[Mainland Chinese Drama 2019] The Legends 招摇

[itsmemiya]

@frostflower14 thanks for your list. I started editing the last few episodes, but it’s really throwing me off haha.  I’m going to use your list to help guide me hehe

 

 

I wrote a short AU story where all the happy WanLu Sect members survived. It’s random and badly written, but hopefully it can help soothe some hearts or give you a smile. Click HERE! 

[DontEatMyKimchi]

Hope I'm not too late to release my very long final comments on The Legends.

Spoiler

 

Zhao Yao, is a name I am very familiar with because I have been there since the birth of the web novel. Like every other live action, I wasn't very confident if it was a depiction that I wanted to watch.

You don't come across a female protagonist as fiery and badass as Lu Zhao Yao very often. Thus, if the LZY portrayal here did not suit my taste then with no hesitation I am out. Despite being a new actress, Bailu's acting as LZY has my stamp of approval! It only took 2 scenes in episode 3(?) for me to stan this drama. I got to mail a cookie to this girl! 

Li Chen Lan wasn't a character that particularly stood out for me while I read the novel. The author gave him great lines and the die-heart-devotion package, but in all honesty there are abundant characters like LCL in the C-novel land. Therefore, to me, it didn't really matter who played this character or how great/bad his acting skill was as LZY is more important. In my opinion, Xukai was an eyecatcher in Legend of Yan Xi and nothing more. So I didn't anticipate I would fall this deep into the Xukai abyss. His acting as LCL/MQ was astonishing and it slowly creeped into my heart. However, like Xukai said his in interview, the range of emotions for this role is limited. How many times was our little MQ happy in this drama? He spent most of time worrying about either himself or about ZY. 

 

Every romantic scene in this drama was a keeper. No exceptions. Well, perhaps the scenes near the end of the drama was a tad bit draggy but it was still very sweet. As a romantic drama, ZY was very successful in capturing the hearts of the viewers. (Anything else is hard to say) 

Additionally, there are 2 other unforgettable scene that I would like to bring up. First, the relic destroying battle in episode 23 and secondly, the last duel between MQ x ZY in the Wan Jun Sword cave of episode 55. These caught my attention since the promotional period.

 

Episode 23/  The CG for this episode was a beast, it blew me away.

CG is an inseparable element in 90% of modern or ancient C-dramas. Sometimes they are very noticeable like the 'magic powers' during Wuxia fights, or just simple snow flakes outside the window. Either way, my point is the producers are very stingy when it comes to CG despite the mass usage. Look at the CG in Heavy Sweetness Ash Like Frost, that was cringy and even in Guardian the CG wasn't the greatest. Only a hand full of dramas are willing to sharpen up for this aspect. The storms clouds, the thousands swords, the dragon, the lightning, the demonic hand, the action, the postures, EVERYTHING was exceptionally well seasoned. Thus, I came to the conclusion that Zhao Yao flushed all their budget and effort into this one episode. From this point onwards everything went downhill. Editing errors rapidly accumulated, the screen time between the main and the side characters was terribly planned and distributed, and a large amount of flashback implantations to stall time. Also, have you seen a TV drama with only a 37 minutes in duration? Bloody Hell. 

 

Episode 55/ The duel was the lone scene that is worth remembering out of the whole episode. 

This SHOULD AND COULD HAVE BEEN the brightest highlight of the entire drama. The makeup, the acting, the scenario just everything was exceedingly BEAUTIFUL, yet it was turned into a joke. Don't get me wrong, the duel by itself was extraordinary (including the editing) but every other part before and after it was trash! A bloody disaster! WHY DOES LU ZHAO YAO have the lightning sword stored away in a box container, when it supposed to be in the hands of LMX? WHY IS MQ'S BED SO MAGICAL that it can ignore the existence of space and time? WHY DID LCL DROP TWICE IN THE ABYSS at almost back to back rate? Whether or not it was due the editors wanting transform the original ending to a happier finale to please the audience or because they had to adjust the contents to pass the broadcast committee, the resulting situation leading to and from this epic fight was tarnished. Our actor and actress did such a great job performing their roles but the post-production team demolished their brilliance. Anything else would have been more appropriate than this half dream half illusion circumstance presented. I DONT NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. If the post-production had to forcefully change the contents then at least puts some more effort into it!! DONT RUIN THIS PIECE OF ART! The ending for goodbye princess was heart-wrecking, but it was worth my tears and every second I spend with the drama. If the sad ending for The Legends meant MQ died here and ZY wandered alone for the rest of her life (or whatever other ending) then let it be. It's a sorrowful farewell, but at least I am left with a favourable aftertaste and maybe worth my tears.

 

I will refrain from blaming the writers (drama and novel author that participated) for my disappointment on how the drama was executed for 2 reasons. First, I am a fan of the author 九鹭非香. Second, the original script was more or less lost during the assessment with the broadcast committee and adjustments are also made during the on-set filming. I still remember how impressed I was at the writers' ability to rail the diverging drama plot back to the same track as the novel, or at least the contents were in parallel with each other. Of course, that only happened during the first half of the drama before the new arcs was added. Regardless, my anger remains with the editing team. I am absolutely certain that every film production has to review their product before it aired, right? If the audience can catch an error, then that mistake should have been magnified a hundred times in the eyes of the proof-watchers. Pushing the choppy editing style aside, how many times were there day/night inconsistencies?  If there are complications with filming during night time when the moon is actually out on display, then what is wrong with enjoying the sun? "Look the sun is so warm and bright, what pleasant weather" works just as romantic. What is wrong with having the drunken kiss during the daytime? Details would have been more vivid. An easy swap in lines could have saved them some post production work. Although, I am positive 九鹭非香 did not realized the night time effect would be this dreadful.

 

Also, I noticed the script writer is a total CP wrecker. All the male characters were sentenced to death (including LCL if the ending was the sad ver.), and the female characters were left behind, ALONE. IF they were all married, then there will be 4 widows. The only 2 male characters that successfully escaped this lethal fate was Liu Cang Ling because he remarried married someone else. The other being Si Ma Rong since his lover is already dead. Also, I have a concern about Qin Qian Xin. Is he actually DEAD? Or is this a very roundabout way of saying he has ascended to the heavenly realm as an immortal (mimicking in the novel). The other person that achieved the same divine status was ZY's first husband, Cao Ling(?). The drama didn't DIRECTLY mention the immortal part, instead the direct quote was '我儿子上天了', ‘my son rose to the sky'. So I wonder if QQX's 'death' is just another censorship workaround? Especially when no one pointed out to 17 that QQX was legit deceased. I know this is off topic but whenever I see a character take the form of a butterfly, it reminds of the God in Goblin: the Lonely Guardian. So, while I watched QQX flutter around it made me believe that he is an immortal, not someone that passed away.

 

My final conclusion. 

 

The Legends is a sad victim of mismatch efforts between on-set-production and post-production. Things would have worked out for the better if post production crew pay more attention to their creation. The Legends was a EXTREMELY rough ride of 56 episodes, I DO NOT love every single moment but I am glad I rode along and I do not regret it (mainly due to the actors). With that being said, I am very much looking forward to the military academy starring BaiLu and Xukai. The same producer that produced Legend of Yan Xi is in charge of this drama (some quality content guaranteed!). YAY!!  Now finally, China's very own military version of Hana Kimi.

 

 

 

Bonus: The Armpit Stab.  As if LCL's head stab wasn't awkward at all. 

 

 

For anyone that is interested in the wallpapers [HERE], most of the ZY's and MQ's stills are posted with imgur links to the full resolution (usually 4k).

 

One of my favourite FMV makers, re-edit the last part of the drama (2hr in length). There is no direct link to the video due to copyrights but he/she posted the baidu drive (like google drive) on weibo. I haven't watched it yet because it is still downloading. (If you are not a 'VIP'/'REG' paid member of the baidu drive then downloading rate for a 3x 2GB zip is a bloody pain). However, judging from the comments it is has BETTER editing than the official drama.

• [weibo post Link] [Baidu Drive Link // Direct t.cn LinK  -password: 9ffk ]
• Even though, I truly believe fan edits cant heal the damage done and the official drama probably cut out some materials to morph their 'happy ending', I will still send my good luck to anyone who decides to download the file (specifically to the the non-paid baidu users, like me).  

. 

 

List of all the BTS I posted + Week 8~10/finale that I might have not posted.

Spoiler

copy link into Converter #1 // HD Converter #2 (works with krcom) -

WEIBO LINK   KRCOM LINK  BILIBILI LINK    YOUTUBE LINK

DIRECT VIDEO LINK (DOES NOT WORK WITH THE CONVERTERS.. COPY THE WEIBO URL AFTER CLICKING IN).

1. 招摇 by 陈楚生 & 胡莎莎 MV
2. 未央夜 by 袁野 MV
3. Promo video in modern times (low HQ weibo link) // Bilibili 

1. Unofficial BTS #1
2. unofficial BTS #2 
3. unofficial bts #3- 10 Divine Sect Set
4. unoffical Bts #4- QQX Ice cave Set
5. Unofficial BTS #5- MQ x ZY Duel 
6. unofficial BTS- MQ standing on the altar  
7. unofficial BTS 1- LMX sealing for 3rd time
8. unofficial BTS 2- LMX seal 3rd part 2
9. Unofficial proposal Bts (Ps. filmed by Bailu)
10. FMV BTS
11. FMV 
12. ☆♥️♥️☆FMV!! MUST WATCH!!

1. On set Interview
2. Compiled BTS (10mins) Bilibili link
3. BTS #0
4. BTS #1
5. BTS #2
6. BTS #3
7. BTS #4
8. BTS #5
9. BTS #6
10. BTS #7
11. BTS #8
12. BTS #9
13. BTS #10
14. BTS #11 //youtube link
15. BTS #12 //youtube link
16. BTS #13
17. BTS #14
18. BTS #15
19. Bts #16 
20. BTS #17
21. Bts #18
22. Bts #19
23. BTS #20 ZY + apple
24. BTS #21 Xukai 1
25. BTS #22 Xukai part 2 // bilibili link  (PS. YOUTUBE CUT OUT THE "I'm sorry my husband has yet to graduate from kindergarten")
26. BTS #25 XUKAI's B-Day // weibo link
27. Ep 35 Kiss Part 1 BTS #23 / bilibili  
28. Ep 35 Kiss Part 2  BTS #24 // weibo link // 
29. EP 30 Explosion Kiss  BTS #26
30. EP 32 Drunk Kiss 1 BTS #27
31. EP 32 Drunk Kiss 2 BTS #28
32. BTS #29 Bailu's laughter
33. Wedding P1 BTS # 31

34. Wedding P2 BTS #32 //  Part 1 + 2 + Drama cut

35. Proposal Part 3 BTS #33 // IQIYI LINK Posted today (CUT DIFFERENTLY. There's a couple seconds more)

36. Proposal Part 2 BTS #36

37. proposal part 1 #BtS 35

38. 30sec Hugging BTS #34 

39. Mahjong BTS BTS #36

40. EP 44 Headbutt:  Iqiyi ver BTS #37 (weibo link // bilibili) 

41. BTS #38 (Weibo // Krcom- 1080p) 

42. XUKAI Fight Scenes BTS #39

43. BaiLu Fight Scenes BTS #40 // kr com 1080p

44. EP 41 Hear my Heart' Part 1 BTS #30

45. Ep 41 Hear my heart Part 2 BTS #41

46. BaiLu on SMR's wheelchair BTS #42

47. Crew's Hardwork BTS #43

48. Ep 53 Kiss BTS #44

49. EP 55 Bailu's Crying (Deleted from Iqiyi) BTS  #45
50. Ep 49 BTS #46
51. Ep 45 (?) BTS #47

BTS #44 & #45

Spoiler

-#44-

0.06

bailu: LCL I DIDNT KNOW YOU ARE THIS TYPE OF PERSON!

 

0.09

Si Ma rong: Who would you choose? 

 

-#45- (IQIYI deleted this one, no idea why) 

0:55

right keep digging 

 

1:05

bring down you entire head

 

1:23

Ok 

Bailu go change your makeup

 

1:25

Bailu: SO UGLYx3 

Normally I dont cry this ugly when I fight with my husband. (LOL)

 

Thank Bailu & Xukai for ten weeks worth of companion!

[Alila N]

@xienrue @DontEatMyKimchi Totally agree with you guys. I think they couldn’t elaborate more on your point 3 and 4, @xienrue is because the writer didn’t have enough time to write a detailed in between scenes. As a matter of fact, I felt that each of the scenes/main events we have in the last 3-4ep were like key screens, that needs other scenes to flesh out the storyline. Again, boil down to time and budget. 

 

I agree that the cgi on that battle scene you mentioned were the best, @DontEatMyKimchi I was surprised too, and think the CGI of this drama was far better than a lot of other cdrama out there. I know the quality degrade afterward, but all drama has bad cgi, so taking that as standard, that one scene make this drama trump the rest, if that makes any sense lol!

 

i love the legend because of Bai Lu’s acting during the torture scene. That one scene made me her fan (even though I already charmed by her in untouchable lovers, admittedly I skipped a lot of her storyline because I didn’t want to hate her since I watched that drama for the main CP, which didn’t turn out well at all). I’m glad I watch the legend, as you both stated the chemistry is best I’ve seen for the young generation. Possibly pass TMOPB for me lol (mark is so good at acting and make the chemistry believable, YM, could be because of her character, but in a lot of her series, you feel the chemistry when she’s like the passive receiver of the kiss lol). I too will be looking forward to their military school drama  sad thing is Bai lu said it’s less romantic than this one, but it seems they will have a happy ending

 

all in all, I love the legend for its unique story, its characters, and the lead actors, and all those romantic scenes they have together. And I will be reading any fanfic you guys can link/provide but please in English :p

[DontEatMyKimchi]

<-- Ep 49(?) BTS #46

Drama's Weibo is still active. I hope they will continue to upload the BTS videos until the military drama airs. LOL. 

[Alila N]

10 hours ago, DontEatMyKimchi said:

<-- Ep 49(?) BTS #46

Drama's Weibo is still active. I hope they will continue to upload the BTS videos until the military drama airs. LOL. 

 

Love how Bai Lu just run across the rocks at the end of the video, she’s such an active and playful girl 

[DontEatMyKimchi]

<-- Ep 45 (?) BTS #47

Spoiler

张鑫/17 went to support Bailu on her new drama set (九流霸主) TT_TT

 

 

[kuuto]

On 4/7/2019 at 2:14 PM, DontEatMyKimchi said:

• [weibo post Link] [Baidu Drive Link // Direct t.cn LinK  -password: 9ffk ]
• Even though, I truly believe fan edits cant heal the damage done and the official drama probably cut out some materials to morph their 'happy ending', I will still send my good luck to anyone who decides to download the file (specifically to the the non-paid baidu users, like me).  

Sorry, I cant open the link.. not sure why. perhaps i am not baidu registered user.

is there another way to watch this? THanks.

[happydragon]

On 4/7/2019 at 12:57 AM, miyaism said:

@frostflower14 thanks for your list. I started editing the last few episodes, but it’s really throwing me off haha.  I’m going to use your list to help guide me hehe

 

 

I wrote a short AU story where all the happy WanLu Sect members survived. It’s random and badly written, but hopefully it can help soothe some hearts or give you a smile. Click HERE! 

Here's a recap of the last 2 episodes.

 

https://sonrisatnt.com/2019/04/14/eps-recap-zhao-yao-招摇-episodes-55-56-highlights/

[pad-hari]

EP.55 explained

Cr: as tagged

[Alila N]

1 hour ago, pad-hari said:

EP.55 explained

Cr: as tagged

 

I actually missed the heart necklace bit, but after seeing a few comment and this video, it makes thing clearer, and is actually a clever way to overcome the censorship, and still able to have the lovebird fight each other to showcase their acting

[pad-hari]

EP.56 explained

Part 1

 

Part 2

Cr:as tagged

[mimidq8]

Hey guys, so um quick question...why are all the subbed eps missing parts.  I can only watch full eps on youtube in the raw.  Is there a place I can watch the complete subbed eps?  For example some drama sites for ep 41 don't show ...

 

 

.

Spoiler

the proposal scene or the grave chat scene.  I was so confused.  I don't have access to viki where I live so thats why I'm asking.  Thanks guys!!!!

 

btw, (if this was a repeated questions sorry for the bother)

[bluehibiscus]

The only person doing the Eng subbing has only reached Ep40 and the sites you visit are likely using that as the source. I'm not sure if Viki has already started screening and subbing it.

[miaka fy]

I have the whole serie but again in other site it's write 55 episodes but I dw all in bt and still got 56 episodes. 

招摇.EP56.2019.HD1080P.X264.AAC.Mandarin.CHS.Mp4Ba that was the last episodes I got. In ond@@@@@@, the subbed was done until ep 55. Did I dw the uncut version or the full version. Same thing happen to me for The Legend of Yun Xi or Ashed of love, I got more scene and wasn't alike the one present in viki or any other site.  

 

I prefer to grab all in torrent and watch it when it's out. 

I just love this serie so much, much than Goodbye My Princess. Probably because it's from my favorite chinese author. 

Anyway, happy to meet everyone in the tread  and wasn't able to stop to write in this tread...it's my first writing in drama section after 4 years....

[bluehibiscus]

@miaka fy What are the extra scenes you got for The Legends and AOL? The fullest version for The Legends is the TV cut which has the station logo at the top. The other versions all have some missing scenes.

 

I don't do bt but have found the episodes on non-official sites can be messed up because they mix up different cuts with the same episode numbering.

[miaka fy]

@bluehibiscus  Well, better I upload for ex. one episode and you will see. The version I have was no logo. Episode 56 was 42:08. Take me one minute and you can dw it. I upload the ep 56 and you will see which version I got by torrent. 634 mb. You can dw or stream it. 

 

Anyway any torrent I will just redownload everything again. 

I will send you by pm 

 

About Ashed of Love...it's somewhere in my HD, my version wasnt alike in any version too sigh.

 

[mimidq8]

@bluehibiscus Thank you so much for responding.  I kinda understand now why its so confusing with all the other edits out there.  May I ask who is subbing this? 

 

Spoiler

the site i watched has up to episode 50 subbed, but its all over the place with tons of scenes missing.  I'd like to understand the story a bit better.  who is subbing the tv version?

 

Nevermind, i got it. Thanks guys. love reading everyone's opinion . I just started this drama and have been binge watching for a few days.  Thats why my questions are redundant.  Looking forward to watching the rest.

[bluehibiscus]

@mimidq8 I was outside the entire day so can only log on now. Glad you found the answer to your question in the meantime. I've no idea who is doing the sub up to Ep 50.

[Miky88]

Guys,any idea what version is Viki using?From the little bits i see it's not the DVD ver. aka cwy that is the one the most encode for share nor the tv ver. (WEB-DL)Are they using perhaps another encoder as they don't even have in the beginning of each episodes those little cut scenes before the intro starts...Really wanted to find to DL the ones that sync with the subtitles in english available and that will be from them but i don't know at all what they use unlike other previous shows 

 

If u guys know can u share in PM were to DL(even more if it's a small encoded)

[bluehibiscus]

@Miky88 The TV version is not the same as Web.