absurd

It might also have to do with the message that the hero is sending. The Lead can not, under any circumstances, be bad. Nor ambiguous. He has to be good to the core: if he kills someone, they are ether a bad person or it was not his fault. Suicide is also not allowed. So there are probably many reasons why they avoided that. Maybe they just decided that the less possibility there is for censorship cuts, the less money they'll spend on remaking everything time and time again.
Sorry, I seem to ramble a lot :)))

I really don't know. Just seen a lot of comments about it from Chinese viewers in comments (on Chinese sites). I think it has more to do with time travelling, past life - something like that. Censorship is kind of ambiguous - they just cut whatever they consider "not right", they also change the rules every year. So from my understanding if drama needs reincarnation, they try to make it not obvious. Also dramas with real actors (unlike anime) are censored more, even more if it's broadcast on TV. And this is airing on CCTV.
The truth though, no one will say it outright, so everyone is just guessing :)

I think it's too early to judge how it will go, but it definitely didn't "not hit". Free users only got 6 episodes and I don't think a lot of people outside die hard fans would buy vip just like that. Also binge-watches are a thing. Tencent is promoting it like crazy, though and having CCTV as a support is actually very important in China. If the next season is produced with CCTV they won't have any delays or problems with censoring.

I haven't seen any original material. What I gathered from the comments is that it's different from the novel too. The main difference is that there's no reincarnation sublot (Chinese viewers say: censorship), it was changed into the dream sequence. So because of that Tang San's character is different - not as knowledgeable, strong and composed. He is shown as young and still having a lot to learn, but brave and smart.
If I had to compare, this has a pretty typical Japanese shounen storyline - hero that seems simple, but has hidden talents and powers up as the story goes.

I just fell like a lot of people equal "not what I expected" with "bad". Sure, everyone has different preferences, but I don't go around saying that no one should eat apples, just because they're not my favorite fruit.

This is not actually a bad drama - I haven't seen a single negative comment from people who've never seen the anime, but if you expect it to follow the same script as the animation and have strong feelings about it, than, yes, you might be disappointed.

Well, maybe it would be better to just stop comparing and watch this on it's own, enjoying it for what it is, instead of being angry about what it could have been. Because as someone who haven't seen the anime/manga/novel and also someone, who never had a high opinion about production quality of Chinese dramas (I started watching because I'm learning Chinese, not because they are oh, so interesting), I have to say that so far this is a really good drama, with script that obviously had a lot of thought put into it and pretty high production quality. Yes it is not perfect, but nothing ever is.
I am not saying you have to enjoy it despite your reservations. If you like animation better, than that's your preference. But just because something is not as you expected it to be, doesn't mean it's bad.

Are you sure it hasn't? Because it has 600 mln views on Tencent in just 6 days of broadcast and that's not counting people watching on CCTV (which tops viewership ratings everyday).
Tencent doesn't actually care about how it does outside of China, as long as it does well there. Sure it's a nice bonus, but just that. And it was evident already with LOF, that they don't care about reviews ether.
The only thing that can really stop season 2 is Xiao Zhan refusing to participate, because he's brining more than half of the audience in China and probably most of the investors.

I understood that reference!
(sorry, couldn't stop myself)

The seven rings gave me a shock! That's why I don't watch previews, now I have to wait until tomorrow to find out how that happened. arrr

Notice, how I never actually disagreed with you that character introduction did take a bit too long :) Though I wouldn't say nothing happened, in those episodes, they gave a lot of hints and world explanations, to keep me interested. The pace in general was ok, though. And it depends on how it will progress: if they start moving on next episode, I'd say it's fine, no harm done.

I really don't like to compare dramas. But for the argument's sake. Untamed also had a long subplot that was never in the novel, just to make it 50 episodes. It was not all bad, but some parts of it were unnecessary and kind of dragged out, and at the end that line of plot (following the yin iron) didn't actually go anywhere, they just stopped at some point and went home. I do like the Untamed, they did a good job, considering all the restrictions and low budget, but I wouldn't say that the pace was all that good there. And I watched it before reading the novel, though after the anime (which with it's fast pace is very difficult to understand, unless you read the novel).

I also feel the the pace slowed down a little. But you have to remember that a lot of people watching (me included) don't know anything about this Universe. We need those explanations and introductions, otherwise we'll be lost. I felt that for the most part, world building is very organic. Yeah, last couple of episodes kind of dragged out the supporting characters introduction a bit, but it does seem like we're going to get a move on next episode.

I kind of gave up and watched the previews (usually prefer not to). It looks promising... maybe (fingers crossed). This feels like watching shounen anime again, so I want my Tang San power up! Where is it? LOL

I think, I like most characters. But Headmaster is really fun

Yeah, no argument here, but now that I started, I can't stop and wait for it to finish :))

Yes, definitely felt like we're lacking in Tang San action last episodes. It's nice that they try to give everyone a screen time, but maybe supporting characters can progress along with the plot... ))

I'm hoping after episode 13 we're going to move on with the plot. Now even I'm starting to feel like the introduction phase is a bit dragged out.
Also Dai Mu Bai is acting like a child, a bit annoying, but I get why it is necessary for him to be like that as a contrast to Tang San. Still annoying, though.

I think it's easier to just check for yourself? They don't announce it, so everyone finds out when they try :) It's available in Russia. But then DC is available in Russia from all sources, even qq.

I think he just doesn't want to have a pointless argument. He seems like a sensible person, that prefers to avoid fighting, unless it's for something important. Like in episode 2 (3? don't remember), where he refused to fight Wang Sheng because he didn't care about the stupid title of the "boss of the dorm". Mu Bai is obviously too stubborn to listen to anyone, so what's the point talking to him? Just agree with him and then do it your own way anyway. Which is exactly what Tang San did in ep 11