My first wuxia drama in years!
Actually, I can't really remember the last time I watched an wuxia drama, but I feel like it was a long time ago. It's funny how when I was little, I used to almost exclusively watch wuxia and fighting-related period dramas, but now I look forward to modern ones more. Maybe it's because Huang Xiaoming has stopped doing dramas (*sob*), but it's probably more because the language in wuxia dramas is harder to understand, so I actually have to pay attention when watching, whereas with idol and modern dramas, I can usually play the video at 1.5-speed and be doing something else at the same time.
Also, there's the nostalgic aspect. Wuxia dramas bring to mind watching TV on weekday nights with my family, and it just seems weird to watch them by myself online. And true to form, the only reason I started watching this particular drama -- the 2010 adaptation of Gu Long's Meteor, Butterfly, Sword -- is because it's showing on the local Chinese channel.
MBS, as I'm going to call it from now on, stars one of my biases Baron Chen (Fated to Love You), as well as Taiwanese actress Ivy Chen (Black & White). Apart from sharing the same surname, they're also the baby-faced type, which makes them look a little out-of-place in a supposedly serious wuxia drama. I can accept Ivy's character being baby-faced, since she appears to be one of those carefree type of girls, but Baron's character is a freakin' assassin.
I mean, just look at him. How seriously can you take this guy? I just want to pinch his cheeks... although that may just be my Dylan bias emerging.
At least he has a good stoneface. And his character is good at what he does. Already in the first episode, he's sent a barrage of giant rocks raining down on a courtyard (reminds me of Xiao Shiyi Lang) and killed his target in the meantime.
Anyway, Dylan (I'll probably sometimes call him that instead of his character's name, Meng Xinghun, just out of laziness/affection/familiarity) is in a group of assassins that also includes Ye Xiang (played by Andy Lau look-alike He Gang -- hey, he won award for impersonating Andy) and He Fang, sometimes called Xiao He.
For some reason I thought this Xiao He guy looked really familiar, although I really didn't like how snotty he looked. Really, he's like the epitome of a snot. Anyway, DramaWiki had no info, so I went to Baike, and... oh. It's that guy.
More than a year ago, I saw an article on Sina saying a new actor named Guo Xin sorta resembled Huang Xiaoming. Since I can't resist clicking on anything that says Huang Xiaoming, I had to go take a look. There's a leeeettle bit of a resemblance, but he definitely doesn't have those electric eyes that Xiaoming has.
When I read the article I thought he was a little cute, but WOW I don't know what happened to him in this drama (maybe it's the period-drama hairstyle -- or the voice). He looks like such a little snot. I think his character is supposed to be like that, so maybe they did that to him on purpose, but ugh ugh ugh. I hope they show less of him.
Anyway, these three assassins are secretly under the tutelage of Gao Jiping, a female martial artist who secretly runs a drinking/gambling/whorehouse for Sun Yubo, a 50-year-old respected person in town (not entirely sure what his title or job is). Sun Yubo has an inconsequential son named Sun Jian, a beautiful daughter named Sun Xiaodie (Ivy Chen), and a young-man-whom-he-sees-as-his-son named Lv Xiangchuan (Victor Huang). Because the costs for the whorehouse run so high, and yet Jiping doesn't seem to have problems with the upkeep, Yubo suspects that she's getting money from somewhere, and he wants to know who's helping her. So he puts sorta-adopted son Xiangchuan in charge of the whorehouse.
Jiping is not happy, because she and Yubo had been in a relationship and she thought that he planned to publicly announce their relationship. Instead, he essentially takes her job away from her, in public, and pretty much makes it impossible for the two of them to meet again. Thus Jiping tells one of her assassins, Ye Xiang, to kill Yubo.
Ye Xiang seems oddly hesitant to kill Yubo, which Dylan (being a good friend) notices. They don't talk much about it, being guys and all, but their friendship is kind of cute. Anyway, Ye Xiang goes off to the Sun household, but his qinggong is not that good, and Xiangchuan hears him arrive. While he goes off to investigate, Xiaodie "sniffs out" Ye Xiang, because he's wearing aluminum powder on his face. Apparently her sense of smell is really good. Instead of yelling for help, she just talks to him, and when one of her handmaidens comes, she urges him to leave.
Upon smelling that he doesn't leave, Xiaodie assumes he's a girl (LOL) and tells him to hide well. She tries to make friends with him, since she's the sheltered sort of girl with a paranoid dad. She tells him to come back tomorrow, and he nods and leaves. Her handmaiden is like wtf, who are you talking to.
Xiangchuan reports to Yubo, asking how good Gao Jiping's qinggong is. Yubo replies, "Not worse than yours. You suspect her?" "Yes," Xiangchuan replies, and the episode ends there.
For a first episode, not bad, although that was a really weird place to end it. I think most people find assassins interesting, and I'm definitely not an exception. Baron may not look like an assassin, but I'll still buy into the story. Plus he, Ye Xiang, and Xiangchuan are all, to varying degrees, good eye candy. And Ivy Chen is always cute, even if she does look like a modern girl dressed up in period clothing.
I also really like Ye Xiang. He Gang is a pretty good actor, especially in the scenes where he was interacting with Xiaodie. You could only see his eyes, plus he couldn't speak, but he gave quite a nuanced performance. Victor Huang isn't bad either, but I don't think his character is particularly deep.
Anyhow, I'll definitely stick this one out for a bit. The whole thing is up on YouTube if you're interested, as well as Youku. There's a page for it on Viki too, with episode 1 at 95%, but subbing seems to have stopped.
Also, there's the nostalgic aspect. Wuxia dramas bring to mind watching TV on weekday nights with my family, and it just seems weird to watch them by myself online. And true to form, the only reason I started watching this particular drama -- the 2010 adaptation of Gu Long's Meteor, Butterfly, Sword -- is because it's showing on the local Chinese channel.
MBS, as I'm going to call it from now on, stars one of my biases Baron Chen (Fated to Love You), as well as Taiwanese actress Ivy Chen (Black & White). Apart from sharing the same surname, they're also the baby-faced type, which makes them look a little out-of-place in a supposedly serious wuxia drama. I can accept Ivy's character being baby-faced, since she appears to be one of those carefree type of girls, but Baron's character is a freakin' assassin.
I mean, just look at him. How seriously can you take this guy? I just want to pinch his cheeks... although that may just be my Dylan bias emerging.
At least he has a good stoneface. And his character is good at what he does. Already in the first episode, he's sent a barrage of giant rocks raining down on a courtyard (reminds me of Xiao Shiyi Lang) and killed his target in the meantime.
Anyway, Dylan (I'll probably sometimes call him that instead of his character's name, Meng Xinghun, just out of laziness/affection/familiarity) is in a group of assassins that also includes Ye Xiang (played by Andy Lau look-alike He Gang -- hey, he won award for impersonating Andy) and He Fang, sometimes called Xiao He.
For some reason I thought this Xiao He guy looked really familiar, although I really didn't like how snotty he looked. Really, he's like the epitome of a snot. Anyway, DramaWiki had no info, so I went to Baike, and... oh. It's that guy.
More than a year ago, I saw an article on Sina saying a new actor named Guo Xin sorta resembled Huang Xiaoming. Since I can't resist clicking on anything that says Huang Xiaoming, I had to go take a look. There's a leeeettle bit of a resemblance, but he definitely doesn't have those electric eyes that Xiaoming has.
When I read the article I thought he was a little cute, but WOW I don't know what happened to him in this drama (maybe it's the period-drama hairstyle -- or the voice). He looks like such a little snot. I think his character is supposed to be like that, so maybe they did that to him on purpose, but ugh ugh ugh. I hope they show less of him.
Anyway, these three assassins are secretly under the tutelage of Gao Jiping, a female martial artist who secretly runs a drinking/gambling/whorehouse for Sun Yubo, a 50-year-old respected person in town (not entirely sure what his title or job is). Sun Yubo has an inconsequential son named Sun Jian, a beautiful daughter named Sun Xiaodie (Ivy Chen), and a young-man-whom-he-sees-as-his-son named Lv Xiangchuan (Victor Huang). Because the costs for the whorehouse run so high, and yet Jiping doesn't seem to have problems with the upkeep, Yubo suspects that she's getting money from somewhere, and he wants to know who's helping her. So he puts sorta-adopted son Xiangchuan in charge of the whorehouse.
Jiping is not happy, because she and Yubo had been in a relationship and she thought that he planned to publicly announce their relationship. Instead, he essentially takes her job away from her, in public, and pretty much makes it impossible for the two of them to meet again. Thus Jiping tells one of her assassins, Ye Xiang, to kill Yubo.
Ye Xiang seems oddly hesitant to kill Yubo, which Dylan (being a good friend) notices. They don't talk much about it, being guys and all, but their friendship is kind of cute. Anyway, Ye Xiang goes off to the Sun household, but his qinggong is not that good, and Xiangchuan hears him arrive. While he goes off to investigate, Xiaodie "sniffs out" Ye Xiang, because he's wearing aluminum powder on his face. Apparently her sense of smell is really good. Instead of yelling for help, she just talks to him, and when one of her handmaidens comes, she urges him to leave.
Upon smelling that he doesn't leave, Xiaodie assumes he's a girl (LOL) and tells him to hide well. She tries to make friends with him, since she's the sheltered sort of girl with a paranoid dad. She tells him to come back tomorrow, and he nods and leaves. Her handmaiden is like wtf, who are you talking to.
Xiangchuan reports to Yubo, asking how good Gao Jiping's qinggong is. Yubo replies, "Not worse than yours. You suspect her?" "Yes," Xiangchuan replies, and the episode ends there.
For a first episode, not bad, although that was a really weird place to end it. I think most people find assassins interesting, and I'm definitely not an exception. Baron may not look like an assassin, but I'll still buy into the story. Plus he, Ye Xiang, and Xiangchuan are all, to varying degrees, good eye candy. And Ivy Chen is always cute, even if she does look like a modern girl dressed up in period clothing.
I also really like Ye Xiang. He Gang is a pretty good actor, especially in the scenes where he was interacting with Xiaodie. You could only see his eyes, plus he couldn't speak, but he gave quite a nuanced performance. Victor Huang isn't bad either, but I don't think his character is particularly deep.
Anyhow, I'll definitely stick this one out for a bit. The whole thing is up on YouTube if you're interested, as well as Youku. There's a page for it on Viki too, with episode 1 at 95%, but subbing seems to have stopped.