Focus On: Chu Shuzhi vs Ye Huo Cage Fight

[shadaras]

Episode 18, 12:09-13:08, 13:51-15:14.

Screencaps sourced from kernezelda’s gallery linked here. (But really, this is a scene where I wish I knew how to make gifs! Action sequences are hard to get good screencaps of!)

Context:
In ep17, Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng were sent to investigate an underground fighting arena. At the very end of ep17, they’d met a guy wearing a mask/faceguard (Ye Huo), who commented on Chu Shuzhi seeming strong but Guo Changcheng seeming like weak trash who shouldn’t be here because it’s not safe. (Which is fair, as we eventually learn.) Chu Shuzhi promised to protect Guo Changcheng, Ye Huo walked off, and ep17 ended.

Chu Shuzhi fights Bo Bi because Bo Bi is the strongest person other than Ye Huo at the arena right now. When he beats Bo Bi, Chu Shuzhi challenges Ye Huo. Ye Huo accepts, saying he wants to know if Chu Shuzhi really can protect his friends the way Chu Shuzhi claimed he could. The audience sure thinks it’s about a belt; it’s really not.

There’s an hour in which Chu Shuzhi and Ye Huo can rest, and in which Chu Shuzhi learns Bo Bi’s story and promises to win for him.

The Scene:
12:09 - The first shot of Ye Huo and Chu Shuzhi in the cage.



12:32 - The fight begins. Chu Shuzhi strikes first, and he’s fighting very aggressively—this isn’t surprising, since he just got a story from an older brother who wants to avenge his younger brother, and he’s got Feelings about that due to his own life.





12:50 - After Chu Shuzhi hits him hard enough to send him against the chainlink wall, Ye Huo uses his fire powers on a single swing. Chu Shuzhi dodges, but looks taken aback.



13:00 - Ye Huo saying this is why he’s called Wildfire; Chu Shuzhi saying he didn’t expect this. Ye Huo goes on the offensive.

13:08 - Cutaway to Zhao Yunlan justifying to Shen Wei why he wants to go take a look for himself, and Shen Wei being like “yeah but that’s just who you are, it’s fine”.

13:51 - Return to the cage fight. Ye Huo’s fighting aggressively, and Chu Shuzhi’s defensive. Chu Shuzhi gets knocked to the ground.




14:00-14:15 - Because Chu Shuzhi is kneeling on the ground (while Ye Huo stalks around and waits for him to stand back up), Guo Changcheng is worried about him and wants him to stop fighting. Bo Bi, on the other hand, urges him to remember his promise to help and keep fighting.)



14:27 - After a few wild swings (and Ye Huo’s retaliation), Chu Shuzhi knocks off Ye Huo’s mask. There’s another pause here, demonstrating both the way this riles Ye Huo up and that Chu Shuzhi is giving space to make sure he’s okay. As soon as Ye Huo returns to a fighting attitude (meets Chu Shuzhi’s eyes), Chu Shuzhi’s ready for Ye Huo’s attack.




14:48 - Chu Shuzhi counters Ye Huo’s attack with a kick, sending him against the chainlink wall and knocking him to the ground.

14:58 - Despite the way Ye Huo is slowly pushing himself back to this feet, the audience decides that Chu Shuzhi is doing too well/they’ll lose their bets because of him and shouts to take matters into their own hands.



15:03 - The audience removes the lock on the cage, and Chu Shuzhi’s attention turns away from his cage fight with Ye Huo to the mob swarming towards him.

15:10 - Ye Huo escapes while the mob attacks Chu Shuzhi; effectively the end of this scene. Chu Shuzhi isn’t trying to hurt anyone when they attack, either; he’s only swinging to keep them from swarming him.

15:14 - Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei enter and start calming things down.


Notes/Comments:

Okay let’s be real I picked this scene because I adore fight scenes and also I love both Chu Shuzhi and Ye Huo. Absolutely none of that is a surprise to people who know me, I’m sure. xD This episode in general (and this fight in particular) is why I wrote and the spring wind starts to sing and began asking for Chu Shuzhi &/ Ye Huo content in general.

Fun things about this fight:
- Neither of them are going all-out, not really. Ye Huo flares his fire exactly once, as a warning, but he never uses it on Chu Shuzhi. (Compare that to later this episode, when Ye Huo burns Bo Bi, or when he attacks Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan.)
- They’re both playing fair and by the rules, and giving each other time to safely stand up when knocked down. (Even though they both have emotional investment in winning, for very different reasons!)
- I love the respect Ye Huo has for Chu Shuzhi and his skills, evidenced by how Ye Huo agreed to this fight to begin with.
- Neither of them actually win/lose this fight; the viewing audience interferes.
- Ye Huo really likes using kicks! None of the other fighters we’re shown in this episode use high kicks the way he does.
- Chu Shuzhi’s style of fighting uses a lot more wide and somewhat-uncontrolled swings than the other fighters we’re shown in this episode. That makes sense, considering that he probably never had any formal training.

Do you have any thoughts about their fighting styles? Or about how the underground arena is meant to work? Or just Ye Huo and Chu Shuzhi’s relationship in general, really; they have various other short interactions later on but I’m pretty sure this is the longest scene focused on them.

Comments

[velithya]

> - They’re both playing fair and by the rules, and giving each other time to safely stand up when knocked down.

I don't think I noticed this the first time! Thank you for pointing it out - you're right, they are very careful with each other and I really like that! I enjoyed the part in this arc where they set up Ye Huo as a villain and then immediately brought it round to a different perspective where he's just trying to take care of these younger fighters. :3

> Or just Ye Huo and Chu Shuzhi’s relationship in general, really

I like that this first interaction really sets the scene for their ongoing relationship: mutual respect and understanding right from the get go. There's never a moment where they look down on the other; just calm confidence in their own abilities and absolute respect for the other's skills.

[shadaras]

I don't think I noticed how careful they were during my first watch either. The whole fight is a bunch of fast/powerful exchanges of blows and then a pause as they watch each other and talk, which means that the purely physical elements are really easy to gloss over when taking everything in the first time. But Chu Shuzhi doesn't press his advantage when he knocks off Ye Huo's mask, y'know? Which is what he'd totally do if this were a real fight with life-and-death stakes. It's really lovely how they honor the situation they're in.

Yes! I love how Ye Huo's arc progresses over the course of this single episode. :) He's such a good character. <3

I like that this first interaction really sets the scene for their ongoing relationship: mutual respect and understanding right from the get go. There's never a moment where they look down on the other; just calm confidence in their own abilities and absolute respect for the other's skills.

Yes! All of this! <333

[china_shop]

This is a great post! I hadn't thought much about this scene before, and I really appreciated taking some time to do so. I love all your observations about their fighting styles, especially. <3

At the very end of ep17, they’d met a guy wearing a mask/faceguard (Ye Huo), who commented on Chu Shuzhi seeming strong but Guo Changcheng seeming like weak trash who shouldn’t be here because it’s not safe. (Which is fair, as we eventually learn.) Chu Shuzhi promised to protect Guo Changcheng, Ye Huo walked off, and ep17 ended.

I'd forgotten that! It's kind of a throw-away exchange until you know Ye Huo's situation and how set he is on defending people. With that context, though, I feel like Ye Huo must appreciate CSZ's loyalty and protectiveness to his hapless little friend, and see that connection as a strength/virtue rather than a weakness.

The audience sure thinks it’s about a belt; it’s really not.

Ha, yeah. Not for either of them. I really like how they each have different stakes here.

They’re both playing fair and by the rules, and giving each other time to safely stand up when knocked down. (Even though they both have emotional investment in winning, for very different reasons!)

That's really cool! I was vaguely aware of this, of course, but I hadn't consciously paid much attention.

Chu Shuzhi’s style of fighting uses a lot more wide and somewhat-uncontrolled swings than the other fighters we’re shown in this episode. That makes sense, considering that he probably never had any formal training.

This, too. I really love this detail -- thanks for drawing attention to it!

I wonder if CSZ was taken aback by Ye Huo's power, or by his being willing to use it so publicly (or both).

A thought about this scene/Ye Huo in general as part of Chu Shuzhi's relationship arc: I think once Chu Shuzhi learns more about Ye Huo, he sees him as almost a role model -- or, if not that, at least a possibility for himself: here's a way to use your strength honorably to be a good person. Ye Huo looks after and mentors human doofuses, being good not out of duty but from the heart. Which slots neatly into Chu Shuzhi's arc from grumpy semi-outsider (while secretly being a loyal foot soldier for the Envoy) to integral part of the SID family -- an arc that gets completed/cemented when he learns that the Envoy has also chosen to work with the SID? Maybe?

[shadaras]

I'm glad you liked the post! :D I was writing it while also reminding myself that it was okay if it was mostly descriptive and didn't go deep into meta. <3

I feel like Ye Huo must appreciate CSZ's loyalty and protectiveness to his hapless little friend, and see that connection as a strength/virtue rather than a weakness.

Yes, absolutely!

I wonder if CSZ was taken aback by Ye Huo's power, or by his being willing to use it so publicly (or both).

Both, I'd imagine. But probably mostly the latter—most dixingren who use their powers in public (especially outside of Dixing, but I think this is true even in Dixing), I get the impression, are using it to actively kill/hurt people. That Ye Huo shows his power and then pulls back and doesn't use it for the rest of the fight must be super interesting to Chu Shuzhi too.

I think once Chu Shuzhi learns more about Ye Huo, he sees him as almost a role model -- or, if not that, at least a possibility for himself: here's a way to use your strength honorably to be a good person.

Yes! All of this! ^_^ I'd need to rewatch to get a more solid idea of Chu Shuzhi's character arc as a whole (what you say seems reasonable to me, though!), but the way they both inspire each other (see: Ye Huo coming back during the final showdown section to help the SID defend Dragon City) is one of my favorite parts of their relationship. <333

[china_shop]

That Ye Huo shows his power and then pulls back and doesn't use it for the rest of the fight must be super interesting to Chu Shuzhi too.

Yes! Ohh, do you think Ye Huo recognises that Chu Shuzhi is Dixingren too?

but the way they both inspire each other (see: Ye Huo coming back during the final showdown section to help the SID defend Dragon City) is one of my favorite parts of their relationship. <333

Oh, yes, it's very cool that it cuts both ways. ♥

[shadaras]

Ohh, do you think Ye Huo recognises that Chu Shuzhi is Dixingren too?

I really truly have no idea.

It's possible that Ye Huo overheard something that Chu Shuzhi or Guo Changcheng said that might make him think that Chu Shuzhi's Dixingren, but Chu Shuzhi doesn't obviously demonstrate any Dixingren powers/traits while at the underground arena. So I could see it going either way, and could argue either side depending on which I felt was more interesting to explore.

...I feel like Ye Huo should've figured it out at some point before the end of this episode, but I have no idea when. It could even be that Shen Wei and/or Zhao Yunlan mentioned it after 'capturing' him and before resolving everything with the young men Ye Huo had been protecting. (Mostly, I think that the resonance of the final scene of this episode works best if Ye Huo and Chu Shuzhi are aware of that layer of similarity between them.) (Also I feel like Ye Huo should be certain that Chu Shuzhi's Dixingren too before next episode's fight against Zhu Jiu...)

But also: I feel like Dixingren really should have a different dialect/accent that could be noticed, even though that's a worldbuilding element that I don't think the show thinks to explore at all. (So should Yashou, really.) And if you have some marker like that, then Ye Huo could notice.

[china_shop]

Hmm... earlier in the ep when Changcheng gets out the dark energy detector, CSZ is watching the fighters and says, "It's normal that it's not reacting. Both of them are normal people." Maybe he's basing that on how much strength they're displaying? If so, Ye Huo should be able to tell, too.

[shadaras]

Maybe! That's about the only thing I can think of. :)

(And the implication there about how well Shen Wei can hide his own strength! That's also very cool!)

[trepkos]

It just occurred to me that while Ye Huo demonstrated his fire, Chu Shuzhi made no show of his puppet strings ...

[shadaras]

Yes! Chu Shuzhi's quite careful and controlled about how he uses his powers.