[Review] Nirvana in the Fire

I recently started rewatching Nirvana in the Fire and thought that I would share this gem with everyone. If you have been a follower of c-drama you’ve probably watched and maybe even rewatched it already but if you’re new to the world of c-dramaland then this drama could be a good start. This drama was released back in 2015 with a total of 54 episodes starring HuGe, Wang Kai, and Liu Tao.

Synopsis: The story sets up with the grueling and bloody battle between two border countries, Wei and Liang. Leading that battle for the Liang Country was General Lin and his young son, Lin Shu, who was only 19 at that time. Framed for treachery, the king ordered for the massacre of General Lin and his Chiyan army at Mei Ling, where to battle took place, resulting in the death of 70 thousands Chiyan army soldiers and General Lin. Lin Shu survived but was poisoned with the deadliest poison in the world that caused his skin to pealed and transformed into another person.  12 years later, with his intelligence, Lin Shu established Jiangzuo Alliance, a powerful sect, as Mei Changsu with the plan to return to the capital and justify the unjust that the Chiyan Army faced.  After careful planning, he entered the capital as Su Zhe and secretly allied with his childhood friend and the unflavored Prince Xiao Jingyan in the battle for the throne. One by one and case by case, Su Zhe’s plans crippled the power of the then Prince-in-line and Prince Jing Huan to push Prince Jingyan to the top.

For me, Chinese dramas are long and I can’t help but skip scenes to speed up the process. But for Nirvana in the Fire, I watched everything!!! They story is just too captivating with little fillers. The storyline moves with a good pace and their dialogues are informative that doesn’t make the drama feel like a drag. All the plotting and manipulations that Su Zhe did to cripple the princes’ power revolves around powerful families with an interesting background and story to tell and the drama brilliantly ties those stories into the main plot to make the drama flow. Those stories not only give backgrounds to the characters but how they played out also allowed character development of not just the leads but also the side characters like Xiao Jing Rui and Yan Yu Jin.

As for the characters in the drama, they feel very 3D and real when you have stories and developments attached to each. And add in a good cast that that can interpret and portray these characters well, you just can’t help but fall for the characters (and yes, even the evil ones). One unique thing about this drama is that you don’t just have one main antagonist. There are a handful of selfish, greedy, and despicable characters that you almost kinda but not really pity after their downfall (example: the emperor, Prince Jing Huang, Xie Yu, and Xia Jiang). As for the protagonist, you have the sickly Su Zhe (played by HuGe) who defies the traditional strong and dependable male lead, which makes it fun to watch. And the stubborn Prince Jingyan, who stands his ground on what he deems as right. It makes the characters seem more real when your leads have weaknesses rather than all powerful. I think HuGe, Wang Kai, Liu Tao, and everyone on the cast did a such great job with portraying the characters that you forget the are actors/actresses.

The editing and sound track also played a huge role in making the drama fun to watch. When I was watching the drama, I noticed that the plotting conversations are always shown in parallel so that the viewers are omnipotent and know exactly what both sides are thinking with regard to the same topic. Add in the suspenseful sound track when they plot or thundering drums when they fight, and you can’t help but feel scared/excited along with the drama.

Anyhow, if you are looking for a drama with a bit of fighting, plotting, history, strategy, psychology, romance, war and more, then this would be a fun one to watch. But instead of just me blabbing, please vote to also let others know if this is worthy drama to watch or not.