Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi Meet Their Match in “Who Rules The World”
Starring Yang Yang (楊洋) and Rosy Zhao Lusi (趙露思), Tencent’s wuxia romance Who Rules The World <且試天下> premiered on April 18. Aside from the visually stunning action-packed scenes, many highly anticipate the dynamics and chemistry between Yang Yang and Lusi.
Who Rules The World is adapted from the novel of the same name by Qing Ling Yue (倾泠月). It follows two powerful and unrivaled martial artists, Hei Feng Xi (Yang Yang) and Bai Feng Xi (Zhao Lusi), joining forces to fight against evil and restore peace in jianghu.
While many agree that Yang Yang has shown improvement in his acting and are thrilled by his looks, others point that his acting still feels reserved, as if there is always a shadow of his performance from breakout drama Love O2O <微微一笑很傾城> following his every role.
Meanwhile, everyone agrees Lusi is a capable and engaging actress, but they believe more attention is needed on her styling, as she looks more like a maid than a noble daughter in most of her dramas.
With a total of 45 episodes, Who Rules The World airs two episodes every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Source: World Journal
This article is written by Minna for JayneStars.com.
Really enjoying this drama so far. I love that the female lead is just at strong and intelligent as the male lead. It makes their romance all the more interesting. Plus, Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi have great chemistry together. They’re perfect for their roles. And her styling here is one of her best
Mixed reviews… the rating in 2 popular streaming site are not that great…I was expecting the ratings to be 9+ but it was 6+ instead….not often for a high profile drama.
Saw comments elsewhere questioning on her colored polished nails. Is it true? If it is, then I wouldn’t blame some who question on her professionalism.
There are also comments that she acts similarly to her other roles, just a milder version. I can’t remember if the character is meant to be like that. Anyone who reads the novel can chip in thoughts.
As for YY…….enough said. He needs to lose up and get into the character.
Then again, it seems quite common among the newer generation of “idols” who are in for quick money, quick fame, putting in minimum efforts but fans and hired water armies insisting how great their acting is, how hardworking they are, how misunderstood we have been and how biased we are against them.
Any thoughts of the plot or the story execution? Recent adaptions of more popular novels have been poorly received and this current one is also based on a more well received novel (though I still wonder why).
@hohliu and @bearbear so I managed to go through 2nd episode! But half way through that, I realised it’s such a chore to read the subtitles (I.e I can’t seem to get into the story). Their acting, their characters, are all so bland, uninteresting, at least for these 2 episodes! Yes, they look fine, they look pretty/beautiful/handsome, I didn’t read the book, so idc whether they follow the book, character/character’s look wise, but nothing about these two draws me in. Their chemistry is forced, one minute, she is like looking down on him because she knows he’s scheming, next minute she tries to be cute with him by forced feed him raspberries 0.o I’m like confused at what her character meant to be >_> or like their relationship >_>
The huge disappointment for me is the action scenes! So from my previous comment on ep 1 action scenes, those scenes were pointless, and most of them are CGI flying cloth that do the work (like Xiao Long Nu in return of the condor heroes, but worse =.=). Ep2 action scenes were mostly YY’s character, and it likes 10s, where he flew up, he swings his hands, his fan I think fly out and everyone fall off. Yea, I wouldn’t call this a Wuxia drama, more like those fantasy drama where magically ppl get beaten down/knocked unconscious >_> also yup, when ZLS fight, zero blood, zero killing blow, she only knocked them unconscious. When YY fight, there is killing blow, albeit only 1-2. I know many ppl don’t like the flame daughter, but the action scenes in there are what a wuxia should be about! Here, it’s seriously make you wonder why they bother >_> and the story so far so old boot. Main heroine got blamed for killing some third party, and now they are trying to find out the truth *yawn
Tbqh, I’m not even sure I want to continue, because the leads interactions or story/development is pretty lacklustre, they supposed to know each other since 12yo??? I expect some snipy funny banter, instead I’m getting the “I actually put a lot of attention on you, because I like you and oops I just revealed my hidden inner feeling regard you” awkward moments *rolled eyes. So like I said if I start to feel like it’s a chore to continue, it’s pretty bad >_< but then idc for these two. Many articles said their costume is bad, I don’t think so. It’s simple Jiangho (the wuxia world) ppl like simple clothing, so I have no problem with their simple costume. Whether their characters are like the book, idc, and I’m sure many wouldn’t if it was good, and the chemistry is good. Sadly it’s pretty bland and awkward at time. I saw part of my sassy princess on YouTube, and even though I think the FL is still pretty bad in acting, at least I can see/feel the chemistry between her and the ML, that’s I’m very tempting to start that!
@LittleFish Thank you for taking time to write your review!! I just watched the eps you mentioned and fully agree with you. Honestly, these 2 stars really have no chemistry….and both can give me constipation.
As for My Sassy Princess, that drama is doing much better… it is more relaxing to watch…
@LittleFish Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the drama. I can quite confidently say I am not giving the drama a chance after reading your take on it, maybe find some anime to watch. Feel your struggle to keep awake watching it hahahaha.
If I recall correctly in the first 1-2 chapters in the novel when the FL met the ML as a well-known figure in the wuxia world, she was wary of him due to his reputation. Think both of them are not only established figures in this setting and good in fighting, they are also of some royal families in two different states. That had me rolling my eyes back then.
These days the fighting are just flying around, slow motion with visual effects and maybe just a super short close-up of the leading characters fighting. While it may look pretty and acceptable in the fantasy drama, it robs the audiences’ pleasure of seeing good choreography in the wuxia drama. Not expecting everyone to be Jet Li but at least put some efforts in do better.
Based on snippets I saw, don’t recall ever seeing YY having good chemistry with any of his co-stars, not even his 2 more popular drama Love O2O or You are My Glory. Feels like he tries hard to be “in love” because he is paid to.
As for My Sassy Princess, unlikely will catch it as well. ZYC is a better actor but he is cast as a serious, calm, business-only character again, similar to Sleepless Princess, another drama I have watched and dropped despite not minding both leading actor and actress.
@LittleFish omg omg, I just clicked on a short clip of it by accident and saw the cloth flowing XLN fighting style you mentioned. It is so unbelievable bad in this drama. I actually thought it looked pretty in Return of the Condor Heroes. In this drama, her white cloth remains me of how my automatic umbrella looks like when I click the close button. And why did she need to pose before and after her fighting scene.
I always dislike the tree standing scene in Crouching tiger Hidden dragon but at least Lee Ang tried to make that scene more natural.
Need to wash my eyes after watching the snippet.
@Hohliu Had a laugh from “constipation” and makes me wonder if I should just catch the 1st 2 episodes to see how bad it is, hahahaha.
I think it’s decent background noise. I find the secondary characters way more interesting, like Yang Yang’s older brother. The general that died in the first episode also had more charm than the two leads. I feel like someone like Hu Ge or Chen Kun would play YY’s role way better. He’s supposed to be a smart prince that hides his true motives and abilities, but YY is not convincing at all. I don’t really get how no one has caught on, but the bad writing could be contributing to it. Also, Carmen Lee is stunning, but she’s not believable as a villain. This drama feels more like feudal politics drama than wuxia honestly. My other problem with this show is that there’s like zero character development or progress. You start the drama and he’s already in love with her. She’s just supposed to be this amazing unique women that everyone falls in love with, which I find so boring. Lastly, the writing is trying so hard to make everyone look smart with the twists and planning, that it feels a bit forced. I’m not ashamed to say I love looking at YY, but he looks better in modern dramas and selecting simpler roles to play.
Exactly my thoughts! How are they going to do any character development if 1 – they didn’t bother starting at how they learn of each other? 2 – that initial first impression isn’t there, all relationships start or clouded in some sense by the initial impression be it’s good or bad (for example, I thought my husband was a homeless, pitiful man – not literally homeless but because of that I was unguarded toward him and friendly to him). 3 – since they already so powerful in martial art, again, what’s the development? It’s not like Yang Guo, who was smart, but couldn’t learn anything, being mistreated, and from then learn to be himself. Mis-opportunities in every angle!
@LittleFish you are absolutely right about missed opportunities in every angle. When someone markets a drama as a wuxia, I expect to see a hero’s journey to how they become the top. Instead we’re just spoon fed all this information on how he and ZLS’s character are ranked the same in dialogue. I also don’t feel like I know much about the wuxia world that is the backdrop of the story, but more about the political intrigue that’s currently happening. How did he manage to create his secret organization that has information on everything going on in the world while under the scrutiny of his suspicious dad and evil step mother? There’s a lot I don’t understand, and that might just be me. Also, being unable to see these characters develop, makes me feel like I don’t care about them as much. There’s something about going through the trials and tribulations of the hero that helps develop that connection between viewer and the character on tv. Needless to say, I’ve stopped watching. I did make it to episode 10 before quitting.