Word of Honor

There are several points for an 9 star review but first, I'll explain why not a 10 star review: because of the camera work and sound design. I don't know if the director (or directors?) had a not so great camera team operator because in some scenes you can see the way the camera shakes and it's not consistent with the feeling of the scene. Although I understand why the sound design needed to be covered by the BGM because of the loud exterior sounds of other productions that happened in the same place and at the same time, there's no enough digetic sound to give more dimensionality to the overall picture. With dubbing it's another issue that I don't have right to make criticism.

However, why 9 stars? Because even though it was a low budget production, it doesn't feel like one. It's obvious the production knew their weaknesses and their strengths and exploited both of them.

The first thing I applaud is the script. The script writer was debuting in this work, and already had done a excellent job of conveying the substancial (romantic) relationship of ZZS and WKX. It is not at all surprising that both GJ and ZZH were able to demonstrate good acting skills here, because the script worked on their behalf.

The second thing is the plot, although it falls into varied exhibition dialogues (understandable, because after all it is in television format), is interesting enough to be able to continue watching and waiting for the next episode. Besides, the cast doesn't fall behind; although not everyone is at the level of the skill of ZZH or the other veteran actors, they stand in their own enough to show a convincing performance.

And the last thing: the fight scenes. In the first episodes those aren't too great because of the edited slow motion, but later in the ongoing episodes, the fights have improved a lot, so much so that they give me adrenaline.

From a point of a viewer who has not seen many Chinese dramas, this series is quite recommended to enter the world of wuxia stories. Please love this serie! By the way, you can find the free episodes 1-10 at Youku channel.

This is the best wuxia series I saw in recent years.

The relationship between the main actors is romantic and delicate. You can tell by every words they say and every expression they make. I can feel the spark and its change between them. It uses a lot of Chinese poetries and articles. If you can speak Chinese, you will feel the power and the beauty of the ancient sentences that they talk to each other. If not it's okay too, Youku made their best to provide the translation in 13 languages on Youtube.

The editor made a very complex Zhou Zishu. And Zhang Zhehan (portray ZZS) plays really well. This character is changing all the time as the story goes. And Wen Kexing is also changing inside as he interacts with his soulmate Zhou Zishu. The eye acting of Gong Jun (portray WKX) is very attractive. They both had the dark history that they don't want to touch. But along with each other, they find the new meaning of life. Besides the main characters, there're a lot deep and lifelike characters as well. You will be touched by even a bit part. The acting and the story is very enjoyable!

Also, the composition looks typically Chinese-elegent. As a wuxia drama, the martial art is graceful, flexible and diverse. In different scenes you will have different feelings.

Although the film editing and effects are not perfect, and I know the budget is limited, I still love and highly recommend this drama.

Wen Kexing stole the show. This role was so successful and popular because Gong Jun interpreted it very well and immersed himself in the role. WenKexing is a multi-faceted and complex character. How Gong Jun handled the switching between kindness and cruelty is spot-on. WenKexing is a classic role and will forever be in the hearts of the audience.

On the other hand, I am confused by the blank stare acting of Zhou Zishu. It is odd and illogical for an immoral former leader of an assassination organization to act like a saint after he left the organization. It is either due to poor script or poor acting. This character is a turn-off for me and therefore I couldn't give this drama a 10-star.

I often just watch highlights of a series, especially Chinese series cause many them of have such a large number of episodes with a lot of filters. However, each episode in this series is quite dense with plot details and forshadowings. Actions scenes has good choreography and stays true to its genres. The two leads portray their character spendidly, especially through their eyes and microexpressions. They also performed most of the action scenes themselves. The supporting charactors also have interesting backstories. Dispite the limited budget, the crews has delivered a high quality series with a lot of hearts in it.

I think this drama is the best adaptation of Chinese novels in recent years. It interprets the love of two boys in the period of ancient Chinese knights. The two mutual salvation dramas contain many classic expressions of love in China and the world. There is no direct expression of love in the play, but the love expressed by the eyes gestures of the two actors can make you want to stop.