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Hikari no Naka
This review may contain spoilers
Extremely well-made drama but can be a bit confusing
I had a very high expectation of this drama, considering its huge popularity and rave reviews in China praising its dark and engaging storyline. After finishing the whole episodes, here are some of my thoughts:
STORYLINE
This drama is adapted from a suspense novel and according to some reviews that I read, the novel itself is much much darker and more "evil" than the drama version. Therefore the storyline in the drama version has to be modified in order to pass the censorship. Even the characters personality are modified in the drama version to make them more "likeable". I guess this is the reason why some of the plot can be a bit confusing and raised questions in regard to the plot logic.
The plot holes could be explained if the audience read and understand what the original novel's story plat is supposed to be. The drama tried its very best to convey the original story while at the same time passing the censorship, there are a lot of hidden details which if you pay attention to it may actually tell you what the original intention is. However, to the people who never read the original novel this can be pretty confusing.
The pace of the story is quite tight compared to the usual draggy plot of many Chinese dramas and a lot of stories are told within 12 episodes. I really appreciate it since I am used to relatively fast paced story and few episodes of Korean and Japanese drama. However, I still found that the pace was a bit slow to the point I stopped watching it after ep 8 and didn't continue until 2 weeks later. I can't help but compare it to my fave Korean suspense drama Signal, which I binge watched all 16 episodes in one go and was kept at the edge of my seat all the times.
ACTING
No need to say that the acting is TOP NOTCH. This is the aspect that makes me keep watching this drama. Qin Hao is excellent as the gentle but cold-blooded murderer, but my fave is the Rong Zi Shan who played Zhu Chao Yang. Wow, his acting really blew me away. Considering he is only 13 yo, it is already very impressive and he surely will have an excellent acting future ahead. Not only the main cast, acting skills of all the supporting roles are also top notch. I can't find any of the supporting roles whose acting is not convincing enough to make me believe that their character is real.
MUSIC
The music in this drama is excellent! Especially the opening music, it is dark and creepy and set the tones of the drama, I always get goosebumps when listening to it. All the accompanying music are also well made and enhances the atmosphere of the story.
Despite of its shortcomings, this is an extremely well-made drama, it has set many new standard for the drama making in China, including its script-writing, directing and overall quality of the acting. Chinese drama industry is plagued with poor quality of script-writing and draggy plot which only put emphasis on looking good on the surface, but totally ignores the importance of the logic and quality of story. This drama has garnered so much attention and hopefully it will set the standards for the future drama to follow.
STORYLINE
This drama is adapted from a suspense novel and according to some reviews that I read, the novel itself is much much darker and more "evil" than the drama version. Therefore the storyline in the drama version has to be modified in order to pass the censorship. Even the characters personality are modified in the drama version to make them more "likeable". I guess this is the reason why some of the plot can be a bit confusing and raised questions in regard to the plot logic.
The plot holes could be explained if the audience read and understand what the original novel's story plat is supposed to be. The drama tried its very best to convey the original story while at the same time passing the censorship, there are a lot of hidden details which if you pay attention to it may actually tell you what the original intention is. However, to the people who never read the original novel this can be pretty confusing.
The pace of the story is quite tight compared to the usual draggy plot of many Chinese dramas and a lot of stories are told within 12 episodes. I really appreciate it since I am used to relatively fast paced story and few episodes of Korean and Japanese drama. However, I still found that the pace was a bit slow to the point I stopped watching it after ep 8 and didn't continue until 2 weeks later. I can't help but compare it to my fave Korean suspense drama Signal, which I binge watched all 16 episodes in one go and was kept at the edge of my seat all the times.
ACTING
No need to say that the acting is TOP NOTCH. This is the aspect that makes me keep watching this drama. Qin Hao is excellent as the gentle but cold-blooded murderer, but my fave is the Rong Zi Shan who played Zhu Chao Yang. Wow, his acting really blew me away. Considering he is only 13 yo, it is already very impressive and he surely will have an excellent acting future ahead. Not only the main cast, acting skills of all the supporting roles are also top notch. I can't find any of the supporting roles whose acting is not convincing enough to make me believe that their character is real.
MUSIC
The music in this drama is excellent! Especially the opening music, it is dark and creepy and set the tones of the drama, I always get goosebumps when listening to it. All the accompanying music are also well made and enhances the atmosphere of the story.
Despite of its shortcomings, this is an extremely well-made drama, it has set many new standard for the drama making in China, including its script-writing, directing and overall quality of the acting. Chinese drama industry is plagued with poor quality of script-writing and draggy plot which only put emphasis on looking good on the surface, but totally ignores the importance of the logic and quality of story. This drama has garnered so much attention and hopefully it will set the standards for the future drama to follow.
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