Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

Let’s make the discussion corner a welcome tradition of AVV! I added the released soundtrack as a bonus.

Spazz away! =D

Condor’s OST Tracklist:

01. Question the World – Chen Xiang
02. Vastness – Zhang Jie
03. You and I – Chen Xiao & Michelle Chen
04. Question the World (Instru)
05. Vastness (Instru)
06. You and I (Instru)
07. Sixteen Years – Chen Xiao & Moraynia Liu

DL OST here

Kappy: I love the melody of these songs, especially the themesong “Vastness” by Zhang Jie and “Sixteen Years” by Chen Xiao and Moraynia Liu. Chen Xiao sings two songs! His voice is somehow more masculine when singing, isn’t that weird? And Michelle’s voice is so sweet compared to her dubber. I think it’s a good thing they dubbed her. A playful XLN with sugary voice would be too much of today’s romcom leading heroine.

————————–> First Impression + Brief Summary <————————–

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First four episodes reveal to us the Li Mo Chou (Viann Zhang) we rarely see in the past adaptations. She is to me, Dongfang Bubai VER 2.0. Despite what her teacher preaches, “Men are the root of all pains,” Mo Chou defies her furtively and goes out of the Tomb to enter the lively world. She meets with some jianghu swindlers and exposes their lies to the public. The enraged men try to kill her but they are the crazy ones. What sane men would confront a swords woman who flies and flips without a wire, when they CLEARLY don’t have the same ability? She kills most of them and their brothers seek revenge. More dies so they seek the help from Lu Zhan Yuan (Chen Xiang), the eldest son of the Lu family who is interested in engineering traps instead practicing Kungfu. He flirts with Mo Chou and explains to her that not all men are bad, they can protect women, blah blah blah, blah blah blah. In short, she likes him and almost falls for his trap but he has a change of conscience, after finding out that she’s not so bad. She only wants to kill. How cute. /sarcasm

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The revengy brothers kidnap Zhan Yuan but Mo Chou comes to his rescue because his betrayal is insignigicant compared to her aching heart seeing him hurt. They fall down the cliff into the convenient located river below. She asks him to stay with her and in the heat of the moment, they make-out furiously like a modern couple. He will marry her if she promises not to kill people so carelessly. “YES.” Now that he’s involved with jianghu’s latest monsters (they did not get married), everyone wants them dead, leading Mo Chou to push him about brushing up his Kung fu skills. He listens and gives up on changing her when she brings someone as prey for him to practice. You know, for someone who has lived the majority of her life in a tomb, Mo Chou is pretty sexually aware, what’s with the puckering of the lips? Has someone been reading naughty ancient novels in the tomb? 😛

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Drunk and dejected about the said woman at home, Zhan Yuan stumbles outside the streets and bumps into Miss Nosy, aka He Yuan Jun (Deng Sha), a servant from pretty rich family. This happy-go-lucky Missy wants to soothe the sorrowful wrinkles from his face and suggests he help her pick some herbs as a form of compensation for dropping her herbs earlier. He agrees and is shortly smitten by her kindness and optimism. However, the next day, Yuan Jun’s captured by Mo Chou to be his prey for another round of Kungfu practice, but of course, Mo Chou promises not to kill the pretty girl. After Mo Chou is gone, Yuan Jun suggests they elope. WHAT? Gurl, you just met him, what’s with all these lovey dovey till-death-do-us-part crap talk? They set a farce so that Mo Chou allows Yuan Jun to leave holding Zhan Yuan as a hostage. Oh, the betrayal. The traitors spend the rainy night together and Zhan Yuan promises to marry Miss Nosy and never hurt her feelings. Except he has hurt someone else’s heart. Do you not see his capricious nature, ladies?

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Next morning, they are found by Mo Chou and Zhan Yuan shoots her in the back (OH HO HO, the symbolism!) when she tries to kill Yuan Jun. He swears to heavens that Yuan Jun is the only person he loves. Keep rubbing salt in her face, treacherous boy. Mo Chou is understanding, she would let you BOTH live. Lol. In comes one of the Five Great martial artists during this period, Monk Yi Deng, and he saves the pair of lovers from Mo Chou’s wrath. Wow, so girly, he fights with flower petals. LOL. Accompanying him are his two students, the man, Wu San Tong (same person that Miss Nosy saved at the beginning), and the woman (his wife), Wu San Niang. His advise to Mo Chou is not bad. If in 10 years, she still finds this event/betrayal hurtful, she is welcome to kill the pair without his interference. It’s a good idea so Mo Chou tells Zhan Yuan to be mindful of his health, live well, and don’t die until her return. So reassuring to hear those words from your ex. 😀

Mo Chou returns to the Tomb Sect but her master denies entrance unless she swears to live the rest of her days in the tomb. She can’t! She still needs to kill the treacherous couple. Off she goes and little Dragon Girl steps outside and watches her senior sister leave. She narrates, “This is the last time I saw my senior sister as a child. I half-understand what my master said about men when I look at my senior sister’s sorrowful face.” She kneels down and promises that she won’t be like senior sister and leave the tomb. EVER. Ha. Kiddie and their promises.

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10 years later. We revisit Li Mo Chou as she wreaks havoc on a street when the “Yuan” character is written on their boats and flags. It reminds her of Miss Nosy, He Yuan Jun. Hearing the news of her master’s death, she hurries back to the tomb on the excuse to give respect but Little Dragon Girl refuses entrance. As she descends the steps, she meets Quanzhen Sect’s student, Zhen Zhi Bing (Song Yang). This name never fails to disgust me! He is sent by his master to ask the new Tomb Sect’s leader to clean up their own mess (Li Mo Chou) before they have to step in. He says it nicer, of course, and to Li Mo Chou’s face. Lol. She’s about to kill him when the entrance door opens and Little Dragon Girl flies out to stop the fight and defeats Li Mo Chou. Mo Chou is huffy puffy. Why is that she’s dispelled for liking a man while Little Dragon Girl can, in broad daylight, violates the Tomb’s rule by leaving the sacred building for the sake of a pretty boy? “You’re half a pound and I’m 8 ounces, so you might as well divide the Jade Maiden Sutra in half as well.” Haha. Flawless logic.

Li Mo Chou sends her student to kill the Lu family but the apprentice is interfered by Wu San Niang and we get to meet her two sons, known together as the Wu Brothers. Afterwards San Niang recalls her sob story with her husband. Woman, if you HAD to chain a man for him to bed and stay with you for 10 years, some screws are bound to come loose. Who would have thought, he still loves He Yuan Jun and runs off to find her. San Niang warns them that Li Mo Chou will come anytime soon.

And what is the first thing Mo Chou say after she manically laughs and discovers the bunch of runaways? “Look at me, Lu Lang, have I changed? For so many years, I have consumed nothing but honey and bathed only in warm spring water just to preserve my beauty. Lu lang, are you happy?” Nope. Nada. Dude, I would be terrified. Mo Chou doesn’t care where his heart is, she only wants his body. I see that you are still reading those ancient porn novels?

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Mo Chou gives her ex-lover another chance for survival, as long as he kills his wife and daughter. Only then will she forgive him. Just so that we’re clear, Miss Nosy’s daughter is the little girl in orange (Lu Wu Shuang), the other girl is her cousin, Cheng Ying. Of course, Zhan Yuan chooses to die with his wife and hangs Mo Chou’s handkerchief on the girls so that she might spare their lives. San Tong appears to save the pair of lovers, while his wife takes the kids away, which is when we first meet naughty Yang Guo (child actor: Wu Lei), pretending to be captured so that San Niang and the kids fall right into his mud trap. He wants money and since they refuse to hand it over, he decides he needs to peeeeeeeee. Lol. Good thing spoiled brat, Guo Fu, arrives and enlists the help from her mother’s birds (?), just to be reprimanded by Guo Jing’s master a minute later.

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To be short, Lu Zhan Yuan and He Yuan Jun commit suicide. And San Niang dies after sucking the poison out of her husband’s arm. Poor woman. But I like her parting words, “You want to leave this world first? You want to be free from all the suffering and leave me to suffer in this world alone? No such deal. I’d rather die first! And be free of all this pain and hurt.” And this folks, is how the Wu brothers become students under Huang Rong.

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In a bit, Li Mo Chou finds their hiding location and Guo Jing’s master fights with her. At some point, he becomes batman. With wings and all. Lol.

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With Guo Jing’s master defeated, the kids are defenseless, and Yang Guo tries to be the hero by trapping Li Mo Chou in his “genius” creation. I love Mo Chou’s patronizing gesture at his feeble attempt to detain her. Well, he fails and runs off with Cheng Ying. Interesting. Don’t worry about the kids, they will survive because mama Huang Rong arrives and gives Mo Chou a make-over. In the chaos, Wu Shang is kidnapped by Mo Chou.

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Survival is the number one priority on Yang Guo’s list and when he doesn’t have money for food, he takes Cheng Ying to a brothel and sells her off. Poor girl still thinks he’s a good person. As he walks away, he meets Ou Yang Feng, a top martial artist who has lost his mind and specializes in the Toad Skill. The two lonely souls share a bond and Yang Guo begins calling him father.

And such is the irony of life. Li Mo Chou escapes the Tomb Sect yearning for freedom and colors of the world, and yet she’s trapped in a much bigger cage and at the same time narrower mindset of hers.

Impression in one sentence: Yumama named this series accurately, romance is everywhere, most are inappropriate and unconvincing.

  1. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    yay! another discussion thread to play in! LOL@some of the things you wrote….naughty books!! hahaha

    im wondering how they are gonna play out the infamous rape scene of XLN because yumama said it will be different from previous adaptations… in tone. that worries me. i hate that jin yong have to do that to XLN of all things….

    • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

      There were a lot of speculations when ROTCH was first published. During that time, Jin Yong was embroiled in rumours of extra-marital affair with an unknown lady who was said to be older than he was. The love story between XLN and YG was said to be the imagined love story (in wuxia form) between Jin Yong and his lady love. Apparently, he considered the older woman whom he loved as the perfect and most ideal woman whom unfortunately had to marry a man whom he regarded as unsuitable for her and who did not treat her right. In ROTCH, he likened it to the rape of XLN. The trials and tribulations and separations that YG and XLN had to endure was the same as to what Jin Yong liken to the trials and tribulations and separations he and his lady love had to endure. However, unlike Jin Yong and his mystery lady, XLN and YG had a happy ending. Jin Yong’s romance with his lady love unfortunately ended badly. This was why, according to Jin Yong, he had divorced twice because in his mind, no woman can compare with the love he had lost (that perfect woman who married another man). Jin Yong’s real life story is a story of professional success and personal tragedy which included the death of his son (he committed suicide). Regardless, I like his writing though not his person. He is, hands down, the most talented wuxia writer around!

      • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

        uhhhhhhhhhhhhh. i feel less respect for him as a writer..”likened the woman’s marriage to another woman’s loss of innocence” is pretty selfish. no matter how much he loved that woman, she chose to marry another…

        definitely agreed with you…jin yong is not my type of person…. his novels are creative and great works.

  2. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    Looking forward for this series also. Just waiting for the subtitles to come out.

  3. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    Frea, I was hoping he would remove the R scene…. if you’re gonna remake it, do something crazy! I never liked that specific scene. *needs shower*

    I think I’m in the minority, but the love story of XLN and YG never really moved me until the 16-years separation mark. They spend a lot of time in the Tomb and I believe most versions do not show much scenes during that time. Then after the R incident, they are separated for so long that I didn’t feel the connection as much.

    This is me rewatching Louis Koo’s and Carman’s Lee version a few months back. She is still my favorite XLN!

  4. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    I am actually enjoying the show as for now. Today, Chen Xiao finally appeared. :3 Fangirling all over the place!
    Although, I do have a complain from that scene: him and XLN look so lovey dovey (or maybe it is just me). It looks a bit fake and… unnatural.

    Personally, I kind of really enjoyed the romancing of each characters’ stories. I also have a soft spot for the child actor of Yang Guo. Waiting for next weeks’ episodes and for YG to leave the Ancient tomb…

    • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

      Little Yang Guo is gonna be a heart-breaker in the future (and in this series! LOL) I ship him and Cheng Ying….. how he took her hand of all girls there to run!!

      I’m annoyed with the romances, tbh. They are literally everywhere with no time for real development, just plugged in for conveniences. The worst is the old guy who lusted after Yuan Jun. He left his wife and two sons just to stalk her at her mansion. So creepy.

      There were some really nice scenes of mountains and flowers in episode 1. Breath-taking!

      • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

        Haha, I know. Whenever he felt sad, I feel sad with him (i.e. when Granny Sun died). I think he looks a lot like Chen Xiao too (which is perfect for the role). :3

        I don’t know. I feel like the romances brings really a new side to the whole ROCH story. I barely remember anything about LMC or even Lin Chaoying from previous versions as I only saw them as background characters, but I feel like these stories will make me remember those characters’ stories and the whole series for a long time! I think that for this version, you really have to forget most of your past ideals and enjoy it for itself.

        Me neither, I don’t like that guy at all!! Poor the kids and the wife. I feel like a lot of Wuxia men are really irresponsible when it comes to family! They would rather follow their pugilist values. Even Guo Jing would be ready to kill his daughter if she does something wrong.

        Most scenes are really appealing to the eyes 8D

  5. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    Thanks for this review and your thought on it.

    I decided to give this a try but its so boring. I hate watching story that doesn’t show the leading until 4 to 6 episode later. I think I just wait until leading meet each other and stared there.

  6. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    I like the opening theme song, it’s very old school.

    It’s weird but I don’t hate Huang Rong in this version as much as I did in previous versions. I’m not sure if it’s because of the way she’s portrayed here or because I’ve gotten older and can empathize more from her perspective. But I still think she’s a bad mother for spoiling her daughter so much.

    They’re really taking a long time with the childhood portion. Thank goodness Chen Xiao will appear next week.

  7. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    Lol. The bad thing with DVD version is WE ARE TAKING A DAMN LONG TIME TO THE ADULT PORTION. OMG.

    Chen Xiao already appears in HunanTv version. Not sure I’m liking his hyper portrayal yet….

    Instead of being called Xiao Long Nv…Michelle Chen is being dubbed as Xiao Long Bao (a type of Chinese steamed bun). This is normally a good thing for OTHER characters…but they’re making fun of her chubby face.

    I feel bad for her but she knew what she was getting herself into…

  8. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    Thank you so much for the OST download!! 🙂

  9. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    Yang Guo and Cheng Ying are so cute together!! Shipping them real hard. I have always thought that after XLN, Cheng Ying fit YG best out of all the girls. Plus, YZ did it on purpose by letting the little YG meet little CY.

  10. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    I decide to give this drama another try again. Skip the first 10 episodes of it. hehe…. I really like Yang Guo & Lu Wu Shuang scene. They so cutie and adorable. ^_^ … I think I really ship these two more than YG with XLN. YG & XLN have not impress me.

    I just want to ask did XLN get R by that bad guy? I didn’t get that scene why she didn’t do anything but let that creep touch her.

    This is my first version of this drama so I don’t have that much to talk about or compare to since I didn’t watch any of the other version.

    • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

      i havent seen that scene yet…but in the previous version, XLN doesnt know that it was the bad guy who raped her until the very end. she thought it was YG becoming “brave” and wanting her in “that” way….thats why she smiles the whole time… and got mad when YG didn’t understand “responsibility” and hence she leaves and ends up at passionless valley and meets the owner… (no spoiler for you since you didnt watch it)

      • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

        Thank you for that info. Now I understand. I didn’t watch it with English sub so didn’t know what XLN and YG was talking about after that scene have happened and why she left. The one thing that bug me was why didn’t she just turn around to see who it was.

        Can you just spoiler me on Lu Wu Shuang. I know she won’t end up with YG but will she end a happy life or a sad life in the end base from the past version. I just want to know that. She really did give me a good impression on her and I kind of like her at the moment.

        Thank you again.

        • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

          yea…that i don;t know… she wasnt a major major character whose ending is clearly written out. but i remember she didn’t die. she and her cousin, cheng ying were there to help yang guo after XLN disappears for 16 years. both became his godsisters.

          that r scene was always weird and creepy. she took care of him and should probably know his touch…. i guess she was shy and didn’t want to turn around you know since women back there were supposed to be subservient.

        • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

          I believed that ouyang feng had sealed her pressure point prior to that because he didn’t want XLN to peek on his martial arts that he was intending to pass on to YG. I think that was why she couldn’t move or look to make sure it was YG

  11. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    She does look chubby and no, she is not pretty for this role. If the producer was so ok with it, why photoshop her face to V shape chin haha i rate 3/10 she is not pretty so it is hard to see her a hot role as writer said lol
    Her constant bad review has let off the her main male role, he is not so manly as the previous one.
    Producer mess up the swordsman, and not this, upto esp 10. far from the spirit of the story. I will consider offensive if some future producers change my story.
    i am watching as i like the main story, the animation from China has improved a lot, but 2006 China / HK version is far better and real.
    Kung fu is ok, so much rely on SFX, it sometimes kills the fun, but overall, nice to watch
    I rate 7/10

  12. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    i really get confused with people saying the young ones are cute, ok, but this film is about the adults.

    producer likes to talk about side tracks stars lol which is good but too many is bad
    like spiderman remake, the spirit is there

  13. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    all the china stars went OT oT on self looking, no wrinkles, no lines for old people lol so even the master looks like a man age 25yrs, so it was confusing what age or status they are. lol that is bad, all want to look self good, but not playing the thier role

    this is first one, they used a previous baddie for a main good role lol

    • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

      have you seen dramas from other countries? its the same with the perfect face and free of wrinkles make-up. the actors chosen to play the older characters are relatively young themselves to begin with. its yumama’s productions and he cares more about beauty and youth compared to other productions.

      the majority of the actors here are below 30 so yea, they are cute. lols

  14. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    Thank you Frea for the info about LWS.

  15. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    So quiet in here! I’m actually surprised at the high number of downloads for this version. I thought since it’s badly repped on the net, no one would want a copy. It’s the opposite.

    I don’t really like Chen Xiao’s flirty Yang Guo but the boy does know how to make his hair seem like an entity all on its own. Lol.

    • 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

      Chen Xiao’s first gif cracks me up!! LOL.

  16. 26 thoughts on “Discussion Corner & OST: Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014, Cdrama)

    I watched the serial online while it was airing but even that was too much effort to put in for this show, so I gave up halfway. The local station is airing it now so I’m back on to pass time. Tonight’s episode made me really speechless with Yu Zheng putting in a romance backstory to even Dugu Qiu Bai. He is unbelievable.

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