The Moon Brightens For You Review

It’s been a while since I watched a wuxia drama and hence, I was happy when I found out about The Moon Brightens For You (明月曾照江东寒). Although I’m not a great fan of the main leads, I was willing to give this a try to get my fix of martial arts fighting scenes. Suffice to say that this is worth the time but don’t expect it to be particularly memorable either. Well, at least for me, it isn’t anything extraordinary. I will tell you why in more detail in The Moon Brightens For You review below.

My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 36
Type: Wuxia, Romance
Aired: October 2020
Images Credit: iQIYI

The Cast Of The Moon Brightens For You

• Fair Xing Fei as Zhan Qing Hong
• Alan Yu Meng Long as Lin Fang / Lin Wen Xuan
• Yalkun Merxat as Wen You
• Ma Xi Er as Xiao Lan
• Ma Yue as Princess Hua Yao
• Tang Zhen Ye as Prime Minister Wang Dun
• Zhang Kai Tai as Huo Yang
• Su Jian Quan as General Xia Hou Ying
• Lan Man Yu as Wen Rou
• Huang Hai Bing as Zhan Po Di
• Zhang Yan Yan as Su Qian Hong
• Chunyu Shan Shan as Zhong Bu Ming
• Yan Xiao as Feng Bu Fei
• Zhang Xue Han as Yan Zhi
• Zheng Fan Xing as Qiu An
• Liu Bo Xiao as Gu Yue
• Li Xin Ze as Gu Yan
• Qi Zhi as Jian Ling

Main Characters

Zhan Qing Hong

Qing Hong is a skillful swordswoman. She grew up in the mountains with an air of innocence and naivete surrounding her. However, she is upright and is capable of defending herself against bullies. Qing Hong can be impulsive and mischievous. She is loved by her parents and 3 disciple brothers.

Lin Fang / Lin Wen Xuan

Lin Fang is a reserved and aloof man. But he has many female admirers due to his good looks. His father, Lin Xiao Tian, died when he was young and he was taken in by his foster father, Gu Yue. His father was the director of the martial arts world or wulin. Lin Fang is unable to practice martial arts due to the poison in his body and has a weak disposition but he is highly intelligent. He is a master strategist.

Wen You

Wen You is the son of a noble. His father, Lord Wen, is the Crown Prince’s assistant. However, Wen You has little interest in politics and prefers to hone his martial arts skills to be part of the wulin. He is a principled man who understands what needs to be done.

Supporting Characters

Xiao Lan

Xiao Lan is Qing Hong’s personal maid and good friend. She is loyal, simple-minded, and at times, comical.

Princess Hua Yao

Princess Hua Yao is the Emperor’s daughter. Her maternal grandfather is Prime Minister Wang Dun. She is a spoiled and jealous young lady who is in love with Wen You. They have known each other since they were kids.

Prime Minister Wang Dun

Prime Minister Wang is a powerful and influential man in the royal court. He appears as a honest and responsible official. He dotes on his only granddaughter, Princess Hua Yao.

Huo Yang

Huo Yang is a cold and distant young man who doesn’t speak much. He belongs to the Green Dragon Clan and is Qing Hong and Lin Fang’s enemy before transferring his allegiance to Qing Hong and becoming her disciple. Huo Yang is a skilled martial artist and loyal subordinate.

General Xia Hou Ying

General Xia Hou is a commander of the royal guard. He used to be in the wulin and Qing Hong’s mother was his disciple sister. He loved her and left to join the army when she married Zhan Po Di. General Xia Hou is a reserved and serious man. He is loyal to the Emperor and country.

Wen Rou

Wen Rou is Wen You’s younger sister. She is a capable doctor with keen interest to acquire medical knowledge. She is a courteous and kind lady. Wen Rou is not afraid to express her feelings and falls in love with General Xia Hou at first sight.

Zhan Po Di

Zhan Po Di is the former deputy director of the wulin and Lin Xiao Tian’s assistant. He disappeared after Lin Xiao Tian’s death and was rumored to be involved in his killing. Zhan Po Di then set up home in the mountains and has a daughter, Qing Hong, whom he dotes on together with his beloved wife, Su Qian Hong.

Zhong Bu Ming

Zhong Bu Ming is a butler to a rich man called Zhou Bo. But he is actually from the Xi Yan Empire which is at odds with the Xiao Empire. He is adept at using poisons and belongs to a trio called Ghost Three which has been linked to various crimes. Zhong Bu Ming reports to Wang Bu Feng who is the trio’s leader and eldest disciple brother.

Feng Bu Fei

Feng Bu Fei is a crazy man with a penchant for collecting treasures and unique items. He is good at martial arts and has learned bits of every clan’s martial art moves with the manuscripts that he has stolen. Feng Bu Fei is part of the Ghost Three trio.

Yan Zhi

Yan Zhi is Lin Fang’s guard and assisted by Wan Qing and Dong Xue. She belongs to the same clan as Lin Fang’s mother and has vowed to keep him safe.

Qiu An

Qiu An is a young man but heads the Qiu Clan. Despite his young age, he is a skilled martial artist and principled man whom Lin Fang trusts. Qiu An likes Qing Hong but she only treats him like a younger brother.

Gu Yue

Gu Yue is the acting director of the wulin after Lin Xiao Tian’s passing. He is also Lin Fang’s foster father. He is an ambitious man and has high expectations on his son, Gu Yan.

Gu Yan

Gu Yan is Lin Fang’s foster elder brother. His father is Gu Yue who has high hopes on him to become the director of the wulin. Gu Yan has a good relationship with Lin Fang. He is an upright man who plays by the rules.

Jian Ling

Jian Ling is an eccentric healer who appears to be a little crazy and threatening. He lives by himself in a secret valley and has superior martial art skills.

Synopsis

Qing Hong is an innocent young lady skilled in swordsmanship. She leaves her secluded home in the mountains to gain experience in the wulin with her parents’ blessings. While in the city, she gets to know Lin Fang and Wen You. Both men are attracted to Qing Hong but Lin Fang holds back his feelings when he finds out that her father is Zhan Po Di whom he suspects could be involved in his own father’s death years ago.

Through Qing Hong’s help and Wen You’s cooperation, Lin Fang manages to become the director of the wulin although he is weak and has no martial arts skills. Lin Fang wants the post to investigate what happened to his father as well as to maintain order in the wulin with its different clans. With his strategic thinking as well as Qing Hong’s and Wen You’s assistance, they begin to solve the issues confronting the wulin.

In the course of their duties, they also begin to get closer to the truth about Lin Fang’s father’s murder. But the enemy is deeply hidden and dangers await them as they try to flush him out into the open. In the meantime, Qing Hong and Wen You fall in love with plans to marry.

The Moon Brightens For You Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

The Moon Brightens For You has a happy ending. There is a time jump of 8 years after they defeated Prime Minister Wang who wanted to rebel and overthrow the Emperor. Qing Hong and Lin Fang are living happily in the mountains where she grew up. They have a daughter, Lin Ruo Qing, and Qing Hong is pregnant with their second child. Wen You and Princess Hua Yao’s son, Wen Ji Lin, are also with them. Ji Lin and Ruo Qing are playmates.

Xian Lan and Huo Yang are already a married couple. Huo Yang has also successfully become the new director of the wulin.

When Did Qing Long And Wen You Break Up?

Wen You married Princess Hua Yao in Episode 19. He was summoned back to the capital while resolving a case with Qing Long and Lin Fang in another town. Wen You had no choice as the princess was in love with him and the Emperor decreed it. His family’s lives were at stake if he refused the order while his father was detained by Prime Minister Wang until after the wedding.

Qing Hong was kept in the dark until someone blurted it out in Episode 23 about Wen You’s marriage. She made the break up final in Episode 24 and suffered a heartbreak for it before recovering.

In What Episode Qing Long And Lin Fang Got Together?

Lin Fang started to be upfront with his feelings after Qing Long broke up with Wen You. He married Qing Long in Episode 27 as Princess Hua Yao was trying to force her to become Wen You’s concubine. As Wen You had been cold towards the princess throughout their marriage, she thought she could make him happy with the move as she knew he still loved Qing Long.

Hence, Lin Fang had quickly arranged to marry Qing Long to stop Princess Hua Yao. However, he also made it clear to Qing Long that he really wanted to marry her and not just because of the need to save her from being Wen You’s concubine.

Was Wen You Happy With Princess Hua Yao?

Wen You was not happy to be forced into the marriage. He treated Princess Hua Yao coldly and still yearned for Qing Rong initially. But he knew he had to let go especially after Lin Fang married Qing Long. Princess Hua Yao was also patient with Wen You and slowly warmed his heart with her sincerity and love. She was pregnant by Episode 32.

However, Wen You died when Prime Minister Wang killed him in the final battle in Episode 36. Wen You had pretended all along to be loyal to the prime minister to gain his trust but was actually working together with Lin Fang and General Xia Hou to flush him out. When Wen You died, Princess Hua Yao was devastated. She went into labor and gave birth to a baby boy before dying right after delivery to be with Wen You.

Who Killed Lin Fang’s Father?

Lin Fang’s father was betrayed by Gu Yue on the orders of Prime Minister Wang who was also the leader of the Ghost Three trio and known as Wang Bu Feng. Gu Yue stabbed him before the Ghost Three trio arrived to try to kill him off. But they were then in the middle of a war. When Lin Xiao Tian’s men started arriving, the Ghost Three left the scene. With injuries to his body, Lin Xiao Tian gave the 7-Star Swordsmanship manual to Zhan Po Di and ordered him to keep it safe until it is handed over to the next wulin director. He died fighting off the enemy soldiers while injured.

That is why Zhan Po Di disappeared from the wulin and retreated to the mountains. With his disappearance, he was rumored to be the betrayer. Prime Minister Wang also killed Qing Long’s parents and disciple brothers in Episode 18 as he wanted the 7-Star Swordsmanship manual. It is a powerful formula of martial art moves and only the wulin director has the right to practice it. Prime Minister Wang wanted to control the wulin in his quest for the throne.

The Fate Of The Other Characters

• Wen Rou and General Xia Hou – They ended up together but no marriage was on the cards yet due to Wen You’s death.
• Yan Zhi – She died to protect Lin Fang and an injured Qing Rong during an ambush by Zhong Bu Ming.
• Zhong Bu Ming – He was killed by Prime Minister Wang to silence him and Feng Bu Fei after they had outlived their usefulness. He sacrificed himself to let Feng Bu Fei escaped.
• Gu Yan – He committed suicide by drinking poison to take responsibility for helping his detained father escaped. He felt guilty for what his father had done.
• Gu Yue – He died just as he was being re-captured by Lin Fang. He was killed by Feng Bu Fei to ensure the secret behind Lin Xiao Tian’s death remained hidden.
• Prime Minister Wang – He was killed by Qing Hong in the final battle with Lin Fang’s assistance.

The Moon Brightens For You Review

It is easy to understand why The Moon Brightens For You has quite a lot of viewers giving it a positive review. Overall, it is an enjoyable watch even if you think the acting sucks. Well, some people seem to think so while others hold a contrary opinion especially when it comes to the male lead. Personally, I find Alan Yu’s acting to be a little stiff. His demeanor is very robotic-like especially in the beginning of the drama. I don’t know whether he tends to act this way or the character that he plays are all similar because he also seemed to display the same style in Eternal Love Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms.

The good thing is he gets a bit better later on when the relationship with the female lead begins. He loosens up more then apart from just displaying a poker face. But I still feel that he lags behind other actors who have also played cool and stoic roles such as Zheng Ye Cheng in The Sleepless Princess and Allen Ren in Under The Power. They were able to inject more life and nuances into their characters while Alan Yu’s Lin Fang just seems rather bland in comparison.

Chemistry

Qing Long is a lively character and Fair Xing makes it work with her grins and a dash of mischievousness. As opposites attract, a dose of chemistry is automatically generated in Qing Long’s interactions with Lin Fang. As their relationship progresses, the chemistry improves further as the teasings begin and Lin Fang starts taking the initiative for a welcomed change. So, while I don’t quite enjoy Alan Yu’s acting, I can still feel a bit of the chemistry between him and Fair Xing in the drama to make the loving moments watchable.

Generally, Fair Xing has her way of generating the required sparks with her co-stars. She also has a good couple vibe with the male leads in Put Your Head On My Shoulder as well as the more recent My Little Happiness.

A Role Reversal For A Change

Another positive aspect of The Moon Brightens For You is the role reversal of the male and female characters. Typically, it is the male lead who will protect the female lead with his excellent martial arts skills or they are equals at the very least. But in this drama, Lin Fang is weakened by poison and has no martial arts skills while Qing Hong is his protector instead. It is something different from the usual which I think is refreshing for a historical drama.

However, if you are used to the typical heroes and prefer a more macho character, Lin Fang may fall short of your ideals. At times, he may seem useless when being confronted by enemies. His strength lies in his strategic thinking and intellect that has its advantages but he would always be in need of someone to protect him in physical fights.

A Good Number Of Fighting Scenes

Being a wuxia drama, good fighting scenes are necessary to raise the excitement level. In The Moon Brightens For You, there is a sufficient number of such scenes which are well choreographed that should pleased fans of this genre. In fact, the drama has all the hallmarks of a wuxia story with turmoil in the wulin, the fight for a manual with a bit of politics thrown in, the eventual increase in the protagonist’s martial arts skills, and a romance. It does have a good plot to work with and the story does suck you in especially after the first 10 episodes.

What Could Make You Drop This

As mentioned, the male lead’s acting might put some viewers off. If you can’t get used to Alan Yu’s expressionless acting, it is indeed a little difficult to get invested in the story.

On the other hand, if you like to see more of Lin Fang with Qing Hong, it might also annoy you that the romance between Qing Hong and Wen You takes up a big chunk of the drama. You need to have the patience to sit through almost three-quarter of the drama before the relationship of the main couple begins. For me, I’m not watching this for the romance and thus, it is fine with me. But if you are, then you would have to decide if the slow-burn romance of the main couple would be worth the wait.

My Verdict – Watch If You Are A Wuxia Drama Fan

Overall, The Moon Brightens For You is one of the better wuxia dramas for 2020. At the very least, its story and execution is interesting enough to draw viewers in compared to say, And The Winner Is Love. Of course, it won’t be able to match the fighting scenes in the bigger budget wuxia dramas like Heaven Sword And Dragon Sabre. But these scenes are still sufficiently engrossing to me that I’m happy to watch till the end.

Personally, my main complaints about this drama is the slow start-off and Lin Fang’s character. I just find the first dozen episodes to be a tad boring before the story really kicks up in intensity. As for Lin Fang’s character, I’m not too keen that he keeps hiding things from Qing Hong including Wen You’s marriage to the princess. He also hides the fact that he has been poisoned. Hence, I’m not particularly gung-ho about their romance. But then again, I’m not watching this for their love story which makes it easier to sit through.

For this The Moon Brightens For You review, I think a score of 7/10 would be fair. It has its weaknesses and still falls a little short of being a really compelling wuxia drama as the ultimate bad guy and overall direction of the plot is still kind of predictable. Nevertheless, do give it a go as it does have a unique story with some level of suspense.