I feel like the expected success of xianxia C-drama Love Between Devil and Fairy in 2022 made everyone think that xianxia dramas were more than just niche offerings with the occasional success. Otherwise how to explain the expectations for recent xianxia offerings like The Last Immortal and now both Chinese Paladin game adaptations Sword and Fairy 4 based on CP4 and Sword and Fairy based on CP6. The Last Immortal ended up kinda breaking even in the hit front, neither a flop nor a success and the Douban ratings of 6.1 look real good right about now with the two Sword and Fairy ratings out.

Sword and Fairy 4 with Ju Jing Yi and Chen Zhe Yuan opened with 4.2 and just a smidge better but still really low is Sword and Fairy with Xu Kai and Yu Shu Xin at 5.1. The fight over top billing in Sword and Fairy 4 sure looks pointless now. Gaming fans of the franchise are super sad both dramas aren’t good feel that it’s the nail in the coffin with respect to this franchise being now outdated. For me, I’m super into Sword and Fairy thanks to liking the two leads, finding the special effects a bit better, and being engaged with the OTP storyline but it’s solely a guilty pleasure as there is no way I can ever recommend the drama with a straight face haha. I’m glad to put both CP adaptations behind us all and move on to hopefully better C-dramas ahead in 2024.