Chinese Dramas Airing in July 2024
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2024-07 Drama Update
金庸武侠世界 Legend of Heroes, Tencent, June 17 2024, Ci Sha, Bao Shang En
The first drama we’re going to discuss is 金庸武侠世界 or Legend of Heroes. This 60 episode drama began airing on 6/17 on 腾讯视频 Tencent. This drama is an adaptation of the Wu Xia novel Legend of the Condor Heroes or 射雕英雄传 with 5 parts. The first part《铁血丹心》is 30 episodes and loosely follows the original text. There’s four new parts focusing on characters and their stories in the Legend of the Condor Hero Universe. They are《东邪西毒》8 episodes《南帝北丐》8 episodes《华山论剑》6 episodes《九阴真经》8 episodes.
Here’s the plot –
It’s the late 12th century, the young 6 year old Guo Jing lives in the Mongolian Steppes with his mother and Ghengis Khan’s tribe. 7 Men and Women arrive from the south, calling themselves Jian Nan Qi Guai, in search of him and become his teachers. They have a bet with a daoist monk Qiu Chu Ji to train the young boy and prepare him for a martial arts battle when the boy turns 18. Guo Jing trains rigorously for the next 12 years but he is not naturally talented in the ways of martial arts. At the age of 18, he leaves the Mongolian Steppes and begins his travels south to meet for the battle. During his travels, he meets and assists a young homeless man, who turns out to be the young and beautiful Huang Rong, daughter of the famous Doctor Huang. The two continue their travels and encounter a myriad of characters, events, and opportunities that take them to the heart of Jiang Nan to fulfill the promise of the battle, to the Jin Capital of Yan Jin, to the eastern seas, and finally back to the Mongolian Steppes. Guo Jing transforms from a kind-hearted, stubborn, yet somewhat slow young man to a true martial arts master who embraces his role as protector of the land.
The first part with the 30 episodes just finished airing. The drama stars relative newcomers 此沙 Ci Sha as Guo Jing, 包上恩 Bao Shang En as Huang Rong, 王弘毅 Wang Hong Yi as Yang Kang, 黄羿 Huang Yi as Mu Nian Ci. 周一围 Zhou Yi We as 黄药师 Huang Yao Shi, 高伟光 Gao Wei Guang 欧阳锋 Ou Yang Feng, 何润东 He Run Dong as 段智兴 Duan Zhi Xing, 明道 Ming Dao as 洪七公 Hong Qi Gong, 孟子义 Meng Zi Yi as 梅超风 Mei Chao Feng.
It’s the year 2024 and we’re now on our nth iteration of Legend of the Condor Heroes. There’s been at least 7 tv adaptations, with this one being the 8th and 6 movie adaptations with a 7th in post production starring 肖战.
We personally grew up watching the 2003 version and this was one of the books / dramas that sparked my love of Chinese culture and wu xia dramas. I feel like the universe created Jin Yong is SO well known that characters, events, and places are etched into the entire Chinese, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese consciousness and diaspora.
I watched a couple of episodes of this adaptation and commend the briskness of the pace. The first part really focuses on Guo Jing’s story, which is why it’s able to be condensed into only 30 episodes. If you want an entry to this Wu Xia universe, this is a FINE adaptation, nothing special. If anything, go and watch literally any other adaptation and it’s better than this one.
I feel like the pull will be on the other 4 parts, which will feature the more established actors of Zhou Yi Wei and Gao Wei Guang. I don’t really understand some of the casting choices though. Like – Ming Dao, you were in all the taiwanese idol dramas 15 years ago, what are you doing here as a homeless man? You REALLY don’t look the part.
颜心记 6/21 iQiyi – Follow Your Heart – Luo Yun Xi, Song Yi
Luo Yun Xi plays Jiang Xin Bai, prince of Yue Jiang and head of the detective bureau, an office of the 4th rank. He is incredibly acute in his surroundings which helps him in his job because even though he isn’t blind, he cannot tell faces apart. The word in Chinese is Lian Mang. In the drama, it is depicted as he sees blurred faces of ppl but can see everything else clearly. He is in He Man researching a drug called Gui Cao that he wants to destroy for the Empire’s stability. In He Man, he comes across Yan Nan Xin played by Song Yi. She is a traveling doctor in search of a cure for a weird ailment she got after being forced to drink a weird medication when she was young. This medication causes her to change her appearance every month during her monthly cycle. Sometimes she turns into a young child, other times a man, sometimes an old person. She has no idea why this happens but wants to cure it. Jiang Xin Bai and Yan Nan Xing cross paths in He Man and work together to solve their personal mysteries as well as the driving force behind the addictive substance, Gui Cao.
The main cast also includes Chen Yao who was just in The Tale of Rose and Cheng Lei. Chen Yao plays Suo Luo, Jiang Xin Bai’s half sister, while Cheng Lei plays Shang Bie Li, head of the imperial guard of the capital city.
It is an entirely unique script not based off of any book. In this case, I wish it was based off of something. I have been following this drama through to now almost its ending and it’s…fine. I will write a review for this and give it a 6.5/10. THis is a drama that you have to just go with the flow. Yan Nan Xing can just fix a missing nose? ok. Yan Nan Xing can just transform into random people every month like a werewolf? ok. Jiang Xin Bai can hide the fact that he can’t distinguish faces? Ok. Yan Nan Xing can open up a large store in the capital in basically 24 hours? Ok. As for the side characters Suo Luo and Shang Bie Li, I have no idea how they managed to climb to their posts. Shang Bie Li is rash and impulsive while Suo Luo is demeaning and overly arrogant. I don’t actually mind them as overall they aren’t awful people, but when compared to many other dramas or characters, these two would seem like they would have been eliminated in the 1st episode if placed in Joy of Life of Empresses in the Palace.
I enjoy the primary cast and there are certainly burst out loud moments but the plot of this story is 1) outlandish and 2) childish. It is a drama for those that have nothing to watch. It has not done too well ratings wise, not even breaching 9000 on the iQiyi popularity index. There’s just a lot of other stuff out there to watch. I don’t really even know why I’m watching it because it’s mid at best. Haha
度华年 The Princess Royal 6月26日 优酷 Youku Zhao Jin Mai, Zhang Ling He
Next up we have Du Hua Nian or The Princess Royal which began airing on Youku on June 26. This 40 episode drama stars Zhao Jin Mai as the Princess Royal Li Rong, Zhang Ling He as her estranged husband Pei Wen Xuan, 陈鹤一 as Su Rong Qin, 刘旭威 as The Crown Prince Li Chuan.
I guess this summer is the summer where many of the books I’ve read over the past 3 years have decided to turn into dramas and air! I started watching this drama and I was like…wait, this seems familiar and then I look at the credits and I’m like OH, another book I read back in 2022.
Here’s the plot
The Princess Royal Li Rong has held much power in the Xia Dynasty for 2 decades. She has fallen deeply ill and has her advisor Su Rong Qing supporting her day to day affairs. In a tense conversation with her estranged husband, Pei Wen Xuan, who is now Chancellor, the two part ways. Li Rong, poisoned by a mysterious substance, believes that it was Pei Wen Xuan who poisoned her and orders his assassination. The two die on the same day. Li Rong wakes up to find that she has returned to her 18 year old self before she married Pei Wen Xuan. She tries to change the events of the past by not marrying Pei Wen Xuan, but in a surprising twist, Pei Wen Xuan has also been reborn to his 20 year old self. The two of them face the realities of the day and must choose whether or not to repeat the events of the past.
Karen and I have been chasing this drama and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable drama. If you listen to my book differences in the know episode, you’ll basically find literally EVERY single trope that I listed found in this drama. That being said, it doesn’t detract from the overall drama. The main couple have decent chemistry, especially with Zhang Ling He finding his groove in this drama. He’s much better in the two recent dramas that I’ve seen him in compared to his dramas last year. I’ll write up my thoughts on our website so be sure to check it out!
你比星光美丽 or As Beautiful as You, July 2, 40 ep – Mango TV. Tan Song Yun, Xu Kai
The next drama is a modern day romance drama called 你比星光美丽 or As Beautiful as You. This 40 episode drama began airing on July 2 on Mango TV starring 谭松韵、许凯.
In order to achieve her dreams, Ji Xing, featuring Tan Song Yun, resigns from her tech job to become an entrepreneur. Her new company was undergoing challenges and struggled to survive but Ji Xing’s unique insights won over investor Han Ting, featuring Xu Kai. After Han Ting joined as investor, Ji Xing’s company started to operate successfully but Ji Xing “lost” her boyfriend of 7 years. In this drama, we follow Ji Xing’s struggles as an entrepreneur while also having to figure out her relationship status.
Since this is a pretty new drama, there hasn’t been too much buzz online but has done ok television ratings wise on Mango TV as the top on provincial tv network. It also does mark another drama to air for Xu Kai. He’s had several air in the last 12 months which means he is at least in the public eye with his projects.
长相思第二季 July 8th, Lost You Forever Season 2. Tencent and Jiang Su television. Yang Zi, Zhang Wan Yi
With Joy of Life Season 2 having already aired, the next highly anticipated sequel of the summer is season 2 of Lost You Forever or Chang Xiang Si which has 23 episodes.
This will be the resolution of the story that we started last year with season 1. This is a story set in the ancient past. Xiao Yao played by Yang Zi and her multiple suitors – Cang Xuan played by Zhang Wan Yi, Xiang Liu played by Tan Jian Ci, Tu Shan Jing played by Deng Wei as the main 3.
There are more than 8mm people who have clicked 预约 or that they are anticipating the show, an impressive number. Not yet at the heights of Joy of Life season 2 which had over 16mm, but still a very impressive number. Season 1 saw the male leads of the drama explode in popularity and I’m sure there will be significant marketing for season 2 to help everyone continue to build on their careers. Season 1 and 2 were filmed at the same time and I’m a little surprised that it took the network to air season 2 but I guess they wanted to capture the summer market. In a win for season 2, it will be airing on network tv on Jiang Su television. This is not as grandscale as one of the CCTV networks but a step up from an online only airing slot.
Interestingly, and we will talk about this next week, main lead Yang Zi earned herself a nomination for best female lead at this years Magnolia Awards for her portrayal of Xiao Yao in Season 1.