yes, the novel is great!!
ive read the novel.. and MDZS is the only novel that makes me laugh, emotional, a little scary feeling and give me a big SECONDHAND EMBARRASMENT (*´艸`*) in a single chapter (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ
I really can't agree the live action is even worth watching.
they add some much bullshit to the story that didn't need it and built in such a lazy ass peace =_= if you need visual that badly then the anime is a better choice then the live action drama.
I understand you. It happens when I read a book and go see the movie! I get disappointend. And you right about anime! It's wonderfull.
ahh well everyone has their opinion so i understand if it wasn't to your standards
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but before bashing it, hear me out? in my opinion it's honestly really well done for a chinese bl novel adaptation— i'd go as far as to say it can be considered the future of chinese bl dramas. if you look at every other chiness bl drama, most of them are even worse. the untamed did add some unnecessary stuff, esp towards the ending, but it's arguably the most successful one to-date (the amount of views surpassed Guardian by Priest, another popular bl drama that I'd really recommend).
honestly you'd be surprised at how much chinese live action bl dramas change their storylines to the point where novel readers can't recognise the original story aside from the characters bearing the same names...
with that being said, so many bl adaptations have failed because of China's huge censorship— take "Addicted", for example, the bl drama that caused china to ban bl content on web dramas and go as far as to separate the two male actors who were just doing their jobs by stating that they're never allowed to be seen on-screen together ever again.
most chinese bl dramas will add a female lead, explicitly state that the core m/m relationship is just brotherhood, and casting are sometimes done so badly bc the actors chosen either do not look the part or do not know how to portray the chemistry between two men— and then it's even more awkward.
the untamed did a pretty good job in all those aspects— casting Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, who are idols (all in one package: good looking, can act, can sing and can portray the necessary chemistry), no prominent female leads, did their best to put in wangxian scenes whilst avoiding censorship, and mostly stayed true to the story. the unnecessary things might've helped first time viewers who's never read the novel to understand some things because there are a lot of things that a live action can't convey easily when it's adapted from a novel. if you noticed, the novel has a lot of flashbacks & talking, which is rather slow and unnecessary to be fully translated into a live action. also i believe some things were changed (i.e. wen qing's involvement in cloud recesses) to speed up things and introduce characters early on.
i said the visuals are nice because well, they are! certains scenes may look awkward but keep in mind this is a web drama, and they only have so little production costs compared to actual tv dramas. filming and production took 3 years, and so many things in the sets are intricately designed and made, i.e. lotus pier's gorgeous set! clothing may have disappointed me at first but if you look closely the details are pretty good! (except 3zun's curtain-like clothes, who allowed that Σ( ￣□￣||))
hope this widens your perspective of it a bit; the cast and production team worked really hard on it, and they did their best (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
maybe that's why I don't even start with live-action BL drama most of the time from that reason alone, they just kill the plot. cause china have bullshit laws. which I admit, I still don't get what they have against the homosexual community and show it on screen.
but well whatever I guess ╮(￣▽￣)╭
I'm actually not surprised at all, they did it here too by adding some girl to learn with Wei in the past and Wei meet with her all the time. what didn't make sense at all cause in the novel Wei said the girls and the guys live separately from each other to avoid doing "dirty" things or some crap like that. can't remember XD
and look I get that they need to change a few things, cause there is a lot of explaining in the novel. but if they going to change it, at least they could have done it in a more creative way, I guess? I don't know how to put it into words. what I have is the anime, and compare it to the live-action, even without the fighting scenes it was really amazing!! the metaphors in there were brilliant if you think about it. and it's not like the anime didn't change/remove a lot from the novel - first epi Wei use the apple right away with no help from any girl. but I will argue that it helped the plot move forward better, while in the live-action the peace felt off to me, from the start and until I just give up on it in epi 5.
things happen so randomly which very little time to breath, while the anime felt much more real and slow to me than the live-action. which again is sad for me cause I really wanted to give this a chance.
so maybe you right it better compare to other live-action's out there, that I didn't watch much. but I still can't like it, even if it better from worse live-actions. I just stay with the anime for the visuals.
as someone who's read the novel and gone through everything there's currently in the manhua, audio drama, donghua (anime) and live adaptation, my advice still is: read the novel! it's the original for a reason, and i say that because it stays true to the story, hence you don't have to worry about missing any juicy details. also, the translation is really good for a chinese novel and the worldbuilding and character depth are A++!
with that being said, the donghua and live action are definitely worth checking out too— it's still counted as a loose adaptation, but the visuals are stunning and it sets a good-pace for something that's been adapted from a written work. i'd recommend non-chinese speakers who find it hard to memorise the names to maybe check out either one of these first, so that you can familiarise yourself with the characters. i first came across what there was available of the manhua earlier this year and after reading it, dove straight into the novel (but then again i understand chinese so maybe it was easier for me?) i think it differs for everyone, so read it at your own pace! :")
mdzs isn't your typical story with black and white heroes and villains— hell i mean the main character, wei wuxian is considered a villain by most in the cultivation world, but rather it's a story that delves into the choices that make a person deemed a hero/villain, and the relationships forged, broken, and mended along the way. i mean it when i say it's a whole package— action, romance, mystery, adventure, comedy, pining idiots, relatable characters and a good amount of angst. every action, every path taken in the story is plot to a bigger picture.
10000/10. enjoy the ride ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~
you can read the eng translation of the novel here: https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/grandmaster-of-demonic-cultivation/