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Like many XZ fans, I am interested in the online organized crime mechanism. I just watched an interesting episode of the legal drama. It is true that this is a Korean drama and is based on Korean law, but the scheme of organized hatred is similar - after all, this is where these countries can outdo each other.
So if anyone wants to see how certain patterns of this profitable activity are detected - Law School episode 15.

Me too. I am so disappointed that I have no words. I wasn't expecting much, but they have no shame releasing something so horrible :(

I just found out about this drama and I really want to watch it. A few years ago I came across XNine and FanFan is one of my favorites in this group. Hope FanFan will be successful. I keep my fingers crossed for him and this drama!

Have you heard about MEX? I'm so excited! For a year and a half I have been waiting for such a moment :) Finally! It is a small step for a man, but a big step for XZmania!
The closest I have to London, only two hours by plane. London, Tokyo, Singapore and more! A new era is coming! I can say that MEX is only the first step :)
Boy, oh boy, this boy will not starve to death for sure :)

I am at the age where all girls 20 and under are little girls :)
As you mentioned Shanghai of that era, I immediately imagined XZ as a dandy in a three-piece suit, going to clubs and a cabaret singer looking like a Dream Like a Dream cast. A small, rich asshole who spends his evenings in a cabaret, but is actually a spy :) Maybe it's not an original idea, but it suits him.
Anyway, everything suits him :)

Nobody denies it. Only slightly older fans also want to have fun watching XZ in dramas. You see, it's a little awkward for us to rave about when he plays a teenager. The point is also to ensure that XZ doesn't get labeled as a cute teen because that limits his potential.
Anyway, a man in his 30s is wonderfully young, sexy and beautiful. This is the best age for a man. He's gone through long enough not to be a naive idiot, but he still remembers his youthful enthusiasm. It's a perfect combination.
Besides, I'm talking very selfishly, I've outgrown the drama stage where teenage FL falls in love with ML and the drama revolves around their love affairs. That's why I would like - and probably many other female fans as well - that XZ sometimes plays a role appropriate to his and our age and interests. It's probably obvious that most moms watch slightly different dramas than their daughters. Unfortunately, so far older fans have to watch drama for the younger generation to see XZ. I understand that younger fans don't want to see him as the "old" thirty-year-old, but it would be fair if every age group got something for themselves, as with other Chinese actors.

Unfortunately, this is not possible. Two companies have the rights to this drama and neither can air a drama without the other accepting the deadline, otherwise paying huge penalties. Believe me, Tencent has probably tried everything. If Tencent ventures to release TOoL without the partner's consent, the partner will lose viewership and advertising revenues and will claim damages that Tencent will not pay until bankruptcy.
A great example of cooperation was Douluo Dalu (this is my favorite example), with CCTV broadcasting an episode at 12 and WeTv at 12:30. I am counting on a repeat of such cooperation.
I am really hopeful about CCTV. There is an atmosphere of joyful, relaxed anticipation in China because of this drama swapping. With the AT fiasco, CCTV is sure to be over the ears to please XZ fans. I have already written about it before, but I am convinced that we will see TOoL in 2021 and the deadline depends on whether AT producers will solve their scandalous problem.
C-show biz is complicated and more interesting than the most interesting drama. These intrigues, these fights of big corporations, these tense twists ... Better than the best K-drama :)
I mention the intricacies of XZ because I know about them. I don't follow YZ so I don't know if there are any problems or help on her part. I think YZ has enough other drama that TOoL isn't the biggest problem, but her drama is pause as well, and she had a similar problem with the Hairpin like XZ from AT. I am writing this because some may blame an actor / actress for something, but in fact it is a struggle of big business, huge rivalry between corporates so big that counting the amount of zeros in the amount of capital invested hurts your head. So the actor / actress is only a tool to smash the competition, not the actual goal. The actors really don't have power, otherwise XZ wouldn't have these problems with AT (or YZ with a Hairpin).
I know Hunan belongs to one faction, Tencent belongs to another. So why did they collaborate on production? In the fall of 2019, it was different. Hunan wanted XZ, so they gave him TOoL, then Who is the Murderer ?. But XZ refused to attend their New Years Eve concert by choosing Shanghai. The big capital stated that if they can't have XZ, no one will have it. And then it started. The same capital was driving money to promote one actor and destroy XZ, which was a competition for their pet. Meanwhile, 2020 was a tough year for everyone and dear Hunan and Tencent parted ways and Hunan teamed up more closely with two other platforms. Their star is a spokesperson for youku and it looks like iqiyi is also drawing on that capital, having already used XZ and his fans three times. The fourth will not be there anymore.
TOoL is the perfect example of a capital war, and drama fans suffer the most. But don't worry, There are more forces there and those forces outweigh the drama fans side :) So I'm sure we will see TOoL this year, probably in the summer.

I've always hated dramas showing a normal life, but when I pictured XZ in a regular cop uniform and the warmth of XZ, I immediately thought it would be awesome to see him in something absolutely normal, ordinary. Just an ordinary young guy next door. Normal everyday problems, not big tragedies. Something that will not require a lot of emotional effort and will allow him to relax on the set and us in front of the TV. XZ as an ordinary man living next to us ...

I'm afraid the role of the villain is out of the question. XZ is an "idol of positive energy", a role model for children. No one can take the risk that some child who has trouble distinguishing between reality and fiction (and we will know that there are plenty of such people in the whole world) will imitate his idol XZ and become, say, a murderer. XZ would be excellent in such a role, but for the next few years he is doomed to play positive characters.
XZ's situation reminds me very much of Li Yifeng's. He managed to enter (successfully) mature roles. I love his Sparrow (Republican) and dream to see XZ in something similar. I mean style. Some comedy, some tragedy, a double identity. You know from the beginning that you are dealing with a good character, but the war requires sacrifice.
I really hope that CCTV will force AT to change. XZ has accepted the fate of his hero, but CCTV depends on a good reputation and a good quality AT. I hope that they will be able to fight for something in this matter.

I don't read the book, but since nobody has answered you yet, I will write what I heard about the heroes:
He is the oldest prince who was forced to leave the palace by a conspiracy. He became a high-status cultivator. He was not allowed to meet any woman. He found a little girl in the mountains and instead of killing her, he took her in. Now I'm not sure, but the girl is probably a princess too, only from another kingdom. What they have in common is their evil destiny. If I'm not mistaken, in the book he allows himself to be killed by this girl, and then she brings him back to life. I have no idea if they lived happily ever after, I know there was a lot of unnecessary tragedy along the way that teenage girls love so much :( XZ will have a minimum of 5 emotional, heartbreaking scenes, but it is what fans love him :(

XZ is nicknamed "The Prince of the Goose Factory", it may not be a very honorable title, but in China it is said that he is their absolute favorite. Two of Tencent's great bosses were at his Qingdao theater show. Believe me, Tencent is doing absolutely anything to broadcast TOoL. Everything is blocked by Mango, and Mango belongs to a group that has no interest in promoting XZ. Sometimes it's worth burying one drama so as not to lose money from ten others.
But rest assured, fans in China are convinced that TOoL will be released this summer. Probably in July to be the hit of the third quarter :)

Relax, this wound is a simple cut above the wrist. In Dream Like a Dream, the wound was about 1.5 cm long, not even a bandage anymore. There is nothing to worry about :) It has absolutely no relation :)

There were probably so many comments that they clogged the space allocated to them. This drama is 2 years old and people still comment like crazy. The only logical explanation - they clogged the server :)

I have to say it, otherwise I'll suffocate.
XZ is almost 30 years old, he is an adult man. Most of his fans are older than him, and they are the ones who spend the most money and learn how to make data. For the sake of all the gods of Egypt and Greece, may XZ finally play a grown man in an adult drama! I'm too old for silly romances. When I read what Yu Gu Yao is about, I almost broke out of despair. I want to be able to watch XZ, but when the plot revolves around a little girl (I could have a heroine-age daughter!) In love with her Master, I am really reluctant to watch such a fairy tale for children.
XZ should play a normal adult male after all. I see him in a drama, where he plays a police officer somewhere in the seaside area, who visits old people on his bike, does a talk about the rules of the road at school, and if there is to be a love thread, let him shyly fall in love with a female doctor in a local center health or social worker. This drama type would be perfect for CCTV.
I would like to see XZ as a young, tough but enthusiastic prosecutor who goes out of his way to jail perpetrators of domestic violence, murderers and other bad people.
I want to see him in a good Republican spy drama.
And if he is to put on an old-time costume, let him stop playing Xanxia returns, but play a minister or a young emperor, or a general in some serious, historical production.
Please, at least one adult drama per year. When I watch the goofy c-drama these days, I just feel my IQ drop!

Actually, Privete is a drama as old as the world, probably from 2017 and probably will not be broadcast. She's just too old.
Don't worry, the current WYB pace is perfectly normal for c-biz. The actors can play 3 main roles and 3 supporting roles a year, and they also take part in various concerts and entertainment programs, so don't worry, this is the normal way of working.

BabyNandos either exaggerates or knows little. The fans themselves forced many artists to change their approach to cotton. The case is old, really. The apparel companies in the west decided to boycott cheap Chinese cotton and spread a whole lot of rumors and reports that were at least untested and exaggerated. Overall, there has been a great sensation in the West that China is violating human rights by growing cotton. Only that the reporter making this material has never even been to China, so he based his information on the accounts of others, and everyone knows that money can buy any information, not necessarily true. Chinese citizens, not the government, took offense and announced a boycott of the big Western brands that had previously terminated cotton contracts. WYB and other artists have been forced by social (not government) pressure to break contracts with these Western brands and endorse domestic cotton.
Definitely no one would go to jail if they didn't. Whole families are not disappearing in China at all. I don't know why such idiotic beliefs straight from 1980? Yibo wouldn't get arrested, he wouldn't be blacklisted, but the fans themselves would turn their backs on him and that would be the end of his career. In matters of business, there is more ruthless capitalism in China than in the United States.
So Yibo said he was backing the cotton in order not to lose the support of the fans. Believe me, fans turned their backs on idols for less offenses than breaking out of a nationwide boycott. It's all about business :)

When XZ had a tough time and there was a lot of lies about him everywhere, the MDL became a kind of gathering point for fans. There was little black here, and if someone tried to spread defeatism - either deliberately or out of ignorance - he was quickly pacified. At that time, the MDL was perhaps the only place where reliable information could be obtained and rumors were brutally fought against. Official information only. A lot of new fans have taken over this, in my opinion, good habit. Now we don't have to be afraid of gossip anymore. However, it seems the habit has remained. When I came back here after a few months, I was happy to see that people at MDL are firm with XZ. I'm getting sentimental lol!

He looked like a lion, hungry for stage performances. He went out, roared, dominated and showed who is the real king of this jungle :)

I don't know what you like, but I recommend The Dark Lord. The prison guard does a favor for the prisoner, goes on a journey and by accident becomes ... a policeman. The production has some shortcomings, but ML is really smart, clever and very likeable. A lot of good humor, a nice acting game, the plot is light, cool, interesting and not stupid. I was bored only in a few episodes and the drama is long. I liked it in the first episode. I've already watched the whole thing three or four times and I laugh every time. It had little publicity, so it's not very famous, but I recommend it.

You're not alone. I like Li Qin but her FL in JoL annoys me a lot. Fortunately, later the action focuses on other threads.
Personally, I was even more irritated by ML. About the tenth episode, I wanted to murder him.
The drama, however, has a huge variety of characters from the second and further backgrounds, really well played. In my opinion, it is worth watching just for them. Everyone I came across found at least one character for himself that he really liked. Personally, I definitely prefer the threads of the second plan.
If you have time, watch it. I don't think you will regret it. The drama has a good pace and a variety of humor. It's not my favorite, but I count it as one of the best filmed in China.