Review: “Three Kingdoms RPG” (By Funn)

Three Kingdoms RPG <回到三國>
Hong Kong TVB Drama 2012

Producer: Lau Ka Ho
Genre: Historical Comedy
Episodes: 25

SPOILERS ALERT

“I will recommend you to watch this series because 3 Kingdoms RPG will be a crash course on TVB’s line up of secondary actors who can act.”

PROLOGUE

This is a very very very long review since I intend to comment on every character in this series as in the cast list except for some of the minor ones. If you just hate long reviews, you might like to use the Find function for certain characters you may like to zoom into. It isn’t written with flow in mind but rather with “pick and choose” in mind.

BASIC INFORMATION

Chinese Title
Literal translation is Back To Three Kingdoms Era or Return To Three Kingdoms Era

Released in
2012

First Date of 1st broadcast
July 9, 2012

End Date of 1st broadcast
August 10, 2012

Cast of Characters
Many thanks to Kidd for helping to compile this list

MODERN DAY
Kenneth Ma as Sima Shun/Wan Shun/Vincent
Joe Jr as Prof Cho Tai Wai
Matt Yeung Ming as Cho Siu Wai
Har Yu as Sima Biu
Fong Yi Kei as Fong Yuk Ping (Mrs Sima)
Cilla Kung (Lok Tung) as Sima Kuen
James Ng Yip Kwan as Sima Ming
Lee Kai Kit as For Jui (the mechanic)
Lo Tin Chi as Fai Cha (the PR guy)

SHU KINGDOM
Raymond Lam as Chugot Leung/Zhuge Liang
Tavia Yeung as Song-yau
Joseph Lee Kwok Lun as Lau Bei/Liu Bei
Au Sui-wai as Kwan Yu/Gwan Yu
Savio Tsang Wai Kuen as Cheung Fei/Zhang Fei
Deno Cheung Chung Chi as Chiu Wan/Chiu Chi Lung/Zhao Zhilung
Rachel Kan as Lady Kon
Iva Law as Lady Mei
Annie Chong as Cho-guk
Doris Chow as a maid in Lau Bei’s household
Siu Hoi-yan as a maid in Lau Bei’s household
Lydia Law as a maid in Lau Bei’s household
Cheung Wai-yi as a maid in Lau Bei’s household
Bond Chan as Chukot Leung’s friend
Chan Siu Bong as Sek Tou (Kong Yuen)
Jones Lee Chung Hei as Chui Hou (Jau Ping)
Lee Shing Cheung as Hon Leong
Lee Yee Man as Hao Lin
Leung Ka-ki as Wong Yuet-ying
Raymond Chiu Wing Hung as Xu Shu
Jonathan Cheung Wing Hong as Fan Kan
Lily Ho Ngo Yee as Mei Yu/Mei Yoke (Lau Bei’s niece)

JINGZHOU
Jack Wu as Lau Kei
Vin Choi as Lau Chung
Lau Kong as Lau Biu
Mary Hon as Lady Choi
Steven Ho Kai Nam as Cao Mao (De Gui)
Wong Wai Tak as Zhang Yun

HAN DYNASTY/LATER BECAME WEI KINGDOM
Law Lok-lam as Cho Cho/Cao Cao
Ram Chiang as Sun Yuk/Man Yeuk
Chan Wing-kei as Ka Hui
Raymond Chiu Wing Hung as Xu Shu
Eric Lee Tin Cheung as Sima Yi (Zhong Da)
Lo Mong as Xiaohao Dun (Yuan Rang)
Ho Chun Hin as Jiang Gan (Zi Yi)

DONG WU/EASTERN WU
Pierre Ngo Ka-nin as Suen Kuen/Sun Quan
Ruco Chan as Chow Yu/Zhou Yu
Fung So-bor as Lady Ng
Sharon Chan as Siu Kiu/Xiao Qiao
Tam Bing Man as General Deng Song
King Kong as Deng Xi
Albert Cheung Chi Man as Pang Tong/Fung Chor
Yeung Ying Wai as General Huang Gai
Chan Wing Chun as Cheng Yu (Zhong De)
Jim Tang Wing Kin as Lu Su

OTHERS
Jess Shum Cheuk Ying as Wong Pou Yi Nei, the pianist
Matthew Ko Kwan Yin as Yeung Chi Him
Michael Choi Hong Nin as Wah To/Hua Tuo (Yuan Hua)

ALL ABOUT THE STORY

Synopsis
From Wikipedia, Three Kingdoms RPG is an upcoming Hong Kong television series produced by TVB, with Lau Kar-ho serving as the drama’s executive producer. It stars Kenneth Ma as Szema Shun, a young Hong Kong game addict, who accidentally travels back in time to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history while he is playing a video game.

Episodic Thoughts/Recaps/Summaries
All 25 episodes with commentaries, all written by me either here at my Episodic Thoughts blog or read the them all starting with episode 1 at Jaynestars

ALL ABOUT OPINION

Comments
After writing 25 full recaps for this series here (or here at Jaynestars), and this has to be one of my first full episodic thoughts although not as long or detailed as my few others, I feel this is one that I need to write a review separate from my episodic thoughts because well… I want to write one. And here goes.

A summary of thoughts
After 18.74 hours of watching all 25 episodes, writing about 21 pages of tiny unreadable notes by yours truly so as to at least remember which is which scene when writing recaps, about 50 hours for writing the 25 recaps, an average of 7 pages of episodic thoughts per episode an average of 10 replies for the comments posted in my recaps both at my blog and at Jaynestars and a few minutes looking for photos and asking Kidd for help with the cast list and right now still working on the 18 stratagems’ translations, after finishing the last episode and recap, I can honestly say I enjoyed this series. True! Now you may wonder why because if you know the ending, you too will wonder, why Funn, why?!

I must clarify, I don’t get the perfunctory manner the way this series ended. It didn’t begin with a love story between Song Yau and Shun but it certainly ended with it. I understand why Shun can’t be seen pining for Fan Kan or Zhuge Liang since that would be too gay for some to handle, and since I have read about the complaints on the hot spring bath for some male characters, perhaps it is wise not to have Shun to pine for the men. So he had to pine for the only woman who had ever shown him any interest and that is Song Yau. That part I understand.

What I don’t understand is the series chose not to narrate to us what happened to the rest of them. Maybe TVB can just write “For everybody else, just google them” and I will feel, ok, at least I know. But what about purely fictional character such as Fan Kan that viewers learn to love and care about? Doesn’t he matter? And since TVB messes with the history so much by way of Shun meddling with the past, then everybody’s fate deserves some mention, like did they die, married, etc? The ending serves no justice to poor Shun, who actually became a better man, who strive to live by the values he learnt from his friends back in 3 Kingdoms and his reward? Dead, from heart attack even before he reaches the portal and he never got to see the one person he pined for 30 years. I don’t mind the dying part, I don’t mind the pining part, but I was hoping like in the inaccurate spoiler I read here, at least let that poor guy go through the portal, meets Song Yau who is older and waiting for him and Fan Kan too and let them have the Rosy Business II ending where they enjoyed a good few years together and narrates to us what the hell happened to everyone else before dying of a heart attack. At least that would please us all, but instead the producer wanted this to be some tragic love story. The only tragedy is how unfair life is to Shun. It shows in TVB world, do good deeds and you will be repaid with a heart attack and inches from the portal to be where you want to go to. Might as well just show he doesn’t return to HK and stay back and then Song Yau die of a brain tumour later on or something. Anything but the ending you will see on screen.

Another thing I don’t understand is why the series sorta changed direction. Maybe Wikipedia lied to me, but by episode 20, I felt I was duped. I started watching this series thinking it is some silly comedy and it was for a few episodes but not too silly to be a turn off. It was witty. But it changes direction to become more serious and I watched thinking Shun will be Sima Yi, which will prove more interesting than Shun being just the fan boy of Zhuge Liang. If Shun is Sima Yi, then this series would have been far better and greater because it will pit him against his idol Zhuge Liang. Since everything is so screwed by then, a bit of more logical or entertaining screwing will not affect the viewers’ interest. But by episode 20 or so, when it was clear Shun is never gonna be Sima Yi, my interest shifted to other characters and the possible plot scenarios and it isn’t good. Zhuge Liang is still hailed as the hero of everything but look carefully and it was Shun and Yuet Ying giving clues to him. The most obvious is when Zhuge Liang could neither confide in Yuet Ying or have Shun to give some ideas, Zhuge Liang alone having no idea caused Shun to be banished. It shows, Zhuge Liang’s intelligence is in finding solutions from ideas given by others, nothing original and for that I am pissed. Zhuge Liang is one of my most favourite historical figures even if I will admit the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms may have over emphasised his greatness when there were others better or just as good. All I can see is this series slowly killing off everything credible about my favourite guy and in the end completed the insult by him having been praised for borrowing the eastern wind at the battle at Chibi when 90% of the setup was by Zhou Yu. Even if the eastern wind may be important component, without what Zhou Yu did would it matter if there was any eastern wind? And to have Sun Quan praising Zhuge Liang the way it did, made me fumed even more at how desperate this series is in trying to normalise the difference between this version and other versions; ie Zhuge Liang is smartest, Zhuge Liang is greatest but the way this version goes, Zhuge Liang deserves none of those accolade. Life is unfair to poor Zhou Yu who may be small minded jerk, but he did set things up.

The CGI may suck but like I said in my episodic thoughts, beggars can’t be choosers and if TVB is unwilling to put more budget into the special effects, it is as good as you see on screen. So during the battle at Chibi, we see 3 groups of rather good actors standing and describing the situation without the actual war thing. It felt like I was watching a stage play. Perhaps TVB should be applauded on managing to adapt 3 Kingdoms on TV using stage play style.

The settings are boring. I feel the indoor settings is as worse as the outdoor. I do not feel the grandeur when certain characters say Sun Quan’s place is grand or bigger or smaller or whatever the expression may be. It feels like the budget is not well spent in terms of looks of the place and I see no difference between Lau Bei’s place in Xinye or Sun Quan’s place in Dong Wu. In fact the locations are limited and again, recycled. Dong Wu is probably Xin Ye is probably just plain old backyard of a hill somewhere in HK.

The frame scale as in TV scale is not Tiger Cubs which looks like a movie within a TV series. 3 Kingdoms RPG would have benefited with HD look because if it is HD, it certainly didn’t feel like it. At times it feels dated. Blur it a little and the series could have been from the 90s.

And then there was the love story. The disproportionate time between Shun and Song Yau and Shun and everybody else, and viewers will probably not understand why Shun pines for Song Yau when we see so little of them together or even having an actual romance. If Song Yau was played by a lesser known actress, perhaps this character won’t get so much flack. But the fact it was played by Tavia Yeung who is more well known, it just feels as if they stick a “leading female character” tag on Song Yau (since she will eventually fall for and having Shun the leading male character fall for her) and hand it over to Tavia Yeung, absolutely wasting her talent, her time and in the end our time because to me Song Yau is insignificant. She would be significant if she had actually been the reason for Shun’s transformation from jerk to good guy but it wasn’t her; it was his 2 brothers, Fan Kan and Zhuge Liang who deserves the credit. So to me whether there is Song Yau or not, it doesn’t matter. She only serves her purpose for the amazingly stupid and inadequate ending.

Even the theme song seems so out of place at first because this is supposed to be a slapstick comedy but the theme song is so darn serious. Of course in the end this series turned darn serious so the theme song is apt.

As for the costume, it looks good for the most part. At least when Shun goes to Cao Cao, his costume becomes a bit more opulent. Generally I do not have any complaints about the costumes although they are probably recycled from other series.

However this series has the best poster I have ever seen for the past few years. It looks like a Chinese painting and applaud the imaginative look, and if only the same imaginative approach is used for the series itself, this series would have been not just a cult classic but a classic itself.

I suppose in the end to enjoy this series you must ignore everything you know about 3 Kingdoms period, ignore everything you know about Zhuge Liang and gang, ignore the bad CGI, ignore the impossibly simplistic view of rule and governance, ignore how few soldiers are on screen for any battle, ignore the fact that the battles seem more like some rowdy hooligans looking for a fight rather than war, ignore the implied ending for Cao Cao when we know he fled successfully and Lau Bei did not conquer the 3 kingdoms, ignore that Sima Yi just appeared for 15 minutes the most and we are to assume that he is devious and calculative and see everything though TVB’s perspective lense, and you should be fine.

My preferred story
Let’s assume TVB can redo this series. Just assume they will but they won’t of course. My preferred story is the same as how this series started but Shun will adopt the identity of Sima Yi and become his idol’s arch nemesis but along the way suffered from his conscience (by first being friends with Zhuge Liang, maybe friends with Fan Kan and falling for Song Yu who will be given proper length of time to develop as a character), have Fan Kan killed to trigger his conscience and in the end helped them to defeat Cao Cao in Battle of Chibi with first, giving more time to Cao Cao to develop as a villain. Then the ending is the same, he wants to return to HK with Song Yau but couldn’t, got separated and returned to HK alone. For the next 30 years like in the series, he pines for Song Yau and the friends he left behind, becomes very successful as he did in the series, portal comes again and as an old man, of about 60 as per the series, goes to the portal which opens again, travels back to 3 Kingdoms but this time he arrived earlier than the 30 years later timeline, so that Song Yau aka Tavia need not be old and Fan Kan and Song Yau waiting for him there as they had waited for sayyyyy 10 or 15 years or whatever and we have Song Yau marrying Shun, she takes care of him, travels, meets old friends and then die a ripe old age of sayyyy 80 years old. 20 years of happiness for Song Yau and him which will give enough time like 15 minutes for Shun to narrate what happens to everyone or will happen as he knows it. And he dies in her arms a happy man who deserves all that happiness. THE END.

VERDICT

This is a long review so I decided to put the verdict here first.

I won’t recommend that you watch this series for the story or the historical time period which was the reason that tempted me in the first place. What is entertaining and absolutely enjoyable about this series is the fact that because TVB clearly lacks male actors to fill in every single male character in this series, all of them are important historical characters who plays some important role in this series or that period of time, however short their appearances may be, you will get to see an array of not ke-le-fes but those secondary actors you have seen before but never know their names in action. These secondary actors did rather well in these short performances but their roles are very important and so you won’t see them playing the best friend of the brother, etc but rather the strategist, the general, the capable soldier, etc. And for this reason alone I will recommend you to watch this series because 3 Kingdoms RPG will be a crash course on TVB’s line up of secondary actors who can act and I feel TVB can pick and choose any of them or even all of them and do a proper 100 episodes of 3 Kingdoms or any era of any historical importance with these actors. Watch this for them.

ALL ABOUT THE CHARACTERS & PERFORMANCES

I have before me an almost full cast list if everybody and everyone and their appearances may be short for most of them, little dialogue as well, but each and every one of them is important enough to have a mention or two. So for me since I ended up watching this series for these actors and actresses, it is worthwhile to comment a bit on each and everyone in the cast list I have, except for some of the maids. By the way, ‘The version TVB never told you’ is basically my re imagining of the ending for that character. For the absolute real ending of the real character, just google the Mandarin name version.

So here goes, by kingdom.

MODERN DAY

Kenneth Ma as Sima Shun/Wan Shun/Vincent

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
The main protagonist, or rather the lead male character, a computer game (3 kingdoms RPG) enthusiast who traveled back in time to learn a thing or 2 about being a man and brotherhood whilst meeting various historical characters and imparting his knowledge of the future to his best friend, Zhuge Liang and helps in resolving many crisis.

What happens to him in the end
He dies, of heart attack at the age of 62, never having gone back to the era he loved. I like some commenters actually noticed the link between his fast food chain, mantau burger, his relatively young age and the fact that he died of a heart attack.

The version TVB never told you
Traveled back in time, live another 20 years with the woman he loves and narrates to us what the hell happened to everyone and then die of heart attack at the age of 82.

Very important question
Did he still use a wig after 2 years in 3 kingdoms? How come his hair is not very long in the hospital? What happened to his clothes? Can those be used to prove he was back in 3 kingdoms?

The actor
Kenneth Ma may have started out loud, overly expressive and to some too old for this role, I felt he looked youthful enough and after he toned down his expressions, he did justice to Sima Shun. He certainly played the slacker part very well but it was towards the end when he became a more toned down and responsible man that Kenneth could show his funny and yet sensitive side. I never thought much of his as an actor but he improved tremendously here. I am also glad to see he doesn’t pout and puff his cheeks as much as he did in other previous series, notably in A Fistful Of Stances, a look he always adopt whenever he is portraying a moment of chaos, desperation or being accused of something he did not do. It just shows he has matured as an actor and quite simply, he did manage to carry this series all on his own, proving he can be a leading actor. Of course he has charisma, he has more charisma and likability than acting skills. I still feel he has much room for improvement but I am happy to say he is emerging as a stronger actor even if he is nearing 40 soon. And I don’t think he was too old for this role. One thing to note; the last episode he is seen wearing a suit running a business and may I say, he looks scrumptious. I am hoping he gets to play some k-drama type chaebol in a proper love story about a multi billionaire in love with some office worker or something. I think he can do it!

Best acting moment
In Episode 25 when he realised the girl he saw wasn’t Song Yau, he cried very hard and expressing his frustration. His best moment because I was almost, and I emphasise almost touched by his sadness and grief. Also the 2 or 3 scenes where he as a number 1 fan boy of Zhuge Liang and the way he spoke his lines and some reactions whenever his idol did well which were very intimate in a way to poke fun of their relationship.

Joe Jr as Prof Cho Tai Wai

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
A minor character who is the professor to Shun’s sister who consults him on how to bring Shun back to modern times.

What happens to him in the end
Probably very old because his son tells Shun his father is still alive and living in the dormitory or something.

The actor
No comments except I wonder how can Prof Cho so believe Shun without any proper proof.

Matt Yeung Ming as Cho Siu Wai

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
Son of Prof Cho, a wannabe director and I suppose sort of god son of Shun since they’re so close

What happened to him in the end
Still alive and well since he only appears briefly in episode 25 at the end.

The actor
A guest star! I knew who he was but couldn’t get his name right so I thank Kidd for the information! A very short appearance, and a rather funny one of him suggesting doing an alien movie with characters from the 3 kingdoms. I thought he was competent since this is a guest starring role. But why his character is in that particular scene, I do not know.

Har Yu as Sima Biu

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
Frustrated father of Sima Shun

What happens to him in the end
Dead I suppose.

The actor
I was very skeptical of having Har Yu in any role in any series because I am so afraid to watch him laugh too much like a hyena or clap his hand and recite some limerick or whatever. I am sick of that. Har Yu is a better actor than just being a silly character. Luckily in this series, his appearance is more like special guest star since he appears in at most 2 episodes and he nailed the part of a very frustrated father of a slacker son. He may be a bit unfair to his son but he does love him. His reunion scene was well done, with the right amount of relief and also a tinge of anger at his son disappearing for 2 years.

Fong Yi Kei as Fong Yuk Ping (Mrs Sima)

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
Loving mother of Sima Shun

What happens to her in the end
Dead I suppose.

The actor
I know this actress, often portraying those nasty women. Here she is the forgiving gentle mother of Sima Shun who clearly dotes on her son. No comment apart from the fact it was a competent performance.

Cilla Kung (Lok Tung) as Sima Kuen

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
Younger sister of Shun who communicates with him through his Sony Ericsson phone via SMS when he was back in 3 kingdoms. Very close to Shun.

What happens to her in the end
Became a scientist in something. I think alien or time travel.

The actor
Looks young, looks pretty but I do not recognise her. As for her acting, she appeared much too brief for me to even comment on her but her voice is something else. I find her voice acting lacking and she narrates a lot of the SMS between herself and her brother. Imagine you brother has supposedly traveled back to 1000 years before, surely you sound more panicky than just urgent sounding?

James Ng Yip Kwan as Sima Ming

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
Younger brother of Shun, studious and often compared with Shun by his father who thinks more highly of this son than Shun. In the beginning rather cold to Shun.

What happens to him in the end
Helps Shun to run their almost 200 chains of fast food restaurant and married a nice young woman.

The actor
I almost didn’t notice him in the beginning since he has so few dialogue. In the end when he has more to say, I am also not sure if he is the same actor since I never noticed him. Too brief for me to make any comments.

Lee Kai Kit as For Jui (the mechanic)

Real or Fiction
Fiction

The character
Best friend of Shun.

What happens to him in the end
Reconciled with Shun as best friend. Other than that, ask TVB.

The actor
I can’t remember much about him except he serves as a one part of a comedic trio in episode 1.

Lo Tin Chi as Fai Cha (the PR guy)

Real or Fiction

Fiction

The character
Best friend of Shun.

What happens to him in the end
Reconciled with Shun as best friend. Other than that, ask TVB

The actor
I can’t remember much about him except he serves as a one part of a comedic trio in episode 1.

ANCIENT ERA

My problem with identifying all the male characters in this era especially the strategists and generals are that they all basically look the same. Same beard, same hairstyle, same looks. I couldn’t tell the difference between Jau Ping and Kong Yuen for a little while and as I look at Lu Su, Xu Shu and the rest, I realise they all have the same look. And it is such a general look, everybody looks good in those advisers/assistant/strategists look. I hope I didn’t get some mixed up!

JINGZHOU

Later usurped by Cao Cao

Lau Kong as Lau Biu/Liu Biao

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Biao]

The character
I just generally refer to him as Lord of Jingzhou. He runs Jingzhou.

What happens to him in the end
Died of illness after leaving Jingzhou to Lau Bei.

The actor
Guest appearance and mostly on bed, sickly. You will hear of this character a lot for several episodes every time you see Lady Choi. For me Lau Kong is a veteran actor and to me nothing much for me to say.

Mary Hon as Lady Choi/Lady Cai

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Cai]

The character
Wife of Lau Biu, mother of Lau Chung, stepmother of Lau Kei

What happens to her in the end
Assassinated by Cao Cao’s men as she was on her way to meet the Emperor of Han.

The actor
Mary Hon looks frightening in here with her thick powder and mascara. I was pretty shocked why she was made that way. Very little costume changes as well for some from a well to do state. Anyway she portrays her character who is someone selfish, devious and stupid in the end rather … competently I suppose. Because most of the time I felt she was too dramatic in the way she turns around, she spoke so loudly whenever she was delivering her lines. In fact she was almost shouting and was talking very very fast. Not much grace, as you would expect from someone of her position. And Lady Choi is supposed to be a daughter of a very prominent family. She lacks the grace that I often see in Rebecca Chan. Perhaps Rebecca Chan should have been cast in this role.

Best Moment
When she 1 woman alone, confronted by at least 5 or 6 men and she alone argued and quite nearly won the argument. That moment, she puts all those supposed men to shame. Of course she was annoying but you gotta admire that moment.

Jack Wu as Lau Kei/Liu Qi

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Qi_(Liu_Biao’s_son)]

The character
Eldest son of Lau Biu

What happens to him in the end
He lives. But then he just disappeared from screen, like he never existed.

The version TVB never told you
He should have at least been the one to go to Dong Wu with the rest of Lau Bei camp or be there during the rally or whatever. He wasn’t and I wonder what happened to him? I will tell you! Lau Bei killed him and took over his province. That was what happened!

The actor
Poor guy, as in character and actor. As a character, he went missing after he was sent far away to escape Lady Choi. It looks as if Lau Bei just took over his province because where is he when he is supposed to greet the guests or even participate in the battle at Chibi? As an actor, his character doesn’t showcase his talent. I mean he is not the most charismatic or interesting actor to watch. He looks worried all the time. And it doesn’t help his character looks more like a coward than how Lau Bei or Zhuge Liang sees as a competent ruler of Jingzhou. For me, whenever I see Lau Kei, I feel Jingzhou is doomed.

Vin Choi as Lau Chung/Liu Cong

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Cong_(Han_Dynasty)]

The character
2nd son of Lau Biu, son of Lady Choi

What happens to him in the end
Assassinated by Cao Cao’s men, same day and place as his mom

The actor
I really like Vin Choi because I find him tall, youthful and rather handsome. However he is forever in very minor or brief roles and I can understand why. Whilst Kenneth Ma has gotten rid of his pouting lips whenever he is speaking any lines, now he has a worthy successor; Vin Choi. He pouts as he speaks. His acting is raw. I mean I may like him a lot but for an actor, I feel he needs more time to improve and I suppose he can improve. He just looks too young to play any role of substance.

Steven Ho Kai Nam as Choi Mao/Cao Mao (De Gui)

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cai_Mao]

The character
Brother of Lady Choi, a General who is skilled in sea warfare and appointed by Cao Cao to train his men for sea warfare at Chibi

What happens to him in the end
Executed by Cao Cao thinking he is a spy for Zhou Yu

The actor
A veteran, often seen, never knew his name until now. I find the character inconsistent. I never thought Choi Mao was great or anything but the description seems to say he is great. As for the performance, a competent one.

Wong Wai Tak as Zhang Yun 

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Yun]

The character
General, assistant of Choi Mao

What happens to him in the end
Executed by Cao Cao thinking he is a spy for Zhou Yu

The actor
No comment except he was rather convincing when he was so confused why was he being executed. Like didn’t even know why he died, that’s the worst fate isn’t it?

HAN DYNASTY

Later usurped by Cao Cao and became Kingdom of Wei. But for all intents and purposes they are still at this point representatives of Han Dynasty though we never see the Han Emperor.

Law Lok-lam as Cho Cho/Cao Cao

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Cao]

The character
The Prime Minister or rather Chancellor of Han Dynasty but in actual fact the de facto ruler who controls the puppet emperor of Han.

What happens to him in the end
He escaped and for the rest, ask TVB.

The version TVB never told you
He lived for a few more years and then taken over by Cao Pi I think. And in this series we never see Cao Cao’s sons though they’re adults already.

The actor
I suppose only Law Lok Lam in TVB can play Cao Cao but even I feel he may not be well casted at first since he always look so worried all the time. And he appeared long into the series but is mentioned very often since he is the main bad guy. I love his costume, which makes him look more threatening. And I love the curly beard, which is a detail that I appreciate. He basically looks rather scary and threatening as the super villain Cao Cao. I like the way he sits, as in he lounges. He shows to me a very confident and harsh Cao Cao who radiates power. Now when I say radiates power, it is because everybody else, including the character of Sun Quan or even Guan Yu fails to radiate that sort of dominant power and so when this actor appears, he seems to radiate power when everybody fails. But if compare him to other adaptation, of course this is a simplified version. I do like his performance, however simplified it may be. It isn’t his fault, it is the script’s fault for being just one note when it comes to Cao Cao. His character is assumed to be many thing but when he appears, he is mostly sitting, standing and delivering his lines that in the end gives me an impression he is some confused old fool. It looks like it. But credit should be given to Law Lok Lam to even manage a resemblance of someone called Cao Cao when the script clearly does not bother to flesh him out into a human being.

Ram Chiang as Sun Yuk/Xun Yu (Man Yeuk)

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xun_Yu]

The character
Chief adviser and strategist for Cao Cao

What happens to him in the end
He was not at Chibi and stays back at Jingzhou

The version TVB never told you
I suppose Cao Cao will execute him for agreeing to the linked ships strategy. But then Cao Cao seems to trust him the most and always consult him so I suppose he will live to serve another Cao until Sima Yi dispose off with him.

The actor
Ram Chiang is always a competent veteran that you can count on. Of course he isn’t perfect for every role but for the role of a strategist with a conscience, he is certainly well cast. Amongst all the strategists in this series, Man Yeuk is one of the few who is given prominent role. At first I thought Ram Chiang spoke his lines too loudly and it would seem his role seems to just be the yes or no man for Cao Cao who looks to him for advise. But as the series goes on, you see more of Man Yeuk as someone who actually is a nice guy deep down and Shun feels that too. He may be ruthless as well but not to the point of sacrificing his friends like Zhou Yu. For me Ram Chiang by doing so little in terms of movement and even body language shows so much more with his facial expressions and especially his eyes, the doubt, the pain, you can see his mind thinking “Is this Wan Shun telling the truth” in one scene where he was evaluating Wan Shun. I would have wished Man Yeuk had served a more worthy master rather than Cao Cao in this series. An excellent performance for the amount of time he is given and a somewhat properly developed character.

Best moment
When his friend Choi Mao was executed, his tears and him blaming himself at his grave. Rather dramatic and you will feel for Man Yeuk. It was that scene I felt Man Yeuk is perhaps a good person deep within himself.

Chan Wing-kei/Chan Wing-chun as Cheng Yu/Zhong De

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheng_Yu]

The character
Not quite sure his position but I suppose the 2nd adviser or strategist of Cao Cao, he refers to Man Yeuk in all matters.

What happens to him in the end
Stayed back at Jingzhou with Man Yeuk. For anything else, ask TVB.

The version TVB never told you
Executed with Man Yeuk.

The actor
Again another veteran that you often see but maybe don’t really know his name. Competent performance, no other comment.

Raymond Chiu Wing Hung as Xu Shu

Real or Fiction
Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Shu]

The character
Former adviser and strategist for Lau Bei, forced to change allegiance to Cao Cao when Cao Cao held his mother against her will.

What happens to him in the end
No idea.

The version TVB never told you
I want him to have a happy ending so I would imagine during the time Cao Cao wasn’t in Jingzhou he escaped with his mother back to Liu Bei’s camp.

The actor
A very very very brief appearance, no more than 5 minutes but speaks volume for his relationship between Lau Bei and his Xu Shu. You can see how Lau Bei is very affectionate towards Xu Shu and likewise. This actor is someone you often see, and I have seen him play the worst kind, the blur kind, the smart alek kind, but in here, he is the loyal wise Xu Shu. I would have loved to see him in a bigger role in this series because his 5 minutes appearance was to me excellent. I love his performance; in 5 minutes he showed to me his difficulties, his loyalty, his wisdom.

Best moment
As in best line in my humble opinion which sums up this man’s integrity;

“In front of Cao Cao, I, Xu Shu is a mute man”

Well said! Well said!

Eric Lee Tin Cheung as Sima Yi (Zhong Da)

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_Yi]

 

The character

Secretary for Cao Cao

What happens to him in the end

As Shun says, he will usurp the 3 kingdoms and become the ultimate winner

The version TVB never told you

He will do a lot of things during 3 kingdoms and his grandson will become the ultimate winner

The actor

Ahhhh Eric Lee. Still remember him fondly from Bottled Passion as a nice loyal guy but I suppose with a cunning devious face like his, he can never escape from playing villains and here he is Sima Yi who within minutes of his appearance shows to us his cunning mind as well as eagerness to please Cao Cao which I find sort of insulting. Eric Li appears in 2 scenes and 2 scenes only but to me, however I was pissed that Shun isn’t Sima Yi, I felt he made his point as Sima Yi. You will know what sort of a person is Sima Yi in these 2 short scenes. And so to me that is a job well done.

Lo Mong as Xiaohao Dun (Yuan Rang)

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiahou_Dun]

 

The character

Top general of Cao Cao whom Cao Cao hates.

What happens to him in the end

I honestly can’t remember.

The version TVB never told you

Lived and prospered

The actor

Horrendous performance. I mean that actor, whose name I know now is Lo Mong plays Xiaohao Dun exactly like his name; lo mong which in Cantonese means reckless. Very few scenes but I find the way he recites his lines like reciting lines. And he doesn’t look powerful at all as the top general. No wonder Cao Cao hates him. Me too.

Lee Shing Cheung as Hon Leong

Real or Fiction

Fiction I think

 

The character

Former adviser of Lau Bei, he was imprisoned for his plot to assassinate Zhuge Liang and then he escapes and joins Cao Cao as adviser and strategist.

What happens to him in the end

Killed by arrows as Cao Cao push Hon Leong in front of him to shield Cao Cao from the arrows at Chibi battle.

The version TVB never told you

He will be buried in a mass grave, his name forgotten which was what he didn’t want.

The actor

Another veteran that we often seen, a very versatile actor in an appropriately prominent role. In fact of all the secondary characters, Hon Leong has the most scenes and fantastic performance! He really plays this character’s disgusting-ness so to speak to perfection. I felt like slapping his Hon Leong and I felt no pity for him when he died.

Best moment

That scene where Shun was thinking the possible outcomes if he confronts Hon Leong about the official reports Hon Leong taken to threaten Shun in front of Lau Bei and this actor, Lee Shing Cheung’s expression was very funny and also well delivered.

Ho Chun Hin as Jiang Gan (Zi Yi)

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Gan]

 

The character

He is the assistant adviser to Cao Cao though he just appeared out of nowhere. He was Zhou Yu’s classmate with a friendship dating back to about more than a decade ago. So he felt really betrayed when Zhou Yu tricked him into delivering a fake message that led to the execution of Choi Mao and Zhang Yun who would have helped Cao Cao to win the battle of Chibi. Ridiculous of course. What betrayal? Like Zhou Yu says, his heart, soul and body is with Dong Wu. Zhou Yu was smart, a bit conniving, but nonetheless very smart.

What happens to him in the end

He didn’t die.

The version TVB never told you

When Cao Cao returns to Jingzhou, he will execute Jiang Gan because he was the one who guaranteed Pang Tong was really willing to pledge his allegiance to Cao Cao when he didn’t.

The actor

He looks the part and plays the part well. I kinda often confuse him with the other 2 actors acting as Jau Ping and Kong Yuen.

Raymond Lam as Chugot Leung/Zhuge Liang (Kongming)

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuge_Liang]

 

The character

Zhuge Liang, no. 1 best of the best adviser strategist the world has ever known, back then and this series follows the book and so he is also famed for his rivalry against Zhou Yu and also his abilities in commanding the weather and what nots. Basically he is the Z man in my book but in this series, Z as in last because he is nothing like we all come to know and love of Zhuge Liang.

What happens to him in the end

He got his comeuppance against Zhou Yu and winning universal applause by everyone over at Dong Wu’s side including Sun Quan and gets proclaimed as the best number 1 numero uno nombor satu tian xia di yi strategist the world has ever known and will ever know after borrowing the eastern wind and won the entire Chibi battle with his borrowed wind so to speak and so screwed over Zhou Yu a million times over.

The version TVB never told you

I wish TVB had told the proper Zhuge Liang version because if like that then he is indeed worth of “the best number 1 numero uno nombor satu tian xia di yi strategist the world has ever known and will ever know” title.

The actor

The number 1 most defamed character in this series and that is Zhuge Liang himself. If Zhou Yu’s defamation is as to the integrity of his person, then for Zhuge Liang it is as to his intelligence itself. There is no question about his integrity. He is a nice guy from 1st till last appearance. The problem is this Zhuge Liang has no personality. I thought he was smart at Bok Mong Slope but in the end everything after that was just ridiculous. His ideas are not original but comes from his much smarter wife and a cunning best friend. Without them, his ideas or non ideas nearly caused his best friend his life! The most inept of all inepts. So basically the script and characterisation itself is a major problem. Another problem is Raymond Lam. He looks handsome in the part but I am sick of his near whispering of his lines, or rather breathy whispering of his lines. At first it sounded exciting, almost seductive, but when his character was just inept and a nervous wreck as Lau Bei, I was very annoyed with the way he spoke his lines. It was like no fire power. Then there’s the whole body language. When he was sitting down, that was his best scene. But when he was standing up, he moved too much, too deliberately with such calculating precision, as in move left, move right, one two three, move up, move down, that it becomes almost predictable that was how he will move. I find him becoming less and less natural. I hated the way Zhuge Liang is being played as so straight laced. But Raymond Lam was already given an impossible character; it was such a badly written character I do feel some pity for Raymond. But ultimately my pity lies with the real Zhuge Liang whose character has been assassinated so many times in this series that he is now portrayed as someone so undeserving of any accolade because he was actually so inept. Not dumb, just inept.

Best moment

Two and both before the real assassination begins. One is sitting down and when Shun questioned why he married Yuet Ying and he gave Shun that killer look. Two is him confronting Shun to mind his own business when he found out Shun was the one who suggested Zhuge Liang to marry Lau Bei’s niece.

Worst moment

Everything after that 2nd best moment, especially when Lau Bei turned into a nervous wreck and our Zhuge Liang also became one as well.

Tavia Yeung as Song-yau

Real or Fiction

Fiction

 

The character

Beloved maid of Lau Bei, as we are often told he sees her as his daughter.

What happens to her in the end

She travels to modern day HK and floats down and walks to a dead Shun and touches him gently on his cold cold cheek and then she cries.

The version TVB never told you

She will probably then walk to the end of the cliff and jump to her death as the love of her life is dead.

The version you wish

She didn’t jump to her death, she goes to Shun’s company and become CEO and takeover the world as the numero uno tian xia di yi businesswoman. Yeah right!

Never this version

That she died, entered the portal as a spirit. This is a science fiction series, not a spirit/ghost series so this theory doesn’t work.

The actor

Tavia Yeung is a competent actress and a very good one when she is not in the spotlight. Problem is when she is in the spotlight, she doesn’t give me a feeling she can lead a series as she has zero charisma. But that is not the problem in this series. As Song Yau, for the first time I do feel her talent is wasted. What Chinese says as “dai choi siu yung”. She is better as an actress than to be stuck as Song Yau who basically serves as Shun’s love interest and not more, and even then she spends most of the series away from her as the romance never started, at all. Even in the end she never got to hear Shun say he loves her as when she finally sees him again, he is already dead. Her role is to serve as a tragic romance story or more to the point, for Shun to pine to return to 3 Kingdoms, for her which many will find ridiculous since he seems to have more love for his BFFs Zhuge Liang and Fan Kan rather than Song Yau. But like I said, it is not the love story that I hate. Basically Song Yau is a really nice girl, and Tavia portrays her well in the sense when I expected her to cry like mad, she didn’t. She was rather classy as Song Yau and often I find her voice at the brink of a sore throat since it was almost whispering breathy croaky sort of voice, like she has a permanent cold and sore throat. However Song Yau is a waste of Tavia’s talent. She should have been Yuet Ying who has more role and more important things to do even if it will be infuriating to Zhuge Liang’s fans. It doesn’t help also that Tavia is supposed to be very young but looks much more mature than most who are supposed to be older than her. She also wears too much makeup that she looks like she is starring in some Chinese opera show. I don’t see the need for so much makeup. One thing true though is her Song Yau is not supposed to be attractive or pretty, but is of course not as plain as Yuet Ying. But the worst is still the fact that Song Yau has not much to do in this series and even Shun’s change into a better person is not due to her. So basically she is just in this series billed as the leading actress but in actual fact her role is no better and even less important than the secondary actors and minor roles.

Best moment

I suppose when Shun told her he doesn’t love her, her pain, her shock, her everything right there to be seen, except I totally expected her to cry hard but she didn’t so that surprises me in a good way.

Joseph Lee Kwok Lun as Lau Bei/Liu Bei (Xuande)

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Bei]

 

The character

Leader of Xinye, later Jingzhou from the way I see it, he is the respected “Imperial Uncle” Lee, brother of Guan Yu and Cheung Fei.

What happens to him in the end

Lives to see another day

The version TVB never told you

He gets therapy for his jumpiness and several almost nervous breakdown and actually becomes calmer and less stressed.

The actor

Lee Kwok Lun is a veteran of many series and he is chameleon-like. With almost the same look in King Maker, he is however more devious in that series. In this series as Lau Bei, he is supposed to be a charismatic benevolent leader. The problem is his Lau Bei is not charismatic though he loves his people very much. I am not convinced anyone will follow him to war and to death because he panics so easily, he looks worried all the time and he often sacrifices his integrity and poor Song Yau’s integrity for his own purpose which makes him a coward most of the time. Of course the series didn’t really want to depict him that way but he is that on screen. His only moment of personality is when he is angry with Song Yau for rejecting a marriage proposal and I thought he was making a mountain out of a mole hill. In other times, to be kind I may say he is annoying, if I am being truthful, he is just not Lau Bei. I know in history Lau Bei is often depicted as sometimes stubbornly too compassionate, not the smartest guy out there but still there should be an aura of greatness, of leadership, of some masculine elegant dignity. That will explain why Guan Yu and many others never depose of him but followed him. That is one factor Lee Kwok Lun could not portray well. I just don’t see that leadership aura. This Lau Bei is for me the 3rd most defamed character in this series, and Lee Kwok Lun’s portrayal whilst competent as someone else who has an impeccable timing for comedy and sometimes as serious drama, as Lau Bei he fails miserably.

Best moment

When he was discussing Lady Choi, he slammed down his fist and scream sei pat poh. That was seriously funny!

Worst moment

Between him going nuclear over Song Yau not wanting to marry to actually forced Song Yau to apologise for stealing from Xiao Qiao when she didn’t, I will say the latter. That was when I lost all respect for him. Also the moment he and Zhuge Liang went nuclear over something. He panics way too easily.

Au Sui-wai as Kwan Yu/Gwan Yu (Yunchang)

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yu]

 

The character

He’s Guan Gong. Enuff said!

What happens to him in the end

Lives to fight another day as he ran off to kill more Cao Cao men and to capture Cao Cao himself.

The version TVB never told you

He dies but that would be a long while later. In reality, Sun Quan had him beheaded! That would make better drama than this drama!

The actor

Sorry to say but first, the script trivialise the role of Guan Gong to the point he is just there, as a more glorified ke-le-fe. Secondly, whilst I have no complaints about the stature of the actor, my main complaint is rather that he basically has very little thing to do or even to say. I don’t see him as Guan Gong, just that just recently sun burnt dude next to the dude who in modern world may be the biggest fan of a tanning bed.

Savio Tsang Wai Kuen as Cheung Fei/Zhang Fei

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Fei]

 

The character

The short tempered and not so smart General Cheung, brother of Lau Bei and Guan Yu and like I said above, looking like he just stepped out of a tanning bed. Famous for that fierce looking face coupled by fierce looking eyebrows with a fierce personality.

What happens to him in the end

Lives to fight another day as he ran off to kill more Cao Cao men and to capture Cao Cao himself.

The version TVB never told you

He dies but that would be a long while later. In reality, he was betrayed by his own men and beheaded!!

The actor

This is to me as spot on a performance as any actor in this series can get. He does personify the basics of the Cheung Fei we all know and he has a lot of lines, so he is the standard secondary character so to speak. No complaints here over his performance except the character can be very harsh at times.

Deno Cheung Chung Chi as Chiu Chi Lung/Zhao Zhilung [Zhao Yun]

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhao_Yun]

 

The character

The 4th brother of the official trio of brothers, he is supposed to be the handsome brave General Zhao who dresses in white riding a white horse. Just don’t expect the white dress or white horse in this series.

What happens to him in the end

Lives to fight another day as he ran off to kill more Cao Cao men and to capture Cao Cao himself.

The version TVB never told you

He has a white horse.

The actor

If Au Siu Wai is a glorified ke-le-fe, Deno Cheung is the missing ke-le-fe in scenes when he should be in it. It was a role that TVB could have just not write in and not film because he was mostly missing and when he is in a scene, he is more like that soldier rather than the General Chiu we all know. I mean even in the book he is lacking scenes but this series takes the “lacking scenes” to new height. Poor Deno, often cast as the bad jerk somebody next to the villainous somebody else, he finally has a good guy role, a guy so good he would sacrifice himself to save Lau Bei’s baby, E-Dou but even that pivotal all important scene was somehow managed to be turned into just another typical rescue scene that did not justice to the level of emotion, sacrifice and integrity that General Chiu and even 2nd wife of Lau Bei displays. Poor Deno does look like he walks around looking worried rather than gallant. Poor guy.

Rachel Kan as Lady Kon/Lady Gan

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gan]

 

The character

First wife of Lau Bei and mother of E-Dou.

What happens to her in the end

Lives at the temple to take care of her son E-Dou

The version TVB never told you

She takes up a sword and joins the fight against Cao Cao. Like that would ever happen unless her name is Mulan and even that is wrong dynasty.

The actor

No comment except her speech is too lazy for my liking. Also does not remotely look like a respected 1st wife of Lau Bei and much too young for this role.

Iva Law as Lady Mei/Lady Mi

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Mi]

 

The character

2nd wife of Lau Bei and master of Song Yau.

What happens to her in the end

She sacrifices herself so as not to burden General Chiu who was trying to battle hundreds of Cao Cao’s men to rescue her and the baby E-Dou.

The version TVB never told you

TVB told you the version they want to tell you but it would have been more dramatic if she jumped into a well.

The actor

Absolutely annoying when she first appears and her performance was abysmal, as time goes by right up to her big sacrifice scene which was to me badly filmed because I felt zero emotion and it could have been better presented (more blood? More pain? More speech?), she became less annoying but performance was still darn weak. I find her lacking in grace, elegance, etc as a wife of a respected leader and much too young for her role.

Lee Yee Man as Hao Lin

Real or Fiction

Fiction

The character

Maid of Wong Yuet Ying

What happens to her in the end

No idea. Stayed back with Yuet Ying I suppose.

The version TVB never told you

She becomes 2nd wife of Zhuge Liang? No?

The actor

No comment except she is a far better actress than that actress as Lau Bei’s 2nd wife.

Best moment

Scolding Yuet Ying for her self pity, but in a more frustrated way rather than angry way.

Leung Ka-ki as Wong Yuet-ying

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huang_Yueying] but apparently her real name is not known in history, if you believe Wikipedia.

The character

Only wife of Zhuge Liang, rich man’s daughter, supposedly ugly but supremely intelligent and always sickly until she met Wah To.

What happens to her in the end

Waits for the return of Zhuge Liang so that they may retire to their hometown after the war

The version TVB never told you

Yuet Ying is the real Zhuge Liang in disguise and whilst the impostor Zhuge Liang came back and never retired, poor Yuet Ying can never retire from the world of politics and shall continue her disguise and serve as the impostor Zhuge Liang’s adviser in all matters of politics whilst doing wifely duties. Her health became worse when Wah To went missing but Zhuge Liang still pushes her to do more; “Honey, just that one more book, just that one more strategy, don’t die yet” and finally when the impostor Zhuge Liang dies, she resumes her real identity with the help of a fake beard and went on to become chancellor for Lau Bei’s son and goes down in history not as Wong Yuet Ying, the forgotten ugly wife but continues the legacy built through the fake Zhuge Liang.

The actor

I have made it clear that Tavia Yeung should have been Wong Yuet Ying. She is plain looking, but not ugly as many describes Yuet Ying to be. Her Yuet Ying is smart (too smart that overshadows Zhuge Liang), calm (too calm that overshadows Zhuge Liang) and quite ladylike (with a tinge of gracefulness and elegance that neither wives of Lau Bei has). However her acting is limited to either exceedingly happy (the smile) or exceedingly sad (that tiny pout) with a mousey sort of voice which I find unconvincing and lacking in conviction when she delivers her lines. She does have good chemistry with Raymond Lam but not the wifely sort; they felt more like a very old couple who respects one another, not newly married and hot blooded. But then the script never calls for that aspect. Not one kiss, plenty of hugs, but even more “apart by few metres” scenes where she sits next to him looking at him looking at books then advising him and matters solved. The main problem is the series tries hard to show they have such great academic chemistry together, she being the smart wife of a smart husband, thereby they were meant to be together. However the way the series presented it, he goes to her for advice, or she thinks of an idea, hints it to her husband and he then goes eureka and then she says that they just think alike when it is obviously her idea, her hint and he just hijacked it, much like he did with Sima Shun’s ideas who Sima Shun thought was Zhuge Liang’s idea in history. By making her so smart and capable, it diminishes Zhuge Liang as someone brilliant. And I don’t like how her character was at first disliked by others just because she is ugly and sickly, which to everyone does not seem to be the sort of wife they thought Zhuge Liang should ever marry. Anyway ultimately I have to say yes she did a competent job but seriously, 5 minutes after her scene ended, I had to struggle to remember her. I find her not memorable at all when this is to me the main female character with her importance in the scenes and the only scene I remember about her vividly is her worst acting moment due to the most inconsistent scene.

Worst moment

When Zhuge Liang found her at the village when she ran away and she was perfectly blissfully happy alone and she sees butterfly I think and goes spinning round and round smiling happily, so happily that I never seen her smile so happily until she saw Zhuge Liang and she stopped and she frowned and cried and reconciled and thereafter never smiled to blissfully happy after that. Which shows she is happier away from her husband. What an absolutely illogical, inconsistent scene because it made absolutely no sense from the scene before and the scene after except to show us that Zhuge Liang sees the beautiful carefree side of his wife. And that itself is wrong.

Jonathan Cheung Wing Hong as Fan Kan

Real or Fiction

Fiction

 

The character

Farmer then soldier, best friend of Sima Shun

What happens to him in the end

He runs off to capture Cao Cao as he said his final goodbye to Shun not realising that will be the last time he will ever see Shun

The version TVB never told you

I wanna know also!! What happened to him in the end? Did he marry? How did he die? Did he become like a great general? WHAT HAPPENED?! TVB TELL MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

The actor

My most favourite character in this series, I have no idea who is Jonathan Cheung until this series. Maybe I have seen him before but this is definitely an eye opener. Not necessarily the best performance but certainly a rather sincere one. I like his Fan Kan who is loyal, faithful, compassionate and will let Shun know when Shun is wrong. You see his progression from simple minded ancient man to a smarter wiser guy. I like the way Jonathan Cheung delivers his line like someone who is simple and yet not stupid, often pressing his lips as he speaks his line to emulate somewhat like a child speaking. There is sincerity in the way he delivers his lines, and I could believe everything he utters and whilst his Fan Kan’s role basically isn’t much, all of his scenes are put to good use. Not a scene or line wasted with Fan Kan and kudos to Jonathan Cheung for making Fan Kan a believable person.

Best moment

Every single scene he is in.

Lily Ho Ngo Yee as Mei Yu/Mei Yoke (Lau Bei’s niece)

Real or Fiction

Assumed fiction

The character

Beautiful learned gentle niece of Lau Bei, suggested by Sima Shun to be married to Zhuge Liang as 2nd wife

What happens to her in the end

She had to say yes even though she doesn’t want to but in the end the intention of the betrothal was cancelled when Zhuge Liang refuses.

The actor

Pretty – yes, graceful – probably, mediocre performance – yeah, not much role – absolutely true.

Chan Siu Bong as Sek Tou (Kong Yuen)

Real or Fiction

No sure.

 

The character

Good friend and assistant to Zhuge Liang

What happens to him in the end

I always confused him with Jau Ping. Anyway halfway through the great march to Lau Kei’s province, he ran away into the forest to seek out a life of existentialism I suppose with his other friends in the forest and play no more part in the wars to come. COWARD!

The version TVB never told you

He regrets his action and in Battle of Chibi he leads a million of his other cowardly friends to undo his cowardice.

The actor

No comment since I can’t even remember his face.

Jones Lee Chung Hei as Chui Hou (Jau Ping)

Real or Fiction

Not sure.

 

The character

Good friend and assistant to Zhuge Liang

What happens to him in the end

He stuck by Zhuge Liang, that’s what matters.

The version TVB never told you

He kills Kong Yuen for being a coward.

The actor

No comment since I can’t even remember his face.

OTHERS

Jess Shum Cheuk Ying as Wong Pou Yi Nei, the guzheng player

Real or Fiction

Fiction

The character

Guzheng player at a local restaurant that Shun likes because she is pretty

What happens to her in the end

Chased away by Lau Bei’s 2 wives who wanted Shun to be 100% into Song Yau. Anyway she and her father voluntarily left anyway.

The version TVB never told you

If Shun stays back in 3 kingdoms, he would have married her as 2nd wife.

The actor

No comment.

Matthew Ko Kwan Yin as Yeung Chi Him

Real or Fiction

Fiction

 

The character

Son of a high ranking minister, intention of betrothal to Song Yau

What happens to him in the end

He married someone else and treats her with love and respect

The version TVB never told you

He marries Song Yau as 2nd wife when Shun disappeared into the portal and becomes a powerful minister and dies before Song Yau reenters portal.

 

The actor

No comment except like Shun I thought this Chi Him is too good to be true and he turns out to be very true! At least he plays a good true gentleman in the few short scenes.

Michael Choi Hong Nin as Wah To/Hua Tuo (Yuan Hua)

Real or Fiction

Real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Tuo]

 

The character

Perhaps, one of the most well known Chinese physician ever, his ability to cure any illness was legendary, whether for real or not it is up to your own interpretation

What happens to himin the end

Still a physician around town where Lau Bei is, servicing Yuet Ying I believe and curing her

The version TVB never told you

Cao Cao kidnapped him to cure his own migraines and subsequently kills him when he fails. I think this is the book version.

The actor

Familiar secondary actor that you will always see but can’t quite remember where. Amongst the secondary actors, he is considered ke-le-fe in the context of his casting. Anyway I was thinking when Hua Tuo will be introduced and his introduction was rather funny in this series. He looks the part, for the very little time he had, he was effective and believable as a young Hua Tuo. A competent performance.

SOME INTERESTING STUFF

Sima Shun’s 18 Stratagems of Hong Kong Men

Here at http://3kingdomsrpg.blogspot.com/p/18-stratagems-of-hong-kong-men.html

Sima Shun’s New 18 Stratagems of Hong Kong Men

Here at http://3kingdomsrpg.blogspot.com/p/new-18-stratagems-of-hong-kong-men.html

The History

Here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms

The Book

English translated version of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms here at http://threekingdoms.com/

History Vs Book

Here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms

My Handwritten Notes

Here at http://3kingdomsrpg.blogspot.com/p/my-handwritten-notes.html

Chibi Vs Red Cliff

I didn’t know why Chibi aka Chek Bik is Red Cliff because whilst my Cantonese is good, I am however not great at certain traditional words. Someone who shall remain nameless said to me Chek = Red in a more formal sense of word but don’t go around calling red aka hung as chek. And so I have a new vocabulary added to my library of volcabulary.

Some Zhuge Liang Quotes

I had these quotes in my At The Threshold Of An Era review and if my date is to be believed, that would be around 12 years ago. It was one of my earliest reviews. All I can say is these quotes is still applicable in today’s world.

Zhuge Liang, ca. 200 AD, The Way of the General

To overcome the intelligent by folly is contrary to the natural order of things; to overcome the foolish by intelligence is in accord with the natural order. To overcome the intelligent by intelligence, however, is a matter of opportunity. There are three avenues of opportunity: events, trends, and conditions. When opportunities occur through events but you are unable to respond, you are not smart. When opportunities become active through a trend and yet you cannot make plans, you are not wise. When opportunities emerge through conditions but you cannot act on them, you are not bold. Those skilled in generalship always achieve their victories by taking advantage of opportunities.

Zhuge Liang, ca. 200 AD, The Way of the General

. . . an enlightened ruler does not worry about people not knowing him, he worries about not knowing people. He worries not about outsiders not knowing insiders, but about insiders not knowing outsiders. He worries not about subordinates not knowing superiors, but about superiors not knowing subordinates. He worries not about the lower classes not knowing the upper classes, but about the upper classes not knowing the lower classes.

Zhuge Liang, 3rd century C.E.

Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win.

EPILOGUE

You actually finished this review? Congratulations… or rather thank you very much for reading everything. If you skipped to this part, thank you anyway for picking and choosing whichever part of this review you wanted to zoom into. In other words, thanks for reading.

This review is written by Funn Lim, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com, and was originally posted at www.point2e.com.