Drama Korea Up To Date

Tian Long Ba Bu cdrama 2019 Yang Youning

Tony Yang as Qiao Feng

The drama adaptation of Tian Long Ba Bu (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils) 天龙八部 based on a novel of the same name held its opening ceremony for the Dali portion of filming today. At a time when a number of Jin Yong classics like The Return of the Condor Heroes and Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slying Saber are also getting remakes, the trend seems to gear towards choosing newcomers to play iconic wuxia characters.

Janice Man as Wang Yuyan

Bai Shu as Duan Yu

Tian Long Ba Bu may not have the biggest stars but it brings together many familiar faces. That in itself opens up the show to public comment both good and bad, though I think it's paid off with a cast that seem perfect for their roles. Even though filming has been ongoing for months, the only news that has come out was when one of its stars Viva He reportedly got into a minor accident after falling off a horse.

Tian Long Ba Bu cdrama 2019 Zhang Tianyang

Zhang Tianyang as Xu Zhu

Su Qing as A Zhu

Tian Long Ba Bu cdrama 2019 Viva He Hongshan

Viva He Hongshan as A Zi

After all the secrecy, the show finally introduces the cast with new stills and a new rounds of filming to begin in Dali, Yunnan Province. Truth be told, I tired midway through the 2013 adaptation of the story, but this is looking good! Tony Yang (Monster Hunt 2) is not my first choice for Qiao Feng but his transformation after the costume and hair is quite convincing. I could say the same for the rest of the cast.

Janice Man (Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy) plays the beautiful Wang Yuyan. The 25-year-old actor Bai Shu (My Girlfriend's Boyrfriend) is a blank page to me but visually appealing as Duan Yu. Zhang Tianyang (The Legend of Jasmine) plays Xu Zhu. Su Qing (Story of Yanxi Palace) and Viva He Hongshan (Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace) play A Zhu and A Zi. After Viva He's performance as the bratty consort in Ruyi, she seems perfect for A Zi.

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Yang Guo Xiaolongnu The New Version of the Condor Heroes

The newest remake of The Return of the Condor Heroes 新神雕侠侣 has dropped posters of the cast led by Tong Mengshi (The Taoism Grandmaster), Mao Xiaohui (The Twin Flower Legend) and Wen Qi (Eagles and Youngster). I was onboard with the idea of a rookie cast staving off pressure from this being the 9th (or is it 10th?) version of the same story.

I'm also an early fan of relatively new actor Tong Mengshi and still can't believe that the casting directors actually went with my pick for Yang Guo. At 15, Wen Qi is already a Golden Horse awarded actress thereby making her casting as Guo Xiang a promising one. This leaves lead actress Mao Xiaohui who plays one of the most contested characters as Xiaolongnü and with nothing to go off other than visuals, she seemed to fit the bill too.

Left: Official Poster, Right: Poster Edit by Netizens

I thought I'd be squealing with excitement over the first posters, but no, what happened! Whoever photoshopped this did Xiaolongnü very wrong. They say that first impressions last, and now I'm slightly worried that just like the posters, the final product will be inundated with excessive effects that do more harm than good. Update: Mao Xiaohui is currently trending no. 1 on weibo. No one is blaming the actress, but everyone is blaming whoever messed up her nose and fixing it for her.

I also just realized that the English title is Candor Heroes, a word I learned from reading the Divergent books. Candor Heroes = Honest Heroes?