Singularity

Super noticeable on my 55 inch screen... part of it is the resolution, part of it is Youtube compresses super hard, image appears blurry and with lots of blocking in darker areas. Good quality1080p blu-ray I agree is fine on 55 inch screen, but that is not the quality we are dealing with.

Yes, does it stream in 4k on that? I tried to watch blood of youth in the app previously, but it was still 1080p. Haven't tried blood river yet.

Edit: yes, looks like the youku apple tv app is only 1080p. Looks like can watch in 4k on their website on PC though.

Has anybody found a way of streaming Youku shows in 4k? I'm willing to pay money, but doesn't seem like it exists? Watching 1080p with Youtube compression on a big TV is a bit painful haha.

That doesn't really answer anything... they so short of source material in China they re-adapting the same book twice in 3 years? This one will inevitably be compared to the 2022 adaptation, most likely unfavorably. Strange decisions.

Is this just a remake of TBOY? Very strange they decided to do this so soon given how well regarded TBOY was. The cast also appears much younger, which is probably not going to be a good thing.

That's good to know. He was late Nascent when I stopped listening to the audiobook. The power systems and world building get more elaborate later in the book but you unfortunately never get the same emotional heft after the first big arc covered in this season of the drama. I hope they can mine more emotions out of the source material in the adaptations.

As a novel reader/listener, this adaptation is really remarkable. The book wasn't my favorite (my favorite Chinese webnovel is probably Guardians of the Dafeng) but man, this adaptation did such a good job of taking the good parts of the novel, discarding the detritus, and fleshing out supporting characters. It does a great job of weaving characters back into the story, whereas the novel has a tendency to only visit characters briefly and then forget about them. It also makes many of the characters more sympathetic and gives the story more emotional heft. 10/10 adaptation.

I would say I can't wait for season 2, but unfortunately all my favorite bits of the book were in the parts covered here :(

Like the Trails in the Sky/Trails of Cold Steel ones? No, completely unrelated.

Completely missed this releasing... the opening fight scene is better then all the fight scenes in the first season (Doulou Continent) combined.... I could not believe how badly they messed up the shot where TS's dad appears in the sky in the first season, which IMO is the second best scene in the whole book. The CGI is a bit fuzzy this time around but the energy is there at least, as opposed to the version in the first season which was a wet fart. Promising start!

1. Acting is subjective and I do agree that the lead actor really does look the part of XQA. He also has the general swagger and demeanor that I would expect. I felt that in the more dramatic scenes he just didn't emote very well however. It definitely didn't help that he always sounds like he's talking with marbles in his mouth, which I doubt anybody who doesn't speak Mandarin would notice.

2. The pacing isn't fast, it's weird. If the pacing was just fast I'd understand it. However they spent more then a full episode of the romance of XQA's brother/cousin and then condensed an entire arc into about 15 (very confusing) minutes. The also added in scenes that IMO weren't necessary (such as XQA's uncle's failed attempt to rescue him from prison) that took up precious time that could have been better used elsewhere.

3. I really don't buy the whole runtime constraints. American TV shows tell coherent stories in 7-10 episodes, including adapting whole books. C dramas have 400% or more runtime and they can't manage it? They may not be used to it, but it certainly seems possible to condense a story down in a more consistent manner.

4. Again, this is a problem of attention, not ability. C dramas are very capable of doing good fight scenes (see: Blood of Youth) and there are even some nice fight scenes in this drama, such as the Gold Gong fight. It's just baffling that they spent all their budget on a fight that didn't matter at all and then the pivotal fight against Duke Zhenbei was one hit.

5. I stand by my point here, JOL is better, not just first. JOL added depth to the story and there are scenes (the assassination attempt on FY) and characters (the second prince) who are much more interesting in the drama compared to the novel. There is really nothing in this drama that is more interesting then the novel.

This is not at all how things go after the marketplace.... there is a similar memory type event later but not at this time. His father is a main villain. In the book he kidnaps XQA by force a bit later in the plot. The drama diverges significantly from the book in the last 40 minutes or so of the last episode

Have you considered the Obviously Evil Man might be lying?!? Did the fact that he was the one working with the Duke to massacre a bunch of innocent civilians not clue you into maybe he isn't a good dude?

In the book at least they are supporting the "true" branch of the imperial family. There was previous civil war about 500 years ago and the current emperor is descended from the branch that rebelled but won. The initial "true" branch is still around and the Xu family are their main underlings.

I really liked the final four episodes... all except the last half of the last episode. If you're legit wanting the character motivations explained, I can probably do that. I'm not sure how well the drama did it but it makes sense in the book.

The last half of the last episode... I do think they jumped the shark a bit.

Feel that I am being vague enough that a spoiler tag isn't necessary? The fact that show has an ending and that the ending has a final 40 minutes isn't really a spoiler...

Last 40 minutes or so were.... strange. It felt like they are hedging their bets by trying to give the show an ending if they never get a second season. Nothing after the marketplace scene happened in the books (or at a minimum stuff did happen but waaaay later) and it just feels unnecessary if they're going to a second season.

Overall I think the drama is good enough but dragged down by uneven pacing.

It was a weird sequence. This sequence is very different (and much, much longer) in the book, was basically its own arc, compressed to half an episode, which is why it feels a little whiplashy.

His dad's still alive and is one of the main villains.

Yes, that's what the english subtitles on Tencent call him

Don't remember very clearly. The book becomes less interesting after the civil war against his dad and I didn't pay much attention to what was going on with his harem. I know he goes traveling with Lin An and that's about it.