Definitely a gift for DMBJ novel fans
Ultimate Note final thoughts:
I remember being extremely suspicious of the cast and the length of the drama in the beginning.
However after the trailers got released I felt a bit more positive.
Then the first ep got released and I was utterly speechless with the amount of info they squeezed in one ep and how fast paced and how much they followed the novel.
Of course there were a few things that were changed to increase the screen time of some characters, but it was handled really well and it even added more depth into the show.
We feared that everything was going too smoothly and we prepared ourselves for the worst. However, it never came? The show was consistently delivering and even improving in the many aspects.
Even though the ending was an open ending, it was quite fitting considering the final book was not included, they were still able to fit in information from book 8 and even fan theories. They were able to lay out everything in a way that was easy to digest.
They were able to make us feel happy, sad, scared and worried about our main characters.
They showed us more than we ever thought we would get.
The sets were amazing and the graphics was good enough to considering the budget constraints. What appeared to me is that they knew where to put more attention in and where to put less.
Also I noticed the awkwardness in the filming mainly showed up when it was mundane scenes where they were not going into tombs or in the wild.
This Iron Triangle is definitely my favorite, we see them growing together, developing an unbreakable friendship after so many life threatening situations.
Now onto the actors,
Zheng Shunxi: I was the most skeptical about him at first, I've heard bad reviews about his previous acting and that didn't give me a good impression. I then watched Journey Across the Night and was impressed with him and I could see him as Wuxie then. And then his performance in UN definitely surpassed my expectations. He acted really well as a innocent but also temperamental Wuxie, a Wuxie that is hurt and has grown throughout the series. And lastly and more importantly is his emotional scenes were always very well done and it's a blessing he was able to act as Wuxie.
Xiao Yuliang: I knew him from Shahai, and honestly there was not enough of him to know if he would be good enough or not. At first I was surprised with how much emotion he was expressing in UN. I sometimes forget that Xiaoge is human just like everyone else, he is good at having a stoic face, but he still feels pain and happiness. I am glad he brought Xiaoge up to life, I could see what he was feeling and thinking when seeing his Xiaoge. And his action scenes are such a delight!! It's so different seeing action scenes performed by someone with some martial arts background! Also the contrast between his irl personality and Xiaoge is really impressive too, it shows how much of a good actor he is.
Cheng Fangxu: first thought seeing him was, he is not fat enough!! But when he started speaking in the trailer I already knew he is Pangzi himself! I liked how he was not here to only bring in the comedic effect, he was here like a mentor to Wuxie, he in many ways influenced Wuxie's growth as a tomb robber. There were times were his acting was a bit exaggerated but it was for comedic effect and I am completely fine with it. What I like the most, is how he himself is such a good older brother to the other two.
The rest of the cast also did a really good job and I am extremely grateful with everyone from this team. This is one of the most beautiful gifts a DMBJ fan can ever receive.
I remember being extremely suspicious of the cast and the length of the drama in the beginning.
However after the trailers got released I felt a bit more positive.
Then the first ep got released and I was utterly speechless with the amount of info they squeezed in one ep and how fast paced and how much they followed the novel.
Of course there were a few things that were changed to increase the screen time of some characters, but it was handled really well and it even added more depth into the show.
We feared that everything was going too smoothly and we prepared ourselves for the worst. However, it never came? The show was consistently delivering and even improving in the many aspects.
Even though the ending was an open ending, it was quite fitting considering the final book was not included, they were still able to fit in information from book 8 and even fan theories. They were able to lay out everything in a way that was easy to digest.
They were able to make us feel happy, sad, scared and worried about our main characters.
They showed us more than we ever thought we would get.
The sets were amazing and the graphics was good enough to considering the budget constraints. What appeared to me is that they knew where to put more attention in and where to put less.
Also I noticed the awkwardness in the filming mainly showed up when it was mundane scenes where they were not going into tombs or in the wild.
This Iron Triangle is definitely my favorite, we see them growing together, developing an unbreakable friendship after so many life threatening situations.
Now onto the actors,
Zheng Shunxi: I was the most skeptical about him at first, I've heard bad reviews about his previous acting and that didn't give me a good impression. I then watched Journey Across the Night and was impressed with him and I could see him as Wuxie then. And then his performance in UN definitely surpassed my expectations. He acted really well as a innocent but also temperamental Wuxie, a Wuxie that is hurt and has grown throughout the series. And lastly and more importantly is his emotional scenes were always very well done and it's a blessing he was able to act as Wuxie.
Xiao Yuliang: I knew him from Shahai, and honestly there was not enough of him to know if he would be good enough or not. At first I was surprised with how much emotion he was expressing in UN. I sometimes forget that Xiaoge is human just like everyone else, he is good at having a stoic face, but he still feels pain and happiness. I am glad he brought Xiaoge up to life, I could see what he was feeling and thinking when seeing his Xiaoge. And his action scenes are such a delight!! It's so different seeing action scenes performed by someone with some martial arts background! Also the contrast between his irl personality and Xiaoge is really impressive too, it shows how much of a good actor he is.
Cheng Fangxu: first thought seeing him was, he is not fat enough!! But when he started speaking in the trailer I already knew he is Pangzi himself! I liked how he was not here to only bring in the comedic effect, he was here like a mentor to Wuxie, he in many ways influenced Wuxie's growth as a tomb robber. There were times were his acting was a bit exaggerated but it was for comedic effect and I am completely fine with it. What I like the most, is how he himself is such a good older brother to the other two.
The rest of the cast also did a really good job and I am extremely grateful with everyone from this team. This is one of the most beautiful gifts a DMBJ fan can ever receive.
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