My new crack. What got me off my ass to write more reviews!
- Age: 15+, high school and up
- Romance: BL and 撩
- Genre: historical, wuxia
- Episodes: 36x45min (27 episodes)
- Actors: 張哲瀚 (Zheng Zhehan), 龔俊 (Simon Gong)
- Wiki: Chinese, English
- Released: Feb 2021
- Where to Watch: Netflix
fTLDR for Friends
Worth checking out if you’re okay with BL. Definitely more suggestive than the Untamed, but honestly nothing compared to any Western dramas. It’s that tame.
I was hesitant to watch but I’m so glad I did. Nothing like discovering a new actor to stalk all his dramas. The main lead has this twinkling, totally 撩 smile ha. And the execution was good enough I’m going to watch it a second time without skipping! Unlike the Untamed which I wouldn’t watch again.
You do need to give it 3-4 episodes and can fast forward through the first, which is just the setup. And wait till the other male lead takes off his weird ugly mask.
I don’t think this is as suitable for kids as the Untamed. Better you enjoy the drama late nights.
Watch it watch it so I have someone to discuss with!
Plot and Quick Review
周子舒 (Zhang Zhehan) is the leader of an assassin group who serves his wanna-be emperor cousin. But he tired of all his subordinates dying and got out by putting 6 nails into himself (ewwww). This only gives him 3 more years to live though.
Originally he was going to waste his remaining days away. But 溫客行 （Simon Gong), leader of Ghost Valley, meets him and starts stalking 周子舒 (Zhang Zhehan) as he could throw a wrench onto his plan to avenge his parents’ death.
All that in the first 2 episodes. The rest is now like the Untamed. A bunch of sects all want a piece of the some relic broken into 5 pieces and they get dragged into it deliberately by 溫客行 （Simon Gong) as a scheme for his vengeance. The relic is a key that will open a library of wuxia manuals. I’m all for books, but they’re a bit obsessed.
You’ve got your theme of, good people do bad things in the name of good, but bad people can’t get a break for doing the same bad things. And then you’ve got your double hero’s redemption. The two leads save each other from their painful pasts.
The end.
Man, I’m horrible at writing enticing reviews. Even though I want you to watch the drama! Anyways, the draw of the drama isn’t the plot, which is weaker than the Untamed, but the two leads’ interactions. That is what’s entertaining and fun to watch.
And I so liked the interaction and much better cinematography and coherent editing that I was thinking and thinking for two days after watching the drama on the difference between the two dramas. So obsessed, I wrote a whole post on the subject just to brain dump.
Why? Because I really want to like the drama. But while it was a much more enjoyable watch, (the two actors aren’t as green), the weak writing means I didn’t feel the drama as much.
The fight scenes are really pretty, like Fuyao slo-mo pretty. The actors are good, the directing and editing are good, it’s just the background motivation that makes no sense.
Also? The costumes are great. I LOVE the red and I love the character who spends half an episode being sweet and then turns around and becomes a bad ass Ghost Vallety leader who rules ruthlessly.
Anyways, as for the BL…..like most online reviews said, this drama is definitely sweeter. The two characters really push the edge of China’s censorship. They come out and say they’re kindred spirits (知己). Maybe that’s why BL was completely forbidden after this one? But hey, that’s really the extent.
What Parents Need to Know
Probably not suitable except for high schoolers and above. There are violent scenes. First episode someone was tortured. There are brothels and scantily clad ghosts exacting revenge on heartless men.
Chinese Aspect or Things to Talk to Kids About?
The main character quotes a lots of poetry or poetic sayings, most of which I don’t understand. But when I googled I learned many are from old Chinese texts.
Can You Spot that PPL?
OMG. The PPL in this drama is so hilarious! The PPL are bags of nuts and sometimes the actors even hold the bags and look at the camera in such a way that it looks like a direct sell! They don’t even try to be subtle about it.
