LBPG

Did it feel as devastating as it did in the novel, when on 1st pass they rode by without going in, or on 2nd pass when everyone was dead? i saw those bts with them dancing with general ma and thought it was a pity to the story for them to do that (even if he's a lovable character, it's hard to convey the appropriate level of despair when they're singing and dancing? did that make it to the drama?)

did you read the part about them being inside the chessboard? the thousand years chopping away at the buddha mountain? the war in the sinkhole? how do you think they'll adapt all that? i'm 99% sure they're gonna chuck all that (it's pretty wild, i was reading it while shaking my head most of the time) and come up with a new ending.

Bless you. You just articulated what I've been struggling to convey. The only comment I'd like to add is that the way my brain summarizes all this is that it feels as if Dao Mingsi is cosplaying NQ, and all that that implies from the production standpoint. You put it much more nicely, thank you.

If i could give you a million hearts, I would. That's exactly how I feel. The "suffering, desperation, hopelessness and anger", and those emotions coloring their love story, hit a high note on this second half of the novel and it sustains it throughout. I didn't feel any of that at any point while watching EN2. It was them going for a jaunt in the country side and every now and then some baddies would inconvenience them. I hope they finish it here and don't subject us to another crappy adaptation if there's a 3rd part. Because you know it gets even more bonkers in the novel, and if this one is already neutered, a 3rd season would be a cartoon version of itself..... and speaking of neutering, you know that scene were SS castrates NQ? I'm sure it won't be shown in the drama, but I feel like Xia Hou must've done the deed instead in the transition from 1 to 2, since already from the get-go NQ is so damn ball-less. XD

My perspective is that 1) they *had* to tone it down from the novel because of censors (that ep 1/2 fight with LQ has him *eating LQ* in the novel... i suppose that's where the connection with the chopsticks comes in? ahaha), but they didn't have to tone it down this much; 2) they wanted to elevate the romance to draw in DW-related eyeballs, because the fangirls expected it. There *is* romance in the novel, but it's not a *romance novel*. The drama behaves like it's a romance drama that just happens to have some fighting (oh hey, like meteor garden? ha). There was enough shipping in EN1 too with the whole MSS/SS conflict, I didn't get it then and don't get now the viewers that watch either season expecting a romance drama.

OMG I DID THE SAME THING! Beyond the acting, it's the directing... it's the same freaking director, and she changed the tone of the scene for who the hell knows what reason. You see CFY standing there, an imposing figure (not the height, the openness of his stance) and then you see DW standing there with his arms crossed, with his body sort of in a defensive position, having the same conversation. Yang Yang seriously phoned this in. However... Andy On comes across the same way in both scenes. So what does that tell you?

See, a friend who's still watching was asking me about this flashback scene where they go to the academy after the Xia Hou fight, and they're both healthy-looking and giggly. This is in contrast with what's shown in ep1 of the same season, and WAY in contrast to what's in the novel. At this point, it's not that it's not really in sync with the novel anymore (it was way off track when I stopped watching after ep 8) but now it's not even in sync with itself. Saying that this is inconsistent storytelling is putting it lightly.

Ironically, NQ goes from darkness related to his family being decimated in 1, to darkness+++ related to his own life and his beloved's being threatened in 2, yet you get none of it here. They're all phoning it in.

The whole time while reading it I wonder how the heck they would adapt it and keep faithful to it. It bothered the heck out of me to the point I dropped it after episode 8 - all it took was seeing MSS in a cell in Xiling being protected and comforted by the other two addicts. Wtf was that bullcrap?? I was offended for MSS lol. Same with the LQ fight on ep2 and it ending with a flying chopstick and Fuzi berating NQ that he had to rescue him. I knew they'd have to tone it done down, but this changed the tone completely. It made it a romantic comedy, imo. Mao Ni, were he dead, would be turning over in his grave.

THIS! Why would they do that?? It's one thing to make him emotionally vulnerable, which he is throughout this part of the novel, but most certainly NOT physically weak. I keep wondering how much of the immortal NQ they'd show in the drama (like when he pulls out his own heart, that's some sick/amazing stuff right there), but at this rate I don't think they'll get there at all. Maybe by making him weak they're elevating all secondary characters to help him out / hedge their bets on DW carrying the drama as NQ?

But that's part of the issue. NQ and SS have their lovey dovey moments, but it's all framed in a sort of despair and desperation. They wrote it as a sugary, syrupy relationship that's totally jarring. I remember reading their first kiss in the novel and getting goosebumps. It was sad and tender, not lovey dovey at all.

I'd believe they had a smaller budget. The quality truly is lacking. And while I agree Yang Yang did a great job in 1, either the actors are all terrible, or phoned it in for this season. The inconsistencies in tone and what passes for editing are so glaring.

It was transplanted into a pot in an earlier episode (4? 5? Can't remember). He had placed it by a window inside the house.

It needed a well-made and faithful season 2, not this idol drama.

The mistaken identity thing will be solved very quickly within the first 5-6 episodes (I'm on 4 right now, yes I'm still rage-watching for now lmao). I know SS will be the one carrying the main story here, but with a weak-ass NQ as they've shown so far, this will go nowhere fast. NQ needs to become this superhuman powerhouse in order to eradicate Haotian with the help of others, and so far he comes across as weaker than when he even started cultivating, if that's even possible. I'm laughing through most of the episodes so far.

I read the novel after finishing EN1, mainly because I loved the story and wanted to get more details, but also anticipating a failed EN2 adaptation and being able to drop it guilt-free, and I'm glad I did. My problem with this, beyond the actual departure from the tone and content (it's actually faithful on main story and sequence. ETA: lol I take it back. This was true up to ep 6, now it's a cluster) is the quality of the production. EN1 set such a high bar for the expansive, epic feeling of the story, rich details and high quality costumes and props. On this one, I'm still hoping for just a good tailor that can actually fit a robe well on DW like they did on CFY (not making him look like CFY, just making his clothes actually fit. They look too big on him for most of what I've watched). It's not that hard and it's not too much to expect.. But that's how low I've moved the bar for this season, and it's not clearing it lol. C'est la vie. My PTW list is too large to dwell on this when I already know how it *should* go.

I've read Nightfall but not Joy of Life. I've been told jol is not a faithful adaptation but an interpretation. EN1 is pretty faithful. Speaks more to the quality of the novels, imo. And I'm saying this as a fan. EN2 is definitely a script / director issue, even though they're the same as for EN1. It's head-scratching how different the experience is.

He was see through. He gets to knowing destiny in the fight with LQ, though you'd never know it but for him stating it in the same tone as if he'd said he's hungry. It's a joke.

That is such a huge disservice to that scene. NQ acquires the highest level attainable to, essentially, mere mortals, and he needs to be rescued by a chopstick?? Even with the Grey eye thing, NQ's taotie is the granddaddy of them all. Idk why they've made him out to be so weak in this adaptation. :/

The concept in Ever Night is that Ning Que (I suppose in his previous life, it's never explicitly stated) lived in the modern world, to the point that Doraemon and the Beatles are mentioned in the novel. He tells stories that refer to these and other things like technology and even natural phenomena, like the existence of the moon. But does so in a very natural way, like educating others, and they generally don't know what he's talking about and it's left at that. In the drama, there's some mention about him being from different but I don't think it was explored at all.