Watching Arsenal Military Academy is a feast for your eyes. The cinematography, action scenes, film sets and costumes are on point. I wasn't eager to watch this drama, because I thought it would be patriotic, nationalistic, but fortunately, it wasn't.
Story
True to its title this series tells the adventures of young cadets who are training, bonding, finding their life purpose. Some interesting characters are introduced in several subplots. There's this girl (Bai Lu) who's grieving about her deceased brother. She decides to impersonate him at the academy. There are two young celebs, a rich heir (Xu Kai) and an actress (Wu Jia Yi) who both take too many risks just to escape their pampered life. The rich boy enlists himself for the academy. Among their high society friends are two brothers, who are leading a business imperium together, but also get more involved in the resistance against Japanese aggression. The younger brother (Toby Lee) goes to the Academy to sharpen his war skills. There he gets a surprise visit from a Sino-Japanese girl he knew from high school. She went to live abroad, but somehow she has returned for mysterious reasons.
Their story is set at the time of the Sino-Japanese aggression, but it all seems more like a fantasy tale, full of glamour, action and music. Characters get away with cross dressing, stunt riding on motor cycles, single handed shoot outs with complete combat armies, escapes from Japanese police cells in just a few minutes. It's all very entertaining.
Cast
This time, the second leads steal the show in stead of the leading couple that made me watch this drama in the first place. Bai Lu and Xu Kai are legendary together in The Legends (2019) but don't expect a rerun of their chemistry here. However, as stand-alone character they are both attractive. Xu Kai is tall, sexy and cute as ever. Bai Lu is even better as a male cadet than as a girl. The best romance scene goes to Hong Yao as the eldest Shen brother who deeply loves Qu Man Ting ( Wu Jia Yi) He's able to recognize this seemingly superficial actress as a strong and capable partner in life, long before she knows it herself. Toby Lee has the role of the younger Shen brother, a lone wolf full of dark brooding energy. It fits him like a glove.
Production
The fight scenes and special effects are well done. The soundtrack is nice and pays tribute to the story except for the modern intro-theme. Also there are a lot of details that can't be seen in one glance, so I will rewatch this series.
Overall
This drama has tags for friendship, teamwork, and romance but these aren't the main themes. Arsenal Military Academy is Chinese steampunk at its best, with action, intelligent characters, and glamour, all-in-one.
