FLAWED in the basis, but still strong in some important aspects
The music, the cast choice and the performances are superb, top notch. The main lad is a hundred peecent believable, and the villains did a perfect job.
Even the stupidest and most unlikeable “good” character, the named brother of the main lad, was played perfectly.
As per the mainland Chinese tradition, nearly all of the cast was dubbed. Only the actor for Nie Huai Sang character has his own voice. Knowing how some of the actors actually sound, I do not mind the dubbing as the voice actors chosen have smooth, rich timbres. But the main actor could have totally voice his role himself.
Among important themes, the series shows massacres quite well. Things like this or worse have been happening in reality.
The show has managed to keep some secrets, making viewers guessing, to its very end, which is great.
Of course, the series’ scenario was censored to remove the BL content, but it still works because just normal strong friendship explains most of what is happening. Besides, the series has lots of cute lads and even a very beautiful lady. Actor Song Ji Yang wins the most beautiful mouth of all time category.
The series is a bit too dragged sometimes, so the optimal number of episodes should be maybe 40, not 50.
The directorial narrative is, at times, confusing.
I see no purpose of putting the first few episodes from the current time upfront only to go back to a giant flashback that makes you forget what was happening. The series would have been even better with a more straightforward narrative.
Sometimes you have to guess what is happening: whether it is a flashback within a flashback or it is something going on concurrently.
And even the timeline announcements make no sense. For example, the giant flashback story is actually starts 32 years ago before the current events, not 16 years ago as the show is titling it. But the series stack the timeline shift so much that you can get it wrong.
The last few episodes are too explanatory, which cheapens the narrative.
Some other drawbacks, among the extensive list of notes to took while watching the series, are below with a spoiler tag:
Even the stupidest and most unlikeable “good” character, the named brother of the main lad, was played perfectly.
As per the mainland Chinese tradition, nearly all of the cast was dubbed. Only the actor for Nie Huai Sang character has his own voice. Knowing how some of the actors actually sound, I do not mind the dubbing as the voice actors chosen have smooth, rich timbres. But the main actor could have totally voice his role himself.
Among important themes, the series shows massacres quite well. Things like this or worse have been happening in reality.
The show has managed to keep some secrets, making viewers guessing, to its very end, which is great.
Of course, the series’ scenario was censored to remove the BL content, but it still works because just normal strong friendship explains most of what is happening. Besides, the series has lots of cute lads and even a very beautiful lady. Actor Song Ji Yang wins the most beautiful mouth of all time category.
The series is a bit too dragged sometimes, so the optimal number of episodes should be maybe 40, not 50.
The directorial narrative is, at times, confusing.
I see no purpose of putting the first few episodes from the current time upfront only to go back to a giant flashback that makes you forget what was happening. The series would have been even better with a more straightforward narrative.
Sometimes you have to guess what is happening: whether it is a flashback within a flashback or it is something going on concurrently.
And even the timeline announcements make no sense. For example, the giant flashback story is actually starts 32 years ago before the current events, not 16 years ago as the show is titling it. But the series stack the timeline shift so much that you can get it wrong.
The last few episodes are too explanatory, which cheapens the narrative.
Some other drawbacks, among the extensive list of notes to took while watching the series, are below with a spoiler tag:
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