This review may contain spoilers
fun enough to watch once for Gong Jun's performance
(Updated Dec 2025)So typically I'd want to keep my old review but bc I had written a very short review a few months after watching and I'm in the middle of a rewatch to grab scenes for editing purposes and I am finding the rewatch to be an excruciating experience, I'm just starting from scratch. So, firstly, from a BL perspective, I do have to admit that this is pretty epic in that regard. No, there is no kiss bc censorship, but it is unmistakably gay, there is no denying that WenZhou want each other carnally, they have their family unit w Chengling, there are a lot of good scenes demonstrating how deeply devoted they are to each other (i.e. Wen Kexing's willingness to die for Zhou Zishu, Zhou Zishu unwilling to let Wen Kexing die for him; and also the reverse). So if that is the only thing you care about when deciding whether to watch or skip, it's definitely one of the gayest CDramas.
As I said in the headline, Gong Jun's performance is literally the reason the show is as enjoyable as it is. Wen Kexing is a brilliantly written character and he is exceptional in the role. I'm becoming even more enamored with his performance with the rewatch because there are all these little nuances that you can easily miss if you don't know Wen Kexing's backstory. Wen Kexing is smart and strategic, he's been through The Horrors™️but still remains kind-hearted (mostly... if he views you as an enemy, he is Brutal and you are done for), he's fiercely protective of those he cares about and will do anything for that select group of people. Like truly one of the all-time characters, one of the all-time performances. Cannot applaud Gong Jun enough for his work here.
Now onto the negatives...
In my prior review I said that I thought the armory plot was "kind of boring" and this time around I find it unbelievably aggravating. Like wow I have to watch 5 dozen people I despise fight over this stupid key to the armory for a stockpile of weapons (allegedly). I hate basically everyone from the Five Lakes Alliance, I hate everyone from the Scorpion Sect, I hate the majority of the people from Ghost Valley (Luo Fumeng, Liu Qianqiao, Gu Xiang, and of course Wen Kexing you are all beloved and exempt), I hate that old wandering couple, etc etc. Watching terrible people at each other's throats is only fun when it's peripheral, if that is the main story, I just want to blow everyone up. Not involved w the armory nonsense, but I must say it for my own peace: I also hate Ye Baiyi who is seemingly around primarily for comedic relief by being "rude" but I just want to tear his throat out with my teeth every time he opens his mouth.
What I was completely unprepared for with this rewatch, though, was to realize that I hate Zhou Zishu. Like. Oh, he created the torture method that slowly kills members of Window from Heaven if they want to leave. He acts all self-righteous and morally superior when we literally see a flashback that heavily implies he killed a child who was begging him for help after he participated in massacring her family(/village???). The way he "trains" Chengling after finally accepting him as a disciple is straight up child abuse. His shitty mentality of "men don't cry" and constantly pushing this toxic masculinity bullshit (which, to be somewhat fair, is not exclusive to ZZS in this show, but, y'know, as he is the protagonist who we are supposed to view as the moral center... boy it's infuriating!) Like I remembered the first episode being a really unsympathetic set up for him, but I also remembered he had grown a lot on me by the end and I am truly at a loss for how I felt that way the first time. Like... was I just so euphoric about how gay this show was that I had my eyes closed to everything else??????
In my prior review I also said that I felt the final 2 episodes turned unnecessarily tragic and that the ending felt fumbled. Like I don't want to get into huge spoilers (I try not to spoil anything from the last third in my reviews), but basically there's a massacre that feels like the equivalent of the Burial Mounds massacre in The Untamed... except it happens in the penultimate episode so there's no justice, there's no resolution to the horrors that you were just subjected to. It's just like "oh you thought these characters were going to be happy? HAHAHAHA NOPE." FOR WHAT REASON???????? Other than killing off fan favorite characters for Wen Kexing's angst, like literally there is no f*cking purpose for this?????? And then the character who facilitated the massacre doesn't face any consequences??????? What the hell??????????? How are we supposed to feel satisfied at the end when it feels like no one cares about all those deaths for more than 5 minutes?????
Anyway, watch Blood River, it does basically everything that Word of Honor does except better!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
feels like the target audience is people who fetishize incest
So this was one of my friends' first cdramas (said friend only vaguely remembered it but had fun w/ it), and one day when we were talking about the current era of cdramas having polyam vibes, Wanru's Journey came up as a recommendation bc I'm a sucker for a triad. TBH the premise already turned me off from being into the triad since Xiao Ru is pretending to be Murong Zhuwan (since they look identical), so as far as any outsiders know her and Murong Chong are siblings.............. like. why are we doing a pseudo-incest romance?????? Cause (minor) spoilers but the show definitely has a Murong Chong x "Murong Zhuwan" agenda. But I've watched things where I didn't care for or even outright hated the main pairing and still had a mostly enjoyable time so I was like "the whole mistaken identity situation is actually kinda interesting if you ignore whatever is going on w/ these two so I'll keep watching." Should've known that was a mistake given the pseudo-incest lmao.Basically there's this whole enemies to lovers vibe going on with Murong Chong and Xiao Ru where he's repeatedly threatening her life over relatively minor things but then she'll watch him in secret and be like "he's so handsome 😍🤤". It's uncomfortable. I finally tapped out bc there's a scene near the start of episode 6 of Xiao Ru having written (erotic?) fanfic about Murong Chong (and I think his friend Fu Hong? I don't fully grasp the details of what she wrote) and he tries to strangle Xiao Ru over this but they get caught by Fu Hong and Xiao Ru is lying on the bed and Murong Chong is like..... basically straddling her so Fu Hong is like "wtf is happening???????" and then Murong Chong gets up and somehow his belt slides off??????????????? and he's like "[nervous laughter] it's not what you think" and it's like...................... he thinks that's your sister.................... no one would be thinking you are having sex unless they think you are assaulting her............................ and then Xiao Ru makes her clothes all disheveled to accuse Murong Chong of just that and it's supposed to be a funny moment????????????????????? WHAT ARE WE DOING???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Basically the writers are weirdos who had a lot of fun playing up the pseudo-incest. I don't recommend this.
Was this review helpful to you?
gaslight the audience into thinking stalker-y behavior is cute ✨
So the lead, Kris, randomly dreams about Karn and then sees that she's a newscaster and becomes scarily obsessed with her. Like, harassing her online kind of scary. Kris then hears that Karn is leaving her job and she writes her a fan letter to try to convince her out of this decision. Like.... Kris you do not know this woman and are trying to influence her decisions because you are weirdly dependent on her after seeing her face in a dream..... get a grip on reality!! Anyway, turns out that Karn is leaving her current job to work with Kris' brother and Kris has just started working for him too. Cue Kris and Karn being paired together on a project and Kris acting in such a way that it's impossible to read her behavior as anything other than her despising Karn even though her inner monologue tries really hard to give a plausible reason for why her crush on Karn is making her behave in such an odd manner. Their dynamic deteriorates further when Kris sees that Karn is holding onto the letter she sent to her (under the name Apple) and Kris mocks Karn for thinking she has a fan. Again, the inner monologue is trying to tell me that this is Kris panicking but I just don't buy that someone would be acting this batshit towards their crush. Kris then talks with her brother after basically running away from Karn and he mentions that Karn is going through a rough time bc she's all alone since her mom died and Kris suddenly jumps to asking about Karn's love life and gets all f*cking excited about this?!?!?! Like, girl what the f*ck is wrong with you why are you eager to swoop in and start dating a woman when she's emotionally vulnerable???? Manipulative stalker weirdo.Anyway this was episode 1 and I will not be watching more. I'm good thanks, I don't care to see them become a couple 👋
Was this review helpful to you?
the premise of the show is rape
Even the reviews that skew more negative don't seem to realize that the whole entire premise hinges on rape and I'm irritated about it. The summary that Netflix gave back when I tried to watch it was basically just a one night stands that leads to an accidental pregnancy between two people of very different social statuses. Which I mean... that's not inaccurate, but it's leaving a lot out. As the MDL summary says, it's two couples on a cruise ship, the woman from couple A is feeling unwell and accidentally finds herself in couple B's room as she tries to sleep. The man from couple B gets really drunk and comes to his room. They both think the other person is their partner bc they're in the dark and he's whispering so she can't really hear his voice. He then starts pushing for sex, which she's not interested in -- which means he should stop! -- but after some pleading she eventually gives in. Gross.Was this review helpful to you?
