Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain (2019)

Don't go into this series thinking it's going to be all serious, cause it's not. It has a heavy focus on comedy and uses sound effects to assist with that.
I found myself laughing a lot while watching this. Sometimes the acting seems a bit over the top, but it fits with the whole style and feeling of the series so it is not out of place.

The plot was nice and kept me entertained. It had a lot of fun twists and turns. And what I really loved to see is that the friendship storyline was treated as just as important as the romantic storyline. I would watch it again just for some of those friendships and all the fun things they got upto.

One thing I disliked was is the soundtrack. Although there are some really nice songs, they were quite repetetive and it didn't feel like they were always placed well. Another thing is that there were quite a lot of remarks being made about one of the characters being fat. So if that's something that would bother you a lot, it may be a reason to stop watching.

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Brilliant acting / Fun to watch

This review covers the drama only. I have not read the novel nor seen the anime.

Like many other reviewers, it took me a bit to start watching this. I prefer my xianxia to be serious, and I really couldn't imagine how one could make a xianxia comedy and not have it be stupid. ( *Points to the title.* This is how. ) You have to go into this drama knowing that it's a comedy. It's not a serious drama with some funny moments; it's a straight up comedy. In fact, it's more like an anime than a drama. It reminds me a lot of "Gintama," to be honest. It's not as base or ridiculous but it's almost as brilliant in the way it mixes humor, intensity, and emotion.

PRODUCTION: This drama isn't afraid to make fun of its own genre (that scene of him standing in the rain....I just died) and the actors have no problem laughing at themselves. Their overacting was on purpose and on point. I loved the cheesy sets and the comedic sound effects. It's all clearly part of the satire, not poor quality production. In a nod to anime, there are "off-stage" interjections from characters explaining moves or magic that would otherwise be complete deux ex machinas (and they still are but the lamp shading makes it lovably forgivable). There were some teasing elements of Boy Love but they were poking fun at the BL genre, not at gays in particular. There was some yuri elements as well, but more like what you see in anime - just random fondling and tickling for no real reason.

STORY: It's a mixture of "The Shounen Recipe" and a cliche revenge theme, neither of which are meant as an insult. I happen to like them both. There are times where it gets pretty dark but those are sandwiched brilliantly in between slices of comedy that don't feel intrusive as much as a natural part of the "world" and the characters. Again, this takes a page from "Gintama," and expertly mixes dark and light moments. The ending was a bit abrupt and while it left room for a sequel, I felt it wasn't complete enough. I do hope they make a second season.

CHARACTERS: These characters are archetypes more than true characters but despite that, I still found myself drawn to them and their emotions. There wasn't a huge amount of character growth or development but there was some and it was rewarding to see. The most complex character in here was probably Wang Wu and getting to know her as the layers were peeled back was truly wonderful (and I almost never say that about female characters). Because it's comedy and because these are archetypes, character flaws are overly exaggerated. There is a lot of over acting, but the actors are playing to their archetypes.

Yes, Wang Lu was exceptionally arrogant but I found it funny more than annoying. Again, it's a comedy so his flaw of arrogance was exaggerated. Because of his unique status within the world, it somewhat gave him justification to be arrogant. He was the only character in the story who knew exactly what his role was and he never deviated from it. Xiao Hai didn't deviate from his either but he didn't have a choice, which made his infuriatingly rigid stance forgivable. The bromance between Wang Lu and Xiao Hai was awesome. It wasn't too thick but it was definitely enough to melt my heart. I had a little more trouble with the romance between Wang Lu and Wang Wu. It just didn't feel genuine. I think he respected her and cared for her immensely but was he in love with her? .... I'm not sure. That was a hard sell.

SOUND: I loved the music in here. Wang Lu's "theme song" was awesome. It made me feel the same exhilaration as whenever I heard Ichigo's or Naruto's "about to kick some ass" themes. The opening and ending themes were also great. The clackers, gongs, and cymbals from Chinese theater somehow made the funny moments even funnier.

OVERALL: If you can appreciate sarcastic, campy, satirical humor, watch this. If you already have a basic knowledge of the xianxia genre, computer gaming rules, major anime, and Chinese theater, you'll love this even more. I absolutely recommend it.

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It's a Parody and meant to be crazy

THIS STORY WAS OFF THE WALL AND WAY OUT OF LEFT FIELD....I LOVED IT!!!!!

I was so confused in the beginning cuz it starts out like he's in a virtual game and I kept saying he's going turn out to be in a VRG, but NOPE. It was so weird and fun and kept you asking questions!

Xu Kai's acting was perfect in this and I loved the fact that his character always seemed to come close to breaking the forth wall (I can't remember if he actually did, let me know if he did). I kept expecting one of the other characters to be like "Ah....who are you talking to?" And have him look at the camera and be like "No one...." lol

This show was just so wonderfully batshit insane that I've started to watch it again!

Don't be confused if you're watching it for the first time. It's a parody of wuxias and it's meant to be crazy!

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Chemistry between the ML and FL

At first, I really thought Ouyang Shang (FL's first love) was reincarnted as Wang Lu(ML) but as the story goes on I hoped that that wasn't the case. To be honest, ML and FL has NO CHEMISTRY AS A COUPLE. I thought about how I could describe their chemistry/relationship but MASTER AND DISCIPLE is the most suitable to describe them, I think there's nothing better than that. I never really want them to be something more because that turns me off.

WANG LU AND HAI YUNFAN HAS MORE CHEMISTRY. I'm not saying that this drama have to be a bl but why did they have to have a FL? I mean, it's also alright for the ML to have a FL but atleast give them more chemistry as a COUPLE.

EVEN THE SWORD SPIRIT AND ML HAS BETTER CHEMISTRY.

I LIKED THE FL-SHE'S FUNNY- BUT ONLY AS HIS MASTER. Really, whenever I remember their KISSING SCENE, IT DISGUSTS ME.

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This is not a serious Chinese costume drama. I repeat, this is not one on the serious side. If you're expecting something more serious, this is not the drama for you. I heard some of my friends said this is bad, do not watch and as it turns out they were expecting something serious and did not get the jokes. For me, this drama is okay. It's not excellent or even on the good part, but it's okay. The story is just standard, but they way they present it with comedy is so refreshing! I laughed at many of the scenes, especially the first half. The cast often have joking expression, so cute, especially the FL and ML. Even the background music sounds comedic rather than serious. OST is not my favorite, but I watch this on Netflix so it skips the opening and ending theme song. As for rewatch value, I would definitely revisit some of the funny scenes just to have a good laugh, and a break from the serious drama. I didn't give a higher score for this because for me, this is not considered a good drama, but more like a light entertainment. But, definitely watchable. There's some good fighting scenes too!

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Brilliant show!

If you're from the west like me, and are more and more disappointed with the quality of Hollywood endless rehashing of same old, this show is like a breath of fresh air.

Excellent plot twists, irresistible cliffhangers, beautiful scenery, a wonderful sweet background romance, mixed in with realistic, no bs and surprisingly tradition challenging elements with such depth and subtlety only masters of the art can produce.

A really humorous turn of situation in anime fashion keeps you smiling even through the darkest scenes, the beauty and the beast turned beast and the beast will bring real tears to your eyes and mend your heart.

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Anime fun fluffy drama

This may not be everyones cup of tea, it actually took me quite a few episode to get used to its style. If you enjoy watching anime than you may understand the jokes better. This is another wuxia drama with combination of comedy and adventure. I like Xu Kai better in these type of carefree comical roles. There are some actors who are just decent in this drama like Wang Wu and Hai Yun Fan. They tried to throw some romance in there which I really don't think fit the theme. Overall, I would say good drama to watch after a long day of work and you just want to relax. The plot is very simple, this drama is more for the comedy and entertainment.

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A worth watching drama

This drama doesn't have alot of twists its just a fun light drama yet its really good the character of XU kai is really something. you will never get tired of watching him.

The over all drama is pretty good will make you laugh along the chemistry between the casts is also good. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Would I watch it again....may be maybe not . but some lame parts/scenes are definitely worth to be put on repeat.
This drama is not for you. Do not waste your time on this. But if you are looking for a light hearted drama to watch after a long day of work or a drama to watch while you're eating in which you don't need to pay full attention for. Then you have the right drama here.

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Non il limone che volevo, ma almeno c’è un limone.

Carino, merita di essere visto. Diciamo che è come se si prendessero tanti stereotipi del genere e si mettessero tutti assieme nella stessa storia (e i protagonisti stessi scherzassero su questo fatto, infatti più volte il protagonista dice “se non io chi, sono per l’appunto il protagonista maschile”) quindi la storia in se ci sta. Molto piacevole (anche se dal mio punto di vista rallenta un pelino a metà per poi tornare a bomba nel finale (che ci piace perché aperto e quindi ben venga la prossima stagione), anche se ahimè ci sono limoni, ma non quelli che volevo. Allora sentite tutti, ho visto The Untamed la bellezza di tre volte (e pure Guardian) e erano tutti sguardi persi, conigli e prese al volo mentre esce sangue dalla bocca, che manco un’ emorragia interna, quindi ben vengano i limoni, solo che i due protagonisti maschili… diciamo che hanno un feeling molto simile ai miei amati WW e LW quindi mi aspettavo che la censura facesse il suo lavoro e restasse anche questa una serie piena di sguardi e basta. E invece no. Abbiamo il limone, non quello che vorremmo (certo, anche se se si leggono i tag si ha tutto spoilerato molto più di quanto non faccia questa recensione), però almeno abbiamo non uno, ma bensì due limoni.

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