Tian Wu Ji

Fun and Interesting if you are just getting into Chinese dramas of the historical / magical flavor. Good battles not too overdone and a believable romance between the two main characters - spiced and spiked by politics, egotism, duty, jealousy, racism (human vs kunwu) and manipulation of magic (i.e. "cultivation").

The following is opinion - I love Xu Kai (Kai Xu). That said, this is not my favorite of his works but it was still very enjoyable. His character was cheeky, cocky but with occasional complexity. I adored Wu Jia Yi (Jiayi Wu)'s portrayal of Lie Huo Jun Xiao (2019) in Lie Huo Jun Xiao (2019) (my 2nd favorite Xu Kai series) so was delighted to see her in the lead here, which was a very different character but still had that underlying confidence and strength which delighted me.

All in all, the acting was good - a little overdone in parts but that just seems to be how certain Chinese dramas are. Also, not being Chinese myself, there are probably parts where the subtlety, certain behaviours and etiquette or the references were lost to me... and not just in the subtitles. Still, it was a well-chosen cast for the most part.

The plot and storyline were mostly predictable but that didn't distract me as it would in most other shows. I still had my fingers crossed and a hopeful heart even knowing what would likely happen. The only things that really jarred me were the scenes where certain women - who had already demonstrated significant fighting skills in hand-to-hand combat, with weapons, and with magic - were suddenly afraid of a noise or the dark or something relatively simple (these same women went into battle unflinchingly). Sexism in spades but thankfully not that prevalent.

Good special effects and lovely costuming complemented the story well.

All in all, I found it enjoyable and worth a second watch to watch the actual acting (since the first watch was spent mostly on subtitles and following the story). I recommend it as a light-hearted watch.