This review covers the drama only. I have not read the novel nor seen the anime.

Like many other reviewers, it took me a bit to start watching this. I prefer my xianxia to be serious, and I really couldn't imagine how one could make a xianxia comedy and not have it be stupid. ( *Points to the title.* This is how. ) You have to go into this drama knowing that it's a comedy. It's not a serious drama with some funny moments; it's a straight up comedy. In fact, it's more like an anime than a drama. It reminds me a lot of "Gintama," to be honest. It's not as base or ridiculous but it's almost as brilliant in the way it mixes humor, intensity, and emotion.

PRODUCTION: This drama isn't afraid to make fun of its own genre (that scene of him standing in the rain....I just died) and the actors have no problem laughing at themselves. Their overacting was on purpose and on point. I loved the cheesy sets and the comedic sound effects. It's all clearly part of the satire, not poor quality production. In a nod to anime, there are "off-stage" interjections from characters explaining moves or magic that would otherwise be complete deux ex machinas (and they still are but the lamp shading makes it lovably forgivable). There were some teasing elements of Boy Love but they were poking fun at the BL genre, not at gays in particular. There was some yuri elements as well, but more like what you see in anime - just random fondling and tickling for no real reason.

STORY: It's a mixture of "The Shounen Recipe" and a cliche revenge theme, neither of which are meant as an insult. I happen to like them both. There are times where it gets pretty dark but those are sandwiched brilliantly in between slices of comedy that don't feel intrusive as much as a natural part of the "world" and the characters. Again, this takes a page from "Gintama," and expertly mixes dark and light moments. The ending was a bit abrupt and while it left room for a sequel, I felt it wasn't complete enough. I do hope they make a second season.

CHARACTERS: These characters are archetypes more than true characters but despite that, I still found myself drawn to them and their emotions. There wasn't a huge amount of character growth or development but there was some and it was rewarding to see. The most complex character in here was probably Wang Wu and getting to know her as the layers were peeled back was truly wonderful (and I almost never say that about female characters). Because it's comedy and because these are archetypes, character flaws are overly exaggerated. There is a lot of over acting, but the actors are playing to their archetypes.

Yes, Wang Lu was exceptionally arrogant but I found it funny more than annoying. Again, it's a comedy so his flaw of arrogance was exaggerated. Because of his unique status within the world, it somewhat gave him justification to be arrogant. He was the only character in the story who knew exactly what his role was and he never deviated from it. Xiao Hai didn't deviate from his either but he didn't have a choice, which made his infuriatingly rigid stance forgivable. The bromance between Wang Lu and Xiao Hai was awesome. It wasn't too thick but it was definitely enough to melt my heart. I had a little more trouble with the romance between Wang Lu and Wang Wu. It just didn't feel genuine. I think he respected her and cared for her immensely but was he in love with her? .... I'm not sure. That was a hard sell.

SOUND: I loved the music in here. Wang Lu's "theme song" was awesome. It made me feel the same exhilaration as whenever I heard Ichigo's or Naruto's "about to kick some ass" themes. The opening and ending themes were also great. The clackers, gongs, and cymbals from Chinese theater somehow made the funny moments even funnier.

OVERALL: If you can appreciate sarcastic, campy, satirical humor, watch this. If you already have a basic knowledge of the xianxia genre, computer gaming rules, major anime, and Chinese theater, you'll love this even more. I absolutely recommend it.