Word of Honor

Wen Kexing stole the show. This role was so successful and popular because Gong Jun interpreted it very well and immersed himself in the role. WenKexing is a multi-faceted and complex character. How Gong Jun handled the switching between kindness and cruelty is spot-on. WenKexing is a classic role and will forever be in the hearts of the audience.

On the other hand, I am confused by the blank stare acting of Zhou Zishu. It is odd and illogical for an immoral former leader of an assassination organization to act like a saint after he left the organization. It is either due to poor script or poor acting. This character is a turn-off for me and therefore I couldn't give this drama a 10-star.

There are several points for an 9 star review but first, I'll explain why not a 10 star review: because of the camera work and sound design. I don't know if the director (or directors?) had a not so great camera team operator because in some scenes you can see the way the camera shakes and it's not consistent with the feeling of the scene. Although I understand why the sound design needed to be covered by the BGM because of the loud exterior sounds of other productions that happened in the same place and at the same time, there's no enough digetic sound to give more dimensionality to the overall picture. With dubbing it's another issue that I don't have right to make criticism.

However, why 9 stars? Because even though it was a low budget production, it doesn't feel like one. It's obvious the production knew their weaknesses and their strengths and exploited both of them.

The first thing I applaud is the script. The script writer was debuting in this work, and already had done a excellent job of conveying the substancial (romantic) relationship of ZZS and WKX. It is not at all surprising that both GJ and ZZH were able to demonstrate good acting skills here, because the script worked on their behalf.

The second thing is the plot, although it falls into varied exhibition dialogues (understandable, because after all it is in television format), is interesting enough to be able to continue watching and waiting for the next episode. Besides, the cast doesn't fall behind; although not everyone is at the level of the skill of ZZH or the other veteran actors, they stand in their own enough to show a convincing performance.

And the last thing: the fight scenes. In the first episodes those aren't too great because of the edited slow motion, but later in the ongoing episodes, the fights have improved a lot, so much so that they give me adrenaline.

From a point of a viewer who has not seen many Chinese dramas, this series is quite recommended to enter the world of wuxia stories. Please love this serie! By the way, you can find the free episodes 1-10 at Youku channel.

To me, one of the most attractive aspects of period dramas is the looks of the main actors and actresses. The male lead Wen Kexing (played by Simon Gong Jun) and female lead Gu Xiang (played by Zhou Ye) passed my test! They both are very good looking and have good acting skills.

I almost gave up this drama when watching the first episode. The guy who played Zhou Zishu is unflattering; he has only one expression and the distance between his eyes is unusually narrow. I was turned off by his constant staring acting. It was so boring to watch this dude killing innocents and then became a beggar.

The turning point was the Ghost Valley scene. Wen Kexing, the Master of Ghost Valley, caught my attention when he came out near the end of the first episode. His intimidating aura makes people shudder. He looks super cool in the red outfit and with heavy makeup.

When Gu Xiang was with Wen Kexing, they were so lively. A Xiang called Wen Kexing her master but the two are more like brother and sister. I enjoyed watching these two beautiful characters' interactions and how they became each other's light.

I often just watch highlights of a series, especially Chinese series cause many them of have such a large number of episodes with a lot of filters. However, each episode in this series is quite dense with plot details and forshadowings. Actions scenes has good choreography and stays true to its genres. The two leads portray their character spendidly, especially through their eyes and microexpressions. They also performed most of the action scenes themselves. The supporting charactors also have interesting backstories. Dispite the limited budget, the crews has delivered a high quality series with a lot of hearts in it.

I think this drama is the best adaptation of Chinese novels in recent years. It interprets the love of two boys in the period of ancient Chinese knights. The two mutual salvation dramas contain many classic expressions of love in China and the world. There is no direct expression of love in the play, but the love expressed by the eyes gestures of the two actors can make you want to stop.