Nirvana in Fire (2015)

In a typical drama:
1) Have you ever felt annoyed at a character for making the wrong decisions?
2) Have you ever found yourself skipping scenes because you want to get on with the plot?
3) Have you ever thought that a scene didn't make sense for the context of the situation?

Look no further, NIRVANA IN FIRE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN! This show will ease your pain and NOT make you ask these questions.

1) The ML, although physically weak, he proves that you don't need physical strength to win battles. His ability to understand people's behaviors combined with his intelligence makes him the ultimate mastermind for maneuvering around schemes and executing plans. You won't find yourself getting annoyed at his character, but you may find yourself feeling empathetic for him instead.

2) Each act and scene had a purpose. The dialogue either contributed to the movement of the storyline or used to build characters and their relationships. The plot never goes stale and you're constantly on edge with the ML trying to help him achieve his main goal.

3) Whilst it is a political period drama with wuxia elements, it stays true to its genre whilst also remembering the human emotions and passions in a political power struggle. Whether it's a conversation scene or an action fight scene, it will have you thinking "wow, that's so smart!"

Bottom line:
It is one of the most well-written dramas I've ever seen. However, if you're someone who is used to romantic comedy or light-hearted dramas, and this is the first political period piece you intend to watch, you'll either end up mesmerized by its logical brilliance or end up finding it difficult to appreciate if you struggled to keep up with the script. BUT, if you're tired of dramas with poorly written stories anyway, watch Nirvana in Fire and you won't be disappointed.

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So good I had to write my first review!

Now that I've stopped sobbing my heart out I will try to fit into words what watching this series meant to me.

The story is incredibly well crafted, intelligent and complete. The actors were riveting and utterly relatable. The costumes, scenery and music all blended together to fully pull you into the story. It just ALL worked and ALL had a kind of flow and polish that is rare to find. Even though I am a sucker for happy endings I could not be upset (only completely heartbroken) at this story's conclusion. I tried to brace myself, tried to be prepared yet it still had me unhinged for a good half hour while I made peace with the fact that there would be no more time spent with these dear souls I had come to admire and respect and worry over. I feel a little lost now, in all honesty. So yes! It is worth watching, without doubt.

I could spend plenty more time telling you why it's a good idea to watch it but truly if I were you (and I was not that many days ago) I would simply go get a nice healthy snack and dive in for a most engaging and rewarding journey. If you don't agree after you've finished, come chat with me and we can have a fun discussion about it all!

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There is only one word for this show: MASTERPIECE.
I am not easily impressed, so I do not use that word lightly. This drama blew me away - it is a stirring and pure story of justice, honor and friendship. I will definitely rewatch this show even though I normally do not rewatch things even if I like them. I have watched three dramas so far (Ice Fantasy, The Princess Weiyoung and Nirvana in Fire) and whereas I felt the other two declined in the later episodes (I still really liked them, though!), Nirvana in Fire was outstanding till the very end - I cried at the ending. This show sets the bar high; it is truly unique. Infinity/10.
*the only thing I will mention for prospective viewers: it is kind of hard to get into in the beginning, but do not give up! There are a ton of characters and it is hard to keep them straight - it took me about 10 episodes to finally get it. I recommend watching it anyway because it is SO MOVING. I used family trees I found online to help me understand in the beginning. :)

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One word - Perfect

Love this drama very much. Fast plot, unexpected twist, satisfying political drama. Even the sad love story is so touching that I love it so much. Also worth to mention the funny side that make this drama so fresh and not too serious.
The cast is perfect in any way, their acting already reach top level that I can't find any flaw. Even Leo Wu character is so adorable though he was still a kid back then.
The music is amazingly matched with all the moment in this drama. The sad songs, thrilling sound and the calming music are so beautiful to listen to, again and again.
Rewatch value is 100% yes, though it is a sad ending, but it was very satisfying. I didn't expect this drama to have happy ending since sad ending is more dramatic and touching.
Overall I only want to said that this is one perfect series I've ever watched, that probably no other series can compete with it.

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Epic

This was an epic drama. I avoided it for some time because of the "sad" ending, but after watching it I dont regret it. SPOILER ALERT: the ML dies in the end, but it is done in a very poetic way after the ML has achieved his goals, so it doesne leave you desperate crying under your pillow, but rather happy for the ML because he can finally be himself and rest in peace. Plus he does not die out of the blue. From the very first episode you are getting prepared emotionally for his death, so it is not a shock when it happens.

Another thing I would change is that I would add just a litlle bit more romance, like a marriage scene before he goes off to battle and dies. I think Nihuang deserved that, having waited for him for so long even though he was presumably dead. But this is a minor detail to the story.

Music fits the drama well but it was nothing memorable for me, hence the 8.

I will not go on to say how great it was cause others have said so already. For me this is a must watch.

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Exceptional plot twist and mouth gaping story~!!

Spoiler!! Be ready for Wu Lei, He'll be coming at you HARD!!

I don't even know where to start! This drama has brought me so much amazement that made me reassess my hopes and expectation in every climatic scenes cause they never go the way I thought it would be; It made me realize how dumb I am. Hahaha

It's a story that is smartly created and is placed accordingly without any loop holes. I'm not that keen but I can usually see through plot holes and such however this drama really is a cut above the rest. Hands down to that! My compliments and respect to the author/writer of this drama.

Another thing I notice is how abundant the budget is. This is a drama that thought me how big of a difference there is between Well Funded and Greatly Funded projects. This drama surely SPENT so much. From the costume, the location, the # of people, the horses and all other stuff. Just Wow!

ONE FACTOR that must be praise no matter what is its Meticulous tactics and planning. I love guessing of what might happen next but I just never got it right. Really, It always goes the opposite way of how i thoihjt it would and that is a Great Indication of an outstanding piece. Deserved every high praises!

Story - 10, I have high praises and mad respect to this story and it's writer. It's almost 1 in a million chance that I get to encounter such a great piece in this oversaturated dramaland.

Acting/Cast - 10, Do I even need to tell? Main Leads are Phenomenal so does the 2nd Leads and other actors. Everyone is well-versed with their characters. You'll know they're professional when you see the fire and concentration on their eyes. It's different to how "experienced actors" look like; they're certainly on that PRO LEVEL.

Music - 10, I appreciate how the music compliments the scenes and story. It never bothered me instead soothed me and highlighted the emotions the actors are sending/relaying when the music plays in each scene.

Rewatch Value - 10, No doubt that this is a great drama which deserves all the views it can accomodate! I will surely rewatch it IF I feel the need to watch a drama that's above the usual cliche storyline.

Overall - 10, I would be to ashamed not to give it a Perfect score! It deserved all the love and support. EXCELLENT & PHENOMENAL!!

If you find my review helpful please let me know.

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INCREDIBLE JUST INCREDIBLE

No, there is no need to read anything more. just watch, just watch and I am sure you will be back here to tell others about how the series is just beyond what one would call magnificent

It is not a review but a form of appreciation to everyone who gave their best in the making of this drama. I have no words to tell you how much I have enjoyed this series and everything in this drama is more than stupendous. from the selection of the cast to the set preparation and the post-production works there is literally no flaw. The story is beautiful and filled with thousands of foreshadowing and such a brilliant script. One thing about the script is that though there are a lot of stories from the past that are related to the story in the present, the scriptwriter Hai Yan did a wonderful job alongside the directors Kong Sheng, and Li Xue by telling them as mere memories that are just shards from the past. The acting by Hu Ge, Liu Tao, wang kai, ding Yong dai, and Leo Wu is just beyond the best, and the casting director Wei Wei thought through each of the characters and selected the ones that were maybe just born to play that certain role. such a great story such a true gem and my favorite story that I have seen. To describe it is beyond my capacity and if you want to know if it is drama you should watch I would say not watching this is a crime done against such a great piece of art

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Let's get to the point! The OSTs are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.   My review is neither critical nor serious nor in a serious tone, but more like a guide, a persuasion, and an encouragement for you all to watch it. My review is long and is also a copy-paste of my replies to many people here. I won't put spoiler below. There is NO spoiler.
 
1. I did not have much knowledge about the Ancient Chinese drama theme (the names, the huge casts, confusing who is who, the rankings, the imperial titles, the culture, etc.) before viewing this show. Hence, that's why the drama might seem boring coz it's a new thing for me. It's a turn off when you get confused about who is who.  This sounds like a con, but the drama's directors can't help but doing things this way. Also, you can memorize names or get a pen and paper to write down names for tracking who is who.  Although this is a con, there are a lot of pros in this drama to override this.

2. This show is the kind of shows that is made for REWATCHING. The rewatching
value is over 9000. Most of the complainers, who said they couldn't get hooked
before the 20th Episode mark or below, needs to know that after they get hooked
and watch all the episodes till the end, they will come back to rewatch; AND
rewatching is even more juicier than the first time viewing.  This is why I say this
show is made for rewatching. It's just not made for the A+ first time viewing
experience because most impatient viewers (I am very impatient too sometimes)
complain "it's going nowhere for them, no destination, no goal", "it's boring to them",
etc.

3. This show is the kind of shows that you won't get hooked no matter what
(exaggeration but it could happen to some people). You need to be patient and not
lazy.  I was hooked after EP 14.  

Such long series that is over 50+ episodes like this, it is not condensed.
During my initial viewing I was lazy, so if you're lazy, it's over for you.
You'll find it's boring if you're used to watching 16-20 episodes Korean or other
asian romance dramas. IF you are into romance, then it's even more game-over for
you. In that case, I'd recommend Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms (TMOPB) if romance
 is your preferred genre.

Coincidentally, NIF is just like TMOPB for me, I was hooked after the EP 14th mark.
Long series that have a lot of casts need time to introduce the characters.

MY ADVICES:

- Just bear the beginning episodes below the 20th episode (at most). You might even get hooked below that, and try to relax when watching it, don't think to much about who is who, let it flow, then complete it, and now it's your second time viewing. The second viewing will answer all the Qs.

MY VIEWING JOURNEY:

I had watched 12 episodes of Nirvana In Fire, dropped it (nah, more like put it on hold for 10 months LOL).  After that I completed Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms (TMOPB), took a month break (watching other dramas), and then back to NIF (from the 12th to the 54th episode marathon). Luckily I still remembered most of the things happening before EP 12 so I was set.   I was too lazy to start it from the bottom (1st EP) so I started from where I left- the 12th EP.
I was like, "f**k it! I wanna finish it for the sake of finishing it." Have you ever had that urge? I wanted to complete it ASAP coz I had started it already 10 months ago/almost a year ago. It's shameless if I can never finish it.

Now I'm rewatching NIF from the 1st-54th episode. I encourage you to watch this ASAP but leave a free time for this coz you might need to marathon. Once you start it, you won't stop. hahaha  I am so biased. The only thing I rated a 9.5 is its story. The rest are 10/10. Too afraid to be too biased so NIF can look more legit.

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Well, I am a little late to watch this, but I've finally watched it and I'm so glad I did. I literally cried the last episode, and not a lot of shows can make me cry. Here are my top reasons why I loved this drama:

- The story was compelling
- The characters were lovable and I was so invested in them
- (related to above, but) the relationships between the characters were so beautiful and both warmed my heart and tore it apart
- The protagonist was very intelligent

Please, if you haven't already, go watch this drama!!! This is now tied for my top favorite asian dramas that I have watched so far. Absolutely loved it.

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WARNING: major spoilers below

I’m really glad I watched this; it’s definitely one of the better dramas and I can see why people like it so much. It’s not for everyone though, because it’s incredibly conversation heavy - about 70 to 80 percent of what takes place/exposition are conversations between the characters. The rest are action scenes and in one case, a military fight. This is fine with me because I am also a fan of mystery dramas and those are conversation heavy too, but this might not be for everyone.

What I liked:

I think the actor playing the main lead, as well as the entire cast did a great job in portraying their characters. I like the overall story arc as well as the smaller cases in between where they had to get rid of two princes and some corrupt officials one by one before getting to the emperor. I normally don’t like sad endings but this one fit and was satisfactory.

male centricity: This is one of the things that worried me at first. I thought this would be one of those male centric dramas that had mostly male MLs with only a handful of token strong female leads thrown in every now and then, ala Lord of the Rings. Thankfully it wasn’t like that. While there were more male characters, there were also plenty of diverse and strong female characters and they had a lot* of screen time, significantly influenced the plot and in some cases, were just as smart as the main lead.

character relationships: All the characters working with the lead were great and they seemed like one big family (regardless of whether they were related or not) who supported him. The strongest relationships in this drama were the filial ones. The relationship between Mei Chang Su and Fei Liu was like that of a father and son. He also seemed like a father figure to two of his younger friends JinRui and Yujin, who were much younger than him. It also has a strong focus on mother and son relationships such as the ones between the palace consorts and the crown princes- I really liked the relationship between Prince Jingyan and his mother Consort Jing. There is also a bit of romance although it is subtle. Mei Chang Su’s relationship with Nihuang reminded me a lot of Li Mu Bai’s relationship with Yu Shu Lien (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), except that they had far more screen time together. It also explores toxic filial relationships such as the relationship between the emperor and his sons.

What I felt undecided about:

Prince Jing. I think the actor did a great job but his role but could be very frustrating at times. He doesn’t have that many scenes until episode thirty something, and there is an entire arc where the ML gets into trouble because of him because he reacts in a way that causes a lot of trouble; this is in spite of everyone telling him otherwise. There were times when all the characters seemed smarter than him, from his foot soldier to even his mother. He is also the last to realize the main lead’s true identity in spite of supposedly being best friends with him and yet so many people, from the war general to the love interest and even (yes) his mother, figures this out earlier on. The good thing is that he redeems himself at the very end* of the drama, so I was glad to see him get a happy ending.

What I didn’t like:

There are some boring episodes…not many, but a few. I personally found the first episode hard to watch and this is the reason it took me awhile to get to this.

There were some events that were incredibly hyped but never shown. There’s one arc where they hype this debate among scholars and the appearance of a master scholar who was so wise he could end the debate…but they never show this debate. You see the master scholar arriving with melodramatic bg music…and then it cuts to after the event where they say he won and all is well now.

There’s also a major battle where they play up Prince Jing’s role as a Gandalf type figure who goes off to get some reinforcements. You don’t see him do anything at all while the rest of the characters are fighting. You get this scene were he is about to challenge his brother to a duel and then it cuts off again. The only good thing about this is that it is princess Nihuang who gets to defeat the enemy general.

Poison of the bitter flame: It’s not the illness I disliked but there is a character who reveals symptoms I found completely unbelievable…if this was a fantasy or xianxia drama it would be acceptable, but it doesn’t work here, IMHO.

I also don’t like ‘the ending’ of one of the female characters; it was too ambiguous and I feel that we deserved to know what happened to her.

Is this drama like Game of Thrones? Overall no, but I can see some similarities in the wide range of diverse characters, scheming/one-upmanship ( the main lead is very good at this) and a kind of fight for the throne, in a way. But NIF is much smaller in scope. It focuses on only one kingdom, getting rid of corruption (it doesn’t really have morally gray characters/views like GOT) and has a slight ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ theme. Also, it doesn’t have magical elements in it. It’s a pretty good drama but it’s its own thing.

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