Chinese Ghost Story (2003) VS. Return Of Condor Heroes (2006)

It's time for a bit of throwback to how I began a short break from Tokusatsu for other stuff of what was once new school last decade. Time flies so fast as one show is now 15 years old and the other is 12 years old. I think about two actresses who have a rather huge age gap, a different batch yet they were both serving among Chinese drama legendary actresses. I just want to talk about my experience with both shows -- where I can also be rather shallow here.

The first time I got into Wuxia series (or not) was with the 2003 version (or remake) of the Chinese Ghost Story. I don't really want to get familiarized with the version done with the Leslie Cheung due to the generation gap. I was reminded of my paternal grandmother watching Wuxia series. I started watching it though I got somewhat hooked with Dolphin Bay's dysfunctional family drama more. Yet Chinese Ghost Story's action scenery was just too good to pass.

The first Wuxia seriest hat I was somewhat hooked on for both good and bad reasons was the 2006 version of the Return of Condor Heroes. I admit, Liu Yi Fei can act but there are times she tends just to be there to be "standing pretty" than Barbie Xu-Wang -- who was more obviously there to kick your sorry ass if you tried anything to her. I thought about watching the ROCH 2006 more for Yi Fei than the story -- then I got hooked with the story. I admit, I can watch good series for bad reasons while I could reject any bad series no matter how much eye candy it has.

I admit, both ladies have their charm and they can act. I tend to prefer Barbie's stronger performance. Her performance made me even wish that she and Jerry Yan were the main lead in Romance in the Rain. Meanwhile, I only wanted to pair up Yi Fei with Jerry only because I feel that they would look good together IMHO. Yi Fei can act but she's not that good -- it's easy to appreciate her for rather shallow reasons compared to the less attractive Barbie.

Overall, I grew to appreciate both shows on their own merits and the acting. Then it happened -- Yi Fei took on the role Barbie once played in the Chinese Ghost Story movie last 2011. Yi Fei wasn't that much of a powerful Xiao Qian as Barbie ever will be. But still, it was worth a watch but Barbie will always have the better performance of said role.

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