiao Jue, despite being so supportive of the FL, doesn’t even consult her about their future together. The emperor, who has been dumb the entire show- nice one minute and horrible the next- once again shows that he’s all too easily manipulated. These three idiots decide to make the FL’s decisions for her.

But it’s so poorly conceived, the entire plot just yoyos back and forth, backtracking on itself and hopping around.

And then the final climactic battle is just too cheesy and over-the-top… she literally rides in on a white horse to perform a choreographed battle dance with him.

I was particularly unsatisfied by how Chu Zhao’s story resolved. They don’t really show him at the end- we get no insight into what happened, whether he turned himself in, how he felt about his fate, etc. For somebody whose mental state has played a decent role in the story, it’s really anticlimactic.

I mean, I know this entire show is fueled on plot holes, so there’s no point picking at a few towards the end. I’m just doing it because I didn’t like the ending. The plot holes in this show really just provide too easy fodder when you want to criticize it.

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A feel-good show about female empowerment

First of all, do not expect anything resembling realism when it comes to the female lead’s abilities or accomplishments. I read some other reviews beforehand which set my expectations appropriately, and this contributed greatly to my happiness. Do not wonder too hard if time runs differently in this universe, or how xyz is even remotely possible. Just sit back and enjoy the satisfaction of watching these women kick butt.

Now, let us begin.

While the overarching story sets the premise, this show is broken into many smaller standalone story arcs, some as short as a couple of episodes. I didn’t like every story arc, but overall I liked this structure because it meant lots of satisfying closures, and some room to breathe in between.

The theme of female empowerment is embedded throughout. There is a conscious focus on presenting women as their own people beyond their relationships to men (the point of the Bechdel test, actually). Sisterhood stands strong; we do get some typical cattiness, but the women in this story mostly end up very supportive of each other. The extent of societal sexism portrayed at times felt a bit overdone, like they were selling righteous indignation; but as intended, it makes it even more satisfying to watch our characters succeed.

Hua Zhi, the eponymous (Chinese title) FL, is smart, confident, fearless, and kind. She has lots of ideas, and everything she tries goes well. She is a great character to root for because you won’t lose. It’s gratifying to watch her constantly handle situations with skill and heart. But on the flipside, I wasn’t that emotionally invested in her. I was never worried about her; she’s got a ton of plot armor and it’s somehow really obvious from the tone of the show that she always wins.

I was more invested in many of the side characters. A strength of this show is its plethora of likable, multidimensional, and interesting female characters. Many of them get decent development in one or more story arcs, but disappear for the rest. I did hope to see some of my favorites a bit more, but there were enough characters to care about that I didn’t dwell too much.

We also get a lot of side couples, as different members of the household find their matches. A variety of different types of relationships and outcomes are shown. Happily, the show is free of silly love triangles, except the main one.

Not surprisingly, the male protagonists are all allies who support their women. At the beginning I was all for our poor SML, Shen Qi, who did everything he could. For whatever reason, he then went on to disappear for a long time, so I forgot about him. I do feel like he deserved a bit more screentime.

The male lead, Gu Yanxi, is a typical ML combo of badass but kind and supportive. I really liked his relationship with Hua Zhi. Many dramas have an overprotective, overdevoted ML, which I always found a bit much. Gu Yanxi and Hua Zhi seem more normal; they are supportive while each having their own lives. Their very healthy relationship is also impressively drama-free, even when you think there might be some drama.

That said, while I liked Gu Yanxi enough, I actually never felt that interested in him. And so, although I liked the dynamics of their relationship, it was two characters I was not totally invested in, so I wasn’t quite oogling over them.

As for villains… the emperor is the source of problems, but I’d hesitate to call him the villain. The ML is on his side, while Hua Zhi treats him more like a force of nature than an enemy. This emperor is a psychopath with too much power, a bad ruler and a bad father, but he’s also so… human. He’s an interesting character with an interesting role, and I liked that this show does not have a typical good-vs-evil plot.

In terms of acting, overall I think Zhang Jingyi did a great job. Her portrayal of Hua Zhi has been criticized for being too “perfect”. I do think there’s some truth to this, but I wouldn’t pin it all on acting. For example, on occasion she does something not-so-bright (eg mouth off unnecessarily to a powerful person). But it comes across as more heroic than anything else. A little remorse or recognition of “mistake”, by herself or anyone, would have gone a long way to making her a more multi-dimensional character. This could have been accomplished through writing, acting, and/or directing.

For Hu Yitian as Gu Yanxi, there were a few times I thought his expression maybe should have been something else. Overall he was fine, but I think he could work more on nuanced facial expressions. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t care much for this character.

Lu Yuxiao as Shaoyao deserves a special shoutout. It seems the show was going for neurodivergent, which is difficult to portray- I don’t really know what’s accurate, but she did SOMETHING well as I was very invested in this character.

But my favorite acting comes from Hai Yitian. His muted depiction of the emperor- lonely but such a difficult person- conveys a complex character that adds depth to the show. I especially love that momentary look of hurt he gets when somebody says something he doesn’t want to hear. It makes us hope again and again that he’s finally reflecting on himself.

In terms of world-building, this story occurs in some unspecified historical time period, which gives lots of leeway, but they couldn’t seem to keep things consistent. For example, for a society so conservative that unmarried women can’t show their faces, Hua Zhi sure goes on a lot of public dates. In fact, what women are and are not allowed to do is rather inconsistent. However, costumes and styling were fairly good… in particular I thought many of the young women looked very pretty.

Also, for a feel-good romp this show was surprisingly brutal and violent. For example, lots of bloody beatings. And background characters get slaughtered left and right… the choreographer was not messing around, the deaths are fairly graphic. Not gruesome per se, just vivid depictions of stabbing or slicing accompanied by little spurts of blood.

Sidebar rant…this show likes to show off the ML’s fighting prowess by pitting him against many enemies all at once. Such fights are notoriously difficult to choreograph, as in real life a person cannot counter all directions at the same time. The solution? He fights with a few people in front of him while everyone else stands around at ready, conveniently out of focus. …come on, let’s just save the bravado and put him in more realistic situations. I did not swoon for this ML winning 1 vs 50, I just rolled my eyes.

Then again, based on other reviews, it seems everyone else swooned. lol. Well… Hu Yitian’s sword technique seemed ok to me, not bad but didn’t stand out (eg it’s still a little sloppy at times, which is understandable with that many sword strokes). His fist fighting is more MMA style which I personally don’t like as much. I won’t say he’s a good or bad fighter, I just am not sure why so many people are raving about his fight scenes.

Finally: I didn’t know where to fit this in, but I loved the music! Especially those beautiful cello solos. I was so happy to find the instrumental BGMs on youtube so I can play them on repeat.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





Of course this uplifting, feel-good show has a happy ending, it’s just a matter of how well it’s pulled off. And I’ll say first off that, in terms of closure, it’s one of the better Cdrama endings I’ve seen. We get a good half episode of wrapping things up and telling you where everyone goes. I was satisfied.

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Shows often like to insert some heartache near the end, and in this case I would say it’s the Hua Rong story arc. Although one couple is a relatively small sacrifice, I still found it extremely upsetting. I was really rooting for them. Her death was unnecessary; it did not even follow the themes and patterns of the rest of the show.

And as for the actual ending… well, I really liked Hao Yue. In this show about female empowerment, it’s only fitting that it’s a woman who packs the final punch. And her tirade against the emperor was so on point.

I’ll admit that, for somebody who played such an important role, she did come a bit out of nowhere. I would have liked to see her developed a bit more, and I really wished for a better ending for her. As is, by the end she is neither friend nor foe- more like a disposable plot tool.

Do I wish that, instead of a random assassin showing up in the last few episodes, the emperor finally came around and reversed his rulings? …sure, but that is totally unrealistic. The emperor is that person in your life who will never apologize, will never even recognize that they need to apologize. It’s so brutally realistic, and I think his death was the only way to solve Hua Zhi’s problems.

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Lighthearted and fun, solid first half

I’ll preface by saying that I saw Esther in LBFAD and decided her style is not for me. But I still wanted to watch this show because everything else about it seemed like my jam. I love a feel-good, lighthearted xianxia. Since I chose to watch Esther’s show, I did my best not to get annoyed at any cute-acting.

Given this context, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the character of Lin Miaomiao. I found her to be fairly down-to-earth and self-aware, especially in the first half. There’s a bit of the cutsey style, but the things she says are not-dumb and fairly funny, so I actually really liked her. She gets thrown in ridiculous situations and has to muddle her way out. She also has a sad backstory with her dad, but she’s still overall cheerful and good-hearted, which makes her likeable.

The first half was solidly enjoyable. I’ve played a lot of video games and loved the game-related jokes. Miaomiao’s view of a historical setting from a modern perspective adds a good dash of humor; her sometimes-snide commentary is funny, but never mean or rude. The meta-ness of her knowing where the story is “supposed to” go, and trying to direct it, is a fun twist. But it had me wondering the entire time how they would handle the question of what is reality, as the world of the game started to feel more and more real.

The male lead, Mu Sheng, starts off hostile but is soon uncovered to be more emotionally damaged than anything else. Ryan Ding does a great smirk, unfortunately (for me) the character evolves so we see less and less of it as the show goes on. Also in the band are Mu Yao and Liu Fuyi. Their story is a bit less developed and more bland, but I was still happy to see it progress when it did.

That said, the show becomes a bit less fun and enjoyable as it starts to steer away from the meta-ness. Video game references, jokes related to the world being “fake”, and Miaomiao’s awareness and references to her modern world, all but disappear. As my appreciation for Miaomiao declined without her snarky commentary, so did my tolerance for her cute act. Why does she simper and say things extra slow and cutsey when she could just talk like a normal human?

Her loss of self-awareness is not random- it’s explained by the plot- but it does make the show less fun as it turns into more of a classic xianxia story, good vs evil, sad backstories, etc. And the show doesn’t quite have the plot to stand alone in that capacity. It’s a bunch of cliché plot devices, which are fine when you consider that within the show it’s a story written by somebody, but not that fun to watch it play out episode after episode as the main story.

Add to this that I didn’t quite feel the relationship between Miaomiao and Mu Sheng. I don’t know if it’s just the FL’s cutesy style that makes me not want to root for her CP- I can’t understand why he’s so into her, so it feels founded on nothing. (This was, btw, also how I felt about LBFAD.) Or maybe it just didn’t quite develop and build up naturally enough. Either way, not being into the CP unfortunately makes the show less enjoyable.

Stylistically, most of the fighting seems to be wire stunts and CGI (as opposed to wielding “real” (prop) weapons). This is not good or bad, and I thought it’s done pretty nicely. I didn’t quite like Miaomiao’s makeup or all the doodads in her hair (she’s on the road, who’s doing her hair?) but that’s a minor quibble. There was some nice whimsical styling for the different kinds of demons, and other fun details.

I’d give this a rating of 9 for the first half, and maybe 6 for the second (5 would be a show I’m not into, this one I still cared a little), averaging to 7.5. Not modified for the ending; read ahead for my take (contains spoilers).

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





First of all, for a light-hearted show like this, I’d be really surprised if it were anything but a happy ending. And I consider it happy. But many people didn’t like it, probably wanting her to stay with her new reality in the game. I believe this is what happens in the novel source material, but the drama was limited by censorship which bans transmigration.

I spent the entire show wondering how they would handle the dual worlds aspect. To what extent would they make the show’s actual reality have elements of supernatural? The novel went all in, but the show went in the other direction, with the supernatural elements limited to maybe a shared fever dream between Miaomiao and Fu Zhou (if that’s how you interpret it- never quite figured out what happened).

Personally I liked that they maintained a realistic world, because it makes the whole thing so relatable. It’s easy for us viewers to get lost in a story too, but in the end we all have to wake up and deal with our mundane lives again. I like that Miaomiao has to face this same reality as we do. Of course I got attached to the characters and world of the game, but reality- for Miaomiao and us- is that we slowly forget these things and move on.

While watching, I figured the best ending might involve her finding her same friends in her modern world, and I was happy that this is kinda-ish what happened. Do I wish they had shown a bit more of it? Yes. They could have easily shown us an entire episode to tie things up in the modern world, and everyone would have been much happier. They had episodes to spare (under the 40 limit) and no source material tying them down (because they’d already changed so much), so why not? Cdramas seem to feel like the right thing to do is leave viewers wanting more.

By the way, the last couple of episodes were such a mess! I was honestly flabbergasted… I gave up trying to figure out what was going on. Then finally she “wakes up”. At least, if you think of it all as a dream, then that nonsensical stuff makes a lot more sense.

Consistent with the chaos towards the end, bringing in the author came a bit out of left field. I still liked this plot element as a way to tie things together. I just felt that this, like all the other “surprising reveals” crammed into the end, as well as the self-love message (nice message, poorly executed), should have been foreshadowed better throughout the show. It would have felt a lot less chaotic and random if they focused more on developing themes and threads throughout the story, then tying them up at the end, rather than inventing new ones last minute.

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Surprising dose of wit and humor in a clever revenge story

The Double was one of the top hits of 2024. Everyone was raving. I was afraid it would be really dark, since it is a revenge story, but I ended up surprised by its excellent sense of humor. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a lighthearted story, but it’s definitely got some really funny bits.

The dialogue between the ML and FL is particularly clever and witty, and really fun to watch while you gush over them. There is a lot of wordplay and elegant speech, so unfortunately much of it is lost in translation. The language is also on the fancier side, making it harder to pick up if your Chinese isn’t as good (like mine). But translation aside, I think some of it is also hidden meanings. A lot of the dialogue felt like it had some double or triple meanings, and I felt a little dumb as I struggled to follow it all.

Both the FL and ML in this show are really admirable. I’ll refer to the FL as Xue Fang Fei (XFF), though she goes by a few things. She is brilliant, eloquent, and has her head screwed on straight. Her schemes are complicated and clever, and although she can’t control everything, she thinks quickly and always pulls through (some plot armor doesn’t hurt). There were definitely some really sad parts in the story, but I felt comforted knowing that my girl XFF would take revenge on those who deserved it.

XFF shows some strong emotions- not a robot- but she never behaves stupidly. Although the revenge is hers to take, she still acts with compassion, so I had no hesitancies about supporting her 100%. She pretty much just stands up for justice. Any of her enemies that I felt bad for, she seemed to feel a little bad for also.

I also like that she has random moments of being carefree and cheerful, reminding us that she was once a normal person and can still feel joy. Not like some archetype of a femme fatale.

For the ML… I feel like a lot of MLs are written to be as attractive as possible, like they are always handsome, smart, good fighters, supportive of FL, etc. But they really outdid themselves here- this one is a total dreamboat. Xiao Heng is lethal, capable, and composed, a mastermind playing chess (it’s a theme… XFF is smart; she won’t get used against her will).

I’m convinced that a lot of this show’s popularity is due to Xiao Heng fangirls obsessing over him. I totally get it, but also… why bother? Someone like this is way out of my league.

But you know who’s in his league? Xue Fang Fei. So while the two of them are not relatable to average mortals like me, they are such a great match, making it a delight to watch their interactions. They’re not mushy, they have some great banter and a mutual respect, and they are actually good enough for each other.

The side characters showed a lot of promise, but ultimately I was a bit disappointed. There were so many characters I’d liked to see more of- for instance, her pack of four friends- but they mostly just disappeared beyond their story arc. Even recurring characters, like the Ji boys, don’t get much development for themselves. It’s a shame that they made such likeable side characters, only to deny them any extensive stories of their own.

The villains is where I think they put more effort into making multidimensional characters- for better or for worse. It creates some complicated feelings. I personally liked this, although I wouldn’t say it made me feel good. It’s a little spoiler-y so I’ll hide my rant at the end of this review.

As an aside, this emperor is refreshing. He’s young and a real friend to our ML; even more, he’s playing politics like everyone else rather than just wielding a lot of power. This makes him a more sympathetic character than most emperors.

Plot-wise, in addition to the ongoing saga of injustice and revenge, this show relies a lot on squeal-worthy interactions between the ML and FL. These fade a bit in the last quarter or so, and the show gets darker. Like so many other shows, I enjoyed this one a little less as it was approaching its end, but the effect was not as pronounced as some others.

Acting-wise, this cast did well. Wu Jinyan looks a bit older, I think it is hard because a lot of other actors are younger. But she did well- so many lines to memorize! I also don’t think her styling was the greatest- she looks prettier as herself- but the end result was as they said in the show, “not bad looking and your own unique look”.

Many other actors did well too, but I think Wang Xingyue as Xiao Heng stood out. He is a young actor and his career is on the rise after this. He has great facial microexpressions. He also has great presence, and he does this kind of confident, commanding character well. And he did his own voice- that sexy drawl is his own! He could probably work on swordfighting a little, it wasn’t as clean and crisp as I expected.

Stylistically, the director liked to shoot close-ups of peoples’ talking heads with a sort of fisheye lens look. At first I thought he was trying to capture a certain feeling, like the viewer is a little disoriented or the person is too close to their face… but it happened so often, I think it was just director’s style. Personally I wasn’t a fan, but I got used to it.

There are also some plotholes… too many coincidences… I don’t know why I bother mentioning it; it’s every show.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





I had read some other reviews which warned me I might want to ignore the second half of the last episode. But I figured it couldn’t be that bad, since there is also a 5 min special showing them happily married afterwards.

Well, the reviews were right. The ending is really wtf, like big things happening out of nowhere. The new conflict introduced was only peripherally related to the other 39.5 episodes, but it had big consequence for our beloved characters.

In the book, it’s an entire story arc, much better developed and with a better outcome. I don’t know why the show thought it was a good idea to cram it into 30 min. But on top of this, they seemed to also really want an open ending, so they forced one. IMO, it wasn’t even so much an open ending as it was incredibly confusing and leaning towards sad.

Then, for whatever reason, they tried to backpedal with a Happily Ever After special that completely doesn’t explain how we got there from the ending.

This is one of the worst endings I’ve seen, so I decided to ignore it. I read some summaries of the book ending (and am reading the book now) and will stick with that.

While I’m here, I’ll just rant a bit more about the villains. This show really spun things around in circles. I started out feeling sorry for Shen Yurong, but he kept making so many bad decisions. XFF is fair; she understood he had no choice about some things, but pointed out that he did for others. Although I disliked him by the end, I still appreciate that he is this sort of realistic character- not inherently bad, just made some bad choices that led to more bad choices.

On the other hand… both major female villains, Ji Shuran and Wanning, started out as classical archetype evil characters, not very interesting. I was ready to just hate them 100%. But this turned around too. It was an interesting choice to make them both victims of men… they made choices too, of course, a sad backstory doesn’t absolve them, but I still sympathized.

Wanning’s story in particular hit me hard. Her theme song fits so well, with its major-minor key changes. Although I’m always on XFF’s side, and Wanning was a real psychopath, I still felt that trick with the drug was pretty cruel.

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An existentialist Jianghu adventure

MLC is what I heard somebody described as classic wuxia. It’s got adventure and mystery, good-looking heroes with impressive martial arts abilities, and well-choreographed fight scenes. It's also got a good dash of humor.

I was a bit hesitant going for this show because it has no female lead. I don’t particularly need romance, but I do like a strong FL to root for. However, after watching another show where I felt the romance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable story (Ancient Detective), I decided I could set aside my feminist leanings and just enjoy this story about men.

Ultimately what I really love about this show is its underlying existential crisis. From the beginning, Li Lianhua is waiting for his death. He just wants to tie up a few loose ends first. As I watched, I desperately hoped it would not happen, but I also understood that he was already on this path and it would be a win if he survived rather than a loss otherwise. At least his friends were right there with me, hoping and trying to turn this around.

This show contains a series of mystery cases strung together with an overarching storyline. I felt the cases themselves were a bit of a mess… they were so convoluted that they were hard to follow. There was often no chance of the audience solving it together with the characters, if only because the answer often involves strange magical feats. That aside, it just felt unrealistic that any detective could identify and then put together such a random set of clues to come up with such complicated explanations. But hey, our boy is a genius, so whatever- I just sat back and enjoyed watching them kick butt.

The three main characters are really loveable and where I think a lot of the fanbase lies. The brotherhood and also the humor between them is really great. Li Lianhua’s casual lying is hilarious; people have complained about Cheng Yi mumbling (they all dubbed themselves) but I think it captures Li Lianhua well, and not a problem if you use subtitles! Fang Duobing is sillily naïve and lovable, and Joseph Zeng’s anime-like expressions had me laughing. Xiao Shunyao as Di Feisheng unfortunately gets less screentime, but he is so grumpy badass when he shows up. I think all three actors did a great job capturing the spirit of their characters and making them likable, and their looks and styling all suited their characters well.

The show doesn’t have a female lead, but it does have some female side characters who are not too useless. Fang Duobing’s mom is a fan favorite. Qiao Wanmian, who is Li Lianhua’s ex, got a bit of hate but I actually really sympathized with her situation. I felt her arc was handled very well, a breakup she doesn’t want but has to accept- like the rest of the story, it's sad in a realistic way. I just feel she got a little shortchanged because they could have let her show off a little more. Her one sword strike showed no technique at all. Su Xiaoyong, I saw one snippet from the actress saying “I am you, the audience!” and that’s a good description- Li Lianhua’s fangirl. But in the end, neither she nor the princess actually factors in much (not that I would have wanted some random love story muddling the waters). Probably the strongest female character is Jiao Liqiao, who is batshit crazy and whose sole purpose in life seems to be to get the man she likes. So, across 40 episodes, I’d say this one might not even pass the Bechdel test. But I guess that’s ok, it’s a story about men in a men’s world.

The fighting in this show is well choreographed, aside from a few nonsensical sword strokes. In general it’s also fairly well performed. Unfortunately Di Feisheng doesn’t really fight, he just swings his sword and everyone goes flying. Fang Duobing’s fights look great- this actor seems pretty athletic- but as a character, he leveled up a bit too quickly. I find it unbelievable that he was a sickly child… but, who needs logic.

In all these fight scenes, especially towards the end, I do think there was a bit too much strike-and-pose with hair blowing in the wind. Once upon a time I might have thought it was cool, now I find it cheesy.

Once again, I think the main draw of this show is its existential undertones. I really appreciated, under the very well-done humor and swashbuckling adventure, the sadly realistic tone of the entire saga. Li Xiangyi was a genius and admired by all, but also a legit difficult and arrogant person. Such a character is very realistic, reminding us that people at the top are not always perfect. Li Lianhua lives with guilt and memories and needs to find his peace; this is also something that we ordinary people struggle with. The realistic, life-isn’t-perfect message resonates with us as we navigate our own lives. This alone, to me, gives it a high rating, despite other flaws like nonsensical cases, dismissible female characters, and too much posing.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending is, controversially, a forced open ending. I think it broke a lot of peoples’ hearts, but at least it gives you the option to believe what you want. Lengthy critical analyses abound on the internet arguing one way or another, I could totally see a high schooler writing a 5-paragraph essay for English class.

Personally, although I wish it were simply a happy ending, I also think that would have been too forced for a show like this and might have cheapened it a bit.

…that aside, I don’t see why he couldn’t have just eaten the flower and then saved everyone else afterwards using yangzhouman. The Styx flower was not even in the book, it was a gimmick added to the drama. It gave us all hope, then was ultimately used to generate dramatic flare. Honestly, the self-sacrifice theme was so overused and tired by this point. In this context, the whole plot device of the Styx flower was also a bit cheap.

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Classic xianxia with some great humor and pathos

Legend of Shenli has been described as a classic xianxia, full of tropes. I guess I haven’t watched enough xianxias (<10) because I didn’t really notice.

First of all, I thought the humor for this show was pretty great (at least, right up my alley). Xingzhi, and Shenli’s interactions with him, are lowkey hilarious. There is a lot of random funny stuff. And that chicken is so cute!

Of course, there are also some really sad parts. And this show has an underlying pathos and nostalgic sadness that hits in a gnawing, existential way. But for the most part, I still think of it as a light-hearted show with great humor.

The two main characters dominate this show. For Shenli, the eponymous FL, I liked some things about her and not others, which I guess makes her realistic! I like that her head is screwed on straight and she’s sensible- no chasing after the ML after getting rejected, for example. I like less that she’s so hotheaded. She’s quick to fight and kill; she saves people, but doesn’t seem to have much kindness or compassion. So I wouldn’t say she’s always likeable, but I did really feel for her at times.

As for the ML, Xingzhi… ok, I loved him. It’s not that he doesn’t care about the world… he does. But he is also so full of crap. He is so bored and so cheeky and I found him hilarious. He’s kind of a troll sometimes, but it’s always harmless; he still takes care of things when push comes to shove.

Actually, underneath it all, Xingzhi’s situation is quite sad. But he holds his head high and has accepted it all long ago. It makes for a lovable and sympathetic character you want to root for, and I’m glad he met Shenli.

The show spends some time building up their relationship, which is cute to watch, although the plot pattern of Shenli getting hurt and Xingzhi saving her does repeat one too many times. They end up having a sweet and supportive relationship- mainly him supporting her. Classic, but it’s done well here, with proper character development and buildup.

There are several side characters, some of whom are quite loveable. However, none of them got enough development for me to really be invested in them. I wanted to see more of them, but it didn’t happen. Even the villain is a bit lame- although they do throw a (slightly predictable) wrench in there to make you feel more sad. The main conflict doesn’t win points for originality or interest. In this show, I was most invested in the relationship between the main leads.

In terms of acting, Zhao Liying as Shenli does the action scenes remarkably well. Her fight scenes are fast, crisp, and clean. They are a mix of CGI and choreography (I saw in the BTS that even her spear is CGI!), but still, some of the best I’ve seen. I saw her before in Legend of Fei and wasn’t too impressed (stopped watching, actually), but here she really stood out, even among all the other shows I’ve watched.

I was less enamored with her acting. I thought she was a bit stiff and wooden, which is great for the fight scenes but less great for everything else. After I read the book, I realized that sometimes she really is supposed to look blank. Still, I think she could rely less on looking cool and try to be more natural.

For Lin Gengxin as Xingzhi, I really liked his calm, casual delivery of all those hilarious lines. And once in awhile, a hint of a deeper sadness- I thought he did a good job. Unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of his styling… he looks better as himself than as Xingzhi. Many of the side characters looked great (both male and female) so I don’t think it’s general about the show, they just could have done a better job with him.

In terms of world-building, this is an imaginative xianxia world that, as typical, you can’t think too hard about lest you start uncovering holes. There is some beautiful CGI and imagery, highlighted by high-contrast vivid colors. The mortal world from the first arc in particular is so lovely, both Shenli and I look back nostalgically on her time spent there.

I do wish this world had more gender balance. Shenli is a woman in a man’s role, a total anomaly (which nobody seems to find odd); I would have liked better a world where women are just empowered, but I guess this is the author’s choice. There are a few other strong female characters (demon lord, the awesome snake serpent) but in general, despite the strong female lead, this is not quite a show for championing feminism.

Somebody’s critical analysis on reddit thought this show has a focus on gender and sexuality. I think this is because there are some bisexual characters in the book, but they were toned down for the show (censorship, I guess) so it’s harder to see. Actually in the book, Furong (the divine lord fiancée) kisses Mofang and has a thing for him, so in that context some things make more sense. In general this show sticks remarkably close to the book, and I think does an excellent job at adapting it to screen; of the changes I saw, the vast majority were improvements.

Finally, I liked the music… songs were great, really help to build the nostalgia for this beautiful world, and I really liked their fight BGMs too.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





There is a lot of sad stuff at the end- I saw a BTS where they said it was an entire day of crying- but it all turns around for an ultimate happy ending (minus some sacrifices).

In fact, this show has one of THE best endings, because they devote an *entire episode* to an epilogue from the book! Epilogue = watching them happily living their life after the main conflict is over. I don’t know why more Cdramas don’t do this; look how happy all the fans are. It is so great to get this kind of closure for the characters you get so attached to.

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An entertaining detective story, no major complaints but didn’t fully captivate

Chu Chu, the imperial coroner of titular fame, is a bit annoying at the beginning of the show. She comes across as young and wide-eyed, but my major issue with her is that she kept fangirling the ML. She kept gushing and I was so embarrassed for her. It could be either the delivery or the character. I almost stopped watching, but then I read some reviews which validated my annoyance and assured me it would get better, which it did. The fangirling sort of fades away.

The story actually seems to be more about the ML, Xiao Jinyu, who is one of those super-smart MLs who’s constantly outsmarting everyone. He’s also a stern prince, which is a bit tropey, but he’s sickly, which at least is not tropey. Chu Chu has her expertise and presents the evidence; it’s Jinyu who does the deductions and solves the mysteries. He’s also the one who wants them solved and directs their operations… she’s just his very capable coroner. It’s not quite a story about her as the title might imply.

The merry band of friends has other loveable characters (Jing Yi, Leng Yue, and others), each with their own personalities and backstories, though nothing too multidimensional or complicated. The main four are neatly split into two couples with no (or minor) silly love dramas, which is a plus.

The love story between the ML and FL is actually not bad. I did find it weird to watch a child be in a relationship, and found it helpful to try to forget about some of her earlier behaviors. And I liked that the show didn’t focus too heavily on their romance. Many of the conversations between them are just business, nothing too mushy. This left me focusing on the mysteries, which is always fun (and I thought done fairly well in this show), and the political backstory, which required some untangling.

This show is set in the Tang dynasty. Somebody else’s review explained some of the history of the emperors, and I had to keep referring to it as I was watching to avoid total confusion (thank you, fellow drama watchers). This show does use real life historical figures, which is a bold move. I think the story is fairly correct about the overall climate with the eunuchs and power struggles, as well as of course the actual tangled mess succession of emperors, but it makes up things around it.

I did google briefly, but I wasn’t inspired to research to the same extent as for e.g. The Long Ballad. It might be because the historical figures didn’t factor as prominently, or I found them to be less interesting (like srsly, bunch of people killing each other), or maybe just the show was less beautifully done so it didn’t quite set off my imagination. It has a bit of a darker palette, which is not inherently bad but not my preference. And it is, after all, not really a high budget production.

The show doesn’t have a low budget feel per se, though I did notice things like the emperor always being in one room. I think they did well with what they had. The actors and actresses are also less well known, but I think they did fine. A lot of them went to film school, can’t be too bad.

This was a show I enjoyed, with decent humor and fun sprinkled throughout, but the story and characters didn’t fully captivate me. I was entertained but not obsessed. Only as it was nearing its end did I realize how much the characters had grown on me, and that I had enjoyed this show maybe more than I realized.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





It’s probably not even a spoiler to say that they solve everything and defeat the enemy, and everything works out. I guess the show was not that suspenseful because I don’t remember ever doubting that they would triumph. But if I recall correctly, the ending was even fluffier than I anticipated, with minimal sacrifice. You don’t even feel bad for the enemy, like there was a whiff of that and they snuffed it out. And Chu Chu even gets to keep her job (which was in doubt for a minute). You know what, I don’t mind, sometimes I just want to feel good.

I wasn’t too concerned by lack of resolutions because I was convinced that there was a second season. I wouldn’t have thought this show needed a sequel, but S2 has a page on MDL. Only after I finished and went to look for it, did I realize that it doesn’t exist yet. As of Q1 2025, there are still fans regularly hyping up S2 on MDL… but I’ll believe it when I see it.

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A forgettable little story with too much out of nowhere

Wanru’s Journey is not the worst show I’ve started, but ranks low on the ones I’ve finished. I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it hadn’t been so short. But by the time I was ready to give up, there were only so many episodes left… might as well see it through and learn the mystery behind her past.

First, characters. This show was recommended for having a smart female lead, but actually I found her kind of annoying. There are a lot of eating scenes where her slurping and chomping noises are really loud, and she’s extremely, exaggeratedly, rude and uncouth. Maybe it’s supposed to be funny, but I just found her unlikeable, which makes it hard to root for her. She’s also a bit dopey-looking- I think it’s the way she acts, not the actress herself.

All of this later gets better when she starts to show signs of competence, but this transition is done so poorly. If she were really smart and capable (and can fight that well), it should have come through earlier, even if she hid it from everyone else.

Her romantic endeavors are likewise sudden- no explanation, out of nowhere. One leg of her love triangle is worse about this than the other, hate to love in the blink of an eye. It was so ridiculous, I didn’t feel anything about this pairing. We do, however, get the longest kiss I’ve seen to date in a Cdrama.

The two male leads were more likeable, but I still didn’t care too much for either, and I couldn’t decide how I wanted their love triangle to resolve. I did think the bromance was well-done. People kept wondering if this is BL… come on, can’t they be really good friends without it being BL? *rolls eyes*

As for the plot, I guess at the core it’s about everyone killing each other for some secret manual. Not the greatest premise, but they could have pulled it off better. There is too much random stuff pulled out of nowhere. Lots of vicious mass massacre scenes that make little sense. And as we get closer to the end, a giant mass of scheming and plot twists. It’s honestly a bit of a hot mess.

I normally care less about production, but scene transitions were bad enough that I noticed them. That and the too-loud sound effects makes me think it was just a lower budget production.

What did it do well? It does have some legit good humor that had me laughing. In general, the humor is more slapstick which is less my style, but at least it has a nice lighthearted feel- for half of the show or so. Also, I still finished the show, so it at least had enough intrigue to keep me going.

By the way, normally I would hide this in the “ENDINGS” section, but I feel it is important to state early on in case anyone is strung along like I was, slogging through to the end out of curiosity about her past: you never find out. It’s such a tease, SHE finds out, you don’t. I think it’s scriptwriter laziness, they hyped it up so much that they couldn’t figure out a good enough truth and left it open instead.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





Happy ending. Somehow, despite all the twists and turns, it all works out.

Somebody on reddit said “if you’re a woman who likes to have your cake and eat it to, you’ll like this ending!” which made me really curious and excited. Ok, turns out it’s about the love triangle, she chooses neither and they go traveling. I happen to like this because I couldn’t pick, either. However, I was so irritated that they didn’t reveal the secret of her background, that drowned out whatever appreciation I had for their unconventional resolution of love triangle.

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The most I heard about this show was due to the controversial age gap between Ai Mi (17) and Hou Minghao (27), so I’ll address that first.

I do think 10 years is a lot when you’re 17. But I always try to see the characters and not the actors, and I also think they both did a good job portraying their roles. Ai Mi doesn’t look as young as some other 17-year-olds so the visual age gap is not outrageous, and she IS a young character. The show also avoids kiss scenes for this reason, but it is still a romance they need to sell, so there are plenty of gazes, hugs, cuddles, hand holding, etc. I don’t think the show is any worse for avoiding kisses.

For me personally, my knowledge of their creepy age gap was always sitting in the back of my mind, and I couldn’t help subconsciously cringing as I watched them try to sell the romance. I had to either believe it and get creeped out, or not believe it. I think somebody who is better immersed would probably not have this problem, so it’s a non-issue for some viewers. And for the rest of us, we may not agree with the casting decisions, but if we can look past it then there is still a decent story to enjoy.

The FL is kind-hearted and smart at engineering, but especially at the beginning, she is naïve and somewhat ditzy about the rest of life. Normally I like savvier FLs, but one unintended consequence for me of Ai Mi’s age is that the FL looks so young that I didn’t mind her innocence so much, or the way the ML is always watching out for her behind the scenes. I even found it cute. And then a big part of this show is about the FL growing up to become somebody who can stand up for herself and the people she cares about. Her growth and maturity are shown well, including the cost to her innocence.

The ML is a classic archetype of good guy with a bad rep, but I thought he’s done better than most. He really is a nice guy who gets little recognition for his good deeds, and I especially like how he tries to hang onto his friendship with the SML. He has all your classic ML traits (smart, good fighter, noble cause, etc) and the added drama of a ticking time bomb. Not that unique, but good use of tropes.

For supporting characters, some are interesting and some are fun, but I was never so attached to anyone as to wish they had more time. Maybe the emperor- minor character, but I liked how he sees through all the schemes but hates the whole game. The SML kept me on my toes. I found the show less stressful when I gave up on him early, but I was never quite sure which side of the fence he’d fall on. The villains are a mixed bag for me, some I hated and some I felt a little bad for.

There are also several strong female side characters. In general, this show does girl power well. The FL isn’t the only woman who has goals and dreams that she can fulfill through her own skills. There is also a conscious focus on women’s agency and freedom, which seems a popular theme for shows in the past year or two.

The pacing is in general decent, fast but not too choppy. The show skips a lot of details and procedure, like how people figure things out, which I discovered is ok with me. But I was confused by all the relationships and titles- the backstory is revealed satisfactorily but there are some aspects I never fully figured out (eg SML backstory). Everything is enough to get the gist though, and perhaps it’s for the better- details often don’t stand up to scrutiny anyways.

In the middle there is a patch where I think the pacing is too fast- big things happen abruptly, and the plot is pushed forward by not-quite-believable behavior. Closer to the ending, things also get rushed. I got some massive whiplash and confusion from schemes revealed in retrospect (plot twist style), along with various gaps and holes- some things underdeveloped, other things unexplained, other things glossed over. I think this show could have used more episodes, but honestly, I was kind of over it by then. Maybe pontificate less about the common people and use that time instead to plug plot holes

For the acting, I think people in general did a decent job and are believable. You just have to forget about the age gap. Peter Ho always gets so much praise, but actually I thought his dead-in-the-soul acting was too extreme. But he cried so well, it activated my mirror neurons and I actually started crying with him.

The fight choreography is pretty good. Some of the fights are very flashy (eg the first and last battles) with posing and stills. The CGI is... ok. Those fireballs were remarkably accurate, lol. In general I think the production is decent but not the best- the only part that stood out to me was the music. I like both the OST and the background music, which I thought set the tones really well. But sometimes the music cut back and forth between different songs too abruptly.

Overall it’s not a bad show. I liked the beginning better when I felt the ML and FL had a cute dynamic and there is a little humor. But then there is periodic heartache throughout and I ended up losing some interest, though it might have been self-protection to save me from feeling too upset.

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It’s an ultimate happy ending for the two leads. After a time gap, the ML is saved by deus ex machina (I almost never complain about this). The SML ends up falling on the side of good, which is a relief. He’s lonely at the top, but we all know it’s a decision he made. The story ties up pretty well, even without a view of the future stretching forward. There is also a post-credit scene with a small plot twist.

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The Eagle King is the final baddy. He does lots of bad things, but I also felt sorry for him because he’s so sincere to Lejun- he is too smart to fall for her crap, but still chooses to indulge her. Their story together seems to be missing many pieces, as if scenes were deleted, creating much confusion and an ultimate villain that feels underdeveloped. But from what I glimpsed of it, I still didn’t feel good about how it went down. I don’t like being sad for somebody I’m supposed to hate (though maybe it would have been easier if he were uglier, lol).

To be fair, though, he also doesn’t even seem that important to the story. The guy is smart but didn’t really stand out from any of the other villains along the way.

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Kind of a mess

This show has simply too much story for the allotted time. The way they chopped it up to fit creates a disjointed, nonsensical mess. The scenes themselves play out slowly enough- I watched the entire thing at 1.5X speed- but big developments happen quickly and abruptly with little glue in between, and sometimes key scenes are not even shown (or only a flash of them).

I don’t think filler is necessarily a good thing, but proper pacing means giving ideas some time to develop, and it helps the story feel more natural. That’s all missing here. It reminds me of vertical dramas; perhaps that’s the target audience.

On top of this choppiness, other symptoms include: many things are not properly explained and links are missing; plot points are introduced and then forgotten; and the story is riddled with inconsistencies that are simply flashed over as the show runs away at breakneck speed. Maybe I missed some things because I was watching it so sped up, but I just wasn’t interested enough to pay more attention, and why bother keeping track of plot points when half of them are dropped.

The premise is, or at least starts as, a rebirth revenge. It reminds me a bit of The Double, only everything less well done. Later it shifts more into power struggles and scheming. I basically held onto these familiar story archetypes to maintain some sanity.

The FL, for example. I just tried to see her as an archetype smart and scheming FL, otherwise it would have been too much cognitive dissonance. I had to ignore the random inconsistencies in her character, like how her skills in strategy and military tactics seem to come out of nowhere, and how she randomly devolves back into being a willful teenager somewhere in the middle. Stereotyping her also helped me like her better, since I like this character pattern, and she doesn’t have much personality of her own (or it’s so inconsistent that you don’t know what it is).

The ML is a skilled fighter with a sad past and endless devotion to her. Also classic. I don’t think he’s very interesting, but at least I didn’t get cognitive dissonance from him. Zhou Yiran is such a pretty boy in this show, though. I know that’s not everyone’s type, but at least I enjoyed staring at his face.

Their romance goes through all the right motions, including tense staring contests, cute and sweet moments, exaggerated worry, and so on. I didn’t really feel it. It isn’t built up properly or meaningfully, though I think the pieces are there- it’s just poor writing emphasizing the wrong things. They do get together quickly enough, but after that their relationship really is not very interesting.

As far as the plot goes, the FL first goes through a phase where she is hell bent on revenge (country be damned). I found it somewhat confusing because she’s reborn in the past; the guy hasn’t even done anything to her yet. Every time she called it "revenge", I secretly giggled. She doesn’t even try to establish if he at that point harbors any ill intent towards her.

Luckily for us all, he is just a terrible person who is already planning terrible things. This villain is one of the most one-dimensional I have seen. At least it is easy on my emotions, but it’s not really that interesting to watch him do all the terrible things villains do.

At some point, the FL abruptly transitions into wanting to be a good ruler for the people, and the focus then is on outmaneuvering her opponents in a high-stakes power game. She is not always invincible, which is one little thing I liked. The court comprises of a bunch of annoying old men led by two hot young guys. I am not sure how such a court comes into being. Either way, these two hot young ministers are playing politics with the FL, but I could never quite figure out what they were after or what they were trying to do. Maybe I needed to pay more attention, but it was not worth the risk of brain implosion.

There are some likable-enough side characters, but mostly they didn’t get enough development for me to care. The child emperor is really adorable, especially when he acts all authoritative- but is this realistic for a 6 year old? (Or is he actually 12?)

There is also some war and battle stuff in the middle. And plenty of dramatic scenes with lots of pretty-crying. Maybe I just wasn’t into the show, but it felt kind of ridiculous to see all the streaming tears for things I didn’t find that sad.

Finally, there is some female empowerment stuff, and this is not a bad show for girl power. But proper female representation is not so rare anymore these days, so a few throwaway comments and one short empowerment arc don't really get this show any extra points.

I can’t comment much on the acting since I watched it all so sped up. I actually thought Deng Yi and Xie Yanfang’s actors did really good jobs. Styling is good, I thought they all look quite good. Production seems decent- especially since I mentally categorized this as a short drama, so within that category it is good. But I really can’t say I was paying that much attention.

To close it off, here’s what I came up with for things I liked about this show (besides that the emperor is very cute and the guys are good looking):

1) The overall premise of a strong FL who outmaneuvers her opponents is not a bad one. Other shows have done it better, but if you’ve already seen them and want more, you might like this.

2) With the fast and choppy pace, coupled with watching at 1.5X speed, I felt like I was breezing through a story very quickly, which gave me a sense of accomplishment. Whatever people like about vertical dramas probably applies here.

3) I ended up on reddit reading episode discussions- I wanted to see if it was just me thinking the show was bad- and I was not disappointed, all the haters had gathered. So it was kind of fun to see people pick apart a show I didn’t like that much.

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It’s a happy ending. The last deadly challenge is solved in a cheap way. The emperor is clearly totally autonomous now that he’s 12, so the leads depart from politics to go frolic in the desert and have babies, happily ever after.

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Fantastical desert adventuring

Parallel World is a modern sci-fi/fantasy. I watched it because it seemed similar to Seven Relics of Ill Omen, which I really liked; I didn’t realize until afterwards that it’s by the same original author (along with Love on the Turquoise Land, which I did not like or finish).

The FL, Ye Liuxi, has a strong personality. “Outgoing and free-spirited” is one way to put it. But at the beginning, the vibe I got was more... hot girl energy. Like, not a bad person per se. But more confident than she has any right to be, a bit of a bulldozer, and implicitly assumes others will accommodate her. I honestly didn’t like her that much. I was, however, quite impressed at how naturally Ni Ni could capture such a strong attitude.

By the teens of episodes, she had grown on me. She does soften a bit; but also, a lot of those personality traits are less obnoxious and even admirable on somebody in a leader role, which she does end up falling into.

I like the gender roles in this show. Chang Dong, the ML, is very capable and comes up with lots of ideas. But Ye Liuxi is the stronger personality and ultimately this is her story- her enemies, her battles, and her decisions to make. Many shows with strong FLs have her still subordinate to the ML, or otherwise she totally dominates him, but this show strikes a good balance with a strong ML but stronger FL.

The romance is well done. Chang Dong’s more calm and cautious personality is a good match for Ye Liuxi. They start out rather confrontational, which makes sense in the context, but the transition away from hostility happens so naturally that I barely realized it was happening. Their relationship once it gets there is comfortable and natural, and I enjoyed watching it. It has just the right levels of banter, teasing, and affection.

Accompanying our leads are 3-5 friends, from both worlds. These side characters are likable with distinct personalities, and there are two side romances that I was definitely rooting for. But the side characters and romances are definitely subordinate in terms of importance and screentime. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of them, especially towards the end, though all things considered they are not too badly neglected.

The villain is easy to hate, but not very multi-dimensional. I think the show could have done more in fleshing out the villain and what they are thinking, but then that always runs the risk of making me feel sorry for them, which I do not like. So ultimately I was satisfied with the conflict. In general, the problems facing the protagonists are a good scale- dire but not insurmountable, so that we feel anxious for the characters but not so hopeless it would take a deus ex machina to win. This is something that many other shows surprisingly fail at.

The pacing is a bit odd. I felt like the first 10ish episodes were all just exposition. If you truly come in blind (like I did), it’s a rather long time to be facing such an unclear situation. But if you already know the premise (a parallel world exists), you might be less disoriented. The characters certainly seem to have some idea, for no reason other than plot armor, because they just blithely jump into the parallel world and are lucky to find a civilization which can still support their needs.

After this, the show takes on a more adventuring tone, which was more comfortable for me as a viewer. The characters are still figuring things out, but the challenges and next steps are clearer. By about 2/3 of the show, the situation has crystalized, and by the last 10ish episodes the backstory is established and the main conflict and goals are apparent. I think this is a pretty good breakdown. Many shows fall apart towards the end, but here- aside from some unnecessary flashbacks for a backstory I already roughly figured out- I found the episodes leading up to the end to be quite exciting. However, the final episodes are a bit strange because the show skips a big portion of the conflict to simply show us the result, which then feels undeserved.

There is also a weird frame story involving an old man telling the entire plot to Chen Duling. Their conversation interrupts the flow and I didn’t see much point to it. Sometimes I do like seeing what other viewers think, but that’s what reddit and forums are for; Chen Duling’s audience commentary wasn’t even that interesting.

I wouldn’t call this show funny, but there are some moments that made me laugh out loud. The roosters (traditionally thought to ward off evil spirits) are probably supposed to be comic relief, but honestly I was kind of bothered by how they get treated. First of all, stealing somebody’s rooster is not something nice people do. Second of all, the poor adorable rooster always gets left behind and forgotten. I was so worried about the rooster sometimes that I could not focus on the plot. But actually, the show is just sloppy about them, and they would simply show up again later.

For the acting, I thought it’s very good. I actually hadn’t seen Ni Ni before, though it seems she’s a legend. I was really impressed by her strong presence and force of personality. Bai Yu plays her complement well, and the supporting cast also does a good job.

The production is decent, lots of desert scenes. CGI is ok, not the best, but you get the idea. I thought the music is pretty good and I especially like the softer BGMs which set a nice mood. The OST is also fitting and has lots of different styles.

Overall I think this is a decent show. For most of it, I was happy to watch but not addicted, more just mildly entertained. It wasn’t until the last 10 or so episodes that I really got hooked. But it is still a well-done show that tells a decent story.

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The ending is fairly happy, though I found it a bit unsatisfying. The only sad death is Jiang Zhan. Gao Shen doesn’t seem to get a great ending either... he gets merged with a shadow puppet, whatever that means. However, the show seems to frame it as a happy ending for him and Xiao Liu (?????)

Such confusion is possible because the ending is rather unclear about what actually happens to everyone. The one time I actually appreciated the frame story is when Chen Duling says, “Wait! That’s it? What happened to everyone?”, mirroring my thoughts exactly. We only see Ye Liuxi negotiating her enemies’ surrender (oddly without seeing the war itself) and her final reunion with Chang Dong. Then flashes of the different couples being together, though it’s not even clear which world they’re in. We also see very little of the villains and it seems they are let off with a slap on the wrist, not even any reflection or character development. Not the best ending.

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Great character development and relationship building

This show is a modern sci-fi/fantasy mystery featuring a band of friends investigating supernatural phenomenon. I really liked it. It’s not without flaws, but the things it does right happen to be the ones I care about, so I was happy to overlook everything else.

The biggest strength of this show is its characters and their relationships. Each of the five friends has their own personality, backstory, etc. They’re not all equally important, but at least none of them gets sidelined too badly (ie they all continue to get screentime and development throughout). They also have various fun and/or supportive relationships with each other, which all feel quite meaningful.

Luo Ren is probably the most capable and could be considered the leader, and I like how he gives insightful counsel or meaningful commentary to all of his friends (not just eg his love interest). But everyone across the board is just really likeable, especially Mu Dai. Both girls are strong, self-sufficient, and capable- actually tough, not just occasionally doing tough things that happen to get witnessed by a love interest. The main characters are quite relatable, too, which I appreciate. For example, right at the beginning, Mu Dai gets a knife held to her throat and she starts to tear up. She has skills but isn’t hardened- makes perfect sense. Only Luo Ren feels a bit too amazing to be relatable- somebody to be admired instead, perhaps- but he has his weak moments too.

I found the main romance to be quite sweet. I really liked watching it develop, and I thought its setbacks were valid and made me root for them even more. No kisses, if that matters to you. There is a hint of a second relationship but it doesn’t move much for most of the show. I was ok with this, and I think it helps us focus more on the characters’ identities for themselves. This is the right amount of romance for me.

I do, however, feel the actual sci-fi itself is not done that well. The rules don’t seem that structured and a lot of things feel too unsystematic or random. I actually had a long list of complaints as I watched the show, but most became irrelevant after I saw the last two episodes. A lot of things do come together at the end; and, it turns out, things aren’t as random as they at first seem. But I think the right way to handle this would have been to have the characters pointing things out throughout the show (eg “that seems too coincidental”, “why would our blood happen to be special?”, etc) so the audience knows these are acknowledged gaps that will be filled in later.

On top of that, the show still takes generous liberties with logic. How is somebody still alive after being buried under mud for a day? How did they import an entire ROV to the... erm, lake in the middle of a desert? And so on. Some of the CGI and SFX aren’t that great either, which left me raising an eyebrow at a few things.

So even though the mystery does mostly come together at the end, I still feel this part of the show is a bit messy. However, it’s interesting enough, and more importantly, is a good balance for all the other things going on. ie the plot has a good mix of relationship building / character development, and action / adventure / mystery solving. These things together keep the story moving along at a healthy pace.

Actually, a lot of the story arcs are quite emotional, and left me feeling sad long after the plot had moved on. The overall tone is not too heavy, with fun and heartwarming moments as the team interacts and bonds, plus some decent bursts of good humor. But definitely this show packs an emotional punch too.

I struggled a little bit in the last ¼ or so of the show. I didn’t like the second to last story arc too much- the situation felt too dire and it was light on those heartwarming team interactions I like so much. The villain’s English also started to grate on my ears (I selfishly wish they had chosen a different language I don't know, so I could just pretend she’s fluent. Her purposefully accented Mandarin wasn’t any more pleasant to listen to). The last arc does bring things back to the more touching character-driven style, but it’s also short and rushed, and the ending feels incomplete.

The acting is very good in this show. I thought it’s very natural, and everyone has a distinct and appropriate style. I think the standout performance is Li Haocun as Mu Dai, with some really impressive scenes in the middle, but everyone across the board does a good job. I also have to praise the casting, like everybody looks perfect for their role.

I like the styling (makeup, hair, and clothes)- everyone looks good- and the sets are not bad. Some of the sceneries are quite imaginative, like towns in deep forests or sprawling deserts. This show also has some wuxia-style fighting, which took me some getting used to for this modern tech-y setting. If you tell me some modern kid has 8 years of martial arts training, I wouldn’t be impressed, so I wasn’t expecting to see Mu Dai fly like that. It grew on me though, and a lot of the choreography is fluid and pretty. I also like how some of the fights are set to slower OST tracks, giving a really artistic feel.

In general I really like the music. The BGM does a good job setting moods, although the cheerful music is a giveaway for some scenes. The OST probably wouldn’t have been my favorite outside the show, but all the songs work really well for the moments in which they’re used, and create good emotional effect.

Overall, this show has enough sci fi elements that make me want to hold it to those standards, and I don’t think that part is quite there. A good sci fi has consistent, logical world building, and mind-blowing reveals in which everything clicks together. This one is a bit messier, the entire show strung together by a confusing mystery with random clues. Still, the character development and relationship building are very well done, and the different story arcs tell touching tales, ultimately resulting in a show I very much enjoyed and binged in a few days.

P.S. I checked out the webnovel. It handles the scifi/mystery a lot better, with more structure, and some plot holes are explained too. But I prefer the version of the characters (and their relationships) in the show. There are some nice interactions that didn’t make it in, though, so I still found the novel to be a fun read.

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The ending is pretty happy. Aside from a few side character deaths earlier in the show (Mu Dai’s sifu is probably the last one), everyone makes it out alive and they are all happy and together again at the end.

Still, although this ending is not framed as a cliffhanger, I think it’s incomplete enough to be not fully happy, and not that satisfying either. Many things are still unresolved- I’m actually not sure what exactly happened at the end or how they got out (plus the final showdown is a little anticlimactic), but they certainly didn’t solve the problem for good. It almost feels like a setup for a sequel, but I don’t see any hint of one in the works.

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This is just a general discussion.

Of all the tragic tales, I was most affected by the ones about the primate person and about Mu Dai’s mom. With the primate, at least Ao Ruipeng was as sad as I was. With her mom… I thought the actress did such a great job showing first the self-centered, negligent, but confidently promiscuous mom in Mu Dai’s memories- and then suddenly in a single flashback, a battered woman in an abusive relationship who realizes in an instant that she can’t keep a child in that environment. She was a bad mom for sure, but I think she gave up her child for the right reasons, and playing the villain all these years later is her final act to set Mu Dai free.

And then we have Leopard. Now, why didn’t he just splatter her all over with his own blood in the park fight scene, and be done with it?

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Short and enjoyable watch with good development between the leads

This show is a decent, short watch. The FL gets a forced face swap- not body, brain, or anything else, it’s still her (somehow that kept tripping me up)- and marries into the ML’s household. A big part of the story is the development of their relationship, which I thought is really sweet and cute, and made me smile a lot as I watched. I like that he respects her boundaries and is always just waiting for her consent. The show is above-average spicy / explicit, though that’s not really saying much.

Actually their backstory is as fairy tale as it gets- they secretly pined over each other for years only to be coincidentally brought together again now. It’s practically the definition of “only in movies”. We see some of said backstory but never how it resolved, so I’m not sure why the two didn’t just exchange information back then. But you know what, it’s ok, it’s a drama meant to make us feel good, so fairy tale it is.

The characters themselves are likable, though not particularly special. The ML is a general and of course impressive, also very supportive of her; the FL needs to be protected but is not useless, overall a kind, normal, and likable person. She’s pretty relatable and her actions make sense. She is also an artist, which factors into the plot, but her skill level is not a particular focus.

As for the villains... do the SML and SFL count? They are not good people, but also not as evil as villains often are. Throughout the show, I at various times felt extremely frustrated at one or the other of them- they are both way too obsessive for reasons I cannot understand. The SML, especially, really pushed my buttons with the way he just wants what he can’t get, while failing to appreciate what he does have. What an idiot. But I also at various times felt sorry for both of them, and secretly hoped everything would work out.

The plot is not overscoped and moves along at a good pace. I was never bored, and even my annoyance at some of the behaviors was short-lived because the show quickly moves on. It’s too short to have developed side characters, but the few I saw were likable (eg the ML’s advisor, the FL’s best friend). There is a background of politics and some plotting involved, but I’d say the main focus is the development of the romance, which I enjoyed. There is also a pretty great twist towards the end.

For the acting, I thought it’s quite good. This is Cheng Lei before he got famous- I actually thought it’s a better performance than some of his later well-known dramas, but maybe I just have lower standards for short dramas. Everyone is believable.

The production is alright. Styling is ok, not the best and not the worst. For music, the OST at four tracks is longer than most short dramas, though I wasn’t a huge fan of the songs personally. But I think they and the BGM are used pretty well to set moods, and I did like some of the BGM. A lot of the sound effects were too loud though, like footsteps and peoples’ breathy little noises.

Overall I liked the show- quick and complete without other short-drama pitfalls like lack of development or being too disjointed. I found the villain situation a bit annoying and wish those characters had more depth, but I was invested enough in the main leads’ development to not mind so much. I’d give it a 7.5-8 but rounded up for being nice and short- watchable in one sitting with moderate binging skills.

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I think it’s a pretty happy ending. It works out well for the main leads and they form a happy little family. The SML and SFL both meet tragic ends, though they were both so unrelatably obsessive that I stopped caring that much. There is a flash sighting of them at the end which I did not understand.

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