Dongbo Xueying Land (2023)

Smart Demons + Stupid Humans = Extraordinary Mess

Watched this to see Xu Kai act but just like in a previous series of his; his and everyone else's acting was great but the story itself was a hot mess. Wish he or whomever chooses for him, chose better. The only reason this even got a 6.5 and not lower was because of the literally only 3 pros. Otherwise, it was like the mighty morphin power rangers and mortal kombat took LSD and spit this out.

Pros: Leads chemistry, the actors hard work which included great fight scenes, and costumes (except for the Halloween store costume lion for Uncle Tang), and good OSTs. No other pros.

Cons: Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for smart antagonists but not when the protagonists are so ridiculously idiotic. Just about everyone was led by the nose by the demons the ENTIRE show. Even when our ML told them otherwise, the Elders still chose to believe evil people. The amount of times the good guys failed to understand something very simple made you want to run your face into the wall. The entire series made a ton of no sense because the bad guys were running the show while the good guys were just walking around like zombies and talking in circles.

Did just about everyone really deserve to die; KYY's death in the last episode was pointless and meaningless. Some really did die as heroes but what made much of it senseless is that if they put two and two together sooner and made it 4 instead of 7, they could have made things happen sooner and survived. It made me feel like whoever the writer was, had no clue how to write a novel or one that's understandable or cohesive. Ji Rong staying alive and even her death at the hands of probably the show’s stupidest character, made me feel like I lost brain cells. DXY warned his brother and the two elders something was fishy about her from nearly the beginning and yet both uncles died because of her.

The sets and CGI looked very cheap. The words chucked up on the screen each time a new magic trick was used was eye roll worthy. Welcome to the 90s and not in a good way! Situ Hong's ruthlessness was completely ignored and his death and that of the weird random cultivator that at first clung to XY was completely pathetic. Both were sucked dry for big bad demon God that most of the time sounded like an alien cat that sucked in a helium balloon. We were all expecting a fight between him and XY but yeah, why bother?

Demon Ao Lan turned himself into a psychedelic Venus flytrap to try and kill XY in the last episode and it had me laughing. Little Shop of Horrors that was filmed in the 1970s had better CGI than this mess. I shed a tear for Shifu sacrificing himself at the end as out of all the guardians, he was the only one that infiltrated the demon clan and didn't do too poorly. Yes, happy ending for leads and the maybe 3 other living people but what did I watch for 40 episodes?

Would I recommend? No way. Even if you are a fan of the leads or anyone else, please find something else. Leads chemistry is not enough to hold this thing together.

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A fresh and thrilling tale against demons.

To start with, the music (both modern and traditional, just like the drama itself), the costumes, the special effects and the fights, the landscapes and settings (the snowy territories especially, what a pleasure), the demons, I loved it. It was very similar to an anime but as a drama.

Speaking of the special effects, I was expecting anything but this, especially in view of the criticisms of this aspect? It looks even better than in the trailer. It's quality and I've clearly seen worse, forced criticism as usual... The fights were also superbly filmed and choreographed. Obviously, this isn't a drama with huge production value either, but I was fascinated most of the time. Xu Kai is way too cool and his mastery of the spear is impeccable, I can't even imagine how much he had to train.

The story isn't original, yet it's pure pleasure (and I've never seen that in a drama, so it's even cooler), it's always dynamic and I've never been bored. It's typically the kind of story I used to enjoy when I was younger, and frankly, it's refreshing. Some people thought it was cringe-worthy while it's just epic, too bad for them lol.

The drama delicately alternates between sweet moments, drama, action... The story developped very well and was very captivating to my taste. As you can imagine, the theme of evil demons versus good humans and the hero becoming all-powerful is far from complex. Nevertheless, I'm glad the drama brought a modicum of nuance. In addition, I loved the diversity of the characters.

Side notes:
- Overall it is not a drama high in emotions with amazing relationships and character development. It is pretty simple in every aspect. Indeed, it is far from an intelligent drama for a mature audience. Still a great and fun drama because it did what it was supposed to do perfectly.

I write this review because it is deserved and especially because there isn't any that really talks about it as it is, appreciating it for what it is and highlighting what's good about it, how, why and for who.

To the people who claim the romance is bad: Tension is not the only form of chemistry, romance doesn't have to be intense. Sometimes romance is a sweet and subtle thing that can be built upon.

If everything about Snow Eagle Lord gets you hooked from the first episodes just like me, and not only Xu Kai, you will have a lot of fun and be able to enjoy the ride. Besides, we never really see him less as some people states here, maybe for a few little parts but it wasn't for no reason. He is, however, the character we see the most, and certainly the most important. Yes, there are a lot of characters. Unfortunately those people are forcing themselves to watch it for him and are not into the drama, so that's just another nonsensical statement.

Snow Eagle Lord, albeit underrated is now my first hit from this genre (having dropped/disliked the ones I tried even though they were popular and very appreciated) and I loved everything about it. I couldn't just sit down and watch it get so much hate. Thank you for reading me! I'm glad if my review helped and I'm even happier if it helps you finding your new gem.

P.S: A message to those relying on douban's ratings. Cnetizens are able to lower a drama's rating to a 2.7/10 by creating thousands of bots for the dumbest reasons, and trust me, they are horrible. Even MDL is much better in comparison.

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