Tian Ya Ke (2021)

I have become the biggest fangirl!!

I usually write my review in sequence and avoid writing reviews in the middle before finishing. But I am just so obsessed with this drama that I have to speak about this. Word of Honor is the best BL-adapted dramas I have watched so far. In fact, I have lost sleep and working time in the last few days because of this drama.

Don't get me wrong, I still love and fangirl the Untamed, but Untamed was "just" a great drama, one of the best in China's drama history. But with regards to BL, I still had to get all the fangirl elements from many alternative sources (e.g., all the interpretation videos, the audio production, the original novel, etc.), while with Word of Honor, there is no need to look elsewhere. Everything is there, right in front of your eyes, in 3D, in sound, no need for imagination!! Sometimes we wonder, was there even a censorship committee? The makers only over-dubbed some of the too apparent lines but then put the original source shots with original words spoken online for us fans to see! OMG! And for me, that is reason enough to put this as no 1 of the BL-adapted dramas.
Some prefer to have BL elements slightly more settled where you have to read between the lines. I don't. But that's everyone's preference.

Now to the main content of this review. There are three elements that make up great BL-drama: Sticking to the original source material, suitable plus good-looking main leads, the chemistry between the two main leads (we called this the CP-Feel).

The first point, sticking to the source material: Unfortunately, many great BL-adaptions are downgraded or even destroyed because their adaptations are entirely beyond recognition. Why would they do this despite knowing that there is a natural flow of fans who will watch this because they like the original novel? Of course, we can always blame the China censorship, but that should not be an excuse for a bad script. There are many examples that showed us that.
I haven't read the original material (but definitely intend to check this out after drama), but I have heard from multiple sources that the drama is very close to the original material. Not only that, it added to the original source and expanded the plots of supporting and main characters even further to make it even better. For instance, the fact that both male leads know from childhood is something that was not in the original novel. In the book, Wen Ke Xing is into handsome men (also because he is gay) and therefore started to follow Zhou Zi Shu out of curiosity. This would have made his character shallow. But this change not only put WKX's personality in a better light but also circumvents the pronounced gay element: two birds with one stone. I found out that the scriptwriter is a big fan of Priest, and you can feel the love and delicacy she has put into this work. In fact, a lot of details you can only notice once you watch this drama a second time. And don't worry, you won't get bored even watching it n-times.

Second point: suitable plus good-looking male leads: there is no denying that both leads are delicacies for the eyes. Both leads have had some years of experience, but none of them were that famous at that point in time. I even heard that Gong Jun's acting is rather wooden and of low-quality. Well, not in Word of Honor. He seems to have found his natural element. All the eying, evil smiles and small gestures are on the point. Also, Zhang Zhe Han, although he seems to be slightly stiff in the first six episodes, his expressions become much more vivid and soft after that. I am also very impressed with the gap he showed before and after the disguise - both from acting and from make-up; I really believed these are two different actors! It is said that the scriptwriter asks the director to find someone who has edgy and sharp facial features for ZZS and someone who has soft and slander features for WKX. I have to say the team did a great job picking the perfect actors for the roles. One cannot imagine someone else playing these roles.

Finally, the last point and most important: the CP-Feel:
The biggest thing you worry about in a BL adaption is that both actors cannot act out their affection naturally because it is just awkward. But that's no issue in Word of Honor. I only knew later that GJ's first major acting role was in an actual BL movie. It got taken down because of censorship issues. This explains a lot of his very natural and open form of acting as the "lover-hunter." And you can find this in all the apparent expressions he makes when eying his beloved. Of course, many of the gestures would have come from the master-level instructions of the directors. On the surface, WKX seems to be a witty, sometimes cute, and confident character. But we all know that this character’s dark and mad side which is feared by everyone will be slowly revealed. Will ZZS’s warmth save WKX from his despair? My anticipation rises to the maximum when thinking about the upcoming reveal of this most interesting and deep character.
On the other hand, it is also ZZS's set-up, starting off cold and indifferent towards the temptations of WKX, slowly opens up like a beautiful flower. This slow change in attitude is perfectly shown in his facial expressions, word choice, and gestures in response to WKX. Again, another mastery by Zhang ZZH, the director, and the writer! There is also a slight gap between his mostly cold sober side and sometimes dorky side + loving side that reveal themselves at times. It is like finding a treasure that brings me to smile. Both of the characters, putting together, brings this big explosion of sparks from whom I just cannot get enough.

There are many other great aspects of this drama that I won't go into details: e.g., great music, well-choreographed fighting scenes, well-framed shots, a terrifically tragic side love-line, in-depth supporting characters including even villains.
Certainly, there are some flaws (e.g. the first episode is slightly boring, the entry of clans and characters is too quick, and can be confusing, the low-quality CG, and some acting of the main characters can still be improved). However, these weaknesses just become so insignificant that I just cannot rate this drama with a rational mind anymore. In fact, I think the makers spent their little money on the right things (camera angles and costumes instead of the not-so-important ones (using the same sceneries for multiple scenes).
Now, I just can hope the team will do this drama justice and carry this quality, pacing, and acting into the second half of this drama. This will hopefully create some history for the Chinese BL-drama fandom.

*Edits after watching the full drama
There are a few plot holes, poor editing, and out-of-character behavior in the last episodes (particular episodes 31 and 32) that have made me downgrading the drama from a 10 to a 9.5. However, in my heart, this is still the best drama I have seen so far and really deserves a special place. I am particularly happy with the character development and acting of ZZH as ZZS, truly a man with 2000 layers of ashes.

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