on Daomu Biji (The Lost Tomb/Tomb Notes): Reunion: The Sound of the Providence

[xparrot]

It feels like we've been waiting for this show forever, but last week it finally dropped, and guys...guys, it is so good???? Ten episodes in (yes we signed up for VIP access) it's fun and funny and has already had more h/c scenarios than many shows manage in three seasons. I have no idea how they're going to escalate from here and I can't wait to find out. Whatever else the show had going for it, I was assuming Zhu Yilong would look gorgeous and act wonderfully, and I was hoping for some whump -- and it's got all that and then some; but I wasn't expecting it to be THIS friendshippy, I was not prepared.

I'd recommend this to any fans of the Stargate series -- in particular, if you enjoy the parts of Stargate that are "a team of huge dorks run around poking at alien things that they should know better than to touch and getting in trouble and surviving by the skin of their teeth." It's basically Chinese Indiana Jones, about a trio of guys raiding ancient tombs that are filled with priceless treasure and magic artifacts and also the usual assortment of diabolical traps, animate mummies, and creepy supernatural monsters.

Wu Xie (trying to buck up his friends after they land in like the 5th life-threatening peril in as many hours): We have two things to rely on: luck, and our tacit understanding!

Pangzi: Do we really have a tacit understanding? Didn't we just get by so far on luck?

The chemistry between the Iron Triangle is fantastic -- they feel like guys who have been friends forever, they've got their own secret language and everything. Still, how they've survived their job/hobby is anyone's guess because they're complete idiots (okay, two idiots, one wildly skilled immortal badass who is constantly getting in trouble too because he has to save his idiot BFFs). The show is pretty much all action-adventure all the time -- action-adventure as written by a fanfic writer. Ten episodes in we've already had:

• Waking gasping from nightmares
• Hallucinating your friends dying
• Poisoning that makes you loopy enough to cry about your friends and nearly confess major secrets
• Temporarily blinded trust exercises relying on the guidance of the one person who can still see (while escaping zombie mummies)
• Getting hypnotized to go berserk and try to kill your friend and struggling to stop

And tons of nearly falling off things and last minute catches and rescues and such that hardly count because it's so constant. You want whump? Wu Xie is the kind of character who when trapped so he can't move his arms or legs, knocks an SOS on stone with his head. Also did I mention he's slowly dying and trying to hide it?

And there has already been a three-way hug! Not even for angst but just fun!

For the record, while like other cdramas I've talked about, this show is adapted from Chinese webnovels, in this case it's not a danmei (m/m romance) book but a straight action/horror series. ...That being said, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling is apparently one of the more popular slash ships in China. Though honestly I'm not even shipping them that hard, because I am enjoying the friendship of their trio so much. I love how for both Pangzi and Qiling, Wu Xie is probably their most important person, but this doesn't engender any jealousy between them; instead they're completely united in Team Wu Xie Is Precious And Must Be Protected, And Seriously He Is So Challenging To Keep Alive, Like an Orchid Or Something, Our Lives Are Very Hard.

The show does come with a few caveats: Female characters are few and far between; there's only one recurring woman so far, and I don't think the show has yet passed the Bechdel test. Also the confusing secondary plotline she appears in has some cringingly racist stuff of the "primitive SE Asian jungle tribe guarding a secret temple" trope, plus a homophobic stereotype thrown in for good measure. And for those with medical sensitivities, the main character is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in the first episode (though it's been an astonishingly unrealistic portrayal -- and might actually turn out to be a mystical curse? -- so it hasn't actually bothered me as much as I thought it might). There are also more detailed content notes with timestamps.

There's only 10 episodes out so far (out of 30+ this season and another 30+ to come, all already filmed) so I don't know where it will be going from here, but I'm definitely looking forward to it (is it Wednesday yet???)

You can watch it (legally, for free, with English subs) on Iqiyi's site. (the first four eps are available to everyone, with 4 new ones a week).

(Ahh I need an icon!)

Comments

[solo]

I'd recommend this to any fans of the Stargate series -- in particular, if you enjoy the parts of Stargate that are "a team of huge dorks run around poking at alien things that they should know better than to touch and getting in trouble and surviving by the skin of their teeth.

This is essentially me, so I look forward to checking it out!

[xparrot]

Seriously, it's so much FUN -- at least if your idea of fun is guys getting chased through tunnels by zombies and dealing with unduly dangerous frescoes and saving each other! Interspersed with angst as only Zhu Yilong can bring ^_^

[frith_in_thorns]

THEY'RE NOT ZOMBIES THEY'RE CORPSES/LEATHER CONSTRUCTS PILOTED BY CRABS THAT LOOK LIKE HANDS

THIS IS A SCIENTIFIC SHOW

[xparrot]

VERY SCIENCE. MUCH REALISM.

I want the genus and species of the eel-crocodile-snake Xiaoge fights in that first mini-tomb, please :P

[marycrawford]

I haven't had time to watch further than the first four eps (but I WILL \o/), but this cracked me up so much:

Team Wu Xie Is Precious And Must Be Protected, And Seriously He Is So Challenging To Keep Alive, Like an Orchid Or Something, Our Lives Are Very Hard.

Hee hee hee yeah that is a great dynamic, particularly with no tension/strife within the triad; I feel like western shows tend to throw artificial tension into the mix much too often/too early these days, and I just like real friendship so much better.

[xparrot]

Eeeee there is already so much good stuff to come, look forward to it!!

I don't mind tension sometimes, but yeah I have a thing for friends who are just friends who unabashedly love and trust each other. Especially if they show a lot of that love by mocking each other constantly, but then having each other's backs instantly and without question (The Man From UNCLE was great for this -- not the recent movie so much, but in the original TV show Napoleon and Illya had this implicit trust; despite being spies and going undercover and even torturing each other to preserve their cover, I don't think there's a single ep based on them actually doubting the other for a second (excepting brainwashing!))

And the Iron Triangle are just so in tune! Despite being three very different guys, they're just so confidently aligned. I suspect there is going to be some strife when Pangzi finds out about Wu Xie's condition, but conflict based entirely on love on both sides, that I'm here for (it hurts so good~~~)

[marycrawford]

I am so gleefully looking forward to Pangzi finding out! That's the kind of tension I am entirely here for :D

And yeah, "friends who unabashedly love and trust each other" is lovely. I never watched MfU, but I know it was a gateway drug for many fans and with the tropes you mention, I can see why...

[naye]

Team Wu Xie Is Precious And Must Be Protected, And Seriously He Is So Challenging To Keep Alive, Like an Orchid Or Something, Our Lives Are Very Hard.
I am FLAILING WITH DELIGHT at this description. It's funny cuz it's trueeeeeee. They suffer!! Because oh wow at least orchids don't regularly jump into dark tombs full of traps and poisons...!

[xparrot]

ICON~~~~~ <333

Their lives are SO hard!! But also worth it. They're just so happy hanging out together. (and nearly dying in horrible deadly tombs. like, they're maybe a little too happy to be dying together in horrible deadly tombs, but that's how they like it, so!)

[naye]

They are! They have each other and adventure and that's all they need. And they're SO CUTE. And get SUCH H/C?? HELP.

[xparrot]

There is no help here, only squee!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh I need an icon (but I want spoilery shots ^^;;;;)

[trobadora]

Oh, that's a great point about Stargate! It does have that SGA team feel, just with more of a story arc.

Wu Xie is the kind of character who when trapped so he can't move his arms or legs, knocks an SOS on stone with his head.

I loved that so much! He's great. :D

[xparrot]

I've always loved the feel of Stargate, and this gives me the same vibes, that sense of adventure and fun and comradery against all the dangers they face!

I'm starting to fall really hard for Wu Xie beyond just that he's Zhu Yilong, he's such an amazing mix of smart and idiotic, strong and fragile...

[no_detective]

i watched the first 2 eps last night and went from "omg who needs 70+ episodes of anything" to "I NEED 700 HOURS OF THIS SHOW STAT" so - yes, i am with you!!!!! <3

your pitch is amazing btw. over the past year of so, i watched the two lost tomb series on viki (and i know there's more: mystic nine plus other, uh, related shows in the same verse) but got a little worn out bc i'm REALLY not good with horror elements, and some of the camera work was just hard to watch due to my unfortunate light sensitivity. but THIS SHOW looks like MONEY and there's immediate focus on FRIENDSHIP and also ZYL IS SO PRETTY and and and. fuck, i'm gonna end up buying the vip pass, aren't i.

Team Wu Xie Is Precious And Must Be Protected, And Seriously He Is So Challenging To Keep Alive, Like an Orchid Or Something, Our Lives Are Very Hard. - lolololol too true, and i am here for it with bells on ...yes that was a show-related joke i am so sorry

btw i saw this minimally spoilery twitter thread about wu xie's condition, which made it easier to anticipate any future content related to it, at least for me.

[xparrot]

Ahhh I just saw that Tweet thread earlier today myself -- thanks for linking it, it's so reassuring to know!

"omg who needs 70+ episodes of anything" to "I NEED 700 HOURS OF THIS SHOW STAT"

Ahahah I am totally okay with 70 episodes of Zhu Yilong doing anything -- but I was figuring on that being the main draw for me, and instead this is a show that I would watch even if it were all actors I'd never heard of? Zhu Yilong is just a bonus! (okay he's an amazing bonus, he is so perfectly cast for this part!!! but still...)

I watched the other two Lost Tomb series knowing this was coming, but I ended up fastforwarding through most of them because the pacing was so bad (the lower budget didn't help but I could've lived with that, but not episode-long flashbacks to characters I didn't know or care about!) And the characters were cute but didn't have this depth of devotion.

You can get a month of VIP for free :D (I haven't watched eps 11-12 yet but my favorite scene so far is in ep 10, so~~~~)

i am here for it with bells on ...yes that was a show-related joke i am so sorry

AHAHA NO :P

[naye]

I'm putting together a mini-resource with info on how/why to watch Zhu Yilong's Tomb Show. Can I include a link to this post? ♥

[xparrot]

Yes please do! :D

[naye]

Yay! I made this thing: https://z1ltombshow.carrd.co

[galaxysoup]

I started watching this yesterday and am now on... episode 8. :D It's so much fun! I do definitely get a Stargate vibe from it but with, you know, actual episode-to-episode continuity.

(Oh Stargate, I loved you so much, but you did tend to hit the emotional reset button at the beginning of each new episode...)

I am such a sucker for found family, and h/c, and a character who is Somehow Fragile but also So Strong, and thus far this show has delivered in spades, which I appreciate. Even if I had to sit through an ENTIRE EPISODE of truly atrocious hair on ZYL, which was indeed a trial. Still, I appreciate the apparently industry-wide directorial commitment to having ZYL spit blood in every series. Granted, he's just been coughing so far, but come on. We all know it's coming.

Team Wu Xie Is Precious And Must Be Protected, And Seriously He Is So Challenging To Keep Alive, Like an Orchid Or Something, Our Lives Are Very Hard.

ACCURATE

[xparrot]

I started watching this yesterday and am now on... episode 8.

Ahahah yeah this is why we ended up getting VIP like...within 24 hours or something ^^;

I am such a sucker for found family, and h/c, and a character who is Somehow Fragile but also So Strong, and thus far this show has delivered in spades, which I appreciate.

I know!!! It does!!! I really was not expecting for this show to be this RTMI, like, if they had actually given me personally a checklist of What I Would Like To See Zhu Yilong Do, I don't know if it could be more on-point. --Wu Xie and friends, because I have Iron Triangle feels something fierce.

That wig in the first ep is A Trial, but one worth enduring. And, like, there are people who have never seen Zhu Yilong before, they have to be eased into it!

Still, I appreciate the apparently industry-wide directorial commitment to having ZYL spit blood in every series. Granted, he's just been coughing so far, but come on. We all know it's coming.

He got magic pills with instructions to switch WHEN he starts coughing up blood!!

ACCURATE

Their lives are SO HARD! Oh Wu Xie...

[galaxysoup]

if they had actually given me personally a checklist of What I Would Like To See Zhu Yilong Do, I don't know if it could be more on-point.

Omg they definitely had their fingers on the fan pulse, to be sure. It's just. I keep thinking 'man if it was in my head they would do x next' and then 8/10 THEY DO

Wu Xie and friends, because I have Iron Triangle feels something fierce.

They're such a good group!!! I'm now up to Ep 14 and am very sad that it looks like the trio will be in separate plotlines for a while ;__;

(Also now I'm on a whump kick for SOME REASON and very sad to wait for more episodes!)

And, like, there are people who have never seen Zhu Yilong before, they have to be eased into it!

You know, that is a compelling point :D

[xparrot]

--Belatedly, but I recently found out that Wu Xie's appearance in the first episode was all ZYL's idea, he thought that Wu Xie should look washed-up and like a failure, so! XD

They're such a good group!!! I'm now up to Ep 14 and am very sad that it looks like the trio will be in separate plotlines for a while ;__;

--having seen you're caught up now, I am distressed that Xiaoge has just vanished, but omg all the Wu Xie & Pangzi stuff is deadly cute (I love their complete lack of personal space so much...)

[galaxysoup]

Oh god that makes so much sense. I guess Shen Wei's sleeve garters are still enough of a win to counterbalance That Wig. I'll forgive him. ;D

I miss Xiao Ge so much! *cries* Even if yes, the other two are super cute. But Xiao Ge! Come back to us, Xiao Ge... your idiots are getting into all kinds of trouble!

[goss]

Thanks for warning about the primitive racist stuff. Number One reason why I can't really get into certain archaeological/adventure movies is being unexpectedly slapped in the face with that nonsense. I guess now that I know up front, I'll do my best to just cringe and ignore, and focus on the other parts of the show.

[xparrot]

Yeah, it sucks that it's in this. The best that can be said about it is that it is mostly relegated to the secondary storyline and doesn't really intersect with Wu Xie's tomb adventures until the end of ep 12, so you can ff through the majority of it without having to miss any of Zhu Yilong's beautiful face.

There are also more detailed content notes with timestamps to facilitate skipping.

[darkemeralds]

Excellent summary. Thank you! I'm trying to decide whether to launch into this one, and I think you've weighed the balance in favor of yes.

[xparrot]

It's not a perfect show, but I have continued to really enjoying it -- the bad stuff is pretty bad, but the good stuff is INCREDIBLE, especially for certain tropes!

[tinny]

Wu Xie Is Precious And Must Be Protected, And Seriously He Is So Challenging To Keep Alive, Like an Orchid Or Something, Our Lives Are Very Hard.

LOLOL so true! He literally says this when Wu Xie almost tries to kill him. :DD

Thanks for the link to Wu Xie's lung condition and to the interview with the director. Both very interesting!

I'm only on ep 11, but hopefully at least the terrible mute village plot is finally done with. *cringe*

(Ahh I need an icon!)

Heee. So say we all. :) I've posted the first small batch. I'm sure there will be more to come. :D