I have to admit that I did not have high expectations going into this show. I did not think that I would connect with nor enjoy the story and the relationships in this drama, so color me surprised. This was pretty well-done despite the fact that multiple episodes were cut off by the censor board.

PROS
-The writing of the characters: It mostly matched the actual characters in the novel unlike some other sequels (cough cough Explore with the Note cough cough). I have to admit that it was definitely weird (but, not bad) to see Xiao Ge talk so much. I enjoyed how a lot of characters were not written as neither completely good or completely bad. It made the characters more humane and understandable. My fav was defo Pangzi though. His character has been so consistent and pangzhi-like. It also helps that the actor was also in Reunion, but the character feels and acts so familiar, which I can appreciate.

-Acting : The acting is this drama is pretty amazing. I didn't see any actors who removed my attention from the actual story, so that in itself tells you how good the actors were.

-Foreigners are not only bad! : As much as I enjoy the dmbj series, we have to admit, there's always the "foreigners are evil and selfish" propaganda in every single sequel. Now, I initially did not mind this, since every country does this, but it obviously gets tiring when you have to see it in every single sequel. That is where this drama differs. I love the fact the foreign characters here have a "redemption" arc and shows us there are good foreign people too. Obviously, there are also evil ones in this drama, but the way their characters are written makes them understandable. I can understand why they're feeling/acting the way they are, unlike some of the other sequels.

-Tight plot: starting is a bit slow, but once you get into the actual story, it gets intense and exciting (which made me binge this drama in about a week).

CONS
-Now, the actor who plays Wu Xie (Edward Zhang) is a brilliant actor. We cannot deny that, but we have to consider the fact that this show takes place only 5 years after Ultimate Note. So, I was expecting an actor who still had that youthfulness. The production did their very best to make Zhang look younger and it did work to some extent, but I have to admit that it was jarring to watch after watching Reunion (where the actor playing Wu Xie is younger/more youthful than Edward Zhang). It also doesn't help that they made the Wu Xie in this drama act a but older than the character's age.

-Lack of human needs during the adventure: I do know that we don't need see scenes of the characters eating, resting, or washing their faces, but to me personally, tiny snippets of those add a sense of realness and time to dramas. Throughout the adventure, we barely see them eat or sleep, which removes the element of realness. They seem like robots.

-Disjointed continuation in certain areas due to episode cut.

Overall, this still was a very enjoyable adaptation of the dmbj series. I personally would say it's on par with Ultimate Note and Reunion, so I recommend giving this show a try even if you have some reservations. Happy Watching!