ZYHLJ:

@Kokuto


After hearing what you said, I went to Baidu to search for the audiobook of Sha Po Lang. Is this the one you are talking about? https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV1Et421A7F7

To be honest, I didn't really like the tone of the person who voiced Gu Yun in it. I felt that he didn't express Gu Yun's aura in my heart. But Shen Yi and Chang Geng are both good voices :-)

I haven't listened to it closely, but I think so.  AFAIK, there's only one Sha Po Lang audio drama.  But the clip I mentioned is a live performance of the audio drama.

 Kokuto:
I thought they did a good job.  Of course, I loved Tan Jian Ci and Hou Wen Yuan and their performances from LMLMV more, but that is a high high high bar. lol

You know, after I found out that there was no historical segment in LMLMV, I never went back to watch it? Now you have me intrigued about TJC and HWY's performances. Would you be able to share a link for that scene too?


 Kokuto:
Hmmmm.  Not sure how to directly link the video, but here's the link to the Google Drive.  

Thank you! Yup - that was A Jie (Gu Yun) and Yang Tian Xiang (Chang Geng) reprising their roles from the audio drama. It has always amazed me how multi-talented many of these VAs are.  The audio drama is voiced by members of 729声工场  729 Sound Factory which is founded by A Jie. Many famous VAs belong to this company - 乔诗语 Qiao Siyu who voiced Chu Qiao in Princess Agents and dubbed various Dilraba's characters; 苏尚卿 Su Shangqing who voiced Qiu in Big Fish and Begonia, and quite a few Joseph Zeng roles etc.

 liddi:
You know, after I found out that there was no historical segment in LMLMV, I never went back to watch it? Now you have me intrigued about TJC and HWY's performances. Would you be able to share a link for that scene too?

Their dubbing group / studio did two performances / concerts in LMLMV, and those were great!  You don't have to know the characters or what's going on to enjoy them.  Let me find them and I'll link them up.

I didn't know HWY before, but he has typical hero physique and voice.  His voice doesn't have the range or uniqueness of Tan Jian Ci's, but very effective, IMO. 


 liddi:
Thank you! Yup - that was A Jie (Gu Yun) and Yang Tian Xiang (Chang Geng) reprising their roles from the audio drama. It has always amazed me how multi-talented many of these VAs are.

I knew there was alot of voice acting and dubbing in Chinese dramas, but I didn't realize how they worked until LMLMV.  I think Tan Jian Ci worked with Bian Jiang and his studio for LMLMV.  He visited his studio and did an interview and some other stuff with him for a promo for the drama.  Did you see that?  Actually, Bian Jiang was the dubbing director for LYF also, so that had a prior connection.

 liddi:
You know, after I found out that there was no historical segment in LMLMV, I never went back to watch it? Now you have me intrigued about TJC and HWY's performances. Would you be able to share a link for that scene too?

I was stunned to discover that one version of the YoYo Channel videos on YouTube replaced the voice acting performance with score!  WTF?  WHY???   But I found this one, which is correct.

https://youtu.be/wglwFrxA7cA?si=yAj5kz_Gh5IPjWBN&t=1507

The performance starts about at 25 minutes in.

And here's the Traditional Music Concert that starts about 10 minutes in.  They do another scene from the audio drama in this.  And it also features Tan's character's retirement song -- hence all the crying.

https://youtu.be/PRAjPQBdXtk?si=MwCxbtig6CH79qUn&t=590

OMG.  I was rewatching and they did the same with the second performance!!!  I don't understand it.  Deleted the link.  This link they don't replace the voice acting performance with as much score, but they still do it for a section.  Unbelievable.

 Kokuto:
I was stunned to discover that one version of the YoYo Channel videos on YouTube replaced the voice acting performance with score!  WTF?  WHY???   But I found this one, which is correct.

Oh, it's okay. The videos are actually geo-blocked for me, but I saw the episodes they are from (Eps17, 27) and am able to watch them on iQiYi. Thank you so much!

Just to quickly let you know first. Will be back after I do watch. Thank you very much!

 liddi:

Oh, it's okay. The videos are actually geo-blocked for me, but I saw the episodes they are from (Eps17, 27) and am able to watch them on iQiYi. Thank you so much!

Just to quickly let you know first. Will be back after I do watch. Thank you very much!

Oh.  Well, I'm iQiYi won't have that weirdness with the score, so it will be better.

 Kokuto:
Their dubbing group / studio did two performances / concerts in LMLMV, and those were great!  

Those scenes were definitely impressive - practically a full concert within a drama itself. And I found myself tearing up along with them at the end of Mo Qingcheng's farewell song. You are right. Hou Wen Yuan certainly delivered in voicing Shen Ce. I just wished we could have seen TJC doing similar dubbing for the concert, instead of just a narration.  Do you remember which episode he sang 万骨催沙 Ten Thousand Bones Pushing the Sand?


 Kokuto:
I think Tan Jian Ci worked with Bian Jiang and his studio for LMLMV.  He visited his studio and did an interview and some other stuff with him for a promo for the drama.  Did you see that?  Actually, Bian Jiang was the dubbing director for LYF also, so that had a prior connection.

Yes, Bian Jiang was the dubbing director for LMLMV and LYF, but apparently they first worked together in 今夕何夕 Twisted Fate of Love where Bian Jiang dubbed TJC's Pang Yu at the time. During TJC's visit to Bian Jiang's studio, he dubbed himself in a scene from that same drama too. Bian Jiang also mentioned how diligent and serious TJC is in learning voice acting, and how their phone discussion once lasted up to 2AM. I wonder what drama that discussion was for? LYF or LMLMV? Incidentally, Bian Jiang has voiced many iconic characters  - Ye Hua (TMOPB), Yuwen Yue (Princess Agents), Sima Yi (Secrets of the Three Kingdoms), and Lan Zhan (Untamed) among many others.

@liddi


I listened to the another version and found that the narration and the dubbing of Xiao Liu seemed to be the same person, but the dubbing was good: https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV19m411R7Gx 

After listening to it, please tell me how you think it is different from the one you are listening to:-)

I can listen to your version. I plan to listen carefully tomorrow which one is better, then choose a version and start listening to the plot of the second season >_< 

Pre-prepared dishes are slightly better than airplane meals because they are cooked again after all. Some people with insensitive tastes can't tell the difference, but anyway, I feel the difference is obvious. 

I think the person who dubbed Gu Yun seemed to have misunderstood what the author meant by 兵痞子. I think the author used this word just as a joke. Gu Yun has a bit of a rebellious and unruly aura, but it is far from cynical and decadent. His voice as Gu Yun is like a man who blames all his failures on society and women, uses this as an excuse to give up on himself, and makes his parents suffer from depression, but still thinks that the whole world owes him... Please spare me! 

And, I want to report to you my mother’s recent evaluation of LYF: She doesn’t like FFB! She felt that he was so skilled at pleasing women that he was only suitable for eating and drinking together. Girls should marry boys with a simple social circle like Feng Long. I said Feng Long is a little bit chauvinistic. She said this is curable. Me: ? ?

@Kokuto


I watched it on Bilibili, it’s really good! I think his performance must be different from A Jie’s Gu Yun >_<

 ZYHLJ:
I listened to the another version and found that the narration and the dubbing of Xiao Liu seemed to be the same person, but the dubbing was good: https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV19m411R7Gx

After listening to it, please tell me how you think it is different from the one you are listening to:-)

Thank you for sharing! This is based on the 2013 edition of the novel, since the names are still the old ones - 共工 Gong Gong instead of 洪江 Hong Jiang , 颛顼 Zhuan Xu instead of 玱玹 Cang Xuan etc. Is this also the official audiobook? It also includes the prologue, which is great. I still don't understand why the prologue was left out in 磨铁's audiobook even though they are also the actual novel publishers of the 2019 revised edition.

The VA for Xiao Liu does sound similar to the one I'm listening to. She is excellent, and I really love how she portrays his nuances. However, I am not keen on Xiang Liu's VA - his voice feels too indolent and "oily" (?), certainly not what I imagined for Xiang Liu. The 磨铁 version I am listening to is based on the 2019 revised edition, and for the most part, I feel that the male leads are convincing in their roles, though sometimes I feel that Xiang Liu's VA does not enunciate his words clearly enough. 

So if I were to consider an overall listening experience, I would still continue with 磨铁's version, even though the 2019 novel itself leaves out details such as the nuances of 俊帝 Eminent Emperor's title change to 白帝 White Emperor, and how Cang Xuan's 黑帝 designation came about.


 ZYHLJ:
Pre-prepared dishes are slightly better than airplane meals because they are cooked again after all. Some people with insensitive tastes can't tell the difference, but anyway, I feel the difference is obvious. 

That is true.


 ZYHLJ:
I think the person who dubbed Gu Yun seemed to have misunderstood what the author meant by 兵痞子.

 ZYHLJ:
I watched it on Bilibili, it’s really good! I think his performance must be different from A Jie’s Gu Yun >_<

Oh no. That sounds like he did miss the brief after all. But which performance did you watch on Bilibili that is different? As far as I know, the live performance is by A Jie as well. 


 ZYHLJ:
And, I want to report to you my mother’s recent evaluation of LYF: She doesn’t like FFB! She felt that he was so skilled at pleasing women that he was only suitable for eating and drinking together. Girls should marry boys with a simple social circle like Feng Long. I said Feng Long has a little bit of machismo. She said this is curable. Me: ? ?

LOL! Looks like neither Xiang Liu nor Fangfeng Bei has any hope of gaining your mother's approval! It is true that Feng Long's network is far simpler, with less potential women's problems. You feel that Feng Long is 大男人主义? I think he is more straightforward, an excellent friend, with less experience with women, and certainly less interest - focusing more on his cause and vision. But I don't feel he is chauvinistic. Without hoping for a wildly passionate romance, he is quite ideal husband material - loyal, honourable, a good provider and protector.

How far has your mother watched? Has she seen the 37 years healing under the ocean? Waiting in suspense to see if she changes her mind down the road. Please keep us updated!

 ZYHLJ:
According to Baidu, the meaning of Sha Po Lang (杀破狼) is a fate pattern in Ziwei astrology, that is, when the three stars Qi Sha 七杀, Tan Lang 贪狼 and Po Jun 破军 meet in the three Fang and four Zheng of the fate palace, it means "Sha Po Lang" pattern.

Yes, these 3 stars are considered malefic. They are powerful but symbolize chaos and unpredictability. Even the names sound inauspicious - killing, destruction, greed. I had my Ziwei chart done years ago and I think Qi Sha was in my house of marriage/partnership. I blame all my "dead" relationships on this star :-).


 ZYHLJ:
It is said that most of the great generals in ancient times who fought all their lives had this fate. The reason why the author used this fate pattern as the title is probably to imply that Gu Yun’s fate is Sha Po Lang :-)

I can see this particular pattern matching Gu Yun. A lot of gut, bravery if not to say quite the daredevil, a bit hot-headed. The life of someone with this pattern is not smooth sailing and tends to have many ups and downs. 


 ZYHLJ:
The Wudang Sect is a Taoist and martial arts sect that actually existed in history. It was founded by Zhang Sanfeng in the Yuan Dynasty. It was most prosperous in the Ming Dynasty and is gone now, but there are still many Taoists practicing Taoism in Wudang Mountain now

Sounds like Jing Yong based his WuDang sect in Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre on the real historical figure. 


 ZYHLJ:
If you go, you may not be able to visit them all in one day, because the scenic spots are distributed on different mountain peaks. There are winding roads and bus transportation, but if you don’t want to be too tired, you'd better stay one night outside or in the scenic area and visit for two days :-)

Hmm. I need to get fitter to do this.

 liddi:
To be honest, I don't think it will be any easier listening to the audiobook. If anything, it is potentially worse because the dialogue is acted out by the VAs. I was tearing up listening to Xiao Yao's grief upon learning of his death, and the epilogue, with Xiang Liu speaking the closing lines.

I have not been able to re-read the epilogue. It makes me cry every single time. You are a lot braver - or maybe I should say masochistic :-) - than I am. No way would I listen to this while driving. I would be a blubbering mess driving down the freeway. People will think I'm craze craze :-)


 liddi:
So in the end I slowly adjusted myself, because I had to break away from my previous role. Later on, I then began to [feel that] I am filming a sweet drama, with the sense of pink bubbles every day. It was very therapeutic for myself.

Thank you for this. Watching the drama affects us, these actors lived with the characters every day for months so it's understandable that they would start to feel like they are living as these characters. It was good that he had a sweet romance to balance out the tragedy of LYF. I remembered reading another interview that when he was shooting Go East, they filmed a scene at the same location as XL's final battle/death scene a year after he filmed that scene in LYF. It would have been a bit surreal. 


 liddi:
I wish there was an complete compilation of just Huang Yaoshi's scenes. Here are some scenes

Thank you.


 liddi:
My only complaint is the same issue I have with LYF dubbed in Cantonese. In this case, for Huang Yaoshi, I find his VA a little jarring and feel his original voice would have been more suitable.

Hmm. Is it because you find the voice not a good match for the character or it doesn't match Miu? I wondered why they didn't get Michael Miu to dub his character. Do you watch these series in Mandarin or Cantonese, liddi?

I grew up watching TVB series dubbed in Vietnamese. Nowadays, it's hard to find Chinese series dubbed, so I mainly watch with subtitles, making it difficult to watch the acting. Occasionally, I would find some series with a single voiceover speaking the dialogue which allowed me to watch the series instead of focusing on the subtitles, but they are not ideal since there is no voice-acting; just a soulless voice reading the dialogue. 


 liddi:
However, their existence was the primary influence over the course of events in the novel, so it makes sense for Jin Yong to highlight them.

Yes. Just as XL doesn't appear much in LYF - he was barely in Book 3 - but his impact is immeasurable.

 liddi:
Do you remember which episode he sang 万骨催沙 Ten Thousand Bones Pushing the Sand?

It's in episode 3. He didn't sing the full song, just 2 minutes of it. I don't know if he sang the full song in another scene. 

 HeadInTheClouds:
I have not been able to re-read the epilogue. It makes me cry every single time. You are a lot braver - or maybe I should say masochistic :-) - than I am. No way would I listen to this while driving. I would be a blubbering mess driving down the freeway. People will think I'm craze craze :-)

We just met the Gao Xin king and slurped the water from the washbowl after Qingshui Town and Dragon Bone prison, so it's still light years away from the epilogue (told you it's a slow process, since I opted to listen with my girl, instead of by myself). Listening to the audiobook reminds me how much I love the entire Qingshui town arc, and I wished we need not leave it. 


 HeadInTheClouds:
I remembered reading another interview that when he was shooting Go East, they filmed a scene at the same location as XL's final battle/death scene a year after he filmed that scene in LYF. It would have been a bit surreal. 

That is interesting. Has he mentioned how he felt in subsequent interviews? It was such a powerful, emotional scene which even affected his father and those around him after all. Actually, sets are recycled in different dramas, so I wonder how they manage the sense of familiarity from another drama, and make it new for themselves.


 HeadInTheClouds:
Hmm. Is it because you find the voice not a good match for the character or it doesn't match Miu? I wondered why they didn't get Michael Miu to dub his character. Do you watch these series in Mandarin or Cantonese, liddi?

I watched the 2017 version in Mandarin, so Michael Miu was dubbed by someone else - understandable if his Mandarin (pronunciation or otherwise) did not meet the required standard. I just wish the VA was more suited to the character, or perhaps someone whose voice was closer to Michael Miu's. It could also be the fact that knowing what his real voice sounds like, there is a sense of disconnect hearing someone else's voice speaking his words. It's the same when I go back and watch TJC's earlier dramas - including Advisors Alliance, where he is dubbed, but it is not as bad when the VA matches the role. Of course the sense of disconnect is only true for actors whose original voices can deliver. I have watched other dramas where the actors voice their own roles, and it was painful to sit through.

 

 HeadInTheClouds:
Yes. Just as XL doesn't appear much in LYF - he was barely in Book 3 - but his impact is immeasurable.

Exactly. And this is true even in the drama even though his scene compilation with Xiao Yao only came up to less than 5 hours, compared to YaoJing and YaoXuan, both of which exceeded the 5 hour mark.


 HeadInTheClouds:
It's in episode 3. He didn't sing the full song, just 2 minutes of it. I don't know if he sang the full song in another scene. 

Thank you! So it was just him singing a song, rather than performing it within the context of a dubbing session. I had hoped we would see it interspaced with him in a historical setting. Ah well. Thankfully there are many great Xiang Liu fan edits that uses the song, a fitting choice considering the lyrics.

@liddi


I checked, but couldn't find out whether this version of the audiobook is the official version. But I think it should be. I guess the reason why the 磨铁 Edition omitted the prologue and the White Emperor and the Black Emperor is for the same reason: to cut off the connection between this story and real historical figures. You know the reason :-( 

I can't open Kokuto's link. I found it on Bilibili myself, this one: https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV1HC4y197n3 

So it’s not this one, is it?

Yes, chauvinistic, that's what I meant, let me change it...I say he is chauvinistic mainly because of the scene when he persuaded Cangxuan to come to the Central Plains: Xinyue explained to Cangxuan at that time that persuading him to come to the Central Plains was not because of what the Chenrong family wanted to do. In fact only the two of them knew about it. Then Fenglong said, you are usually smart, why are you so narrow-minded now? He also said to Cangxuan, how could she understand our ambitions and ideals. etc. It feels like he subconsciously believes that women cannot have the ideals and vision of men. Of course, most men at that time probably thought so: women's intelligence can only be used in small things and cannot accomplish big things. So it's not entirely his fault. Other than that, like you said, he's an ideal husband :-) 

My mother recently came to Wuhan, and I was watching this drama with her, so we watched it slowly. Now we have seen the part where Xiaoyao stayed in Chenrong Mansion, but we have not yet reached the part of Meilin. I guess she may be moved by the part under the sea, but give up again after the part outside the casino... Because my mom has a classical principle, that is, she believes that men must take the initiative, and men who do not take the initiative will not be considered.囧