matschi

Story and black flag main character pulled me in

By how much I enjoyed following the show: 10/10
Objective genre based rating: 7/10

I write this review from a certain perspective: started the show without knowing the book, after ep5 I read the book and so I can't help but mourn the missed out potential, even though the book wasn't the greatest ever piece of literature.

Positive aspects of the drama:
Hua Yong character and the actor for this one, story and couple dynamic of main couple, acting of 3 of 4 main characters, some songs of the ost, world building and the strangely also the business talks (very subjective)

Negative points:
Directing
Editing (abysmal)
Pacing and order of scenes and therefore storytelling negatively impacted
Lighting (so damn bright every time, unprofessional and cheap)
Production design partly bad, although they got the expensive high class setting but too many indoor scenes and too few locations so it felt repetitive
Laughable action scenes


Changes from book IP which caused much hate:
SSYs character being less of an asshole than in the book so many viewers couldn't understand why HY was pulling all his manipulative shitty moves up to ep 9

Also changes which reduced enjoyment for me:
Making HY less violent (to himself, to others and to SSY in assault scene ep 9)
Omitting 3 years of Gao Tu's life and his struggles and his new found friends/family

Overall this is an acquired taste, if you're hooked than it's worth watching to the end and very enjoyable.

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