''Go Princess Go'' () is a 2015 Chinese

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

produced by LeTV and adapted from the novel of the same name by Xian Chen. The series stars Zhang Tianai,

Sheng Yilun Sheng Yilun (, born September 23, 1992), also known as Peter Sheng, is a Chinese actor and model. Career In 2012, Sheng made his acting debut in the Chinese short film, ''The Mirror Effect''. In 2015, Sheng rose to fame for his role in the hit C ...

, Yu Menglong, Jiang Qilin and Guo Junchen in the lead roles. It premiered in December 2015 with 35 episodes. The show incorporates various themes such as

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

bisexuality Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

. A third of the show was censored in China.

Synopsis

A modern playboy travels back in time 1,000 years to find himself in the body of a royal princess. As a man inside a woman's body, he enjoys flirting and touching his husband's concubines with little impunity. Once having discovered his more feminine side, he truly falls in love with his husband. The show has three endings: the original, and the series has two alternate endings. One of them was filmed long after the first two. It is a parody of historical dramas.

Cast

Main

* Zhang Tianai as Zhang Pengpeng (Female) **Zhang Zhiyuan as Zhang Peng (Male) :A modern playboy travels back in time 1,000 years and finds himself in the body of the crown princess. *

as Qi Sheng :Crown Prince. An intelligent and cunning man of few words. * Yu Menglong as Qi Han :Ninth Prince. A gentle and sophisticated man with intricate and complex thoughts. He goes against Qi Sheng in political affairs, as well as compete for Zhang Pengpeng's love with him. *Jiang Qilin as Prince Zhao :A man who appears foolish but hides a complex train of thought. He appears to be at odd with Qi Sheng, but actually works together with him to bring down Qi Han. He marries Lu Li. * Guo Junchen as Yang Yan :Son of a general. Qi Han's closest aide.

Supporting

*Hai Ling as Lu Li :Zhang Pengpeng's personal attendant. A bright, straightforward and loyal girl. *An Yongchang as Jiang Yingyue :Prince Zhao's wife. She has an illicit relationship with Qi Sheng. *Chen Shi as Empress Dowager * Peng Yuchang as Eunuch Qiang :Qi Sheng's attendant. He likes Lu Li. *Zai Yishu as Huang Liangyuan *Cheng Xiaojin as Chen Liangdi *Zheng Shuhuai as Wang Shaoxun *Hu Yue as Li Chengxun *Sun Fengzheng as Eunuch Li – A *Sun Fengzhao as Eunuch Li – B *Chen Hao as Yang Yu :Yang Yan's father. *Chai Wei as Zhang Lingling :Zhang Pengpeng's niece. Yang Yan's wife. *Xu Yiwen as Zhang's mother *Zhang Chen as Doctor Song *Ben Jieming as Guard Li *Wang Wenqiang as Guard *Zhou Le as Guard *Liu Yining as Deliveryman

Production

The drama's adaptation rights were bought in 2012 by producer

Gan Wei Gan Wei (, born 21 May 1984), also known as Vivian Gan, is a Chinese actress and the founder of LeYoung Pictures which produced the hit web series ''Go Princess Go'' (2015). Gan has had supporting roles in multiple films, but is perhaps better kn ...

, and pre-production started in 2014. The series is directed by Lu Hao Ji Ji and written by Qin Shuang, who kept the main structure of the storyline but made considerable changes to better fit the screenplay adaptation and increase the pacing and fluidity. Due to the short production time of 70 days, insufficient time and funds were used to prepare the props, and product placements have to be inserted into the show. The series began filming at Xiangshan Movie & Television Town in August 2015.

Soundtrack

Reception

Despite its low budget of 20 million yuan (US$3 million) and cast of amateur actors, the show became highly successful and was termed as a "viral internet comedy". The show has generated over $1.5 million (41 million yuan) in profit, 50,000 paid subscribers, 2.2 million new memberships, and had over 2.6 billion views in total. At one point the show was a No. 1 trending topic on Weibo for 10 consecutive days. Critics attribute the success of the show to its short length of 30 minutes, thus appealing to younger audience with shorter attention span. Also, the show was broadcast online and allowed viewers to post comments and discuss the storyline with others, making the watching experience more interactive. The transgender angle also makes the series more topical, helping break down barriers in discussing gender change and homosexuality. Oppositely, the series has been criticized for being "lousy" and appealing to "low-brow tastes". However, it has suffered from interference by Chinese censors. The show was taken offline on January 20, 2016 following a request by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. It has been speculated that this is due to the censors' dislike of sexual scenes, vulgar language and time-travel themes. The show was made available again around January 28, 2016, with a number of cuts, roughly about a third of the show – "seven to eight minutes in each episode". As of 2016 LeTV was considering a movie sequel to the show.

Awards and nominations

Remake

In June 2018, it was announced that the drama will have a Korean remake which will be helmed by

Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific Limited, (formerly Satellite Television Asian Region Limited (from 2001 trading as Star TV, stylised as STAR TV, and then as Star until 2009), subsequently Fox International Channels Asia Pacific Limited and Fo ...

and Endeavor China together with

YG STUDIOPLEX YG Plus Inc. (previously named Phoenix Holdings Inc.) is a publicly traded media and advertising company acquired by YG Entertainment in November 2014. In 2019, the company entered the music distribution industry and also engages in production, d ...

and LYD Networks. Two years since the announcement, it was picked up by local pay TV channel tvN but only YG STUDIOPLEX and LYD Networks (which became an investor instead of a co-production role due to financial difficulty) went on for the project with new production partners,

CJ ENM CJ ENM (, CJ Entertainment aNd Merchandising) is a South Korean entertainment and retail company founded in 2018. CJ ENM was established as a result of the merger of two CJ Group subsidiaries, CJ E&M and CJ O Shopping respectively, in July 201 ...

's Studio Dragon and independent company Crave Works. The adaptation, titled ''

Mr. Queen ''Mr. Queen'' () is a South Korean television series,based on the Chinese web series “Go Princess Go". Directed by Yoon Sung-sik, it stars Shin Hye-sun as Queen Cheorin and Kim Jung-hyun as King Cheoljong. The drama is about Queen Cheorin ...

'', aired on tvN on December 12, 2020.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=tt5319572
Official YouTube trailer
2015 Chinese television series debuts 2016 Chinese television series endings Chinese time travel television series Chinese romantic comedy television series Chinese-language television shows Time travel in television Censored television series Chinese web series Television shows based on Chinese novels Television series by LeEco 2015 web series debuts Television censorship in China Chinese LGBT-related web series