There are dozens of excellent LGBTQA+ inclusive danmei now on the market for audiences all over the world. From classic favorites like Mo Dao ZU Shi to Peerless, there is no shortage of cute BL Chinese Light Novels to pick from. However, one of the best currently available will never get any type of adaptation beyond book format, and that is a tragedy.
I am a recent member of the Chinese Light Novel club. Like so many before me, I stumbled into the genre after watching the Donghua for Mo Dao Zu Shi. After exhausting every format in which Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji could fall in love, I started reaching out toward other stories. Thankfully, my local bookstore was ready to supply this budding interest. This is how a copy of The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish fell into my hands.
The story is just as odd as it sounds. I was so bewildered by the title itself, I actually put it down and fully walked away. However, it was the reviews online that drew me back in. Thousands of reviews put it at almost a perfect score. Every review I read said it was one of the most wholesome stories they’d ever read. I was cautious. Anything about a person falling in love with a fish is enough to leave me skeptical. However, as I dove in, the story blew me away.
So What’s Up With The Fish?
The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish is a “transmigration” story. For all you Japanese Anime fans out there, this is the same genre as Isekai. In the story, the main character is from the modern world, and after reading a web novel, his soul transmigrates into the world of the novel, but as a fish.
This is also a “System” novel. Systems usually appear in Transmigration novels, as the person who has been dropped into the new world needs a guide or set of goals to properly navigate the settings. A System is a set of rules, goals, or quests delivered to the main character via an interactive voice or menu that only they have access to. By completing these tasks or quests, they gain buffs, abilities, or skills. Think of it like a video game.
The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish was my first book in the transmigration genre, and at first, I struggled with some of the vocabulary and concepts. However, after a few chapters, it didn’t matter that I had spent an hour looking up words; I was sucked in, and had already ordered the last three novels in the series.
I gobbled up the story, and about halfway through the second book, I realized something terrible – once these books were read, there would be no other way to experience the story for the first time. Unlike Mo Dao Zu Shi, there was no way Pet Fish could ever be adapted.
There Is Too Much Gay In This Danmei
It is no secret that BL Danmei is ripe with romantic content that could make any reader blush. However, many of these stories have plotlines that are entirely independent of the romantic elements of the main characters. Those who have watched the live action and Donghua adaptations of Mo Dao Zu Shi know that there is no overt indication that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are a couple, despite the fact that it is explicitly confirmed and stated in the Light Novels. The relationship is instead implied through a variety of interactions and careful symbolism.
However, Pet Fish’s story isn’t separable like Mo Dao Zu Shi’s. The story is entirely tethered to the main character falling in love with and marrying the Tyrant. His goal is to prevent Prince from evolving into a tyrant by teaching him how to love and show compassion. They even have a slew of children together, and the mechanics of how that happens can’t possibly be done in a way that meets the Chinese censorship laws.
Most Donghua adaptations of Chinese Light Novels are made in China, and they must respect the laws that surround specific types of content. Unfortunately, no LGBTQA+ content, especially involving two men, is legally permitted in any animated or live-action adaptation.
Despite the overwhelmingly positive reception to this Light Novel and the fact that it would very likely be received with excitement by fans of the story, it is impossible for The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish to be made into a Donghua and retain even a shred of what makes the story so remarkable. For many, it’s the tender touches, deeply romantic love, and heart-wrenching connection shared by Prince Jing and Li Yu. Removing that relationship, or even trying to imply it like in other formats, wouldn’t resonate in the same way.
It’s a tragedy, as the story itself seems designed for a Donghua, and would likely bring a new level of depth and enjoyment from the already celebrated story.
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