since 2015 nirvana in fire has been known in dramaland as the BEST C-DRAMA EVER!!!! to both dads and bl fans alike... i struggled for many years to get past the first two episodes and have watched the beginning over ten times with various different people. i literally can repeat verbatim the exact sequence of events in episode 1 because i've seen it so many times. THATS how much i struggle with political intrigue in media res many old dudes talking and plotting...

anyway this time i sat down by myself and finally forced myself to binge the whole thing, and though i find the show slow to start, once it gets the ball rolling, it sucks you in quite easily. i think the absolute best thing about this show is specifically the schemes and plots. while i personally prefer the iconic zhen huan zhuan, which is also heavy on the scheming, this show has it beat in how well written and cared for the little plots are. each game/scheme is meticulously designed with a lot of detail, intricacy, and complexity and yet still gives the viewer enough clues to follow along with and even figure it out themselves! it manages to do all of this, keeping the viewer engaged and entertained, without becoming too smart, or taking on some kind of condescending tone (like bbc sherlock which actively mocks its viewers) and getting too elaborate or convoluted. it is smart enough to be impressive, and simple enough to be easily understood, which is what makes it really good writing! this is the kind of writing that can really draw viewers in and immerse them in the plot!

the show does a very good job at very wholly telling the story and themes in a way that perfectly accomplishes what their goals are. not a lot of shows are able to do this successfully. nirvana in fire is a very complete product that wraps up perfectly. unfortunately, though i can recognize this as well thought out writing...... the themes and goals of the series are just not it for me. this is where i have to knock the score down.

first of all in regards to the political system, nirvana in fire is extremely optimistic. this is not inherently a bad thing, but this show specifically seeks to express that positive change is possible WITHIN the system. and that the system can be changed by replacing all the bad guys with good guys. sorry but this is just unrealistic and frankly irresponsible- the oppressive systems that govern us are inherently flawed from their roots. to say that the answer is as simple as just weeding out the corrupt and replacing them with just and righteous people is just..... not right.... don't get me wrong, like i think that it is Good to hope! to write an ending in which you CAN create positive change!! but to say that the system CAN work and does work and you just have to get the right people on the throne.... i just don't agree with that, at all. even at the end of the series the emperor says to mei changsu (paraphrased) "you think that jing wang is different, but he isn't, i wasn't always corrupt either, once you sit on the throne... over time you will change" and i was like 'dang he has a point' and mei changsu is like 'no you're wrong' IAHJKDJDLFKD LMFAO like the thesis of the show is literally the antithesis to my beliefs. i know that the story is a story, but the POINT of stories and narratives is that they speak to the struggles and experiences of human beings, and if this was made in the modern era then it is meant to speak to modern day people. im sure that watching this was satisfying to a chinese audience in many ways that i, an abc, cannot understand, but based on my own values i just can't agree.

next up is both mei changsu's character arc as well as the themes associated with it. i'm gonna go ahead and say that mei changsu's character arc is specifically tied to masculinity. the person who lin shu was, was the chinese vision of ideal young manhood: noble, righteous, loyal, honest, brave, a warrior. not only was he a hero, he was also a talented genius. they literally wrote him to be like a storybook character, the picture of upright heroism. with the fall of the chiyan army, lin shu not only lost his clan and almost everyone he loved, he lost something even more important- his masculinity, and in turn, he lost his identity, and was forced to become mei changsu. he lost all of his strength and vitality, he became weak and frail and delicate, losing his martial arts and all of the traditionally masculine traits he had. no longer bright, forthright and honest, he now works from the shadows, he schemes and manipulates, sacrifices people as pawns and is the definition of cold, calculating and deceptive. it is extremely clear from the beginning that mei changsu hates himself, and is ashamed of what he has become. single mindedly dedicated to his goal, he views all of his schemes as sacrifices of his good character in order to attain his end goal. in particular a scene that really struck me was specifically when he had to hurt innocent people in order to expose some bad guy's plots, and one of the women died from the stress and pain. the narrative focuses on HIS pain, as if this was a sacrifice that Had to be made, and that he had to be cold and heartless to attain his goals. the narrative did not accuse him or blame him, instead it asked us to Sympathize with him??? it really rubbed me the wrong way, i hate this manpain kind of shit esp when women are just seen as collateral damage and their deaths are just used for HIS character development.

anyway, the narrative very much says that in order to attain his righteous goal of filling the court with good people, mei changsu had to be the LAST bad guy, and that was his ultimate sacrifice- his own goodness. he will be bad to get the job done so that jing wang doesn't have to sacrifice his character and morals, and can remain good and untainted. when jing wang asks him to be a part of his court when he's emperor, mei changsu actively refuses because he does not want a calculating and scheming person such as himself there. when jing wang tells him he should come out as lin shu and reclaim his former identity, mei changsu resolutely refuses, because he believes that the mei changsu he is now would taint the good memory of lin shu, and that he would rather lin shu have DIED a hero on the battlefield, than become what he has. like???? jfc talk about idealization of the past, and specifically traditional chinese righteous masculinity. the thing is, this is all actually really interesting to me as a character?? the way that both jing wang and nihuang repeatedly still refer to him as 'lin shu gege' and 'xiao shu,' the way that they still see him as lin shu and maintain that he IS lin shu and want him to continue to live as lin shu, much to mei changsu's reluctance, is really interesting. esp when compared to his doctor friend who says 'i don't know who lin shu is, i ONLY know mei changsu.' the show also shows that he does have so much value AS mei changsu, not lin shu, and is lovable, and kind, someone who is a good leader to his sect and has many loyal followers who admire him. they showed that he was a good brother to fei liu, and that he could be playful too. jing wang specifically came to care and love him for who he was even before he found out he was lin shu. literally everyone loves him SO much, everyone goes to bat for him and would do anything for him, jing wang, nihuang and meng zhi are ready to start a rebellion and sacrifice hundreds of lives for him at the drop of a HAT. to me, all of this seemed to be pointing at a thesis that goes something like "the past that which is romanticized can never be returned to- the dream of idyllic heroic masculinity does not exist, but it is okay to accept yourself for not living up to it, and who you are now is valuable and deserves life and love" which could've been cool...................................... jokes on me i am the clown... INSTEAD, mei changsu literally decides that he doesn't want the rest of his life, and goes back to being a soldier on the battlefield and DIES as lin shu the way that he always wanted to. not only did they say that you CAN reclaim your heroic masculinity, they also said that it is worth DYING for!!!! and that his literal reward for all of his pain, his sacrifices, and his efforts, was the honorable and glorious death in battle!! literally, wtf!!!!!!! mei changsu didn't learn ANYTHING!! and then jing wang names an army after him to honorably commemorate him forever and this is all shown as a great thing! like mei changsu's doctor and everyone else was begging him to live the rest of his life in peace and go on fucking vacation which is what he actually deserved! just like.... imagine if the storyline was actually kind to who mei changsu had become, and allowed him a character arc of self acceptance, that said, ok you can do this one last thing for who you once were 13 years ago, and afterwards you can be free, and live as the real life person that you are, not as a romanticized idea.............. what a disappointment and what a shitty final message.

i find pretty much none of the other characters are well written, nor do they even have character arcs or much depth at all. rather they generally tend to just be very one note symbols of righteousness, or corruption, or whatever. The emperor was generally pretty interesting and a good character and I think that Princess Liyang also had the potential to be interesting too if she was given more time. that's pretty much it?? yu wang also was pretty interesting in his storyline as a prince who was extremely favored and yet still held at a distance and never given the throne.... couldve been an interesting father-son relationship but then that devolves into lazy information reveal about his backstory and heritage that was also quite disappointing. and jing wang and nihuang who are also supposed to be main characters get pretty much nothing??? extremely simple and one note?? in fact nihuang literally is not in 3/4 of the show???

this show has also been sold to me as extremely emotional and tear jerking and i gotta say..... it was really good at Doing the technical storytelling thing of making emotional moments, but it really failed at deliver depth, if that makes sense. a good example of what i'm talking about is how mei changsu works very hard to keep all of his emotions repressed under a mask. in all of his scenes w jing wang there is a brutal cold and technical formality where he is holding back every single bit of warmth and genuine personality. smiles are rare, any talk that isn't politics doesn't happen either, it's 'jing wang this' and 'dianxia that' all very formal speech. and then jing wang is being stupid and about to get himself killed and ruin all their plans, mei changsu finally screams his real name at him and berates him for being an idiot. the emotional release of this scene... super effective!!!! very compelling and engaging!! mei changsu finally lets down his formal walls and allows himself to be human for a second! very well done at making the audience really feel his frustration, fear, desperation, and how deeply he actually feels! mei changsu is actually super emotional and by depriving us of this emotion, it allows for the moment to hit so much harder when they finally give it to us. unfortunately........ all of this happened...... not because of some careful writing of mei changsu and jing wang's characters, not because they wrote a genuine conflict between the two of them, which they have a wealth of a basis for......... but because of..... misinformation...... that the enemy laid ....... as a trap to sow discord................ do u all see what i mean by the writer being technically proficient at making the audience feel things, but didn't bother to give them real character arcs and complex relationship arcs, beyond jing wang eventually trusts mei changsu, and a conflict that would actually develop the characters instead of just being like jing wang is a fucking idiot??? there's depth but it feels really shallow, and just doesn't go very far.

plus most of the emotional moments are just the work of some sad glances and a mumbled 'you remind me of someone i used to know' combined with a swell in the musical score....... i'm sorry it's just not cutting it for me when the very excellent soundtrack is carrying the emotional work of the show. it's that and sentimental objects like the egg sized pearl! all of it just feels like cheap shortcuts. even though mei changsu and jing wang's relationship is supposed to be the emotional core of the show, there really just wasn't nearly enough depth, complexity and development considering what they're set up as... don't even get me started on nihuang she is literally just not even there... this is literally mei changsu's love interest and there is nothing happening beyond her continuously seeing him as lin shu, which is not explored at all. so disappointing!! also fucked up that banruo is villainized for wanting to avenge her people and country but mei changsu is a hero for working within the system instead of destroying it LMFAOO

tldr: the show IS technically very good in many ways, well written plots, successful in their goals and in conveying their themes in a whole and complete manner. unfortunately it falls short on the character and relationship writing, and i also just personally don't agree with any of their themes. i understand why ppl see it as an impressive introductory cdrama, but ultimately its aesthetics of being a high budget, very serious, very political, high quality drama can't be backed up by enough actual depth. i have seen a LOT of frankly, very low budget, very trashy shows, that were a lot more fun than this and ultimately had something better to say.