The Story of Mystics (2024)

Amazing & Emotional Journey : Beautiful but Tragic

When I first saw the poster, i thought, "Of course, the cinematography is gonna be great because has same director as MJTY." I really loves the cinematography, CGI, visual, and the tone was very aesthetically pleasing.

The storyline is solid overall, focus to relationship between main roles with very slowburn romance. Actors and actresses did a great job. The chemistry between the cast? No question, both on-screen and off-screen, it’s insane. I love bromance between ZhuYan-LiLun, Zhuo Yichen-BaiJiu-Yinglei. The visual is no joke! From the main leads to cameo, everyone’s visuals are on point. Makeup and costumes suit each character perfectly. The ending was kind of predictable, but still hits hard for me, especially Zhuyan and Bai Jiu and Ying Lei (my chaotic duo💔), so sad it had to be tragic. There’s so much value we can learn from this c-drama about love, hate, regret, accepting fate, and defying fate. Totally worth watching!

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One Word Spell: WATCH

This drama is no ordinary drama. Not one that you can just watch on the side. It's hard to put into words what the drama really is. So many times it just seems out of this world. Every scene is masterfully realised and the cinematography is breathtaking. Every frame emphasises the tone of the scene or creates a very special atmosphere. The drama takes the viewer on a journey, if they allow themselves to. We experience the joy of friendship, the deep bond between siblings, the pain of remorse and guilt, the anger of betrayal, the danger in passion, the heavy burden of loneliness, the faint spark of hope for a different and better future, the struggle against one's own nature and the overcoming of prejudice. We feel the sweet bitterness of love. Not only romantic love, but also the pure, untainted love between soul mates. And we have to endure the sad power of sacrifice.

Every character in this drama is complex and multi-layered and there is no real good or evil. Every character has their skeletons in the closet and that makes them tangible. For me, the drama plays a lot with the theme of what good or evil means. If the goal is good, if you do it for the greater good, does that really give you the right to use any means, even if they are cruel? It questions morality many times and makes you think. Each of the antagonists has understandable reasons for their actions and I often asked myself how I would have reacted if I had been in their shoes.

Everyone's acting performance was absolutely impressive. If you look at the performance of Lester Lin, who later played two such contrasting characters, Bai Jiu and Li Liun, at just 13 years old - wow. Just wow.
Everyone, really everyone, embodied their role so well that every emotion was not only visible but palpable. Something that not everyone manages to do.

I think it will take a few more days before I have digested the emotional ending, but in my heart I will never forget this drama. It will always have that special place.

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Beautiful story about love, hate, understanding and self-sacrifice

For me Fangs of Fortune was highly anticipated drama because I love mythology/folklore based stories. Inspired with "Classic of Mountains and Seas", deep, intense and very philosophical, this drama now has a special place in my heart. I won't analyze everything in detail, I'll just describe what I liked the most.
Fate. Found family. Inner conflicts. Selflessness and righteousness. There's a lot to be said about this drama, but the most important for me is how unique it is in terms of relationships dynamics. Hou Minghao and Tian Jiarui did amazing job portraying their characters whose complex relationship and tragic fate form the heart of the story. For Zhuo Yichen it was long way from hatred to compassion, understanding and deep affection. For Zhao Yuanzhou, it began from "Promise me to kill me" but progressed to "Promise me that we'll protect the Wilderness and mortal world together". From enemies to friends to soulmates... And as a lot of viewers already commented about, Li Lun's role is also remarkable. I loved how his relationship with Zhao Yuanzhou was portrayed, gradually, like a mosaic: their past together, the reason why they separated ways, their painful conflict and affection which remained despite everything. Does any other drama have relationships dynamics like this? I think no. Does such a story need romance? No. I'm not going to join those who complained about "lack of chemistry" between Zhao Yuanzhou and Wen Xiao. Their relationship is healthy, simple and unconflicted, romance is subtle and I'm totally okay with this, because it's just not what this drama is dedicated to. It's friendships-centered and I wish we had more stories like this.
I think it would be fair to say that in addition to impressive plot this drama is a visual feast. Cinematography, costumes, styling and color palette are top-notch. And a lot of original soundtracks firmly settled in my Spotify playlist. So, with its captivating story and characters that you immediately become emotionally attached to Fangs of Fortune became a very precious gift for me.

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May you return home after all the hardships

Fangs of Fortune was a typical Wuxia story I feel. Even though I might not be an expert in that genre, the fantasy elements and the main theme remained strong throughout the story. It's a story about a Great Demon teaming up with his greatest enemy, the leader of Demon catchers bureau to find the Baize token that can bring peace to the world again. The female lead, the to be Baize Goddess, a prodigy doctor, a skilled demon catcher and a half demon half god cook joins them on this adventurous journey. It begins as a story of gods, demons and humans teaming up together for the greater good and maintains that theme throughout.

The strongest part of this drama, in my opinion, is the characters they built and the beautiful bond they share with one another. The friendship, the brotherhood, the sisterhood and the romance. Although the romance is kind of nonexistent, as if it just exists to pass the censorship. I feel like if the director could, he definitely would've made it a BL.

The Female lead is introduced as this strong and independent character and yes she's wise but she not strong at all and throughout the drama she acts simply as a damsel in distress, cries and contributes to the story by increasing their problems.

Whereas the second Male lead serves all the roles a romantic interest should. Despite that, i love him the most as individual character. Maybe because I relate to his loneliness and stubbornness but I think it's more than that. Maybe it's the fact that he received the most character development and he's surely gonna remain as one of my favourite characters.

The story definitely could've been better. The fantasy world they built is vast and it's definitely fascinating but many aspects of it doesn't make sense. Many times they introduce us with a problem that cannot be solved, their ancestors couldn't solve it and then 1 episode later they have solved it. There are many plot holes as well.

The pacing also feels pretty odd at times. The plot feels a bit repetitive by the end but it's ignorable. The constant whispering is definitely annoying and unrealistic but i guess you get used to it. The most annoying aspect it is definitely the repetitive use of osts. The songs on their own are good but they are used in literally every scene.

Despite all of its flaws, i still enjoyed it for the most part. It's definitely a fun show that serves you with good visuals, fantasy setup and great characters and we cannot forget the underrated comedy.Also i absolutely love the ending. It's perfect in all ways. I think it's worth a watch.

8/10

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Never have I ever seen deeper care among friends on screen!

Throughout a consequent and touching drama. There were a few things I've never seen in c-dramas until now. That is emotional comfort in a physical way. Yes, parents or grandparents sometimes comfort their children by hugging, but I haven't that much among friends. Wen Xiao (FL) and Officer Pei (second FL) shared really intimate monents, holding eachothers hands or cuddling, just as you would do irl with your friends too. I loved the children, like Bai Jiu and Ying Lei are so adorable, I cant bear it. I also love that Officer Zhou has more than a rival relationship with Zhao Yuanzhou, these two plus Wen Xiao have such a funny dynamic, like everyone's flirting with everyone? (Pretty sure some of the interactions were ad-lib) Another thing I loved, is the fact that Officer Pei never felt in love with anyone, but she did have her own people to care about and felt like a rightfully done empowered woman, making her emphathetic and strong.
(Only downside I have is that they cried a record amount of tears, but even though that makes it a bit draining to bingewatch, but it certainly makes us feel that their life and emotions are real for them)
I think the acting that stood out for me the most is Bai Jiu's, his actor is now only 13 years old, but he played all these emotions and different sides to his character very well (+an obsession arc).
Oh and I love Yinglei's character as well, his humour and playfullness and his love for Bai Jiu.
I really enjoyed that there were no misunderstandings, no solo-mission like trust me bro, but they always tried to solve it all within a group.
Actually in the end I have come to terms with the not so strong FL, because even though she has a lot of spiritual power, she is described as a person of weak physique. Although physical power isnt her strongest point, but she knows a lot about demons, does it help her to protect? No. It helps her to be more forgiving and open-minded, it'd be overpowering to put all the virtues into her. And like this their group of six still has four strong fighters. (I think I gonna agree that this drama reads as Danmei (BL) and Baihe (GL).)
Anyway go watch, but prepare some tissues.

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Sad but a brilliant drama I even love the ending

This drama is scarry at start but later it become a hollow but digestable novel in play and I definitely adored it as much as all the characters that were just simply gorgeous and fun and also loved the ending even though it's sad but it's a nice and don't get me wrong the ending here though it's sad it's with reason and I absolutely understand it and it's also in halloween and all saints period of time like can you imagine the fantastic way of it...I definitely knew many and including Zhao Yuan Zhou will die because of the season and theme of the drama but I hoped it have a happy ending just so people love it more because it's really fantastic drama and that fact it's made in a correct time of the year is something I personally love about it...it makes it so unique and really amazing

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One of the best if it's your taste. ✨

I am willing to gloss over the awkward transitions and the somewhat rushed plots when it came to fixing the "stuffs" it all felt like plot convenience. The overly used illusions were somewhat tiring to watch but they did well to explain the difference between each occurrence though it was to us viewers just ... Same. 🤡

When it comes to the usual criticism. I don't mind the quite whispering as a slow talker myself the slow talking didn't bother me Q.Q The overly used soundtracks were sometimes overwhelming but I quite like them so it's a pass. Well when it comes to the Female lead I was not annoyed nor displeased with her though some what frustrated with her passiveness in some scenes.

Point deduction for the visuals came from the 🐦‍🔥 fight sequence which had pretty inconsistent quality compared to the other fight sequences. It was end game it should have been the best. To anyone who says that the entire drama's CGI is lacking I have no words maybe I am easily satisfied and this is visually just normal (can you see the sarcasm 🐣)
Another point is the filter they used kept changing so by the end of the drama all flashbacks have different filters on. 😬

The low acting score is cut for the early episodes where baiju and ying lei were really animated. As the show went on it slowly shifting though. Furthermore out villain actor at end game was meh but maybe it's just his character being a meh character. Usually older actors I tend to praise as they tend to do better.

Finally I just want to say that. This drama is about:
Humans, demons, mortals, immortals , hot, cold, weak, strong, burdened and unburdened forming a bond each one different then the other. Each villain's story tells a tragic tale. Each episode draws the group of seemingly different individuals together. Forming a family and I love it with my dear heart. Surely gonna miss this one. I ain't asking for a second session cause the ending was enough for me. ❤️‍🩹😭

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visually gorgeous, but still missing something

Opening this review by saying that I love this director's works and My Journey To You is, to this day, one of my favourite c-dramas ever, so, needless to say, I waited for SO long for this show to finally air. My high expectations basically hit the sky.
The aesthetic, sceneries and cinematography of Fangs of Fortune don't come as a surprise: they are simply gorgeous and I really can't think of other dramas (during this or in the previous years) that are equal to it (except, of course, for this director's other works).
He always has a clear and fixed idea of how things should be shot and how they should look and, so far, it's always been consistent. Just one look at one scene and the viewers can immediately tell it's one of his works.
That's what hooked me with MJTY and I was just all too happy seeing it in this drama as well. C-dramas often tend to have “issues” with the cinematography, the lightning and colouring, the camera work (let alone the CGI), so when it comes to this area, Fangs of Fortune is already a level above the others and it looks so good and professional and eerie in the best possible way.
I admit, the ghostly white powder on the actors' faces always kind of takes me aback, because it's very VERY pale and in certain shots they either look like corpses or, thanks to skin smoothing as well, you can't really see their full expressions, but in this case it fits the tone of the drama and I think a different make-up would look weird and too much in contrast with the dark aesthetic.
Wigs and costumes are of very high quality and the texture, the details (ex. the fish scales in the fish demon's robes) the colours, EVERYTHING, really set them apart and a lot above others costume dramas... costumes.
Every character has its own styling and the outfits and hairstyles really help with making them all the more unique and alive. The stylist department really deserves all the appreciation and an award for their work.
If not for the plot and the characters themselves, I'd recommend this drama just for how good it looks.
(Little parenthesis for the soundtrack: it really works. I read comments where people were not happy with it, back when the show still had to air, but so far so good. Especially the modern song they use during fight scenes. Unexpectedly, it fits with the vibe and choreography of those sequences and it brings them out even more. When I think of the OST, that's the very first song that comes to mind, so it really left a good impression on me).
Now.
Onto the things that still don't sit quite right with me and the reason I scored this one a 7.5 (for now, will most likely change it as I watch more episodes – hopefully).
First of all, especially in the first couple of episodes, the scenes are way too jumpy and “messy”, so much so that I had to replay a couple of parts because I couldn't really understand certain things and the show just lost me. Was it a dream? A memory/flashback? The way it's edited and quickly jumps from A to B back to A is very confusing. They're not smooth cuts.
Granted, it got better in the last episode I watched (ep.5), so it's probably just a problem of the first part and it got fixed as it went on. Again, hopefully.
The second thing is the humour. Most of the times it actually gets a giggle out of me (the actors' comedic timing is always on point and their expressions alone are enough to make the joke work) and it's just in such contrast with the somber scene at play in that moment that it somehow works very well and I can only appreciate it. But some other times... they REALLY play into it, to the point that it feels kinda weird and out of place. Cringe, even. To make an example: the way the young boy, Bai Jiu, keeps screaming or fainting. After a while it gets repetitive, old, and his character doesn't feel real anymore. Hope he'll hit some character growth and won't shout as much. I really liked young master Xue's character in MJTY and, albeit so young, that actor really can play more serious roles.
Humour in this kind of dramas is a fine line to walk and I think, up to this moment, MJTY kept that balance a lot better.
Third thing, which is mainly what caused the 7.5, is something I cannot quite explain with words, but I can't help feeling whenever I'm watching this drama: a sense of emptiness. Of something missing, not being there.
It's really more of a personal feeling, but there are certain scenes where I really can't help but feel like I'm watching something empty, like something should be there, but isn't. Like I'm reading the draft of a book and some paragraphs are still missing or aren't finished yet. Where MJTY felt more organic and grounded, FoF is a lot more staged, a gorgeous cover wrapped around blank pages.
Sometimes it has to do with the scene in general, sometimes with the way it cuts from one shot to the other, the lack of music and overall sound or just the characters. I know they are interacting with each other, but it's as if there's this wall that divides them. One thing that really irks me is how often (especially the villains) they just... stand there and let the main leads finish their thing, whether it's talking among themselves or preparing for action.
It's still the very beginning, though, so it'll probably smooth out and feel more natural and complete with the episodes to come, but right now it all feels too disjointed, especially when the narration clearly slows down or stops altogether to focus on the appearance of the characters or the beauty of a certain shot.
(I know this criticism basically goes against my praises of the aesthetic and cinematography of this director's works, but I can't deny he can be VERY pretentious and all too often puts looks above substance).
I still don't have much to say about the characters themselves, because we still don't know them much yet, but some impressed me more than others and for others I hope they'll grow and get better with time.
I'm very curious about Zhuo Yichen, although Tian Jiarui's performance so far is a little... lukewarm, when compared with the work he did on Gong Yuanzhi in MJTY. I like how Yichen can be both fierce and shy/awkward, but he didn't give much aside for that (so far). I know he's a more than capable actor, so I'm sure the character will grow on me, but right now... not there yet. It probably also depends on the way the make-up and hairstyle always make his expression look very tight, as if he can't move his face much - or just got a face lift. But, aside from that, I'm curious to find out who he really is. I have this headcanon where he is, in fact, a demon, given his blue eyes and his whispery voice (I noticed only demons have it, which is a nice touch and detail) and the constant nightmare of becoming one. I want to see whether I'm right or wrong.
I was pleasantly surprised with two performances so far: Neo Hou and Chen Duling.
I always found Neo Hou's acting to be quite stiff and struggled a lot not to see the actor beneath the character, so I am impressed in the best of ways with this role. He is shining and brings Zhu Yan to life. And although at times the character himself isn't very consistent with the way he acts and reacts, he really works for me and got me hooked from the very beginning. Hope we'll get to see more of his layers, like his darker and more serious and dangerous side, but also his sensible and “sad” personality, because he really wishes to die and I really want to 1) know why and 2) see HOW the actor will showcase this part of the character.
For Chen Duling, I've only seen her in two other works, where she played either a minor role or a supporting role, but in both cases she was nothing but a woman who fell into sadness and depression because of her lost lover, so I was a bit worried about Wen Xiao. But I really love her so far and she's really growing on me. Right now I can easily say she's my favourite among the main roles.
Last but not least, I hope we'll get some proper world building this time around. This director's works always tend to lack a lot on this department and so far the world of FoF hasn't been fleshed out that much. Granted, I'm only at episode five as I'm writing this review, but I was really confused at the wheres and how much time it takes to move from place x to place y.
I wish they gave us an impression of space and moving spaces like, for example, Mysterious Lotus Casebook did. Its world building isn't much richer and extended, but it has some substance at least and the characters won't just appear back at a certain place (ex. the archives of the bureau) as if through sci-fi teleportation.

I think that's all for now. Might come back to this once the drama is complete.

- Mei

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A beautiful cinematography but lacks essence

Visually, it’s a gorgeous drama but there was just something missing. Like I started watching because of the premise; a great demon wanting to die but meet people who might convince him to live. It started that way but turned into a crying fest along the way. It’s like every episode someone has to cry. And maybe that’s the direction the directors wanted to go with the drama. Maybe they just wanted to tug at our heartstrings. From episode 29 even with tears in my eyes, the only thing I could do was laugh.
Firstly, Ying lei is supposed to be a mountain god; part demon and part god. How the hell did he die from those wounds? Like how!!! And please don’t say that li Lun roots went through his heart or something…. And then everyone just stood there watching. I mean fine, the poison acted on wen xiao so she couldn’t do anything. Why was pei sijing just there holding her instead of helping ying lei?? And xiao zhou was the next one…. I thought he’s good at fighting or holding his own…. He saw the roots coming towards him and just waited for ying lei to push him out of the way….. So you’re telling me that he hit the ground so hard that it took him so long to get back up?? Plus they had a sword and a knife and just stood there watching the roots coming towards them?? My gosh!!! And I’m sorry to say but I really had to laugh that whole scene of ying lei dying……
Secondly, it’s like going from a good fighting scene where the drama picks up back to a crying fest. At first I didn’t like li Lun because of his actions but his sacrifice redeemed himself in my eyes. I actually cried with his and bai jiu’s deaths. Like I can understand why Bai Jiu died and the circumstances under which he died but I still cannot understand how ying lei died. And why do people just disappear from each scene….. like pei sijing and bai jiu were both together but when bai jiu was dying, where was pei sijing?
FOF is beautifully made but that alone isn’t good enough. Some persons might enjoy it but I would have like things to make sense; at least to some degree. Like the last set of episodes had scenes that weren’t connecting. Like during the fighting scenes, zhou yi Chen had his sword pointing towards the doctor guy and in the next second, this sword isn’t being pointed at the guy. And this happened in multiple scenes.
I wasn’t expecting a happy ending but I continued to watch until the end although I had to fast forward sometimes.
But what I did like was the ost. Lui yuning once again delivered and it shows why he sings most of the ost for various dramas. I also liked that ZYC finally understand what ZYZ was going through and saw that he didn’t have a choice of what happens when he gets controlled by the malicious energy. But I would have liked to see the others apologize to ZYZ since they easily forgave Bai Jiu for his deception.
It’s been a rollercoaster and now I’m onto my next journey.

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