Dong Zi Fan and Li Kai Wen’s ‘Returned Master’ (aka The General’s Youngest Son) premieres July 18th – new poster drops

In another switcheroo when it comes to drama titles, the Chinese wuxia drama that was formerly known as The General’s Youngest Son (将军家的小儿子) is finally getting a premiere this week, but with a different title — Returned Master.

Personally, I prefer its former title, but we can’t have everything we want in life, eh?

WeTV has just announced the international premiere of Returned Master on the streaming service’s X account as July 18th, along with the comment:

Old grudges remain unavenged, but new bonds emerge. A young man defies his fate, stepping into a lethal trap.

Along with the two male leads, the main supporting cast is Guan Yu Xi, Dong Xiao Bai, Xue Yi and Ao Lei. I’d say that’s solid too.

Will Returned Master be as brilliant as Word of Honor?

Returned Master is directed by Jones Ma, who also directed the brilliant Boys’ Love drama Word of Honor starring Zhang Zhe Han and Gong Jun, and the not-so-great The Legend of Anle with Liu Yu Ning. Gong Jun and Dilraba Dilmurat.

Other than Word of Honor, most of his other dramas are also a bit ‘mid’, so it will be interesting to see if Returned Master is more like Word of Honor or closer to some of his earlier works.

It is a short drama, though — just 18-minutes or shorter an episode — and only 24 episodes in total. Something WeTV is likely to be offering more of in future, as the Chinese move away from 40-plus episodes and towards mini dramas.

But, having just watched the similar length Rose Finch on WeTV and loved every bloody (literally) second of it, I wouldn’t dismiss it for length alone just yet if I was you.

The plot of Returned Master also seems to be more like the bromance of Word of Honor (ie: we all wanted BL but that’s against the censorship rules in China, so it is what it is), so fingers crossed it will be just as brilliant as, let’s face it, Jones Ma certainly knows how to direct a touching male-centric story:

Returned Master primarily tells the story of the retired General Li’s family, who were tragically massacred on New Year’s Eve.

The youngest son, Li Jian Wei (played by Li Kai Wen), survives the slaughter and goes into hiding, disguising himself to seek revenge at Jianwei Mountain.

The playful and eccentric young master of the Ghost Valley, Chen Xiao Xi (Dong Zi Fan), grows increasingly close to Li Jian Wei, who spares no effort to win him over.

Chen Xiao Xi’s younger sister, Xiao He Tao, is innocent and kind-hearted. When she discovers Li Jian Wei’s true motive for revenge, she sacrifices herself in an attempt to resolve the enmity between them.

Look out for Returned Master dropping on WeTV internationally on July 18th.

Well, at least I’ll have something potentially interesting to download for my plane trip back to the U.S. the following day, right?