Dawnine

Xu Kai in his first lead role paired with the amazing Bai Lu and it's chemistry all the way - they also paired up fantastically in Arsenal Military Academy the same year (2019). They were a rumoured couple around this time as well and the behind the scenes show that they had a bond beyond the camera... regardless of whether it was romantic or not.

Although the romance between these two characters is what drew me, when I finally gave in and started it, the world built itself well. The concepts of bias and prejudice, good and evil, arrogance and obstinance, fate and self-determination, and the rippling consequences of decisions and actions all play important roles in the telling. The Xia genre is not my favorite but I really appreciated its use here.

Warning, though, some of the editing leaves irritation behind - especially toward the end of the series... and certain scenes are beyond repetitive if you are binging... might not be so bad if you aren't. The last quarter is where it starts breaking down but there are supposed to be some good fan-edits out there to soothe that itch.

As characters were introduced or expanded upon I felt connected to many of them and most were well-developed... though that Liu SuRuo went from annoying to bent. In some case I whined to myself that they should have brought certain characters in earlier along the story-line. Even more minor characters here were mostly well done. Contrasts were well-played.

Some CGI effects are dated or rather puppet-like and the pyrotechnics during certain fights seemed more decorative than anything else... but the whole was much greater than its parts.

I'm heading in for a truncated round two soon.

Fun and Interesting if you are just getting into Chinese dramas of the historical / magical flavor. Good battles not too overdone and a believable romance between the two main characters - spiced and spiked by politics, egotism, duty, jealousy, racism (human vs kunwu) and manipulation of magic (i.e. "cultivation").

The following is opinion - I love Xu Kai (Kai Xu). That said, this is not my favorite of his works but it was still very enjoyable. His character was cheeky, cocky but with occasional complexity. I adored Wu Jia Yi (Jiayi Wu)'s portrayal of Lie Huo Jun Xiao (2019) in Lie Huo Jun Xiao (2019) (my 2nd favorite Xu Kai series) so was delighted to see her in the lead here, which was a very different character but still had that underlying confidence and strength which delighted me.

All in all, the acting was good - a little overdone in parts but that just seems to be how certain Chinese dramas are. Also, not being Chinese myself, there are probably parts where the subtlety, certain behaviours and etiquette or the references were lost to me... and not just in the subtitles. Still, it was a well-chosen cast for the most part.

The plot and storyline were mostly predictable but that didn't distract me as it would in most other shows. I still had my fingers crossed and a hopeful heart even knowing what would likely happen. The only things that really jarred me were the scenes where certain women - who had already demonstrated significant fighting skills in hand-to-hand combat, with weapons, and with magic - were suddenly afraid of a noise or the dark or something relatively simple (these same women went into battle unflinchingly). Sexism in spades but thankfully not that prevalent.

Good special effects and lovely costuming complemented the story well.

All in all, I found it enjoyable and worth a second watch to watch the actual acting (since the first watch was spent mostly on subtitles and following the story). I recommend it as a light-hearted watch.

Okay, I'll admit that it took me a while to warm to this series. I don't like STUPID, but I do like Xu Kai. That's what brought me here - but in the end I did laugh, I was tickled and although this is by no means a favorite or a repeater, bits of lark have stuck with me over the days and made me chuckle spontaneously.

Be prepared for abrupt mood changes, changes of scene, and breaking the 4th wall with internal chit chat and external chicanery. Still - it was fun. If you have a high tolerance for that then I think you will enjoy this series. If your tolerance is lower, I might suggest looking elsewhere... except I generally have a low tolerance but I just kept going and found an internal rhythm that appealed to me.

Bingeing is really the only way for this one.