Drama Review: The Flame's Daughter

The Flame's Daughter- 52 episodes 

Lie Ruge is the only daughter of the head of prestigious martial arts group, Flaming Hills.  But the martial world is on the precipice of conflicts after a long period of peace and Lie Ruge is right in the middle of it. Together with first love, Zhang Feng; the enigmatic man who claims to love her, Yin Xue and ever dependable friend who secretly loves her, Yu Zihan.

If there is a character relationship chart it is going to be so big and wide. Kdramas tend to be small but this one has so many characters and stories going on that the reverse harem plot they were marketing on barely existed.  It is more than a reverse harem.

I was really excited about the drama that I had to do watch it for days and weeks. It started out as very promising. I was living for the progress of my favorite men. I was optimistic halfway through the series. But it gets tedious and slow but still, I can't stop watching it in hopes it will turn around in favor of my favorite men. And as it nears its end I realized I was blindly hoping for nothing! Gaah I was duped! I was on denial blinded by my feelings.

It's easy to like the other two guys but I can't help feel Vic Zhou is miscast. He looks too old for Dilraba Dilmurat (11 years difference).  Well, his character is indeed waaay old but I am put off with dramas (and Hollywood) where the couple has an obvious age difference well with the exception of  Goblin (12 years). Also, Scarlet Heart main couple has age difference too of 11 years but it wasn't evident. 

It's obvious by now that I'm into the second and third lead syndrome again but more so on to the third lead. He is so handsome and pure! He's the only reason I kept on going. I can't seem to tell if Dilraba acting prowess is good or bad. It's like she only has one expression. All the guys are really good looking even the bad guys and I feel sad for their relationships. 

I can't help but compare this to kdramas as kdramas has taken over my Asian drama viewing habits. I'm not used to the straightforwardness unlike the scheming in kdrama. Everything is out in the open. Or so I thought but that was only from the beginning when it gets to that the latter half there are twists ahead. I hate that there are so many deaths that are so sudden that it does not give you closure. But my god, the ending lasted for five episodes which was like forever! It was like how they stretch the fight scenes on Dragonball or Ghostfighter. Also, I noticed a loophole though like Anye Yue not seeing Ru Ge before or not realizing she is uhhmm okay spoiler but that one really bugs me.

I enjoyed piecing the scenes from the opening and ending credits. It's like a checklist game. It gives away spoilers and at the same tricks you to a make-believe story in your head. Apparently, this is how they do the credits in China. I realized this should not be new as I have watched Meteor Garden but it was eons ago. I only remembered while watching Meteor Garden 2018 now. And yeah if in case you have not noticed Vic Zhou is Hua Ze Lei of Meteor Garden 2001. 

Woo hoo for my very 1st Chinese wuxia drama! This is based on the novel of the same name of Ming Xiaoxi. But I don't know if I feel accomplished that I finished all 52 episodes or did I just waste my time? The fight scenes are of course superb, the costumes and the wig game is strong (but Zhan Feng's beach waves is distracting) and so many locations (but the zoomed out view of Flaming Hills looks like a dummy set).  It reminds me of Hwarang. It was enjoyable at first but it lost its spark halfway through.