The YouTube trailer for Snow Tower showed a lot of martial arts promise, and after seeing it, I decided to try Snow Tower out. One episode in, and I knew that I was going to watch Snow Tower from the very first episode down to the bitter end, 55 episodes later. That being said, I will review Snow Tower along these parameters: martial arts, storyline, plotting, characterization.

Martial Arts

The martial art depicted in Snow Tower is extremely reminiscent of the martial arts scenes of the old wuxia martial arts dramas from the eighties to the mid to late nineties; hard, brutal, stunningly choreographed, and breathtakingly executed. From the female characters, to the male leads, it is easy to see what makes this series to stand out amongst its fans.

Snow Tower martial arts and fight scenes are lethal and fast, breathtaking and spin-tingling, its execution flawless, like incredibly fast ballet dancers moving their boneless, limber bodies to the beat of some unseen music.

Any lover of Wuxia dramas will surely be taken in by the martial arts scenes of Snow Tower, from the beginning of the storyline, down to its middle, before the scenes seemed to slightly peter off into a more “traditional leaning” drama style that focused on more acting and less skilful, perfectly choreographed fight scenes, before picking up dramatically towards the end, with stunning ferocity.

For its martial arts, Snow Tower is a must-see, for lovers of Wuxia.

Storyline & Plotting

Snow Tower is pretty much straightforward acting, with a very strong central core plot and with numerous sub-plots focusing on love, hate, treachery, power, betrayals and revenge. While Snow Tower maintained its fidelity to its central plotline, some of its sub-plots were weak and could have been dispensed with, without in any way affecting the central storyline of the blood feud between the two warring sects Moon Sect and Snow Tower.
Snow Tower moves slowly, almost languidly, seriously, from day to day and through year to year, to burn through the story of the central plotting that bound all these characters in the Wuxia drama to each other, each with their own agendas, both innocuous and sinister.
Snow Tower did however receive negative reviews from critics of the series, based off on the fact that the series deviated “entirely” from the central plot of the novel of the same name it was adapted from.

Characterization

Snow Tower boasts of two main characters: Xiao Yi Qing (Tower Master, Snow Tower) and Shu Jinrong (or, Lady Jing, Ming Er). To be honest Shu Jinrong was presented in a very weak light. For a character billed to be the main character, one who wields the Blood Rose sword of her father the Blood Demon and who is expected to burn blazes through the pugilistic world in the series, Shu Jinrong is weak. That is the best word for her: Weak. She is pig-headed, stubborn, does not see the big picture and how her actions can come with terrible (future) consequences, and she shows restraint when she should not.

Fans of Snow Tower have criticized the portrayal of Shu Jinrong in the tv series, which they have bemoaned to be a deviation of her strong nature and character in the novel of the same name.

Xiao Yi Qing—the Tower Master of Snow Tower—is portrayed as an ailing young man with some incurable jin disease which leaves his body weak. Fortunately, Yi Qing is armed with incredible martial arts skills. In spite of all the great martial artists that made their appearance in the pugilistic world in Snow Tower, it is an easy bet to say that Xiao Yi Qing is literally unmatched, a cold, lethal presence armed with a short dagger—a dagger matched only by the Blood Rose sword wielded by Shu Jinrong—which he uses to ruthlessly cut down any and all enemies that threaten him and the Snow Tower. . .by a thin, smooth line in the throat. Yeah, he’s that lethal and that effective. Like every man, he has his Archilles heel, three in fact: his mother, Elder Xue Wen, who has been trapped as a prisoner in the Moon Sect since he was a little boy; his health, which remains a serious throughout the entire series, and his love interest, Shu Jinrong. However, Tower Master Xiao Yi Qing is quite cold, ruthless, appears emotionless and unaffectionate, which makes other characters to questions his feelings and his humanity, above all else. Still, to give him credit, he is portrayed as fair.

Asides these two main characters Xiao Yi Qing and Shu Jinrong, there is a slew of other secondary characters that appear throughout the series, each with their own perks and perspective. Young Hero Gao Meng Fei comes off as very playful, a small ray of light in the bleak, blood-soaked drama of Snow Tower, but that playful nature is weathered by a ruthless ambition that is quite shocking. Chi Xiao Tai comes off as playful as well, though blinded by unrequited love and driven by hatred. Ming He is the most colourful secondary character of them all; beautiful, innocent-looking and quite beguiling, this angel-faced monster has so many aces up her sleeves, you can’t help but compare her to some devil.

All in all, a solid cast made Snow Tower a success.

Having worked through my thoughts on these characters, I must add that Snow Tower came in with a shocker: emotions. Watching Snow Tower will, at some point, get your emotions involved, such that you might even shed a tear or two, hope that a specific character is mercilessly knifed to death, and even drop your mouth in shock and horror at some of the betrayals and shifting alliances that play out in the course of Snow Tower.

Would I recommend It? Yes, I would, absolutely, though I must warn, Shu Jingrong is a weak, emotional presence that keeps upsetting plans through the series.