Hello folks~ I’m a bit behind on this as it occurred around very late July-early August, but here I am posting about it two weeks or so later lol~~ I tried to keep this post short…somewhat
Anyhow… Demon King is getting a live-action drama series adaptation!!!
The weibo account for the drama recently opened around late July and currently the drama is in pre-production stage (planning, scriptwriting, etc.) and the cast has not been determined yet as of this post. One of the recent posts by the account depicts the lovely concept art poster by Mian Lang (眠狼). The icon on the weibo account is currently (at the time of this post) the concept poster with the name of the drama 苍兰决 overlay in white calligraphy brush stroke. The drama will officially take the name 苍兰决/cāng lán jué (parting of Cang and Orchid or farewell of Cang and Orchid) as this is the official name that the novel goes by after publication. If the drama ever does get an English name, I hope it’s not something generic like Legend of Demon King or Legend of the Orchid (please no to this lol) or something like Love Story of the Demon King. I really hope it’s nothing like these 😅
Author, Jiu Lu Fei Xiang 九鹭非香, made a post about recognizing the concept poster and in a way, acknowledging/announcing the start of the drama production:
Jiu Lu Fei Xiang forward on her weibo: “Thankful to the great Mian Lang for illustrating the concept art poster for《Cang Lan Jue》!! Considering big devil’s face, I must say, you’re not bad! You’re quite obedient! It’s really the sweetness and adorableness that moved you the most! Big devil x Little Orchid ❤ ~ P.S. Doing a small investigation/survey, who do you wish to act in the show?”
Mian Lang post: “Live adaptation of Jiu Lu Fei Xiang’s popular novel of the same name #CangLanJue# concept poster!
—-You’re so hateful, but I still like you —- ”
So here’s a bad news, the author Jiu Lu Fei Xiang told one of novel fans that she did not participate in the scriptwriting. However, she did wonder and the official weibo account also had a link for this, the cast/actors/actresses the fans would like to see.
So I figure the readers here would pitch in their votes or opinions on who they would love to play Little Orchid and Dong Fang Qing Cang~
I listed some actors and actresses with their brief info from mydramalist that I saw some of the netizens wanted below ~~ Also there are some brief commentaries from me lol
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Little Orchid’s potential actress:
Actress Xiao Yan
Native name: 肖燕 | Born: March 6, 1997
Prominent works: The Legends (another JLFX’s novel adaptation), The Legend of the White Snake
ChocolateCosmos: I’ve watched her in The Legends. She has the acting chops to portray the cute Little Orchid and can definitely pull off heavier scenes as well.
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Actress Su Xiaotong
Native name: 苏晓彤 | Born: November 9, 1998
Prominent works: Young Blood, Young Marshal
ChocolateCosmos: Saw a lot of Chinese fans spamming her and her couple costar on JLFX’s weibo lol
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Actress Sebrina Yao (Chen Yao)
Native name: 陈瑶 | Also Known as: Chen Yao; Sebrina; Sebrina Yao | Born: October 31, 1994
Prominent works: Wu Xin the Monster Killer 1 and 2, So Young, Beauties in the Closet
ChocolateCosmos: Really like her acting in Wu Xin and I think she can pull off Little Orchid. A lot of people seem to have suggested her
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Actress Zhao Lusi
Native name: 赵露思 | Born: November 9, 1998
Prominent works: Untouchable Lovers, Oh! My Emperor Season 1 and 2, Cinderella Chef, Prodigy Healer
ChocolateCosmos: Cute girl, I heard the dramas she was in have decent reviews
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Actress Peng Xiaoran
Native name: 彭小苒 | Also Known as: 彭晓冉;彭小冉;小冉君; Xiao Ran Jun | Born: December 3, 1990
Prominent works: Goodbye My Princess, Ferryman
ChocolateCosmos: Watched Goodbye My Princess and thought the actress need some improvements in certain scenes, but overall she would be an okay choice for Little Orchid, albeit a bit too beautiful lol. I imagined Little Orchid has a more cutesy appearance when I read the novel.
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Actress Song Zuer (Lareina Song)
Native name: 宋祖儿| Also Known as: Juan Juan;Sun Bi Jua;Song Zu Er | Born: May 23, 1998
Prominent works: The Dark Lord, Gossip High, Novoland: Eagle Flag
ChocolateCosmos: I really need to watch one of her works. I heard decent things about her acting.
Dong Fang Qing Cang’s potential actor:
Actor Xiao Zhan (Sean Xiao)
Native name: 肖战| Also Known as: 战战;Zhan Zhan;肖戰;Sean Xiao;Xiao Zhan;Sean;肖战
| Born: October 5, 1991
Prominent works: The Untamed, Oh! My Emperor Season 1 and 2, Super Star Academy
ChocolateCosmos: Currently trending due to his drama The Untamed. I think he can portray DFQC ~
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Actor Wang Youshuo
Native name: 王佑硕 | Born: December 20, 1992
Prominent works: Young Blood, The Taoism Grandmaster, Legend of Yunxi
ChocolateCosmos: He was suggested alongside his co-star Su Xiaotong from the drama Young Blood. I inserted an extra picture to depict the couple lol.
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Actor Wang Yibo
Native name: 王一博 | Also Known as: Yibo;이보;Wang Yi Bo;Yi Bo;Lee Bo;I Bo;Ai Bo | Born: August 5, 1997
Prominent works” The Untamed, Gank Your Heart, Love Actually
ChocolateCosmos: Another actor from The Untamed~
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Actor Deng Lun
Native name: 邓伦| Also Known as: 鄧倫;Allen Deng | Born: October 21, 1992
Prominent works: Ashes of Love, Flowers in Fog, Love Actually, Fifteen Years to Wait for Migratory Birds, Because of You, White Deer Plain, Sweet Dreams
ChocolateCosmos: He played the Demon lord in one of his works and I can see why fans want him to be casted lol.
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Actor Luo Yunxi
Native name: 罗云熙 | Also Known as: Luo Leo | Born: July 28, 1988
Prominent works: Ashes of Love, My Sunshine, A Life Time of Love, Princess Silver, Fox in the Screen
ChocolateCosmos: Yay, another Ashes of Love star. He does brooding scenes so well lol. He’ll do a great job giving that DFQC’s death glare 😅
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Actor Zhang Zhehan
Native name: 张哲瀚 | Also Known as: 小哲;Xiao Zhe;Zhang Zhe Han;Zhe Han | Born: May 11, 1991
Prominent works: Legend of Yunxi, Cosmetology High, Ban Shu Legend, Decoded, Demon Girl 1 and 2
ChocolateCosmos: I tried to find this one picture where he had white hair, but I couldn’t. Anyhow, he is pretty much stone-faced majority of the time in Legend of Yunxi so I think he can definitely portray the cold DFQC lol.
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Actor Chen Zheyuan
Native name: 陈哲远| Born: October 29, 1996
Prominent works: All About Secrets, The Legend of Zu 2, Hello Dear Ancestors
ChocolateCosmos: Saw some fans suggested him and I am waiting for his show Handsome Siblings to broadcast lol
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Actor Zhu Yilong
Native name: 朱一龙 | Also Known as: 龙龙;龙哥;朱老师;Long Long;Long Ge;Zhu Lao Shi;居老师 | Born: April 16, 1988
Prominent works: Guardian, The Story of Minglan, My True Friend, Love for Three Lifetimes, Border Town Prodigal, Royal Sister Returns, As Flowers Fade and Fly Across the Sky, Granting You a Dreamlike Life
ChocolateCosmos: I am totally bias here and included him in this even though I don’t see anyone suggesting him lol. He totally fits the long hair and ancient times aesthetic and I feel that his acting has gravitas from years of acting. Although there’s a slim chance he will act in this drama, but he would be a dream casting 😅
Here are the polls:
Some thoughts: I am not expecting too much with this drama adaptation since not a lot of shows are adapted closely to the novel and the author herself isn’t part of the scriptwriting team. So far there is not a lot of information given and I cannot judge how much of the budget was given for this show and who are on the production team. I think this will likely be an idol drama. I do hope that instead of spending it on getting top stars, they give the opportunities to fresh faces/underrated people who can act and spend the bulk of their budget on the CGI lol. This show definitely needs a lot of CGI input and I want it to look convincing enough especially for Dong Fang Qing Cang’s fights. Personally, I see all the fan cast to be pretty okay for both leads. DFQC’s and Little Orchid’s roles aren’t too difficult to portray. I prefer whoever casted as DFQC to act with maturity as he is an ancient being and the actor needs better visuals than the rest of the cast (doesn’t need to be out of this world handsome either). It seems a bit shallow to focus on visuals, but this is purely based on how the novel likes mentioning DFQC’s visuals lol.
So what are your thoughts fellow readers?
Banana Chocolate Cosmos ✿ 
I like Zhao Lusi…. for male cast I prefer mature and intriguing type who can radiate the evilness🤣
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I’m not sure if there is any male coming into my mind that radiates evilness lol. I think one Chinese fan suggested Chen Xingxu who plays the male lead from Goodbye My Princess. He was pretty mean and angry, but I don’t think he was intriguing lol 😅 I do like Zhao Lusi’s visuals too plus she’s playing the female lead for another novel to drama adaptation (Killing of Three Thousand Crows)
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I think Yang Zi would be great as little orchid, she has that cute look rather than beautiful and has great facial expressions. But Xiao Yan is also a good choice.
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I like Yang Zi as well. Not too sure if she’ll accept this drama as she ‘s now pickier with her projects and looks at her costars as well before signing onto a drama now. If they can’t get Yang Zi due to her busy schedule, I’m fine with other actresses
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Definitely needs a more mature/manly looking male lead. As for female lead, Xiao Yan was indeed good in The Legends, I could see her in this role. By the way, what is your overall opinion on the adaptation of Ostentatious Zhao Yao? Did it follow the book close enough?
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I thought Ostentatious Zhao Yao adaptation was rather decent. From acting (really like Bai Lu’s and Xiao Yan’s acting) to costume design and filming were all pretty decent. My only issue is the terrible cut-offs and weird transitions. For some reasons, probably due to restrictions and whatnot, they had a version with the weird cuts and I don’t know where to find the director’s cut. This diminishes the narrative. Anyhow, as for how close it follows the book… I don’t remember the different sect conflicts so well so I can’t gauge the accuracy on that (which was a large part in the later half of the show). Romance-wise I do think they did a good job selling it as it did in the novel. I will say the beginning portion of the drama portrayed Zhao Yao was a lucky go girl that turned evil due to betrayal which was not how the story was introduced in the novel. I get why they had to portrayed her that way (guidelines, restrictions, etc.), but yeah a bit disappointed. Anyhow, some scenes in the novel were definitely very close to the books like this one library scene I remembered from the novel and Zhao Yao’s antics when she was in the body of Zhi Yan’s body were similar ot the novel. I think due to restrictions for the drama to air, they had to restrict the ghostly world stuff… But other than that, I thought the drama was alright. If I had to rate how close it was to the book, maybe 3.5 out of 5? Close on some scenes while they inserted extra stuff to prolong the episode counts.
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Hi. I just randomly landed onto your translation site while searching for Zhao Lusi. I haven’t read this Demon King novel yet, but if you’re polling for ideas on who would make a cute female lead, then I think Zhao Lusi acts in cute, comedic roles well. She even looks the part with her young, pretty, adorable face and petite stature. Have you seen Love Better Than Immortality, starring Zhao Lusi and Li Hongyi? They ooze chemistry as an onscreen couple. That drama was the first I had seen both leads act in, and I was impressed with their performance for relative novices. Li Hongyi played the suave, manipulative, evil leader of the demonic sect in Love Better Than Immortality with a soft spot for his “little Chun Hua,” Zhao Lusi’s character. For a relatively young actor with not that much experience, I would say he did a very commendable job portraying a complicated villain/anti-hero who had this understated, threatening aura about him, but can transform into a teasing charmer when around the girl he unwittingly fell in love with. If the Demon King in the novel is anything like the demonic sect leader in Love Better Than Immortality, then Li Hongyi would be a good candidate for the role.
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Ooooh, I will put that drama on my to watch list. I thought Zhao Lusi would work as the female lead. As for DK, I’m not familiar with Love Better Than Immortality story, but I’ll take your word for his acting 🙂
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I really wish they didn’t try to turn this into a drama. I really like this novel and honestly, productions always manage to butcher them up or make the characters no so likeable after turning them into dramas. And these days, they just can not capture the essence of the novel. Whenever they turn it into a drama, it just looks like any other Chinese drama, no uniqueness and flavor. Gosh I really just wish they didn’t turn this into a drama.
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I really wished they didn’t try to make a drama out of this novel. I really like it and honestly, production companies these days never manage to bring out the full essence of it and have at time managed to butcher up the story. No offense to anyone but I honestly also think that no actors or actresses these days can fulfill these roles or do them well enough. It just ends up looking like any other drama.
A lot of the times when they try to make a drama out of these novels it ends up losing that uniqueness to it. Plus with all those censorship laws in china, sometimes important or meaningful parts of the novel is written away and replaced with clichés or they just change the story which doesn’t make sense and makes it lose even more of it’s uniqueness. I really just wish they wouldn’t try to make a drama out of these. If anything make an animation, but even then it’s always filled with product placements lol. Also, this is a xianxia which means they are going to use so much CGI either for settings or backgrounds that it just makes it look too fake sometimes. What happen to actually putting in the effort to find a suitable place to film in instead of just using the green screen? Again, I really REALLY had wished that they wouldn’t even attempt to touch this novel or any other novels that they obviously can not bring the full potential out of.
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As someone who watches a bunch of dramas with a fair share of them being adapted from novels, I agree with some drama productions taking out the essences of novels or the drama result very much like other dramas. For this particular novel, the author gave the rights to drama adaptation (she has a couple other novels being adapted). Kind of hope they let her be the screenwriter but it doesnt look like that… I will keep my expections pretty low for this one
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