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

[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...