#demi-gods and semi-devils

[boardsdonthitback]

Donnie Yen - Sakra (2023)

[niannianyabao]

Janice Man as Wang Yuyan in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

[nemainofthewater]

Best character surnamed: Duan

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgotten anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

[lindwurmkai]

Everyone else, apparently: this character is so annoying

Me: I saw a man so beautiful I started crying?

[dangermousie]

Since I am taking a trip down DGSD 2003 memory lane, have my favorite (aka most bonkers) scene.

Short version. Duan Yu and Mu Wanqing are half-siblings* because Duan Yu's Daddy* had the libido and success of Casanova* and Duan Yu has about a million half-sisters.* Villain has it in for Duan Yu's Daddy* so he comes up with a brilliant plan - let's capture the two of them and give them aphrodisiac so they commit incest!* I don't even need to provide commentary, do I? But I will anyway!

* that is what everyone believes at this point in the story.

Anywho, let’s continue to Tinder service as ran by wuxia villains...

Even by 2003 standards, when cdramas were a lot less buttoned down, this is wild. Incest truly is best for these guys.

And then he knocks himself unconscious by literally banging his head against the wall of his cell. Ah, how I laughed appreciated that. I am not sure why neither contemplates AHEM self-help btw.

Not that it helps for long. They are about to go full Borgia, as one does.

Worked for Egyptian pharaohs I guess...

I have no words at the utter 1990s Abercrombie and Fitch vibe of this. I can't blame the villain too much though - if I got my mitts on 2003 Jimmy Lin, who knows to which extremes I'd go to keep him put and half-dressed?

Also just as in 1990s Abercrombie and Fitch add, sex is miraculously avoided however.

The best thing is eventually it turns out his dad is not the cool, if slutty, Emperor, but legless, faceless (but apparently not penisless) creepy villain. Which means daddy was the one who drugged his own kid in hopes of watching him bang a woman which is...family reunion would have been fascinating.

[ponpan]

[taekwondolifemagazine]

Code of the Assassins is a Visually Stunning Martial Arts Fantasy

Code of the Assassins is a Visually Stunning Martial Arts Fantasy #CodeoftheAssassins @WellGoUSA @HiYAHTV #marczirogiannis @LeifHelland1

March 7, 2023 (NYC)– Code of the Assassins is a Visually Stunning Martial Arts Fantasy.  A Look at Code of the Assassins, a martial arts film of Chinese origin hitting US Streaming services and for sale this month. Here is a synopsis and review of this Well Go USA Entertainment release. SYNOPSIS: After completing his training, an elite young assassin embarks on his first mission and is quickly…

[don-dake]

馮曉文 飾演 「秦紅棉」

《天龍八部》 (1996)

[tavina-writes]

CQL and Genre Intertextuality

I'm being bashed over the head with the "nhs's fan in CQL is made of xuantie/dark iron" thing again and @poorlittleyaoyao please understand that I am thinking of this constantly since you made that post talking about it because I'm just.

holding my head in my hands bc ye gods the cql show writers were genre savvy in ways that are hilarious but also make me feel like I've been hit upside the head with a waffle iron.

For those of us who are no longer damaged by the post or hadn't seen it (I don't actually know where it's gone bc the search feature doesn't work on this webbed site):

Xuantie/Dark Iron is a Jin Yong created metal that famously was used for the blade of the Dragon Slaying Sabre in the third novel of the Condor Trilogy, 倚天屠龍記/The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber.

The Heaven Reliant Sword 倚天劍 was created from Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv's Gentleman and Lady swords, whilst the Dragon Slaying Saber 屠龍刀 was created from Grandmaster Dugu Seeking-a-Loss's Dark Iron Sword.

Can we please all take a moment to appreciate how NHS's fan not his saber, NHS, from The Family With The Sabers, gets to shout about how his fan is made of xuantie. The most famous for being the metal that made up The Dragon Slaying Saber. His fan. Not his saber. his fan. dark iron. Dragon Slaying Saber. This is so funny I'm about to mcfucking lose it yet again while typing this.

Going back to Grandmaster Dugu Seeking-A-Loss (who appears in both Return of the Condor Heroes and Xiao Ao Jianghu) and his giant pet condor (sadly, only a ROCH feature) who might've been his one true soulmate for a second, this situation from episode 7, when the Yunmeng Siblings are leaving the Cloud Recesses:

Now, the subtitles here really DO NOT do this line justice because when I first saw it it took me FLAT THE FUCK OUT and I had to lie on the floor laughing for like, 80 seconds before I got my breath back.

Okay, what this line ACTUALLY says is "I am Dugu Qiubai (Grandmaster Dugu Seeking-A-Loss), what's wrong with seeking a match?"

Now, to understand this, we come to this backstory on Dugu Qiubai in XAJH:

“Senior master Dugu Seeking-A-Loss, who created this set of sword techniques, had a name ‘Seeking-A-Loss.’ He had been seeking a loss all his life and still couldn’t get one. Once the sword techniques were executed, he would become unmatched anywhere in the world. Why would he have to defend? If anyone could have forced him to draw his sword back and defend himself, the respectful master would have burst with joy and be delighted beyond measure.” Feng Qingyang said. “Dugu Seeking-A-Loss, Dugu Seeking-A-Loss,” Linghu Chong muttered as he imagined how the senior master had wandered about the Martial World, unmatched anywhere, with only his sword, and couldn’t even find a single one who was capable of forcing him into a defending stance. That was truly admirable.

from Chapter Ten of XAJH: Sword Training.

"If anyone could force him to draw his sword back to defend himself, the grandmaster would have burst with joy and be delighted beyond measure" DO YOU SEE WHY JC STARTED CALLING WWX SHAMELESS NOW. they're JUNIORS. WWX is calling himself "the greatest man of all, who'd sought the feeling of losing just ONCE being forced to defend himself just ONCE in a LIFETIME" and saying "LWJ might be my equal. my soulmate. the loss I was seeking my whole life."

All 15 years of it I'm sure, WWX.

I'm not going to get into finding martial arts manuals or a respected grandmaster who taught you incredible things in a cave bc 1) LHC and Feng Qingyang up there are sitting together, in a cave and LHC is being taught incredible things and 2) Duan Yu from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils once found the magic finger lasers of ultra laser in a cave. In front of the statue of a goddess. (don't talk about the dancing goddess statue now, Tav. We don't have time for that in this post.)

Not kidding the intertextuality of CQL and how much it plays with and against the tropes of its genre, especially other wuxia tv adaptations as well as wuxia novels is insane. There's other ones I'm missing for certain and these were just the most funny to me, personally, but! just! oh my god! insane! insane! SO funny, so clever in so many ways

[blackmoonlightexpress]

TTEOTM Creative Team: What else did they work on?

For those who are a bit underwhelmed by the summer drama options or still dreaming about TTEOTM! 😎

Kuk Kok Leung (Lead Director)

Kuk Kok Leung is a veteran director who started his career in Hong Kong's TVB. He's been nominated for the prestigious Magnolia Award and is known for wuxia and serious, warm-blooded historical dramas (he's adapted 7 out of 8 Jinyong novels). His works include...

Legend of the Condor Heroes (1983) as Assistant Director, with Felix Wong and Barbara Yung

The Duke of Mount Deer (1984), with Tony Leung & Andy Lau

Return of the Condor Heros (1983) with Andy Lau & Idy Chan

Legend of the Condor Heroes (2002) with Li Yapeng & Zhou Xun

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (2003), with Hu Jun, Jimmy Lin, and Liu Yifei

Water Margin (2011), nominated for Magnolia Award

Cool Sword (2013), with Julian Cheung & Wallace Chung

The Patriot Fei Yue (2013), with Huang Xiaoming & Ruby Lin

The Stand-In (2014), with Wallace Chung

The General and I (2016), with Wallace Chung and Angelababy

He's also a frequent collaborator and producer on Johnny To films, including Election, Election 2, Mad Detective.

So you get the picture. He makes TV for men who are ready to bleed for their country. This all makes him a really interesting choice for TTEOTM (and tells you a bit about the ambition and creative vision of the producers), especially since all his more recent idol dramas were widely panned.

Wang Haiqi, Director & Action Director

We don't know too much about Wang Haiqi because TTEOTM is actually his directorial debut. He started his career in stunts and has worked as the action coordinator on Ashes of Love (2018) and Immortality (unreleased) alongside Luo Yunxi. He was also a stunts man/double in a bunch of Hollywood films, including Mulan (2020) and the Foreigner (2017) through the Jacky Chan stunts team.

He's responsible for most of the action/battle scenes in TTEOTM, and his experience working on films probably explains why the fight sequences are unusually cinematic for TV.

Luan Hexin, Art Director

Luan Hexin is a Magnolia Award nominated art director best known for Huanyu productions, including Story of Yanxi Palace, Winter Begonia, and Royal Feast. He's a serious art guy, as you can tell from this interview.

(Note: Huanyu is Bai Lu's management company. There is a rumor that Luan Hexin is part of Bai Lu's "dowry", but the parties have since clarified that Luan was brought in after she was cast.)

He's also an interesting choice, having never worked on costume fantasies before and better known for his authentic representation of the look and feel of bygone eras.

Huang Wei, Costume Designer

Huang Wei is one of the most sought-after costume designers working today, especially for xianxias. She started her career as a Vogue China editor and was in fact the person responsible for TTEOTM's Dunhuang-inspired aesthetics.

Her better known works include A Dream of Splendor (2022), One and Only (2020), Love O2O (2015), Back from the Brink (2023) as well as a bunch of highly anticipated dramas like Immortality and The Last Immortal. (The joke on Chinese internet is that there is an "expensive" vs. "cheap" version of Huang Wei costumes - her design can be much simpler on lower-budget productions.)

I'd like to think that after designing 40 mostly white costumes for Luo Yunxi in Immortality, she decided to go nuts on color with Tantai Jin.

Tsang Ming Fai, Makeup Designer

Tsang Ming Fai is a big name in the xianxia circuit. He and his team of “students" have worked on a large number of costume dramas, including Ashes of Love (2018), Love & Redemption (2020), Under the Power (2019), Noble Aspirations (2016), Sword of Legends (2014), as well as the... wait for it... unreleased Immortality and Luo Yunxi's currently filming drama Follow Your Heart.

He's sadly been receiving a lot of hate in fan circles over the heavy makeup in TTEOTM (which may or may not have been his call). What I do appreciate is his ability to help actors craft distinct characters with varied hair and makeup choices. For example you can distinguish between different Luo Yunxi characters and their personalities with Runyu's clean cut tie-back half ponytail (ethereal & straight laced), Tantai Jin's slightly brown hair, messy bangs and heavy eye shadow (dark & sickly), Chu Wanning's angular eyebrows and geometric hair puff (strict & proud).

He also excels at creating unusual, iconic looks even for side characters, e.g. Chen Yao's dark lipstick paired with gothic jewelry in Immortality and Chen Duling's retro updo in TTEOTM.

[mykingdomforapen]

link click headcanons that are purely indulgent to me

Cheng Xiaoshi has the most versatile taste in film. He loves the buddy cop John Woo films with their ridiculous action and two partners reluctantly working together and ultimately each other with their lives (sounds familiar). As a kid he was obsessed with Doraemon and still nurses a soft spot for the cartoon. He also swoons over the cinematography of In The Mood for Love because whenever a camera is used well he will literally talk over the film to the poor sap watching with him and talk about why that camera angle was so good, why that lighting works and how they might have achieved it, the balance and the perspective and foreground and background and hey why are you turning the volume up so high?

Qiao Ling loves the wuxia dramas. When she was little she didn’t want to be a princess, she wanted to be a shaolin warrior. That’s why she’s so into martial arts. She watched them at an unrecommended young age and as a result would bug bb CXS to play pretend with her that they were sworn sibling warriors. Her favorite is Demi Gods and Semi Devils and naturally CXS is forced to play the damsel in distress or the bad guy, at any given point (a source of many childhood arguments). Nowadays, she still indulges in the show, and when no one else is around she and CXS will sometimes teasingly call each other by their wuxia alter ego names.

Lu Guang grew up with his grandparents and spent most of his childhood hanging out with his Nainai watching her favorite shows and eating sunflower seeds together on the sofa. As a result he is unironically very protective over the 1980s TV adaptation of Dream of the Red Chamber. Yes, it’s cheesy. Yes, the dramatic camera zooms are laughable. Yes, it is demonstrably From The Eighties. You can pry it from his cold dead hands. It makes him think of his Nainai and the two of them share Opinions about who should have fallen in love with whom.

[kungfuwushuworld]

Louis Fan Siu-wong

Fan is the son of Fan Mei-sheng, an actor contracted to the Shaw Brothers Studio. When he was 14, his father sent him to Xuzhou, China, to learn gymnastics and wushu.

After completing his studies, Fan returned to the Hong Kong film industry, and starred in Stanley Tong's Stone Age Warriors (1991). In 1992, at the age of 18, Fan portrayed the titular character in Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, a Hong Kong film based on the manga Riki-Oh. He claims that the director and producers of the film met him at the Hong Kong Airport upon arrival and immediately offered him the role. Being a young, up-and-coming actor, he took the role without knowing what it was. He later said he was shocked to discover how bloody and violent the Riki-Oh manga was.

Fan was a contract artiste under the Hong Kong television station TVB throughout the 1990s, and he starred in several television dramas, including Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (1997) and Young Hero Fang Shiyu (1999). He left TVB in the 2000s, and appeared in several Taiwanese and mainland Chinese television series before focusing on films.

One of his most memorable film performances in the 2000s was as Jin Shanzhao, the tough Northern martial artist in the 2008 martial arts film Ip Man, which starred Donnie Yen as Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. Fan's performance in Ip Man earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2009. He reprised his role as Jin Shanzhao in Ip Man 2, the 2010 sequel to Ip Man. He also portrayed a new character in The Legend Is Born – Ip Man (2010), another movie about Yip Man that is unrelated to Ip Man and Ip Man 2.

In 2018, Fan made his proper Hollywood movie debut in the film Attrition (2018) starring alongside Steven Seagal as an ally helping Seagal's character to take down a human trafficking cartel in Thailand.

[niannianyabao]

Janice Man as Wang Yuyan in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

[romanceyourdemons]

Ni [Kuang] was a friend and fan of the wuxia writer Louis Cha [Jin Yong]… Ni, while helping Cha write nearly 40 days of serialisation while Cha was [on vacation], made A'zi, a character in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils that he didn't like, blind in the story. Cha had [to go] through a lot of trouble to revert this event in his novel afterwards.

(via wikipedia, “Ni Kuang”)

this is exactly the kind of shit shen yuan and airplane would get up to if they knew each other when they were alive

[lindwurmkai]

I don't really have "comfort characters" often (probably because I'm defining the term way too narrowly in my head), but somehow I have recently acquired three of them and ... they're all played by Bai Shu.

This is ridiculous. 😳

[dangermousie]

Today is the day to remind everyone that 2003 adaptation of Demi Gods and Semi Devils, the most praised adaptation of the bunch, has a badly animated hamster (?) battling people.