Official Stills of the Three Male Leads of Da Mo Yao
In my whirlwind busier than usual life last week, when I finished translating Da Mo Yao, I didn’t realize that I forgot to add a few more paragraphs to the end of the epilogue. Nothing mindblowing, but it is needed to complete the ending nevertheless. It’s been added back to the final chapter of DMY (click here to read). Since I have to write this public announcement, I figure I’ll toss in some latest DMY nuggets. The drama adaptation continues to film, and I continue to be snorting in derision at it. The official first pictures of the three male leads came out two weeks ago, and just continued to confirm for me that it’s still not working for me, Hu Ge as Meng Jiu looks glassy-eyed, waxy robotic, and hardly the picture of willowly elegance in his sack cloth get up. Frankly, I expect to see this at Madame Tussauds. Han Dong as Li Gan is the most alive of the three but looks so stiff and generic. And finally, Eddie Peng as Huo Qu Bing looks sleazy and resembles more a outlaw thief than a warrior god undefeatable general, giving off not a whit charm and charisma. I’ve come to accept that period version of Eddie Peng will never be my dish, and the other two look half cooked and luke warm.
If I ever watch the drama, I’m probably going to turn into a Jiu Ye-Jin Yu shipper. Which has happened to me in the past, where my shipping preferences have switched between the novel and the movie version. Case in point, I was Team Jacob in the novels, but Team Edward when it came to the movie. Couldn’t help it, the actors playing the OTP had much better chemistry. For DMY, I’m just going to admit to being shallow and needing my leading man to actually be good looking in my eyes. I couldn’t have imagined I’d ever see my Xiao Huo in a hairstyle that incorporated dreads.
Feeling kind of iffy about the screen version since it’ll be a hard sell in comparison to the novel.
… eddie peng does look like a historical thug here xD
WHO STYLED HIM???
He’s completely, totally wrong for Qu Bing. Ugh.
Actually of the three, the dude who plays Li Gan looks pretty cute. Poor Eddie’s hair style seems to emphasise his jut jaw. Not very appealing I’m afraid.
Han dong look ok, a little bland. Hu ge looks haggard. Eddie reminds me of a pirate not sure why. The quality of these are really ….
what happened to our Huo Qu Bing over there? He looks like a THUG/Mercenary and not a warrior. And Meng Jiu,he looks like a robot. Is that Li Gan? He looks good. OMG i wonder if this drama will be good. x[
YES. I will be Jiu-Ye-Jin Yu shipper when this is released
….speechless…esp eddie…never in my worst moment have i dream of HqB looking like this, in my opinion after looking at the picture, han dong and eddie should switch roles cus u know Li Gan dies first..
Hey Toriafan =)
What do you mean by ‘… han dong and eddie should switch roles cus u know Li Gan dies first’ ?
I mean frm the pic, han dong look so much better than eddie as hqb, well..at least u can imagine it…n i think eddie look kind of sunken more like the character of li gan in my mind. N by saying L i Gan die faster, i was being sacarstic cos in the novel Li Gan died first, then eddie will have lesser screen time. i know im being mean but thats becos im peeved that my img of DMY is being destroyed by unsuitable actor n that such exquisite story n drama( imagery like frm bbjx) will be destroyed by eddie. it didnt matter if eddie is a gd actor cos he simply doesnt look the part of HQB n looks wise he simply cant convince us…
Like everyone else, I’m wondering what was going on in the head of the person who chose HQB’s clothes… WTH????
HQB and Jiu Ye look like poor people bec. of their clothes … Ligan’s clothes are better …. the novel description of these men is better ….
OK this seals my decision not to watch the drama adaptation so I can preserve Huo Qing Bing’s image in my mind the way he’s meant to look like. EP in that get-up……shakes head…
OMGoddness… well, Eddie sure doesn’t look like a QB to me at all. Hope the drama turn out well for those that are planning to watch.
“For DMY, I’m just
going to admit to being shallow
and needing my leading man to
actually be good looking in my
eyes.” totally agree on that one!
*sobs and cries*
HIM?! The 9th prince from BBJX is HQB?!
NOOOO!! *sobs in misery*
No, 9th prince from BBJX is playing Li Gan. HQB is played by Eddie. :/ I’d prefer HG playing as HQB but it’s fine. Hu Ge already had a lot of roles like this before so it’s a good thing that he’s trying something new.
I don’t like that hqb and jiu ye clothes it not look Elegant at all, at least make there clothes better
Eddie will never be Huo Qu Bing for me. HQB in my heart is very handsome, cool, manly, superior , and smart. Eddie is a big NO. He looks so gangster, unattractive and ugly, not like a general type character. I want Lin Geng Xin (14th Prince in BBJX) to be HQB.
Hu Ge as Meng Jiu looks kind a sleepy and poor.
Who will be Yu Er?
I will never watch this drama.
Lin Geng Xin would be a cool HQB but I’m not sure if he can pull off the cockiness. Besides, the outfit that Eddie has is probably the desert scene where he first met Jin Yu. And Yu’er will be played by Liu Shi Shi(aka Ruoxi from BBJX)
hahaha, my sis wanted him too.
I won’t miss this show, will stick to koala’s star outline and novel thank you very much. They are waay better.
When I first saw the pics I thought oh yay at least HQB will look like a general…oh wait that guy is suppose to be Li Gan….*sighs*
One reason I will watch this then is to see Meng Jiu ang Jin Yu together. I’m just one of those rares that wished these two had the happy ending or a solid resolution.
I think Hu Ge and Eddie’s costumes are for when they first met Jin Yu in the desert. I mean, would Tangren really make them look like this? I’m hoping to see more of their costumes. If Hu Ge looks waxy etc, then it’s probably the lighting and photoshop. Let’s wait to see the actual drama before criticizing alright? 🙂
Li Gan looks pretty acceptable. Hu Ge seems quite lifeless and Eddie is playing out the arrogance but not giving off much heat. Still, nobody is hideous, and they’re all borderline attractive…seriously don’t know why people stoop so low to demean them as outright “ugly” or hope for their characters to get killed off ASAP.
I am quite okay with Eddie as HQB, but wth is wrong with his hairstyle, or better say what wis wrong with those people who made him into this. Come on no general has dread locks?! Couldn’t he just look normal like in the yang warriors i would have accepted that, but this is freaking ugly. As for Hu Ge as MJ well the hairstyle is better than the press conference thing but still…i agree with you very robot-like. So considering these stills, should we start shipping Li Gan?! 😉
I am already hahaha!
Before judging, I’m going to watch the adaptation. I really really hope they could pull this off. And honestly, in the picture, for the first time, I could see Eddie looking his age. He has such a cute baby face that it’s hard to see the handsome cocky HQB in him. I have to admit, it’s not his best picture or angle (OR hairstyle), but we’ll see. He’s a great actor, so I have my finger cross. 😀
Thanks for sharing these pictures, despite the fact that you ahbors the adaption choices.
I agree with you.
Although I am also more of a LSS-Huge shipper, Tangren definitely knows what’s best to produce their best results. As audience, we just need sit back, relax and enjoy the drama.
Like in Xuan Yuan Jian, I wasn’t convince of the main cast ..Jiang Jing Fu who casts Chen Jing Chou. But later on, I realize he is quite ok…just a bit petite.
Moreover, wasn’t Huo Jian Huang himself who rejected the role?
I love this novel more than BBJX but don’t like too much story on Li Yan.
Thanks for the updates and pictures….they are awesome.
I didn’t expect HQB to have braids but I think it goes along with his don’t-care attitude and the facade he puts on when he is in Chang An. I think Eddie is portraying the HQB’s arrogance pretty well. I think Hu Ge looks better than the press conference. pics and I am waiting to see if he will be successful in conveying Jiu Ye’s vulnerable but still strong character.
Never in my wildest nightmare would I say this….but if this and YMM’s SwordParakeets switch rags, I can maybe have an easier time, even if slightly.
I did really try to give TR excuses but these r promo stills. It should be the initial impression of the characters that should speak volumes of what they should be instead of up to us to fish for some scene in whatever chapter for this piece of used gauze and beggar dreads.
Hey, I’m totally backing you up on this. If the parakeets landed in DMY the drama, maybe I’ll be blinded by the color and find it more palatable. But the hairstyle on LSS as Yu Er is just horrendous. Can we just say period ahjumma?
K is really sunk low. When the accessories picture came out and C-fans shit a brick because every single item was recycled and mostly from old Tang Tang characters, back them I was still thinking no big deal. Now I see they simply lack taste and vision, so they’ll just throw shit on the wall and see if some people are blind enough to find it palatable.
HG and Eddie’s outfits above are shit I saw in the 80s for really bad TW period dramas. Where the CGI condor was a man in a rubber condor outfit type of bad dramas.
I actually really loved Eddie in Young Warriors of the Yang Clan – though that was completely different character from HQB. I agree though, the costuming and hairstyle here doesn’t look like a fierce general :/ I wish Yuan Hong could play HQB! I just LOVE him and Shi Shi together, and he’s so good at those “I’m kind of a bad ass, but I have a soft spot when it comes to one woman” roles!! SIGH. I really hope this adaptation will turn out ok anyway. Thanks so much for the translations, Koala!
I keep thinking of Takeshi Kaneshiro as he appeared in House of Flying Daggers for the part of HQB really.