Hit Wuxia Romance C-drama Who Rules the World with Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si Wraps Run with Mixed C-netizen Reviews

That addicting but kinda hot mess of a fantasy xianxia C-drama The Blue Whisper with Allen Ren and Dilraba Dilmurat definitely opened the door again for my interest in period C-dramas. Right after The Blue Whisper a big budget highly anticipated C-drama Who Rules the World aired starring Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si and I checked out the first two episodes last month. It wasn’t bad but I’m still waiting for the right mood to get back into it. The drama was huge in China during its airing with massive viewership numbers so clearly it is a hit. But C-netizens are not happy with the ending, along with other changes made that differ from the novel, saying that the changed ending from the novel sucks and mars what is otherwise a pretty solid series. For those who watched, please share some thoughts!


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Hit Wuxia Romance C-drama Who Rules the World with Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si Wraps Run with Mixed C-netizen Reviews — 49 Comments

  1. Pingback: Hit Wuxia Romance C-drama Who Rules the World with Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si Wraps Run with Mixed C-netizen Reviews - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News

  2. I only read some parts of the novel… I wish I can find a full English version of it.
    So, yes, there are quite a bit of changes from the novel version which might be due to the limited length of the drama or they may just want to keep the characters consistent. The novel version is a little bit more complex so perhaps it’s hard to flesh that out to the general audience.
    However, I really like all the actors. I absolutely adore the show and I like Zhao Lu Si’s portrayal of heroine Bai. Yang Yang looks elegant as Hei Fengxi and the guy who plays Yu Wuyuan is new to me but he does well in the drama. I do wish Leon Lai gets more screen time but then again, it’s Bai and Hei that own the show.

      • I watched the whole thing. I was so-so with it. I guess I was missing a bit of the romance part and these two are all visuals and have some moments but not enough for me. Lol

    • I read the novel on wattpad, i think the drama is way better than the novel. This drama is so funny, YY and ZL interaction never failed make me laugh.

    • I don’t the ending in the drama as it’s a sad ending where Hei Fengxi has only 10 years left to live. The drama ending should have followed the ending in the novel which would have been a better and happy ending. In the novel Hei Fengxi’s remaining lifespan is not restricted to 10 years. Hic hic..

  3. I actually like the drama better vs the novel. The changes vs novel (read from mtl) is smoother than what had happened in the Blue Whispers (which departs way to far vs novel). The ending indeed a bit rushed, otherwise overall pace is good, the action is solid, acting wise also on spot, and I really like yy in his loose hair and the antic of zls as bfx. Overall this is a drama that i will rewatch.

    • @citan
      I agree with you regarding Who Rules The World. I am satisfied with the delivery of the actors in this drama.

      I watched Blue Whisper. Is the ending the same as in the book? I don’t understand the ending

  4. I watched it and I like it, really really like it.
    I didn’t read the novel so I’m watching from different perspective.
    I like it because we have both badass characters, ML and FL are equally smart, have extremely well trained martial arts skills, balanced royal statuses and constantly supporting each other without any stupid misunderstanding.
    From beginning to episode 32, I enjoyed it a lot; however after episodes 32, I feel like storyline getting in rush (due to Chinese sensor that cut down 45 episodes to 40 episodes( that is a lot of things to cut), s)
    Also the CGI is very bad toward the end.. the fighting scenes is too quick and badly editing that makes the drama got criticized for.
    I like both YY and Zhao Lusi, and they are super cute and adorable together.
    Because I’m watching to enjoy the golden relationship between FL and ML so I can overlook for any other part.
    I am rewatching it because YY is so eye candy.

    • @Ta, same here. I really enjoyed Who Rules the World. Both leads, Yang Yang, Zhao Lusi and all supporting actors are are wonderful to watch. I am glad to see the actor playing Zhong Li (aide to Hei Fengxi) after performing a memorable part in Ancient Love Poetry. I also adore little Han Pu.

    • I fully agree, it is obvious the change of director, the rushed ending – excellent cast / performance and superb chemistry of Bai Hei Fanxi. Zhao Lusi can express positive and negative emotions, from innocent to warrior – while Dilraba is suitable for tragedy only

  5. nahh.. I’ve read the novel. and it’s soooooooooo boring the drama is way more better. the complaints were mostly came from the fl fans coz the novel was a female centric but the drama is a male centric. they felt her screentime was reduced, but i don’t think it’s a problem here coz yangyang is the 1st billed and had a bigger name. the novel author already mentioned to separate the novel and the drama. and literally fl important scenes in the novel have been included in the drama. i told u, the novel is sooo boring, and only some scenes were really stand out for me, and all of it were related to the fl, all of them were adapted to the drama as well.

    and abt the endings, many felt it’s an underwhelming but so how it did in the novel. there isn’t really different. both ending stated that the leads left the politics and roaming around the world. but i do agree the drama contains so many plot holes with the addition to the crappy production, problematic producer and director. the quality were reduced greatly coz the director left in the middle of filming due to the dispute with the producer. will only watch it once. i also don’t really like the romance part there coz i sense lack of chemistry, contrary with many ppls think. but I’ve to say yangyang’s acting skill is very2 good. his emotional scenes in ep 28 and 40 proves it. little did i know he can act well in such scenes.

    actually, i already expected this drama to be a hit in china despite the scandal it faced coz yangyang’s drama always a hit. before who rules the world was airing, his another super hit critical acclaimed military drama glory of special forces was already airing in 4 different broadcasts and gained another massive viewership. I’ve read in twitter that the total viewership exceeded 8 billions, with the rating tv was more than 1.000 rating. it was on youtube as well. so i guess many still can’t move on from him. i don’t really follow zhao lusi projects, but i think she also had some popular projects under her belt like tbe romance tiger something.

      • i don’t think u r in the position to tell me what is wrong or not. coz this is my personal opinion, and i don’t even insist others to accept my opinion. idc what u say coz it cannot change my personal opinion abt the chemistry. i felt they’re just incompatible in some things like visuals, vibes and aura. sometimes i fast 4ward their scenes together.

    • I’m in agreement with you on their romance chemistry, no sizzle there, well maybe in the last few episodes they were a little more convincing,she has more sizzle with the Hong Li, Zheng YeChen or Li Shen.

      But I love the drama nonetheless, it’s up the with all my favorite WuXia drama. Why ppl say it’s XianXia,IDK.

    • I agree with the chemistry part. I like the actors in their scenes individually, I think they did a great job but the romance is just Ehhh to me because I wasn’t sold with the chemistry. I find myself skipping romantic scenes with the couple.

      Maybe because I just finished marathon You Are My Glory before starting this drama so I couldn’t help but compare, but I find Yang Yang had better chemistry with his leading actress in You Are My Glory.

  6. I’m loving every minute and hope it has a part 2 for this iconic duo. Whenever I see a great Drama with my favorite actors and want a second season it never happens and they were bad butt in this action pack show

    • I wish rhey could be together again in another project. They’re so perfect together.. Watch behind the scene too.. the chemistry is good

  7. I thought it was a pretty drama. Did pretty well considering all the obstacles it came across. The behind the scenes drama/scandal was spicyyyyy. Made sense why we never saw the evil queen’s maid, lol.

      • According to the below article:

        Supposedly the female producer and male director got into a relationship a couple dramas ago, even though both were married to other people. The female producer got divorced. The male director still hasn’t divorced his wife. They started fighting all the time, so the director quit the production before it finished.

        https://www.sohu.com/a/541676933_120016053

  8. I would not even classify this drama as wuxia it spoils the name of wuxia as the number of fighting scenes are so few. What a pity. The fighting scene in the last episode with the bad guy was bad, so CPG and cartoon. So unlike the fighting scenes previously in other episodes which I enjoy. China dramas always talk more than fight. But I kind of still enjoy this drama and watched all of it

    • I agree. Till episode 39 I was satisfied but episode 40 was a big letdown. Especially when I finish C Drama I rewatch it but this time I didn’t. I love Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi but I feel the end for me was very normal and nothing special.

    • You get!
      The final episode could have been a lot better it was a big let down considering the fact that the fighting scenes were so good before.

  9. Totally enjoying the show, good plot, pacey, fun dialogue between the leads and amazing fight scenes.

    Read the book too, both are just as interesting. But for some, the real bts and rumoured relationship of the leads were most fun to connect.

    • @Ta, same here. I really enjoyed Who Rules the World. Both leads, Yang Yang, Zhao Lusi and all supporting actors are are wonderful to watch. I am glad to see the actor playing Zhong Li (aide to Hei Fengxi) after performing a memorable part in Ancient Love Poetry. I also adore little Han Pu.

  10. I really loved who rules the world. I’m rewatching it a couple of times. I didn’t read the novel so I just watched the drama with anticipation and enjoyment. I laughed and cried with the characters. I love the dedication of yy and ZL in portraying their characters. I am a fan of yy and ZL by the way.☺️

  11. coz i’m a fan both of the actors,hopefully they make a session 2 of this drama…they have a strong chemistry 💚 love the way they act

    • Clearly, YY and ZL did a great job carrying this movie. I hope there is another season of it and that Netflix picks it up.

  12. I enjoyed watching it. Not as amazing as NIF, but not bad. Both leads are really good looking. The chemistry and plot were good enough. Will rerun later tho.

  13. It was okay … the bts drama with the producer/director was probably more spicier the the drama plot storyline itself .. it start off strong but it went downhill halfway and by the end it was underwhelming that you couldn’t careless who rules the world …

  14. It’s not possible to follow 100% story based on the novel. If can keep the contents to 70-80% based on the novel it’s considered very good to me.
    Due to limited air time certain plots will be removed but I still find this cdrama rather interesting. Besides Yang Yang & Zhao Lusi role. I like Leon Lai Yi & the actor who acted in Yu Wuyuan role too. Wayne Liu doesn’t suits his role over here as I feel he doesn’t bring up his role.
    Overall this drama is good for me compared to other big scale cdramas.

  15. I’m watching on Netflix and waiting for the last episodes to drop later this week. I’ve enjoyed it so far and Zhao Lu Si’s performance is the standout. The story itself has the usual plot twists and family intrigue. I’ve been watching c-dramas since the 80’s when you had to watch them weekly on vhs. LOL streaming is so much better of course! I’m rewatching Word of Honor waiting for the rest of WRTW to drop.

  16. Yay good thing I never read the novel since I’m not really a fan of xianxia genre so I was able to enjoy the drama to the highest level and so my judgement is I REALLY LOVE IT!!! The leads are eye candies and perfect with their roles. The plot is so interesting and thrilling. And everything is just so on point. So yeah I am a big fan of the drama WRTW.About the ending, one thing I got disappointed is just the death of Han Pu but it is forgivable because he died a noble death.

  17. Like so many period cdramas these days, this one was not great but still enjoyable if you focus on the 2 leads, turn your brain off and ignore the plot holes. YY and ZLS were eye candy, acting and chemistry was good. Liked the fun back & forth banter. Fight scenes rely heavily on choppy editing, CGI and characters buzzing around like cartoons. Last episode was bad. All the plotting and build up over the entire drama suddenly and easily gets resolved.

  18. I’m a big fan of the drama as well as everyone in it especially Zhao Luci and Yang Yang…Thank y’all job will done.

  19. This drama is wonderful. The chemistry between the actors is amazing. Love it and strongly advis people to watch.

  20. I like the main character Zhao Luci and Yang Yang of Who Rules the world. I really hope they will have another CDrama together.
    About the story, I was hoping there will be a lot of showing love, sweetness and kisses. I was also hoping that the other 2 man in the story will show strong feelings for Zhao Luci that will make a quite cute jealousy for Yang Yang and they will enby him bevause Zhao Luci will only ahow love for Yang Yang, ofcourse Yang Yang will win always. I love YY and ZL both, wishing to have another cdrama together please!

  21. Didn’t like it at all. Too much of it was set up to worship Yang Yang, much like his other shows, which really did a huge disservice to Zhao Lusi and her character. She is by miles a better actor compared to him, whose range is the tiniest of tiny and has not expanded since he started. Could have been good with the focus on her but China.

  22. I love the show but i also agree that the FL didn’t get equal screen time with ML. But it’s good that it doesn’t have second lead drama like in The Long Ballad. I dislike ZL character in TLB so i’m quite skeptical to watch her in this. But i love her here. Her character is lovable because she is so strong and independent. Dilraba and Yang Mi got some contender now. ZL is so much better in period drama in my opinion. Anyhow what is wrong with Yang Mi’s face nowadays. i barely recognize her in new drama

    • My thoughts exactly ! So happy ZL got this role, to show she is a complete actress, from shy and childlike to romantic to powerfull warrior and dominating queen ! Plus, she is a natural beauty ! Personally I rank her above Dilraba as acting potential, she just needs more good scripts 😊

      • totally agreed.. ZL nail her role.. both lead really make this drama, very moment is a trill to watch.. can’t believe that she did all the stun herself.. and those move is not easy..

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