Chibi

No problem... :D
IP is short for Intellectual Property. In c-drama lingo, basically, any piece of literary work that is filmable, financeable, marketable and admirable. Usually, 90% of China's dramas are adapted/ based-off from some webnovel/ webtoon/ fan-fiction/ comics/ books/ games, etc, but the moment you get the 'IP' tag slapped on you, it automatically gets attention/ publicity/ high traffic (idol) actors (no they don't have to be 'idols' in the k-pop sense) as the industry recognizes its commercial market value since Day1.
But not every IP-adaptation is for cheap thrills. Some critically acclaimed (serious) works like Nirvana in Fire (1 and 2) are also IPs. :D
Oh, ps. the prod team needs to acquire rights and license to the intellectual property. Loose-adaptations/ spinoffs and un-official adaptations won't be IP....

I have only watched StartUp and True Beauty out of the 5...
Wholeheartedly agreed :P Great first attempt... I love your formatting too! <3 Part 2 please :)
Edit: It's 2021 and I think we need technology to grab food out of our screens. Those cookies look yum! :'D

FURTHER UPDATES FROM THE AUDITION POSTER & WEIBO:
1. The c-drama is going to be an IP adaptation.
2. Candidates who apply are required to be musically talented.
3. They have to send in a talent show video: (vocals, dance, drama and/ or instruments.)
4. All characters' visual description has been given, and actors are supposed to pass the 'height/ weight' check as well (application to include a full body shot in addition to 5 head-shots)
The order of casting is: Nana, Hachi, Takumi and Ren (or vice versa), Reira, Yasu, Shin and Nobu.

Naoki's casting hasn't been announced (which means he's a supporting/ minor character). There is no mention of a Trapnest bassist, and is instead now a ~synth-player~ who dabbles into traditional/ classical music?! Wonder if that is Takumi or Ren... [Most-likely it's Takumi because we all know Ren is on the leads in Trapnest, and his replacement bassist for BLAST is Shin.]
(sorry folks, auto-translate has its limits!) T_T

MORE UPDATES:
1. The Director is a 40 y/o but *also* a fan of the original work, and has read it.
2. The Casting-call posters mention that ALL actors picked for will receive months worth of training, before commencing the shooting. The main list of casting-call lists Hachi as the second-billed. Therefore, actors must be attending not just a musical boot-camp, but also an acting one.
3. Plus, the manga-ka is on the creative team. HOLYYYYYY!
OMG~

Saw the posters for casting-call. They have started auditioning for all 20 year-old main-lead roles, and one 18 y/o for BLAST (who I'm assuming is for Shin)....
Fingers crossed :3

Yay!... Somebody else mentioned the Manga! :3 <3

Their relationship is beautiful and the stuff literary works write of...
Two damaged and conflicted souls.... one relationship that covers every little dynamic in the spectrum from hate to love.

Well, I was one of the 'kids' who couldn't stand the idea of the two of them together and thoughts they were better off without each other than with. But, as I grew older, I realized how *much* their relationship resembles some of the real-life marriages I see around me (aka toxic and problematic to the n-th degree) and I developed a renewed appreciation for the two. I loved how Ai-san never failed to remind us primarily through Hachi's arc that 'life is not always candies and roses'. The dysfunctional dynamic between the both, is in many way, PEAK-embodiment of that :')

The only thing that scares me, is if Takumi's character is even *slightly* misinterpreted, we might get somebody who is very tropey and stock-character-ish. As much as I detest him, I love the myriad of layers to him (as the reasons why he behaves the way he does).... and he's my favorite character, after Osaki! <3

>>they'd make Chinese covers of the original songs <<
Now, why did I never think of this? It's a safe-play move, plus would garner more attention/ views of the anime fans....
Waiting for casting-news with bated breath! ^^

Tbh, patriotic stuff is okay for me in artistic endeavors, especially if it deals with either war or international sports, because to me, it feels quite natural... I quite enjoy seeing common citizens get super emotional as they swell with national pride upon success, irrespective of their nationality.
Heck, I remember cheering for North Korea's football team during Fifa'10 when they entered the KnockOuts! T_T
As long as it doesn't veer into jingoism-territory, and doesn't shove a political ideology into my face, I'm all cool! :')
About Sai, I actually liked HOW much effort the special-effects team took to ensure he had that transparent-vibe going on ALL the time. As someone who does video-editing occasionally, I know exactly HOW much painstaking-dedication it takes. You realize it's not CGI, right? I would appreciate them *just* for this. Ghost-makeup really doesn't affect my viewing, esp like you said, he's a ghost lol! I haven't read the Manga so I'm not sure if they botched it up, but based off the Anime alone, I thought they did a good job!
I sincerely hope Nana isn't a disappointment for you @PolinaElectric ... but sadly, it seems highly unlikely :/ :/ :/

I don't think either Takumi or Nana want to find out. Though I'm sure, deep-down they both know xD

'Bad actors for Japanese manga-adaptations'.... xD
Usually if the manga has a HUGE fan-following they recruit actors with massive fan-base, and I admit not every actor in the 95-00 line (ie. b/w 20 and 25 y/o age) is an acting-genius like YamaKen. Their fanbase is SO huge, people *actually* think these guys are good-actors. T_T
Maybe they are, if you like their very distinct style of manga-esque, over-exaggerated acting, but I could never be on the same page. The acting-style from 2000's that still hasn't changed today, gets on my nerves SO bad: forceful sudden hugs by pulling the girl in from a 10 foot distance, googly-eyes, fake-surprise reactions (EHHHHHH?~~~) and overly fake sweet high-pitched, 'Yamatao-Nadeshiko' type FLs, who have 'zero idea' how sex works -_-
So I definitely get your apprehension. However, while there might be absolute hidden gems in Chinese music-land to give us a solid Soundtrack, Nana very much IS its music, at its soul. That way, Japan seems to have the higher potential of giving us one, going by the precedent (i.e. the OST for the anime) <3
Each drama-land has its own strengths and disadvantages. They have got BIG shoes to fill with this, because look at the love outpour here for the og work! :'D We can only hope they don't royally screw it up.... because ~censorship~

Thank you... I'm not on China Weibo, so my news sources are always second-hand... would appreciate a quicker update! <3

Welcome to the territory, we have been looking for new fans <3
Ps. My first Thai-drama is going to be F4/ Hana Dan remake. So I relate to what you just said :)

I have M&V on my ptw list (mainly because I'm not a johnny huang fan, I never ended up watching it so far).... I loved Horizon Towers esp the noir-cinema vibes. This director might be onto something! :D
Istg, ParaKiss and Nana made me grow up too. I realized for the first time, not every story is 'sunshine and roses', and not every person in your life is meant to have a 'happily ever after with you' (including friends... what?!) As different a premise these stories had, I developed a solid appreciation for slice-of-life stories from Japan (that would actually masquerade as shoujo/ josei instead). Now only if these guys decide to remake/ adapt Honey & Clover, my life would be complete :') :')

They can literally afford to pick up the first five people trending on Douyin/ TikTok's street-wear, and they'd get a killer moodboard and also impeccable stylists! :)

Ofcourse, a fan knows NANA is its OST and the OST is NANA (among 50 other thing we love about it)!! NANA was to me.... an experience. It made me feel SO much, and when it finished, it left me hollow and numb. This also happens to be a story which feels like it lifted parts of my life and threw it on paper with ink, and it seemed so magically beautiful, hence my deep attachment to it beyond plain nostlagia. This was also one of the earliest manga I live-followed, and it felt like I made similar mistakes like the characters and also grew up with them in the process.
Interestingly, I gave in and watched the anime much later, after years of no updates from Ai-san. That was the last anime I watched fully, as it ruined me completely once again.

Cdramas have this notorious tendency to change the entire source-material (esp if it is a domestic web-novel) so going back in that case would mean experiencing a brand-new story. But since the license has been obtained from the author herself (aka official adaptation), they are sure to stick to it althought make little tweaks and changes along the way. And that's when it gets into disappointing-territory! T_T

How wholesome! UwU
I pray they don't ruin this, for your sake and for the countless other fans too!~
It's hard stanning an artist for 12 years, waiting for answers and a closure. Massive Respect <3
I hope they don't disappoint us this time! T_T

Hey Nina (I almost typed 'Nana'... muscle memory lmao) ^^
So, I did a research based on my little knowledge of dabbling into graphic design.
We have two-first look posters to work with. What blatantly stands out is the the word NANA, which has been written in the iconic pink, but the font-style has clearly been changed.
It's a deliberate stylistic change, I tell you. We have a theory where different musical-genres invoke a different style of image & font. Like 'funk' and 'disco' would be a very neon-lighty kind of font, 'pop' would be a swirly minimalistic type, 'metal' would be jagged/ pointy edges (think to famous bands/ groups and their logos, and the kind of fonts they use for it)
An image search tells me the new poster uses 'Posterama Family' of fonts (Pro 1927 Ultra-black, to be specific). Common tags of similar fonts have words 'grunge' and 'vintage'.
Couple with that the high-noise and grainy-ness of the Sepia and the Blue poster.... which could be considered a visual representation of grunge/ punk/ garage rock that usually features heavy distortion.
I know, it's an elaborate theory, but the aesthetic choice of the posters seemed very intentional to me and points things in the right direction! *_* I hope my inkling is correct, and it IS set in the late 90's/ early 2000's and features a good rock-OST <3

Edit: https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/posterama/1927-ultra-black/
You can type the word 'NANA' here and see for yourself :D

*hyper-ventilates*
Honestly, my ship and OTP was Nana x Hachi. Totally under-rated. Just imagine the potential! *_*