Zhong Wu Yan Review

Nothing beats a Tdrama in making me feel as if my heart is getting ripped out of my chest…

The kind which makes my insides hurt as i watch the embattled heroine plead and cry her way out of heartbreak as the lead actor tramples on her heart again and again and again, despite the fact that seeing her hurt is like torture to him just the same…

(and yes, i’m talking about you Frog Prince, Autumns Concerto, Meteor Garden and Magicians of Love!)Although, finding a Tdrama with a sensible plotline is like looking for a needle in a haystack most of the time, there is great comfort to be had from the fact that once you chance upon one that is truly a great find, for sure it will be the kind of drama that you will remember fondly for a very, very long time…

(Oh, hello, once again Meteor Garden)

Frankly speaking, i think Zhong Wu Yan is one Tdrama that deserves to be in this category…

I have started on this series when it first aired thanks mostly to my infinite love for Ming Dao, but dropped it after watching episode 1 because i found the plot a little slow and annoying also with great thanks to the character that Ming Dao plays…

(What can i say? he’s both my salvation and my downfall…

Want to see a ridiculously rich, happy go lucky male version of Xiang Qin?

Uh-huh… i think you get the gist… )

I never thought that i would pick up on this drama again… EVER… but thank goodness that i ran out of options on what to watch this weekend, that’s why i decided to give it another try…

And boy, oh boy! To say that i loved it was an understatement…

I should really remember to never judge a book by its cover or rather to never judge a drama with only a single episode watched as it can mean the world of difference between finding a gem of a watch or missing out…

I’m just glad that the fates intervened and pushed me forward towards ZWY’s direction again that’s why i didn’t luck out…

SERIOUSLY… i have gone through all of it’s recently released 12 episodes in one sitting and before i knew it, i was itching to see the next episodes of Zhong Wu Yan like a crack addict aching for his next fix which is proving to be quite a dilemma as of the moment since they only air episodes once a week!

(And yes, i watched Episode 13 yesterday which was still partially unsubbed which means that i have a whole week of agonizing waiting before i can see what happens next!

GAHHHHHHHHH!!! What to do?

As it is, i find myself in a daze not one time too many at work today thinking only about the pairing of Qi Xuan and Wu Yan…)

Zhong Wu Yan is a retelling of the legend of Zhong Wu Yan, an extremely unattractive female warrior who lived during the Qi empire (475 BC) who posseses an intelligence belying her looks and a kind heart that goes beyond her appearance…

During a time when the Qi empire was at war and the kingdom in peril of destruction, Zhong Wu Yan offered herself to the king as his wife in order to be able to stand by his side to save the country from sure destruction…

However, it was not an easy road for Wu Yan as this idea was met with much disdain coming from the King owing mostly to the fact that he found her unbecoming but also because he did not appreciate the way she questioned his hedonistic ways …

However, due to Wu Yan’s wiseness and the way that she was able to help the king win his battles, he kept her in the palace and later on took her in as his wife but not because he fell in love with her but because their union was politically motivated… Even if Wu Yan became his wife, everyone in the palace knows that the king most adored a beautiful concubine named Xia Yingchun and his heart has always belonged to her rather than his very able queen despite the fact that it was her who had helped him time and time again…

Before you get the idea that this is a wuxia drama replete with long haired half ponytailed swordsmen flying on top of trees, Zhong Wu Yan is a contemporary drama set in the 21st century and is a modern retelling of the story…

(although i really don’t get how Cheryl Yang could even be considered ugly just because she has a red birthmark on her face… Seriously, even with that red makeup on episode after episode, she is one of the most attractive Tdrama actresses that i’ve ever seen!)

The drama started out slapsticky which is quite common among Taiwanese dramas but come Episode 8 onwards, it has started to have really serious undertones to it already as Qi Xuan felt himself torn between Yi Chun and Wu Yan, further complicated by the troubles that Qi Xuan’s family owned cosmetic empire was going through which was not helped at all by his problematic relationship with his father and how it took him some to realize how Wu Yan was always there to get him out of scrape after scrape, loving him wholeheartedly and that what he has in her is truly a good thing…

I guess what i really appreciate about this story is just the wonderful acting all around by the actors in the drama…

Most of the side characters are characters from one of my most loved T Dramas, Fated to Love You and i have a feeling that this drama is from the same makers and scriptwriter given how it has almost the same tone and feel…

Ming Dao, can i just say… i thought previously that you were just an idol who gets by on your looks but you made me hate Qi Xuan and love him too because of how you portrayed him…

You showed us his whiny, slow witted, happy go lucky, jealous, vulnerable, romantic side and yet you were able to play all of those parts to perfection!

I swear i thought you were cute in Frog Prince and Magicians of Love but you made me fall in love with you in a majorrrrrrrrr way in ZWY…

(That scene with your father and that more recent one when you were breaking up with Wu Yan? I swear, i bawled like a baby!)

And can i just say, you may have gotten older, but dang it! You just got better with age and you’ve never looked more sexy in my eyes than in this moment…

However, if there was a surprise that was unexpected for me in this series, it was the second male lead in the persona of Howard (Chris Wu)…

How poetic is it that Qi Xuan seemed to have judged Wu Yan at first because of her appearance and yet here comes the knight in shining armor, the blind Howard who has seen the goodness of Wu Yan’s heart and fell in love with her without seeing her and how fitting that she was the one who showed him the light despite the darkness..

Although, i think Howard became a little less stellar in my opinion, now that he could see but still he is worthy competition for Qi Xuan and i have never been as enamored of a second male lead the way that i am with him right now…

(well, except Hyun Joong as Jihoo in BOF but that was Hyun Joong we’re talking about! Hyun Joong!)

So if you’re on the lookout for a great Tdrama to watch or if ever you want to take a breather from all the wonderful K ones that you’re currently watching, join me in my journey towards the ending of this series as we walk its roads which is all kinds of funny, spazz inducing, heartbreaking and soul warming and i guarantee that in no due time, you’d get what i’ve been saying…