Guardian 镇魂 Part 5

This article is a rambling of a novel fan. Guardian is the only show I would ever recommend that you watch the BTS clips or fan made videos and skip the actual drama. If you must watch the show no matter what I tell you, please strictly follow this order:

1) Watch Guardian-the-drama (DG)
⇓
2) Watch fan-made vidoes
⇓
3) Read Guardian-the-novel (NG)

If you reversed the order and read the novel first… You have my condolences.
Weibo tag #diss镇魂编剧# (dissing Guardian screenwriters) shares your pain.

Source: 爱霍霍的岚吱z

I survived the train wreck that was DG because of the talented meme creators/commentators on weibo. Whenever DG got me down, they had me laughing like a hyena. I believe you can still find some DG memes at #镇魂沙雕表情包#.

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Guardian 镇魂 Part 4

This article is a rambling of a novel fan. If you have not read the novel, please don’t let my criticism turn you against the drama Guardian.

Ep31 is a good episode. With no embarrassing acting to distract me, I watched the entire episode without fast forwarding even once. Which makes me wonder why Guardian-the-drama (DG) couldn’t be like this for every episode?

I’ve been complaining about how bad DG was but I missed the mark by couple inches. One viewer actually hit the nail on the head. DG sucked because it failed the logic test. It discarded Guardian-the-novel (NG) worldview without replacing it with something equally comprehensive to explain the characters’ motivation and why they did what they did. DG might seem logical at bird’s-eye view, it failed spectacularly at street level. And the detail is what makes and breaks a web drama.

The Stake of Mountain and River segment has the most logic offenders (which explains why I didn’t like those episodes). One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a heart-shape love sign in a period drama. First of all, the heart-shape sign didn’t become common practice until after 1910. So I’m pretty sure a secluded Asian tribe in the 1700s, such as Hanga, would not have seen or chosen the heart-shape to display their love. Eye rolling in progress.

Then there is Sang Zan’s speech impediment. In the flash back, he spoke fluent Chinese. After he got out of the rock, he stuttered like a stroke patient. What happened to him? NG has the logic. Back in the days, Sang Zan and Wang Zheng spoke Hanga (the language). After they parted ways, Wang Zheng left for the outside world and was immersed in the Chinese language for the next couple hundred years. Sang Zan, on the other hand, was stuck in the rock and never heard of Chinese, never mind speaking it. He had to learn the language like a foreigner, stuttering over each word and getting the tone wrong.

And what’s up with the “Guo Changcheng electrocuting Chief Zhao” incident? NG, again, has the logic. Changcheng is a scaredy cat. Every little thing makes him jump. He also suffers from low self-esteem with debilitating social anxiety. He gets panic attacks just from looking people in the eyes. Prior to the incident, he was already shaking like a leaf after Zhao Yunlan berated him for buying a cheap sex doll to house Wang Zheng (the spirit) for their trip. He didn’t get his equilibrium back before they entered a dark, menacing cave. Group dynamic dictated Yunlan walk the front to scout for dangers, Chu Shuzi cover the back, and him, the useless new guy, walk in between them. Since everyone had their weapons out, it made sense that Changcheng’s stun gun would be pointed toward the front with his eyesight falling naturally on Yunlan’s back. It was a tense situation for everyone, doubly so for him. His racing mind imagined all kinds of monsters and critters crawling in the darkness. Once his overactive imagination reached its terrifying peak, the supercharged stun gun shot out an electrical beam, toward the front, at Yunlan. See? A perfectly logical explanation for electrocuting one’s boss.

Since it’s rare to see a good episode (or segment), I’m devoting this post to what I like in DG.

Possible spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.

Guardian 镇魂 Part 3

This article is a rambling of a novel fan. If you have not read the novel, please don’t let my criticism turn you against the drama Guardian (镇魂).

Ok. I have watched enough episodes on the third holy object to know Guardian-the-drama (DG) has given it a face change. The object exists only in name.

As I watched, an overwhelming urge to strangle somebody washed over me.

Every minute, I wanted to walk away and never look back.

When I finally sat through ep27, I wanted to scream. And, keep screaming.

If you didn’t know already, DG is a special show. Without the worldview of Guardian-the-novel (NG), all the cases in the drama fall flat with their one dimensional storytelling. It’s a show I would’ve dropped by ep3 if it weren’t based on my fav novel. Because the adaptation is lackluster at best, it makes you notice how good the characters themselves are. If you extract all the scenes with the two leading men in it and make a separate video, it would be a great trailer because their performance is that good. And for those moments of greatness, you keep watching. The show is very lucky to have them.

So what is NG worldview?

Novel spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.

Guardian 镇魂 Part 2

This article is a rambling of a novel fan. If you have not read the novel, please don’t let my criticism turn you against the drama Guardian.

I really want to know how almighty-CC determines what can and cannot be broadcast, because some of the adjustments the show did to the original stories made no sense. I understand they changed the name of the sundial from “Transmigration Dial” to “Longevity Dial” because of the religious connotation. But changing a man-eating monster to a shadow man? Or splitting characters and rearranging order of events? Why?

Possible spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.

Guardian 镇魂 Part 1

This article is a rambling of a novel fan. If you have not read the novel, please don’t let my criticism turn you against the drama Guardian (镇魂), which in and of itself is a decent police procedural drama about a specialized (and not-so-secret) unit dealing with unexplained, mind-bending cases. It has all the elements of a scifi fantasy show: Bromance, actions, and special effects.

While I have no issue with watching a scifi fantasy show, the soul of Guardian is really their supernatural roots: The Gods, the demons, the ghosts, the changelings, and the clueless human beings who were caught in the supernatural assaults. Unfortunately, Chinese censorship commands that ANY show set after the forming of the Republic (1949-present) must not depict, express or disseminate antiquated superstitious beliefs, which is essentially the meat of the Guardian stories. To skirt around the ban, the show switched out all the supernatural elements for scientific explanations: Gods? Aliens residing above ground. Demons? Aliens residing underground. Changelings? Native species with alien genes. Ghosts? Residual energy. The fire of a God? The collision of a comet. Reincarnation? I’m still waiting for them to explain that one. But from the show next door, Moonlight and Valentine (结爱), it’s probably reorganization of energy particles.

Sure. That explains everything.

Possible spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.

My Dear Boy 我的男孩

My Dear Boy (我的男孩) is less of a drama about romance and more of a drama about growing pains. And nothing hurts more than love loss.

Given Luo Xiaofei and An Qinghui’s age and socioeconomic status difference, you would think this is a drama about a cougar seducing a young, naive boy with her worldly charm (which the show not-so-subtly suggested more than once). But no. It’ll be asking too much of our boy to have instant attraction to a cynical, old, drunkard who picked on his insecurity the first time they met. At the time, Xiaofei had drank one too many glasses of red wine waiting for her no-good lover to not show up yet again. She was beyond pissed. She needed a dumpster to deposit her emotional garbage from the last 5 years. Qinghui was situated perfectly as the young guy next table who she believed would benefit from her years of “I can’t believe I got stood up” experience. “Your girl is never coming. She only accepted your invite because she didn’t want you to cause a scene when you asked her out.” (Mean, no?) Anywho, Qinghui experienced first hand Xiaofei in all her wretched glory, which I would re-watch for it’s awesome hilarity. From there, their friendship developed. And it was their odd friendship that kept me coming back for more.

Or maybe it’s their words of wisdom?

Episode 1: Never call an older woman “aunt.” Always call her “big sister.” (This is especially true in Mandarin-speaking communities. Between Xiaofei-ahyi [Auntie Xiaofei] and Xiaofei-jie [Big sister Xiaofei], always use “jie,” unless she is related to you by blood or marriage.)

Episode 2: Your first kiss was long gone. When you were a baby, your parents had already kissed those lips a million times over.

Episode 3: Doesn’t matter if it’s love confession or wedding proposal, when it is public, the joyful reaction is always fake. The game changer is during private moments like this.

Boundary Crossing 越界

If you were to tell me that HIStory2’s Crossing Line (越界) is a live-action shonen manga adaptation, I would believe you. Even the show itself made fun of its Slam Dunk vibe. It is a fun, sport drama with sizzling chemistry between the main leads. I love the friendship, the rivalry, the romance, and the girls (bet you can’t say that for all the BL dramas).

This is officially my victory dance.

Xia Yuhao and Wang Zhenwen is my favorite BFF in this drama. Their actions are gif worthy.

Multiple gifs ahead, beware of your data plan.