Category: Chinese Dramas

Falling Into Your Smile: How Modern Chinese Shows Have Evolved

Just recently I began watching falling into your smile and instantly I was hit with two things. First, the subject or background story of the show, and second the language. Before we begin I’ll write a brief summary and dive into more analysis. If you’ve already watched the show, feel free to skip this part.

Summary:
Falling into your smile follows ZGDX, one of the top E-Sports teams in China at the moment. They play a game similar to the league, but with various differences. Recently, they got a new addition to their team, Smiling, the first and only female professional E-Sports player. The show tracks Smiling’s incorporation into the team, her struggle as the first girl in this industry, and her relationships. Of course, she falls in love with the dashingly handsome Lu SiCheng, the captain of ZGDX. And as all love stories go, their journey to be a happy couple experiences its ups and downs, and bumps along the road.

While the game played in the show has some clear differences from League of Legends, the similarities are uncanny. The use of abilities, three lanes, and even callouts are all nearly identical. However, even more, surprising than the presence of E-Sports in the show, it was one of the largest messages throughout the show. E-Sports should be considered professional sports and treated as such. Coming from a country like China, where academics are the heavy focus I was surprised to see this show air. While surprising, I am glad to see that China’s entertainment is broad and encompassing. Whether or not I agree with the message does not affect my pleasant surprise at China’s open-minded entertainment industry.

Second, I noticed that the language used by the actors was quite different from what you would learn in a typical highschool Chinese class. Just as in America slang words like cap, for real, and on god exist, they do as well in Chinese. This brings me to my second question. As the Chinese language changes and adapts so quickly, how can we keep Americans informed on this fast-changing language. Even in the U.S., it is difficult for parents to understand their children’s conversations sometimes, while there is clearly no language behavior, the use of different vocabulary shows that a broad and open education will need to be implemented in the future when studying foreign languages.

射雕英雄传: Comparing It’s Three Volumes

Today we will be comparing three of the greatest ancient Chinese novels. Coveted for their masterful world-building and combination of love and heroism 射雕英雄传，神雕下路， and 倚天屠龙记. Each series follows a new hero yet builds upon the previous one. For reference, I’ve attached three links to the places I watched the shows. While the shows themselves are made quite well, you cannot get the entire experience without reading the novels themselves.

  1. 射雕英雄传：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4crHldKx6c&list=PLy8WDOJkSFFwGPZrfRFhVwRwsnkt6t8bu&index=2
  2. 倚天屠龙记：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g47wx_Lnbk&list=PL1e4DW2TYJjtJuhHfPYoIGWENOnKUcsE_&index=1
  3. 神雕下路：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUoFKNjR3E0&list=PL5Oebs_zP0Ir0NSLMufeOAG6DIyQmJ4dK&index=1

While each one is unique and amazing in its own way I would like to start this discussion off by saying that my favorite is 射雕英雄传 (the first one). I found that the second one was often too dark and twisted at times deviating from the heroic attitude the series seemed to follow in the first one. While the third one was amazing and went back to the heroism and romance it frustrated me how often needless conflicts arose out of simple miscommunication. If you’ve ever watched a Chinese drama you’ll realize that 90% of the show could be deleted and 100% of all the conflicts could be solved if the characters had a legitimate discussion without jumping into fights.

Venn Diagrams

For the main part of this discussion, I will be comparing and contrasting these three shows with Venn Diagrams. Unlike my other post regarding webtoons, I felt that the easiest way to summarize my thought would be with Venn Diagrams.

Overall, each story had an interesting plot. Each series was long enough to have excellent world building. And the fight sequences and emotional feelings the characters felt were portrayed well despite the lack of strong animation quality and low budget. While the fight sequences simply cannot be compared to modern day the plot is where the true quality of the show lies. Without modern CGI it is simply impossible to reach the level of fight quality we are used to nowadays. However, this show is highly bingeable and it’s over 100 episodes will keep you up through the night.