Where do I even begin...

China always does remakes of classic Wuxia novels every few years, and in my opinion, the 2021 Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is definitely one of the worst drama adaptations of the novel.

I am biased. My favourite version of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is the from 2003. Despite the poor video quality and old CGI, the acting and overall delivery from the 2003 cast is superior in many ways.




So with this 2021 remake (SPOILERS AHEAD!)




The music was fine, not much that like or dislike about it. It was just there so I didn't mind it.

BUT THE ACTING. Dear lord, THE ACTING! That drove me up the wall. I'm probably biased because I'm comparing how these characters are portrayed to the other remakes but STILL, the lack of emotion in some of these characters make me so frustrated.

There are key moments when this is so obvious.
1) When A'Zhu dies and her mother confronts Qiao Feng about her death. WHY WAS THE MOTHER NOT UPSET? Where were the tears? Where was the anger? The mum doesn't even seem remotely sad that her child was killed or the fact she never got to reunite with her lost child?

2) When the Dali Emperor witnesses his lovers get slain one by one in front of him. And the first two that died didn't even seem afraid or sad either??? They also didn't say anything before they were about to get stabbed...

The emperor did look a little sad and he let a few tears fall but it was ...meh. Yeah I get that he's trying to stay calm and strong as he's being threatened. But for a guy that's meant to be a womanising playboy that's really a romantic at heart, his overall character depiction in the drama is kind of cold and stoic. And if you think about the fact that he's meant to be IN LOVE with these women as they die because of him, you can understand why I think they could've done better with the acting.

There are also many other moments in the drama where the acting was just plain lazy and boring, but thankfully most of that was in minor/side characters.

I don't have much to complain about the plot because it's pretty much the same as the other versions of this story. The only part that's noticeably different is the ending because theres a few loose ends.

Did the monk(XuZhu) leave his wife/lover and Lingjiu Palace for good? In the last episode, he decides to let go of his "desires" and leave his home to face the world...umm....WTF?? I thought he wasn't a 'real' monk anymore because of the stuff he did, so why is he going on a spiritual journey to find himself and let go of his earthly desires? Didn't he already accomplish finding himself and gained happiness after he meet his true love and brothers????

I don't know what happened with the Dali Prince (Duan Yu) either. Obviously he's Dali's emperor at the end, but it's unclear what happened to his 'sisters'. I don't know exactly which ending this drama follows. In one version of the novel, he ends up with just the fairy sister. And in the other, the fairy sister decides to stay with her cousin, and Duan Yu ends up marrying the three other girls. But in this drama, the fairy sister chooses to stay with her cousin but then Duan Yu visits her and they leave a monastery together....so does that mean they're together together....or???

Overall, don't recommend unless you're looking to be disappointed, especially if you've seen the earlier remakes.