Update: Yay, project has been completed!

Treasure Venture, also known as "Swordgirl" and Chinese title: Xia Nu Chuang Tian Guan is one of the best, most amazing, wonderful, funny show I have seen in my life. It taught me so much, and it brought endless amounts of laughter to me. I hope to share these laughter and values with you.

Treasure Venture English Subtitles

Episode 1 - [link]
Episode 2 - [link]
Episode 3 - [link]
Episode 4 - [link]
Episode 5 - [link]
Episode 6 - [link]
Episode 7 - [link]
Episode 8 - [link]
Episode 9 - [link]
Episode 10 - [link]
Episode 11 - [link]
Episode 12 - [link]
Episode 13 - [link]
Episode 14 - [link]
Episode 15 - [link]
Episode 16 - [link]
Episode 17 - [link]
Episode 18 - [link]
Episode 19 - [link]
Episode 20 - [link]
Episode 21 - [link]
Episode 22 - [link]
Episode 23 - [link]
Episode 24 - [link]
Episode 25 - [link]
Episode 26 - [link]
Episode 27 - [link]
Episode 28 - [link]
Episode 29 - [link]
Episode 30 - [link]

(Rest are still being subbed)

The Storyline and Plot

The main storyline is about Lu Jian Ping a tomboy who grew up dressed in men's clothes. Her father had a high expectation for her but she always found a way out of it. Her "nanny", Wu Ma treated her like her mother, he did everything for her and took care of her so much more than Jian Ping's father.

After a while, Jian Ping become friends with Shui Ruo Han, who is a trained assassin, which was ordered to take the Lu family's key. When the three keys are placed together in the underground dungeon, it would open the door to a powerful book that would either bring order or chaos to the world, depending on who's hands it is under.

Jian Ping was also made to be the second royal Prince's finance, but she had no idea the prince was her friend she met at the restaurant. She fled to the Shao Lin Temple and was trained proper Wu Gong (a type of Kung Fu) by Wu Ma. At that time, Ruo Han was also forced to kill Jian Ping, yet he loved her and her bubbly personality. He couldn't do it, so his fellow apprentice Xue Zi had to take action for him. This savatarged Jian Ping and Ruo Han's relationship. Xue Zi was obsessed with Ruo Han and would do anything, even kill Ruo Han to claim he is hers. Ruo Han was under the control of his godfather, who ordered him to kill Jian Ping and steal the key. However, he could not bring himself to kill her so let her get away.

But the transformation takes place when Ruo Han became much happier with Jian Ping, as her carefree personality and love for life really impacted him. Towards the end, Ruo Han was killed by his godfather, and Jian Ping had to marry the Prince, but believe me, there are more surprises than you think in this show.

Now for my personal opinion, I found that Treasure Venture has an exciting and unpredictable plot. There are times that something really surprised me, and also other times where it leaves you guessing and very anxious to find out what happens next. It's also moving along quite smoothly and it caught me from the beginning. I found myself compelled to watch one episode after another, finishing this show in a very short amount of time. I think that it takes a different approach from many other TV shows, where this has the humour, serious, action, emotive sides. It really balances out and sometimes I can't help but wanting to go to the ending and see what happens. It really had a wonderful storyline.

The Comedy

The comedy is absoutely the best. They have very whacky and different type of humour which really amazes me everytime. Whenever I thought they have cracked every possible funny joke there ever was, they come up with something new. The scene when Jian Ping and Ruo Han was looking for milk for the abandoned baby was so funny. Neither one of them knew where to get milk so they looked for random women on the streets, and you can imagine some are not happy to hear they're asked to give milk.

The Philosophy and Values

The values are what I got most out of this show. I cannot say enough that I learned from this show. It really has given me insights and wisdom.

Sacrifice- It was sad to see Xue Zi do what she did at the end, but in a way you get a feeling that it's really amazing that the words of Ruo Han and Jian Ping finally got through to her, that lives can change. Before she died, she said "Being a normal person means happiness". I admire that she could not care at all about herself to try and save Jian Ping and Ruo Han, at the cost of her own life.

Love- It isn't something that's overnight. Love is unconditional and it's important to see someone's weakness as something that's a bit special to appreciate. Jian Ping and Ruo Han's relationship really showed me real love, where it wasn't easy at times, especially when Ruo Han fell in love with someone he shouldn't have, and he would jump in front of Jian Ping's sword to get stabbed rather than hurting her father and her. I also found it very brave of the 2nd Prince to give so much to hope the woman he loved would love him back, and yet in the end he still hoped Ruo Han and Jian Ping are happy together. He considered them to be his closest sister and brother.

Revenge Isn't Important- When Jian Ping did not want to kill Wu Ma for what he had done 18 years ago to Jian Ping's mother, hit her on the death spot which was the real reason why she died. Jian Ping only had love to Wu Ma, she said that killing him would be like she was killing her own mother. That revenge to her meant nothing. She just wanted to be a Swordgirl, who had compassion and understanding for others, as well as forgiving people and helping them in any possible way.

To Live- Living that each minute can be spent with someone you love and care about. Giving them happiness and enjoying even the smallest things. Ruo Han used to think that to live another day means another day of pain, and now he knows that each minute he lives gives him the greatest joy. He knew he may not have long to live, but still wanted to give his everything to Jian Ping, making her happy.

Living Life as a Bamboo- When Ruo Han was taught how to live his life like a bamboo. A bamboo is very flexible but strong inside. He learned to appreciate another's life, to really know how it just takes a blink of an eye to end one's life. He transformed from an Assassin who killed at second thoughts to a Swordsman who respected others and would rather die to save a stranger's life.

The Actors

If Vicki Zhao (Jian Ping) and Nicky Wu (Ruo Han) did not play the leads and excelled in it, I don't know who would. I think those two actors really suit the role. They really made me feel the love, happiness, sadness, pain and laughter in this show. They brought out such real and wonderful qualities in their character. I also felt that Gu Bao Ming (Wu Ma), Lin Jian Hua (2nd Prince- Zhu Yu Long) and Lin Fang Bing (Song Da Niang) did an outstanding performance.

Vicki gets my first mention because I have been a fan of hers for years, she was the reason why I wanted to see that show, and I am forever grateful I could. She is really able to convey strong emotions in her character. Her cute expressions, her tears and laughter are all absoutely real and stunning.

I love the chemistry between Gu Bao Ming and Lin Fang Bing. They really make it hilarious. The scene when Wu Ma's pants fell down because Song Da Niang stabbed his waistband with a sissors is one I'll never ever forget.  I think all the main actors have have a gift to be absoutely real and I feel that they can be funny without even trying.

Constumes and Setting

This movie is set in the ancient times, where the males have long hair and females have extra long hair! They have some really nice constumes and hair. I really loved Jian Ping's different clothes and hairstyles, they are really well made and suited her so well.

Conclusion

Treasure Venture is priceless. Even if I had to spend all the money in the world to watch this show, I would do it. It is spectacular and wonderful in every possible way. It has really done so much for me and given me a million laughs, joy and things to think about. I recommend watching this no matter where you're from, what language you speak because sometimes, the facial expression can mean more than a million words put together.