Hunter2022

Hark Tsui is a liar. He claimed he was making Return of the Condor Heroes several years ago. Rumors/news even leaked on Yahoo! news of casting call. Then no more news after that!

Anyways, I stopped caring about Wuxia. The only reason I may watch this movie is b/c of Xiao Zhan. I wanna see how Wei Wuxian gonna act out the character of Guo Jing. Xiao Zhan doesn't look like the idiot Guo Jing as portrayed in the novel. He smacks more of Yang Guo type intelligent character... So will bring fresh air to the duh-duh idiot MC as portrayed by past actors in TV series and movies!

6.2/10 on Douban, better than many WeTV shows getting avg scores 4-5 (like the most recent Journey of Chong Zi)

https://www.douban.com/search?q=%E6%98%A5%E9%97%BA%E6%A2%A6%E9%87%8C%E4%BA%BA

THIS is how you go about making a clone, only in name and spirit of the cloned drama not the EXACT same story. This the primary reason y ALP bombed, it's the EXACT same (boring) story as 3L3W only with different character names. Often times you can produce a clone that is superior to the original drama like this one (which is a clone BUT a superior one than The Twin Flower Legend 4.3 vs 6.2 rating on Douban)!

I'm really lookin forward to The Last Immortal. It not a clone of anything (or at least I don't think so based on the synopsis alone) so Tencent got more leeway to be creative!

Of course it's not the "same story". Look at Digimon and Pokemon, the former is a clone of the latter. Can any1 say Digimon is "the same story" as Pokemon? That's how you go about making a clone, to avoid being sued in court for copyright infringement!

Tencent being #1 clever BUSINESS company in China, they already sourced all the potential stories for drama adaptations. BUT it doesn't make any business sense to adapt them all. The business is more likely to prosper if you wait for someone to make the Pokemon drama (Twin Flowers Legend), then you just go, "do we have another similar story in our archive of materials read by our staff, something like Digimon (Romance of Twin Flowers)?"

https://www.douban.com/search?q=%E6%98%A5%E9%97%BA%E6%A2%A6%E9%87%8C%E4%BA%BA

Not yet allowed to be rated.

NO, this is another ME2 drama by Tencent. That's their modus operandi. They see something popular then attempt to make a clone. In the other series, the FL is the master of making money (learnt the SECRET business skills passed on by her Dad). THAT explains why in THIS drama, half of the drama is focused on the FL (attempting to) making money!

I mean when you think about it, what kind of drama is it when it's about the FL trying to run a face cream business? It becoz the drama THIS one tries to clone is also about the FL showing off her business intellect!

Tencent at it again. They saw how popular Twin Flowers Legend (another series not made by Tencent) was. That's why they made a clone --- this drama. BUT in the other drama, the twins are very much alive throughout the entire drama. Why did Tencent kill off one the twins in THIS drama from the get go? Is FL twin really dead? Or is Tencent saving her being alive for a later plot twist?

I hope you all know I'm just trolling here. I tend to bash Tencent a lot because I have high expectations from them. The only company I think highly of in C-ent. So it very easy for me to become upset for the slightest deviation from a high standard I hold for this company.

So, HERE ARE THE TOP 3 REASONS WHY CHONG ZI ROCKS:

1. Fabulous CGI, gorgeous sets and costumes. Really excellent stuff rivaling West made TV series.

2. WOW, beautiful OST. Especially the female vocal when a sad scene occurs. Tencent the only company puts so much care into Chinese ancient series with not much viewership or popularity. Every Tencent drama sountrack sounds so unique and worthy of being published in own album!

3. Tencent doesn't beat around the bush. They tend to tie up loose ends early because they know there are bigger fishes to fry. If some other company made Chong Zi, her Nanhua senior that wants to kill her in the ice prison... She dies in episode 41, heck even her protege senior 1k faces also dies in episode 41 not 2/3 of the way thru because other companies are clueless, tend to prolong unecessary loose ends because they think that provides for melodramatic effects!

When I watch a Tencent series, I know the story could suck and it could bomb critically. BUT, if anything the visuals and music and surprise factor will be enjoyable. The only Tencent series I ever dropped the one starring Liu Yifei simply becoz I don't like the actress. I always finish any other Tencent series I start even if I'm full of complains half way thru...

TOP 3 REASONS Y CHONG ZI SUCKS (besides the obvious very low Douban rating):

1. FILLER DRAMA. Tencent needs this kind of stuff to keep their business running. Great series like Three Body take time to make. So in between the great series releases, Tencent needs filler series to keep VIP subscriber interest.

2. TOO MUCH ME 2 SYNDROME. This typical Tencent behavior... OMG Croton has 3L3W. Me too! Presto ALP is made! OMG Love between Fairy and Devil became a top hit. Me too! Presto Chong Zi is made! When a company tries too hard to blend or mold an original story into something like LbtFaD, you're bound to encounter disasters like Chong Zi.

3. SAME ACTOR SAME ROLES. Didn't Jeremy Tsui also starred as some much older sage who became romantically involved with his very young "disciple" in Castle in the Sky 2? What irked me off more he wore the same clothes in both series (white hanfu costume). Not that I have anything against Jeremy Tsui, but every time he appears in Chong Zi, I'm like dude I'm watching CitS2 again. Can we please have a different story and atmosphere? BUT you already made CitS2, y are we being forced to watch it all over again.

Sucker! Sucker! Sucker! I hope u got VIP subscription to WeTV because when ep30 becomes un-VIP for free watching on WeTV, the WHOLE SERIES will be put under VIP again within 48 hours of the last episode airing for free viewers! You can try your luck on YT, but Tencent could make the series VIP-only on YT at any given time...

So... What good is taking a few months to finish it when u got to become VIP for missing the free viewing window?

THIS DRAMA WILL BE EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE:

1. Zhao Lusi as FL. Tencent casts high profile stars like ZL only when they're aiming to make the drama a big hit or anticipate it to become one.

2. ALP is only a knock off of 3L3W. Yeah I know different authors different stories different characters, but it just a copycat/imitation of the Croton drama starring Yang Mi. 3L3W doesn't have a sequel like this so it's going into uncharted territories with lots of surprises in store. To be honest I hated ALP for being a copycat of 3L3W. No scene was enjoyable to me becoz I seen it all before. This series will b a bit different and a novel experience to me.

3. Tencent took in all the criticisms on Douban. I remember lots of viewers there were criticizing the series like how the FL doesn't even looked like a Goddess with ethereal beauty. So, now we have Zhao Lusi to make up for the bad casting of the 1st series.

4. I don't know, I think Tencent matured a lot in SFX/CGI technology between the filming of the first one and this one. Just look at Chong Zi, it a B/C-grade drama but the special effects looked like Tencent did all of that while asleep (meaning they became soo good, they could put together the effects with computer artists just using one hand). Just look at the swimming turtle scene in Sword Snow Stride, and also some of the stuff in 3Body. That the kind of level of quality we can expect in this sequel drama series.

5. NOT A HAPPY ENDING. Just look at The Untamed. A bittersweet ending where Wei Wuxian was left to wander alone in the vast wide world. I much prefer a non-happy ending becoz it's after all a drama, and dramas r supposed to have dramatic endings! When ppl watch a drama knowing full well in advance of the non-happy ending, it makes them appreciate all the dramatic events in between the beginning and ending even more!

Yeah, me too, I never connected ALP. It just another high quality (BUT boring) drama. Anyways, it's not Tencent business model to require viewers to watch the prequel series. They will lose a lot of customers that way. At the least they will do a mini summary in the drama or some kind of flashback to explain things to new viewers!

It's not surprising. When you consider that Shakespeare only wrote stories with sad/tragic endings, you can see Tencent put a lot of effort into these kinds of dramas because Tencent wants to be the next drama adaptation Shakespeare!

ML looks so much like ML of Novoland: Castle in the Sky 2. I don't know if Tencent deliberately chose someone to look and act like that character or not but certainly better casting than Mirror Twin Cities ML. I swear when they filmed the ML from a far distance, I thought they hired the same actor as CitS2!

I just want to say, if this was a Japanese production, Shi Qiang would have smashed a few things during his fits of rage. The most we got in this drama was he nearly broke a pair of headphones but decided it wasnt worth it to have to compensate finance department for the broken headphones. The only other time Shi Qiang became violent was threw the autopsy report of Mu Xiang across the table. This is what separates Chinese professionalism apart from Japanese immaturity. I seen in Japan dramas the MC destroyed an expensive looking laptop during a fit of rage, smashed plant vases to relieve anger etc. Anyone who studied psychologic knows that lashing out (aka acting out) is an immature psychologic coping mechanism. Tencent certainly demonstrated in this drama Chinese high level maturity and 5000 years of wisdom thru this drama!

BTW, before anyone criticizes this post, Wang Miao did break a glass vase in his apartment when he thought Shen Yufei played a trick on him to get him to stop his research. BUT comon he threw a pillow and accidentally broke the glass. In a Japanese production, Wang Miao would have been holding that glass in his hand and smashed it to the ground or on a table. Pillow vs glass in hand, which is the more dangerous instrument and more immature psychological anger relief?

Heroes sucked. Totally forgetable and wasted my time. I only like FL in EverNight S2. I became suspicous of Yang ChaoYue after watching Heroes. Seems Tencent only wants to cast this lady in filler dramas till the next big hit... Which is S2 of Ancient Love Poetry. Dance of Phoenix was weird as heck with weird ending: "Im not really Feng Wu just someone who looks and acts like her... WTH?!?!" I will sit this one out.

Good thing I can choose 1440p. None of my computers can handle 2160p (aka 4K). Anyways 1440p looks way better than 1080p, so it's a good compromise!

He not ONE, but THE MC of S2. Wang Miao doesn't exist in S2, only maybe as flashbacks. This new guy becomes new MC.

Not just S2 but also S3. It's all thanks to Netflix. Tencent not gonna back down from doing S2 and S3. If they stopped, all their WeTV subscribers will flock to Netflix to continue the series!

S2 and S3 will be EVEN BETTER than S1 and here are the reasons why:

1. Set in the near/far future, so Tencent has to be more imaginative and create more exquisite looking sets/find more exquisite filming locations.

2. More pew pew action-oriented. The Sci-Fi that people have come to know and love, not just talking their ways to solve a suicide mystery.

3. Two giants fighting over VIP subscribers. It's a good thing Netflix got involved in 3Body as well. Makes Tencent strive much harder to win over VIP subscribers. There are very few people who subscribe to BOTH WeTV AND Netflix. It's either or, so it's a battle of survival for Tencent as well as Netflix. They will definitely look to outdo each other.

4. Tencent did not and had not delivered their best work yet. S1 just a warm up. If they threw all they were capable of throwing into S1 and air it before Netflix does, it makes them reveal their strategy to Netflix and allows Netflix time to copy and one-up Tencent. So Tencent has to save and keep secret their best moves for S2 and S3...

5. You all saw how Tencent injected their own elements into S1. The female news reporter definitely does NOT exist in the book. So, just you wait how much more ingenuity of their own Tencent adds to the sequel series! Such changes are protected by copyright laws, therefore the female news reporter cannot exist as a secondary female lead in Netflix's works!

I created a NEW THREAD in the forums titled WeTV has problem with video corruption...