Try the World (2022)

One of the Best Chinese Period Drama!

Story:
-So fun with the dual identity, strong ML & FL which was great to watch
+hoped they would develop more of the playful humor surrounding her reveal of her double identity but then again it was during her state being attacked.
-The story is excellent with so many different characters that weave together and believable
-The ending was a bit anticlimactic when they fought the villian.
-The intrigue, the manipulation of trying to gain the throne and then the realization of what's important and how difficult it is to be in a place of power and to use it well...very good.
-And as someone commented...best portrayal of woman admiration and friendship even with liking the same person. Strong portrayal and positive light on women.

Acting:
- Yang Yang did an amazing job of the elegant, sickly genius Prince and the strong, intelligent, powerful Hei Fengxi. His small inflections, smiles and facial expresssions were well acted.
- Zhao Lusi was positively fun and excellent. Her portrayal of Bai Fengxi and then Princess Xiyun was right on target! Innocent, playful and yet strong in martial arts, smart and wanting just to exact justice not be in a place of power.
-Qiwu was played very well as the strong female clan leader and smart as a whip, supporter to both lead roles.
-Rest of the cast played every role so well...it was so fun to watch esp the antagonists and their plotting.

Overall:
I have to say this has everything: wuxia, romance, power struggle, royalty, beautiful costuming, beautiful scenery, great humor, military strategy, and well acted. Pacing, directing, sets, costuming were all good...the only thing is the ending was a bit less descriptive but all in all it made you want more! I've rewatched certain scenes so many times! You definitely cheer for the couple and it's hard to stop watching. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did/do! ;)

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Most loved Drama

I don't understand Chinese language but by using sub title... I really don't have comments to mention ...
Wow! What a beautiful stroy.. casting, outfit, supporting rols, kudos gose to entire team.. fentastic drama most loved one ❤️ some love Seance made me tear in my eye🥺.. special love with Yang yang look more smart in different Costumes... All supporting rols are amazing...

now days genuinely we cannot see love stories like this... after very long i seen in your Drama.. i really dont have much word to explain🥺

I am waiting for next wonderful series with same team...god bless you all❤️ More love from India🇮🇳🙏

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Tale of Bai Feng Xi and Hei Feng Xi

Everyone was hyped for this drama, and when it officially came out it (unsurprisingly) got pretty high reviews. So obviously I just HAD to watch it. When I started Who Rules the World, my expectations were quite high, as I knew that actors and actresses like Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si would not disappoint. I was not wrong. I loved almost everything about the drama- the storyline was brilliantly thought out and the characters/actors/actresses were amazing.
Bai Feng Xi is playful and careless while Hei Feng Xi is intelligent and majestic. Those two were definitely a match made in heaven, and they were definitely born to rule. I really enjoyed Zhao Lu Si and Yang Yang’s light romance and flawless chemistry, however, it was the realistic yet emotional romance that made me tear up after I finished the drama, haha. As the Who Rules the World got more into politics, I thought it would be boring, but I was proved wrong, because I was actually interested by the situations going on in the royal court and different countries.
Additionally, I found that Who Rules the World had a lot of beautiful details- the authentic and elegant outdoor/indoor sceneries and alluring costumes added a magic touch to the drama as a whole. Overall, I would rate this drama a 9.0 because even after a few days, I’ve been thinking about this high-quality drama nonstop and researching whether or not a second season will be made. Very few dramas put a spell like that on me, and so maybe even years from now on, I’ll still be humming the WTW soundtrack. I would very much recommend Who Rules the World for anyone who’s searching for one heck of a historical costume c-drama!

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A pretty decent Wuxia drama

As I watch this drama, I was so impressed with the storyline, the pairing of the ML and FL was surprisingly good as they are very convincing and well matched. I couldn't wait for the next coming episodes and decided to become a VIP member of WeTV... The fighting scene was fast with very very little slow motion shots, in fact hardly, made it that much more exciting than Sword Snow Stride which inundated with slow mo shots which spoilt the momentum of the drama, like many others too. That's pretty good.. Everything was going just fine and edging towards the best drama of 2022, which could have easily won.

There are a few points in the quite a good drama that fall short of being a great drama are as follows.

1. It took too long for Hei Fengxi to find out the real identity of Bai Fengxi, that is dragging on a bit, which lead to my suspicion of my final point. If they bring it earlier on there will be so much more great material...

2. The leads fuffing around too long in Yangzhou, and we hardly see anything of Qingzhou, which would have made a great balance in the drama.

3. There are 40 episodes for the drama to pace and pan out the storyline which could have helped with a lot of curiosity of Bai Fengxi background, in stead they pushed all the building up towards the ending in the last couple of episodes, reminds one of a 200 metre dash towards to the finishing line, too quick and too rush, took all the excitement of the ending away.. And the ending was just too soft, like the air finally left and ends with a flat soft ending, anti-climax no less. And visually it also looks a bit rushed too, not as refine as the previous fighting scenes.

I wonder was it because they were pacing it for a 60 episodes instead of 40? That's why they rush towards the end? Oh well...

The rush-ending does remind me of another recent very decent drama, The Autumn Ballad, which was such a let down... in so many ways....

But still Who Rules The World is still an enjoyable drama....

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Loved it

From the outset I have to say it became a bit too long for me and I just had to jump to the end to see how it ends. It was really beautiful and the love story developed slowly in that the characters learned to appreciate each other and share some life experiences together. Both Bai and Hai Fengxi are beautiful people who has goodwill to all human beings and fight for justice. The plot and politics were engaging al the way through. The martial arts were a bit wild but enjoyable.The music were very BIG and reminded of movies like Prince of Egypt. The costumes and dresses were so intricate and beautiful. I can recommend the movie whole heartedly and the acting were so believable that I found myself moving from tearing up to feeling very happy with the characters quite often. I absolutely loved the series but it was just too many episodes for a busy person like me. Enjoy !

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My guilty pleasure

My absolute favorite CDrama/Asian actress Zhao Lusi (she’s the best Chinese Actress IMO) + one of my favorite CDrama/Asian actor Yang Yang, then add my favorite genre Martial Arts to the mix, to say I was in TV heaven with this series is an understatement.
I have rewatched so many times already and I am currently rewatching while writing this review.
The only thing I hated was Hei-FengXi’s love and devotion to his useless and wicked father. That man was a very jealous and small man. He loved Prince Ju because he thought that one was useless and wouldn’t threaten his power/position. But Feng LanXi was mysterious and smart, so he was always trying to suppress him. The funny thing is Feng LanXi didn’t even think of usurping his dad at all, especially since he could have done it so easily. Then the step mother was definitely a piece of work.
I actually liked Feng Qi Wu, she accepted things after she was shut down and contributed massively to the efforts of Prince Feng LanXi.
Prince Huang Chao, I don’t even know what to say about him. He wanted to rule the world so badly he forwent all common sense and deductive reasoning. He was a nice side character.
Yu WuYuan was indeed a worthy villain. He was so unsuspecting that even the extremely intelligent and cunning Hei-FengXi couldn’t see through him at the beginning. I didn’t like how the final fight went though, I kinda expected more and it was anti-climactic to say the least.
But the fight scenes and martial arts in the series was so well done and like I said earlier I was in TV heaven. My love for martial arts is unexplainable. My brother says why do I like people that are flying, and I ask him but you like Superman, doesn’t he fly?
Anyways back to the review. Then the legendary Bai-Hei FengXi Duo, my favorite dynamic duo. I read some people complaining about their chemistry and i for one don’t know what the hell they were talking about, their chemistry was plenty fine, this was not a romance focused series but still their chemistry was on point IMO. They understood each other and played well off each other.
They may not have ruled the world at the end but they sure as hell ruled it to perfection before going into seclusion.
The music here was sooooooo good. I have all the songs on my playlist.
Obviously rewatch value is 10/10 as I have rewatched several times already and currently rewatching at the time of this review.
I wish I could give it more stars but since I can’t.
A very solid 10/10 overall.
I highly highly highly recommend.

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The chopping block!

I adored this drama! When i read the novel it was quite underwhelming, so naturally i loved the drama more. The story in both the novel and drama is a bit weak, but lets talk about the drama. I want to do the drama justice by telling what was great about it.

1. The actors. Phenomenal performances from the entire cast. Zhao Lusi really owned her role! Yang Yang was also quite good. However i really think Zhao Lusi took the cake on this one. She was very immersed in her character and it was almost like bai fengxi in the drama was the bai fengxi from the novel coming alive! Kudos for the great show of talent in the two leads.

2. I loved the chemistry between the two leads and i did enjoy each of their stories. A lot of people complained about there being too much palace plot on the male lead side, but i quite enjoyed it. It was annoying but it gave Feng Lanxi depth and even a bit of pity bc of all the struggles he had to deal with his selfish, power hungry, uncaring family. I wish they emphasized more on the female lead back story but they put her on the chopping block.

3. I loved all the side characters. There wasnt anyone overly annoying and obsessed. Usually you have this 3 way love triangle trope, or obsessed girl who pines, and schemes, or kills for the one they obsess over, but here; There is no misunderstanding or giving a cold shoulder to each other for long periods of time before they start realizing they were stupid. Even the 2nd female lead was cool and you almost wanted her to get the main lead as well. It was so chill and non stressful, I couldnt wait until each episode came out.

Now, i gave the story a low score and mediocre in some other regards but it was simply the chemistry and acting that just made it all up for me.

My qualms: they chopped this drama in what should have been 50 epidodes to 40. They really did butcher the story and lots of things did not line up or make sense b/c like my title says, the episodes were chopped!!! They crunched everything and made me feel like it was rushed rushed rushed. The beginning-mid was slow then all of a sudden you get operation warp speed! Literally almost everything in the last 10 episodes did not align so there ARE many plot holes.

Nonetheless i very much so enjoyed the drama and would watch it again. Probably again and again and again. Lol There were too many good parts and acting that supercedes the negative.

If you are expecting the drama to be remotely like the novel, dont. You will be disappointed. Just watch this with an open mind and prepare for some things not to make sense bc it was chopped, chopped, chopped! 🤪

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A love story for anyone ...2 Watch worthy

The actors do not get lost amongst one another. The story line does a wonderful job of weaving each person in and out as if, an ornate dance. At points it becomes 3 dimensional with a folding over of a person or storyline to fit or wait on a new story point.
The actors are superb and the love story mixed with great battles and some very sad losses will eventually find its way to your tear ducts!
This is one I can revisit often for many reasons...most of all for an appreciation of the two main characters and their spirit of sharing in love, no matter the cost or the circumstances.

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Fantasy-based Magic Martial Arts

I was encouraged to watch this drama because it received good ratings and was supposed to be good. However, I hesitated for a long while as I am not a fan of "wu xia". I finally decided to watch it because I had run out of good shows to watch and because the lead is Yang Yang. I am glad that I embarked on this "journey". It has been a ride.

What I liked:
- The leads have good chemistry. Even though I am not a big fan of the female lead, she pairs well with Yang Yang. Her acting has also improved a lot IMO.
- Yang Yang. He is a handsome lad and he looks good on my TV screen.
- Both leads are powerful in their martial arts and I especially love the fact that the female lead does not require saving by others. She is very powerful and is capable of saving herself and other people. I really love the fact that she is not a stereotypical silly damsel in distress. I like that she is smart and badass.
- The plot is intriguing enough despite the "omg are you sure" moments which border on illogical (but bear in mind that this is a "wu xia" drama.
- The acting throughout is good.

What I didn't like:
- Yang Yang's father in the drama was all sorts of insecure. I mean: Why would you cripple your son by giving him a drink to weaken him? I would only wish for my son to be a stronger person and not a weaker person. His motives were insane and inhumane.
- Yu Wu Yuan was a super villain. I didn't like him from the start because of his face. He looked fussy and hard to please. It was painful to watch him and his evil stratagems.
- Feng Ju's mother and Feng Ju were not pleasant either. Feng Ju's mother was a witch. She was positively evil. She wanted to kill her own husband to put her son as the king. I mean: Which wife does this? Also, she refused to acknowledge her firstborn son. Heartless mother and self-absorbed human being.

Overall, this drama is worth watching! :) I enjoyed the ride although I feel that the ending can be made much happier. I love happy endings (that's why).

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It's missing something

This one got really glowing reviews so I was quite looking forward to it, and while I still like the essence of the plot and the chemistry between the leads, it just feels like there's something missing. Maybe it was the writing or the editing, but I constantly felt like the show was missing scenes or having really important reveals happen off-screen. I was looking forward to a lot of identity reveals — each of the leads and the villain — but they all turned out very underwhelming, like the characters found out off screen and then the next scene was them just stating it.

The plot itself is interesting but it was also written in a weird way. I wasn't sure how the leads found out about the villain, and I wasn't completely sure about the antagonist's motivations either, compared to a drama like The Untamed drama where got to see exactly how the leads worked together and how things went wrong. There are characters who I thought would end up playing a bigger role considering how much screentime and importance they were given, but they turned out to just be a subplot and not at all tied to the final arc, which ultimately felt quite rushed.

Overall, I think there's a story here, but from someone who hasn't read the source material, the drama itself is not executed that well outside of the two leads.

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Flawed adaptation with some pros and various cons

The leads have a strong bond and a healthy, drama-free relationship. WRTW is very suitable as a show without misunderstandings and draggy triangles.

What starts with the promise of an interesting empire-level power conflict quickly shifts focus to palace intrigue in just one of the empire's six states, the type of endless (endlessly repetitive) squabbles in which the baddies can never be stopped for good.
(From other comments online, I've learned that this was added by the drama writers, and in the actual novel there are "only a few paragraphs" of the palace intrigue that makes up a big portion of the show.)

Since she's an excellent fighter, little Lusi doesn't always need to be rescued. Except when she needs to be rescued.
Most of the time she's just hungry, which is terribly unimaginative. (Eventually the writers forget that. Just like they regularly forget the whole 'falcon' technology.)

95% of the show, FL and especially ML are super mega smart. The only times one of the leads is in serious peril, it is because they devolve into truly moronic drama leads that make nonsensical decisions without consulting the other – otherwise the writers have no way of plausibly getting them into danger. Every time this happens (admittedly rarely), this is somewhere between disappointing and infuriating.

The villain(s) and the "token" plotline don't make a lot of sense to me. I don't know how much of that is because of Netflix's usual so-so translation quality, or how much stems from the drama adaption vs the original work.

I feel it must be mentioned how unpleasant Yang Yang's hairstyle he wears for most of the show is ("hair up" doesn't work with his face), and how poorly the matter of double identities is handled, especially with regards to revealing them.

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