Opening this review by saying that I love this director's works and My Journey To You is, to this day, one of my favourite c-dramas ever, so, needless to say, I waited for SO long for this show to finally air. My high expectations basically hit the sky.
The aesthetic, sceneries and cinematography of Fangs of Fortune don't come as a surprise: they are simply gorgeous and I really can't think of other dramas (during this or in the previous years) that are equal to it (except, of course, for this director's other works).
He always has a clear and fixed idea of how things should be shot and how they should look and, so far, it's always been consistent. Just one look at one scene and the viewers can immediately tell it's one of his works.
That's what hooked me with MJTY and I was just all too happy seeing it in this drama as well. C-dramas often tend to have “issues” with the cinematography, the lightning and colouring, the camera work (let alone the CGI), so when it comes to this area, Fangs of Fortune is already a level above the others and it looks so good and professional and eerie in the best possible way.
I admit, the ghostly white powder on the actors' faces always kind of takes me aback, because it's very VERY pale and in certain shots they either look like corpses or, thanks to skin smoothing as well, you can't really see their full expressions, but in this case it fits the tone of the drama and I think a different make-up would look weird and too much in contrast with the dark aesthetic.
Wigs and costumes are of very high quality and the texture, the details (ex. the fish scales in the fish demon's robes) the colours, EVERYTHING, really set them apart and a lot above others costume dramas... costumes.
Every character has its own styling and the outfits and hairstyles really help with making them all the more unique and alive. The stylist department really deserves all the appreciation and an award for their work.
If not for the plot and the characters themselves, I'd recommend this drama just for how good it looks.
(Little parenthesis for the soundtrack: it really works. I read comments where people were not happy with it, back when the show still had to air, but so far so good. Especially the modern song they use during fight scenes. Unexpectedly, it fits with the vibe and choreography of those sequences and it brings them out even more. When I think of the OST, that's the very first song that comes to mind, so it really left a good impression on me).
Now.
Onto the things that still don't sit quite right with me and the reason I scored this one a 7.5 (for now, will most likely change it as I watch more episodes – hopefully).
First of all, especially in the first couple of episodes, the scenes are way too jumpy and “messy”, so much so that I had to replay a couple of parts because I couldn't really understand certain things and the show just lost me. Was it a dream? A memory/flashback? The way it's edited and quickly jumps from A to B back to A is very confusing. They're not smooth cuts.
Granted, it got better in the last episode I watched (ep.5), so it's probably just a problem of the first part and it got fixed as it went on. Again, hopefully.
The second thing is the humour. Most of the times it actually gets a giggle out of me (the actors' comedic timing is always on point and their expressions alone are enough to make the joke work) and it's just in such contrast with the somber scene at play in that moment that it somehow works very well and I can only appreciate it. But some other times... they REALLY play into it, to the point that it feels kinda weird and out of place. Cringe, even. To make an example: the way the young boy, Bai Jiu, keeps screaming or fainting. After a while it gets repetitive, old, and his character doesn't feel real anymore. Hope he'll hit some character growth and won't shout as much. I really liked young master Xue's character in MJTY and, albeit so young, that actor really can play more serious roles.
Humour in this kind of dramas is a fine line to walk and I think, up to this moment, MJTY kept that balance a lot better.
Third thing, which is mainly what caused the 7.5, is something I cannot quite explain with words, but I can't help feeling whenever I'm watching this drama: a sense of emptiness. Of something missing, not being there.
It's really more of a personal feeling, but there are certain scenes where I really can't help but feel like I'm watching something empty, like something should be there, but isn't. Like I'm reading the draft of a book and some paragraphs are still missing or aren't finished yet. Where MJTY felt more organic and grounded, FoF is a lot more staged, a gorgeous cover wrapped around blank pages.
Sometimes it has to do with the scene in general, sometimes with the way it cuts from one shot to the other, the lack of music and overall sound or just the characters. I know they are interacting with each other, but it's as if there's this wall that divides them. One thing that really irks me is how often (especially the villains) they just... stand there and let the main leads finish their thing, whether it's talking among themselves or preparing for action.
It's still the very beginning, though, so it'll probably smooth out and feel more natural and complete with the episodes to come, but right now it all feels too disjointed, especially when the narration clearly slows down or stops altogether to focus on the appearance of the characters or the beauty of a certain shot.
(I know this criticism basically goes against my praises of the aesthetic and cinematography of this director's works, but I can't deny he can be VERY pretentious and all too often puts looks above substance).
I still don't have much to say about the characters themselves, because we still don't know them much yet, but some impressed me more than others and for others I hope they'll grow and get better with time.
I'm very curious about Zhuo Yichen, although Tian Jiarui's performance so far is a little... lukewarm, when compared with the work he did on Gong Yuanzhi in MJTY. I like how Yichen can be both fierce and shy/awkward, but he didn't give much aside for that (so far). I know he's a more than capable actor, so I'm sure the character will grow on me, but right now... not there yet. It probably also depends on the way the make-up and hairstyle always make his expression look very tight, as if he can't move his face much - or just got a face lift. But, aside from that, I'm curious to find out who he really is. I have this headcanon where he is, in fact, a demon, given his blue eyes and his whispery voice (I noticed only demons have it, which is a nice touch and detail) and the constant nightmare of becoming one. I want to see whether I'm right or wrong.
I was pleasantly surprised with two performances so far: Neo Hou and Chen Duling.
I always found Neo Hou's acting to be quite stiff and struggled a lot not to see the actor beneath the character, so I am impressed in the best of ways with this role. He is shining and brings Zhu Yan to life. And although at times the character himself isn't very consistent with the way he acts and reacts, he really works for me and got me hooked from the very beginning. Hope we'll get to see more of his layers, like his darker and more serious and dangerous side, but also his sensible and “sad” personality, because he really wishes to die and I really want to 1) know why and 2) see HOW the actor will showcase this part of the character.
For Chen Duling, I've only seen her in two other works, where she played either a minor role or a supporting role, but in both cases she was nothing but a woman who fell into sadness and depression because of her lost lover, so I was a bit worried about Wen Xiao. But I really love her so far and she's really growing on me. Right now I can easily say she's my favourite among the main roles.
Last but not least, I hope we'll get some proper world building this time around. This director's works always tend to lack a lot on this department and so far the world of FoF hasn't been fleshed out that much. Granted, I'm only at episode five as I'm writing this review, but I was really confused at the wheres and how much time it takes to move from place x to place y.
I wish they gave us an impression of space and moving spaces like, for example, Mysterious Lotus Casebook did. Its world building isn't much richer and extended, but it has some substance at least and the characters won't just appear back at a certain place (ex. the archives of the bureau) as if through sci-fi teleportation.

I think that's all for now. Might come back to this once the drama is complete.

- Mei