There are adaptations and then there’s this

Have you ever watched a TV adaptation of a book that you like, which has changed the entire premise, much of the plot and some of the characters, has a completely different ending and a lousy sound quality, and still somehow manages to be better than the original? I hadn’t either, until I watched a Chinese TV series Guardian - Zhen Hun (2018). Some spoilers ahead, especially about the ending.

Promo photo of Guardian with Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu.

Guardian by Priest is a Chinese boylove web novel from 2012 that’s recently been published in English for the first time. It was in three volumes, and I review them here, here and here. It tells the story of two gods who meet at the creation of the world. One is a soulless creature of the underworld, Ghost King, accidentally created by the god of mountain, Kunlun, with other gui. Kunlun ends up sacrificing himself to keep Chaos, Ghost King’s twin, from getting free from the underworld. Distraught, Ghost King makes a deal with gods: Kunlun gets to reincarnate endlessly while he guards the seal on Chaos and the two will never meet.

Promo banner for Guardian by Priest.

Ten thousand years later in present day China, the two meet. Kunlun is now Zhao Yunlan, director of a Special Investigation Department that investigates supernatural crimes, with no knowledge of his past. Ghost King is Shen Wei, a mild-mannered professor of mythology, who knows who Zhao Yunlan truly is and has met him often in his true form as a Soul-Executing Emissary from the underworld. Romance ensues. But Chaos is about to get free again, and another sacrifice is needed to stop it from happening. This time Ghost King is determined to make sure he’s the one who dies to protect the man he loves.

The TV series has none of that. I can only presume that government censorship and rules about what can be shown on Chinese TV had a huge role in changing the premise. Instead of a fantasy about gods and mythological creatures, it’s sort of sci-fi, at least on the surface. All the gods and supernatural entities are now aliens with psychic powers who came to earth ten thousand years ago. Science is emphasised instead of magic and supernatural. Shen Wei, who is an alien called Black Caped Envoy, battled with his twin, Night King, and sealed all aliens to a subterranean world where they’ve been ten thousand years. In present day, Zhao Yunlan is a head of a department that investigates crimes by escaped subterraneans. Shen Wei is a professor of physics. And Night King is about to get free and challenge humans once again.

Promo photo of Guardian with full cast.

For the same reason, the TV series couldn’t openly be a gay romance either. In the book, Zhao Yunlan pursues Shen Wei relentlessly from the start. There are kisses and bedroom scenes, though behind the doors. Bonus chapters show the two living their normal lives as a couple. Everyone is very accepting, and those who aren’t are communicated with until they are.

Nevertheless, the romance is the backbone of the series as well. And it works perfectly. The director had taken a leaf out of the playbooks of Jane Austen adaptations. Passionate emotions are supressed with ruthless determination and only surface in the characters’ struggle to contain them, perfectly portrayed by the expressive faces of the actors. Fleeting touches get a greater meaning than they would otherwise have.

Promo photo of Guardian with Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu.

In forty episodes, there’s a lot of room for the relationship to develop. We are shown how the men constantly put the other’s safety and wellbeing before their own, often to a detriment of their own health. 

Promo photo of Guardian with Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu.

But instead of declarations of love and happily ever after, we get the only way the two have for expressing their love: self-sacrifice for the other and for the mankind. It only works in fiction (don’t try it in real world), and even though it’s not what I would’ve wanted for them, it’s an amazingly satisfying ending.

Promo photo of Guardian with Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu.

There is also more room for character development. In the book, the side characters weren’t given enough time for their own stories and relationships to develop. In the series all the side characters were given ample screen time and good personal stories that were only hinted at in the book. Zhu Hong, the main woman character who was sidelined in the book, had a good arc from a woman besotted with Zhao Yunlan to a leader of her people, and I was especially happy with how the friendship/relationship of Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi played out. It was portrayed as a found family and brotherhood, but it was the secondary romance in the series that was only hinted at in the book.

Promo photo of Guardian with Xing Peng and Jiang Mingyang.

All of this was done on rather cheap looking sets, with fairly simple CGI and truly bad sound editing where the voices of the actors were dubbed by different people in post-production. Those knowledgeable of the production informed me that the company ran out of money before the series was finished, and it showed. All the money probably went into the clothing of Shen Wei who looked stylish throughout the series, although other characters’ wardrobes improved towards the end too.

Promo photo of Guardian with Gao Yuer.

Nevertheless, the sum grew beyond its parts. A lot of it is thanks to the excellent actors portraying Zhao Yunlan (Bai Yu) and Shen Wei (Zhu Yilong, who portrayed four different characters, even if three were basically the same person), but it’s also because the story was given time to grow. The publishing format of web novels tends to make the stories a tad confusing at times, because there’s no returning to earlier chapters for editing after publishing. Much of the book is taken by Chinese creation mythologies and other stories, which were fine but didn’t really advance the story.

Compilation of Zhu Yilong as Black Caped Envoy, Shen Wei, young Black Caped Envoy and Night King.

The book began as an urban fantasy about supernatural investigations and turned to an epic fantasy, after which the spooky atmosphere of the first book disappeared. The TV series kept the investigations going throughout, even if they were never as scary as in the first book. The chainsmoking of Zhao Yunlan was replaced by constant munching of lollypops, which they managed to turn into a mildly erotic moment at one point. 

Promo photo of Guardian with Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu.

The romance was slightly forceful in the book, whereas the stolen touches and fleeting moments of intimacy in the series truly made an impact. The contrived way the series tried to keep from mentioning anything supernatural got a bit comical at times, but it didn’t lessen the enjoyment. The ending was a bit hasty in both, but both were good. A kiss on screen would’ve been perfect, but it wasn’t to be. And so, in the end, I liked the TV series more. Both are good, but one is better.

Photo of Guardian with Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu.

Books are available through Seven Seas Entertainment and on most retail sites. The TV series is on Youku streaming service with (badly translated) English subtitles.

Here’s a bonus video on YouTube someone has compiled of the best moments between the men.

And for those who are still on X, one of my favourite scenes I couldn’t find anywhere else.