The Story of Mystics (2024)

"Fangs of fortune- A tale of strength, sacrifice and heroic battle"

Why I loved it so much :

1. A perfect mix of genres: The drama delivers on every front—romance, friendship, feel-good moments, thrill, action, comedy, drama, and tragedy. It’s a rare balance that caters to multiple tastes.


2. Depth in storytelling: While the pace is slow, it’s deliberate. Each subplot is crafted to fill gaps and tie loose ends, creating a deeply harmonious narrative.


3. Impressive cinematography: The framing, camera angles, and techniques used are absolutely top-notch, elevating the viewing experience.


4. High-quality VFX: The visual effects are clean, realistic, and immersive. The editing team truly deserves credit for making the fantasy elements believable.


5. Exquisite set design: The attention to detail in the sets is breathtaking. The Demon Hunting Bureau, in particular, stands out as a masterpiece of design.


6. Talented cast: Almost every actor delivered stellar performances. While one or two might not have fit their roles visually, their acting made up for it.


7. Memorable background music: The combat music and other tracks are beautifully composed, reminiscent of the enchanting vibes from Love Between Fairy and Devil.

8. Dancing in the ending soundtrack .. I know I am weird to like a show for this ..but seriously it was quite refreshing to see the cast dancing to their show's soundtrack ... The steps were easy I am dancing you should try it as well ;)



About the cast

Neo hou as Zhao yuanzhou:

Neo Hou is the one who introduced me to the world of C-Dramas, starting with Being Back from the Brink, my very first Chinese drama. He has never let me down. His charm, brilliant acting, mischievous expressions, spot-on comedic timing, and calming smile—everything about his character in this show was a delight to watch.



Zhuo Yichen : a warrior who is strong-willed, righteous, kind, compassionate, funny, and deeply tragic. Tian Jia portrayed this fascinating character with remarkable justice.


Li lun: more of an anti-hero than a villain, carries a strong sense of justice and a deep kindness for his people. This character added significant depth and complexity to the leads' role .. and the actor (yan an) playing it was more beautiful than the FL herself 😂 😀 ❤️❤️ I am in love with him.



Pei Shijing: the Demon Huntress, is a character with a tsundere quality that suits Cheng Xiao’s poker-face expressions perfectly. Watching her evolve as an actress has been impressive. From her flat expressions and character in Falling Into Your Smile to portraying a compassionate, graceful fighter in this drama, Cheng Xiao has truly come a long way.


Bai jiu : a timid, funny and cute kid ..played by lester lin ... This child actor is so damn talented he played two completely contrasting characters ( bai jiu and li lun) so effortless.. very impressive ..it hard to believe he delivered such outstanding performance at the age of just 13 years old


The parts where this show lacked appeal


1) Wen Xiao : I don't like lame/sickly/weak/useless/low IQ FLs at all I mean I can’t think of a single thing that would have changed if she weren’t part of the story. She was utterly useless—couldn’t fight, fall before someone even slapped her.The so-called goddess was the biggest liability—completely useless—while so many others died, one after another, paying the ultimate price to save the world. I hated her character even more after jiu died. Even a child gave his life heroically to save the world, yet she selfishly clung to her life like
it held more value than anyone else’s. While others bore the weight of impossible choices,sacrificed themselves in secret, including the child who quietly fulfilled his duty and died
,she had the audacity to pretend she’d do the same. All for what? So others would stop her, convince her to live, and throw their lives away instead. She wasn’t a goddess; she was a parasite, feeding off the heroism of those who deserved far better.

Not up my alley ...SORRYYYY !!

2) tiresome climax and depressing ending . . If the outcome is going to be as the past (like that of ling long and bingyi's) why would you write a new story in the first place. I kept anticipating they will bring a different outcome but .. well!! I don't know what else to say.

3) actress playing FL is good ..her acting was amazing but in some episode I felt like she is looking too mature for the role for example when they went to kulun episode 15 .. though her demoness was quite seducing and bold I liked her more in that role.


The show is worth every praise and more .. is the reason why I write such a comprehensive review.

Leia Mais

Fangs of Fortune: A Surprising Hit with Stunning Cast and Intense Villains

I was originally really apprehensive about watching Fangs of Fortune, but I'm really glad I did, as it turned out to be quite a good drama. The entire cast is full of really good-looking people, so there’s eye candy in almost every episode. I really liked how the villains weren’t push-overs and definitely put up a decent fight against the main team. They brought many tactics and well-thought-out plans to the table, and I'm glad the leads didn’t just defeat them in one move. ZYZ and ZYC had a really interesting relationship to me, kind of a borderline love-hate dynamic, but they both need each other for their own interests and benefits. The male leads had really great acting, and so did WX, but when it comes to PSJ, portrayed by Cheng Xiao, it felt a little too stiff. I understand the character isn’t the most expressive, but it seemed like a bit of an overkill with the straight face. The cinematography is absolutely phenomenal, and I really enjoyed the OST for this drama. It matches well and sets the mood, especially during the fight scenes. LL is, unsurprisingly, my favorite character. I actually didn’t realize it was Yan An until I read something about it; he certainly has better acting skills than most K-pop artists transitioning into acting. Overall, this is one of the best shows released this year, and I definitely recommend watching it. I’d rate it 7.5/10!

Leia Mais

A feast for the eyes, epic tale not without flaws but worth it for the journey it will take you on

I was expecting a lot from this Chinese Wuxia drama : the fact that Tian Jia Rui had one of the main role in a series directed and written by the very talented director Edward Guo really hyped me. Overall, it successfully managed to keep up with my high expectations and likely set the bar super high for any other future Chinese wuxia drama I would watch.

I loved the story thematic with the narration focusing a lot on the concept of dream and reality, it was truly an epic tale supported by an impressive production value. In the middle of a lot of action, mystery and investigation, the heart of the story is foremost about companionship and found family, as well as different kind of love. The evolution of the relationships between the characters (especially between the two main male leads but also with some of the secondary roles) was probably my favorite part of the show.

The costumes and the cinematography were impeccable. A real feast for the eyes, with a lot of details and superbly impactful. Every set felt so real, rich and purposeful with a minutiae that I rarely encountered. You can really feel the director vision and specific touch when watching the drama and that's something that completely fascinated me.

The acting was another strong point : the cast was pretty good with a great dynamic with each other. This for that matter can be witnessed in the ending generic of episodes which consists of them dancing together on a choreography on one of the main song of the drama. I was once again super impressed by Tian Jia Rui : he got even better than in "My Journey To You" despite the challenges inherent to his role, from "Didi to Gege", very different from his debut one. I got very attached to the main characters (and even some of the more minor ones) and it is a proof of the overall good performances of the ensemble cast. In addition to Tian Jia Rui, I will keep an eye on the future work of Neo Hou and Yan An. The acting of this trio was on point, together or separately in addition to be such eye-candy.

Of course, the series is not without flaws. I wish the lore and powers were more consistent and that there had been less magical objects conveniently appearing for the sake of the plot. I also found the shift in tones a bit jarring: especially in the introduction arc, there is some over-the-top humor that felt a bit flat and strange in the middle of the angsty parts. It fortunately got smoother and more balanced as the story unfolded. The script also took time to set up the stakes, with some situations and storylines being a bit repetitive in the first part of the series.

Other than that, some of the fight sequences lacked of rhythm and dynamism: they were all beautiful but sometimes to the detriment of the pacing (or even the logic) of the conflicts. Editing could also have been better regarding transition between scenes or even between episodes. The OST was quite good (with maybe one of the song being overused) but music was a bit abruptly inserted into some sequences. I'm pointing it out because all the remaining of the production was so flawless that those minor flaws were even more striking.

I would recommend this to people looking for a Chinese Wuxia drama with a super strong cinematographic vision and high production value, good acting and gripping story featuring different kind of love. Shift in tone was a bit unbalanced at first and introduction arc could have been better paced, but once the set up of the relationships between the characters is done, you are in for a captivating journey that will tug at your heartstrings.

Leia Mais

most well written drama I've seen this year

this the first time I've watched the wuxia genre and this show did not disappoint,

things i liked:
1. world building
because this is the first time watching this genre i was afraid i wouldn't understand anything but even though this show didn't have an opening explaining all the lore the characters explained the world to other characters that didn't know ,which informed us the viewer which i really appreciated which really showed the effort the writers put into the world building of this show and also how much they respected the viewer to let us figure it out and by the end of the show i was really emersed into the world they build over the period the show aired.

2. cohesiveness
everything in this show fit together really well, the costuming fit every character really well and showed their personality without seeming out of place. something that i also liked is that the outfits repeated, in some dramas they would be changing the characters clothes every scene but the repeating of outfits further shows that there is a bit of realism in this unrealistic world. another thing that made the show a masterpiece is the Ost and score these were so well done the show wouldn't feel whole without them, in some dramas the music doesn't fit the emotion or scene but in this show they put so much effort into the score making it the Ost's instrumental and also it fit every important and even the insignificant beats of the story. the ost also brought out all the emotional parts of the story and amplified them making me go back and rewatch some scenes.

3. direction/cinematography
this show is so beautiful to look at i was speechless the scenes in the wilderness where breath taking and the way the show was directed is so well-done the crew did such a good job and it shows through out the entire body of work.( I'm trying to keep this review spoiler free so i wont go into too much details on this).

4. the characters/ the story
every character was well thought out and all the motives of every character were clear and most important thing for me when watching a drama is the character development because i hate it when a character remains stagnant throughout the whole show and then suddenly they change in the last ep, to do it well the growth has to be slow but apparent. i saw this in the second leads the way pei si jing developed throughout the show was so well written. and imo the best written character is zhou yi chen if you watch the show you see how much he changes and develops and a person, moreover the motives of the villains where clear and you as the viewer understand them its not like they were doing evil because the show needed and antagonist we knew the reason why they were doing these evil acts and we could anticipate them too which i liked, also on the topic of villains i liked that not everything was black and white and there where some grey characters like li lun who i understood why he did what he did and his character development throughout the show was so well-done you can see the confliction in him every time he did anything to zhao yuan zhuo. the supporting/background characters were also well written every time they showed a story the writers wrote them so well that you could even cry over them and also under stand their motives too and it the show all connected in the end in a way where every thing showed contributed to the ending so nothing was unimportant to the story.

5. the pacing
even though i saw many people say that the pacing of this story was slow paced, i think that was the right decision because i think that the pacing fit the story, because if it was any faster i think that i would have trouble following it and the pacing made the important beats of the story more impactful.

6. consistency
the biggest problem when watching comedy genres in dramas is that they always are super funny at first but when the climax of the story comes they become super melancholy and lose the shows initial charm but in this show they didn't the comedy remained throughout the show even after the sad parts and i very much liked that. and the found family and the dynamics between the characters were also consistent nothing happed that was out of character for them which i also really liked.

things i didn't like:
1. the female lead's character was a little neglected i could tell in the beginning of the show and i thought i should give the show more time and they did try to flesh her out a little more but i think they could have done a better job with her because in felt that the supporting characters were written better than her which is sad because she is the main lead.

2. the romance was lacking
i know some people would disagree with me but the main leads didn't have enough screen time together i felt the love between them but we didn't have enough time with them. and something else is that every body has so much chemistry with everybody i was getting confused at times like if you watched the show you could see it.

overall this may be the best drama I've seen this year the way it was created felt so well thought out and some people may not have liked the ending but I'm pretty content with it.

Leia Mais

A disappointing series

TRASHY REVIEW ALERT - Fangs of Fortune failed to impress this cdrama fan. The plot was difficult to follow, with side stories back ones especially blurring the lines between the real plot and the sub plots/ I have also never seen a series where so many people cried so much or had so many tears in their eyes - what was the purpose of all that water ? cos it was a poor attempt at invoking emotional response time after time after time after time...it was that tedious. Just when I was going to be forgiving the story line would revert to another backstory about a sword, a pot of almond cheese event, a plant, a walnut that dropped on the ground like OMG, back stories galore in this series that deviate from the main plat ONCE AGAIN. The actors and actresses played their roles OK, could have done better with a more solid storyline that viewers would follow with them and that the characters could be developed over the 34 eps. THE GOOD - the CGI backddrops and effects were splendid, as with the more darker tinged cinematography - and the costumes splendid as well, however despite all that finesse of the series, the lack lustre storyline and purpose frsutrated this seasoned viewer. Neo Hou, Chen Xiao, and co did the best they could to make the series work with their co-stars Chen Du Ling /Tian Ja Rui ... Yan An surprised me as the gorgeous evil one of this series, he played it so well but Overall , a disappointment for this viewer.

Leia Mais

Picturesque Journey of Emotional Wreck Entangled in a Tale of Humanity's Cruel Irony

Fangs of Fortune is, without a doubt, one of the best CDramas of 2024, particularly when it comes to visual storytelling. From its meticulously crafted costume and set design to the strikingly vivid cinematography, every frame is a feast for the eyes. The level of detail in the production elevates the drama into a visual masterpiece, seamlessly immersing viewers in its own intricately crafted otherworldly world.

The cast is another standout element. Whether portraying heroes, antiheroes, or outright villains, every actor delivers a performance as captivating as their appearance. Neo Hou, in particular, commands attention with his nuanced portrayal that captures the emotional depth and moral complexity of his character, proving once again why he remains a hidden force in the industry.

What sets Fangs of Fortune apart isn’t just its technical brilliance but its profound exploration of humanity. At its core, the drama poses unsettling questions about what it truly means to be human. In this world, humans—ironically—are often depicted as more greedy, cruel, and evil than the yaos (妖) they fear and despise. The story doesn’t shy away from exposing the dark side of human nature: the unquenchable thirst for power, the willingness to betray, and the lengths people will go to justify their actions. Yet, amid this darkness, it also highlights moments of compassion, sacrifice, and the fragile hope that goodness still prevails in the end.

Starting in the latter half, the narrative crescendos into an emotional juggernaut. The storytelling transforms into something visceral, pulling viewers into the characters’ anguish and heartbreak. The final episodes are a true test of the audience's endurance and feel like a descent into the inevitable, where destiny’s mockery leaves scars that resonate long after the drama ends.

Fangs of Fortune is more than a drama; it's a mirror held up to humanity, reflecting its flaws and virtues in stark detail. Its unflinching portrayal of sorrow, paired with breathtaking visuals, a hauntingly beautiful narrative, and compelling performances, cements its place as one of the finest CDramas of the year. Few series is as haunting as it is captivating and manage to marry heartbreak and artistry as seamlessly as this, making it an unforgettable exploration of what it truly means to be human.

Leia Mais

disjointed experience

"Fangs of Fortune" promised an exciting adventure with its intriguing title, but unfortunately, it didn't quite hit the mark. The premise had potential, blending elements of fantasy and adventure, but the execution left a lot to be desired.

The characters felt underdeveloped and lacked depth, making it hard to really care about their fates. The dialogue was often clichéd and didn’t add much to the overall narrative. I found myself wishing for more complexity and growth from the characters as the plot unfolded.

The pacing was uneven, with some parts dragging on while others felt rushed, leading to a disjointed experience. The action sequences, which could have been thrilling, ended up feeling repetitive and uninspired.

Visually, there were some appealing moments, but they weren't enough to save the overall experience. The world-building was minimal, leaving me wanting more detail and immersion in the setting.

In summary, "Fangs of Fortune" had a promising concept but ultimately fell flat. I’d rate it a 3/10—there's some potential, but it needs a lot more polish to truly shine.

Leia Mais

A Beautiful Mess

I'm not gonna lie, writing this review wasn't easy. I had to carefully organize my thoughts because I didn't know where to start. Fangs of Fortune is one of those dramas that either made me gasp because of how beautifully made it is or drove me nuts because of the all-over-the-place plot and contrived writing. It's highly divisive precisely because of that. It's either the fantastical world and its characters endear themselves to you or you hate everything about it with a vengeance. I am right smack in the middle, though. I can't hate it but I can't say I loved it either. I feel that if they had stuck with their bromance plot from the get-go and not added in romance, it would've been better. Or if they had changed it completely and just turned it into a romance drama, reducing the second male lead's importance in the plot by writing out the Ying Long and Bingyi subplot, this could've been better too. One thing is for sure, this drama will forever be engraved in my mind as one of the most stunningly filmed work that made giggle like a schoolgirl and obsess over the characters for days on end.

The story centers around a 34,000-year-old great demon named Zhu Yan (or Zhao Yuanzhou) and how his fate changes those of people closest to him. Like most xianxia and xuanhuan dramas, it's set in a world where demons and humans exist and racism is rampant. The demons are seen as inherently evil, while humans are supposed to be the so-called good guys. But nothing in this world is purely black and white and so both races are portrayed to be capable of doing both good and evil. The struggles and conflicts stem from such xenophobic thinking from both sides.

Zhu Yan was born as a vessel of malicious energy, meaning he absorbs all the excess malice that exists in the world to keep things balanced. But his gentle and kind nature makes him resent this. Even more so when he finds himself falling in love with humanity and the mortal world. This very fascination for mortals draws a wedge between him and his best friend, Li Lun, who has no love for mankind. Their falling out leads to a lot of strife and suffering for those around them.

The story itself is nothing new. As I've said, this has been done countless times before. But what makes this drama compelling for me was how particular dialogues were written and scenes were executed whenever the subject was about discrimination and racism. Oddly enough, my favorite parts of this drama is when characters sit down and just have meaningful conversations about life and such. And I'm such a sucker for the found-family trope that it really resonated with me. It blew my mind how provocative some of the dialogues are and how much depth the drama has when many of the scenes felt like they were hastily and lazily written and things were getting retconned left and right. Writing isn't this drama's strong suit, but there are some gems here and there. And I noticed that the ones that are written and executed well are those that involve the two male leads, Zhu Yan and Zhuo Yichen, and the anti-hero, Li Lun. Most of the major plot ploints involve the three of them. They even end up fighting in the final boss fight together. What does that tell you? If this were a true romantic story, it would've been the main couple fighting together.

Unfortunately, this was marketed as a romance with a female lead that is criminally underdeveloped and a subplot centering around her that is as mindboggling as her addition to this story. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Wen Xiao or the actress who portrays her. My issue is with her seemingly lack of value to the story unlike the other main characters. First of all, the concept behind the Baize goddess is already iffy to me. Why is there a need for a mortal woman to be given the powers of a goddess to regulate demons and monitor their comings and goings to the mortal world when the goddess herself could've done that? Being human herself, there is a possibility of racial discrimination with her favoring the mortals over demons even when it's the mortals that are at fault. The real goddess would've been a more just judge and a more powerful one to boot, someone who can actually deal with demons and not fall ill from a plague or die pointlessly after being accidentally hit by a sharp object. The function and powers of this mortal goddess are not clearly defined, and if I'm honest, I would say that they keep retconning things to fit the narrative they want to tell. How the next generation of Baize goddesses are chosen is unclear as well. Why was Wen Xiao chosen anyway? Yes, she has compassion for both demons and mortals, but then I'm pretty sure she's not the only one who feels that way, so why her?

And apart from her, all the major characters in this story, especially among the 6 members of the Demon Hunting Team, only her story doesn't quite connect with Zhu Yan's. Zhu Yan's fate directly or indirectly affects the fates of Zhuo Yichen, Pei Sijing, Bai Ju, and even Ying Lei. All of them reach this point in their lives because of Zhu Yan. Zhuo Yichen was only the second son and was not even meant to inherit the Cloud Light Sword but because Zhu Yan slaughters his family, he becomes the lord of the Bingyi clan and the most powerful wielder of that sword for generations. Pei Sijing loses her brother because of Zhu Yan's feud with Li Lun. Bai Ju loses his mother and vows to become an accomplished doctor because Zhu Yan causes a rift in the balance between the mortal world and the Wilderness. Ying Lei is afforded the chance to pursue his dreams of becoming a chef in the mortal world because his grandfather (and Zhu Yan's mentor) feels that it's important to give his grandson the choice that Zhu Yan never had. Even Li Lun becoming a full-blown villain and wreaking havoc is caused by his misunderstanding with Zhu Yan. Wen Xiao, on the other hand, is chosen to be the next goddess for reasons I still don't quite understand. Her fate is more tied with this drama's big bad. The quest to finding the Baize token, it being broken, her fixing it, and it poisoning her are nothing more than plot devices. You take those out and you would still be left with a solid plot that could've been better if they had focused more on Zhu Yan and his relationships.

I've said this before, this is a BL/bromance drama in disguise. This was never meant to be a romance. But for fear of the project getting shelved because of China's proverbial censorship axe, they felt the need to write in a female lead and pretend that there's actual romance. I don't mind slowburn romances, but when the drama ends without even a single kiss between the couple with their sweet moments few and far and between, that's not romance, at least not in terms of C-drama standards. The fans of the main CP can delude themselves all they want, but I firmly believe that Wen Xiao was not supposed to be part of this story at first and the romance is an add-on, like an extra side dish for good measure. Hence, the major events in this drama involve the male leads, and the last story arc and most important part of the series is all about them and their bond. Yes, it's unfair and I blame the writers for this. But let's be honest, there's no way in hell that this drama would've seen the light of day if they hadn't included a hetero romance side story with all the obvious BL elements they added into this. If you're familiar with BL/danmei, you'll see the tropes and signs. If not, then you'll probably just dismiss them as healthy male friendship. I'm pretty sure they cut some scenes down to minimize the “bromance” because I saw some behind-the-scenes photos of the male cast acting out scenes that aren't included in the finished product. If they had just done a purely romance drama, they wouldn't have this problem either. But they can't seem to decide which direction to pursue and so what we got is a beautiful mess of a drama that had the potential to be truly amazing and unforgettable.

Nothing beats this drama in terms of visuals, though. From the first episode, I was absolutely taken by how the sets, costumes, and cinematography looked. The opening fight sequence was so stylistically done that it made me want to watch more. Guo Jingming may be a lot of things, probably a real piece of work in real life, but damn, he knows how to make a stunningly crafted scene from the meticulously curated backdrop to every movement of the actors. I have never seen such a visual feast in a C-drama quite like this! I appreciate how this drama tries to be different and I seriously want to see more dramas like this. Sadly, I don't think this style of filming appeals much to Chinese viewers. I think it would've been better received by international audiences.

The cast, for lack of a better word, is great. I have no complaints about the actors. They did what they could with the material that they were given, and some even went over and beyond. I never expected to become so attached to this ragtag crew of demon hunters, but I did. I sorely miss them, especially the comedic moments in the earlier episodes.

Music-wise, this drama boasts of some of the most memorable songs in a C-drama to date, at least for me. I find the choice of songs very refreshing. I don't hear this kind of music in many C-dramas. My only complaint is the music plays a little too loudly during dialogue-heavy scenes. Whoever edited the sound must've been deaf. Like dude, we can't hear them talk! Turn it down a notch, will you?! It must've driven Mandarin-speakers crazy.

The overall production value of this drama is top notch. I think they used a led screen for the backgrounds which actually looks better on screen and most likely helped a lot with the acting too. The visual effects are some of the best I've seen in a C-drama. The costumes and makeup are so on point as well. None of it looks cheap. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was an S+ level drama.

As a whole, this is an entertaining drama that wowed me with its stunning visuals, elicited emotions I never thought I'd feel watching an idol drama such as this, and left me wondering why I became so emotionally attached to characters that don't exist despite the flaws in the writing. That's why I'm giving it an 8 and that's a generous rating coming from me.

Leia Mais

FONGS OF FORTUNE

Really an amazing cdrama.Demons and Humans are not afraid of death but they are afraid of losing Loved ones.Each actors acting is really so good ♥️.Love ,romance and innocence between Demon and Goddess is really lovely------>♥️.Director is a well script writer, but Love between Demon and Goddess is okay but Romance between them is less.He should have brought much more romance between them.Whatever happens we don't care but at the end Demon and Goddess should be together . Because so many dramas upset the viewers and fans at the end and they will give worst reviews and ratings.So please make us happy and we will never disappoint you until you disappoint us.Please I have given 10/10 Ratings and reviews.
(⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)⁠♥

Leia Mais