# Biao Ren

Biao Ren or Blades of the Guardians (镖人), is a Chinese manhua that was written and illustrated by Xianzhe Xu. It was first serialized in the New Comics app in July 2015. The manhua quickly attracted a large number of readers and was well received. Since its first publication, Biao Ren has been serialized on online platforms including Tencent Comics. As of August 2024, Beijing United Publishing Company has released twelve bound volumes.
Since its serialization in 2015, Biao Ren had over two billion readings on 50 mainland Chinese online platforms.
Tencent Penguin Pictures and Colored Pencil Animation Group co-produced an animated (donghua) television adaptation that exclusively premiered on Tencent Video from June to August 2023.
In December 2023, the Blades of the Guardians donghua series won three awards (Most Reputation Animation of the Year, Best Art Direction for Animation and Best Serial Animation Award (Gold Award)) at the 20th China Animation Golden Dragon Award.
A film adaptation and a television drama are both in development. the film will be directed by Yuen Woo-ping, Wu Jing had been cast as lead, with Nicholas Tse, Yu Shi and Jet Li having joined the cast.

## Plot

Hired fighters called Escorts protect a targets, criminals for whom the government has issued an arrest warrant. On the eve of civil unrest in the last years of the Sui dynasty, a government of fear and terror is gaining power in China, and feelings of hatred and enmity are emerging among some people. A skilled swordsman named Dao Ma travels throughout ancient China with his three-year-old son Xiao Qi and lives with the power of his sword. One day Dao Ma accepts a mission for which he is guided to the city of Changan. He plans to pay off his debt to a therapist named Mo, and when he travels in the western desert, he accepts a simple mission that turns into a critical, dangerous issue.

## Production

Xianzhe Xu wanted to tell a story of the late Sui dynasty by combining martial arts with western elements. Xianzhe Xu had no art training so he began to practice and hone his drawing skills for four years, and researched the weapons, historical items and history of Sui and Tang dynasties. The art style of the manhua Biao Ren is similar to that of the manga Vagabond, Blade of the Immortal and Beyond the Heavens. The author paid attention to details to present a story that is about emotions and destruction in a dark, historical era of ancient China.

## Media
### Manhua

The Biao Ren manhua was serialized on the new comics app on July 1, 2015. The work quickly attracted a large number of readers and was well received. The electronic version is now serialized on online platform Tencent Comics. On April 1, 2018, Beijing United Publishing Company published the first volume of Biao Ren. As of August 2024, twelve volumes have been released. Later, the series was published on Japanese reading platform Mecha Comic. As of August 8, 2019, Shōnen Gahōsha released three volumes in Japanese. In Germany, the manga is licensed by Chinabooks.

#### Volume list

| No. | Chinese release date | Chinese ISBN |
| 1 | April 1, 2018 | 978-7-55-961297-7 |
| 2 | June 1, 2018 | 978-7-55-961546-6 |
| 3 | August 1, 2018 | 978-7-55-962275-4 |
| 4 | October 1, 2018 | 978-7-55-962579-3 |
| 5 | January 1, 2019 | 978-7-55-962844-2 |
| 6 | June 1, 2019 | 978-7-55-963030-8 |
| 7 | July 1, 2019 | 978-7-55-963167-1 |
| 8 | September 1, 2019 | 978-7-55-943169-1 |
| 9 | January 1, 2020 | 978-7-55-944162-1 |
| 10 | July 1, 2020 | 978-7-55-944943-6 |
| 11 | March 1, 2022 | 978-7-55-965914-9 |
| 12 | August 1, 2024 | 978-7-55-967756-3 |

### Donghua

In August 2020, an animated donghua television series adaptation was announced by Tencent Penguin Pictures. Blades of the Guardians donghua series was animated in Japan, and was produced by the Colored Pencil Animation Group (Chinese corporation Chongqing Colored Pencil Animation Design Co., Ltd.; Colored Pencil Animation Japan Co., Ltd.). It ran for 15 episodes. The series exclusively aired from June 1, to August 17, 2023, on Tencent Video.

### Episode list

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | Transliteration: "Guards Beyond the Great Wall" (Chinese: 塞外镖客) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 1, 2023 (2023-06-01) |
| 2 | Transliteration: "The Two-Headed Snake" (Chinese: 双头蛇) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 1, 2023 (2023-06-01) |
| 3 | Transliteration: "Stormy Wind" (Chinese: 风起云涌) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 8, 2023 (2023-06-08) |
| 4 | Transliteration: "Jade face and beauty" (Chinese: 玉面与红颜) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 8, 2023 (2023-06-08) |
| 5 | Transliteration: "Transaction" (Chinese: 交易) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 15, 2023 (2023-06-15) |
| 6 | Transliteration: "Chessboard" (Chinese: 棋与局) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 15, 2023 (2023-06-15) |
| 7 | Transliteration: "The Children of the Wolf" (Chinese: 狼的孩子们) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 22, 2023 (2023-06-22) |
| 8 | Transliteration: "The Storm is Coming" (Chinese: 风沙将至) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | June 29, 2023 (2023-06-29) |
| 9 | Transliteration: "People of the Desert" (Chinese: 荒漠之民) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | July 6, 2023 (2023-07-06) |
| 10 | Transliteration: "The Great Sandstorm" (Chinese: 大沙暴) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | July 13, 2023 (2023-07-13) |
| 11 | Transliteration: "Flower face group" (Chinese: 花颜团) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | July 20, 2023 (2023-07-20) |
| 12 | Transliteration: "Khan and the General" (Chinese: 可汗与将军) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | July 27, 2023 (2023-07-27) |
| 13 | Transliteration: "the truth" (Chinese: 真相) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | August 3, 2023 (2023-08-03) |
| 14 | Transliteration: "The winner and crown" (Chinese: 胜者与王冠) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | August 10, 2023 (2023-08-10) |
| 15 | Transliteration: "Daughter of the desert" (Chinese: 大漠的女儿) | Hiromatsu Shu & Zhiwei Deng | Wen Zhang & Xu Xianzhe | August 17, 2023 (2023-08-17) |

## Adaptations

In July 2023, it was announced that a film adaptation of the Biao Ren manhua and a television drama is in development, and in December 2023, it was revealed that Yuen Woo-ping will direct the live-action film. In June 2024, Wu Jing will produce the film and were cast as the lead role Dao Ma, with Nicholas Tse joining the cast, and filming officially began on July 26 of the same year in Xinjiang. in the following months Yu Shi and Jet Li joined the cast.

## Reception

Since the launch of the manhua, it has performed well in the Chinese book market. Many readers have called its exquisite paintings and grand Chinese historical background "the light of manhua". It was featured three times on the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, where it was praised as "a world-class masterpiece of Chinese comics". The series has been praised by some popular Japanese manga artists, including Rumiko Takahashi and Tōru Fujisawa.
Biao Ren bound volume one sold over 100,000 copies within a month of its launch. By 2021, sales of the first ten volumes exceeded one million copies. The twelfth volume was ranked the fifth-top-selling comic title of the week in Douban.
The series received overwhelmingly positive reviews for its high-quality production and storyline, and amassed a notable Internet fandom both in China and overseas. The series holds a rating of 9.9 out of 10 on Tencent Video, making it as one of the most-acclaimed manhua series in the world. Since its first publication in 2015, the manhua Biao Ren had been viewed on 30 online platforms over a billion times by September 2018, and over two billion times on more than 50 domestic online platforms by June 2023.
On Douban, Biao Ren rated 8.4 out of 10, making it one of the best-received donghua series in China in 2023.

### Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Results |
| 2023 | 20th China Animation Golden Dragon Award | Best Serial Animation Award (Gold Award) | Biao Ren | Won |
| 2023 | 20th China Animation Golden Dragon Award | Best Art Direction for Animation | Zhiwei Deng & Juansheng Shi | Won |
| 2023 | 20th China Animation Golden Dragon Award | Most Reputation Animation of the Year | Biao Ren | Won |
| 2024 | 29th Shanghai Television Festival | Best Animation | Biao Ren | Nominated |
| 2024 | 29th Shanghai Television Festival | Best Storytelling (Animation) | Biao Ren | Nominated |