History YMMV / QianQiu

* EvilIsSexy: While Yan Wushi is a morally dark character, calling him ''evil'', per se, would not be completely accurate. Nevertheless, part of his appeal as a character is his sinister allure, which is further heightened by all the visual depictions of his character and ''especially'' by Wu Lei's rich baritone.

*** As for Shen Qiao, While no one is saying that his new design is unattractive, per se, some expressed their preference for his face in Season 1; since his first facial design is still very attractive yet also manages to capture his personality, which they think his new face lacks.

*** As for Shen Qiao, While no one is saying that his new design is unattractive, per se, some expressed preference for his face in Season 1; since his first facial design is still very attractive yet also manages to capture his personality, which they think his new face lacks.

** Considering the [[{{Xianxia}} genre it's set in]], the novel is rife with fight scenes, many of which are narrated in loving and meticulous detail. The ''donghua'' immediately assured both fans and newcomers alike that it will more than do justice to the fight scenes and any other instance the characters show off their abilities, and whatever fans may think about the adaptation, they unanimously agree that the fight scenes are one of the ''donghua's'' greatest strengths.
** Fight scenes aside, the ''donghua'' has done more than an excellent job in capturing the shifts in the character's myriad of expressions. This is best exhibited with the protagonists; in spite of Shen Qiao's reserved nature, the way his eyes and lips are creased can already hint the viewer what mood he's feeling at the moment, and Yan Wushi's erratic personality is perfectly reflected in all kinds of microexpressions.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN2v196NK8c "I Read You Three-Thousand Times"]] (我读三千遍你), the first ending song of the audio drama. What makes it an especially poignant theme is that it is sung from Yan Wushi's point of view and tells of his feelings for Shen Qiao.

** "I Read You Three-Thousand Times" (我读三千遍你), the first ending song of the audio drama. What makes it an especially poignant theme is that it is sung from Yan Wushi's point of view and tells of his feelings for Shen Qiao.

*** The fact that the narration has noted more than once that he acted quite oddly prior to [[spoiler: betraying Shen Qiao]] hints that he might have already [[spoiler: gotten attached to Shen Qiao]]; but given his callous and distrustful personality, [[spoiler: he may have panicked and lashed ou, wanting to get rid of any potential weaknesses]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: It's difficult to pin down what exactly was Yan Wushi's motive/s for [[spoiler: betraying Shen Qiao]].
** Yan Wushi claims that it's because [[spoiler: he no longer saw Shen Qiao as a WorthyOpponent]], although an extra hints that in truth, he was mostly curious and [[spoiler: he wanted to test Shen Qiao one last time and see if he'd break, with his hurtful words being part of his attempt to corrupt the other man's spirit]]. Chapter 95 also confirmed that [[spoiler: he traded Shen Qiao for his old sword (which he no longer needed) to add further insult to the injury of the humiliation]]. That being said, that may not be his only motive.
** The fact that the narration has noted more than once that he acted quite oddly prior to [[spoiler: betraying Shen Qiao]] hints that he might have already [[spoiler: gotten attached to Shen Qiao]]; but given his callous and distrustful personality, [[spoiler: he may have panicked and lashed ou, wanting to get rid of any potential weaknesses]].
** In view of what happened to Shen Qiao's [[spoiler: cultivation after he destroyed his meridians to fend off Sang Jingxing (as well as learning that a demonic core was planted inside him)]], considering that Yan Wushi himself had read the Zhuyang Ce, he might have figured out early on what [[spoiler: was needed for Shen Qiao to repair his foundations and recover to full strength]]. But given that Shen Qiao had previously [[spoiler: rejected the idea of a demonic core being put in his body, Yan Wushi decided to do it in secret and then surrendered Shen Qiao to Sang Jingxing to put him in a position where he has absolutely no choice but destroy his (already damaged) Daoist core]]. Even he outwardly acknowledges that Shen Qiao would have no choice but to do just that.

** The fact that the narration has noted more than once that he acted quite oddly prior to [[spoiler: betraying Shen Qiao]] hints that he might have [[spoiler: gotten attached to Shen Qiao]]. But given his callous and distrustful personality, [[spoiler: he may have panicked and lashed out and wanted to get rid of any potential weaknesses]].

* Alternative Character Interpretation: It's difficult to pin down what exactly was Yan Wushi's motive/s for [[spoiler: betraying Shen Qiao]].

* GeniusBonus: With Meng Xishi being the history buff that she is, this is going to be a given. Even the AnimatedAdaptation gets to add in a few extra pieces.

** The English subtitles of the AnimatedAdaptation is already the butt of many jokes of fans for a multitude of reasons. Mainly, it almost completely fails to capture any of the nuances of the dialogue and either misinterprets what the original dialogue meant to convey or translates it too literally that the end result becomes something close to a jumbled mess. But [[BlindIdiotTranslation mistranslations]] and [[TranslationTrainWreck atrociously-phrased dialogue]] aside, it also makes the mistake of leaving a typographical error unchecked. To specify, but when Yan Wushi explains to Shen Qiao why the Fenglin Yuandian is actually a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, "fatal weakness" is misspelled as "''fetal'' weakness". Keep in mind what "fetal" means.

** The English subtitles of the AnimatedAdaptation is already the butt of many jokes of fans for a multitude of reasons. But mistranslations and atrociously-phrased dialogue aside, it also makes the mistake of leaving a typographical error unchecked. To specify, but when Yan Wushi explains to Shen Qiao why the Fenglin Yuandian is actually a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, "fatal weakness" is misspelled as "''fetal'' weakness". Keep in mind what "fetal" means.

* EvilIsSexy: While Yan Wushi is a morally dark character, calling him ''evil'', per se, would not be accurate. Nevertheless, part of his appeal as a character is his sinister allure, which is further heightened by all the visual depictions of his character and ''especially'' by Wu Lei's rich baritone.

** As soon as the trailer for the second season was released, several fans immediately voiced their contentions towards the modification of Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi's character designs, especially since no one had any complaints about their original designs. This is particularly the case for Yan Wushi, as he looks at least ten years younger than how he appeared in the first season, where he was still handsome but his features were angular enough to capture how he's devilishly charming yet undoubtedly of a mature age.
** On a smaller note, the trope also applies for Shen Qiao. While no one is saying that his new design is unattractive, per se, some expressed preference for his face in Season 1. Even if he does not look as pretty, objectively speaking, his first facial design is still very attractive yet also manages to capture his personality, which they think his new design lacks.

* The English subtitles of the AnimatedAdaptation is already the butt of many jokes of fans for a multitude of reasons. But mistranslations and atrociously-phrased dialogue aside, it also makes the mistake of leaving a typographical error unchecked. To specify, but when Yan Wushi explains to Shen Qiao why the Fenglin Yuandian is actually a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, "fatal weakness" is misspelled as "''fetal'' weakness". Keep in mind what "fetal" means.

** [[spoiler: A-Qiao the deer]]. What else needs to be said? The noises it makes are also extremely adorable.

** In Chapter 15 of the novel, Yan Wushi asks Shen Qiao why he's referring to him as ''zongzhu'' instead of ''shizun'' like he initially did, a scene that was kept in the audio drama. Months after the audio drama aired, Wu Lei (Yan Wushi's voice actor) gets cast as the protagonist of another ''[[Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong danmei]]'' [[Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong series]], where said protagonist's love interest calls him ''nothing'' but ''shizun''. What's even more humorous is where part of ''Qian Qiu's'' plot involves Yan Wushi trying to see if he can blacken Shen Qiao, one of the main plot points of ''Ren Zha Fan Pai Zi Jiu Xi Tong'' involves Shen Yuan trying to ''prevent'' Luo Binghe's blackening.

** In the finale of the ''donghua's'' first season, Guang Lingsan (who is voiced by Shen Dawei) tells Yan Wushi [[AffablyEvil "Long time no see,"]] [[CasualDangerDialogue while weakening and attacking him from afar]]. Both Wu Lei and Shen Dawei play the leads in the AnimatedAdaptation of ''[[Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong Scum Villain]]'', and in the first trailer of its second season, Luo Binghe reveals his presence to Shen Qingqiu by ominously greeting, "Long time no see," with the rest of the trailer showing him attacking Shen Qingqiu.

** In the finale of the ''donghua's'' first season, Guang Lingsan (who is voiced by Shen Dawei) tells Yan Wushi [[AffablyEvil "Long time no see,"]] [[CasualDangerDialogue while weakening and attacking him from afar]]. Both Wu Lei and Shen Dawei play the leads in the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong'', and in the first trailer of its second season, Luo Binghe reveals his presence to Shen Qingqiu by ominously greeting, "Long time no see," with the rest of the trailer showing him attacking Shen Qingqiu.

* BrokenBase: Either Yan Wushi's AdaptationPersonalityChange in the ''donghua'' is an interesting and entertaining take on his character that still manages to keep the core aspects of his personality intact, or it's a complete disservice to his original characterization in the novel. Although only fans who already read the novel before or during the airing of the ''donghua'' are going to have a divide of opinion, as the fans who haven't read the novel yet are left none the wiser.

* FanPreferredCouple: Played with; while all of the novel's fans ship [=YanShen=] and strongly support the pairing, many agree that if ''Qian Qiu'' wasn't a ''danmei'', they would not protest to Shen Qiao and Bai Rong being the OfficialCouple of the story.

** In the finale of the ''donghua's'' first season, Guang Lingsan (who is voiced by Shen Dawei) tells Yan Wushi [[AffablyEvil "Long time no see,"]] [[CasualDangerDialogue while weakening and attacking him from afar]]. Both Wu Lei and Shen Dawei play the leads in the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Ren Zha Fan Pai Zi Jiu Xi Tong'', and in the first trailer of its second season, Luo Binghe reveals his presence to Shen Qingqiu by ominously greeting, "Long time no see," with the rest of the trailer showing him attacking Shen Qingqiu.

* MemeticMutation: Anyone who watched the AnimatedAdaptation is bound to at least make one quip about Yan Wushi's character design, [[CleavageWindow for obvious reasons]]. Needless to say, the fandom made jokes yet again when the concept trailer for Season 2 showed that Yan Wushi's new wardrobe is more modest.

* TranslationTrainWreck: Let's just say that the official English subtitles are so ''atrociously inaccurate and poorly-phrased'' that it ends up greatly confusing and misleading any new fans who have no familiarity with the Chinese language or have no background knowledge of the novel, since anyone who read the novel prior to watching the ''donghua'' are at least likely to notice if some of the translations are off.

** The ''donghua'' also holds nothing back when it comes to how detailed everything else is, from the texture on the character's outfits and on any kind of furniture, and the intricate details of the unique items used in the adaptation. Special mention goes to the [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1H1tVwVoAIg9c2?format=jpg&name=large design of Shen Qiao's sword]].

* {{Narm}}: The otherwise emotional scene in the ''donghua'' where Shen Qiao realizes that he no longer has a place in Xuandu Mountain and asks Yan Wushi to take him away ends at an unintentionally hilarious note when Yu Ai yells "You shameless bastard!", purely because of the way Yu Ai gesticulates as he shouts that line.

** In Chapter 15 of the novel, Yan Wushi asks Shen Qiao why he's referring to him as ''zongzhu'' instead of ''shizun'' like he initially did, a scene that was kept in the audio drama. Months after the audio drama aired, Wu Lei (Yan Wushi's voice actor) gets cast as the protagonist of another ''[[Literature/RenZhaFanPaiZiJiuXiTong danmei]]'' [[Literature/RenZhaFanPaiZiJiuXiTong series]], where said protagonist's love interest calls him ''nothing'' but ''shizun''. What's even more humorous is where part of ''Qian Qiu's'' plot involves Yan Wushi trying to see if he can blacken Shen Qiao, one of the main plot points of ''Ren Zha Fan Pai Zi Jiu Xi Tong'' involves Shen Yuan trying to ''prevent'' Luo Binghe's blackening.

* TranslationTrainWreck: Let's just say that the official English subtitles are going to greatly confuse and mislead any new fans who have no familiarity with the Chinese language or have no background knowledge of the novel (since anyone who read the novel prior to watching the ''donghua'' are at least likely to notice if some of the translations are off).

* NarmCharm: Yan Wushi's habit of laughing, particularly in the ''donghua''. He's described to laugh often in the novel, although the manner in which he laughs in the audio drama is still rather low-key compared to the more theatrical way he laughs in the AnimatedAdaptation. Not to mention, he laughs much more often, which often makes him come across as a bit louder and more dramatic than he's initially portrayed. That being said, Wu Lei is able to deliver each and every laughter in such a way that it still comes across as perfectly in-character for someone like Yan Wushi.