First Impressions: The Legend of Flying Daggers

Watched up to Ep 6 and it’s really not too bad! Not sure if it’s gonna go down the age-old wuxia route of familial revenge which can get a bit too dog-blood for me but for now, it’s still on my watchlist! The pacing maybe a little slow for some but I find it okay as it builds the characters – didn’t read the book or watch any previous adaptation so it’s a clean slate for me!

Actually picked this up because of Yang Rong and so far she is doing well! She looks ethereal in white (although not very tall) and she manages to balance the cold exterior of Xue Cai Yue with an innately good person interior without coming off emotionless (Yang Zi – this is what Xue Qi is supposed to be like!) or overly carefree (Tang Yan – this is what Wei Young should be!) – it’s letting down her guard away from prying eyes when we get a glimpse of her real self.

I have only seen Hawick Lau once before this in Thinking of Lu Xiang Bei and i thought he pulled off the dead dude with emotional baggage well. Here he is meant to be 20 and while it’s definitely a stretch, it did not make me throw my hands up in despair and disbelief! Perhaps because Hawick is older, his Li Huai doesn’t come off as goofy or too naive if it was played by say Jiang Jin Fu (Legend of Qin) or Elvis Han (Chinese Paladin 5). He is so far doing quite well portraying a man who just found his lineage and going on a path of self discovery as a diamond in the rough without being too reckless or annoying in doing so.

Like that the OTP doesn’t immediately fall in love despite Cai Yue saving Li Huai more than once and then having a moment amidst the (fake!) maple leaves !

Huang Ming plays Li Zheng, Li Huai’s younger half brother and I dearly hope he doesn’t go off-rails to be the main antagonist later. I like this character now and it would be nice if not every less talented sibling goes green with envy and tries to destroy the other. Emma Wu is Fang Ke Ke, Li Huai’s childhood friend who crushes on him and he obviously treats her like one of the guys. Emma Wu is cute-ish but she is the same in every role I have seen her.

One thing I would mention is that it’s interesting to see what happens when a woman makes a man (who obviously does not love her) marries her and live together as man and wife and grow old together (Li Cheng’s parents) – really can’t tell who is more miserable and even if there is no romantic love, would kinship love survive the years?

Please don’t go too dogblood and I would love it if the four main characters could go and explore Jianghu together rather than be rectangularly miserable together. 🙂