The Spirealm (2024)

For all the hype. Is it worthed?

Quite wonder about this drama, when everyone excited about this 'not supposed' to be aired drama. And after I've watched it. I must said I'm happy this magically aired... Haha....

A little shock about the ending & the plot twist. But for me this still one beautiful drama, so no matter what I can't give this drama a lower score...

U can say this drama about human brain, human psychology and friendship. But in the end this also about survival.

Ok. Now let's talk about drama...

This story about Ling Jiu Shi (JS) who got a VR beta game that's stop in the middle when he played. Wondering about the game, he insisted to search for the 'real' game, and no long after that there's someone mail the game to him. And with that his journey in the spirealm game started. And this game different than any other VR game. When u hurt in the game, u hurt in real life. And when u died, u'll died in real life to, the difference just the way u died in the game & real life is different.

In the game he met Ruan Lan Zhu (LZ), who turn out has a company that collected player to finished the game. His goal, to purify the game back to what it supposed to be, not the game where every player died & hurt, just simply a VR game, where every player can enjoy the game with no fear for their life.

In the game, JS met all kind of player. Like Li Dong Yuan, the other company owner who collected the player for the purpose of money, by guiding new player to avoid death. Or like Yan Ba Lang, the other company owner who collected the player for the purpose of master the game, to make the duplicate of the game. Or simply like Tan Zao Zao, a player that enter the game & just hoping to finished the game without she need to died.

Well no matter how fun or scary the game for the player, cause u know some sick people find this 'scary game' as fun, once u enter u must finished it. The way to finish the door or level only 2, by death or get the key. The game once a while (don't know the duration between the game) will called u in to enter another door and u have no way to avoid it.

Ok. That's a little summary about the game. Now let's discuss about what i like & don't like.

What i like:
+ The eye contact between JS & LZ. Oh so so long don't find the eye that talk about their feeling without any 'lust' behavior... The moment we saw that eye contact we know we watch hidden BL. And all that hidden or implicit dialogue... No wonder this has hard time aired from China government.
+ We can feel human selfishness when they face death. Or
+ The friendship that shape between the player. Especially in the Hei Yao Shi or LZ's company.
+ When u put genuine empathic/care for people, u get genuine feedback/friendship. Like when JS genuinely care to the NPC door guardian/spirit, they become his friends when needed.

What i don't too like:
- No matter how strong the eye contact between JS & LZ. I still hope this other countries production. Cause you know we still can hope to see some 'bed scene' or at least some kiss scene. Haha...
- No time stamp. We don't know how long it past from 1 game to another
- Sometimes so frustrated by how stupid JS was... Like how the game connected to him. I get maybe it's already long2 time not met up with his friend, but really how slow ur brain can be. Even I can already guess big picture who design the game...
- The ending or the plot twist. Ughhhh i almost smash my tab when they reveal the ending. I think I scream as long as the final episode to 'beg' the director not that cruel to us.... What is it do u ask? Hoho... I'm not that CRUEL OR CRAZY to put it here. U may message me for it.

Overall this really one unique drama that I'm glad out here for us to watch

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Sometimes bromance is better than bl

This review is from someone who has not read the novel nor new anything about this drama so I watched it casually and it was awesome . I saw the hype and decided to give it a try and it was worth it.
I have watched untamed word of honour and gurdian this was my 4th bl and it was amazing . The chemistry between the male lead was amazing it had an open ending you can take it as you want . I am glad they did not include kiss scene because Chinese people are so bad at kissing in dramas (if you have watched Chinese dramas you will know kissing scenes are not good but they manage to give so much intense chemistry) . Everything about this drama is awesome and I will patiently wait for other dramas. To be honest I like xianxia and wuxia themed danmei modern danmei are not my cup of tea I am still waiting for heavens official blessing drama 2ha and winner is king . Let's wait for other dramas . 10/10 recommend to everyone.

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this left me feeling a whole lot of things

This show had so so much potential, and for some of it, they really did a great job. For other things, they just flopped hard.

Jiushi is a game developer who stumbles across a VR game that's so much more than just a game and gets pulled into the world of 12 doors that you have to make your way through, each of them opening up into unique virtual universes with new life threatening challenges, and when you die in the game, you die in real life. When Jiushi goes into his first door, he meets Lanzhu, a master gamer who owns a company that takes other gamers through the doors.

The story is intriguing, it's a fresh spin on the real life VR trope, and the strange worlds that lie behind each of the doors are well thought out and incredibly creative. The main storyline though could have been SO much better. The main story line was veiled in so much mystery, I love not knowing what's going on and learning little bits as you go, but the reveals were lame! There were also psrts of the plot that didn't really make sense that just threw you for a loop and you just had to roll with it. I'm a sucker for a happy ending too, and I saw a lot of ways we could have had a satisfying ending, but this wasn't it. It was disappointing after staying with the story for so long, just for it to end and leave you feeling empty.

The acting was alright. Most of them were good actors, especially Xia Zhiguang who plays Lanzhu, he's amazing. There wasnt anyone terrible, but the guy who plays Jiushi wasnt a great actor, so it threw things off. These two could have had chemistry to kill for, some of their scenes you just sit there holding your breath, but the writers must have been scared towards the end since there's not much chemistry outside of the sad parts. I get it though, because ultimately the show was taken down, so sadly, their fear was justified.

Production value was great, the world graphics were mostly good quality,the music was awkward though? There was literally only actual music on what was supposed to be the romantic scenes, but it felt forced in there.

Overall I enjoyed this, but not nearly as much as I anticipated. It could have been amazing, and the ending just leaves you empty.

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AMAZING? AMAZING!

When I tell you how this took over my life and left me questioning what is real and what is not around me, I'm not kidding.

I went into the show, I did not expect to be watching a masterpiece. The acting, ost, plot, characters, everything was on point. The way Ruan Nanzhu looked so lovingly at Lingling was so cute. The way Ruan Nanzhu fell first but Lingling fell harder. All the doors were so interesting to watch and especially the 11th door.

The ending left me absolutely sobbing. You are telling me Lingling waited 50 years!?!?!? 50 years to recreate The Spirealm and have all his friends in that world and live with them. With the version of them that remembered him and loved him. He chose to live in the virtual world where the people he loved remembered him and their story and not the real world where they were alive but did not remember anything. How heartbreaking that part was to watch. Everyone was around him in his life but not in the way he wanted. And the most important person, the man he loved so so much was not there. So, he created the virtual game again, the 12th door of Lingling's happiness, entered that world to live there for the rest of his life with his husband and friends. Loved how the moment he and Ruan Nanzhu's hands touched, Lingling was back to the young age he was when they had first met. Now he could live with his husband for an eternity!

The concept of choosing which one would you want to live in? The Illusion of Life or the Reality of Death? It so perfectly went well with Lingling's story. He chose the Illusion of living with Ruan Nanzhu and his friends then live with the reality that Ruan Nanzhu, the NPC created for him did not even exist.

WATCH THE SHOW NOW!!!

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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!

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If you don't wanna wach it, watch it for last few episodes. It's worth it.

My headline says it all.

Oh my goodness..it left me with tonnes of surprises at the end. In the last few episodes, i racked the hell out of my brain. Even i myself was struggling which is reality and which one is vitrtuality, let alone ling jiushi. Till ep 70, i didn't liked it much, thought of dropping it many times because they were just passing doors with new scenario each time and nothing new could be found, but thank god i didn't. Very last 5-6 eps are the essence. The 11th door just took my heart away. Each and every character got straight into my heary especially qianli and li dongyuan. And guys, stop spreading rumors of bromance, i couldn't see even a pinch of bromance, it was all about pure friendship.

Ofcourse not to forget, there were some loopholes in the story, wasn't flawless for sure but that's somewhat understandable where you are going all into the doors of mysteries and supernatural things.

1st surprise attack was when they revealed that zhu meng actually is the NPC, that was a major reveal. And another shock was all of those mystery doors were just a dream of ling juishi. I was literally shocked.

And then seeing each and every character fit and fine around him was such a relief. I was screaming hard out of happiness. Last episodes left me with emptiness, because i really was missing their friendship now. But to my disappointment, they were all strangers in reality but thankfully all were alive and healthy. And the very last scene of all them being together again in spirealm was kinda potion booster.

Guys if you wanna watch, go for it..
And even if you don't wanna wach it, watch it for last few episodes.
It's worth it.

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Wonderful, emotional, and just beautiful (except the ending haha)

If anyone's read the novel before going into the series, they would surely have high expectations, and I certainly did too. I was not disappointed in the least, the plot, the mystery, the acting were all just executed to perfection. I love the cast, and they all suit their characters really well.

I felt that I was really able to develop such a deep bond with so many different characters, and in such a short time, which is something even the best TV series don't always manage to achieve. RNZ and LJS are adorable, and they give off such obvious lovey-dovey vibes i keep squeeling and kicking my legs everytime they're together.

As someone who extremely hates watching any visually scary / even the tiniest bit of horror, I love that while the story is one of horror mystery, they somehow managed to make it not that horrifying, and most of the time I actually felt it to be slightly comedic. I was really glad the director took into consideration scaredy-cats like me.

Finally, the ending. This was the only reason I had to take the .5 off that 10/10. The ending was a tad chaotic, unexplainable, not understandable, and slightly sad. There were many things that I failed to understand, but ultimately if I switched my brain off, I still enjoyed the very last few scenes of melancholic happiness.

Ps - to novel readers: the ending is quite different than that in the novel, and definitely not as happy i would say, since the series left the ending quite open-ended

PPS - to all international fans out there, I actually feel so bad for you since the subs are probably not that easy to understand (or not understandable at all haha)

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escape rooms in fantasy of life and death virtual game..

basically just watch the drama, for my interpretation of the storyline... with the guessing words from not accurate/auto generated subtitles.. just for reminder sake of comfortable watching, i do put a mindset for this drama that to just follow the flow of the drama, don't expect too much, and have a funtasy virtual journey through the end, it's really worth my time, because i couldn't stop watching the drama till the end of episode.

1st episode i'm hook up for the RPG storyline, any dramas about RPG in beautiful scenery always added to my list to watch.. that's what i thought at first... then, unbelievably it's a horror one, and to added it to my surprise it's a spooky and gory one, i do horror but not the spooky-gory kind (such as "sell your haunted house"), so i'm a bit hesitant to continue at first, but after 2nd episode, i get my nerved tone down for the mystery of each door to solve, i like the solving cases storyline, so i can't stop continue watching them even in night time..
yep it's no draggy storyline, but yet a bit fast pace, i couldn't get too much attached emotionally, even when there're deaths of the support characters, i couldn't get the sadness about them, i just thought it's part of the game which is required to, after all it's a life and death virtual game.
for me, every solving cases storyline just need decent ending, and this drama is one of them, i don't expect much to have it a happy or sad ending, just enough for my logic to have the resolve ending.
and good BGM made me hook up through all the storyline.

both Main Lead characters Ruan Lan Zhu and Ling Jiu Shi give a superb chemistry, in gestures and eyes telling, they're so in sync in mind too, the calmness and knowing what to do from both ML, made the drama enjoyable to follow through the end, no fussy scenes from them, i always love the pair of Introvert characters, so comfortable to watch.. i love the early attitude from RLZ for his sassy and love to tease LJS, through gestures, eyes and words ("what's yours are mine, what's mine still be mine", keep me laughing hearing this sassy remarks), but it's getting lesser from the middle to the ending, a bit disappointed actually though, LJS still the same but a bit upgrade from too oblivious to a bit quick to catch RLZ rephrase.
and i prefer with RLZ's hair style of the 1st episode with his bangs down, soo real RPG character, breathtaking, lol..
i love BL storyline, but this drama not enough to be categorized as BL one IMO, just Bromance, because the storyline didn't focusing about their feeling, just a gesture here and there, not too emotionally attached storyline about them ("Untamed" were more for the romance than here), again IMO.

Re-watch the drama only when i miss RLZ, it's too spooky and gory for my nerve, just for a day-watch, not recommended at night-watch, if you don't have a strong nerve as me, lol.
well, just a tiny wish-of-thoughts about the whole set of story, it'll be really awesome feeling if it's actually done as the novel set of nuance that it's a real door, not just a virtual game, ayy just a bit imagining thoughts whether it'll feel different when i know it's not just game-set storyline, hehe, the drama already awesome as it is.

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Magnum Opus! The total Package!

Yes, indeed I did watch this phenomenal series and, while not a gamer nor fully understanding much about the intricacies of this series, I treasured its theme and ambition. This series is breathtaking in its presentation, cinematography, storytelling, and acting. I was completely mesmerized and astonishingly could pretty much follow the gist of the story minus the minutiae and detailed storylines. Being a Westerner, I also got hopelessly entangled by the names and relationships of individuals. None of that mattered to me, however. My focus was on the two main protagonists and the heart of their story.
To say this series is unconventional would be an understatement. Interestingly, it was adapted from a BL, but it is NOT a BL. Is it romantic? Oh God, yes. It is beyond a bromance but certainly not a BL. It is in a category all by itself. The two leads, almost from the beginning, develop a strong and inseparable bond between each other that is unshakable. Early on there is a natural affinity between them and it does not take long for both to pledge fidelity to one other.
One of the best series of 2024! You can read my full review of this series at BLBliss.com.

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