Who Rules the World (2022)

It's a good drama to pass time

** caution: large spoilers ahead

It makes you want to watch on, but it wasn't one of those works that really engulfs you into the story until it's over. It wasn't anything special or extraordinary; it really follows the tropes of this genre and the story makes sense, albeit it didn't flow as well as I'd like it to in some places.

I really liked both leads. There were some gorgeous martial arts scenes in the beginning.

The only thing I really have qualms with was some of the important plot points and the ending.

Key reveals I think were handled poorly:
1. Han family murder, Xieyun's death-- essentially characters recovering extremely fast from grief.
2. Xiyun's identity reveal-- it was extremely anticlimactic after all the build up.
3. They really just took away Lanxi's power & then gave it back in the span of like 3 episodes.

The problem with the ending:

The last few episodes were really rushed-- the final showdown starts in the middle of the last episode. There just wasn't enough time to make everything feel realistic or for anything to sink in. All those years of preparation, and Yu Wuyuan just loses like that? Within 20 minutes of screen time? In the final battle, it felt like there weren't really any real losses or turning points / consequences to war.

Why are others so quick to letting Huang Chao rule a world that was previously divided into six nations? Is Hua Chunran a good person? A good empress?

Although the main characters got their happy ending, I feel that it was extremely out-of-character for them to go and live off on their own. They clearly have talent ruling, and our ML spent the entire drama going for the throne. They're people who can't stand by idly and watch injustice. Essentially the ending is pointing to a world so perfect that they would never need to interfere-- and I just can't imagine that happening.

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Awesomesauce!

What can i say, this drama is a pot full of good stuffs! Lol

As usual, such a brilliant drama, had to binge it in 2 days! I just cant help myself from letting the wetv play the next episode time and time again. I applaud the scriptwriter for such a good writing and plot (and the novel writer too!) This is my first time watching a drama able to mix both the jianghu and the imperial court so well as the main story line. Usually, we only see one of them being a major theme, and the other as a side theme only, but not this one. The fact that both the FL and ML are well known and important figures from both worlds and the writers able to flawlessly intertwined this in the plot really makes this drama one of the best for me.

Beware, this review is going to be one of the longest i will probably ever write personally. Lets start with the ML. This is my first drama of yang yang (yes i know!) and i would gladly say he is now currently probably one of my favourites. His acting here is engaging. Witty. He can change persona so fluidly. Witty and playful sneaky hei fengxi, the regal and authoritative er tianxia and of course the head over heels feng langxi. He nails all of them. His facial expression was good, his crying scenes broke my heart to pieces and of course his smile and honest to god flirt melt me to a puddle of goo. I love how Feng Langxi is a regal prince, but also a powerful martial artist as well. I mean, it was so satisfying to see him blast his court enemy/army with his martial arts, rather than just using ol’ single sword like in other imperial dramas. Lol. How cool is that! When he lost his inner force, he is still powerful, but like he said, it was nice being protected instead, rather than being the one always gruesomely protecting others. Honestly, i was snickering over that unexpected comment of his when it comes up.But enough of gushing over him now. Lol

And tbh, lusi did a spectacular job here. I feel that her acting is very mature and natural here. I’ve seen her before in a female student arrives in imperial college and the romance of tiger and hero, it was ok, but nothing to talk about, her Li Le Yan in long ballad is better despite not being the main lead, but her as bai fengxi is endearingly witty instead of annoying witty, and her as feng xiyun is calm collected and strong, instead of just someone playing pretend. Lol. She has improved a lot here and of course im very much impressed with her action scenes in this drama. The chemistry between the ML and FL is thru the roof, which i likee lol. Another thing that impressed me that how bai fengxi character said, “if you want to help a lot of people, it must be done through politics. Fighting in jianghu might solve small feud, but you can do more in the court” -something along that line. I feel how mature her character is at that time, because, despite her free-spirited wanderer martial artist self, she still can see how a well meant and upright power figure can change the world to a better place if done properly. She roams freely, but she never forget her roots and responsibility as a royal, which i am very much respected.

May i gush next about the costumes and set? Lol. Having to portray 7 different palaces with multiple other noble mansions must be a daunting experiences for the crew, but they did well and they are all suitably rich looking and well set up. And of course, the costumes for all characters are really well made, not only just the leads’. But i must say, the costumes for the ML and FL are plentiful and very beautiful, making them look regal and fairy like. The makeup and hair is nice too. All in all, it was a feast for the eyes.

Ost: at first, i do not notice the ost that much since wetv app usually skipped the opening and ending credit and goes straight to the story, but towards second half of it, it is incorporated more in the story and i must say, the ost was beautiful. I especially like the ‘half-half song’ (lol, havent found out whats the name of the song yet, need to lurk in youtube pronto! But its the song that always played during the emotional family scene). The ending song is nice too! Especially during the wedding parade. Oh did i mention how satisfying the wedding scenes are? Especially coupled with the prewedding goodness. Lol

And lastly, i think i need to gush about the well done job on the fighting and war scenes. *clap
Not too many dramas can portray the big scale war scene to a satisfactory level, and i am very much impressed that this drama can deliver this. Not only it does not feel that fake (nobody fought a war with an obvious 15people which usually happened in other dramas *roll eyes), but the war formation etc is nicely elaborated and portrayed. And if they can do that well on the big scale war scene, of course they satisfactorily able to deliver a onetoone and small scale fighting scenes better! The fighting choreography are applaudable and looking suave. The long ballad may be the only one which come close enough to this drama’s level (from my recent list of watched drama) but of course in long ballad, they can cheat around their big scale battle scene with the donghua insert scenes.

And second lastly (lol), what makes this drama endearing to me is how both ML and FL was given their own time to shine equally. There is no need to make the heroine becomes meek so that the hero can shine as knight in shining armour and no need to bring down the hero so that the heroine can be hoisted up as ‘strong female lead’. When feng langxi was going thru hell fighting for his place in his court, i like how the writer made bai fengxi such a sturdy support beside him, equally smoothing his way ahead. And of course, when feng xiyun needs to step up suddenly and take her old place, i like that feng langxi once again was shown to be such an admirable support to her without taking her limelight away. They fit together like a puzzle and i really equally admired and envied them both. Lol. It’s a perfect show of a relationship, a rare gem in period drama. There is also no sorry excuse of jealousy scene/useless third party/unnecessary sacrifice trope as well, which is refreshing. And i like how they just made it that female officials/generals are easily accepted as norm in the storyline, i was getting quite bored with the ‘female fight for equality’ trope in period dramas tbh. Lol.

I think i can safely said that i’ll be rewatching this again and again in the future. Just like the untamed. There are sooo many scenes worth rewinding and rewatching imho

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Best drama ever

The story is awesome with both interesting storyline and amazing actors and actresses. I really like the chemistry of Yang Yang and Lu Si on - and off- cam and this is one of the many reasons why this drama so well loved. The drama is a combination of wuxia and political/ court-ish elements where both the male and female lead have 2 identities and that makes it extremely interesting to follow their journey where they solve multiple problems while concealing their real identities at the same time. I honestly love all the amazing camera work as well as special effects during the many fighting scenes that occurred in this drama. Despite the many controversies this drama had faced, it does not change the fact that the drama is really well made and I really appreciate all actors and actresses' efforts to deliver an impressive and entertaining performance to the audience.


I 10000% recommend this drama if you are looking for something new and are too tired of the usual fight for the throne/ search for powerful object/ romance that are too cringy to describe plotlines!

And on top of this, if you are a big music lover like me, you did be glad to know that the theme songs in this drama are sang by awesome singers like Liu Yu Ning and Wang Su Long!

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A wuxia that feels more like a historical-political drama.

I went into this drama expecting a classic wuxia, maybe something along the lines of Handsome Siblings, but that wasn't what I got. I felt like this drama was confused in it's ideas, (I haven't read the original novel so this is purely based on the show) almost like it was trying to be Legend of the Condor Heroes and Six Flying Dragons at the same time. I personally don't think it worked because politics is all based around logic so it was strange when they were discussing tactics and then all of a sudden a marital artist could take out 100 soldiers alone. And also the feud between the brothers wasn't very interesting, easily predictable and one of the brothers is completely forgotten by the end.

On the plus side though, Hei-Bei Fengxi have amazing chemistry and their slow burn romance makes the whole show worth watching. At the end of every episode I found myself wanting to watch another to see how they would work through problems together and how their relationship would grow. The world it's set in is so beautiful as well and the consumes are wonderfully designed. So despite some inconsistencies in the plot it is definitely worth a watch.

The ending is the biggest cause for debate I've seen, while I don't think it's a fantastic ending I definitely don't think it's as bad as people are making it out to be. His white hair is hilariously unnecessary but apart from that the show ends with the world being at peace, Hei-Bei Fengxi living happily together despite him only having ten years left to live, and all the evil exposed.

Overall a good watch but nothing exceptional. The romance is what makes it likeable so if you're not into that then you probably won't enjoy it.

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Not sure if it really deserves the hype

I literally forced myself to complete it, partly because of Yang Yang looking good in traditional Chinese costumes and partly because Lusi is my favourite. But even these two couldn't save the series. Firstly, I always have a problem with Yang Yang not showing enough expressions. Like, show me that you're happy/sad/angry/h**ny. Anything! Secondly, I felt like something's missing in Lusi's character. Bai Fengxi is undoubtedly strong and elegant but she didn't look promising as a martial artist as much as Feng Qiwu did. Guess Lusi is not made for martial arts characters. The martial sister of Xiyun, Bai Langhua, was annoying as hell. Like she was unsure of what she wants or thinks. Has some confusing and ridiculous trust issues with Bai Fengxi even after being her martial sister. And how come every living woman in the drama (other than the Queen) is in love with Lanxi. Even that maid of his mansion has a crush on him, like?????? I get that Yang is super handsome and pretty irresistible but this is just some kind of mindless fangirling dumped in the drama. Honestly, Feng Chang really raised my expectations of what he initially bestowed upon me. He was the most genuinely created character. Overall I think the drama had a promising potential but was ruined by casting teenagers and dry actors.

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Breathtaking masterpiece!

Such an amazing series. Th production was incredible with incredible cinematography. Everything from the costumes, fight choreographies, music, etc. were done to almost perfection. The story was good with not a lot of slow draggy moments often plaguing long Chinese dramas. Having said that, there are a few things that would have made the series a lot better in my opinion (my personal preferences):
- I wish there were more kiss scenes. Yes I know kisses are considered rare to begin with, but it would have conveyed more passion between the leads instead of just romantic gazes. Compared to Eternal (10 miles of peach blossoms), the passion was lacking here.
- The part with Lang Hua stabbing was a bit odd to me. Like they were like sisters but that scene just felt out of place somehow. And then the aftermath was also felt rushed like she just apologized and forgiven like she didn’t almost killed her.
- Han Pu didn’t die in the novel and I didn’t understand why he had to die in the series. I would preferred he didn’t die considering he’s the last member of the Han family.
- Although it was considered a happy ending, the fact that there’s a 10-year limit was kind of depressing to me.

Overall, a near perfect masterpiece with high re-watch value.

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The peace & people-loving Hei-Feng Bai-Xi and their mighty & passionate conquest for love.

From now on, we'll be drunk together (referring to kissing) - Feng Lanxi

My desire to get highly critical with this review is strong but I have decided to let my fun-loving drama passionate side stay rational by giving this production an impartial and honest feedback. So, rest assured that all informations stated are base on how I genuinely view this drama as a whole.

Plot twist, revelations and overall scheming - Most of the time I spent guessing with this dramas outcome was really satisfying and unpredictable. Kudos to the writers for making sure that we're still getting the elements of surprise throughout the solving and brain racking moments.

Pacing went too fast and felt too rushed. Sequencing may seemed alright but it's rather lacking as well. I feel like more than anything else this drama needed more time and episodes to make a lot of its scenes more detailed and effective. They dwelled so much in imperial struggles and throne infighting that they kinda forgot how much episodes they've wasted on it already and how many more is left for the climax and finale.

Fighting scenes - Most of the early fights were flawless, extremely good and greatly executed specially with our Main leads. However, towards the end everything just felt lacking and unimpressive. It feels like they were short of budget to make it 'actually' happen or simply because they got limited resourches to do so. Overall I'm still grateful and glad that we still got a lot of decent and even great combat scenes.

CGI, Graphics and Editing - This production survived because of their magnificent editing team. CGI is outstanding and I'm impressed on how detailed and well coordinated they all are. It's just that they have 'too much' of it that it gradually felt lackluster. They off-screened a lot of supposed great scenes and it's just a huge missed opportunity from them.

Climax and ending - Full of Recaps, Cuts and Off-screens... Climax should've been the most detailed and eventful part but it overall felt rushed and disappointing. The way they transition the events felt like they wanna wrap it up in the best way possible while still showing the necessary contents; although it kinda worked out, it still felt wrong the more you think about it. Ending is good and quite reasonable but I think they could've done it a lot better than that.

Main leads relationship and chemistry - It was refreshing to see that both of our leads have a pre-established connection through rivalry and countless interactions during their introduction as it served as the greatest foundation to further develop and strengthen their relationship. + Their constant bickering was more than enough to make me go insane!

Feng Xiyun / Bai Fenxi - What made this character really unique is her ability to befriend and attract anyone just by being carefree and unbothered. Not to mention how brave, skillful and sassy she is that made her even more interesting to watch.

Feng Lanxi / Hei Fenxi - I just wanna say that I really love his simply yet classy carriage. Hahaha! It contributed a lot to make his calm, composed and intelligent character be even more convincing and attractive.

Other character rants (mostly about Lanhua & Sect leader Bai) - This two character made me uncomfortable and rolled my eyes 10x or more. I feel like for a leader, Master Bai seemed so weak, fragile and vulnerable. While Lanhua just didn't deserve any screen time she has had in this show. Her character is the greatest downside of this story and I just hated how immature, unprogressive and stagnant she is even when the show's halfway done.

P.S. This drama doesn't need any skips because they do it for you. /Sighs/

Story - 9.0, Story flow is actually good and considerably packed with details. It's just that they spent 3/4 of the show to build up the climax and finale only to become unimpressive due to the lack of episode, countless recaps and off-screened scenes.

Acting/Cast - 9.5, Impressive main and supporting leads, specially Zhao Lusi, Yang Yang, Zhang Haowei, Lai Yi and Liu Ruilin. I just think that some of the side actors/actresses felt weak in showing the approriate emotions and body language.

Music - 10, Overall BGM were properly placed and in-synced to every scenes and I just love the songs they used in this drama. Lots of good ballads I'll surely add on my playlist.

Rewatch Value - 9.0, Despite all the rants I mentioned above, I still won't neglect the fact that this story is enjoyable and exciting to watch. Heck!!, I finished it in 3 days. Just be wary on the countless off-screened cuts that may spoil your watch experience.

Overall - 9.0, It could've been more impressive and satisfying if they could've added atleast 10 more episodes to it. It felt too compressed and rushed that I feel like something important is missing. It may have wrapped up 'decently' but this drama deserves better. Specially since it has Zhao Lusi and Yang Yang in it.

IF you find my review helpful please let me know

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Beautiful Chemistry, Lovely Couple

I have to admit that the ending of this drama a bit disappointed to me, but since the middle of the story, I've been expecting this kind of ending. In fact, I was hoping for a sad ending. Even so, the Bai-Hei Fengxi couple was adorable from the beginning to ending, and even if they had a bad ending, they would at least spend 10 years together happily, and who knows if they would find a solution to prolong Hei Fengxi's life?

I'm in love with the original soundtrack of this drama, even now I still enjoy the strains of the song, and make me remember all the excited scenes of our two leads. Ugh, I don't want this drama to end~ I don't know how the story is in the novel version, but I can quite accept the ending of this drama.

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Two intelligent lead characters

I was not certain what to expect from the show, but I have to say it was well done and one of my favorites from 2022.

The story is a power struggle between the six kingdoms to become the new empire that rules the world. The story centers mainly on 4 of the 6 kingdoms and Hei Fengxi (aka Fang Lan Xi) and Bai Fengxi (aka Feng Xi Yun) are a fated pair, a prince and lady of 2 of the kingdoms with of both them having another identity in the martial arts world. Where the story excels is in the relationship of the 2 main characters. The characters are equals with each helping and supporting the other and with no silly misunderstandings. The 2 are faced with the back stabbing to be named the heir between Her Fengxi and his brothers and the political turmoil around the collapse of the current empire, but they always trust each other and work together to achieve their goals. I also very much appreciated the relationship of Hei Fengxi and his elder brother Feng Chang., I was happy that even when you thought Feng Chang would turn on his brother he never did and any misunderstanding was resolved quickly, Of course his young brother Feng Ju was the typical back stabbing less intelligent prince and their was the "mother" and the whole harem manipulating behavior. The show got a little draggy in the middle with the fight to be heir, and the Heir Fengxi's father is a horrible human being. Still there are 2 things that annoy me in shows: Stupid women (especially FL) and silly and contrived misunderstandings. This show did not have any of the horrible misunderstandings between the ML and FL, or the ML and his brother, and all of the women were intelligent, capable and strong, the only exception would be the cultivation sect leader and Bai Fengxi's "sister" was little annoying and silly but that was just a small amount of the time. I really liked how Hua Chun Ran was really equal to Huang Chao, and Feng Qi Wu as the trusted female assistant of Hei Fengxi was a fantastic character.

The acting was solid. For the leads, I am a fan of Yang Yang but he really can come across as stiff and I mean physically like he has a stiff neck, but he did a fine job. I was extremely impressed with Zhao Lu Si as the FL I have seen her in other shows and thought she was cute but I was very impressed with her acting in this show and the way she portrayed Bai Fengxi, from her carefree time in the martial arts world, to her helping and falling in love with Hei Fengxi, to the tragedies that befall her kingdom and family. I was really amazed. Zhang Feng YI as the rule and Hei Fengxi's father and Carman Lee as Madmae Bai Li the conniving wife were both amazing. All of the actors were great. I was less of a fan of the villain and the portrayal, but that was even fine,.

Music was fine, It sounded similar to other OST and music from different shows, but still enjoyable.

Would I rewatch, absolutely with the fast forward button ready for the slow parts,

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I watched WRTW again to answer some questions that I had and to better appreciate some of the finer details. All told, this is almost a perfect ten and I believe that if the Director hadn't left with their crew in the middle of filming, it would have come very close.
The story is very complex, and while there is a lot of focus on the duo, Bai/Hei Fenxi, and on the palace intrigue of Feng Lanxi, the story of Huang Chao (who after all is said and done becomes the next Emperor) and of Yu Wu Yuan (who turns out to be the arch villain) is short changed.
Likewise, the viewer is asked to forgive and forget several incidents which I, for one, found it difficult to do. Most glaring is the King, Feng's father, who subjects him to a brutal, near fatal beating, and to drinking the drink of grief. Later we see him presiding over their wedding and abdicating the throne. Not so fast! In another example, Bai Fenxi's sect sister stab's her in the back (literally) but is somehow forgiven by the next episode. And finally, the Prime Minister, who is in love with Feng Lenxi, steps aside for Bai Fenxi while continuing to swear eternal loyalty to her former love.
It seems ironic that after facing off against Hei/Bai Fenxi for almost 39 episodes, and engaging in several battles with a huge loss of life, Hei/Bai Fenxi are willing to hand over the throne to Huang Chao in the end. Why then did the world have to be plunged into war in the first place?
The chemistry between Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si is electric - I am in awe of actors who can kiss passionately before a camera and crew - I know I could never do it - and likewise, their grief in the face of death, and of losing the one you love, brought tears to my eyes.
The costumes are splendid - Oh why can't I sail off to work in one of those layered silken robes! The sets are breath taking. The cinematography is eye candy, and the screenplay is top notch - except in a few scenes where the lovey doveyness is over done.
All told, this is a splendid tale, and splendid in the making. Give yourself the time and the setting to sit back and enjoy it - and keep that box of tissues handy!

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They Rule My Heart

I was going to give this one a 10 but I took a point off for the ending. It was a good ending for this drama but I wanted more. I yearned to see the main leads despite seeing them for 40 episodes.
I am forever grateful to Netflix for randomly recommending this drama to me even though I was a K-drama binge-watcher at that time.
I saw this drama in 2022 but I remember it so clearly.
The scenes are beautiful. The chemistry is stunning.
This is Yang Yang's only successful drama for me.
I recommend this drama to anyone who wants to dive into the world of C-dramas.
This is hands down in my top 5.

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