Série absolument génial bien qu'assez éloigné du livre de Priest.
Cette série est l'une des premières adaptation de BL chinois à laquelle je me sois attaquée après avoir vu the Untamed. Et je dois dire que Guardian est aussi une super série pour plusieurs raisons.- Le cast : Zhu YiLong est un acteur absolument fantastique et je l'ai absolument adoré dans le rôle de Shen Wei. Il porte ce rôle à bout de bras et ne rend le personnage que plus extraordinaire. Il réussie à rendre son regard tellement expressif ! C'est un des aspect qui rend la série aussi immersive.
Pour ce qui est de Bai Yu, bien que je sois moins fan, il a également interprété son personnage de manière extraordinaire. J'ai adoré la désinvolture de Zhao YunLan et sa manière de quand même parvenir à transmettre les sentiments plus profond qu'il éprouve pour Shen Wei !
Les deux acteurs parviennent à mettre en scène une chimie qui est absolument génial à voir et qui rend toute scène plus explicite absolument inutile. L'histoire n'en est que plus pur et les sentiments n'en sont que plus puissant. Je les ai adoré.
- Les Ost : Alors je pense que c'est une des très rare série ou je ne passe presque jamais le générique. La musique est absolument fantastique et ca n'a rien de surprenant de la part de Chen XueRan. Sa voie est puissante et fascinante. J'avais déjà adoré le générique de Tomb Of The Sea, qui avait déjà été interprété par lui.
- La trame : C'est ici que le bât blesse. Pour tous ceux qui regarde la série sans avoir lu le livre, ça peu encore passer bien que certains passage paraitront hors de propos et seront quelques peu décousu. Cependant, pour ceux qui ont lu le livre, vous ne pourrez pas être autrement que déçu. Le fond de l'histoire a été complètement changé afin de pouvoir passer la censure, si mes souvenirs sont exacts. Le fond mythologie chinois a été complètement retiré pour être remplacé par de la science fiction ou la terre aurait été envahit par des extraterrestres plusieurs milliers d'années auparavant. Du coup nous passons du puissant dieu dormant ( livre ) au simple humain ( série ). Cela crée d'ailleurs quelques maladresses par rapport au surnom de Kunlun.
Cela dit, le talents des deux acteurs principaux est suffisant pour rattraper ces lacunes et ils parviennent à rendre l'histoire absolument génial malgré cela.
Donc dans l'ensemble, j'ai vraiment adoré cette série et je la recommande vivement ! :) Vous ne perdrez pas votre temps.
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Maintenant je suis entrain de lire le livre et c'est encore meilleur l'histoire est mieux développé ce qui est normal et certains passages confus dans la série deviennent plus claire.
S'agissant d'un BL, la relation entre SHEN WEI ET YULAN est beaucoup plus développé.
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Une amitié (bromance) qui dure...
Guardian connaît un bon casting avec de bonnes intrigues (quoiqu'un peu trop nombreuses).Il n'échappera à personne, le duo formé par Zhao Yun Lan, le responsable des enquêtes spéciales et Shen Wei (incarnant aussi BCE et YZ), un professeur d'université en génie biologique. Deux caractères opposés. Le premier qui n'a pas sa langue dans sa poche et extraverti, le second discret et introverti.
Mais derrière cette mauvaise entente passagère, on y découvre une amitié vieille de 10.000 ans.
Clairement vendue comme une bromance, l'idée fonctionne au travers des jeux de regards ou de quelques phrases subtilement glissées ici et là. Le duo ne cesse d'évoluer tant ensemble qu'individuellement.
Cependant, Guardian connaît beaucoup de longueurs avec des épisodes qui traînent et semblent sans fin. On note aussi des trous scénaristiques ainsi qu'une multitudes de sous-intrigues ayant peu d'intérêt.
Les décors ne sont pas des plus ravissants et donnent clairement cette impression de ship. Quant aux effets spéciaux, ce n'est pas non plus un argument de vente.
Quoiqu'il en soit, Guardian offre des personnages charismatiques et pour lesquels on aime passer du temps à découvrir. Malgré ses sous-intrigues brouillonnes et inutiles, on ne peut qu'admirer l'aisance de Zhu Yi Long qui tient ses trois rôles avec brio.
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
One of the best summer dramas with top notch acting. Despite the loopholes and divergences from the source material, the drama is worth watching thanks to the acting of two main leads especially Zhu Yi Long, who knows how to subtly convey the micro changes on his face and a great range of emotions. Moreover, its opening song is epic. Despite the fact that most people on youtube do not find the ending satisfactory, I believe it is good/satisfactory as it insinuates that love will go on even after death and for those who believe in reincarnation, it is a promising end. Cet avis était-il utile?
The trailer was in my Youtube's recommendation and I was glad I clicked it. The first episode captured my heart; the moment Shen Wei (Zhu Yi Long) saw Zhao Yun Lan (Bai Yu) at the university. The look alone was a testament that there was something more about their relationship. With China's ban on certain things, what should have been a reunion between soul-mates had to be tone down to soul-brothers. But, Zhu Yi Long and Bai Yu managed to convey the gist of the book (which is Yaoi) with subtle things via facial expression and the way they look at each other. The plot was there but with limited budget, not much can be done. There were some part which made no sense because of the editing, like there should be something more but was cut short. If you cannot stand flaw in small details, then there's plenty in it. Just focus on Zhao Yun Lan and his lollipop and you'll know. One moment it was in his mouth, then his hand and the next thing it's back in his mouth.
The two main lead (Zhu Yi Long and Bai Yu) saved the drama from going down the drain; and to think the initial cast was supposed to be Bai Yu and an un-named actor. Bai Yu in fact mentioned he was uncomfortable taking the part once he read the book. I don't think it's because it was Yaoi but Zhao Yun Lan in the book was flirtier and reminded me of Sun Wukong. The supporting cast were brilliant as well. The entire SID team seemed like they walked out of the book; of course with minor changes to some characters to fit the ban. Some extra characters left an impact with the way they carried their role, for example, the guy who play the new king and the guy who have the fire ability.
The opening theme was epic. It promised of a grand scale drama even though the drama did not deliver much. And it was in English which was rare for China to have for an opening theme; maybe for interlude, but definitely not opening or ending theme.
Heck yeah you'll wanted to rewatch it. Maybe skipped most part and just stick with the main lead. In fact, someone should edit the entire 40 episodes and make it a movie just with the two of them.
Overall, it was the best Chinese drama I watched so far for 2018. Do not watch it for the logic, watch it for the main lead.
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Wait i dont even think this is bromance because tell me who
Waits for someone for 10,000 years!?!
We can legit see the love between them
I love this series so much
Although i dont really like bromance but this serie!!!!oml
ITS JUST BEAUTIFUL!
Its a very amazing drama.
You guys should totally watch it!!!!!!!!!!
It wont disappoint you!
And the music is amazing!!!!!
You need tissues while watching this series :'(
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Story: I can tell you that the story itself may take 1-2 episodes to grow on you but it will. Mostly the show relies on the chemistry between the two main characters/actors though. The story is quite fantasy like and supernatural and definitely something different than the usual rom-com stuff you get everywhere. And over its 40 episode run there is not a single minute that does not fit into the storyline and atmosphere of Guardian. You get drama, action, comedy, sweetness, pretty much all of it!
Acting: The casting for the drama was done perfectly and the chemistry between the main leads is over the top. 80% of the shows awesomeness comes from them. The rest of the cast was superb too and you really forget that these characters do not actually exist somewhere.
Music: memorable, recommendable and I'm totally into it. One awesome fantasy song and one touching ending song will especially stay in your mind.
Rewatch: definitely when I have time.
Overall: for everyone who watches Chinese shows, check this out. For everyone who hasn't tried any or many Chinese shows, this is a great show to start.
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I'd probably only recommend this because of the two main characters – Zhao Yun Lan and Shen Wei – and their relationship... which is kind of ironic, since it is overtly romantic in the source material, but comparatively subtle in this drama. It looks identical to queerbaiting in western television, but in this case it seems that they probably tried to retain as much of the essence of the relationship as they could given the restrictions placed upon it by Chinese censorship.
Perhaps it is because they are so different that they are so drawn to each other. Shen Wei is a distinguished but modest, mild-mannered professor. Zhao Yun Lan is unrefined, messy, and brazen. In the process of working on cases together, they seem to naturally counterbalance one another and quickly become an integral part of each other's lives. They're referred to as friends and they're characterized as a "bromance" in the synopsis, but that is misleading in my opinion. Yun Lan shows zero romantic interest in any other character, and it's indicated that he doesn't really have an interest in relationships generally; he's been single his entire life. He doesn't flirt with other characters – but he is frequently flirtatious with Shen Wei. He is quick to deny having feelings for another character, but when insinuating comments are made about his relationship with or feelings for Shen Wei, he never denies it. Moreover, despite only knowing Shen Wei a few months, there is a clear distinction between how he regards him and how he regards his other close allies he's known for years. It is even more quickly apparent that Zhao Yun Lan is the most important person to Shen Wei. There is an intensity to their dynamic that just doesn't seem platonic to me. It's a censored romance, not a bromance. (Nothing against close platonic friendships, I just don't see this as one.)
There's a secondary "bromance" in another odd couple, Chu Shu Zhi and Guo Chang Cheng. The dynamic between most of the Special Investigation Department co-workers are quite sibling-like in that they enjoy teasing each other and there's clearly some affection there, but they don't seem especially close. Therefore, the time spent on developing the intimate relationship between these two characters makes them stand out. Chang Cheng reminds Shu Zhi of the brother he lost and that surely accounts for a lot of his affection towards him; he wants someone to fill the void that his brother's death left him. But by the end of the story, it doesn't seem to me that Chang Cheng is just a placeholder for his deceased brother. Rather, Shu Zhi comes to genuinely admire him for his own strengths – and Chang Cheng, for his part, is unwavering in his adoration of Shu Zhi, even when Shu Zhi tries to scare him off for his own safety. The lines of this relationship are more blurred to me than the one between Zhao Yun Lan and Shen Wei. The intimacy and implied commitment seems decidedly less brotherly and more romantic, but there is still an element of brotherhood there. I guess it doesn't matter much whether it is one or the other or both; they're a cute duo regardless.
The other characters who work at the Special Investigation Department are enjoyable enough, but a little more forgettable for me. (Especially Wang Zheng and Sang Zan, who seem the most under utilized.) Zhu Hong is probably my favorite of them overall, although watching her struggle with her one-sided crush on a co-worker was a bit painful to watch. Da Qing and Lin Jing both sort of have romances with minor characters, but they matter so little that I wasn't able to feel particularly invested in them. The minor characters who fall into the "monster of the week" category were also pretty forgettable overall. Many of them make reappearances, but I found myself struggling to recall which one was which – a problem I don't typically have even with large casts of characters.
As far as acting goes, Zhu Yi Long stands out the most to me given that his roles are the most diverse. In addition to portraying the various sides of Shen Wei – the awkward professor, the Batman-esque masked hero, and the naïf he was 10,000 years before the present – he also portrays his villainous twin brother with dramatic flair. He is really able to showcase his versatility in this drama. Bai Yu also does an excellent job at conveying the multifaceted nature of Zhao Yun Lan. Aside from the two main actors, Jiang Ming Yang has some standout moments as Chu Shu Zhi. Although the character is generally very gruff, the actor really went all out during a humorous "personality changing" episode, and his more serious moments were some of the most emotional parts of the drama for me.
The OST is quite lovely overall. The opening theme is catchy and I'm afraid I'm going to have it stuck in my head for a while. I don't typically bother watching the opening or ending credits of dramas, but I often watched the opening of this one. The soundtrack really drives home the bittersweet sentimentality of the story.
Which brings me to the weakest part of the drama. The premise of the story is reasonably good, but it is not executed well. The plot is messy and the pacing is uneven. Even taking into account that I'm mostly reliant on English subtitles, the dialogue is very awkward at times (mainly between secondary/minor characters). Fortunately, the main relationships and characters are able to carry the show (at least, for me); had it not been for that, I would have dropped it because calling the rest of it mediocre would probably be generous. The CGI isn't particularly good, but I honestly don't expect a whole lot from Chinese dramas in that regard, so that doesn't really factor into my evaluation of it. Probably the most perplexing flaw is that there were many occasions where the audio switched between the actual voice of various supporting characters and the voiceover. It's a relatively minor detail, but it makes the drama seem unprofessional.
In spite of its flaws, I do consider Guardian worth watching because I think many viewers are like me - if you make me fall in love with your characters and their relationships, I'll be wiling to overlook a lot. Indeed, I did become quite attached, so I will definitely be giving the novel a shot.
tl;dr:
- the two main characters are multifaceted and portrayed well
- the main relationship is the highlight of the show, despite being played down due to censorship
- some of the supporting characters are good, many are forgettable
- the plot isn't particularly great, the dialogue is sometimes awkward
- production quality is poor
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When I first heard of this drama I did a little bit of digging, and found out that it is based off a BL Chinese web novel. I then learned a little bit about Chinese censorship laws and found out that they do not allow gay romances on screen. This knowledge made me hesitant to watch the show, but I gave it a go and HOLY SHIT this show tugs at my heartstrings in ways that shouldn't be possible!
The heart of the show, and the reason you should watch it is the the relationship between our two main leading men, Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. In this case I have to give serious props to the actors because they did an amazing job portraying the love and intimacy between these two characters. In the end it didn't even matter that the Chinese censorship laws didn't allow for outright romances. The two main leads communicated the love between these two guys by the way they held hands. That is some serious fucking talent. Needless to say, I will be watching everything they are in for the rest of my life.
So...the two leads are fantastic, but so is basically everyone else in the show really, character wise there wasn't a weak link anywhere. The relationship between Little Gao and Old Chu will leave you squealing in glee, the assorted hilarious side characters are entertaining, and doesn't leave you wanting to skip ahead to the main characters.
The OST was amazing, you can tell that the show invested the money into producing an amazing soundtrack, one that I have listened to, over and over and over again.
The plot has some weak points, but it doesn't really matter because what makes the show amazing are the characters, and the characters are on point.
Parting thoughts, this is definitely a show that you should watch, the time is worth it. Actually, I'm going to go and rewatch it right now.
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First off, the premise was great. Due to China's censorship about supernatural themes, the writing crew smartly decided to go down the science-fiction path: a spaceship with aliens, a different planet with three main race/species, war between the three - all in all makings of a great science-fiction show, while keeping to the original novel's intentions and message.
And yet.
Right off the bat, what could have been a great entertaining show felt more like a B-grade science fiction movie. The writing was all over the place and it was like the writers couldn't decide what to focus on with so many plotlines and cases running ahead of them. The characters, including Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, felt more like empty puppets with a headless chicken controlling them - mechanical and soulless (if not for the two actors' brilliant acting) which is starkly different to the characters in the original novel.
The cast though were so good! Bai Yu especially was able to deliver the inner loneliness of Zhao Yunlan: the way his eyes dimmed every time Zhao meets his father, the way he stares (lovingly) at Shen Wei and the fear pursing his lips in the last two episodes. Zhu Yilong was commendable too for the way he handled two drastically different roles, though sometimes it did seem that there was no difference between the two (I blame that on the writing, to be honest.) Can I just say that the chemistry between Bai and Zhu was just beautiful? It took a few episodes to get the chemistry going and that's a good thing because it's great to watch the blossoming chemistry take center-stage.
It's such a shame that such a good cast was wasted on this cringe-worthy show though.
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However, the series itself is great on it's own. The actors are brilliant, especially Bai Yu and Zhu Yi Long. The story is quite unique but surprisingly familiar. Yes, there are a few elements that we have seen in other fantasy series before but it also offers a new interpretation and new storyline in terms of reincarnation and destiny. It also has a great production and cinematography.
The best part though is the soundtrack. It's a bomb. I love all of them.
10/10.
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Great first half, meh second half, fantastic CP
This show most strongly reminds me of Doctor Who, which (back when it was good!) would lead us on a lot of ridiculous adventures - some epic, some absurd, maybe even straight up silly. But no matter how nonsensical the writing got, there was always the emotional throughline of the Doctor's character (and maybe his relationship with his companions) to keep you invested and engaged with the story.So that's kind of like Guardian - Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's relationship is the emotional throughline that keeps you invested in this show. The writing really does go off the rails after episode 20 or so. After that I was basically watching for Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's CP moments - I guess that was kind of the point? They were basically the ones who injected all the feelings and intensity into all the silliness of that plot. This isn't a new insight or anything, but Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong's chemistry and their dialogue with each other saved this show. The whole show basically rides on these two men's excellent acting chops.
(As an aside, I think Zhu Yilong's Shen Wei is stronger than his Ye Zun. His portrayal of Ye Zun isn't bad by any means, but he did have these cartoon villain moments where he would yell some lines randomly or do that villain laugh that made me not take him as seriously. Maybe that's down to the writing or directing though? I can't say for sure.)
I think the show is really at its strongest when it has that episodic format, with relatively self-contained stories around different paranormal crime investigations. I was absolutely hooked during that part of the show, and if the rest of the show had that quality of writing throughout I would have rated this at least an 8, maybe even a 9. Those episodes introduced some really interesting concepts and narratives, and generally had very satisfying emotional pay-offs. Li Qian's story with her grandmother? Brought me to tears. That episode with the mirror girl and her boyfriend? Heartbreaking. Some episodes were genuinely creepy and gave me chills - see: the mirror girl episode. The performances from the one-off actors in those episodes weren't anything to write home about but it didn't matter that much to me because I liked the stories they were in. Even the Purple Hair Guy was properly creepy and intriguing until he started appearing a lot more - at that point he basically became a cartoon villain and I really couldn't take him seriously as an antagonist.
The latter half of the show is where I think censorship really impacted this production. I know something of the original setup in the novel as well as the original ending, and I think it's a real shame that such an epic-sounding story was de-fanged like this. The censorship-friendly re-work of the concept wasn't in itself a bad idea - a sci-fi paranormal setup with aliens, superpowered people, and altered genetics actually sounds kind of cool. And when the show was very episodic, that was probably quite easy to work with. But when the writers had to rework the more epic fantasy parts from the novel into the latter half of the show... that's when they ran into some problems. Based on what I know, the latter half of that story draws *a lot* on the Chinese fantasy setups of the main characters and story - you know, the censored parts. And I can tell the writers really struggled to work these plot points into their sci-fi/paranormal rework. I don't think it was impossible to do at all, and I think they should have given all these writing decisions a lot more thought. But I do sympathize with how difficult a writing task like that probably is. There were some bright spots here and there, like the episode where everyone's personality gets messed up by that mind-altering substance which was super hilarious. But ultimately the result is a second act that is convoluted, unevenly paced, and generally doesn't make sense plot-wise. I actually felt bad about how uninvested I was in the plot, but I only really wanted to see the main CP. I will say that the bromance between Xiao Guo and Lao Chu was fun and touching at times though.
The other secondary characters were fine, although I feel like I'd prefer them in their original book context. I like Da Qing, but I don't like a lot of things the writers did with him. They half-heartedly tried to give him a romance and a father figure but I wasn't very invested in those relationships because they just didn't seem to go anywhere. Zhu Hong started out interesting, but so much of her character arc was consumed by her one-sided crush on Zhao Yunlan, which was cringey and made me lose interest in her. That cute librarian couple - I always forget their names, dammit - talk about two people who deserved better. (Also why did the guy have a stutter? Is that really what happens when you're imprisoned in a crystal column for thousands of years? I mean, this person led a whole rebellion against the elites in his society - was the trauma he went through afterwards enough to make him develop a stutter?)
As for the technical issues, the most glaring one is the dubbing quality. You have these weird moments where a character will be talking and all of a sudden the acoustics of their voice will be different, like they suddenly went into a different room, switched microphones, or maybe moved away from the microphone. Super distracting. Also there's the bad CGI... but that's just kind of par for the course in Chinese dramas. It's not that much worse than the early days of the Doctor Who reboot, if you ask me.
I probably wouldn't rewatch this entire show, but just the episodes with my favorite Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan moments. However, I might be interested in a rewatch after reading the novel, which sounds really intriguing to me. Maybe it would help recontextualize a lot of things for me?
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