It s not that Fairy Sword is sick, it s that Xianxia has collapsed

Text |Deep Hitomi Business Hippopotamus-kun.

Edit |Chu Qingzhou.

Stills from "Sword and Fairy IV".

The fairy sword IP has penetrated 20 years, which should have been something worthy of praise.

The Legend of Sword and Fairy series, as the banner of domestic RPG games, has a far-reaching influence beyond the category of "classics", and it has almost become a paradigm of oriental fantasy for a long time, sword fairies, demons, teenagers, spirits, the struggle between the fairy world and the demon world for thousands of years, and the throbbing ...... of the encounter between the boy and Shao AiIn fact, it and "Xuanyuan Sword" and other latecomers jointly built the backbone framework of the "Xianxia Universe".

In the early 2000s, when online literature emerged, a large number of classic works labeled as "Xianxia" and "Fantasy" resonated with Xianjian in the background setting, and the world view was highly compatible with Xianjian.

You can also understand it this way: the "Fairy Sword Series" participated in the formulation of the standards of "Xianxia", so it can benefit from the popularity of Xianxia and ancient puppets in the future.

However, it seems that it is very questionable whether this dividend can continue to be eaten.

Whether it is Xiansi or "Praying for the Present Dynasty" based on Xianliu, the popularity is unsatisfactory, but considering that the leading actor comes with a skilled data workshop, both sides are still holding their breath and can't lose, and the actual popularity of the two dramas has not reached expectations.

As for word-of-mouth ......Xiansi's latest Douban score is only 43。

In fact, as early as the beginning of the series' launch, People's Entertainment sharply commented on "Sword and Fairy IV" and the movie version of "Flower Thousand Bone": "When a Xianxia abandons 'chivalry', loses the soul of IP, and turns into a pure ancient puppet drama, how can it make the audience feel tempted and empathetic again" - sharply pointed out many problems in the film and television of Xianxia IP, in the production mode of "traffic + IP", classical Xianxia has not only increasingly become an independent category of enclosure and self-sprouting, but also lost the ability to expand deeply.

The Xianxia universe, which originally carried countless possibilities, collapsed into a certain type of creator's own place and fast-moving goods in film and television, and it was really not wronged by the official media.

Xianjian is sick, and Hua Qiangu is also sick. Xianxia, who can't even maintain its popularity, will it still be the basic disk of the platform S-level in the future?

At least today, it seems that Xianxia IP film and television must make changes, and there is no way out if you continue to lie flat.

1. Ancient puppets: "Shudra" in film and television dramas? Let's talk about the topic of "people's entertainment", and in the relevant social media comment area, people saw the familiar control and evaluation queue again.

Fans have defended idols' works, saying that Xiansi and Xianliu are both high-quality works.

Putting aside the old problem of "fan circle", this difference is very interesting, if the inherent target audience group of a TV series thinks it is "very good-looking", but the audience outside the circle has a flood of bad reviews, and the mainstream ** feels that the play lacks depth and the creative direction cannot be used as an entertainment orientation, how should such a work be evaluated?

As far as I can see, fans are alone on this issue, they have few allies.

Discrimination "ancient puppets are not only the mainstream**,The "capital" that should have been used as the foundation of the category is not too good to see the ancient puppets,Ma Huateng praised PCG's old business such as Tencent** in his speech at Tencent's annual meeting, and named "The Long Season", "Three-Body Problem", "Flowers", and also mentioned:

The key to supporting the long ** is a few big dramas, if not every month, at least one every quarter. In the past, those small poles could not hold up, at most they were used as telephone poles for advertising, and their value was not great. ”

Although Pony did not name which works are "telephone poles for advertising", but people who pay attention to Chang** are the same as Spiegel in their hearts, who else can they say except for S-level ancient puppet dramas?

On the production side, practitioners actually treat ancient puppets as "another type of work". During interviews in the industry, many creators have revealed the same meaning: talents without creative talent to make ancient puppets.

When the so-called ancient puppets and ancient puppets have become a classification of actors, artists who are unable to control complex characters and are willing to stay in their comfort zone repeatedly perform ancient puppets, which has almost become a consensus.

Producer Yang Xiaopei said that the ancient puppet was her darkest moment, and Liu Yuning said that he didn't participate in the word "ancient puppet" when he was filming, which also explained the attitude of the creators:

Ancient puppets can accumulate a certain amount of popularity, but it will definitely affect word of mouth, some actors avoid it, and others will choose to accumulate a certain amount of popularity to test the waters of more "advanced" genre dramas, such as criminal investigation and realistic themes.

The ancient puppet has become like the Shudra in the ancient Indian caste system, and has long been at the bottom of the film and television contempt chain.

The newly released Sword and Fairy series may not be considered "hitting the street" in terms of data, but it faces a real storm:

The comfort zone of ancient puppets is no longer suitable for maintenance, this kind of high-**, low-reputation format, long-term failure to attract outstanding creative talents, improve the quality of content, the loss of ** degree is only a matter of time.

Second, the gradual disappearance of dividends stems from the excessive pursuit of "high profits" under the national tide, which should have been an opportunity period for Oriental fantasy Xianxia, but we clearly feel the downward trend of this theme.

There is an "anti-common sense" point of view here, and it is precisely because it is too easy to make money that Xianxia IP has gradually lost its normal competitiveness.

It is often said that the benign development of a genre needs to make money for investors and creators, and this is certainly true. Sci-fi fans are swiping the one-two-three-four-five of the "The Wandering Earth" series, partly because they are afraid that Guo Fan will not make money, and there is no successor to the theme of science fiction.

The situation of the Xianxia theme is the opposite, and it has long been about low cost and high return.

The audience doesn't care much about the 5 Mao special effects, as long as it doesn't affect the CP, fans will make their own ** package, first tailor the concept of the 6 Mao special effects, and then use free data female workers to promote "well-made" on the whole network;

There is no problem with the plastic texture of the props, and when the Tang people made Xianjian Yi, they used the ancestor snow moon cake as an ancient refreshment, which did not prevent it from being a classic work;

As for the clichés of the plot and the stiff performance of the actors, ......It has not become an absolute flaw in Xianxia dramas, because as long as there is sugar to swallow, the entanglement plot of handsome men and beautiful women can kill time, and there will still be a market for Xianxia dramas under the inertia of consumption.

Pray for the Present Dynasty stills).

Capital's pursuit of profits is endless, and in the film and television industry, Xianxia is the product that is "simplified" - since the main market does not have too high requirements for performances, props, costumes, and plots, why not maximize the "traffic + IP" strategy to squeeze higher profits?

And this naturally comes at the expense of the audience experience.

In fact, in the literary creation of the upper reaches of "Xianxia", the authors of online articles have made many new attempts, not mentioning the Chinese-style Cthulhu's "Dao Weird Immortals", nor mentioning the "Xuanjian Immortal Clan" that cultivates the group portraits of immortals, even the outdated "infinite flow" is rare in the production of Xianxia film and television dramas.

On the contrary, Xianxia Film and Television is a circle, and the needle can't be pierced, and the simple Xianxia has confirmed the cognition of "Xianxia = ancient puppet".

As a platform for investors, actors and directors as the main creators, all identify "ancient puppets" and "Xianxia" as walls that bind themselves, and reluctantly pan for gold in this sinking market - just ask, how can this theme have content vitality?

"Sword and Fairy IV" claims to have an investment of 300 million, but the audience generally doesn't understand where the money is spent, which is very revealing. If the studio-style set and the plot 20 years ago are the main creator's understanding of "Xianxia", it proves that content creation and the audience have advanced, and the film and television of the Xianxia theme are still 20 years ago.

Many people criticize Ju Jingyi's makeup and performance, which is not an attack on actors, on the contrary, Ju Jingyi must be a qualified ancient puppet creator, and it can even be said that she is a performer who has been customized according to the standards of the ancient puppet industry in the past ten years. Viewers who are not fans don't buy it only because her work is far from the times.

The dividends that the Xianjian series once enjoyed from the "Xianxia" label are now spit out little by little because of the solidified mode. At that time, Yang Mi, Hu Ge, Liu Yifei and others rode the wind, and the 85 flower generation is still the top, and the contemporary Xianxia starring actors obviously can't borrow such a wind.

3. Returning to content-driven, how easy is it to talk about So, what should classical Xianxia do?

In fact, everyone will prescribe a prescription: give up the dependence on "traffic + IP", return to content-driven, reintegrate the narrative, and tap the deep value ...... of the mythical Xianxia universeBut the industry side will not shut down the ancient puppet assembly line because of several criticisms or low scores on Douban.

The lignite production line in the Ruhr industrial area produces coal until the coal mine's profits are reduced to the point where the mine owners are no longer profitable. Don't look at Ma Huateng's contemptuous call the ancient puppet a "telephone pole", but this telephone pole is one of the few cash cows that grows **.

It is difficult to reproduce the grand occasion of the advertising volume of "Flowers" in the short term, everyone knows that the boutique route is good, but the production of high-quality products has always been a matter of high investment, long cycle and high expected risk.

In addition, excellent content creators often have a "temper", unlike ancient puppets who are used to "whispering" in art, which can be hammered flat and round in business, and there will still be the position of these poles for advertising in the platform's S rating.

In the final analysis, as long as there is still a part of the audience that "likes to see", whether it is the authority of the management department or the likes and dislikes of the platform bosses, in fact, it will not immediately interrupt the production of a product.

Now the situation is that external criticism has become very common, but the market is not giving a clear signal.

The official media is right to criticize Xianxia, Xianxia does not have the core of "chivalry", and the output value is very thin, or even not valid; Screenwriter Zheng Xiaolong is also right, "The details, common sense, and logic of some works may need to be strengthened", but the feedback from the market is: There are still people who pay for such products, why is this?

In the high-intensity rhythm of modern work and life, people's demand for entertainment consumption is often based on "not tired of watching".

Xianxia ancient puppet is a low-cost and high-profit "mature process" product, although it is lacking in artistry, exquisiteness, logic, and cultural value, but the audience is familiar enough with its model, and it is indeed not tired to watch, and it can also provide some CP-based "sugar" happiness, which has become the real basic plate of ancient puppets.

"Flowers" can't eat the market of "Xian Si" now, because the ancient puppet has its own moat. The current cost of creating high-quality dramas and the cost of energy are too high, and they can't lift the table of ancient puppets.

But if the wanton lying flat ancient puppet drama continues to be reduced, the audience will always have a day to flip the table, and the ancient puppet flowers and ancient puppets trapped in the besieged city will always need a way out.

Ancient puppets can't always be at the bottom of the chain of contempt, and Xianxia can't be a fairy sword forever.