The Legend of White Snake

Seriously in this series the buddha guy is really annoying.

I personally enjoyed every episode to the final episode. The costumes, CGI, cultural attire, accuracy in delivering and representation of modesty and respect within the culture

The filming is strikingly beautiful and all actors and actresses are so well chosen and act with sincerity. There is plenty of emotions going through the whole venture. A well versed martial monk with 2 ingenuous snakes to contend with looking so beautiful in their women form and the ever pragmatic main subject always calm and plenty of reverence throughout. Spectacular in so many ways and it should be viewed again and again.

The CGI is amazing, first of all. The actors and actresses did great too. However I felt like the plot had been dragged out a bit somewhere in the 20 something episodes, and the ending was kind of expected..? I mean to be fair this drama made me cry twice it's really good BUT I still feel like the plot could've been better.

The Legend of the White Snake has been motive to a handful of movies and tv shows already, but the fact that this one is available on western streaming platforms with decent subtitles finally makes this story accessible to non-Chinese audience. And it does a good job. The recurring music theme of the characters is fitting, character attires and scenery support the immersion and the character development is, to most extent, convincing. The dramaturgy might seem somewhat cliché and seem overboard from time to time ("I save you!" - "No, I save you!" etc.), but then again, this is also the case with many modern US shows where we're just more used to it. A basic knowledge of Chinese culture helps to understand certain characters' reactions and behaviour, mythology and Buddhism play a significant role as the story develops.

The stern facial expressions of most of the main characters struck me dull from time to time although it probably fits the expected behaviour of "middle-class" characters at that time. The CGI is not exactly state-of-the-art, but it's sufficient to deliver the message. Xiao Yan though delivers an outstanding performance in her role as Xiao Qing. She delivers her character an authentic way, displaying a range of expressions and emotions probably wider than the rest of the cast combined.

One can easily binge-watch this show as a kind of Chinese version of "Charmed". Took me longer than one week-end to finish it, but it was very enjoyable.