The country's first AIGC long drama, "The Later Journey to the West," officially premiered on August 31 at 18:00. The first segment, "Flower Fruit Mountain Chapter," consists of 5 episodes, each 40 minutes long. The drama is not only available on Mango TV, but also aired on Hunan Satellite TV's prime time slot at 20:00 on the same day. SVIP members can watch 3 episodes in advance, while VIP members can watch 2 episodes in advance.
Reconstructing the Original 40 Chapters into "The Later Journey to the West"
This mythological seasonal drama is adapted from the homonymous novel written by an anonymous author during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The first season consists of 30 episodes. As one of the three major continuations of "Journey to the West," the original story tells about the misunderstanding of the true scriptures and the reuniting of the "second generation of the journey to the West" for another pilgrimage. The series deeply integrates the framework of the 40 chapters and the original plot hints, building a complete narrative system of "The Later Journey to the West."
The story begins 1,080 years after Sun Wukong was deified: the true scriptures once obtained gradually became damaged and misinterpreted, and the Flower Fruit Mountain, where the Monkey King was born, once again gave birth to a small stone monkey named Sun Xiaosheng. The "Ten Elders," whose names had been erased from the Book of Life and Death, mysteriously disappeared during a ceremony, causing great crisis in the Flower Fruit Mountain. Sun Xiaosheng investigated the truth behind the "Book of Life and Death failure," went through various trials in the underworld and the heavenly palace, and eventually met Tang Banji, Zhu Yizhi, and Sha Mi, embarking on a second journey westward to recover the true scriptures.
It is also the first drama to adopt the "review while broadcasting" model following the release of the "21 Guidelines" by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. This innovative approach involves producing, reviewing, and broadcasting simultaneously, which shortens the cycle from content creation to broadcast, and allows the creators to dynamically optimize plot details based on review comments and audience feedback.
