4
Shasha
Stuck in....
This review may contain spoilers
The magic of 12
DISCLAIMER: My review is based solely on the drama: I have not read the book!
I usually run it the opposite direction every time someone mentions chinese bromance, as I am allergic to censorship. This one actually I ran towards to. The whole story of its release is fascinating, and for once I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
The series was released in February and then, two hours later, removed by the producer. Why? The theories abound: not censored enough, a mistake release, a scandal? Who knows? In any case, one kind soul managed to download it and the rest is, as they say, history. Now they are releasing it again: will it be censored and re-edited? We'll see! But before it happens, I wanted to see this version!
And, oh boy, did it deliver! Story wise, not romancewise!
Lin JiuShi is a genius programmer not really appreciated at work, so he escapes into a gaming club where he tries out bootleg demos of unreleased games. One of those is Spiritual Realm: a VR game where you need to go through 12 doors and solve a mystery in each one before moving to the next door. In the very first door he meets Ruan LanChu, who, impressed with his quick thinking, asks him to join his organization, Obsidian. LJS learns that the game had been taken away from its creator by capitalists from a "beautiful country" (USA right?) and turned into a more dangerous, killing machine. Obsidian's goal is to reach the final door and reboot the game to its original setting.
The story is extraordinary complex: each door's quest is based on a folk tale or a real horror event (sanatorium: again Bad Americans!). There are rules in each door you are not supposed to break under the penalty of death (for example, get wet in the rain!). You need to find a key (solve the mystery) in order to unlock the next door and obtain the helpful hint for it! There are a few groups going through these doors, each with a different goal: the worst being Company X (if this is not a hint at Elon Musk, I don't know what it is).
While watching, there were things bothering me. A lot! For example....Once you enter the game, you cannot leave unless you reach the final door. If you die in the game, you leave and die for real in the real world 15min later. Everyone knows it since the gamers communicate on different chats. So why would anyone start playing if the outcome is certainly death? Everyone thinks that they can beat the system, I guess! As we get to see with a few beloved characters. Once you are inside, do you need to go through the doors in order? Do you have to solve it yourself or does it count as your win if you manage to survive? How come LJS does not recognize elements of a game he wanted to create with his best friend? The role of kaleidoscopes showing up everywhere? And so on, and so forth.... my head kept coming up with questions, finding inconsistencies and plot holes. Eventually, I discovered that there were none of those: everything was explained in the final episodes 76 & 77.
Kudos to the writers for coming up with such a solid screenplay. Which had no need for romance whatsoever. This is based on a BL web novel, and they censored the romance, turning it into a friendship: which was perfectly OK with me. The plot was gripping enough, and it really did not need the romance. To keep fans happy, there were many "double entendre" lines of dialogue and sizzling looks, but that's it. And that was more than enough. I personally hate it when they mix genres too much: and horror and romance do not mix well! More often than not, romance is superfluous!
The storyline revolves around number 12: twelve doors corresponding to twelve months, twelve zodiac signs, twelve hours, twelve sufferings and negative emotions shown through the quest inside doors (birth, old age, illness, death, love parting, resentment, fear, sorrow, sadness, anger...) The whole game is an allegory for the character growth, for dealing with emotions and that is what we eventually understand that the plot is about!
There was not one single annoying character. On the other hand, there was a long arc in the middle of the drama involving an actress playing the game which put the main characters' storyline a bit on the back burner. Nevertheless, there was not one boring second in this drama. They manage to strike the perfect balance between scary, calm and funny. It was a real pleasure to watch.
Dubbing was rather atrocious, though. I did not notice it in the beginning but as the drama progressed, RLZ whispering voice was getting too much just like the sound effects (breathing, lips smacking etc. awful!). Sometimes those voices were so distracting that I'd forget to focus on the plot! LOL
Production value is very high, the special effects were excellent and the scare factor was not very high: the scariest thing happened oof screen or as shadows: so that was just perfect for a horror hater like me (I cannot watch horror or gore). I loved the background music: it was perfect! The dramatic music was appropriately dramatic, the sad one just tugging at the heartstrings making tears come to your eyes but never over the top or too much. Every main support character's death was accompanied by the same song, just maudlin!
SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, the reason I do not rate it as much as I wanted to is the last episode: the completely unnecessary 10 min featuring a 50yr time jump. The story ends up as being a coma dream LJS had after a car accident. The people in the game are the people he meets in the area he lives in. RLZ is actually a NPC character from the VR game LJS wanted to make with his friend in the university. Not being able to forget dream game's RLZ, LJS spends 50 years creating the game Spiritual Realm in order to meet RLZ again and live with him and the members of Obsidian together forever in the VR world.
This ending is the bitterest, saddest, the most tragic end you can imagine! There is nothing bittersweet or happy about spending 50 years of your life to create a fictional character! So he'll download his conscience in the VR database and live happily ever after?!?!? I just wanted to cry for the wasted life because of a coma dream! He had not learned anything after all!
Just don't watch the last episode: the drama ends on episode 77 and it is 10/10!!! That ending is perfect!
I usually run it the opposite direction every time someone mentions chinese bromance, as I am allergic to censorship. This one actually I ran towards to. The whole story of its release is fascinating, and for once I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
The series was released in February and then, two hours later, removed by the producer. Why? The theories abound: not censored enough, a mistake release, a scandal? Who knows? In any case, one kind soul managed to download it and the rest is, as they say, history. Now they are releasing it again: will it be censored and re-edited? We'll see! But before it happens, I wanted to see this version!
And, oh boy, did it deliver! Story wise, not romancewise!
Lin JiuShi is a genius programmer not really appreciated at work, so he escapes into a gaming club where he tries out bootleg demos of unreleased games. One of those is Spiritual Realm: a VR game where you need to go through 12 doors and solve a mystery in each one before moving to the next door. In the very first door he meets Ruan LanChu, who, impressed with his quick thinking, asks him to join his organization, Obsidian. LJS learns that the game had been taken away from its creator by capitalists from a "beautiful country" (USA right?) and turned into a more dangerous, killing machine. Obsidian's goal is to reach the final door and reboot the game to its original setting.
The story is extraordinary complex: each door's quest is based on a folk tale or a real horror event (sanatorium: again Bad Americans!). There are rules in each door you are not supposed to break under the penalty of death (for example, get wet in the rain!). You need to find a key (solve the mystery) in order to unlock the next door and obtain the helpful hint for it! There are a few groups going through these doors, each with a different goal: the worst being Company X (if this is not a hint at Elon Musk, I don't know what it is).
While watching, there were things bothering me. A lot! For example....Once you enter the game, you cannot leave unless you reach the final door. If you die in the game, you leave and die for real in the real world 15min later. Everyone knows it since the gamers communicate on different chats. So why would anyone start playing if the outcome is certainly death? Everyone thinks that they can beat the system, I guess! As we get to see with a few beloved characters. Once you are inside, do you need to go through the doors in order? Do you have to solve it yourself or does it count as your win if you manage to survive? How come LJS does not recognize elements of a game he wanted to create with his best friend? The role of kaleidoscopes showing up everywhere? And so on, and so forth.... my head kept coming up with questions, finding inconsistencies and plot holes. Eventually, I discovered that there were none of those: everything was explained in the final episodes 76 & 77.
Kudos to the writers for coming up with such a solid screenplay. Which had no need for romance whatsoever. This is based on a BL web novel, and they censored the romance, turning it into a friendship: which was perfectly OK with me. The plot was gripping enough, and it really did not need the romance. To keep fans happy, there were many "double entendre" lines of dialogue and sizzling looks, but that's it. And that was more than enough. I personally hate it when they mix genres too much: and horror and romance do not mix well! More often than not, romance is superfluous!
The storyline revolves around number 12: twelve doors corresponding to twelve months, twelve zodiac signs, twelve hours, twelve sufferings and negative emotions shown through the quest inside doors (birth, old age, illness, death, love parting, resentment, fear, sorrow, sadness, anger...) The whole game is an allegory for the character growth, for dealing with emotions and that is what we eventually understand that the plot is about!
There was not one single annoying character. On the other hand, there was a long arc in the middle of the drama involving an actress playing the game which put the main characters' storyline a bit on the back burner. Nevertheless, there was not one boring second in this drama. They manage to strike the perfect balance between scary, calm and funny. It was a real pleasure to watch.
Dubbing was rather atrocious, though. I did not notice it in the beginning but as the drama progressed, RLZ whispering voice was getting too much just like the sound effects (breathing, lips smacking etc. awful!). Sometimes those voices were so distracting that I'd forget to focus on the plot! LOL
Production value is very high, the special effects were excellent and the scare factor was not very high: the scariest thing happened oof screen or as shadows: so that was just perfect for a horror hater like me (I cannot watch horror or gore). I loved the background music: it was perfect! The dramatic music was appropriately dramatic, the sad one just tugging at the heartstrings making tears come to your eyes but never over the top or too much. Every main support character's death was accompanied by the same song, just maudlin!
SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, the reason I do not rate it as much as I wanted to is the last episode: the completely unnecessary 10 min featuring a 50yr time jump. The story ends up as being a coma dream LJS had after a car accident. The people in the game are the people he meets in the area he lives in. RLZ is actually a NPC character from the VR game LJS wanted to make with his friend in the university. Not being able to forget dream game's RLZ, LJS spends 50 years creating the game Spiritual Realm in order to meet RLZ again and live with him and the members of Obsidian together forever in the VR world.
This ending is the bitterest, saddest, the most tragic end you can imagine! There is nothing bittersweet or happy about spending 50 years of your life to create a fictional character! So he'll download his conscience in the VR database and live happily ever after?!?!? I just wanted to cry for the wasted life because of a coma dream! He had not learned anything after all!
Just don't watch the last episode: the drama ends on episode 77 and it is 10/10!!! That ending is perfect!
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