Introducing TVB’s “No Reserve”, Premiering on myTV SUPER

TVB’s “restricted” drama No Reserve <巾幗梟雄之諜血長天> is finally getting a full, uncut release through TVB’s streaming service, myTV SUPER. The period drama, set in the turbulent times of World War 2, will have its worldwide premiere on Saturday, October 1 with five episodes. myTV SUPER will be putting out five episodes every Saturday, totaling 30 episodes.

No Reserve, the third installment to Lee Tim-sing’s (李添勝) acclaimed Rosy Business <巾幗梟雄> franchise, stars Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), and Edwin Siu (蕭正楠), portraying a trio of Communist and Kuomintang secret agents who are thrown into the chaos of the Japanese invasion of China.

The drama, shot in 2013, stayed locked in TVB’s dungeons for three years. Rumored for being “too explicit” for a network broadcast, TVB reportedly had at one point reduced the drama from 30 episodes to 15, cutting down the scenes that alluded to triggering content.

TVB never gave reasons to why they were hesitant in airing No Reserve, but actors on the show have denied the rumor about it being too explicit. They said that TVB’s reluctance had probably something to do with the show’s sensitive political topic.

Minor Spoilers Ahead

Cheung Kei-sang (Myolie Wu) and the orphan Chau Sai-kai (Edwin Siu), two young lovers from a village in Southern China, are forcibly separated on their marriage day due to the Japanese invasion. Filled with hatred and vengeance, Sai-kai joins a Kuomintang secret agency, becoming their spy.

Meanwhile, Kei-sang ends up in a Communist guerrilla militia and receives training to be their government’s spy. She takes up a different identity as a Cantonese opera performer and cozies up with many Japanese officials, to the point of selling her body to extract military intelligence. She also meets Kong Sheung-hung (Wayne Lai), another Communist spy, and together they go on a mission to search for a Japanese businessman, who is linked to the war.

They meet the businessman, only to discover that he looks identical to Sheung-hung. They learn that the businessman, Suzuki Kazuo, is actually Sheung-hung’s long lost twin brother, who ended up in Japan and was raised by an abusive Japanese father. The repeated abuse turns Kazuo into a strange and psychotic man.

In another mission, Kei-sang reunites with Sai-kai, but his ties with the Kuomintang puts their relationship at an impasse. Kei-sang is heartbroken to find Sai-kai turning into a psychopath, to a point of no return.

King Kong’s “Promotion”

King Kong Lee (金剛), who starred as an Imperial Japanese colonel in 2010’s No Regrets <巾幗梟雄之義海豪情>—the second part of the Rosy Business franchise—returns in the third installment as another Japanese character—a commander of the imperial army. The Taiwanese actor joked, “I’ve gotten a promotion!”

Despite the heavy tone of No Reserve, King Kong said his character was written to provide a little bit of comic relief for the story. “It was a surprising addition,” he said. The actor then asked the viewers to anticipate a particular scene on the show, where his character will drop a few hilarious lines. “Make sure to put your subtitles on. If not you won’t understand it,” he said.

Most of King Kong’s scenes were with Myolie. He revealed that their characters had a lot of close contact—one report had mistaken their scenes to be a rape scene. King Kong quickly explained, “Myolie gets close to me because she wanted some information. She willingly came to me. It’s love, not rape!”

Theme Song: “Lonely Flower” by Kay Tse

Source: Oriental Daily

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.