The main reason this show got me hooked within the first couple of episodes. The storytelling is atypical and the visuals unusually brutal for a Chinese TV show. It dives deeply into a world of politics, intrigue, diplomacy and murder, with the main character caught in between with no proper understanding why with, the reason for which being rather uncreative though. Not that it bothers much - the personalities of the Chang'an nobility, their superficial relations and their struggle for power and influence behind the curtain is entertaining enough to spark interest where this is going. The choreography of the fight scenes looks pretty good, which is a quality that remains strong throughout the first season. Unfortunately the storytelling fails to keep its initial depth, though. The strong female lead does her best to carry the tale, but is for the most part only able to retain her standing and importance due to the fact that every noble male of note that she meets immediately and immortally falls in love with her, leaving her in the middle of the romantic hexagon (?) of their power struggle. Animations and CGI appear pretty cheap and outdated, which is unfortunately a common flaw amongst the majority of Chinese TV shows (with a few notable exceptions), but not to an extent that it hurts the numerous martial art scenes too much.
The last and final point I need to mention is the way the creators decided to close the first (and, as the time of this review: only) season. This show is drawn after the story of a book, and in order to avoid spoilers I only can say that the point to end the season was probably the most horrible decision of the entire show. Rumours have it that a second season can possibly be expected - four years after the first season's release this is more than unlikely. While the show itself was, despite its obvious flaws, quite enjoyable for me: prepare for a very unsatisfying conclusion of the season.
