War of Faith (2024)

A Good Espinoza Drama set in Republic era with story that totally fits its Name (War of Faith)

My final rating would have been 8.5, but given its current rating of 8.3, I decided to round it up to 9.

"War of Faith" weaves a compelling narrative around three dynamic characters - Wei Ruo Lai, Shen Tu Nan, and Shen Jin Zhen - set against the backdrop of Shanghai's turbulent political and financial landscape of the 1930s, impacting the entirety of China.

The Premise:
The story begins with Wei Ruo Lai, a young man from a rural village who moves to the city hoping to leverage his mathematical skills and eidetic memory to improve his life. He secures a position at the Central Bank, which is under the government's purview at the time, working directly under his idol and mentor, Shen Tu Nan, the bank director. This job also leads him to meet Shen Jin Zhen, an engineer working at an arsenal factory and Shen Tu Nan's sister.

The Main Story Line:
Both Shen siblings are deeply committed to their principles - the Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Communist Party - and are dedicated to improving their country through their beliefs and expertise. Shen Tu Nan strongly believes financial reform within the republic, while Shen Jin Zhen believes that only a complete governmental overhaul can truly better the nation. Although Wei Ruo Lai is fully aware of the strong convictions held by both siblings, he particularly admires his mentor Shen Tu Nan and wholeheartedly dedicates to his vision of financial unification. However, Wei Ruo Lai's idealism is shattered when he discovers rampant corruption within the republic at devastating personal cost, leading him to lose faith in both Shen Tu Nan and the KMT government. This disillusionment forces him to escape the city with the assistance of Shen Jin Zhen. In a rural setting, Wei Ruo Lai begins to understand and adopt communist ideals, gradually engaging in efforts for financial unity. This path eventually leads him to financial confrontation with his former mentor, Shen Tu Nan.

Positives:
1) The Excellent and compelling characters (Main and Supporting) with satisfactory arcs
2)One of the best Anti-Hero story arc (Lin Qiao Song) in recent times that raises the strakes
3) Some Historic Moments/ Details laid throughout storyline that shed some light such as Shanghai Bombing, Anti-Japanese moment, Long March.
4)The Production and set piece looks high quality are excellent, i recommend to watch it on TV or much bigger screens.
5)The Powerhouse performance from wang yibo, wang yang and li qin.

Negatives:
1)Phasing n narratives disjoint Issues particularly second half of the story.
2)A very to the nose Propaganda in the last 7 episodes.
3)Irritating how villains survive sometimes to the point they survive after enduring 2 bomb blast in one day.

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Golden Journey

The script of a political and economic story is highly elaborated and detailed, which takes place in a real historical period with fictitious characters. There is no romance, but it is very emotional and you can see the most attractive relationship between the characters. Especially the bromance of the series, which were extremely flattering!

Each episode ends at a place where you want to jump to the next episode. It's not boring at all and every episode has a special event that is dealt with adequately and you can't expect something all the time.

The series is of high quality. Every episode is like a well-made movie. It took six years to make this series, the quality of which shows what it was.

It can be said that the only problems are in the last few episodes, but there is no problem until the 30th episode, it is very attractive and it is on another level. This series raised my expectations from spy series. Ost's was also very beautiful...

In summary, pay attention to the genre of this series and if you are interested in this type and style of stories, come to it. Don't say that There is Yibo and I should watch it cus of him. Of course, the actors of this series are top-notch, and Rolai is the cutest character of Yibo. I'm going to miss him and I want season two...

It has the potential to have a second season, but this season is completely over. No need to worry.

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A Heart-Wrenching and Beautifully Crafted Drama

The story and characters captivate from the start. The actors deliver impressive performances, bringing to life well-written strong female characters like Li Qin's capable lead who balances ruthless assassin and caring heart with ease. Phenomenal actress!
Wang Yibo shines in one of his best roles yet as he works alongside an amazing cast that brings this engaging and entertaining drama to life.
A powerful portrayal of resilience and determination set against a historical backdrop makes for an unforgettable drama that tugs at your heartstrings. This heart-wrenching story showcases humanity's greatest struggle and triumph, perfectly depicted in one of the best Chinese Republican dramas I've seen.
I highly recommend this series!

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One of the best republican Chinese shows out there

I started this show purely for wang yibo but stayed for the plot, The plot is not particularly unique but the setting and the cast definitely made a huge difference...

the good
The plot was very intricate and the cinematography was very good, i also liked how there were some morally grey characters like wei ruolai's neighbor who didn't hesitate to treat him like her son when it was beneficial for her and blame everything on him when she was in trouble. I also liked the fact that most characters are pretty normal, Wei ruolai for instance used his fiancee back home to reject women but at the same time when he started moving up the social ladder he became embarrassed of her whereas if you take lin qiaosong, he wanted jinzhen as his trophy wife when he was powerful and did not care about his "lowly" mistress but as soon as he lost everything he learned the value of the one that was by his side

the bad
The issue with this drama is that all the morally grey or bad characters are not communist, the communist are shown to be very upright and caring people. If you notice throughout the story there is not even one "bad" communist and all the non communists are shown to be morally gray or power hungry. Another issue which was purely from my point of view is the romance, If the show has no romance i'd prefer it if they didn't give unnecessary hope to viewers by showing cute short scenes, it makes it so much worse when you think they have a chance of ending up together(ToT)

conclusion:
overall great show but i wish they showed more "war" of faith by making sure that the non-communists also had valid points or good people because one side is never always right, but i get that they probably can't due to censorship and other issues but i wish that it was harder to choose sides because it makes the show more interesting (acc. to plot so far communist party is the only right choice)

the only thing getting me through the pain of a certain someone's death is this edit:
https://youtu.be/5ph57bSYMpg?si=hODy7zjm6ZOlpZ5H

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