Legend Of Yunze 2 (2022)

A really nice xianxia GL that shows that you don't need a large budget to make it work

I've been saying since Legend of Yunze Special that their productions keep getting better with each new show. The funding looks to be larger, the costumes better and better (although that's to be expected), and the stories get more coherent. I enjoyed Legend of Yunze season 1 because I could see the potential even if it felt weak on other points. This season 2 is even better than the Special and I can see the potential finally getting somewhere.

But let's do it in the right order, shall we. On the technical side, we can see that the scale of the story, but also of the sets has increased. The ambition is clearly higher than for the previous season and it shows. There are some really nice moments in terms of cinematography (notably in that confrontation scene in the last episode which was doing interesting things in terms of colour and light). The costumes are better and better and so are the hairstyles. Some of them are truly a pleasure for the eyes, especially, I have to say, the demon ones of Zhaoyun. I commented in my review of Legend of Yunqian that they clearly had zero budget, but it's not the case anymore and while I don't think their budget is very large, they are clearly doing things right in terms of allocating it. This feels more like some low budget professional short (mid-length) films.

The story is much more coherent. I think part of it comes from the fact that they have a better grasp of the character, as well as because we, as viewers, already knew them, but even past that, I didn't have a moment when I was wondering what was going on or where that came from or thought "okay, that really came like a hair on the soup" (to literally translate a French phrase (meaning "came out of nowhere")). Not everything is perfect of course, but it is coherent. It feels epic on a larger scale than before and I felt much more into the characters and their relationships (both the main as well as the secondary ones) this time. We get some backstory for the different characters, we get some well-rounded-ish side characters.

Wang Laoji and Peng Jingxian once again do a good job as Zhaoyun and A-Ze. They're credible in their role and sell the story. Not all of the actors playing side characters are as good, but overall, everyone does a good enough job that I can suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride.

All in all, this stands on its own without needing the caveat of "we don't get a lot of GL so we make do with what we get". It is real xianxia that I would recommend if you want to support an indie group of creators with ideas and ambitions that keeps on growing with every new project. It has demons and sects and choosing your paths even when it isn't the one that was given to you from birth and everyone else is telling you that you shouldn't be here. It is about people choosing each other again and again because that's just what's right. It is far from perfect, but it made me go "dang that's a good story and I want to know what comes next" several times. And that's personally enough for me. It delights me to no end that I can recommend a GL show, even a censored one, as good without a very large caveat. If you like xianxia and GL shows, beautiful costumes and characters who are all in for each other even when the world isn't, if you want to support indie creators who are trying and constantly improving, then this is a great show for you. Plus, it is short enough that the time commitment isn't too high. I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes next (and also more wuxia and xianxia GL, please and thank you).

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An enjoyable short series

This season is longer than season 1 (but still pretty short--1 hour long in total) and gets deeper into the characters' backstories as well as themes. Similar to the first season, the chemistry between the two FLs is great and they're really cute together. This time the series takes some time to go into each story which allows the audience to build up more investment into the characters and to reflect deeper on the events that have occurred. The acting of the leads is really good, and given the low budget I looked past the side actors' performance being less than ideal.

I was kind of expecting Zhaoyun's sister from the first season to show up again and develop that storyline, but she was a no-show, so that segment from the first season seems orphaned (with the only purpose to reveal Zhaoyun's true identity).

The only thing that I really can't get past is those fuzzy cat ears that Jiang Zhaoyun wears. ? Her whole costume & makeup looks legit but those cat ears just look like a Halloween accessory.

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