I thought I should give Legend Of The Phoenix (凤弈) a try since it is not an exceptionally long drama with 41 episodes in total. After all, many costume and historical dramas tend to have at least 50 episodes to sit through. The broadcast started over Tencent in late May 2019 and up to the time of writing, we are now at episode 18. It will be another month or so before the whole drama concludes.
I’m giving you my first impression of this Chinese drama after watching the first 3 episodes. Usually, I will make a decision whether to continue or skip a drama after watching 3 to 5 episodes. So, what are my thoughts of Legend Of The Phoenix at a glance? Read on!
Legend Of The Phoenix Story
The story begins with the meeting of Ye Ningzhi (He Hongshan) and Wei Kuang (Jeremy Xu Zhengxi). Ningzhi is an acrobat with her mother being the troupe owner. Wei Kuang was sent by the Empress to invite her and her team to perform in the palace for the Empress Dowager’s birthday celebration. At the palace, she was caught in the power play between the eldest princess and the Empress. She was merely a pawn in a proxy war between the two women.
Wei Kuang is a strategist and palace official who has to serve the Empress and her close advisor, Lang Kun (Wayne Lai Yiu-Cheung). His father was executed in the past but we are not told why in the beginning of this drama. However, he is a righteous man and when he found out that Ningzhi was in trouble, he went out of his way to help her out.
Ningzhi fell in love with Wei Kuang and by the 3rd episode, you will get the vibe that the feelings are mutual. By then, Ningzhi has offended Lang Kun to seek justice for a dead woman and was on the run. Wei Kuang tried to help her again and they ended up being shot by Lang Kun’s men and fell off a cliff.
From The Legend Of The Phoenix Trailer
After watching the first 3 episodes and then going back again to watch the trailer, my guess is we will be treated to the adventures of Ningzhi as she ended up in the palace and her romantic relationship with Wei Kuang. By the look of it, Ningzhi would rise up to become someone important in the palace (the Emperor’s favorite concubine, perhaps?) and this might put her relationship with Wei Kuang in a difficult position.
I suppose this would be one of those palace dramas with in-fighting and power struggles as the female lead tries to rise above it all with the help of the male lead. I may be wrong but that is the feeling that I get after watching the first few episodes and the trailer. At this stage, it is also hard to read what the ending is going to be like. It can go both ways because the drama has a neutral feel so far.
First Impression: Watch Or Skip Legend Of The Phoenix?
To be honest, I’m very tempted to skip it. I think this is a drama that you will either love or hate. This is because some people will find the lead characters childish and annoying while others will think they are cute together and good-looking. Maybe I’m too harsh because the girl is supposed to be young and naive. Perhaps she will get better and the chemistry between Ningzhi and Wei Kuang will improve as the story unfolds. But as of now, the impulsiveness of Ningzhi and villainous look of Wei Kuang make it hard for me to root for them.
Moreover, the drama feels neither here nor there so far with the type of personalities that the leads are portraying. I really don’t know if it is poor acting or the director who is at fault. Sometimes, it feels a little light-hearted but this vibe just doesn’t jive well with the storyline when the overall theme is supposed to be serious. A good drama will suck you in rather quickly and you will easily feel for the characters bit by bit. I can’t get this feeling in the Legend Of The Phoenix after watching the first 3 episodes.
Reasons To Continue Watching
If I were to find a good reason to plod on and continue watching, it would be the schemings by Wei Kuang. Being a strategist, I would expect he will have plenty of devious plans up his sleeves to counter enemies in the palace. Perhaps that could keep me going as the drama progresses.
His relationship with Ningzhi may also be another point of interest. Compared to most other dramas where a romantic relationship develops slowly after a misunderstanding or two, this one seems to settle pretty quickly and both parties seem to trust each other. So, I don’t get the angst of seeing them quarrel non-stop early on which can be overdone.
Lastly, being a historical drama, the costumes look good and can be very elaborate for the palace officials and royalty. Of course, it may not be worthwhile to watch the entire drama just to look at the costumes. But at least, you will know that they did invest quite a bit to make the visuals more beautiful overall.
So, do you have other good reasons to convince people to watch Legend Of The Phoenix? Or did you drop it like I’m tempted to do now?
Image Credit: Tencent
I started to watch it, and she was so childish, I couldn’t take it. I even tried to skip to episode 12 just to see if she became anymore mature, but nope. I can’t watch this. Thanks for the review 🙂
Everyone keeps pointing out the issue of the main female being too childish, that is very true but you would also find that she is smart and that is one thing you do not see in a lot of these dramas. It’s either the lead is childish and dumb or she’s headstrong and smart. This series brings a slight twist, she is very childish but she’s also smart, she’s been able to smartly avoid getting killed by using a few tricks. It’s worth watching. Also, a good drama doesn’t always suck you in quickly, I can’t count tons of dramas I hated at the beginning but ended up loving as time went on.
I watched this drama till the end and find it one of the best dramas I watched so far. The main female character may be called childish at the beginning, she is just a young adult finding her way in life. As the story goes on, we see her mature to a beautiful woman, who has strong principals and mainly integrity. What I liked about the story is mainly,…. how to develop and keep moral virtues even in a intrique infested environment, how not to loose oneself when you are being played with, conspire against and how to keep your innocence and inner beauty when being attacked by money, prestige, power and pride. The truth and justice is always higher than lies and short-term profiteering. The level of personal sacrifice that both the male and female characters shown in this story is absolutely phenomenal. They have sacrificed their personal lives and everything they had and mainly their love for each other for the benefit of the welfare of the whole country and their citizens. If only all current politicians had this level of integrity and motivations in their positions. This is truly a very inspiring story, so worthy of watching.
What to speak of the costumes and personal beauty of the main characters.