(Justice in the Dark / Guang Yuan / Mo Du Live Action first impression…)
I was planning to wait for more episodes to air before binging but alas my self-control is non-existent so I’ve watched all 8 eps that are out. Disclaimer, I only listened to the audio drama and haven’t read the novel yet which I hope to correct sometime in the future. And obviously these are my own personal opinions.
Good acting! Good chemistry between main cast!
I like the aesthetics! (and I know nothing about cinematography etc. but I have nothing bad to say about this aspect)
Is following the original plot MUCH closer than I expected!
Lang Qiao (now Lan Qiao)! I love her.
Tao Ran (now Tao Ze)! Cute!
So that whole thing about genetic predisposition for crime…when that intro popped up, I was like “oh NO” buuut so far, I think I see what they’re trying to do with that and hope they can pull it off well.
The name changes. I guess it was for c*nsorship reasons that I don’t fully understand. I’m conflicted about this but it’s not preventing me from enjoying the show.
Weird inconsistent audio quality, i.e., you can hear when they dubbed over some parts and there is an obvious change between one line and the next. Not uncommon in cdramas but ugh. Though I do appreciate the main actors using their own voices.
So far, I like the dynamic between the main pair. However, I am not feeling any romantic chemistry and don’t feel any urge to ship them. Will have to wait and see if this changes as their relationship also develops.
Yeah, so I saw mostly negative reactions from both the EN and CN fandoms which is not surprising. After watching, I hope minds are changed? People were joking/complaining about it turning into a “sci-fi” but this is not the case?? There are no sci-fi elements…unless I’m missing something… It’s just that they’ve done that AU thing a la Guardian but it’s much more innocuous than Guardian’s fantasy to sci-fi lol.
And the name change thing… On one side, you might consider this disrespectful to the author and original material. On the other hand, if novel fans prefer more separation between the novel and drama, this may be a good thing? Like if someone says Pei Su and Luo Weizhao, you know they’re talking about the drama and not the novel. Tbh I see the benefit of that, especially if there are some more major changes in plot later on…
Anyway, I hope the drama can keep up a good quality so I can enjoy it as a crime mystery show, at the very least. It probably helps that I have low expectations for the romance aspects so I will just wait and see how far they will go with that.