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meganbmooreI am very slowly watching this drama, which is about a family of seven brothers(and one beyond darling little sister) who were renown warriors in the Song dynasty. Slowly, because:
A) I know how it ends.
For this reason, I absolutely refuse to watch whencalixaisn't here to hold my hand. Well..it's ok at this point, but when we get to the end and it's time for major angst instead of the bits and pieces...
B) Thanks tocalixa, I've had a near play-by-play of the series, several times. While this only makes me want to see it more and more, it also takes the edge off of the urgency.
It is, not surprisingly, quite excellent and has even less wirefu and magic(NONE!) than Sword Stained With Royal Blood, which has been supplanted as the most realistic(despite Jin Yong's crazy kung fu theories) wuxia I've seen.
I have absolutely shamelessly raidedcalixa's Young Warriors of the Yang Clan tag for this post.
ETA: Many more pics now becausecalixa apparently though I had too few. And I had to fix a pic.
A) I know how it ends.
The father and 5 of the brothers all die in the same battle. Except one brother doesn't die, he gets amnesia and never remembers who he is. Years later, his son kills the surviving brother who becomes the leader of the clan, without either one knowing of the relationship.
For this reason, I absolutely refuse to watch when
calixaisn't here to hold my hand. Well..it's ok at this point, but when we get to the end and it's time for major angst instead of the bits and pieces...B) Thanks to
calixa, I've had a near play-by-play of the series, several times. While this only makes me want to see it more and more, it also takes the edge off of the urgency.It is, not surprisingly, quite excellent and has even less wirefu and magic(NONE!) than Sword Stained With Royal Blood, which has been supplanted as the most realistic(despite Jin Yong's crazy kung fu theories) wuxia I've seen.
I have absolutely shamelessly raided
calixa's Young Warriors of the Yang Clan tag for this post.This is Liu Lang. Aka Hu Ge. AKA, Brother 6. AKA, Yang Puppy Dog #1. AKA one of the 2 who live and the one who takes over the clan. By virtue of getting to live, get married and have at least one kid(before getting offed by the nephew he never knew he had he gets to be the nominal main character.
Like all Yang men, he is good at fighting(they tell us he isn't, but as Yang papa and Wu Lang are the only ones he can't beat, I think they're just being hard on him) but clueless about girls. He also likes to invent things that his father doesn't take seriously. He also likes to go on treasure hunts with pretty princesses.
This is Qi Lang. AKA Brother 7. AKA Eddie Peng. AKA the most adorable thing ever. AKA Puppy Gog #2.
He likes to cluelessly eat food unhappy OTPs have brought for his brother that was given to him because said brother is an idiot. He has nothing resembling a brain but has enough heart for 10 people to compensate. He also likes to fall for enemy(but secretly nice and sweet) assassin girls but be totally oblivious about it until they go and kill themselves in front of him because they believe all is lost. Fortunately, he gets another OTP later on who's played by the same actress, thus easing the pain a bit. He is my favorite character.
As you can see, he is oblivious about many things. Like why carrying them on his back would make girls happy.
Occasionally, his lack of brain dawns on him. That, or he just saw a lovey dovey scene with any family member and their significant other.
Of course, he has no brain, just hamsters spinning on their wheels.
I'm 90% certain that this scene takes place around the time he dies, thus making me loath it with every fiber of my being, despite it featuring my beloved Eddie Peng with a sword.
Liu Lang and Qi Lang will kill you with their cute or die trying.
In this scene, LIu Lang will display his courtship prowess. He will do quite well by talking about how she's better than any other girl he knows, and will even include his sisters in law, and talk about how fun she is and such. And then he will tell her what an honor it is for her for her to be with him. He will not understand why she trounces off after this...
Or puts him in his place (He DID just unintentionally insult a princess, after all...)
He and his amazingly red lips will be rather lost at this:
Sometimes, Liu Lang combines courtship with sending messages to abducted siblings.
This is Wu Lang. AKA Brother 5. AKA Puppy Dog #3. AKA the other one to live. Except he becomes a monk...
He is the awesomeness of awesome things when it comes to fighting, but a complete idiot when it comes to anything else. Fortunately, like his youngest brother, he also has a ton of heart to compensate. He cannot lie to save his life, and faking losing a fight(he and Liu Lang stage a fight to impress their father so he won't be mad at Liu Lang, but Wu Lang sucks at faking, so Yang Papa saw right through it) and when Important Things are being discussed, he stands in the background looking at whoever is currently talking as the hamsters in his head kill themselves running on their wheels, trying to keep up. He is also very, very bad when it comes to courting a girl, but as they do eventually get married, I suppose his innde Puppy Dog eventually won her over. He is also the absolute master of sneakily and effeciently dealing with things. If you need to physically be dealt with, DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK. He will take you in nothing flat. Also, if you insult his family or say mean things about his baby sister, he shall deliver a flying kick that will send you sprawling on your face. He is also capable of keeping ENTIRE CARRIAGES from toppling down a cliff WITH ONE HAND by holding a chain the carriage is attached to. As little sister was attached to the other end of the chain, he had massive incentive.
This is Yelu Xie. AKA the antagonist/nominal Bad Guy. AKA Wu Lang's rival in love.
He is far cuter than he should be with small children he has kidnapped and Wu Lang's rival in love. Unfortunately for him, occassionally, inner Puppy Dog-ness and being the master of sneak attacks occassionally wins out over Bad Boy Hot-ness. Guan Hong just wanted to leave him for the rest of us, methinks.
He also mangages to look manly despite his Raccoon Hat of Doom.
Wu Lang actually kills the Raccoon Hat of Doom in the first episode, but Yelu Xie insists on carrying its corpse around.
yelu Xie is also the master of angst and manshouts, as well as dramatic poses and intense stares.
Were I to lighten this pic, you would die of cute.
Did I mention that when he kidnaps her, she tells him she knows he won't hurt her because he's a hero, and she later tells him that even if he beats her family, he won't be happy because he'll have used underhanded means, and he wants to beat them fairly? They made her so young to keep us from shipping them.
Sometimes, he impersonates Robin Hood. And looks quite hot while doing so.
This makes me want to ship, but I shall be strong.
This is Yang Ye. AKA Yang Papa.
In addition to being extremely awesome, he is handsome and charming and charismatic and a killer fighter. He actually reminds me a bit of Lee Seo Jin.
This is She Sai Hua. AKA Yang Mama
In addition to being beautiful, she is as awesome as her husband and a true Warrior Woman. She is tormented byt he fact that she was separated from one of her sons on the battlefield and wasn't able to stay and save him. I understand he shall return and whine for about 10+ episodes before revealing his inner Yang and becoming cool.
This is Ba Meei. AKA Little Sister. AKA the cutest thing this side of Ariel Lin.
There are actually times when she looks like a young Ariel Lin to me.
This is Guan Hong. AKA Blacksmith Girl.
She shall choose to marry the sweet Puppy Dog over the Hot Badboy, making a very wise choice and helping to balance outthe boy next door/bad boy scales.
A courtship ritual comparison:
i admire her for her choice.
I would end with a pic of the Evil Despicable Dastardly just diediediediedie already Pan Bao, butcalixahas never seen fit to cap him. He is utterly atrocious. He has done many things, the worst of which is to whip the entire Yang family, including Ba Mei. Himself. And enjoy it. Thankfully, we only see Yang Papa get whipped, which was more than bad enough. Any more and I may have died. Afterwards, though, there were good looking men locked in cells wearing solid white with artistically scratched and bloodied faces, so I suppose they at least felt some need to compensate...
Like all Yang men, he is good at fighting(they tell us he isn't, but as Yang papa and Wu Lang are the only ones he can't beat, I think they're just being hard on him) but clueless about girls. He also likes to invent things that his father doesn't take seriously. He also likes to go on treasure hunts with pretty princesses.
This is Qi Lang. AKA Brother 7. AKA Eddie Peng. AKA the most adorable thing ever. AKA Puppy Gog #2.
He likes to cluelessly eat food unhappy OTPs have brought for his brother that was given to him because said brother is an idiot. He has nothing resembling a brain but has enough heart for 10 people to compensate. He also likes to fall for enemy(but secretly nice and sweet) assassin girls but be totally oblivious about it until they go and kill themselves in front of him because they believe all is lost. Fortunately, he gets another OTP later on who's played by the same actress, thus easing the pain a bit. He is my favorite character.
As you can see, he is oblivious about many things. Like why carrying them on his back would make girls happy.
Occasionally, his lack of brain dawns on him. That, or he just saw a lovey dovey scene with any family member and their significant other.
Of course, he has no brain, just hamsters spinning on their wheels.
I'm 90% certain that this scene takes place around the time he dies, thus making me loath it with every fiber of my being, despite it featuring my beloved Eddie Peng with a sword.
Liu Lang and Qi Lang will kill you with their cute or die trying.
In this scene, LIu Lang will display his courtship prowess. He will do quite well by talking about how she's better than any other girl he knows, and will even include his sisters in law, and talk about how fun she is and such. And then he will tell her what an honor it is for her for her to be with him. He will not understand why she trounces off after this...
Or puts him in his place (He DID just unintentionally insult a princess, after all...)
He and his amazingly red lips will be rather lost at this:
Sometimes, Liu Lang combines courtship with sending messages to abducted siblings.
This is Wu Lang. AKA Brother 5. AKA Puppy Dog #3. AKA the other one to live. Except he becomes a monk...
He is the awesomeness of awesome things when it comes to fighting, but a complete idiot when it comes to anything else. Fortunately, like his youngest brother, he also has a ton of heart to compensate. He cannot lie to save his life, and faking losing a fight(he and Liu Lang stage a fight to impress their father so he won't be mad at Liu Lang, but Wu Lang sucks at faking, so Yang Papa saw right through it) and when Important Things are being discussed, he stands in the background looking at whoever is currently talking as the hamsters in his head kill themselves running on their wheels, trying to keep up. He is also very, very bad when it comes to courting a girl, but as they do eventually get married, I suppose his innde Puppy Dog eventually won her over. He is also the absolute master of sneakily and effeciently dealing with things. If you need to physically be dealt with, DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK. He will take you in nothing flat. Also, if you insult his family or say mean things about his baby sister, he shall deliver a flying kick that will send you sprawling on your face. He is also capable of keeping ENTIRE CARRIAGES from toppling down a cliff WITH ONE HAND by holding a chain the carriage is attached to. As little sister was attached to the other end of the chain, he had massive incentive.
This is Yelu Xie. AKA the antagonist/nominal Bad Guy. AKA Wu Lang's rival in love.
He is far cuter than he should be with small children he has kidnapped and Wu Lang's rival in love. Unfortunately for him, occassionally, inner Puppy Dog-ness and being the master of sneak attacks occassionally wins out over Bad Boy Hot-ness. Guan Hong just wanted to leave him for the rest of us, methinks.
He also mangages to look manly despite his Raccoon Hat of Doom.
Wu Lang actually kills the Raccoon Hat of Doom in the first episode, but Yelu Xie insists on carrying its corpse around.
yelu Xie is also the master of angst and manshouts, as well as dramatic poses and intense stares.
Were I to lighten this pic, you would die of cute.
Did I mention that when he kidnaps her, she tells him she knows he won't hurt her because he's a hero, and she later tells him that even if he beats her family, he won't be happy because he'll have used underhanded means, and he wants to beat them fairly? They made her so young to keep us from shipping them.
Sometimes, he impersonates Robin Hood. And looks quite hot while doing so.
This makes me want to ship, but I shall be strong.
This is Yang Ye. AKA Yang Papa.
In addition to being extremely awesome, he is handsome and charming and charismatic and a killer fighter. He actually reminds me a bit of Lee Seo Jin.
This is She Sai Hua. AKA Yang Mama
In addition to being beautiful, she is as awesome as her husband and a true Warrior Woman. She is tormented byt he fact that she was separated from one of her sons on the battlefield and wasn't able to stay and save him. I understand he shall return and whine for about 10+ episodes before revealing his inner Yang and becoming cool.
This is Ba Meei. AKA Little Sister. AKA the cutest thing this side of Ariel Lin.
There are actually times when she looks like a young Ariel Lin to me.
This is Guan Hong. AKA Blacksmith Girl.
She shall choose to marry the sweet Puppy Dog over the Hot Badboy, making a very wise choice and helping to balance outthe boy next door/bad boy scales.
A courtship ritual comparison:
i admire her for her choice.
I would end with a pic of the Evil Despicable Dastardly just diediediediedie already Pan Bao, but
calixahas never seen fit to cap him. He is utterly atrocious. He has done many things, the worst of which is to whip the entire Yang family, including Ba Mei. Himself. And enjoy it. Thankfully, we only see Yang Papa get whipped, which was more than bad enough. Any more and I may have died. Afterwards, though, there were good looking men locked in cells wearing solid white with artistically scratched and bloodied faces, so I suppose they at least felt some need to compensate...ETA: Many more pics now because
calixa apparently though I had too few. And I had to fix a pic.