Kick'em In The Ghoulies

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GODS OF LOST FANTASY – 2020

Based on a novel by Jing Wi Huen by the name of ''Ancient Godly Monarch''.

The story evolves around one Qin Wentien , a young man whose destined to be the saviour of the great kingdoms.

The story starts some 500 years prior to Qin Wentien's story, when a Demonic Sword whose power is set to destruct the world and sending it into darkness is restrained by the Sword Guard Lady.

In this battle two brothers who are at rule come to loggerheads as one tries to control the demonic sword, while the other whose goal is to save his loved one from danger (The Sword Guard Lady) .

When he loses his loved one to the Demonic Sword the then Emperor Xi is distraught and vows revenge on those who sent his loved one as a sacrifice to save the world.

500 Years later Xi has become the Emperor of the West aka Demon of the Night and along with his

followers they live in seclusion fighting the now Imperial rule .

All in hope of taking revenge.

Now the Kingdom is ruled by by the Emperor of Yi, but he has become ill and his brother the Prince Regent has taken over governing the Country, deeming the Emperors Son, The Crown Prince to young to rule. ( even though he looks older then the Prince Regent in this drama) .

Of course the Prince Regent has a alterior motive, along with his son they plan to take full control of the land , but they have a few problems to overcome to do this.

The Land is also governed by the four big families of Yi.

You have the Qin's who protect the the borders with it's army and take care of the gates to the city which are protected by a impervious wall .

You have the Ye's who also have a Military force and are from Royal Linage who try the utmost to get things done their way at whatever the Cost.

You gave the Bai family whose in charge of Financial affairs and often use their power to progress further into the Prince Regents favour.

Then we have the House of Mo' whose power is immense as they hold the power of magic and the head is the Preceptor to the Crown.

Even the Prince Regent has most respect for the Mo family as they often provide vital information surrounding possible troubles before they arise .

They read the stars and and are routed in Feng Shuei . And they are most humble and prefer not to enter into conflict.

Now this series is a whopping 52 episodes at 45 Minutes each,  that's a whole 39 hours of viewing, so there's a lot to take in.

Though the series is routed in Martial Arts, its  more from a fantastical point of view.

It evolves around magic and the construction of force fields. And each persons power within which is encompassed in their Star Soul.

But only persons of Martial arts background possess the ability to have the Star Souls.

Poor Qin Wentien , a adopted son of the Qin Family is considered weak as he can not possess this ability due to his Meridians being scrambled.

But as he is often bullied Qin often finds himself in precarious situations .

One situation finds Qin being chased, only to fall into a cavern and awake having acquired the Star Soul of the late Emperor Cang ( Brother of Xi) who was vanquished by the Demonic SWORD SOME 500 YEARS AGO.

With his Meridians cured , Qin Qentien has overnight become the Most powerful man in the Imperial city and the possible saviour of the World.

But he will have to learn his new powers, and it won;t be a easy task.

And this is the basic story of Gods of Lost Fantasy .

I must admit there's a lot to take in during the 39 hours of viewing. Playing like a Chinese Game of Thrones. Your have to deal with how the Prince Regent uses his position to gain favor.

The continuous backstabbing as each of the four families battle each other as the Ye family have one criteria and the Bai another.

They each try to gain favour from the Regent .

But not all things go to plan. As well as the four families, there are Martial Schools who hold a contest evry so often to take new recruits..  You have the Royal School, who the Ye family Control among others. , and then you have the most powerful School , the Juihua School where the power of the Star Souls are studied the hardest.

Juihua School is alos home to the Night Hunters who protect the land from Demonic invasion and often go up against the henchmen of the Emperor of the Night.

The story moves on at a rapid pace at times. And acting from the cast is pretty high and plays more like a feature film then a TV series.

Camera work is also good for most part , but it's action scenes that often lack punch. The use of special effects for the more magical approach is quite good through out. But when you have a more physical confrontation the action is often quick cuts and shots to close to the action to fully enjoy the action.

Though this does improve as the series moves forward, and actually a few of the episodes have some really nice set action pieces.

One of the biggest problems with the story is the amount of different factions you have to deal with , there all vying for a piece of the action.  It's actually the reason I gave up on Game of Thrones, I got fed up having to deal with all these new people and factions appearing and then they would kill of so many others that I had been into.

Here though I stood fast and made it through the entire series. , but I think it's easier when the entire story is presented to you in one big collection. Not having to wait a year for the next 10 episodes is a real bonus.

There are some fun moments as well during the story, One surrounding a Seed that Mo Qingcheng has been nurturing  for years and comes to life in the form of a little Urchin , whose named Little Bastard.

Of course with all these Dramas there are love interests and Gods of Lost Fantasy is no slouch in this department. In fact it seems everyone is in love with someone whose is in love with someone else which makes for a story line that is continually coming up time and time again surrounding different characters. It can get a bit annoying at times as I just wanted the recipetent of this affection to turn round and say,  look I don't like you, go away. But they don't they all lead each other on.

There's only one couple who actually have feelings for each other and kinda stick to it.

But I won't spoil it here for you.

Gods of Lost Fantasy is a long haul at times but I found it quite rewarding to watch. The special effects make for spectacular viewing at times and the soundtrack is good.

From a Martial arts perspective it won't win any awards as it's firmly grounded in the Fanatsy element.

Think Star Wars and your know what I mean.

The cast where all good players and the bad guys where good at being bad guys and the good guys where good at being good guys.

Peter Sheng as Qin WenTien dis a good job as the new saviour of the world. As did Olivia Wang as Mo'Qingcheng whose character has many surprises in store for the viewer. And she is a pleasure to watch through out.

And I got to give to Jerry Chang as the Demon Emperor of the Night , his portrayal of the vengeful Emperor Xi is excellent as he don's two looks as he shape-shifts from his Mortal look to his Demonic self and plays each persona so well, even though it is the same person.

You can not go far wrong with viewing this drama if your after something fantastical and even though you may have to bear a couple of slow episodes , for most part each episode ends with you wanting to know the outcome.

You can View all 52 Episodes on Amazon Prime Video – at the cost of a months subscription but if you dont mind adverts there also episodes available on Youtube and Viki.

Review : Sertes Nake

Review Date : 14-11-2020