I was coming to ask why the first ep rating is so low when it was a pretty solid first episode over all (acting/film style/etc) then I scrolled through some comments and realized it was snowing, so I'll just be ignoring the rating and I'll say again, pretty solid opening,
We got a great first ML introduction, all around likeable guy, with a SHIT FAMILY to add some personal drama. Fuck his whole family unit, besides is sister. Fifa doesn't even seem spoiled, like one would expect this kind of character to be portrayed. I was relieved that he managed to submit his application and I'm already rooting for him to just get through this situation, to get his scholarship then and dip, he can work part time in Japan to cover his living expenses and if Grandma wants to throw his shitty mother and father out of the house which she paid for, seeming to want to hold that fact over their heads, then that's their problem.
I mean, personally I think him going to stay at the nature reserve should/could have been a nice experience for him, it's beautiful, but only if the circumstances weren't literally forced.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this goes. I'm guessing there's gonna be a lot of family and love learning themes in this, I just hope it's done in a way that is interesting plot and story wise. I.e: if it's anything boring and dragged out like that 1000 Stars BL I will be dropping it. Hope not though.
It's actually not that deep. Gao Dawei is actually just a plot device created for the series, he doesn't exist…
Happy to answer any The Spirealm related questions :D And yeah, censorship does quite a lot of damage to adaptations out of China, but if you read the novel from just chapter 139 and ignore the last 8 minutes of the show, you'll find that the novel and series endings kind of line up!
I thought it was a nice highlight of how it generally goes being turned on its head. Asian people have been, and…
Uh, what? Bua...is the 'Caucasian' in this scenario. Also, what revenge? I got revenge for what? Also, I wasn't explaining anything, I was commenting on a scene and how it came across to me. And how exactly does my comment pertain to other races when the scene only has two races presented and that's what I talked about? I actually don't even know what you intended to say here, but okay, you obvs got offended by something but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't know what so
your face is funny and you are a foreigner with blue eyes kinda made me cringe and feel uncomfortable.
I thought it was a nice highlight of how it generally goes being turned on its head. Asian people have been, and still do get, insulted by Caucasians because of their features in very derogatory ways, whether they're in their home countries or abroad, plenty of racist white people got things to say about Asian looks. As a Caucasian person, I smiled and thought that scene was nicely done. Shoe on the other foot and oh how the turns table and all that.
Ayoooooooo the kids ARE alright, ya'll! Well...kind of. They're fickle and messy, so in a real situation they'd have many more setbacks coming. But they're all right for now lol 9.5 and going on my recc list.
It's actually not that deep. Gao Dawei is actually just a plot device created for the series, he doesn't exist…
Alrighty, and yep, Lanzhu (Nanzhu) is technically the 12th door in both versions. In the novel, after the player (survivor) clears the the 11th door, it's basically up to Nanzhu how they exit (memory intact or not) or of course, if they exit at all. Because in the novel Nanzhu is actually a God of the World of the Doors, the world of the survival 'game' belongs to him. He is not human at all.
To be vague, so you can still have some surprises if you read the novel, essentially, the whole reason Qiushi (Jiushi's canon name) enters the survival world was not by mistake or on accident, it was for a specific reason unrelated to the series reason, in the novel it was essentially directly and intentionally made to happen (I won't say the reason).
The term NPC is used in the book as general term to refer to the beings inside the world of the doors, probably as a way for humans to better relate the survival themed world.
So in the novel, everything that happens is real, there is no questioning anything, and there is no ridiculous censored junk 50 year time lapse, there is only an approximate 1 year separation before Nanzhu and Qiushi are reunited in Qiushi's (our) world after exiting the world of the doors at separate times for reeeeeaassssonss. The book is so interesting and so much more detailed honestly.
Other things: -there are more doors in the novel, with more detail, more violence, more gore and horror. The series is also much more sentimental and emotional than the novel, and Nanzhu is a colder person than Lanzhu's character. If you're very attached to the extra characters you may be mildly disappointed with the novel, because... - characters like Li Dongyuan and Zaozao are not given as much importance in the novel as the series, and there are more character deaths as well as the existence of some characters who aren't use in the series and another gay male character who is genderswapped in the series (unfortuneately) - Nanzhu crossdresses as Ruan Baijie in almost every door, it features much more as a part of the story, and Qiushi also crossdresses in one of the doors. (fun fact: Xia Zhiguang did actually dress up in drag as Baijie, of course, due to censorship, it didn't make the cut) - the best part for BL fans is that there is no censorship, Nanzhu and Qiushi become an established couple during the story and the ending is totally different.
Breakdown to the differences of the doors: In the series: 1. Winter Cabin 2. Fitcher's Bird 3. Skin Drum 4. Sako/Lu Zo Zi 5. Psych Hospital 6. Woman of Rain 7. River God/Oil Lamp 8. Teru Teru Bozu 9. Hako Onna
In the novel, additional doors:
The Sculptures Hotel on Fire The Ship (so good, one of my faves, pity it wasn't included in the series, so eerie, it gave me Resident Evil Revelations game vibe) Slenderman
The series did do some minor mix and matches of some details in the doors too.
Okay, so I think I didn't give away any fundamental details of the book, but you can still get an idea of how different it is!
It's actually not that deep. Gao Dawei is actually just a plot device created for the series, he doesn't exist…
It's actually very different and very major in character difference from the series, especially for Lanzhu, but if I tell you how the world is different and if I tell you about Ruan Nanzhu (Lanzhu's canon name in the novel) it might be a big spoiler. Let me know if you want a vague breakdown with some details.
Before this ends, I feel like I need to admit I don't like Baabin, I didn't like him from episode 1. lol the only character I do actually like is Foumod.
This is why I wanna read the novel. I'd rather think the novel's ending as the original ending to make myself…
There technically isn't a 12th door in the series or the novel. You should definitely read the novel, actually, if you're not a big reader, you can you can even just start from chapter 139, that way you can read the non censored ending and how the final 11th door actually played out and the extras that follow. It's the superior ending for sure.
Throughout the whole drama, I was always suspicious of Lanzhu hiding smth from Jiushi... Like there were those…
It's actually not that deep. Gao Dawei is actually just a plot device created for the series, he doesn't exist in the novel and in the series he's not actually all that important. Since there is no virtual game in the novel at all, it's a real alternate world, there was no reason to place visual importance on Gao Dawei's character in the series, they just needed a character to refer to as the game's creator who had a personal connection to Jiushi and at the end we see that he wasn't actually relevant to what happened to Jiushi in 'reality'.
I'm still wondering why people are feeling bad for both Jaemin and Soohyun. I think they should try and figure…
It's the 'attractive package' the dickheads are wrapped in. It warps reality for people who already struggle to separate fiction and reality. They only want to defend them because they look good, if they cast unattractive actors in the roles of Dickhead 1 and Dickhead 2, nobody would be here defending them lol And they defend their defense by saying 'it's not real' but it does make one wonder if they'd let some asshole smack them around just because of looks. There is a disconnect from common sense for real.
Won't pretend like I didn't get distracted by the idea of Pond and Santa doing a BL together from the intro to this series trailer. I like PondPhuwin, but I'd pay to produce a PondSanta BL if I had the money. The visual alone makes me melt 🫠
Also I just looked at the director's previous works and that's not great. This director's stuff is Lacking with a whole capital L.
Also the hairstylist for Pond needs to step up their game because Pond has beautiful hair and A LOT of hair, whatever the hell is going on this with plastic Lego piece hairstyle is not working.
Why are people surprised that Dickhead 2 (Su Hyeon) backed up and hesitated when Daon was running his way with that whacko Dickhead 1 charging up behind him with a knife??? How do people not realize two things: 1. Dickhead 2 is a bully who is loud, aggressive and tall (which makes him seem imposing) and especially with all that rich=important status that goes on in SK, he's also a rich brat who has likely never had a single person stand up to his loud moody ass. Add to that, the fact that he knew: 2. Dickhead 1 is an actual psycho, no jokes, who was 100% gonna stab Daon and/or himself, with no hesitation...
It made perfect sense to me that when faced with the threat of ACTUAL injury/violence, Dickhead 2 turned into a coward, his lizard brain kicking in and telling to choose flight over fight because he didn't want to get stabbed, where as Seong Hyeon is a simple simp and he was happy to get knifed for the sake of his love.
The level of writing and characterization for this BL (with regards to PondPhuwin since they're the only reason I watched this and I skipped through pretty much every scene not including them) when compared to their acting and stories in FUTS and NLMG is (imo) a MAJOR downgrade. FUTS even as a slapstick BL was FAR better than this. We Are was almost painful to watch. The 'plot' was redundant to the point of cringe, a level I thought GMMTV had (should have) abandoned. The story's (romantic) developments played out nonsensically while somehow also going in circles for 16 episodes. Additionally, each episode is riddled with awful slow motion scenes and forced special moments (also in slow motion as if we needed more of that) and the tropes, jfc, there are at least 6-7 trope scenes PER EPISODE. And the music cues are repetitive AF and also in excess. Yikes, this was such a disappointment. I originally dropped this after it came out in 2024, right after 1 ep, but I really like Pond and Phuwin and so I forced myself to come back and watch it, but turns out dropping it had been the right choice initially, I missed exactly NOTHING by watching this. Ah well, it's done now. Each episode was really only about 10 minutes for me with all the skipping so I guess that made it easier (and faster) to get through.
I hope if PondPhuwin do another BL, it'll be either back to the quality of NLMG or better.
Edit: the OST song for this (performed by PondPhuwin) is good though, song is better than the whole show.
The ending actually depends on your perspective, you can take it as all having been real if you like. You can…
About the 50 year skip, that's purely censorship. The simplest way to put it is that the writers decided to make Jiushi so old by the time he 'reunited' with Lanzhu again (whether one chooses to think it was all real or virtual or a dream) so that viewers would think he could not live a fulfilling gay life with Lanzhu thereafter, since he'd be dying soon. It was the closest they could get to killing off a ML for the no-homo government without actually killing anyone off, like other censored BLs have done to pass censorship. Unfortunately (or fortunately) TS was still too gay to pass censorship. lol
The novel is great, but honestly, even with censorship, this show is something special.
Alrighty, that was a satisfying ending over all. I was lowkey hoping Dickhead 1 and Dickhead 2 would end up killing each other while Seong Hyeon escaped from the cabin with Daon, but alright, he got knifed, all self sacrificial and shit, very hero, very go big or go home. Well done Seong Hyeon.
Dickhead 1 went full crazy, that straight jacket is imminent. Well done to him. Dickhead 2 should be in jail, but alas, tis not to be. At least it seems his steam engine has run out of coal, he can gtfo now and find some new unhealthy obsession. Daon and Seong Hyeon, good stuff, good stuff. Ending rounded up well. That said, the post credit ending scene was pointless and should have been left out but I'll still give this a 9/10 and put it on my BL recc list, it was fun and angsty and entertaining!
Acting wise: Cha Jung Woo is by far my favourite for his acting here, he played Dickhead 2 SUPER WELL and I'm sure the actor must have enjoyed being able to spend so much time yelling, exclaiming and breaking shit while filming this, I can imagine the bts is riddled with laughing outtakes! Props to him, he owned this role!
At this point it doesn't even matter if it's Dickhead 1 or Dickhead 2 who kidnapped Daon, both of those headcases need to go to jail or get buried. Fucking psychos.
1
We got a great first ML introduction, all around likeable guy, with a SHIT FAMILY to add some personal drama. Fuck his whole family unit, besides is sister. Fifa doesn't even seem spoiled, like one would expect this kind of character to be portrayed. I was relieved that he managed to submit his application and I'm already rooting for him to just get through this situation, to get his scholarship then and dip, he can work part time in Japan to cover his living expenses and if Grandma wants to throw his shitty mother and father out of the house which she paid for, seeming to want to hold that fact over their heads, then that's their problem.
I mean, personally I think him going to stay at the nature reserve should/could have been a nice experience for him, it's beautiful, but only if the circumstances weren't literally forced.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this goes. I'm guessing there's gonna be a lot of family and love learning themes in this, I just hope it's done in a way that is interesting plot and story wise. I.e: if it's anything boring and dragged out like that 1000 Stars BL I will be dropping it. Hope not though.
And yeah, censorship does quite a lot of damage to adaptations out of China, but if you read the novel from just chapter 139 and ignore the last 8 minutes of the show, you'll find that the novel and series endings kind of line up!
9.5 and going on my recc list.
To be vague, so you can still have some surprises if you read the novel, essentially, the whole reason Qiushi (Jiushi's canon name) enters the survival world was not by mistake or on accident, it was for a specific reason unrelated to the series reason, in the novel it was essentially directly and intentionally made to happen (I won't say the reason).
The term NPC is used in the book as general term to refer to the beings inside the world of the doors, probably as a way for humans to better relate the survival themed world.
So in the novel, everything that happens is real, there is no questioning anything, and there is no ridiculous censored junk 50 year time lapse, there is only an approximate 1 year separation before Nanzhu and Qiushi are reunited in Qiushi's (our) world after exiting the world of the doors at separate times for reeeeeaassssonss. The book is so interesting and so much more detailed honestly.
Other things:
-there are more doors in the novel, with more detail, more violence, more gore and horror. The series is also much more sentimental and emotional than the novel, and Nanzhu is a colder person than Lanzhu's character. If you're very attached to the extra characters you may be mildly disappointed with the novel, because...
- characters like Li Dongyuan and Zaozao are not given as much importance in the novel as the series, and there are more character deaths as well as the existence of some characters who aren't use in the series and another gay male character who is genderswapped in the series (unfortuneately)
- Nanzhu crossdresses as Ruan Baijie in almost every door, it features much more as a part of the story, and Qiushi also crossdresses in one of the doors. (fun fact: Xia Zhiguang did actually dress up in drag as Baijie, of course, due to censorship, it didn't make the cut)
- the best part for BL fans is that there is no censorship, Nanzhu and Qiushi become an established couple during the story and the ending is totally different.
Breakdown to the differences of the doors:
In the series:
1. Winter Cabin
2. Fitcher's Bird
3. Skin Drum
4. Sako/Lu Zo Zi
5. Psych Hospital
6. Woman of Rain
7. River God/Oil Lamp
8. Teru Teru Bozu
9. Hako Onna
In the novel, additional doors:
The Sculptures
Hotel on Fire
The Ship (so good, one of my faves, pity it wasn't included in the series, so eerie, it gave me Resident Evil Revelations game vibe)
Slenderman
The series did do some minor mix and matches of some details in the doors too.
Okay, so I think I didn't give away any fundamental details of the book, but you can still get an idea of how different it is!
✌️😁
You should definitely read the novel, actually, if you're not a big reader, you can you can even just start from chapter 139, that way you can read the non censored ending and how the final 11th door actually played out and the extras that follow.
It's the superior ending for sure.
Gao Dawei is actually just a plot device created for the series, he doesn't exist in the novel and in the series he's not actually all that important. Since there is no virtual game in the novel at all, it's a real alternate world, there was no reason to place visual importance on Gao Dawei's character in the series, they just needed a character to refer to as the game's creator who had a personal connection to Jiushi and at the end we see that he wasn't actually relevant to what happened to Jiushi in 'reality'.
Gao Dawei being played by Xia ZhiGuang was just for convenience really.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/290693350965493398/
There is a disconnect from common sense for real.
Also I just looked at the director's previous works and that's not great. This director's stuff is Lacking with a whole capital L.
Also the hairstylist for Pond needs to step up their game because Pond has beautiful hair and A LOT of hair, whatever the hell is going on this with plastic Lego piece hairstyle is not working.
How do people not realize two things:
1. Dickhead 2 is a bully who is loud, aggressive and tall (which makes him seem imposing) and especially with all that rich=important status that goes on in SK, he's also a rich brat who has likely never had a single person stand up to his loud moody ass.
Add to that, the fact that he knew:
2. Dickhead 1 is an actual psycho, no jokes, who was 100% gonna stab Daon and/or himself, with no hesitation...
It made perfect sense to me that when faced with the threat of ACTUAL injury/violence, Dickhead 2 turned into a coward, his lizard brain kicking in and telling to choose flight over fight because he didn't want to get stabbed, where as Seong Hyeon is a simple simp and he was happy to get knifed for the sake of his love.
That's how I saw it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I hope if PondPhuwin do another BL, it'll be either back to the quality of NLMG or better.
Edit: the OST song for this (performed by PondPhuwin) is good though, song is better than the whole show.
The novel is great, but honestly, even with censorship, this show is something special.
Dickhead 1 went full crazy, that straight jacket is imminent. Well done to him.
Dickhead 2 should be in jail, but alas, tis not to be. At least it seems his steam engine has run out of coal, he can gtfo now and find some new unhealthy obsession.
Daon and Seong Hyeon, good stuff, good stuff. Ending rounded up well. That said, the post credit ending scene was pointless and should have been left out but I'll still give this a 9/10 and put it on my BL recc list, it was fun and angsty and entertaining!
Acting wise:
Cha Jung Woo is by far my favourite for his acting here, he played Dickhead 2 SUPER WELL and I'm sure the actor must have enjoyed being able to spend so much time yelling, exclaiming and breaking shit while filming this, I can imagine the bts is riddled with laughing outtakes! Props to him, he owned this role!