OniBro

Here's a random thought for novel readers and donghua viewers about how to potentially "fix" drama Tang San below. Will be spoilers below. People who know more about chinese censorship please enlighten me if this would work.

I really hope they stop sidelining Xiaogang, they've already made him less knowledgeably it seems, but he's also the reason why the entire cast develops more contextually together rather than the slower individual progression they've been doing so far. Due to that neglect it seems like they're also neglecting the power scaling and power system of the series because apparently Hong Jun was born with 2 Soul Rings....

For the first time ever in a drama for me, over 10 hours in and we don't really have a ML or FL, despite the big name attached to the ML especially. So I feel bad for those who have no idea what the context of why they're doing all this. Which imo, no one should have to be explained the context.

I really hope they move onto more of Tang San's development soon. We're going to be hitting the halfway point soon and he's sort of been sidelined to be a cheerleader for the supporting cast. Characters just say he is talented but they don't actually show it in comparison to the other characters' prowess, so it just feels random and unearned to a degree. The script for his personality isn't nearly as prominent in comparison to the other characters for being the ML.

We'll never know if this is another Game of Thrones thing where the author doesn't agree but he's already signed so he can't do anything even if he doesn't give consent. This is also Chinese media so he isn't going to be nearly as vocal as George R.R. Martin was about it. At the end of the day, the screenwriter, corporate, and the government have far more control than the author here.

I'm not outright saying it is bad. I am saying that just because something can potentially be lesser than another thing does not mean it is bad. Like, if something is a 10/10, and the other is 9/10, the latter is objectively lesser but it is still a good product. For some reason the drama community has never seem to take too well to any form of criticism compared to other media communities globally (and that's a hot take I guess).

Also the whole argument of not comparing to the original source is sort of null considering this would not exist without the success of the original source and its fanbase it garnered, aka, donghua and novel readers. It's bound to happen, even if it's in the back of our minds. I'm not angry, I am simply sad and disappointed in some ways, and it's our own right to criticize. Without criticism, we can't get better products anyways.

If I remember right, one of the reasons a martial soul mutation can occur is due to some form of incest being involved like a cousin or second cousin and so on. I think they kind of imply this to be one of the reasons Xiaogang is sort of outcasted as well. But nonetheless it is something canonically genetic, so whatever the village head did, he altered Ma Hong Jun at a genetic level.... If only the rest of the Continent had such medicine...

I am only worried because as someone who does know what is supposed to happen. I know exactly why they changed the characters to be the way that they are. The problem with a lot of the said changes is that it actually overall weakens the world building and the nuances of the original work, both in plot and characters. There are a "few" changes I do appreciate and even improves upon the original work. I won't go any further into comparing the two unless someone is legitimately curious, and I would only stick it to what has been shown so far in the drama, so it wouldn't really be spoilers. So, overall my concern is that the execution of the drama is going to be far lesser than the original work, and I think to us donghua viewers or novel readers, it's sad to see lost potential and that a potentially lesser product is what new people might use to judge what would otherwise be a great piece of work that is the source material to us. Even if it turns out well, we would know it could've been better.

I'm not saying TU is perfect in pacing. However something as basic as character introductions to your main cast should never really take this long even if you heavily diverged from the source material, which they already have done here. I'm focusing on how it took over 10 episodes to introduce your main cast without any meaningful plot or character progression, that is its own problem. That's why I used TU as the example, a far bigger cast with an even more convoluted storyline was introduced in just one or two episodes in comparison with developments as well, and I'm focusing on that point alone. If someone has never watched a drama, would you want them to sit through almost 10 hours without any plot happening in the very beginning of the show.

For a quick comparison to bring this into perspective. Using The Untamed as the standard since everyone loves to do so nowadays. In 10 episodes every single character was introduced (which TU has a far bigger main cast than this), character development progressed consistently with back and forth banter, and we were slowly moving into how Wei Wuxian begins his downfall consistently as by ep 12, (which is when Ning Rong Rong is introduced here), Wei Wuxian and Lang Wangji are just one episode away from one of the biggest plot events in the series.

I know what happens from the novel and donghua. All these introductions could've been greatly condensed into just one or two episodes if it had stuck to the novel. And I personally wouldn't call keeping a plotline stagnant for almost over 10 eps good pacing... especially when that's a quarter of what you have to work with.

I can't believe we spent almost 10 hours and more than a quarter of the season just introducing the main cast with no character development to be seen much less the plot... -_-

I really hope we get some pov inner monologue stuff from Tang San to show how he brainstorms stuff and goes about things because atm it just feels like he pops in and out to say a couple of lines that happen completely off-screen to push the plot and we're just supposed to accept that he's "smart." Kinda weak writing if they're going that route to show his intelligence since they're not really doing much more than just that and we're already 1/4 into the first season.

I knew about the reincarnation thing, but it's just other stuff. Su Yuntao being a direct disciple just to introduce Hu Lie Na so early just made my jaw drop when I saw that. Hu Lie Na popping out of nowhere, and a direct disciple only having 2 Soul Rings. CDrama Master doesn't seem to be nearly as noble or wise as his source counterpart. Master's background has already been sort of revealed. Tang San is looking almost too innocent and pure compared to the ever cautious and tactical source counterpart both in conversation and combat. Dai Mu Bai is strict, edgy, and arrogant (they're probably banking off his background reveal). Zhu Zhuqing is openly spiteful and combative compared to the stoic and cool natured vers (which is even more spoon fed foreshadowing). Ning Rong Rong is nowhere to be seen for Uncle Sausage (up to ep 9 atm), we have Hu Lie Na instead for some reason who I thought was going to be NRR. Tang Hao teaching the Xuan Tian Records introduces its own problems later on. Ma Hong Jun killed his parents??? Tang San got angry and deus ex machina'd his way into a Saiyan trope against Zhao Wuji, no strategy or anything just brute force. We have to remember, Tang San is supposed to become the God of Wisdom, so far I'm not feeling that at all and its shown no real development that feels like CDrama Tang San earned it. Uncle Sausage's motivations are writing play scripts? That's his gag???

They're spoon feeding Xiao Wu's true identity sooo hard, that they even showed how she gets her soul ring. Also seems like they're propping up Xiao Wu's character even more as she's become more of an encyclopedia than Xiaogang, which in turn weakens the appeal of Xiaogang imo. I actually like Xiao Wu's motivations here, but it feels like Xiaogang's wisdom and knowledge was lowered in turn when it didn't need to just to further her character a little bit or just to match the change done to Tang San.

There's just soo much forced foreshadowing and reveals so early into the story. So many characters have been changed. I find myself giving this adaption so many passes so I can get through it because I want to no matter what, but it just feels wrong every time that I have to shrug off so many things. I know the general "direction" of the story is still the same. We are still heading towards the same ending, the same battles, the same key plot points, but the road to get there has changed far beyond I expected so far that it's almost hard to recognize it if it didn't have the Soul Ring power system, if this didn't have characters with the same names, or if this wasn't Douluo Continent. Still keeping my hopes up tho, still watching.

I think if you've seen the donghua/anime or read the novels, you're probably likely going to be extremely disappointed with this adaption sadly much like me. Still watching it tho, really hope it turns up. So far, it's veered off course a helluva lot already. Starting to understand Legend of Fei viewers now.