Solid Drama with a Key Issue

Customary to many Chinese dramas, this one was in big need of an extra episode. From episodes 1-30, everything is well-paced. Shi Guang goes from being a kid blessed with a deity following him around to a normal grade school student to a professional Go player. His transformation through these stages is natural enough. We see him put in the work in order to get to his status as a professional. We also see him slowly improve as the series goes on, which was very well done. The show does tension through Go games very well. Although I have no idea what's going on, I'm still very committed whenever they hype up a match between two very good players. Having all the other characters invested helps as well. The best part of the whole series is arguably when Yu Xiao Yang finally gets a match with Chu Ying. It was built up since the second or third episode and the audience knows the stakes. Then everything kind of goes downhill after that match. Having found the Divine Move, Chu Ying leaves and never comes back. Shi Guang becomes depressed and the whole story comes to a hault. After a couple of episodes moping around, Shi Guang gets back on his Go mojo and is suddenly the third best young Go player in China. Not too realistic but it's fine. Yu Liang is partnered with Shi Guang to compete for China in an international Go competition. Here's the problem. The last episode doesn't end with them winning, it ends with the two of them entering the competition. The entire double-length last episode was showing the two of them forming a bond in order to compete in doubles Go, so why does it end without showing the actual match? What's worse is that the ending narration says they won the match for China. Why tell us instead of just showing us? This is literally the main character and his rival coming together to win a championship for their country and it ends before they win it. What's worse is that there are so many other unresolved plot points. What happened to Shen Yi Liang and Bai Xiao Xiao? Did Hong He give up on Go after becoming a professional? What about Shi Guang's high school friends? Does Gu Yu just hate Shi Guang forever? Why did we never get an official match between Shi Guang and Yu Liang? These could've been resolved with an extra episode. Just one and all could've been fixed. Ultimately, it does taint the show a bit and makes the rewatchability go down. But it's still a great drama nonetheless. Execution was flawed but it was still an enjoyable watch.

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It's fine but misses on important beats

The Long Ballad is one of those stories where the princess who's only known royalty her whole life gets everything changed. She goes from princess to garrison leader to slave to the leader of a coalition. The story is focused on her journey and her romance with a general from the central plains. It's a fine story. The side characters such as the emperor, the crown princess, Haodu, and Sun's captains are all fine. My main problem is that Changge is too OP in this show. Like she literally gets shot in the chest with an arrow and falls off a cliff but we're supposed to believe she survives. Many other times she finds herself in dire situations and she gets out unscathed, either by herself or by getting saved. It's tiring seeing her get out of situations with no real consequence. What was the worst thing that happened to her after she left the capital? A kid she teamed up with for like 2 episodes died. Even when she becomes enslaved it doesn't really matter because she's protected by Sun. Speaking of Sun, the main romance in this show is not convincing in my opinion. Something about it doesn't work for me. The actors have chemistry, but it seems so rushed. They barely get any actual time together. They're always moving from one place to another and we're supposed to believe they develop a romance during that time. Ironically, the side romance between Leyan and Haodu was way more compelling. They get a lot of screen time and we can watch their relationship grow. When Haodu ultimately fights for Leyan's hand in marriage, it feels earned and there was a lot that built up to that moment. One of my favorite moments was when Haodu's adopted father finally made him an official member of the family so that he could marry into the royal bloodline. These are things missing from the main romance. There's just no time when they talk to each other about things that aren't plot related. But it's not all bad though. The plot, although bouncing from place to place too much, is pretty good. Whenever there were action scenes, they were done well. Although I really didn't like it when action scenes would be taken over by artwork and the actors were forced to stand in front of a green screen and shout their lines. I get the intent, but it's not fit for a live-action show. The acting was also really well done by the main actors. I didn't buy the main romance but it wasn't the fault of the actors. They sure did try. One last thing, the music is pretty good aside from one track that is basically completely plagiarized from "Up is Down" by Hans Zimmer. A couple of memorable melodies otherwise. There are still enough positives to make this a fine watch. I doubt I'll ever rewatch the entire series again, but there are definitely scenes that are worth revisiting. Solid drama.

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It's So Very Good

So basically this show is really good, and here's why. First is the characters. Wei Ying is such an enjoyable main character. He never comes off as annoying to the audience despite annoying every character in the show. He's the most selfless person on the show and does things because he believes they're the right things to do. He literally leaves his perfectly fine life so he can live with the outcasts and give them a home. So when he attacks the rest of the characters, nobody watching believes he is in the wrong. Meanwhile, Lan Zhan is the perfect love interest for him. Their time together is great not only because their personalities are complete opposites, but because also because of the subtle ways they show they really care for one another. Those are the parts where the show is at its best. When it takes time to develop the relationship between the two leads. The actors have great chemistry and really give it all in their performances. The other side characters serve their roles. Shi Jie is the saint who never does any wrong and ultimately has to die for the plot reasons :(. Jiang Cheng is the sibling that always hates on Wei Ying but ultimately is completely justified in his actions, even if it makes him seem like a terrible person. The other side characters are not very important really, mostly just one-dimensional people who love to hate on Wei Wuxian.

So I would say the biggest weakness of this show is the plot. It's certainly still good, but some parts go by pretty slow. Like many Chinese dramas, this one didn't really pick up until about episode 15. The previous episodes all serve to set the characters and the setting before everything goes down. The part immediately after Wei Ying comes back to life also dragged a bit. I just remember not being very interested when they went underground into a tomb for blades. One last part that was slightly underwhelming was the finale, which is a shame. The build up was fine but at the end they basically just ended up talking in the temple while the evil henchman dude dug a hole. Then it was over pretty quickly. But the reveal that the little Nie guy was behind it all was pretty good, even if it was a very last second thing.

One last thing about this show is that the music in it is just amazing. It's one of the only shows/movies where the music actually plays a role in the plot. I feel like I should mention it because even though they basically play a bunch of variations of WuJi, it's still so good and never gets old.

It's just a really good drama.

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