In short, so far this is what Forward Forever wanted to be but couldn't achieve.
1. Story is super well written and pacing is great so far. But in full honesty, this seems to be more character based than story based, so it'll probably drag out or buffer mid-show. 2. Visuals: The costumes are great, so are sets. CGI is kind of off but won't ruin your experience. Most of the actors look average (none of them are ugly, but few look like your typical female and male leads nowadays with the "idol" look), which I honestly really like. 3. Acting/Cast: As mentioned before, they decided to hire talent over visuals, which I find to be a great decision. Nothing made me cringe, and the actors are doing a great job. 4. Characters: There are so many characters that you get introduced to in the first 10 episodes it's a bit hard to keep up, but all of them are great and interesting in their own ways. I'll just name a few of my personal favourites: Brave and scheming college student male lead, strong but naive female lead, stuttering mechanical genius, old man with a puppet who trains children and so many more. 5. Music is okay, cinematography is typical for series like these.
Overall: If you wished Forward Forever were better in terms of story, give this a watch. If you want to enjoy what basically are Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters but written properly, you'll enjoy this.
Finally something worth watching!!! Waited for a gem like this ever since "The Longest Day in Chang'an" finished…
Way too many rom-com series are filling up the wuxia/xianxia space. They should really chill on the idol romance series when stuff like this, Joy of Life, Ever Night ect can air.
First impressions: 1. Main character may not be the most powerful in Martial Arts but damn is he likeable and his intelligence makes up for his "lack of power". 2. Female lead kicks ass. Love her so far. 3. Actors are doing great and characters are good. Nothing phenomenal but not bad at all. No one has been cringe worthy either which is nice. 4. Visuals of the drama are very muted and sandy looking. It gets kinda boring but you get used to it, and there's the occasional pop of color from time to time. (Anything is better than over saturation). 5. I personally haven't found many shots very appealing, but the cinematography is in no way bad. 6. Good Music. 7. Back to the good plot and stories, with great action scenes to bless us between the crafty scheming of our villains and adventuring of our protagonists. Really well paced so far imo. I don't see any dragging yet, but knowing a c-drama... it's inevitable. As long as it doesn't last too long.
Overall: I recommend. 8.5/10 for now imo. Finally a classic non-romcom wuxia is finally here that's good.. after what like, 3 months? I've been waiting. Small rant but romcoms have been basically plaguing the historical/fantasy theme. We get a good series of this style every 3-5 months so I'm probably gonna savor this one. Hopefully it doesn't go downhill.
China and their inconsistent air dates. I really want this to air soon. Most wuxia fantasy dramas this year have been either boring or idol rom-con styled (nothing wrong with those, they just aren't my type of drama). This seems like it'll be draggy but at least interesting.
If I remember correctly this was filmed after Awakening and Detective Chinatown
If that's the case, then Cheng Xiao should do decently. Her improvement from beginning of Awakening to the end of it was already massive, so unless she somehow forgot everything she learned while doing Awakening, then her acting should not be bad.
Really excited for this and hope it follows the novel. Spirit Realm was my first Chinese novel so I have a bias. Though I am slightly concerned about the leads though... since once again I think they did an "idol" pick, which I am not the biggest fan of (even though I'm a fan of the idol's music). Cheng Cheng though has family experience so I'm slightly less concerned, but Cheng Xiao... If this series was filmed AFTER awakening, then I honestly believe she would do well. But if this was filmed before... her acting at the start of Awakening was already iffy.
Why are you people blaming Cheng Xiao? She just started acting. Her work in Legend of Awakening is not that bad…
Her acting wasn't that bad but compared to other debut actors in Legend of Awakening it was really mediocre, especially when a 15 year old's act was more convincing than hers. I do believe she has the talent though, so if this was filmed after awakening then I won't have complaints.
1 
It releases June 19 apparently
In short, so far this is what Forward Forever wanted to be but couldn't achieve.
1. Story is super well written and pacing is great so far. But in full honesty, this seems to be more character based than story based, so it'll probably drag out or buffer mid-show.
2. Visuals: The costumes are great, so are sets. CGI is kind of off but won't ruin your experience. Most of the actors look average (none of them are ugly, but few look like your typical female and male leads nowadays with the "idol" look), which I honestly really like.
3. Acting/Cast: As mentioned before, they decided to hire talent over visuals, which I find to be a great decision. Nothing made me cringe, and the actors are doing a great job.
4. Characters: There are so many characters that you get introduced to in the first 10 episodes it's a bit hard to keep up, but all of them are great and interesting in their own ways. I'll just name a few of my personal favourites: Brave and scheming college student male lead, strong but naive female lead, stuttering mechanical genius, old man with a puppet who trains children and so many more.
5. Music is okay, cinematography is typical for series like these.
Overall: If you wished Forward Forever were better in terms of story, give this a watch. If you want to enjoy what basically are Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters but written properly, you'll enjoy this.
1. Main character may not be the most powerful in Martial Arts but damn is he likeable and his intelligence makes up for his "lack of power".
2. Female lead kicks ass. Love her so far.
3. Actors are doing great and characters are good. Nothing phenomenal but not bad at all. No one has been cringe worthy either which is nice.
4. Visuals of the drama are very muted and sandy looking. It gets kinda boring but you get used to it, and there's the occasional pop of color from time to time. (Anything is better than over saturation).
5. I personally haven't found many shots very appealing, but the cinematography is in no way bad.
6. Good Music.
7. Back to the good plot and stories, with great action scenes to bless us between the crafty scheming of our villains and adventuring of our protagonists. Really well paced so far imo. I don't see any dragging yet, but knowing a c-drama... it's inevitable. As long as it doesn't last too long.
Overall: I recommend. 8.5/10 for now imo. Finally a classic non-romcom wuxia is finally here that's good.. after what like, 3 months? I've been waiting. Small rant but romcoms have been basically plaguing the historical/fantasy theme. We get a good series of this style every 3-5 months so I'm probably gonna savor this one. Hopefully it doesn't go downhill.
Joke's aside I really want a happy ending.
Though I am slightly concerned about the leads though... since once again I think they did an "idol" pick, which I am not the biggest fan of (even though I'm a fan of the idol's music). Cheng Cheng though has family experience so I'm slightly less concerned, but Cheng Xiao... If this series was filmed AFTER awakening, then I honestly believe she would do well. But if this was filmed before... her acting at the start of Awakening was already iffy.