The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

PLOT SYNOPSIS

"The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", also known as "Tian Long Ba Bu", is basically about the interactions of three men, all with some sort of special talent in kung-fu.

The first of these three personas is Qiao Feng, who later becomes Xiao Feng. The Qiao Feng we first meet is the leader of the "Gai Bang" or Beggar's Clan. His reputation is excellent, with the common saying, "In the North, there is Qiao Feng; in the South, there is Murong." Qiao Feng was actually adopted during birth, by parents who never revealed his true identity to him. The wife of another leader in the clan, Ma Fu Ren, was upset when Qiao Feng, who she had an interest in, did not pay any attention to her even when she dressed as beautifully as possible. This anger later led to the revealing of a secret. People in the Beggar's Clan find out that Qiao Feng is of the Qidan race and not from the Han race, they ostarcize him from their clan, due to poor relations between the Qidan and Han groups. When Qiao Feng returns home to find both of his beloved adopted parents dead, and later his dead Shi Fu, he vows revenge against those who murdered them. Qiao Feng later adopts his biological parents' surname "Xiao", making him Xiao Feng.

Next comes Duan Yu, the Prince of Dali. Duan Yu has little knowledge in kung-fu, but develops some unusual skills after a scroll he found in a cave. One of the most interesting things about Duan Yu is his family, namely his father. He has a plethora of sisters from his father, Duan Zheng Chun's many affairs. To make matters clear, I will list out Duan Zheng Chun's affairs with the following women:

* Wang Fu Ren, who gave birth to Wang Yuyan
* Ruan Xingzhu, who gave birth to A Zhu and A Zi
* Qin Hongmian, who gave birth to Mu Wanqing
* Gan Baobao, who gave birth to Zhong Ling

Duan Zheng Chun also had an affair with Kang Ming, also known as Ma Fu Ren. Kang Ming's husband was a leader alongside Qiao Feng in the Beggar's Clan before his mysterious death. So basically, Duan Yu has five sisters: Wang Yuyan, A Zhu, A Zi, Mu Wanqing, and Zhong Ling. However, it turns out that Dao Baifeng, jealous of Duan Zheng Chun's many affairs, had an affair of her own, during which she bore Duan Yu. Therefore, none of those five mentioned above are actually related to Duan Yu.

Last is Xu Zhu, the Shaolin monk who finds himself on a journey after accidentally winning a game of chess. The creator of the chess game transferred all his powerful kung-fu skills to Xu Zhu, naming him as his successor and asking him to kill one of his enemies. Xu Zhu, a faithful Shaolin monk, soon begins to break some of his monk traditions at he reluctantly starts on his journey.

Weaved into the story are many subplots and romances. All of Duan Yu's "sisters" are involved in the plot. Three of Duan Yu's "sisters", Wang Yuyan, Mu Wanqing, and Zhong Ling, fall in love with Duan Yu, as Duan Yu, like his father, shifts from one to another without any hesitation. He later falls hard for Wang Yuyan, who resembles a statue he saw in a cave. The only two who do not feel attracted to Duan Yu are sisters A Zhu and A Zi. Qiao Feng and A Zi later fall in love. After A Zhu's unwanted death, Qiao Feng is given the duty of looking after A Zi. A Zi admires and deeply loves Qiao Feng, but Qiao Feng finds her annoying and shallow compared to A Zhu.

PLOT ANALYSIS

Well, to start, the plot is very complicated. There are several subplots going on, but I do give credit for the fact that all the plots do relate after reaching the climax of the production. The best part about this storyline is the correct balance between action and romance. It did not leave me reaching for tissues every two seconds (good example being Qiongyao's productions), but did not leave me bored and begging for some emotion rather than this pointless fighting (which is how I felt towards Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle"). It really requires some time to digest what exactly is going on. There is a good connection between the storyline and kung-fu. The series starts out rather slow, with Qiao Feng and Duan Yu only meeting in the seventh episode. The beginning with Mu Wanqing and Duan Yu was somewhat overextended. In addition, a plethora of characters slows down the entire serial. While there are dragging scenes, as with every drama series (especially one that is 40 episodes long), it is certainly a well-written story.

MAIN CAST/CHARACTERS

Hu Jun as Qiao Feng
Qiao Feng is my favorite of the three characters, mostly because he seems like such a violent, strong, respectable man, but he becomes so human, especially when he is in love with A Zhu. He is a little reckless in his decisions and has a rather fiery temper, yet he is also so selfless. Qiao Feng has complexity and depth. Hu Jun was an impressive Qiao Feng, with a large figure. While I am not exactly a huge fan of Hu Jun, he was a good match for Qiao Feng. He looked rather good in Qiao Feng's ripped-clothing, messy style. The screaming was a little strange, but I suppose it fit Qiao Feng's wild personality. The rest was excellent, especially his blank expressions after realizing he had made a mistake. The best scene was his reaction when he realized he had killed A Zhu - it brought me to tears. I have never watched another version of TLBB, so I have no basis for comparison; nor have I read Jin Yong's novel. Nevertheless, I still feel that Hu Jun looked and acted the part extremely well.

Jimmy Lin as Duan Yu
The character Duan Yu is not one that I particularly liked. In the beginning, he liked Mu Wanqing, but as soon as he met Wang Yuyan, instantly, he was all "Mu Wanqing who?" Plus, he spends most of his time drooling over Wang Yuyan. He is not very considerate of others either. His outlook is very tiny, as I am sorry to say he only cares about Wang Yuyan and himself. When he and others are attacked by people from Xixia, he does not care about the well-being of A Zhu, A Bi, and others who were at the incident, but is obsessively concerned over Wang Yuyan. Jimmy Lin's portrayal is not necessarily a bad one. His somewhat feminine appearance helps improve his look as Duan Yu. However, he seemed too obsessed with Wang Yuyan, always going in a high-pitched voice, "Wang Gu Niang!" whenever he saw Wang Yuyan. Duan Yu does have a few redeeming qualities in the end, such as his wit. Jimmy Lin's acting has some high points as well. But compared to Qiao Feng, Duan Yu is no hero.

Gao Hu as Xu Zhu
Xu Zhu is a good character, but not a memorable one. The actor, Gao Hu, depicted Xu Zhu's weakness and lack of wit quite well. How much I liked this character was probably somewhere between Qiao Feng and Duan Yu. His lack of intelligence and strength was somewhat funny at times, despite the fact that Xu Zhu's main goal is not to be funny. Gao Hu fulfilled the role of Xu Zhu adequately. He looks similar to how I would imagine a character like Xu Zhu. His acting, while not remarkable, is quite fine.

Liu Yifei as Wang Yuyan
Wang Yuyan is the daughter of wealthy Wang Fu Ren, and cousin of the powerful Murong Fu. Duan Yu falls head over heels for her, but Wang Yuyan is only dedicated towards her cousin Murong Fu, who ignores her. Others may feel that Liu Yifei is a beauty, but as long as her acting skills are as poor as they are, I will never be a fan of Liu Yifei. I will admit that Wang Yuyan might be a little difficult to act, and that Liu Yifei was only fifteen. However, if you consider the depth of the other characters, especially Qiao Feng and A Zhu, I really find it difficult to sympathize with Liu Yifei. If her age was to affect her ability to depict Wang Yuyan in an interesting way, then she should not have been cast. For the female lead, she was disappointing. With all her scenes, there was not one moment where she shined. Her image is probably the best part of her portrayal, considering the acting that goes along with it. The sound of her voice changes, but her expression remains blank. Most of the time she just stares into the camera, with nothing on her face moving except for an occassional blink and movement of the mouth.

Chen Hao as A Zi
The younger of Ruan Xingzhu and Duan Zhengchun's two daughters, A Zi was a rather humorous character, despite her wicked, selfish, and childish disposition. I have heard that she has a very evil personality, but from this series I mostly see her as a bored girl who often does cruel things to others for her own enjoyment. A very self-centered character. There are scenes where I liked her, especially when she rode horses with Qiao Feng after her recovery. She was somewhat whiny and annoying, but not necessarily evil. She definitely shows some emotion, shown by her suicide with Qiao Feng at the conclusion of the series. Chen Hao was like Gao Hu's Xu Zhu - she was effective and strong, but not superior in any way. I think that Chen Hao tried a little too hard to bring herself down to A Zi's level, as well as A Zi's age.

Liu Tao as A Zhu
A well-respected maid in the Murong household, A Zhu is a master of disguise. Her ability to disguise as other people later led to her death, as Qiao Feng mistakened her for his enemy. Like others, I have to give extreme credits to Liu Tao. Everybody says that her acting is terrific, and I must agree. Liu Tao can do it all - sadness, joy, concern, fear. She is especially touching when around Qiao Feng, although a few flaws I found were that she was a little too overenthusiastic around Qiao Feng and, as one reviewer said earlier, was a bit happy during her death. Nevertheless, her acting was marvelous - it was realistic, not overdone, while still interesting. She always wears some sort of expression, has some sort of reaction. Liu Tao never just stands there - she shined.

OTHER CHARACTERS

Xiu Qing as Murong Fu - Xiu Qing's acting did not go beyond the entire annoyed expression. While his apathy towards Wang Yuyan was well-portrayed, there was really not much else to this character.
Jiang Xin as Mu Wanqing - Inevitably Jiang Xin is going to become a huge star one day. The talent she displayed when playing Mu Wanqing was incredible, especially towards the beginning scenes. Later on, she started to drift away and become less involved, but this was mostly the fault of the script.
Christy Chung as Kang Ming (Ma Fu Ren) - Christy Chung is perhaps, alongside Liu Tao, the best actress in this series. Although her role was not a major one, the way she could admire and hate Qiao Feng so much was very well done. I did not like Ma Fu Ren's seductive style, but Christy Chung's acting was excellent.

SCENERY
One word: breathtaking. From the mountains to the small villages to the wilderness, the background scenery fully supported the production.

MUSIC
The opening theme song was quite unattractive. As soon as I first heard it, I began to lose interest in the series. Luckily, however, the ending theme song is much nicer. "Kuan Shu", or "Forgiveness", sung by Faye Wong, is truly very beautiful. It is complimented with several images of my favorite couple, Qiao Feng and A Zhu. Finally, "Yang Wang", the song played during A Zhu's death and funeral was well-suited for A Zhu and Qiao Feng, as well as absolutely lovely sounding.

OVERALL
This series is certainly one with high points and low points, but the positives majorly outweigh the negatives. For the most part, the acting is superb, complimented by an interesting storyline and incredible technical elements. The fighting scenes may be rather repetitive, especially when the same antagonists show up over and over again, but the meaningful side of the story is enjoyable for those like me.

Watch or not watch? Watch.