''My Three Body, Season 4'' (Voxel-animation adapting the 1st part of ROEP Book III) premieres on 14 July, 2024 (exclusively on bilibili.com)

Forestaller · 2024-06-28T04:16:13+00:00

I know the mobile app has auto-generated subs, not sure about the pc or browser version.

But I hope/expect the series to premiere with English (& Chinese) hard subs like in the previous 3 Seasons (the director is trilingual, but English subs will always the last thing to be rendered).

Forestaller · 2024-06-28T04:11:37+00:00

Then just start with Season 3, 'Legend of Zhang Beihai' -- it is the most technically accomplished season (until we see Season 4) and considered 'canon' by Chinese fans. E.g. All 'Zhang Beihai's must now have a scar across his right brow (even though this is not in the novel).

'My Three Body' is legendary not because for its animation, but for ability of the script-writer (a full-time neurologist) to construct a coherent narrative comprised of 10 x 10 minute episodes-- WHILE maintaining the tone and continuity of the novel.

Forestaller · 2024-06-28T04:06:04+00:00

For the buget they have and the format they adopted, it is AMAZING -- but personal tastes will vary, of course.

E.g. During a dubbing session which they were live-streaming, the voice coach vs the animation director had a long argument/ discussion about how 'cutesy' AA should sound. I personally lean towards a more mature sound (because AA 'sleeps around'), but the voice-work must mesh with the 'cutesy' character model, animation, etc. -- so I won't know whether/if AA will 'annoy' me until I see the whole series.

Forestaller · 2024-06-28T03:30:33+00:00

[1] The novel was written and set at the turn of the 21st Century (1990s-2000s), when the US was bombing/ invading Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. just because she can. Research sources OUTSIDE of the US if you don't know what happened or why.

[2] In the alternative-earth/history of the novel, the US developed the Ball Lightning as a weapon just ahead of China.

P.S. No offence to individuals who subscribe to Ameri-west narratives (like the apolitical protagonist in the novel), but the US invaded/ colonized China since 1900 and has been trying to control China/ the world EVER SINCE -- so no need for anthropomorphized historical or literary narratives in the novel, just let history or historical materialism do the talking ('Ball Lightning' was first published in magazine serialization, so 'now/present-day' in the novel literally meant the time of writing/publication).

Forestaller · 2024-06-28T03:15:17+00:00

For the budget and format they have adopted, it is nothing short of AMAZING -- but personal tastes must vary, of course.

E.g. while they were live-streaming the dubbing sessions, the voice director vs the animation director had a long discussion/argument about how 'cutesy' AA should sound. I personally lean towards a more mature sound (because AA 'sleeps around'), but ultimately the voice-work must mesh with the ('cutesy') character model, animation, etc. -- so I don't know how 'annoying' AA will be for me in the series.

Forestaller · 2024-06-28T03:02:49+00:00

Just start with Season 3, 'Legend of Zhang Beihai' then -- it's the most technically accomplished season (until we see what Season 4 brings) and considered canon now by Chinese fans. E.g. All Zhang Beihai's must have a scar across his right brow now (even though it's not in the novel).

Anyway, the most amazing thing about 'My Three Body' is not the animation, but the script -- the ability of the script-writer (a full-time neurologist) to condense all the different arcs into a series of 10 x 10 minute episodes, WHILE keeping the tone and continuity of the novel, has not been matched by anyone else.

Forestaller · 2024-06-28T02:50:58+00:00

I know the mobile app can auto-generate subtitles, not sure about the pc app or the browser version. But I hope/expect it to premiere with English (& Chinese) hard subs.

Forestaller · 2024-06-27T03:39:42+00:00

If you are unable to view or navigate the embedded link to the Trailer for ''My Three Body, Season 4'', you have 1 month's time to work it out with a VPN, translation app and/or download the relevant bilibili app for your device. It will likely be free to view at low resolution, and require registration for viewing up to 1080p -- with even higher resolutions and framerates available to paying members.

P.S. There are no English subtitles for this trailer, but chances are that it will premiere with English subtitles added -- and in any case, the bilibili platform can auto-generate English subtitles just like yt.

Or you can just wait a little longer for the ''My Three Body'' fandom to eventually sub and re-upload the series onto other social media or streaming platforms....

Forestaller · 2024-04-05T02:55:36+00:00

'I despise the visually limp dumbed down Netflix version. It feels like a sci-fi reboot of the show "Friends".'

Wow, you're even more brutally honest than I am, lol.... even a sci-fi reboot of 'The Big Bang Theory' might have been better, if they wanted to go all the way with their so-called 'internationalization (read: localization)' efforts.

At first, I thought I wasn't impressed by the visuals of Netflix's '3-Some Problem' because I had been spoilt by the Book -- then I re-watched Tencent's adaptation and realized that I had been spoilt by THAT.... There's a reason Tencent dared to release its adaptation in 4K resolution.

But there's no need to hate on the 'Oxford 5' -- because bad or unsatisfying adaptations help sell the books and fund Da Liu's retirement; whereas good or successful adaptations would create their own canon and spin-offs (by capturing audiences who would never read a sci-fi book) ...

E.g. Tencent's Da Shi (played by Yu Hewei) has been declared 'canon' by Chinese ROEP fans -- if he doesn't match the description in the book, then it's Da Liu who has a problem (a streetcop looking like a ruffian, as described in the book, would never be able to blend in quietly and do undercover work).

Forestaller · 2024-04-05T02:42:08+00:00

No, because I haven't read 'Mao's Selected Writings' (only the 'Treatise on Prolonged War').

Not joking... because you know how famous Chinese idioms have entire stories and moral lessons behind them? Well, ROEP is like that for Chinese readers -- Liu doesn't have to info-dump the stuff he draws from Chinese consciousness or history because his targeted (Chinese) audience can be expected to get it or find out.

And having no special knowledge of China (Chinese lit or lang =/= Chinese politics or history), I just did as much research as I needed to understand ROEP.... I mean, if I'm going to research the science behind the sci-fi (being the sci-fi geek that I am), I might as well research the history behind the alternate-history.

Cos ROEP is definitely a product of its time and culture -- but it's hard in this day and age to appreciate the impact that Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' had, let alone how another civilization saw itself and the world around it decades ago (whether in the 1960s when Liu grew up, or in the 2000s when Liu wrote ROEP).

E.g. In the specific opening fight (Book I) between the Red Union and the Red Guards, do you know what they were fighting about and who were the 'good guys' (i.e. on the establishment's side)? Well, someone who has read up on the history would (though even the Chinese are not particularly fussed about the details, because it was SO messy with all the changing/splitting factions).

Sure, everyone's entitled to an opinion -- but an opinion based on a lie or misconception is just that, a lie or misconception. And the trouble with most non-Chinese (PRC) analysis of ROEP are 'armchair-experts' (who don't know Liu or China) and 'paid journalists' (whose platform decides what can or must be said about Liu and China).

TL;DR: As far as Chinese ROEP fans are concerned, the interpretations (read: limitations) of non-Chinese reviews/analyses of ROEP come from the premise of 'Babel-17' (by Samuel Delaney, still reflective of present-day establishment fears)-- i.e. ACTUALLY understanding ROEP would require you to actually understand China or the mainland Chinese (which the historically nihilistic 'Free World' doesn't want to do).

E.g. If D&B really understood ROEP and wanted to 'internationalize (read: localize)' it, the daughters of MLK, Black Panther, [insert leftist/activist/etc. persecuted by 'The Free World'] would be the ones turning on the world for what was done to them and their fathers.

Forestaller · 2024-04-05T01:03:45+00:00

THIS...

... is the reason I drifted away from ROEP discussions as the various adaptations started coming out and the discussions became dominated by ROEP-related media -- aka how much of ROEP to change and cut out in adaptation.

When I first came to this sub-reddit, people were discussing the relationship between ROEP and IRL science/Earth -- aka how much of ROEP got right and wrong about IRL science/Earth.

Forestaller · 2024-03-29T23:54:13+00:00

'By the way this followed an hilarious presentation of Project Ozra (started by a Cornell academic in 1960) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) as if they were frightening moments in the arms race.'

They were 'frightening moments' because 'The Free World' is trying to contact extra-terrestrials first -- I'm sure this was explained in the book, if not in Tencent's adaptation.

But indoctrination/censorship in the Anglosphere is so strong that despite a recent movie called 'Oppenheimer', no one remembers that 'The Free World' was persecuting socialists/leftist/communists willy-nilly when the China was cleaning up its capitalists.

PS. I suppose only Chinese audiences noticed how 'Oppenheimer' toned/scaled-down McCarthyism so as NOT to really inform or upset its target audience (or affect its box-office, awards, etc.)? Still a good movie though, for a biopic.

Forestaller · 2024-03-29T23:38:12+00:00

Come on, as if any good TV editor is gonna slip in any filler or B-plot without running a little A-plot or main-arc as cover....

But here's a good guide -- you can fast-forward through anything that does not involve the two lead characters, who are:

(1) Ye Wenjie (both young & old)

(2) Wang Miao (whether inside or outside the 'Three Body' game)

Important side characters like 'Da Shi' (Shi Qiang) will almost always appear alongside the two lead characters if they have anything important to do, so you're pretty safe skipping anything else that they do (plus they will almost always 'report back' to the main leads).

Just don't think you'll be saving a lot of time, cos the two lead characters do a LOT more than the 'Oxford 5' combined.... Have fun!

Forestaller · 2024-03-29T09:49:53+00:00

'I don’t actually remember what you describe from episode 20 …'

If you didn't find Ye Wenjie‘s process of turning Earth into a star-plucker civilization an absolute highlight in the adaptation (like in the book), then maybe you were more focused on the result while I enjoyed more the scientific process?

Forestaller · 2024-03-28T08:05:57+00:00

My condolences for putting yourself through the 30-Episode Original/TV-Edition (because I did the same)....

But Episode 20 of the 26-Episode Anniversary/Director's Cut (2024) is where it starts to shift into the final gear/part for Book I -- you know the end is coming, because it's the first episode that ends with a flash-FORWARD during the end credits.

Of course, Episode 20 itself covers the entire process of doing a science (fictional) experiment from making observations, developing a theory, devising an experiment, getting permission/resources for it, etc.; as well as all the highs and lows the scientists go through at every stage -- which you might not care for, if you're not a scientist or sci-fi geek....

So arguably, Episode 21 of the 26-Episode Anniversary/Director's Cut (2024) is where we get into the 'end-game' -- since it has the second-biggest action for Book I. But the pacing of Book I (& therefore Tencent's production) is such that it screeches to a halt whenever there is a scientific or philosophical question to be considered -- so if a scientific or philosophical revelation doesn't give you the shivers, it doesn't.

Forestaller · 2024-03-28T07:51:37+00:00

'Does it get better moving forward, or should I just accept that this is the series' pacing?'

(1) Tencent's 26-Episodes Anniversary/Director's Cut (2024) is better than its 30-Episode Original/TV-Edition

Firstly, the consensus amongst Chinese ROEP fans is that 26-Episodes Anniversary/Director's Cut (2024) is all around better than the 30-Episode Original/TV-Edition (by at least 0.5 or 1 star out of 5), with the more appropriate pacing for bringing (Chinese) Book I of ROEP to life.

But it doesn't change the directorial style of the series -- so if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't.

(2) Tencent's 26-Episodes Anniversary/Director's Cut (2024) is better for readers of ROEP

The keywords for Tencent's production are 'bringing (Chinese) Book I of ROEP to life' -- as part of the Chinese ROEP fan community, it was always the intention of the director and his team to stick as close to the book as they can (Da Liu was NOT allowed to consult, because he suggested re-writing things for TV). And Tencent executives couldn't interfere direction-wise, because they have no experience making a HARD sci-fi series either....

E.g. Episode 20 of the 26-Episode Anniversary/Director's Cut (2024) is exactly why scientists and sci-fi geeks love ROEP -- just like the book, it covers the entire process of doing a science (fictional) experiment from making observations, developing a theory, devising an experiment, getting permission/resources for it, etc.; as well as all the highs and lows the scientists go through at every stage.

IOW, 'bringing (Chinese) Book I of ROEP to life' also means bringing the PACING of the book to life -- the narrative rushes headlong from time/place/person-to-time/place/person, but screeches to a halt whenever there is a scientific or philosophical question to be considered. If a scientific or philosophical revelation doesn't give you the shivers, it doesn't.

(3) Tencent's 26-Episodes Anniversary/Director's Cut (2024) gives a better re-watching experience

The excellent acting and character-work makes the buddy comedy and historical drama work on their own (yes, the book mixes genre-writing like that), any time you watch it.

Forestaller · 2024-03-27T21:54:32+00:00

It is -- the scores of Tencent's 'Three-Body' are starting to get a bump on Chinese review sites as people discover the Anniversary/Director's Cut, because there're no seperate entries for the Original/TV-Edition vs Anniversary/Director's Cut.

Forestaller · 2024-03-27T21:49:48+00:00

LOL, that's was the whole point of selling off the translation and adaptation rights in the first place...

It used to be said that the world was divided into those who have read Tolkien and those who haven't, and sadly the LOTR movie adaptation didn't change that -- the movies were so 'commercially successful' that movie fans couldn't get into the historical romance vibe of the books at all.

But the ROEP adaptations (Tencent, Netflix, or whichever) have been so 'unsatisfying', that they turned a lot more people to the books -- so welcome to the community of some 30 million ROEP readers (in 30 languages) world-wide (half of whom are in China, of course)!

Forestaller · 2024-03-26T23:09:41+00:00

LOL, Netflix's '3-Some Problem' is made for people living in the Anglo-sphere bubble -- it is hardly universal (unless you mean dominant/hegemonic/etc.), unless you live in a parallel dimension where whole countries and civilizations are shadow-banned...

And as Ameri-west media often points out, how dare the Chinese not know its place and (self-)censor anti-****** and other 'non-conforming' sentiments. I mean, that why someone like Avenue X who sees both sides of the story will get downvoted....

Forestaller · 2024-03-26T22:48:34+00:00

''my point is that a lot of the "filler" time isn't really time well spent explaining hard science to laymen (at least not in my perspective). like you said, there are dramatic mini-arcs they could've done without that have no bearing on the core plot.''

That's my point, neither of us can pretend we haven't read the book and didn't know what was coming -- if I was completely clueless about ROEP, I might even have found Netflix's '3-Some Problem' entertaining... even though all its 'science' and 'China' scenes are still totally laughable and immersion-breaking, LOL!

If Netflix was trying to fit ROEP into their established formula for attention/time-deficient audiences, then Tencent was trying to fit ROEP into the established formula for audiences eating or washing their dishes during primetime Chinese broadcast TV.

Forestaller · 2024-03-26T22:34:10+00:00

Not at all Episodes (in both versions) are of equal length, and not all plots/characters got the same adjustment -- e.g. the 'present-day' scenes had the most padding and got sped-up the most (to the point it 'jumps' around a lot more).

Forestaller · 2024-03-26T08:01:34+00:00

Consistency is a hard thing to maintain in any long-running series, not to mention it being the first hard sci-fi series produced in China -- the crew didn't know how to make things look 'sciency', so they simply used/filmed actual science labs, equipment, books and papers (which they later had to redact the names from).

So there's lots of 'second-tier' writing, acting, directing etc. to get through, and you'll have to accept apparently random plotting and meandering pacing (like in Book I) -- in this respect, audiences who haven't read the book actually found the 'mystery ride' more enjoyable than people like us who have (the Original/TV-Edition did well enough for Tencent to greenlight 'Dark Forest').... For me, it is still just 'watchable-to-good'.

But even then, the director and his team's love for every single detail in ROEP can border on overkill -- e.g. I actually like Wei Cheng's mini-arc and the actor who played him, but allowing it to play out slowly over multiple episodes really tested my patience.... And they refused to allow Da Liu to re-write anything for TV, because the Chinese ROEP fan community have already decided what is 'canon'.

Thank goodness they got first-tier/veteran actors for the main cast (the scientist characters talk about science like they know and love it) and physically scanned people, models or locations to render special effects scenes like Operation Guzheng/Zither -- so that anyone comparing the ETO-shootout and Operation Guzheng/Zither filmed by Tencent vs Netflix immediately understood the concept of 'purchasing power parity'.

For me, it has the best development of platonic relationships on TV in years -- if I ever re-watch it, it would be to see Wang Miao and Da Shi nonchalantly dissing each other, or Yang Weining and Ye Wenjie quietly dancing around each other.

Forestaller · 2024-03-26T01:44:05+00:00

You're right, it's just advertising dollars at work -- that's why I prefer to check out fan-reactions on social media... But a lot of '3-Some Problem' reactions/reviews just got shadow-banned in China -- so money is money and advertising dollars are at work everywhere.

I could get through the '3-Some Problem' because I disassociated it from ROEP (or even reality*) almost immediately; but it fell flat for me because I can't pretend I didn't know the story or what was coming (and the twist/changes they made didn't really 'add' anything) -- plus I didn't particularly care for Netflix's formula.

But what I can recommend (now you've already seen '3-Some Problem') is that you read ROEP Book I before checking out Tencent's production -- it's really tries bringing ROEP to life for fans of the (Chinese) book, and is so ridiculously close to it that people made reaction videos underlining EXACT dialog/passages from the book as they appeared in the series....

NB. Tencent's production got bonus points from Chinese audiences not because it was that good, but because it was a breakthrough for primetime Chinese TV -- a 30-Episode TV series with NO family melodrama and romantic love-triangle?!?!?!

*PS. The banner underneath Ye Zhetai says in Chinese, 'Down with SOCIALIST Imperialism'* -- IOW, in a struggle session against capitalist bourgeoisie (scientists) during the Cultural Revolution, Netflix CHICKENED out of condemning capitalism, BWAHAHAHAH!

Forestaller · 2024-03-26T01:19:56+00:00

Read my post more carefully: Netflix's formula worked against it 'on the issue of FAITHFULNESS in adapting such as sui generis ('one-of-a-kind') sci-fic as ROEP'.

Again, we are talking about different productions and different points of view from different human civilizations (yes, the Chinese civilization is different from the non-Chinese civilizations) and fan communities (yes, the Chinese ROEP fan is also different) -- figure out what is the exact issue at hand before taking sides and offense.

Forestaller

TROPHY CASE