Sung Hoon is a very good, diverse actor and deserves to be valued and treated well. The man delivers his roles. When he plays a scum, my stomach turns. When a hero, it's all warm and fuzzy. When spineless, it's infuriating. And he's delivered swoonworthy chemistry. So, I'd like to condemn his company who it appears threw him under the bus with HGWtRB. HGWtRB is essentially 2 undeveloped, circular scenes and from what I see vert drama actors are stuck in a small box. I hope this is a glitch and his company gets their act together and works for him instead of against him.
Something smells fishy. I'm a Sung Hoon fan and want to say he was thrown under the bus? It's essentially 2 undeveloped, circular scenes. Just dumbfounded. Maybe actors are testing the waters in attempt to see if the vert drama platforms can help them escape the industry "machine." But even then....hopefully they made some Soju money and they can drink it off. I know I need some now.
Between the novel and the trailer... if only. Maybe it's time to start praying to the drama gods. Stars please align for this one. Iqiyi, I've been patient. I get it- you have to furnish to your mass audiences. Now, it's time for something more mature and of quality so release this already!
I feel bad for Fan Zhi Xin. Truly. I know he wanted to explore playing a complex "bad guy" but the FL and script is a joke. Hopefully he can get another gig like Crazy Love Game (MDL has it as Game of True Love \••/`), the Chinese remake of Game Sanaeha. He was able to own it and shine in CLG with FL with chemistry who can do a likeable "drama queen" role.
After watching VoS...so many thoughts came to mind...did the director ran out of idea that he took so many things…
I'll be the jerk and say it...he's been sued multiple times and known for plagiarizing others (among other things). Initially, I was surprised he never lost his job, until I realized who he works for. That being said, IMO (1) he wouldn't think twice of copying his own teams' previous work if that is the case and (2) there is every chance that he is not as "knowledgable" of his own work as fans (who are invested and very detail oriented). This is my take from all that I gathered over the years. Info keeps getting deleted and white washed esp after fall boycotts but I'm sure netizens can still find sources on what I touched upon if they are interested.
Question: the ost has some songs that say film adaptation and some say tv series. Is there a movie? The songs are intentionally labeled as such in Mandarin.
Liu Yu Ning really is a clever and interesting person. I'm not a fan of AI so I was curious why Liu Yu Ning, who's career could be neg affected, would be for it. And he's right in that he needs to understand what the reality is in order to best make decisions on what projects he wants to take on. And as far as the people being replaceable comment, what Chinese actor in their right mind wouldn't be clear on that. No need to shoot the messenger for being clear and direct. Although AI disturbs me personally, I appreciate that Liu Yu Ning shared his view and I learned/thought about the topic in ways I didn't consider before.
Did the writers get super, super high and forget about the characters, story, just everything except making visuals? It went from a phenom then from abt ep 26+ progressively got mediocre. Before that point, I had already thought "oh, no, it'll end soon at the rate I'm watching it" and "I'm def rewatching" to being sorely disappointed to "just end it already." The biggest problem is that it felt like by the end the writers hated their own characters and didn't care enough to maintain any integrity. Sad af.
I'm a bit baffled. If anyone knows feel free to enlighten me. BWS is so tall and wearing a lot of white or white trim. Many times IU hugs on him- whether face to face hug, from behind, resting head on shoulder or arm....and I can't detect foundation smears on his clothing. Is there some wonder foundation that they use or is it touched up and edited? Sry if it sounds dumb but if anyone knows it's prob a MDLer.
If Huangyang Tian Tian (18) was an attractive male actor, idol, or from a boy musical group, would she be so criticised? She would be criticised, yes, but not like she has been. I pretty much think she delivered. They wanted her specifically for years. When she did sign up, just like the rest of the cast and crew, she went through literally icy hell, only to be put in media hell afterward. [She's a teen and was foolish on social media, but she's not pulling a Miley Cyrus or Britney ffs]. It is shameful the way she and the other cast are being treated. To do a realistic PA or Rebirth is insane tbw bc think about how insanely dark it is, rape murder harems, slave hunting, the execution platform scene etc etc. Everyone complained (myself incl) for something beyond the end of PA. And is it perfect? No, I freaking got vertigo and motion sickness with the how many scenes can we fit into an episode competition in the beginning. But do I get why, YES, and I accept it and am diving into a great series.
After much prolonged anticipation, I'm jumping in. Visually impressive. I can't imagine how strange it must have been to work on a project knowing every hair would be critiqued...(have to get it out of my system now...the braided Shawn Doh forever resides in my heart and I'm glad they left him alone to remain the braid king). I appreciate how they made the most concise 6 min ver of Princess Agents and had it delivered within the first 14 min of screen time. It's been a bit since I saw PA so that helped jog my memory and, really caught up anyone who didn't watch or forgot PA. Jiã yóu!
Highly entertaining wild ride. Well executed. Impressed with everything really. I liked some of Ahn Jae Hong's work and decided to check this out. He and Esom defined hot mess and owned it. They had me laughing, crying, cringing, bowing to badassness...it was great! I can't imagine better choices. I also appreciated how a lot of Korean (etal) broadcasting taboos were thrown in as a matter of fact. The ratings blew me away. Maybe there aren't alot of alternative or edgy artsy people on MDL is the only explanation I can come up with. I'm sure alt American style shows would get damned to moral hell and flooded with trolls if it was on MDL. I can see how this would cast into low ratings in the same way.
I wanted to like it. Hong MinKi and Oh YeJu are the only reason I made it through 5 episodes (and wanted to like it). I liked their performanced and chemistry. And that's about it. I didn't care for JJH and JYM individually and felt like their chemistry was so far off that casting is seriously called into question. What was supposed to be banter or comical came across like a mil nagging you to death on the vacay from hell or annoying kids in middle age bodies fighting in the back seat of the car. I'm sorry to MinKi and YeJu. You worked hard, but I had to walk away on this one.
In the western hemisphere, the standards and rules are equally mandatory: minority representation and inclusion.…
I hear what your saying. I'm just commenting on "allowing the existance of" vs award, encourage/back. Because just a comment is a serious threat in China. Holding a forum is like making a threat in person and giving you the fine print. The govt stakeholder relationships are tight and they play ball a little differently than in the west.
Yes. The "powers that be" attempt to control what media, music, literature, etc disseminate to the public. But the arts are of and by the people, so messy morals, social values, societal critiques, and the issues that effect daily lives such as poverty, crime, and inequality will seep into content naturally. As for the physical aesthetics of actors/characters in dramas, in 2026, I don't think a government can control the two driving forces behind this: one being the face of the people (LGBTQ+ and multi-ethnic come to mind) and public demand (the C public appears to value youth, light complexions, double eyelids, thin females with long tresses and males that resemble web novel characters). Although China has demonstrated an uncanny ability to tightly control it's people (the great fire wall and the ability to blacklist celebs come to mind), they can't completely control people from making their own content and the public finding ways to access said content (via proxy and demand). If people demand mystical or folk beliefs that weren't fully eliminated by the PRC, or nods to old dynasties or Chinese Opera, you'll see what's going on now...evolving versions influences by current beauty standards and tech.
It's just China being China. Using this as an excuse because they are sweating bullets over how to continue to keep people in line. Despite censorship and even sometimes imprisoning the authors that some highly popular series are based off of, they can't stop art from immitating real life or the fact that people are obsessed with fantastical stories because of the real need for escapism. Obvi, this reality is not unique to China, it's just this is how the PRC decided to send out it's latest thinly veiled message. Make no mistake, no one in China interprets this at face value. It's no secret, the PRC supports idol actors related to or connected with popular political figures. Please note: by no means is China alone in attempting to sanitize or control and manipulate it's public through government threats, demands, and rule-making....it's becoming more and more common in the western hemisphere, just not as efficient.
Although AI disturbs me personally, I appreciate that Liu Yu Ning shared his view and I learned/thought about the topic in ways I didn't consider before.
❤️VoS (&MJtY❤️🔥)
I appreciate how they made the most concise 6 min ver of Princess Agents and had it delivered within the first 14 min of screen time. It's been a bit since I saw PA so that helped jog my memory and, really caught up anyone who didn't watch or forgot PA. Jiã yóu!
Although China has demonstrated an uncanny ability to tightly control it's people (the great fire wall and the ability to blacklist celebs come to mind), they can't completely control people from making their own content and the public finding ways to access said content (via proxy and demand). If people demand mystical or folk beliefs that weren't fully eliminated by the PRC, or nods to old dynasties or Chinese Opera, you'll see what's going on now...evolving versions influences by current beauty standards and tech.
Please note: by no means is China alone in attempting to sanitize or control and manipulate it's public through government threats, demands, and rule-making....it's becoming more and more common in the western hemisphere, just not as efficient.