A Rather Disappointing Adaptation of the original Webcomic

So I'm a reader of the original Navillera webcomic. When i heard they were adapting it, I was absolutely thrilled! I couldn't wait!

So while there were *some* things I absolutely didn't mind being changed (one change was to give one of DukChul's granddaughters more focus); too much was removed and changed from the webcomic to the point it was very jarring and just overall disappointing. Unlike the inspiration and warmth of the comic, all i felt was something hollow and empty in the drama.

I personally suggest reading the webcomic over watching the drama.

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Sadly, this Wolf had to be put down

When I heard Xiao Zhan was going to star in this drama, I was excited. The Premise was interesting to me. Two childhood best friends meeting again in a tense time. I was hooked. The first episode was a bit shaky but I was ok with that.

First, let me say the positives: The music was AMAZING. I loved the music that accompanied the little bit of the series! And the actors were great with what little they were given. Will say that Lord Bo's actor was stiff in some places but it's to be expected. And of course, amazing performance from Xiao Zhan!

Now, on to the review and the reasons why I couldn't finish this.

Ma Zhaixing, the adopted daughter of General Ma, befriends a feral boy whom she names "Wolfie". So when he's accused of killing a government official, Xing'er (what Wolfie calls her) tries to chase him away and make him "hate" her until the Ma family finds out that it wasn't Wolfie's fault (it was a servant who killed the government official using Wolfie as a scapegoat). But Xing'er is much too late to tell her adopted brother that Wolfie is innocent as Wolfie is cast off the cliff to his seeming "death" (Wolfie is saved by the Emperor and is trained to be a ruthless killer) and Xing'er suffers a leg injury caused by her adopted brother.

So we skip ahead a few years to Xing'er being an adult and being a jaded woman. Then one night, her entire family is killed with her as the sole survivor. The Emperor planned to marry her to Lord Bo (the Third Prince) to gain the Ma Family's army. And thus, we begin our story of Xing'er reuniting with Lord Bo, through trials and tribulations of love and war.

I have to say, the first few episodes were strong tho shaky. There was very obvious chemistry between the leads to where I thought they were pretty sweet. But the consistent and meddling misunderstandings and some of the dumbest actions really killed it. Some of the misunderstandings made sense but the majority of them made it seem like Lord Bo and Xing'er were absolutely brain dead. I think where it came to a head where I said "I don't know if I can continue watching" was when Ji Chong came in and became a much much MUCH better match for Xing'er than Lord Bo.

I'm all for romances where you can never forget your first love. I love that stuff! But here, it was absolute brain-deadness and the scene where Xing'er throws herself off the cliff to prove that Lord Bo is Wolfie in episode 19 or 20 just solidified in my mind that it was only going downhill. Especially up until that point, Lord Bo had extreme mood swings to the point of being downright ridiculous.

The attempted sexual assault scene was very...uncomfortable to say the least and i've seen many people defending it. The fact Lord Bo already embarrassed the fuck out of Xing'er for her dance was enough. I think him forcing himself on her was a bit too much, no matter how drunk or how much he wanted to make her hate him for whatever reason. And this is coming from someone who didn't bat an eye at similar situations in other dramas. Here, it was too much. The embarrassment was enough.

I know other people loved this drama but I truly feel that the only character that wasn't horrible was Ji Chong (Xiao Zhan) and I'm sad that he never had a chance with Xing'er.

So say what you will. I unfortunately had to put this Wolf to sleep and can't see myself picking it up again. Even Ji Chong couldn't save this series.

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