A few days ago, Shu Ke, author of the novel The Journey of Chong Zi 重紫 is based on, shared her first impressions of the drama. While book and drama fans may have their own opinions about how the live action turned out, Shu Ke said that although the xianxia series did have some flaws, her overall impression is that it exceeded her expectations.
“It’s pretty good” she said after watching just three episodes of the drama. “I can see that the production is very sincere. Many plots and scenes tried to be as faithful to what’s written in the book as possible.” However, she also acknowledged the changes. She said the heroine Chong Zi’s characterisation did change but praised Yang Chaoyue’s portrayal as very cute.
As for the hero Luo Yin Fan, the author said the transformation of his personality to a much warmer person actually doesn’t affect much. Not that it’s the fault of the actor though, she said. One of the shortcomings she pointed out was that in this story about a master and his female disciple, the lines and dialogue particularly of the disciple didn’t show a progression from a young girl to an adult. From the drama, you’d assume that the heroine is still in her teens and that her life experience is pitiful. She explains, “For him to wipe her mouth for her and pamper her is normal.” Shu Ke actually tried asking and learned that it was in order to pass censorship that they had to have an adult play the role throughout. Hence, she found it a bit disappointing how the lack of progression has affected viewers perception.
She said these were her impressions and that she’ll continue to watch it. Shu Ke said that a drama is good as long as it is done with heart. She also emphasised that the quality and not the popularity of the drama is most important. Meanwhile, it appears Shu Ke has decided to keep her opinions to herself. She’s now set what she previously wrote to private in order to avoid controversy. She added, “After all, I write novels, so I will mainly discuss novels here…”
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