Soul Land — the Douluo Continent drama with Xiao Zhan
At a glance40 episodes
In February 2021 Soul Land went live-action with Douluo Continent (斗罗大陆), a 40-episode series led by Xiao Zhan, the star who broke out in The Untamed. Broadcast on Tencent Video and on national channel CCTV-8, it was one of China's big productions of the year.
Production and behind the scenes
Directed by Yang Zhenyu, the series stars Xiao Zhan as Tang San and Wu Xuanyi, formerly of the group Rocket Girls 101, as Xiao Wu. Announced in 2019, the project banked on the actor's popularity, at its peak after The Untamed, and on a franchise everyone already knew from the novel and the donghua. Two cuts exist: the full 40-episode streaming version and a 33-episode TV version for CCTV.
In 2024 a second series, Douluo Continent: Ran Hun Zhan (斗罗大陆之燃魂战), continued the experiment over 38 episodes with a new cast led by Zhou Yiran.
How it differs from the donghua
The drama does the opposite of the donghua: it ages the characters up. The heroes enter Shrek Academy as young adults, which makes the romance more explicit and erases much of Tang San's childhood. The script adds invented court intrigue and rivalries, and martial-soul battles rely on CGI where animation can do anything. The result feels closer to a classic xianxia drama than to a tournament story.
Reception and success
In terms of numbers it was a hit: the platform claimed around 5.7 billion cumulative views, peaking at over 200 million views in a single day. Critics were more mixed. Fans of the novel objected to the liberties taken with the plot and to uneven visual effects, while Xiao Zhan's fanbase carried the series to the top of the charts.
Trivia
- Shortly after release, the producers issued a public apology for visuals judged too close to the British series His Dark Materials and to a character from League of Legends.
- The CCTV version, seven episodes shorter, was re-edited for television.
- Wu Xuanyi debuted in the South Korean girl group WJSN before joining Rocket Girls 101 in China.
- Xiao Zhan was coming off The Untamed, itself adapted from Mo Dao Zu Shi, another franchise covered on Donghua Fan.
My take
I will be honest: this drama replaces neither the novel nor the donghua. Ageing the characters removes what makes Soul Land special, watching children grow into legends, and some of the CGI is rough. But Xiao Zhan has charisma, the Shrek Academy sets are well made, and the series works as an easy-going fantasy romance.
Who is it for?Xiao Zhan fans and xianxia drama lovers rather than purists of the novel.
— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan