*WARNING: This post is humor-free.
This is a follow-up post to the Basically video on the drama The Legend of Hua Buqi.
Sooo… Ariel Lin and Vin Zhang. I admit we didn’t expect much, but their chemistry is surprisingly convincing.
Ariel Lin plays the innocent, mischievous, and witty girl with ease and there isn’t much that is wrong about her character (for now). Yes, it sounds like an insult in disguise, but I promise, it isn’t.
The Innocent Female Lead, at this point in a drama – or… at any point, to be honest – usually does her best to put herself in danger and comes up with the weirdest logics ever. But believe it or not, all the troubles Hua Buqi has gotten into are actually justified.
And she… what’s the phrase? Ah, yes, “makes things happen”. No wonder the drama feels a little strange. Well, this is not traditionally correct at all, drama! (Yes, you can laugh…)
Anyway, while Hua Buqi is a target in general for the other characters, the storyline manages to give her something to do, so and as far as we can see, she drives the plot (not by doing stupid things) as much as the male lead.
The weakest part of the drama is probably the rest of the cast. While the plot is unique, besides Ariel Lin and Vin Zhang, the performance we get from the other actors are mediocre.
Like…
Yes, even these characters themselves don’t look like they care that much.
Bottom line: the dynamic between the two main characters is what pulls the ship so far. It might have to do with either the directing or the actors’ improvisation, but the cliches that happen on-screen turn out to be a lot more tolerable than in other dramas.
We (Quippequest) couldn’t care less about whether Hua Buqi’s father finds her or not, whether the villains fail or succeed or have a story to back up their brooding and sleepy facades; BUT we do care about the female lead’s development, how her skills will fit into the story, and how the relationship between her and Chen Yu (Vin Zhang) matters.
Still, this is only a first impression review. The irritating things might not persist and the good things might not hold until the end. So… dig out some reviews first before you throw yourselves into fifty-one episodes of drama, people!
Vin Zhang’s character lacks depth here…. Vin Zhang just made it tolerable (or was I just staring at his beautiful face all this time?) He will go incognito mode from the female lead for eleven episode to promote the 2nd male lead… who you may not have met but is a more interesting character…..
We haven’t gottent to the second male lead yet, but that sounds interesting 🙂
How much viewers mooned over the 2nd ML and the ending was the worst part of watching this. He was physically and emotionally abusive, a kidnapper, and just couldn’t accept no for an answer. If he actually existed there would be protective orders (yes! more than one) out against this guy! I thought the (play) brother was a complex character and would have loved to see him explored more. If you make it to the end, I’d be interested to hear what you thought of it.
Sorry for the late reply, opheliablack 🙂
That’s a pity about the second male lead. He does seem to have some chemistry with the girl, why did they just have to force those old tropes on them? 🙁