You won't learn anything by talking to a troll who doesn't know what is wuxia, doesn't know how the China box office works, tried to mislead another MDL user on this page more than a month ago into thinking they are chinese but in reality, the troll trashing this movie is xenophobic against chinese people.
Today is the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, ever since the first films to welcome the Lunar New Year box office premiered on the first day of the Lunar New Year (17 February).
Before I give an update for "Blades of The Guardians", kindly note that for wuxia films produced or co-produced in China, they tend to underperform. Between 2021 to 2023, only 5 of 23 major productions (all classified as wuxia films) grossed more than 100 million RMB at the box office. This genre has struggled at the box office, unless one considers the likes of the 2025 Tsui Hark movie, which was polarising.
On 23 January 2026 more than 4 weeks ago, I said the following to a fellow MDL viewer on this movie page for Blades Of The Guardians - ["The Shadow's Edge" grossed at least RMB 1.2 billion in the domestic market (more than RMB 77 million on Opening Day, and RMB 1.031 billion within the first three weeks of release). I don't see how this will fare any worse and should not be an issue. Multi-generational is very appealing, this is an A-list cast in Sui Dynasty settings, plus the director will be in his element. ]
"The Shadow's Edge" is not a wuxia film. If wuxia films fare so poorly in China, why would I say the above?
Maoyan initially projected "Blades of The Guardians" to gross 900 million RMB. The forecast projection from Maoyan as of today (at this point of time) is estimated to gross 1.3 billion RMB. Lighthouse estimates 1.5 billion RMB.
This is how BoTG has continued (today is the 7th day of its screening):
BoTG premiered on 17 February. BoTG reached the 6-day-earnings of "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" within 5 days of premiering, and also surpassed the 6-day-earnings for "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" on the 6th day yesterday.
On the 6th day of the domestic release for "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms", that movie reached 70+ million USD (https://www.jiemian.com/article/9804644.html). You can compare this with Day 5 and Day 6 of BoTG gross amounts.
For perspective, the 2025 Tsui Hark film reached 689 million RMB after 89 days, 12,000 theatres and at least 1.42 million moviegoers. BoTG surpassed this in less than 6 days: https://www.donews.com/news/detail/4/6435179.html
As of today, BoTG has broken 10 records for the domestic box office pertaining to its genre, and now officially recognised as the #1 wuxia film produced in China for this Lunar New Year.
Douban should never be considered as a primary factor when used to evaluate a movie or drama. You can use Douban as a factor alongside other factors when evaluating a drama or movie (Douban didn't register the extent of success which "Whispers of Fate" achieved including more than 2.83 billion accumulative views via CSM data or WOF being the only C-drama that aired in 2025 to be nominated for CPOPwave 2026 or WoF hitting more than 1 billion views on Thailand's Monomax and setting a new record for C-dramas). At this point, "Blades of The Guardians" on Douban is the #1 Lunar New Year movie in terms of ratings (and closest to the ratings for the first movie in the "Creation Of The Gods" movie trilogy).
The second movie for Creation of the Gods earned roughly half of what the first movie for Creation of The Gods earned. The Douban ratings are hugely different.
"Pegasus 3" should be the highest-grossing film in terms of a sprint because Pegasus 3 opened with the largest number of screens available at 29.9% market share, mostly in primetime screenings plus a majority of IMAX screens, and Pegasus 3 is definitely more family-friendly. Pegasus 3 arrives on the back of a successful franchise as the third installment with maximum advantages out of all movies screening for the Lunar New Year, so certain numbers are expected for Pegasus 3 to achieve.
Majority of the screenings for the first day of BoTG were non-primetime screenings (early in the morning or late at night), and total number of screens in filming schedules available for BoTG was at market share of 16.8%. Wuxia films are expected to do badly at the box office. BoTG has been severely disadvantaged from the beginning and never expected to top the box office, so whoever makes such a claim before 17 February clearly knows nothing about the China box office and Chinese movies. The "decline" of BoTG began to reverse on the second day. You can see complaints on social media whereby supply criteria of film schedules and other logistics didn't meet initial viewer demands for BoTG.
Common sense also prevails, meaning you wouldn't bring a ten-year-old (or younger) to watch BoTG being clearly geared for a more-niche audience. This is reflected for international ratings such as Malaysia: https://www.gscmovies.com.my/blades-of-the-guardians/
BoTG is now the biggest dark horse of the Spring Festival, movie-wise. The latest forecast projections are now estimated to be somewhere between 1.1 to 1.5 billion RMB.
For films such as "Creation Of The Gods" and "Blades Of The Guardians" belonging to two different genres, we look for a strong tail based on word of mouth, not a sprint.
Viewers are lauding the likes of Chen Lijun (Ayuya) and Li Yunxiao (Yanzi-niang) as strong female characters reshaping and breaking the stereotypes of women in martial arts films. Wu Jing chose to reduce his screentime, to be given to younger artists. Yu Shi completed more than one amazing dangerous stunt without any stand-ins.
Overseas, BoTG has topped the box office of Chinese films in North America for three consecutive days, and also topped the box office of Chinese films in Malaysia for three consecutive days. BoTG also topped the Australian box office for Chinese films on the first and third days of viewing. In Malaysia, almost all theatres were sold out on the first day of premiering. From Malaysia to Singapore to North America, many viewers have written about growing up with wuxia while praising the actions, aesthetics and authenticity of the sets and fights and sandstorms.
"Blades Of The Guardians" is at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert.com gives it 3.5 out of 4. If you do a simple Google of the English reviews that have been officially published and found in the News section, many are glowing. Bilibili and other platforms are chockful of enthusiasm and praise from mandarin speakers.
Popping the MDL bubble briefly, just to share all this :D
Thanks for the summary🤩😍. Excited about this, grew up watching Yuen WooPing’s WuXia show. This definitely…
Maoyan initially projected this movie to gross 900 million+ RMB. The projection from Maoyan as of yesterday has increased to approximately 1.2 billion RMB, which matches my reply to you more than a month ago on this page that 1.2 billion RMB should not be an issue for "Blades of Guardians" to achieve.
BoTG premiered on 17 February. BoTG reached the 6-day earnings of "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" within 5 days of premiering, and surpassed "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" on the 6th day yesterday.
Wu Jing has been inundated with requests for a sequel, and I also have news for that.
Douban should never be considered as a primary factor when used to evaluate. You can use Douban as a factor alongside other factors when evaluating a drama or movie (do note that Douban didn't register the extent of success that "Whispers of Fate" achieved including more than 2.83 billion accumulative views via CSM data or WOF being the only C-drama that aired in 2025 to be nominated for CPOPwave 2026 or WoF hitting more than 1 billion views on Thailand's Monomax). At this point, "Blades of The Guardians" on Douban is the #1 Lunar New Year movie in terms of ratings (and closest to the ratings for the first movie for Creation Of The Gods).
Nobody evaluates the actual details of success relative to a C-drama or C-movie based on comments from an MDL page,. But you can always find someone who knows what they are talking about :D
Nothing died. Possibly inspired by a J-drama news article co-authored by myself and another MDL user published…
We'll disagree on what you classify as News. Besides, you can always try to write something better, to showcase your standards and what you consider to be noteworthy news that you're not paying for but expect others to produce :)
I finished watching this yesterday in IMAX, and I'm going for a second rewatch in the upcoming week with IMAX again. The sequencing and martial arts choreography between three wushu champions is insane, within the first twenty-five minutes. That's why all three wound up with dozens of minor injuries during filming, but this can only be done with such martial arts veterans while completely old-school.
The second episode of 'Kitakata Kenzo: Suikoden' airs tonight!
For those who are confused and ask about the video games, 'Gensō Suikoden' (which translates literally into 'Fantasy Water Margin') is a series of RPGs loosely based on the Chinese classic "Water Margin", created by the late Murayama Yoshitaka for Konami.
The video games have nothing to do with the drama in this article, save for the fact that the drama adaption is based on a literary reinterpretation of the Chinese classic "Water Margin" by the renowned novelist Kitakata Kenzo. If you want to know more about the literary work of Kitakata-Sensei which this drama adaptation is based on, consider reading at least one of the 19 volumes of his version of 'Suikoden' or at least read the original "Water Margin"!
No one has written a review for this drama on MDL yet, so you are encouraged to watch and write your own on the drama page! Please kindly subscribe to Lemino or WOWOW to enjoy!
If you want more information than this News article which was published in advance of the airing of the drama, please peruse other Japanese articles or sources for more information. I heartily recommend the official drama website and their official x.com page, and related articles by natalie.mu.
You can always rewatch it. Second time around is even better. There are so many Easter eggs (especially if you…
I have this theory that the Easter eggs may have very upsetting for a certain minor subset of viewers in WoF (diehard CP fans hoping for an obvious heterosexual romance between a specific hoped-for pairing that never materialised, as the lack of romance tags for this drama indicates).
These viewers are definitely a minority, but they make the most noise before the drama aired and after a certain episode in WoF aired just because the producers... Decided to focus on the ML as the main screenplay focus and render drama-Tang Lici emotionally self-sufficient, being heroism-focused, and hence drama-Tang Lici experienced a significantly better journey and happier ending than novel-Tang Lici.
It had been bewildering to me, to see viewers on this drama page react as if Tang Lici is completely worse-off as a person and not a decent character for not having a romance. I believe an ML in a much-better position of emotional health and living a fulfilling life was just what this drama needed, while showcasing a variety of friendships and interactions to tell a bold story that has never been done before. Heck, it was a better rendition than what was in the novel for Tang Lici. I'm happy for Tang Lici living to understand fulfilment, reaching his full potential, and second chances!
And the stats bear me out correctly on the subject. At a time when longform dramas are generally not doing as well as hoped for, WoF is a monster hit domestically and also internationally, because of smartly honouring specific traditions and history through an intriguing innovative modern approach.
Wow! I don't remember seeing this visual but then again, I haven't been on xhs for Bao Shang'en, and she looks great here! Reminds me of the novel where Bao Shang'en is described by Teng Ping as being more beautiful than A-Shui!
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1 
I have also posted an update: https://kisskh.at/767811-blades-of-the-guardians#comment-25208004
And it was a blast in the cinema, where IMAX is the only way to go!
今天是大年初七, 人日快乐，身体健康!
You won't learn anything by talking to a troll who doesn't know what is wuxia, doesn't know how the China box office works, tried to mislead another MDL user on this page more than a month ago into thinking they are chinese but in reality, the troll trashing this movie is xenophobic against chinese people.
Before I give an update for "Blades of The Guardians", kindly note that for wuxia films produced or co-produced in China, they tend to underperform. Between 2021 to 2023, only 5 of 23 major productions (all classified as wuxia films) grossed more than 100 million RMB at the box office. This genre has struggled at the box office, unless one considers the likes of the 2025 Tsui Hark movie, which was polarising.
On 23 January 2026 more than 4 weeks ago, I said the following to a fellow MDL viewer on this movie page for Blades Of The Guardians - ["The Shadow's Edge" grossed at least RMB 1.2 billion in the domestic market (more than RMB 77 million on Opening Day, and RMB 1.031 billion within the first three weeks of release). I don't see how this will fare any worse and should not be an issue. Multi-generational is very appealing, this is an A-list cast in Sui Dynasty settings, plus the director will be in his element. ]
"The Shadow's Edge" is not a wuxia film. If wuxia films fare so poorly in China, why would I say the above?
Maoyan initially projected "Blades of The Guardians" to gross 900 million RMB. The forecast projection from Maoyan as of today (at this point of time) is estimated to gross 1.3 billion RMB. Lighthouse estimates 1.5 billion RMB.
This is how BoTG has continued (today is the 7th day of its screening):
#5th day of 21 February (breaks 500 million RMB at 12.50 pm, poster of Ayuya shared): https://www.jiemian.com/article/14025616.html
#6th Day of 22 February (breaks 600 million RMB at 11.05 am, poster of Zhi Shi Lang shared): https://www.jiemian.com/article/14026483.html
As of midnight on 22 February becoming 23 February, BoTG hit 700 million RMB (poster of Heyi Xuan shared): https://www.jiemian.com/article/14027184.html
#As of 11.30 am Beijing-time 23 February today, BoTG has hit 711 million RMB: https://news.china.com/socialgd/10000169/20260223/49261332.html
As of 1.30 pm Beijing-time today, 2 hours later, BoTG has grossed more than 740 million RMB: https://news.sina.com.cn/zx/2026-02-23/doc-inhnusxh2811694.shtml
BoTG premiered on 17 February. BoTG reached the 6-day-earnings of "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" within 5 days of premiering, and also surpassed the 6-day-earnings for "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" on the 6th day yesterday.
On the 6th day of the domestic release for "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms", that movie reached 70+ million USD (https://www.jiemian.com/article/9804644.html). You can compare this with Day 5 and Day 6 of BoTG gross amounts.
BoTG also surpassed Tsui Hark's 2025 film (which grossed 689 million RMB): https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32643601
For perspective, the 2025 Tsui Hark film reached 689 million RMB after 89 days, 12,000 theatres and at least 1.42 million moviegoers. BoTG surpassed this in less than 6 days: https://www.donews.com/news/detail/4/6435179.html
As of today, BoTG has broken 10 records for the domestic box office pertaining to its genre, and now officially recognised as the #1 wuxia film produced in China for this Lunar New Year.
Douban should never be considered as a primary factor when used to evaluate a movie or drama. You can use Douban as a factor alongside other factors when evaluating a drama or movie (Douban didn't register the extent of success which "Whispers of Fate" achieved including more than 2.83 billion accumulative views via CSM data or WOF being the only C-drama that aired in 2025 to be nominated for CPOPwave 2026 or WoF hitting more than 1 billion views on Thailand's Monomax and setting a new record for C-dramas). At this point, "Blades of The Guardians" on Douban is the #1 Lunar New Year movie in terms of ratings (and closest to the ratings for the first movie in the "Creation Of The Gods" movie trilogy).
The second movie for Creation of the Gods earned roughly half of what the first movie for Creation of The Gods earned. The Douban ratings are hugely different.
Douban ratings for the first movie: https://movie.douban.com/subject/10604086/ (closest to this is BoTG)
Douban ratings for the second movie: https://movie.douban.com/subject/30181250/
Douban ratings for Tsui Hark's 2025 film: https://movie.douban.com/subject/36289423/|
"Pegasus 3" should be the highest-grossing film in terms of a sprint because Pegasus 3 opened with the largest number of screens available at 29.9% market share, mostly in primetime screenings plus a majority of IMAX screens, and Pegasus 3 is definitely more family-friendly. Pegasus 3 arrives on the back of a successful franchise as the third installment with maximum advantages out of all movies screening for the Lunar New Year, so certain numbers are expected for Pegasus 3 to achieve.
Majority of the screenings for the first day of BoTG were non-primetime screenings (early in the morning or late at night), and total number of screens in filming schedules available for BoTG was at market share of 16.8%. Wuxia films are expected to do badly at the box office. BoTG has been severely disadvantaged from the beginning and never expected to top the box office, so whoever makes such a claim before 17 February clearly knows nothing about the China box office and Chinese movies. The "decline" of BoTG began to reverse on the second day. You can see complaints on social media whereby supply criteria of film schedules and other logistics didn't meet initial viewer demands for BoTG.
One other MDL user has shared a few details on some problems with viewers wanting to see BoTG but being unable to do so within China: https://kisskh.at/767811-blades-of-the-guardians#comment-25182890
Common sense also prevails, meaning you wouldn't bring a ten-year-old (or younger) to watch BoTG being clearly geared for a more-niche audience. This is reflected for international ratings such as Malaysia: https://www.gscmovies.com.my/blades-of-the-guardians/
BoTG is now the biggest dark horse of the Spring Festival, movie-wise. The latest forecast projections are now estimated to be somewhere between 1.1 to 1.5 billion RMB.
For films such as "Creation Of The Gods" and "Blades Of The Guardians" belonging to two different genres, we look for a strong tail based on word of mouth, not a sprint.
Viewers are lauding the likes of Chen Lijun (Ayuya) and Li Yunxiao (Yanzi-niang) as strong female characters reshaping and breaking the stereotypes of women in martial arts films. Wu Jing chose to reduce his screentime, to be given to younger artists. Yu Shi completed more than one amazing dangerous stunt without any stand-ins.
Overseas, BoTG has topped the box office of Chinese films in North America for three consecutive days, and also topped the box office of Chinese films in Malaysia for three consecutive days. BoTG also topped the Australian box office for Chinese films on the first and third days of viewing. In Malaysia, almost all theatres were sold out on the first day of premiering. From Malaysia to Singapore to North America, many viewers have written about growing up with wuxia while praising the actions, aesthetics and authenticity of the sets and fights and sandstorms.
"Blades Of The Guardians" is at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert.com gives it 3.5 out of 4. If you do a simple Google of the English reviews that have been officially published and found in the News section, many are glowing. Bilibili and other platforms are chockful of enthusiasm and praise from mandarin speakers.
Popping the MDL bubble briefly, just to share all this :D
This is how BoTG has continued (today is the 7th day of its screening):
5th day of 21 February (breaks 500 million RMB): https://www.jiemian.com/article/14025616.html
6th Day of 22 February (breaks 600 million RMB): https://www.jiemian.com/article/14026483.html
Less than 3 hours ago this morning before 8 am in Beijing, BoTG broke through the 700 million RMB ceiling: https://www.jiemian.com/article/14027184.html
As of 11.30 am Beijing Time, BoTG has hit 711 million RMB: https://news.china.com/socialgd/10000169/20260223/49261332.html
BoTG premiered on 17 February. BoTG reached the 6-day earnings of "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" within 5 days of premiering, and surpassed "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms" on the 6th day yesterday.
On the 6th day of the release domestically for "Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms", that movie hit 70+ million USD (https://www.jiemian.com/article/9804644.html).
BoTG yesterday also surpassed Tsui Hark's film (starring Xiao Zhan) which grossed 689+ million RMB released for CNY 2025: https://c.m.163.com/news/a/KMD3SVQD0514CFC7.html
Wu Jing has been inundated with requests for a sequel, and I also have news for that.
Douban should never be considered as a primary factor when used to evaluate. You can use Douban as a factor alongside other factors when evaluating a drama or movie (do note that Douban didn't register the extent of success that "Whispers of Fate" achieved including more than 2.83 billion accumulative views via CSM data or WOF being the only C-drama that aired in 2025 to be nominated for CPOPwave 2026 or WoF hitting more than 1 billion views on Thailand's Monomax). At this point, "Blades of The Guardians" on Douban is the #1 Lunar New Year movie in terms of ratings (and closest to the ratings for the first movie for Creation Of The Gods).
The second movie for Creation of the Gods earned roughly half of what the first movie for Creation of The Gods earned.
Douban ratings for the first movie: https://movie.douban.com/subject/10604086/ (closest to this is BoTG)
Douban ratings for the second movie: https://movie.douban.com/subject/30181250/
Overall ratings on Douban for Tsui Hark's 射雕英雄传：侠之大者 matches what the movie earned: https://movie.douban.com/subject/36289423/
Nobody evaluates the actual details of success relative to a C-drama or C-movie based on comments from an MDL page,. But you can always find someone who knows what they are talking about :D
今天是大年初七, 人日快乐，身体健康!
Whatever the inspiration, I think it's good to at least encourage more J-drama articles :)
It is an old-school wuxia movie, in so many ways. The official trailer is awesome and nothing to do with Hollywood. Here's my article for this movie, way before it aired: https://news.mydramalist.com/article/cinematic-wuxia-epic-blades-of-the-guardians-premieres-on-february-17
https://x.com/Yakamashiwa/status/2025110208998244785
Well, we will have to wait to find out. Episode 2 airs tonight!
Here is one of the locations when filming 'Kitakata Kenzo: Suikoden' -
https://x.com/worldheritage_H/status/2025470102955823430
"The Temple of Eternal Joy" ie Chōraku-ji in the Hyōgo prefecture, featuring three of the largest Buddhas in wood.
At this point, I want more screentime for her, but this drama is only 7 episodes!
For those who are confused and ask about the video games, 'Gensō Suikoden' (which translates literally into 'Fantasy Water Margin') is a series of RPGs loosely based on the Chinese classic "Water Margin", created by the late Murayama Yoshitaka for Konami.
The video games have nothing to do with the drama in this article, save for the fact that the drama adaption is based on a literary reinterpretation of the Chinese classic "Water Margin" by the renowned novelist Kitakata Kenzo. If you want to know more about the literary work of Kitakata-Sensei which this drama adaptation is based on, consider reading at least one of the 19 volumes of his version of 'Suikoden' or at least read the original "Water Margin"!
No one has written a review for this drama on MDL yet, so you are encouraged to watch and write your own on the drama page! Please kindly subscribe to Lemino or WOWOW to enjoy!
If you want more information than this News article which was published in advance of the airing of the drama, please peruse other Japanese articles or sources for more information. I heartily recommend the official drama website and their official x.com page, and related articles by natalie.mu.
These viewers are definitely a minority, but they make the most noise before the drama aired and after a certain episode in WoF aired just because the producers... Decided to focus on the ML as the main screenplay focus and render drama-Tang Lici emotionally self-sufficient, being heroism-focused, and hence drama-Tang Lici experienced a significantly better journey and happier ending than novel-Tang Lici.
It had been bewildering to me, to see viewers on this drama page react as if Tang Lici is completely worse-off as a person and not a decent character for not having a romance. I believe an ML in a much-better position of emotional health and living a fulfilling life was just what this drama needed, while showcasing a variety of friendships and interactions to tell a bold story that has never been done before. Heck, it was a better rendition than what was in the novel for Tang Lici. I'm happy for Tang Lici living to understand fulfilment, reaching his full potential, and second chances!
And the stats bear me out correctly on the subject. At a time when longform dramas are generally not doing as well as hoped for, WoF is a monster hit domestically and also internationally, because of smartly honouring specific traditions and history through an intriguing innovative modern approach.