Wulin Heroes (2023) - Final Review
Final review/rating: Wulin Heroes (2023) - What's an amnesiac ginseng fairy to do when she meets all the boys she's loved before?*
* Or the boys she thought she loved and who claim to love her but betrayed her and/or will betray her; or the boys who truly loved her and lost her; or most importantly, the boy who is her one true love?
This is 7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼
Overall rating: 7 Stars Plot: 6 Stars Acting/cast: 7 Stars Couple chemistry: 7 stars Music: 6 Stars Re-watch value: 7 Stars Enjoyment factor: 7 Stars |
Despite its title, Wulin Heroes (2023) has precious little to do with wulin and the martial arts world. It is probably generous to class this as wuxia. Think of it instead as a romcom with a large side of amnesia: What's an amnesiac ginseng fairy to do when she meets all the boys she's loved before?*
The trick to enjoying this drama is not to go in with unrealistic expectations. If you are expecting true blue wuxia like Li Hong Yi's recent The Blood of Youth (2022) you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you are wanting a somewhat chaotic, cheap and cheerful (and in my view rather charming) romcom with eye candy galore, this one is for you.
SPOILERS AHEADS
The plot: making sense of the non-chronological timeline
 |
| Ye Xi and Bai Yue (guy#1) |
The plot is fairly simple, and my largely spoiler-free synopsis is 👉here.
Basically, our female lead Ye Xi is a gorgeous ginseng fairy with incredible martial arts travelling through jianghu, who saves the male lead, divine physician and hottie swordsman Bai Yue. He's guy #1.
She then gets embroiled in various fiascos as she meets, in various lifetimes, men who seek to exploit her martial arts prowess and/or her feelings for their own ends as well as those who truly love her. Time and time again, she is betrayed and 'dies', but being a ginseng fairy, she regenerates when 'buried' in soil. However, with each 'resurrection', Ye Xi loses all memories of the past.
Problem is, the various men in her life both past and present retain their memories. Some have murderous intent, others amorous.
The drama can be quite confusing at first because it opens in the middle of the story and does not follow a strictly chronological timeline. It would probably help the viewer to know the chronological order in which Ye Xi met the various men in her life:
1) 5 years before the starting point of the drama, Ye Xi meets and saves Bai Yue, her guy #1.
 |
| All the wrong men: Tang Yang (guy#2), Tang Huan (guy#5), Cang Nan (guy#3) |
2) About half a year later, Ye Xi then meets Tang Yang, guy #2, who promises marriage and love, but frames her and 'kills' her. Bai Yue finds Ye Xi's body and 'buries' her so that she can regenerate, which she does some three years before the starting point of the drama.
3) Ye Xi then meets Crown Prince Cang Nan, guy #3, who falls in love with her and brings her to the palace. He is in love with her, but also not above betraying her. and 'killing' her.
4) Around the same time, Ye Xi rescues Cang Qi, guy #4, then a hostage of guy#3. Cang Qi falls wildly in love with Ye Xi, and avenges her by killing guy #3 in a gruesome way. He then becomes Regent. As to what happens after guy#3 'kills' Ye Xi, of course it is Bai Yue who finds her body and 'buries' her so she can regenerate.
5) Much of the drama then follows chronological order from this point, with Bai Yue finding Ye Xi when she 'resurrects', but with no memory of him, or any of the other guy #2 to #4.
She then meets Tang Huan, guy#5, who is a piece of💩, but naively, she decides that she must save him and surely, he is the man for her? 🙈😅
 |
| Bai Yue exasperated |
This exasperates Bai Yue no end - when will Ye Xi stop taking him different scumbags across various lifetimes for healing and learn some self-preservation?
It's enough to make a physician ill. Especially when he is cursed, as the leader of Fenghua valley, to die painfully if he falls in love...
There's also the obsessively devoted Cang Qi (guy#4), who just can't take no for an answer, and who also happens to Bai Yue's friend.
Characters: caricatures and eye candy
To be honest, I watched this drama mainly for the eye candy. Most of the men are two dimensional caricature villains (eg guy#2 and guy#5), and while guy#3 had slightly more depth and a smidgeon of conscience, he was still a variation on the same theme. You can essentially treat them as background noise.
 |
| Cang Qi played by Zhu Zan Jin |
Guy#4, Cang Qi (played by Zhu Zan Jin) is more complicated in that he has a tragic backstory that you can't help feeling sorry for, as well as very genuine feelings for Ye Xi (and for Bai Yue for that matter).
But even Zhu Zan Jin's gorgeousness does not lessen the 'ick' factor of this particular character because he is red flag toxic. Refusing to take a refusal gracefully and emotionally blackmailing the object of his possessive affection (eg by holding the lives of those she cares about hostage) is just unacceptable. (Also somewhat tedious watching when it carries on for too many episodes). One can't help cheering when Ye Xi runs away with Bai Yue, after leaving Cang Qi to kiss his pillow in the deluded belief that he has won her affections. He had it coming.
As for the main leads, they make this drama a charming watch.
 |
| Bai Yue played by Li Hong Yi |
Li Hong Yi gives us an outwardly aloof but inwardly seething Bai Yue, characterised by snarky one-liners and an exasperated glower.
There's more than meets the eye to his seeming indifference to Ye Xi because even she manages to figure out that he is always there to bail her out when she is in danger. And looking incredibly handsome while doing so might I add. If the role is not exactly a challenging one for Li Hong Yi, that is hardly his fault, and he does bring his A-game in the male lead stakes.
Also, purely on the eye-candy scale, this drama knows what its viewers want and there are many shots of Bai Yue looking divinely handsome, including a stint with white hair.
In case you are wondering, the white hair does not last long. Apparently the magical properties of a night with his beloved ginseng fairy can restore hair colour to its original black. Who knew? 😅
 |
| OTP |
But even with the caveat that Ye Xi resurrects each time with no memories of the past, she can be naïve to the point of recklessness. Sometimes you will feel like facepalming as she walks into yet another trap, at others, you will sympathise because no one will tell her anything and it would definitely help to know if an ex is murderous. Just sayin'.
Thankfully, Uncle Hui (Bai Yue's matchmaking steward) puts us out of our misery by eventually telling her the tale of Bai Yue's devotion to her across several lifetimes, and she finally knows her own heart. Thereafter she is determined to pursue her man.
For those who want to fast-forward to the romantic parts, from about episode 16 onwards, Bai Yue caves in and leans into the I-am-going-to-love-her-even-if-it-kills-me phase, and there is romance in spades. The last two episodes also gives us one final bout of amnesia and has Bai Yue doing all the chasing for a change, before a happily-ever-after, all memories restored.
🐼: Wulin Heroes (2023) is a charming romcom. Steer clear if you are actually wanting a true blue wuxia drama. But if you are after a cheap and cheerful romcom, this one has eye candy aplenty and is a fun way to pass the time.
7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮
