Just Finished Watching "Legend Of The White Snake"

I remembered there were a couple of remakes and adaptations of the story The Legend of the White Snake or also referred to as Madame White Snake. The story would be about a white serpent spirit that falls in love with a mortal woman and seeks redemption from her status as a demon. There were several versions but this was the one available on Netflix for 36 episodes. Yup, this one is a mercifully short Wuxia series! So far, most of the cast is strange to me except for Chinese beauty Ju Jingyi (who I admit is my STUPID reason to watch it) who thankfully wasn't aborted! Jingyi is part of SHN48 - the Chinese branch of AKB48 and a sister group of MNL48. Like Love and Redemption and the Eternal Love series - it should be considered as a Xianxia, not a Wuxia.

The physician Xu Xian (Yu Meng Long) and his marriage to the white serpent spirit is not without its limitations. Bai Suzhen (Madame White Snake) falls for him and understands the limitations of the mortal life. Along with Suzhen is Xiaoqing (Xiao Yan) who is born from a demon woman and Ao Guang a dragon king. There are so many forbidden love affairs here. Xu Xian is, at first, unaware of his wife's demonic heritage but grows to accept it. Xu Xian's family slowly starts to accept his wife though the vindictive Ru Yi (Yu Lang) is his vindictive admirer. Ru Yi discovers the secret of Suzhen as a "white lady". Meanwhile, Ruyi falls in love with the frog spirit Wao Daoling (Wang Weiyun) but only out of convenience.

The real threat is the battle for the mind. In this case, the Mind Demon proves that the mind is a dangerous enemy. Evil imaginations, desires, and the like would form themselves one way or another. The Buddhist monk Fa Hai of the Jinshan Temple (Pei Zitian) has an obsession with wiping out demons that causes the Mind Demon to get strengthened. There's also the occasional appearance of the goddess Avalokitesvara (Sunny Tu, though I wish we had a Bollywood actress instead) in helping Suzhen and Xiaoqing to overcome their demon heritage. Both Suzhen and Xiaoqing must battle the temptations before they reach their cultivation.

For me, it's quite my first time exploring the story of Madam White Snake watching this one. This might be a good start for new schoolers to be familiar with the story without digging for the old school versions.