The Other Shore 1945 with Vic Zhou and Janine Chang Releases Character Synopsis and First Teaser Trailers
This post is a complete and utter labor of love. The amount of time it took me to collect all the just released character synopsis and trailers, and then translate it all, stems purelyย from my love for Vic Zhou and Taiwanese-Chinese history. Vic’s upcoming epic period drama The Other Shore 1945 (ๅฝผๅฒธ1945, and formerly called Coming Home) wrapped filming in February and is finally ramping up its promotional campaign in anticipation of its release later this year.
After reading the detailed character synopsis and having watched the two trailers, I’m going out on a limb here and putting forth my speculation that The Other Shore 1945 has the potential to be the best drama I watch this year, likely to garner both critical and popular success. Both teaster trailers are short, but made me gasp and want more. In short, this baby looks spectacular, and I’m fingers-crossed it’s ultimately as epic as it aims to be.
When I watched the two teaser trailers yesterday, my heart soared the second leading lady Janine Chang opened her mouth and out tumbledโฆ..Taiwanese. YES. Oh holy mother of all drama gods, yesyesyesyes! The powers that be in China canโt get their grubby dubbing hands on my precious drama, and with that, historical accuracy remains more or less intact. Rumors had abounded that China was going to force the drama to dub over the Taiwanese (and Japanese) dialogue and make it 100% Mandarin Chinese, which made zero sense since everyone living in Taiwan in 1945 fraking spoke only Taiwanese and Japanese.
Iโm glad the language Nazis failed in their censorship, because Vic worked hard on his Taiwanese and Japanese dialogue, and half of the issues in this drama involves the language and cultural barriers. The character descriptions are also pretty much a plot synopsis, so read at your spoilery peril. But in a drama like this, I find knowing the plot likely won’t affect the cinematic enjoyment of watching it all unfold.
Vic Zhou plays Su Tai Ying
โI am a doctor. I only save people. I do not kill peopleโฆ..โ
Su Tai Ying, 28 years old, a graduate of medical school and an elite young Taiwanese intellectual. Has a gentle personality and handsome good looks. A kind person with strong convictions, he is naturally reserved and calm. He grew up in a family of Oriental medicine practitioners, and the filial him also became of doctor of Oriental medicine.
In 1941 when the Pacific war started, he was forced to enlist (in service of the Japanese army), and went to the frontlines in Mainland China to become an army doctor, along with his older brother Su Tai Cang, who volunteered to go. Together they endured the agony of war, the two brothers resolved to stay alive, and so they can to go home together.
August 1945, the Japanese have surrendered and the war is finally over. The brothers can see the road home is just ahead of them. But Tai Ying prevents his brother Tai Cang from shooting a Chinese general, which results in Tai Cang getting shot and disappearing.
After enduring dangerous obstacles, Tai Ying carries home to Taiwan the ashes of his brother Tai Cang (as obtained from the collective burial of all the deceased soldiers). Facing his mother, younger brother Tai Jie, and the girl who he grew up with but who is now his brother Tai Cangโs fiancรฉe, Yukiko, Tai Ying does not have the courage to explain what happened to Tai Cang.
The emotional scars of the battlefield loom over Tai Ying. At this time, Jian Yun, the daughter of the Chinese general, whom Tai Ying briefly met in China, has come to Taiwan with the rest of the retreating (Kuomintang) troops. Her arrival brings the Su family an even bigger shock.
Li Li Ren plays Su Tai Cang
โI am your brother. I do not care who the other person is, if anyone wants to hurt you, I will kill that person.โ
Su Tai Cang, 30 years old, passionate and brave. As the oldest son, he has a strong sense of responsibility and filial love for his mother. To protect the family and his two younger brothers, heโs willing to sacrifice everything.
The person Tai Cang loves the most is his fiancรฉe Yukiko. If not for the war, he would have already married Yukiko. Tai Cang believes that the strong emotion he feels for Yukiko will last a lifetime. Nearing the end of the Pacific war, Tai Cang brushes aside his motherโs objections and insists on volunteering in the Japanese army to protect his younger brother Tai Ying, who he sees as too kind and compassionate. In Tai Cangโs eyes, it is Tai Ying who is the hope and future glory of the Su family.
On the battlefield, Tai Cang kills innumerable opponents, but remains a solicitous caretaker of his younger brother Tai Ying. But Tai Ying cannot understand or accept how his older brother can kill people on the battlefield, and because of this the brothers constantly argue. When the Japanese Emperor announces surrender and they are retreating, suddenly their troop is attacked.
Tai Cang and Tai Ying, who are both wearing the uniforms of the Japanese army, come under attack. Tai Cang valiantly tries to fight back, but Tai Ying cannot endure watching Chinese brethren fighting each other and he tries to stop the battle. This causes Tai Cang to be wounded and disappear in a sea of dead and dying soldiers, his fate unknown.
Yang Gui Mei plays Mommy Su
โThe ancestors of the Su familyโฆ..let me endure all the pain and hardship, I just beg of you to let my three sons survive.โ
A mother in her fifties, a graduate of high school and used to work at a clothing factory. She married a doctor of Oriental medicine and bore him three sons. Her husband is greatly admired for his kindness and compassion, and she is known around the area as โthe doctorโs wife.โ
Ten years ago, her husband tried to protect the area citizens from the Japanese brutality, and ended up sick and died. Afterwards, she vowed to protect the family and uphold the family name. She learned some medicine from following beside her husband, so after his passing, she continued to dispense help to the people. To the one son who followed in her husbandโs medicine footsteps, Tai Ying, she pins all her hopes and dreams.
Li Guo Yi plays Su Tai Jie
“No matter how difficult it is to win over the Japanese…..I will surpass them to be number 1”
Su Tai Jie, 23 years old, the youngest of the three brothers, a third year university student in the Taipei University political science department. Smart, outgoing, with a strong rebellious streak, he has been coddled by his learned father and older brothers. He has harbored a strong sense of idealism since he was small.
Tai Jie hates injustice and will fight for what is right every time. Because his father told him that their ancestors came from Tang Shan in Mainland China, he has always viewed the Mainland with curiosity and longs to go there.
Living during the time of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, he has longed for societal equality, and his beliefs and youthful fervor constantly land him in trouble. He is the son in the Su family that gives everyone the most headache. Growing up in a time when he sees how disparately the Japanese and Taiwanese are treated, Tai Jieโs only goal in life is to win over the Japanese at everything he does. This determination allows him to beat his Japanese rivals in college and become the top of the class.
After the Japanese defeat in the war, Taiwan is finally free of the occupation. To Tai Jie, this is the greatest glory for the Taiwanese people. He welcomes this new era with a happy heartโฆ.but he doesnโt know that once the euphoria of this victory fades away, that is when the greatest challenge to the Su family will startโฆ..
Janine Chang plays Yukiko
โNo matter how long, wars will always end some day, right? Yukiko will forever wait for youโฆ.to come homeโฆโ
Yukiko, 24 years old, a nurse at a famous clinic in Keelung. She is the fiancรฉe of Su Tai Cang, the eldest son of the Su family, but she grew up alongside the second son Tai Ying. Sheโs beautiful and gentle, but has her own mind and beliefs. Because she grew up having been instilled the beliefs of traditional Japanese stoicism, she does not easily reveal her real emotions.
Yukikoโs real name is Lin Xiu Xue, the daughter of a friend of Mommy Su. Her parents died when she was a child, and she was adopted by the head engineer of the Keelung electricity department, who was Japanese. She is adored by Mommy Su, and Tai Cang has always loved her. The two families have already discussed and agreed to the engagement, and is only waiting until the war is over before Tai Cang and Yukiko get married.
But Yukiko is secretly in love with Tai Ying, and the only people who can tell this secret is youngest brother Tai Jie, and a police officer named Lin Jin Biao, who is also in love with Yukiko. After the war ends, and news of Tai Cangโs death reaches Taiwan, this causes a great turmoil in Yukikoโs life. Mommy Su decides to have Yukiko marry Tai Ying, and she is thrilled to be able to marry the man she does in fact love.
But Tai Ying returns to Taiwan with another woman by his side, Jian Yun. Everything becomes even more complicated, and Yukiko does not realize that her beauty is unwittingly leading her towards another catastropheโฆ.
Wang Shao Wei plays Lin Jin Biao
โA want to be a policemanโฆ.doesnโt matter if itโs a Japanese policeman or a Kuomintang policeman. Only as a policeman will I get respect!โ
Best friends with Su Tai Ying from their grade school days, an orphan, he sees the disparate social treatment between the Taiwanese and the Japanese, and he vows to gain respect. He becomes a Japanese police officer during the occupation, and falls in love with Yukiko because she is the one person who treats him with kindness, and not as a lackey of the Japanese occupiers.
After the war ends, because he saved the life of a Kuomintang official, he becomes a police officer for the new regime. But after the dust settles, the language barriers (Mandarin Chinese versus Taiwanese) amongst the people cause huge misunderstandings, and creates many obstacles in his police career. And the woman he loves, Yukiko, begins to drift away from himโฆ.
Just reading the detailed character (and plot) descriptions gives me goose bumps. This is a drama that lives and breathes my parents and grandparents generation – those who lived, smiled, and cried during 50 years of Japanese occupation of Taiwan, and then had to start living life completely differently after 1949 when one occupation was swapped out for another when the Mainland retreating Kuomintang army landed in Taiwan and proceeded to govern it like a dictatorship for the next 40 years.
Normally war dramas and movies I avoid like the plague, but this one I will watch from beginning to end, because itโs so personal to me, telling of a story that I heard million times before from my parents, of how hard life was, during war time, during peace time, during their time, because it was a time of great change and geopolitical and culture seismic shifts for the Taiwanese people. The trailer is equally awesome, so have a look. And yes, pretty much every line of dialogue is in Taiwanese, and Vicโs got his accent down pat, I approve.
Teaser trailer 1:
Title card:
Coming home
To fulfill a promise to our mother
My brother valiantly kills
I just want to save as many as I can
Butโฆ.
The smoke, the whizzing bullets, the stench of blood, the corpses
The road home, I cannot see itโฆ..
Tai Cang: You are not hurt, are you? Are you okay?
Tai Ying: Did you fire that shot?
Tai Cang: Tai Yingโฆ.
Tai Ying: You murderer!
Tai Cang: What do you think you are doing! I am your brother, have you gone insane?
Tai Ying: Heโs just a child, and how could you kill him?
Tai Cang: What child! There are only enemies on this battlefield.
Tai Ying: They are the same as we are (all Chinese), donโt you know that!
Tai Cang: You look carefully, look carefully at what your brother is wearing. I am wearing the uniform of the Japanese army. And so are you! In the eyes of the Chinese (in China), we are the enemy. On the battlefield who will listen to your explanation. I am your older brother. I do not care who it is, if anyone intends to hurt you, I will kill that person. Is there anything wrong with that!?!
Tai Ying: I donโt need you to protect me!
Tai Cang: Tai Ying!!!!
Teaser Trailer 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV4gcRwcXBs
Title Card:
Coming home
In order to not let his waiting fianceeโs hopes be dashed
My older brotherโs will to survive is stronger than anyone else
Except, when he is protecting me
He does not know, that the most precious love in his life
Is slowing changing color, because of meโฆ..
Yukiko: Tai Cang promised that he would come home safely. How can a whole and healthy person leave, and come back as a jar of ashes.
Lin Jin Biao: The way you are talking right now, itโs as if you already the Su family daughter-in-law. Donโt you know that you have not officially married into the family. Let me ask you? Does the doctor wife (Mommy Su) know who the person you really love is?
Yukiko: I really wish Tai Ying could be here.
Mommy Su: Yukiko, even though you grew up with Tai Ying, it is Tai Cang whom you must entrust the rest of your life to. All men wish to be the entire sky for his woman.
Some dude (speaking in Mandarin Chinese): Iโm sorry, Jin Biao older brother!
Lin Jin Biao (speaking in Mandarin Chinese): WHY!
The title card then list all the main actors in the cast, starting with Vic and Janine.
Rest assured I’ll be bringing more updates for The Other Shore 1945 as its released. For now, I feel very sated having read and sampled all these goodies about this drama. And yes, hearing Vic speak Taiwanese literally turns my knees into jelly.
I ‘ve been waiting for this, holly molly I was shaking while reading the post… Truly a EPIC one and I’m loving the love line between Vic and Janine, one sided love or forbidden love???… Did i just see Yong-Yong crying there… Great Job Ms K.. Well appreciated…
I KNOW! This sounds utterly fantastic. The last war drama I watched was a Korean one (Comrades) that was just so brilliant it left me speechless. I hope this one is going to be just as epic.
This plot has a bit similarity with a korean movie which I could not remember the title. However, in that movie the older bro was extremely protective of his younger bro. In other to free his younger bro, he must be visible to the general of their troop. N that caused a separation btw them. Extremely good performance. But this TW drama has few different plots.
taegukgi?!..that’s what I was thinking too
@Bertha
Are you Italian? Cos I am. ^^
you must be referring to Taegukki starring Jang Dong Gun and Won Bin.. for me too, this drama reminded me of it after watching the trailers.. hope this Vic Zhou drama’s gonna be epic like that movie instead of the disappointing RN1..
on the side note, I thought Vic Zhou is Taiwanese so why is ockoala excited that he is speaking in Taiwanese?
I think she’s not excited about Vic Zhou speaking Taiwanese, but because the drama wasn’t dubbed in Mandarin Chinese
I’m pretty sure Vic Zhou isn’t actually fluent in Taiwanese, that he only speaks Mandarin.
@madzgo
Now everyone in Taiwan speaks Taiwanese. In 1949 when the KMT retreated to Taiwan with its troops and family, the newcomers (called Outer Province People) spoke all dialects of Chinese depending on from where in China they originally came from. But the KMT government mandated Mandarin Chinese as the official language.
For the people already living in Taiwan at that time (called Main Province People), they spoke Taiwanese and/or Japanese (due to the 50 years of Japanese occupation when Japanese was the official language taught in schools).
In the 60 years since, the native Taiwanese and the Chinese who came over in ’49 have all intermarried, and now while everyone speaks Mandarin, Taiwanese still remains the main dialect for people from the middle and south of the island. But you can find lots of young actors who are from families that don’t speak Taiwanese, hence they don’t know the language.
Vic doesn’t speak Taiwanese in real life, he had to learn it for the drama. BUT, everyone who lives in Taiwan hears Taiwanese often, on the streets, on TV sometimes, so it’s likely easier for the non-Taiwanese speaking to pick it up for a drama or movie if required.
Speaking of Language….Mandarin makes me go crazy the tones are really exhausting….it can be as hell hard with French which is sooooo freaking nasal (better if I had a cold)….I’d prefer Korean and Italian anytime of the day…. ๐ Ciao
Waaah looks good! ^^ Another Vic Movie!! Awesomeeee
So who’s the leading lady if Janine is the second lead?
The female lead is Mainland actress, Yan Na.
I’m pretty sure Janine is the lead, but I’m not sure at all if she ends up with Vic, or he ends up with Yan Na.
The trailer is finally out~ Thank you!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you… I imagine how much work you have done to write this down… and I’m really thankful…
And because of the love you showed Koala Bear you are loved and very much appreciated, your passion is breathe taking Grazie mille!!!!! ๐
If the COWS AIN’T HOLY ENOUGH ALREADY (in India I guess), well this kind of story reminds me of Amy Tan’s the Joy Luck Club yup the book which I read so far back….The story of war makes me cry….and yes it makes a strong person out of someone who is so used to order and urban living….it proves only that life can be so unpredictable that the only thread of hope is to bend with the winds of change….
So where can I buy one like this “Has a gentle personality and handsome good looks. A kind person with strong convictions, he is naturally reserved and calm.” Hahaha Vic or Zai Zai is that right? This guy seems to be a classic living proof of unearthed treasure…..for someone who got into showbiz by pure coincidence really seems to be riding the tides well….
Well I’ll stick with the two hour movie first, time is really out of my hands… ๐ Ciao!!!!
Finally, Vic is back out with another drama. Like you, ockoala, I’ve been a Vic convert since B&W, which also happens to be the only TWdrama I’ve seen in its entirety without fastforwarding. I skipped the potential spoiler pictures and character descriptions, but don’t you think Vic sort of gives off the Tony Leung Chiu Wai vibe in the first two pictures? I mean, just the period background and the disconcerted expression and the styling.
I thought the same thing!
The plot reminded me of Taegukgi and that is a good thing!
This looks fantastic! I’m a sucker for stories that revolve around siblings and the added touch of a love triangle makes it all the more interesting, imho. Sure, it’s a kind of storyline we’ve all seen before but do I care? Nope. Not one bit.
Btw, my money is on the older brother making a come back in a “whoops, I wasn’t dead” kind of way.
Anyway, should we expect a a Yukiko/Tai Ying romance at some point? Or the beginning of one or is Vic Zhou supposed to be paired with the other female lead? I need to know because for some reason I already started shipping Y/TY and I was already imagining the angst and manpain that might ensue.
BTW I kind of snickered when I read that so many guys love Yukiko.
Yeah, all they needed was for the youngest brother Tai Jie to also fall for Yukiko and she would have slayed the entire young male cast for this drama~
I don’t know the OTP situation. Seeing the type of drama this is, I wouldn’t bet my house that Vic ends up with Janine.
IKR!
I know, I know. It looks like a happy ending might not happen, but hey, I’m still watching this for sure
Have to admit this can go either Comrades or….R#1 on us. I’m not as convinced this will be guaranteed awesome fr the short trailers. There’s sth off with the war scene…and sadly Janine. I’m just not as blown away…or my expectation is too ridiculous?! :/
This maybe a very silly ignorant question, is ZaiZai’s mother tongue้ฉๅ่ช and ้ฉๅ่ช is different fr ๅฐ่ช/Taiwanese hence he has to learn his lines in Taiwanese? I rem ZaiZai can’t speak Mandarin as well and he had a hard time learning his lines for Meteor Gardens.
Zai Zai’s mother tongue is NOT ้ฉๅ่ช or ๅฐ่ช. He’s half aboriginal blood, but his mother tongue is Mandarin. I betcha he grew up speaking Taiwan Mandarin, which explains why he needed to really learn to say his lines with the proper “newscastor” Mandarin accent in F4 (haha, Huaze Lei speaking Taiwan Mandarin would have been hilarious!).
This is his family background.
ๆฏ่ฆชๅ ทๅฎ่ญๅๆพณ้ๆณฐ้ ๆ่ก็ตฑใๅบ็ๆผๅฎ่ญ็ธฃ็พ ๆฑ้ฎ๏ผๅฐๅไปไป็บ็ฅๆฏๆๅใ็ฅ็ถๆฏๆฏๅฑฑๆฑไบบๅๆนๅไบบ๏ผๅคๅ ฌๅคๅฉๆฏไธๆตทไบบๅๅไฝๆฐ
I don’t think this will be Rn1 (Taiwanese old school dramas like this don’t do sappy love swirly stories) even if its not Comrades good. I’m optimistic. ๐
Ahhh ic fascinating…… but am still confused. so did he go to public sch or do the natives have their own autonomy of school systems? What is the mandatory language taught in his part of TW? Taiwan mandarin is what he speaks at home and it is not mandarin? I can only tell the different accents but always thought the mandarin spoken in TWdramas is all TW mandarin and his mandarin sounds weird even to my ears all things considered in MeteorGarden. I only am sure TW mandarin is definitely not Taiwanese, that I know.
Everyone speaks Mandarin at school, it’s mandatory. But in our generation, pronounciation may not be as crisp for people who live in areas where it’s predominately Taiwanese speaking (i.e. not in a big Northern city).
My Mando is accentless (i.e. I speak like a Other Province person, even though I’m native), whereas my parents Mando is what I call Taiwan Mando, i.e. has that Taiwan accent you can hear.
The weirdest Mando of all the actors currently acting has got to be Wu Zun, with his Brunei Mando. I cannot get over it, so funny to my ears.
I admit I don’t know much about Taiwanese history, though I know more now than I did before this semester started, thanks to my Chinese Gov & Politics class. But this does look pretty darn awesome, even for the ignorant. I’ll have to check it out. ^_^
Dongsaeng-ya,
I’ll drop in more modern Taiwanese history into my posts about this drama as applicable. It’s pretty dense, but I’m so excited to hear that you’ve taken a class on Chinese gov. It usually just glosses over Taiwan though, but it’s still pretty heady stuff.
Sigh, I miss school and classes~
I hope you’ll get to add more history! Knowing the history and culture of the country adds so much more depth to the dramas I watch.
It is a ZZ drama! I am going to watch!
Oh my God, this looks and sounds amazing and has certainly become my most anticipated drama of the year. I am indifferent to Janine but even though she’s not one of my favorites, she doesn’t bother me and eeeee! Vic!!!!!
Btw, can I link to this?
Of course you can~
It looks potentially stunningly epic, doesn’t it? Sigh, Vic’s really taking up such challenging projects.
Dearest Koala, we have something else in common besides watching dramas: Taiwanese background and an interest in Taiwanese history.
I’m not into war dramas either, but I got chicken skin just watching the trailers. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen entire programs in Taiwanese. The basic drama story is probably similar to other dramas. But the larger story, on a personal level, is a reminder of a part of history that is slowly disappearing as the voices of our grandparents’ generation depart.
Thanks sooo much for this post. It’s really awesome! And wow, you are taiwanese? Because of this drama, I started reading up about Taiwan’s history and it is really really interesting and very poignant. I can understand more where Taiwan and her people got their characteristic and personality from now.
The 3rd and 4th trailers were released yesterday. It’s breathtaking !!
Trailer 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O_KpVRrjts&feature=BFa&list=ULPpa5keQxHRU&index=4
Trailer 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcupML1tQIc&feature=player_embedded
(most dialogue in Japanese with chinese sub)
Whoah! this post got me all goosebump! Thanks Captain Ockoala for all the translations of the character, the trailer..you’re amazing in my book! One thing Is I adore Vic Zhou and this movie is definitely a great treat from him. Hopefully it will be available on online site Mysoju after it’s release…can’t wait! Good luck to the movie!
Thank you so much for all nice comments for my dear ZZ and for the drama. thanks Ockoala for everything and for loving our dear, dear ZZ. Can’t wait for the drama to be aired.
I just read this article because sytwo posted it in this one forum. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. I usually stay away from war dramas too (but would make some exceptions) because of the heavy controversy behind (for obvious reasons). I think this might be one of those exceptions for me.
wow i happened to be browsing through your older posts and came across this, and words cannot describe how excited i am for this drama now. i usually stick to rom-coms, but the proud taiwanese in me cannot wait to see (2) a drama where the taiwanese language isn’t only spoken by the country bumpkins and (2) how this show depicts a very touchy subject
im so disappointed with this series why why why janine chang ???? she can’t act
Can’t wait to watch this drama……I’ve been a Vic Zhou follower since Meteor Garden days and I’m so proud of what he has become now, a talented and serious actor.
share download link to this movie please. i want to wacth this movie. pleeaaasseee…..
I’m trying to look for a website where their’s a english subtitle on. I found two websites this drama is playing but it don’t have english subtile. Do you guys have any idea where I can watch it???
I’m a vic chou biggest fans( and I’m sure Im not the only one fan that follows vic chou’s drama series.) pls. Help me find a website where I watch this. Pls.
Thank You