#yan da

This gorgeous piece of art was commissioned by me for @putdownthecatitscratches and painted by @krabbages

One Dress a Week Challenge

July: Red

Ice Fantasy / Alina Zhang as Yan Da

Yan Da is a princess of the Fire Clan of immortals, so she wears red pretty much throughout the series, sometimes with touches of black. This is probably my favorite of her looks, from episodes 33-36.

Character: Yan Da

Drama: Ice Fantasy

Shortly after finishing my review of Ice Fantasy a short while ago, I realized that there were still some things about it I wanted to discuss. This doesn’t really surprise me because I try to keep my posts between three hundred and six hundred words, and this series was dense with characters and themes. So here we go as I continue to talk about Ice Fantasy. 

So, one of my favorite characters was Yan Da, the Fire Princess. She is introduced as a fairly straightforward lackey to her father, the unambiguously evil Huo Yi. She is presented as a very skilled fighter who is deadly with her whip, however, the audience quickly learns that there is more to this character than a two-dimensional mini-boss. Shortly after glowing up, Shi becomes Yan Da’s slave and he befriends her, allowing us to finally see her vulnerability and how kind she can actually be. Part of the reason I like her so much is that, through her, we are able to see that not all members of the Fire Clan are as evil, or have the same goals, as Huo Yi. It adds a human element to the indisputable villains of the series. 

In the same vein, the audience is able to see imperfections in almost all of the Clans, which I really appreciate. It’s also part of why I’m so glad that Yue Shen was established as a loyal and talented fighter early in the series, instead of the sneaky assassin she could have been. 

Another thing that I noticed, though I haven’t come to any conclusion about it yet, was the portrayal of Lian Ji (Shi’s mother) as a victim of assault and abuse. She was married to the Ice King as a means to an end and just as quickly ignored and discarded. It is quickly established that she is treated terribly by the Ice Queen and her children and that her only source of positive interaction is with Shi. She is manipulated by Huo Yi into giving up the weaknesses of the Ice Princes and Princesses. She was raped by Yuan Ji, who disguised himself as Huo Yi in order to bed and impregnate her and then tied to his life force. It is so easy to view her as just a villain who wanted to watch the Ice Tribe burn, but after I thought about it for a while I realized that Lian Ji was a victim who took her fate, and the fate of her beloved son, into her own hands, and is the reason that Ka Suo was able to succeed in his mission. 

Okay, now some rapid-fire thoughts:

I just ship Huang Tuo and Yue Shen so bad. They were my OTP.

Also, Huang Tuo was my favorite character on the entire cast. I’m a sucker for healers that are a bit dense.

I loved Li Luo’s name because it sounds really pretty, and it reminded me of Lilo (of Lilo and Stitch fame).

Ka Suo’s solution to Li Luo’s short life span was genuinely touching. I just wish it had actually been Li Luo he’d given the ring to. 

The memory/personality swap of Li Luo and Lan Sheng was not what I expected, but I liked the potential for the drama it created. I legit thought Ka Suo was going to have to marry both of them. 

Xing Jiu was really pretty. I love the purple and white in his hair. But his relationship with Xing Gui teetered on highly uncomfortable for me. 

The ears on the Immortals looked really funny, and they reminded me of a Lord of the Rings cosplay. I also keep thinking of them as elves, probably because of that correlation. 

Ying Kong Shi looked really cool as a Fire Tribe member. 

Okay, I think that’s it for this series.