The Legend of Chu Liu-hsiang 2012 (TV)

I really enjoyed watching this series. The stories are like in the books. This TV series are based on 4 Chu Liu-hsiang books by Gu Long:  The Love Story of A Ghost and A Swordsman (1970), The Legend of The Bat (1971), The Legend of The New Moon (1978), and The Legend of The Peach Blossom (1972).

I read the first 2 books when I was in junior high school and that time I was mesmerized by them. They were much more interesting than Agatha Christie books. The Legend of The Bat, in particular, was quite scary; because the characters went into a cave where they couldn't see anything. So among the 4 stories, The Legend of The Bat is my favourite.

Only recently I found the first 3 Chu Liu-hsiang books: Lingering Fragrance in the Sea of Blood, The Great Desert, and The Thrush. These three books are a trilogy and must be read in correct order. The trilogy is, until now, one of the two best books I have ever read. --> the other one is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

I also have read the rest of Chu Liu-hsiang books, but I don't really like them. Perhaps it is the translation... Translators nowadays have different style than those in the old days.

But in The Legend of The New Moon, the mystery is not intriguing. And in the end, it is not Chu Liu-hsiang who solves the problem how to kill the enemy.

When you think about it, in the Legend of The Bat, Chu Liu-hsiang also doesn't have to fight the master of the Bat island. So there is no big fight in the end. However, they are many puzzles to solve in this story... and I really enjoy the conversations among Chu Liu-hsiang, Hu Tie-hua, and Zhang San.

The Legend of the Peach Blossom, I don't like it. I don't want to see Chu Liu-hsiang gets married...

But I'm glad they made series about The Legend of The New Moon and The Legend of The Peach Blossom, because when I read the books, I didn't really get the meaning. It was the translations.... And since this 2012 series are faithful to the books, I at last can see what are the books about.

I really want to see the team who made this series make a series based on the first 3 Chu Liu-hsiang books. So far, I think the closest version ever made perhaps the 1979 one. It was a pity that Adam Cheng fell sick during the making, so that the lead character had to disappear in several episodes, leaving the supporting cast doing the investigation.

The fighting scenes in this 2012 version are not many, but in the books they are just like that. We can see that Xue Yi-ren, the #1 swordsman, earlier killed his enemies with only 1 stroke only. Then we see Xue Yi-ren chases Chu Liu-hsiang in a fight and never gets him, so we can see that they both are very high skilled.

When I was watching the part of The Legend of The Bat, they were just talking and talking... When I read the book, I really enjoyed it. But when it's made into a movie... well, now I can understand why the other versions of The Legend of The Bat are changed so much. The producers usually want their money back, plus profits.

This 2012 version was perhaps made with low budgets. I wish they hired more beautiful actresses, and it would be great if a more good looking actor could play Zhang San. Zhang San is a fisherman, so I wasn't imagining an overweight guy. Zhang San in this version has eaten too many grilled fish. --> I hope the actor who played Zhang San never read this. He did well, anyway, with the dialogues, also with the gesture of imitating Chu Liu-hsiang rubbing his nose.

I think it was  also due to low budgets that they had to change some locations. Like when it should be in a river or a ocean, it was changed to a land or an island. Sometimes it worked, but sometimes not. In the legend of The Bat, after the ship was destroyed and they had to use coffins, they reached a land and met Yuan Sui-yun. They stayed in the land, in Yuan Sui-yun's, until the messengers from the Bat Island arrived. Jin Ling-zhi mentioned that she had spent 7 days with a ship before reaching the Bat Island, but after they left the shore, floating using those coffins and met Yuan Sui-yun, it had been only 2-3 days. In the book, they were picked up by Yuan Sui-yun's ship and continued the journey until they reached the Bat Island.

I love Ken Chang Tzu-yao here. In some parts, he looks older and thinner, but it's okay. This Chu Liu-hsiang is patient towards women (but not all of them). While Adam Cheng and Ti Lung were more humorous, Ken Chang is calmer. He often pauses before delivering his lines, though. [I don't like Michael Miu's Chu Liu-hsiang. He killed.]

I checked out Ken Chang's filmography to see if I had seen his works before. So he was in The Lost Tomb (with bristles) and in Lu Xiao-feng with Cheung Chi-lam. I didn't remember him in Sha Po Lang at all, until I watched a clip in YouTube. The filmography only mentions Inspector Lee Wai-lok in Sha Po Lang. Which one was Lee Wai-lok? It should be written like this: Good-looking cop whose throat slitted by Wu Jing.

Korean drama series

Last months I found that drama series from South Korea were not always about romance, so I decided to try to watch a few. The first one was Criminal Minds. I think it was a good production with a solid cast, but it was very similar to the American version, including the cases. I liked it, but it seemed like watching a rerun with a different cast.

Next, I watched Signal. This one was very good, although at first I thought the communication between the detectives in the past and the present was unbelievable. But it was fun to watch. The cases were purely Korean, including the famous unsolved serial murders of young women in 1986-1991. It was not that the detective in the present told the detective in the past who the killer was; but both had to complete the investigations in their own times, which could make changes in the past that would affect the future.

There are 16 episodes in Signal. I had finished the 12th episode and recommended this to my sister, and, there, the last 4 episodes were quite slow. I think they should have reduced one whole episode, especially the unnecessary flashbacks.

Those Korean names are not easy to remember. The translations sometimes only mention the family name (one word) and sometimes the given name-- so I have to remember each characters's whole name. The next series I watched, Stranger, had 3 characters with the name Lee.

Stranger (a.k.a. Forest of Secrets) was very good. It was quite slow, though--> perhaps because I had expected to see the hero, a prosecutor, solved several cases - but no, here he only worked on a serial murders - and a complicated case of corruption. It's like a long mini-series, about corruption in the justice system involving a big company, prosecutors and an intermediate. The hero had a problem with his emotions, due to a major brain surgery, and believe me, it was nice to see him smile. He smiled 3 times and raised his voice twice during the whole series.

I liked to watch how subordinates had to bow when a boss / superior passing by. [It reminds me when I just entered elementary school. We bowed our head when teachers were passing by and we raced to be the first to help him/her carry his/her bag.] Also, there was a wake scene when the guests had to prostrate.

In my opinion, Stranger was as good as good mini-series made in England and France. [Can't remember right now if America has made any good mini-series.]

Now I am watching Voice. This was a success -- according to Wikipedia -- so I decided to give it a try. So far I find this to be a good thriller. However the policemen were stupid and there was something wrong with the editing. For example: the heroine arrived in a crime scene. She got past the security guards in the front entrance and soon arrived in the victim's office. She called the local policemen for back-up. They soon arrived at the front entrance and got past the guards, but minutes went past before they arrived to help her. How many minutes a group of healthy strong men needed to run up stairs to 3rd floor?

Voice was about 112 call center --> equivalent to 911 in the U.S. The head of 112 call center, founded the Golden Team, whose task was to arrived ASAP in order to be able to solve the caller's problem.

Infernal Affairs (TV) 2016

The movie version of Infernal Affairs starring Andy Lau and Tony Leung was a hit back then. It was a trilogy. I Liked the first one very much, the 2nd one was okay, but I didn't like the third. Can't really remember why I didn't like the third, I think the plot didn't make sense.

I got confused with the title when it first came out. As it was about police, I usually thought of 'internal affairs'; and when I read again that it was 'infernal' instead of 'internal', I thought perhaps that police department really named 'infernal affairs'... But now I know the Chinese title means 'unceasing path (to hell).'

They made the tv series in 2016 and only a few weeks ago I could watch it with subtitles. Compared to the movie version, the movie version was much better.

Sing Luen triad organization, led by Wu Koon-yau, was having rivalry with Hung Lok. Sing Luen's attorney, Hon Long, had sent one of his boys, Wai Chun-hin, to be a policeman, and now he was a senior inspector. This series consists of 30 episodes and before episode 10, Wai Chun-hin's identity was exposed and he had to quit his job. Meanwhile, the police also had sent Bullet as an undercover in Sing Luen, following the death of an undercover police in Sing Luen.

I saw the movie version many years ago, but I think Andy Lau and Tony Leung tried hard not to blow their covers. As a triad member of a policeman, they tried to do their job well and gained trust from people around them. In this series, Wai Chun-hin's cover was blown up soon and when he tried to join Sing Luen, he had to force his way. Nobody really trusted him. As for Bullet, he joined Sing Luen not for long ago, so he was also not to be trusted.

While Andy Lau and Tony Leung are two of the best talented actors in Hong Kong film industry, here we have Him Law and Wang Yang, who are not as good as the previous two - although they are not so bad. Gallen Lo, on the other hand, who played Hon Long, was good. But this is not right, isn't it? In a series about undercover, how can the actor who played the lawyer is better than the two lead roles?

Ding Mo Trilogy (TV)

There are 3 different TV series and since I won't write much, I think I would put them in a single post. The trilogy can be watched separately and in no particular order.

1. Love Me If You Dare
The original title should be 'He has come, close your eyes' and I like this original title better. The story itself reminded me of Karen Rose or Sandra Brown novels so I guessed Ding Mo must be a female, and I was right. Male writers have different styles.
The series was enjoyable to watch, starring Wallace Huo, Sandra Ma, Yin Zheng, and Wang Kai. A criminal psychologist and his new assistant vs serial killers. The hero would fall in love with his new assistant. Btw, I think Wallace Huo's hairstyle looked funny from the left side. Among Wallace Huo, Yin Zheng, and Wang Kai; I think Wang Kai's hairstyle was the best. And I never thought I'd actually pay attention to their hairstyles.

2. When A Snail Falls in Love
I only recognized Wang Kai as the lead character, but the cast did a good job. I actually wanted to see again Wang Kai and his nice hairstyle - like in Love Me If You Dare - but here he wore a totally different hairstyle... It was short, like a police's should be.
This series had a more serious tone than Love Me If You Dare and less flirting between the two leads. They began with disliking each other anyway. My impression was: the story was fast paced and I got confused in some parts. There was no dumber character whom the smarter one would explain what were happening. I just followed the story and in the end I was happy with the conclusion.
The lead female character, Xu Xu, drew nicely. She thought of herself as a snail and her man as a lion. I like the drawings used on the opening credits.

3. Memory Lost
This series was very popular but I was disappointed. The quality of this one is a far cry from the two above -- but I finished all 36 episodes anyway :-|  The cast was dominated by young beautiful people. I think the police here didn't work seriously. If they spent more time to work on the cases, the series could be shorten to 21 or 24 episodes (like the two above).
Take an example when a fake bomb had been found on a mall. The two leads, Han Chen and Su Mian approached the site and they met a member of bomb squad who told them about the fake bomb. Han Chen told him to take a rest and he would follow the matter. But Han Chen did not enter the mall to inquire, but he stood with Su Mian outside the mall and talked about shopping and how he would take care of her.
The cast maybe too young and did not have solid acting skills. If this series was made for teenagers, why the topic was about serial killers? The lead characters were more trying to say: 'Look at me, I am cool.' than trying to be convincing in their roles. Sometimes they even talked to themselves...

The Disguiser (TV) - 2015

I am not familiar with Chinese histories. We did learnt a bit about Chinese Communist party in  junior high school, but I guess it's normal if by now I have forgotten most of it. I did know that in the middle of 1960's the Communists were strong in China, because it connected to our own history.

This series was set in 1939 in Shanghai. The main characters were from the rich Ming family: 1) Ming Jing, the eldest sister, who took care of the household 2) Ming Lou, her brother, who worked for the new government 3) Ming Tai, adopted since he was a child. Ming Tai's mother had been killed in a car accident when she was trying to save Ming Jing dan Ming Lou. 4) Ming Cheng, sort of Ming Lou's helper, but considered as a member of Ming family.

L-R : Jin Dong, Wang Kai, Hu Ge.

I didn't know the difference between Kuo Min Tang and Chinese Communist, but here they worked as two different groups against the Japanese, who were in the new government.

Ming Tai was kidnapped on his way to Hong Kong to study and trained as a spy. Need not to say that our hero became the best student, a super spy. He would be given (almost) impossible assignments but successfully did them well.

This series was very good, but I can't say I enjoyed watching it. Very often the plots got so intense and I was horrified at times, especially at those torture scenes. It's like that Irish film 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley'... the torture scenes were too much for me. I know they were just acting and effects... still they were too much for me.

However, this is a very good production. Three actors who played the Mings: Hu Ge, Jin Dong and Wang Kai, I think they are very good actors. They are very popular, too. I think they are three of the best actors in Chinese film industry nowadays.

Triumph in The Skies (TV)

Triumph in The Skies (2003) is an interesting TV series. After watching this I feel I know better about pilots and stewardesses. I think if I were younger I would try to apply for a job in an airport. What I really like about this series was the tips/knowledge given after each episode.

Solar Airways (based on Cathay Pacific) was recruiting new pilots so we followed them as they studied, from cadets to first officers.

In the drama side, the main love story was a love triangle involving two pilots and a stewardess. It was about fate. For me, the love stories were a bit boring, nothing new. And I dislike a character who was distressed a lot, crying all the time....

Beside pilots and stewardess, there were also chefs who prepared cabin meals and ground crews. The head chef often came up with new menus, which looked delicious.

I myself for the last several years only took short, cheap flights - so there was never any meal on the plane, not even a glass of water was served.

The 2nd series (2013) was also interesting, but it was a pity they did not gave useful tips anymore during end credits. The airways was changed from Solar to Skylette. The new character, Holiday, laughed a lot that I thought there was something wrong with her.

Face to Fate (TV) 2006

I think compared to Lofty Waters Verdant Bow, Face to Fate is a better series. The main character was a soothsayer/fortune-teller named Li Po-yee, played by Frankie Lam. At that time, the martial art world was divided into the good and the bad, and our hero belonged to none of them.

Every five years, both sides would engage in the Golden Seal Battle and each should send five representative. The one who won 3 fights out of 5, would be the winner and could reign the martial art world for 5 years. The leader of the bad guys, Ko Shu-tin, believed in a divination that said 'Evil prevails, Good disappears' - so he persuaded more guys to join the evil side.

In the beginning of the series, five future representatives from the Good were killed, so the leader of the Good, Shum Shing-nam (played by David Chiang -- or John Chiang) from Flying Fish Village, asked our hero's help to seek other five high skilled fighters to represent the Good in the soon-coming Golden Seal Battle. The journey was quite challenging because the 5 fighters were all outcasts from their own schools. Li Po-yee, however, in the end could persuade each of them to take part in the Golden Seal Battle - although later one of them died in Flying Fish Village and Li Po-yee had to replace him.

Death Wish (Chun Wong) and Li Po-yee (Frankie Lam)

The guys in the Good were not always kind and the guys in the Evil group also had their own merits. Like when one of supposed to be good guys, tortured the Miracle Doctor's girlfriend by cutting off her leg and arm tendons. This false step would make the Good almost lost the fight because the Miracle Doctor chose to be with Evil in order to cure his girlfriend, and this doctor became a strong opponent against Li Po-yee.

Doctor Lai Yeuk-yee (Raymond Lam) and his girlfriend Yin Ye-loi (Selena Li)

The ending was a happy one, with the Good and the Bad -which was no longer bad - lived together harmoniously.

Wong Ching as King Bat

 The happiest event was when King Bat could see again. King Bat was one of the bad guys and he was named like that because he was blind. The doctor later healed him. I wonder if he should changed his name.

Lofty Waters Verdant Bow (TV) 2003

I read reviews saying that this series was so-so, but I think I quite enjoyed watching it. It was only 20 episodes anyway. The story was ordinary, but I like watching Raymond Lam, Michelle Ye, and the interaction between Power Chan and Pierre Ngo.

Raymond Lam played a gallant hero - named Jin Shi-yi, who came from Snake Island - to the mainland, to seek a heroine named Lu Si-niang - who could neutralize the poison in his body. By the way, if you are familiar with Chinese history,  you will recognize Lu Si-niang's name as the heroine who beheaded Emperor Yong Zheng (from Qing dynasty).

Jin Shi-yi would be involved in a love triangle. One was an kind-hearted young heroine, Lu Si-niang's student, named Gu Zhi-hua, played by Rain Li, ; while the other, Li Sheng-nan - played by Michelle Ye - seemed mysterious and come from the enemy's side. It could be guessed that our hero chose the Gu Zhi-hua and seemed to hate the other. But who loved him more? I think this was actually not the question of who loved him more; it should be whom he chose between the two. I think he did really love Gu Zhi-hua. But near the end, when he realized that Li Sheng-nan, whom he misunderstood to be his enemy, had been loving him more; he left Gu Zhi-hua to be with Li Sheng-nan... but it was too late. In the end we see Jin Shi-yi with Li Sheng-nan's dead body on a raft, heading for the island where they had found the ultimate martial-art manual.

One of the villains, the wulin leader, Meng Shen-tong (played by Eddie Ko), had slandered Jin Shi-yi's teacher so that everybody hated the teacher. Meng Shen-tong had accused the hero's teacher as a traitor - so that they failed to assassinate Yong Zheng years ago - and the teacher had to flee to Snake Island. The teacher's good name was never restored although Meng Shen-tong had turned into a public enemy because it had been him who had cooperated with Qing government, not the teacher.

The setting in this series should be during Qian Long's era. In Qing dynasty, the men should had shaved the front side of the hair and braided the hair at the back ... I am not sure why they didn't in this series. Were the characters all rebels or the director simply thought it was not a must.

I heard that this series was based on Liang Yu-sheng's book, which I haven't read. Jin Shi-yi should be with Gu Zhi-hua in the end and they went together to a remote island where they would have a son.

The Drive of Life (TV) 2007

This is a long series, consists of 60 episodes. It's quite interesting, actually, about the Wah family and their dream to make Chinese cars.

The main characters are 3 Wah brothers: Wah Man-hon, Wah Man-hung and Wah Man-shek. This series were joint-production of Hong Kong and China. I knew Damian Lau and Michael Miu, but I was not familiar at all with the actor who played the 2nd brother Wah Man-hung. The acting was also different: Damian Lau and Michael Lau were expressive, while the mainland actor was calm and reserved. In the story, Wah Man-hon (Lau) and Wah Man-shek (Miu) had been living for years in Hong Kong, while Wah Man-hung left in Peking /Beijing.

Wah Man-hon is the manager and the brain, Wah Man-hung the technician and Wah Man-shek the salesman. The road is difficult, but they finally succeeded to found Hua-che car factory, with the first Chinese car machine developed by themselves --> so they didn't have to depend on Japan anymore. They succeeded in fabricating 100% Chinese cars. Because of this Wah family, Chinese cars are now roaming the world.

Wah Man-hung (Liao Jing-sheng), Wah Man-shek (Michael Miu), Wah Man-hon (Damian Lau)

Hui Cham-yan (Gigi Wong), Wah Ching-yue (Jessica Hsuan), Ngai Wing-biu (Joe Ma)

Wing Sau-fung (Charmaine Sheh) and Wah Chun-pong (Raymond Lam)

While the car dream is interesting, I find the drama side is so-so. There are intrigues and revenges. Sometimes they are easy to forgive, sometimes a little matter can be huge. Like, 1) Wah Man-hung hated his older brother Wah Man-hon for years because Wah Man-hon cheated him when they were choosing who would be going to Hong Kong and who would be staying in Peking. 2) Wah Man-hon's wife, Hui Cham-yan, had a big fight with her husband because he had not told her that his ex-girlfriend visited him in Hong Kong (from Peking). He just met the ex-girlfriend to say goodbye, nothing else. 3) Wing Sau-fung hated the Wah family after finding out that Wah Man-hon had once been her mother's boyfriend. Later, her mother committed suicide after Hui Cham-yan told her the truth, that she had killed her husband (Wing Sau-fung's father). I really can't understand why Wing Sau-fung put the blame all on the Wah family because her mother was also in the wrong. The worst of all, in the peak of her anger, she demanded that Wah Man-hon and his wife both kneel down for her forgiveness. They were her boyfriend's parents... it was very inappropriate.

This series has two antagonists, Ngai Tin-hang and his nephew Ngai Wing-biu. The latter is secretive and calculative. The amazing thing is, every time his wife finds out about his wrongdoing, he seems to be able to find a reasonable explanation - until the climax when she sees herself what her husband can do.

I love the sub-song 'Searching For You in Loving Memories' sung by Raymond Lam. The melody is familiar, like I have ever heard it years ago.

Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion (2006)

I would like to try to read the original book which this TV series was based on, if there is any in English. I only have read one book by Huang Yi, A Step Into The Past, and enjoyed it a lot. In this Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion - I must say the English title is horrible and not interesting at all - we are taken into the beginning of the Ming Dynasty era. I had never read this topic before, so this series were very interesting to me.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese people were ruled by Mongolians, the Yuan Dynasty. I am not familiar with the (real) history, but in this series, the present emperor had been one of the generals in the fights against Mongolians. An oracle told him that a descendant of Kubilai Khan would bring his demise, so to play safe, he killed all Mongolian children at the same age as the Mongolian Prince.

The Emperor ordered the Mongolians to pay hard tax and took men, even the old and young,  to become slaves. The Mongolians, led by Pong Pan, tried to find the Kubilai Khan's descendant and overturn Ming.

I like how the antagonists and protagonists here are not really bad. Both sides are fighting for their own country. Some characters do have weaknesses, like too suspicious, too greedy, ... I also like the ending, where The Chinese and The Mongolians could have peace on both sides and live together in harmony.

Nirvana in Fire (2015)

I really enjoyed watching this series, which I think is much better than Princess Agents. Chinese miniseries are usually slow, but when I was watching this, 40 minutes for every episode went fast.

The original title was Lang-ya List. In the story, Lang-ya Hall in Lang-ya Mountain rated many things. The Crown Prince and Prince Yu from Liang were fighting for the throne and they both were trying to invite the number 1 master in the Lang-ya List, Mei Chang-su. Mei Chang-su was the leader of the Jiangzhou Alliance. It was said that whoever got the divine talent (=Mei Chang-su) would get the world.

Mei Chang-su, using the name Su Zhe as an alias, came to the capital and seemed to be on Prince Yu's side; but he was actually helping Prince Jing. As The Crown Prince and Prince Yu were gradually losing their power and influence, Prince Jing arose in favour. It was then revealed that Mei Chang-su's real name was Lin Shu, and he was the childhood friend of Prince Jing and he came to the capital to prove his family innocence. The Lin family was branded as traitors 12 years ago because the recent Emperor's suspicion.

Every character in this series is good. First time I saw the lead character, he was not interesting at all: thin, pale, ... he was sick, by the way. But the plots and story were indeed very good. I like the battle of wits between Su Zhe and his enemies. Each had to guess what the opponent would do so one could prepare the counter attack. I read critics that the protagonist in this series was too capable, but I like it this way, because I didn't get distressed watching it.

Although Mei Chang-su was ill at the time and could not perform martial arts, we would see why he was ranked #1 on the Lang-ya List.

What had happened to Lin Shu was tragic. 12 years ago he was a handsome, brave, and proud young marshal. In the last fierce battle in Meiling, he was one of the few who could survive the sea of fire and the field of frost snow. His injuries had been so grave that to be cured, he needed to undergo painful operations (something like changing skins and removing bones). When he returned to the capital later, even Prince Jing, his bosom friend, didn't recognize him because the drastic change in his appearance. Also, in the wuxia books it's said that martial arts adepts who have lost their skills are the same as dead.

All That is Bitter is Sweet (2014)

This series was not perfect, but it was nice to watch. Before this, I had just finished Princess Agents - which had been said to be very famous. Princess Agents was beautiful to look at, and I must say that Li Gengxin who played one of the lead characters was very handsome, yet for me Princess Agents was not as warm as this little series from Hong Kong.

Sheung Chun Tong was the biggest apothecary in Foshan, Guangdong. It belonged to To family. The only daughter of the To family, To Ka-kei, was about to marry the deputy mayor, Chong Kei-cho. This deputy mayor was also the eldest son of the mayor. Three days before the wedding, Chong Kei-cho fell ill. It was not grave, but it would take days to recover. The owner of Sheung Chun Tong, To Sum, created a new pill for Chong Kei-cho so that they needed not to cancel the wedding day. However, the pill was poisonous and Chong Kei-cho died. The mayor was so angry so he sent To Sum to jail and closed Sheung Chun Tong. To Ka-kei tried to find proofs why the pill was poisonous so she could get her father out of jail and reopen Sheng Chun Tong.

This series was very promising, until I realized To Sum's step-brother, To Yung, was so greedy and stupid that he wrecked everything. He even sold To Sum's concubine in order to pay for his gambling debt. The antagonist, Police Captain Ngai Chun, was so evil that we didn't feel sympathy for him at all. I think it was never good if characters in a series were too good, too evil, and too greedy. And it would be nice if  Natalie Tong didn't wear such ugly bangs.

Natalie Tong and her bangs. I hoped she wore different hairstyle.

I didn't believe in Chinese medicine, but it was nice to watch how the Chinese traditional doctors treated patients in this series. The size of their pills were big, they had to be munched, or crushed with a spoon then mixed with hot water and served in a bowl. There was also acupuncture. I think whoever found this technique was a genius.

In the story, Sheung Chun Tong had been closed and sealed by the authority. The herbs inside should have been burned. However, To Ka-kei smuggled the herbs out so she could examined them to find which herb caused the pill to be poisonous. When she finally found which herb it was, she told the deputy mayor. But how it was possible? Did she explain to the deputy mayor that she had smuggled the herbs out?

Also, to track down the poisonous herb, To Ka-kei, accompanied by her friend Ting Yat-yuen, went to Yunnan to do the detective work. I also found this too much. I think they should leave the work to the authority. But hey, this was a TV series, where things being exaggerated here and there.

Burning Ice (2017)

I heard that this Chinese mini-series was about a serial killer and since I like detective stories - and it was only 12 episodes - I decided to give it a try.

The police nicknamed the mysterious killer as The Snowman because he built a snowman beside the victim. It had been 3 victims already and the police couldn't solve the case, so they hired a new help, a district officer named Yan Liang. Yan Liang had been a bright detective, but because he had tried to cover a kid's crime - thinking that the kid had a good future, that he should had been forgiven - it was difficult for Yan Liang to get a promotion.

Meanwhile, Guo Yu, a young intern in a lawyer's office, helped his old friend, Hui Ru in a lawsuit. Hui Ru's husband had just been murdered -being one of The Snowman's victims - and the legal wife Mrs Li, wanted Hui Ru to return the restaurant given to her by her husband. Hui Ru refused to give up the restaurant because it was where her brother made his living. Mrs Li sent thugs to terrorize Hui Ru so Guo Yu introduced Hui Ru to Blonde, a criminal, to counter-attack Mrs Li. Unfortunately, Blonde only wanted to take advantage of Hui Ru.

This resulted in the murder of Blonde. The Snowman helped Hui Ru and Guo Yu to cover the crime. However Yan Liang knew that Hui Ru and Guo Yu were guilty. Yan Liang also knew that The Snowman was no other than his old friend, the one who found out about Yan Liang's mistake years ago. It was rather strange, actually, that Yan Liang could guess who the killer was in such a short time. Yan Liang grilled Guo Yu and Hui Ru in the police HQ, hoping that they would confess so the police could arrest The Snowman.

The original title of this drama is 无证之罪, which I think means 'no proof of the crime'*. This Chinese title is easier for me to remember the story in years to come. [*Correct me, my Chinese is far worse than my English.]

In my opinion the young actors who played Guo Yu and Hui Ru were not convincing at all. I think they were models who picked up by the producers to star in this drama. Also, it seemed to me that the young actor who played Guo Yu wore eye liners.😑 It was not clear what Guo Yu's job in the lawyer's office. His boss was a crook who gambled and helped rich clients by every means. His best friend, also his room-mate, gossiping and reporting him to the boss. Hui Ru, on the other hand, was a kept-woman and didn't work at all.

Dai Xu plays Guo Yu. I think he wore eyeliners

 The jokes were also not to my taste. They failed to make my laugh... or was it because this was a creepy drama, not a comedy. It was cold like the setting of the story: there was a lot of snow from beginning to end. The reason for the killing didn't make sense like in many fictions, so it was okay, I think.

The King of Legend (2012)

I finished watching this series yesterday. It's Chinese version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Compared to the movie version with Jim Caviezel and the French mini-series with Gérard Depardieu, I personally think this Chinese version is closer to the original book. It’s rather hard to believe that the Chinese are better than the French in adapting the book, but I think it’s mainly because of the running time. The Chinese series consists of 39 episodes (@ appr. 41 minutes each) while the French series are only of 400 minutes.

This series is rather slow, full of dialogues, and lack of actions. However it’s very riveting and captivating. I think whoever wrote the script must have loved the original story very much.

In this series, the time setting and location were changed. The main character here was Lin Tian-long, a sailor from Jiao’ao village, who lived with his old father. He had a beautiful  fiancée, Mei-zi. Gu Siang-ru and Lei Li-gang who were jealous of him, sent an accusation letter to the police. At that time, Yuan Shih-kai was in power and Dr Sun Yat-sen was the opposition. The letter accused Lin Tian-long to be an agent of Sun Yat-sen. This letter was written in Wan Rong’s café. The prosecutor, Tang Zhen knew at once that Lin Tian-long was innocent, but because the letter implicated his future father-in-law, Tang Zhen sent Lin Tian-long to Prison No.7, a remote prison in an island where nobody ever escaped.

Liu Yun-long plays Lin Tian-long

 18 years in prison, Lin Tian-long befriended the ex-emperor’s teacher and learnt many things. He finally escaped from Prison No.7 and gained a treasure. He was richer than a country.

If in the original story, the treasure was buried in an island. In this version, the wealth was kept in a bank. The translation said it was HSBC. The old teacher gave Lin Tian-long the password to get the treasure.

Back to Jiao’ao, Lin Tian-long found that his father had been dead and Mei-zi married to Lei Li-gang. Wan Rong, the café owner, told him that Lei Li-gang forced his father to drink poison. Lin Tian-long gave a big diamond to Wan Rong and his wife, and this diamond led to Wan Rong’s wife’ death and Wan Rong was sent to prison for killing his wife. This couple reminded of The Thénardiers from Les Misérables. The wife was very irritating, especially with close-up shots.

The scene where Lin Tian-long saved his ex-boss, the owner of Luck the ship, was very touching.

Meanwhile, Gu Siang-ru, Lei Li-gang and Tang Zheng all had climbed the ladder of success and society. They all now lived in Shanghai. Gu Siang-ru was very rich and had a bank. Lei Li-gang had become a general. Tang Zheng was a successful prosecutor.

In this series, Tang Zheng and his right-hand man, Ah Fuk, were very mean. Ah Fuk was some kind of hitman who targeted Tang Zheng’s enemies. For example: Lin Tian-long’s friend, Ah Zheng, back in Jiao’ao petitioned the prosecutor to take another look at Lin Tian-long’s case. Tang Zheng sent Ah Fuk to silence him (but Ah Zheng survived). Tang Zheng went as far as reporting his own future father-in-law to the police, which led to a massacre.

In Shanghai, Lin Tian-long patiently set traps for his enemies. He wanted them to perish in their own desires. I think the innocent victim here was Gu Siang-ru’s daughter.

The ending was very good. Lin Tian-long, Ah Zheng and Li San together roamed the sea. It also showed Lin Tian-long read The Count of Monte Cristo book.

Please note that South Korea also has a series with the same title, but a different story.

A Fist Within Four Walls (2016)

Finished watching this last night. I think it's one of the best recent series TVB ever made. Although I don't know each series TVB have made, I rarely met one like this. In the 1980's I remember there were quite a few series like this one, but it is rare these days. I think TVB lately made lots of drama/comedy series, police themed series, but not one with fist fighting.

The original title should be 'Walled-city Heroes' - which I like better than the English title. In the beginning of episode 1 it was explained the background of the situation. I must say I enjoyed the explanation. I remember the Donnie Yen movie 'Chasing The Dragon' also situated in the walled city, but I don't remember if they also gave the background - other than the large scale of corruption.

It was explained here how the walled city became a no man's land. After Qing's defeat in the two opium wars, Hong Kong Island and part of Kowloon were ceded respectively to Britain. Then under pressure, Qing leased to Britain the New Territories and the rest of Kowloon. However the Qing Court fought hard and excluded the Walled City from this. So in the following years, the walled city was left with no government. It was independent of colonial rule (Britain), but Hong Kong police also could not get in. Criminals wanted to take the walled city over and residents had to stand up for their own protection.

The story in this series began in 1945. Duen Tung-tin of Duen Style Baji [Baji fist = eight-extremities fist] and Chiu Meng-shan of Chiu Style Baji protected the walled city from criminals. In a chaos following a fire, Duen Tung-tin was murdered, but the only witness pointed Chiu Meng-shan as the murderer. Chiu Meng-shan insisted that he was innocent so he agreed to be taken to a police jail outside the walled city. In the jail, he was ambushed by three men, so he returned to his home in the walled city. The residents thought that he broke jail, so they bludgeoned him and his wife to death. Chiu Meng-shan's two children, a boy and a girl, ran away. The boy was taken by the grand-aunt to Macau, but the girl was missing.

Fifteen years later, the boy, who by then had changed his name to Chor Au-Kuen, returned to the walled city in order to look for his lost sister. He met with Duen Tung-tin's son, Duen Ying-fung, and they became friends. They stood together to protect the residents from the 3 criminals who ruled the walled city: one sold opium, one had gambling houses and one in the prostitution business.

Beside the 3 criminals, there was also a group of mysterious killers. They also had to find who had murdered Duen Tung-tin and framed Chiu Meng-shan. As for the why, it was easy to guess.

I like all the characters in this series. Even Miss Audrey was worth watching, she was not very spoiled and was strong. If there is something I hate, perhaps it was Tiu Lan's lipstick colour... but maybe in the early 60's it was common. I also think if a woman has a defected heart, it's very dangerous for her to give birth. So I was at lost when Kuen expected many children from her.

Black Heart White Soul (2014)

At first I didn't expect much from this series. I happened to come across this series when I was searching for Ron Ng's works. I had had watched him in The Four (TV series) and wondered why people liked him because in The Four he had few dialogues, almost had no expression,... anyway I was just curious.

Black Heart White Soul turned out to be a very good series. At least when I watched until episode 20 (out of 30) I liked how the story went. Roger Kwok, Kristal Tin, Ron Ng, and Waise Lee played important parts.

Ron Ng played a policeman who indirectly caused Roger Kwok's paralysis.  To atone for this mistake - and to ease his conscience - Funny (Ron Ng) befriended Mark (Roger Kwok) and told him [Mark] that if he ever needed for anything he could come to him [Funny]. Mark was a lawyer, an easy going guy who seemed to not mind of what happened years ago.

Because of his paralysis, it was not easy for Mark to get a client. His first client was May (Kristal Tin). May had been accused of being her boyfriend's accomplice in a robbery case, in which someone died. Mark was so good on defending May's case that Funny Sir who had arrested her in the first place became convinced that May was innocent. However, in the last minute, a new evidence came up and in the end May had to go to jail.

After this incident, Mark was getting well-known and hired to work in a big firm. When May had finished her term, they became close to one another. Mark liked May because she accepted his disability, and May liked Mark because he didn't care that she was an ex-con. However, Mark had a fear: that one day May would find out the real reason why she had to go to jail, because the robbery was not as simple as it had been.

Kristal Tin played May very well, or is it because I like her strong character. Other female characters here were: Denise (she was okay), Miu-miu and Gillian. Miu-miu was overweight yet pretty, but I often couldn't stand her comments. She shouted a lot. Gillian was more irritating: she cried all the time and got hysterical easily. She accused Funny of using her to incriminate her father without remembering that it had been her who had tried to commit suicide in order to force him to marry her.

The last episodes didn't go as well as I had expected. Funny worked under-cover that his character was different. A while ago I had seen him arguing with Mark and in the next scene he was agreeable to him again. The feeling was similar as when I was watching Line Walker (TV series) - one of the best TV series I have seen -  where Bao Seed jailed his enemies in sort of dog cages [reminded me of a scene in Gone But Not Forgotten] and Cheuk Sir turned evil. The characters just changed.

I think this series is one of TVB's best. 

The Legendary Warrior (2006)

Finished watching this series a few days ago. I think it was very good. The hero in this series is Xue Ren Gui, or known in Indonesia as Sie Djin Koei. I read the comic book versions (2 of them) years ago.

Xue Ren Gui was a great general in Tang Dinasty. He first served under Emperor Li Shi-min and later under Emperor Li Zhi. His real life perhaps was not as dramatic as described in books and films, yet they were enjoyable to read and watch.

In this series, he first appeared as a mute who liked to learn kung-fu. He went home to find his home burnt to ashes and his father dead. It was at this time that he was able to speak and the first word he spoke was 'Father.' Alone without any money, he went to his uncle, but was refused by him. He was saved by a tofu-seller, who brought him to his house and fed him. He ate a lot, but was very strong. He finally worked for a landlord, but because a misunderstanding the landlord accused him of having an affair with the landlord's daughter. They ran away from the landlord's wrath, got married and lived in poverty.

Meanwhile, General Tie Shi-wen from Boliao was going to attack Chang-an. The Tang Emperor, Li Shi-min had a dream that Tie Shi-wen was pursuing him and a warrior in white came to save him. The Emperor told his court officials about the dream. He wanted to find the warrior in white, but General Zhang Shi-gui insisted that the warrior in white was his son-in-law.

Zhang Shi-gui recruited people for the incoming war. When Xue Ren Gui came to apply, Zhang Shi-gui recognized him as the emperor's warrior-in-white and refused him 3 times; but finally Xue Ren Gui was able to join the army as a cook. Although a cook, Xue Ren Gui and his sworn brothers defeated enemy's leaders and brought victory for the Tang army. However Zhang Shi-gui recorded the merits as his son-in-law's, while telling lies to Xue Ren Gui to keep hiding because the emperor wanted to kill him.

When the truth was found, Zhang Shi-gui, his son and his son-in-law were put to death by the emperor. Zhang's daughter, who was married to Prince Cheng, wanted revenge and set a trap for Xue Ren Gui. At this time, Li Shi-min had been dead and the new emperor Li Zhi was under Prince Cheng's influence. Li Zhi put Zue Ren Gui in jail and the officials all worked together to proof our hero's innocence.

This version ended with Prince Cheng's death and Xue Ren Gui led Li Zhi's army to defend the country against a new attack.

Unlike the comic books, there are no gods in this version. Although Xue Ren Gui was a real life character, he never had a son named Xue Ding San.

Twin Peaks (1990-1991)

Who killed Laura Palmer? I love detective stories and that was why when I watched the first episode of Twin Peaks I knew that I had to follow the series, especially when Dale Cooper entered the screen -- oh, that's the "FBI guy" from The Hidden, who looked too young that he might have been recruited right from high school.

What I really loved from the series was its dreamy opening theme - that a few minutes before 8 o'clock on Saturday evenings I had been ready in front of the tv so that I wouldn't miss the first note of the tunes and that image of the bird. [I bought the recording afterwards.] The detective plot was interesting, but some characters were sometimes weird, even though I had seen several works of David Lynch before. In the end, I missed a couple of episodes and never knew how it ended - my penfriend told me it was Laura's father - I can't remember why I missed those episodes, perhaps due to my school activities in those days or because the series disappeared from TVRI and moved to TVRI2, which my TV couldn't receive.

The sceneries in the opening credits were so beautiful and I was surprised when I received a postcard with the picture of Snoqualmie Falls and its Salish Lodge, from my penfriend who lived in Seattle. It was a coincidence because I never mentioned Twin Peaks to her.

L-R: Dr Hayward, Hawk, Sheriff Truman, Dale Cooper

Now I have seen all of the episodes. I didn't know the series was divided in 2 seasons. I thought 'Who killed Laura Palmer' was this series's tagline, so it was weird to see that the killer revealed in Season 2 episode 8. [season 2 consists of 22 episodes] After the revelation, it didn't feel interesting anymore, although the creator created a new enemy for Dale Cooper, Windom Earl. [I read later that the producer wanted David Lynch to revealed Laura's killer asap to increase the series' rating.] For me, the series centered to Laura Palmer's murder and not Dale Cooper.

In the 90's, although I missed the episodes when Laura's killer was revealed, I did watched the episodes after, because then I discussed with one of my penfriends (we both loved Twin Peaks) that the first dead-body killed by Windom Earl might be played by Kyle MacLachlan's brother and also the relationship between Nadine and Mike. My penfriend wanted to know what Mike had whispered in Bobby Briggs' ear.

Dale Cooper in The Great Northern Hotel

In that time I think David Lynch knew how to pick up beauties for his cast: Mädchen Amick, Sherilyn Fenn, Lara Flynn Boyle (although after Twin Peaks, she became so thin!), Sheryl Lee, Peggy Lipton, Piper Laurie; they were all very beautiful. I also loved those close-ups of donuts and pies, and realized that David Duchovny was more beautiful as a woman.

Basically the story was about the murder of Laura Palmer, the little town's beauty queen. Her dead-body was found wrapped in plastic, on the river-bank. FBI agent Dale Cooper came to Twin Peaks to help the local sheriff investigate the case because there was a possibility that the killer had killed a woman named Teresa Banks a year ago. We then met the town's characters and found out that they all had secrets and problems.

I think the FBI only involve themselves in a local murder case after it turns out the murderer has stricken before, so I wonder why they sent a FBI agent to investigate the murder of Teresa Banks in Fire Walk With Me.

Merlin - TV Series

I really loved watching this TV series and tried not to miss each episode, but the channel that showed it, Diva, usually changed the schedule when they showed the last episode of each season. Like last week, when I tried to watch the last episode of season 5 (the last season). It was supposed to be shown on Thursday at 6 pm. It was not shown. I found out later that it had been shown at 2 pm, while I was still at work. As this was the last episode, the conclusion, I sought the schedule and was finally able to catch it when it was re-shown on Sunday evening.

L-R : King Uther, Arthur, Merlin, Gaius, Morgana, Guinevere

Before watching this series, I only had known that Merlin had been a great sorcerer, with white long beard and a pointed hat. He worked along with King Arthur and his knights of the round table, one of them had been famous for his search of the Holy Grail. King Arthur had had this beautiful wife, Guinevere, who once had had an affair with one of his knights, Lancelot. Merlin had a powerful enemy, the high priestess Morgana. Also well known had been King Arthur’s sword Excalibur.

In this made-in-Britain TV series, I learned a lot about Camelot and Merlin’s relationship with King Arthur. When Merlin, as a young man, first arrived in Camelot, Uther Pendragon was the king. King Uther was very much against magic and he had punished those who practiced magic, condemned them to death. Merlin was sent to King Uther’s son, Arthur, as a servant. Merlin had to hide the fact that he could practice magic, although countless times he had helped Arthur without Arthur’s knowledge of Merlin’s gift. Merlin stayed with Gaius, the palace’s physician and became his apprentice. Only Gaius knew Merlin’s secret.

Sometimes Merlin has to drink a magic potion which can make him old, so no one
will recognize him

Meanwhile, Arthur’s half sister, Morgana, gradually found out that she could do magic; but she was afraid of her father. She was so bitter that she became evil. She wanted to be the queen of Camelot and in order to achieve that, she had to kill Arthur first.

The last episode showed Arthur’s death by Mordred after the battle of Camlann. Merlin had been told about this before and he had tried to kill Mordred first, but failed because Merlin was too kind. Merlin had been told that he could save Arthur if he acted quickly. Gaius had said that Merlin had to take the gravely wounded Arthur to Avalon, but Arthur died on the way. If Merlin had called the dragon the fly them away from the beginning, perhaps Arthur could have been saved. I must say that in his last hour, Arthur looked more drunk than dying.

I vaguely remember that Finna, a faithful servant of a sorcerer who had died in Morgana's hand, gave Merlin a little box, told him that it could be useful in a dark time. I think Merlin hadn't used this box yet.

So there goes the image of old Arthur and old Merlin worked together for the sake of Camelot, to unite the kingdoms.

Among the actors, Colin Morgan (Merlin) and Katie McGrath (Morgana) stood out. Angel Coulby (Guinevere) perhaps was the worst, and I think the part was just not for her.

The Following (TV) (2013)

The antagonist was a handsome serial killer, Joe Carroll, ex professor of English literature -expert in Edgar Allan Poe's works - who had searched inspirations to write his novels by torturing and murdering young women. He had been caught by FBI agent Ryan Hardy, who almost died in his hand, and since then living with the help of a pacemaker. In prison, Joe Carroll received many of his fans, who were killers like him. Together they planned his escape.

The series was enjoyable to watch, even though I found the story didn't make sense. Joe Carroll had violently murdered 14 women and I thought that the authority should have considered him as dangerous and put him in isolation. In this series, the warden didn't seem to care about Joe Carroll activity. Carroll was free to teach his 'students' when they visited him in prison, threatened his lawyer, and planned the kidnappings of his wife and son, planned his escape, and avenged Ryan Hardy.

Too many serial killers in this series and they all idolized Joe Carroll. Most of them had uninteresting personality - mostly they were insane. I prefer watching movies with smart serial killers (and not a group of slaves like in this series), with smarter detectives to catch them.

"The grim reality is that there are always somewhere between 35 and 300 active serial killers (depending on who you ask) in the US alone." And from this fact, the creator of this series gathered them all and made them love Joe Carroll. What was so special about Joe Carroll, anyway? Apart from his good looks and good manners, he actually failed: both as a writer and a serial killer.