Blades of the Guardians

[Drunk Monk]

Blades of the Guardians

That was AWESOME.

Wuxia is back, baby. Warring clans, filial piety, honor, betrayal, protecting the weak, and of course, vengeance. Bloody, bloody vengeance. So many cold weapons - swords, spears, melon hammers, retractable wolverine claws, hard whips, bows, arrows, axes, axes chainlinked to flying claws - YWP directing cold weapon fights? Yes please. Some very panoramic scenes of exotic desert landscapes. Shot in IMAX and I would've loved to have seen it so. Jet delivers a nice opening fight, but make no mistake, this is a Wu Jing film. 

I cannot think of a better way for me to celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse. 

D00M recommended. See it on the big screen if you can.

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

I am 2/3rds of the way through on the original donghua and it feels about 2/3rds of the way though the movie. The donghua ran 15 eps based on a manhua that was 12 volumes. The wuxiapian is relatively true to the donghua - a few plot points were abandoned like the rakshasa but the were excised neatly. Im enjoying the donghua - it’s sanguineous like a heavy anime, and it has some solid moments, but I gotta sleep now.

[Drunk Monk]

Seen
The entire donghua series is encapsulated in the movie.

The movie deviates considerably from the donghua at the end but the essence of it is the same. There’s a more pronounced romance between Ayuya and Dao Ma in the donghua and I'm glad that was excised. The donghua is far more sanguineous and brutal. It’s striking animation, some of the best I’ve seen for Chinese TV. 

Dao Ma carries around a pack of weapons like a knife roll but for swords and axes. I like that a lot.

Now that I’ve seen the donghua, I want to see the movie again. I’m also curious if this was just the first of the 12 volumes of manhua.

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

Dao Ma carries around a pack of weapons like a knife roll but for swords and axes. I like that a lot.

[Greg]

I sense a DM cosplay!

[Drunk Monk]

Oh damn. Good idea.

I've been wanting a sword roll just like that.