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ChineseDramaFan

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ChineseDramaFan

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Dance of the Sky Empire chinese drama review
Completed
Dance of the Sky Empire
10 people found this review helpful
by ChineseDramaFan
Jul 31, 2020
28 of 28 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.5

Racism Stems from Ignorance

This drama is touching a chord of our current society on the racial issue that has been propelled to the forefront of our lives and is compelling all to come to its reckoning. As we can see gradually from the drama, racism stems from ignorance. This is the story about the human race and the Kunwu race, and their hatred for each other. As always, the human race is the destructive race, killing as many of the Kunwu as possible because humans feel that Kunwus are atrocious and bad.

After the killings, many Kunwus are left scattered, scared and hopeless. Their only hope is to raise their king, who has been sealed by the human race for 10 years, from his slumber so that the Kunwu race can be freed again. Of course, the human race fights tooth and nail to stop this from happening. At the end of the story, the human race realizes their flawed perception of the Kunwu race. Indeed we can all live harmoniously together in peace if we treat each other more kindly.

Su You Lian (Wu Jia Yi), a holy girl from the Kunwu race, comes to live among the human race in the Moyun Academy where the Dragon King is kept sealed. Her mission is to wake the Kunwu King. There at the Academy, she meets Li Xuan (Xu Kai) who is the protector of the human race. Unbeknownst to both, Li Xuan is half human and half Kunwu. They both fall head-over-toe in love with each other, and their conflict renders them in emotional turmoil.

The whole drama almost revolves around life in the Academy. It starts off with a lot of comedies as Li Xuan is an untamed kid and Xu Kai’s acting is fabulous. However, as the story progresses, the later episodes become more somber, and Li Xuan becomes serious as he grows.

Wu Jia Yi is a fantastic dancer. Her dancing scenes in the beginning episode are mesmerizing. As Su You Lian, she is tormented as she knows she’s not supposed to fall in love with the enemy. I love Wu Jia Yi’s acting. She depicts a Kunwu character so well as she exudes that unspoken charisma.

There are multiple love triangles here, but both Su You Lian’s and Li Xuan’s love for each other is unwavering despite their conflicts. A lot of time is spent on the emotional turmoil undergone by Su You Lian and heart brokenness by Li Xuan.

Once Li Xuan discovers his own true identify and Su You Lian completes her mission, the story comes to a conclusion very quickly. Like many other Chinese historical dramas where endings are shoddy with characters being written off in death, this drama follows that path. But to my surprise and perhaps to placate the viewers, the dead characters are somehow, miraculously resurrected.

Overall, this drama is not exceptional but watchable as it’s a mixture of being light and humorous to occasional heart wrenching. The CGI is like what you see in a computer game; in fights, people simply jump up and off the roofs and everywhere on the screen. The plot is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. Though not perfect, I have rather enjoyed it.

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