《成化十四年》 - web novel thoughts update

[cashew]

I finally finished the first mystery arc (chapter 12), and have to say, wow, the characters are completely different people at this point. The TV show plot semi-follows the novel, but also seemed to have combined later mystery arcs with the first arc, and seemed to have added a bunch of original stuff.

The novel is significantly better than the TV show, although I can see why a lot of the stuff had to get changed. Honestly baffles me why they even tried adapting the story knowing they wouldn't be allowed to keep the plot as is. And no, it has nothing to do with the BL and everything to do with the actual mysteries themselves.

Meanwhile, character-wise, MC and his love interest are nothing like their TV counterparts. Think Manga!Rei vs 90s-Anime!Rei, that's how much the novel and TV show differ. It's probably best to think of the two things as completely different works. As an adaptation, the TV show is pretty awful. As a standalone BL bait-y mystery drama, it's not too bad.

But if you're picking only one version, go with the novel version. Never mind, the novel has its own problems. Ugh, there's just no satisfaction.