Ancient Sword Fantasy 《古剑奇谭》 - Li Yi Feng, Yang Mi, William Chan, Ma Tianyu

[limeic]

Currently at Ep 8, where Baili Tusu just met up with Fang Lansheng.

So far so good, great casting and costumes, no over-the-top CGs, and the setting of the whole drama looks really beautiful. Loving the martial arts/spells choreography too.

I don't know if it's just me, but the way the scenes/storyline are pieced together seems a little... odd (or maybe I'm spoiled by Li Guoli's dramas??). It just seems so abrupt at times, suddenly jumping into a scene where a character just appears. Not sure if the almost non-existing background music contributed to it too.

[MysticDust]

spoilers?!!!




Just finished episode 12, where BaLi TuSu kinda recalled rescuing a fox in his youth and our band of heroes are trying to solve the case of a mysterious epidemic that may be the result of using human subjects for drug/meds testing. At this point in time, a lot of the key players are now introduced. I am officially hooked.

My thoughts on some of the characters thus far:
BaiLi Tusu: he is very inoffensive as the main protagonist. Sometimes he finds himself in bad situations not of his making not because he is gullible, but because he has the tendency to let things slide in his attempt to not hurt others. I like his moral dilemma and internal conflict, and it's easy to buy into how his backstory would shape who he is today. The process of his personal growth and awareness is also convincing. I like it that he did verbally acknowledged that a lot of his problems with fellow martial arts brothers were due to his social awkwardness and conscious avoidance at making friends.
Feng QingXue: probably my favorite female lead in a Wuxia/fantasy in a while (mind you, I don't watch much of these lately). She's badass but is not unreasonably hotheaded. She's dedicated and blunt in her feelings but doesn't forcefully demand reciprocation, but is not a pushover either (well, she doesn't really have a notable love rival yet, so maybe this will change). She can hold up her own in a fight, can heal and fend off evil spirits (at times and to an extent) and know medicine lore; all very useful skills. Her butterfly tracker ability would have been helpful if wasn't so meh, but I guess there's a need for some flaws. What I love about her is that she doesn't insist on being part of the action to get in the way. If she can help, she will do all she can to help; if not, then she doesn't mind staying on the sidelines.

[wandering]

Viki have a couple of episode fan subbed to English

[auroragb]

At this point, there's hints of romance that had potential to be great...but what really caught my attention is the massive overload of bromance. Additionally, the attention to character development is wonderful. Here's to hoping these positives stay consistent throughout the series.

The buzz around the bromance in this series is off the charts. with many parody videos highlighting the multi-angled bromance.
I'm enjoying the series as well (ep 12 so far). It's good to see original work (even though built around an existing world) in Wuxia space enjoying such care in production quality.

Seems funny how there was bromance in Lan ling wang and now in ASF. I guess bromance brings in the cash? :P

[MysticDust]

The buzz around the bromance in this series is off the charts. with many parody videos highlighting the multi-angled bromance.
I'm enjoying the series as well (ep 12 so far). It's good to see original work (even though built around an existing world) in Wuxia space enjoying such care in production quality.

Seems funny how there was bromance in Lan ling wang and now in ASF. I guess bromance brings in the cash? :P

Glad someone else is liking it.

Regarding the bromance, don't know why they need parody videos when the source is supplying sooo much of it...80% of BaiLi XuSu's memory sequences are about OuYang ShaoGong...ShaoGong is the 1st person he wants to visit when he set out into the real world lol

[PrinceKrillo]

It's the fourth episode, and already I've stopped paying attention to the nonsense that's passing for plot.

I would blame it on the producers/directors, but the truth is, they're simply following the RPG's convoluted, BS story.

At this point, I'm just skipping through every scene that doesn't feature one of the many incredible female idols (YM, ZS, CZH, LXL, QW) and waiting for Zhang Meng to debut.

I've stopped listening to the dialogue, period.

The story is utterly immaterial. It makes Transformers: Age of Extinction seem intellectually-engaging.

If nothing else, this proves rather decidedly that Lee Kwok-lap should direct all of these fantasy RPG adaptations. Because this is a friggin train wreck of mind-blowing proportions.

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Right now it’s a toss-up between enjoying the sheer badassery of Chen Zihan’s character … versus suffering through everything else that’s so, so wrong with this series. As much as I friggin love her … not certain she can carry the entire drama, especially in a supporting capacity.

Chen Zihan—at thirty-six, still freaking awesome.

[MysticDust]

It's the fourth episode, and already I've stopped paying attention to the nonsense that's passing for plot.

Lol, I honestly think we have very different tastes in series. Everything that I like seem to be on your "not worth my time" list. Oh well, it's all good.

Glad you found your silver lining. Hopefully Zhang Meng's character will not disappoint.

[IloveMimiLo]

on ep 6 at the momment. I am liking it so far! Hah ken Chang looks like Adam cheng , and i am loving his white hair on him! I hope to see Chen zi han character develop , so far her screen time is very little.

[bachtuyet]

out of curiosity does the series resemble the game at all? I never play the game at all

[j2j2j2]

I'm on episode 4 and I'm really enjoying it too!

Aside from the annoying CG, everything is pretty decent. But one thing that bugs me is the people with white hair wigs, they really should also dye the underlying hair too. Because there are times where you can see their natural black hair and that takes away from it.

I don't know if it's just me, but the way the scenes/storyline are pieced together seems a little... odd (or maybe I'm spoiled by Li Guoli's dramas??). It just seems so abrupt at times, suddenly jumping into a scene where a character just appears. Not sure if the almost non-existing background music contributed to it too.

This may have to do with the censorship editing. There were a few of Zhang Ji Zhong's works that had similar strange edits.

[PrinceKrillo]

Glad you found your silver lining. Hopefully Zhang Meng's character will not disappoint.

Zhang Meng drew me to this series in the first place, but I may stay for Chen Zihan.

[wuxiafan123]

I've watched eps 1-10 on letv (no subs). Seems kind of slow. Main character Baili is a stone 95% of the time. The other 5% he's trying to stop from turning into a demon. Yang Mi's forehead looks huge in this show. The producers could have done her a favor with a different hairstyle. I think I liked Xuan Yuan Sword a lot better. I skipped around and am up to eps 24 now. Doesn't seem like much has changed. Baili is still trying to control himself from turning into a demon although it's getting tougher. Da dum, da dum, da dum.

[Mido-Ban]

The series pretty good. Main character act that way bc he doesnt socialize with people much for like 10 years besides his senipr brother n master he sees every 3 years I think. 11 ep r out eng sub on utube

[skoo78]

The series pretty good. Main character act that way bc he doesnt socialize with people much for like 10 years besides his senipr brother n master he sees every 3 years I think. 11 ep r out eng sub on utube

Now I can watch it in eng sub. Thanks.

[szfong]

This series is based off of that role playing game of the same name. If you don't mind watching the video game spoilers, then here it is:

click to show/hide spoilers

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...DC2132AD2CF8C7

The story pretty much comes to full circles between the 1st episode and the Ending... After TuSu & friends defeats ShaoGong, ShaoGong's real lover comes and dies with him, the black dragon gives TuSu/TaiZi a ride on its back (promise made from 1st episode) and then both their souls/spirits scatter into nothingness and also dies... The End

[limeic]

This may have to do with the censorship editing. There were a few of Zhang Ji Zhong's works that had similar strange edits.

Actually, I'm watching the uncut version from Sohu.. =D

[aiYRong]

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[aiYRong]

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[szfong]

Just Finished watching the SAD ending... of Ancient Sword Fantasy 《古剑奇谭》.... It is based off of that role playing game of the same name. The ending is EXACTLY like the sad ending to the Game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfFN6viPE3c The Game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtr1nD3CO6w The Series

The story pretty much comes to full circles between the 1st episode and the Ending... After TuSu & friends defeats ShaoGong, ShaoGong's real lover comes and dies with him, the black dragon gives TuSu/TaiZi a ride on its back (promise made from 1st episode) and the dragon will die of old age 7 days later... QingXue does not become leader of her clan and decides to forsake re-incarnation because TuSu cannot re-incarnate as his soul is split... QinXue trades very long life for never to be re-incarnation again in order to search for TuSu's soul to re-unite with her... She has since lost contact with all of her friends and they are presumed all died of old age long ago... After many years, she also dies and her soul scatters... What is left istwo dolls resembling them together--which embodies all the "hopes" of re-uniting with TuSu... and their gifts of affections to one another next to the two dolls.... The End

[MysticDust]

I had so much goodwill towards this series in the beginning (even if the cgi was a bit much). Unfortunately, the middle dragged like no other. We were given flashbacks in every single episodes, regardless of if it's important or not. Some of the flashbacks were ones of scenes that we just saw 10 minutes earlier in the same episode and others were flashbacks that have already been shown 5 other times. Way to kick a dead horse, show.

At first the show built really interesting secrets that kept us on the edge of our seats guessing (who's his brother? Is the princess actually dead? Is he really evil or does he just have evil looking eyes when he thinks no one's looking?)....unfortunately, the reveals were done in a way where the audience was in on the secret waaayyy before the main characters were...which means instead of building suspense and allowing us to be surprised with reveals, instead we are left frustrated that the characters are too dumb to pick up on the obvious clues. Made me kinda start to hate characters that I once adored.

Something else that bothered me was the random introduction of characters that we didn't care about, then the rapid killing off of said characters. I had no emotional attachment to these characters and therefore couldn't force a tear when they got K.O.ed...after a while, I felt like I was watching a bunch of fillers.

Finally, the climax was a bit random and underwhelming. Then the epilogue...nothing really feels all that satisfying, even though they tried their darnest to fill up loose ends. It feels like instead of gaining close friends and life lessons, everyone was given a cosmic slap in the face and told to go back to their corner to do what they were told. No one really got a truly happy ending, if you ask me. Everyone lost too much, has too much scars and now can only settle, always feeling like there's a void that can't be fulfilled and that life is full of injustices but it's too painful to fight back....I had the same feeling at the end of this show as the feeling I got when poor Frodo returned to Hobbiton after the whole business with the Ring.