This review may contain spoilers
the only worthwhile adaptation of Beauty and the Beast
I decided to watch this because I really enjoyed Chen Zheyuan in Handsome Siblings and the idea of a werewolf romance was intriguing. I am so glad I did because it's so silly and cute and it's an interesting twist on Beauty and the Beast by throwing in the hidden identity trope (something I don't typically love, but it worked really well here). Now I'm not really a fan of the story of Beauty and the Beast now that I am an adult with critical thinking skills, given it's about a woman basically being imprisoned and teaching her captor how to be kind and gentle and then falling for him in the process, but there are a few things that make this adaptation work imo:
1) Kui Mulang kidnaps her because he needs something called the Holy Pearl to save the entirety of his clan, which Qi Pa (unknowingly) has. The point is repeatedly made that if the Holy Pearl only affected Kui Mulang and it wasn't needed for the health and safety of everyone else, he would not have kidnapped her. He understands and sympathizes with her desire to escape back home and is clearly racked with guilt about keeping her in the Beast Clan.
2) Kui Mulang acquiesces without hesitation to basically every request Qi Pa has other than him sending her home. He genuinely wants her to be comfortable and safe and enjoy her time in the Beast Clan and does so many things that are against the rules of the clan to try to make her happy.
3) Instead of Qi Pa having to teach Kui Mulang, he consults romance novels and books that give information on Daxia customs to try to win her affections.
4) Kui Mulang spends a solid half of the show endangering himself and nearly dying to protect Qi Pa.
I loved both Kui Mulang and Qi Pa pretty much immediately and by the end of the show they had both reached near the top of my list for favorite characters in CDramas. I love that the show allows Qi Pa to be angry and hurt and doesn't try to handwaive away her feelings because it wants us to prioritize Kui Mulang's feelings (something that a lot of shows do all over the world bc we live under patriarchy). I loved most of the side characters and the pairing of Liu Jun/Hongxiu was really cute too. Also I honestly liked the "beast" look, it's just unfortunately really underwhelming when you attach the word werewolf to it.
Anyway, I can't bring myself to give higher than an 8.5 bc at the start the romance is just sooooo messy and most of the background romances were super annoying and some of the plot developments are just ????????? But overall I loved this soooooo much and I can't stop thinking about Kui Mulang and Qi Pa, they really are everything once she uncovers the truth.
1) Kui Mulang kidnaps her because he needs something called the Holy Pearl to save the entirety of his clan, which Qi Pa (unknowingly) has. The point is repeatedly made that if the Holy Pearl only affected Kui Mulang and it wasn't needed for the health and safety of everyone else, he would not have kidnapped her. He understands and sympathizes with her desire to escape back home and is clearly racked with guilt about keeping her in the Beast Clan.
2) Kui Mulang acquiesces without hesitation to basically every request Qi Pa has other than him sending her home. He genuinely wants her to be comfortable and safe and enjoy her time in the Beast Clan and does so many things that are against the rules of the clan to try to make her happy.
3) Instead of Qi Pa having to teach Kui Mulang, he consults romance novels and books that give information on Daxia customs to try to win her affections.
4) Kui Mulang spends a solid half of the show endangering himself and nearly dying to protect Qi Pa.
I loved both Kui Mulang and Qi Pa pretty much immediately and by the end of the show they had both reached near the top of my list for favorite characters in CDramas. I love that the show allows Qi Pa to be angry and hurt and doesn't try to handwaive away her feelings because it wants us to prioritize Kui Mulang's feelings (something that a lot of shows do all over the world bc we live under patriarchy). I loved most of the side characters and the pairing of Liu Jun/Hongxiu was really cute too. Also I honestly liked the "beast" look, it's just unfortunately really underwhelming when you attach the word werewolf to it.
Anyway, I can't bring myself to give higher than an 8.5 bc at the start the romance is just sooooo messy and most of the background romances were super annoying and some of the plot developments are just ????????? But overall I loved this soooooo much and I can't stop thinking about Kui Mulang and Qi Pa, they really are everything once she uncovers the truth.
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