The first encounter is the end, and this sadomasochistic ancient puppet that displaces time and space is quite good-looking

June 27, 2023 | Issue 3279

Unexpectedly, Station B, which has always been low-key in the production of dramas, also joined the ancient puppet melee of the summer file this year.

On June 22, Station B launched the original ancient puppet drama "Ancient Lovesickness", which tells the story of historical best-selling author Shen Buyan (played by Guo Jianan) who has traveled through time and space many times and returned to the "Nansheng" year to re-acquaint with a generation of demon queen Lu Yuan (played by Zhang Yaqin).

The heroine Zhang Yaqin was once known by the audience for the role of Su Yunluo in "Youth Wandering One Inch of Love"; The male protagonist Guo Jianan is the first time to serve as the male protagonist of a costume drama, and he mainly ran tricks in major dramas before. CP sense is the vitality of ancient puppets, the two leading actors are working together for the first time, and the first feeling of standing together is "not very compatible".

However, true fragrance always comes quickly. The vitality of ancient dolls is not only CP sense, but also stories. Station B once again proves with this drama that "produced by Station B" does not do work.

First of all, the creative setting of "reverse time and space" is eye-catching. In the play, Shen Buyan has repeatedly traveled into the "Nansheng" dynasty and returned to reality, but his timeline is completely opposite to the heroine. That is to say, the first time he saw Lu Iris was the last time Lu Iris saw him, and the last time he met Lu Iris was the first time for Lu Kite.

When Shen Buyan first saw Lu Qiao, Lu Qiao died in the rebellion of the Yuan Qizhi to save him. The first sight is the end, and fate strikes. Station B even deliberately reversed the number of episodes, the order is the male protagonist's perspective, and when the episode is finished, it is the female protagonist's perspective.

In recent years, many emotional dramas have made a fuss about the way time and space travel, such as the heroine of "Twinkle and Twinkle Star" who returned to campus by deleting the text message of the male protagonist's regret moment. The mechanism to trigger the crossing cannot be seen in the first four episodes of "Ancient Lovesickness" for the time being, but it can be determined that it is related to the broken jade that Shen Buyan accidentally obtained. Shen Buyan crossed back for the first time, the broken jade was merged from five pieces to four, if it would be repaired every time he crossed the broken jade, then the male protagonist would cross a total of four times.

These four crossings are the retrospection of the male protagonist to the female host, the process of Shen Buyan falling in love with Lu Kite, and the process of Shen Buyan being forgotten by Lu Kite. It can be said that the sadistic feeling created by the setting reached its peak from the beginning. It also makes the audience curious about the final emotional direction of the two.

The conceptual innovation of the timeline can bring extreme emotions, but also bring plot bugs, especially with memories repeatedly traversed.

Since Shen Wuyan is traveling in reverse in the world he has been to, will his actions every time eventually reverse the trajectory of the dynasty? For example, Shen Buyan saved the heroine's younger brother Lu Shi (Quan Yilun) when he crossed for the second time (the fifth year of Yuan Qi), can Lu Shi, who survived, help Lu Qi's fifteen-year rebellion and save Lu Qi's fate of death?

The timeline is disrupted, and the butterfly effect will cause multiple parallel space-times to appear, leading to different story endings. But at present, "Ancient Lovesickness" does not intend to introduce the concept of parallel time and space. Next, how to interpret the relationship between Shen Buyan's behavior and the timeline will be the biggest suspense of the plot.

Every time Shen Wuyan crosses back to Nansheng, the main task is to help Lu Qiao "take the outside and the inside". Many small-cost romance costume dramas, the emotions are prominent, but the power is done very roughly, and "Ancient Lovesickness" rarely makes the ancient wisdom fight very interesting.

In the first four episodes, you can see Lu Yuan using the rhythm of the strings to transmit information, and you can see the young general "making smoke bombs by hand" by "counting and calculating". These "puzzle small reversals" enhance the sense of conflict between the positive and negative parties, and also make the increasingly strong feelings of the male and female protagonists more substitutionary and convincing.

The script of "Ancient Lovesickness" is exquisite and innovative, which can be regarded as outstanding among works of the same volume. However, the first screenwriter of this drama is not a full-time screenwriter, but an UP master in the film and television area of Station B.

In fact, the origin of the project of "Ancient Lovesickness" was a character Lalang video of station B, and then station B bought the video copyright into a drama, and invited the original video author Sanqianyu and Tsurugayun to serve as screenwriters together.

Also involved in the creation of the script is director Zhizhu. Zhizhu became famous for her ancient style short plays, and the use style of BGM and the playing mirror in "Ancient Lovesickness" can feel her strong personal style.

Organize a group of film and television lovers with a desire to express themselves and make the brain hole come true. From the story to the production, "Ancient Lovesickness" once again confirms the characteristics of "from the user, to the user" produced by station B.

From "The Sky of the Wind Dog Boy", "Sanyue Has a New Job" to "Ancient Lovesickness", as well as the popular anime adaptation "Time Agent" that will be launched next, and the youth life drama "Hero of the Day" in the form of a Vlog (written by Bao Whale), etc., they are all creative works that closely follow the aesthetics and emotions of "Generation Z".

But if a drama wants to gain higher popularity, it can't just serve young users on the site. The difficulty of producing dramas from station B is a difficult crux to solve. "Ancient Lovesickness" has a good story idea, but it is subject to cost, small episodes, and almost no visual scenes. Can this costume sadomasochism stand out in the summer ancient puppet competition by word of mouth?

【Text/Kwai Chung】