This review may contain spoilers
Started strong, then completely fell apart
I won't comment on the characters and their chemistry as it looks like a good number of people have already done that. I would say the plot could've been better. It started well, but as the plot thickens, with the combination of the investigation into Charan and Khanin's past, DMD starts to lose their grip on the story. What should've been a Charnan/Khanin story turned into a Charan/Khanin/Ramil/Paytai/Calvin/Jay story.
What's off-putting is that in the novel, Ramil/Paytai/Calvin/Jay are minor characters with not a lot of scenes, yet DMD went and added a whole bunch of unnecessary and sometimes cringey scenes just to promote their CP's. In an attempt to promote their actors, they somehow forgot they have a main story to tell. As a result, around episode 6 or 7, the show began to fall apart. The transition feels choppy and abrupt, and the ending feels rushed and unsatisfying. Like, one minute, we're still digesting the betrayal and deception at the competition, and the next, the couples reunited and everyone got their happy ending.
Overall, I would say the show isn't bad. DMD really put in an effort to get the setting right, from the palaces to the costumes to the world building. However, the plot feels scattered because their focus was all over the place. This feels less like a novel adaptation and more like a "check out our DMD couples" show to me. I have to say, for a show that made us wait for over two years, I'd expected more.
What's off-putting is that in the novel, Ramil/Paytai/Calvin/Jay are minor characters with not a lot of scenes, yet DMD went and added a whole bunch of unnecessary and sometimes cringey scenes just to promote their CP's. In an attempt to promote their actors, they somehow forgot they have a main story to tell. As a result, around episode 6 or 7, the show began to fall apart. The transition feels choppy and abrupt, and the ending feels rushed and unsatisfying. Like, one minute, we're still digesting the betrayal and deception at the competition, and the next, the couples reunited and everyone got their happy ending.
Overall, I would say the show isn't bad. DMD really put in an effort to get the setting right, from the palaces to the costumes to the world building. However, the plot feels scattered because their focus was all over the place. This feels less like a novel adaptation and more like a "check out our DMD couples" show to me. I have to say, for a show that made us wait for over two years, I'd expected more.
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