Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (2021)

Not Satisfied

If your looking for a wuxia drama, I would not bother watching. My first dislike is that this drama has an old feel to it, which for some people is a plus but it dosen't work for this re make.

Storyline: Its not exactly spectacular - Duan yu, Qiao feng, Xu Zhu don't really cross paths and the reason they are sworn brothers happens because they bump into each other. Another problem is that the story in general dosen't leave you excited for the next episode - I find that sometimes I just watch the episode for the sake of watching it. There's no intense suspense as all. Duan Yu also basically has like no skills in this version as well. The fights are average, the CGI was a little weird with the tibet monk guy and it seemed like there was no modern cgi at all. The romance is not there at all, so if your looking for romance, yeah there's none at all. Im not a big romance fan, but it seemed like Duan Yu didn't have chemistry with lady wang at all. The ending of the story was lackluster and had nothing to it.

The acting is decent, but the storyline ruins the show in general. Would not watch again. If you thought that the novel could be bought to life, wait for the next re make. I usually don't leave negative reviews but this one was so bad that I had to.

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Mediocre. Nothing stands out.

My insignificant 2 cents

Pros: beautiful landscapes, quite faithful to novel contents, acceptable use of CGI

Cons: Xu Zhu and fight with MRF appear too early, uncompelling plot, bad casting, mediocre choreography, lack chemistry between the casts, unflattering film texture(esp the filter), bad costume designs and some that I might missed.

In short, it is a mediocre adaptation that nothing stands out except getting attention for it's abysmal casting and depiction of the characters. Certain characters are tainted with unnecessary rendition(i.e.*cough*Duan Yu's urine.... *cough*). Although I don't enjoy this as much, in my POV it's not that flopped to get 3.5/10 in douban rating, but it's also not a good enough adaptation to stand up to such a big, big IP. If I were to recommend classic wuxia in the past 5 years, there are better works from Jin Yong IPs such as LOCH2017, HSDS2019 and for Gu Long IP HS2020.

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For me this is another great drama I watch
A simple saying this very satisfied series
Full of laughing, emotion, twist
I really like it and I enjoyed every episode
Even just a little part of scene boring for the 1strp-10th episode
But i still love it





Set under the reign of Emperor Zhe Zong of Song, the story revolves around the experiences of Qiao Feng, leader of the beggar clan, Duan Yu, a prince of Dali and Xu Zhu, a Shaolin monk. The three protagonists become sworn brothers during their journey in the pugilistic world.

Qiao Feng is the courageous leader of the beggar clan. Many look up to him as a hero for defending the people of Song. When Qiao Feng is accused of being of Khitan descent and labeled a traitor, he is shunned by his fellow martial artists. In Qiao Feng's quest to clear his name, he comes to learn the truth about his identity and meets the love of his life. He also crosses paths with Dali Prince Duan Yu and Shaolin Monk Xu Zhu.

Duan Yu is a cheerful and bright young prince of Dali. Because of his peace-loving tendencies, he runs away to avoid being forced to learn martial arts but ends up inadvertently mastering powerful martial arts techniques. Successively, he meets Mu Wan Qing, Zhong Ling and falls deeply in love with Wang Yu Yan and her godlike beauty. However, Wang Yu Yan only has eyes for her cousin Murong Fu which complicates their relationship.

Shaolin Monk Xu Zhu is innately pure. After being guided by a martial arts master, he also becomes a powerful martial artist. It starts the kind-hearted monk on an adventure he never imagined for himself. Caught in the conflict between Song and Liao, three intertwining stories are brought together in a story about their heroism.

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You don't know how happy I am when the three finally appeared in the screen together. The director really made us wait for that moment.
I actually like the idea on how they arranged this drama and gave the main characters the screentime they deserved. I was confused at the first episodes because I only saw one protagonist all the time, I later realized the intention and somehow enjoyed it and it actually made me understand each main character better.
I understand why they make the color grading this way, I didn't like it at first but my eyes have adapted
to it later on.
The acting are good especially when they act angry and have their veins showing, you can literally feel the tension (the crying scenes are a bit off but it's still fine).
That's all for the drama review but I have question (or concern). Why does the Wang Yu Yan character belong to Main Leads? I don't see this character fit as Main Lead if there's one character that should belong to Main Leads it should be Murong Fu.
That's all, enjoy watching.

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I was very hesitant to watch this because the previous version set the bar pretty high. Before I knew it, I was hooked on a 3 day journey.

I mainly followed the monk's growth as an underdog and also found myself enjoying the main lead who played Qiao Feng.
Tony played an exceptional Qiao Feng and I now have the biggest crush on him. His acting was superb, solid. Qiao Feng's character was so tragic and Tony was able to portray all the expressions to the very end.

The storyline was easy to follow and the action scenes just gives a less than enough satisfaction.

Overall, I enjoyed the drama. Don't go in with high expectations, sit back and enjoy the ride.

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DGSD 2021 Review

This new version of Demi Gods and Semi Devils 2021, like the latest version of The Deer and the Cauldron 2020, is very divisive. That's because we are trying to compare past versions to the new versions. I stopped comparing The Deer and the Cauldron 2020 with past versions and I ended up really enjoying the 2020 version. For Demi Gods and Semi Devils 2021, I did the same and enjoyed it.

Was there a need for a new version, no and yes. No because we liked the old versions and thought they were perfect. Yes because this new version might have been better than previous versions if it was done better. When the 2003 version was announced I was like again, but I ended up liking it more than the 1996 version. I didn't like the 2013 all that much, but it was only because of the casting. Kim Ki Bum as Duan Yu and Zhang Meng as Wang Yu Yan were badly miscast. Mao Xiao Tong as Zhong Ling was perfect, very sweet and cute. So new versions being made isn't a bad thing. You might end up liking the new version more than previous versions like I did.

So now that the rant is over, let's move on to my review.

As for the positives of the 2021 version of Demi Gods and Semi Devils, Mu Wan Qing was one of the bright spots. I never really liked past actresses portrayal of the character. Liu Mei Tong had the perfect look and mannerisms to portray Mu Wan Qing. Other positives are the locations and music used for the show. The locations used were nice looking and the music was fitting.

As for the negative, it was the cuts. Like Duan Yu knowing Mu Wan Qing's last name before she even told him. I thought I missed the scene but nope, Duan Yu just miraculously knows it. Another cut that was bad was after the fight between Xu Zhu and Xingxiu Lao Guai. Xu Zhu's master tells him to listen to his orders, but how the hell can he when they were not in the same location. Xu Zhu just magically teleports back to his master.

A second negative is the expanded story for A Zi. Like why? No knock on the actress He Hong Shan as she was very good as A Zi, but the extra story bits for her I could do without.

A third negative was the ending. Zhong Ling and Mu Wan Qing leaving and never coming back was such a big "what the" moment. And Wang Yu Yan almost becoming a nun but not in a matter of seconds was also confusing. If they were going for an original ending at least give us a more satisfying one.

Again look pass the fact that this is yet another version of an old series and you'll enjoy it to some degree. If this is your first version and you didn't like it all that much, I recommend the 1996 HK TVB version or the 2003 version.

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English subtitling issues start in episode 33.

I am really struggling to get past episode 33 in this mediocre drama. English subtitling started out normally in episode 1 but by episode 33 there were serious problems. It is so bad that it is better to shut off the sub titles and try to get what you can from watching the actors. The words used in episode 32 are repeated in episode 33. How confusing is that? I started watching this drama in Amazon prime and switched to Viki hoping the sub title problem would go away but it did not. Needless to say, this is as far as I'm willing to go with this drama and we'll move on to something else.

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One of the worst drama remakes

Where do I even begin...

China always does remakes of classic Wuxia novels every few years, and in my opinion, the 2021 Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is definitely one of the worst drama adaptations of the novel.

I am biased. My favourite version of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is the from 2003. Despite the poor video quality and old CGI, the acting and overall delivery from the 2003 cast is superior in many ways.




So with this 2021 remake (SPOILERS AHEAD!)




The music was fine, not much that like or dislike about it. It was just there so I didn't mind it.

BUT THE ACTING. Dear lord, THE ACTING! That drove me up the wall. I'm probably biased because I'm comparing how these characters are portrayed to the other remakes but STILL, the lack of emotion in some of these characters make me so frustrated.

There are key moments when this is so obvious.
1) When A'Zhu dies and her mother confronts Qiao Feng about her death. WHY WAS THE MOTHER NOT UPSET? Where were the tears? Where was the anger? The mum doesn't even seem remotely sad that her child was killed or the fact she never got to reunite with her lost child?

2) When the Dali Emperor witnesses his lovers get slain one by one in front of him. And the first two that died didn't even seem afraid or sad either??? They also didn't say anything before they were about to get stabbed...

The emperor did look a little sad and he let a few tears fall but it was ...meh. Yeah I get that he's trying to stay calm and strong as he's being threatened. But for a guy that's meant to be a womanising playboy that's really a romantic at heart, his overall character depiction in the drama is kind of cold and stoic. And if you think about the fact that he's meant to be IN LOVE with these women as they die because of him, you can understand why I think they could've done better with the acting.

There are also many other moments in the drama where the acting was just plain lazy and boring, but thankfully most of that was in minor/side characters.

I don't have much to complain about the plot because it's pretty much the same as the other versions of this story. The only part that's noticeably different is the ending because theres a few loose ends.

Did the monk(XuZhu) leave his wife/lover and Lingjiu Palace for good? In the last episode, he decides to let go of his "desires" and leave his home to face the world...umm....WTF?? I thought he wasn't a 'real' monk anymore because of the stuff he did, so why is he going on a spiritual journey to find himself and let go of his earthly desires? Didn't he already accomplish finding himself and gained happiness after he meet his true love and brothers????

I don't know what happened with the Dali Prince (Duan Yu) either. Obviously he's Dali's emperor at the end, but it's unclear what happened to his 'sisters'. I don't know exactly which ending this drama follows. In one version of the novel, he ends up with just the fairy sister. And in the other, the fairy sister decides to stay with her cousin, and Duan Yu ends up marrying the three other girls. But in this drama, the fairy sister chooses to stay with her cousin but then Duan Yu visits her and they leave a monastery together....so does that mean they're together together....or???

Overall, don't recommend unless you're looking to be disappointed, especially if you've seen the earlier remakes.

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Good Film Bad Ending

I remember watch this movie but with different actor and version, the series i watch at the past the actor star is jimmy lin, and after i watch this movie, i feel i hate the ending where is duan yu actually married with three girls and xu zhu married with xixia princess but in this version of series the ending is like a $h*t, it make me regret wasting my 5-6 day for watch this movie, it's still far better jimmy lin version than this $h*t version, and i hate bao bo tong actor, too loud and too much mouth but useless, and if you watch carefuly this movie still has too many fail like when duan yu and wang yuyan in hole, there is story where is finally wang yuyan accept duan yu as her boyfriend and in this version there is no such a moment and duan yu suddenly call wang yuyan as yuyan but yuyan call duan yu still using young master duan, don't kidding me, and where is gaibang bad sect leader quan guanjing? If want make different version then let Xiao Feng live at the ending, lol i myself regret to watch this and thats why i hate remake series like condor heroes have 1001 version

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A Mediocre Remake That Taste like Plain Water

I am sure many who had watched this should either have watched the hong kong or early china remakes. I personally had watched the 1997 remake where we have Felix Wong, Benny Chan and Stephen Fan as well as The 2013 version from Wallace Chung, Kim Kimkibum, and Han Dong. Both of these are pretty good remakes though I lean more towards 1997 version but hey...2013 is not bad either, but not perfect.

So, acting.. The Qiao Feng of this remake seems really lack of leadership energy, and he seems to more like...he was paid to do what he is supposed to do..nothing more, nothing less...thats the actor for Qiao Feng. As for Duan Yu, he is supposed to be comic relieve of the story, due to his playfulness but this version makes him more childish and really weak as well. The one who played Xu Zhu is fine, I would say. Wang Yu Yin of this drama is kind of a hateful character and I felt that this role has always been challenging for any leads before Janice Man. Dont see her excel in this, which is a waste. Special Shoutout to A-Zhi. I never think that I will dislike (99/100) the character in this remake, damn annoying to the brim. Based on previous remake, they should have learn to make more likeable but nahhhhh its a competition.

Now, what I see apart from acting is how storytelling is done because lets be honest, you want to tell a story that satisfy your audience and leave them hanging like a loose branch. I like how they give audience a glimpse of all the characters at the first episode. In fact, its really cool to see Xu Zhu and Duan Yu very early in the series and slowly brings them into the bigger picture. What really triggered me was truly the last episode. OMGawd! they could have taken the last episode to fix a few more of their issue like fixing Duan Yus remaining story arc and give him that sweet ending he has been earning. 2013 failed to do so, and 2021 would happily followed suit. Come onnn, I heard that one of the version where Duan Yu married all three of his love interest...but if not, why not have that episode to have all his other sisters reunite and live happily ever after as a family....oh well, suspense ehh...not a good one.


Also, special complain. Fighting scenes...sucks unless youre a fan of slow motion martial arts, then you will like it.

Overall, its a remake that boasts nothing, just like an ensemble of more pretty faces with no hallow inside...but yeaa.

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