I’ll only be recapping one episode to introduce the drama and then I'll write a full review on it later.
In short, this drama is a long shot from being a home-run but it’s like playing a really good catch and throw game. You get what you expect. And you get quality.
In short, this drama is a long shot from being a home-run but it’s like playing a really good catch and throw game. You get what you expect. And you get quality.
Every episode starts off with an interview of one of our main characters. The first up is Ruo Bai. He’s the eldest disciple of Song Bai Dojo. His entire character can be summed up by two parts: he loves Yuan Wu Dao; he hates those who gives up.
The actual drama starts off with a snippet of what’s to come later. Our protagonist, Qi Bai Cao, is facing off against a tough competitor, Fang Ting Yi, in the semifinals. Fang Ting Yi a genius in “Yuan Wu Dao” (a form of martial arts). She’s got that natural ability to predict her opponents’ moves by noticing their body form before they commit to the attack.
However Qi Bai Cao isn’t lacking either; she’s got that undeniable strength. Unlike Ting Yi who moves like a graceful flower (as the show insists on describing her like that), Bai Cao is like the wild grass that can withstand any wind. With Bai Cao’s perseverance, she manages to land a sweet kick directly to Ting Yi’s chest, securing her first point. [Note: her name ‘Bai Cao’ literally means white grass, hence the description.]
Bai Cao’s glory doesn’t last long though because Ting Yi’s powerful kick sends her flying. Who said she was graceful? But Ting Yi’s desire to win seems to be fueled by jealousy and it has something to do with that strawberry hair tie, which was a present from Yu Chu Yuan (Ting Yi’s beau). Okay, so all this fiery was over a strawberry hair tie. So not worth it.
Bai Cao refuses to give up despite her injuries; even the cheerleading squad tearfully begs her to stop.
The one that reaches her first is Ruo Bai.
[In the present]
Bai Cao is heading to work; she needs to earn money for her teacher/master’s medicine. (“Master” is someone she respects like a father figure rather than a master-servant relationship). She works at a convenience store and saves a couple of boxes from falling with an effortless kick. The guy responsible for the almost-accident was distracted by the final match for the Yuan Wu Dao World Junior Championships broadcasted live on TV. Do not confuse this with the semi-final we saw earlier. That one is in the future.
Competing for the world junior championship title is this Korean dude (in blue) and China’s Fang Ting Hao (in red) who sends a turbo kick to his opponent, sending him twirling in the sky for a few seconds. And that’s it, the world junior championship belongs to Fang Ting Hao.
When Fang Ting Hao is interviewed for his victory, his modesty is nowhere to be seen as he confidently acknowledges his greatness. There’s only one thing he wants now: to beat this one person (who we don’t know yet). Switch to our next scene: a young man is also watching the world championships. Okay, I guess we know.
This is the man Fang Ting Hao wants to beat: Yu Chu Yuan (the same guy that started the strawberry hair tie hubbub in the first scene).
We also get a glimpse of his room and from the pictures hung on the wall it seems like our three male pursuers are childhood friends – to some degree.
Fang Ting Hao’s sweet glory doesn’t last long because a brat accuses him of doping. This brat is Kim Min Joo (she’s on the Korean team and she’s also one of the judge’s daughter). Her accusation is broadcasted live and this captures Qi Bai Cao’s attention, who at first was nonchalant about the championships.
It turns out that ten years ago a Chinese martial artist, Qu Xiang Nan, was charged for doping and it has henceforth tarnished China’s reputation in the world of Yuan Wu Dao. Now, for the first time in a decade, the championship title is finally awarded to another Chinese member but because he is Chinese, it is undeniably logical to assume Fang Ting Hao won by doping.
Unfazed, Fang Ting Hao jumps off the podium, declaring that it’s him who is refusing to accept the title if he’s not unanimously acknowledged. Cocky guy. He even spoke in Korean and it actually sounded cool.
However, the Chinese community isn’t as chill about losing the title as he is. The widespread condemnation of Qu Xiang Nan commences (once again) and by association, Qu Xiang Nan’s daughter, Guang Ya, is targeted as well.
Guang Ya is bullied by her schoolmates but luckily Bai Cao saves her; she fends off one of bullies with her strength alone. However, Guang Ya isn’t grateful one bit. In the end, it’s oddly Guang Ya who apologizes to the bully. In addition, Guang Ya dislikes Bai Cao because Bai Cao still admires Qu Xiang Nan (Guang Ya’s father and Bai Cao’s teacher).
The relationship between Bai Cao and her teacher is really quite adorable. During dinner, they have fun pushing the food back and forth because neither wants another taste of Bai Cao’s terrible cooking.
At night Bai Cao is practicing Yuan Wu Dao using pretty innovative ways. Her dream is to become just like her teacher, a master at Yuan Wu Dao. However, it won’t be an easy journey for her. There’s a reason why she practices at night, she’s not actually a student at any dojo. She lives with her teacher in Quan Sheng Dojo but she only does the chores there. I believe it’s her way of paying for her living expenses. While Qu Xiang Nan is only a security guard there. She’s not accepted in the dojo because she refuses to recognize anyone but Qu Xiang Nan as her teacher and the other disciples scorn her for it. Meanwhile Guang Ya (the daughter) has cut ties with her father to pursue Yuan Wu Dao. However, let’s not jump on the hate-bandwagon against Guang Ya just yet because there seems to be a backstory relating Qu Xiang Nan’s doping incident to the death of her mother.
Somewhere else, Fang Ting Hao’s World Junior championship title is reinstated. The boy did not dope.
Back here in An Yang there’s also a Yuan Wu Dao competition and today is the opening ceremony. Quan Sheng Dojo is attending and they bring Bai Cao along just to beef up the number of members. They also make her do the hard labour: she’s carrying all the supplies (e.g. the wooden boards for smashing). Despite that, Bai Cao is grateful for the opportunity.
Bai Cao bumps into Xiao Ying (her best friend) who’s part of Song Bai Dojo.
Xiao Ying isn’t in the actual performance, she’s just ogling at her idol, Ruo Bai. On the other hand, Bai Cao is also captivated by Ruo Bai’s performance, but less so for his looks. Meanwhile, methinks Ruo Bai is way to fierce-looking for just a performance. In one of their stunts, they even manage to save a kid (from confetti). Woo~~…
Bai Cao returns to her dojo to find that they’re gluing the wooden boards. Apparently the boards broke exactly in half and now all the members are fixing it per the dojo master’s order. Bai Cao condemns them for cheating because the boards are now much easier to snap under force. The dojo master bribes her into dismissing this by giving her the privilege to participate in the competition as his disciple (otherwise she can’t if she were Qu Xiang Nan’s disciple). But thank god she refuses.
Bai Cao doesn’t expose them as they complete their act for the opening ceremony but instead they get busted by a reporter who video-taped the entire conversation Bai Cao had with the dojo master about the cheating. The dojo master tries to get Bai Cao to clarify that wasn’t the case, which I completely don’t understand how she can lie out of this when everything was already recorded. Bai Cao is torn between protecting her dojo or maintaining her principles, which leaves her silent, betraying neither side.
Ruo Bai sees her struggle.
With this cheating incident, the reporters call Quan Sheng Dojo a disgrace to the Yuan Wu Dao world. Of course they also had to bring up Qu Xiang Nan’s fiasco because he was once a disciple of Quan Sheng Dojo. This pits Quan Shen Dojo as the ultimate humiliation of Yuan Wu Dao and now they’re facing a possible disqualification from the competitions.
So who’s to blame? Of course it’s Bai Cao. She gets kicked out of Quan Sheng Dojo (as a living quarter). She begs for forgiveness but not one person stands up for her. All the poor girl wants is to remain by her teacher’s side. But what can she do when even her teacher, Qu Xiang Nan, turns her away. He tells her that taking care of her for ten years was enough. Ouch. We can’t hate him though because there are tears in his eyes as he flings her pleading hands away. He’s doing the noble act. He knows if Bai Cao remains stubbornly at his side, she’ll never get to do what she loves, that being Yuan Wu Dao.
Bai Cao doesn’t see his intentions. That night, she kneels outside the doors to Quan Sheng Dojo and we might as well add some rain to make her more pitiful. Guang Ya comes out with Bai Cao’s luggage – a single duffel bag. I take this as Guang Ya being kind…?
Guang Ya advises her to leave but Bai Cao is obstinate on staying. A flashback tells us why she’s so devoted to her teacher: he saved her from a fire and gave her a family.
It’s heart-wrenching for Qu Xiang Nan to see Bai Cao drenched in the rain for him. He finally calls someone else to help her: Xiao Ying (Bai Cao’s best friend). Initially Xiao Ying’s pleads for Bai Cao to return home with her were futile but once Xiao Ying decides to beg alongside her, Bai Cao caves in. Aw, where do you find friends like that? It’s not just her but even Xiao Ying’s family is incredibly welcoming to Bai Cao.
We also learn a bit more about Xiao Ying. Although she’s in Song Bai Dojo, she doesn’t have an ounce of interest towards Yuan Wu Dao. Or maybe that interest is just completely overshadowed by her devotion to Ruo Bai. I should also advise you that she has a part-time job as a Peeping Tom. Every night she would sneak over to the boys’ dormitory and gawk at her boy showering. Tonight is no different, except she drags Bai Cao along with her.
Xiao Ying is so awestricken by Ruo Bai’s nakedness she fumbles and makes a noise, alerting the boys. Xiao Ying, having much more experience, dodges quickly, leaving our poor little lamb, Bai Cao, wide out in the open for Ruo Bai to catch.
Meanwhile, Hu Yi Feng catches Xiao Ying hiding. She runs off and Yi Feng tails her, leaving Ruo Bai and Bai Cao alone.
He circles around her asking for her name. He doesn’t intimidate her on purpose, it’s just that Bai Cao can’t look him in the eye because he’s fully clothed wet. He asks for her name but when he sees her profile, he remembers her from the opening ceremony. It should be a good impression because she never betrayed her principles for her dojo.
Oh, the detail was nice: he recognizes her in the same profile (the right side) as when he saw her at the opening ceremony.
The embarrassment lingers for Bai Cao making she dash away. Ruo Bai expression softens as he stares at her running away. Ah, the beginning of love.
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I’m sort of done with pure-eye-candy-shower-scenes. Regardless of who. At least it’s sort of relevant here? Okay, barely relevant. It does serve one purpose well: an interesting first meeting between Ruo Bai and Bai Cao, one where they both acknowledge each other’s existence. And for the record Ruo Bai recognized her first. However, my superficial self quite liked that dreamy look Ruo Bai gave Bai Cao when she ran off.
The first episode was slow but the setup was necessary to ensure two things: Bai Cao’s struggles to mastering Yuan Wu Dao and a three-way race to romance. It’s just nothing has exactly started yet.
Yang Yang plays Ruo Bai’s character and he’s really beautiful to look at. But I find him sort of boring. Or to be more direct, I find his acting lacking. He’s stiff. It’s like he’s got a face for looking serious, for being cool, for being amused, but these faces don’t know how to move. Mm, like lifeless? Or maybe I have this bad after-taste from the god awful drama The Four (2015) and therefore I hate everything associated with it. I’m just glad Ruo Bai’s character isn’t too hard to act, I mean, the guy is supposed to serious all the time. And serious means emotionless, right? Right.
Anyways. More about Ruo Bai’s actual character: he’s very black and white. He loves this but hates that. Very uptight. Even with love, once he loves, he’ll love boundlessly.
As for the other two pursuers, there’s not much yet, except that Fang Ting Hao is the cocky guy and that Yu Chu Yuan has bad taste. A strawberry hair tie, really?
P.S. Doesn’t this screenshot of Xiao Ying remind you of Li Yi Feng?
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| Xiao Ying |
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| Li Yi Feng |
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