What upcoming novel adaptations are you excited about? I'm excited for pearl girl and legend of the female general, I love a good female centered story as she grows and rises from the ashes. I was interested in Grand princess because it's both leads getting reincarnated which sounds very interesting but reading the reviews a lot of people really didn't like how the MC treats the ML and complained that they felt it's a very imbalanced relationship and even from the trailer I got those vibes as well (which on its own could be misleading but based on the source material it most likely won't be) and that's really not what I like in my fiction.
Hey anon! It's like you're the roundworm in my stomach as they say, cuz I'd been thinking about this myself and how I should make a little list of my most anticipated novel-to-drama adaptations.
Generally I'm a "the book is better" kind of person, but I've been surprised before. The last adaptation of a cnovel that I really loved was probably Kunning Palace. They kept all the parts I cared about during the adaptation process. The WORST adaptation I've ever witnessed was probably Romance of a Twin Flower / Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir. That was a steaming pile of hot garbage. I also wasn't a fan of Yong An Dream / Chang'an's First Beauty though admittedly, my dislike of Jeremy Tsui also kept getting in the way.
Anyways here's the list in order of most anticipated:
1. The Double / Marriage of the Di Daughter. So this obviously just started, but it's funny how I went from cautiously optimistic to frothing at the mouth once all the trailers and posters started dropping lol. This is probably my fave Qian Shan Cha Ke novel (at least for the OTP) so I tried to go in without any expectations. I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy it. And the changes that have been made haven't really annoyed me--instead they've made streamlined the plot and made a lot of sense. 2. Story of Pearl Girl / Legend of Jewelry. I am SUPER EXCITED for this one mostly because I'll get to see Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yuning together again after them being the best part (IMO) of The Long Ballad. Plus the costumes, aesthetics, and everything look tailor-made for me. I have not read the novel this was based on! Shockingly? (should I??) but I'm really looking forward to seeing ZLS play what looks like such a bamf female lead. 3. The Princess Royal / The Grand Princess. Ok so I loved this novel--double reincarnation, enemies to lovers, first marriage than love--BUT I will agree...it's also a really rough read for all the other reasons you mentioned. I was crying buckets for the ML. There is one scene in the novel in particular that if they adapt it I will most likely SCREAM in agony. The trailer made it look a lot more comedic to me, but I'm sure they'll still deliver us an unhealthy serving of angst. I plan on rereading it here in the next few weeks to prep for whenever the show airs. Just have to psych myself up for the pain. T.T (And I say that as someone who will purposely read sad stuff so I'll cry.) It's an epic novel about two people with very real issues who have to work on themselves and go through some (painful) character growth before they can get their happy ending...and generally I would still recommend it without a second thought...but you had a great point. Fiction should be about enjoying yourself and it's totally fine to not want to read or watch something because it's not going to be a good time. :) 4. Kill Me Love Me. I actually didn't like the novel this was based on but I love the cast so I'm going in with the hopes that the show will ultimately elevate the original source material. (They kept in the bit where the ML whips the female lead's grave so that's something?) 5. Legend of a Female General / Legend of a Star General. I really need to reread this one! Cheng Lei looks great as the ML and I think it has a lot of potential. I was just telling @aysekira that I normally dislike genderbenders, but when I was looking back, I gave this 5 stars when I first read it. I kind of wonder if it's the exception for me? 6. The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus / Black Lotus Tactics Manual. I'm cautiously optimistic about this one. I really liked Esther Yu after seeing her in LBFAD and My Journey to You. I'm not as sold on Ryan Ding, but I'll give it a shot.
7. Fight For Love/Mountain and River Pillow. Victoria Song has proven she can pull off the noona romance so I'm hopeful. I'm also down for an epic family drama.
8. Xian Yu / Offering Salted Fish to Master. AH! I had so much fun reading this. The ML was straight up evil in the novel though so I'll be interested to see how they change that for the censors. Also, looking at the BTS pictures of Chen Feiyu I can close my eyes and pretend it's Mo Ran lol.
9. Flying Up Without Disturb / Ascending, Do Not Disturb. The novel is such a nice fluffy comfort read for me and I think Li Hong Yi is a perfect choice for the ML. Really hoping the writing and directing is decent though. I feel like he's had more misses than hits.
Anyways that's my short list of novel-to-drama adaptations I'm looking forward to! Thanks for the ask!!
