#Loved the drama & the donghua is amazing so far
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Best Underrated Anime Group C Round 3: #C8 vs #C2
#C8: Government employee and his white cat boss
#C2: High social anxiety girl has to befriend her whole class
Details and poll under the cut!
*Text in green indicates that something has been changed.
#C8: White Cat Legend 2020 (Dali si Rizhi)
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Summary:
Chen Shi, a young man from the countryside, journeys to the capital in search of his missing older brother, whose existence he only knew about upon his mother’s death. He knows neither the name nor face of his brother, and after finally arriving at the capital, he runs out of money as well. One thing led to another, and he finds himself employed at Dali Court, where he works for Vice Minister Li Bing, a large white cat.
On the other hand, Li Bing is of royal blood who was imprisoned because of his family’s treason. Now, he has to work in the government to atone for the crime.
At Dali Court, they review court cases from all over the country. But when an incident involving the esteemed ministers of the royal court breaks out, Dali Court is called to help, only to find themselves entangled in political threads and hit heads with an eccentric demon.
Li Bing is determined to get to the bottom of this, but how far can he go when he could regress into a real cat at any time when left unchecked?
Propaganda:
I’m tired of writing new propaganda every round, so I’m begging you to just trust me that it’s GREAT.
Intriguing plot? Check. Complex and interesting characters? Check. Comedy? Check. Drama? Check.
The blend of comedy and drama is just so good. I started the show because I love cats and supernatural stuff. Who would’ve thought it would pull me into an abyss of despair of political intrigue. The cat demons turned out to be just the icing on the cake.
We have all these different characters brought up in different ways that their ideas of what is Right conflict with each other. None of them are exactly Wrong or inherently Evil (well, except for maybe one guy), and this makes it so much more difficult to choose who to root for. You’d think everyone against the protagonists are the Enemies, but turns out even the protagonists are limited by their biases and unintentionally harm others. Even the two protagonists themselves get into arguments because of their different standpoints.
And I just love this because it makes them realistic, you know? The characters don’t always agree with their friends, and their enemies are not completely hostile either. It really all boils down to what they believe in. Sometimes their beliefs align with existing comrades, and sometimes they find it on the other side.
Production-wise, this show also gets a check on everything. As an adaptation, it’s amazing. The original manhua has quite a simple style—kind of like comic book drawings, and panels are all rectangles in one straight line. Storytelling is also simple and straight to the point.
But the 2020 donghua? God, it went far and beyond that. The animation team does not cut corners at all, which is a feat considering the show has a low budget from what I’ve heard.
A short, simple scene in the manhua becomes an emotionally-devastating experience in the donghua. The animation choices, angles, music, and just everything else blend so well to deliver a STORY. This adaptation does not just copy frames from the source (like Blue Lock) or cut/reorder some of the scenes (like Horimiya and Sasaki to Miyano). White Cat Legend 2020 understands the material so well that it can creatively use the advantages of the animation medium to deliver an experience that exceeds even that of the source. Think Mob Pyscho 100 or One Punch Man s1 level of creativity. It even has mini stories at the end of the ending song. For s1, the mini stories are in stop-motion, while for s2 it’s formatted like a video game. You gotta appreciate the effort.
Please just vote for this show. It deserves to be in the Finals.
Trigger Warnings:
Cannibalism - There’s a cat demon who appears in human form, and he eats humans (it’s not shown explicitly, though).
Animal Cruelty or Death - said cat demon also eats animals raw (again, not explicitly)
Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore - There’s blood and fighting, and somebody also gets tortured in season 2. But again, nothing too graphic
#C2: Hitori Bocchi’s ○○ Lifestyle (HitoriBocchi no MaruMaru Seikatsu)
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Summary:
Many of us know what it is like to transition to a new school with few to no friends in a new environment, going through the arduous process of getting to know people again. Bocchi Hitori knows this struggle all too well, having just graduated from elementary school and thrown into middle school. Unfortunately, she suffers from extreme social anxiety: she faints when overwhelmed, vomits when nervous, and draws up ridiculously convoluted plans to avoid social contact. It does not help that her only friend from elementary school, Kai Yawara, will not be attending the same middle school as Bocchi. However, wanting to help her, Kai severs ties with Bocchi and promises to reconcile with her when she befriends all of her classmates in her new middle school class.
Even though Bocchi has no faith in herself, she is determined to be friends with Kai again. Summoning all of her courage, Bocchi takes on the daunting challenge of making friends with her entire class, starting with the delinquent-looking girl sitting in front of her…
Propaganda:
This is a fun and lighthearted show. Watch it if you need something cute to chill out! The art is cute and colorful, the music lively, and the animation fine enough.
As it's adapted from a four-panel gag manga, the story is simple and focuses on the various characters. They all have pun-based names related to their main personality trait, so they're easy to remember if you know some basic Japanese (Hitori Bocchi means all alone, for example). The girls are all adorable and fun in their own quirky ways, and I loved seeing the heroine doing her utmost best to overcome her fears -and other challenges- to befriend them in the hope of fulfilling her promise. That's the power of the Do-Your-Best Fairy! They all care for each other (despite some teasing) and help Bocchi with her monumental task, never pulling her down for her struggles but gently pushing her in the back when needed.
But most importantly, Hitori Bocchi is a very relatable character. As someone suffering the same trouble, I related a lot with Bocchi, from her silliest worries to her escalating panic and weird schemes in an attempt to prevent anything wrong. Anxiety is faithfully represented, mixed with the right amount of laughing to how far Bocchi can get to avoid fearful situations in her very cute ways. It feels good to see a character like me in a such positive light! The struggles are real and acknowledged, and it’s really moving to see our heroine overcome them little by little in a very humanizing way.
This series has become one of my comfort materials, and I come back to it when I need hope and inspiration in everyday social interactions! If you need one last thing to be convinced, listen to that most adorable and silly song that will give you the Power of Motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGoGwlNmZUQ
Trigger Warnings: None.
When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.
If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.
Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.
#anime#donghua#best underrated anime#polls#poll tournament#tournament#anime tournament#animation#group stage#group stage round 3#tournament polls#group c#white cat legend#大理寺日志#dali si rizhi#da li si ri zhi#hitori bocchi’s lifestyle#hitori bocchi no marumaru seikatsu#hitoribocchi no marumaru seikatsu
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Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite BL media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....
Hi! Thank you for your message 💖
I like works that are darker, explicit, and deal with some sort of trauma and BDSM relationship. My favorite trope is puppy top/tsundere bottom so you will find that in most of these works as well.
Ten Count
by Rihito Takarai, manga,tw: dubcon, mentall illness(OCD), 6 volumes + audio drama, upcoming anime (2023?)
This is the first explicit yaoi I read. The main couple are in a BDSM relationship. It's very psychological and deals with sexual trauma and sexual liberation.
The Pawn's Revenge
by EVY, manwha, crime, tw: sex trafficking, violence
Although the story's setting is dark the main couple are very loving as they form a strong bond when they become accomplices in crimes. I also love how the bottom in this story is quite strong although he has a dark past.
Husky and his white cat Shizun/2ha
by Meatbun doesn't eat meat, danmei, fantasy, tw: noncon, student-teacher relationship, +5 volumes, +manhua&audio drama
My favorite danmei and my all time favorite BL! It has equal parts of smut and angst, which I personally love. The main character has done great sins in his life and he gets transmigrated to get a fresh start. 2ha deals with the guilt, forgiveness, shame, and unconditional love.
Lullaby of the dawn
by Ichiko Yuna, manga, fantasy, 3/4 volumes
Amazing wholesome fantasy romance with a puppy top and a shy tsundere bottom.
Painter of the night
by ByeonDuck, Manwha, Historical, tw: noncon/dubcon.
Painter of the night has a beautiful art style that captures emotions and eroticsm very well. The work also deals with trauma,homophobia, and sexual freedom.
ENNEAD
by Mojito, Manwha, Historical, tw: noncon
This is a mythological retelling set in Ancient Egypt. It is a harem-type drama with a slowburn between a puppy top and an arrogant bottom.
Twittering Birds Never Fly
by Kou Yoneda, Manga, Yakuza. Tw: csa, 7+ volumes +anime
This work also deals with trauma (csa) and how the main couple deals with it as they entangle in a complicated relationship with each other. It's both very bittersweet and psychological.
In These Words
by GuiltPleasure, manga, crime, tw: noncon, gore, +4 volumes+side stories/prequels
This work is not for everyone, it is so far the most dark and explicit work I've read. I love it as someone who's into Hannibal, horror, crime, and dark romance. The storytelling and art style are top notch.
Heaven official's blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu
by MXTX, danmei, fantasy, 8 volumes, + manhua,audio drama and donghua.
Although I prefer darker and smuttier works, I absolutely love Tgcf which has a very sweet friends-to-lovers slowburn. Tgcf has a vast world building and in-depth character study. You could say it also deals with sexual repression. I love how the main couple protects each other throughout the story.
Little Mushroom
by Shisi, danmei, post-apocalyptic, 2 volumes, +manhua&audio drama
This is a great scifi story and the BL part of it is a bonus! The main couple represent opposites sides of the story symbolically, which I really love.
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my first danmei playlist -- part 2: the classics, historical style
[see more in this series are under the tag #my first danmei playlist]
Since modern "historical Chinese style" songs are infamous for containing incorrect traditional-style grammar, so the lyric translations are very rough ...
(links are to Mao'er/Missevan unless otherwise stated)
忘羡/"Wang Xian" by 吾恩，余夏 from 魔道祖师/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS), Season 2
原来 陈情俱是旧人 / 撩动 心事如何能避尘
And so it turns out, old feelings are all stirred up by old acquaintances; how can one remain unattached to mortal affairs
I started reading danmei novels in 2022, but I read the MDZS novel and listened to the audio drama back in 2019 after the live action came out. This is like my gateway to the danmei fandom before I fully committed to coming here.
P.S. This is also my favorite version of WangXian. I still remember looping this song in my hotel room during several work trips that fall while I was frantically editing my slide decks.
晚夜微雨问海棠/"A Nighttime drizzle over haitang flowers" by 陈亦洺 · 喧笑lirz · 镜予歌 [youtube], fan-made music for 二哈和他的白猫师尊/Husky and his White Cat Shizhun (2Ha)
念想从未消亡 / 踏断红尘不肯相忘
The desire has never faded / and cannot be forgotten even with desperate efforts
Between it's length and content warnings, I never wanted to read 2Ha, but every time I slow down to listen to this song I get so tempted. Not because it gives a better idea of what happens in 2Ha, but I just feel like it has to be really good to inspire this much creativity from its fans.
悦神/"Pleasing the Gods" by KBShinya [youtube], fan-made music for 天官赐福/Heaven Official's Blessings aka TGCF
雨中红伞探白花 华服金面高楼下
一念间 桃源已成飞沙
Red umbrella seeks white flowers in the rain, fine robes with the gold mask descend from the high towers
In a single moment, paradise has become dust
I started and stopped the TGCF novel several times and didn't finish it until earlier this year, but I have been obsessed with that little melody at the beginning of this song ever since I heard it in the donghua trailer but in 2020.
天涯寻春/"Seeking far and wide for spring" by 柯暮卿, from 天涯客/Faraway Wanderers, Season 2
不过蓬蒿旧梦自在余生/懒知欢与恨
Only a humble old dream to live freely for the rest of my years / and be unaffected by joy or hatred
Faraway Wanderers is my first audiodrama (excluding MDZS in 2019). The entire "danmei ecosystem" -- authors, novels, voice actors, and musical artists -- was all so new to me back then. I remember really liking this song and looking up the artist, learning he is also the director for the drama, and a famous voice actor, and ... ooh boy I'm still in that rabbit hole today ...
把盏/"Raise a glass" by 落樱风, from 将进酒/Qiang Jin Jiu, Season 1
亦同他与天道比高 / 不负这年少
To challenge the way of the world alongside him / is not a waste of these youth years
Unlike most other titles on this list, this one didn't hook me right off the bat. I didn't truly appreciate it until after I really got into the story and understood all the references in the lyrics. After I fell in love with QJJ, I really like the feeling of this song, like it's a story slowly being retold by Xiao Chiye.
吹雪/"Flying Snow" cover by 贾诩, 梁毅, from 黄金台/The Golden Terrance, Episode 3 ending theme
风华流年/只怕今生缘浅
The best years are slipping by / I only fear we are not destined to have this lifetime together
The Golden Terrance is the first free (网配) audiodrama I listened to, and the amount of work people have put into their labour of love truly amazed me. I love this song so much I made a shortcut to it on my phone's home screen, just so I can pull it up with a single click.
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Weekend! Replies! CQL/MDZS Fangirling!
I am thoroughly enjoying my summer vacation so far. I’m just sitting around doing absolutely nothing--GOD I hate school. Next semester I’m not taking as many classes, no way, it’s time to love myself gosh darnit.
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declaration-of-dramas replied to your post “CQL/MDZS INSP - Yiling Arc Pt2b: Demon Subduing...”
Master of scenes! Looks amazing 😍
Omg I’m so glad you think so; thank you! 😭 99.9% of the fun for me when doing fandom inspired gameplay is seeing how I can recreate the scenes from the shows I like, while adding my own spin. Plus it gives me the excuse to rewatch all my fave episodes! XD
headspacedad replied to your post “WangXian: Hanguang-Jun(e) Month Pride Month ’22:...”
the little white bunny jamming out to the flute brings me great joy
LOLOLOL! The Lan clan’s bunnies are musical connoisseurs! 🎶🐇👌
nornities replied to your post “WangXian: Hanguang-Jun(e) Month Pride Month ’22:...”
That's very beautiful.
I knoooow! There are 3 different versions of the song, since there’s been several adaptations of the original novel, and they’re all beautiful. But the Audio Book version is my absolute favorite. 🎵🎵
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themaresnest-dumblr reblogged your post “WangXian: Hanguang-Jun(e) Month Pride Month ’22:...”
Pssst! Here’s what really happened …
There is only one song they’re playing and you know it:
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LMFAO! Them’s fightin’ words! 😂
But TBH, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the Jumanji remake was! I was ready for it to be total trash, but it was fun! BETTER than the original is pushing it though, Wei Wuxian. 😅
Omg this is actually a painfully accurate song for Wei Wuxian, considering he really was the little orphan Annie as a kid; living on the streets getting mauled by wild dogs before daddy warbucks Jiang Fengmian adopted him and took him to Lotus Pier. 😭
Stupid theory/headcanon/fangirling incoming!
I don’t think we ever find out exactly how Jiang FengMian found WWX--in both the donghua and live action he just shows up randomly in Yiling, cuz it’s close to Lotus Pier I guess.
HOWEVER! The donghua added this WILD scene that’s never mentioned anywhere else, how the Lan clan was visiting Yiling back when WWX was living on the streets, and that Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian had actually met as kids!
The scene with LWJ & WWX, and the scene with JFM & WWX are told out of order (IDER which episodes they’re in), but logic dictates that LWJ must have bumped into WWX first, given him the toy; then sometime later WWX was attacked by dogs and rescued by JFM & adopted.
But check this: what if LWJ and the Lan clan were actually visiting the Jiang clan at Lotus Pier (on super important cultivation business, IDGAF), and Lan Wangji TOLD THEM about the homeless kid he gave his toy away to, and that’s how JFM knew where to find WWX!? 😲🤯😲🤯😲🤯
SO LWJ HAS BEEN THE GOAT SINCE CHILDHOOD! 😭 Happy Hanguang-Jun(e) Month indeed!
I completely blame @themaresnest-dumblr for all this rambling I’ve just done.
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Thanks for reading!
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Love it. It’s really nice.
#萌妻食神#Adorable Food Goddess#Mengqi Shishen#donghua#chinese anime#Cinderella Chef#Meng Qi Shishen#Loved the drama & the donghua is amazing so far
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hii i was wondering if you have any other cdrama recs that's similar in tone to cql that's not shl? it doesn't have to be adapted from danmei either. i've tried ashes of love but the generous use of cgi kinda threw me off. i tried handsome siblings too, and i found that i LOVE wuxia as a genre but the pace feels a little all over the place so i didn't finish it either. any kind of help would be much appreciated!
I don’t watch as much cdrama as I would like… I think @baoshan-sanren @wuxian-vs-wangji @wuyus, @minmoyu, and @drwcn all watch more than I do i think.... i’m just not good at focusing on ANYTHING tbh. ooof.
This post got long. TL;DR: i’d probably say try out Ever Night, Legend of Fei, and Love and Redemption in that order.
I recommend Nirvana in Fire a TON but it’s not the same -- much heavier but the pacing is AMAZING.
Joy of Life and Sleuth of Ming Dynasty are both very good so far but i’m not done with them. They’re not really wuxia. Joy of Life is like a isekai. and Sleuth is semi-wuxia but period specific and case solving. Lots of food.
You might enjoy movies such as Painted Skin and Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity.
Also check out some danmei based donghuas. you might have fun. For a much more rambley list... see after the cut
AND! i almost forgot!!!! check out mydramalist. a lot of shows are listed there and maybe you can see what you like. i’ll probably watch anything as long as it’s well done... or pretty enough... hahaha.
That said, since Nov 2019 I have watched/half heartedly paid attention to while playing phone games:
Love and redemption – this one was ok. It was almost really good and then kinda fell flat for me. I don’t think I’d watch it again but I did like the setting and a lot of the premise.
And the winner is love – this one is fun! But the first 12 eps are slow and I have a hard time caring. The rest get a bit better. I didn’t hate it. I did like how they randomly killed off characters so that was good. Flirty Luo Yunxi with a fan was definitely a perk. If you like him, I recommend.
Ever Night (I) – OH! This one is a ton of fun. I think its intricacy level and setting styles and storytelling pacing isn’t too far off from CQL’s. but it’s only S1. WORTH IT, imo… but S2 is so different I couldn’t make it past ep 1
Nirvana in Fire – AMAZING. BEST FREAKING CHINESE DRAMA I’VE EVER SEEN. PERIOD. HANDS DOWN. MIND BLOWING. But it IS INTENSE and not really like cql. It’s fun but much much much heavier. I technically first watched this in 2016 but I rewatched it this year so it’s on the list.
Love o2o – not bad. Boring. Not much plot. The main ship are cute enough, I guess. Something to watch in the bkgd.
King’s Avatar – I seriously only watched this to see Yang Yang on my non-gif-making screen whenever I was waiting for things to happen in photoshop. It’s ok. Cute. Feels like a sports anime. Is an esports show.
Legend of Fei – this might be your best bet on something close to CQL. The plot, imo, is a bit contrived… and it really kinda feels like a shonen manga if I’m gonna be honest… maybe a shonen manga crossed with a season of super sentai.
Dating in the Kitchen – cute, straight, modern romance. The girl is only a TINY bit annoying. She’s a chef and spunky. It was fun.
Eternal Love – not terrible. Better than ashes of love. I don’t really like yang mi that much…
Ashes of Love – do not recommend. Unless you adore Luo Yunxi. I also don’t love Yang Zi… so that doesn’t help. I haven’t seen her in a role where I didn’t want to smack her yet. (but my sample size is 2… so there’s that)
Lost Tomb Season 1 this was fun? again, something to only half pay attention to. cliche. tang yan is hot in it. and yang yang too... but not really enough of yang yang for me... ope.
(and of course, CQL and SHL)
I’m assuming if you’re asking about cql, you’ve looked at tgcf, mdzs, and svsss animations. Have you looked up the Qian Qiu donghua? I think it’s call “shan he tong bei”… but I could be wrong. @hunxi-after-hours blogs about it a lot. Worth checking out. I loved the novel. Currently I’m watching can ci pin on bilibili.
I’m in the middle of:
Guardian – I like it even if it’s sometimes a bit cringy
Sleuth of Ming Dynasty – this one is FUN. I should pay more attention
Advance Bravely – I watch this after I drink booze and then only if I am streaming it as a group watch on discord. It’s danmei and a hot mess of a show. Do not watch without emotional support. Do not watch as a serious show.
Joy of Life – this one is serious but good so far. I’m scared to get too far because no word on S2 and I was burned with Ever Night. It’s really good so far though… I’m only only ep 7ish.
Ode to Joy – the cast is so good: Liu Tao, Wang Kai, Wang Ziwen, Jin Dong… but I just can’t get into it.
Older shows I watched that i can remember:
My Sunshine: modern romance. Sad and melancholy in tone. Not like cql at all. But!! Luo Yunxi is in it briefly. And he is styled so poorly it’s just sad. And kinda funny. Tang Yan and Wallace Chung are great in it. I enjoyed it a lot. (granted, this was 2014/2015 and I might’ve been some various levels of depressed at the end of grad school… )
Princess Pearl: wuxia-ish. Zhao wei skyrocketed to fame with this show. It was fun. Qing dynasty to prepare you eyes for the queues… but it’s a lot of fun. If you’re a tea snob (like my dad was and now I am), you’ll be pissed about a character claiming dragonwell tea is from taihu… but that’s really just my own neurosis. I liked the spunky MC and her bff. Very nostalgic for me
Tiger Mom: Hilarious modern family/slice of life drama about raising kids in china. i loved it... but i love the two leads? one of which is zhao wei of princess pearl fame.
CCTV’s version of Romance of Three Kingdoms (1994), Journey to the West (1986), and Dream of Red Mansion (1987) are all amazing and cultural touchstones… but no… I’m rambling. I should recommend this but that might be 90% of my nostalgia and cultural feels speaking. Nothing like cql… I should also recommend a good version of Outlaws of the Marsh… but I don’t remember having any really grab me as a kid. Ope.
Wuxia shows based on Jin Yong novels (there are multiple versions of these, usually and 100% were wuxia staples for 80s/90s kids and even my parents’ generation)
Legend of the Condor Heroes: classic. Iconic. Watch this to get a lot of Chinese references
Return of the Condor Heroes: shifu/disciple taboo trope, I liked it ok. Not my favorite. I did like a lot of the wuxia world building
Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre: good main character whump, main character takes a while to show up though… I didn’t like how it felt like a harem anime for a bit… and the ML doesn’t show up for a while…
Proud Smiling Wanderer: this one I loved. Also good MC whump. Uh… ok. I like whump… *facepalm* and I don’t remember that much more of it but I did read it twice almost two decades ago and liked it… even if I didn’t like the eunuch related weird stuff and that definitely didn’t age well… it was a good story…
And i never did get into Deer and Cauldron. I read 3/5 to 4/5 of the novel, got really annoyed with the lack of morality of the MC and quit. it was fun but i had no desire to watch the show if couldn’t even stomach the novel.
#haoppo answers#i hope this isn't too long#i don't actually watch that much tv i say#my to-watch list is also a mile long#oooof#alas#my to read list is longer#but i fail at focusing period#so oops?#i hope this helps nonny#i hope i answered something for you
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Heyyyy. I wanted to know how if u know how cql differs from the original story. Which is better? I'm kinda lazy to read and the donghua seemed super rushed to me? The manhua i heard is similar but it doesnt give me the same vibe idk.... maybe it's just me. like even a few pointers about big story changes would help. tyyyyyyy
Heyy,
I wanna start by saying that I do love all adaptations, so I will do my best just to point out the differences without being partial (too much) for certain plot elements.
It's true that the drama is a neat way to experience the story at a slower pace, but it's so because in a TV series scenario it makes perfect sense for everything to be slower and laid out or fed to the viewer. It makes sense to overextend tender and dramatic moments or to take the time and add a bunch of funny hilarious bits.
The donghua however is absolutely amazing and 100% worth watching. The plot advancing quicker than in the drama or the novel actually makes a lot of sense given, well first this is animation. It focuses on what's really important and the way the action scenes are intertwined with the main story elements is absolutely astounding. In an animated medium they did the absolute best to bring this long story to life. Plus the art is absolutely GORGEOUS, down to every frame. I strongly recommend it.
The manhua does follow the novel almost to the letter which is so refreshing to see and it's so rad to read too, plus I like the art style and also no censorship xD
I love them all because they each work in their own way. Bringing the drama slow pace into the donghua wouldn't work at all as well as making CQL shorter and more action packed would look ridiculous.
Personally I think it's rad to watch them all and gain even more knowledge on an amazing story, by consuming the same story in multiple forms of media.I just think it's great to explore all the angles from which the story can be observed.
~
Onto a few major differences. I believe this list is far from complete, but I tried to jolt down what I could from memory:
-> Basically the main difference would be Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji uncovering the mystery of Nie Mingjue's death:
In CQL, this was changed from the novel plotline: dismembered arm(+ putting back the dismembered body) of his spirit, to a spirit sword. It ultimately leads to the same epic conclusion as it does in the novel. The culprit is unchanged, just the means to get there and the characters motivations along the way are altered.
-> Another major divergence would be the entire Yi Iron arc and the hunt for Yi Iron pieces, which takes a vast majority of the CQL flashbacks. This isn't present in the novel. The Yi Iron is only important because it practically explains the already existent and yet unpracticed demonic cultivation, which brings me to my next point.
-> In CQL Wei Wuxian is not the actual founder of demonic cultivation. Wei Wuxian still uses demonic cultivation and all his inventions are there, including of course the Stygian Tiger Amulet. The reasoning behind this is the Yi Iron plot I mentioned above, which was something that was uncovered and worshipped in the past and it's a tremendous source of dark energy and power. This leads to the fact that demonic cultivation already exists, despite no one actually using it except for Wei Wuxian (after finding the first piece in the Xuanwu shell).
-> To emphasize more on this, a big part of WWX's morality is altered in CQL. The necromancy part is also heavily downplayed in CQL. We see the same choices being made which inadvertently lead to the same conclusions, but he is always shown as more of a victim of circumstance or there's always a bigger plot at stake, pointing all the blame towards him.
Without going into a character analysis in this arc (because I absolutely adore WWX and I would talk about him for hours) I wanted to point out a few more things on this:
- In CQL he's shown to be in wrong place at the wrong time type of situations, which is sort of downgrading what the original intent behind his character was about.
- I feel like the novel has built WWX to be very self-aware and more realistic and human. He knows exactly where his stands and what his moral compass is the entire time. He blames himself even for stuff out of his control and every decision he ever made no mater how it was perceived as, was all rooted in and filtered through his absolute sense of justice and selflessness. He's aware of his mistakes and assumes responsibility. He's very absolute about the decisions he sticks to and he's extremely intelligent and calculated.
Then again, I'm not blaming CQL per say for altering this, I know every divergence to his character was solely due to censorship (as morality usually is in cdramas), I just wish he'd been given a lot more credit where credit is due, like in the novel. Because he deserves a lot more validation and recognition. Absolving him of everything he ever did is actually a disservice to all the pain he endured and all the work he put into the cause he believes in and simply striving to survive and in the unfair, judgemental cultivation world.
-> The structure of the story is different. The novel, donghua and manhua jump from flashbacks to present time back and forth, while in CQL, episode 3 to episode 33(halfway) are all flashbacks presenting the entire past story arc to you, before returning to the present fully. Again, to have everything laid out in order, works well in a TV series environment.
-> The relationship between WangXian evolves differently. The novel has Wei Wuxian mistakenly concluding that Lan Wangji doesn’t like him, driving a wedge between them after the Nightless City events. This of course, has a beautiful natural progression into romantic relationship, later on after he resurrects.
CQL on the other hand shows Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji having a very close relationship from the moment they reunite as Wei Wuxian died knowing Lan Wangji cares deeply about him. I believe this to be a bit utopic as, technically without previous explicit romantic affection - censorship -, Wei Wuxian's actions wouldn't normally lead to such an easy transition into them being extremely close, especially for someone as stoic as Lan Wangji. True, Lan Wangji has always believed in Wei Wuxian's sense of integrity and justice and this was prepared beforehand, however it would make even more sense if this was backed, like in the novel, by love as a powerful incentive.
-> Wei Wuxian's reincarnation in Mo Xuanyu's body doesn't cause him to alter his appearance in CQL. This isn't really explained except for subtle hints that Mo Xuanyu took precautions to ensure Wei Wuxian looked like his original self, but ofc we can tell it was done so due to convenience.
In the novel it's clearly stated how Wei Wuxian takes Mo Xuanyu's appearance which makes complete sense to happen after he used the Sacrifice Summon.
This would be about it as main pointers, if you'd like me to go into details for any of them please let me know. Otherwise I feel like this post is already long enough, heheh.
#anon#ishidareplies#god i ramble a lot in every ask#cql#mdzs#the untamed#wangxian#wei wuxian#lan wangji#canon divergence#mdzs meta#?
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So here's my personal ranking of DMBJ adaptations, thanks @mejomonster for the idea :D
(but psst first if anyone seeing this post haven't seen it already, there's an interest check for a pingxie gift exchange! over here.)
1. Ultimate Note (2020)
So I wrote a long ass post about UN here, where I mainly talk about the Iron Triangle because they're the heart of DMBJ and their relationship is what makes or breaks an adaptation for me, all else equal. But thankfully UN also has good pacing, faithfulness to the original story (and honestly a smoother and less confusing way of portraying it, but thats not saying much), no exceptionally cringy added romance plot lines, female characters treated as well as they can be given they were fridged in the source material, and a cast and crew with a deep appreciation and love for the characters and story, making the most of what they could with a tiny budget and no promotion. (UN is now the most highly-rated DMBJ adaptation on douban!) The main cast is a bit green, no doubt, but the longer it goes on the better they get. (If you scroll through my #translation tag far enough you'll find stuff XYL and ZSX have said about their characters. XYL especially, really understands Zhang Qiling and I will always respect him for that, which is why he's my favorite Xiaoge.) I'm just eternally sad about the ending and that there probably won't be a S2 for the main story finale because NPSS won't sell the rights again.
2. The Lost Tomb 2 (2019)
Before UN came out, this was my favorite Iron Triangle. The Pangzi and Xiaoge friendship was also super cute here! A sorely underrated friendship, for sure. And I absolutely adore TLT2 Xiao Hua. He and UN Xiuxiu would make a great team. The entirety of the first half (undersea tomb) was remarkably true to the source material (despite being unnecessarily draggy at points), and I do like that they made the Bronze Tree arc more of an Iron Triangle thing than a Wu Xie solo mission like in the novel. But uh, the second half of this drama was just...really confusing lol with so many long shots of them trudging through snow endlessly. But it's a cute Pingxie and Iron Triangle. (Saw someone once say TLT2 is the fluffy Pingxie but UN is the angsty Pingxie, which......accurate tbh.) But...man...will TLT2.5 (Heavenly Palace) ever be released from jail ;;;;;; its supposedly already filmed (different cast) but can't air for...legal reasons? idk? ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
3. Time Raiders (2016)
A wacky movie that makes no logical sense whatsoever but God it was such a fun, wild watch lmao. Pingxie were so unnecessarily gay in this, and also TLT2 Pangzi is great as always. I liked A-Ning being a total badass as well. Movie gets a bit sad when you realize there's a deleted scene canonizing the movie as book!Wu Xie's wishful thinking and fanciful story he told because he misses his friends. In reality, Pan Zi and A-Ning are dead, his San-shu is missing, and he doesn't know if he'll see Xiaoge again (which is why TR!WX is always taking photos of him, I'd say).
4. Qinling Sacred Tree Donghua (2021)
So uh this still doesn't have official English subs (you can find it on a streaming site somewhere but I can't vouch for translation quality). But it's a pretty faithful adaptation of the Bronze Tree arc, but with a slight twist to make Xiaoge more relevant. (I'm still squinting at Liang-shiye.) Still largely a Wu Xie and Lao Yang duo mission, though. But the scenery in the donghua is gorgeous and the food looks really good too...and, like, it's a good and solid adaptation. I just wish it had been an Iron Triangle adventure 😅
5. Sha Hai (2018)
Qin Hao is an amazing Sha Hai Wu Xie. I love him, and the fact that ZSX posted a photo with him ;;;;;;;; my favorite Wu Xies ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (fun fact: to this day, QH's Weibo pfp is of himself as Wu Xie!) But anyway. Yeah I mostly just love Wu Xie here and everything he's gone through and turned himself into now that Xiaoge is gone. There are several UN parallels because they were done by the same company (which is also why a lot of the actors are the same). Unfortunately, the whole plot was....??????? and I wasn't a fan of any of the romances, or any of the side characters in general 😅 Skipped...so much of it lol. Why did they do *gestures vaguely at the entire show* Man at least they had Three Days of Silence. Small mercies.
6. The Lost Tomb 1 (2015)
They did Pangzi so dirty, I'm sorry sweetheart. That aside, the OCs were also a big ?????? and the fact that they had the iconic Iron Triangle hotel fight so early...WITHOUT THE FULL IRON TRIANGLE????????? But TLT1 Pingxie were literally a case of love at first sight soulmates so that was sweet. Also the blood feeding. Nice 👌 This Xiaoge is probably what most of the tomb-robbing world (or very casual dmbj fans ig lmao) see when they think of Zhang Qiling: aloof, mysterious, terrifyingly strong, (and kinda 2000s emo-boy-looking for some reason???)
7. The Lost Tomb Reboot (2020)
Confusingly wild deviations from the original story, really cringy romances + fridged women, and unnecessarily dragged out plot aside, I just wasn't feeling the Iron Triangle in this one 😅 Nor was I a fan of the treatment of Xiaoge. (He was stolen from his mother as a baby and abused by the Zhang family ever since, used as a convenient bloodbag to get around tombs and he didn't even understand he was a human being with a heart who could want things until he met his mother again in Three Days of Silence, where he finally regained the "heart" given to him by his mother that the Zhang family had taken from him...and then the first thing he experienced was the loss of his mother. I think this was the only canonical instance of him crying. After that, he lived a life full of mostly loss and more trauma, being kidnapped, kept naked in a basket, and used as zombie bait when he lost his memories...and knowing all this about his past, Pangzi tells him to use his blood in a tomb, enthusiastically, without hesitation. Like...you don't tell your best friend to cut himself because you think his blood might be useful. Especially not your best friend who you know in his past has been abused just like that since birth by his blood-related "family".) I do, however, think all the actors did amazing jobs with what they were given and are very talented. The effects were also good and the music is fantastic too. I don't think I need to praise Z1L's acting because everyone knows how good he is, and he pulled off that hallucination scene where he saw Xiaoge die for him just beautifully 👌 And Xiaoge smiles! Also very cute.
So yeah that's all the adaptations I've seen! It's past 1:30am so I'm a bit rambly but 🤪🤪🤪
#shouting into the void#dmbj#give me a chance to talk abt dmbj and it WILL end with me being sad about xiaoge#i write fic for the sole purpose of being sad abt xiaoge#which is why all my current whopping total of two (2) dmbj fics are me being sad about xiaoge#long post
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Heelo mousie! Love your blog! Do you mind recommending some of your favourite Chinese BL novels or shows?
I've seen the untamed and read it. I'm currently reading heaven's official blessing and I saw the donghua. Anything other than these two?
Awww, thank you!
Novels: I am gonna be lazy and literally copy/paste the entire danmei section of my top 10 web novels post (except MXTX’s stuff since you are already reading it.) Let me know if you need help finding any of these.
Lord Seventh - I am only partway through this so far, but it’s already on the list because it’s smart and somehow intense AND laid-back (not sure how this works, but it does) and is honestly just a really really solid and smart period novel, with the OTP a cherry on top of a narrative sundae. Plus, I love the concept of MC deciding he is not going for his supposedly fated love - he’s tried for six lifetimes, always with disaster, and he’s just plain done and tired. When he opens his life in his seventh reincarnation and sees the person he would have given up the world for, he genuinely feels nothing at all. (Spoiler - his OTP is actually a barbarian shaman this time around, thank you Lord!)
Golden Stage - my perfect comfort novel. Probably the least angsty of any danmei novel on this list (which still means plenty angsty :P) It also has a dedicated, smart OTP that is an OTP for the bulk of the book - I think you will notice that in most of the novels in this list, I go for “OTP against the world” trope - I can’t stand love triangles and the same. Anyway, Fu Shen, is a famous general whose fame is making the emperor antsy. When he gets injured and can’t walk any more, the emperor gladly recalls him and marries him off to his most faithful court lackey, the head of sort of secret police, Yan Xiaohan. The emperor intends it both as a check on the general and a general spite move since the two men always clash in court whenever they meet. But not all is at is seems. They used to be friends a long time ago, had a falling out, and one of the loveliest parts of the novel is them finding their way to each other, but there is also finding the middle path between their two very different philosophies and ways of being, not to mention solving a conspiracy or dozen, and putting a new dynasty on the throne, among other things. It always makes me think, a little, of “if Mei Changsu x Jingyan were canon.”
Sha Po Lang - if you like a lot of fantasy politics and world-building and steampunk with your novels, this one is for you. This one is VERY plot-heavy with smart, dedicated characters and a deconstruction of many traditional virtues - our protagonist Chang Geng, a long-lost son of the Emperor, is someone who wants to modernize the country but also take down the current emperor his brother for progress’ sake and the person he’s in love with is the general who saved him when he was a kid who is nominally his foster father. Anyway, the romance is mainly a garnish in this one, not even a big side dish, but the relationship between two smart, dedicated, deadly individuals with very different concepts of duty is fascinating long before it turns romantic. And if you like angst, while overall it’s not as angsty as e.g., Meatbun stuff, Chang Geng’s childhood is the stuff of nightmares and probably freaks me out more than anything else in any novel on this list, 2ha included.
To Rule In a Turbulent World (LSWW) - gay Minglan. No seriously. This is how I think of it. it’s a slice of life period novel with fascinating characters and setting that happens to have a gay OTP, not a romance in a period setting per se and I always prefer stories where the romance is not the only thing that is going on. It’s meticulously written and smart and deals with character development and somehow makes daily minutia fascinating. Our protagonist, You Miao, is the son of a fabulously wealthy merchant, sent to the capital to make connections and study. As the story starts, he sees his friend’s servants beating someone to death, feels bad, and buys him because, as we discover gradually and organically, You Miao may be wealthy and occasionally immature but he is a genuinely good person. The person he buys is a barbarian from beyond the wall, named Li Zhifeng. It’s touch and go if the man will survive but eventually he does and You Miao, who by then has to return home, gives him his papers and lets him go. However, LZF decides to stick with You Miao instead, both out of sense of debt for YM saving his life and because he genuinely likes him (and yet, there is no instalove on either of their parts, their bodies have fun a lot quicker than their souls.) Anyway, the two take up farming, get involved in the imperial exams and it’s the life of prosperity and peace, until an invasion happens and things go rapidly to hell. This is so nuanced, so smart (smart people in this actually ARE!) and has secondary characters who are just as complex as the mains (for example, I ended up adoring YM’s friend, the one who starts the plot by almost beating LZF to death for no reason) because the novel never forgets that few people are all villain. There is a lovely character arc or two - watching YM grow up and LZF thaw - there is the fact that You Miao is a unicorn in web novels being laid back and calm. This whole thing is a masterpiece.
Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - want the emotional hit of 2ha but want to read something half its length? Well, the author of 2ha is here to eviscerate you in a shorter amount of time. This has the beautiful world-building, plot twists that all make sense and, at the center of it all, an intense and all-consuming and gloriously painful relationship between two generals - one aristocratic loner Mo Xi, and the other gregarious former slave general Gu Mang. Once they were best friends and lovers, but when the novel starts, Gu Mang has long turned traitor and went to serve the enemy kingdom and has now been returned and Mo Xi, who now commands the remnants of his slave army, has to cope with the fact that he has never been able to get over the man who stabbed him through the heart. Literally. This novel has a gorgeously looping structure, with flashbacks interwoven into present storyline. There is so much love and longing and sacrifice in this that I am tearing up a bit just thinking of it. If you don’t love Mo Xi and Gu Mang, separately and together, by the end of it, you have no soul.
The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha/erha) - if you’ve been following my tumblr for more than a hot second, you know my obsession with this novel. Honestly, even if I were to make a list of my top 10 novels of any kind, not just webnovels, this would be on the list. It has everything I want - a complicated, intricate plot with an insane amount of plot twists, all of which are both unexpected and make total sense, a rich and large cast of characters, a truly epic OTP that makes me bawl, emotional intensity that sometimes maxes even me out and so much character nuance and growth. Also, Moran is my favorite web novel character ever, hands down.
Anyway, the plot (or at least the way it first appears) is that the evil emperor of the cultivation world, Taxian Jun, kills himself at 32 and wakes up in the body of his 16 year old self, birth name Moran. Excited to get a redo, Moran wants to save his supposed true love Shimei, whose death the last go-around pushed him towards evil. He also wants to avoid entanglement with Chu Wanning, his shizun and sworn enemy in past life. And that’s all you are best off knowing, trust me. The only hint I am going to give is oooh boy the mother of all unreliable narrators has arrived!
The novel starts light and funny on boil the frog principle - if someone told me I would be full bawling multiple times with this novel, I’d have thought they were insane, but i swear my eyes hurt by the end of it. I started out being amused and/or disliking the mains and by the end I would die for either of them.
The Wife is First - OK, this one did not make my top 10 web novels but it’s a sweet, fun gay cottagecore fest. Our ML, a royal prince, and his spouse, a smart if delicate aristocrat, keep house, eat noodles, play with their pet tiger, make out and spoil each other rotten, while occasionally fighting battles and outwitting their court enemies. It’s so very mellow. That couple redefines low drama - they are both nice and functional and use their brains. It’s as if a nice jock and a nice nerd got together and then proceeded to be wholesome all over the place.
I mean, the set up could be dramatic - our ML the prince, lost his fight for the throne and is about to be killed. The only person who stayed loyal to him is his arranged husband the aristocrat guy who ML never treated nicely since he resented marrying him (marrying a man in that world is done to remove someone from the ability to inherit the throne.) And yet the husband stood by him not out of love but beliefs in loyalty blah blah. Anyway, he transmigrates back into the past right after their wedding night and is all “I got a second chance OMG! I don’t want the throne what is even the point? I want to live a good long life and treat the only person who stood by me really well!” And he proceeds to do so to the shock of the aristocrat who had a very unpleasant wedding night and generally can tell the man he just married would rather eat nails than be married to him. But soon enough (no seriously, it’s not many chapters at all) he believes the prince is sincere blah blah and then they get together and they pretty much become cottagecore goals.
In terms of dramas, I only do period dramas (or novels) so I am not the person to be able to recommend any modern BLs. There is a flood of upcoming (hopefully) period BL dramas but it’s relatively thin on the ground now. The two I will recommend is Word of Honor (which is AMAZING) and Winter Begonia (which I just started watching but which owns me already.) I have a tag for both - the one for the former is huge and I cannot recommend either strongly enough. I’ve heard good things about The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, but I am not big on mysteries so haven’t watched it for myself.
In terms of the upcoming BLs, the ones I am most looking forward to are Immortality and Winner Is King, but The Society of the Four Leaves also looks promising.
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Best Underrated Anime Group C Round 1: #C8 vs #C1
#C8: Government employee and his white cat boss
Chen Shi, a young man from the countryside, journeys to the capital in search of his missing older brother, whose existence he only knew about upon his mother’s death. He knows neither name nor face of his brother, and after finally arriving at the capital, he runs out of money as well. One thing led to another, and he finds himself employed at Dali Court, where he works for Vice Minister Li Bing, a large white cat.
On the other hand, Li Bing is of royal blood who was imprisoned because of his family’s treason and now has to work in the government to atone for the crime. As for why he is in cat form? That’s for you to find out.
#C1: Friendship over nostalgia for the past, and moving forward
The main girl works at a diner and misses being able to run. Main guy is the boss at the diner and misses writing.
Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!
#C8: White Cat Legend 2020 (Dali si Rizhi)
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Propaganda:
Season 1 is light and hilarious, featuring the adventures of Chen Shi and his colleagues at Dali Court. The show has a very colorful cast, and whether they’re on the side of the protagonists or against them, you will find loving them all the same.
And that leads me to another thing I like about this show—nothing is black and white. There are no characters who are “evil” just for the sake of it. Even the most hateful villain has his story. And it’s never clear whose side the characters are on. Enemies may become friends, and friends may become enemies.
Season 2 is more on political intrigue, and it presents us the conflict from two perspectives—from the commoner Chen Shi and from the noble Li Bing—showing us how the same problem can mean differently to people of different classes.
The animation is also top-notch, and the OST is amazing. But the fight scenes are definitely my favorite! They’re so smooth and dynamic, and I keep rewatching them. It’s based on a web comic with a very simple style, but the donghua (Chinese anime) really went far and beyond that.
There’s comedy, drama, action, mystery, hot guys, and cats (both actual and demonic)—so what’s not to love?
Trigger Warnings: Animal Cruelty or Death, Cannibalism, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore
I’m not sure if it counts as cannibalism, but there’s a cat demon who appears in human form, and he eats humans (it’s not shown explicitly, though). Oh, he also eats animals raw (again, not explicitly)—that’s why there’s an animal cruelty/death tag. The violence isn’t really graphic, but there’s blood and sword fighting, especially in season 2
#C1: After the Rain (Koi wa Ameagari no You ni)
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Propaganda:
It feels like a lot of folks didn’t give this a fair chance because they thought it would be an age gap romance, when it really is more about friendship between the MCs. Don’t be turned off by the opening. It’s cute, but all from MG’s POV. The art is pretty, and Aimer’s “Ref: rain” is one of my favourite songs now, besides it being a beautiful ending theme. Depending on how old you are, you might relate more with one MC over the other.
Trigger Warnings: One-sided age gap. Depending your views, MC's friendship with her boss could be uncomfortable
If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.
#anime#donghua#best underrated anime#polls#poll tournament#tournament#anime tournament#animation#animated show#group stage#group stage round 1#tournament polls#chinese anime#white cat legend#dali si rizhi#da li si ri zhi#after the rain#koi wa ameagari no you ni#group c
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Dude I was on the language learning forms as I do sometimes, and someone was lamenting the lack of Chinese content to immerse in (watch, read etc). And how it was hard to find and they didn’t have this problem with Japanese what should they do?
Well. 1. I get their frustration on one level, as I do think Japanese content is so much more mainstream to watch in English speaking countries (at least anime and Japanese video games), that trying to find content in a language where it’s harder to just find content right on Netflix or from a friends recommendation does bring up a new challenge. Whereas with Japanese, probably you could accidentally stumble onto it or have a friend recommend you something, then at least explore deeper with some idea of what you liked/where to start finding it.
However. The person also sort of thought the lack of content was due to Chinese just not having as much content or as interesting content. Again I’m going to assume their key issue was just - it can be a new challenge finding media if you have a harder time just starting.
Because lol?? Chinese has SO much content. Like as far as language content on the internet alone??? Chinese has been eons easier to find than Japanese for me, and in terms of sites I actually use regularly is much closer to my experience of English online (there’s so much Chinese content online... so much... an incredible amount... like in chinese I’ve even found free movie watching sites FOR shows in English - like the way I find sites in English to watch Chinese shows IN chinese lol! Like you can use English to search for Chinese stuff, and literally do the reverse to find English stuff, there is so much Chinese stuff... I found more stuff in Japanese using bilibili in chinese than I could find of Japanese using YouTube In English). And Chinese drama land is HUGE it feels as active as American television, so you have endless genres to dive into and companies and actors and writers etc (there is a distinct lack of sci fi though as far as I’ve seen, but to be fair america isn’t making a Ton of sci fi compared to like Detective shows either - it’s just English speaking sci fi has had some more good ones in recent years). There is no lack of Chinese content out there. There’s audiobooks, dramas, audio dramas, talk shows, radio, fanfiction, novels, fanart, manhua, sites to find other stuff, forums, weibo, search sites, just a lot?? Like, if you think Japanese has enough internet content then there is an adequate amount of Chinese content on the internet too lol. You just may have to do a touch more initial exploration.
I just. Thought the assumption “can’t find media means their media sucks” was funny. Because also? I have not found that to be true. I know very little about Thai media. I just happened upon SOTUS cause of a friend talking about it. So like someone watching anime conveniently - I got into it. It was good, so I dug, and found a lot of amazing Thai shows (and some I didn’t love cause lol genres all have a mix of quality depending on show etc). There IS a ton of amazing Thai shows that exist right now. But if all you ever found was SOTUS? While it was great when I saw it to me, once I found more I realized there was a LOT better stuff. So like if you see one cdrama on Netflix (if that’s how you first easily find the media), that does not mean all shows will be that quality or anything like them! And just cause it’s the first one you found doesn’t mean they’re all like that ones quality.
Like I had a similar experience with jdramas growing up, so I get it. I was into anime, saw some (trainwreck) live action adaptations. And as a teenage just blanket assumed all Japanese live action media was gonna be around that quality. And then in recent years, I checked out some Japanese live action media - to see if new stuff was better. YEAH IT SURE IS (and I would imagine some old stuff was great I just gave up after one not-wonderful one lol). SO MANY AMAZING jdramas exist now! Even the ones I most feared would not be great - live action adaptations of anime’s? They’re so much better now, some of them are genuinely loved in their own right as standalone live actions. So like. One not-great show experience is NOT representative of the entire plethora of shows available and their quality. Now that I’ve realized how MANY good jdramas I missed out on? I have so much catching up to do ToT
2. If you’re in this boat of “content seems hard to find, so I feel like there’s none or no good stuff” what to do?
First ask some friends for recommendations?
Check Netflix, Amazon, YouTube (YouTube has a ton of cdramas), Viki, iQiyi app. Like how some people get into anime, maybe you just need an easy conviennent show in your recommended to get into more content.
Check out rec channels on YouTube like Donghua Reviews and Avenue X to hear about some shows and figure out the kinds of ones you’d even want to check out (I imagine other languages also have review channels like for kdramas).
Go to MyDramaList.com. Search genres you like, read recommendation list posts. if you’ve seen a show at this point already you can look it up and see in the “Recommended” section what other dramas are like it, you can see it’s genre tags to see WHAT genres you even seem to like. Use this to start DIGGING and finding stuff you might really like. Since like with anime, you’re only going to find the most popular stuff at first just based on Netflix or friends (which might not match up to your personal tastes as well as finding stuff that Is more your favorite genres).
Try out new stuff. And if it sucks, you don’t like it? Drop it, learn that about yourself, start another new thing. You’ll figure out what you like and dislike pretty fast (like I personally hate bad pacing or bad writing specifically characterization, and I can notice when the specific things I love are gonna be in a show pretty fast).
Check out genres specific to that language’s media. Because if it’s new to you, you might not know if you even like it or not, and if you like it then which things you personally prefer in it (since even within a genre there will be wildly different content and feels). For Chinese this might be wuxia, xianxia, palace dramas, costume dramas, republican era dramas, tomb raiding dramas etc.
*That’s how it worked for me, SOTUS led me to the bl drama fans, eventually they recommended Guardian so bam I guess I was learning chinese, YouTube recced me more cdramas from there to continue with, and mydramalist.com helped me find other shows with actors I liked from guardian (and other bl related shows which led me to Go Princess Go of all things for the bi lead), and that site helped me find more genres and shows I’d like, as well as friends continuing to rec things. Didn’t take long to figure out what I liked, didn’t, and to start noticing what upcoming stuff I’d probably be excited for. And now there’s so much good stuff found I don’t have enough time lol.
As for non show media: use shows as the jump off point. Just like using “easy to find shows” can be used to break into finding more shows. Once you have a show you liked a lot - look up it it’s based on a book, if it has an audiobook, an audio drama, a manhua, a donghua. Chances are it DOES have some of this stuff, because cdramas do a PRETTY regular amount of the time. Often cdramas have all or nearly all of these other story types. So jump into those, then find more novels or audio drama or manhua etc by branching off from the one you liked to others like it. Novelupdates.com is good for doing this with novels (it has a recommendations section), I imagine manhua sites have rec lists too, ximalaya starts recommending stuff once you’ve listened to a few audio on it, etc. And if you get into fandoms of those x media types, those fans will start recommending more too. And again, even if you just stick to media related to shows you liked - so often shows have so MUCH related media that would definitely keep you busy. (Like I didnt wade into non-show connected novels until I looked up more novels as recommendations afte show-related novels, like MDZS and Guardian leading me to SVSSS and 2ha and Can Ci Pin which at the time had no show adaptations, and then eventually found just-novel rec lists - which is still the main way I find fanfic).
#rant#June#discussion#I just. I both get why they were frustrated#but also lol it is a bit funny to me to read that#someone thought chinese has very little media and it sucks#because??? lol Chinese internet has been the most similar for me in terms of comparison to English internet#just because there’s SO much it’s like as big as my English shows to wafch/books to read lists god#there is no shortage of media#and also?? seeing the few easy to find cdramas or donghua#doesn’t mean they’re all the same quality?#that’s like finding family guy and thinking all American cartoons can only be like that#not realizing Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse or Xmen Evolition or Rugrats or Danny Phantom or Avatar exist#like?? just look more lol
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So, since you and bixgirl made me watch The Untamed with the abundance of intriguing tumblerposts and your lovely “The boy who died”, now I have to read more fic in this fandom too - of course! If you want - do you have any recommendations? I’ve only just scratched the surface, but stumbled acros idrilka on AO3 and she writes an amazing epilogue for the show in “My age has never made me wise”.
Hello!
I’m thrilled that our pyramid-scheming people into the Untamed is going strong, yay! :DD
Thing is, I finished the drama fairly recently, then finished the (super long) novel, watched the donghua, currently reading through the manhua, and, in-between, I wrote The Boy Who Died, which took me 3+ weeks of solid writing.
This is all to say that I haven’t read widely in the mdzs/cql fandom (yet! My Marked for Later list is full to the brim with MDZS fics). I have read only some short fics, which were all excellent. Here’s a selection:
1. To Wing Your Soul With Jasmines by dirtybinary (new fave author)
6k, Teen. Summary: Lan Wangji is Chief Cultivator, Wei Wuxian is travelling the world somewhere, and the Jingshi fills up with mysterious flowers.(Set between the last two scenes of TV canon.)
This author also has another wonderful wangxian: Where the Lotuses Lie (3k, Teen)
2. tie a knife with a ribbon by iliacquer
6k, E, bottom!LWJ. Summary: The Yiling Patriarch makes a bargain with the cultivation world. He'll give them the power to defeat Wen Ruohan. No more death. No more war. All he wants in return is Lan Wangji.
3. The (Several) Convenient Kidnappings of the Chief Cultivator by the Yiling Patriarch by misscam
4k, Mature. Summary: “Yes, Clan Leader Jiang. It is most regrettable, but the Yiling Patriarch has once again kidnapped His Excellency. However, we have every confidence in His Excellency’s safe eventual return.”“Of course you do,” Jiang Cheng says bitterly. “You get a more agreeable Chief Cultivator, and everyone is happy, right? You are all so happy the Yiling Patriarch kidnaps the Chief Cultivator on a regular basis. How can you not delight in the fact that Wei Wuxian has no shame and is revered for it? Aren’t you all thrilled, thrilled, that Lan Wangji is such good friends with Wei Wuxian that they spend so many friendly nights together and His Excellency returns like a lovesick fool afterwards and is so conveniently more agreeable?”“…”“I hate you all,” Jiang Cheng declares and stomps off.
This author has a bunch of wangxian stories and I’m planning to read them all. Wonderful writing style with a lot of humour.
4. Jiujiu Gets A Puppy by Skadiseven (@needtherapy)
1.7k, Gen. Summary: Wei Wuxian wants to get Jiang Cheng a gift.
He's trying to be brave, okay?
No one can be afraid of a puppy, right?
5. yours/mine by dustyloves
2.6k, Mature. Summary: “Lan Zhan,” he says, every day, weakly. “Really, you're spoiling me. This is too much. You don't have to.”“Mm,” Lan Zhan says. “But I like to.” Wei Wuxian is still figuring out how to argue with that, but he has the beginnings of a plan.
(your heart will melt)
6. you and me alone by plonk
6k, Unrated but it’s Explicit, OT3 (Wei Ying/Lan Zhan/Mo Xuanyu). Summary: It’s possible that letting go of this crush on Wei Ying would have been easier for Lan Zhan if he didn’t know that Wei Ying and his lover, Mo Xuanyu, often took thirds to bed. It is almost certain that letting go of this crush would have been easier had Lan Zhan not become one of them.
**
These are some of the ones I read so far. @bixgirl1 has read a bit more, I think, but she’s on her social media break rn. I’ve heard of idrika and have bookmarked them. I’m planning to start going through my MfL fics in September so there might be a fuller rec post later in the year.
Hope this will do for a start. Thanks for the ask ❤️
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The Untamed and Mo Dao Zu Shi
These past eight days have been surreal.
I have drowned so fully in this story that it feels like I am just surfacing.
On Valentine’s Day, fandom on tumblr reblogged this fanart of WangXian by qulfeeh and I was intrigued. The reblog was tagged with two important key words ‘Wangxian’ and ‘The Untamed’. In the brush of a few keystrokes I came across the Wikipedia page for a show known as the Untamed that was available on Netflix. The thing that stood out was that it was based on a BL novel and that both the very male protagonists were described as each other’s soulmates and somehow that was enough. So, I opened Netflix and after like a second of hesitation I started watching the show and I didn’t stop. I started at eight in the evening and I watched nine episodes in a row which basically meant I was up till five in the morning. What followed seems like a record for me. I finished all fifty episodes of the Untamed in under seventy-two hours.
I put hardly five minutes of thought into my decision to watch this story and ended up dedicating the past eight days straight. The first three days to the live action drama and the past five to reading the novel.
If it isn’t obvious this story is that good.
The Untamed
The Untamed is a first for me on so many levels. I have never watched a Chinese show before ever and that seemed extremely significant to me because China is actually a neighbouring country yet as far as my mind is concerned it might as well be on another planet. Which seems particularly odd considering shows from English speaking countries like the UK and the US are a staple for me which makes these countries feel so much closer though they are geographically on the other side of the planet. Of course, a major factor is the language barrier but another is the political scenario between our two countries and amazingly this show made me realise how much of an impact perceiving different cultures can have on your perception of their people. It has literally opened up a whole new world for me that I have just realised I have never taken the moment to discover. Well, considering this is me we are talking about, how appropriate, that it would be a drama based on a BL novel that unlocked this whole new world for me.
I have tried reading a Danmei novel before which was awful and it completely turned me off the genre but it did have a side effect of educating we about elements of a wuxia novel which made this xianxia world seem a little familiar but even if it hadn’t, I would have still been hooked.
It didn’t take long for The Untamed to find a new fan and I have been obsessing over it ever since.
The Untamed is an amazing drama which revolves around the love Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian have for each other and the plot is so intriguing that you wouldn’t be able to stop even if you tried (I didn’t because that thought didn’t even manage to enter my mind).
It’s a love story and that is undisputable for me, they don’t say it, it isn’t mentioned but there is this palpable force influencing events and you know they love each other. I have somehow really disregarded how much a show can show you stuff without ever explicitly stating it but The Untamed set me straight in that regard. I doubt anyone who watches the show would mistake it for anything but the love story it is.
Wei WuXian was an instant hit for me. He is a lovable, gregarious character always up to mischief but is someone who always wants to be on the side of justice and I have a weak spot for characters with a hard on for justice. He is just such a lively character who keeps smiling all the time that it’s just hard not to fall for him in minutes. His antics and his demeanour are so charming that you’re hooked. He would have easily been my most favourite character in any other drama that doesn’t have a Lan WangJi.
Lan WangJi is an amazing character. In a world, which has become increasing about everyone voicing their opinions (like I’m doing at present) it is hard to believe that people like Lan WangJi exist. People who are quiet, who don’t speak unless absolutely necessary. He is literally the embodiment of tranquillity and more important he is Wei WuXian’s hero. Like literally he protects him like he’s protecting his life which on second thought he definitely is.
I literally had second-hand embarrassment from how obviously romantic these two are.
Hands down the best thing I have watched in 2020 by far! The characters are amazing, the plot is intricate and it is so, so interesting. I watched almost fourty hours of this series non-stop and I don’t remember a single point where I felt like the story became boring for a second which now that I think about it is, is… astonishing. How can such a large drama be so engrossing? This isn’t binge-worthy there is literally no other way to watch the show!!!
Mo Dao Zu Shi
But after coming down from the high of the first seventy-two hours of being submerged in this world, I was reluctant to leave this world so much so that I didn’t even contemplate it. I had a wide variety of media to choose from. The story is based on a web series by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu that was made into a manhua, followed by an donghua, followed by an audio drama followed by The Untamed. It must speak to the universality of the story that the people are willing to read the same story in so many different formats, I know I’m not done.
But, high up on my list was the source material, one of the articles described the show as being extremely faithful to the novel, which made me want to jump on that wagon posthaste, and I agree whole-heartedly. I read the translation by Exiled Rebels Scanlations and what struck me was how the show and the novel were tonally the same. I had switched mediums but it didn’t feel like a different story or like I was reading different characters which is shocking because that’s literally how good the show was at translating words into video.
Differences
One of the startling things about the book is that it really ties up the plot neatly. There are tons of plot points that aren’t as completely resolved on the show as they are on the novel which I only ever realised after reading the novel. A lot of this had to do with how certain details of the plot are different. A classic example that the reason behind the scars on Lan Zhan’s back is different in the two. In the novel, LWJ whisks WWX away from the Nightless City after he massacres and pretty much beats-to-a-pulp the entire alliance of sects. LWJ then has to tend to WWX so they remain in hiding for three days. When cultivators from the GusuLan Sect finally discover the two, LWJ has to defeat all of them to keep WWX safe and that’s why he is given one whipping for every cultivator he defeated. Of course, since WWX dies on the battlefield in the show this couldn’t be the reason behind the scars so they have LWJ defend Burial Mounds which wasn’t all that fruitful considereing the LanlingJin Clan does end up with a lot of WWX’s artifacts, there was no point in defending Burial Mounds as he couldn’t have kept it up in the long run but him going to Burial Mounds after the massacre at Nightless City is important to ensure they story can credibly reveal Lan ShiZui to be A-Yuan. So, yeah differences, the show focuses on the Wen Clan and the Yin Iron while the novel doesn’t have the Yin Iron at all and focuses on Jin GuangYao. But, despite the differences the story still feels coherent between the two mediums mainly because the relationship between LWJ and WWX that is at the core of both remains central to the plot at all times.
The plot of the novel though is extremely intricate and the author does an amazing job of deconstructing it which makes it easier to understand what’s happening while the show in hindsight does get away with sweeping up certain loose ends.
Of course, the kisses and the sex are gone but I will gladly take that cliff scene in exchange. I was actually shocked that the novel actually doesn’t dwell on WWX’s first death at all. Like, we don’t even know how exactly he died in the novel and this was hsocking given how pivotal that cliff scene is in the show.
Characters
Surprisingly though a lot of the roles of side characters were expanded for the show, the novel seems to have delivered a better understanding of these characters. The biggest example for me being Jiang Yanli.
She has an elaborately expanded role in the show which does highlight how deep her bind with her brothers particularly WWX is but somehow she seems like a timid character among a bunch of very strong characters. What the novel does is that it gives you a very realistic picture of her, she might not seem like a significant influence on the story but her impact is far-reaching. The novel doesn’t showcase much of her character but the scenes that feature her in the book are some of the most poignant ones and incidentally those are the same ones that stand out in the show. I feel like novel did a better job of showing off her strength. While, in the show I couldn’t look beneath her timid demeanour the novel manages to showcase the strength of her love. She cares deeply and loves deeply and the novel manages to show you the courage it takes to love someone so deeply. I definitely admire her character more and in fact I’m kind of in awe that someone who appears so traditional was so awesome. It felt easy to dismiss her character but reading the author’s words made me realise that I would be very, very wrong in doing so.
Wei WuXian might be the luckiest guy in the world to have a shijie like her followed by a husband like LWJ who both seem very determined to spoil the hell out of him. I might be experiencing some jealousy right now.
The author somehow manages to imbue her characters with qualities that makes them real and unique. Like WWX forgetting everybody’s face which is a real world problem that I have never seen anybody suffer from in a novel but just the fact that WWX doesn’t immediately bring his old hang-ups in his subsequent meetings with side characters didn’t only have hilarious consequences but made everything that much more intriguing and credible.
This author also does an amazing job of flipping characters. There are very few villains who are black and white in this story. WWX himself is a character caught in the gray of it all, universally reviled for standing up for the right reasons. This is a theme throughout the show and the novel where bad characters might be good and good might be bad but the author endeavours to show us all sides to a character. While this most definitely applies to Jin GuangYao, I’m surprised with how it resonates with Xue Yang who’s relationship with Xiao Xinchen can only be characterized with the words “It’s Complicated”. I don’t actually know what to think of these two Xiao Xingchen was definitely betrayed but can we ignore the fact that he found himself a companion in Xue Yang his sworn enemy and Xue Yang’s feelings for Xiao Xingchen are enough to drive me crazy. This guy has no idea how frustrating he is, that piece of candy clenched in his fist will drive me crazy for the rest of my life. The entire Yi City Arc is a big mess of grey there are no whites and blacks and the show underscores that with this quote –
Once upon a time, there was a little child who liked sweets very much. But because he had no parents nor money, he could never have such things. So he’d been dreaming if only someone could give him a candy every day.
Don’t even get me started on the music that plays in the background when this quote is being narrated.
There are just so many amazing things about the show and the novel. I mean the show might have actually worked harder to make things more romantic and one scene that I’m surprised isn’t from the book is the lantern scene with both of them making pledges like that particular scene neatly underlined who WWX is and would become. The hand-fastening scene is also not from the book but then there are other scenes and other delights to be found in the novels.
This story is definitely worth reading and watching for years to come. If anyone has any apprehensions about the novel I will be glad to clarify but the everything about “The Untamed” and “Mo Dao Zu Shi” stand in the same breath.
#wangxian#the untamed#mo dao zu shi#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation#lan wangji#wei wuxian#jiang yanli#xue yang#xiao xingchen#posts#myposts#mo xiang tong xiu#the show which reminded me what it was like to be obsessed#once more
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Adaptations - Part 13: Wen Ning is here, we’re... um... saved?
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(Masterpost)
This scene appears in:
Mo Dao Zu Shi novel Chapter 10
Mo Dao Zu Shi manhua Chapter 23-24
Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua Episode 2
The Untamed / Chen Qing Ling drama Episode 2
In this scene, Wei Wuxian clocks that things are getting out of hand with the whole dancing stone goddess situation, so he begins playing the flute (much to Lan Jingyi’s annoyance)
WWX’s goal is, of course, to summon some undeads to throw at the monster and buy time, or maybe if he’s lucky, something that will actually defeat her. Except he instead summons a combination Plot Device, Smoking Gun, and Best Boy.
There he is.
More under the cut.
Everyone recognizes Wen Ning and subsequently freaks out, thinking they’re now fighting two big bads at once. WN meanwhile is hella OP and takes out the Dancing Dame in one blow.
With her gone, the juniors get braver and decide they should have a go at WN for some quick night hunt credit. This doesn’t sit well with WN and he goes into throttling mode.
WWX then tries to think of a tune to calm down his Ghost General, and in the manhua we get this nice flashback (from the character’s perspective - flash forward for us) of the cave scene.
Then WWX begins playing WangXian / WuJi on the flute, which of course summons another Best Boy.
After staring into Lan Wangji’s eyes for a really long time (longer in the special edition I guess? I watched both but honestly my memory’s not what it used to was)
WN: I’ll just uh.. stand here then, shall I.
Anyway after that, WWX comes to and dismisses WN to whence he came.
But of course, it’s too late - the Ghost General is out of the bag, and JC is now Highly Suspicious - but let’s save that fun time for next scene XD
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So for me, this scene boils down to three very important elements:
Wei Wuxian being a hot necromancer
We get so many lovely opportunities to watch WWX softly kissing his flute on the lips and having demonic red eyes and just generally being hot and slightly sinister looking. It is important for any adaptation to make the most of this. Let’s see how they do.
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Donghua:
OMG why am I even comparing anything? 11/10.
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Drama:
OK I’ll grant he’s doing pretty good there with the hair flying loose and the odd mask, in combination it gives him a sort of shamanic look that is super amazing. Still not as hot as red-eyes up there, but noteworthy. 10/10.
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Manhua:
TOO pretty, sorry manhua WWX you are far, far too lovely and princely for this scene. I also deduct an additional point for the fact that this is the hottest image I found from this scene, but it’s actually one where he’s trying to think of a relaxing tune, not trying to summon an undead army. 8/10.
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Wen Ning being an undead badass
The Ghost General is kind of the pivotal character in this scene, not to mention this is his Grand Entrance and he is Best Boy. Also, I Will Not Apologize For My Gratuitous Use Of Capitalization. Now that’s out of the way...
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Donghua:
There were a couple other shots of WN which included his face, and all of them looked kinda.. constipated, honestly. Like I get that he’s supposed to be suffering and Not Himself, but this is his debut and I just felt like they leaned a bit too heavy on the misery. But right here, he is definitely kicking ass and taking names, and the artistry of this shot is top-notch. I deduct a point for otherwise ham-handedly tragic looking WN, and give it 9/10.
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Drama:
This strikes a perfect balance for me. The dramatic flowing hair framing the face perfectly. The dark eyes and stone-cold expression, a little sad, but a lot violent. He is so beautiful. 10/10.
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Manhua:
The red aura is kinda cool. The SFX bother me a bit, though there are the chains and they do make noise, so I’m not sure if they really should bother me... mostly though I am sad that manhua WN looks ... so sad. He has every right to, with his tragic backstory and all, but I want to see him being a killing machine right now. A touch of sadness, OK, but the hair over the face, the pathetic expression, the slouched posture.. it’s too much. 6/10.
The Pining
You know I had to go there. I couldn’t not. This is the first moment LWJ dares to believe he’s really found his Wei Ying, and it is beautiful.
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Donghua:
Donghua LWJ is scary here. I am legit worried about WWX at this point if I don’t know what’s going on. This doesn’t make me feel happy. On the other hand, with LWJ’s reputation for fighting and his tragic backstory (everybody’s got one!) it’s not surprising that he would look scary - it’s pretty realistic. But eh... I still don’t quite feel like it fits him as a character. 7/10.
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Drama:
Drama LWJ is, as we know, The Most Beautiful (no canon-based refutations of this are allowed), but he’s still kinda scary as well. However, he’s not scary in a “will he break WWX’s wrist?” kind of way so much as a “uh oh he looks way too smart to be fooled, WWX is in trouble!” kind of way. This is acceptable. Also, the tenderness and longing is very much there in his expression along with the astute don’t-mess-with-me look. 12/10.
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Manhua:
I have to admit this one leaves me cold. They’re going through all the right motions of a BL couple, gazing into the eyes, the hand grasp, the sparkles (or ash or snow or whatever that is floating around in the foreground) but it feels very hollow right here, as do most of the other panels of this meeting. 5/10.
So our totals are: donghua, 27. drama, 32. manhua, 19.
My personal fav: the drama. This is another face-based (versus action-based) scene for me, and the actors in CQL nail it. I dearly love red-eyed donghua WWX, but he can’t make up for stone-cold badass CQL WN or soft and yearning CQL LWJ.
(Source: manhua) (Source: novel translation) (Source: donghua) (Source: drama)
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My honest assessment of every version of MDZS now that I have consumed at least part of all of them, best and worst aspects of each.
The Untamed/CQL, the first version I encountered:
The best part of this show is literally every single moment that wwx and lwj are onscreen together. Every time they gaze into each other’s eyes I am reminded that love is in fact real. The last 20 episodes are just Wangxian on main and I love every moment of the Cloud Recesses part of the flashback. I would absolutely die for Wang Yibo and his absolutely stellar micro expressions.
I love this gem of a show. However, I can also acknowledge it is occasionally prone to corniness and the effects budget was I’m assuming quite low and thus some visual elements are deeply amusing. It’s part of the charm though and not that big a deal. Also it did have to have some aspects of the original story heavily censored, which is sad. But like, tbh, the production team still made it an explicit romance and it doesn’t Feel censored at all. Honestly the romance is that good. Episodes 42-46 in particular are just 👌🏻👌��👌🏻
Also full honesty I fast forwarded through quite a few villain scenes during the flashback cause they were kind of dragging and I wanted to get back to my boys and then I kept being like ‘who the heck is this’ when the villain stuff I fast forwarded turned out to be like actuallly important later.
The original version from the pen of MXTX herself, the book in fantranslation which I read immediately after finishing CQL:
Wow. Wow. The jump from watching the end of CQL and their wistful parting and stuff and then opening the book and seeing there’s a chapter titled wangxian and obviously reading that one first before going back to the beginning and finding out that instead of parting wistfully at the end they fuck off the side of the road and then elope. Amazing. Incredible. The 20 post canon fluffy (and kinky wow very kinky did not expect that but really quite pleased) one shots. Absolutely incredible thank you MA’AM.
The one downside: Please for the love of god why do so many of these anal sex scenes have to feature a lack of lubrication and proper preparation like I can be down with the noncon kink stuff but Dear God please include some lube and a smidge of fingering in there somewhere.
The manhua, of which I only read the most recent 30 or so chapters as of a couple months ago:
GREAT from what I read so far including the fact that it included an uncensored kiss from the book! Didn’t include Phoenix Mountain but did include LWJ getting drunk and tying WWX up with his forehead ribbon, bless up.
The only downside as far as I can tell is that it’s not finished.
The donghua, which I started a month ago and only watched two episodes but then started again today and watched basically the whole thing.
This opinion may be unpopular but this is the best adaptation by far, objectively. Being adapated in animation allows the fights and the magic to be just Incredible. It’s so well paced, better than Untamed, and manages to be quite close to the book while still cutting out and changing a few things. Actually made me cry about the destruction of Lotus Pier and made me sad about Yu ZiYuan.
And the clincher, Wei Wuxian is at his Most Badass. I cannot overemphasize how fucking hyped I was when he appeared amidst a flock of crows on top of a roof to kick Wen Chao’s ass. The fight scenes where wwx and lwj are working together are sooooooooo goooooooooood.
The downsides are yes that it does censor and skim over some of the wangxian content. But here’s the thing. They’re still 100% in love and some lines that I definitely didn’t expect to make it through censorship from the book are included so here’s hoping for some good shit in season 3.
Oh yeah that’s the other downside. It’s not finished, the final season isn’t scheduled till 2021 (but also corona so like who knows what that’s gonna do to production). S2 ends at the beginning of Yi City.
And last but Certainly not least, the audio drama:
Which I have tragically only experienced the clips of that are on YouTube cause I tried to download the fansubs and couldn’t get them to work on my old ass Mac idk what I did wrong rip.
But the parts that are on YouTube. Oh man. Oh man. The Guanyin temple confession scene? Jesus Christ I swear to god I have watched the clips of it on youtube at least ten times I Am Full Of Emotions Dear Universe Please Let Me Have The Rest Of The Audio Drama It’s All I Want. One day I shall prevail over my technological impasse and being that well fed with ship content I shall assume my final form, one of infinite power, fueled only by sheer fannish glee
5 stars
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opinions on each adaptation
i've just finished the mdzs donghua adaptation. which means, i've went thru all adaptations except the audio drama. this means, i'm gonna write down all my opinions in this post even though no one cares and asked for.
manhua: honestly, 10/10. like they follow up the novel sooo damn close. and i love it. they said fuck censorship. literally. the whole accidentally leaking the kiss scene just made me stan them and put them on the first place of all the adaptations. ofc, the audio drama follows it 1:1 but for me.. not understanding any chinese, it would just be reading the novel all over again by reading the subtitles so i'm just like.. kind of too lazy for it. (i'm sorry y'all can attack me) just the for chibi characters i'd already rate it 100/10. don't argue with me i love them. ofc it's not yet that far into the plot. well, for me at least, as someone who reads the translated version. i think it's more lighthearted up until now and i guess it's because of the chibi characters. some won't like it. but i love it. i'm eager to get to know how they portrayed wwx!ylz. or in general the whole past story arc cus there, it's not that lighthearted anymore.
drama: i might be biased. and i know many novel fans don't like ppl like me. but i started the whole getting into mdzs with the drama. and it- it just left a mark on me. i love it with my whole heart and i also really like the actors. there r lots of controversies around this adaptation. but from my perspective, i did read the novel, it's done really damn well. how they handled the censorship was amazing imo. and i think many don't get that there's a specific character type for the hero/protagonist bcs of the censorship, so ofc, wwx isn't morally gray. and yes, that's kind of the whole point of the novel. and ppl r like: why even do the adaptations then. but i think the characters are amazing enough that they deserve the adaptations. all of them. the drama followed the novel the closest it could. and yes there are some changes. but imo it's to fit the medium. the medium is a live action drama. i could go on about it but maybe imma rant about it on another post. but yes. the drama imo did the best they could. many say xz wasn't a good wwx. well, okay i could understand it if the novel was my first impression and not the drama. there is some kind of lack on the 'the terrifying wwx!ylz part. but imo you could see that it was him (the yiling patriarch) maybe not as terrifying but other than that, he was a good choice. all of the actors were good choices. oh wait- except maybe wen xu. they made him too hot. way too hot. for no reason. and then killed him of way too soon. one of the changes i really like was that, wangxian didn't hate it e/o for too long? or more like not at all. they had a whole mission together to get closer to e/o and u got all these interactions of them and ah- i just loved it. the whole show was on the brink of the censorship. and i loved it. you can clearly tell they slowly loved/ cared (for) e/o more and more as the time went on. and it just makes more sense for why lwj cared sm for wwx and how the whole 'wei wuxian!' - 'lan wangji!' scene hurt way more bcs of all the backstory. if they didn't show it like that... would many have guessed that lwj cared for (or had a crush on) wwx? i mean, i definitely wouldn't. yes i would be as oblivious as wwx. and the whole confession scene, the phoenix mountain kiss and them actually ending up together doesn't happen. so there wouldn't be many or even no real scenes where they were really close w/ e/o.
donghua: i liked it. but not as much as the other ones. and i think it's because of the lack of wangxian. they followed up the whole past plot of them and didn't change which, like i mentioned before, results in no real 'good'/happy wangxian interactions. it's still going on so we will get more but up until now, there's not much. the latest episodes in season 2 did do some justice doe. we will see what will happen. but imo it's the most censored one. it lacks in this part (the part of not much wangxian) but excels in others. that's how it always is ofc. but they did do some real good changes in the season 2. especially the one in the last episode. lemme tell ya, i bawled my eyes out when bby!lwj gave bby!wwx the toy. (why's there no fic about that one doe??? dude!) and also where you could see bby jin ling interacting with wwx. i also cried there. ah i loved it. all the characters are real badass in there. fuck, especially wwx!ylz... he's just so hot in this version. the scene where he came back after 3 months and killed wen chao. i lost it. literally. he could spit on me, step on me and throw me of a cliff and i would thank him wholeheartedly. some changes were probably made for even more intense action scenes. they do look real nice on screen. but some changes just threw me off. while the drama only expanded on the yin iron plot, some dialogue changes and some real real minor one's, they still followed up the novel real close on how things were revealed and how characters got to get to know stuff. like some things just get revealed way before in the timeline of the dongua than it is in the novel/drama. or they just added stuff that i'm like- was it necessary? (no offence ofc) and i think, after watching cql 2 times, reading the novel, and several fanfics, i know how, when and what happens after each other way too well, so all those changes threw me off. ofc, they're not bad. i kind of appreciated that they did their own twists to keep it interesting. still.. it's not my favorite adaptation (not many will probaly agree) but i really appreciate it and can't wait for the third season.
#mo dao zu shi#mdzs#cql#the untamed#wei wuxian#wei ying#lan wangji#lan zhan#wangxian#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation#mxtx#jiang wanyin#jiang cheng
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