LOCH ep 39-52 contents and highlights

GJ's last meal with his Freaky (but lovely) teachers, Ep 43

My apologies for my absence last week; I was just busy with some private stuff… I also didn’t make anything special this week. One of the main reasons was because I have been immersing myself with another genre (J-manga), specifically on my recent awareness that a Candy Candy novel that rewrote Candy White Ardlay’s love story exists since 2010 (Candy Candy the Final Story). For those also growing up with Candy, you can read my reverie here. For those who don’t know what or who Candy is, and have no intention to read, perhaps I can direct you to the last few episodes of LOCH 2017? I haven’t finished uploading the episode highlights, despite the fact that it ended last April. My apologies, but at least now I have kicked myself to post this… next weekend I should be able to return to the old 1980s MB series once more.

Ep 39

Content: GJHR found the Book of Wumu; MNC jumped off the cliff to prevent GJHR from giving the Book to WYHL; YK mourning MNC; GJHR found Yinggu’s hut and got the instructions to meet the Southern Emperor

Highlight: MNC jumped off the cliff.

Downfall: Yinggu’s wig…OMG please rescue me from that wig…

Michael Miu's birthday tomorrow (Sunday, 18 June 2017)

An oil painting of Huang Yaoshi 2017 (Michael Miu) by Cheng Zhifeng(陳志峰)

Tomorrow, well, in less than two hours in Hong Kong, will be Michael Miu's birthday. He will be 59 years old tomorrow... may he always be healthy, happy and prosperous (that goes also for his family). 

I am on another (very important) deadline next week, hence I'm not sure if I can dedicate time to make something for Michael tomorrow. But just in case, just in case I cannot, at least I want to give him an early happy birthday... and a gratitude for coming into my life so early in my childhood... and reappear again recently as Chor Lau-heung, Li Sai-man, Szeto Man-mo, Tung Pang-fei, and yes, even as Yeung Hong (Michael still gives the best Yang Kang/Yeung Hong to date, IMO). And most certainly, most recently, as Huang Yaoshi, the Peach Blossom Island Master.

In this post, I insert four paintings that have been painted by at least two painters for Michael. The first one up here is an oil painting of Huang Yaoshi (LOCH 2017) by Chen Zhifeng (陳志峰), as acknowledged by Michael in his Weibo dated 6 June 2017. This might be the info page of Chen Zhifeng. I know not the identity of the painter of the three paintings after the break. Let me know if you do know. 

Yeung Hong singing, Huang Yaoshi in talk show

I'm going away for two weeks' business trip, so I might not have time to post something new soon. I certainly did not last week, but I will try to post something small by next weekend...

In the mean time, here's Michael Miu's Yeung Hong (LOCH 1983) singing "Iron Blood, Loyal Heart" and the second 1983 OST with Sharon Yeung Pan Pan. I like Sharon's sweet voice... and I totally am hearting Michael's voice. Like, TOTALLY. I'm a bit restless today, but just listening to his voice singing calm my heart just now. He's magical to me...




Then, after the break, we have Michael Miu, Li Yitong (2017 Huang Rong) and Chen Xingxu (2017 Yang Kang) talk show and TV coverage in Hong Kong. The news coverage was in relation to the LOCH 2017 airtime in HK, which reportedly receives good rating.

'The Manslayer' - Huang Yaoshi LOCH 2017 MV

Today is Barbara's 58th birthday! Happy birthday, my darling girl! I miss you so much...

So, I plan to make something for her... but I had to finish a Huang Yaoshi MV first... the 4th one I made (the 3rd one with the real action scenes, not just the stills). Music is from Rurouni Kenshin Samurai X movie (2012), Track #7 (Hitokiri Battousai). Hope you like it!



The Vimeo version is after the break.

'The Heavenly Jade Flute' - new HYS MV ft. Naoki Sato's Hiten

Anyone like Naoki Sato's 'Hiten' from Rurouni Kenshin 2012 movie? I'm using that music for my new Huang Yaoshi action MV above. The title of this video is 'The Heavenly Jade Flute', a combination of one of Huang Yaoshi's signature moves (Jade Flute Swordplay) and Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (飛天御剣流, Flying Heaven-governing Sword Style).

I've always loved Naoki Sato's 'Hiten', and I totally heart the Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy (Takeru Sato is Kenshin-reincarnated!), so I am happy that Hiten fits this Huang Yaoshi MV. 

Hope you like it! The Dailymotion and Vimeo versions are after the break.

'You're the Best in the World' Huang Yaoshi MV part 2 (LOCH 2017)

Finally I have time to make another MV of our charming Michael Miu as Huang Yaoshi from the LOCH 2017. I hope YouTube and Huace don't take the MV down... cos I'll be so down... (update 24.04.2017: YouTube so far allows my MV... but Dailymotion blocks it. Go figure...).

This is the second time I used 'You're the Best in the World', the iconic 3rd OST of LOCH 1983, sung by the ever-present Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng. I made the first MV in July 2016. It was a still MV, consisting of still images from the LOCH 2017. Since LOCH 2017 has ended now (yessshhh I haven't finished recapping the episodes...sorry...), we have all the scenes from the series. Huang Yaoshi had very limited fight scenes, and the first few ones were drop dead disappointing because of the excessive use of 'internal strength' (read: CGI-ed wind etc) instead of hand-to-hand combat. But after he encountered the Quanzhen, we finally enjoyed some good fights between them. I also include the Mt. Hua contest between HYS and Guo Jing.

Enjoy! The Vimeo version, the Dailymotion version (blocked by DM),  the translation of the Cantonese lyrics and the Yale romanisation are below the break. Oh, and the Cantonese version of LOCH 2017 will be aired on TVB on 8 May 2017 (thanks Wkeej and CBWarm for the info). I hope we can hear Michael and Ray Lui in their own voices...

LOCH 2017 highlights for Eps 29-38

Huang Yaoshi (Michael Miu) as he learned Huang Rong had died (Ep 29)

LOCH 2017 has wrapped up this week for iQIYI (and - ahem - YouTube) viewers, and it was an enjoyable  ride. I will make my final impression post later, perhaps the end of next week (cos I have, you know, deadlines...). However, I finally made time to catch up with the rest of the episodes to properly write some comments. Cos I have no time for detailed comments, I will generally just write the contents and highlights of each episode. Episodes were downloaded from Wuxiarocks, so thanks a lot WR for uploading the episodes.

Ep 29

Content: GJ et al escaping WYHL’s boat; GJ et al arriving at the Niu Village, met Shagu and found the secret room inside Shagu’s house; HYS mourning HR; Lu Guanying meeting Cheng Yaojia; and GJHR eavesdropping WYHL’s plan on the Book of Wumu

LOCH 2017 Ep 45 Huang Yaoshi vs Quanzhen

My apologies for the sloppy update of the LOCH 2017 commentaries. I can assure you though, the series is worth watching. The scenes of Huang Yaoshi being deceived into believing that Huang Rong was dead, the scene of HYS vs Quanzhen for the first time, the death of Ouyang Ke, the massacre in Taohua Island, everything was amazing. There are imperfection, but not too much to take me away from enjoying the series.

And the latest icing in the cake is HYS vs Quanzhen after Quanzhen thought that HYS murdered the Five Freaks of Jiangnan. The fight was in Ep 45, go see it now just for the fight.

I hope to post more commentaries late next week, for I have three more deadlines next week. I might post something light for the weekend, but if not, I'll see you next week!

Update 19 April 2017

I'm still here, just being busy with real world problems... 

Min 3:28... did Michael deflect that sword himself?

Surely it was a prop sword, but it seems he deflected it himself with HYS's jade flute (the sword then hit a piece of wood). 

That reminds me of when Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn deflected a real sword from an Uruk Hai in Lord of the Rings... Not that the sword in LOCH 2017 was real... but still cool...

LOCH 2017 commentaries for Eps 21-28

Resort-owner Huang Yaoshi welcoming his guests (including myself) at the gorgeous Peach Blossom Island

Apologies for the lack of update, I have an (exciting) personal matter (which Hannah helped sorted) which temporarily halted other things …

I’m so late with the commentaries for episodes 21-24 last week, hence I just combine them with the comments for eps 25-28. I haven’t finished re-watching episodes 24, 27 and 28, so I will add the comments for those episodes later.

Also, yesterday was the cremation of the body of Mrs Liu, Barbara Yung’s mother. May she rest in peace now and reunited with her gorgeous daughter…

Episode 21

LOCH 2017 commentaries for Eps 17-20

Michael Miu as Huang Yaoshi with a passage from the novel

I’m still traveling on holiday now, so I will just post short commentaries on episodes 17-20 of LOCH 2017. For Michael Miu fans, here’s what you need to know: He appears again as Huang Yaoshi in Eps 19 and 20. For Han Dong fans, he makes a debut in Ep 19 as Wang Chongyang, the Central Divinity. He certainly looks the part IMO, albeit a tad too young. Some important episodes for Yang Kang fans as well. I will update this post as I re-watch the episodes in due course; a bit difficult to do that when you’re traveling…

Episode 17

LOCH 2017 commentaries for Eps 9-16

Highlight of past week: the death of YTX & BXR for me

Happy New Year! Fire Rooster, hoping all the best for us hard-workers (that should include me, I hope…), but in general, may we all be happy, healthy and prosperous. Since iQIYI has released episodes 9-16 last week for the VIPs (which then leaked to YouTube), I can review those episodes for us this time. I do find 8 episodes per week too much to watch, hence I’m glad it’s back to the 4 episodes per week next week onwards. I have indeed subscribed to iQIYI VIP, but it’s just $6 per month, and I made a one-off purchase.

I’m also happy that other people can watch Ep 9-16 as well through YouTube, though I do suggest you watch Ep 9-12 from iQIYI to help the rating. So far, the 2017 LOCH is competing with a series called “The Tomb” something or other for rank 2-3, while Angela Baby’s “General and I” is at Baidu Baike rank 1.

Generally speaking now, I love this series. I did watch it earlier because of Michael Miu, but along the lines, I fell in love with Genghis Khan, Jebe, Ouyang Ke (!!), Mu Nianci, Yang Tiexin, Bao Xiruo, Wang Chuyi, Qiu Chuji, Ma Yu... n the two main leads of GJ HR. I’m okay, but not ecstatic over Chen Xingxu’s Yang Kang, but I am totally irked at the choice of Hong Qigong. The actor may have won a movie award in China, but that doesn’t make him the HQG I hope for.

Manga of the LOCH 2017 characters

So the producers have released the lovely manga of the LOCH 2017 characters. So far, we have only the four main leads, and not sure if we will have more. But I definitely want to see the Five Greats' manga (particularly Michael's laaaaah), hence I hope we will have more!

I'll post more manga artworks here if we have more.

Huang Rong (needs a better facial expression) 

LOCH 2017 commentaries for Eps 5-8

The fearsome Temujin-led Mongolians

Click this link for the iQIYI viewing of LOCH 2017. iQIYI has asked YouTube to remove unauthorised LOCH 2017 videos, hence it’s difficult to view it from YT now.  Still, please view it at iQIYI If possible, for it will help the rating. The show is at rating #3 now as per 19 January (thanks to Don Yu of SPCNet for the rating screen shot below the break). Some quotes about Ouyang Ke is at the end of the post, between some cute photos of Michael Miu as Yeung Hong (!).

Episode 5

This episode covers the Temujin vs Jamukha battle; Temujin was a very cool Khan. Amazing strategy as Mandred Skavenslayer in SPCNet said, and amazing battle scenes. Jebe of course stood out for me, as well as Temujin himself, and Tolui, whose long hair made him look cool, almost like a Native (First Nation) American.

It was touching to see Temujin (Genghis Khan) actually closed his eyes and then, with glassy eyes, shot his own brother. Like, he wished that he didn't have to do that, but he had to, under those circumstances.

LOCH 2017 commentaries for Eps 1-4

The Legend of Condor Heroes 2017 is on-air now on Dragon TV, Dong Fang TV and iQIYI. I’ve been watching ep 1-4 from Monday to Tuesday this week, and I am glad to say that it’s a promising series.  Click this link for the iQIYI viewing. Although there are so many YouTube channels uploading the drama now, please view it at iQIYI If possible, for it might help the rating.

The followings are my commentaries on episodes 1-4. I won’t go through the minute details of the episodes; there are other blogs available surely that mention the episode details. I will definitely go into detail when my favourite Michael Miu appear, but he might not appear before early or mid-February. But we know that Michael is happy with the series so far (see his Weibo at the end of this article). Also at the end of the post, I have a very nice snippet of the upcoming performance by Michael and Felix Wong, singing 'You're the Best in the World' for the upcoming Spring Festival at Jiangsu TV. Thanks to A Virtual Voyage for the news!

LOCH 2017 Opening Theme, Closing Theme and other OSTs

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!




Jeffrey Chiang et al. actually use 'Iron Blood, Loyal Heart', the very opening theme of LOCH 1983 for this new series!!!

Okay, they rearranged the song, it is now the instrumental version, but my God, what a beautiful rendition of the original opening theme! Click the YouTube above and hear and see for yourself! You can see our Michael Miu as Huang Yaoshi flying over the peach blossom trees there, as well as new scenes of Bao Xiruo and Wanyan Honglie with poor Yang Tiexin listening outside the house. Also can see Ray Lui's Southern Emperor and Huazheng hugging the torn Guo Jing. 

Click here for the LOCH 1983 OSTs, including the original 'Iron Blood and Loyal Heart'. 

Update 9 Jan 2017: I have added the extended ver of the opening closing theme. It's official: LOCH 2017 is using the instrumentals of "Iron Blood, Loyal Heart". The iQIYI link is here, the embedded YouTube below the break, as well as some Michael shots as Huang Yaoshi in the extended closing theme OST.

Update 10 Jan 2017: I have embedded Eps 01 and 02 from YouTube below the break. So far so good!

Second trailer & BTS of LOCH 2017

The second trailer of LOCH 2017 is up, as you can see here. I will make screen caps of it in due course (cos I owe Hannah et al Chapter 6 of Runaway Dragon). For now though, it's enough to say it's more about the romances between Guo Jing and Huang Rong and also between Yang Kang and Mu Nianci. Although I'm very pleased to see Daddy Miu, I mean, Huang Yaoshi making two very brief appearances in this trailer.

Daddy Miu: "Sweetie, why do you even pine over this useless boy?! Get over it, and I'll find you a better one!"

The second screen shot is big spoilers for many, so I put it under the break. I also put the new 5 min Behind the Scenes (with Ray Lui and also a good deal of Michael) under the break.

The first trailer of LOCH 2017!

Finally, after months of waiting, here's the first trailer of LOCH 2017! Thanks to SPCNet members for the info. Screen caps and scene commentaries are below the break.



The series will air in China on 9 January, so it's much faster than I thought. It will be 4 episodes per week of 52 episodes. The one shot YouTube has up there is Ouyang Ke flirting with a blushed Mu Nianci. TBH, I was disappointed with the way OYK looked like (so different from the 1983 OYK by Wong Wan-choi or the 2008 OYK by Li Jie), but I'm surprised that the 2 min trailer gave a decent OYK here. We'll see though...

Interview with Michael re LOCH 2017

Michael Miu was interviewed on 7 October 2016 on his recent roles in the Line Walker 2 (as Cheuk Sir) and in the Legend of Condor Heroes 2017 (as Huang Yaoshi). The followings are the translated and original versions of the interview. I have based my translation for the LOCH 2017 part from Google Translator, MDBG and the Kaypang Gallery Indonesian translation (thanks, Pangchu!). I translated the third and fourth parts myself from GT and MDBG. I didn’t translate part 1 about Line Walker 2; but I hopefully will in due course.

The original article can be found after the translation. It’s really nice to read the thoughts of our beautiful and wise Michael. Enjoy! Oh, and do correct me when you find mistakes in translation and interpretation, I surely have made some...

Update 9 Oct'16: Thanks to Krabs from SPCnet for editing some of my translation!

“You’re the best in this world” MV (Michael Miu as HYS 2017) & LOCH 1983 OST 3 translation

I just made this MV since we have now enough photos to make just one MV of Michael as Huang Yaoshi 2017. Since Michael played as the very memorable villain Yang Kang (Yeung Hong) in the 1983 ver of LOCH, I think it's apt to have the LOCH 1983 OST used for this piece. The OST is titled "You're the best in this world" 世間始終你好 sung by Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng. I have the YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion versions for Michael as Huang Yaoshi here. 

Since I'm also doing the translation of the LOCH 1983 OST, this post is also for that. Hence, the translation of "You’re the best in the world" (世間始終你好) is after the break. The MV of LOCH 1983 OST part 3 with Barbara Yung as Wong Yung and Felix Wong as Kwok Ching is after the translation. Romanisation is Cantonese Yale (converted from Jyutping using this site), translated into English and Indonesian.

I love this song so much, I think it's just slightly below the iconic part 1 (Iron Blood, Loyal Heart) theme song, so I enjoyed making the MV. I hope you like it too. Translation of 2nd LOCH 1983 OST will be done next week or so...

More photos of Michael Miu as Huang Yaoshi

Michael Miu has uploaded more photos of him as the East Heretic in his weibo. Rather than putting them in the older post, I'd put them here instead. I will also make an MV of him as Huang Yaoshi, if not this weekend, then next weekend (a very tiring week this week...), so watch this blog please...

The above is my favourite due to the saying. The right bottom corner says, "Travel somewhere new each year, and you just might find yourself along the way". On the left upper corner is Huang Yaoshi's name written in the traditional Chinese characters 黃藥師 (love it! I much prefer traditional than simplified characters due to the former's deeper meanings). Michael also wrote "If not now, when?". I think these simple sayings are very profound, it shows how much he was willing to explore by taking the role of the iconic Huang Yaoshi.

(or perhaps because he is already 58 years old now, he was concerned that he would not get the chance again in the future. Or both.)