9/6/2021

Listening Snow Tower is not a widely-recommended or talked about drama, and I got to know about this as I read an article comparing it to "Legend of Fuyao". I also read comments that it's a wuxia drama with great fight scenes. Fuyao is my one of my most favorite dramas and Snow Tower is not even close to the brilliance of Fuyao. (My review of Fuyao: https://mydramalist.com/profile/voicelesslove/review/152877)

The reason why I stuck with this drama and not drop it is because of our male lead Yi Qing. I have never watched Qin Jun Jie in any drama before and I am a fan now (got Spy Hunter on my PTW list). His portrayal of our sickly ML is great, though I don't find him particularly handsome/attractive at first. He shows the vulnerable side of our lead when he's not feeling well, but you can see his determination and stubbornness in his eyes as well. I feel his love for our FL when he's looking at her with quiet admiration and adoration. Even though he appears pale and sickly throughout the show, you can feel his presence as the Tower Master. He has that charisma that people will listen to him whether he's coughing up blood or just sitting quietly reading. I don't think I would continue with this drama if not for Yi Qing and wanting to know that he could succeed. I root for him and want him to have a happy ending so badly.

I enjoy the romance between our leads. I like a mature, quiet romance where our ML is showing his love through actions and not just cheesy lines. This type of romance might not be for everyone. There isn't any fluffy cute romantic scenes or banter, or big gestures to declare their love for each other, except maybe self-sacrificing themselves so the other won't get hurt. I love that our ML supports FL quietly and secretly, by helping her get stronger, and never try to change her. They understand each other's actions without saying it out loud. As much as I love this type of relationship, I do feel the chemistry between the leads could have been better. I think I am just not feeling it from FL to ML.

I like the general plot of the drama. Unfortunately, there are too many side characters and each of them have their own little romance/story. Do we need so many love-at-first-sight romance? I am fine with a decent supporting cast, but I just feel it's a little over-the-board here. This takes away from the main plot and slow down the pacing of the drama. There are so many times when they capture their nemesis, threaten to kill them, and then let them go. This drama does not have to be 56 ep long. I lost my attention in the middle of the drama, and the pacing only picks back up towards the last 5-7 episodes. Speaking of the supporting cast, I am most impressed with our villain Ming He, played by Angela Yuen. As a newcomer, she did a great job in her portrayal of Ming He/Ye Huo.

One of the most disappointing thing is the editing of the fight scenes. I really hope to find a good wuxia drama that gives me great fighting choreography. The fight scenes seem to be better in the first half of the show than the second half. I appreciate the lack of slow-mo spinning that are so prevalent in many shows. I wish to see longer fight scenes and faster movement. Our actors seem too weak when yielding their swords. There are times when some expected good fights were starting and they were cut short or transition out to something different. Our FL is supposed to be one of the top 3 fighters in the show, and we barely see her in action, or the fight scenes are so short that they don't her prowess. The best scene she had was her fight with the ML in the rain. Other than that, there's nothing memorable.

There's blood spitting/coughing everywhere. I wonder if our ML rivals Si Feng in "Love and Redemption" in the number of times these two MLs spit blood. The dubbing is not good either. There are several times where the supporting cast is speaking out the inner thoughts of the leads and explaining why they do certain things. I wonder if there's a better way of conveying the same kind of information. I don't expect any passionate kisses in a wuxia drama, but I was hoping to have at least one decent kiss from our leads. The kisses that they have are all life-saving kisses, but not a romantic kiss. The other two kisses by our supporting cast are surprise/unwilling kisses that are quite unnecessary and really did nothing to the story.

It sounds like I hate this drama, but I really don't. I have high hopes but am disappointed. There are times when MDL ratings are wrong with shows that have sub-8 ratings. Unfortunately, this time it's correct. I like it enough to not drop it but it took a lot of willpower.