Nirvana in Fire

This is my favourite drama of all times, even after watching it three times, this drama still puts me through a spectrum of emotions.

Hu Ge's acting was just amazing (as well as other casts). He himself experienced a serious accident which probably made him feel his character better. Cinematography and music in this drama is outstanding as well

What I liked most of this drama is that they trust their audiences to get what they are talking about (and to feel their emotions), without saying everything out plain. This is unlike a lot of other dramas, which treats their audience like retards. For me, this actually adds on to the beauty of the drama. That being said, it is advantageous to know the language and some Chinese culture, or have someone who is a native speaker to watch it with you. The language used in this drama is indeed poetic, and adds on to the beauty of the drama.

In addition, this drama has a reputation of being strict on detains such as the etiquette, courtesy and costumes, which matches actual history.

To me, this drama represents a warm ideal of the author, with regards to politics, loyalty and friendship and unity, which myself also has, yet not to expect in real life. Really, this will be the best Chinese drama you will ever see.

The literal translation for this series title is LuoYang List, which is a list of the best martial artists in China at any given time during the 5th century. The dialogue is not dumbed down or forced like almost all Asian TV dramas. It is painted with classic four character Chinese metaphors/colloquialisms. Native speakers will enjoy the intricate writing.

If you only speak English, know that much of the beauty is lost in translation. Try to watch it with a native speaker who can give you the beautiful literal translations for each phrase.

There is an ever evolving story line of political intrigue and martial arts fights. There are dozens of complex characters who are a part of the succession struggle for the throne of the sitting emperor. Game of Thrones without the sex, dragons, and zombies.

There are also implicit parallels when compared to modern Chinese politics. Historical Chinese dramas are one of the very few avenues where the common man can still levy criticisms of present day Chinese government.

I am proud that the Chinese entertainment industry has finally graduated to the next level. I truly hope that there will be more dramas of this caliber.

I rank Nirvana in Fire up with the best of the best: writing, camera, production - it's a damn near flawless presentation of story and ideas. While sets and costuming are noteworthy, it's amazing how few locations Nirvana in Fire uses through 50+ episodes. All the power is in the dialog, characters and acting. Individuals make choices for an empire, and generally the dialog itself has multiple levels of meaning - some apparent to the characters, some aimed directly at the viewer. It's media that makes you think, made all the more rewarding due to a high level of entertainment.

10/10

The whole series is a journey of understanding for me. The overall story arc is revealed in bits and pieces. Imagine a huge garden in spring. Once the flowers start to bloom, one begins to see a pattern and the viewer starts to think that "Ah-ha, that is what the picture looks like." As more flowers bloom, more patterns are revealed which congregate to create an even bigger pattern. Each episode is like a single flower blooming. The main character is faced with a seemingly impossible task and he is comparable to the legendary Kong MIng of the Three Kingdoms era. Each step, each solution is logical without any "contrived" situations that insult my intelligence.

I've watched the whole series twice through and through and more when it comes to certain "emotional," "triumphant," "ah-ha" segments. Clues are littered everywhere for the audience to catch and these become obvious on the second run through. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes an insightful experience. This is not for "heavy Kung Fu" action movie afficionados although there are some action scenes sprinkled throughout the series.

Nirvana in Fire (Lang Ya Bang) is a combination of martial arts, war strategy, friendship, respectful, ways of doing things, history of the ancient, different groups of people and the motive of how to reveal the truth after a war. The story will touch your emotional straight away when it reaches certain part of the stories. I am assured of you watching it will follow me tears down. The martial art is the most superb part besides others. The way they have been trained and those typical movements, it is thoroughly being studied. The beautiful scenery of all really making you feel so good and there are some humors in between if you follow through. I watched it purely in Chinese because I love the original voices of all. Don't forget that there are also some truly bad people villain in marvel as to say, how they have strategist to make the good and honest troop fall into the pool of fire in "May Ling". The pain and sorrows arisen. It also talked about how other higher authority bullied and framed others through physical plans but with "Mei ChangSu" who is brave, most intelligent and a bit sarcastic but with good heart giving advises to the prince - "Jing Yan" once his best friend but this prince really do not recognise him till last.

When I watched the first episode, that already leading me wanted to watch the second and so on. The entire flow of the stories really good despite towards the end, a little slagging but it comes back when they wanted to investigate the old case that the King himself had made mistake by listening to the two (find out more). Mei ChangSu is the no.1 leader towards his troop that spreads around all places. Everyone respect him but he is too weak to fight this on his own. His lovely body-guard, a kid called, "Fei Liu" is truly funny listening to his two or three words without a full sentence but he could understand the entire meaning. The brave and beautiful "Mu Ni-Huang" who fights and love deeply that always able to win in each fight. She is a true warrior.

Here, you can see, learn, feel, comfort, anger, sad, normal, and etc feelings that you could ever imagine. How do they help each other and togetherness never break chaining them without regret. I have watched every single episode and I felt sad + happy when I watched the last episode. In my mind, it is like I have attended classes to view the history myself even though it is a total different with three kingdoms but had given me the insights of human nature, the kind and warm, justice and truth, the evil side and bonded love and friendship. I love this and therefore I have given a 10 rating.

Patience is the key to watch it because all details in each episode truly touches heart and enjoy the entire series.