Interesting journey that may teach you a lot if you allow it
Ahhh, I'm done! I loved it. And I liked the ending, it gives so much future opportunities.What I liked:
The casting is very good, there are unique characters and the actors did a great job. I understand that the drama is different from the book and the anime, but since they had to comply with censorship, I think they did a very good job. It was a wonderful adventure about growth (and about the formation of human principles in the process), about friendship and loyalty.
I want to say a few words about the difference from the book and anime. Can you really, really imagine anime Tang San on a drama? Yes, he would be strong, powerful and perfect and then what? After 5-7-10 episodes with perfect, powerful, ever winning Tang San, how his character can develope further? The drama Tang San make viewers to relate to him. He starts from zero, he grows and makes his own way. He teaches people behind the screen to not give up, to be loyal, to keep getting better. I find him interesting and real. I like him a lot.
I liked the costumes and the styling.
The effects were very good: colors, spaces, weapons and beasts. I was very pleasantly surprised, I did not expect them to be so good.
I like the 3 songs: in the beginning, in the end and Xiao Zhan song.
What I didn't like:
Apart from the songs mentioned above, which I like, the background music itself was not always used properly. There is definitely room for improvement here.
Some battles were great, some were not finished, they left the viewers to guess exactly what happened.
There were some more details, which I noted in my mind, but they were minor things.
So I want a 2nd season. I want to see them again, how they got wiser and better, as well as their new adventures.
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This review may contain spoilers
Good to BINGE ON.
Xaio Zhan's performance is purely a joy to watch , not too dramatic or out of character. He played the role of Tang San quite nicely compared to most up & new comers in hi peers.Yes!~There were some cliché plots/line here & there but still good enough to binge watch for a whole weekend.
Yeah! There fights 7devils combat story could have been better than that, given the fact the anime was quite influential.
Yup!~ if you want to complain you can but I won't.
S01 is more about Tang San finding his way/mom/dad & embarking on a new journey to become a Soul Master & find him self . But with this new generation they might redefine a whole new way of becoming one with the "Soul Beasts".
Well because this series was made before Xaio Zhan's rapid fame or the fact it was a small budget production.
With the very limited recourse they did pretty good.
The only downfall might be the scene between BiBi Dong & Tang Hao fighting in the finale , which felt a little to sort and they cutout the whole fight sequence . Which might be have been awesome if we could see.
The in depth story of each character might be to much but at least we got the jest of it.
I could watch series again, if the casting was any different things might not be the same. So I hope they keep the same cast for the next season possibly or at least better new supporting cast, except leads.
They better make a S02 cause the story feels so rushed in the end. I would love to see the same cast to reappear in the next season too. With more dynamic characters and honestly it might be awesome to see locations too like the Island Tang San's mom was form.
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Team building
Although Tang San is the lead in the story, the other members have strong roles too. This drama is about team building using each person’s strength to make the team succeed. I like that everyone is proud of what they’re born and nobody is considered weak or better than the other. It sends a really good message that we each have the ability to be strong with what we have as long as we have the desire to make ourselves better.If you’re looking for a love story, this drama isn’t it. There’s some but that’s not the focus.
I came here for Xiao Zhan after The Untamed. Tbh, I didn’t get that, “OMG this drama is soooo good! I love Tang San!” like I did with Wei Wuxian in The Untamed. Although Xiao Zhan was good at playing Tang San, he didn’t leave me falling in love with his character. Maybe I’m biased bc I love the range of emotions in Wei Wuxian’s character.
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THE ONLY REASON WHY I MADE MYDRAMALIST ACCOUNT
This is the reason why I made Mydramalist account. THIS IS THE BEST DRAMA EVER OUT OF THE 200 OR SO DRAMAS I WATCHED. Sean Xiao's acting was AWESOME. The chemistry between the ML and the FL was the best to me. Unfortunately, I do not like the ending as if it leaves a cliff hanger. I REALLY WANT A SEASON 2 TO THIS DRAMA. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO LET EVERYONE WATCH THIS DRAMA. And most importantly, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD OR DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THE 2ND SEASON OF THIS. I SERIOUSLY CANNOT WAIT FOR THE SECOND SEASON. I hope all the casts, crews, members, staff will all get together again to make the 2nd season of this. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO MAKE THE 2ND SEASON FOR THIS DRAMA.Was this review helpful to you?
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A competition of the strongest academy in which the students has a spirit powers
This drama gave me a Harry potter vibes, minus the spells but very fantasy and power like. Each person has a spirit power in one hand and in the other hand it tells you how strong you are. If you have full strength you are considered a prodigy in your spiritual power.Our male lead does not know his mom because she died while he was still a baby. His dad made his memorize a special manuscript from when he was young. Male lead's spirit power is a vine. His vine is the weakest of all things that can help him to fight. Like there are people's spirit power who is an animals which are the stronger. Some people are gifted of having two spirit power which he has, one hand is the vine and the other is a metal hammer. His dad tells him to not use the hammer and only use it to protect the vine.
The male lead basically tries to get into an academy to help become a spiritual master, which helps him understand his spiritual powers and increase them. To increase them he must kill a spiritual beast and absorb the beast's level of power/years. When you absorb the beast/creature's power you get their special ability. Which each ring you become stronger. There are some people who have 8 and higher number of rings and they are the duoluo ( i would translate it was the top of the top spiritual master battlers). He initially joins On Nuo academy but then eventually joins Shrek Seven academy where he meets his team mates and battle together. They also grow together in their leveling up ring conquest. They have to win in the spiritual battle to see who is the mastermind behind it all. There is some who is trying to control the people with the spiritual powers. Some have their powers change/configure... The male lead wonders who is behind it all and at the same time wants to find the whereabouts of his dad.
This drama is no romance what so ever..... lol up until the very last ep...
The female lead's spirit power is a rabbit, hence she is very fast. She enters the academy because she wants to find out if there is another way of becoming stronger without having to kill the spiritual creature/beast. She also has another identity, she isnt actually human, but a spiritual beast who has been practicing a million of years, which makes her able to turn into human form.
Slightly disappointed that they didnt develop/ uncover her storyline well enough. It would of been nice to see the leads have a romantic relationship. I believe there should be a second season. It ended pretty abruptly...
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Why you should watch it!!!
You should watch this drama because it contains soo many good aspects in it!! Like friendship (LOTS), romance, supernatural type of thing and the special effects are amazing and the cast and characters, I love everything about this drama!!! The ending to me was not disappointing because I feel like if you understand the story and the drama then you should be able to understand the ending... and why the ending is like that.... In fact I wouldn't even call this disappointing!!! THIS WAS A FANTASTIC FANATSY HISTORICAL DRAMA TO WATCH!!! OMG the OST is sooo amazing too because the actors sang it too!! I FULL ON RECCOMMEND YOU TO WATCH THIS DRAMA!!! ITS NOT DISAPPOINTING TO ME!!!! ALSO THIS NEEDS A SEASON 2 LIKE NOW!!!! so please do not hate on the drama, its so good, the ending may not make sense to you but if you think about whats going on in the last episode then you should be able to understand the ending!!!Was this review helpful to you?
Story of growth and resilience
Before the drama airs, there has been various discussions between novel, anime and actor/actress fans. I have not read nor watch the novel/anime before and have no idea what the story is about. Due to the hype, I started to watch with no expectations at all.I like the development of each characters from the beginning to the end. Now I understand why CCTV in China is promoting this drama because it is educational. The drama taught us about growth, obstacles, resilience and most importantly the strength of teamwork. I guess it is due to the nature of this theme that there are lesser than expected fighting scenes in this drama. The special effects are exemplary, but many fighting scenes were cut abruptly or not shown at all. The most enjoyable part for me is the team fight with Xiong Shen Zhan Dui and of course the school battles in the last few episodes.
BGM is another minus from me. There is no memorable BGM for the scenes nor characters, and I feel music plays a very important part in intriguing feelings from audience. E.g. Eternal Love, The Untamed, have solid BGM/OST that totally brings up the value of the show. I wish more budgets and efforts were invested into Duoluo Continent.
That being said, I give credit to all the actors and actresses in this show. Most of them are rookie actors while filming this show, and they acted well. While there are many negative comments on Xiao Wu, I find her cute and bubbly, and her fighting scenes are one of the best! I wish their costume can be a little more grand looking though. I have no favorite character in this show as I enjoy the team work of all Shrek Seven Devils.
In conclusion, this drama is worth watching for its educational value. Do not expect a lot of fight scenes and watch it from a different perspective. Do not compare it with the novel nor anime as they are created to appeal to different target audience. I am someone who do not enjoy reading novels nor watching anime at all, but that does not mean I should give novels and anime a bad rating.
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A Great Fantasy
A great drama to watch. It is full off fantasy and great special affect. There is 3 good couples that are in the lead characters. The story line was well written and makes you mesmerizes from episodes to episodes. There is not much romance but the special affect are great. The cast is great , their performance made you believe in each character. I love the theme of humanity toward people and animals. The drama also has the subject of friendship and trusting one another. There is plenty of funny scenes that keeps a smile on you as you watch. The music is nice and the scene were they are on the road and they start playing made up instruments is great. The female in the drama are all strong and I like how they are treated equal as the male lead. A must drama to watch. The ending is the only thing that I was upset because it is a cliff hanger.Was this review helpful to you?
Short review of Douluo Continent
Douluo Continent was one of the famous novels in its own genre. It was a riveting drama I couldn't understand when it's finished. I like the back ground musics and I should say actors have done their best to show the identity of the characters they played. Strong girl Zhu Zhuqing and little princess Ron Rong were glowing in ShiLanKe school. Main character Tang San is appealing for everyone. Even though he knew that he has a hidden past, he didn't lose his hope and patiently waited, he was always respectful to his seniors and always protected his friends. I can't imagine fantasy drama/movies without cgi technology, I would be happy to see more of it in drama. When a serie has good adaptations, naturally it raises the level of expectations. Script of the drama fell behind of some expectations because of the fact that we couldn't reach the main story for a long and they decided take a different way from novel .That's why I suggest you to watch it leaving your hope to see the novel and approach it as a new version.Was this review helpful to you?
Enjoyable watch
Coming from someone who has never seen or heard of the anime, it was an enjoyable watch.I felt the beginning was definitely a bit slower and some acting parts were definitely a bit weird. The first crying scene from the lead felt weird. Could also be the way they cut it, but definitely felt kind of out of place.
The episodes also always end off at the weirdest spots. Literally cuts the speaker mid sentence.
The characters were all well developed and had solid background stories which is always great to see.
Halfway through though, I really started getting into it and the plot got more complicated with a lot of characters and fancy skills which were fun to watch. Can't wait to see season 2!
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Original story and all original characters
I'm a huge fan of fantasy stories and even more when it's about competition between academies. I find the story refreshing and all characters different but amazing in their own way. All done perfectly to suit the group into a perfect combination of strong underdogs all learning in different experiences. Even with the lack of romantic interaction this drama can make you feel the love between the 4 couples that form in this drama and how the 4 of them are different. Specially for me my favorite cp is the second male lead but my favorite character is Xiao Wu.Xiao Wu is the perfect definition that you can be cute, strong and specially also love to fight. I've seen ppl mention her as annoying but I think they relate it to her cuteness and regarding her weak for that matter when in fact Xiao Wu is one of the smartest in the group and rarely acts scared but wants to take a challenge. I love this female lead, specially cause she's very loyal. For that matter I enjoy the family between the female leads as well. All of them have a bonding and not even one episode did it make them fight for their differences. All are strong female leads and all of them have different personalities.
Tang Sa story and mainly the main point of the story is like a video which I find enjoyable. I love games with this base of a story so watching this felt so good and so well done. I will admit the cgi was not the best in terms of the best but fighting scenes are a 10/10 for me. I highly recommend this drama, it lacks romantic scenes, yes but the story as a whole. The meaning of a family, friendship and loyalty is so well done that romance scenes feel like a bonus. I didn't have to skip an episode cause of them was a different and new story and rarely things get dragged
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