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Burning Flames chinese drama review
Completed
Burning Flames
6 people found this review helpful
by Sammy
Apr 7, 2024
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0

A REALLY GOOD DRAMA, a heroic drama yet touching with a wisdom

Burning Flames is really soaring high on the list of my FAVORITE DRAMA

As someone who watched both the anime and the drama, I dare to give 10 points to this drama, it's so well-executed!!!  I think I will write a long essay, so please bear with me.

To be honest, I underestimated this drama a little because it is an adaptation of a big IP anime (we can see that it needs a lot of cg, the anime is complicated with many characters, how can they execute it) and the drama production team is from Thousand Years For You (I was a little disappointed with that drama), but all those worries were blown away by the quality of the drama. Burning Flames. IT IS REALLY A GOOD DRAMA.

The drama is presented very well, I can't say anything else about the extraordinary CG, cinematography, and editing that is like an anime/comic, as if the anime/comic came out in a real life, plus cool fighting scenes and good color grading as well as a great ost which makes watching this drama feel exciting and you don't want to miss even a single scene.

Kudos to the script-writer for writing such a good, detailed, well-written script, and well-written characters. Burning Flames presents a solid story from start to finish, a heroic anime story, which has been successfully developed into a story which is of course heroic, but also touching, beautiful, and which definitely provides a very strong moral message for the audience, "you must control your fate, you can find your own path, only by surviving can there be hope", I think that is the rope that holds the story together from beginning to the end, until finally Wu Geng and his friends managed to win. Each arc is a moment of character development for the cast, for Wu Geng, Bai Cai and friends. Not a single arc is zero, they are written in great detail and have the goal of achieving something, to gain somethig, becoming stronger, becoming more unified.

All the characters are written very well from beginning to end, every character in this drama is written very very brilliantly, details and will shine in their own way. So, it's not only Wu Geng story, but it's also their story. Without misunderstandings, there is only work together to achieve one common goal until the end of their lives that make our hearts, the audience, also break when these heroes die. Including the villains are also written in a good way, Xinyue Kui's love which turns out to be just a futile obsession and Heilong who destroys the universe just for the person he loves, they are villains but they also feel very miserable, which also makes us feel touched and of course  makes us cry.

Wu Geng, the main character is very very well written, even better than the original anime/manga. The team changed his character in the drama, the anime version he is more arrogant and cocky (at first), but in the drama even though he is a little arrogant and impulsive but from the first day he was a benevolent prince, ready to fight for his people. Wu Geng's relationship with his parents is also changed in the drama version, and needs to be given a thumbs up, because their excellent relationship (which is very touching) is a reminder of Wu Geng's motivation that he must continue his father's legacy to save his people (this is also slightly different from the anime/bcs Wu Geng relationship with his dad wasn't good, in the anime there's a part where he does this to take revenge on his parents, but not for Wu Geng in the drama, he does it for the peace of the world, his Dad's dream for the people). Wu Geng's character growth is extraordinary, from being a spoiled prince, he had to survive as a slave, understanding the suffering of the people, had a hard training in Shenyin's tribe, gained comrades in every place, until finally he was able to show his charisma as a leader, the chosen one, the real god of war of the human race. A character who never gives up, smart, strong, and kind (who wouldn't fall for him). Until the end, even though he was considered the right leader for the 3 realms, he still humbly rejected it, and preferred to travel around the world looking for his lover, because he loved Bai Cai, because she was his home, but he would always be ready to help the world peace. I also like the change in the story of Agou, Agou in the anime is an ordinary human, but in the drama it is changed to a shell created by the Wu Geng mother to save her child (the detail is amazing). And as always, we need to praise Ren Jialun's acting a lot in this drama, because he managed to present a very expressive character, from sad, happy, angry, cheeky, gentle, even a cute, silly and innocent Agou. And we need to talk about Ren Jialun's chemistry with every of his co-stars, even with child-stars. It's really amazing. He's really a good actor.

Bai Cai is a very weak character in the anime, but was successfully transformed into a strong character in the drama with her cheerful strength, kind heart and of course Crystal Glory, who always accompanies wugeng/agou wherever and whenever they are. It is really match with Xing Fei's sunny character. I really like the addition of Crystal Glory details to Baicai, because she is one of the key contributions and links from what happened 100,000 years ago to the war in the final. Her tacit understanding with Wu Geng is also very good, she understands and accepts Wu Geng/Agou as its form, whoever it is, and will never stop being Wu Geng's support system, bein Wu Geng's home.

The relationship between Wu Geng and Bai Cai, I think it's really beautiful, a healthy relationship, without misunderstanding, always discussing everything together, "wherever you go, I'll follow". They are each other's home. Bai Cai has no family and Agao is his home, while Wu Geng lost his family and he met Bai Cai who kindly helped him, supported him, was willing to protect him, endured Wu Geng's tantrums, until she succeeded in making Wu Geng fall in love and she is his home now, "whatever happens, I will always protect you forever."  The mutual trust and understanding of this couple is extraordinary.  So every time they part, we can feel the pain they feel and every time they meet again we can feel the touching butterfly effect (it's not a romance drama, but I do feel their romance, their relationship, their bond is very strong, once again bravo to the scriptwriter). And I can say that Ren Jialun and Xing Fei's chemistry in this second collaboration is truly extraordinary, is very good, is very beautiful.

A Lan (I fall so hard for this girl), if everyone has 2nd ML syndrome, I have 2nd FL syndrome.  I love her character so much. She who was previously cold in the anime, was changed to a character who (although also cold) is also an ordinary woman who likes a man, and will very sincerely protect him, not only because Wu Geng is her mission, her disciple, but also a man who really she loved. She will do everything to keep the person she loved safe and happy, even though she won't be able to be with him and she knows there is no place to ask for love because she believes that love between humans and gods is a curse and she knows Wu Geng loves Bai Cai, if she expresses her love, him will also be hurt more. Silent and unrequited love is indeed a very beautiful love story and I always fall into its pit. And what's more, Ren Jialun and Zhu Xudan's chemistry is insanee, just when their eyes met each other, there is a spark of feeling that cannot be expressed. Ren Jialun was able to portrays his adore, respect and care to his shifu, while Zhu Xudan was really good at portraying her love in silence. "I will protect you even if I die" and she really did, protecting Wu Geng until the end of her life. I cried so hard when she's gone.

If talking about each character (though I really want to do it) would be very long, Nitian Erxing, Ziyu shushu, Shi Xing and also every couple in this drama is also written very well and touches the hearts of the viewers. Plus the family relationship between Wu Geng itself and his parents, Chen Jing and Zha Zha, Lilt Dragonfly and her father, also shows the value of human's relationships with our family and the people we love.

The end of the story, I'll say that the last 4 episodes are the best episodes, feelings of sadness, destruction, pride, happiness, all mixed together. So devastated to see Wu Geng's dearest ones fighting until the end of their lives with their beliefs that they would win. Proud because of all the work they worked hard on, they finally won, they gained their freedom. Sad to see Wu Geng once again lost his beloved one, Bai Cai. Happy, because I know Wu Geng managed to find Bai Cai in the end (I know that they will live a happy life now, though actually I want to see their hug even just 1 in the ending).  Even though Wu Geng lost many of his loved ones, he still upholds all the moral messages left by them and will always maintain the world peace. Burning Flames really has a GOOD ENDING. It's also not a rush ending, because they show how good the life of each tribe is, how beautiful life will be after they gain freedom and peace.

I still want to talk about a lot of things, but it will get longer. Burning Flames team aims to give a moral message to the audience, and I agree that there are many moral messages with much wisdom, that we can take from this drama, never give up, we control our destiny, if there's a will there's a way, if we become leaders put people first, we have to protect our loved ones and so on. It's really nice, beautiful, heroic yet touching drama.

This drama is included in the ranks of the best dramas on my list, I do love this drama so much. Congratulations Burning Flames, I'm proud to have been a part of your journey. I will miss you guys so much, our HEROES ♡
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