PeachBlossomGoddess

Thanks for this review. I dropped it bc even though I do like Cheng Lei, it was just too of him in too short a time span.

It seems to me then he should just run around spoiling the plot bc every time he "dies" he reboots anyway. There must be some real consequences but if he doesn't really die then idk what they are. 🤷‍♂️

It should only reboot into the current mission since he completed the first two although I am not sure to which point - i.e., is Sword King identity still exposed to jianghu? Note the "new" Sword King now has a beard.
Too bad it probably didn't reboot to before Tang Rou's death.

I believe it only resets to the point of the last mission he completed. So he doesn't need to replay Mission 1 and 2, just Mission 3 to reform Liu Suifeng. You can kind of tell there was a reboot bc Sword King has a beard now when he didn't before.

I don't have a issue with the AI element itself, just how it is not well written and does not fold in well with the prose of the original writer. I get it that CY can do no wrong in YOUR eyes and if you think its great, that's all good. That however does not invalidate other people's impressions that his acting is a bit off in this role. It is super condescending to suggest other people don't understand what they are watching just because you don't like or agree with their opinions.

I don’t have a preconceived idea of a super hero
at all. I expect him to be weak in the beginning and get strong as he advances. I have no problem with the character itself but I just find CY to be visibly struggling with the role and esp in the beginning but even in recent scenes. He seems to be struggling to act. Whereas Xu Zhenxuan seems to be pulling off his character more naturally and effortlessly.

Yes indeed Shénzhōu / 神州 is an ancient and poetic name for China, often appearing in classical texts. Most people learn vernacular Chinese nowadays and may not be familiar with it.

There should be no AI or game or reset or whatever in the novel which was written in the 1970s.

MDL's best feature is BLOCK. You can silence all the spoiler and hater trolls by just simply blocking them. Try it, its great!!!

Tyvm for your always kind and insightful comments. This is definitely not STOD but I did really enjoy the one big case format.

The too many characters is a key feature of classic wuxias. They were originally written as daily series in newspapers so they are long and meandering with many side plots and side characters. I must admit this is not one of Cheng Yi's better dramas but the dialogue and script is not great either. But in the latest episodes he has gotten noticeably better. I will also point out the fight scenes are good.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

Geez just when I thought I had blocked all the crazy fans on MDL...
Can we just stick to talking about Fu Shanhai?
Take your mind numbingly boring fan wars to the actor pages and duke it out there please! Gentle reminder - your favorite actors don't know or care that you even exist! Don't waste so much time and emotional energy on them.

Geez - why would they narrate a Zhao Xun movie when she can convey it in her acting???

And Qiushui should really stick it to him - it's all thanks to you asshole!

Daxi - should be Song dynasty and Beihuang should be the Great Jin (Jurchens) who invaded Song and humiliated the Song royal family in the Jingkang period. After the collapse of their capital, the imperial family fled to the South and established the Southern Song dynasty. This is a popular period to set wuxias - Jin Yong's most popular work LOCH was also set at this time.
Madame Wu should actually be patriot Yuefei's mother so her son that was arrested is Yuefei himself. If you know his story, he was a legendary fighter who kept the Jurchens at bay for years until his own government put him to death. The imperial family in this story should be very useless. All of the names were changed bc I am sure they are going to "distort history" in this telling. I am keen to see how XQS helps Yuefei/General Wu unite a divided martial world to fight against their enemy Beihhuang. If that is how they tell the story there should be no villain per se bc the biggest enemy is really Beihuang.

Some historical background on the story setting - may or may not be spoilers so I am going to hide it anyway:

The early AI/game parts were written by the screenwriter. Once you get past that, it converges into the original novel which was a 1970s or 80s classic wuxia. After Jin Yong and Gu Long, the writer Wen Ruian is considered one of the best wuxia writers of that time. I didn't read this book but I know its considered one of his best works.

I am going to guess it ends up fortuitous as by breaking his limbs, Qu Hanshan has somehow unleashed his meridians to reach new heights of martial arts ability. Not a spoiler its just a guess from watching/reading way too much of this genre.

While I understand what Cheng Yi said was taken out of context, it is just bad luck that he inadvertently waded into a sensitive topic. People in China's work week is 6 days from 9am to 9pm. Most of them watch while multi-tasking, that is why short dramas have become way more popular than long ones and the economy has been struggling since covid. So his comments were viewed as insensitive and out of touch with the reality of the times or most people's lives. To the average person, immersing themselves in a 40 episode drama is a luxury that isn't within reach.