Guardian (2018)

I don't really watch chinese bromance dramas because they can be very frustrating, especially not those I am familiar with the source material of like Beloved Enemy or Advance Bravely . Guardian is somehow different however, although it suffers greatly from the censorship issues due to which the boy's love and magic/supernatural content of the original novel was toned down to bromance and some sort of pseudoscience it is still highly enjoyable due to the great acting and the overall cuteness.

ACTING: 10/10 Perfect in every possible way. The acting is the heart and soul of this drama series, while the script and the production value might not be the greatest, the acting alone is enough fo me to recommend it wholeheartedly. The lead actors are absolutely flawless as Shen Wei and Zhao Yun Lan. They are both familiar with the source material, and did a great job delivering stuble references to the not so bromance nature of their relationship without getting in trouble with the censorship. The supporting characters are also perfection. I really loved the Chu and Guo dynamics,they are absolutely adorable, and they even got their happy ending :)

PLOT: 7/10 It starts off great, then in the second half of the series it starts to go all over the place, mostly due to sensorship. They had to eliminate way to much of the supernatural elements and rewrite the whole background story to remove the risky parts. At the end it kinda makes sense, but there are plotholes and it is very rushed. Tipical sad case of a great story falling victim of censorship, In this case it is also the supernatural part of the story that suffers, since the original novel incorporates daoist and chinese buddhist mythology, actual deities and other mythological creatures, zombies, spirits, ghost, exorcist elements, and the whole battle has a way more cosmological meaning, and on top of it there is the Tibet thing... Obviously none of these could make it to the series.

PRODUCTION QUALITY: 7/10 the CGI is rubbish, and some of the props make you feel like you are watching a stage play, but it adds to the overall cute goofyness so I am not mad at it. They made the most of the resources what they had.

Worth mentioning that the series take place as a side story of the original novel when the main characters get trapped in a time loop, hence the different storyline and ending. This was the author's way of incorporating the series into the novel's universe after not being able to film the original story due to censorship issues.

For those who say it is a sad ending:
If you consider the novel's timeline, the series has a positive ending, finishing the 81rst loop and can go back to their happy ending :)
If you never read the novel and don't plan reading and just assume they died, I still consider it a somewhat positive ending since the whole story is about reincarnation, so they will meet in their next life and can start over again.

Leia Mais

I love this series!!

I love this series and I hope to see season 2 with a real happy ending. With them being together and working together. The story is very good and I love it but my heart is in the hang when I see the ending part in which they both did not have a happy ending. And what about the end part where Zhoa was injected? what happens to that? I really believe that there is more to that story. I hope that you will create a season 2 of this and it will definitely win. Please original cast, main actors and support actors should be there still because they are all great and I love them.

Leia Mais

I have not read the novel, so my reveiw is purely based on show itself.
I came across this drama while trying to find a drama with similar bromance (read: BL) feel as The Untamed. First of all, this is very different to The Untamed; the only similarity I found in them is the chemistry between the main leads and the censored romance aspect. The prodution quality of The Guardian is also no where near TU level so if you are looking for a beautifully shot bromance drama with fantastic CGI and iconic OST, you will be dissapointed.

The best part of this series is the chemistry between the main leads. Zhu Yi Long and Jhonny Bai are phenomenal in their roles; they will make you laugh, gasp and cry. Special kudos to Zhu Yi long for his double acting as 2 completely different characters. I also enjoyed Ocean Jiang's portrayal of the Chu shu Zi. My score of 9 for acting was purely because of these 3 actors.
The OST, was another highlight of the show for me. Opening OST was approriately epic, and the ending theme was used well in cut scenes.

Now for the not so great parts, which unfortunately there was quite a bit of.

The supporting casts' acting ranged from decent but not very memorable to downright cringe inducing at times. Main supporting cast was not too bad, overall they did a decent job (except Ocean Jiang who was fantastic), but ultimately their performance was not very memorable. Majority of minor characters and Dixiang of the week charcters on the other hand was memorable only basue of the cringe induced headaches I got watching them :/

The story itself was nothing special, but it held my interest long enough to finish the series. It had a quite a few plot holes unfortunately, especially towards the end. Again, I haven't read the novel so I don't know if the original story was the same or better.

It is very obvious these guys worked on the tight budget. the most glaring evidence of this was the pretty terrible CGI. To be fair, they made a good call in the begining by minimising their use of CGI and sticking with props, and the Dixiang world looked decent overall. But they really dropped the ball with the weird rainbow time dimension which was just ugh...

Overall, it was a good time. I did lose my interest in the middle, but I am still glad I stuck through to finish it. The show has a lot of shortcomings, but the acting and chemistry of the leads made watchign it worthwhile.

Leia Mais

Let me start out by saying the idea or the story behind the show was amazing, from the first episode you may be hooked.
i loved the chemistry and history between the professor and the captain like i hate bromance but theirs was so adorable
i admire how they tried to touch on each teammates life as to show how important they are but it was kind of all over the place like one minute they are focusing on the captain and professor then out of the blue its another persons story and then back to the main leads, which was kind of annoying because it was really fast and now its over.....
another problem with it is that the teammates were weak in a sense they couldn't fight for their lives and most of them didn't know how to investigate, the captain was too laid back and wasn't training them how to be the best versions of themselves they could be, like in on of the episodes the captain wasn't there and they were lost and didnt know how to solve the case properly, also some episodes were flat and had no meaning to it, some teammates were just there for the number like they did not need them at all(waste of a pay check) and finally the story was kind of dragged on, fighting scenes were very limited oh and the captain cant fight the monsters and other creatures yet he is the captain.

anyway those were acouple of points that annoyed me and made me skip alot but overall its a watchable drama.

Leia Mais

I am going to start by saying the tags for this show doesn't do it justice. When I read the tag Obsession I thought it would be minor but nope every character in this show was obsessed with someone. Don't get me wrong I'm not ragging on it because I thought that made the show more endearing.
Now as for who played all the characters I thought they were sweet and all had good chemistry together. You could tell they all worked well together.
Honestly, I couldn't help but cry at some parts but found myself rewatching the parts all over again to cry some more. I understand that this was an adaption for a BL novel and honestly you could tell that Zhao and Shen loved one another, especially in the ending. One of them even asked to die I won't say who to be with the other. Some of the characters were flakes at how they choose to be but I figured there have to be some bumps in the road for the main characters.
I love the dedication between all the characters along with the loyalty to stand by each other even when the feelings weren't the same. The brotherhood and sisterhood in this show made you want a bond like that. Honestly made me feel like no one in the world would wait 10,000 years for someone to come around again so that part was a little unrealistic unless you really loved the person you were waiting for.
AS for the ending, I was a bit confused at first but then I rewatched it and noticed what they did.
I plan on reading the novel now.
I highly recommend this drama. You don't need romance to be in the title for you to know it's there.
Also, the music came in at the best parts during the scenes. They picked the best songs. I particularly found myself listening to the intro every time I started a new episode which was honestly rare for me with any show.
JUST saying this is, in my opinion, a tragedy.

Leia Mais

Perfect main pair bromance, terrible special effects. Could have been great with more budget.

I started this as people said it's got a similar bromance to The Untamed. It started out pretty well. There was a mystery, that got solved over one or more episodes. We got backstories of the main and side characters. There's amnesia, hiding stuff and misunderstandings galore as the 2 male leads figure out how to work together. It is paired with a brilliant soundtrack and one of the best Opening songs of any drama - just majestic, powerful and wonderful. The ending song becomes more and more relevant towards the end of the series and when you finally get it, it breaks your heart.

Both Main Male Leads are fantastic, and that is the greatest strength of this series. One knows about the past, the other about the future. It's a pairing fated by destiny and time. Shen Wei the Dixing guy who can REALLY act is gorgeous, the actor Zhu Yi Long is so handsome every time he comes on screen my heart flutters. His soul mate Zhao Yun Lan (Johnny Bai) is smart, stubborn and mischievous. It's a wonderful pairing and that sort of chemistry cannot be faked. Loved it. This is the series that taught me even an innocent lollipop can be considered erotic food in the hands of the right actors. Yaaasss .... That innocent lollipop had a huge emotional payoff in the last episode. Damn, pass the tissues.

The supporting cast was varied in their acting ability and likeability. Old Chu wins best actor. You really FELT his feelings. That part when he was all girly made me laugh so hard. He's equally good at anger, regret and pathos. Someone give him a best actor statue already. The lovesick girl(s) got annoying. I wish the script was better for them. The cat guy - what idiot thought it would be a good idea to dress him in white turtleneck paired with denim overalls? He's a cute guy and cute as a cat, but dressing him like some failed lumberjack / farmer is visually unappealing. #wastedopportunity

There are several drawbacks. The amateur hour special effects. Terrible wigs that don't fit well and look ... fake as hell. Inconsistencies in costumes. Why are some Dixing people in formal fantasy attire, while others are dressed like casual earth people? If they at least dressed the Dixing people differently from the earth people it would be easier to visualize them as being from different worlds. Same criticism goes for the Yashua clan.. The plot kind of meanders and slows down in the middle before picking up again.

One of the strengths of this series is the ending. The unspoken love between the 2 male leads who both sacrificed themselves to "save the world". That's pure, and beautiful. Similar to the Untamed, I wanted them to end up together. So much I cried at the end reunion. Those 2 guys can REALLY act and I will probably start watching other shows that feature those actors. I'm a fan for life.

Leia Mais

How much you love this show is going to depend a bit on: what writing style you prefer, and on how much you expected it to be like the novel.

Is it like the novel? While some key points were kept, the novel has a different set up to a degree and a different plot, so I treated them like different things. That said, the main characters were portrayed in a lot of ways like the novel, the romance felt similar, the lead actors did a phenomenal job portraying their roles, and I definitely connected emotionally and it hit me hard. I saw the drama first, and on its own I actually really liked the plot because its very sci-fi/fantasy used as allegory sort of like x-men to comment on society and prejudices and justice. I always love those kind of stories. And a ton of the episode-cases tended to be parallels to the main story/romance between Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei, and I love when storytelling uses side plots to comment further on the main plot or contrast to it. For people who do not like this writing style - cases, parallels, allegory - they might get bored/annoyed. For people who love this style, a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer kind of shows, if they're like me they'll love it. And... if you go in expecting the novel story, this is not really it - more like an AU. That said, the main characters are really solidly portrayed as is the main relationship.

A last note about the plot/setup of the show: the sci-fi/fantasy premise is easier to just treat as a flimsy thing used as allegory, because the show does not bother trying to make their sci-fi explanations sound legit (which makes sense, since in the novel all this stuff is more ghosts/demons/magic tools, and the show just shifts it to 'mutants' and 'science-blah-to-replace-ghost-word' or 'science-blah-to-explain-magic-item' which works fine as allegory but I imagine is annoying if you expect the original fantasy setup or a more seriously-attempted sci fi setup. Its just using the fantasy/sci-fi mesh setup as needed in this show to pursue its themes... its not trying to make it solid. I didn't mind it, but it's probably annoying if you go in trying to treat it like a serious science-based sci fi setup then see ghosts and magic tools and wonder why they're explaining everything so weird/inconsistently.

What might people not like: the cgi lol. The cgi. I am used to some old old Xena Warrior Princess 1990s cgi and Star Trek TOS special effects, so I didn't mind this shows cgi and actually thought it was kind of funny to watch tbh. But if you come in expecting GOOD cgi you will cry. Either treat it like a fun joke, or you will be offended at how yikes some special effects look. Expect cheap 1990s looking effects, at best...

I loved this show so much I started learning chinese so I could eventually read the book by Priest, and Priest's other books, because I loved the characters and some story points portrayed in this show so much. It's been great, so I'm immensely grateful to this show. This show also introduced me to Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu who are both absolutely fantastic actors, and everything I've checked them out in since they've done pretty cool stuff with their characters even when they get weaker writing then they ought to have lol. With the writing in THIS show, they do wonderful work, and Shen Wei is a character now fixed in my head as intense and full of presence as like Xena or Buffy or Spock. Side actors actually stood out to me besides the leads - namely Lao Chu and Zhu Hong's actors, who I'd likely check out other dramas of. This is very much a kind of campy, sci-fi found family and romance sort of show that mixes real life allegory with ridiculous sci-fi/fantasy premises, and that's either going to be your thing or its not. The romance is fantastic either way - but the rest will be love or dislike depending on what you like in your stories.

Actual story wise, I loved the soulmates through ages, the starcrossed lovers from different groups, the found family pushing for a better system, the time travel, how Zhao Yunlan is so flirty with Shen Wei so immediately and that their relationship is a heavy solid presence throughout, and I actually loved the end (although some people won't). Their relationship felt intensely akin to Xena/Gabrielle to me, like soulmates that always find each other, choose each other, and affect the world together. This show is technically... technically a bromance, based on a romance novel, and so clearly implied as a romance as much as literally possible (hence coming off a TON like how Xena/Gabrielle danced just barely in subtext as lovers in the 90s). Because of a lot of things that combined in this show - the solid characters (amazing Acting from the leads), the storytelling style and tropes I love, the lovely music and very unique feel of the show (despite its ridiculous cgi lol) - this show easily became one of my favorite shows of all time. And the romance... wow this romance really is timeless... its up there on soulmate stories like Xena and Gabrielle for me...

Leia Mais

I didn't read the novel so I am starting from the drama! Loving it! The chemistry between ZYL and BY is the best seriously, the bromance is like everywhere! Both main characters are amazingly wonderful to watch.

It's been awhile since I have seen an interesting science fiction/supernatural drama Zhu Yi Long’s character is in charge of catching underground people who behave badly among humans, much different from the novel where almost all demons, ghosts and monsters were terrified of him. I am impress with how ZYL portrays Shen Wei.

Overall, a very very great drama. Re-watch? Yes, of course!

Music, OMG their OST blown me awayyyyy ~
And I love how they gave the cat it's own photo too! He must play a very important role! ?????

Leia Mais

"Suppress the heart of evil, spread the virtue of kindness"

The above is the motivation behind the main characters' actions and the ideal which strongly bonds them together. Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's story which spans tens of thousands of years (and potentially more) has never strayed the path of protecting everyone and holding on to what is right.

Cast/Acting

I only have good words for the cast and acting especially the main characters. To be very honest, the whole drama is worth watching for their acting and strong chemistry, even if you're not interested with the plot or the mystery-supernatural stuff (like I was). Bai Yu is a very charismatic actor and I have to admit he is one of the main reasons why I got hooked to this immediately. Zhu Yilong is VERY amazing in his portrayal of different characters. The chemistry between them is off-the-charts, the strongest I've seen in dramaland. The other amazing thing is some of the drama's most iconic scenes have been acted out impromptu(!!!) by them. Although for me the best actor here is Jiang Mingyang who played Brother Chu. His dedication to really understand and portray the character is amazing.

Story

There are some plotholes here and there but it shouldn't take away from the whole experience. The drama suffered from censorship laws so things had to be changed from the source material (gods and ghosts -> human-like beings with special powers, romance -> brotherhood, etc.), but there was a great effort from the production team. Nonetheless it stayed true to Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's principles, brotherhood, and sacrifices, which is a compelling story on its own.

Production

I'm usually lenient to CGI and visual effects but strictly speaking it's very weak, probably 6.5/10 for me. But the acting really made up for it. Plus we have to understand and accept that the team did the best that they can despite losing budget (I heard that the company went bankrupt halfway through the filming) and tiptoeing the lines of censorship (things are stricter for modern dramas). Plus the drama was TAKEN DOWN by the government a few weeks after it finished airing and needed to be re-edited before it can be re-uploaded, which shows that they encounter much more troubles than we know about.

In any case the amazing performances of the actors, the STRONG chemistry between the leads, the beautiful story of the main characters, and the perfect OST (I have listened to the whole album on-loop without skipping because it is that good), among other things, are the reasons why everyone should give this drama a try.

Leia Mais

Beautiful ...heart-wrenching ... A Must-Watch

Having watched so many series, I was looking for an original and appealing plot.
I am not a fan of movies containing a lot of action, suspense and supernatural forces but I read so many reviews praising this series. So, I gave it a go...

Wow ! I was so hooked on this series.
The last time I was this hooked was when watching The Untamed, Under The Power and One and Only.
I read the novel at the same time in order to get a better feel of the story and fill in the gaps where the series diverge from the novel.
I really liked the acting of both the main characters. Zhao Jun Lan as the extrovert leader and Shen Wei in a more reserved role but who shows a depth of character as the story unfolds.

A big bravo to the whole team who let us viewers have such a wonderful time watching it !!!

Watch It !

Leia Mais

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.

Leia Mais