Searching for recommendations: Three Kingdoms-based media

[nenena]

So it's finals week and for their traditional post-final treat I let my Art History students watch Red Cliff. Before the film I explained a little bit about the historical context of the film (although I didn't have to explain much because a group of students had already given a fabulous presentation about the Han Dynasty as one of their semester-final projects last week), who the characters in the film were, and how the film was based on a mixture of historical fact and Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalization. We did a couple of activities comparing/contrasting Three Kingdoms to Arthurian myths, and we talked about the differences in technology levels between China and Europe of the time period (mind-blowing for some of the students), but mostly it was just letting the kids turn off their brains and enjoy the film.

Anywhoo the movie was met with rave reviews (and from a very tough crowd, might I add!). But on Friday at the end of class one of the students asked me, "Do you have any more Three Kingdoms stuff?" Which was followed immediately by a chorus of nearly the entire class echoing his question.

Aaaaaand I told him that I would get back to him about that because honestly, I kind of don't. Or rather, I know that there's a ton of Three Kingdoms-based media out there but I have no idea how much of it is available in English, appropriate for high school students, or even, er, good.

So, flist! I come to you with a question: I've got a group of high school students who are very interested in The Fabulous Adventures of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang and The Knights of the Peach Orchard. What would you recommend for them to watch, read, or play?

They do not speak or read Chinese, so anything that you recommend to them will have to be available in translation. They are pretty savvy about acquiring material online, so stuff that's only available via piracy is okay to rec. They seems to be mostly interested in the military and martial arts aspects of the stories, so action-based stuff would be best. Any films, books, comics, or video games y'all could recommend for these kids would be very appreciated!

Comments

[kaisuopai.livejournal.com]

I saw this from tumblr and had to respond. First, though, can I just say how absolutely jealous I am of your students and your class, and that my high school art history instructor never saw the need to get into this particular area of Chinese history? My everlasting envy aside, onto the recommendations. I've found many RoTK adaptations since childhood, but these are the two series that I currently, as a college student fond of both action and characterization, enjoy the most.

Warning: wall of text (I'm... a big TK fan)

To watch: Three Kingdoms 2010 (http://the-scholars.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21148)
This is a 95-episode live-action series which has been fully subbed by a group of wuxia/history enthusiasts, and my absolute favorite watch-able version to date. The link above is to the torrent download page, although there are also plenty of Youtube uploads, which I can find links for if you'd like. This series covers the period of time between Dong Zhuo's usurpation and the rise of Cao Cao, to the deaths of Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi. There are plenty of action scenes from the most famous generals (Lu Bu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun), although there are no large-scale battles shown with the same level of intricacy as Red Cliff, due to budget concerns.

What drew me into this series, though, was its attention to characterization and consistent plot. The "hero of chaos" Cao Cao is given motivation for his actions, Liu Bei is actually a strong character instead of a walking sainthood candidate, Zhuge Liang is less omnipotent but more human and empathizable, and Zhou Yu, Sun Quan, and the rest of Wu's main characters are just as distinct and memorable as they might have been in Red Cliff (probably more so, given that I can't remember what Lu Su did in Red Cliff at all). One warning I'd leave is that I was much more fond of the character interactions than the action scenes in this series, as the former felt far more intricate and well-developed than the latter.

Disclaimer: I'm one of the editors on the sub team who joined late (but who did so because the first 60 episodes drew me in so effectively). Even disregarding that, I would vouch for the quality of the translation; the language is appropriate; names, ranks, and details are carefully researched; and the subs even include historical side-notes whenever characters make references to things that an educated Chinese audience, but not a Western one, would be familiar with.

To read: Ravages of Time (http://mangafox.me/manga/the_ravages_of_time/)
This is a manhua published by a Hong Kong artist which has been ongoing for the last 10 years or so, and the reason it moves at such a glacial pace is because every named character is *awesome* in some way. The series began as an action manhua in which Zhang Fei is capable of throwing someone straight over the wall of a city, and where Lu Bu and Zhao Yun (one of the main characters, actually; it's complicated) can wipe out the greater half of a battlefield singlehandedly. Although it's since grown to focus more on the strategies, schemes, and mind games of the main strategists, the amount of sheer action, large-scale battles on both land and water, and heroes kicking ass has not actually decreased.

Warning: As I've said before, the series moves rather slowly; it began with Dong Zhuo's usurpation ~10 years ago, but is only now getting to the *start* of the battle of Chibi. The number of named characters is huge, as you can imagine. There has also been some art evolution in those 10 years, so the first few chapters are not indicative of the later ones' quality.

Other possibilities:

Dynasty Warriors: A hack-and-slash video game version of the TK story for consoles and PC, in which you play as any of ~70 named characters and mow down hordes of enemies on the battlefield. Not very attentive to historical accuracy; Zhuge Liang's fan shoots lasers, although the later installments at least move closer to the historical plot. Might be good for students who just want to kick ass.

RTK11: A turn-based strategy game for PC revolving around the conquest of China; hundreds of named characters are present, each with their own stats, strengths, and weaknesses, and you can end up commanding, conquering, recruiting, or defeating any of them over the course of a game. Much more slower-paced and tactical than Dynasty Warriors, so students who enjoy strategy may like this.

Series I would not recommend:

Romance of the Three Kingdoms '94: An older live-action series produced by CCTV. While I grew up watching this one and still have fond memories of some of its music, its production quality is just really bad. Characters switch actors at the drop of a hat, its language is archaic and stilted, and what official English subs exist are haphazardly used and often wrong.

Ikki Tousen, Koihime Musou, Koutetsu Sangokushi: The first two are fanservice-y genderswap harem anime, and the last is yaoi-centric fantasy. Some of your students probably will enjoy them, but it would be a bad idea to bring them up in class.

And... that's basically it! I hope this information will be of use to you and your students in some way, because the English-speaking TK community is quite small and I would love to see an influx of new interest. Please feel free to ask if you have any other questions about these series - where to find them, online communities for discussion, and so forth. (I will do my best to be less wall-of-texty in the future.)

[nenena]

Oh my gosh this is amazing - thank you so much!!! I'm torrenting Three Kingdoms 2010 right now, and I've glanced at the RoT manga and it looks incredible.

This is exactly what I needed. Once again - THANK YOU!! This stuff is awesome! (And thank you for the anti-recs, too. It's always helpful to know what not to waste my time with!)

[umbralpilot]

Oh hello. Allow me to also express my boundless seething envy and then second the hell out of that Ravages of Time recommendation. I've watched, read and played about a million Three Kingdoms adaptations and none of them comes even close to this manhua for quality and complexity as well as cultural insight - though it is a very loose adaptation, closer in some places to history than to the Romance and in other places just plain fabrication. Beautiful fabrication, though. It is truly an awesome work in the original sense of the word - my response to it has largely been sheer awe.

RoT starts slowly, as mentioned, and initially has a lot more comedy and wuxia moments, but with time it becomes more realistic, more serious, and mind-bogglingly complex. The heroes of this version of the Three Kingdoms are its strategists and the author has, I can only call it a stupefying ability to come up with schemes, tricks and diplomatic moves. For that only, it's worth reading. It also has some beautifully complex and sympathetic portrayals of characters who never, ever get them - Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo are the primary examples, even Emperor Xian gets a fair treatment, overlooked strategists like Xun Yu and Guo Jia get a lot of limelight, Zhang Fei is a painter, scout and diplomat along with being a terrifying warrior, Yuan Shu's death scene is heartbreaking - there is so much attention, so much thought and love in every single life in that series. It also does an admirable job of engaging with military and political philosophy, talking often about question of the greater good, means and ends, loyalty, truth in history and so on. It's worth the read even if you're not into TK related media or anything Chinese at all.