Zhu Yue (2025)

I'll die for you... no, I'll die for you

Well, where to start with this one? Seeing all the praises and 10 stars reviews it's receiving, at times I can't help but feel like I'm watching a completely different drama.
I'm quite enjoying it, I'll make it clear from the start, but I had to turn my brain off on one too many occasions in order to enjoy it.
I genuinely liked the resentment illusion arc and, story-wise, it could very well hold its ground as a proper, 40-ish episodes drama, but with everything else so far I either feel bored or annoyed by the ridiculous/exaggerated melodrama that's been going on.
The characters could be interesting, but perhaps because we were plunged into the action right from episode one and it hasn't taken a break since then, I'm really struggling to connect with them in any way or see more than one layer of them.
Take for example Bai Shuo and Chong Zhao. They grew up together and were betrothed (although Bai Shuo never took this one detail seriously), but with how fast paced the first episodes were and with how much happened, I never got to see them being even remotely close and I know they were simply because the characters – AKA the script – explicitly told us so.
He's an orphan, got adopted by governor Bai and basically became a brother to our FL. Lovely, yes, but knowing that gives me nothing, can I see them properly interact? Can you SHOW them acting like close friends? Not a chance.
As a result, I felt nothing when Bai Shuo found out about his true nature and felt betrayed and angry and all of that. To me it was merely a stranger hiding a secret from another stranger. How am I supposed to feel? I don't know them as characters yet and I never saw their bond. Chong Zhao could have died in her arms and I would have received nothing, emotionally speaking.
And since I never saw them being like siblings, I really can't stand him at this point nor care about his character arc.
He's just an obsessed guy who can't take no as an answer, no matter how clearly our female lead is stating things.
Besides, he forgo his morality all too quickly to feel like a complex, multi-layered character. To me at least, the jump from heroic good guy, best disciple of his sect, to this obsessed and sightly deranged individual felt too abrupt.
These people either act the same as they did in episode one (our female protagonist) or change so quickly and so drastically that it's like we're being introduced to a completely new character.
All in all, there's no build up or “mystery” surrounding them. We met all the most prominent roles in episode one, by episode two we knew already who's human, who's demon and who's an eternal, without twists and turns, even though they could have played so much better with the hidden identities of Fan Yue and Chong Zhao.
Everything is too sudden and fast paced and consequently loses its impact and importance. It really feels like:
X just happened. Alright, moving on to Y and Z right away.
We got a literal zombie attack in the very first episodes, but I couldn't care less about those people, be them victims of the poison or survivors. First of all it was shot and acted badly, but most importantly they were just background actors with no name and no importance to the plot. And even when Bai Shuo's father got infected, I really didn't care. Literally met him half an episode ago, his tragedy has no impact on me whatsoever.
And, I noticed, death and tragedy doesn't really leave much of an impact on the characters themselves, either. They all too quickly move on from the death of a beloved one and that poor soul is never to be mentioned again after that.
The only instance where a character mourns another for longer than a couple of shots is the current arc, but only because it's useful for the plot and without that there wouldn't even be a fox clan arc to begin with.
The actors are doing their job well enough, not shining in their performances, but they're doing what they can with the script they were given.
Can't say I'm particularly liking them, however.
This is, I believe, the third drama of Bai Lu I watched so far and all of her characters feel very much the same. I'm not a fan of childish, whining FLs, but Bai Shuo really feels like another Jiang Xue Ning or Li Su Su. Independent and cunning, nearly know-it-all, stubborn, rich and spoiled, but noble and caring. All other characters revolve around hers, making her the very centre of their love – or hate and obsession. I prefer a strong FL to a damsel in distress, but I would also love to see her play different roles. She's a more than capable actress, but at this point it feels like she's just repeating the notions and the way her FLs act and react is nearly a copy and paste.
As for Fan Yue... well, ARP looks rather dashing in those robes and hairstyles, but he isn't giving much in terms of character portrayal. Loved him to bits in The Blood of Youth – his performance was a tad bit too much at times, but it worked for the character that is Lei Wu Jie, fun, reckless and dynamic. However, I don't think his acting is there yet for an old, powerful demon lord with a tragic past. Or perhaps the writing is at fault once again (and the voice they gave him doesn't help much, either).
Fan Yue does feel rather inconsistent, at times, and he fell all too quickly for Bai Shuo, becoming over-protective of her in a matter of episodes. Again, I really didn't see their relationship slowly growing and changing, so for me their love already running so deep is just not believable and doesn't make much sense. Given their personalities and how they started, a slow-burn would have worked a lot better.
In the first episodes he was rather physically violent towards her, putting her life at risk and only caring about the goddess stone she accidentally absorbed, but not even half-way through the drama, he's already willing to die for her. And, of course, Bai Shuo is ready to sacrifice her life for him.
And is self-sacrifice really the only solution? Like, honestly. After 19 episodes, this plot device has gotten old and lost its emotional force. Noble as it is, I don't think this is a message you, as director, should give to your audience, especially since it's composed of mainly young, romantic people.
There's literally a suicide for the greater good or a loved one in every single storyline so far. Sometimes more than one, as we've seen in episode 19.
It's very well a kink of the writers, at this point.
But back to Fan Yue. Sometimes he's depicted as heartless and cold-blooded, while other times he's pretty much a martyr and a hero that saves everyone.
I was so taken aback when Tian Huo told Bai Shuo about how he saves and protects “weaker” demons, welcoming them into his clan, because up to that point we never saw him particularly caring about others' lives... in some cases, he actually endangered them and didn't seem to mind about the tragic consequences. See: Bai Shuo and her father.
If they had taken more time in writing characters and slowly built their dynamics, this drama would have been a solid 8.5.
The OST is good (albeit it's quite jarring the way they so suddenly cut the music off), the costumes and make-up are great (perhaps too many hair accessories, but all in all nice costumes still, especially for Fan Yue) and the sets are fairytale-like and work with the overall vibe of the story.
I'm personally not a fan of them, for they appear too fake and plastic and way too similar for me to tell them apart. They look kind of low budget and unfinished, especially with those touches of green that remind me too much of a green screen, but, again, that's simply my personal taste, since I prefer gloomier, more grounded atmospheres à la Fangs of Fortune.
I had high expectations for this drama, so I can't help but feel rather disappointed with it, but I'd still recommend it to the fans of this genre and stories. It's just not for me.

- Mei

Lees verder