ISO: Episode recs to give the flavor of the show

[amedia]

I recently won an item at a charity auction for Ukraine: someone is going to draw the Guardian ensemble as kitty cats (Neko Atsume-style) for me!!! (SQUEEEE!) However, this person is unfamiliar with the series. I'd like to be able to recommend a handful of episodes rather than asking her to watch all forty.

I have found lovely lovely screencaps on this group, but I poked around the tags and I didn't see anything like "The Five Essential Episodes" - please forgive me if I missed such a discussion!

I'm not trying to pimp her into the series, just to give her a feeling for the show and the characters. What would y'all recommend?

Comments

[china_shop]

Oh wow, what an awesome win!

And that's a great question. Hmm, I would probably go for the earlier episodes: 1 and 2 for character intros, 4 for (if nothing else) the interrogation scene, 8 because it's my fav, and... maybe the one with the web novelist, for being ensembley? Or something more Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng centric, given your preferences?

But really, I'm not sure. I feel like those "Five Essential Episodes" type lists don't work quite as well for a show as arcy as Guardian, especially in its later eps. *waits to see what other people suggest* :-)

[amedia]

This is great--thank you!!!

[trobadora]

Oooh, congrats on your win! :D

Hm, this skews early but it's harder to take the later episodes out of context: how about episodes 1/2 for character introductions, 4 for the interrogation scene, 19/20 for later dynamics and characters (if you want them to include Sang Zan and Ye Zun) as well as ZYL's later hair style?

[china_shop]

Oh excellent point about the hair (and SZ and YZ). Yes!

[amedia]

And the hair!!!! I might not even have thought of that!

[amedia]

This is great!

I'm so glad to see that people are already in agreement--that makes it so much easier for me!

And you know, I hadn't even thought about whether to include Ye Zun. I shall have to do some serious thinking!!!

[sakana17]

I agree about episodes 1, 2, and 4, those are all good choices.

If you want Ye Zun, maybe an episode later than 20? For someone watching it out of context, I don't know if the park scene in 20 would give clear enough visuals for Ye Zun. So I'll be radical and suggest episode 38, for Ye Zun and later everybody but particularly Guo Changcheng and serious!Zhao Yunlan.

If you don't want Ye Zun, I'd go for 18 for Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng plus Zhao Yunlan's later hairstyle. And 21 has some good scenes for Da Qing, Lin Jing, Sang Zan, and Wang Zheng.

[amedia]

Thank you so much, this is really helpful!

[awanderingcoyote]

Congrats on winning!!! :D I too was going to recommend 1, 2, 4 and 8 and for the fifth slot I'd put it between 18, 19, 20 or 21 XD I cannot narrow it down between those four because I love them so much :D

[amedia]

SO MUCH LOVE for those episodes!!!!

I think I'm deffo going to go with 1, 2, and 4, and then figure out what more I need to convey with later eps.

I figured I could also add a few music videos for flavor; of course, my absolute favorite is bonibaru's wonderful ChuGuo vid "Brighter than the Sun," but there are SO many other good ones!!!

[awanderingcoyote]

AHHHH! MUSIC VIDEOS! Yes!!!! That can definitely give a good flavor of Guardian :D :D :D

[china_shop]

Ooh, vids are an excellent idea! Clever! (Your artist might really appreciate that option, too, if they're not into the show. :-)

[trobadora]

Vids! what a great idea!

Can I recommend Man on a Mission?

[awanderingcoyote]

Oh my goshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I love this video!!!!!

[trobadora]

Right??? There are a lot of fantastic Guardian vids, but this one is my favourite. :D

[china_shop]

Ahhhh, thanks so much for linking that. I haven't watched it in years! (I want to leave another Youtube like and it won't let meeee!)

SO GOOD, OMG!

[trobadora]

It was the first Guardian vid I ever watched, and it remains my favourite. :D

[amedia]

WOW WOW WOW. I had missed that one and it is AMAZING!!!!

[trobadora]

It's my all-time favourite! In a fandom really not lacking for good vids, this one still stands out.