It's like someone asked ChatGPT to turn the book into a dumb anglo sitcom.

-Every character is emotionally immature, spiteful, and sassy. None of the 'friends' act like friends. None of the characters talk like real people. They're constantly insulting or hitting each other. It's just embarrassing. The actors have nothing to work with.

-All the major twists/reveals are shown in the first two episodes. No suspense, no build-up, no pay-off. Rushed is an understatement.

-Single characters from the book have been unnecessarily split into multiple new characters adding nothing to the story.

-The story is a cosmic horror but comedy and romance have been forced in for no reason whatsoever except as filler, which is even more mind-boggling because they've essentially rushed all of the good stuff in the book to make room for unfunny jokes.

-Apparently they could barely afford any sets and extras, so scenes and locations that are supposed to be bristling with sights and people just feel oddly empty. Even the special effects feel muted. The budget is just weirdly limited, and the show looks much cheaper than the Tencent series.

-Almost all of the science (which is the interesting stuff) has been gutted from this science fiction.

I hate anglo slop. Where is the kino. Tencent pls adapt The Dark Forest.

  • Tabitha ☢️[she/her]
    ·
    8 months ago

    Actually pertinent leftist criticism of Dengism and China has been the amount (or lack thereof) of support for socialist causes/states

    I feel like I'm the only person who thinks and says this, everybody else (including leftists) is obsessed with random shit like China cheating on their SATs or building trains or fake genocides.

    • CriticalOtaku [he/him]
      ·
      8 months ago

      I mean, the problem is that you can kinda trip and fall into US state department talking points if you're not careful, so I get why people don't do it in leftist spaces online.

      Personally, I feel that since I can't influence Chinese policy one way or the other and that only the passage of time will reveal whether Socialism with Chinese Characteristics pans out or not, I should focus on what I can do locally rather than worry if China is actually communist or not.

      That said, Xi please xi-plz

    • SuperNovaCouchGuy2 [any]
      ·
      8 months ago

      I feel like I'm the only person who thinks and says this,

      Fyi about 3 years ago, our minister for cracker control, Black Red Guard, also mentioned China's lack of material support to Nepal's recent Maoist revolution.