Xu Kai’s New Drama “The Legends” is a Pleasant Surprise
The Legends <招摇>, a fantasy drama based on the book fo the same name, wasn’t exactly the most anticipated television drama when it was first announced in 2017. Xu Kai (许凯) was still relatively unknown at the time, as the series started filming before the broadcast of his hit TV show Story of Yanxi Palace <演習攻略>, which brought him to overnight fame.
Fans, however, are happy to know that The Legends is not a waste of time.
A romantic comedy that is set in a xianxia world, The Legends’ premise didn’t sound entirely original, but its focus on “devil” characters, which are traditionally seen to be evil, gives the show a new unique touch.
The Legends starts off with Qin Zhiyan (Xiao Yan 肖燕) of the Immortals Sect, who turns to the “dark side” in order to avenge for her father’s death. Bai Lu (白鹿) stars as the eponymous lead Lu Zhaoyao, a killer who is as soft-hearted as she is straight-forward. She is an experienced assassin, but her skills are compromised after meeting the devil’s son, Li Chenlan (Xu Kai). Zhaoyao and Chenlan’s back-and-forth banter adds more comedic elements to the story.
Their romance serves as a major plot in the series. Quotes like “He is my only weakness and my only strength” and “I am thankful to find the things I’ve lost. I don’t want anything else but only for your safety” have become taglines amongst fans.
The Legends premiered on January 28 and is slated for 55 episodes.
Source: HK01.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
I love this drama! The female lead is awesome and the love story is interesting with great chemistry despite there being no development between the two. It pretty much leave this mystery of what happened in the past and we starts off with her revenge at the failed attempt at killing the leading man.
Watching this drama now, so far so good.Surprisingly, I couldn’t even pass the 2nd chapter of this novel though the author’s other stories have been quite entertaining.
I like this one as well. Like the main actress since Phoenix lovers though I abandoned it after ep 30 something when her arc overshadow the main leads. Noticed she can act very well there, however didn’t want to continue watching in case my frustration with the series make me hate her when it’s not really her fault lol. I just want more Song Wei Long xD but he was indeed weak at acting. Saw 3 eps of legends so far, love it, but stop to wait more eps coming out as I do not like to wait around these days, especially when all my western series are about/finish its current seasons T_T
At first I thought legends was like one of those series love hate fantasy drama, only after I read more about it after my 3 eps (I saw 2 eps when only 2 was out and I hate to wait lol!), and was pleasantly surprise at the plot xD definitely a breathe of fresh air xD
@littlefish Did you watch it with english subtitles? I want to watch this one but cant find one with english subs
@michelle2805 not in English, sadly viki followed the trend and only does Haolan, stupid minglan and never let you go. I’m having trouble seeing it in my own language, too. And it’s still only 20eps atm >_<
@littlefish oh 🙁 that’s too bad. I guess I’ll have to wait. Thanks!
I found the other two drama so boring. I tried watching them but I couldn;t finish the first 5 episodes lol I dont know what’s the hype about them.
@michelle2805 got a site, a bit slow but better than nothing
https://productiveprocrastination.site/2019/02/22/eng-subthe-legends-ep-1/
The subber told me she’s trying to do 3-4 ep a week, which is a nice pace, since atm we only get 6eps a week! I’m up to 26, and now I hate it as the wait is gonna kill me! The drama though…. is sooo goooood. Love every moments the leads together!
@littlefish Oh yes! finally!! thank you so much littlefish!! 🙂 can’t wait to start this!!
It actually has subtitles in my own language too, but I’m having a hard time reading them so I gave up haha
@michelle2805 hahaha, Hf 🙂 and welcome to the pit of hell of waiting >_<
Actually I find the drama to be a poor substitute for the novel. It stays true to major plot arcs of the novel, but the humor is missing. Somehow the funniness doesn’t translate over as well as the novel did. But the cast is decent, at least. Watchable, just not my favorite of the author’s works.
@coralie I actually like how the humour is light. It’s there, and I found it funny after watching it. It’s not hahaha, idiotic humour that make you laugh on the spot (these days hardly anything make me laugh on the spot), and it not silly humour like ashes of love (I only watch a few eps). It’s a cute humour. I love the drama, and I think it’s done well, but then I haven’t read the novel, however, I know many novel didn’t manage to translate well onscreen. Same problem with how many manga could not translate to live version, especially if it has humour in it, since most of them are downright silly.