Gemini (金昭玉醉) short Cdrama review

Gemini (金昭玉醉) is unabashedly aware of what it is, and it’s not apologisin’

This 28-episode short drama (each episode at around 15 minutes), has a The Double-ish premise — the usual revenge/reborn thing.

Princess Lu Zhao suffers at the hands of her husband, who covets her wealth. So, she throws herself off the mansion in despair. And as she lay dying, she wishes vengeance on the evil people and somehow attracts the spirit of the just deceased chief of a notorious sect that serves as the emperor’s secret police. This ruthless femme fatale, Xiao Jin Yu, died about the same time.

Her “twin brother” Xiao Ren (not biological, promise) tries to bring Jin Yu back through a dark ritual, but the magic gets complicated, and she ends up in the princess’s body and resurrects.

In her new body, Jin Yu no longer has the memories of her former sect leader life. So, with her newfound ruthlessness, the resurrected Lu Zhao toys with her former tormentors like a cat with her prey, wrecking vengeance.

And Xiao Ren decides that since she has no memories, it’s time to get close to her. So he protects her while wooing and flirting with her.

My thoughts about the drama

I had finished an intense work period and needed something light (aka brainless), so I thought to myself, hey why not just have a look — it’s only 15 minutes. .

Nine episodes later, and there are already poisons, dark magic, drownings, assassinations, black magic, mistresses, adultery, falls off cliffs, kisses, aphrodisiacs, and sibling-not-really romance — plus the removal of clothes. To Xiao Wei’s credit, despite Lu Zhao being doused with a love potion at one point, he doesn’t take advantage.

It’s deliciously trashy, and I am seated. 🤣

And you know what? The quality of this drama — the camera work and acting — is better than a lot of long dramas these days. It makes me wonder just why this is so.

Since A Familiar Stranger, I’ve been looking for short Cdramas just as good. Unfortunately, after the format became popular, there was a gold rush of sorts and quality dropped as cheap rush jobs became the norm. After a while, many short dramas earned the reputation of being low-budget, salacious dramas with unbearably choppy editing.

Fortunately, Gemini feels pretty smooth and is as good as A Familiar Stranger.

Although the drama’s plot and acting isn’t particularly unique, I think our main actors Zhao Jun Wei (Xiao Wei) and Zhu Li Lian (Lu Zhao) did well. The story, although melodramatic at times, doesn’t veer too far into ridiculousness. It is fun and engaging enough for me to continue watching episode to episode.

If you’ve not tried short dramas before, this is a good one to try!

Final rating: 3.5
Deliciously trashy, surprisingly well-made, and way too easy to binge.

#35Stars #cdrama #cdramas #chineseDrama #costumedDrama #tv

Rose Finch (short CDrama review)

IQIYI is calling it “Rose Finch”, WETV is calling it “Rosefinch”. That side of me that demands uniformity is annoyed.

Short dramas have long been the domain for lesser-known talent to make their mark. And this is where the director of Blossom, Zeng Qing Jie, made his name with short dramas such as Provoke, A Familiar Stranger and Butterflied Lovers.

However, short dramas have a reputation where racier scenes can be shot. After dramas such as Provoke and such, this type of quality became rarer. Familiar, tropey dramas with subpar acting were pumped out like crazy. There was the understanding that quality doesn’t matter—people want the juicy bits.

Well, until Rose Finch.

This article suggests that:

• Quality actors are moving in to film short dramas
• Rose Finch sets a new benchmark in terms of quality for the drama format

Executive producer Yang Xiaoming stated, “Zhuque Tang is an exploratory step toward premium content. We aim to shift the industry from ‘fast and shallow’ to ‘short, refined, and excellent’ through high investment and top-tier production.”

A Sina article says that investment was around $40mil as opposed to the usual single-digit investment:

“Many people say that the production of our short drama is a dimensionality reduction attack on the industry. I think it is more like a transfer of advantages, which makes use of our years of accumulation in the field of long dramas,” said Yang Xiaoming.

So, Rosefinch is claiming that it is setting a new standard for quality storytelling for short dramas. Well, has it?

First, if you’ve not watched this 15-minute-per-episode drama, can I entice you to do so with cutie pie Da Huang?

Probably tastes like chicken

I mean, ignore the severed limb, but she’s a cutie, no?

Ok, if that’s not working then, maybe stay around for the qipaos.

As someone who doesn’t have the figure for this demanding dress, I can only live vicariously through these women.

Here’s what I think of the drama so far.

The mystery

So we have a killer who killed one of Gao Ying’s girls in a brutal, ritualistic way. Look, I used to eat lunch/dinner while watching that old criminal drama, Bones. But yewouch the violence in this one made my eyes weep a bit. I have no idea how it passed censorship but hooboy, don’t watch this before bed, guys.

Our detective duo

One’s a straight-laced, by the book, idealistic detective – Zhao Xuan. (The kind who will get tossed into a river for, er, trying to solve riddles he isn’t supposed to, and well, yes, he did get tossed in said river.) And wait, why is he a supporting role? Er, does that mean what I think it means?

Anyway, his partner is a medical student who now is his coroner, and who could be, well, crazy.

On account of talking to his dead wife. I mean, so what if he has entire conversations with a dead person? Good talent is just so hard to come by during those times, you know?

And Xia Mo is extremely talented indeed, being able to see details most people miss, and having zero gumptions about dead bodies.

“I see dead people”. Like, sometimes on the coroner’s table, sometimes at my lunch table.

The acting is stellar

I mean with actors like Qin Jun Jie (Heroes, The First Shot) and Wan Qian (loved her as the empress in Secret of Three Kingdoms), you will get it in spades.

Wan Qian is especially good as the intimidating lady triad boss Gao Ying.

What I like about her is that you suspect she has some kind of gentleness or kindness in her, but then she does something brutal like stick a knife into her brother.

You got sibling problems? Don’t share DNA with the Gaos.

I mean I suppose if you have a father like your scary dad, who is the string puller of the entire town (or maybe nation), you’d behave like this too.

Daddy problems = guaranteed with this guy

Thoughts about the ending

Despite the gore, I loved how uplifting it was.

In the end, it was the women who saved themselves—uniting to defeat the mobsters and their accomplices, led by the formidable Gao Ying.

My verdict

I watched this on a short flight back from holiday-land, and it held my attention. I loved the old Shanghai vibes, though I’ll admit the violence shocked me.

Not for the squeamish!

For a short drama, this is impressively high quality. I love the sets, the costumes, and most of all, the acting. The storytelling isn’t bad, though it may test the patience of some viewers, and it leans heavily on shock value for now. I hope it gains more depth later—and that they improve the editing, which currently feels a bit jumpy.

I also found the occasional humour jarring. The show should lean harder into its gloomy, film noir tone. The comedy just doesn’t quite land—but to be fair, I’m notoriously hard to amuse. I once found a film beloved in mainland China for its comedy seriously unfunny, so your mileage may vary.

I’m mostly enjoying Wan Qian’s performance as Gao Ying, and I’m curious about where the story’s heading. The twist of Gao Ying becoming part of the sleuthing duo was very surprising—and something I didn’t expect at all.

Final verdict: 3.5 out of 5

A pulpy, dark short drama about women’s rivalry and eventual unity. The lead is fantastically strong, though the odd attempts at humour sometimes clash with the tone.

#35Stars #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #CostumedDrama #Republican #TV

The Hope (Cdrama review)

The story

Lei Ming, a former star lecturer, is now a failed serial entrepreneur who is also struggling with a family problem he doesn’t really want to face.

Following another business failure, he pitches a crazy plan to a school: he’ll pick struggling students and improve their bad grades so that they can get into China’s top universities: Tsingbei. (Think Ivy League or “Oxbridge”.)

With psychologist Sang Xia as his reluctant partner, Lei Ming forms Class 11.

Some background on the drama

The main creative team researched for nine months, visiting more than 10 colleges and universities, and conducted in-depth interviews with more than 300 teachers and students.

Understanding “Tsingbei”: “Entering Tsingbei” (上清北) is a popular Chinese phrase that refers specifically to gaining admission to one of two universities: Tsinghua University (清华) and Peking University (北大).

It is not a single university, but rather a collective term for these two top-tier institutions.

The word “Tsingbei” is a shortened form of Tsinghua University and Peking University, which are the most highly regarded universities in the nation. Together, they anchor China’s top-tier C9 League, and admission to either is widely viewed as the pinnacle of scholastic achievement. Competition for Tsingbei is intense: only roughly 5 in 10,000 candidates succeed in winning a seat at either Tsinghua or Peking (about 0.05%). A degree from “清北” is seen as a fast track into the technocratic elite.

China’s Educational Crackdown: The Hope highlighted a problem that is as old as China’s imperial exams: the wealthy had access to better educational resources; the poor often had to do without.

In July 2021, the Chinese government launched the “Double Reduction” (双减) to address this. The move devastated China’s enormous private tutoring sector, estimated at roughly $100–120 billion and employing over 10 million people.

The aim was to curb the immense academic and financial burdens on families. However, the policy had mixed results. Despite savings on tutoring, research shows the education spending gap between rich and poor families has widened since the reform. High-income parents simply maintained access by paying for costly private tutors, whereas middle- and low-income families had to cut back sharply.

Characters

Lei Ming (played by Zhang Ruoyun): A former top-tier lecturer, he is now down on his luck and riddled with debt. While he is a failed serial entrepreneur, he has a unique gift: he can realise the potential of others. Which is ironic, because he can’t seem to realise his own potential.

Sang Xia (played by Huang Yao): The homeroom teacher and psychologist.

Li Ran (played by Wang Qiang): A gifted, self-taught engineer, he lives an impoverished life with his grandmother, who works as a cleaner for a wealthy family.

Cheng Yushan (played by Xu Ruohan): Nicknamed “Multiplied by Three”, a maths prodigy and mathematical genius. Her schooling suffers due to a difficult home life where she’s an unfavoured child (to the point of being given the worst room in the house and also excluded from family photos). She desperately wants to escape her family.

Shen Yao (played by Li Mingde): A rich kid with all the advantages afforded to him, he’s a popular kid and the school’s top scorer.

Jiang Qinglang (played by Xu Qijie): His dream is to be a rapper, but his mother wants him to be a top student, pressuring him to study.

Bian Xiaoxiao (played by Zeng Youzhen): Xiaoxiao has dreams of becoming an internet celebrity, so the last thing she wanted to do was study. She ends up in Class 11 by accident when she tries to “spy” on the class for the popular clique in school.

What I liked

• The young actors are fantastic! I find their stories compelling.
• I also like how Lei Ming’s character is written (Zhang Ruoyun can do no wrong). Personally, I believe he just doesn’t want to accept that his unique gift to society is just that: he’s a gifted teacher. I enjoyed watching him come to terms with that.
• I like how The Hope shows us the real picture — that Chinese students face intense, intense pressure, and even though it’s hailed as a meritocratic examination, it is still not. Because not everyone starts at the same point. Some people are ahead due to the privileges of life.
• I like the fact that they present a more nuanced view of academic success. Just because you get into Tsingbei, it doesn’t mean that your life will go smoothly. Good results will give you a leg up, but they don’t guarantee you a good life. Your choices do.

What I didn’t like

• It should have been 20 episodes instead of 30. I used the fast-forward button a lot towards the end.
• A few unnecessary plot lines thread through the drama. I think it would’ve been a more satisfying drama without them. (I elaborate in the next section.)

Thoughts about the ending

The ending is a funny one. On the one hand, it ends exactly as we’d expect — we see our Class 11 graduating from top universities. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch them succeed, rising from the bottom of the academic heap to the very top.

However, I would have been happier if they hadn’t included those strange romantic subplots for various characters. The frustrating thing about the love stories in The Hope is that most of them are left hanging, completely unresolved. This leaves audiences feeling unfulfilled.

It’s especially maddening because they tease us endlessly with the possible romance between our main characters. Audiences don’t like to be strung along — we need a solid conclusion. It doesn’t matter if it ends in heartbreak or they don’t end up together, but please give us an answer! Instead, the “answer” happens off-screen, and I have no idea why the writers made that choice.

The most exasperating subplot of all? Li Ran and Yushan don’t end up together, yet they’re still exchanging longing looks at each other in the finale. And this happens while Yushan is married to Shen Yao, Li Ran’s former nemesis turned reformed bad boy.

I would’ve loved to see that relationship develop! But seriously, what’s with the strange looks between Li Ran and Yushan? And why handle this transformation off-screen?

And why cast different actors to portray the adult versions of our characters? It makes it less satisfying. With makeup and filter technologies these days, it wouldn’t be difficult at all to make them look older. (Though I have to say, they cast the older versions quite well. The actor playing older Shen Yao looks uncannily like his younger self.)

Perhaps the writers wanted to show that life is just like that — you don’t always get everything you want, and life is still messy even though you graduated from Tsingbei!

Still, The Hope is a good drama overall, and I enjoyed it immensely. Despite some sad moments, it was very rewarding to see these unlikely heroes succeed and graduate.

Final rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Inspiring, though at the same time, it can be unnecessarily plodding.

#35Stars #CDrama #CDramas #ChineseDrama

The Wanted Detective Cdrama review

The story

Xiao Beiming, the top detective of Daqi, was framed for murdering his foster father on his wedding day and forced to flee. Three years later, he returns to the capital to clear his name and join forces with his ex-bride, Xueman.

The problem is, she is also his foster father’s daughter and doesn’t believe that he is innocent.

However, Xueman and Beiming soon discover that the real culprit is more wily and devious than they expected.

Characters

Xiao Beiming (played by Wang Xingyue): The top detective of Daqi, an orphan who was raised by the “King of Constables”, Zhong Yunchi.

Zhong Xueman (played by Xiang Hanzhi): The only female detective in the Divine Constable Battalion. She is also Xiao Beiming’s junior apprentice and fiancée. They grew up together and fell in love.

Zhuge Kongyun (played by Deng Kai): The son of the chief of the Daqi Secret Investigation Team. He grew up with Xiao Beiming and Zhong Xueman. He is proud and arrogant, and a bit of a peacock.

Feng Qingzhuo (played by Chen Youwei): Master of medicine and poison, and also a coroner.

Tong Shuang (played by He Luoluo): An ordinary constable in the Divine Constable Camp who is not very ordinary.

Huo Dairong (played by Zhang Nan): General Huo’s daughter, who gets embroiled in a conspiracy involving our team.

What I liked

• I love that The Wanted Detective is an original script. So, there are no expectations or hullabaloo about it straying from “the original novel”, which is great. The twists and turns kept me guessing all the way.
• Wang Xingyue delivers a compelling performance as Xiao Beiming. (He does his own voice acting and it’s pretty good.) I am all about the character arcs, and I adore the “fall from grace” storyline. In the first two episodes, we see how his arrogance and overconfidence end up being his downfall. I was annoyed with Wang Xingyue in The Double and Perfect Match, but I thought he was a great fit as Xiao Beiming.
• The Fugitive-esque premise hooked me: a detective chased by another equally smart detective (Zhuge), with his ex-fiancée as an enemy. I really enjoyed the idea of a team ensemble solving crimes while redeeming our hero’s reputation.
• Tight writing. The mystery feels layered and well executed, and the crime, wuxia-ish vibe of the drama was great.
• The team dynamics! I love ensemble team dramas like these. We don’t get them enough.

What I didn’t like

• The drama lost a few good opportunities to be a higher-rated show, namely due to some illogical twists.
• The drama failed to establish the romance between our leads; this would have heightened the tension between them even further.
• (This is spoilerish.) Our hero gets nerfed in the silliest way possible. For a complex crime drama, that was a low-brow, dumb reason to get our male lead poisoned. Fortunately, it was a minor flaw that didn’t diminish my enjoyment.
• Xueman doesn’t seem to be a very good detective. I don’t get why her character jumped to conclusions so quickly, which resulted in quite a bad situation for Beiming. Some detective she is.

Thoughts about the ending

When I finished The Wanted Detective, I couldn’t get the final episode out of my mind.

A quick warning: if you haven’t watched this drama yet, do yourself a favour and skip reading this section. Seriously. This is one of those stories where spoilers can genuinely ruin the experience, so tread carefully.

Okay, ready? Let’s proceed.

Click to reveal details of the ending

At first, I wasn’t fully convinced that Tong Shuang was the villain. It felt a little too convenient. But the more I thought about it, the more his strategy made sense. What better way to keep an eye on your enemies than by pretending to be one of them?

I have to give major credit to the actor, though. He completely nailed both roles! He felt like two entirely different people as Tong Shuang and Yeshua—and can we talk about how stunning and menacing he looked in those hanfus as Yeshua? This actor is definitely one to watch.

What I really appreciated about the villain’s writing was how understandable his motivations were, even if his reasoning was flawed. He believed he was justified because life had been cruel to him. But as Beiming pointed out, a difficult past doesn’t give you the right to ruin countless lives. He could have chosen a different path, like that poor Haiya orphan who was the first Yeshua candidate and decided to pretend to be an idiot rather than keep killing.

I truly think Tong Shuang cared for Beiming and even his Haiya followers. You could see the pain in his eyes each time one of them died. In his mind, they were all soldiers on a battlefield, united in their mission for revenge against the Qi Kingdom. And it was clear his subordinates were fiercely loyal—they saw him not just as a leader, but as someone worth following.

I also believe he genuinely cared about the sleuthing team, especially Beiming. In those quiet moments when they were alone, his concern felt real, especially when Beiming was suffering from the poison.

One of my favourite parts of the final episode was the flashback showing Tong Shuang watching the team grieve at his graveside.

He probably did care, like I said—but he was too deep in his plans, too consumed by the first Yeshua’s influence, to imagine another way to live.

It was so poignant when he told Beiming in the end: If there is another life, it’s better that we do not meet again.

I have to admit, I felt a little bitter that the sleuthing group seemed to move on from his death so quickly. But then again, how do you mourn someone who betrayed you like that? Maybe it’s easier to just let go.

This is exactly how a villain should be written: so layered and compelling that even when he meets his end, you can’t help but wish he’d had a chance at a better life.

I really wish more villains were written this well!

Conclusion

If you approach this drama as a romance, you’ll be sorely disappointed because it treats romance mostly as an afterthought. The romance isn’t the focus (Wang Xingyue and Hanzhi have more sibling chemistry), but that’s fine by me—I’m here for the mysteries and Beiming’s character journey!

What The Wanted Detective excels at is being a team/brotherhood drama. If you liked Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, you’ll probably like this one, though it is not of the same calibre or standard.

Story: The drama isn’t what you’d call super addictive or extraordinary, but it’s good enough to entertain me, and it has a coherent storyline—more than I can say for so many C-dramas these days.

Acting: Pretty good on the whole, especially Wang Xingyue and He Luoluo.

Camerawork: Okay cinematography, nothing too lazy.

Rewatchability: High.

Final rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Wanted Detective scored 7.0 on Douban initially. I would say this is a solidly above-average drama.

#35Stars #CDrama #ChineseDrama #CostumedDrama #Detective

What a Wonderful World (在人间) Chinese drama review

The only light in Xu Tian’s (Yin Fang) life is Jia Xiao Duo (Zhao Li Ying), a regular customer he picks up in his “job” as a rideshare driver. As he drives her from destination to destination, he is dragged into her odd adventures. Xiao Duo keeps him from thinking about his bleak and lonely life. She’s the only spark in his life; something he looks forward to besides the daily grind.

But then, mysterious events start happening around him, all seemingly tied to Xiao Duo…

Thoughts

When I tried to write the drama’s synopsis, I found myself at a loss. It’s that kind of drama where even a hint of the plot could spoil the viewer, but a bland synopsis would not do justice to this drama’s mind-bending premise.

But I’ll tell you this straight away: This was not an easy drama to watch or even digest.

The first episode will leave you clueless.

The second episode will leave you with more questions.

The third episode will leave you even more discombobulated.

By the fourth episode, you’re exasperated and wonder if you can continue.

And if you decide not to, this drama is not for you.

And I don’t mean this in a derogatory, “you’re not smart enough” way. It’s understandable that you can’t continue on. Because this drama takes a lot of work and patience.

I’m not saying that only smart people can appreciate the drama. Modern storytelling (across all media) has trained many of us (myself included!) to expect quicker pacing and definite story beats.

In fact, I nearly gave up on this drama in the fifth episode. However, the twist at the end kept me going.

More than meets the eye

Zhao Liying as Jia Xiao Duo.

This CDrama is not a slice of life, nor is it a romance. It’s kinda sci-fi-ish. Or maybe not. That much I can tell you. (If you’re impatient, you can skip to the spoilery review below. I think some people need to know what this drama is really about to truly keep going.)

In many ways this drama reminds me of Three-Body. You need to be the type to love experimental storytelling to appreciate this drama.

You need to be the type to patient enough to wait for the clarity that will come after the vagueness and confusion. You need to be comfortable not having a clue and not understanding what’s happening in the first few episodes.

Because the plot isn’t linear at all. Don’t expect the type of plots/filming method or storytelling style of a typical drama.

Yes, technically speaking, the script is weak at the start. It tried too hard to be mysterious, but only left viewers confused. The less patient and those with limited time to sit through a highly possible whacky/bad drama would bail.

So, why didn’t I?

I happened to be free, and was doing stuff around the house and watched the drama in the background. I was in also in a mood to be teased and to try something new.

If you’re not in this frame of mind, I don’t blame you at all for ditching it. I probably would’ve if I was not in a good mood that day and wanted something easy to digest.

But if you’re in a mood for some experimental TV, What a Wonderful World could just be the drama for you.

Spoilery review

(Please don’t read on if you don’t want to be spoiled)

Zhou Yi Wei as the scientist … or is he even real?

The reasons why I said it’s understandable that many won’t appreciate this drama is because the director made a commercial drama with zero consideration for the audience’s needs. It’s as if he wrote a fanfic for himself, so to speak.

Could it have told the story better and become more mainstream as a result? Yes. I think the storytelling is rough. Experimental it may be, but it could use a bit more coherence. But I liked how discombobulated I felt. It helped me step into the shoes of our main character.

That’s why I call this an “experiential” drama. It’s the kind of drama that will let you experience the mind and world view of our character, a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder.

In that sense, this drama is beautiful in the way it conveys the disorder.

There’s also another problem: We don’t know anything about our characters: There’s no backstory, no arc, no nothing.

To me, I think this is a good narrative choice. (Your mileage may vary.) It makes us feel disassociated, disconnected from the characters. If our characters don’t know WHO they are most of the time, denying us the God-level view is in, essence, helping us see things from their point of view. That’s my opinion, anyway.

That confusion you feel as a viewer, not knowing what’s real or not? Who’s an NPC or not?

Imagine being Xu Tian, not knowing whether YOU are real. Heck, you’re not even sure which character is really the real you?

Phew, imagine living this day by day. Which is why episode 5 is great, because our main character realises that the world they had been living, the woman/man they’d interacted with may not be real. That disorientation was painful, even for the viewer.

Sometimes it’s better to believe you’re not real. That you’re an NPC.

Because when our main character walks back to their real lives, seeing them scarf down a cold sandwich, lie in their cold beds in their equally bleak apartments … you’d prefer to be an NPC too.

Thoughts about the ending (spoilers)

Click to read the spoilers

At the end of the drama, I am left pondering about the meaning of life. I’m not even kidding. Our two leads’ ending has made me wonder: What kind of life is worth living?

Sure, the world says that you need to live life a certain way to be deemed successful or even be happy, but is it necessarily true for everyone?

The Easter egg scene at the end of the drama left me in a philosophical mood.

By normal people’s standards, their lives may be disturbing, but to them it is beautiful. And I think so too. (But the fact that I think it’s beautiful is also disturbing!)

Conclusion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-OSexHooOs

So, what do I think about the drama on a whole?

It’s a trip! hahaha. Literally, an acid-fuelled trip.

It’s an “experience”; it reminds me of art house movies that care more for experimentation than commercial norms.

Do I love it? Probably not in the same way I love crowd-pleasing dramas like A Moment But Forever or Feud.

But I adore that this CDrama exists because it gives me a lot of hope that there are some parts of C-entertainment that are trying to be different, to tell a story for the love of storytelling, not just for money.

Because surely the makers realise this drama is not the type to attract eyeballs or sponsors, but they made it anyway. We need this spirit to be nourished in Cdramaland.

CDramaland is often dominated by fast food storytelling that largely caters to audiences with particular tastes and aesthetics.

For example: the rising dominance of vertical dramas, it’s all about fast, steamy, wtf plots. And long dramas are starting to emulate their pacing and shock value.

And that’s why I am glad that A Wonderful World exists because it means that there are some parts of Cdramaland who dare to be experimental, to tell stories that are not conventional and most importantly, there are some people who are letting them! That gives me hope that C-entertainment can take some risks and not just fall back to safe but tired formulas.

Rating: 3.5

#35Stars #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #TV #ZhaoLiying

The Legend of Shen Li (review)

I am generally wary of hyped dramas, and boy was this drama hyped. And since I don’t exactly have wonderful luck with xianxia as a genre, I wondered if I could get on The Legend of Shen Li train.

Fortunately, I had a long holiday in April, and I was in the mood to watch something adventurous. So I gave Show a try and ended up binging six episodes in a day. This is a good sign.

The story

Thoughts 

Episode logs

Episodes 1 to 6: Chicken little

Episodes 7 to 13: Return to the Immortal Realm

Episodes 14 to 22: Battling the miasma – the bad guy shows himself

Episodes 23 to 30: Shen Li’s fall

Episodes 32 to 39 – Secrets are revealed

The ending

What I liked

What I didn’t like

Final thoughts

Final rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The story

Pressured into a political marriage, Shen Li chooses to flee her fate and ends up injured and reverting to her original form.

She falls into the mortal realm as a phoenix but is mistaken for a chicken. She nearly ends up as someone’s dinner until Xingyun, an ordinary mortal, saves her. 

But things are not what they seem, and this fateful meeting begins a love that may destroy the Three Realms.

Thoughts 

This is a xianxia for adults. 

A lot of xianxia dramas, I feel, have young adult-ish themes and romantic tales. So, the fact that we have more mature actors heading the drama was a big attraction for me. 

Another thing unusual about Show is that it can be considered a slice-of-life drama.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about the slice-of-life genre: It’s a “narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a character’s life is presented, often lacking plot development, conflict and exposition, as well as often having an open ending.”

Fortunately, there’s no open ending for The Legend of Shen Li, but I’ll get to that later.

Still, I wasn’t sure about the slice-of-life vibe of Shen Li. In this drama, as per the conventions of the slice-of-life genre, the main plot is the side character.

So, we have times when the main plot (though I wonder if I can even call it that), grinds to a halt and we see Shen Li, Xing Zhi and various side characters hanging out at functions, cooking food, cleaning jade cups (I’m totally not kidding).

In fact, I nearly gave up on the show when they left the mortal realm and the immortal realm arc started. 

But I persevered, and I’m glad I did.

Episode logs

Beware of spoilers! Do not read this part if you’ve not watched the drama. 

Episodes 1 to 6: Chicken little

Shen Li becomes an overpowered chicken when she gets injured and loses her human form. She is rescued from a market by the mysterious mortal, who, while he lives a simple life, isn’t a simple man. 

Xingyun, as he is called, doesn’t seem fazed by a lot of supernatural events and can even cast spells. During this idyllic lull, our couple gets to know each other, free of the pressures of cosmic responsibilities.

Episodes 7 to 13: Return to the Immortal Realm

Shen Li returns to the divine realm and to her duties as a general. There, she meets the only ancient god, Xing Zhi, who looks exactly Xingyun.

My least favourite arc. Besides attending heavenly functions, our couple is busy trying not to give in to their feelings. Xing Zhi pretends he’s not the mortal that Shen Li fell in love with. And Shen Li resigns herself to her fate of marrying someone else.

This is the most boring arc of the show and I should’ve employed the fast-forward button instead of patiently waiting for something dramatic to happen. If you want to do so, I give you my blessings.

Episodes 14 to 22: Battling the miasma – the bad guy shows himself

I was so relieved when Shen Li and Xing Zhi returned to the mortal realm to battle some demon smoke and that we had something else to do besides attend heavenly functions and endure boring divine beings. 

Anyway, they are in search of Shen Li’s wayward betrothed, the spoiled Furong. 

A good arc where we not only saw character growth for Furong but also got to meet our ill-fated former ancient god in the first arc who is now trapped in a cycle of rebirth due to daring to love a mortal. I enjoyed Qingye’s tragic story, and I swear it could be its own show. A part of me hopes we get a spin-off for Qingye’s tale even if the likelihood of this happening is like 0.5%.

I love that Qingye got to talk to Xing Zhi. The actor portrayed that wise, ancient and even-tempered Qingye so well.

Episodes 23 to 30: Shen Li’s fall

The Three Realms (or rather, two, since the mortal realm doesnt know a thing), grapple with the loss of Shen Li.

Though us viewers would be going: I mean, seriously, Shen Li dead in the middle of the drama? Riiiiight.

Anyway, I loved this arc because this is where Xing Zhi is finally rattled out of his “I need to do right by the world so I cannot show that I love Shen Li” mode. By that I mean he totally lost it.

I thought Lin Geng Xin acted the heck out of that moment when he gave in to his grief, froze the sea and brokenheartedly tried to search for Shen Li’s body. His last words before collapsing into Furong’s arms were: “I really regret it, Shen Li. I do like you.”

He gets his second chance, and boy does he ensure that he makes up for lost time. No more being a noble idiot.

We get a sabbatical in the countryside part 2. After the harrowing last arc, our main couple deserved some quiet time. But real life and responsibilities intrude on them soon enough.

And yes, episode 31! Some say that the scene was really awkward, and the kissing was not that good or something. But I thought it was perfect because, come on, Xing Zhi is an expert at being emotionless and composed, but he is a total infant when it comes to expressing his feelings and just letting go of his inhibitions. Dude demonstrated that he learned quite quickly toward the end of the drama, I assure you.

And that scene with Lady Jin giving Shen Li and Xing Zhi knowing looks and slyly teasing them that they both “did it” and our couple wilting from embarrassment? Comedy gold!

And is it me, or is Xing Zhi jealous when Jin “flirts” with Shen Li?

PS: Turns out that Jin is a lesbian in the novel and had a thing for Shen Li. Hahaha. Also, Jin is older than Xing Zhi, which explains a lot as well lol.

Episodes 32 to 39 – Secrets are revealed

Everything comes to a head. All I have to say is that if I had watched this while it was airing, I would’ve been the first one to buy the express episodes package. Secrets are revealed. And I just wanna say that I really loved Xu Hai Qiao as Feng Lai (below)! Last time I saw him it was as the despicable Ou Yang Xu in A Dream of Splendor, and he’s so different here it took me a while to recognise him.

And I admit that I shed a few tears in episode 38 when Xing Zhi emerged from the vortex and said, “A-Li, let’s go home. I’ll cook for you.”

At that moment, Xing Zhi knew he was dying, finally at the end of his lifespan, but his deepest and most desperate longing was to return to that simple time with Shen Li. Something that was not to be as he was near his end as he had finally lived out his purpose as an ancient god.

The only time I ever shed a tear for a xianxia character was Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. And now, with The Legend of Shen Li. This is because it was wonderfully acted by the actors, and I think it says something if Lin Geng Xin can squeeze a tear out of me, as I have a heart of stone and hardly ever cry when watching dramas.

The ending

Click HERE to read my thoughts about the ending. There are spoilers, of course.

Oh dear lord, after a slew of promising dramas with tragic or open endings, we finally a good ending. Nay, a great one that is fleshed out, happy and clear. Not a 10-second, hey look, that could be our dead character back alive. Instead, an entire last episode is devoted to Shen Li and Xing Zhi giving each other maximum skinship, cooking for each other, playing mahjong (!) and hanging out with their best pal Miss Jin.

Was episode 39 necessary? Some people may say that it should’ve ended at 38. It would’ve been a neat and tidy ending. But I love watching Xing Zhi and Shen Li enjoying their “retirement” from official heavenly duties. They deserve it.

What I liked

• It is nice to have a manly, mature man for once as the male lead of a xianxia drama. Lin Geng Xin doesn’t have the typical delicate, elfin-like looks idol male lead xianxias typically has, but that’s what I love about him. He is charismatic in a way that is hard to define.   
• OMG they filmed in actual locations! I’m so used to green-screen xianxia sets that it felt weird to see these high beings wandering around real streets, real fields of flowers and dwelling in real cottages!
• I love that Shen Li is such a smart, strong and confident woman. I love her straight-talking ways, and I love that she doesn’t suffer fools, even if they happen to be an ancient god like Xing Zhi. She puts him in his place a few times, once telling him, “I am not stupid”. Zhao Li Ying, of course, played her very well.
• I totally adore the food porn and cooking vlog sequences. They are a hoot and just puts me in a holiday mood. And all powerful ancient god and a great cook? Who can resist this man?
• The quiet, “cottagecore” moments when Shen Li and Xing Zhi are out in the countryside, free of their heavenly responsibilities are my favourite moments. 
• When I grow up I want to be Ms Jin. What a sass madam! In fact, I love her so much that I’m so happy that she got her own side story in the last episode.

What I didn’t like

• Seriously, the Heavenly Realm folks have got to be the most useless and indolent Heavenly Realm folks in the universe. What do they do besides hang around gossiping with one another and throwing banquets? Don’t deities have jobs like protecting mankind or something?
• I also don’t quite get how this world works. I have long given up on xianxia trying to follow any traditional Chinese mythological structures. Call it “fantasy with Chinese characteristics”, but it’s a world whose rules are vague, so I don’t quite understand how it functions. 
• I wish there was a better premise than they can’t be together because “Natural Law won’t permit it”. Something about emotions and Xing Zhi losing control and Three Realms destroyed cos … Xing Zhi will act out? It feels like a flimsy reason to keep our couple apart. 
• Overuse of internal monologue. Awkward moments where characters just stare at each other as they internally monologue. There are better ways to convey this than internal monologues, really.

Final thoughts

I think the reason why The Legend of Shen Li spoke to me so much is because it touches the deep longing we have in our hearts as adults. Like our couple, some of us are weighed down by our family and work responsibilities. However, ours are far more mundane than battling demons or holding the fate of three realms on our shoulders. ( Though, I think for some of us, our family and working lives may actually be as angst-ridden as a xianxia!) 

So, a lot of us long for a simpler life where we can just retreat to the green surroundings of the countryside, grow our food, cook, and nourish our loved ones.

This is a rare drama that you can watch when you just want to feel good. A xianxia version of “Meet Yourself”, if you will.

I never in a million years think a xianxia drama could fit the bill, but here we go. 

However, Show is far from perfect, which is why I’m giving it an 8.5 rather than the 9 I would’ve given if the storytelling and pacing had been better and the world better fleshed out.

Still, I would say it’s one of the best xianxias you can watch; a rare gem that caters to more mature viewers.

Final rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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