*contains spoilers*
Other than a few parts in the last episode, and the last few episodes leading towards the end, the series was enjoyable to watch overall. The graphics were pretty bad as expected, but the fighting scenes were quite decent I think. I was rooting for the The Blood Shadow Clan the whole time because of Sharon~ and because I didn’t like the so-called “good” side. As I’ve predicted after the first episode, Bernice’s father (the Wulin leader) was not as ‘heroic’ as he tried to perceive.
The Story
I felt the storyline was rather short (perhaps like the length of The Price of Greed?) It seemed a bit narrow focused, but then again, aren’t most series like that?
In short: Bosco and Kevin join the School of Sacred Swords. The Blood Shadow Clan rises, but after their one and only attack, that’s it. Sharon finds out that Bosco is her brother, and Bernice’s father uses Bosco to defeat Sharon because Bosco was so loyal to him. Bosco sees Bernice’s father’s true face and escape in hope to save his severely injured sister. At the end, Kevin and Bosco fight Bernice’s father and defeats him.
Favourite character: Sharon’s Mok Mun
I pretty much liked her from the start. I also like all her costumes, think they all looks great on her! She’s was also the most powerful character/villain in the series, and if it wasn’t for Bosco, she could have kill Bernice’s father way earlier. She also has more of a personality and despite being evil, she grew to have a soft heart and slowly changed. She treasures family and remember those who have saved her (e.g Kevin’s mother). Even though she threatened Bosco, I believed she wouldn’t hurt those people important to him. Unfortunately, Sharon dies in the series..
I thought Kevin’s character was rather ordinary and didn’t have much screen time. I felt that Kevin’s character didn’t really trust people and that Bosco treated Kevin like a closer friend than the other way around (only until later in the series after episode 17) I ended up liking Kevin’s character more when he was on screen with Sharon because I thought they were quite cute together. Also gives Sharon a romantic plot and we get to see Kevin a bit more emotional. I actually would have liked to see their wedding..such a shame that Sharon couldn’t live..I also would have liked to hear Sharon’s last words..but that didn’t happen.Sharon’s character is pretty much the only one with a personality, while the others were quite ordinary. Her character is also probably the only one who changes and develops from the beginning till the end~ I have to say I liked Sharons’s portrayal in this series =) She did a great job!
Favourite on screen couples:
- Bosco and Sharon
I really liked their brother/sister relationship (hence the banner). I always wanted to watch them reunite and how Bosco ends up accepting and loving his twin sister after being separated for 20 years. I was also looking forward to the time they would be able to fight on the same side. I thought these two as siblings share a greater chemistry than Bosco with the other leads. And Sharon does look older than him.
- Bosco and Wayne
‘Si Fu is always right’
I liked how Wayne was always looking out for Bosco, how he taught him Martial Arts and played around with him. There were times they argued and I felt sorry for Wayne because Bosco didn’t believe him (i.e about Bernice’s father). Even though Wayne argued with Bosco a lot, you can tell they really cared for each other; and I liked the part where Wayne saves him from Sharon’s servant’s attack and how Bosco went to find Sharon to find the cure. At the end, Wayne dies for Bosco..
Annoying moments?
How Bosco looks up to Bernice’s father so much..much like how Bosco’s character looked up to Michael Miu’s character in Dicey Business. I hated it how he wouldn’t listen to Wayne or Kevin’s warning (not even being cautious around him?) and constantly defending him and ultimately chose to believe him over his own twin sister. Bosco also claims The School of Sacred Swords did so much for him and he owes them as if they saved him before or something, when they really didn’t do much for him..its great that he’s a loyal disciple..but have they really given him anything? They hardly taught him any martial arts..
- Bernice Bosco and Shirley
I think Bernice looks older and bigger than Bosco in the series which made think the two didn’t look that good together. Shirley looks way young so she looks cute with Bosco, but I wanted Bernice to end up with him mainly because its those two that have been focussed on throughout the series. It seems like Shirley’s character is trying to get Bosco’s sympathy, that she sacrificed herself for him. She knows Bosco loves Bernice, so I can’t help but think she was being selfish and only using the excuse of wanting to save Sharon to justify her actions. Shirley wanted Bosco..and its just happens that there’s the great opportunity. How does she know Bosco would be happy being with her? She can’t just force him if you get what I mean. That’s just slack to Bernice..and she/Bosco can’t really blame Shirley =x I didn’t like the final pairing..I just feel that the female lead should end up with the male lead.
There wasn’t much of an emphasis about Bernice not being about to be with Bosco because of their identity.. it didn’t seem to be a real problem for them.
Devil’s Disciples or Face to Fate? .Both Wuxia Warehoused Series.
I would have to say I enjoyed Face to Fate a lot more (from memory). I loved the romantic plot namely, but I guess the romance in Devil’s Disciples wasn’t really the focus..or was it? I didn’t feel it was anyway because the characters liked each other, but I didn’t feel they absolutely loved each other. There was high chemistry between Raymond and Selena/Nancy and Derek~ they were willing to do anything for the other… I think they wanted to point this out in the characters in Devil’s Disciples too but I guess their acting just didn’t express it well enough. It wasn’t convincing.
Bernice and Bosco liked each other because they got along well from the start. There were a short little sequence clip of the two going out for a day. After Bosco finds out about his past, the two seem to have gone distant and there appears to be a lack of trust for each other.
Their wedding day is delayed, and after all the battles, Bernice finds out that Bosco has married Shirley. There wasn’t any conflict that arose about them being about to be together because they were enemies even though Bosco had the thought in his mind. Bosco ends up killing her father, and several years later, the two going out once in a while…? Shirley has a crush on Bosco but Bosco only loved Bernice. After Shirley sacrificed herself by sleeping with him to save his sister Sharon, Bosco feels that he owes her, so learns to like her and ends up marrying her. And now it appears at the end that Bosco is cheating on her by going out with Bernice +_+? He’ll probably end up marrying both of them..
Questions…
- What happened to the Blood Shadow Clan in the end?
- Where did Sharon learn her powerful techniques from?
- Where did Bosco, Kevin and the other disciples learn their martial arts from before entering Scared Sword School?
- How come Michael and Anne put the pressure points in Bosco (so that he won’t be able to learn more powerful techniques) and not on Sharon?
- How did Bosco and Kevin learn so many techniques in two days?
- Did Bosco give Wayne a proper new buryl? It looks like a different location
- How did Kevin get Sharon’s ashes after burying her?
- Why did Kevin and Bosco leave the martial art techniques/methods lying all over the ground after defeating Bernice’s father?
- I’m sure here’s more..but can’t think of any more for the moment..
A little offtrack or misleading?
The chinese title of this series “Kerng Gim” literally translates to Strong Sword (I believe), but there wasn’t much emphasis on the sword at all. There are also shots of it at the beginning of the theme video, which I think is also the one Bosco was given by Bernice’s father. Perhaps its supposed to be symbolic for something? If its the right sword I’m thinking of, its the one Sharon said that the evolution of the sword was linked to the killing of the Blood Shadow Clan.
The English title “Devil’s Disciples” I believe is referring to Kevin and Bosco, with the devil being Bernice’s father.
The promotional image also tend to indicate the main characters of the series. Judging from the poster, Kevin seems equally main (if not more than) with Bosco, but in fact, Kevin only appears to be a side-character with a lot less screen time compared to Bosco. Bosco is the main character in the series much because of the focus on his life. The other misleading thing is the pairing of the characters.Usually in a series, the main lead ends up the with female lead. With Shirley’s character significantly further back and smaller , who would have thought Bosco would of end up being paired with her? I would have thought she would have merely been a supporting character, a friend to the main casts..
Furthermore, in the themevideo, we see shots of Bernice fighting with Sharon and when they both fell back, Bosco catches Bernice and Kevin catches Sharon, and we see this rivalry between Bosco and Kevin. Would have been interesting to see the two girls fight each other (both being the daughters of rival groups, i.e School of Sacred Swords v Blood Shadow Clan), but they don’t really have anything against the other in the series. Bosco and Kevin are also friends throughout the whole series.
A little inconsistent?
The guys’ hairstyles..why are some short (i.e Kevin, Bosco) while some others have long hair (Bernice’s father, Sword brother, other disciples of Sacred Sword)?
Final Words?
It’s not a “must watch” series but I think its still pretty decent series if you have time on your hands. Bosco and Kevin’s acting here is pretty normal though~ And for the ending, if you like to see lightlighted stuff with humour, you’ll like the ending. It felt very out-of-place when I watched it though. Just don’t take the last episode seriously ~
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Bosco and Wayne are awesome! XD Sifu~
I don’t like the way the characters were written in here, except Sharon’s and Wayne’s XD..
And yes the love stories are not well developed..
The ending is weird and lame..+_+..
haha okay actually my major criticism for this series is the way things are written..TVB need better writers who can write better plot with nicely created characters and a good ending..ergh
Agree that the actors just have average performance, well they dont let me down but not impressive either..haha..
But overall not that bad of a series, enjoyable and cute :D..Well quite decent for a standard cheap TVB series lead by new actors/actresses..at least nobody in here make me cringe lol..
Face to Fate is written in a better way than Devil’s Disciples..the characters are better and it also has more experienced actors/actresses..and it doesn’t have wacky ending like DD hahaha..so FTF is better..
I agree with you groovy =) but..Kevin won the Best Actor Award for 2006…lol he should stand out more~
Devil’s Disciples is missing something that Face to Fate has..
I agree with you and disagree with you in certain bits so from the beginning –
I totally agree that Sharon was the only one with a proper personality. The rest were kind of all immature and average when it came to a contrast of personalities. Yet you cannot say the acting was average because this was their character and I actually think the disciples besides Kevin were hilarious and funny to watch. The two arguing teachers made me laugh a lot too. Wayne is a funny man. End of. I haven’t seen the rest of it, do them two develop a love hate relationship? :D:D
I definitely agree with the annoying moments and I think I’m gonna cry now b/c I haven’t seen it all and I find out Sharon and Wayne dies AND TRAGICALLY Bosco ends up with the WRONG pairing. Ok I really don’t wanna watch it now.. BOOOOOOOO WRITERSSSS!!! Another annoying moment to add is the guy who fancied Bernice. Watching him made me frustrate and his jealousy face was so good though that it made me angry.. Lol.. His character was such an idiot though.
I can’t answer any of the Qs but I’m guessing the disciples learnt it from either a teacher or obviously a inheritance off their parents yet they haven’t developed their martial arts overall.
The misleading and offtrack is absolutely right. When I saw Bosco and Kevin catching the girls I thought O_O but reading from what you posted it’s a pile of rubbish to attract viewers.
The hairstyles are the worst yet. I’m telling you, little kids in the olden days did not run around with their hairs spiked up by gel ;l.
OK I’m really seriously annoyed by how Wayne and Sharon dies. It’s ridiculous. They were the coolest of characters and Bosco and Bernice shoulda been together cause they had the main chemistry in the series. Shirley should’ve just tried to be with him but got rejected. I’m fuming now >.
I just feel that their characters aren’t brought out properly~ due to their acting and the characters given~
Yeh, that guy who fancied Bernice was an idiot~ I liked how he was under Sharon’s control XD He’s so dumb to work for Bernice’s father even after knowing that he treats him like dirt.
About the hairstyle, if you look at the picture with Bosco and Shirley, you can sorta tell the point tail is added on his real hair.
Yeah, exactly what I was thinking. The characters never really got a proper roll except Sharon.
Yeah. The ‘Daie see heng’ was annoying as a character, but he acted quite well though. I sometimes frowned with him when he pulled a jealous face. Baha I laughed when he was controlled by Sharon 😛
I know. I worked that one out.. B/c the spiky/sticking up bit has been Bosco’s hairstyle quite often. I didn’t know about Shirley though. It was annoying to see the hairstyles all over the place. I mean the little version of Bernice’s father showed this kid with a totally modern hairstyle of spikiness. It was so frustrating to watch the stupidness of that. My Mum and I was like ‘Omg.. Chee seen.’ I mean ~ wth were they thinking?!
Sorry about double post but was there any more about the teachers after the one [and only..] fight with the Shadow Clan? I mean I didn’t expect them to attack that fast as I was wanting to see more with the disciples and the two arguing teachers as I thought there was going to be some funny drama with them two become a love/hating couple..
funny… now that Im thinking about it….
but Bosco and Sharon did star in another drama: Lethal weapons of passion and Love..
Did any of you remember the time where everyone thought Bosco and Sharon being siblings?
I remember I protested against it because I liked them as lover instead… luckily they weren’t siblings ^^
Now… in DD they are siblings and I’m ok with it ^^
funny how it changes
anyway now back to something serious…
I liked this drama..but like most of you I think it had way to may flaws… too bad because I think this drama could become a good one if it just had more episodes….
anyway thumps up for the review ^^
To Chris: what did you mean by “little version of Bernice’s father”? When he was younger or..?
Sad to say, but the other disciples don’t really do anything afterwards.. the teacher’s aren’t really shown much either..except near the end bit we sorta see Patricia (drumming lady) care about Bernice’s godfather~ it was obvious she cared about him..
To kes: I think the two are better suited as brothers and sisters than lovers XD Sharon looked older than Bosco in Lethal Weapons too..but Evergreen Mak looked too old for Sharon xD
Yeah, I meant when Bernice’s father was a kid and he had this spiky hair I was like “That is so NOT a ancient hairstyle!!!” I mean, so they had gel in the ancient days? Yeah right -.-
:O I haven’t see Patricia come out yet but I saw Bernice’s godfather die! They shoulda been a love/hate couple. I HATE TVB WRITERS!!!!! I saw that when they had this meeting with the other clans, Bernice’s godfather kept annoying Bernice’s Dad and everytime Bernice’s Dad shouted at Bernice’s Godfather, Patricia and the other teacher would exchange glances, they didn’t even get a goddamn line!! Omg! I was expecting them to say something, but NO they just looked at each other like ‘Uh-oh’ -.- OMG I’M GONNA STRANGLE TVB’S WRITERS! The disciples are so good and there’s nothing much for them. Stupid effing.. GRR
Kerry: I agree.. Bosco and Sharon are really good as brother and sister.
Sharon is the best character in this drama..
She is evil (and I like it)… and nice to her brother and those who deserve her respect.
I really like how evil she can be (kill those who don’t obey her and stand in her way of action) and yet she can be kind to her brother.
Kes
keep up the good work ^^
i loved this series until the final episode. why did sharon have to die?! she was the best character and her love story with kevin was the best too!!!!!!! it doesnt make sense for the whole story to be about her fighting that old man but then at the very last minute it is kevin and bosco who do the fighting- not to mention they didnt do much.
sharon’s death was not necessary, not when she had such a fierce role.
TVB needs better writers. It’s that simple. That’s what made the ending a total disaster. They put any old crap together. I finally watched the ending where they all dance around like a bunch of idiots. I mean it was a really new idea yet totally weird. I hated the ending. To be honest, I’m sorry to say that I regretted watching that film.
*How come Michael and Anne put the pressure points in Bosco (so that he won’t be able to learn more powerful technqiues) and not on Sharon?
*How did Bosco and Kevin learn so many techniques in two days?
I’m guessing the answer to these two questions.
1. It was a totally sexist idea and they probably thought because Sharon was a girl she couldn’t do much damage.
2. They only used like half a move so literally they didn’t learn the whole course of the technique so it was much easier and quicker to learn.
To tuesday: I sorta knew they would make Sharon die..even though I didn’t want her to. It appeared that she was getting weaker and weaker towards the end.
To Chris: A bit disappointing ey? To see Bosco, Shirley and the rest (randoms) do some dance. Endings are important in giving the audience a final feeling to the series.. They gotta really be careful with them. In DD, the ending wasn’t that predictable (i.e silliness, defeating the evil guy with a very relaxed-non-intense battle and then the dancing..and Bosco ending up with Shirley rather than Bernice) but it creates heaps of critisism. If it was more normal, we’d say it was typical, cliche and predictable..
Yeah I know what you mean but it was a bit stupid though. I mean I didn’t mind that defeating Bernice’s Dad in a very relaxed-non-intense-battle. It was kind of funny actually when they were walking with those papers in their hand, all showing off. “Ah.. Dunno if I can remember it all.” I couldn’t stop laughing when they were beating him and they said “We’ve only used like half a move or less.” And I think Bosco said “Wow? You kidding me?”
The dance was kind of weird but I’ll live to it. But being with SHIRLEY. Ohhh myyyy godddd!!!! I mean they had NO chemistry. They slept together and Bosco decided that he loved her all of a sudden. *Rolls eyes* Bernice and Bosco has such a strong chemistry 🙁 *Cry*
Mind you lot, Bernice’s father should’ve had a better dying effect. I mean burst into a billion particles? What is this? Some kid’s story? He should’ve had some sparks coming off him and he spat out a lot of blood and just died. I mean he was evil but he could’ve at least had his full body and he should have had a chance to say his last words to Bernice.
TVB needs better writers. I’m not even just saying that.
i agree with the questions!!
i think it’s really good so far (: if i didn’t read the spoilers, ahead. i would be on the EDGE!
Lmao.. Aww.. Spoilers ruins the fun but I’d rather find out early than watch it and go OMG!!! And get totally disappointed. I.e this time 🙁
lol but i think shirley could hav died at end so bosco and bernice can finally b 2gether! ^_^ but NoOoOoOoO!!!!!!!! she just had 2 b there blocking the actual love birds 😛 i hate now lol she annoys me hehehe
I agree with most of you. I pretty much liked the series UNTIL the last episode. The last 3-4 episodes were pretty much useless because they kept focusing on how they were trying to keep Sharon alive where they had hope, then despair, then hope again then despair again and finally she was “cured”. And suddenly, she dies. In less than a second. And then, Kevin’s story is also cut short because the ppl did not want to listen to it??? I would not mind the singing and dancing so much if they had a clear, satisfying ending. But this one was, sigh.
I don’t mind Shirley and Bosco though. I’m kind of bias cause i watched Au Revoir Shanghai just before this. But i wished they had a put a little more insight to how he really felt about Shirley in the end.
i think it was quite a good series, Sharon, Bernice’s godfather and Wayne had the good roles and personalities in the show but they all ended up dying! It was funny how Bernice’s godfather and the drumming lady had a very good chemistry between them, a pity he died! I know you asked why Michael and Anne put the pressure points on Bosco and not on Sharon! This is becuase the pressure points on Bosco stop him from learning more powerful techniques but it also prevents him from dying – that is also why when Bernice’s dad wanted to kill Bosco he still never died – until the last time the 2 pressure points were broken and he got to learn more powerful techniques along with Kevin. thnks for all the episode guides though!
My favs from first to last would be : Sharon, Kevin, Bosco’s sifu, Bosco, Shirly, Bernice.
Im sorry to say to Bernice fans, but i really dont like Bernice. Something about her makes me dislike her,i LOVE her singing tho, dont get me wrong, its just her acting, and well..her canto sounds like shes not from china, is she? O.O
i wish Kevin had more screen time with Sharon, and only if Sharon didnt have to die! D:
whats the name of the song everybody? at the start of the episode.