Word of Honor

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.

The best thing I like about Wuxia dramas is the beautiful fight scenes and intricate martial arts choreography. The background in this drama is a bit fake (due to low budget?) but the fight scenes are awesome. I've really enjoyed watching Wen Kexing fighting with martial arts masters like Zhao Jing, Mo Huaiyang and Ye Baiyi; he looks really cool when showcasing his self-taught kung fu.

Gong Jun portrayed the deep-minded, innocent and cruel Master of the Ghost Valley Wen Kexing very well. Wen Kexing is a moody person and the interchanging of emotions is difficult to act but Gong Jun nailed it (e.g. One second he is happy and the next second he is angry). Wen Kexing is cruel but has a kind heart. He wants to avenge his murdered parents but he has never harmed any innocent people. I like watching his gentle interactions with beautiful A Xiang and Chengling.

Gong Jun and Zhou Ye are the best-looking artists in this drama. :-)

The screenwriter is a genius. You will be surprised to see how she plays with words, how she gives it deep meanings, and that she can tell a very deep story even with a simple sentence. Her name is Xiao Chu. I will definitely remember this name.

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.

Word of Honor is a wuxia drama, based on Priest's novel named Tian Ya Ke. It means you will see many martial arts scenes, everything will satisfy you emotionally. I guarantee it.

The characters Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, which are the leading roles, are very skillfully written and acting in the same way. You can see how much the actors attach importance to their roles in their acting. Zhang Zhehan, who portrays a character like Zhou Zishu, who is desperate but has found hope in the last years of his life but has limited time ve Gong Jun, who portrays a character like Wen Kexing, who lived his life in a dark/insane place and still one of his part a little child, both of lead actors... THEY SHOW INCREDIBLE ACTING!! I think the reason i love this drama so much is that every relationship is so deep. Zhou Xu/Wen Kexing, Wen Kexing/Gu Xiang, Zhou Xu/Cheng Ling. All of them is so pure and the acting is so good that it feels as if you are experiencing all those emotions. Not just the lead roles, all the actors/actress are like your best friend.

One of my favorite things about Word of Honor is definitely cinematography. They make you feel like the camera is your eyes. The arrival of daylight, the positioning of the actors, everything is to make you feel as if you are living there, and you feel that too. It will be a festival for your eyes and heart.

The production team gave their best to this drama. If you are watching a Chinese drama for the first time, it may be difficult to notice but I, as someone who has been here for 6 years, can see how much effort they have made for this drama. If I'm not mistaken, there are subtitles in 13 languages right now, and they do everything to give viewers comfort.

There is a lot to say but I did my best to make this spoiler free. It will leave a mark in your life, you can be sure of that.