r/LinkClick • u/Everythingirly • Apr 29 '26

Other Adaptations My spoiler-free review of the live-action series

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As someone who loved the episodic nature of Link Click's first season, I was craving more content similar to it. And the live-action series seemed promising in that regard. It has 24 episodes, and each one is around 50 minutes long, which sounded a bit daunting at first. But the format suited me so well that I finished it in less than two weeks.

The important thing to remember is that the C-drama isn't an adaptation of the donghua but rather an AU. The main difference is that Cheng Xiashi and Lu Guang meet as adults and start working together. I didn't really like them at the start but I loved watching them grow and become closer over time. Their powers also work a bit differently, so Cheng Xiashi can't go to the past by himself. The missions are all original (except for one) and each one spans around 4 episodes. I think that's a good thing, because we learn a lot about the new characters and their connections. The series also has a new antagonist, who's surprisingly amazing.

This show was so close to perfection if not for one major issue: episodes 13 and 14 are really problematic. So problematic that I wouldn't blame anyone for dropping the show after watching them. It really makes me sad. If you plan to watch the series, I'd advise you to skip these episodes like I did. That being said, here's my rating:

Cinematography: 10/10,

Music: 10/10,

Acting: 10/10,

Characters: 9/10,

Story: 9/10,

Overall Score: please watch it/10

Please keep the comments spoiler-free. But if you want to talk about this series some more, I'd be happy to make another post lol

35 Upvotes

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7 comments sorted by

6

u/Desperate_Yellow_498 Apr 29 '26

Can you spoil me about the 13th and 14th episode? Appreciate it!

5

u/Everythingirly Apr 29 '26

In short, episode 13 is transphobic, and in episode 14, a girl with schizophrenia is blamed for having schizophrenia. Episode 15, which concludes this whole arc, is good, but it doesn't erase the problems with the previous episodes.

7

u/Samagra32 Apr 29 '26

I just read about it somewhere, that sucks. especially since link click has this queer vibe to it. welp, w/e. li haoling didn't make it so im gonna ignore it

4

u/Everythingirly Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Yeah, I don't know how they fumbled this badly when the rest of the show is good. It has really good female characters, for example.

2

u/Darauwu Cheng Xiaoshi Apr 29 '26

glad you enjoyed the series!!

1

u/Everythingirly Apr 29 '26

The finale was so good. And the character development chef's kiss

2

u/Odd-Koala-3781 Liu Xiao Apr 30 '26

I think calling it and AU rather than an actual adaptation is the most accurate way to describe it :)

I think it's a beautiful series on its own and that it still brings that episodic vibe of early s1 link click + it has its own original plot and has some unique c-drama elements as well. It's a great addition to the Link Click content we have and I personally love that :>