MagnoliaCream

I understand the producers of TTEOTM spared no expense. They were trying to create a different kind of fantasy drama that would hook viewers like video games do. As far as budget is concerned, it is probably S++, probably among the highest budgeted Chinese dramas ever.

Unchained Love is a low-budget drama that just wants to tell a story about the kind of love that wants the beloved to be free (unchained), the kind of love that transforms every niche of a person's being such that all traces of hatred, like hatred that compels a person to seek revenge, disappear.

Some people prefer the first type of drama. I prefer the second.

I think Wen Yi Duo would have preferred to die for his beliefs than stay at home. He has memorials and a statue in Kunming, fitting tributes to a passionate poet who used his best weapon - words - to advance his cause of social criticism.

I'm happy with the ending of YITFOW. If this were a strictly romance drama, this would probably have ended when Jiashu and Huajun were reunited after the Sino-Japanese war. However, this has a message to impart. I'm happy that Jiashu finally achieved his ambition to be useful, to help his motherland become strong so it will not be bullied by other countries anymore.

Same here. I avoid watching war movies/dramas. But this captured by attention from the get go. It even encouraged me to read Chinese history from 1937 to 1945 and beyond.

I like his character. There really are people who value their ideals more than romantic relationships. I respect him for acknowledging that about himself and for letting Huajun go

I think it goes back to that c-ent rule about romance movies being packaged as military movies not passing review. Thus all romantic angles were minimized. In the context of what was happening during that time, I'm happy with the romance of the lead couple.

I don't have a problem with Runming's airtime either. He was the voice of the idealistic youth. I didn't mind his and Pei's discussions. I think once the viewer realizes that this is a military drama with some romance, not a romance drama set during wartime, everything will fall into place.

Complaints in Douban referred to the script a lot. As in Unchained Love, the disappointment was mostly caused by unfulfilled expectations. And again, as in Unchained love, I tried to ignore the deleted scenes (except the motorbike one coz I saw it too many times on Twitter), so I was able to enjoy the drama with minimal disappointment.

I'm afraid the same thing that happened with Unchained Love happened here too, when viewers were given an idea of scenes that were cut. Is it normal with Chinese dramas for the script to be made public?

Ma Yue, the actor who plays Wen Yi Duo, is so good. He was able to portray the passion and eloquence of the character. You can feel he really loved poetry. One of my most memorable scenes in the drama was when he sang Santa Lucia to lift the students' sagging spirits. I didn't expect a Chinese character in that period to sing that song.

Wenjie is such a tragic figure. Just when he developed a conscience, he got framed.

I think Jiashu and Huajun would survive the separation. It's a good thing Huajun is also dedicated to her work. It was able to hold her up when Jiashu left for the US for 6 years. I'm sure Jiashu and team would be allowed to take vacation from time to time to be with their loved ones. And Jiashu and Huajun can live with this arrangement. If they were able to bear a 6-year separation, they'd be able to survive seeing each other a few times each year. Their love for each other, their belief in each other's work, and their dedication to their own careers are strong enough.

I think all the couples got limited airtimes and Jiashu and Huajun have a better ending compared to other couples. Yuerong and Pei was most tragic. Amie and Wenjie divorced. Jiashu and Huajun would probably spend as much time apart as Runqing and Yunxiao because Jiashu and Yunxiao would be mostly holed up with other scientists at research facilities, but at least both Jiashu and Huajun are deeply in love with each other and would survive long separation times. I'm not too sure about Runqing and Yunxiao. Runqing had a crush on Jiashu then fell in love with Luo Heng then with Yunxiao. Not sure how she is going to take the regular separation times.

Yeah, this is another drama that got severely affected by reviews. I bet a lot of viewers were disappointed at not seeing hotshot Jiashu in a motorbike meeting Huajun for the first time. It seems the production team did not want this to be treated as an idol drama against a backdrop of war. They preferred it to be more of a war drama with some romance.

The same thing happened to Ace Troops, no rating. I've been wondering whether this happens for dramas with sensitive themes, or for dramas that have been sabotaged too much, the correct rating can't be determined.

Yes

I agree. I oftentimes pity celebrities for their precarious situation. They work hard on their way up. When they're up, they still have to work hard to stay there. No one knows when black campaign will get them. And China would be able to supply a large labor force for black campaign armies.

Oh, so that is what happened to Fan Bing Bing. I've heard about it but not the details.

So, I've learned not to depend on ratings to make decisions on whether to watch a drama or not. Instead, I watch a few episodes to help me decide whether a drama is worth spending my time on or not. If I hadn't done this, I would have missed out on gems like Princess Agents and Boys Over Flowers that have low ratings in imdb.com. I consider these among my best dramas of all time.

It's really frustrating how black campaign has ruined social media for everyone.

There is going to be a discussion forum about this drama to be held at China's top school, Tsinghua University, on 5/16, according to this Twitter post:
https://twitter.com/WangHediFolder/status/1657032391024693254

So proud of Dylan Wang, Zhou Ye and other cast members for being a part of this project. The value and meaning of this drama go beyond ratings. This can become a cultural artifact, the type of drama that could be broadcast on a regular basis.

ikr, why didn't they just make this 40 episodes? They didn't even show Jiashu's photo when he got old. I wonder how much the finished product got affected by the new c-ent rule "Romance dramas packaged as military dramas will not pass review". I guess we just have to be happy that this got shown at last.

I've been checking the audience reaction to this drama mostly through Douban. I can't get past the first page of an article in Weibo, perhaps coz I don't have an account? Some antis are against Dylan but a lot are against everything about the drama - the screenwriter, the director, other actors, etc. There were a lot of complaints about the higher amount of airtime Runming had than Jiashu in the first 20 episodes. After ep 20, reviews have been more positive.

This discussion is mostly positive towards Dylan:
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/288426767/?_i=4058264KGIBhcz

Yeah. I've also been reading up on this period of Chinese history while watching. It's really fascinating, especially with what's happening in the world nowadays.

Thanks for the tip. I'm surprised that a cdrama features a Kuomintang member as the hero. 'Will check this out.

I'm also surprised about the bullying part. I didn't really think that wealth holds a lot of power in a communist nation. But what I understand about the bullying is that there are people with powerful backers who don't want him to succeed as much as he has succeeded. And it's actually easy to see proofs of this happening. As you've noticed, the rating of this drama does not indicate how much loved it is. It seems there are so-called black campaign armies that may be hired to downrate dramas. Compared to other shows with higher ratings, Dylan's shows deserve no less. For example, I found Meteor Garden and The Rational Life better than a lot of dramas that have higher ratings.

This was a big hit in China. It's the first A-level (low-budget) drama that reached the broadcast level of S+ (high-budget) dramas. Dylan Wang achieved the second highest Vlinkage character index ever as Xiao Duo with an index of 9.16. I think the highest is Xiao Zhan.

Ratings in MDL and streaming apps have been sabotaged by antis. Dylan has been suffering from bullying since he started in 2018 because he does not have family wealth nor powerful backers.