The new version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" scored 3.5 on Douban: too many characters, too messy, poor narrative

Adapted from Jin Yong's novel of the same name, the new TV series "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" directed by Yu Rongguang was officially broadcast exclusively on the Classic Theater of the China Central Television Drama Channel (CCTV-8) at 20:00 on August 14.

At the same time, the TV series will be exclusively broadcast on Tencent Video, with 2 episodes updated every day at 24:00, and members can watch it first at 20:00 every day. However, after the new version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" was broadcast, the audience's reputation was instantly polarized. At present, the 2021 version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" has been rated on Douban, and netizens have a score of only 3.5 points, with more than 50% giving it 1 star.

Netizens' comments on the 2021 version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" are hard to describe. The casting is inappropriate, Qiao Feng lacks domineering power, there are too many and too messy characters appearing in the first episode, and the narrative is confusing... In short, there are many flaws.

Looking back at the classic versions of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", the 1997 version starring Felix Wong has a Douban score of 9.0, the highest score in the series, while the 2003 version starring Hu Jun also reached 8.4 points, ranking second. Now "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" directed by Yu Rongguang directly scored 3.5. Some netizens said that this really ruined the classic!

It is understood that the new drama "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" is adapted from Jin Yong's martial arts novel of the same name. It is set in the era of Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty. It tells the story of three chivalrous men, "Leader of the Beggars' Sect" Qiao Feng, "Prince of Dali" Duan Yu, and "Shaolin Monk" Xu Zhu, who are involved in the complexity of the martial arts world, experience the bitter fate of "asking for something but not getting it" in the swordplay, and shoulder the responsibility and mission of "family, country and the world" amid the fluttering flags.

According to statistics, this is the sixth time that "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" has been adapted into a TV series. Previously there were the "Leung Kar-yan version" in 1982, the "Hui Tin-ci version" in 1990, the "Felix Wong version" in 1997, the "Hu Jun version" in 2003 and the "Wallace Chung version" in 2013.