Palabra de honor (2021)

I have become the biggest fangirl!!

I usually write my review in sequence and avoid writing reviews in the middle before finishing. But I am just so obsessed with this drama that I have to speak about this. Word of Honor is the best BL-adapted dramas I have watched so far. In fact, I have lost sleep and working time in the last few days because of this drama.

Don't get me wrong, I still love and fangirl the Untamed, but Untamed was "just" a great drama, one of the best in China's drama history. But with regards to BL, I still had to get all the fangirl elements from many alternative sources (e.g., all the interpretation videos, the audio production, the original novel, etc.), while with Word of Honor, there is no need to look elsewhere. Everything is there, right in front of your eyes, in 3D, in sound, no need for imagination!! Sometimes we wonder, was there even a censorship committee? The makers only over-dubbed some of the too apparent lines but then put the original source shots with original words spoken online for us fans to see! OMG! And for me, that is reason enough to put this as no 1 of the BL-adapted dramas.
Some prefer to have BL elements slightly more settled where you have to read between the lines. I don't. But that's everyone's preference.

Now to the main content of this review. There are three elements that make up great BL-drama: Sticking to the original source material, suitable plus good-looking main leads, the chemistry between the two main leads (we called this the CP-Feel).

The first point, sticking to the source material: Unfortunately, many great BL-adaptions are downgraded or even destroyed because their adaptations are entirely beyond recognition. Why would they do this despite knowing that there is a natural flow of fans who will watch this because they like the original novel? Of course, we can always blame the China censorship, but that should not be an excuse for a bad script. There are many examples that showed us that.
I haven't read the original material (but definitely intend to check this out after drama), but I have heard from multiple sources that the drama is very close to the original material. Not only that, it added to the original source and expanded the plots of supporting and main characters even further to make it even better. For instance, the fact that both male leads know from childhood is something that was not in the original novel. In the book, Wen Ke Xing is into handsome men (also because he is gay) and therefore started to follow Zhou Zi Shu out of curiosity. This would have made his character shallow. But this change not only put WKX's personality in a better light but also circumvents the pronounced gay element: two birds with one stone. I found out that the scriptwriter is a big fan of Priest, and you can feel the love and delicacy she has put into this work. In fact, a lot of details you can only notice once you watch this drama a second time. And don't worry, you won't get bored even watching it n-times.

Second point: suitable plus good-looking male leads: there is no denying that both leads are delicacies for the eyes. Both leads have had some years of experience, but none of them were that famous at that point in time. I even heard that Gong Jun's acting is rather wooden and of low-quality. Well, not in Word of Honor. He seems to have found his natural element. All the eying, evil smiles and small gestures are on the point. Also, Zhang Zhe Han, although he seems to be slightly stiff in the first six episodes, his expressions become much more vivid and soft after that. I am also very impressed with the gap he showed before and after the disguise - both from acting and from make-up; I really believed these are two different actors! It is said that the scriptwriter asks the director to find someone who has edgy and sharp facial features for ZZS and someone who has soft and slander features for WKX. I have to say the team did a great job picking the perfect actors for the roles. One cannot imagine someone else playing these roles.

Finally, the last point and most important: the CP-Feel:
The biggest thing you worry about in a BL adaption is that both actors cannot act out their affection naturally because it is just awkward. But that's no issue in Word of Honor. I only knew later that GJ's first major acting role was in an actual BL movie. It got taken down because of censorship issues. This explains a lot of his very natural and open form of acting as the "lover-hunter." And you can find this in all the apparent expressions he makes when eying his beloved. Of course, many of the gestures would have come from the master-level instructions of the directors. On the surface, WKX seems to be a witty, sometimes cute, and confident character. But we all know that this character’s dark and mad side which is feared by everyone will be slowly revealed. Will ZZS’s warmth save WKX from his despair? My anticipation rises to the maximum when thinking about the upcoming reveal of this most interesting and deep character.
On the other hand, it is also ZZS's set-up, starting off cold and indifferent towards the temptations of WKX, slowly opens up like a beautiful flower. This slow change in attitude is perfectly shown in his facial expressions, word choice, and gestures in response to WKX. Again, another mastery by Zhang ZZH, the director, and the writer! There is also a slight gap between his mostly cold sober side and sometimes dorky side + loving side that reveal themselves at times. It is like finding a treasure that brings me to smile. Both of the characters, putting together, brings this big explosion of sparks from whom I just cannot get enough.

There are many other great aspects of this drama that I won't go into details: e.g., great music, well-choreographed fighting scenes, well-framed shots, a terrifically tragic side love-line, in-depth supporting characters including even villains.
Certainly, there are some flaws (e.g. the first episode is slightly boring, the entry of clans and characters is too quick, and can be confusing, the low-quality CG, and some acting of the main characters can still be improved). However, these weaknesses just become so insignificant that I just cannot rate this drama with a rational mind anymore. In fact, I think the makers spent their little money on the right things (camera angles and costumes instead of the not-so-important ones (using the same sceneries for multiple scenes).
Now, I just can hope the team will do this drama justice and carry this quality, pacing, and acting into the second half of this drama. This will hopefully create some history for the Chinese BL-drama fandom.

*Edits after watching the full drama
There are a few plot holes, poor editing, and out-of-character behavior in the last episodes (particular episodes 31 and 32) that have made me downgrading the drama from a 10 to a 9.5. However, in my heart, this is still the best drama I have seen so far and really deserves a special place. I am particularly happy with the character development and acting of ZZH as ZZS, truly a man with 2000 layers of ashes.

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Attention! Not just another BL adaption, you're in for a pleasant surprise.

If you're looking for a true BL drama, then this is for you. This drama has everything, friendship, brotherhood, bromance, ROMANCE, and comedy.

There are plenty of scenes that make you laugh so hard. Some emotional scenes will make you cry like a baby, and hell, lots of scenes between the two male leads will make you FAINT. Your spirit will make you go "Ahhhh"……

Novel Vs. Drama

The difference is the pacing, but the storyline is pretty much the same. In the novel priest (the author) did not manage to bring the characters to life; the description of each character is very vague, especially the supporting characters.

In the drama, the protagonists and the supporting roles brought the characters out of the book and made it much more lively and real. You will be completely mesmerized by their performance and expressions. Like they are real. Not fictional characters.

The novel- Wen Ke Xing started from being interested in zhou Zi shu without logical reasons, then investigating, then falling in love.

The drama -Wen Ke Xing recognizes Zhou Zi Shu from his kung fu- The Four-season manor, then interested, then falls head over heels when he finds out that he was his long-lost childhood friend.

Hmm, much more logical.

The novel- zhou Zhi Shi did not create the incense 'Drunk Like A Dream'. This incense brought them into a hallucination. Wen Ke Xing saw the worst moment of his life where his family died.

The drama- Zhou Zi Shi Created the incense, and the incense's function is to make people show what they desire the most.
They changed it in the drama because, in the hallucination, Wen Ke Xing saw Zhou Zi Zhu.

Because they wanted to show the audience the most desirable thing Wen Ke Xing wants is Zhou Zi Shu.

"oh damn, so romantic."

What I'm trying to tell you that the drama changed some of the line scripts as they can not show you directly that the couple is in love due to censorship. Though their romance is already pretty obvious, the scriptwriter added many hidden sweets in the drama for the audience to discover. And there were loads. (sweet as in love affections for one another).

How do they show love and affection to pass censorship?

A LOT of eye contact, facial expressions, hugging, holding hands, but no kissing. ? Oh, and many Chinese idioms, proverbs, and love poems were used for flirting.

The Untamed Vs. Word of Honour

First of all, I'm a big fan of the untamed.

The two drama is very different. The genre is not the same.

The untamed is a Xianxia story, which means immortal heroes based on fantasy, immortality, magic, demons, and ghosts.
Word of Honour is a Wuxia story that means martial heroes and are ordinary human beings who can achieve supernatural fighting through Chinese martial arts.

When I first watched the untamed, it didn't attract me to chase the drama every day. It started ok; then there was the long flashback. I stopped watching it from there for a couple of months, then I went back to it and gave it another try. It was ok, but I stopped again for a few weeks. I attempted the drama three times!. But I'm happy I did finish the drama as overall it was an excellent drama. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying didn't give me that crazy butterfly feeling. And the romance wasn't as obvious.

Where else word of honor, I chased it every single day with excitement. It was entertaining to watch. And the romance is obvious, and that is WHAT I WANTED to see in a BL drama.
Word of honor is one of the best romance dramas ever for me.

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Brotherhood drama with a lot of Bromance Untamed like

I learned about this drama by coincidence ,, just opened the trailer and I was hooked
It felt like the untamed drama ,,, same handsome male leads ,, same genera , same Bromance may be more
after a few episodes I was hesitant to continue Simon Gong kept flirting with Zhang Zhe Han's character
I said to my self is it BL ??? because I'm not into that ,, I love good Bromance but not actual gay love
but still kept watching for any thing to drive me away from it
it didn't drive me away ,, it got better and better as story progressed ,, they love each other as brothers and best friends despite the looks, flirting , touching hands or hugging ,, I think there are team mates of any sport , idol groups or good close friends who casually do that without any romantic intention ,, there are a lot of soft straight boys out there LOL
Simon Gong (Ke Xing) did a great job ,, he became an eye catcher for every dialogue or action scene
The costumes are amazing especially made for Simon's character
the female presence is awesome ,, she's a cute and her romance with third male character not the main leads
Zhang Zhe Han was amazing too but It felt through the drama he wasn't the main focus most of the time despite the
start of the drama he was the focus yet he's character was amazing
Overall without spoilers ,, you will definitely enjoy this drama if you liked the Untamed and good Bromance drama
and If you're not a BL fan like me you won't feel it's BL unless you dived in fans accounts of this drama
It ended a happy ending ,, no open endings for once and that's what's great about it
I recommend it so much ,, I will rewatch it so many times as I did with Untamed

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Pretty good.

It's fine.
It's quite nice.
It's also super overhyped.
-Visually I'd say it's ...charming. Kind of like the old Shaw Bros movies, splitting at the seams, but serviceable.
-The music is annoyingly saccharine and it could've done without the many slowmo compilations set to awful syrupy ballads.
- I'm not a fan of plots and schemes, but this was an ok story. Reminded me of Love in Between what with all the betrayals and secrets of the older generation, but it wasn't as badly done as in LiB. Things were set up and paid off later, it wasn't as long and drawn out as it could've been.
- The actors were good, with some exceptions. I liked the main duo, but Zhou Ye as Gu Xing was insufferable.
- The main romance varied. In places it was quite nice and enjoyable, in other it was the annoying kind of gay romance written and shot for women who enjoy looking at two pretty boys staring at each other or twirling around. It CAN be done in a way that's reasonably plausible as an actual relationship, or it can be done as pure obnoxious fujoshi fanservice.
This show kind of oscillates between the two.
- The fights are decent, if a bit floaty. (comparing recent wuxia shows - LiB is worse, Ancient Detective is VASTLY superior.)
If I ever rewatch this, it'll be for the story, which is unusual for these types of dramas.

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Chemistry

I avoid BL at all cost! (Hence, I have never watched 'the other famous BL dramas').
However I am a fan of ZhangZheHan since his YunXi days, and after RuYi Pavilion I was surprised to hear him took up a BL adaptation drama. I was very skeptical of his choice, almost gave it a pass, but decided to give it a chance because I know ZZH never fails to deliver in acting. Also, I had just finished GongJun's Begin Again and getting to know him better.
ZhangZheHan impressed me even more this time. I'm very surprised with his flexibility and diversity in transformation, from his previous masculine superior characters to this graceful, elegant, beautiful yet strong AXu character. I WAS SOLD!
Wow, their chemistry is no joke. The casting of these 2 was also pure luck. Due to the pandemic, productions were delayed, and 1st choice lead actors were switched for unavoidable reasons, giving us the current powerful WenZhou couple.
How they project the relationship between 2 men without crossing China's censorship line still baffles me. There were a lot of focus on hands skin-ship, adoring/mesmerizing gaze, flirtatious lines in forms of poetry, hair-play, and HUGS! (bolder questionable hug towards the end ;) ) They portrayed it oh so very sweetly, I just can't resists but fall for this couple.
As for the story, I have not read the novel, so I can't compare. But having watched a lot of HK wuxia dramas/films, I can say that this WordOfHonor lives up to the wuxia theme.
I love the fight choreography, especially initial zzh's fight scenes (I may be bias here). However towards the end, his fight scenes are a lot less, which is quite sad for me because he gives the best works in fighting actions. I am also not a fan of many slow-mo camera works during these fight scenes, a tad too much. But at the time this review was written, Youku is still working on re-editing many scenes as to fulfill requests from fans. This is very surprising and satisfactory, never heard being done before, having production to re-edit to satisfy viewers feedback even after the drama has finished airing for VIPs subscribers. Definitely will re-watch again and again and again......

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Great leads

There are many comparisons made to The Untamed, which is a shame, because this adventure is an enticing watch in its own right.
I loved the main 2 characters and their chemistry was excellent. The emotions conveyed by Gong Jun as Ke Xing, through his eyes alone, were stunning; I also loved his different smiles, from forced to genuine to smirks. My favourite actor and character in it.
Zhang Zhe Han was great too and he portrayed his calmer, slightly more mature character, really well. They complimented each other perfectly, I thought.
I found the story a little confusing at times, mainly because with all the characters and sects, I got a bit lost.
I also found some of the dialogue from supporting characters a bit drawn out in some scenes.
Lots of action scenes and the stunts were pretty good. I loved the sets too.
Some quite moving moments throughout, but it didn't make me cry.
Many of the characters were very fickle and would believe lies over people they'd known for some time, which really frustrated me!
I also felt sympathy for several, including Scorpion, who whilst responsible for his own outcome, did basically hanker after affection and approval from the wrong person, ultimately getting massively let down.
I found the outcome of the armoury a bit odd, especially after what everyone went through and the obsession around the glazed armor.
Soundtrack was mostly good, but I found a lot of the electric guitar stuff intrusive and a bad fit.
I really did enjoy the series though and will probably watch again some time.

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Splendid!

I rarely watch China's Dramas where they adapt from BL NOVELS (I watched addicted and a fair few tho, coz of how good they were) coz I know that they gonna make it so awkward with censorship but, this is legit the one for me!

The story, the chemistry between the casts!

You can see Wen Ke Xing's eyes dripping oil whenever he looks at Zhou Zi Shu!!!
They don't even have to go mushy with I love yous and you can tell how important they are to each other even with the slightest contact!!

The days where I've to pile it up to watch it is very, very tiring and there are times where I lost control wanting to watch all the episodes that I've piled up.

But, thank god, I managed to let it continue to pile up till the last episode before I finished from 22 till the special episode from yesterday till minutes ago!

If you guys are contemplating to watch or not, please do!

But prepare lots of tissues coz this drama is those with happiness and comedy at the start and slowly towards the end, it turns slightly tragic.

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Just the drama openly screamed "no to censorship!"

First of all applaud to the production team and everyone's who's involved in the making of this drama?????? *cue standing ovation
thank you for making this the best wuxia drama of the opening of 2021??‍♀️.

[PLOT]

A tale of two broken people on a mission of healing them self's.
*that's what I thought when I watched the drama though?please don't kill me(• ▽ •;)

[STORY]
The first c-drama BL I've ever watched was CQL and I thought the story was so beautiful and no one can top it off but I was so wrong! Word of Honor is by far the drama that is the same top tier as CQL! From Wen Ke Xing endless flirting to Zhou Xu's loved of his disciple,this drama never fails me in every episodes.The fact that this was bolder and "youku's f***k censorship let's just give what the fans wants" attitude is so good!

[CHARACTERS]
Wen Ke Xing played by Simon Go was the perfect Lao Wen♥️I can't see anyone other than Simon playing him?. Honestly I've seen some clips of him acting in another drama but nothing catches my except for this drama. His facial expressions,emotions,body movements are all *chef's kiss?I like how his character openly flirting with Zhou Xu in here and just decided that whatever's Ah Xu's has it,it will become his. For example he claimed Cheng Ling as his child and just used Ah Xu's money as his. His relationship with Ah Xiang was pure cute! I don't see him as master and servant relationships all I saw was a typical sibling relationships. His story was so sad to see because of his hatred towards people's greed was heartbreaking?but he eventually knows that he was wrong on going with revenge.

Zhou Zhi Shu played by Zhang Zhe Han was perfect in every way✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧whoever's styled his costumes in the drama I bless you to an infinite fountain of youth because I was distracted by his good looks throughout the show. I mean I have seen him played a different characters but in here his costumes compliment his feature's and whenever's his on screen I kept looking at him and ask myself "how can a man be more good looking than me?" even my mom and my sister who rarely watched drama asked "damn! why is he so good looking?!" haha,ok enough about his good looks now for his performance in here was the same as Simon Go it was *chef's kiss . His expressions and his eyes when acting was very convincing for me that he found his soulmate. His life as the prince's dog in here was devastating to watch because of his loyalty towards him he willingly kills his junior disciple's and after that he lives his life wrecked but after meeting Lao Wen and Cheng Ling he became aware of it.

Lao Wen and Ah Xu complete each other and never separate them! EVER!

[PRODUCTION]

The costumes in here was magnificent and beautiful, it's liked the person that designs them understand their characters well enough that it compliments their feature's perfectly! I saw the clip that they were producing it on summer and you could totally tell they were really hot when wearing those thick costumes but nevertheless all of them nailed it!

[OST]

The ost was perfect even though Simon can hardly sing on beat he actually pulled it off.

[LAST WORDS]

Word of Honor is a drama that you unknowingly grinning from ear to ear when watching it and loving every characters and story they showed. Totally recommend for fans of CQL(~‾▿‾)~

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A Pleasure To Watch...!

The reason I feel that Gong Jun and Zhang ZheHan’s acting skills are really really very good in this drama:-

I recently read in a tweet where Priest’s WoH novel readers were discussing that who amongst ZZH and GJ was more dominant in the (Supposed) relationship...

This is when I noticed...

When they are in the drama as A-Xu and Lao Wen, then Wen KeXing seems to be the dominant force...

But when they are together in normal attire in interviews and all, it surely feels like ZZH is going to dominate over this bubbly n cute little shidi of his....! Coz Gong Jun in real life is much more shy than Zhang Zhe Han..... WELL ACTED! Indeed Great Acting Skills!

The casting decisions despite being totally revised due to COVID remained so accurate and to a certain extent even better than the previous choices!

This proves that the casting team & producers, script writers, director and especially the actors were reallllyyyyyyy good in the drama and the script was very well written so as to bring out the characters from within the actors....!

I look forward to WORD OF HONOR winning many many awards this year!

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It is a masterpeice

After THE UNTAMED its a must watch drama..In this drama you will see a cute bromance and a lot of mystery and a most handsome male male leads..so you should watch this drama to overcome the sickness of THE UNTAMED....So if you want to have something different...Its a must watch drama...I just like the Wen kexings cheekiness.....In this drama we can notice a very sweet interaction between the main leads...and you will also enjoy side cherectars ....I have never thought I would like any other drama except THE UNTAMED but it has totally wronged my thinking..Now it is getting more and more interesting.....The casts have given full of their efforts in this drama..So it is a masterpeice...

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PRESS PLAY! DON'T HESITATE!

Firstly, I've only recently gotten into the whole wuxia/xianxia genre and this is honestly one of the best i have seen. I've read both the book and watched the live adaptation and can positively say without a doubt that the live adaptation gives you everything you would expect and so much more. From a personal pov, this is the only live adaptation in which i prefer the series instead of the book.

Don't get me wrong - the book is definitely worth the read but, for me, shl provided a much smoother execution of the story line and better character development. firstly, wen kexing's revenge was given a lot more attention from the beginning and the sequence of events leading towards him finally avenging his parents deaths was much smoother than in the book and given more importance. Secondly, the order in which word of honor gave us the details of the past and its effect on the present was carried out way better than in tian ya ke. The bromance between zzs and wkx was the highlight of the show, even with the censorship - the actions, glances, blatant flirting were more than enough to have even the stoniest of hearts swooning in their seats. The OSTs are extremely catchy and are still played on repeat even though i finished shl weeks ago. The actors and actresses did a spectacular job portraying their characters leaving me hooked from the first episode. I'll definitely be rewatching this in the near future.

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