Bought this AD primarily because its short at just 10 episodes and also because of Shunshan, VA's I've really liked so far but haven't heard together yet. It's also my first time reading the source novel side by side and it's an interesting experience, seeing the characters come alive in the AD while seeing them more fleshed out in the novel at the same time truly elevated my reading experience.

I don't know why, or whether I am imagining it, but Shun Zi’s delivery seems a bit off in An Pi. Maybe because the source material itself expands little on the emotions and characterisation of Fang Yingli. Compared to his work in Shui Huo, he sounds very one dimensional, and even in the most tense of situations, his delivery had little to no up and downs. It's particularly obvious in the later episodes.

It stands out in stark contrast compared to Gu Jiangshan, who had a very clear line of display of emotions, albeit Ren Yu is definitely far more animated and also well fleshed out by both the script and the original source material.

What’s always attracted me towards Shunzi's voice is how incredibly tender his voice gets while talking towards his lover. To the point I actually have a physical reaction to his voice whenever he says ‘Baobei’er’. I initially thought his Fang Yingli voice would be the same as Zhou Chang in Shui Huo, but he actually toned his voice down to match Fang Yingli’s character, which was definitely a good choice as he isn't some overbearing rich CEO.

Gu Jiangshan is so perfect as a shou VA that I cannot believe he's primarily a gong VA. What a disservice to the AD industry that desperately lacks in slut shou voices. His acting gives layers and depths to characters that are nothing more than mere words on paper. His enactment of Ren Yu, a puppy shou character is perfect, without it being too over the top or too restrained. Someone that lives fully, yet isn't the overly optimistic kind, someone whose cynical about love and lasting relationships yet deep down also craves companionship; his reluctance, his vulnerability, his resistance all were done very well. His delivery made me tear up in a work that's not particularly emotional in any way.

But I don't know why, while these two do great individually and together as well, something feels a tad bit off. I guess I'll rate their compatibility a little bit less.

The script was good too, moving a few parts up to better flow in an audio drama setting. It's great how much they managed to do in just 10 episodes that are just 40 to 50 minutes long, without compromising any of the character settings or plot points.

The OST is great, not a song I'd prefer initially, yet instead ended up growing up on me quite a bit. The badly pronounced Sanskrit words startled me but welp there's that.

And finally, the cars. I've seen people say this has one of the best cars they've ever heard in ADs and I easily see why (though I prefer shui huo’s cars more). Even in the versions uploaded before the censorship purge, the background music is more noticeable than the kissing or making out, which is lowkey a bummer. The iconic kissing and tongue sounds (especially Shun Zi’s oh my god) are almost non existent. The kiss scenes are always a tad bit too short for my liking as well but I'm not sure if this is because of the way they were written in the original IP. What I noticed was different here was how insanely explicit the subs can get during certain car scenes, from mentioning the movement of hands moving past the buttock clefts to the thrusts getting harder and harder.. and Gu Jiangshan’s moans oh my goddd, if I had a dick it wouldve been so incredibly hard the moment I heard his harsh, hurried, surprised moans.. there's not a lot of panting like I prefer but welp. Each thrust being denoted by the sound of glass clinking was so creative on the production team's part. The later car scenes just completely, utterly blew my mind. The context clues were so incredibly detailed and sexy oh my god, they truly did not skimp on anything at all. My jaw was on the floor the entire time. I think Gu Jiangshan's voice was particularly loud but maybe that's how it is for almost all works, with more of a focus on the shou. The BGM used during their intimate/sensual moments were so sexy too, adding so much additional depth, tension and atmosphere.

And my main problem with the AD was the way while they had to completely cut out the sensual scenes (and not even sensor it with some background music). They didn't sync the subtitles later on, leading to a lag of almost 5 to 7 minutes. If I hadn't been reading the novel parallely as well and knew enough characters to pick up the general meaning of the sentences I would've been completely clueless for most of the episode. Especially in episode 2 and 5 when the subs completely disappeared past the 20 minute mark, making it genuinely no different from hearing ads off piracy sites. At one point I'd even regret my purchase if this problem were to persist but thankfully it didn't escalate too much.

Still, the production value is incredible considering that Anti Roll is a small scale production studio that had just recently started working with the industry big wigs. The bgm was good enough and not too boring. Again, the subs and context clues provided were way detailed than other ads provide (and not just for cars), that helped me even more with immersion, describing stimuli that titilates all 5 senses, to the touch of the leather seat of a car, to the summer sun on their skin, to the slight traffic noises in the background, to the scent of the car freshner, to the light in their eyes, an all rounded description fitting for the key scenes. Albeit one may argue these were present in the original source material as well, the fact they didn't cut these off is appreciated. They also avoided the pitfall of heavy reliance on OS, by frequent conversation and interaction, keeping the characterization consistent and not leading to a scenario where the character is a yapper in their mind yet is portrayed as a stoic individual. But again, An Pi is not a novel that goes deep in their daily interactions or thoughts but more of a plot focused novel and thus this can be attributed to the novel structure itself.

Cars ★★★★★/ 5 Sappiness ★★★★/ 5 Plot ★★★.5/ 5 Script ★★★★★/ 5 Production ★★★★★/ 5 Music / BGM ★★★★/ 5 Voice Acting ★★★★★★★★ Compatibility ★★★★.5/ 5