Feng Chuan Mu Dan (2008)

Saving the world, one stitch at a time

Yu Wuxia is your perfect heroine with a sad back story: abandoned at a nunnery by her family, cursed to bring misfortune to her father, and married to someone she didn't love to save that same family who abandoned her. Funny enough, she's naturally just very talented at embroidery, which is also the family business.

Through trails and tribulations, often through her embroidery, she learns to love and grows in independence. Her husband, Huo Dongqing realizes that he has a gem at his side and fall in love with her, while her jealous and hateful sister festers at their side. Their family is upended by the Japanese invasion and her husband does, leaving her to become the matriarch of a scattered family.

The good: lovely costumes, epic music, and decent acting. The weakest link is Hawick Lau, whose pretty face is his main value add. Tan Kai as Luo Zhixiang made me swoon and his dedication to Yu Wuxia despite her enduring loyalty to Dongqing.

The bad: nonsensical story writing (why would Dongqing, who was so weak that he couldn't even chew his own food, make a move on his wife in a cold cave? Like what?!), big female lead storyline and tropes galore, and weird pacing. Somehow ten years passed in the last few episodes without anyone mentioning it or aging.

The ugly: the dubbing.

I enjoyed the rewatch after 10 years, but the story did not age well.

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