Almost PERFECT adaption of the novel with the BEST changes
Put off writing this review for a long time and had to cut it short otherwise I could go on for ages. I watched this drama ongoing and I was obsessed with this drama alone for months.
This drama was honestly better than I anticipated, and I had EXTREMELY high expectations for this drama
I waited over a year for this drama to release and in that time I read the novel at least 3 times. I loved everything about the novel, but there were several things I would have preferred to be different and the drama acknowledges and changed almost everything I wanted different in the novel to exactly how I wanted it. This was honestly such a good adaption, one of the main reasons I think this is because of all the changes they made from the novel, changes that not everyone liked which I respect, but I do genuinely think some of these changes were (or would be for non novel readers) more preferred by the majority of the audience than what the novel provided.
Cheng Lei and Zhou Ye played their roles really well. I knew from all the promotional pictures that they were perfect for their roles because their aura's matched their characters from the novel perfectly. I know there are several female general dramas out there, several that came out this year alone, but after watching most of them I feel like He Yan's story is very different because of the focuses of her story. He Yan's story focuses on her becoming a general, that is her only goal, she succeeded once but her title was stolen so she spends majority of this story trying to regain not just any title, but her former title as General Feihong. The drama is very heavily focused on He Yan's goal, especially in the first half. Though it is a lot more focused on romance than the novel was, I liked this but I understand why a lot of people didn't like this change.
Here are some things I loved that they changed from the novel:
1. He Yan stays in her original body and is able to bring justice for herself, allowing her to reclaim her title as General Feihong the first female general, and allowing the world to know who she is.
(I understand this change could be due to censorship, but I also think they would have kept it as it was in this drama even without the censorship (like they did with The Untamed)).
I've seen a lot of people complain about how Zhou Ye didn't fit the role of He Yan because she doesn't have the body for a general. Zhou Ye fits the exact character description of He Yan from the novel, she does not however fit the character description of General Feihong. In the novel they are two different bodies, same soul, two bodies. I like how the drama justifies her lack of muscles due to the fact that she was seriously injured, in a coma and recovering for several months minimum. She was also always in armour as General Feihong, on horseback often, and probably wore shoes that made her seem taller so her body being different to General Feihong can easily be justified as well.
2. Xiao Jue and He Yan are closer before He Yan's 'death'. They share twin blades given to them by Xiao Jue's father, meaning He Yan knew and was close to Xiao Jue's father before his father death.
3. Because they didn't do the reborn story if also meant we didn't have to see He Yan's husband from the novel. I think He Rufei and He Yan's father are bad enough as they are, and there are other villains to the story so his presence was not needed. This makes He Yan's story contain a lot less suffering, but it's not the kind of heartbreaking storyline I would have enjoyed watching. I genuinely despised her husband so much in the novel, a cheating and abusive pos who murders her. I'd rather it focus on He Yan and He Yan and Xiao Jue.
4. He Yan's sister does not exist in the drama. So no family drama, the family drama we do have between He Yan and her family is more political.
5. (SPOILER) Almost all of the side characters have a HEA (unlike the novel). No unnecessary deaths.
This drama was honestly better than I anticipated, and I had EXTREMELY high expectations for this drama
I waited over a year for this drama to release and in that time I read the novel at least 3 times. I loved everything about the novel, but there were several things I would have preferred to be different and the drama acknowledges and changed almost everything I wanted different in the novel to exactly how I wanted it. This was honestly such a good adaption, one of the main reasons I think this is because of all the changes they made from the novel, changes that not everyone liked which I respect, but I do genuinely think some of these changes were (or would be for non novel readers) more preferred by the majority of the audience than what the novel provided.
Cheng Lei and Zhou Ye played their roles really well. I knew from all the promotional pictures that they were perfect for their roles because their aura's matched their characters from the novel perfectly. I know there are several female general dramas out there, several that came out this year alone, but after watching most of them I feel like He Yan's story is very different because of the focuses of her story. He Yan's story focuses on her becoming a general, that is her only goal, she succeeded once but her title was stolen so she spends majority of this story trying to regain not just any title, but her former title as General Feihong. The drama is very heavily focused on He Yan's goal, especially in the first half. Though it is a lot more focused on romance than the novel was, I liked this but I understand why a lot of people didn't like this change.
Here are some things I loved that they changed from the novel:
1. He Yan stays in her original body and is able to bring justice for herself, allowing her to reclaim her title as General Feihong the first female general, and allowing the world to know who she is.
(I understand this change could be due to censorship, but I also think they would have kept it as it was in this drama even without the censorship (like they did with The Untamed)).
I've seen a lot of people complain about how Zhou Ye didn't fit the role of He Yan because she doesn't have the body for a general. Zhou Ye fits the exact character description of He Yan from the novel, she does not however fit the character description of General Feihong. In the novel they are two different bodies, same soul, two bodies. I like how the drama justifies her lack of muscles due to the fact that she was seriously injured, in a coma and recovering for several months minimum. She was also always in armour as General Feihong, on horseback often, and probably wore shoes that made her seem taller so her body being different to General Feihong can easily be justified as well.
2. Xiao Jue and He Yan are closer before He Yan's 'death'. They share twin blades given to them by Xiao Jue's father, meaning He Yan knew and was close to Xiao Jue's father before his father death.
3. Because they didn't do the reborn story if also meant we didn't have to see He Yan's husband from the novel. I think He Rufei and He Yan's father are bad enough as they are, and there are other villains to the story so his presence was not needed. This makes He Yan's story contain a lot less suffering, but it's not the kind of heartbreaking storyline I would have enjoyed watching. I genuinely despised her husband so much in the novel, a cheating and abusive pos who murders her. I'd rather it focus on He Yan and He Yan and Xiao Jue.
4. He Yan's sister does not exist in the drama. So no family drama, the family drama we do have between He Yan and her family is more political.
5. (SPOILER) Almost all of the side characters have a HEA (unlike the novel). No unnecessary deaths.
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