My
Chinese TV Drama Recommendation: End of the Beginning
I am
studying Chinese language. I watch many Chinese TV dramas. These are easy to
watch in Japan. I started to watch Chinese dramas in the 2000s. I am surprised
because they are rapidly progressing.
Today,
I want to introduce a Chinese TV drama I recommend, End of the Beginning. I
don’t know the actual English title of the drama in your country. I don’t know
if you can even watch the drama in your country.
Most
good TV dramas in China are period plays. A lot of money is spent on making
those. But End of the Beginning is a modern play. It is an exception among
Chinese TV dramas. It is modern, but the story starts from 2000. It covers
twenty-one years up to 2021 and an additional few years. The PHS (Personal
Handy-phone System, an early mobile network system in Asia that was developed
in the 1990s) features prominently.
There
are two leading roles.
One is
An. He is a policeman with strong sense of justice. He is always fair to
everyone. Even criminals start to trust him because he is an extremely
honorable man. But he does not know how to get along in the world. He is not
interested in promotion. He hardly ever gets promoted.
The
other lead is Gao. He is a fish shop owner when the story starts. His
educational background is not good. But he is a smart and brave man. One day,
he is offered an illegal job. He can’t refuse. After that day, he needs to get
involved in fighting between mafia groups. He always wins. He becomes a mafia
boss. But he also loves his wife. And he is a henpecked husband.
This
drama describes the struggles between policemen and the mafia focusing on these
two guys with contrasting characters.
I was
surprised when I watched this drama because it describes bribery. It describes
corrupted policemen and politicians. These topics are very sensitive in China.
Ironically,
a policeman’s enemy is another policeman. And a mafia member’s enemy is another
mafia member. Policemen and the mafia have complex relationships.
I felt
the scenarios were well thought out. The writers did a lot of research on
policemen and the mafia. The drama introduces various tricks that the mafia use
to corrupt ordinary people.
I heard
that media regulation is very strict in China. I guess the scenario writers
needed to rewrite the scenarios again and again to clear government
regulations. In this case, I think it made the drama more profound.
I found
some scenes of the story to be unnatural. I guess it is because of these
regulations. These kinds of regulations are like taxes for making dramas in
China. We should ignore them.
Policeman
An and fish shop owner Gao are played by middle-aged actors. Makeup artists did
a good job making them look younger and older to cover a period of more than
twenty years. They are not typical good-looking guys. But they say attractive
lines and act in attractive ways. Magically, I started to recognize that they
are cool.
Thirty-nine
episodes. It was released in 2023.
If you
are looking for a good drama in Chinese, I recommend this one.
Proofreading
by Claire ProofreadingServices.com
Picture
by Tetsuya Onoue
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