The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow

No. of episodes: 20

Cast:
Kong Wah – Emperor Yung Cheng/Lee Tai Ha
Maggie Cheung – Lui Sei Leong
Melissa Ng – Rachel Sum
Gilbert Lam – Frankie Sum
Paul Chun Pui – Sum Siu Hong
Anthony Tang – Hugo Sum
Cheung Chi Kwong – Brian Sum
Halina Tam – Tina

I haven’t been compelled to write a review in a long, long time. That’s because I haven’t been able to sit down to a series for a long, long time and not feel the urge to drop out halfway. What I look for in a series is really very simple. It has to entertain me. It has to keep me interested. And The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow fulfills these two simple rules. I was initially drawn to it for two main reasons. One: its interesting premise (so, I like all these time travel thingies); and two: Maggie Cheung.

The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow tells the tale of how Emperor Yung Cheng and Lui Sei Leong are accidentally transported 200 years into the future into modern day Hong Kong. Now, you can just imagine the reactions of these two Ching period characters when they wake up to find themselves in a totally unfamiliar environment. But that’s when we also get to see the differences between Yung Cheng and Lui Sei Leong. Being emperor, Yung Cheng chooses to observe his surroundings and is calm and composed albeit a little apprehensive. Lui Sei Leong, on the other hand, having been brought up with only one thing in mind, is bent on assassinating the emperor and reviving the Ming. She doesn’t care where or what time period she’s in! This, of course, results in a series of hilarious incidents involving the both of them. Yung Cheng assumes the identity of a Lee Tai Ha and is taken in by his uncle and family, while Lui Sei Leong joins a martial arts performing troupe.

Through a series of events, Lee Tai Ha joins Siu Hong, an interior design/property development company and comes into contact with the Sum family who own and run the business. Lui Sei Leong also ends up as old Mr. Sum’s bodyguard. Thus the two get embroiled in the Sum family affairs and that’s when it starts to get even more interesting.

I like how a parallel similarity is drawn between the going-ons in Siu Hong and Yung Cheng’s imperial court. In the imperial court, Yung Cheng is emperor presiding over his subjects and fending off opposition from his royal brothers. In Siu Hong, Mr Sum is the ‘emperor’ trying to achieve a balance between his three wives and decide whom of his three sons he should pass his ‘empire’ on to. You always hear of Sun Tzu’s Art of War being practiced or used as a tool for businesses today. Okay, so this is no Sun Tzu Art of War but I reckon it comes close enough. It’s politics all around, whether we’re in a modern-day company or in an ancient-day imperial court. You have the wives fighting among themselves as they prod and encourage the ambitions of their children. You have siblings fighting and trying to outdo each other for their father’s affection, acknowledgement and power. Who’s in favour? Who’s out of favour? Who will eventually ascend to the throne and be Siu Hong’s next chairman?

Yung Cheng as Lee Tai Ha draws on his experience or rather, imperial instincts, and gets caught right smack in the middle of this feud. But what’s interesting to ponder about is whether the Sum family would have ended up the way it did if Lee Tai Ha never appeared in the picture. Like how Frankie put it towards the end –- it is in Yung Cheng’s nature to cause disorder. Which brings me to another point –- would Frankie have turned out the way he did if not for the appearance of Lee Tai Ha?

Then there’s the love triangle between Lee Tai Ha, Rachel and Lui Sei Leong, which wasn’t heart-rending at all, in my opinion. There just didn’t seem to be much romance between the three main leads. What was funny though was Lee Tai Ha’s seemingly nonchalance to the whole thing. He couldn’t understand why he just couldn’t have both women. After all, he was emperor and an emperor has more than 3000 women at his beck and call. At the end of the day I really didn’t mind who Lee Tai Ha ended up with. The romance just wasn’t deep enough for me to root for one woman over the other.

The ending, as is typical of most TVB endings, is rushed yet again. But I guess there was some sort of closure and our protagonist does end up with one of his two women. So I won’t rant on too much about that.

As for the cast, I have to say that this is one of the best casts I’ve seen in awhile. From the leads to the supporting players, everyone acted out their roles superbly and complemented each other well. Kong Wah just reeks of ‘royalness’ and had the right amount of poise and air to carry out his role as Emperor Yung Cheng. Although at times I thought he overacted a bit, he still managed to pull it off convincingly. Maggie as Lui Sei Leong provided the brunt of laughs here. Her initial unwillingness to accept the fact that she was in a totally different time period added to the funny situations. Again, there was some tendency towards overacting. Then again, hers wasn’t an easy role to portray – Lui Sei Leong, unlike Yung Cheng, was not as quick and comfortable fitting into the 21st century. Gilbert Lam as Frankie was totally despicable and you won’t have an ounce of sympathy for him when he gets his just desserts in the end. I know I didn’t.

There are a couple of things that bothered me throughout this series though. I just couldn’t buy the fact that Yung Cheng adapted so fast to life in modern-day Hong Kong. I mean, hello, this guy lived 200 years ago when there were no such things as computers or TVs or stock markets etc. Yet he picked them up at an amazing speed. Sure, he was emperor and not alike ordinary people so that should account for his exceptional deftness but I just thought it was a little ridiculous. Lui Sei Leong’s reactions were more, what I would call, real. Although again, there were some instances when she caught on too quickly to certain modern gadgets as well e.g. the gameboy Frankie gave her. Then there’s good guy Frankie and bad guy Frankie. I can’t help but wonder if he was bad all along and if all that good at the start of the series was just a show? Was Lee Tai Ha the instigator? Would Frankie have stayed good guy Frankie if Lee Tai Ha never featured in his life at all? Then there was Rachel’s friend, Szeto (played by Hong Wah). I found it rather unbelievable that she could turn on her best friend whom she loved so much at the snap of a finger. I reckon it was a rather cop-out way of getting rid of her character. Also, how the hell did Lui Sei Leung manage to stay in Hong Kong without identification of any kind? Yung Cheng had Lee Tai Ha’s identity but Lui Sei Leung had no ID, no passport, no papers, no nothing. It’s a wonder she wasn’t deported!

Anyway, despite its shortcomings, The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow is a truly enjoyable affair with just the right balance of drama and comedy. Its point of interest lies in its drawing of similarities between the imperial court and today’s battlefield that is the workplace. I particularly like the Chinese title of this series too – ‘Gau Mm Zi Juin’ – literally meaning, ‘The Best 9-5’. Its double meaning again reflects the similarities between the emperor of yesterday and his role today. No matter where he is, whether in his imperial court or working 9 to 5 in a modern day job, he still shines above the rest.

A definite must watch.