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huntress1013
Vienna, Austria
The best CDrama and the best BL Drama of 2021! Period!
The best surprise in terms of CDrama and KDrama was definitely "Word of Honor". I remember when I first saw the poster and just thought "Mmmh looks a lot like the one from "The Untamed" - Dunno." But then, I saw more and more people going on and on about the show and I just had to see what it was about. It was the best decision I could have made because no show has surprised me as positively as "Word of Honor".
"Word of Honor" clearly had a much lower budget, the scriptwriter was a complete newbie, almost all the actors fell under the heading of obscure, unknown, new or of little importance. Youku didn't bother to advertise much, just served up the show without much fanfare. In that respect, I can't help but compare the show to the BBC version of " North and South" with Richard Armitage, which was similar. A small show, based on a not very good book with two main leads that no one knew at the time. What led to "North and South" and now "Word of Honor" becoming a huge success? Many ingredients.
1. For one thing, there's the script. Xiao Chu may be a greenhorn, but she made the most out of a fairly unknown little book by priest. Her love for BL and the Chinese language are undeniable. The script is not perfect, as the show does suffer from certain lengths in the last third of the show, but it's pretty darn good.
2. The cast: as I said, the cast is not exactly made up of well-known A-listers, but it is a cast that gives its best and is completely committed. Zhan Zhe Han (Zhou Zishou) and Simon Gong (Wen Kexing) in particular cannot be praised enough. As we all know, censorship in China regarding LGBTQ content is just nasty, but both actors have managed (despite all restrictions) to give us the most obvious Bl couple ever, easily surpassing Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan (sorry guys - I still love you both dearly). The looks, gestures, absolutely everything leaves no other conclusion than that we are dealing with two men who love each other deeply.
3. The direction and back crew in general: All this wouldn't be possible if the rest of the crew weren't also on board, but they are. The camera settings, the cuts, everything helps.
4. The music: The music is also surprisingly good!
So is the show a straight case for a 10.0? Not really. In all honesty, the show is probably more like an 8.5, because of the lengths in the script and also because the look is really a bit on the cheap sometimes, but I have zero problems in overlooking that.
The only real reason for point deduction is the ending. Anyone who doesn't know better will think that the show really ends with the 36th episode, but that's not the case. The real conclusion of the show has been put behind a paywall by Youku (only available to Youku Ultimate Fan Pass holders, or people who have a Viki Standard Pass). The reason? I don't know. Possibly censorship in China, or just a way of Youku trying to make some more money, but since the series is so damn good, I pulled out my wallet without batting an eyelid. To tell the truth, it's definitely well worth it.
"Word of Honor" clearly had a much lower budget, the scriptwriter was a complete newbie, almost all the actors fell under the heading of obscure, unknown, new or of little importance. Youku didn't bother to advertise much, just served up the show without much fanfare. In that respect, I can't help but compare the show to the BBC version of " North and South" with Richard Armitage, which was similar. A small show, based on a not very good book with two main leads that no one knew at the time. What led to "North and South" and now "Word of Honor" becoming a huge success? Many ingredients.
1. For one thing, there's the script. Xiao Chu may be a greenhorn, but she made the most out of a fairly unknown little book by priest. Her love for BL and the Chinese language are undeniable. The script is not perfect, as the show does suffer from certain lengths in the last third of the show, but it's pretty darn good.
2. The cast: as I said, the cast is not exactly made up of well-known A-listers, but it is a cast that gives its best and is completely committed. Zhan Zhe Han (Zhou Zishou) and Simon Gong (Wen Kexing) in particular cannot be praised enough. As we all know, censorship in China regarding LGBTQ content is just nasty, but both actors have managed (despite all restrictions) to give us the most obvious Bl couple ever, easily surpassing Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan (sorry guys - I still love you both dearly). The looks, gestures, absolutely everything leaves no other conclusion than that we are dealing with two men who love each other deeply.
3. The direction and back crew in general: All this wouldn't be possible if the rest of the crew weren't also on board, but they are. The camera settings, the cuts, everything helps.
4. The music: The music is also surprisingly good!
So is the show a straight case for a 10.0? Not really. In all honesty, the show is probably more like an 8.5, because of the lengths in the script and also because the look is really a bit on the cheap sometimes, but I have zero problems in overlooking that.
The only real reason for point deduction is the ending. Anyone who doesn't know better will think that the show really ends with the 36th episode, but that's not the case. The real conclusion of the show has been put behind a paywall by Youku (only available to Youku Ultimate Fan Pass holders, or people who have a Viki Standard Pass). The reason? I don't know. Possibly censorship in China, or just a way of Youku trying to make some more money, but since the series is so damn good, I pulled out my wallet without batting an eyelid. To tell the truth, it's definitely well worth it.
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