Time Raiders

Awesome, Entertaining, Hope This is the Set Cast for ALL Future Adaptations.

This is the 2nd series in this universe I've seen, the first being Ultimate Note which I loved. I saw one film in the Mystic 9 universe but it was very rushed and short so didn't give all the details you wanted. But now with the possible news that the iron triangle from this show may be the set cast in future remakes and adaptations, it made me happy because after Joseph Zeng and Xiao Yu Liang played Wu Xie and Xiao Ge respectively there which I really loved, the two actors here are definitely close second as favorites and even though this was the first of all books, you could already tell that Xiao Ge was slowly forming a bond with Wu Xie and these two actors coming off a costume drama where they didn't interact at all in their scenes to also be in this one was cool. Unlike XYL who's more of an introvert until you get to know him, CZ is giggles all around so made for some hilarious BTS' and just great connection. So I hope this iron triangle cast will be the set cast for ALL future remakes and adaptations.

Pros: What I really loved was that they connected a lot of obvious and not so obvious things to ultimate note, like the uncle swap and when that happened plus showing both uncles one with a face mask towards the end. The bloody writing on the wall and how Wu Xie read it wrong until he rewrote it in UN and finally started to understand things. His uncle having two fumbles in what he said referring to the Wu's in third person like he wasn't one and Wu Xie catching him. Or how he hired ZQL; first version on the recommendation from a friend and then in the very next episode he's now XG and he's proficient at everything, knows everything and is basically super human, etc. That was not a very skilled switch there, ma dude lol. Also Wu Xie remembering his almost bipolar personalities like one would be ready to kill someone over a fight, while the other was very chill all in a span of maybe a day. All things XG pointed out when his uncle told him things that XG did to throw his nephew off the scent. The tie ins were pretty good and I liked the connection. At first I didn't understand the connection to the first one being Legend of Zang Hai which aired earlier this year but then it had those three bronze fish and some sort of treasure no one found as well as some mountain with ghost soldiers and weird mechanisms, so you can sort of see it. I wonder with the iron triangle gang, where the 3rd fish went? Iron triangle created themselves whether they wanted to see it or not; even if they went their separate ways for now.

What blew me away were the actual world building; not everything was CGI but actually built massive sets and you could tell the budget for this one was way larger than UN which was a dark horse. Some of those sets just made you gasp at the size and intricacies of them like the tree. All the adventures and creepy crawlies were also perfect for this time of year (autumn, Halloween). Though the mutated sea monkey looked like a mutated lycan or some weird cryptid and the white furred thing like a leprechaun so many things around in our current paranormal world. Costumes, music, all of that on point.

Cons: Though glad we got express, one episode a day for a while was hard. I also didn't think Daisy played a good Ah Ning as Hani did in UN. Daisy just didn't have that ruthlessness about her like Hani was able to portray so that's a casting choice that's questionable as well as both Pan Zi and Pang Zi; just felt the other two actors from the other show really did their characters much more convincingly. But I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.

Given how much extra information we were already given, I do wish we weren't left with a cliff hanger. Also should have introduced the Xie kid as it seemed he and Wu Xie knew each other well enough because when reading the bloody handwriting, WX acted like he didn't know who XLC was and that was a disconnect. As much as the disconnections with UN when he met Wenjun who he apparently knew then but for some reason not here, all the theories XG left him seemed to not exist. So while this series connects a lot of dots, that series disconnects others and it becomes a bit confusing. Needed to remember what other series did and try not to mix things for an observant viewer.

Also how did whichever uncle get a hold off the map and whatever else that XG said he then swapped out for fakes? Some of these things needed to be explained further and not just left hanging.

Would I recommend it? I absolutely would. I like this for the most part understandable and very well told story with creatures and dangerous and cool characters (human or not). I hope thy continue with this trend of the two actors as their chemistry pops and they only met for the first time; bring fatty a bit closer to what he should do and be and we've got the perfect iron triangle with the best friends primarily being WX and XG.

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Inoffensively OK

In some ways it's better than the two seasons of previous adaptations of the same books.
It's more cohesive, there's less wasted time and it's more of a complete story.
It also starts pretty great - everything feels quite gritty and real, the locations are cool and the older actors well selected. (this iteration of badass gritty Panzi is probably my favourite)
But when we go inside and stay with the Iron Triangle only, it gets into the same old rut - mainly running or walking through dark hallways.
I think my main issue with this season is the main trio - they're only "fine".
You want each actor hitting character-specific traits and all three having good chemistry.
These three guys are not the worst I've seen in these roles, but they're not the best either.
In the end I'm left with "Yeah, I've seen this before, this version is ok."
Minor nitpicks:
- I didn't like A Ning - too soft and idoly for my taste. Not a believable mercenary.
(EDIT: !!!! I just realized she's played by Daisy Li, who I ADORED as Yan Zi in "Weasel Grave". Goes to show how much a type of the role matters for an actor. I just rewatched WG and she was so fun in that. Man, I did NOT recognize her.)
- I was constantly put off by really really subpar ADR - the voices were just too off.
I'll still watch more if they make more with this cast. It'd be neat to get more seasons with the same actors.

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One of the best remakes! Keep the same actors for the next adaptations as well

Usually, I'm not a fan of remakes, but this time I was pleasantly surprised by this series.

The acting, the story, and the chemistry between the actors are so good that I totally enjoyed each episode to the max ;)
The friendship between our three beloved characters is the best one out here - one of the main reasons why this series is so successful. Xu Zhen Xuan, as Wu Xie is so good at portraying both innocence, sarcasm, pain, sorrow, and happiness that he makes a great team with his on-screen partners Cheng Xiang as Zhang Qi Ling and Sun Ge Chuan Ye as Pang Zi.
This start of the series builds their connection, and we can see how their friendship builds organically throughout each experience that they face, each saving, and the trust keeps building until it becomes the strongest force that will make their friendship unbreakable during all the years that follow.

For me, it feels like his adaptation is more authentic to the books than the previous one, although I liked that one as well.
The CGI is excellent as well, and the soundtrack is on point.

Now I want to see other adaptations with the same cast ;) Fingers crossed!!!

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My Thoughts In a word - Love

I've watched almost all of 'The Lost Tomb Universe' & was excited for Time Raiders.Of course my wait wasn't in vain. I enjoyed throughout the series, good casting, good acting & beautifully done scenes & actions.Here are my 💭 -

✒️Cast members
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Love Xu Zhen Xuan as Wu Xie. He did exceptionally well.very expressive with much precision. He by far, is one of my most favourite Wu Xie.

Cheng Xiang as Zhang Qiling was good but not my most favourite.I feel he was more talkative than Yang Yang/Cheng Yi version.

Sun Ge Chuan Ye as Wang Pangzi was good.
though if I compare with 2015 & 2019 versions,it was on & off thing.

The most striking character was Pan zi,I really loved the way he was portrayed.Gave off the vibe of someone who watched Wu Xie grew up.The best version of him so far. Cao Lei did a great job.
Daisy Li as Ah Ning though,nah for me.Repeating what many people already said 'too soft for Ah Ning'.

I noticed XZX and CX are pairing up for all upcoming series as WX & ZQ,so I'm really excited.Though I'd miss the excitement of having a fresh Xiao Ge every show.

✒️The presentation
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Let me split this into two parts first :

Pt 1- Remake of TLT (2015)→TR is on point & authentic.The story, action & progress was fast & smooth.Wu Xie × female corpse was something else🤣,well enjoyed.I do miss the interactions they two had in 2015, they were candies, but still,enjoyed it way more.

Pt 2 -Remake of TLT 2 (2019)→This is where TR lose its shine. 2019 had better scenes(XG's disguised,Forbidden Maiden,XG killing FM).nevertheless,I enjoyed it.

Verdict :
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Recc. 10/10,As a huge DMBJ fan,I'll enjoy the crappiest but my words can be trusted 'Watch it if you haven't.

- Rinee

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this review is more of my disorganized thoughts abt this show

I watched ultimate note before n the cast wasn't bad. I did hope the actor for zhang qiling could level up a little, and here it was! Xiang cheng as zhang qiling was quite what i hoped for. the fact that he n xu zhanxuan had another show together also upgraded their chemistry too. When i was watching the show, I was shocked that people actually built something this big and high quality. The tree and fire in the kiln was insane. In the 2nd adventure, the ship, wuxie n zhang qiling mentioned that the floors change the moment they step out of a room. Idk how the builders made that set, but its insane. I love this cast more than the other ones, but i wished they had pan zi from ultimate note. Honestly, I was quite surprised when zang hai was mentioned because earlier in the year, i watched legend of zang hai n when it came to the scene where they first discover who the man was on the heavenly cloud palace wtv, i predicted that it was zanghai n i was correct! i feel like a ning could've been better if she were more fierce or ruthless.

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Wasn't expecting it to be this good

Made an acc just to talk about this drama lol as a big DMBJ fan I absolutely loved it, even with some censorship and changes, it is without doubt way more accurate to the original book than Lost Tomb 1 and 2

Good:

It's actually well paced, generally DMBJ adaptations are way too fast, not caring about explaining details that matters for the story or way too slow and boring, but Time Raiders 2025 really have the good balance of giving the audience the necessary explanation in the dialogues between the characters without losing the timing of the narrative, it's a quicky watch too and when it ends you still wants more, but not because they didn't show what was necessary to tell the story, instead you want watch more because you are curious to see what will happen in the next adventure and it's good

The good mix between CGI and practical scenarios really makes watching the show comfortable and doesn't take away the attention from the story, a sin common in action adventure dramas that like their VFX way too much, and while the creatures would have a better design, it is not exactly too awful to the point of making it hard to watch

As a book reader it being a pretty close adaptation is also a good thing for me, it had nice changes like giving more character development to Da Kui and Wu Sanxing, the emotional scenes between Pangzi and Wu Xie already showing us a close bonding between them, some timeline events happening early to connect better with the future; but in general it was a accurate version of the book

Bad

The fight choreography really need some improvement, it was mostly okay in the first half, but lose a lot of strength when they enter the shipwrecked, what is sad since it's when we see Zhang Qiling in action, but I don't think they did a good job with Cheng Xiang's fight scenes in this adaptation, so I hope it get better in the next season

It's way too dark, like I get technically they are inside a tomb and then inside deep sea, but god sometimes it was hard to see the actors

The ADR also was bad in some moments and it was distracting because the voices were just too off

Neutral:

Casting was okay, the star is without doubt Xu Zhen Xuan as Wu Xie, he is so far one of the best in this character and did seem pretty comfortable, Sun Ge as Wang Pangzi also do a good job even if it's not a fan favorite or as good as predecessors, I feel he shows an emotional side of Pangzi that rarely is explored in adaptations or in the books and I like it, and it's easy to see that he is going to be the base in the future iron triangle interactions if this casting end up being the official one for new adaptations.. Cheng Xiang still need some time to convince me as Zhang Qiling, but he did capture well the otherworldy vibes from Xiaoge in early books

Francis Ng as well do a good job is showing a more sympathetic Uncle Three while not losing what makes his characters so deceitful

So far Daisy Li as A Ning is the weakest acting of the main cast, she looks cunning, but not fierce as her character would be in the book

I liked the music, but I really think it would be better

The intro is FANTASTIC for a book fan because it is basically a big resume of major events in DMBJ series, I absolutely loved it

Well, in general I really liked this drama, it's a good start point for new fans, and I hope we keep this cast as the official one for future DMBJ adaptations, especially Xu Zhen Xuan as Wu Xie

10/10 will watch again

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