The author of the original book Liu Cixin is basically the man who is single handedly holding up the entire sci-fi scene in China, his work serving as source material for adaptations and indie animations in popular culture, and Three Body is his magnum opus so the show has a good foundation as long as its directors understand and respect the material. So as you can tell China lacks a high budget VFX heavy production industry, only recently starting with works like the Wandering Earth (also a Liu adaptation), the budgets are limited and therefore the VFX, music, etc. suffers. But its good to see us starting with some good work any maybe in a few years thing can look very different.
I found the use of Hans Zimmer snippets REALLY noticeable.. I had to keep reminding myself that the average Chinese viewer probably wouldn't have picked up on that at all.. But I spotted bits of Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival. Or was I just imaging it? The Western actors were TERRIBLE as well. I can live with all of that though and loved every minute! Overall an amazing show that really added to the books... I found the 3 Body game scenes to be quite slow in the books but much more enjoyable in the show.
@@DeepTitanic the problem might be that Chinese television more often than not do not have original scores and use existing pieces. Also no one is bothered to scrutinize foreign actors when the viewers do now know the language that well anyway. so unfortunately people are used to some of these flaws, but maybe also it allows for the team to focus on getting something out of the absolutely tiny budget compared to foreign shows
I'm not complaining really.. I just finished watching the last episode and I absolutely loved it. I'm more commenting on it it from a foreigners perspective.. I'm not the intended audience after all. For example watching this show gave the perspective of what it must feel like when there's a Asian part in a Western movie and they don't bother to check the dialogue or the quality of the acting. I also think most westerners wouldn't notice either by the way.. It's just that I have a Spotify playlist of the sound tracks from my favourite SciFi movies which i listen to fairly regularly and so I know them really well. I'm really looking forward to the adaptions of the next 2 books now 😀 @@My-nl6sg
I only became familiar with Chinese sci fi from Clarkesworld Magazine podcast. They read a lot of Chinese authors that I would never have otherwise encountered. Makes me wonder what other amazing stories I am missing as an English-only reader?
As a Chinese drama reviewer, I so thoroughly enjoyed your review! You clearly have watched a lot interviews of the directors and producer ! It's the best thing that has happened to Chinese dramas so far this year.
@calebnbaileyify yeh. It's disappointing but no surprise. The ccp is very careful with anything to do with Mao. They have to keep his image up as a founding father despite knowing his policies were trash for everyone.
There is the cultural revolution part. The order of the story is different from the intl version. I guess you only checked the first couple of episodes
The director said in an interview, he wish he could have done better the proton part but they really ran out of the budget. This is a low budget show(the budget of one episode of the Netflix adaptation equals the whole budget of this show), and I just hope the success will help them get more budget for season 2
That does make sense; the sophon scene felt a little unfinished, like there weren't quite enough shots to get everything in. I'm disappointed that my favorite detail - the giant eyes in the sky - didn't make it into the scene, but I think the core thematic elements were still included. The main purpose of that scene imo was to raise the moral quandary about entire universes constantly being destroyed in particle accelerators, and show how the princeps used that fact to desensitize the Trisolarans to the concept of genocide, and all of that was still included in the show.
If this is what a low budget show can do, especially if the entire series had even remotely similar budget than a single Netflix episode... Why does it look so much better than the average Netflix production? The amount of creativity in stretching the low budget has to be insane.
This could be done so well in the right hands but if Netflix were banking on this series and I were an investor, knowing who the showrunners are, I'd sell my shares well before the hype even started for this one.
@@BriarLeaf00💯 If Netflix had selected the creative directors for Dark to take on their adaptation of Three Body Problem. I would be excited. But alas they did not. This is why Netflix can't have nice things. I expect the upcoming adaptation is going to have entertainment value comparable to seeing a car fire. . . an uncommon sight (for most) but bizarre & tragic nonetheless.
I like the tenderly recreation of the world of 2007 - cell phones, worms game, windsows computer sounds, some skyscrapers in Beijing not finished yet, dancing aunties in the streets, the environmental topics which came up first in this decade and so on. So many details - Some episodes I had to stop every few minutes and scroll a bit back and watch again...
Yes! That's such a great example of a detail they didn't need to add in, but they just did anyway. I love how they went out of their way to recreate the 2007 Beijing skyline. It feels authentic, but not too in-your-face.
I was also in Beijing in 2007 and in 2000 when they announced China would get to host the Olympics in 2008. Absolutely unbelievable times in Beijing! I have no doubt we'll never see that pace of development again.
Many people don't like the pacing of this show, but I find it perfect for the first book, stressed and lost at the same time. The show is indeed slow, but also stressful enough to keep it from falling apart, I personally like it that way.
I read the books and watched the Tencent series. And you're right! I don't know how this show got made in this age of short attention spans. But it's truly a remarkable series to match such an Amazing amazing book.
The actor who played Mike Evans mentioned in an interview that the director thought his voice was too young for the character, so they let a Chinese actor to dub him. This may explain why Evans doesn't sound like a native English speaker.
I am one of the original readers who followed the three body problem unfold when it was released on magazine SFW. My love for the book has made me very skeptical about any cinematic adaptation and I have been refusing to watch any of them. Thank you for your genuine review and it really gave me confidence to watch this adaptation.
My only regret in binge-watching this entire show, is that there's nothing yet for the 2nd and 3rd, and honestly this feels like it humanizes the characters so much I don't know if I can go back to read the books... I've been waiting for them to make a true series on this since I discovered the books ages ago, and when I learned of the Netflix version I somehow found the real one. That was the most slog of a series I've ever watched, and I do not regret a single second of it. I've never seen a show that respected its source material to such a degree as this, I happily braved all the awkward subtitles and dubs and weirdness because I loved it.
As a fans of Three -body, I think this series is really dramatic and amazing. I can't imagine how well the portrayed Ye Wenjie's story and brought the character of Wang Miao to life. And most of the casting is amazing!
Well I just wanna say I'm a huge fan of three body and your review. I'm only on episode 17 but agree with all your points. Also: this is the kind of sci-fi that gets me excited about sci-fi. I read the books 4 or 5 years ago and have still thought about them from time to time. When I saw Netflix was going to do a series, I took a look at the trailers and knew that the book would be ruined for me. But! After seeing this was on Tencent, I went all in. This has all the aspects that make Chinese storytelling simply awesome, in my opinion: 1) the time that it takes to build context, 2) the ideas and concepts being more of a focus than the action, and 3) the character development. I feel like the pacing, while it seems slow at times, is necessary for a deeply impactful story that has lasted for me for the handful of years I mentioned. I.love.it. I also enjoyed your review of this series, thank you!!
OK, and another thing @genericallyentertaining : I watched closer on the english characters - Evans and I suspect even the generals from the other combat zones - it feels 'deep-fakey.' Definitely Evans - the movements are really good but still a little too smooth. Also, the voices sound pretty ai-like.
Wow I always imagined Da Shi as a 50-something jaded/washed up/out of shape officer who is always included in all the important cases because “he’s a liability but he’s the best of the best”! Excited to get into the show and see how they do a young Da Shi
This series was amazing. Enjoyed it a lot. Loved the character improvement over the books. Da Shi and young Wenjie are probably my favorites. I have read TBP before (but not TDF and DE yet) and honestly they only added elements in addition to the book without removing anything which was surprising. Agree with you that some of it was unnecessary and could've been done in 20 episodes, but I won't complain. Can't wait to see what Netflix comes up with. - a fellow Turkey.
If you enjoyed TBP, I think you'll definitely enjoy the other two books as well! TDF is probably the best in the series, and an improvement on the original in every way, imo.
Probably not read the books yet or have seen the Chinese version of the series I watched the Netflix and I'm on round two. I really really love it and can't wait to read the books
I'm just beginning to watch the Tencent adaptation and I watched a TH-camr's review who said it sucked but I'm glad I came across your video. I'm looking forward to continue watching the series. Thanks for your great review!
I wanted to stop by again to THANK YOU for this review. I watched it out of curiosity a week ago, and so I decided to check out Three-Body since you recommended it, although I have never read the books. AND NOW I AM HOOKED! I am about halfway through Season 1 already, and I'm just LOVING it. As an indie game developer, the Three Body game they are playing has made me look at game dev in a new way. And I love all the physics. I really like the actors too, especially the cop. Anyway, thank you again.
Originally, I was given the three volumes as a present from some friends. I went through the first two, and got overwhelmed by the possibilities during the third. I'll be going back to finish it. A friend told me about this series, but because they had enjoyed watching some of the English version. There were many things I particularly appreciated about the Chinese version. The pace of it allowed me to think, a rare opportunity in any TV presentation. The performances were totally believable, with exceptions you mentioned above, and the use of human relationships and their interplay was sensitive and true to life for these characters in the setting. I will watch it again. As you, I am not sure I will watch the English version, except from curiosity. In a recent interview, the author said he was satisfied with both though, so I'll check it out.
1 day before Netflix's version, Tencent put online a new edited version that is much shorter, I think this will address some of the pacing problem. Even Liu Cixin himself cannot make unacceptable modifications during the making of the TV show, this is how we know the crew respect the source material. Also I'm impressed by how deep love to the title can affect the performance of actors. Yu Hewei does not look like Da Shi in the book at all, the Da Shi described in the book looks more like Benedict Wong. But Yu's performance is so great, that after the show, all I can think of Da Shi is just Yu Hewei. There was another animated series called created originally by fans with Minecraft, and later recognized by the copy right company, funded and migrated to use "proper" animation software in later seasons. This series is considered the best before the Tencent TV series.
If you liked this you should check out other Chinese dramas. 30 episodes is in fact short for C-dramas, which usually have one season at around 50-60 episodes. I like that about them, as you noticed the pacing is different but one advantage C-dramas have over western dramas is the opportunity to tell the story from beginning to end without interruption. No cliffhangers at the end of the season trying to drum up ratings; no resolving the cliffhanger by episode 2 or 3 of the next season. I also find the acting and chemistry between actors is unparalleled. I think my favourite part about them is the candidness in which they explore emotions. My favourites are Love & Redemption, A River Runs Through It, and Story of Yanxi Palace. They aren't without flaws, in fact they can be hilariously bad in some respects (and A River Runs Through It has one of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever seen), but they are one of the few pieces of entertainment where it just adds to their charm rather than detracts from it. If you had to watch one, watch SOYP, it's bucket list worthy IMO.
Oh, I'll also explain the dubbing--this is often done in C-dramas to make all the characters sound as if they come from the same region (this is more the case with historical pieces than modern ones). Because Mandarin is a tonal language and the characters only sort of hint at pronunciation, accents can vary widely. I believe this is also the reason almost all C-dramas have Chinese subtitles. But another reason they dub is because then they don't have to worry about ambient noise in the shooting location.
I think Love and Redemption would be suitable for someone who is familiar with wuxia and wants to jump a step into the more fantastical world of xianxia. I think for a newbie into Chinese dramas, Love and Redemption might be too much. I agree it's a really good show though. For Chinese drama newbies, I would suggest something like "Longest day in Chang'an" or even Nirvana in Fire (Part 2 is easier for a newbie to watch and understand compared to the first part of Nirvana in Fire). For modern dramas, I really loved Hikaru No Go. Joy of Life is another great show. Honestly there are many
It's one of these shows that some people would say takes too long to get to the point and I could totally feel this as watching the first like 8 episodes was kinda lengthy for me, but I always feel like with these shows if it was indeed reduced to take less time, it wouldn't hit as hard when you finish it which is eventually all that matters. I feel like patience is important when it comes to shows like this. I just hope they are gonna do the entire trilogy because even when this show is okay on it's own, I feel like the trilogy deserves to be finished as a whole.
I just finished watching the final episode of this enrapturing series, and I immediately wanted to get someone else’s take on it. I agree with virtually everything you said about it and was thrilled to hear you convey your thoughts and feelings regarding the series as eloquently and evocatively as you did. Thanks. I plan to watch the Netflix adaptation, but, like you, I don’t have high hopes for a Hollywood-style treatment that the trailers I’ve seen suggest will be a slick and flashy production with little or none of the soul of the beyond-remarkable and spellbinding Chinese adaptation.
Really loved this review. I watched the Netflix version on a whim-though I've been craving to read the books-and really loved it. Then I discovered there is a Chinese version that is 30 episodes!!! I was so excited, and just loved how quickly I loved all the people in this-their humanity, flaws, strengths, family-dynamics, deep philosophy, and solid science. Honestly, I love aspects of both interpretations, but at the end of the day, I would take the Chinese version every time. Thanks again.
Hey, I've been recently watching lots of your videos, and I just want to say I really like them. Your style reminds me of ManCarryingThing before he started focusing on skits. Keep up the great work!
Totally agree. In the last episode, the unfolding scene is acceptable but not as epic as I have imagined (maybe partially due to the budget), but the final scene is so well done and so powerful, that ends the show perfectly on a high note. I was a bit skeptical about Shi Qiang's cast (Yu Hewei). But in the end, his performance was very convincing.
I just finished the show and can only agree with all your points. Absolutely great adaptation, with a great cast. I was pleasantly surprised. Good effects, great camera work and once the action gets going, they really didn't cheap out on the effects. Especially the ship sequence, which was absolutely insane. The thing with some lines being overdubbed happens a lot in chinese dramas. There's an article about it on sixthtone if I remember correctly and it basically comes down to a very fast paced shooting schedule with script changes after lines have already been recorded, etc. And yeah, it's a pity that the foreign cast stands out so much, but what can you do. I am eagerly awaiting the second season (hopefully now with more budget!) since The Dark Forest was my favourite book.
I have watched all 30 parts of the series and it shows the complexity of the novel and Chinese thinking. I have never seen an SF work with detailed scientific representations like this in an SF film adaptation. I really enjoyed the series. Now I want to try Chinese-style offal.
As a casual fan of Chinese dramas, and someone who's heard a lot of buzz about the Three Body Problem, I think this review has made me want to watch this show
It sounds like this show would be a good starting point for someone like me who hasn't read the books but might be inspired to read them once I hit the end of the first season and want more story while I wait for season two
Beike Lu, the art director of this show said in his interview that it's really a pity to be so rushed in EP30 due to lack of budget and he wanna remake a better version of Sophon creation in season 2.
I would love to see more sophon creation scenes in the second season! Here's hoping they get a much bigger budget, though, as the Dark Forest already has a lot of scenes that will be CGI-heavy.
dude the budget required for droplet battle alone would be astronomical, i think don't expect them to remake the creation of sophon too much, this series i high level scifi you have to smart if your budget is limited because if you make it looks cheap you'll ruin the entire show and we'll never get the third season
I just watched the tv series without reading the book, enjoy it very much. The slicing of the ship is amazing, never saw anything like it before, ever!
I didn't know this was out yet, thanks for sharing! Three-body Problem and its trilogy were one of the first things I read after I was done with graduate school (and had time to read again) and it was a very special experience.
What a fabulous series. I read The Three Body Problem book last year and was eager to see an adaptation. I agree with most of your points. A true treasure. For me, the slow pacing at times was excusable, being kind of like a zen passage of story time. The fascinating characters were so well portrayed (except for the English speaking characters) that I found just watching them interesting. The production values, the writing, the acting and directing are top shelf. So impressive. Yes, that odd out-of-context loud music that would suddenly take over dialog while the captions continued to display what they were saying or thinking was nothing short of baffling and annoying.... somebody in editing wasn't trying very hard to get that right. Also for me, just observing what these Chinese people were thinking and saying was revelatory. Early on they speak of the importance of democracy, which surprised me. The book goes further in portraying the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution as flawed and bad, which may be modern Chinese thought, I just don't know. And I love the intellectual honesty of the story, and that it didn't hold back expressing deep thoughts and topics, giving the viewer credit for having a brain. In any case, I love this series and have binged on it. The subtitles often fly by so fast that I've had to stop and replay and pause just so I can know what was said. So, my question is, Is this show available with subtitles but without the odd sound overlays? Thanks for your narrative.
The sound interruption must have been due to TH-cam copyright stuff, I'm guessing. It is pretty odd but, as you said, captions are there so I just continued to read
After watching the Netflix adaptation, I believe Tencent did a superior job. From casting, to pacing, to CharDev to Sound Track to graphics, etc. Netflix seem to be more interested in spoiling the book than it is in making a show. Every Netflix young Character seem to be the same. Single, and uninteresting whereas the Tencent main Character was a family man with a loving supportive wife. Tencent show added value to society.
Netflix version felt like somebody did a retelling of the books to D&D and they just followed that retelling (or how they remembered it) while smearing the plot with obnoxious relationship drama, characters that are edgy for no reason, and a character whose only job in the show is to a duckface while looking thoughtful and throw temper tantrums
I couldn't agree more, I loved the show and managed to import a DVD version of it. I think I have never seen a book adaptation that was so detailed and faithful to the source material. For me (non-Chinese, living in middle Europe) the pacing was no issue at all - I love the book series and I say the more the better, especially in a quality as can be seen in this production. Mini Spoiler for the show - sort of: If I had to pick one thing I could do without it's probably the "evil adversary of Col. Stanton" dude on Judgement Day, I think he was rather redundant. Can't wait for Season 2. Bring it on, please!
Yeah, I agree about the evil soldiers on Judgement Day; it just felt like an over-the-top way of resolving the main characters of any moral dilemmas for killing a bunch of people in cold blood. But still a very enjoyable show over all.
When I say take no offense, I really mean it here: I went into this video thinking "oh boy, another book nerd picking apart a very good show" But during your review I found myself saying "yes! thank you!" out loud haha. I read the book last month and I think the show being altered in the form of *additions* rather than *subtractions* from the source material was an excellent choice relating to the original text that I never would have considered doing. We see Wang Miao's family dynamics play out in a way that makes him more human. We can see Da Shi and Wang's relationship REALLY take form in a cute and truly endearing manner (when Shi has to babysit Wang's daughter). And while I actually respect China more than I dislike them, I was still pleasantly surprised that they didn't pull back any punches during the portrayal of the Cultural Revolution. I'm glad they were willing to show the raw version of a very complicated part of their history. There is absolutely no way Netflix can do better. Most Chinese media doesn't seem to underestimate their viewers and actually trusts them to understand things, which I cannot possibly imagine Netflix doing. Great review. Subscribed!
Ive just finished watching the Chinese version the first book of the trilogy... AMAZING!! I think for a non Chinese it's a bit hard and dry in the beginning which i agree with you but I think thats just how they want to guide you slowly, understand the reasons how it all started. I'm hooked and drooling for more, even the author was pleased (says in an interview) The dark forrest will begin shooting later this year I've heard! I dont pay attention to some of the details you've mentions, I dont minded, the whole 30 episodes i would rewatch again!!
Your comments were like reading my mind. I read the series quite a while ago and wasn't sure about how it could be adapted when I heard about the Netflix series. I was excited about that but while waiting for it to come out and looking for info I came across the mention of Three Body. I found it and started watching it. I can't even. It is perfect. Exactly how I pictured it in my mind with only minor differences. Beautifully acted, directed, and filmed. Soundtrack evocative. Just watched Episode 20. So, I decided to go look at some reviews of the Netflix show. What in the world were they thinking? What was the purpose (or need) for them to break Wang's character into 5 different people? It totally diluted his importance to the story. Why did they mess with the timeline? Did they think the audience would be too stupid to follow a multiple-timeline story? Pretty condescending, especially to fans of the book. What was the point of adding characters who weren't in the book? But what really stood out to me was their making the in-game scenes realistic. Three Body makes these scenes how you imagine they would look inside a game because although it is really happening, it is not happening in our reality. Making it look real doesn't create the sensation of a separation between us and Trisolaris. Three Body Problem will not be worth the investment of my time. I understand The Dark Forest has been greenlit. I can only hope it doesn't take another seven years.
This drama has quite a few flaws: The pacing drags at times, with too many flashback scenes rehashing things we've already seen. The dubbing voices can be inconsistent. Some of the UI/tech elements look unrealistic. In short, there are lots of little issues that crop up here and there. However, I still found the drama very enjoyable for several reasons. First, you can see the care and effort put in by the creators. The character development helps make many of them feel well-rounded and multilayered, especially the pairing of Wang Miao and Shi Qiang which I loved. The main cast delivers fantastic performances that stay true to the original work. And the “Guqin Operation” scene stands out as a highlight.
Just watched both series! I think the Chinese one is much better overall! Fyi it's common in Chinese dramas to dub over most if not all actors for the sake of having a standard accent that is "easier" to understand
i am freakingggggggggggggggg outtttttttttt seeing the book brought to life in the TV series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been watching it for over 3 weeks now and I have had a smile on my face for 3 weeks now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A TV show from a hard sci-fi novel with issues that are mind bending, i can't believe i am getting to see this. what a dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just finished the series yesterday; in one word, it was amazing. BGM music was very good. Soon Your Planet will be punished, and this line of the ending song should be heard again and again. Cinematography, color grading, and Vfx are all very good. You will find no shortage of acting. Episodes 3 and 5 were abysmal. Those who haven't read the book and plot details will get a big twist in Episode 7. Episodes 13-14 will introduce something new, which will make the series more interesting. I like episodes 21, 25, 28, 29 and 30 very much. The last scene and speech of the main two characters were very beautiful; it was an unforgettable moment of the series. Apart from this, there were so many beautiful moments in the series that I took many screen shots. I'm eagerly waiting for dark forest.
I dont have the time to read a physical book anymore, but i managed to hear it as an audiobook while i work. I have to say that I was very captivated. An astounding piece of fiction standing right up there with other classical scifi works. And this is just the first part. I hope the quality continues throughout the other parts in the series.
great review, and the reason you feel the show just came out of nowhere is because it's a Chinese show made for the Chinese audience primarily, the West understandably does not have that much coverage (if at all)of it, but it's actually a national hit in China when it was aired and stirred up a tremendous amount of interesting discussions!
This series grew into me and I fell for the story so quick that I didn't care at all once I noticed those tunes were to be going randomly on and off and realized this was gonna be happening the whole road. I think the story and the way it is put together are curiously suited for people who can appreciate the whole beyond these little 'flaws'. It was an experience of it's own. I'm looking forward to buy the book trilogy. PS: for anyone reading and looking forward to watch this series, those 'issues' mentioned are truly insignificant, so don't miss it for that.
Thanks for your review! i watched this show without any knowledge of the books, and i really enjoyed it despite the sometimes annoying slow pacing. now i'm reading the first book, i love it, and i am also convinced that the series has done a great job in bring characters to life and in bring tenderness to the relationships of characters. Many of my fellow Chinese are now crazy for Wang Miao and other characters, even though they used to think he's just a walking camera and every character in Liu's works were only created as tools serving the development of the storylines. The actors and actresses are truly amazing, some of whom have changed my impressions of them with their performances in the show completely! it is said that the second season will not come out until 2027 at the earliest. sad news. not sure if i want to carry on to the second book bc i experienced confusion, shock, and admiration for Liu while watching the series, and i don't want to lose that rollercoaster ride of emotions when i watch season 2, but 2027 seems so far away, idk if i can resist the temptation of reading book 2
I'm really excited to get started with this and you've only piqued my interest even more. It just feels like a huge investment of time yet an important cultural phenomenon with how well this story has been received all over the world.
I am not a huge fan of sci-fi like you. But I too enjoyed watching this amazing series. Like you said that the director and producer of this series showed their deep love and respect to the original books. The casting crew is also outstanding. Some ideas presented in the 3-body game were so inspiring to me! Your review made me thinking to read the original books. Thx!
Three Body was really interesting. I enjoyed it and I've never read the books so im glad it's a good adaptation so I've not missed key parts. the scenes you listed were some of the best and I can't wait for season 2.
Thanks for this! I had been curious to watch it since I am not really excited for Netflix’s version. I haven’t read the next two books yet but I thoroughly enjoyed Three Body Problem and was begging for a good adaptation.
I hadn’t read the books before but knew about the show since I watch a lot of Chinese shows in general. I thought it was great - really liked it a lot. Loved the relationship between Da Shi and Wang Miao. Definitely leaves a lot to think about and even though I don’t know how it is in the book, I feel like the show didn’t dumb down the concepts and all. I wonder what your opinion on that aspect is. Thanks for the interesting review.
I think the show did a great job explaining the sci-fi concepts! The books were so amazing for me largely because they introduced me to many novel ideas, creating an picture of the universe that was utterly unique but (mostly) grounded in real science at the same time - and the show accomplished basically the same thing. My one real criticism is that the way sophons work could have been expanded upon - I noticed some viewers were confused about where the idea of 11 dimensions being "folded up" inside a proton came from, and what it even means to "unfold" a proton in the first place - but that was always one of the most speculative parts of the book, so I think it's understandable that they didn't include it all. As for everything else, I'm impressed how much made it in: I certainly wasn't expecting Ye Wenjie's theory about reflective solar layers to be included, for example, and they did a great job explaining that.
First of all, seriously point out a mistake in your video. The third manifestation is that there are not only three versions of film and television. The earliest version was "Minecraft Version of Three Body" produced by "神游八方". The first season of that version was relatively rough, but it started to explode in technology in the later stage. The second season is already a real animation. By the third season, it had become a super great classic. It has the highest rating in history on Bilibili and has been officially invested and produced. As a fan of the three body system, you can directly watch the third season, with a very strong sense of urgency！！！
They started making this work in the early 14th year, and it has been nearly 10 years now. At that time, the book "Three Bodies" was not as popular as it is now. They were like a group of martyrs, spending their time and money to complete a mission that seemed almost impossible. Finally, from a small team composed of a group of fans at that time, they became a real animation production company, obtained investment from copyright owners, received high praise, and had 120 million playback times of that animation in China, It belongs to a super phenomenon level work. Their story is like using actions to illustrate what technical support is. The fourth quarter is also in production and is expected to be released in 2024.
Wow, thanks for letting me know about that! I'd heard about the Minecraft version and even seen clips from it, but I had no idea it was such a big deal or that it was produced by a professional animation company. I always love when fan projects turn into something big like that.
@@genericallyentertaining Yep, now they're part of the official production and have their own company. It is highly recommended to watch the third season, you will definitely not regret it after watching it.
@@genericallyentertaining definitely consider watching it! god tier soundtrack. I guess the only thing that's blocking people from watching it is that it's made by minecraft (though later on they're using more advanced tools but it still looks like Minecraft).
@@genericallyentertaining The animation is not produced by a company at first. At first its just a fan made animation and I was part of that team. Then It became more and more professional, and get funded in the second season. Now the team have its own animation company called 氦闪HeliumFlash. You know why they called their company HeliumFlash right ;)
Very good review. I do not expect the Netflix version either. Tencent adaptation is good enough for most book fans and I don't think Netflix can really understand the philosophy in this book. Based on some information, Netflix is not going to respect the novel and Liu Cixin did not involved in the adaptation work.
Im currently watching the Chinese tv serial 三体. It is really good for the most part, and really enjoy the Chinese sensibility when it comes to doing tv drama. They don't compress everything into a flashy action tangle and also tend to be very understated. I'm concerned that Netflix will mess it up with something quite crass.
Thank you. I enjoyed the hell out of every episode, and that surprised me. I knew the general plot going in, but none of the details. The acting was amazing. The visuals were stunning. Overall 10/10. My only gripe was the Evil Pirate crew of the ship at te end...was that in the book? Seemed cartoonish to me, and not needed. I never thought I'd sit through 30 episodes of subtitles, but I really enjoyed this show. Great review!
I loved every part of this review. I can't get anyone I know to watch the series so I was starved for discussion about the choices the show made. Thank you.
I got distracted because I kept falling asleep around episode 14, unfortunately lol. Hearing that there is more goodness is exciting and i’ll definitely have to pick back up. So far, the parts that were good were indeed quite good it just kind of dragged at other parts. I love the books tho, so giving it another chance was always inevitable. Just recently found your channel btw, great stuff!
I really liked the series. The characters were better than in the books. Some things weren't great, like some goofy action scenes, or bad English acting, but overall it was great.
Glad it's on Prime...read it (Audio Book) so long ago it is nice to refresh it. Glad they waited long enough to get the special effects right...(tho I am only 3 episodes in) . Until I saw this I wasn't aware it was out somewhere other than Netflix.
Thanks for your thoughtful review. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and could not stop watching it until there was nothing more to watch. The characters were real and I cared about them, and the story was original and fascinating. I also loved the final two episodes, and especially the final scene, the bug speech from the detective to spark his physicist colleagues out of apathy to action, the perfect set up for season 2.
I am so glad you made this video. I just finished watching the show and I loved it. It’s fantastically done , I was hooked and I just couldn’t stop watching it. When it finished I felt this emptiness , what should I do now lol. I haven’t read the books but I knew the story ( thanks Wikipedia). I was going to start reading books but then this show appeared out of nowhere and all I can is I am grateful Tencent released it on TH-cam. Everyone should watch this show, don’t wait for Netflix version , because of D&D I am already nervous about that one. All actors did phenomenal job, a superb production. P.S loved the music original as well as borrowed. ‘It’s a matter of time’ is too good both English and Chinese version.
The strangeness with the English speakers comes because they are mostly Russian amateur actors - which happens in many Chinese TV shows as well and for me its almost some kind of "signature move" and I could perfectly ignore it, except of a few scenes. In some cases the dubbing is kind of the director's choice because he wants so have a certain voice. The weird music is as far as I know only on the youtube version not when you see it on Chinese streaming plaforms.
to be honest dumb and dumber are also responsible for first fourth season of game of thrones, as long as their have material to adapt i would be optimistic
The Tencent show used a copy of Apparat’s Goodbye in the episode where he’s wearing the infrared helmet. The lyrics are changed and the instrumentals slightly altered but the crux of the song is still there.
I love the Chinese version of 3 Body! I'm addicted. I'm gonna watch the Netflix one also. I've heard it's gonna by different. Of course it'll have the basic plot points the same. Love it!
Your making me want to watch the Tencent show! As a fan I wanted to get ready, so I made a chapter by chapter book summary since it doesn't exist anywhere on TH-cam!
I'm not so sure they got the rights to any music from other major movies or series haha. I noticed some of the same music you were referring to, but (and I might be wrong) it seemed just a bit off - as though they were making knockoff versions of those scores. A huge example was in episode 29 during the Panama Canal scene (which also had some really, really weird dubbing choices for the American Colonel) - they had a song called "Big Broad Rivers" that was obviously a really bad knock off of "Panama" by Van Halen. But yea man you're right - they absolutely NAILED the Panama Canal scene. That was something that was kind of difficult to imagine when reading it but it was so well done here. And yes - YES the closing scene with the locusts was epic. Definitely got choked up watching it as well. I'm such a huge fan of these books and I enjoyed this season so much - I hope that can bring that same energy and attention to detail to the second season. You are right that there were some things that could have been done better, but they got so many things right and brought such a faithful, meanignful adaptation of the book to the screen that it more than made up for any shortcomings. Anyway, great review!
I finished binge watching all 30 episodes on youtube today. I love the series but yeah, the copyright audio sections made me scream. The way the show milks the run time is already bad, but when they finally... F.I.N.A.L.L.Y... get to revealing a major plot point and answering question... just to have it cut to techno music, or silence... and the subtitles stop working... I was rooting for the aliens to destroy earth by the end XD
I noticed none of the UN generals had the correct accent, it amused me , i wasn’t the only one who noticed-it either , 😂🙈, enjoyed it tho Good review xx
Actually I noticed that there is a music from the PC DEMO, 2nd reality but not the original the FutureCrew remix. Purple Motion music. It is just amazing that they put that in.
I can't wait to read the books I am so glad I found your channel. I really enjoyed the Netflix series looking forward to you coming back and reviewing that series.
Good to see you get interested in the books, but if you enjoyed the Netflix series, you will probably either dislike the books, or you love the books and start to hate the Netflix show.
As brought up in another comment I too believe that Dan and David might actually end up making a really good show. They seem to really struggle when it comes to make up their own thing but when a detailed text is given to them, they're really good with not only adapting it but also improving upon it. So long as they followed ASOIAF (till season 4) GOT was good. David I believe has also adapted Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, and that wasn't bad either imo
This is totally a fair point; however, there are other reasons why I'm pessimistic. For one thing, most of the cast is not Chinese, which seems to indicate that the showrunners telling a more international story than in the books. Not only does this mean a lot of essential stuff will have to be cut out, it also probably means they'll be inventing a lot of new characters and plotlines. The little promotional material we've gotten seems to suggest this strongly, and indeed there's one character who appears in a brief behind-the-scenes trailer who doesn't show up until book 3, indicating they're shifting timelines around a lot. D&D also explicitly said they're planning to "dumb down" a lot of the sci-fi elements. Not to mention Netflix's bad habit of cancelling shows after season 1; unless this is a tremendous smash hit, I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. All that being said, I'll keep an open mind, and if it looks like something worth watching, I'll definitely still check it out.
I watched the Netflix series having not read the book. I was immediately struck by the lack of artistry in the cinematography. It just seems like they flew through it as quickly as possible doing every scene by numbers. So, with nothing to enjoy visually you are left with the meat of the story which had interesting ideas but was a bit 'this happens then this happens then this happens' without any real intrigue or tension beyond "so... what's the deal with these aliens? maybe we'll get an answer at the end". I was, however, interested enough in the poorly told story that I am currently in the process of downloading the Tencent version. I hope you are right.
My introduction to this series was the Netflix version. I thought it was done really well for an international audience. The character development isn't amazing, but it's considerably better than the book in my opinion. I imagine you're aware of "the Oxford 5" , which is really an amalgamation of a couple characters from The source material into five distinct, yet somehow more fleshed out, individual characters. The other thing great about the Netflix version is that it's dumbed down a little bit to make it more accessible to a wider audience, but they do a good job of using visuals as an aid to explain the science that the book sometimes goes really deep into. Also, the visuals are just a lot of fun if I'm being honest. I also watched a handful of the tencent version and read book 1. The tencent version really does a great job at bringing the original source material alive, and although the visual style was quite different from the Netflix one, I enjoyed each about equally in that regard. Just finished book 1 about an hour ago and am very excited about the dark forest(which I know a little about, but not much). I guess the summation I've arrived at is that each version is great in it's own way and I would recommend any and all of them to anyone who enjoys hard sci-fi. Last thing I'll say, give Netflix a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised.
![Death's End [Spoiler] Review | The Three Body Problem](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yz5n3888buE/mqdefault.jpg)
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![Finally An Adaptation Three Body Deserves! First Half Review [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q1Nvujq_uDc/mqdefault.jpg)
The author of the original book Liu Cixin is basically the man who is single handedly holding up the entire sci-fi scene in China, his work serving as source material for adaptations and indie animations in popular culture, and Three Body is his magnum opus so the show has a good foundation as long as its directors understand and respect the material.
So as you can tell China lacks a high budget VFX heavy production industry, only recently starting with works like the Wandering Earth (also a Liu adaptation), the budgets are limited and therefore the VFX, music, etc. suffers. But its good to see us starting with some good work any maybe in a few years thing can look very different.
I found the use of Hans Zimmer snippets REALLY noticeable.. I had to keep reminding myself that the average Chinese viewer probably wouldn't have picked up on that at all.. But I spotted bits of Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival. Or was I just imaging it? The Western actors were TERRIBLE as well. I can live with all of that though and loved every minute!
Overall an amazing show that really added to the books... I found the 3 Body game scenes to be quite slow in the books but much more enjoyable in the show.
@@DeepTitanic the problem might be that Chinese television more often than not do not have original scores and use existing pieces. Also no one is bothered to scrutinize foreign actors when the viewers do now know the language that well anyway. so unfortunately people are used to some of these flaws, but maybe also it allows for the team to focus on getting something out of the absolutely tiny budget compared to foreign shows
I'm not complaining really.. I just finished watching the last episode and I absolutely loved it.
I'm more commenting on it it from a foreigners perspective.. I'm not the intended audience after all.
For example watching this show gave the perspective of what it must feel like when there's a Asian part in a Western movie and they don't bother to check the dialogue or the quality of the acting.
I also think most westerners wouldn't notice either by the way.. It's just that I have a Spotify playlist of the sound tracks from my favourite SciFi movies which i listen to fairly regularly and so I know them really well.
I'm really looking forward to the adaptions of the next 2 books now 😀
@@My-nl6sg
I only became familiar with Chinese sci fi from Clarkesworld Magazine podcast. They read a lot of Chinese authors that I would never have otherwise encountered. Makes me wonder what other amazing stories I am missing as an English-only reader?
As a Chinese drama reviewer, I so thoroughly enjoyed your review! You clearly have watched a lot interviews of the directors and producer ! It's the best thing that has happened to Chinese dramas so far this year.
Thanks for checking out my review! I watched your review of the series when you put it out and enjoyed it tremendously as well.
aside from the part where they removed the cultural revolution.
@calebnbaileyify yeh. It's disappointing but no surprise. The ccp is very careful with anything to do with Mao. They have to keep his image up as a founding father despite knowing his policies were trash for everyone.
There is the cultural revolution part. The order of the story is different from the intl version. I guess you only checked the first couple of episodes
@@Blynat The cultural revolution part takes quite a lot of room in the show. maybe you continue to watch then you will see.
This was an incredibly beautiful series. I loved the slowness, the characters, the complexity and the careful opening up of the plot.
The director said in an interview, he wish he could have done better the proton part but they really ran out of the budget. This is a low budget show(the budget of one episode of the Netflix adaptation equals the whole budget of this show), and I just hope the success will help them get more budget for season 2
That does make sense; the sophon scene felt a little unfinished, like there weren't quite enough shots to get everything in. I'm disappointed that my favorite detail - the giant eyes in the sky - didn't make it into the scene, but I think the core thematic elements were still included. The main purpose of that scene imo was to raise the moral quandary about entire universes constantly being destroyed in particle accelerators, and show how the princeps used that fact to desensitize the Trisolarans to the concept of genocide, and all of that was still included in the show.
If this is what a low budget show can do, especially if the entire series had even remotely similar budget than a single Netflix episode... Why does it look so much better than the average Netflix production? The amount of creativity in stretching the low budget has to be insane.
This could be done so well in the right hands but if Netflix were banking on this series and I were an investor, knowing who the showrunners are, I'd sell my shares well before the hype even started for this one.
@@BriarLeaf00💯
If Netflix had selected the creative directors for Dark to take on their adaptation of Three Body Problem. I would be excited. But alas they did not. This is why Netflix can't have nice things. I expect the upcoming adaptation is going to have entertainment value comparable to seeing a car fire. . . an uncommon sight (for most) but bizarre & tragic nonetheless.
@@Nabekukka Because American shows tend to put most of their budget into marketing, not the actual show.
I like the tenderly recreation of the world of 2007 - cell phones, worms game, windsows computer sounds, some skyscrapers in Beijing not finished yet, dancing aunties in the streets, the environmental topics which came up first in this decade and so on. So many details - Some episodes I had to stop every few minutes and scroll a bit back and watch again...
Yes! That's such a great example of a detail they didn't need to add in, but they just did anyway. I love how they went out of their way to recreate the 2007 Beijing skyline. It feels authentic, but not too in-your-face.
The aunties are still dancing. Some have invaded the basketball courts.
I was also in Beijing in 2007 and in 2000 when they announced China would get to host the Olympics in 2008. Absolutely unbelievable times in Beijing! I have no doubt we'll never see that pace of development again.
@@yichengyiI lived in Beijing 2008-2012 and there will never be another time like it.
I’m glad i read this I was wondering why the lord was on msn 😂& no one has a smart phone
Many people don't like the pacing of this show, but I find it perfect for the first book, stressed and lost at the same time. The show is indeed slow, but also stressful enough to keep it from falling apart, I personally like it that way.
I read the books and watched the Tencent series. And you're right! I don't know how this show got made in this age of short attention spans. But it's truly a remarkable series to match such an Amazing amazing book.
The actor who played Mike Evans mentioned in an interview that the director thought his voice was too young for the character, so they let a Chinese actor to dub him. This may explain why Evans doesn't sound like a native English speaker.
I am one of the original readers who followed the three body problem unfold when it was released on magazine SFW. My love for the book has made me very skeptical about any cinematic adaptation and I have been refusing to watch any of them.
Thank you for your genuine review and it really gave me confidence to watch this adaptation.
That's awesome; I didn't even know it was originally released in a magazine format! If you do end up watching the show, I hope you enjoy it.
My only regret in binge-watching this entire show, is that there's nothing yet for the 2nd and 3rd, and honestly this feels like it humanizes the characters so much I don't know if I can go back to read the books...
I've been waiting for them to make a true series on this since I discovered the books ages ago, and when I learned of the Netflix version I somehow found the real one. That was the most slog of a series I've ever watched, and I do not regret a single second of it. I've never seen a show that respected its source material to such a degree as this, I happily braved all the awkward subtitles and dubs and weirdness because I loved it.
they are preparing to film the dark forest already
As a fans of Three -body, I think this series is really dramatic and amazing. I can't imagine how well the portrayed Ye Wenjie's story and brought the character of Wang Miao to life. And most of the casting is amazing!
Well I just wanna say I'm a huge fan of three body and your review. I'm only on episode 17 but agree with all your points. Also: this is the kind of sci-fi that gets me excited about sci-fi. I read the books 4 or 5 years ago and have still thought about them from time to time. When I saw Netflix was going to do a series, I took a look at the trailers and knew that the book would be ruined for me. But! After seeing this was on Tencent, I went all in. This has all the aspects that make Chinese storytelling simply awesome, in my opinion: 1) the time that it takes to build context, 2) the ideas and concepts being more of a focus than the action, and 3) the character development. I feel like the pacing, while it seems slow at times, is necessary for a deeply impactful story that has lasted for me for the handful of years I mentioned. I.love.it. I also enjoyed your review of this series, thank you!!
OK, and another thing @genericallyentertaining : I watched closer on the english characters - Evans and I suspect even the generals from the other combat zones - it feels 'deep-fakey.' Definitely Evans - the movements are really good but still a little too smooth. Also, the voices sound pretty ai-like.
Looking forward to watching the Chinese version and reading the books. The Netflix version was excellent.
This series explains very well the difference between slow pace for the sake of it and slow pace with intention. I like it a lot! Great review.
That's a great way of putting it! I totally agree.
Wow I always imagined Da Shi as a 50-something jaded/washed up/out of shape officer who is always included in all the important cases because “he’s a liability but he’s the best of the best”! Excited to get into the show and see how they do a young Da Shi
Hewei Yu plays Da Shi in the Tencent series and he's 52 years old.
@@roastpork5437 damn he looks really good for his age! I thought he'd be in his early 40s late 30s
@@roastpork5437Interesting how Da Shi is a total jerk in both shows 😂
This series was amazing. Enjoyed it a lot. Loved the character improvement over the books. Da Shi and young Wenjie are probably my favorites. I have read TBP before (but not TDF and DE yet) and honestly they only added elements in addition to the book without removing anything which was surprising. Agree with you that some of it was unnecessary and could've been done in 20 episodes, but I won't complain. Can't wait to see what Netflix comes up with. - a fellow Turkey.
If you enjoyed TBP, I think you'll definitely enjoy the other two books as well! TDF is probably the best in the series, and an improvement on the original in every way, imo.
glad you enjoy it! -totally not alien ant.
Probably not read the books yet or have seen the Chinese version of the series I watched the Netflix and I'm on round two. I really really love it and can't wait to read the books
I'm just beginning to watch the Tencent adaptation and I watched a TH-camr's review who said it sucked but I'm glad I came across your video. I'm looking forward to continue watching the series. Thanks for your great review!
I wanted to stop by again to THANK YOU for this review. I watched it out of curiosity a week ago, and so I decided to check out Three-Body since you recommended it, although I have never read the books. AND NOW I AM HOOKED! I am about halfway through Season 1 already, and I'm just LOVING it. As an indie game developer, the Three Body game they are playing has made me look at game dev in a new way. And I love all the physics. I really like the actors too, especially the cop. Anyway, thank you again.
Originally, I was given the three volumes as a present from some friends. I went through the first two, and got overwhelmed by the possibilities during the third. I'll be going back to finish it. A friend told me about this series, but because they had enjoyed watching some of the English version. There were many things I particularly appreciated about the Chinese version. The pace of it allowed me to think, a rare opportunity in any TV presentation. The performances were totally believable, with exceptions you mentioned above, and the use of human relationships and their interplay was sensitive and true to life for these characters in the setting. I will watch it again. As you, I am not sure I will watch the English version, except from curiosity. In a recent interview, the author said he was satisfied with both though, so I'll check it out.
1 day before Netflix's version, Tencent put online a new edited version that is much shorter, I think this will address some of the pacing problem.
Even Liu Cixin himself cannot make unacceptable modifications during the making of the TV show, this is how we know the crew respect the source material. Also I'm impressed by how deep love to the title can affect the performance of actors. Yu Hewei does not look like Da Shi in the book at all, the Da Shi described in the book looks more like Benedict Wong. But Yu's performance is so great, that after the show, all I can think of Da Shi is just Yu Hewei.
There was another animated series called created originally by fans with Minecraft, and later recognized by the copy right company, funded and migrated to use "proper" animation software in later seasons. This series is considered the best before the Tencent TV series.
If you liked this you should check out other Chinese dramas. 30 episodes is in fact short for C-dramas, which usually have one season at around 50-60 episodes. I like that about them, as you noticed the pacing is different but one advantage C-dramas have over western dramas is the opportunity to tell the story from beginning to end without interruption. No cliffhangers at the end of the season trying to drum up ratings; no resolving the cliffhanger by episode 2 or 3 of the next season. I also find the acting and chemistry between actors is unparalleled. I think my favourite part about them is the candidness in which they explore emotions. My favourites are Love & Redemption, A River Runs Through It, and Story of Yanxi Palace. They aren't without flaws, in fact they can be hilariously bad in some respects (and A River Runs Through It has one of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever seen), but they are one of the few pieces of entertainment where it just adds to their charm rather than detracts from it. If you had to watch one, watch SOYP, it's bucket list worthy IMO.
Oh, I'll also explain the dubbing--this is often done in C-dramas to make all the characters sound as if they come from the same region (this is more the case with historical pieces than modern ones). Because Mandarin is a tonal language and the characters only sort of hint at pronunciation, accents can vary widely. I believe this is also the reason almost all C-dramas have Chinese subtitles. But another reason they dub is because then they don't have to worry about ambient noise in the shooting location.
No cliffhangers sounds like a dream. If you have to resort to a cliffhanger to bring people back then your story is shit and not worth watching
I am also a huge fan of SOYP ！Just watched it The 3rd times
I think Love and Redemption would be suitable for someone who is familiar with wuxia and wants to jump a step into the more fantastical world of xianxia. I think for a newbie into Chinese dramas, Love and Redemption might be too much. I agree it's a really good show though. For Chinese drama newbies, I would suggest something like "Longest day in Chang'an" or even Nirvana in Fire (Part 2 is easier for a newbie to watch and understand compared to the first part of Nirvana in Fire). For modern dramas, I really loved Hikaru No Go. Joy of Life is another great show. Honestly there are many
It's one of these shows that some people would say takes too long to get to the point and I could totally feel this as watching the first like 8 episodes was kinda lengthy for me, but I always feel like with these shows if it was indeed reduced to take less time, it wouldn't hit as hard when you finish it which is eventually all that matters. I feel like patience is important when it comes to shows like this. I just hope they are gonna do the entire trilogy because even when this show is okay on it's own, I feel like the trilogy deserves to be finished as a whole.
I just finished watching the final episode of this enrapturing series, and I immediately wanted to get someone else’s take on it. I agree with virtually everything you said about it and was thrilled to hear you convey your thoughts and feelings regarding the series as eloquently and evocatively as you did. Thanks.
I plan to watch the Netflix adaptation, but, like you, I don’t have high hopes for a Hollywood-style treatment that the trailers I’ve seen suggest will be a slick and flashy production with little or none of the soul of the beyond-remarkable and spellbinding Chinese adaptation.
Really loved this review. I watched the Netflix version on a whim-though I've been craving to read the books-and really loved it. Then I discovered there is a Chinese version that is 30 episodes!!! I was so excited, and just loved how quickly I loved all the people in this-their humanity, flaws, strengths, family-dynamics, deep philosophy, and solid science. Honestly, I love aspects of both interpretations, but at the end of the day, I would take the Chinese version every time. Thanks again.
Hey, I've been recently watching lots of your videos, and I just want to say I really like them. Your style reminds me of ManCarryingThing before he started focusing on skits. Keep up the great work!
Totally agree. In the last episode, the unfolding scene is acceptable but not as epic as I have imagined (maybe partially due to the budget), but the final scene is so well done and so powerful, that ends the show perfectly on a high note.
I was a bit skeptical about Shi Qiang's cast (Yu Hewei). But in the end, his performance was very convincing.
I just finished the show and can only agree with all your points. Absolutely great adaptation, with a great cast. I was pleasantly surprised. Good effects, great camera work and once the action gets going, they really didn't cheap out on the effects. Especially the ship sequence, which was absolutely insane.
The thing with some lines being overdubbed happens a lot in chinese dramas. There's an article about it on sixthtone if I remember correctly and it basically comes down to a very fast paced shooting schedule with script changes after lines have already been recorded, etc.
And yeah, it's a pity that the foreign cast stands out so much, but what can you do. I am eagerly awaiting the second season (hopefully now with more budget!) since The Dark Forest was my favourite book.
I have watched all 30 parts of the series and it shows the complexity of the novel and Chinese thinking. I have never seen an SF work with detailed scientific representations like this in an SF film adaptation. I really enjoyed the series. Now I want to try Chinese-style offal.
People only like white people stories, hence humans lie and become insects to society
As a casual fan of Chinese dramas, and someone who's heard a lot of buzz about the Three Body Problem, I think this review has made me want to watch this show
If you do, I hope you enjoy! The books are also fantastic, (and get better as they go along.)
It sounds like this show would be a good starting point for someone like me who hasn't read the books but might be inspired to read them once I hit the end of the first season and want more story while I wait for season two
Beike Lu, the art director of this show said in his interview that it's really a pity to be so rushed in EP30 due to lack of budget and he wanna remake a better version of Sophon creation in season 2.
I would love to see more sophon creation scenes in the second season! Here's hoping they get a much bigger budget, though, as the Dark Forest already has a lot of scenes that will be CGI-heavy.
@@genericallyentertaining Did you watch the Monghua of the Dark Forest from 2022?, from the same universe?
dude the budget required for droplet battle alone would be astronomical, i think don't expect them to remake the creation of sophon too much, this series i high level scifi you have to smart if your budget is limited because if you make it looks cheap you'll ruin the entire show and we'll never get the third season
I just watched the tv series without reading the book, enjoy it very much. The slicing of the ship is amazing, never saw anything like it before, ever!
I didn't know this was out yet, thanks for sharing! Three-body Problem and its trilogy were one of the first things I read after I was done with graduate school (and had time to read again) and it was a very special experience.
The Chinese adaptation is available on Amazon prime.
Not in Australia 😔
do you know if its in spanish?
What a fabulous series. I read The Three Body Problem book last year and was eager to see an adaptation. I agree with most of your points. A true treasure.
For me, the slow pacing at times was excusable, being kind of like a zen passage of story time. The fascinating characters were so well portrayed (except for the English speaking characters) that I found just watching them interesting.
The production values, the writing, the acting and directing are top shelf. So impressive.
Yes, that odd out-of-context loud music that would suddenly take over dialog while the captions continued to display what they were saying or thinking was nothing short of baffling and annoying.... somebody in editing wasn't trying very hard to get that right.
Also for me, just observing what these Chinese people were thinking and saying was revelatory. Early on they speak of the importance of democracy, which surprised me. The book goes further in portraying the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution as flawed and bad, which may be modern Chinese thought, I just don't know.
And I love the intellectual honesty of the story, and that it didn't hold back expressing deep thoughts and topics, giving the viewer credit for having a brain.
In any case, I love this series and have binged on it. The subtitles often fly by so fast that I've had to stop and replay and pause just so I can know what was said.
So, my question is, Is this show available with subtitles but without the odd sound overlays? Thanks for your narrative.
The sound interruption must have been due to TH-cam copyright stuff, I'm guessing. It is pretty odd but, as you said, captions are there so I just continued to read
Loved the first season. Anxious to see the tear drop scene from book 2.
Oh gosh that scene. And I wonder how the devil they are gonna do the higher-dimensional fragment scenes.
After watching the Netflix adaptation, I believe Tencent did a superior job. From casting, to pacing, to CharDev to Sound Track to graphics, etc. Netflix seem to be more interested in spoiling the book than it is in making a show. Every Netflix young Character seem to be the same. Single, and uninteresting whereas the Tencent main Character was a family man with a loving supportive wife. Tencent show added value to society.
Netflix version felt like somebody did a retelling of the books to D&D and they just followed that retelling (or how they remembered it) while smearing the plot with obnoxious relationship drama, characters that are edgy for no reason, and a character whose only job in the show is to a duckface while looking thoughtful and throw temper tantrums
At first, I wasn't too keen on the cop, but boy has he grown on me. Very insightful in s practical sort of way.
I also heard some music from the series Dark
I couldn't agree more, I loved the show and managed to import a DVD version of it. I think I have never seen a book adaptation that was so detailed and faithful to the source material. For me (non-Chinese, living in middle Europe) the pacing was no issue at all - I love the book series and I say the more the better, especially in a quality as can be seen in this production.
Mini Spoiler for the show - sort of:
If I had to pick one thing I could do without it's probably the "evil adversary of Col. Stanton" dude on Judgement Day, I think he was rather redundant.
Can't wait for Season 2. Bring it on, please!
Yeah, I agree about the evil soldiers on Judgement Day; it just felt like an over-the-top way of resolving the main characters of any moral dilemmas for killing a bunch of people in cold blood. But still a very enjoyable show over all.
When I say take no offense, I really mean it here: I went into this video thinking "oh boy, another book nerd picking apart a very good show"
But during your review I found myself saying "yes! thank you!" out loud haha. I read the book last month and I think the show being altered in the form of *additions* rather than *subtractions* from the source material was an excellent choice relating to the original text that I never would have considered doing.
We see Wang Miao's family dynamics play out in a way that makes him more human. We can see Da Shi and Wang's relationship REALLY take form in a cute and truly endearing manner (when Shi has to babysit Wang's daughter).
And while I actually respect China more than I dislike them, I was still pleasantly surprised that they didn't pull back any punches during the portrayal of the Cultural Revolution. I'm glad they were willing to show the raw version of a very complicated part of their history.
There is absolutely no way Netflix can do better. Most Chinese media doesn't seem to underestimate their viewers and actually trusts them to understand things, which I cannot possibly imagine Netflix doing.
Great review. Subscribed!
They shouldn't pull punches. Millions perished under Mao's authoritarian rule.
it's akin to seeing french revolution being portrayed bad in french tv show
Ive just finished watching the Chinese version the first book of the trilogy... AMAZING!!
I think for a non Chinese it's a bit hard and dry in the beginning which i agree with you but I think thats just how they want to guide you slowly, understand the reasons how it all started. I'm hooked and drooling for more, even the author was pleased (says in an interview)
The dark forrest will begin shooting later this year I've heard!
I dont pay attention to some of the details you've mentions, I dont minded, the whole 30 episodes i would rewatch again!!
Your comments were like reading my mind. I read the series quite a while ago and wasn't sure about how it could be adapted when I heard about the Netflix series. I was excited about that but while waiting for it to come out and looking for info I came across the mention of Three Body. I found it and started watching it. I can't even. It is perfect. Exactly how I pictured it in my mind with only minor differences. Beautifully acted, directed, and filmed. Soundtrack evocative. Just watched Episode 20. So, I decided to go look at some reviews of the Netflix show. What in the world were they thinking? What was the purpose (or need) for them to break Wang's character into 5 different people? It totally diluted his importance to the story. Why did they mess with the timeline? Did they think the audience would be too stupid to follow a multiple-timeline story? Pretty condescending, especially to fans of the book. What was the point of adding characters who weren't in the book? But what really stood out to me was their making the in-game scenes realistic. Three Body makes these scenes how you imagine they would look inside a game because although it is really happening, it is not happening in our reality. Making it look real doesn't create the sensation of a separation between us and Trisolaris. Three Body Problem will not be worth the investment of my time. I understand The Dark Forest has been greenlit. I can only hope it doesn't take another seven years.
Because all the change made in Netflix version made it a worse adaptation but better series and more enjoyable.
This drama has quite a few flaws: The pacing drags at times, with too many flashback scenes rehashing things we've already seen. The dubbing voices can be inconsistent. Some of the UI/tech elements look unrealistic. In short, there are lots of little issues that crop up here and there.
However, I still found the drama very enjoyable for several reasons. First, you can see the care and effort put in by the creators. The character development helps make many of them feel well-rounded and multilayered, especially the pairing of Wang Miao and Shi Qiang which I loved. The main cast delivers fantastic performances that stay true to the original work. And the “Guqin Operation” scene stands out as a highlight.
Just watched both series! I think the Chinese one is much better overall! Fyi it's common in Chinese dramas to dub over most if not all actors for the sake of having a standard accent that is "easier" to understand
i am freakingggggggggggggggg outtttttttttt seeing the book brought to life in the TV series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been watching it for over 3 weeks now and I have had a smile on my face for 3 weeks now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A TV show from a hard sci-fi novel with issues that are mind bending, i can't believe i am getting to see this. what a dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just finished the series yesterday; in one word, it was amazing. BGM music was very good. Soon Your Planet will be punished, and this line of the ending song should be heard again and again. Cinematography, color grading, and Vfx are all very good. You will find no shortage of acting. Episodes 3 and 5 were abysmal. Those who haven't read the book and plot details will get a big twist in Episode 7. Episodes 13-14 will introduce something new, which will make the series more interesting. I like episodes 21, 25, 28, 29 and 30 very much. The last scene and speech of the main two characters were very beautiful; it was an unforgettable moment of the series. Apart from this, there were so many beautiful moments in the series that I took many screen shots. I'm eagerly waiting for dark forest.
I dont have the time to read a physical book anymore, but i managed to hear it as an audiobook while i work.
I have to say that I was very captivated. An astounding piece of fiction standing right up there with other classical scifi works. And this is just the first part. I hope the quality continues throughout the other parts in the series.
great review, and the reason you feel the show just came out of nowhere is because it's a Chinese show made for the Chinese audience primarily, the West understandably does not have that much coverage (if at all)of it, but it's actually a national hit in China when it was aired and stirred up a tremendous amount of interesting discussions!
This series grew into me and I fell for the story so quick that I didn't care at all once I noticed those tunes were to be going randomly on and off and realized this was gonna be happening the whole road. I think the story and the way it is put together are curiously suited for people who can appreciate the whole beyond these little 'flaws'.
It was an experience of it's own. I'm looking forward to buy the book trilogy.
PS: for anyone reading and looking forward to watch this series, those 'issues' mentioned are truly insignificant, so don't miss it for that.
Thanks for your review! i watched this show without any knowledge of the books, and i really enjoyed it despite the sometimes annoying slow pacing. now i'm reading the first book, i love it, and i am also convinced that the series has done a great job in bring characters to life and in bring tenderness to the relationships of characters. Many of my fellow Chinese are now crazy for Wang Miao and other characters, even though they used to think he's just a walking camera and every character in Liu's works were only created as tools serving the development of the storylines. The actors and actresses are truly amazing, some of whom have changed my impressions of them with their performances in the show completely!
it is said that the second season will not come out until 2027 at the earliest. sad news. not sure if i want to carry on to the second book bc i experienced confusion, shock, and admiration for Liu while watching the series, and i don't want to lose that rollercoaster ride of emotions when i watch season 2, but 2027 seems so far away, idk if i can resist the temptation of reading book 2
Also can’t wait for next Tencent one to drop, cause they’re doing second book too.
I'm really excited to get started with this and you've only piqued my interest even more. It just feels like a huge investment of time yet an important cultural phenomenon with how well this story has been received all over the world.
I am not a huge fan of sci-fi like you. But I too enjoyed watching this amazing series. Like you said that the director and producer of this series showed their deep love and respect to the original books. The casting crew is also outstanding. Some ideas presented in the 3-body game were so inspiring to me! Your review made me thinking to read the original books. Thx!
Three Body was really interesting. I enjoyed it and I've never read the books so im glad it's a good adaptation so I've not missed key parts. the scenes you listed were some of the best and I can't wait for season 2.
I'm excited for this series after your review so thank you for giving me an idea of what I have to look forward to.
Thanks for this! I had been curious to watch it since I am not really excited for Netflix’s version. I haven’t read the next two books yet but I thoroughly enjoyed Three Body Problem and was begging for a good adaptation.
非常全面客观的影评，谢谢你！😃👏👏👏
谢谢你!
I’m on ep 4 and I could not agree more with you. It is outstanding, moving, surprising…
I hadn’t read the books before but knew about the show since I watch a lot of Chinese shows in general. I thought it was great - really liked it a lot. Loved the relationship between Da Shi and Wang Miao. Definitely leaves a lot to think about and even though I don’t know how it is in the book, I feel like the show didn’t dumb down the concepts and all. I wonder what your opinion on that aspect is. Thanks for the interesting review.
I think the show did a great job explaining the sci-fi concepts! The books were so amazing for me largely because they introduced me to many novel ideas, creating an picture of the universe that was utterly unique but (mostly) grounded in real science at the same time - and the show accomplished basically the same thing. My one real criticism is that the way sophons work could have been expanded upon - I noticed some viewers were confused about where the idea of 11 dimensions being "folded up" inside a proton came from, and what it even means to "unfold" a proton in the first place - but that was always one of the most speculative parts of the book, so I think it's understandable that they didn't include it all. As for everything else, I'm impressed how much made it in: I certainly wasn't expecting Ye Wenjie's theory about reflective solar layers to be included, for example, and they did a great job explaining that.
because they have no budget
First of all, seriously point out a mistake in your video. The third manifestation is that there are not only three versions of film and television. The earliest version was "Minecraft Version of Three Body" produced by "神游八方". The first season of that version was relatively rough, but it started to explode in technology in the later stage. The second season is already a real animation. By the third season, it had become a super great classic. It has the highest rating in history on Bilibili and has been officially invested and produced. As a fan of the three body system, you can directly watch the third season, with a very strong sense of urgency！！！
They started making this work in the early 14th year, and it has been nearly 10 years now. At that time, the book "Three Bodies" was not as popular as it is now. They were like a group of martyrs, spending their time and money to complete a mission that seemed almost impossible. Finally, from a small team composed of a group of fans at that time, they became a real animation production company, obtained investment from copyright owners, received high praise, and had 120 million playback times of that animation in China, It belongs to a super phenomenon level work. Their story is like using actions to illustrate what technical support is.
The fourth quarter is also in production and is expected to be released in 2024.
Wow, thanks for letting me know about that! I'd heard about the Minecraft version and even seen clips from it, but I had no idea it was such a big deal or that it was produced by a professional animation company. I always love when fan projects turn into something big like that.
@@genericallyentertaining Yep, now they're part of the official production and have their own company. It is highly recommended to watch the third season, you will definitely not regret it after watching it.
@@genericallyentertaining definitely consider watching it! god tier soundtrack. I guess the only thing that's blocking people from watching it is that it's made by minecraft (though later on they're using more advanced tools but it still looks like Minecraft).
@@genericallyentertaining The animation is not produced by a company at first. At first its just a fan made animation and I was part of that team. Then It became more and more professional, and get funded in the second season. Now the team have its own animation company called 氦闪HeliumFlash. You know why they called their company HeliumFlash right ;)
Very good review. I do not expect the Netflix version either. Tencent adaptation is good enough for most book fans and I don't think Netflix can really understand the philosophy in this book. Based on some information, Netflix is not going to respect the novel and Liu Cixin did not involved in the adaptation work.
Im currently watching the Chinese tv serial 三体. It is really good for the most part, and really enjoy the Chinese sensibility when it comes to doing tv drama. They don't compress everything into a flashy action tangle and also tend to be very understated. I'm concerned that Netflix will mess it up with something quite crass.
Thank you. I enjoyed the hell out of every episode, and that surprised me. I knew the general plot going in, but none of the details. The acting was amazing. The visuals were stunning. Overall 10/10.
My only gripe was the Evil Pirate crew of the ship at te end...was that in the book? Seemed cartoonish to me, and not needed. I never thought I'd sit through 30 episodes of subtitles, but I really enjoyed this show. Great review!
I want to rent a movie theater out to watch the Three Body Netflix in a theater on the big screen. Im obsessed with every version.
I loved every part of this review. I can't get anyone I know to watch the series so I was starved for discussion about the choices the show made. Thank you.
Never have i ever been so addicted to series before like this one.
This show hooked me ! I binged the entire 30 episodes with a 2 hour nap The sub titles were easy and did not detract from the story
Where i can watch this show?
Yes agree, one word satisfactory! I never thought they could actually be this good. It could always be better but good enough. I'm happy
Ha! You summarised perfectly how I feel about this show in the first seconds of the video!
I got distracted because I kept falling asleep around episode 14, unfortunately lol. Hearing that there is more goodness is exciting and i’ll definitely have to pick back up. So far, the parts that were good were indeed quite good it just kind of dragged at other parts. I love the books tho, so giving it another chance was always inevitable. Just recently found your channel btw, great stuff!
I didn't expect you would have tears for it....
I really liked the series. The characters were better than in the books. Some things weren't great, like some goofy action scenes, or bad English acting, but overall it was great.
Glad it's on Prime...read it (Audio Book) so long ago it is nice to refresh it. Glad they waited long enough to get the special effects right...(tho I am only 3 episodes in) . Until I saw this I wasn't aware it was out somewhere other than Netflix.
Thanks for your thoughtful review. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and could not stop watching it until there was nothing more to watch. The characters were real and I cared about them, and the story was original and fascinating. I also loved the final two episodes, and especially the final scene, the bug speech from the detective to spark his physicist colleagues out of apathy to action, the perfect set up for season 2.
I am so glad you made this video. I just finished watching the show and I loved it. It’s fantastically done , I was hooked and I just couldn’t stop watching it. When it finished I felt this emptiness , what should I do now lol.
I haven’t read the books but I knew the story ( thanks Wikipedia). I was going to start reading books but then this show appeared out of nowhere and all I can is I am grateful Tencent released it on TH-cam. Everyone should watch this show, don’t wait for Netflix version , because of D&D I am already nervous about that one.
All actors did phenomenal job, a superb production.
P.S loved the music original as well as borrowed. ‘It’s a matter of time’ is too good both English and Chinese version.
The strangeness with the English speakers comes because they are mostly Russian amateur actors - which happens in many Chinese TV shows as well and for me its almost some kind of "signature move" and I could perfectly ignore it, except of a few scenes. In some cases the dubbing is kind of the director's choice because he wants so have a certain voice. The weird music is as far as I know only on the youtube version not when you see it on Chinese streaming plaforms.
Great review of an outstanding series. One of the best, if not the best, TV SciFi series I've ever seen.
to be honest dumb and dumber are also responsible for first fourth season of game of thrones, as long as their have material to adapt i would be optimistic
Gotta love the repeated "come on come on, put yourself together boys" in ep 29.
The Tencent show used a copy of Apparat’s Goodbye in the episode where he’s wearing the infrared helmet. The lyrics are changed and the instrumentals slightly altered but the crux of the song is still there.
I loved every single second of this amazing serie, thank you for your review.
"Three Bodies" fascinates me, and I am very moved to make such a TV series! Thank you for your comment, we are comrades!😁
Nice review, learned some different angle of the last scene from you, thanks for sharing.
I love the Chinese version so much!
I have got to read this series already. Thanks for the reminder. I didn't know about the adaptations. Have bookmarked the YT one for later.
I love the Chinese version of 3 Body! I'm addicted. I'm gonna watch the Netflix one also. I've heard it's gonna by different. Of course it'll have the basic plot points the same. Love it!
Your making me want to watch the Tencent show! As a fan I wanted to get ready, so I made a chapter by chapter book summary since it doesn't exist anywhere on TH-cam!
I'm not so sure they got the rights to any music from other major movies or series haha. I noticed some of the same music you were referring to, but (and I might be wrong) it seemed just a bit off - as though they were making knockoff versions of those scores.
A huge example was in episode 29 during the Panama Canal scene (which also had some really, really weird dubbing choices for the American Colonel) - they had a song called "Big Broad Rivers" that was obviously a really bad knock off of "Panama" by Van Halen.
But yea man you're right - they absolutely NAILED the Panama Canal scene. That was something that was kind of difficult to imagine when reading it but it was so well done here. And yes - YES the closing scene with the locusts was epic. Definitely got choked up watching it as well.
I'm such a huge fan of these books and I enjoyed this season so much - I hope that can bring that same energy and attention to detail to the second season. You are right that there were some things that could have been done better, but they got so many things right and brought such a faithful, meanignful adaptation of the book to the screen that it more than made up for any shortcomings.
Anyway, great review!
I heard the Saw theme in the scenes of Da Shi investigating the reporter’s death.
I finished binge watching all 30 episodes on youtube today. I love the series but yeah, the copyright audio sections made me scream. The way the show milks the run time is already bad, but when they finally... F.I.N.A.L.L.Y... get to revealing a major plot point and answering question... just to have it cut to techno music, or silence... and the subtitles stop working... I was rooting for the aliens to destroy earth by the end XD
I noticed none of the UN generals had the correct accent, it amused me , i wasn’t the only one who noticed-it either , 😂🙈, enjoyed it tho
Good review xx
评价很中肯，加油支持你做出更好的评论作品
Loved the show, and your review is perfect. I agree more with your opinions than I agree with the NY Times review.
Actually I noticed that there is a music from the PC DEMO, 2nd reality but not the original the FutureCrew remix. Purple Motion music. It is just amazing that they put that in.
I want to see the trisolarian drone have a nice close encounter with the human space fleet.
The Tencent Chinese version of Three Body is vastly superior to the Netflix production!
there's a director edition also online at Tencent(26 episodes in total), much shorter than original edition(40 episodes), pace much better.
The original is 30 episodes, not 40. So they basically cut off 4 episodes worth of stuff
I can't wait to read the books I am so glad I found your channel. I really enjoyed the Netflix series looking forward to you coming back and reviewing that series.
Good to see you get interested in the books, but if you enjoyed the Netflix series, you will probably either dislike the books, or you love the books and start to hate the Netflix show.
you look like the character Mark Evans when he was young :)
good analysis and review!
As brought up in another comment I too believe that Dan and David might actually end up making a really good show. They seem to really struggle when it comes to make up their own thing but when a detailed text is given to them, they're really good with not only adapting it but also improving upon it. So long as they followed ASOIAF (till season 4) GOT was good. David I believe has also adapted Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, and that wasn't bad either imo
This is totally a fair point; however, there are other reasons why I'm pessimistic. For one thing, most of the cast is not Chinese, which seems to indicate that the showrunners telling a more international story than in the books. Not only does this mean a lot of essential stuff will have to be cut out, it also probably means they'll be inventing a lot of new characters and plotlines. The little promotional material we've gotten seems to suggest this strongly, and indeed there's one character who appears in a brief behind-the-scenes trailer who doesn't show up until book 3, indicating they're shifting timelines around a lot. D&D also explicitly said they're planning to "dumb down" a lot of the sci-fi elements. Not to mention Netflix's bad habit of cancelling shows after season 1; unless this is a tremendous smash hit, I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. All that being said, I'll keep an open mind, and if it looks like something worth watching, I'll definitely still check it out.
@@genericallyentertaining I was in the toilet while reading this and thus have shat out my hopes and dreams for this show along with the other stuff
I watched the Netflix series having not read the book. I was immediately struck by the lack of artistry in the cinematography. It just seems like they flew through it as quickly as possible doing every scene by numbers. So, with nothing to enjoy visually you are left with the meat of the story which had interesting ideas but was a bit 'this happens then this happens then this happens' without any real intrigue or tension beyond "so... what's the deal with these aliens? maybe we'll get an answer at the end". I was, however, interested enough in the poorly told story that I am currently in the process of downloading the Tencent version. I hope you are right.
oh boy, you are for a wild ride!
My introduction to this series was the Netflix version. I thought it was done really well for an international audience. The character development isn't amazing, but it's considerably better than the book in my opinion. I imagine you're aware of "the Oxford 5" , which is really an amalgamation of a couple characters from The source material into five distinct, yet somehow more fleshed out, individual characters. The other thing great about the Netflix version is that it's dumbed down a little bit to make it more accessible to a wider audience, but they do a good job of using visuals as an aid to explain the science that the book sometimes goes really deep into. Also, the visuals are just a lot of fun if I'm being honest.
I also watched a handful of the tencent version and read book 1. The tencent version really does a great job at bringing the original source material alive, and although the visual style was quite different from the Netflix one, I enjoyed each about equally in that regard. Just finished book 1 about an hour ago and am very excited about the dark forest(which I know a little about, but not much).
I guess the summation I've arrived at is that each version is great in it's own way and I would recommend any and all of them to anyone who enjoys hard sci-fi.
Last thing I'll say, give Netflix a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised.