criticism of veil of shadows (3/4 critical, 1/4 simpfest)
i waited for more than a year for veil of shadows after falling in love with FoF, and was eagerly awaiting the first watch, but now i'm so confused and disappointed with wtf is going on. the aesthetics are typically GJM style but the plot is in shambles
(in this longpost, i will typically use fangs of fortune as a comparative example because they are both gjm works based off the shanhaijing)
I've broken this down into a few key sections bc i luv making lists
screen time and order of appearances of main characters
worldbuilding (or lack thereof)
power scaling
ost music
character designs
LOADS OF SPOILERS BEWARE
screen time and order of appearances of main characters is off
i went back to ep 1 to rewatch specifically so i could get the facts right in this section.
this is the order of characters appearing for the first time:
lu wuyi -> you chi -> wu shi guang -> four NAMED case-related side characters -> wu wangyan -> ji ling & li jie
why tf is our main ML the 9TH named character we are introduced to??? because of this messed up screen time allowance and introductry scenes, our ji ling literally never crosses my mind as the main ML until…i think it was the first instance that 'chi wen' displayed his dragon powers. in fact, wu shiguang and wu wangyan's story seem better established as a leading couple.
compared to ep 1 of FoF:
e shou → wen xiao → zhao yuanzhou → zhuo yichen → fan ying (wen xiao's adopted father) → one unnamed character of chongwu camp
or look at ep 1 of love game in eastern fantasy (a recent watch of mine):
miaomiao (1st FL) → xiao wan (servant) → liu fuyi (2nd ML) → mirror demon → mu yao (2nd FL) → mu sheng (1st ML, arriving in a GOLDEN METEROID EXPLOSION)
worldbuilding
shilin sect
shilin sect is housed in the dragon temple, and the sect is supposedly lead by a dragon god personally (embodiment of protection and general good things happening), which is what gives shilin sect such authority and credibility in the story ignoring the fact we don't hear names of other sects at all as if shilin sect has a monopoly over all demon hunting which we all know how well that goes.
we have two characters introduced in the middle of the show (white haired guy with hilarious black haired guy, jin zheng and hua qi) whose introductory name cards list 'beidou…' and 'nandou...' as part of shilin sect titles. wu wangyan's special friend is also from one of these departments of shilin sect, implying a specific structure to shilin sect which proceeds to, once again, never be discussed in detail even though our lu wuyi (our main FL, and an established spy character) spends a considerable bit of time staying in shilin sect and spars with multiple cultivators in there, and has the perfect opportunity to learn about how this sect works.
formless moon
we have a special cult of 7-ish nine-tailed hulijing from qingqiu (a different class of fox compared to regular foxes like bby ji ling) that share memories every month and serve the fox emperor, and later on a oracle rock. very creepy but cool concept + stylisation and unique from other qingqiu hulijing appearances in other shows!! (i take wins where i can :D)
power scaling
shilin sect
single flower cultivator? double flower? TRIPLE flower? the show never explains what this flower symbol is supposed to represent. mo yuntan's first appearance made me think it was his unique character design, but then another 3-4 shilin sect cultivators show up with them, implying it's some sort of rank that comes with levels of spiritual power. there is no explaination of what the difference in rank is or what a 'normal' cultivator looks like, because everyone who shows up in this show is extraordinary. there are no 'regular' guys here, so we have no baseline to reference and therefore it's difficult to understand how unique all our main characters are.
ALSO the additional triple flower reveal in ep 23 + explaination in ep 24 was incredibly strange. yuan wuhuo says that li jie already had the triple flower mark level power but didn't have 法力 to reveal it. but in the first ep battle, ji ling is specifically singled out as a shilin sect member that doesn't possess 法力, implying that cultivators going around without 法力 is a unique occurence to wu shiguang. and li jie only ever got his iconic sword because of how naturally powerful he is. how can yuan wuhuo then say that li jie has no 法力?
demons
FoF comparison: FoF opens with the E Shou rabbit girl and Zhu Yan. we see clearly the difference in power and how significant zhu yan's power and authority is (besides the whole massacre flashback). our baby rabbit girl can do nothing but pull simple escape tricks and run, whereas zhu yan can perform telekinesis wordlessly/wordfully, counter a highly trained cultivator with his glowing sword, and easily escape a prison designed specifically to hold demons.
VoS demon introductions: lu wuyi (nine tailed hulijing) appears with mind control powers. you chi (weasel) has a FLAMING SWORD. wu shiguang (son of the DRAGON KING??) can manipulate water powers and has a cool bead braclet thats apparently made with the blood of sinners?? wtf?? very cool, but not something we see everyday. wu wangyan, xiao wei, yuan wuhuo are incredibly old and experienced demons. bai ze is all-knowing. chi ba's single word kickstarts drought!! im sure the everyday demon isn't like this, but we don't know that!! we don't see 'normal' levels of power, so these awe inspiring vfx displays get cheap and exhausting to watch after a while. pretty for sure, but worth nothing to the viewer.
this point is most evident in ep 25 (battle between yuan wuhuo and baize). baize thus far has been chi wen/ji ling's greatest supporter and aid, but is established as a scholar-esque non-combatant compared to figures like mo yuntan and li jie. we know from 'chi wen' that baize has purple lighting powers, but up till now we don't actually see him use it. yuan wuhuo we know is basically li jie on steroids so he's a powerful fighter with all his memories and skills intact. when these two characters confront each other, i don't feel any tension of a fierce battle between equals. it's like baize is taking his last stand in defence of his people and yuan wuhuo holds the advantage. but then. suddenly. PURPPLEEE LIGHTNINNGGGG!!! INFINITEEE POWERRRRR!!!
wtf idk what's going on anymore ;-;
ost music
i've already made a previous post about my thoughts on how similar the ost songs of FoF and VoS are in terms of lyrics and themes, which another user commented about how FoF and VoS are thematically very similar stories and would have similar concepts being explored in story and song.
but still the FoF songs have a very distinctive flavour which stands out against other xianxia/supernatural mystery shows and i enjoyed it a lot (haunts me day and night), whereas from my pov VoS comes in trying to replicate the themes but without it's own distinctive spine. the lyrical themes are similar to FoF but the melody is unmemorable, doesn't match the vibes of the actual plot, and borderline grating against the amazing bgm effects they've created.
the good thing is that the bgm such as the fox sisters and the battle chanting are quite unique and I'd love to hear more of this kind of creative bgms in xianxia/wuxia works.
character designs
ngl the most badass character designs in this show is mo yuntan and ji can (the white glowy embodiment of loneliness). mo yuntan with his double flower mark and a brush that rips a flower petal shaped hole through space and time is so visually OP and i love him so much. for such a powerful guy, he gets disappeared from the story so fast and it's a disappointment.
the aesthetic of this formless moon fox cult (it is a cult the more you think abt it, the constant privacy invasion, blind obedience and worship of a single higher being, everyone wears the same clothes, everyone looks the same, the moon themed names) is so cool. i enjoyed the overdramatically large fox tails in That scene. its visually striking and very different from what we normally see, and the flexibility and softness of the foxes carries into wu wangyan's soft sword (MLC li xiangyi's wenjing sword reference anybody??) which i find blends in very well with the aesthetic of formlessness. of their cult.
wu shiguang's buddhist beads made of sinners blood that can turn into magical restriants and a spear that can always be recalled to him is SO COOL aksjaksjaksjakjs 10/10 we should start inventing more cool weaponry besides swords.
you chi gets a FLAMING SWORD MUAHAHAH last time i saw a flaming sword was with wangquan fugui (cheng yi) in fox spirit matchmaker: sword and beloved. i wonder how his family came to acquire such a special heirloom.
yuan wuhuo's butterfly mask transition will haunt me and all my future generations. like whattttt this man spends eight hours a day perfecting his drip i bet. im staring at his mouth VERY POLITELY at all times. y'know. in case he decides to repeat that move and steal my heart again. his spiritual divination tool is also a very unique weapon which shows should totally create more of.
bai ze and his purple lightning was a design im not sure what I think of. thinking of the gentle baize goddess of FoF, we get similar vibes until this dude unleashes DIVINE LIGHTNING and DUAL WIELDING LIGHTNING SWORDS. like wtf bro is secretly ripped.
ANYWAY i would love to hear if anyone had similar/different analysis or thoughts of the show? i acknowledge by ep 17 i'd completely lost the plot and was hatewatching but the story managed to redeem itself in the later halves once ji ling's true identity was revealed.
