Legend of Fuyao Review and The Problem with the Mary Sue MC

This drama has aired over 33 episodes now in China and online. There is a big difference in the reviews that it has received locally in China and by overseas viewers. Overall there's been much more generous reviews given by foreign viewers rather than the local viewership who have been much more critical.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE FIRST 30 EPISODES....

I was really excited about this upcoming drama due to my liking Yang Mi a lot. Despite what everyone says about her, I've always found her very charming and likable ever since I first watched in "Palace" and then of course in "Three Miles Peach Blossom", one of my favorite dramas.

The first few episodes caught my interest. I liked Fuyao's character and some of the setting up/premise. Yes there was some very fake looking CGI and some blatant rip off of Harry Potter but no big deal, I'm not looking for some kind of epic masterpiece like Nirvana in Fire, I just want to watch some interesting romance with good looking guy/girls...

Which is kind of the problem. Legend of Fuyao sets itself up for being bigger than what it is actually able to accomplish. I feel like the TV show was trying to go for a "Game of Thrones" type epic where there is fantasy/magic as well as political drama and intrigue between all the different Kingdoms. But the result is a disjointed narrative which doesn't really achieve either.

Funnily enough now that I'm 30 episodes in, it is the political intrigue that I'm the most interesting (more on the romance between Fuyao and Wuji later...). The scenes which really caught my attention were the assassination plot on Zhang Beiye and him hugging his traitorous subordinate while realizing what his older brother is trying to do, as well as my favorite scenes: Anything between Zhong Yue and Yun Hen (i.e. the two brothers and sons of the previous deposed Prince) and their attempts to avenge their fathers death while also staying true to their own self. 

Any of the scenes involving the veteran actors such as the wonderful man playing Qi Zhen really elevate the whole drama.

In fact the weakest part of the drama is Fuyao herself and I really didn't think I'd say that considering how much I love Yang Mi! Even Ethan Ruan's character Wuji is so much more interesting in scenes without her, when he's displaying his intelligence at pretending to be the King of Taiyuan and his discussions with Zhong Yue and his fake eunuch/accomplice. Every time Fuyao appears on the scene he turns into a idiotish lovelorn guy who drops everything to save her.

And seriously how many times does this girl have to be saved?! Or helped?! It's really getting on my nerves how they are unable to let Fuyao accomplish anything on her own. Sure she clenches her teeth and knocks over a few people but in the end she always needs Wuji's help to do anything.

And as for her character... well the only thing I can applaud her on is her honesty with her feelings which is something that female characters in Chinese dramas are often unable to come to terms with. She is able to reasonably quickly admit that she is in love with her shixiong (and then able to quickly come to terms with the fact that she's not anymore after his actions), and then I'm very glad to see that she knows that she's interested in Wuji.

But despite this admittance... all of this takes second place to the Chinese drama's inability to create flaws within their female characters. In real life no one is perfect. Everyone has their own motivations and desires. Something which the most interesting characters in this show so far like Qi Zhen and Zhong Yue are able to demonstrate. But Fuyao by contrast is shown to be this "Mary Sue"-ish perfect woman who is unable to commit even the slightest act of selfishness - for example when Wuji asks her to use the Eldest Princess' mistaking of her for her daughter to find out some secrets from her. Come on woman! This is the man you love asking you for help, and it's not like it's anything horrible. But Fuyao is like "No I can't utilise her trust in me like that"... *rolls eyes*.

The whole time she meanders around and things just happen to her. She almost feels like she has no agency and none of her own personality. Nothing is ever her fault because she can do no wrong... how interesting is someone like that?

I contrast that with her character in Ten Miles Peach Blossom, Bai Qian was my favorite incarnation of Yang Mi's various characters: she was selfish and vengeful, quick tempered and so proud she was unable to back down even when she was wrong. Despite the flaws in that drama it was able to soar to such heights of popularity due to the authenticity and strength of their characters, something which the main couple in Fuyao sorely lacks. If Bai Qian had been Fuyao there is no way that Peiyuan would have lived as long as she did, and been such a nuisance.

Anyway the storyline is moving on to Tianquan now and I honestly don't see Fuyao's character getting any better. The romance/fantasy element is honestly the weakest part of the story and it's making me lose interest. I will still watch it but probably just keep it playing in the background while I do something else...