Hands down the best DMBJ to date!

Despite the truly disappointing disappearance of an interesting plot line towards the end (which was apparently due to censorship), this series—including season 2–is without a doubt the best DMBJ adaptation so far. The casting and characterization is downright astonishingly good. The decades-long friendship between Wu Xie, Pangzi, and Zhang Qilin feels completely real and much deeper than in any other version I’ve seen. Their chemistry is incredible and all three actors completely embody their characters. Not only is our Iron Triangle brought to life better than any adaptation before or since, but it also gives us the most enjoyable minor characters in any adaptation, too. Liu Sang, Bai Hao Tian, Hou Dao Fu, Wu Erbai... and a great Xie Yuchen and Hei Yan Jing.

Seriously. This has literally everything a DMBJ fan could possibly ask for. It is THE superior version.

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So much potential, wasted! [SPOILERS]

Ugh, this drama makes me so sad. The cast was great, the first few episodes were enjoyable and light-hearted. It started to go wrong when the focus shifted to Su Youlian at the expense of the rest of the story, and it became more and more obvious that she's just an awful character. While every other character either stayed relatively the same, but fun to watch (Changqing, Bian Lingcheng, Cui Pianran) or developed positively (Li Xuan, Yunshan, Cui Yanren, Long Wei'er), or even was just okay (Yu Fengmu, General Li, Lord Zi, Xiao Fengming), Su Youlian got worse the more the story progressed. It got to the point that about 2/3 of the way into the show I honestly wondered if the writers were TRYING to make us hate her.

Admittedly, I'm never a fan of romance, but I can usually tolerate it--never in my life have I rooted so hard AGAINST the main romance or hoped for the death of the FL. Alas, while the drama has no problem killing off plenty of people--quite of a few of which are Su Youlian's fault!--Su Youlian herself survives and so does her romance with Li Xuan. This is probably the first time I've ever been so unhappy with a "happy" ending.

It's really a shame, because this could have been an interesting story, had they not created such a completely unlikeable FL. Yes, a lot of it is the actress--her only expression is a pout, whether she's betraying Li Xuan or the Prince, or doing something extremely stupid, or... But most of the blame must lie with the writers. They wrote the other female characters decently, but literally not even the main villain is as completely hateable as Su Youlian.

The only positives I can say are that (a) Xu Kai genuinely does a phenomenal job and manages to keep Li Xuan likeable despite his terribly unfortunate love for Su Youlian and the bad/clunky writing. I have to say I was really impressed--he's a great actor. (b) Li Xuan and his two bros have the most genuine relationship in the series, and their characters deserved MUCH more screentime because they are a delight. (c) The first few episodes really do have some hilarious moments.

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Hands down best DMBJ to date!

Despite the truly disappointing disappearance of an interesting plot line towards the end (which was apparently due to censorship), this series—including season 2–is without a doubt the best DMBJ adaptation so far. The casting and characterization is downright astonishingly good. The decades-long friendship between Wu Xie, Pangzi, and Zhang Qilin feels completely real and much deeper than in any other version I’ve seen. Their chemistry is incredible and all three actors completely embody their characters. Plot missteps towards the end are outweighed by a great first half and the joy of seeing the Iron Triangle brought to life better than any adaptation before or since.

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Fun and surprisingly addictive

It took me a few episodes to warm up to this one, but it really is a fun ride (even if it meanders a little) and it has great rewatch value. Yes, it’s corny at times. Yes, some of the acting is weak. However, the storyline(s) is enjoyable, the writing is engaging, and the Iron Triangle have great chemistry—especially Wu Xie and Pangzi, which is so nice to see. It would have been awesome to have more Zhang Qilin in the mix, but when he is there it is evident how much he brings the Iron Triangle, which is of course how it should be. All in all, it might have the budget or perfect acting of Reboot, but it definitely contains the next-best onscreen Iron Triangle.

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Wu Xie is all wrong so it’s a Hell No from me

Honestly? After getting into Daomu Biji via Reunion: The Sound of Providence and then devouring every other adaptation I could find, I couldn’t make it more than two episodes into this one, and it’s pretty much entirely because of Wu Xie’s casting. That’s just not him, and while the actor is fine as far as I could tell, he isn’t remotely the Wu Xie I’ve come to love in the other versions (even the other versions that frankly sucked). He doesn’t look or behave like Wu Xie and since Wu Xie’s character is the whole reason I’ve come to love DMBJ, that was just way too off-putting for me to continue. (Also, you want to tell me it’s been like 8 years since TLT2 and he’s suddenly middle aged??) I wanted to give it time to grow on me but UGH, the whole look and attitude is just so wrong I can’t stand it.

Added to that, Li Cu just wasn’t a compelling character, so no way was he saving it for me.

I very, VERY rarely give up on a series this early, but you can’t mess with my favorite character like that. Thank God for Zhu Yilong is all I can say...

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Another disappointing DMBJ series

SO disappointed in this one. It joins Sand Seas as one of the worst DMBJ adaptations out there, and like that one it’s entirely due to terrible miscasting and equally terrible characterization. Wu Xie is by far the worst—I love that actor, but he is a terrible fit for this role and the writing of the character is embarrassingly bad. Pangzi is also badly cast (and again, nothing against the actor). It was impossible to even get through the first episode because a bad story can improve, but bad casting and characterization is irredeemable. I genuinely can’t imagine why any DMBJ fans like it other than the painfully excessive and obvious Pingxie and Heihua pandering.

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