The News
Three Body, a new 30-part live action series inspired by Liu Cixin’s apocalyptic space trilogy, attracted an outpouring of positive reviews, with fans saying that the show stays true to the narrative of the popular novels.
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Despite numerous adaptations of the sci-fi trilogy, including an animated 15-part series released on BiliBili last month, Chinese fans have shown that their interest in Three Body hasn’t waned.
The series, which aired on state broadcaster CCTV, Tencent Video, and Migu Video on Sunday, quickly became the most popular show on Chinese video platforms within an hour of release, according to Maoyan, an app that analyzes entertainment data. Viewership data has not been made public.
The next three episodes will only be available to Tencent Video subscribers.
Step Back
Bilibili’s animated series received less favorable reviews at the time of its release, with viewers saying that the show did not align with the books. But according to Gu Bei, president of the Shanghai Pudong Science Fiction Association, adapting a sci-fi novel for television poses numerous challenges.
“Any real masterpiece is difficult to adapt since completely following the logic of the novel usually doesn’t fit the narrative structure of films and television dramas,” Gu said in an interview with local media.
Netflix is also set to release a live-action adaptation of the books, but has yet to announce a date.
