Important points should be stated thrice: This is a sad ending. This is a sad ending. This is a SAD ENDING.
This is the short story by Mo Bao Fei Bao that I had mentioned before. It truly is a short story; not even 3000 characters. Letting you have a taste of Mo Bao Fei Bao’s writing in an ancient setting.
This is for those who are suffering from the drama withdrawal syndrome lol. I think the next update will be after the broadcast of The Pillow Book drama 😛 Tang Qi is busy writing Lotus Step which is Lian Song’s story. Only a few chapters have been released. After that, she will continue with Mo Yuan’s story in Bodhi Fate (also only a few chapters have been released). Be patient. As far as I know the author has a good full time job so writing is only her part-time job. Also, it takes a long time to write a good novel as you need to go through many drafts to perfect it. Let’s hope she will take the time to write a good novel and not copy other people’s work.
It is not easy to compile specials where Feng Jiu has the upper hand as all of you know our Dijun has a higher IQ than Feng Jiu and always manages to gain the upper hand 😛 Thank you to hamster for contributing number six.
I’ve good and bad news so which one you wanna read first? Okay, I’ll tell you the good news first. Who Gets the World will be adapted into a drama and filming will commence at the end of the year. The bad news is the author will not be participating in the script writing and the scriptwriter doesn’t seem to understand the novel/characters well:( I am afraid he’ll white wash my Hei Feng Xi as he commented that HFX is too conniving and selfish and couldn’t understand why Bai Feng Xi would love him! As I’ve written before, I suspect the scriptwriters hate the authors so they’ll try their best to destroy the novels when adapting them. A reader also suggested usually the scriptwriters are male and the authors are female so they interpret the novel from totally different perspectives.
I don’t know which production company has bought the copyright but it can’t be any worst than Yu Zheng’s studio, right? The names that were tossed out for leading the drama sound kind of random and not to my liking:( Firstly is Louis Koo as the production company wants to recruit an A list star. But Louis is a bona fide movie star now so I doubt he’ll accept this role. Anyway, he is too old, similar to casting Kevin Cheng as Mu Yan in Hua Xu Yin:( The second name is Feng Shao Feng, lidge’s crush, lol. He is alright but he doesn’t give me the Hei Feng Xi’s vibe because I always find the characters he had portrayed weak and useless. Last name is Huang Xiao Ming. I know he has a lot of fans and is good looking but sorry I don’t like his OTT (Over The Top) acting. With his hair down, I feel that he looks like a mad man:(
I don’t really know who can portray such a complex character like Hei Feng Xi well but if I’ve to pick names then I’ll pick either Hu Ge or Yuan Hong. I’ve always have a soft spot for Hu Ge but he never fails to make me cry because he has bad endings in nearly all his ancient drama:( Hence, I want to watch him in a great drama with a happy ending and this character is rich enough for him to showcase his acting abilities. As for Yuan Hong, I feel Hei Feng Xi is quite similar to Yang Kang in Jin Yong’s Legend of the Condor Heroes. The exception is Hei Feng Xi has more redeeming qualities and more heroic. I feel if given the chance Yuan Hong will be able to nail it perfectly. It’ll be a dream team if both of them also get a role in the drama as the second male lead is also rather memorable. Hoju thinks Yan Kuan is a good choice but I find him kind of boring and serious looking:P For those who’ve read or listened to the novel, who do you think is most suitable to be Hei Feng Xi?
Hopefully the cast as well as the drama will turn out well and not disappoint me. For those, who can understand Chinese, I strongly recommend you to read the novel or listen to the audio book. For those, who can’t understand Chinese, I strongly don’t recommend you to use google translate to read the novel because the Chinese in the novel is just too advanced and poetic which google can’t handle. Thus, it is better that you wait for the drama adaptation or the English translation of the book which is a bit slow. In the meantime, if you can’t wait, you can read my summary and snippets:)
Like me, Acrosstime is a super fan of the audio book. Unlike me, Acrosstime can read Chinese. Therefore she has translated some snippets and posted them in shusheng bar. For those who don’t visit the book bar or who are not aware of this, I’ve reproduced one of her snippets below with her permission so do take a look at how Hei Feng Xi and Bai Feng Xi met for the first time when they were kids.
I know I posted this feature twice before but I’ve since modified and expanded it so the information is very current. I don’t like to make lots of posts:P I also have changed one of the cover picture so can you spot which one lol? Okay, now I’ve changed another cover picture because bongsd asked me to change Xiao Xiao’s clothes, LOL.
I am going to jump on the bandwagon and give you a preview of what up and coming c-dramas you can expect appearing on your screen soon. However my focus will primarily be on Chinese novels that have or will be adapted into dramas. They are sitting on quite some finished stock. In the meantime, some books are in the process of being filmed while some book copyrights have been sold. If you are interested in the stories, there are links to the book bar or external sources. If there is a trailer or any video, the link is in bracket. This post will be constantly updated with the latest information.
I have come to the decision on whether to recap this show. Instead of doing detailed recaps, I will be doing a highlights recap from episode 4. You probably can follow the general gist of the drama from them, but it’s more of a place for me to share my thoughts/rants.
thehungryegghead is doing recaps of this drama on her blog. I am not sure if she will be continuing it, but they’re definitely faster than my updates! She has already recapped up to Episode 6.
I’m taking a little diversion from C-novels and introducing a bit of c-drama into the blog. Coincidentally, the last drama recap I tried to do was also a Wallace Huo vehicle: The Swordsman. Alas, that fizzled out and died – couldn’t even blog about one more ep to finish the ending because it was so epicly bad.
Perfect Couple stars Wallace Huo and Tang Yan. The trailer shows some cute chemistry, and the style of storytelling reminds me of Ming Yue Ting Feng (I have withdrawal symptoms). Story by Tong Hua, which is my justification for recapping it on this blog: to see whether she can translate her writing into the small screen. If you haven’t already, you can find out more about the info by going to Koala’s site. Continue reading
I posted this last year but I just found a very nice fan-made MV which can sum up the story better than the two I posted previously. I tried to translate it into English but sadly it is very lacking as the Chinese is just too advanced for my understanding:( Yet, I still gonna repost this because it is my favourite wuxia novel and the four fan-made MVs are also my favourite so you must watch all of them 😛
This is the 50th post of this blog and I’ve done a summary on my favourite book. Surprise, peanuts doesn’t only read funny junk books? I should have written this long ago when I translated some snippets but I am such a slacker:P Sorry for confusing my readers but with this summary you can understand my snippets better. No doubt the extremely good quality audio book is a substantial influence but I do feel it is a rather well-written book. For more information click here. If you do not want to read spoilers, stop here.
Wah, Dong Hua and Feng Jiu won the favourite couple poll by a landslide. Thus, you are rewarded with a special on the most loved couple. According to Tang Qi’s official weibo, she will finish writing the draft for The Pillow Book 2 today as a birthday gift to her editor. Thus we won’t need to wait much longer for the publication of the book.
I also have a gift for my readers which is a Chinese fan-made MV with English subtitles. Actually Lidge and I have translated that sometime ago without putting the subtitles in a MV. The dialogue in the MV are included in that post. A big thank you to Phong Nhi for helping me to put the subtitles and uploaded it to youtube. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone! Enjoy looking at the moon and eating mooncake:)
This time, we will have a poll as to whether you like Dong Hua Dijun or Bai Feng Jiu better.
I am posting my final scene translation of my favourite book. Since I’ve translated half of it a long time ago, I might as well not waste it. Thus, I’ve finished my translation which has taken me a long time. This snippet highlights the ambiguity of the male and female leads relationship as well as a light-hearted interlude on the female lead’s feline phobia, lol. I can’t stop singing praises of the excellent quality of the audiobook as it is finished except the epilogues.Thank you for reading and hopefully you will give the book a try if you can read Chinese or understand Mandarin. Read my summary with spoilers for a better understanding of this snippet.
Please direct any enquiries or comments to lidge who is a HQG as well as WH’s expert :This is my personal blog so I am entitled to write my bias opinion. I do not like the novel so I did not finish the novel or watch the drama. You have the freedom to disagree with me in a constructive and polite manner. But any rude comment which amounts to personal attack will be deleted.
This book is ranked number 9 on the old top 100 Chinese Romance Novels poll which you can find on hamster’s blog. However I have never really like xian xia book because they are the hardest to understand. I am probably doing this feature to bash Bai Zi Hua so you have been warned. Serendipity said my teacher phobia is well-known in shusheng bar, haha. For your information, I have only heard 20% of the story but I have read the summary. Currently, I am waiting for the better quality audio book to be released.
I’ve written a summary including the ending, so you will be spoiled. I have also included some of the most memorable quotations spoken by the lead characters as well as an English translated MV. Actually I feel this is one of the better written xian xia book, definitely better than Chong Zi, thanks to the awesome supporting males and a little worm, lol. I drafted this feature a long time ago but it has taken me ages to finish it so please excuse its poor quality as I have forgotten a lot of stuff:(
According to what I have read the leads for the drama adaptation have been decided. Zhao Li Ying will be Hua Qian Gu and Wallace Huo will be Bai Zi Hua. The drama will be quite different from the novel because the setting will change from xian xia to wuxia. For your information Hui3r is a devoted Wallace Huo’s fan:P Also, make sure you read queenanon’s comments below because she has written very detailed review and analysis of the novel. She is a superfan of this novel so her writings are heaps better than mine.
Latest Update: According to my source who is crazy about this drama as well as Wallace, Hua Qian Gu will be filmed as a fantasy drama just like the novel but they will also film some wuxia parts. Thus, if the fantasy drama doesn’t pass SARFT’s censorship, then they’ll re-edit it to be a wuxia drama in order to be aired on tv. However, the fantasy version which is exactly like the novel will be released to overseas audience. A looney WH’s fan is translating the book into English so if you want to read it, click here.
Fanatical 