Zhan Zhao Adventures releasing soon?
It’s looking increasingly likely that we may be getting the long-awaited premiere of Yang Yang’s fantasy wuxia Zhan Zhao Adventures pretty soon. At least if today’s drop of several posters promoting the Chinese actor’s starring role in the mystery wuxia drama are anything to go by.
Those posters came out earlier this morning via YOUKU’s social media, with one being released due to Zhan Zhao Adventures grabbing 2 million reservations so far, while the other four promote Yang Yang’s role in the drama specifically.
One message from YOUKU commented:
The autumn cicadas chirp, the jianghu stirs, and a chivalrous shadow descends upon the city! Step into the game with Yang Yang as Zhan Zhao — guarding justice with heart and cutting down every injustice. Thank you all for the overwhelming anticipation.
The Chinese drama also got its distribution license late last year, so it doesn’t look like there is much in the way of it dropping soon.
Rumor out of China says a premiere date on YOUKU of May 13th is very likely and, in my experience, those rumors are almost always correct. So, yep, at this point, I would say you can probably take that date to the bank and get a loan out on it.
(Update: Yep, it’s dropping on May 14th and we just got a TON of character visuals and posters)
To stick with the idea we will be seeing Yang Yang as Zhan Zhao sooner rather than later, a character video was also released this morning on Weibo with the actors talking about their parts.
Yang Yang is always superb in wuxia roles
And I don’t know about you, but I have been enjoyed Yang Yang’s performances immensely since he starred as Ye Qui in The King’s Avatar in 2019 and then as Hei Feng Xi in Who Rules the World two years later.
Last year’s The Immortal Ascension, in which the actor took on and massively delivered in the role of the iconic cultivator Han Li, only cemented my admiration of his acting skills even more.
So to see Yang Yang soon heading our way in yet another epic looking wuxia drama just made my day as, in my mind, there is nothing better than the handsome man striding through a scene wearing flowing robes while fighting for justice.
Well, no, actually there is something better as, when he performs those amazing fight scenes, doesn’t he always just look like the most graceful of ballet dancers as each precision movement hits its mark?
The cast of Zhan Zhao Adventures is equally epic
While, from the clips I have seen, Zhan Zhao Adventures looks like it will be both epically entertaining and satisfyingly “classic wuxia”, which we don’t always get, the rest of the cast is equally spectacular.
It features Zhang Ruo Nan, who I thought stood out nicely in her supporting role in last year’s Love in Pavilion, as female lead Huo Ling Long.
Alen Feng (aka Fang Yi Lun), who I have had a soft spot for since he played the loyal Zhi Yuan in the massively underrated The Longest Promise, is the drama’s third lead as Bai Yu Tang, with a supporting cast that includes Zhang Yu Xi (Deep Affection Eyes), Yue Yang (how fabulous he was in Guardians of the Dafeng, eh?), Xiu Qing (Love Beyond the Grave), Zhang Ming En (one of the three superb male leads in Eternal Brotherhood), and Jiang Zhen Hao (Fight for Love).
Just in case you haven’t read its plot synopsis, the official one looks like this:
Zhan Zhao Adventures is based on the classic novel “The Three Heroes and Five Gallants,” but innovatively reconstructs the story from the perspective of Zhan Zhao, the “Southern Hero.”
It tells the story of Zhan Zhao (Yang Yang), a highly skilled, upright, and selfless fourth-rank imperial bodyguard, who, after receiving evidence of a mysterious case left by an old friend, sets out alone to investigate.
He encounters attacks from various forces and, along the way, meets Huo Linglong (Zhang Ruo Nan), the young lady of Linglong Manor, and Bai Yutang (Fang Yi Lun), nicknamed “The White-haired Rat.”
The three like-minded individuals, after numerous life-and-death experiences, gradually approach the truth…
There are still six more days before May 13th, and I have a feeling we will be getting a flood of new promo pieces before then. I will keep you in the loop with further updates as they release.
But yep, if the premiere date is correct, this is one of my most-anticipated dramas this month, as it’s directed by Liu Hong Yuan who did a spectacular job with both the cult classic Reset and Cheng Yi’s romance drama South Wind Knows, so I am presuming his direction of this will be similarly stellar.
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