FlyDragonfly

"Should you fight, I'll be your sword, and if you retreat, I'll be your shield." I couldn't get enough of the first half of the 55-episodic fantasy, but the last 20 dragged. The casting and writing was decent, but the editing and cinematography didn't do it for me. Watching a scene where the camera zooms in on a person's mouth for no other reason but to watch it move seemed odd and intrusive. The plot was refreshing - it's not a simple bad vs. good, or hero vs. villain theme. The many supporting roles were interesting enough to follow. The final episode was fully devoted for tying up loose ends and closing subplots, and yet it was still somewhat confusing. I do appreciate the happy ending, even though the main lead's relationship felt more insincere and immature towards the end than it did at the start of their union. I look forward to any future projects with Xu Kai or Bai Lu.

This show had everything for me. A stellar cast, an intuitive director, thought-driven writers, and the crew behind the scenes deserve a raise! Okay, so basically I adored this show. What I thought was going to be a 'poor me' lass, turned into a beautifully crafted 'hear me roar' female lead ascension. I cried, I laughed, and then I cried a little more when the show was nearing its end. I wanted more episodes. There were a few annoyances; one being that there were a lot of vengeful characters, maybe a tad too many. But overall, it was fulfilling drama. If you watched 'Battle of Changsha' (good show!), then you'd know that these talented screenwriters, both Zeng Lu and Wu Tong know how to make you feel for the characters, even some of the somewhat questionable villainous characters. The intro and ending music was the icing here - it played very well with the script. The ending was performed by the female and male leads who are also married on and off screen. This is one of my favorite shows, so that being said, I'd have to give it a 9.3.