XDRAMAsX’s 2017 Drama Review

2017 was a much better year for dramas in general (I’m actually more excited for 2018-2019, as all the movie actors are returning to the small screen), with several shows hitting it out of the park in terms of ratings and/or online popularity.

Web dramas really started to gain traction this year – in fact, I’m marathoning two right now, and each one stands out for various reasons, whether it be high production values or tight storytelling. These online shows have become an outlet for creativity due to the strict censorship rules applied to television dramas, though SARPPFT has decided to nip it in the bud by making web dramas undergo the same rigorous process before premiering online. Hopefully the streaming sites continue to come up with quality fare in the future despite the roadblocks that are being put in place.

WARNING: Long post ahead.

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Promo Round-up: Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy

It’s here! It’s finally here! Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecyalso known as the drama with the best trailers ever, is going to premiere tonight at 8pm (CN time) on streaming sites Tencent, iQiyi and Youku.

The entire story is set in Novoland, a fantasy world comprising of mortals (who either live in the prosperous Eastern Land or the nomadic Eight Tribes), dwarves (河洛), the winged people (羽), spirits (魅), titans (夸父) and merfolk (鲛).

The 80 episode drama will revolve around the friendship between a half-spirit half-human prince with a cursed fate (Huang Xuan), a general’s son (Shawn Dou) who is fated to become emperor and the heir of a nomadic tribe (Zhou Yiwei) who wants to rise up against the ruling dynasty.

BTS and character specials (playlist):

 

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Air date update, November 2017

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Game of Hunting is finally going to air! Director/screenwriter Jiang Wei (Lurk, Borrow Gun) has always produced solid dramas – Hu Ge’s participation is just icing on the cake.

Update: Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy is probably going to premiere online at the end of November.

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New visually stunning trailer for Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy

I’ve been trying to keep my expectations low for Tribes and Empires, but the release of another fantastic trailer isn’t helping.

Huang Xuan (Extraordinary Mission) stars the half-human half-spirit prince Muyun Sheng, Shawn Dou (The Last Race) is the abandoned son of a loyal general and Zhou Yiwei (The Insanity) plays the heir of one of the nomadic tribes. Their love interests are played by Janice Man, Xu Lu and Zhang Jianing respectively.

 

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Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy posters

Must… have… an actual… date… XD

Tribes and Empires:  Storm of Prophecy 九州·海上牧云记 has released more stills.  Starring Huang Xuan, Shawn Dou, Zhou Yiwei and Wang Qianyuan, I am going to be pretty disappointed if this does not get a release date in the near future.

More below the cut.

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Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy new character

Don’t think we’ve see much of this costume yet…

Tribes and Empires:  Storm of Prophecy 九州·海上牧云记 has released more unseen images of Li Kaixin as the teenage counterpart to Xu Lu’s Su Yuning.  Starring Huang Xuan, Shawn Dou, Zhou Yiwei and Wang Qianyuan, I guess this shows how this dramas has kept enough material coming out to keep us interested but not enough that we feel like we’ve already seen everything.  Some productions should start taking notes.

More below the cut.

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Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy releases more

It’s always a good day when they come out with stills for this one.

Tribes and Empires:  Storm of Prophecy 九州·海上牧云记 has released more images and videos about production.  Starring Huang Xuan, Shawn Dou, Zhou Yiwei , and Wang Qianyuan, it’s nice they paid that much attention to etiquette and other details in order to bring about the feel of the drama despite it being largely set in a fantasy world.

More below the cut.

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Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy leaks stills

… sigh… we need more costuming and productions like this…

Tribes and Empires:  Storm of Prophecy 九州·海上牧云记 has released more images.  Starring Huang Xuan, Shawn Dou, Zhou Yiwei , and Wang Qianyuan, gosh I’m impatient for this to come out.  At least there’s a video about the making of this drama out already.

More below the cut.

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Storm of Prophecy plays up the romance in couple posters

yqyb4b5

Readers, what are your opinions on these posters?

Despite the lacklustre character stills, I think Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy has still got it – I love the traditional look of these new posters, which feature all the romantic pairings in the drama.

The 80 episode fantasy drama is helmed by cinematographer turned director Cao Dun, and is aiming to broadcast on Hunan TV at the beginning of 2017. New stills, posters and character descriptions below the cut.

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Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy unleashes female character posters

I feel like there’s more variety in the female costumes here than the male ones

Tribes and Empires:  Storm of Prophecy 九州·海上牧云记 has released character posters for the female cast.  Starring Shawn Dou, Huang Xuan, Zhou Yiwei, Janice Man, Wan Qian, Xu Lu, Zhang Jianing,  Jiang Qinqin, and Wang Qianyuan, at least these costumes seem to show more color than the male ones…

More below the cut.

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