Death Kaleidoscope (2024)

More than just a fantasy show

In short: I loved it and would recommend everyone that likes a bit of fantasy romance to definitely give this a chance.
Long review: (Might contain spoilers)
Story and the concept- I am not a big fantasy watcher but I loved the whole concept of the doors and the world-building inside every door. I came into the show completely blind but the themes and stories inside the doors blew my mind especially the fact that they were based upon various cultural legends and tales. I would have to admit that the 10th door was my favorite. All the doors were incredible and instantly pulled you in. I really liked the way the show brought the book to life.
I started with the show but then midway decided to read the book too as I wanted to learn more in depth about the rules of the doors ( as they were sometime not explained very well in depth in the show).
In the show my personal favorite part was that they made LQS's characters more special. Even though everyone in the book (mainly RNZ) always said LQS was special, him literally solving the door ghost's problems and being just a kind guy really made the character extra special and endearing for me.
Therefor, in the context of the cinematography and the story adaptation I feel the drama did a very good job. Better than I could have imagined. I loved the little twists and extra storylines they added for some door ghosts and side characters. (One of the biggest example the father of the triplets from the second door).

Acting: I was not familiar with any of the actors before this show but they were all pretty watchable and according to me played their roles really well. Some actors (like the twins) did a great job. Especially towards the end of the show.

And since this is a censored version there was not too much chemistry between our main leads at most times but you still get the feels in the longing stares (from RNZ). Since I was reading the book while watching the show, it really helped fill in the gaps in terms of the close-ness between the leads. So in my mind it wasn't lacking too much but yes their relationship not very explicit in the show.

Thoughts on the ending: While they I loved some of the changes they made in the show from the book, there were definitely some that were a bit questionable (SPOILER ALERT: THE ENDING). I fell in love with the ending of the book with RNZ and his arc as the 12th door. I cannot express in words how the ending made me feel. Like WDYM RNZ was LQS's 12th door - his heart's calamity. Therefore I was not the biggest fan of the ending of the show that not only made the whole adventure of the doors a sort of hallucination for LQS also made him seem like this slightly crazy guy who spent 50 years of his life trying to get back a 'virtual group' of friends, never actually living a decent life in the reality.
But I like to think of the endings of the book and the show as a pair of parallel universes where in one universe RNZ gave up the 'virtual world', his whole identity, to stay forever with LQS in the real world and LQS spent his whole life and gave up on the real world in order to create a virtual world where RNZ is exists. If I had to make an edit about them, I would use the song midnight rain by Taylor Swift.

OVERALL: Its unlike any other show that I have watched before and I would definitely recommend every one check this out. It is not a show you would regret clicking on. It is very well made and you can feel the hard work the crew (on and off screen) have put into it. It kept me entertained throughout the episodes and I do not remember a moment that I felt was filler or irrelevant. In contrast I would be willing to watch these cuties go through many more doors. The writing was very strong in the first 90% of the show and it kind of starts going downhill towards the end (where they stray from the book) but still an enjoyable watch.

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WHY DID IT END !!

Masterpiece, i swear...i rarely write a review, the only other show i bothered to write a review on was the untamed. And that speaks a lot.

The story was amazing, maybe the overview doesnt sound that great but this drama is a gem. Its the type of drama that you'd want to rewatch all over again write after u finish the last ep bc it left u with that empty feeling, i finished 2 mins ago, i already miss the characters. I wish i could watch it for the first time again.

Theres horror, fantasy, everything u need in a drama...AND THE ROMANCE, whoever said this was bromance was stupid.

I was hooked since the first ep, there is 78 eps, each ep is around 20 mins. But i would watch even if its 40 mins per ep. I had to download each ep individually and and depend on my okayish mandarin bc the subs were wanky. THATS how much i love this drama.

And just like the untamed, the ending wasnt exactly sad...but it broke me in so many ways. The last 20 eps got me SOBBING...i had just pulled myself together and i was back to sobbing by the next ep, BUT THST DOESNT MEAN U SHOULDNT WATCH IT, ITS WORTH EVERY MINUTE

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This masterpiece needs more awards!!

Where should I start? My pretty Ruan Baijie and Lingling and Meng Yu and every cast member has done a fabulous job on this one! In a way its a bit like 19th Floor, where they go into the VR game, but more mature, with high emotions, adult theme, violence and the BL-not-so-Bl moments lol.
Both MLs are so good with their expressions and those conversations with just their eyes. And my handsome guy Ruan Lanzhu with the perfect moles under his eyes, he really could be Dilraba's younger bro in a diff timelime and drama. I'm planning to watch Dashing youth just for this guy!
Back to the topic - this show is all at once sad, happy, intriguing, mind-blowing, emotional roller-coaster ride, and eye-candy cause everybody is handsome and beautiful 😍
Every set has a uniquie story behind it and a certain emotional spectrum attached to it. They keep reminding us that these are NPCs but they are almost real-life and the way Lingling connects with them on so many levels, and the dialogue delivery is done so well!
I already know how it ends, but even then, even without the NC scenes my man is so in love with Lingling, just one look at those dreamy stares and you know whats going on.
This show is really good! Definitely a must watch!

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everything

i’m so excited to watch this. I really hop the drama is gonna surprise me because I read all the comments below before I watched it and it was wow. people in the comments said that this is so good because overall the stories about two men, even though they don’t have physical kinship with each other, they do so much better and I am dying to watch it. what I found so understand about this drama what’s the storyline? I have watched a lot of BL dramas many times, but even they lose comparison because the chemistry between these main characters in the drama is soooo good and sophisticated and just out of this world.

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this drama is so good!!

Oh my gosh, I've loved mystery genre dramas for a long time. and I found it!! yeaaay!! This is very nice! the story is good and unique, tense, full of puzzles, and made my heart flutter! Actually, I don't really like the action genre mixed with romantic stories, so this drama is perfect for me!! there is no romantic story in it. Even though there is a bromance relationship between the two main characters, they look cute together!! the actors and actresses are also very pleasing to the eye. Their visuals are like coming out of a novel, so handsome and beautiful! their acting is so good, oh my gosh, I'm surprised by the abilities of these actors. they are so great!! I really love this drama

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there are ghosts and mysteries in this drama

I have read the novel version entitled "kaleidoscope of death" and I am also a fan of this novel. This drama was adapted from the novel and I was surprised because the storyline and depiction of each character was exactly the same as what was written in the novel. What's different is that in the novel, this door always appears when someone is about to die. and in the drama, this door is a game world that must be completed. Apart from that, the story is very similar to the novel and I wasn't disappointed, I was very satisfied with the drama! The depiction of Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi (in the drama Ruan Lanzhu and Lin Jiushi) is also very accurate. the actors played them so great. I like it very much

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The world of doors and it’s unveiling mysteries to its players

Game of death. This has one of the best virtual-reality concepts out there, especially in how they featured several doors with their uniqueness and stories behind them. At first, I was intrigued by the BL theme from the original story, so I started to watch and read the novel simultaneously. However, due to the lack of available legal streaming platforms to binge-watch the show, I put a hold on it first because I believed that the drama's quality deserves to be supported legally. And finally, after months of waiting, I completed them today.

Chinese entertainment has always been a top tier for fantasy stories. Even though government censorship is taking huge restrictions and limitations, the chemistry is so overwhelming that it doesn’t seem to occur in a bromance drama. Lingling is so cute and handsome that I can’t stop staring at him. Ruan Zhu’s manliness is devouring my entirety. I somehow felt too sad at the ending, that they only reunited after 50 years with Lingling holding their memories alone from the real world.

As it was a game to determine the strongest among them, death is inevitable and occurs in each door. Li Dong Yuan, Tan Zao Zao, and Qian Li’s dying was too painful. It took me a while to recover from their deaths one after another. If there is one character I found annoying, it is not the antagonist but the MC’s best friend, Wu Qi. This boy was just a burden to the team and added no spice to the story.

There are loopholes but I tend to disregard them since I mostly enjoyed the overall aspects of the drama. Turning Ruan Lan Zhu into an AI character as a plot is not satisfying. I rather see him dying in the embrace of Lingling instead of bidding farewell to a virtual role. Nevertheless, the whole concept of the story is virtual reality so they give us a love story between an AI and a human.

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