HeatherOfEden

Funny you'd say "let others tell you what to like". Why do you think Tencent Video and iQiyi dared to inflate POJ views? It's to create buzz, as people tend to "let others tell [them] what to like". Those, like me, who did not get swept up by the hype are the ones who did not let others tell us what to like. Is POJ any better than other cdramas? No, but the hype created by the inflated views piqued people's curiosity. In fact, many people who at first got swayed by the hype but realized it's inferior to other cdramas, expressed great disappointment with its quality or lack thereof. If the makeup in POJ is not excessive, why did many people, not only industry insiders, call it out? It's because of people's outrage that the state intervened.

So you can watch a 40-episode drama but can't be bothered by such things as cheating. Such mentality has caused a seriously corrupt and compulsively lying racist and misogynist to be elected to the most powerful position in the world and might cause a nuclear war. But who cares about nuclear wars when one is enjoying a cdrama.

You're welcome. It's not a coincidence. Several drama watchers reported encountering the clicking-on-link-increments-view-count fraud. Normally, view counts should only be incremented after watching a drama for a few minutes, not as soon as the link is clicked as what happened with POJ.

State media would not insert itself into a "gossip". See what it has to say:
https://x.com/XiaoZhaaan1005/status/2031733708592460118

if you think dramas creating buzz through unscrupulous methods is irrelevant, I guess it won't matter if a cdrama artist you like gets cancelled should the Chinese govt decides to investigate the matter.

Regarding the "quality' of the drama, it has become a laughingstock for its unrealistic portrayal of generals. A govt agency had to step in to make sure "foundation generals" don't become a trend.
https://kbizoom.com/china-emergency-meeting-zhang-linghe-foundation-general-controversy/

Regarding ZLH's talent, per above article, "According to Sina, while Zhang Linghe was not directly named in official criticism, his performance has still come under scrutiny. Industry observers noted that his portrayal of a general lacked depth, raising concerns about his acting capabilities. This controversy may significantly impact his future casting opportunities, particularly in major, state-backed productions that require strong acting credibility." Such assessment sounds lower than a mediocre talent.

Really, data manipulation is not a big issue for you?!?!?! This drama has gotten a boost through cheating and you're not only not outraged but is outraged that others are outraged?

I can't see a top student in engineering being arrogant about understanding Interstellar. His wiki page just says he majored in but did not say he graduated with a major in.

Here are some information regarding the unscrupulous methods Tencent and iQiyi employed to give POJ a boost:
https://x.com/bokjoosausage/status/2030946992705151200
https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/2030938031289684290
https://x.com/Jade_rabbit0909/status/2030867153591980103
https://x.com/Weiboforyou/status/2030971432600322419
https://x.com/whited_79/status/2030986156796731563

See the notes in the Yunhe stats of this account like below (with ? against POJ stats):
https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/2032620351084179801

Some posts of data analysts who gave up on the absurd patterns they were getting from POJ stats:
https://x.com/chiptwit0592/status/2031876038821888316

State media like Beijing News had to step in to make a statement:
https://x.com/XiaoZhaaan1005/status/2031733708592460118

Even now, POJ is still getting an unscrupulous boost like this (link for another drama navigates to POJ):
https://x.com/junexch/status/2040080473821696168

Regarding how C-Ent regards his talent, here is an article from People's Daily:
https://x.com/XDH_Bella/status/2038204565544489247

Did he graduate? I understand he dropped out?

Perhaps you only saw an edited version of what happened. I understand the racist segment was cut from updated versions of the episode on social media. Here is a summary of the uncut version: when zlh saw the drawing, he said he looks like Yang Di, a Chinese comedian who is known for not having good looks. Then he said it feels like he came from Southeast Asia. Applying deduction, it meant he thinks Southeast Asians are ugly. It doesn't matter if isn't as bad as ultra racist behavior such as lynching in the US. It's still racist. And he was actually voicing what many know about Chinese people, that they look down on Southeast Asians. But I never heard of any other Chinese actor/actress voice out such opinion. Just him. His apology actually added insult to injury. It sounded written by a pr person. And if he was really apologetic, he would have posted it as a main page on Weibo, not as a mere reply to somebody else's post. It just shows how little respect he thinks SEAsians deserve.

I saw this question on X, "why would this data manipulation scandal happen now, with him?" The answer just occurred to me after reading a lot of discussions about ZLH's visuals, talent and behavior on social media. I think Tencent Video and iQiyi were looking for an actor/actress they can promote who have fans that would be so blinded by his/her looks, they would not care about his/her lack of talent or his/her crappy behavior. Because those fans would also not care if he/she achieves success through unscrupulous methods. When ZLH's fans continued idolizing him despite his mediocre talent, racism and misogyny, Tencent Video and iQiyi found their guy.

Thanks for the info. However, it looks like ZLH pr team is imitating trump govt policy of making people disbelieve what people see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears. The host was actually taken aback at his question but managed to deal with his rudeness as any professional host would. But the gist of the exchange was not lost on discerning viewers which is, his arrogance and condescending attitude on the female host, asking her whether she understood Interstellar. No matter how familiar you are with a person, asking her if she understood a movie already means you're doubting her ability to understand it. Somebody who is not arrogant would have extolled the things he liked about the movie to which the host could respond. Outright asking if she understood it is plain rude.

Regarding the chicken cage case, unless I see proof of him winning the defamation case from a reputable source, I'm suspending my judgement. His team is known to be adept at smearing other artists, and with the data manipulation scandal dogging POJ, I'm hesitant to believe anything he or his team says.

I keep seeing the following post about ZLH calling his fans "chicken cage" being referenced on X. Does anybody have detailed information about this?
https://x.com/adorozas/status/2032188994327355762

The industry accepted stat for Average Effective Playback Volume is the Yunhe one and as you can see from the chart above, it shows only 25.886 M for TJOL. All the top 12 cdramas of the year as of Sep 20 garnered more than 30M (see https://kisskh.at/photos/l0LJzx_3)

'Sorry but where are you getting your Yunhe data from? The latest average playback volume of TJOL is 25.886 M (please see 13th placer in the chart below).
https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/1982942192684675500

@baiqian actually makes sense, her data and logic are sound. i don't feel she's ranting, she's just pointing out facts.

Thanks for confirming. I thought there was another fandom that got mad for their idol being left out of the S+ club.

hi, I thought it's xz fandom that has been clashing with cy fandom in china? do you mean there's another fandom hating on both actors?

It's going up now. It was 7.8 last time I was here. And MDL ratings are not to be taken seriously anyway. not when anybody can give rating, even those who haven't watched.

I'm really hoping cdrama actors would tell their fans to stop this toxic behavior. It should be a required part of acceptance speeches in award ceremonies or in their livestreams.

Thanks! I thought so. They're stiff competitors. But it doesn't excuse what fandoms are doing right now. I agree, it's already criminal. The actors themselves should put a stop to this insanity of their fans as it only hurts the whole industry.