The rebels from Liang Shan Po

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Television series
German title The rebels from Liang Shan Po
Original title 水滸 伝
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
Year (s) 1973-1974
length 45 minutes
Episodes 26 in 2 seasons
Theme music Pete Mac, Jr.
idea Shi Nai'an (template), Mitsuteru Yokoyama (concept)
production Norio Katō, Kensuke Ishino, Kazuo Morikawa
music Masaru Satō
First broadcast 1973–1974 on Nippon TV
German-language
first broadcast
December 21, 1980
occupation

The rebels from Liang Shan Po ( Japanese 水滸 伝 , Suikoden ) is a television series that was produced on the occasion of its 20th anniversary by the Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV .

The series premiered from 1973 to 1974 and came on German television in 1980. For reasons of the protection of minors, however, various excessively violent scenes were cut from the episodes.

The series is set in the Song Dynasty in China in the 12th century and is based on the Chinese folk book Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn . Each of the rebels represents a specific type of battle .

The series was released on DVD in Japan on August 27, 2008, with the original material being re-sampled in high resolution (HD telecine ). On June 24, 2016, a limited edition version was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in Germany. This version contains the first time all the consequences in uncut form, both in the original Japanese, as well as in a synchronized German version, in which the previously cut scenes dubbed were.

Opening credits

It says in the writings of the wise:
“You should not disregard the serpent because it has no horns.
Nobody knows whether it will become a dragon one day,
just as a single man can become a whole army. ”
A thousand years ago, during the Sung Dynasty, a cruel and corrupt government ruled China.
These armed men here are outcasts who have taken up the fight against tyranny.
There is a price on the heads of these heroes.
They live in voluntary exile and operate from Liang-Shan-Po,
a labyrinthine branched river delta far south of the capital.
At the beginning of our story there is a legend that says
that in these rebels the souls of freedom fighters from ancient times were reborn.

Plot (episode 1)

Kao Chiou, a corrupt and unscrupulous follower of the emperor, becomes the new commander in chief of the imperial guard. However, he does not want to be satisfied with this office, but has set himself higher goals: He wants the emperor's throne for himself. To this end, he spins numerous intrigues and, wherever he can, gathers money and relationships. When he wants to plunder a temple for this purpose, he opens a sealed shrine in which the souls of 108 rebels from an earlier era were banished, and these are set free. According to the prophecy that accompanies this liberation and promises the rebirth of these fighters, resistance to Kao Chiou's ambitions soon begins to rise.

Lin Chung, an honorable officer in the Imperial Guard in the capital, is a thorn in the side of Kao Chiou for his honesty and for his wife Hsiao Lan, whom Kao herself desires. He dismissed Lin Chung from the Guard, later lured him to the palace under a pretext, had him arrested and sentenced to death. But the righteous judge Sung Chian has the death penalty annulled; instead, Lin Chung is sent to a detention center .

On the way there, Lin Chung finds new allies in the warden Lu Ta, the robber Chu Wu, the spirited Hu Sanjang and the noble Shi Chin, but refuses to flee despite the injustice that has befallen him. Only when Kao Chiou wants to have him murdered does Lin Chung escape from the prison camp. When his wife, who has since been violated by Kao, sacrifices herself in order to know that he is free, Lin Chung finally joins the rebels fighting the imperial guards from the swampy area of ​​the Liang Shan Po River. Little by little, the reincarnated freedom fighters rally around him and take up the fight against Kao Chiou's machinations as a legendary army.

literature

  • Jonathan Clements, Motoko Tamamuro: The Dorama Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese TV Drama Since 1953 . Stone Bridge Press, 2003, ISBN 1880656817 , p. 345 ( excerpt (Google) )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b 水滸 伝 DVD-BOX. VAP, accessed September 14, 2013 (Japanese).
  2. The Rebels from Liang Shan Po - Deluxe Collector's Edition. Turbine Medien (Rough Trade Distribution), accessed June 28, 2016 .