I'm not gonna lie, writing this review wasn't easy. I had to carefully organize my thoughts because I didn't know where to start. Fangs of Fortune is one of those dramas that either made me gasp because of how beautifully made it is or drove me nuts because of the all-over-the-place plot and contrived writing. It's highly divisive precisely because of that. It's either the fantastical world and its characters endear themselves to you or you hate everything about it with a vengeance. I am right smack in the middle, though. I can't hate it but I can't say I loved it either. I feel that if they had stuck with their bromance plot from the get-go and not added in romance, it would've been better. Or if they had changed it completely and just turned it into a romance drama, reducing the second male lead's importance in the plot by writing out the Ying Long and Bingyi subplot, this could've been better too. One thing is for sure, this drama will forever be engraved in my mind as one of the most stunningly filmed work that made giggle like a schoolgirl and obsess over the characters for days on end.

The story centers around a 34,000-year-old great demon named Zhu Yan (or Zhao Yuanzhou) and how his fate changes those of people closest to him. Like most xianxia and xuanhuan dramas, it's set in a world where demons and humans exist and racism is rampant. The demons are seen as inherently evil, while humans are supposed to be the so-called good guys. But nothing in this world is purely black and white and so both races are portrayed to be capable of doing both good and evil. The struggles and conflicts stem from such xenophobic thinking from both sides.

Zhu Yan was born as a vessel of malicious energy, meaning he absorbs all the excess malice that exists in the world to keep things balanced. But his gentle and kind nature makes him resent this. Even more so when he finds himself falling in love with humanity and the mortal world. This very fascination for mortals draws a wedge between him and his best friend, Li Lun, who has no love for mankind. Their falling out leads to a lot of strife and suffering for those around them.

The story itself is nothing new. As I've said, this has been done countless times before. But what makes this drama compelling for me was how particular dialogues were written and scenes were executed whenever the subject was about discrimination and racism. Oddly enough, my favorite parts of this drama is when characters sit down and just have meaningful conversations about life and such. And I'm such a sucker for the found-family trope that it really resonated with me. It blew my mind how provocative some of the dialogues are and how much depth the drama has when many of the scenes felt like they were hastily and lazily written and things were getting retconned left and right. Writing isn't this drama's strong suit, but there are some gems here and there. And I noticed that the ones that are written and executed well are those that involve the two male leads, Zhu Yan and Zhuo Yichen, and the anti-hero, Li Lun. Most of the major plot ploints involve the three of them. They even end up fighting in the final boss fight together. What does that tell you? If this were a true romantic story, it would've been the main couple fighting together.

Unfortunately, this was marketed as a romance with a female lead that is criminally underdeveloped and a subplot centering around her that is as mindboggling as her addition to this story. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Wen Xiao or the actress who portrays her. My issue is with her seemingly lack of value to the story unlike the other main characters. First of all, the concept behind the Baize goddess is already iffy to me. Why is there a need for a mortal woman to be given the powers of a goddess to regulate demons and monitor their comings and goings to the mortal world when the goddess herself could've done that? Being human herself, there is a possibility of racial discrimination with her favoring the mortals over demons even when it's the mortals that are at fault. The real goddess would've been a more just judge and a more powerful one to boot, someone who can actually deal with demons and not fall ill from a plague or die pointlessly after being accidentally hit by a sharp object. The function and powers of this mortal goddess are not clearly defined, and if I'm honest, I would say that they keep retconning things to fit the narrative they want to tell. How the next generation of Baize goddesses are chosen is unclear as well. Why was Wen Xiao chosen anyway? Yes, she has compassion for both demons and mortals, but then I'm pretty sure she's not the only one who feels that way, so why her?

And apart from her, all the major characters in this story, especially among the 6 members of the Demon Hunting Team, only her story doesn't quite connect with Zhu Yan's. Zhu Yan's fate directly or indirectly affects the fates of Zhuo Yichen, Pei Sijing, Bai Ju, and even Ying Lei. All of them reach this point in their lives because of Zhu Yan. Zhuo Yichen was only the second son and was not even meant to inherit the Cloud Light Sword but because Zhu Yan slaughters his family, he becomes the lord of the Bingyi clan and the most powerful wielder of that sword for generations. Pei Sijing loses her brother because of Zhu Yan's feud with Li Lun. Bai Ju loses his mother and vows to become an accomplished doctor because Zhu Yan causes a rift in the balance between the mortal world and the Wilderness. Ying Lei is afforded the chance to pursue his dreams of becoming a chef in the mortal world because his grandfather (and Zhu Yan's mentor) feels that it's important to give his grandson the choice that Zhu Yan never had. Even Li Lun becoming a full-blown villain and wreaking havoc is caused by his misunderstanding with Zhu Yan. Wen Xiao, on the other hand, is chosen to be the next goddess for reasons I still don't quite understand. Her fate is more tied with this drama's big bad. The quest to finding the Baize token, it being broken, her fixing it, and it poisoning her are nothing more than plot devices. You take those out and you would still be left with a solid plot that could've been better if they had focused more on Zhu Yan and his relationships.

I've said this before, this is a BL/bromance drama in disguise. This was never meant to be a romance. But for fear of the project getting shelved because of China's proverbial censorship axe, they felt the need to write in a female lead and pretend that there's actual romance. I don't mind slowburn romances, but when the drama ends without even a single kiss between the couple with their sweet moments few and far and between, that's not romance, at least not in terms of C-drama standards. The fans of the main CP can delude themselves all they want, but I firmly believe that Wen Xiao was not supposed to be part of this story at first and the romance is an add-on, like an extra side dish for good measure. Hence, the major events in this drama involve the male leads, and the last story arc and most important part of the series is all about them and their bond. Yes, it's unfair and I blame the writers for this. But let's be honest, there's no way in hell that this drama would've seen the light of day if they hadn't included a hetero romance side story with all the obvious BL elements they added into this. If you're familiar with BL/danmei, you'll see the tropes and signs. If not, then you'll probably just dismiss them as healthy male friendship. I'm pretty sure they cut some scenes down to minimize the “bromance” because I saw some behind-the-scenes photos of the male cast acting out scenes that aren't included in the finished product. If they had just done a purely romance drama, they wouldn't have this problem either. But they can't seem to decide which direction to pursue and so what we got is a beautiful mess of a drama that had the potential to be truly amazing and unforgettable.

Nothing beats this drama in terms of visuals, though. From the first episode, I was absolutely taken by how the sets, costumes, and cinematography looked. The opening fight sequence was so stylistically done that it made me want to watch more. Guo Jingming may be a lot of things, probably a real piece of work in real life, but damn, he knows how to make a stunningly crafted scene from the meticulously curated backdrop to every movement of the actors. I have never seen such a visual feast in a C-drama quite like this! I appreciate how this drama tries to be different and I seriously want to see more dramas like this. Sadly, I don't think this style of filming appeals much to Chinese viewers. I think it would've been better received by international audiences.

The cast, for lack of a better word, is great. I have no complaints about the actors. They did what they could with the material that they were given, and some even went over and beyond. I never expected to become so attached to this ragtag crew of demon hunters, but I did. I sorely miss them, especially the comedic moments in the earlier episodes.

Music-wise, this drama boasts of some of the most memorable songs in a C-drama to date, at least for me. I find the choice of songs very refreshing. I don't hear this kind of music in many C-dramas. My only complaint is the music plays a little too loudly during dialogue-heavy scenes. Whoever edited the sound must've been deaf. Like dude, we can't hear them talk! Turn it down a notch, will you?! It must've driven Mandarin-speakers crazy.

The overall production value of this drama is top notch. I think they used a led screen for the backgrounds which actually looks better on screen and most likely helped a lot with the acting too. The visual effects are some of the best I've seen in a C-drama. The costumes and makeup are so on point as well. None of it looks cheap. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was an S+ level drama.

As a whole, this is an entertaining drama that wowed me with its stunning visuals, elicited emotions I never thought I'd feel watching an idol drama such as this, and left me wondering why I became so emotionally attached to characters that don't exist despite the flaws in the writing. That's why I'm giving it an 8 and that's a generous rating coming from me.