Chu Han Chuan Qi

KING'S WAR (Legend of Chu and Han// Chu Han Chuan Qi) (2012) was a fantastic C-drama series from the makers of the "Three Kingdoms". Like it's predecessor, it was epic, brutal, historical, romantic and full of complicated story lines and an amazing cast of characters. If you are unfamiliar with the era or with Chinese historical dramas, you might be a bit confused going into this series, so I'd recommend freshening up on Chinese history beforehand.

King's War was inspired by the historical events in the Chu-Han Contention, an interregnum between the fall of the Qin Dynasty and the founding of the Han Dynasty. This series is very interesting because of its usage of the word "legend" in its title "Legend of Chu and Han", which belies some of the events are part of ancient legend and folklore rather than only the facts. I found it to be really well made drama regardless.

This series had a huge budget and it really shows in its realistic sets and landscapes, in the costumes, acting and story. The series spans an amazing length of 80 episodes and all are so well done. After binge watching this series I now feel compelled to rewatch Three Kingdoms.

Overall, this was an amazing watch and full of drama, adventure, intrigue, battle, and a little romance. The cast was extraordinary, especially Lui Bang (Chen Daoming) who played his role fantastically. Everything was beautiful. Just an amazingly well made production. Loved it. Highly recommend, especially if you have an interest in history, politics, warfare, military strategy and tactics, and flawed, realistic (yet relatable) characters. A great watch!

The show has 80 episodes which isn't crazy for Chinese historical dramas (both Three Kingdoms shows had over 90 episodes) in this one, the length can be justified by the fact that it tells the story of the two prominent figures at the time Xiang Yu and Liu Ji.

The scenery is what you expect from a Chinese show around 2010s, the costumes are well done, authentic hairstyles are implemented and the locations have a lot of historical accuracy. They brought in many lines directly from the historical records while also adding a bit of fiction here and there. The show also contains a few bits of gory scenes here and there, but they are well made compared to Three Kingdoms 1995 show, which is expected given the time difference. Some of the CGI looks cheaply made, but never overused compared to many shows around it's years/

Now, though the show tackles events on the span of around 10-15 years which is way shorter than Three Kingdoms 75 years, the show is condensed with events and characters and here is where the show gets uneven.

Every scene about Liu Ji and his crew is spot on and delightful to watch. The actors are amazing, very expressive both vocally and implicitly. Daoming Chen captivates in every scene and the actors in his crew just follow the same.

The same can't be said about Xiang Yu's. While historically, Xiang Yu was said to be arrogant and prideful, Peter Ho also came as a bit superficial and while it's the script rather than him and the actually historical content, his scenes and parts pale so much in comparison to Daoming Chen's.

There then the Qin's parts and they are overall better than Xiang Yu's.

I kind of wish, the show had more Liu Ji's (though it's mostly Liu Ji's as is) and less Xiang Yu.

Anyhow, if you are a fan of Chinese historical dramas, this show is a must watch.

Yup 80 episode's. But I was enthralled throughout . Game of Thrown's type series but far better! I mention GOT only because it's one of the top watched series but king's War blows it away. It's an epic historical drama that takes place 3rd century BC China. Never a dull moment . It has it all. Great Actors, Huge phenomenal battle scenes , intelligent political strategy, love, hate, loyalty , betrayal, etc. Thanks again to Netflix and the above reviewer . Looked forward every night to come home from work to watch all the episodes. Great Production all around. It had spectacular heart wrenching moments and great humor. Just Loved it!!! Some of the characters are unforgettable. That's how good they were . Ty.