Do you like your lovers star-crossed and with swords? I do!

[dangermousie]

Because I have been in a wuxia type mood lately, my latest 'random push of the day' is my favorite wuxia drama ever, Return of the Condor Heroes (2006).

Why is it such a favorite? Well, to start on a shallow end, it is one of the most beautiful dramas I've seen and I don't just mean that it stars the most beautiful woman I've ever seen: Li Yu Fei, and one of the most gorgeous men I have ever seen: Huang Xiaoming. The cinematography, the colors and the costumes are beyond gorgeous.

Even more so, ROCH reminds me of nothing else as much as a romantic, violent fairy tale for grownups, with doomed forbidden epic love, many battles, poisons, armies, magic etc. All that and a happy ending!

So yes, the romance. The crux of the story is the forbidden love between our hero, Yang Guo (who ends up being super-amazing warrior) and his martial arts teacher, Xiao Long Nu (who starts out as super-competent and never lets up). Apparently the martial arts world views the teacher-student relationship akin to a parent-child one, so they are as keen on it as they would be on a mother hooking up with her child, even if the difference in age between XLN and YG is only a few years, and even if they had no idea about having literally grown up together in a cave. There is all the angst you can want, near-death experiences by the dozen, huge sacrifices for the sake of loved one etc etc.

I love both the main characters so. Yang Guo stars the story as an incredibly annoying child (if you watch, do yourself a favor and skip the first three eps) but he gradually grows up into this awesome guy: laid-back in some ways, even goof-ball (well, until the angst gets into critical overload) but absolutely dedicated to his OTP and scary good with a sword. And XLN is just as awesome. And not just because her thought process goes, when necessary, 'if my boyfriend wants to ride into a heavily fortified fortress in order to kill its leaders who have brought him up, OK...when do we start?'

The drama is chock-full of awesome women btw.

Oh, and did I mention the pretty?

Check out this MV:

Awesomeness:

Opening credits:

I posted a lot of thoughts and caps here, in case you want to check out more.

Comments

[lilithiasonata.livejournal.com]

Holy hell! I MUST watch this!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

I love this show. It just so perfect and wonderful. There is something for everyone and the OTP is just so so brilliant.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It certainly has plenty for me: swordfights and angst and this super-dramatic love. And they are one of my fave OTPs...

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

Oh man, your posts of wuxia prettiness is killing me!

Must. Watch.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay! But seriously, skip first three eps, they are boring and confusing. And then it gets awesome.

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

Thanks or else I probably would stop half way through the first ep. 8D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Basically all you need to know is that hero is an orphan running away from evil monks who ends up living in a cave with heroine who becomes his martial arts master.

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

an orphan running away from evil monks + martial arts
I really need to watch this asap.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The monks in this are brilliantly evil. One of them is a rapist!

[bae-mac.livejournal.com]

hmmm...MUST WATCH INDEED! I enjoyed watching this...=)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I love this drama so!

[phatgirly.livejournal.com]

Okay, all these posts about 'wuxia' dramas... I may have to actually jump on the band wagon. I've avoided historical dramas until now because I figured not knowing anything about the history and customs of whichever country would make it confusing. What is wuxia anyways? Chinese ninja historical dramas? And what wuxia drama/s would you(or anyone else) recommend to start with? Hmmm...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Chinese ninja historical dramas?

Basically. They are historical dramas whose heroes are usually amazing martial artists.

ROCH is my favorite, I know meganbmoore loves Seven Swordsmen, but I haven't seen it. Let me rack my brains and get back to you.

Side note: I don't want Japanese historical dramas so can't speak about them, but with Korean you don't need history knowledge or society knowledge. The drama basically gives it all to you.