- Drama Title: Snowfall
- Also Known As: 冰雪谣, The Shadow, Ru Yue, Bing Xue Yao
- Genres: Mystery, Romance, Fantasy
- Cast: Gao Wei Guang, Ouyang Nana, WinWin
- Director: Li Mu Ge
- Episodes: 24
- Date of Release: July 29, 2024
- Original Network: Tencent Video
- Where to Watch: Tencent Video, WeTV, Viki
- Adapted from the novel “Ru Yue” by Ni Luo
Dear readers… how are you? I hope you are doing well. Recently I’ve resumed my old habit of watching a Korean vlogger on YouTube. She was always cooking delicious food and growing a small garden in her apartment. It reminded me of the time when I was a bit into gardening too. I even tried to make a serious vlog about my plant. But it was so short-lived. I only managed to make one decent video before I came home to find the plant destroyed because my cat, thought it was a toy… 😂.
Anyway, that was probably a sign from the universe to get me back to my most useful hobby: watching dramas. And so this is another result of my binge-watching moments, Snowfall drama review. Happy reading!
Snowfall Drama Synopsis
Snowfall is a Chinese mystery drama, released in July 2024. Haidong City’s media mogul, Shen Zhi Heng, is a lonely vampire who has lived for more than a century. Because his newspaper offended an important military officer, Shen Zhi Heng became an assassination target. And the cunning Li Ying Liang is the leader of the team that is after him. The first assassination attempt took place after a banquet at the Mi Mansion.
That night, Mi Lan, the only daughter of the Mi family who was born blind and abused by her mother, wandered the streets with a suicidal thought. She was on the verge of breaking down. But when she met the severely injured Shen Zhi Heng, she forgot her thoughts and helped him. It was this fateful encounter that saved Shen Zhi Heng’s life. Mi Lan’s bravery and kindness touched his cold heart.
Since then, protecting Mi Lan and making sure she has a good life has become another priority for Shen Zhi Heng. On the other hand, Mi Lan also devoted herself to helping Shen Zhi Heng at all costs. Two lonely people find solace in each other despite their differences. Can they make it in this dangerous world?
Snowfall Drama Review
Snowfall is a vampire drama. Yes, it is. A vampire who drinks blood and has a superpower ability. This is the drama where creatures with superpowers fight each other. When I first saw this drama, I thought of three classic movies. The Lord of the Rings, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, and Twilight Trilogy.
Surely all of them were fantasy movies. And so did this one. Contrary to the poster, Snowfall wasn’t just a romance movie. It has action, fantasy and mystery. A complete combination. But nothing is perfect in this world, not even in Cdramaland. However, I believe that my dear readers would take this review with a grain of salt. Everything I wrote is based solely on my preferences.
For your information, there is a new series of Interview With the Vampire that was made in 2022, but I would like to refer to Tom Cruise’s 1994 version just so I could address all the movies as classics 😉 .
Snowfall opened with a narrator reciting a backstory, which said:
Centuries ago, there were three prominent families, the Wei, the Mu, and the Mo. All of them were gifted with superpowers after the three of them encountered a meteor that fell in the southwestern region. The Wei received the Blood Amber Stone and gained super speed and strength. But without the stone, they would die.
The Mu family obtained the Fantasy Stone and gained the power to control minds. But they easily go berserk without it. The last is the Profound Yang Stone obtained by the Mo family. However, they have to go through ordeals to gain the strongest power of all. If all the stones were to be gathered together, it would neutralize the side effect.
When I watched the openings, I was waiting for the narrator to announce the last stone that could rule them all… fortunately, there was none. Otherwise this drama would be a cheap copy of Lord of the Rings. 😅😅😅
Snowfall Drama Story
Story-wise, this drama is a bit simple in the beginning. The story unfolded slowly and I got a little bored. It took more than 6 episodes for the story to become more interesting. More action and more mystery.
When I watch movies or dramas, I like to guess the plot. I always feel a little smug when my guess is right. But not this time. The story of Snowfall is exactly what I expected. There were many interesting developments in the middle of the story. A twist that makes everything even more intriguing.
The genre of this drama is mainly action and mystery, but there were some comedies here and there. My favorite was when Shen Zhi Heng cooked some chicken soup for Mi Lan and she mistook it for medicine because it tasted awful. Or the one where they pretended to argue to fool Li Ying Liang’s subordinates.
Shen Zhi Heng didn’t realize that Mi Lan is a sharp-tongued person, and even when she pretended to argue, she sounded very convincing. So after he slammed the door, he muttered that she is very good at arguing and reminded himself not to offend her in the future because he can’t afford the consequences. 😋😂
Some Inconsistencies
The thing that reminded me of Interview of the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles is the age difference between Mi Lan and Shen Zhi Heng. In real life, there was an age difference of 17 years between them. Ouyang Nana is already an adult at 24, and Gao Wei Guang is 41.
But what bothered me was how young Mi Lan looked. In the drama she is 18 years old, but she still looked like a 12-year-old girl who still kept a rag doll next to her (although the doll acted as her emotional support). Mi Lan was still jumping around Shen Zhi Heng, and the way she dressed and carried herself still had a glimmer of a child’s naivety.
Aside from my discomfort, the story theme was a breath of fresh air. It was also well written in some parts, but also lacking in some aspects.
Snowfall is based on the novel Ru Yue by Ni Luo. I’ve never read the novel, so I don’t know the original story, but on various social media platforms, people said that the ending is different from the book. As someone who has experienced many disappointments with drama adaptations, I was rather nonchalant about it.
There’s no need to get upset about different endings, because sometimes a drama just has the same character name but a completely different plot. I don’t even know why they made it difficult to make changes when they could make a whole new story.
Shen Zhi Heng’s vampire version is different from the Western vampire in Twilight or Interview with the Vampire. Whenever a person turned into a vampire in a western movie, they stopped growing, as if they were preserved in time. In this drama, Shen Zhi Heng turned into a vampire when he was a teenager, but he managed to grow into an adult.
There was also another person who was born as a vampire but managed to grow into an adult. So, I concluded that a vampire in this drama wasn’t always forever young. They just aged very slowly. And they could feel pain and be injured to death. In my opinion, that was what made Shen Zhi Heng just like an ordinary person.
If it only happened to Claudia, she wouldn’t suffer too much. 🤔
The main villains in this story are Superintendent Chi, Li Ying Liang, and Mu Li Hua. I could understand why Mu Li Hua targeted Shen Zhi Heng. But can anyone explain what is going on with Superintendent Chi? And why was Li Ying Liang in charge of the Economic Development Committee, but he was carrying a gun and leading a group of armed men dressed in black, like some military group or something?
But what does that have to do with economic development? They must have hated Shen Zhi Heng so much that they wanted to kill him in the cruellest way possible. I began to think that I had missed something. Or is it possible that I unknowingly fell asleep in the middle of the episode?
Let’s forget about the villains and talk about the good part of this drama, the human interactions. Apart from his relationship with Mi Lan. Shen Zhi Heng also has some good relationships with some people. For example, Situ Wei Lian and Zhang You Wen.
Zhang You Wen works in Haidong Daily and becomes Shen Zhi Heng’s right hand in the business. Zhang You Wen is a journalist. Whenever Shen Zhi Heng needed information, he would ask Zhang You Wen to gather it.
Zhang You Wen’s father also works for Shen Zhi Heng by guarding the Shen family’s ancestral home. The relationship between Zhang You Wen and Shen Zhi Heng is quite warm. But not too friendly, because Zhang You Wen has set himself up as Shen Zhi Heng’s subordinate.
But Situ Wei Lian is different from Zhang You Wen. The relationship between Shen Zhi Heng and Situ Wei Lian is more than doctor and patient. They were more like a family because they were always there when they needed each other. A brother in need is a brother indeed. I have no other way to describe their relationship.
Different from what the story tries to convey is the relationship between Mi Lan and Shen Zhi Heng. In my eyes, Shen Zhi Heng treated her more like a relative. There was a time when he looked at her with some affection. But Shen Zhi Heng was kind of holding back. I was confused about that at first, but later there’s an answer to that.
So, apart from Mi Lan, Shen Zhi Heng was not really lonely. He had friends, but the story said that he felt lonely as if he didn’t have any friends.
I was a little confused about one thing. Shen Zhi Heng is a vampire who has been around for a long time. However, along the way, Shen Zhi Heng helped many people, but he didn’t even hide his unchanging appearance. This made some of them suspicious and obsessed with him. Shouldn’t a vampire hide his identity?
Well, that is a crucial thing. Botox or facelifts haven’t even been invented yet. You have no reason to stay young all the time… 😆.
Anyway, all these rants aside. I still think I didn’t waste my time with this one, because even though the story flaws are distracting, Snowfall does have some advantages. I really enjoyed the sets, the cinematography and the costumes.
A Room for Improvement
In my opinion, Snowfall was not Gao Wei Guang’s best drama. He did a good job, but it could have been better. I was fascinated by Ouyang Nana’s beauty, especially her expressive eyes. And the makeup artists could see that too, so they emphasized it with super long eyeliner. Unfortunately, I didn’t see much on-screen chemistry between our leads.
Winwin or Dong Si Cheng did an impressive job as the carefree and lively Situ Wei Lian. He was originally a singer for the famous K-pop boy group NCT. Winwin has acted in several dramas, but this is the first time I have seen him act. His acting skills were good, especially when Situ Wei Lian was in trouble and revealed his true nature. I am quite sure that Winwin will have a good future in Cdramaland.
There were two familiar faces to me, Tang Jing Mei and Maggie Huang. I’ve seen them in several dramas. Tang Jing Mei’s most notable performance for me was when she became Li Dai in She and Her Perfect Husband (I also wrote She and Her Perfect Husband drama review, She and Her Perfect Husband ending explained and She and Her Perfect Husband drama recap).
Li Dai is Qin Shi’s number one rival. Tang Jing Mei’s smug and pretentious acting won me over. I was both amused and irritated watching Li Dai on screen. Tang Jing Mei also appears in Winter Begonia and Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty II To the West.
I’ve always remembered Maggie Huang in two dramas, Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and Side Story of Fox Volant drama, where she acted as the antagonist. But this time Maggie Huang is acting as a kind and hopelessly romantic rich lady, Jin Jing Xue.
The director of Snowfall is Li Mu Ge. This experienced director has directed many dramas such as Good Bye My Princess, Rattan, and Fireworks of My Heart, and this time he also appeared as the mysterious Mr. Mo of the Mo family.
If you’re looking for a drama with a happy ending, this isn’t for you. The ending of Snowfall is heartbreaking. You can read the details in the Snowfall ending explained post, I will post it later this week.
Snowfall Drama Characters
Shen Zhi Heng
Shen Zhi Heng (played by Gao Wei Guang) referred to his condition as a strange disease. Without blood, he would not survive. And for centuries, he traveled the world to find the person who changed him and his own little brother, Shen Zi Qian.
Having lived for a very long time, Shen Zhi Heng managed to become a wealthy person. He owned a newspaper and used it for the good of the people. Although Shen Zhi Heng lived in luxury, he was not a show-off. On the contrary, he did not have much desire. All the while, Shen Zhi Heng kept a low profile and was not related to any woman in Haidong City.
Shen Zhi Heng is a composed and meticulous person. He was mindful, loyal, caring, and most importantly, he understood people very well and valued life. As a vampire, Shen Zhi Heng has great strength and speed. But he kept a principle that murder is to be avoided. Although he needed animal blood to survive, Shen Zhi Heng could still eat ordinary food.
Mi Lan
Mi Lan (played by Ouyang Nana) is the only daughter of Mr. Mi. He is a rich person, but he doesn’t have many descendants. Apart from Mi Lan, he has only one son, born by his 8th wife.
Mi Lan’s life suffers from her mother’s abuse because she detests her gender and condition. In her eyes, Mi Lan’s blindness is the reason her husband has drifted away from her. Mr. and Mrs. Mi never educate Mi Lan, only fulfill their duty to feed and clothe her. So even though she is smart, Mi Lan is illiterate.
Mi Lan may be blind, but she was gifted with incredible hearing. She could also sense the environment by how far sound travels. Pretty impressive, isn’t it?
As an 18-year-old girl, Mi Lan is clueless about the world. She is good at controlling her emotions, but sometimes she doesn’t know what to do and what not to do. So Shen Zhi Heng slowly taught her how to face the world and people.
The good thing about Mi Lan is that although she lived a torturous life, she still maintained a pure heart and kindness. Mi Lan used to think about dying. But Shen Zhi Heng gave her a reason to live.
Situ Wei Lian
Situ Wei Lian (played by Winwin) is a young and talented doctor. He met Shen Zhi Heng three years ago. One thing that makes him different from other people is that Situ Wei Lian wasn’t afraid of Shen Zhi Heng even though he knew his real identity. Situ Wei Lian is a vivacious and easy-going person.
Shen Zhi Heng supplied Situ Wei Lian with his money. But that is not the reason why Situ Wei Lian is so devoted to him. For three years, Situ Wei Lian has considered Shen Zhi Heng to be his close friend, and the only person he is devoted to besides Shen Zhi Heng is Jin Jing Xue. Although it was a one-sided love, Situ Wei Lian would do anything for her.
Li Ying Liang
Li Ying Liang (played by Ryan Ren) is the chairman of the Economic Development Committee under the supervision of Chi Shan Ying. When he was 12 years old, Jin Jing Xue’s father became his godfather. They grew up together, but then Li Ying Liang decided to live outside the Li Mansion. He lives in a small but well-protected house.
As someone who lived in a sinister world, Li Ying Liang had to be ruthless and cunning. But it made him live in constant fear. He was obsessed with power and believed that capturing Shen Zhi Heng would bring him closer to it.
Jin Jing Xue
Jin Jing Xue (played by Maggie Huang) comes from a rich family. Her late father is a successful businessman, and as his only daughter, she becomes the owner of the family business. But it was not an easy task because her second uncle was always jealous of her position and wealth.
Jin Jing Xue fell head over heels in love with Li Ying Liang. Although he always avoided her, Jin Jing Xue never gave up trying to pursue him.
Mu Li Hua
Mu Li Hua (played by Tang Jing Mei) is the 32nd successor of the affluent Mu family. She is powerful and ruthless. Her source of power is the Fantasy Stone, which she wears as a ring on her finger. Mu Li Hua is looking for the Blood Amber Stone and the Profound Yang Stone to break the curse of the Mu family.
All this time, the members of the Mu family have always died before reaching the age of 30. Mu Li Hua only had a little time left because she was 28 years old.
The Conclusion
Snowfall may not be a perfect drama, and it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it has beautiful visuals and the story theme was good. The mystery is slowly unfolding and the romance is different from any other romantic cdrama. But I still find this drama worth my time.
If you are a mystery lover, this drama is perfect for you. You might have guessed the ending, but the complicated plot made this drama more intriguing. And I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Hope this Snowfall drama review helps. Happy watching!
