MagnoliaCream

I noticed their preference for "love" too :)

yes, they were popular (a lot of viewers) but were rated low by viewers. I can't exactly remember the Douban opening ratings of You Are My Glory and Who Rules The World, but I remember being really disappointed, so I think they were both less than 7. Oath of Love and Immortal Samsara got 6 and 5.8, respectively

you mean high-pitched Orchid? I also found her baby talk weird at first but somehow got used to it :)

Chen Yuqi is a revelation. I remember her from Ashes of Love and she was already good then but I didn't think she was leading lady material. And comments I read about her in recent shows before Unchained Love mostly said she's bland. Bu Yinlou is far from bland. She's witty, outrageous, spunky, naughty, sweet, kind, brave and many other admirable qualities that Chen Yuqi all ably brought to life.

Amazing. It's a meteoric rise. Less than a year ago, he was still licking his wounds from the criticisms he received for Miss The Dragon. His reaction to the criticisms, vowing to learn and to do better, was really commendable.

wondering about that, too. Might the "chain" be Xiao Duo's secret identity and Bu Yinlou's tie with the king? For now, until the official meaning of the title is made known, I think of "unchained" as pertaining to Xiao Duo publicly revealing his secret identity and Bu Yinlou gaining freedom. Forbidden Love seems to me to be too generic, there are too many cases of forbidden love. For example, LBFAD is about forbidden love between two individuals from rival realms. Poor girl/rich boy or poor boy/rich girl stories may also be forbidden by parents,.

yey! I hope it keeps rising. i came across a list recently where the highest rating for the last few years is 9.35 by Xiao Zhan.

i agree :)

in terms of Douban opening rating, following are some high-level dramas it surpassed:
- You are my glory
- Who Rules the World
- Oath of Love
- Immortal Samsara

These are really good cdramas. You Are My Glory and Who Rules The World are among my all-time favorite cdramas.

you're so right. this drama is considered A level (low budget) but it has surpassed higher level dramas in the ratings.

According to VLinkage, a Chinese video data monitoring and marketing company, as of 2023-01-08, the popularity of Xiao Duo (9.14) has surpassed that of Dongfang Qingcang (9.13).

I didn't keep track of MDL charts during the airing of LBFAD and LP but LBFAD performed very well on Netflix. There is a rating system that gives points to shows according to their performance on Netflix Top 10 charts. So far, only two Chinese shows have broken the 1000 points mark - Who Rules The World and LBFAD.

i have also stopped watching kdramas, except for some exceptional shows like Extraordinary Atty Woo and Reborn Rich, though my reason for shunning kdramas is somewhat different. I was dismayed at how obsessive some kdrama fans are, pulling out all the stops to get their idols on top of some charts they can control, and sabotaging their idols' rivals. I'm ok with fans being passionate about their idols (aren't we all), but I can't stomach the venom of fans sabotaging their idols' rivals. It's too dark for me. I hope cdrama fandom (or at least those fans I encounter online) will not go down this path.

MDL is an international site. Kdramas are currently more popular than cdramas among international fans.

It is hugely popular in China. It opened with a rating of 7.3 at Douban, a web site where Chinese shows are rated. To understand what a Douban rating of 7.3 means, here are the opening ratings of other popular dramas:
Love Between Fairy and Devil - 7.8
Lighter and Princess - 7.2
Flight To You - 6.9
The Oath of Love - 6.0
The Blue Whisper - 5.8

It also reached a heat index of 9000 on iQiyi. It will be noted that a heat index of 8000 is considered a hit drama. So 9000 means it's more than a hit.

hope you have a Happy Birthday

yup, I did :)

Aiman popular character ranking for 2023-01-08:
#1 - Xiao Duo
#2 - Bu Yin Lou

hoping for the rating to go up once those who got mad at the censorship (missing scenes) have cooled off

thanks so much!