花千骨 The Journey of Flower

花千骨 or Hua Qian Gu is one of the better wu xia dramas I've seen. I highly recommend it to anyone with enough time. The story is great, like many wu xia novels, it is very long and it is separated into many parts such as before Hua Qian Gu even steps into Chang Liu or becomes Bai Zi Hua's pupil. The juicy parts (or so I think) come a little later but I think everything in between is still very important. The only thing I would say to the story is that some of the events are very predictable, especially as to who dies.

The drama in general is filmed quite well, all the scenes and costumes are very beautiful. The fantasy world portrayed makes you wish you were a part of their world. The script and way they talk is not too modern so it doesn't seem out of place, it is not so outdated that it is hard to understand either, making it easy to watch.

BELOW MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS

As far as casting goes, I think they did a great job, it's hard for me to imagine any other cast after watching just two episodes. (I'm on 54 at the moment) Zhao Li Ying's portrayal of Hua Qian Gu is superb. Although her facial expressions are innocent and playful, you don't ever get the feeling that she is dumb or naive. She's very successfully made the main character likeable.

Now Wallace Huo... I've always respected him as an actor and I've seen him do very well. I don't think it's really his fault but his character is just really cold and emotionless and almost boring even though he is supposed to be the male lead. I know this is how his character is supposed to be but the way Wallace portrays Bai Zi Hua just seems very forced. I have never read the book so I do not know if this is how Bai Zi Hua is supposed to be but I'll get to why his character is almost painful to watch in a bit.

Hua Qian Gu, the protagonist has many different relationships with the people around her. I personally found Hua Qian Gu's relationship with Sha Qian Mo, whom she called Sha Jie Jie, to be very heartwarming. Sha Qian Mo is supposed to be an antagonist but his genuine relationship with Hua Qian Gu makes him very likable.

Now onto Bai Zi Hua's relationship with Hua Qian Gu and why it's frustrating to watch him. He clearly cares for Hua Qian Gu as more than just a teacher, but because of his principals, he doesn't really express it but chooses to protect her quietly. HOWEVER because he doesn't say anything very caring to her, she thinks he doesn't feel for her and so she is not honest with him or herself. She feels betrayed at times because Bai Zi Hua's methods to protect her seem almost cruel and if they were just honest with each other, they could probably work something out but Bai Zi Hua is just too damn cold and emotionless to show anything and she just takes whatever he throws at her. And when you're watching all this you're just thinking, GODDAMN JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY. Anyway you may feel different about their relationship and see it in a different light, if it makes things less frustrating, PLEASE DO SHARE YOUR VIEWS.