Doupo Cangqiong: Yuanqi

"Why are they wasting time on a remake?" is what a lot of us thought when this got announced, myself included. But I assure you, this wasn't a complete waste of time because this remake does reveal a bit of Yao Chen that didn't get revealed in the original season one.

This remake also probably served to remind us Xun'er exists in this harem and her terrifying power (Can you imagine if Xun'er meets Yun Yun? Someone get me out of that room). Other than that, it is a very concise summary of Season one. Do note that this by itself won't serve a full ... introduction to the series, so you probably will have to endure the original season one regardless or look up a few facts if you get confused in future season.

There is an ending sequence in the last episode that you probably shouldn't skip if you are one of those people who likes to skip all OP/ED. I usually skip every one of these OP/ED, but the ED of episode 3 is somewhat important if you are transitioning straight into season 2.

Overall, very enjoyable.

PS: I am upset that my 雅妃姐姐 didn't get an introduction like she did in the original. Justice for 雅妃姐姐!

This will be a 3-part review: I will review this as a stand-alone work, as a replacement for Season 1, and as an adaptation of the original material.

The main purpose of this piece is to introduce the main antagonist of BTTH Season 5. The opening features the teacher and the conflict that led him to become a soul. Therefore, this special is meant to introduce a bit of the teacher's past and recap the most important parts of season 1 (and unify the character designs). For this purpose, it is very well done, and deserves a score of 8. The character designs are the same ... as seen previously, it recaps all the main points (with some plot changes to cram it into 3 episodes) and there aren't really any major plot holes allowing for a quick recap/remake of season 1 and allowing a smooth transition into season 5.

Which brings me to the next part of the review: the score for it being a replacement.
As a replacement for Season 1, I would give this a score of 6/10. They simply cut too much out for it to completely replace the original. There are 3 major things that were cut that I think were important to have: Ya Fei and the alchemy (though the extensively showed that in Season 4), the entrance exam for the academy (and it's fight which I would have liked to see), and parts leading to Xiao Yi Xian and the conflict it sparked (like getting the wings). If it was given another 3 appropriate length episodes, I think the original season 1 could have been completely replaced. Unfortunately, it was a bit too short and this felt a bit too incomplete to be a complete remake. I know that the ending song/credits showed a variety of stills that covered the meeting with Xiao Yi Xian, but if you don't know what happened, they are meaningless.
Season 1 replacement score: 6/10

Now finally, as an adaptation, it was faithful enough to the original text for it's length. Much of the fluff and needless drama was cut to reduce the runtime, but all the important core plot points were there. While I personally would have preferred it to be longer and cover things more thoroughly, as an adaptation of another work, it does a good enough job.
Adaptation score (how faithful to source): 7/10