Summer Chinese Dramas

Aside from my blogging mojo deserting me, I've also been in some kind of reading slump. I don't know if it's me, but I find this year's summer releases... not lacking, but perhaps not as exciting as usual. Or perhaps it's because I'm not in the mood for contemporary romance and that's the bulk of the releases in the summer. Add to that, I haven't been feeling 100% healthy in the past two weeks :( So yeah, my reading hasn't been stellar lately.

Therefore, I've been looking for something to do... and turned towards Chinese TV dramas. I recently skimmed through Clouds of the World, aka Chinese Paladin 5, for which I'll share my thoughts with you soon. For now, I'd like to introduce this summer's blockbusters that I'm planning to watch... eventually :)


1. Singing All Along (Chang Ge Xin)

This is perhaps the weirdest title ever for a period-era, political drama... but aside from the title, the rest of the production looks top-notch. It features Ruby Lin, one of the most popular and talented Chinese actresses, who also happens to be the drama producer. As it's the case with most dramas she's in, the series follows her character's ups and downs. The main attraction for me is Yuan Hong who's playing the male lead! :)

Singing All Along is based on a novel and also, in part, on real China history. They synopsis is as followed:

A tale of a farmer who became an Emperor and a woman he married twice. Following a civil war, Liu Xiu (Yuan Hong), a distant descendent of Emperor Liu Bang, was tapped to lead the restoration of Han Dynasty. To amass political power, he annulled his marriage to first love Yin Li Hua (Ruby Lin) in order to marry Guo Sheng Tong, a niece of a powerful warlord. Upon unifying the country, he remarried Yin. Although he wanted to make her his empress, he bowed to political pressure and bestowed the position to Guo. When scandals erupted in Guo's family, he used the opportunity to depose Guo and promote Yin to the position.

Anyway, this drama was filmed in 2013, but for reasons unknown, warehoused till now. I was looking forward to it for Yuan Hong, but have to admit I'm not currently in the mood for harem intrigue. It does have the best broadcast schedule though - 2 episodes a day during the week and 1 per day on the week-end. That means we're almost halfway through the series already and I'll probably give it a go soon.

2. Ice Fantasy

 Ice Fantasy is one of this year's blockbusters. You simply know looking at the quality of the production. The aesthetic of the drama is quite exceptional, probably because they invited The Hobbit's art director to join. As a result, we get sublime decors and costumes... and Chinese elves LOL.

Ice Fantasy is the adaptation of best-selling novel City of Fantasy, written by Guo Jing Ming. However, from what I gather, there's been quite a few modifications. Long story short:

This drama depicts the wars between the Fire and Ice Clans, the loss and then return of Ka Suo's true love Li Luo, and the eventual reunion between two brothers Ka Suo and Ying Kongshi after multiple obstacles set up by their archenemy Lian Ji.

Aside from the aesthetics, I'm drawn to this drama for two characters: the younger prince of the Ice clan and Fire clan's princess. It seems there is a romance between the two, but I doubt it'll be a happy ending. Sigh.

3. The Legend of Chusen

Another very anticipated drama, mainly because one of the female lead is Zanilia Zhao Yi Ling (the women on the left of the poster). This lady is on fire!! She has three dramas scheduled to broadcast this summer. Anyway, the rest of the cast is not shabby either as they were able to secure Li Yi Feng and rising star Yang Zi :) Gotta say, out of the three dramas, I think this one is the one I'm looking forward the most. I love the color scheme and clean lines... hopefully, the story will deliver as well.

Speaking of story, The Legend of Chusen is another novel adaptation. Here is the synopsis:

Zhang Xiaofan (Li Yifeng), who along with childhood friend Lin Jingyu (Cheng Yi), are the sole survivors of a village massacre. The two are later accepted into the Qingyun Sect (Noble Sect), where they learn the ways of the Immortal Sword. Although hard-working, Xiaofan struggles to catch up to his peers due to his slow wit. Fortunately, he has the support of Bi Yao (Zhao Liying), daughter of the Ghost King (Fu Chengpeng), who supports him through thick and thin. Pivotal circumstances made Xiaofan grow, and his relationship with Bi Yao takes a meaningful turn. For power, the villainous Ghost King attempts to overthrow the Qingyun Sect, and Xiaofan gets his life on the line. Bi Yao sacrifices herself to save him, falling into an endless sleep. With courage and strong faith, Xiaofan devotes all his strength to take down the Ghost King, fulfilling a promise he made to Bi Yao and Jingyu when they were youths.

This one has just started airing on Sunday and I'm still a bit confused about the schedule. Hopefully, we get a few episodes a week.

And there you have it, what I'll be watching this summer :)  And what you can expect me to praise or rant about LOL.

30 Days Blog Challenge - Complete!!

Woohooo!! I made it!! With this post, I complete my 30 Days Blog Challenge!! Yay me!!

Okay, so I missed one day, but that's acceptable. 30 days of blogging out of 31... for someone who's been having such a hard time, it's awesome! :) Big thank you to Ames for the challenge!! Also, thanks to everyone who participated to the challenge, visited and left comments :) You made a difference!

I'm pretty happy because out of the 30 posts, I have 7 reviews and 11 books related posts. So more than half were about books :) Which is pretty much what I wanted! Now that the challenge is over, I know I'm not going to be blogging daily. It was really hard to come up with relevant topic everyday ^_^; However, for sure, I found my groove and will do it more regularly! :) I'm really excited about it and I think that's what I was missing for so long... That little spark of excitement :)

On that note, I'm leaving you with some nice pictures... In the past month, I was able to blog about another of my hobbies, Chinese dramas :) In one of the post, I mentioned one of my favorite Chinese actor, Yuan Hong. Well, he got married last week-end!! Check out some of the pictures!! 

They make such a pretty couple! His wife is also an actress; however, I'm unfamiliar with her. They were a pretty low-key couple. I heard they were dating... at the beginning of this year IIRC. Can't believe they already got married :)

Loved Yuan Hong's groomsmen!! So handsome... and Hu Ge was one of them! One Chinese tradition is for the groom to go and pick up the bride. Usually, the bridesmaids and bride's good friends will block the groom's passage in order to evaluate his worth through some challenges :P Groomsmen usually help the groom out... It was fun to see Yuan Hong's groomsmen come prepared with bags and equipment. They look like agents on a mission LOL.

In the end, they did succeed in getting the bride! :) Congrats to the couple!!

Chinese TV Series: Nirvana in Fire

Last week, when I wrote the spotlight post for Song in the Clouds, I realized that I never did one for Nirvana in Fire! I had casually mentioned it in a post, but never expanded on it... and that needs to be remedied now, because if there's a Chinese TV series I need to rave about and share my love for it with you all, it's Nirvana in Fire :)

Nirvana in Fire (Lang Ya Bang) is 54 episodes long and was adapted from a novel from the same name, written by Hai Yan. It's period drama about politics, revenge and justice, but for once, it's not about the behind the court intrigues (harem's politics), but front court politics! Trust me, that's very refreshing! LOL

I'm going to try my best to summarize the story... without giving too much away ^_^;

 

Su Zhe aka Mei Chang Su aka Lin Shu (Hu Ge)

The hero and main character of Nirvana in Fire is Mei Chang Su. With the help of Langya Hall (an organization skilled at ferreting all kind of information), he established the JiangZhuo Alliance and leads the pugillistic world (martial arts society). Very little is known about Mei Chang Su except for the fact that he, himself, doesn't know martial arts and is a sickly person. In recent years, he's also built a reputation of kingmaker. It's because of that reputation that Prince Yu and the crown prince, Prince Xian, of the Southern Liang dynasty - both locked in the same battle for the throne - reach out for Mei Chang Su's guidance. To escape them, under the alias of Su Zhe, Mei Chang Su accept his friend's invitation and heads for the Liang capital in the company of his bodyguards.

Above: Prince Yu (Victor Huang), Prince Jing (Nick Wang) and Crown Prince Xian (Gao Xin)

Below: Emperor of Liang (Ding Yong Dai)

**Credits for pictures: My Drama Tea - My Cup of Tea

What people don't know is "Mei Chang Su" is actually an alias and our hero's real name is Lin Shu. Twelve years ago, at the age of 19, Lin Shu accompanied his father, the commander general of the Chiyan Army, to war against the Northern Wei dynasty. However, after defeating the hostile forces and therefore weakened, the Chiyan Army was framed by political rivals, who claimed that they were conspiring a rebellion with the then-crown prince, Prince Qi. Under the Emperor's order, the Chiyan Army was massacred - seventy thousands unjust deaths - and members of the Prince Qi and Lin manors were executed with Consort Chen (Prince Qi's mother) and Lin Shu's mother (the Emperor's sister) committing suicide.

Lin Shu vs Mei Chang Su, before and after

Lin Shu was lucky to survive, but it came at a price since he got poisoned during the ambushed attack. The treatment to save his life meant an altered appearance and a weakened, sickly health which caused him to lose all strength and martial arts. However, he got to keep his wits and after years of careful plotting, Lin Shu is ready to set his plan in motion. He wants the Chiyan Army case to be re-investigate, the culprits punished and the Emperor to admit his wrongs... and the only way Lin Shu can seek justice for everyone who died is to elevate his childhood friend and least favored prince, Prince Jing, as Crown Prince. In order to succeed, he will need to keep his real identity secret; even to those who love him most.

And there you have it, the synopsis for Nirvana in Fire. There are a lot of interesting characters in this series such as:

 Princess NiHuang (Liu Tao) - Lin Shu's betrothed

Left: Fei Liu (Wu Lei) - Mei Chang Su's bodyguard 

Right: Meng Zhi (Chen Long) - General Commander of the Imperial Guard

Yan Yu Jin (Guo Xiao Ran) & Xiao Jing Rui (Cheng Hao Feng) - Nobles and Lin Shu's childhood friends

Consort Jing (Liu Min Tao) - Prince Jing's mother 

***

I never read the novel, so I wasn't really aware of the TV series being made. Nirvana first caught my attention when the 21-minutes long trailer was released. Yep, you read that right, 21 minutes!! LOL. From then on, I was hooked. Luckily for me, I didn't have to wait too long for the TV series to release... and when it did, I was in heaven!! Because it was 2 episodes a day, every day of the week except for Saturday IIRC. Once I started watching, I was truly hooked. I would watch the episodes as soon as they were released online - even though I didn't understand anything. Then, I'd watch all the different subtitles versions - just in case there were differences ^_^; It got me back into visiting forums and discussing it with others. I even got my father hooked on it LOL. For 3 weeks, I lived and breathed Nirvana in Fire :)

 What was so great about this series?

1) The story

The story was truly a captivating one. If you enjoy court intrigues, this is for you. The foresight that Mei Chang Su had in his plotting was just phenomenal. Every step of the way was planned minutely. Also, the production team asking the author of the novel to adapt the novel into the TV series herself. It was genius because they ensure the faithfulness of the adaptation!! Changes that were made were minor and at least, made sense, because who understands the plot better than the author? Furthermore, the pacing of the TV series was perfect and the story never dragged. Every day or other day, something important would happen.


2) The acting

The cast for Nirvana in Fire was on fire! Everyone played their roles so well!! If I had to give out awards, it would be to Hu Ge who played Mei Chang Su and Ding Yong Dai, the Emperor. I always thought Hu Ge was an idol actor... Many of his past roles were very similar and I felt he coasted on his popularity. However, in Nirvana in Fire, Hu Ge's portrayal of Mei Chang Su was very subtle. He needed to convey so much with simply a look, an expression or a gesture. He proved to me and everyone else that he had matured and was a top-notched actor. As for Ding Yong Dai, I didn't know him before this series... but he really impressed me. The Emperor was a crucial character in the series and Ding Yon Dai nailed it - the good and the bad traits. His portrayal evoked so many different feelings in me... One minute, I loved the Emperor. The next, I despised him and then, pitied him... The series wouldn't have been the same if he didn't give such a strong performance.


3) The humor and action

Thanks to the 21-minutes long trailer, I knew what to expect story-wise from Nirvana in Fire. However, what surprised me most was the humor in this drama. It was the perfect amount of humor in order to diffuse all the intensity and seriousness of the political aspect of the series. What I particular like is that there was no character whose purpose was to be the comedic relief of the series. Instead, the humor came from everyone, through funny situations or reactions. Another thing that surprised me was the amount of action scenes and the choreography! Finally, some hand to hand combats!! Minimal special effects and close proximity fights... Made me nostalgic :)


4) The romance

This is actually one of the changes the author made for the TV adaptation... and I'm so glad she made it! Just like in my books, I enjoy romance in tv series. It doesn't have to be the focus, but I need something... and the romance between Lin Shu and Nihuang was just perfect for me. Hu Ge and Liu Tao had a lot of chemistry and they made me root for this couple. Because there were so few, each romantic scene meant more.

5) The OST

I loved the OST for Nirvana in Fire.  Hu Ge, Liu Tao and Nick Wang each actually sang a song.. One was even composed by fans of the novel! The background music was also awesome and suited the series so well! .

Finally, a last word about the look of the series. Compared to a lot of periods dramas, Nirvana in Fire's costumes and colors could be considered subdued. I mean, it definitively didn't have the vibrancy of Yu Zheng's dramas such as Song in the Clouds; still, the costumes and settings were gorgeous and meticulously chosen. Plus, that restraint actually fit the mood of the series perfectly and it helped set the drama apart.

Nirvana in Fire has definitively become one of my favorite TV series and I hope if you have the chance, you'll give it a try!  This drama can be easily found on the net with English subtitles :)

Chinese TV Series: Song in the Clouds

Tonight, I decided to spotlight one of the Chinese TV series I've recently watched: Yun Zhong Ge aka Song in the Clouds (45 episodes).

This TV series is based on a novel (same title) by romance author Tong Hua. Yun Zhong Ge is actually Tong Hua's third novel being adapted to the small screen, after Bu Bu Jing Xin (I've watched - it made me discover Yuan Hong!) and Ballad of the Desert. All three are quite epic and tragic romance stories :)

Okay, so let me try to summarize the story. Warning - I haven't read the novel, so everything is based on the TV series... or at least, what I caught. Basically, Song in the Clouds is a huge love square LOL.

Yun Ge played by Angelababy

The heroine is Yun Ge (played by Angelababy). She's from the desert part of China... When she was 8 years old, she rescued a boy and they became friends. Unfortunately, the boy had to return to the capital, but Yun Ge promised she would come and find him. Fast-forward 10 years, Yun Ge indeed keeps her promise and heads for the capital. She meets Liu Xun (played by Chen Xiao) and mistakes him for the boy from her childhood since he has the exact same jade pendant. She tries dropping hints about their past, but Liu Xun doesn't respond. Also, he loves and eventually marries another woman, Xu Ping Jun (played by Su Qing). Deciding that the boy she loved forgot all about her and their historicy, Yun Ge decides to move on. She meets Meng Jue (played by Du Chun) and falls in love with him.

 

Liu Xun played by Chen Xiao, LiuFu Ling played by Lu Yi

Meng Jue is ambitious and has political aspiration. When Huo Cheng Jun (played by Yang Rong) who's from a very prominent and powerful family falls in love with him, he takes advantage of her affection to get ahead. However, Meng Jue soon realizes that he must choose between Yun Ge and Huo Cheng Jun and therefore, follows his heart and chooses Yun Ge. Unfortunately for him, it's too late as Yun Ge, due to Huo Cheng Jun's lies, now believes that Meng Jue has been using her. Heart-broken for a second time, Yun Ge decides to return home... but on her way, she's caught in the middle of an ambush and is severely injured. Luckily, she is saved by Liu Fu Ling (played by Lu Yi).

 

Meng Jue played by Du Chun, Huo Cheng Jun played by Yang Rong

During her recovery, Yun Ge discovers a jade pendant and a jade flute and realizes that Liu Fu Ling is actually the boy she saved! Not only that, but he's never forgotten her! and oh, he's the Emperor! While Yun Ge and Liu Fu Ling reconnect, the road ahead of them is not easy. Meng Jue becomes an official in the court and tries many time to reconquer Yun Ge. Due to her family pressure, Huo Cheng Jun had to bury her love for Meng Jue and is trying to become part of the Emperor's harem, her eyes firmly set on the Empress crown.

***

So yeah, initially, I hadn't planned on watching Song in the Clouds. I wasn't familiar with the storyline nor the actors and the producer of this tv series was Yu Zheng... Sigh, how to say... Basically, this guy as a producer focuses on the outside and not the inside. I don't know when he started making TV series, but he's really made a name for himself in the past few years. His reputation is that he makes stunningly beautiful TV series - the set, the actors/actresses, the costumes, etc. but he butchers the storylines ^_^; Even though most of his TV series are novel adaptations, he makes the changes that suit him... and sometime, it doesn't make sense at all!

Anyway, Song in the Clouds wasn't on my radar at all. It actually finished airing at the end of 2015, beginning of 2016. I basically gave it a go because I caught Chen Xiao on another TV show and was curious to see more of him. I started by watching the last 10 episodes of Song in the Clouds and I was SOOO lost LOL. So I had to back and watch more episodes and in the end, I watched it all.. except for the first episode LOL.

Here is what I take away from this series:

1) The romance between Liu Xun and Xu Ping Jun

It was great to see the evolution of these two characters - from being nobodies to the top - and witness their love endure. They had their ups and downs, their worries, their disputes, but in the end, love prevailed :)

2) Shangguan Xiao Mei (played by Mao Xiao Tong)

Shangguan Xiao Mei is Liu Fu Ling's empress. She married him when she was 6 years old (I believe he wasn't much older). The two grew up together in the palace and their relationship is more like siblings... although I think she was developing a crush on Liu Fu Ling. Anyway, I loved her character!! Such a generous, brave and wise soul. All she wanted was Liu Fu Ling's happiness - so she embraced Yun Ge's presence in the palace and befriended her :) While she was cute as the empress, she was really regal when she became the dowager empress!! The actress did such a good job portraying this character. Definitively one of my favorite characters of the series.

3) Lu Yi

I wasn't really aware of Lu Yi as an actor before this series, but I really enjoyed his performance in Song in the Clouds. He had another TV series in 2015, so perhaps I'll check it out :)

4) The two main theme songs :)

By the way, it's true about Yu Zheng's reputation. The scenes in Song in the Clouds are gorgeous :) It does help that the main lead, Angelababy is beautiful.

So that's it for today. Just before I started this post, I realize I didn't really do a post about Nirvana in Fire, the TV series I mentioned back in September. Definitively will do a post about that one!!

Hmmm....

Hmmmm, so I can't think of anything to blog about ^_^;; Actually, I have some blog ideas, but I want more time than I have right now to write about them. So, let see...

All right, thought up of something! Recently, I've started watching Chinese TV series again... I grew up watching tv series made in Hong  Kong. In the past few years, a lot of Hong Kong actors started taking parts in Mainland China tv series because the pay was better. That combined with the many dramas set in ancient times and the gorgeous costumes... and the decreasing quality of Hong Kong tv dramas made me do the switch to Mainland China tv series. I'll definitively write more about Chinese tv series in upcoming posts, because I find the industry to be very different than in North America... but for now, here is some eye-candies - my current favorite actors which will make me give a try to certain TV series :)

Ma Su - I've been a fan for Ma Su for years! Actually since 2004! Wow, can't believe it's been that long! She's a great actress in my opinion, but not that popular :( Although she did win a "Breakthrough" award at the end of 2015, so perhaps her luck is turning around. I like that she takes on different roles... and she does a lot of modeling, so I can still see a lot of her.

Yuan Hong - He's been in the business for a while, but his popularity has only exploded recently - to the joy of every women LOL. I mean, look at him! Do I need to say more? While his popularity has really increased, he still doesn't get a lot of lead roles... Even when his the male lead, the series will focus on the heroine or something. Sigh. Anyway, he has a few series in post-production, so we should see him in 2016 and 2017.

Jiang Xin - She's grown really beautiful!! When she first appeared, I thought something about her looked awkward. Perhaps it was the make-up or the costume... but can't say that anymore! I never really paid much attention to her before, but she's definitively on my radar now. She had like 3 series in 2015 and one currently airing right now and I gotta say, she is a great actress. Very versatile. So yeah, definitively going to try her series from now on.

Hu Ge - He's extremely popular and has been since 2005. However, I've only started paying attention to him last year with Nirvana in Fire (you know, the TV series I was obsessed with in September :P) I always thought he was simply an idol actor, but he proved me wrong. I was blown away with his acting in Nirvana in Fire! I may not like all his projects, but I'll definitively check them out :)

Liu Tao - Another actress that grows more beautiful each year. Apparently, she got married and disappeared from the industry for a few years... but ever since her return, the lady is working hard! I always liked her and again, some great series in the past year. I also really like her currently style. Very low-key which suits her, because she can't hide her beauty.

Nicky Wu - He used to be a favorite actor of mine... but lately, I don't know. It seems like he switched his attention to producing tv series. He still acts in them, but his acting hasn't really impressed me. Or perhaps I should say, his projects haven't drawn me in.

From left to right: Nick Wang, Jin Dong and Ma Ke

These three actors have caught my attention in 2015-2016. I'm not yet ready to proclaim I'm a fan of theirs, but close LOL. They all have quite a few projects coming up, so I guess I'll be able to make up my mind. Plus, eye candies. Who can say no?

Voila. That's all I have for now. It's past midnight, but I say it still counts since it took me forever to find the pictures!!