Great show, good acting, bad extras, lack luster ending, too much slow-mo

The characters are defined, interesting and easy to recognize, even though there are quite a few. For example, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan are interesting as characters as is their strong "friendship," with Xue Yang added for the tragic flavor. For a quasi-BL series, I don't see stereotypes, caricatures or other fujoshi shenanigans based on (implied) sexuality, which is great considering Wei and Lan were already defined as bottom/uke and top/seme respectively right on the first page of the original web novel, as if that has anything to do with personality or how they act. But, to be fair, even though Wei is the bottom in the novel, he is carefree, goofy, good with alcohol, and outgoing, all of which are "masculine traits." Conversely, while Lan is the top, he is also rigid, proper, quiet, introverted, and bad with alcohol, "feminine traits." I have to give credit to the show for using a lot of symbolism and small gestures between characters to imply a romantic interest/relationships between male characters, despite China's censorship.

The acting is decent for the major characters, although crying scenes are usually very well done. Conversely, the extras' (zombies and soldiers) acting is incredibly bad. The actor playing Wei is great and it's easy to root for him as a character. Wen Chao is a convincing villain and coward and Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao makes a great sociopath but some of his crazy faces are a bit too much. Lan's stoicism seems a bit excessive although this likely has to do with the director and the script, not the actor himself. He almost never talks and his face almost never moves. It's as if the quota for lines and facial expressions are used up by Wei. I kept looking for any micro-expressions and I thought Lan would eventually open up and become more emotive but that never happened. I honestly think Wei and Lan's claims of intimacy towards each other are kind of... forced, perhaps the result of taking out romantic gestures and dialogue. Also, they spend maybe half of the show apart. I consider Wei the sole protagonist while Lan is more of a big supporting character.

I like the story and the theme of class, justice being determined by the victor, the world needing to unite in hatred against someone, and questioning rules and those in power. However, I much prefer the later half of the show that focused on the murder mystery. The show touched on feminism a little with the only female clan leader of the Lan clan, and also with Wen Qing and Madame Yu (and Mianmian for standing up for Wei) but other female characters are pretty useless, especially Yanli who had the most screen time among female characters. She didn't fight once, and didn't even think to bring her sword to the battlefield. I like the spells and the use of instruments in spell casting and I'd love to see more of them and more explanations. For example, does one's spiritual power relate to the ability to cast spells like it does to being able to use the sword?

One of the biggest problems I have with the show is its excessive use of repetitive, multi-angle slow-motion scenes in every episode. It's almost funny, like telenovelas' excessive use of close-ups.

My second criticism is in terms of consistency and immersion. First of all, while I don't know how big the production is but, with the exception of ruins, the majority of sets are too new. From statues, to stones, to stairs, to bridges, the sets can look fake and very out of place, especially when paired with green screen. Then, everyone seems to walk everywhere without any supplies. Horses are a rarity. The characters' clothes are almost always freshly washed and ironed. They're speckless even after days of traveling. Their hair is impeccably styled. Their finger nails are always trimmed and clean. Even under extremely heavy rain, Wei's face is sometimes completely dry and his dry hair fluttered in the wind (episode 26). Wei's flute playing is incredibly fake. Whenever Wei plays the flute, his fingers or breathing rhythm never correspond to the melody. He would take a breath but the music continues. The same goes for Lan's qin. The location for the corpses of the Jiang couple is different in different shots. They died in the courtyard during the flashback but are seen in the main hall (still holding hands) otherwise. And apparently the 30 soldiers present in the final battle against Wen represented 3000. The math is also wrong. From the start of the show, the show labeled both Wei's suicide and Wei's school year as 16 years ago, but at least 1 year passed between the 2 events. People 16 years ago look exactly the same 16 years after. Lastly, the CGI and monster make-up are usually pretty bad but I understand how expensive it can be. Still, there's no excuse for zero blood loss when your whole arm is cut off. The Netflix subtitles are a little inaccurate.

My third and final criticism is the ending and unresolved plot lines. I had hoped for a brighter ending with the two of them together forever, riding into the sunset on the donkey but what we got are scenes of them leaving each other and a smile. It felt incredibly lonely. Some of the unanswered questions include: What happened during the 3 months in the Burial Mounds? How did Wei get the amulet from the sword? How was he able to use the amulet with his flute? We know he had a knack for inventing spells but this is on a whole new level. Why does Lan's body have the exact scars that were on Wei's previous body? Even if the lash scars are explained, the triangular burn scar on Lan's chest isn't.

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