Wu Xin: The Monster Killer | Review

A quick guide to S1.
Notable Actors/Actresses
Han Dong Jun: Wu Xin
Jin Chen: Yue Ya
Zhang Ruo Yun: Zhang Xian Zong
Chen Yao: Yue Qi Luo

Director: 

Lin Yu Fen, Gao Lin Bao 

Screenwriter: 

Xu Zi Yuan, Li Nan (Author: Ni Luo)

Chinese Title
無心法師

Genres: Qihuan, Romance, Fantasy

Network: Tencent Video

Year: 2015
Episodes: 20

Cast

Han Dong Jun: Wu Xin	Jin Chen: Yue Ya
Wang Yan Lin: Gu Xuan Wu	Chen Yao: Yue Qi Luo
Zhang Ruo Yun: Zhang Xian Zong	Mike Angelo: Bai Liu Li
Li Mu Feng: Chu Chen Zi

Character & Story

Wu Xin: He's the immortal monster killer. He kills with his blood but he also doesn't have a heart, literally, hence his name "No Heart". Where his blood comes from is a mystery; his whole presence is a mystery. He has this incredible ability to regenerate. There was a scene where half his head was cut off and it took mere days for his full head to recover. There was another scene where he's essentially killed by hundreds of gunshots but he regenerates from a single hand, leaving his dead body behind. You'd think he'd slowly form his arm and then body, etc. But no. His hand metamorphoses into a caterpillar then to a four legged being and then to a monkey, etc. 

Wu Xin's sports a terrible haircut but I think he takes pride in it. He does have a hot body to make up for it and the show makes sure you know it. Unfortunately, he is infertile. Thus, his buddy gives him a nickname: the immortal eunuch.

Gu Xuan Wu: The buddy who called Wu Xin an immortal eunuch. He's mostly the comic relief, not that the drama needed it because it'll constantly spew out a joke here and there anyways. That's the charm of the drama by the way. Anyways, whenever he shows up there's bound to be laughs. Aside from his goofiness, he's more loyal than he appears. He's the first person who hires Wu Xin to expel monsters. He is also the one who pushed Wu Xin to his "demise" in the first episode, except Wu Xin never did die. Henceforth, they become good buddies going through life and (almost) death.

Yue Ya: Her first encounter with Wu Xin was when Gu Xuan Wu threw him down to his demise. She has become his love interest since he first laid eyes on her. He proposes to her and she accepts. When her betrothed comes home with just half his head that's when she learned he's not human. Nonetheless she still loves him even if he comes back as a single hand. She also becomes Gu's stepsister. The three of them get entangled with countless monsters and Wu Xin exterminates them all.

Yue Qi Luo: She has an unhealthy obsession with Wu Xin. She's a monster who controls talisman (paper cut dolls). These talisman allows her to take over people. Therefore, she can have as many lives as she wants and live forever. This scary abilities of hers also takes a lot of energy therefore she feeds on human essence.

She's Wu Xin's ultimate villain. She'll forever come back and haunt him. Perhaps it's because Wu Xin can never be hers. Originally, she was sealed under a well, but Wu Xin accidentally unleashed her. She tried to consume Yue Ya's body with her paper dolls so she can take over her life and be WX's lover instead. Thus sets forth Wu Xin's ultimate mission (the ultimate purpose of this season): to re-seal Yue Qi Luo.

Zhang Xian Zong: He looks good in his uniform. Anyways, he's Gu Xian Wu's subordinate until he betrays him and becomes a commander himself. He falls in love Yue Qi Luo even if she's a monster. Or to be more accurate, I believe he fell in love with her after seeing her holy monstrous capabilities. He truly loves her. he'll feed her his women and do everything for her without expecting anything in return. He'll always love her but she'l never love him. Yue Qi Luo can't be satisfied with a mere human. However, I don't think she's capable of love to begin with. Hopefully, she is a little bit moved by Zhang Xian Zong's love and sacrifices for her.

Chu Chen Zi: He's a clean freak. He's also a useless priest who doesn't have any powers. He only has the (five?) talisman his grand master left him. He's basically useless after those talismans are used up. However, he does have a stake in helping Wu Xin reseal Yue Qi Luo. She's a disciple of his priesthood. She's ruining their reputation with her killing spree.

Bai Liu Li: He makes his appearance as a(n angry) chicken. Actually he's just borrowing the hen's body. He appears every century. Because after every century, Wu Xin will enter a deep slumber where he will forget everything that happened the past hundred years. And that's how we get the multiple seasons of Wu Xin as he enters a new life each season. Poor Yue Ya has to suffer her lover not only being an immortal, infertile monster killer who regenerates from anything, but also one that will forget her in a month's time.

Ending [Spoilers]: Yue Qi kills Yue Ya. I think it's a better ending that way. Since he's bound to forget her anyways, might as well let her be loved her entire life. Meanwhile Zhang Xian Zong dies protecting his love, not once, but twice. He was first killed by Yue Ya but Yue Qi Luo brings his soul back to life (and empties his body's organs to prevent it from rotting) but in the end dies at the hand of Wu Xin. His last thoughts were all about Yue Qi Luo and how thankful he is to no longer be her burden. Yue Ya and Zhang Xian Zong essentially fell in love with people they shouldn't have. Wu Xin and Yue Qi Luo embark in an epic showdown where Yue Qi Luo falls to her demise. She curses him that his inability to die is his worse punishment. It's true. Wu Xin's greatest suffering is his loneliness.

Wu Xin falls into his deep slumber but Bai Liu Li took away his memories of Yue Ya! I get that Bai Liu Li wants him to forget the pain...but, but, but! No wonder he never remembers anyone after waking up, his friend hides everything from him. Poor Gu Xuan Wu, the only one alive who remembers. Or is remembering a good thing?

Remarks

The strengths of this drama is the constant humor and incredible creativity. How do you even imagine Wu Xin can regenerate from a hand, and then to all those absurd forms. Crazy. At the same time Wu Xin is such a genuine character with all his incredible skills. His aloofness to his powers and his sincerity to the woman he loves makes his character otherworldly and unique. Unfortunately, the romance is lacking for me. I never quite understood why Wu Xin fell in love with Yue Ya and only Yua Ya. She also doesn't bring anything to the table with the monster exterminations except we get to see all sorts of spells Wu Xin can pull out of his sleeve just to protect her with.

Season 3 will probably explain why Yue Qi Luo is so obsessed with Wu Xin so I'm looking forward to that. Although she's the villain, I quite like it when Wu Xin and her have a showdown.

Verdict: Humor, check. Monster hunting, check. This is a solid drama. A story of its own calibre. You might know where it's going to take you, but you'll never know how you're going to get there.

Rating: 3/5