#huang tan

[the-mind-twins-comic]

Daniel and Huang redraw! 💚🧡 (original is from 2018 I believe)

[zishuge]

The Spirealm 致命游戏 (2024) | Ep. 33

[kdram-chjh]

Movie: Mortal Kombat (2021) | dir. by Simon McQuoid

Kano has a fit of rage and complains to Kung Lao and Liu Kang because they keep hitting him and the training has no results, suddenly, everyone is surprised that when Kano is furious he finally awakens his internal power, and has surpassed Cole Young…

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: The Spirealm (致命游戏)

Source: Google Images

It started off peculiarly; first, his domestic cat refused to let him cuddle it. Lin Qiushi soon found that a sense of disharmony and incongruity began to pervade everything around him. Then, one odd day, he pushed open a door, and he discovered that the hallway he was familiar with turned into a boundless corridor. At both ends of this corridor were twelve, identical iron gates. Thus, the story began.

Source: MyDramaList (2024)

Action, Adventure, Augmented Reality? Sign Me Up!

I do not consume everything that has the 'entering a virtual game with real life consequences' plot-line but when I do, I more or less will enjoy them. The Spirealm is exactly that plot-line and after just finishing 19th Floor (another Chinese drama with similar concept), I was expecting more and hoping for lesser disappointment.

This drama did not disappoint at all. Lets first talk about the roles and the cast. Brilliant job on the casting, everybody pulled off their role so wonderfully, it felt like they were made for their roles. As for the characters these actors portrayed, wow. I haven't been obsessed with a fictional Chinese character in such a long time but Ruan Lan Zhu is so easy to be obsessed with. The writing was brilliant because I very quickly grew attached to the main people and when shit hit the fan, yeah, I felt everything as if I was a part of them.

Spoilers going on from here so if you haven't watched the show, go and watch it now, please?

As I was saying, I was so attached to some of the characters, I really, wow... Say Li Dong Yuan first. I actually already was spoiled with his death, I even knew which door was going to cause his death yet when it happened, I physically gasped. Then his farewell scene came about and goodness gracious, Xiao Zhuang's reaction was absolutely heart-wrenching. It really did not help that right before getting stabbed, the door Dong Yuan went through for Ling Ling was one of the most entertaining and comedic doors.

After that Zao Zao's death? She was already trying her best in the real world, she tried her best in the spirealm. She gave one of the best speeches ever. Yet that chandelier... I never hated chandeliers as much as I do now.

That's the thing about The Spirealm. This show has plenty of heartbreaking scenes but at the same time, it has a bunch of hilarious scenes too. You really can go from laughing one second and then depressed the next. Exactly like when Cheng Yi Xie sacrificed himself for his brother? One second I was laughing at Lan Zhu begging for Ling Ling's forgiveness and suddenly I was pissed but before I could even get real mad, I was hit with a broken heart. This may sound like a complain but the roller coaster of emotions made this drama ten times more interesting than other dramas.

Moving on to the game or doors or levels (however you want to call them). I really, really enjoy shows with this concept but many a times, the stakes just aren't high enough. Not The Spirealm though. I mean, look at Dong Yuan, Zao Zao and Yi Xie. They are part of the main leads and that world did not go easy on them. As much as I hate that they died, I really appreciated the high stakes in this drama. It made watching the show so much more worth it.

Anyhow, despite thoroughly enjoying this drama, I have so many questions. First things first, did I miss the significance of the necklace Lan Zhu gave Ling Ling during the first door?

Also (this is not that important by the way), when the time comes, the players have no choice but through the door. We've watched Ling Ling enter his doors plenty a time. Now tell me how did Wu Qi survive?

I may be someone who loves an ambiguous ending but if the theory that everything was not real is in fact real, I hate it. Yet, everything being a part of Ling Ling's dream or "hallucination" does make sense, as much as I hate it. Remember where Ling Ling walked into upon completing the first door? He entered the door in the middle of the road and exited it into his house? The discrepancies started right from the beginning. Which (if I did not miss anything) might explain the lack of significance behind the necklace. It will also explain why Ling Ling's time between each door is never long yet Wu Qi's not worried about his next door when he witnessed Dong Yuan's death? Or that Chen Fei's advancement is so much slower than Ling Ling. Furthermore, I'm supposed to believe the crew learnt about a mysterious man who helped Xiong Qi reunite with Xiao Ke in the spirealm and they did not investigate more?

I really do hate the everything was not real theory but I also cannot deny it's the most reasonable one. There was another theory I chanced upon on Douyin a while back and have since forgotten most of the information. However, I like that theory a lot even though it was quite farfetched. Long story short, the user theorised that after Lan Zhu walked into the portal and cleaned the program, Ling Ling woke up and regained consciousness after being hit, right? That's not reality but the 12th door and the door god for this last door is Lan Zhu. That was all I remember but the user did provide explanations and timestamps for their theory and upon reading it, it did make sense too. Therefore, if I ever come across that video again, I will link it here.

In the meantime, let's wallow in the conclusion of The Spirealm. It was a quick and short ride but an extremely memorable one.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

More productions from China here: 19th Floor (19层) | Under the Skin (猎罪图鉴)

[axelwolf8109]

Still the coolest shot EVER

[movielosophy]

Blooming | responsibility

[pancakepoet]

My bookshelf!

Not pictured: The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang, Strike the Zither by Joan He, and Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

Two years ago, I decided to completely stop purchasing books by white authors. I definitely have a preference for East Asian (especially Chinese) and indigenous authors. I'm currently expanding it to include S/SE Asian and African/Black authors.

Books I haven't read yet: The Poppy War, Never Whistle at Night, Moonstorm, Of Jade and Dragons, The Girl with No Reflection, Fathomfolk, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, The Night Ends with Fire, and the Emperor of the Endless Palace.

Books I'll be getting soon: A Bright Heart by Kate Chenli, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, and The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahey by Briony Cameron

Update: I finished reading A Bright Heart, Of Jade and Dragons, and The Night Ends with Fire, along with a few others that I didn't describe in the last paragraph. I'm currently halfway through Fathomfolk.

PS: I wasn't aware Shannon Chakraborty was white when I bought the book, but my book shelf is also lacking Muslim representation

[lostinadrama]

𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒆, 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒚 𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 (2023)

[thescorpioking1983]

Roy Huang 🇹🇼

[zishuge]

The Spirealm 致命游戏 (2024) | Ep. 12

[kdram-chjh]

Movie: Mortal Kombat (2021) | dir. by Simon McQuoid

While Jax saves Sonya, Lord Raiden summons Cole Young for the final fight, and when he arrives, he sees the leader Shang Tsung and his fighters, including Sub-Zero, they attack his friends… Lord Raiden wanting to regroup his group of fighters, moves them to another place, but…

[melodious-tear]

| But I had nothing left to share |

Zhan Huang/Ni Yun - The pain that kills you too (Solar Fake)

[binging-asian-dramas]

Legally Romance 7/8

Story: 8

Acting: 10

Chemistry: 10

Comparable to: Lost Romance (Taiwanese); Forever Love (cdrama)

As much as I love both actors, especially Tao, this series for me was very uneven. The first half I actually didn’t care for as much as I did as the last half which is unusual since it’s usually the other way around. I think it had a lot to do with how the female was written with the storyline. The whole plot resolves on “dreams” with a twist (don’t want to give away spoilers for those who still haven’t seen it yet) Now the chemistry between both leads are amazing to a point. I do feel Tao has more of a lovey-dovey feel to him then Song Zu Er especially in the first half, where Zu Er’s character is more stand-off’ish. There’s much more of a connection in the second half between them when her ‘dream’ ends. Overall it’s a nice pleasant unique romcom with a few hiccups here and there.

[genevieveetguy]

A Short Story (Po Sui Tai Yang Zhi Xin), Bi Gan (2022)

[suimovies]

“Mortal Kombat”

directed by Simon McQuoid

[chineseredcarpet]

Li Xian, Hu Jun, Tan Zhuo and Huang Jue for a W Magazine evening banquet