KSM4

Honestly, I don't think the sunscreen product was shown more than the skin care products in the main series. At least sunscreen made sense because they are on the beach; meanwhile, the boxes with skin care products were given to various businessmen and a bunch of them stood on both sides of You Shulang's bed :D It was ridiculous. In most such series, product placements are extremely awkward. I did love the special, though. I wish it were filmed under better circumstances so that we'd get proper kissing, but it felt soothing after the heartbreak of other episodes.

How are they sticking to the original? Jay's characterization alone is completely different; there are multiple scenes that were never in the novel and most key milestones are ignored for now, even though there are only 4 episodes left.

Do you mean you feel like SA ruined the show?

Yeah, that's true. The novel has a very specific story line with very specific milestones; we're 6 episodes in, there are only 4 of them left, yet only some of these milestones are starting to materialize. I have no idea what they were doing all this time.

I couldn't even finish the first episode, it seemed incredibly shallow and boring.

I'm glad it's working for you! Personally, I feel like it's all over the place, and the actual plot stopped moving forward in like E2, but I'll reserve my opinion until we get all the episodes.

At this point, I gave up hoping for it. It's probably better to let the manhwa go and just watch this series as a separate, very loosely related adaptation. They keep wasting time on unnecessary scenes, inventing their own unnecessary scenes, and ignoring the actual plot. Though I did like the reveal.

I like both versions, but I don't think the show's Jay resembles the novel's Jay in any way. Show Jay is way too soft in comparison; in the book, he's a total psycho.

Fully agree, it's one of the best BL novels I've read. The show is a very faithful adaptation, but I heard there were supposed to be more episodes, so unfortunately, they had to cut out plenty of great scenes from the second half. All we have is the BTS of Fan Xiao playing with the kids in the orphanage.

Personally, I think this series doesn't deserve more than a 4, but if I were looking for something to watch, I'd consider 7+ pretty good. Besides, it's a dark romance show, a niche category where fewer viewers and lower ratings are to be expected. So as a fan, I wouldn't worry about the rating dropping to this point. It's still good.

That's exactly what this is :D Fan Xiao is psychopathic, he likes playing with people. In this particular case, he also doesn't believe that kind people truly exist. He thinks that, if placed under pressure, the mask will crack, and even the kindest person will turn ugly. So he's setting up situations to make You Shulang fall.

I watched this series and felt conflicted. It felt like there was really something there, something intriguing enough to keep me watching and anticipating the moments between the leads, but on the other hand, I only really liked the first episode. There were too many issues after that; the leads barely interact, and there are too many weird moments, illogical gaps, and cheap endings where you think something happened when it didn't or stupid rescue plots. So I decided to read the book, and I'm floored. It's so much better! It answered all my questions and featured none of the things I disliked. The actors are mostly good, but considering how strong a book is, the adaptation is extremely weak and lacking.

Well, you were the one to address me in the first place. If you can't remember things I specifically complained about, why reply at all? Let's just end it at that you found substance in this series while I didn't. It's clear that you and I have very different ideas of what substance and emotional development are.

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful answer! It was really interesting to read it. What you wrote just makes me wistful because it shows that DH has good bones, but imo, they didn't utilize them well. If you don't mind, I'll use a couple of your examples to show what I mean.

For example, you mentioned that Yichen values familial devotion. But other than in the very moment the plot needed it, where do they show this? He didn't show much obedience in the beginning, when he and LF were first separated. We never saw him have small, regular, meaningful interactions with his mother or father to underline that he loves them or is conditioned to obey them blindly. Compare it to WSW in Revenged Love (if you watched it): he also felt strong familial piety, but we actually see what stands behind it because there are multiple scenes between him and his Mom. In DH, we are told that Yichen is apparently a loving and obedient son, but we never actually see it except for during the marriage plot.

As for their discussions of childhoods at the start of the series: that's valid, and these were such good potential moments, but to my frustration, they ended up being limited to just a couple of lines exchanged. I can compare it to To My Shore (again, if you watched it), where characters discuss how they grew up at length, what traumas they experienced, how they coped, how they saw relationships vs. how they see them now, etc. These scenes have meaning, they are scattered through many episodes, they give characters a way to bond and support each other. In DH, there are just a couple of superficial mentions and that's it; this didn't work for me at all.

I think, to show what Yichen and Lu Feng like about each other, it was enough to just give them a couple of meaningful scenes where their personalities and qualities would shine through. Using TMS again, just the very first episode: You Shulang stays calm when everyone panics, saves a child despite being hurt himself, takes his time to travel to help a stranger out, refuses to show off at work when given an excuse. It's just one episode, and the character's qualities are obvious, making it equally obvious why another character finds him compelling. We didn't get a similar kind of bonding and development in DH throughout all its episodes, even though just a couple of scenes would suffice. That's my major problem with this series; otherwise, I'd gladly ignore all other drawbacks because I like the actors, I like the music, and I like the idea of a plot.

You are using pretty weak excuses. If characters actually develop and communicate, you can remember multiple meaningful moments between them because these moments are typically what brings characters together. The fact that you could only remember a moment from the last episode is very telling. As for homophobia, you are listing everything that has to do with "tell, don't show" approach. Yes, both characters experienced homophobia, so where are they ever discussing its impacts? (Please don't tell me it's also in the last episode..) Where are they supporting each other emotionally and psychologically over it? Maybe Yichen uses this trauma to explain his decision to marry to Lu Feng? No. There is literally nothing of substance present.

See, your answer just proves my points. What you're saying is that they had their first meaningful conversation not directly related to their relationship only in the last episode. That's absolutely terrible for a show that's supposed to be a love story, where characters are meant to communicate, explore the inner worlds of each other, and grow together. Couple development is supposed to be at the center of the story like this.

You say Yichen loves sunflowers. That would be a great quirk, but again, where is that actually shown and not just mentioned casually? Little details like this is what differentiate a well-written character from a shallow caricature of one.

These characters just went from one situation to another without because the plot demanded it, but they were never shown actually connecting over something; they weren't shown supporting each other emotionally, genuinely getting to know each other, etc. So how are we supposed to believe they love each other? Why do they love each other? It's never shown because their personalities and their relationship are severely underdeveloped.

Well, we can use actual examples from the series to prove our points) Please give me at least 1-2 specific examples of scenes where Yichen and Lu Feng have serious, meaningful conversations about something that is not their relationship.

Moonchild by Mindfieldsound https://music.apple.com/ua/song/moonchild-feat-penelope-antena/1499510591?l=uk

I agree that assaults and dubious consent have to be tagged. It's weird that they aren't. That said, the abuse and toxicity in TMS are way more layered than in DH; Fan Xiao does work hard to change for the better, and You Shulang doesn't forgive him for a long time. If even this didn't work for you, you will probably hate DH even more because it has a perpetual repetition of abuse from one character and meek passivity from another one, plus no development at all.

This depends on how well a story is written. In this case, I agree with you that DH isn't written well. However, it's not because of rape, and it's not because the characters end up together despite it. It's the same thing as saying that a series with a bank robber or cannibalistic killer as a main character is bad just because they weren't killed or thrown in prison at the end. Fiction is all for exploring different scenarios, including toxic ones.