Not sure what's going on with the comments below since I rarely watch drama, but I thought this guy's performance as Jin Kuwana from Lost Judgment was amazing. It's too bad he doesn't get main roles often, the only thing I was really able to enjoy him in was Kinou Nani Tabeta?
I can't believe Ken Yasuda just became one of my favorite JRPG character ever. LMAO
I rarely ever watch dramas, but I did play Y7. Absolutely loved the character then discovered he was based off an actual person. And now I'm going down a J-drama hellhole thanks to this man. I normally stay away from anything Japanese acting because it's usually terrible when compared to other countries, but Yasuda is extremely talented. His ability to play different roles and characters is mind-blowing and I'm happy to see he is still getting so many roles still.
I don't think it's Hokkien, I think it's the Minnan language (?) that people still use in Taiwan. It's an accurate…
There are plenty of other resources/dramas available for someone who would want to learn Mandarin. The amount of Taiwanese in this show is really only dialogue between two characters (one character who primarily uses it), which doesn't amount to much. And as someone else mentioned above, Taiwanese is still commonly used in Taiwan these days, especially in the more southern areas where some of the show was filmed in. I think it was well used, wasn't overbearing, and very fitting for the characters who had dialogue in it.
Man, this drama. I'm not usually a drama watcher myself, but I was in the mood for something fantasy and stumbled across it. I was absolutely enthralled. Being a writer myself, it had many similar elements to what I love most (urban fantasy, detective, hiding an OP identity, etc.).
I rarely binge watch anything, or watch anything at all really. But I had to sit down and finish this ASAP. I love it so much, and it had so much potential, but I have to say I was really disappointed in the end. That doesn't mean I don't love it, I'm still thinking about the characters every day and the wonderful tidbits and experience I had. But there was so much potential that was unfortunately unmet. I could go on and on about all the subplots and character details that were poorly used or left unused, but I'll save it for another day.
Now here's the point of my comment: A light comparison between the drama and the novel. I actually think that whoever rewrote the screenplay (Chinese censorship reasons) did a fantastic job, which was even more exemplary to me after reading the novel and noticing the subtle changes, but the execution and production fell extremely short towards the end. The rewrite actually made the universe richer for me and incorporated elements and themes that were not in the original novel. The original novel trended towards ghosts and the supernatural as well as mythology (not Black Robe Envoy, but the Ghost Slayer) while the drama made it far more sci-fi. I love that, and I think if they had a larger budget, they would have been able to showcase that far more. Shen Wei was an arts/Chinese professor in the novel, but is a Bioengineering professor in the drama. This was a fantastic change as well, though I found it a bit contrary to his comments about his lack of experience towards technology. They attempted to introduce this change as a subplot, which could have also had better execution in regards to changing humans into an Undergrounder. I also wish with the trending change of genre towards sci-fi, that they could have showed more "battles" of technology VS magic. I would have also appreciated more focus on detective work, but a huge overarching arc with a big villain is always a thing.
Overall, I suppose the point is that I loved the drama over the novel. The world-building, character change and relationships (Lin Jin into a geek, Chu/Guo friendship), detective work were all lovely and I still think about it a lot. (Granted, I am also not a BL reader so I am leaving that out of my judgment, but I can appreciate the characters.) However, the execution and production left much to be desired and I can only look forward to something more in the future, as unlikely as that is.
Finally finished the first episode. My god, what a treat. That was amazing! Highly recommended drama, can't wait to see the rest!
I rarely binge watch anything, or watch anything at all really. But I had to sit down and finish this ASAP. I love it so much, and it had so much potential, but I have to say I was really disappointed in the end. That doesn't mean I don't love it, I'm still thinking about the characters every day and the wonderful tidbits and experience I had. But there was so much potential that was unfortunately unmet. I could go on and on about all the subplots and character details that were poorly used or left unused, but I'll save it for another day.
Now here's the point of my comment: A light comparison between the drama and the novel. I actually think that whoever rewrote the screenplay (Chinese censorship reasons) did a fantastic job, which was even more exemplary to me after reading the novel and noticing the subtle changes, but the execution and production fell extremely short towards the end. The rewrite actually made the universe richer for me and incorporated elements and themes that were not in the original novel. The original novel trended towards ghosts and the supernatural as well as mythology (not Black Robe Envoy, but the Ghost Slayer) while the drama made it far more sci-fi. I love that, and I think if they had a larger budget, they would have been able to showcase that far more. Shen Wei was an arts/Chinese professor in the novel, but is a Bioengineering professor in the drama. This was a fantastic change as well, though I found it a bit contrary to his comments about his lack of experience towards technology. They attempted to introduce this change as a subplot, which could have also had better execution in regards to changing humans into an Undergrounder. I also wish with the trending change of genre towards sci-fi, that they could have showed more "battles" of technology VS magic. I would have also appreciated more focus on detective work, but a huge overarching arc with a big villain is always a thing.
Overall, I suppose the point is that I loved the drama over the novel. The world-building, character change and relationships (Lin Jin into a geek, Chu/Guo friendship), detective work were all lovely and I still think about it a lot. (Granted, I am also not a BL reader so I am leaving that out of my judgment, but I can appreciate the characters.) However, the execution and production left much to be desired and I can only look forward to something more in the future, as unlikely as that is.