Wu Xin: The Monster Killer (2015) (DVD) (Ep. 1-20) (End) (China Version) DVD Region All

Chinese web dramas are by no means just the playing grounds for low-budget productions, though. They're also ripe for high-budget undertakings by China's biggest online video portals and media companies. The massively ambitious The Lost Tomb multi-season project starring Li Yifeng, Yang Yang and Tiffany Tang was launched last year on iQiyi, and the Nicky Wu-produced Legend of Zu Mountain starring William Chan and Zhao Liying adopted the unconventional strategy of first airing online last year in multi-season blocks before airing on television this year.

All of this talk brings us to Wu Xin: The Monster Killer, a web drama that does not have the flashy talking points of the above mentioned productions and yet perfectly illustrates the medium's great potential by being an outstanding series with an appealing star-free cast and a strong story that exactly fits its length and production capabilities. That Wu Xin fares well would not be surprising in itself as it's produced by the usually reliable Tangren Media, but Wu Xin is also far better than most of Tangren's recent productions.

Based on Ni Luo's novel, Wu Xin: The Monster Killer stars post-90s newcomer Elvis Han Dongjun in the title role of Wu Xin, a mysterious immortal of unknown origins and uncanny powers. Wu Xin isn't always in human form as we learn later on in the series, but we first meet him as an easygoing young man dressed as a monk who befriends Li Yueya (Gina Jin), a sassy maiden running away from an arranged marriage. From their fateful encounter blooms a moving love story in which neither vengeful ghosts nor Wu Xin's secret can keep them apart. Subtly tugging on heartstrings, their romance is one that is thankfully free of unnecessary plodding, cheesy overtures or fabricated drama; rather, it just progresses naturally and believably in its surreal context.

Besides having an undying body, Wu Xin also has the ability to expel ghosts and demons with his blood so he makes a living posing as a monk exorcist. Among his various supernatural encounters, the one that keeps coming back to haunt him is Yue Qiruo (Sebrina Chen), a black magic-practicing girl spirit whom Wu Xin accidentally freed. By the reasonings of Chinese censorship, modern-day ghost stories are banned while period costume tales of demons, spirits and monsters qualify as fantasy. Set in the early 20th century, Wu Xin makes the period fantasy cut but the supernatural elements on top of a Republican era backdrop with warlords and Nationalist soldiers probably treads the line too much for television. Being relegated to web drama, however, works out in Wu Xin's favor.

Wu Xin's fresh casting leaves a very positive mark. Still a Shanghai Theater Academy student, Elvis Han had a supporting role in 2014's The Romance of the Condor Heroes before jumping to leading man for Wu Xin. He projects a wise and manly yet warm, worldly and boyishly sincere and forward personality that makes Wu Xin quite different from what you normally expect of these types of powerful immortal characters. Tangren has a history of developing their own talent and gambling on newcomers for male leads so the casting of Han isn't out of the ordinary. However, usually the newcomer is surrounded by a bigger ensemble of more established names, whereas in this case, the entire main cast comprises of stars-in-waiting.

Besides Elvis Han and Gina Jin, Ian Wang provides great support and comic relief as the crafty, cocky army commander who will turn out to be the most loyal of friends. Sebrina Chen is alarmingly creepy-cute as the vengeful spirit with a doll-like face and a bloodthirsty appetite, while Zhang Ruoyun invites surprising sympathy in the role of a back-stabbing lieutenant who carries out Qiruo's bidding like a lovelorn kicked puppy. Were Wu Xin a longer TV drama, it's likely some of the main cast would be filled by bigger names, or more actors and roles would be added on that would change the story and character dynamics of the story, which already feels exactly right in its current form.

The handsome-looking production largely aces the visual aspects with its costumes and sets, and the special effects are serviceable if still occasionally crude. Without the need to create a full-on fantasy world, Wu Xin doesn't venture into the awkward territory where vision exceeds execution that plagues most other Chinese fantasy dramas, including Tangren's own bigger efforts. Wu Xin also side steps one of the most prevalent weaknesses of Chinese dramas: erratic pacing and editing over a 40-episode run in which the story feels stretched thin in the middle, then rushed in the end. By setting the length to a very watchable 20 episodes, it maintains strong and consistent pacing, tone and direction throughout, assuredly carrying the engaging story all the way from its intriguing beginning to its heartrending conclusion. Who knew a drama about a man with no heart would turn out to have so much heart?