A lot of East Asian animation makes use of internal dialogue, and occasionally, live-action dramas from the region do too. In contrast, inner monologue seems relatively rare in Western TV/movie. I know I’ve come across them before, but none springs to mind immediately that I've seen recently. One of my favourite web novels, Lord of the Mysteries (which spans over 1,400 chapters), is being adapted into an animated series. The first 200 chapters will be condensed into just 13 episodes, airing this weekend. (For comparison, Wheel of Time has only around 700 chapters.) I’ve been thinking about how the adaptation will handle inner monologues, since the protagonist frequently uses internal thought to solve occult mysteries - a key part of the novel’s tone and depth. I recently saw a trailer where the main character walks the streets while his inner voice is narrated, which gives me hope that they’ll retain this important narrative device. Whether the adaptation will succeed overall remains to be seen. But it also makes me wonder: Could Wheel of Time have been better adapted if it leaned more into internal dialogue rather than shying away from it?