Return of the Condor Heroes: through ep 11

[meganbmoore]

BTW, from this point on, a lot of my entries will be typed in in MS word at work and emailed to me, so if they end up with weird formatting, that's why.


Incidentally, they made Ariel Lin lose 15 pounds to play Huang Rong for Legend of the Condor Heroes?  What, they wanted her to die of starvation?  Or maybe they just wanted to have to turn on a fan to make her fly instead of worrying about a harness and wires...I mean really(and they made Hu Ge beef up for Guo Jing, too, which should be interesting as I think he'd be a lot bigger than her even without that on both sides)

This includes what I said in my spot posts yesterday, BTW.

Eleven episodes(and about 10 minutes) in and I have to say, this series really is quite in love with its visuals, isn't it?  It loves its wirefu and its slowmo and its long, flowing clothing.  Which, you know, isn't a BAD thing, it's just that its like Hero in that there's so much of it that I sometimes start noticing all the genre requisites more than I do the story.  Then certain things start standing out, like when Xiao Long Nu laid down on the rope the first night, they obviously reused the same footage for the second time(and really, Yang Guo's just flopping down on the rope in the inn is more impressive than her careful acrobatics)

dangermousiehas already metad a lot of this extensively at her LJ, so I won't get as into it.  Firt of all: that is one blasted annoying kid.  Not the worst I've encountered...Shippo in Inu Yasha and the Tachikomas in Ghost in the Shell are in no danger of having their status threatened.  But really, it's hard to feel sympathy for the kid when you'd probably be hard pressed to treat him any differently if you lived in that society.  And really, it's all too easy to understand why Xiao Long Nu really wouldn't want to be saddled with him.  Grown up Yang Guo is considerably better, but still has a good ways to go before the brain catches up with the body, though he's making considerable progress in that regard(though, when he was messing with Xiao Long Nu's instrument while she was trying to play, I couldn't help thinking he was going to get hurt if he kept that up)

Speaking of grownup Yang Guo...TPTB...your lead actress looks like a porcelain goddess-pale skin, long, jet black hair, perfect, delicate features-and your male lead looks like a Chinese Adonis-all golds and browns and 100% masculine-we KNOW why they're practicing their kungfu naked  in the flowers in slowmo with her chest carefully fuzzed out, the kungfu equivalent of technobabble REALLY isn't necessary...just keep the no-no bits fuzzed out and do your thing, it's ok.

Speaking of the "no-no" stuff, I think it's interesting that, because she thinks it was Yang Guo, Xiao Long Nu doesn't seem to really view herself as having been raped(of course, we know it wasn't him so we know it was rape)  She doesn't seem bothered by the act itself(heck, she was smiling when he released her and hugged her) but by his not acknowledging it.  Kinda "ok, you want me to be with you instead of my following the ways of my sect, fine, but why are you acting like nothings changed?  JERK!" as opposed to "oh how could you?!? *sob sob sob*"

And, as always with wuxia dramas(or so it seems) we have a great supporting cast...with more women than men.  My favorite character in the series so far is Huang Rong(who, incidentally, I think is played by the same actress as Flawless Flower's psycho possessive master in Handsome Siblings)  Intelligent, capable, clever heroine who effectively runs the martial arts world and her household(not to mention her husband)?  How can I not love?  Oh and she's nice and openminded(as much as she can be when faced with the son of the man who tried to kill her while she was pregnant and who's still pretty much a brat, really) to boot.  It's obvious that she WANTS to trust Yang Guo, but she sees his father's crimes and the potential for history to repeat itself when she looks at him, and so she can't(and according to calixa and dangermousie, it's pretty justified)  She's also the one who realized what the relationship between Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu was when she saw them together, it's just that it's so unfathomable to her that she decided she was wrong and they were just closer than most masters and disciples(probably because they're close together in age and they lived alone or something)

 I also like the friends Yang Guo met in his travels-Lu, the villainess's renegade disciple, and  Yelu and Wan Yan(I really hope those three will be back a good bit), as well as the villainess's other disciple(yeah, I'm blanking on both names and I'm typing this at work so I can't check)  Actually, I like all the characters except the monks(who are evil and supposed to be hated) and Fu, because she's a brat.  And really.  Guo Jing?  Obviously not on the bright side, but a kind, caring man without a selfish bone in his body.  Huang Rong?  Intelligent, clever, takes no nonsense and obviously has little tolerance for counterproductive behavior.  How the heck did those two manage to have such a spoiled brat(I mean, ok, yeah, Guo Jing would spoil his kid, sure, but I don't see Huang Rong letting it turn her into a brat)  I guess it's like calixa said...they were so busy being rulers of the martial arts world that they just didn't notice, and everyone was probably always praising her to high heaven because of who her parents are.  It's interesting, though...childhood aside(which you can't really hold against the adult...Yang Guo, after the start, doesn't seem to care about that as much as her current behavior) she hasn't really DONE anything...you can just kinda "feel" it.  That said, I understand the bun currently in the oven(did I really just type that?) is an absolute angel, so I guess there's compensation.

 

Comments

[forgottenpolish.livejournal.com]

15 pounds? *blinks* How is that possible for her?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think they wanted her to lose the chubbiness in her cheeks or something...but really...I mean...how many people can be that tiny without looking anorexic...are they INSANE????

[forgottenpolish.livejournal.com]

They are clearly the notch above insane. What in the world?

God forbid people have a little baby fat on their cheeks....

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Awesome write-up.

Re: Yang Guo and Huang Rong and all that. I find it interesting how it's a vicious circle of sorts. HR is afraid YG turns on him so she takes all these precautions which make YG resent her (as he hadn't done anything wrong) and so on so forth. If he found out that they killed his Dad but he grew up surrounded by their love or similar, it would be a much harder choice for him.

It's so interesting that the protagonist of ROCH is a villain's son and who could, under other circumstances, be a villain himself (certainly if Long Nu didn't take him in, he was wild enough to become one, and the fact that he is so good at sneakiness when he does temporarily go bad shows he is capable).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think a pretty large part of her being cautious is that he is so wild...if he'd been a calm kid, she probably would have been a LOT more relaxed around him, but he was such a brat I don't think she could make herself relax around him. I mean, XLN REALLY didn't want him either...she just got stuck promising to take care of him and he grew on her. I do think GJ and HR gave him as much love as they could, though, but there was too much in their lives for them to be able to devote themselves to taking care of him.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I got the sense that GJ did love him but HR never really did because of her worries. He certainly had a miserable time at the island.

I find it so interesting how both his good and bad qualities stem from the same thing: because he didn't have much care or love growing up, he totally leaps at any signs of such and repays spectacularly (his obsessiveness over XLN, fighting to the death to protect HR) but because he didn't have such care, it really makes him lack stability and have suspicions of people.

I really do like that you can see how easily someone basically OK could become a villain. I actually like him for that ambivalence: he is not just a boyscout. Just as I like HR for her steely pragmatism.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I get the feeling that GJ would love anyone who wasn't an enemy, really. I think HR cared, but was too cautious to let it show(though it's obvious she does love him now)

When the Mongolian kicks HR in the stomach, I was all "that's it, YG is going to kill him over that even if he's mad at her" And, of course, because he loves the parents, he protects Fu, too, even though he can't stand her(and I love that it's more because she's such a brat now than because of when they were kids, because I think he's pretty much over that)

HR's pragmatism is why she rocks(that, and she's the one wearing the pants in the kung fu world and everyone knows it) When she tells XLN she has to leave YG, it's very clear she's only doing it to protect both of them because she doesn't want them to get hurt.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Re: Fu and Yang Guo. He had a negative impression of her already because of the childhood (it's a visceral reaction he gets when he first sees her) but you are right, he would not have stuck to that opinion if she'd shown herself as anything other than a self-satisfied selfish incompetent brat.

I adore HR who totally runs the show (love the bit when she realizes about YG-XLN situation and tells her adorable but clueless husband maybe they should discuss it in private).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he got over his grudges against the parents about 5 seconds after seeing them...if Fu had grown up nice, I think he would have pretty much forgotten all about the bullying.

I think the only reason HR didn't catch on to what was up with YG/XLN the second she saw them together was because it was just unfathomable to her...if they hadnt unintentionally made a mess of things and announced it to the world the way they did, she probably could have found a way to shield them from that...a large part of GJ's reaction was the public forum, too.

Legend of the Condor Heroes is all about HR and GJ, so I'm really looking forward to it now(though I still can't get over their wanting Ariel Lin to lose weight for the role)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am very excited about LOCH. There is an earlier version from a few years back and I am wondering if I should seek it out first.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'm doing the same...did it for RoCH, too, but then, this version was already available. I think I'll try to be strong for Hu Ge and Ariel Lin, though. Maybe.

YG just found out who killed his parents, btw.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Eeee! It's about to get really good with my fave part so far (the whole thing with the valley with crazy dysfunctional homicidal family).