A Lenda de Shen Li (2024)

Legend of Shen Li

Review with Some Spoilers!!(Not Major Spoilers Though)

Plot (10/10)
There is nothing really I do not like when it comes to the storyline of "Legend of Shen Li". It is still unique in its one way although it has similar plotline. Despite the politics and heavenly war stuffs, the plot is mainly romance focus and I could say it is bickering type. It is not something I favor most of the time. However, everything has exception. I completely love our main couple romance. It is just so deep. With blend of their bickering comedy, it falls into romantic comedy genre which is my favorite genre of all times. Of course its not only main couple relationship that is intrigueing but also their relationships with other characters are also special. The way Shen Li and her master, Shen Mu Yue, came to understand each other is awesome. Apart from main couple, Shen Li's parents love story is also very heart felt one.

Characters(9.8/10)
Shen Li
We have a female lead who is headstrong and is strong both physical and mental. Shen Li mostly sounds rational and even masculine at times as if she's the goddess of war. Her collection of weapons was awesome. However, Shen Li is a woman. She does have this vulnerable side. After all she ran away arranged marriage that might benefit her tribe because she cannot stand her groom to be, whose known as playboy, and also the marriage does not involve mutual love.
Zhao Li Ying is perfect for Shen Li who is beautiful, proud, brave, strong, stubborn but also straight forward with her feelings. And it's good news to me that Li Ying is executive producer of this drama.

Xing Shi/Xing Yun
He just reminds me straightly of Dong Hua from Eternal Love of Dream. The tricky ways he used on Shen Li, to look after him and stay with him, are evidences. Of course theres no harsh ways. And the scenes are cute. TRUELY ROMANTIC COMEDY!. One more thing he is similar to Dong Hua is that of his being highest status in heaven, and his being lonely because of it. He is usually behind the scenes, helping or support our female lead, Shen Li.
I must have seen Lin Geng Xin before. I just did not exactly where. At first he did not really look that good on me. But as I continue to watch the drama, I find him more and more handsome. He really is a good looking man, and his acting is flawless here.

Apart from the two main characters, Fu Rong Jun, Shen Li's fiance and his cousin, You Lan are entertaining characters, especially the way You Lan took Fu Rong Jun's memories of Shen Li and Xing Yun scenes, and watch them as if she's watching a romantic drama and the CP fan, that make me fall off chair from laughter. But she's someone I resonate with at times though.

And about Mo Fang, Shen Li's General, I already have a feeling he did have some feelings for Shen Li already and was likely feeling sorry for him but as the plot progressed, his plotline did not go as I imagine. It is good I does not have heartbreak for him that much at his ending.

Cinematography(9.5/10)
The Legend of Shen Li is a good standard quality of Chinese costume production. Every visual is a standard. (I am saying like this because I am encountering the ones that I prefer the cinematography this year.)
My favourite cinematography had to be the scene Xing Yun turned the ocean into ice and looked for ShenLi with heart break, because he thought she was under the ocean. That's so majestic for me and also reminding me of Frozen.

The Flow(9.5/10)
It is nearly perfect with 39 episodes. But there are times when it is a bit slow which is why I cutting out some scores. Moreover, I wish male lead was able to confessed earlier. But overall, the story is told very well.


The Ending(10/10)

It is one of the best drama ending I have come across. It wrapped up everything so well, not leaving out on any characters. Our main couple is very sweet. It is one of those drama end that left smiles on viewers and a warm heart.

The Music (8.5)
It is not the best but smooth and heartfelt along with drama. The thing is because I got more into soundtracks after getting into the drama.

I overally give it 9.5/10.
If you like Chinese Fantasy Costume Drama with a slice of Romantic Comedy (and with great acting) please give this drama a favour in trying out.

Leia Mais

Great acting with amazing CGI and OST

I will go straight to the review instead of writing poetic lines. I started watching Legends of Shen Li hoping it to be another cliched Xianxia drama. But it went beyond my expectation. The visual effects was a feast to the eyes. I will go one step ahead and say Legend of Shen Li should be the benchmark for other C-dramas. Chemistry was really "chemistrying". The OST made me think this tune could be my ringtone. You could feel the melody and it complimented the story very accurately.

The overall pace was good. There was nothing which felt unnecessary or has been added to drag the story. The switch from mortal to immortal and divine realm was also quite natural.

Should you watch Legend of Shen Li?
Yes, you must. If you are bored from the usual Xianxia, this drama will make you re-like the genre.

Here's what I liked:
-CGI is amazing. This is the kind of CGI I expect in every Xianxia drama.
-Chemistry hits off differently. The little moments like ShenLi stealing one glance of Xingzhi in the market was implemented very naturally.
-Apart from the two leads, other characters have been cast perfectly. I have read the novel and I can say confidently that this is how I imagined everyone to be.
-Comedy scenes are genuinely funny.
-Good character development. You can feel how Xingyun and Xingzhi are different.

What I didn't like:
-Cannot think of anything except for the sometimes stiff acting of the male lead.

One thing about this drama. You will be too immersed in the main leads' interaction. I actually forgot they were acting.

Leia Mais

Sometimes interesting, sometimes not

This was an entertaining show but not without some flaws. The biggest one was segmented plot with not fluid transition from one arc to another. The start was promising, a deity crashing into a mortal realm trying to escape from an unwanted marriage. There, she met a sickly mortal and fell in love with him. After she was forced to go back and the mortal died from old age, we found out that the mortal wasn't mortal at all but an ancient god. Their interactions were cute and the parting was rather emotional. After that, not much happened.

After Shenli finally met Xingzhi and found out who he was, the plot was reduced to just their interactions. This would've been ok if the acting adequately portrayed emotions. Whether Zhao Li Ying is Ming Lan, Chu Qiao, or Shenli, she is the same emotionless doll in every role. There is no variety in her acting, which significantly takes away from her chemistry with ML. Lin Geng Xin's acting was a little bit more nuanced. While portraying a stoic god, his emotions where still there in the micro-expressions, which I liked.

When the villain finally showed up, the plot picked up again. Unfortunately, with Xin Yun Lai's terrible acting, Mofang was non-threatening and completely uninteresting. Although, we were supposed to believe that he wasn't the true evil mastermind because he was in love with Shenli, the writers could've done something interesting with him instead of reducing him to a tragic lover.

The last two episodes were the most entertaining. Although, I couldn't care less about Ms. Jin's love story, in these episodes, Shenli and Xingzhi showed the most emotion which looked like the actors broke the roles and played other characters.

Overall, I wouldn't call this a masterpiece by any stretch. It's entertaining and worth watching. Will I rewatch it? Maybe.

Leia Mais

Loved it. The leads are surprisingly gentle and humorous.

The first 7 episodes flew away like a breeze. I do like the dynamics between the 2, but it seems like Shen Li was the only one to catch feelings during Xing Yun while was affectionate didn't seem to be that interested in her. Even when she was gone he lived his life very well, maybe missed her once in a while, but was not deeply moved by her leaving or even the idea of her marrying someone else. Even when he returned to the heavenly realm, he seemed as indifferent so far. Apart from mentioning that Shen Li was interesting he didn't intend to pursue her.

Ep 8 to 16: She finally meets Divine Lord Xing Zi, who denies he knows Xing Yun, hearing which she sheds tears to which the divine lord is unmoved. He then insists on spending time with her. The Poor girl is busy scouting the place while the Divine Lord is taking a leisurely stroll in the garden.

The Divine Lord finally clears up that he didn't intend to spend time with her but it was to clean her miasma that he had to take her along. When she talks about him resembling an old acquaintance. He brushes it off saying its common and that she shouldn't get too attached to things or people. He then follows her to the demon realm and claims he needs to stay for fun and wants to live at her place. He then shows a teeny bit of what you could call jealousy when Shen Li's betrothed shows up. The one that divine lord himself picked.

Gotta love Shen Li, in ep 14, she finally decided to put everything out there and then kindly told him to go fuck himself. What's even wrong with the guy, he can't even sort out his own feelings and continues to mess with her, following her around everywhere just rejecting her left and right and still bombarding her with those mixed signals.

In ep 16, we get too see them work together, Shen Li gets hurts and we actually see Divine lord get mad for the first time. First green signal telling us that he does care for her. It is nice to see him hold her sweetly nursing her back to health.

ep 16 to 39: Wow this was very slow burn, they finally got together in episodes 30-31, when they do get together it is amazing!

What I like the most about this drama is that the leads don't betray each other and are loyal. There are never any misunderstanding or other man or woman they have to pretend to love in order to protect each other. So, i'll be putting this on my rewatch list.

Leia Mais

The Gold standard for mythology inspired dramas

I couldn't hold myself back from writing this review. I started watching this drama as a FILLER while I waited for some kdrama. I don't care about the kdrama anymore because this xianxia has exceeded my expectations in every way.
1) Acting - if you have cringed at some highly marketed xianxia with actors selling eccentricism and loudness as "good acting", this drama is for you. Both the leads have made the characters extremely believable and have picked up the nuances so well. They are SEASONED actors ! By that, I simply mean, they know a lot more than screaming to show great pain, widening their eyes to show anger and staring into each other's eyes to show love. Its a treat to watch them. As for the side characters, many of them are exceptional actors while some are slightly weaker but serve their purpose (comical). IF FU RONG WANTS A LAWYER FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE...I am available!

2) Story - Its surpassed any mythology inspired chinese (and korean) dramas I have seen. Many dramas have used similar tropes but they failed to do justice to it like this drama does. They let the story breathe in the beginning and take time with character introduction of the FL but manage to not make it boring. The female lead is ferocious yet very level headed. As for the ML, his complex character is introduced a few episodes later and kept slightly simpler as we are focusing on the FL's journey in the beginning. This God needs to write a book called "HOW TO BECOME A GREAT GOD" and that is all I will say about him. The side characters also had interesting arcs but never overshadowed the main story. The politics between the realms (which is the boring part of xianxias in general) is surprisingly engaging here and serves as a perfect tool to move the story forward. The romance is THE SLOW BURN kind of romance but I wouldn't have preferred it in any other way.The writers did a great job.

3) Music : They have used elements of chinese folk music and that's my favorite. The flute music is quite beautiful as well. There's a perfect description of the flute music in the drama which I won't spoil for you. If the story is a bowl of ramen, the music is MSG.

4) SPECIAL EFFECTS - This is where I will give it a 5/10 but that's because I am comparing it to some movies and high budget shows. For a chinese wuxia, its pretty good. This would have reached a much larger global audience had the CGI been great.

overall, its a great drama and I highly recommend it. I wish to add a few more points but I shall have to wait for it to end which will be a bitter sweet experience regardless of the happy/sad ending.

Leia Mais

Stunning cinematography with senior actors

But with a familiar plot, this kind of genre is all about protecting their kingdom, a love dilemma, and always ends up sacrificing their life to protect the world and destroy the evil army, and in the final chapter, they will be reborn or not... I've read a lot of Xian Xia novels, even this novel, also saw a lot of this kind of plot so it's made me tired because it's so predictable.

The acting is quite delicate and good enough to make you blend in the chemistry between the two FL and ML, but I would love to see them in another genre than this kind of boring genre.

In the end, it is still a good-quality drama to watch compared to others that have been released this year and last year.

Leia Mais

A chicken parading as a phoenix

I was really looking forward to Shen Li as I have really enjoyed this author’s works and I’ve loved all of ZLY’s performances.

There were several touching moments in the beginning of the show - I was very moved by the story of the soldier and the wife - it was beautifully done and the actors who played the part did so phenomenally. Kudos to them. I enjoyed the idea of cluck cluck and the sickly man, and was moved when that arc came to an end. Shen Li revisited the place she had lived for a short time of her life, it was poignant and sad. One cannot return to the past as it stands on its own.

That being said, I have mixed feelings about this show overall.

I know it’s an unpopular opinion but this show became extremely slow and boring. Often the show felt as though it was catering to fans of Princess Agents who were left stranded with its lacklustre ending. Yes, the two leads have good chemistry but chemistry can’t make up for a paper thin plot that should have kept to 25 episodes or fewer. Most xianxias have a lot happening, even if they are common tropes and this one was excruciating slow with this draggy plot. The novel works because the FL’s narration and feelings carry it through.

Yet, not all literary techniques are well translated into film/the visual medium and this show is a good example of that. Shen Li’s voice overs were overused in the early part of the show and often they seemed to deny secondary characters agency.

As I finished the show I felt quite frustrated that secondary characters were not fully developed nor was enough time spent on them. For a 39 episode show secondary characters are paramount. The marriage arc went on forever and ever.

In the end i was left wondering- what happened to Shen Li’s father? Why didn’t she even think about him. It just happened. Mo Fang’s dying scene was quite sad- I pitied him, despite his faults, he did try to protect her. He was left there, without a glance from Shen Li or a final farewell. What an unfortunate character, which Shen Li herself observes.

What happened to Mo Fang’s father? What really was the point of the story? Why did Shen Li fall in love with Xingyun?

The acting was not the problem at all. I found Kenny Lin’s performance here to be among his best. The idea of the lonely ancient god was interesting and Kenny Lin expressed his loneliness well. His crying scene with Zhao Liying towards the end was very good. I really enjoyed the rest of the actors who did the best with whatever they had. Fu Rong Jun has the most character growth and he became one of my favourite characters. I enjoyed the actor’s performance. Jackie Li was great as usual but had limited screen time. I looked forward to seeing the siblings (and those were the parts I watched without skipping).

The music was good overall without the usual xianxia angst. I did not enjoy the xianxia angst when I watched my first xianxia but that’s what I appreciate these days.

Perhaps I had great expectations from the show but for me it was too slow, too thin with its plot. I think some Chinese shows should stick to shorter episodes. Quantity isn’t quality after all. A chicken should not pass for a phoenix. There's nothing wrong with being a chicken though- it has its place in the world.

Leia Mais

It's basically just better than average

I know that everyone is saying this is the best Xianxia we've had for a hot minute but I think this is the key element they're forgetting. There's been such a drought of good Xianxia (and particularly good Xianxia with female leads that don't act and speak like 6 year olds and actually have a personality outside of 'love interest') that we're holding this one to a higher standard than it deserves.

To start on a positive note, there are lots of great things about ShenLi. Although it is 40 episodes it's very easy to digest. Aside from an initially slow start which explores the 'mortal life' section of any Xianxia (albeit in an unexpected and quite witty way) once that awful cgi chicken disappears the show is very enjoyable. It's interesting especially to see the power dynamic shift when Xingzhi/Xingyun's true identity is revealed. The rest of the special effects are actually quite good, and the costumes - though not particularly innovative for the men - have a lot to boast for the women. Some of Shen Li and Demon Lord's outfits were stunning and the detail was apparent. The 'sky above heaven' was also an interesting addition to the show and the lore of the ancient gods.

Now onto the not so great things:
Firstly, this drama has serious pacing issues. The focus on the love story of the two leads was interesting, yes, but almost the entire plot was devoted to them with little time for side characters to develop. This almost led to an over saturation of their romance, particularly because the marriage arc was dragged out until episode 25. I also found that the apathy of the ML was at times taken too far. There is a difference between indifference and surpressed emotion which outwardly presents as indifference which was not always successfully conveyed.

Secondly, although some of the plot twists were genuinely surprising - there was no one single 'wow' factor moment within the show, and there was potential for several. Perhaps due to the halfhearted world building which failed to exhibit a real motivation for the villain beyond loyalty, the stakes never really seemed as high as they should have, and due to the overwhelming power of the 'divine god', even if he was injured or punished by the heavens for disobeying the enigmatic 'natural law' we were never led to believe that he wouldn't be able to overcome whatever was thrown at him. Such was the power of a true 'god' - the last god - compared to mere heavenly immortals.

An 8.8 rating is difficult to comprehend in my opinion. That places the Legend of Shen Li above dramas like: 'Who rules the world' and 'Scarlet Heart: Ryeo', and at the same level as 'The Story of MingLan', 'Eternal Love/Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms', 'Love Between Fairy and Devil', 'Snow Sword Stride' (all far more interesting and developed dramas as far as I'm concerned). I don't like to throw 'overrated' around but I think that this drama may have been. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very enjoyable watch and I highly recommend it; it just seems important to keep in mind that ratings are inevitably relative, and Shen Li perhaps needs to be put into context rather than looked at independently.

Leia Mais

HOOKED FROM THE 1ST EPISODE

I usually read the romance tag and run away, but watched The Legend of Shenli's first episode and didn't stop after that. The actors, the story, "the fancy bird", they are all so good that even if you don't like romance genre, you will still find yourself watching all the episodes and complaining "Why didn't they drop 2 episodes today??"
This is my first time watching Lin Geng Xin and the way he flirts or interacts with the Zhao Li Ying is so sweet. I am also happy to see Xin Yun Lai after watching him in Dream Catcher; he is a really good actor. Must say Zhao Li Ying is so fun to watch. Please start this drama if you haven't already, because you'll love it.


Writing this after watching episode 18 and it is truly wonderful to see Shen Li's character. She doesn't repress her feelings for Xing Zhi and she acknowledges them. She doesn't lead Mofang on and makes it clear that she doesn't have any feelings for him, but she doesn't mistreat him as well. She is aware of her own emotions and feelings, and is a very strong character. All praise for her.

Leia Mais

"Captivating Romance: A Visual Feast with Genuine Affection and Compelling Storytelling"

"I am enthralled by the deliberate restraint in showcasing intimate moments, allowing the genuine affection between the male and female leads to shine through. Their love resonates with such sincerity and passion, captivating audiences and leaving a lasting impression. The cinematography beautifully captures the essence of their romance, adding depth to every scene and making it a visual feast. With such compelling storytelling and mesmerizing effects, this drama is truly worth watching. Here's hoping for a happy ending that will leave hearts warmed and spirits uplifted." Make a headline out of the above reviews.

Leia Mais

Very funny and entertaining

I began watching this the day it was released and I could not get enough of it.Both leads where phenomenal.the acting was perfect and also the pace was normal .neither fast nor slow.Fu Rong and his sister were another grade addition to the story line.I lived Yu lan she was like and diene in the show watching the male and female leads live story .I did not like her at the beginning when she first came but as her character changed I began to really like her and even fu ring who also was like a cp to both of the leads.It felt like he was in love with Shen li closer to the ending tho I am not fully sure but that’s what it seems to me or her was just curious.I hope to know someday.

Leia Mais