Five stars for the actor Chen Zheyuan is, and five more stars for the Chemistry of the cast

I dived into Sword and fairy 4 having never really liked any of the fantasy/xinxia/wuxia dramas that I have tried, but decided to get into it because of Chen Zheyuan. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found myself looking forward each day to the episodes released. The story has just enough to hook the viewer in, and the vfx is decent enough to not distract from the overall plot. I never expected the cast to have this much chemistry. And Chen Zheyuan did not let me down with his acting, I laughed with him and his silliness and innocence in the earlier episodes, and then I cried with him towards the end. He has so quickly become my favourite actor with his ability to breathe life into each of his characters and emote so well..

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Watch for a stellar performance by the whole cast

I have never watched a Republican drama and got into this with no clue about what to expect. From Episode 1, the writer has done a brilliant job etching out the characters of the drama. We meet the nonchalant, working-to-live and get by Lin Shaobai and his best friend Xu Wei.. We get a glimpse of a changing Shanghai, with stark differences in its working.. We then see the good guys led by Lu Zhengyang, and the bad guys led by Zheng Lanting. The plot and sub plots are so well laid down, and sprinkled with the right amount of humour, that the viewer does not have the time to get bored.

The actors have done justice to their characters, and you find yourself rooting for the good ones. I found myself laughing and crying alongside them, they were that convincing. Chen Zheyuan in particular was brilliant as Lin Shaobai. He isn't the hero's hero, he is not macho and he isn't an idealist from the start. He is cunning, mischievous and so endearing that at some point when he slightly diverted from the path of pure goodness, I still found myself rooting for him.

The highlight of the drama according to me was the confrontation scene between Lin Shaobai and Xu Wei which summed up the essence of the drama, and was so well done by the actors. Also, the scene where Lin Shaobai goes crazy with anger and looks possessed while interrogating the Falcon.

My only gripe was *that* unnecessary death of **** in the penultimate episode and the questionable recovery/non-recovery of some characters.

All in all, this drama has all the ingredients you need for a gripping watch. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would recommend it. Of course if you are looking for romance, you won't find it here... apart from a brief romance between Shaobai and Bai (if you know you know) and angsty moments between Shaobai and Xuwei (with their own ost and flashbacks and everything). ☺️

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Favorite Drama of all time

Forever grateful to whatever stars aligned to make me watch Hidden Love. It was the first CDrama I have watched, and I am yet to find another cdrama that can keep me as bewitched by the drama and even the bts. Although the story itself is nothing extraordinary, and there are no real plot-twists etc, the viewer is kept hooked by the sheer chemistry of Chen Zheyuan and Zhao Lusi. Both of them were so beautiful and bewitching, there was no need for anything else. They could have been reading out the recipe to boil potatoes, and we would have been just as hooked. The OST was also chef's kiss. Forever star has become one of those unskippable songs.

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