Major

I'm basically in this for the fight scenes, sets, and costumes now, FF all the rest LOL. And I could care less what the author's 'twist' is--no way I'm waiting 2+ more years for that when I'll have forgotten everything anyway. Ambitious/commendable that they attempted to adapt this but I can't get past the cheesiness.

Oh wow you're doing the manhua as well. How far into the novels did you get--DD2, 3,4?

IKR..it took Grandmaster like two seconds to recognize Dugu at Heaven Dou in the donghua lol. Once you're a Titled Douluo you're famous, or in some cases infamous.

Oh Lordy haha. It looks like the donghua is gonna be inheriting a lot of new fans, many of which are gonna face their own "don't compare the two" admonishments in two years time LOL. It isn't easy to do..

Well that rules out ending at the halfway point, if it's anything similar to the novel. If they do fans will be jumping off buildings lol. That means it has to be the CE Tournament. Neither are cliffhangers btw. So...we're looking at another interminable wait for S2, correct?

The halfway point is at "that major event". If they get to that point in only 40 eps then they've got some serious editing/butchering to do lol. They may have to though idk..But they didn't even get Shrek assembled until ep 13/14, so yeah there's no way they're catching up to the Donhua unless they have Jack the Ripper as editor.

Yeah one of my favorite parts of the novel was when TS gets captured by Dugu Bo (and likely dead in the minds of Shrek), and within the space of a few eps TS is cracking jokes and Dugu swatting him on the head like Tang Hao LOL. The look on the Golden Triangle's faces when TS has a Titled Douluo in tow, who's agreed to be an advisor to Shrek, is sooo priceless hahaha. Tang San's ability to make allies is god-tier.

Yeah I see it a lot in Chinese anime and it always make me LOL. XW brings up the question early in the novel when she says, 'well, maybe there will be a time when we don't have to kill SB's'. From a moral standpoint the author dumps it in DD1 lol, but that question does foreshadow a significant event later on which I won't spoil.

True but even in the novel TS doesn't start gaining real power until he get his third ring and the external SB. But I agree they waste a lot of time in the first 13? eps. And even from the beginning his charisma and tactical genius was evident. He was never a lappy to Mubai.

I believe that the whole ethical question of human vs spirit beast and their endangerment doesn't get addressed until later DD's, but I'm not certain. But you're right, there's a hypocrisy inherent in the series that says, 'touch any friend/relative SB of XW and you die', but no problem for us to kill as many as needed to level-up *facepalm*. As long as the ends justify the means for the MCs, morality goes out the window LOL.

Yup. They say Grandmaster was like a second father to TS, but it was always the TS x Dugu scenes I could never get enough of. He goes from rumored rogue with a villainous reputation, to TS's captor, to trusted advisor & protector of Shrek, to an equivalent grandfather to TS, then finally the most important character in the war against SH. He was also one of the best examples that showcased TS's other freakish ability--his charisma. Now that's a great character.

Idk about the drama because I'm behind and its butchered lol. Only XG, Flander, and ZWJ are supposed to know about his twin spirit right now. The revelation of his CS hammer is one of the best scenes in the novel because it introduces a vital character in a very emotional/heartfelt show of loyalty: Tai Tan, leader of the Strength Sect. He sees a giant spirit image of Tang Hao (that dwarfs his own) while testing TS with spirit pressure. It's godly. But even then it's only known to those closest to TS. The public revelation of his CS hammer comes just prior to the CE Tournament, during his fight with Feng Xiao Tian. That's when things get dangerous because Salas is in attendance.

OMG if they butcher his character I'm done with this LOL. He's probably my favorite character, top 3 minimum besides TS himself.

The CS hammer is an attack type spirit, but yes the strongest in its category. If you're referring to protection, then probably XW's Nullity, Invincible Golden Body, TS's first right arm bone, or Bibi's Undying body. Then the abilities of the Defense and Elephant Armor Sects, of course.

It's God awful. The donghua's score is so much better it's laughable.

IKR. And Grandmaster they basically inherited, owing to the fact that he's been personal instructor to TS for nearly seven years by this point.

Yeah I think it's funny they omit ZWJ from the narrative but still try to incorporate the Unrivaled Dragon Serpent *facepalm*. It wasn't Flander who protected the group from Er Ming; It was ZWJ..

Sigh...if I were to innumerate all the inconsistencies between the source material and the drama, the consequences of trying to do a 'quasi adaptation', etc., it would be moot. At this point, I'm convinced they should have rewritten the entire thing for a better translation to live action. There's simply far too much material and too little time to make the novel's events believable/meaningful. Right now they're truncating entire arcs and trying to fuse them together with new drama subplots and it isn't working imo. I would understand why newbies to DD would be completely confused. Btw I had to laugh at TS ending a MFD spider with one swing of the CS hammer lol. And HLN still stalking Shrek like a vampire...but no one knows who she is or what she's doing LMAO. Omitting ZWJ was a mistake too--he's a very important character in their training. Ironically, the CGI is the best part of the show. Da Ming looked pretty damn good. Er Ming...not so much lol.

Well that's certainly better than the CDrama "solution". I have a ton of issues with the drama's censorship/gutting. The first is his father being the benefactor/protector of the Tang secrets. Utterly ridiculous. That would mean a) he was hiding world-changing secrets all these years or b) he'll teach them to TS at some point, both of which make no sense in Tang Hao's personal history or Clear Sky's. Secondly, TS's unique ability to level-up at such a remarkable rate and assassin powers ABSOLUTELY HINGES on his having the Tang Sect secrets from a very early age, as in the novel. Mysterious Heaven, Purple Demon Eye, et al, were PIVOTAL in his becoming so powerful later. But those Tang Sect secrets had to be cultivated for nearly 18 freaking years in the present world for him to make Titled Douluo so young. The idea of Tang San STARTING to cultivate them at 16/18yrs of age and those secrets magically bearing fruit only a few years later is utterly ridiculous imo. The third is his extensive knowledge of hidden weapons, which is game-changing. He's suddenly going to find the blue prints for those and have all the knowledge and experience to fabricate and use them, when it took a lifetime in the past LMAO? I guess I'll wait for the CDrama explanation, but I remain skeptical of its logic..

Yeah I don't disagree on those points--lots of wasted time imo when there's a TON yet to cover. And you're right, if XG doesn't become front and center, esp as it relates to his relationship with TS, then this adaptation is doomed. In the novel he's basically a second father to TS. And although he's looked down upon by the idiot masses for his handicapped spirit and controversial theories, those in the know respect him ENORMOUSLY. He's a SH honorary elder ffs..