Nups
This review may contain spoilers
To watch a 50 episode show in less than a week
How to even begin? I find it so easy to write a review about a show I had many problems with and didn’t enjoy a lot, I guess in those cases when I’m bored watching my brain is working on why is it that I don’t enjoy this to occupy itself. For a show like this however my brain is just turned off because I’m so along with the ride and just enjoying every minute fully. Basically the only thing I want to say about shows I loved is JUST WATCH IT COME ON ITS JUST GOOD I DON’T CARE WHY, but I’ll try to find out a bit about why I loved it so much nevertheless.
Setting and atmosphere: When I try to sell this show to someone else I’d always mention it’s almost meditative at times because of the beautiful nature and buildings and interior – simply breathtaking and detailed. I can watch so many scenes of characters sitting down, slowly drinking tea from tiny cups and bowing to each other without even thinking of getting bored, it’s just so tranquil yet very specific in what is going on, there’s rules and proper ways to do everything but it still feels so relaxed and just right. The ancient rural landscapes and villages feel so real that I can forget for hours our current world exists.
Characters: This is a show where every character has some sort of purpose and everyone gets a part to play, so no-one jumps out as completely underdeveloped or useless.
Wei Wu Xian is simply fun to watch, his personality is perfect for a main character since you know if you are following along with him it’s impossible to get bored. He’s easygoing and brave, and also has enough vulnerability to him that you are just holding your breath when he gets into trouble and hope nothing bad happens to him. I can relate to his outlook on life as people around him tend to be more serious and down to earth, he knows that life is a game which doesn’t have to be so bogged down in rules and seriousness.
Lan Wang Ji could have been the boring stoic character, but there was enough quirks and endearing qualities to him that he turned out so much better than I could imagine. His contrasting personality with Wei Wu Xian was fun to watch, even more so seeing how much their relationship changed by the end and how much emotion he ended up showing. Their relationship was a huge, huge drive of this show and I can't get over after a whole year of watching just how enjoyable it was to watch them develop, I'd watch another 50 episodes of them just doing whatever.
The supporting cast had arcs of their own and it would take forever to recount all of them, needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed their stories nearly as much as our main characters own.
Story: Spanning a whopping 50 episodes I never felt any huge lull or huge slowing down of the story, it was always going in a clear direction. The fantasy and mythological elements were constantly fascinating to follow and were always integrated deeply into the storyline. For a small minus, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way the show was set up with the first episode what was going to happen in many many years, making it a bit of a waiting game sometimes ‘so when have we finally arrived at that spot from the start of the show?’, but I didn’t mind it too much.
There were humor and fun moments littered throughout the show in just the right times and were thoroughly enjoyable every time.
The show was packed with exciting moments, twists, and the plot armor only existed for the main leads, there were some characters that died that I never thought would and it was a very good, tragic kind of shocking.
Some cons:
- The story had great drama, but some of the dramatic moments could have been executed better, it almost felt too much at times – was it the way it was directed/acted, I’m not sure, but not all of the moments hit right
- There were particular music pieces throughout the show that were breathtakingly amazing, with traditional instruments and beautiful melodies. Sadly the piece playing during some of the most dramatic moments was not that good and felt a bit overused, it feels like those moments would have hit much harder for me if the song there was different so it’s a shame
- Some of the villain characters were definitely a bit stereotypical evil, there could have been a bit more nuance there. Though the show managed to surprise me at the end where I felt sympathy for one of he main baddies Xue Yang, albeit briefly.
- The special effects: While this problem got better later, early on some of the effects were not good at all, straight up comical and would ruin the immersion a bit. It's such a shame since I really want to watch this with other people but I will end up being embarrassed early in the show because of how goofy the effects look lol, not a huge deal as it gets a lot better but it's definitely something that could have been improved
Besides the nitpicks, I would never have imagined I'd binge a 50 episode show and right after its end I'd want to watch it all over again, like, moments after. Truly excellent
Setting and atmosphere: When I try to sell this show to someone else I’d always mention it’s almost meditative at times because of the beautiful nature and buildings and interior – simply breathtaking and detailed. I can watch so many scenes of characters sitting down, slowly drinking tea from tiny cups and bowing to each other without even thinking of getting bored, it’s just so tranquil yet very specific in what is going on, there’s rules and proper ways to do everything but it still feels so relaxed and just right. The ancient rural landscapes and villages feel so real that I can forget for hours our current world exists.
Characters: This is a show where every character has some sort of purpose and everyone gets a part to play, so no-one jumps out as completely underdeveloped or useless.
Wei Wu Xian is simply fun to watch, his personality is perfect for a main character since you know if you are following along with him it’s impossible to get bored. He’s easygoing and brave, and also has enough vulnerability to him that you are just holding your breath when he gets into trouble and hope nothing bad happens to him. I can relate to his outlook on life as people around him tend to be more serious and down to earth, he knows that life is a game which doesn’t have to be so bogged down in rules and seriousness.
Lan Wang Ji could have been the boring stoic character, but there was enough quirks and endearing qualities to him that he turned out so much better than I could imagine. His contrasting personality with Wei Wu Xian was fun to watch, even more so seeing how much their relationship changed by the end and how much emotion he ended up showing. Their relationship was a huge, huge drive of this show and I can't get over after a whole year of watching just how enjoyable it was to watch them develop, I'd watch another 50 episodes of them just doing whatever.
The supporting cast had arcs of their own and it would take forever to recount all of them, needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed their stories nearly as much as our main characters own.
Story: Spanning a whopping 50 episodes I never felt any huge lull or huge slowing down of the story, it was always going in a clear direction. The fantasy and mythological elements were constantly fascinating to follow and were always integrated deeply into the storyline. For a small minus, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way the show was set up with the first episode what was going to happen in many many years, making it a bit of a waiting game sometimes ‘so when have we finally arrived at that spot from the start of the show?’, but I didn’t mind it too much.
There were humor and fun moments littered throughout the show in just the right times and were thoroughly enjoyable every time.
The show was packed with exciting moments, twists, and the plot armor only existed for the main leads, there were some characters that died that I never thought would and it was a very good, tragic kind of shocking.
Some cons:
- The story had great drama, but some of the dramatic moments could have been executed better, it almost felt too much at times – was it the way it was directed/acted, I’m not sure, but not all of the moments hit right
- There were particular music pieces throughout the show that were breathtakingly amazing, with traditional instruments and beautiful melodies. Sadly the piece playing during some of the most dramatic moments was not that good and felt a bit overused, it feels like those moments would have hit much harder for me if the song there was different so it’s a shame
- Some of the villain characters were definitely a bit stereotypical evil, there could have been a bit more nuance there. Though the show managed to surprise me at the end where I felt sympathy for one of he main baddies Xue Yang, albeit briefly.
- The special effects: While this problem got better later, early on some of the effects were not good at all, straight up comical and would ruin the immersion a bit. It's such a shame since I really want to watch this with other people but I will end up being embarrassed early in the show because of how goofy the effects look lol, not a huge deal as it gets a lot better but it's definitely something that could have been improved
Besides the nitpicks, I would never have imagined I'd binge a 50 episode show and right after its end I'd want to watch it all over again, like, moments after. Truly excellent
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