phoenixfrost

Months before this drama started airing, a smear campaign already started slandering Dylan. A netizen who was recruited to blacken Dylan blew the whistle on the operation and said somebody is out to get him. Why, you may ask? Not really surprising. From the moment he entered showbiz in 2017, Dylan has been blackened by envious people who didn't like a young man with no family wealth, no powerful backer and no big publicity machine taking projects away from their boys.

It was revealed that "the organized attack on Dylan involved a budget of 200m rmb. While not all participants are known, the main ones are clear. Eg the influencers who smeared D&DF all belong to the same media co, which serves a top C-ent agency representing numerous celebs."
https://x.com/WangHediFolder/status/1874865302368034933#

On GOTD's first day, the drama's heat index was steadily climbing, on track to reaching at least 29k when the system crashed for several hours, losing thousands of cloud seats, not to mention airtime. Tencent Video did not attempt to recover these losses. Why might Tencent Video appear to be sabotaging its drama? Might it have something to do with its rivalry with Tencent Pictures, the grandfather company of GOTD producer?

Despite these setbacks, GOTD managed to top drama charts. It is a masterpiece and word of mouth is countering the smear campaign.

I was actually thinking of viewers who are not well-versed with Chinese culture, like my siblings who I’ve been trying to persuade to watch the drama. A new cdrama viewer would not understand the gravity of “going to the Department of Music”. For all you know, they might interpret that as going to Julliard which is not bad at all. It’s very considerate of Viki to clarify this.

This 1-episode-per-day schedule has some merit. It's providing enough time to watch the drama is another site. I've been watching it on Tencent Video but since 50 minutes of GOTD per day is not enough, I also watched it on Viki. The translation cleared up some murky aspects of the drama. For example, in Tencent Video, it wasn't explained why the Xu women going to the Department of Music was bad. In Viki, the translation clarified that "Department of Music" is euphemism for "government-controlled brothel".

Some accounts in X/Twitter have been reporting it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another ploy to mess up with the data for this drama

Does anybody know how the Tencent heat index is calculated or at least what the criteria are? Isn't it based on viewership? Based on this table that shows GOTD having higher Kuyun and Yunhe views than those of some dramas that reached 30k heat index, GOTD should already be at 30k:
https://x.com/WangHediFolder/status/1876206083464905077/

Tencent TV and Tencent Pictures (grandparent company of GOTD producer) engaged in a fierce rivalry in the past that caused Tencent Pictures to be shut down in 2022. Seems like the rivalry is ongoing.

That system crash on day 1 of GOTD that reduced its heat index is getting more and more suspicious. Add to this the relentless blackening of GOTD by unscrupulous netizens, C-Ent industry is getting more and more disgustingly out of control.

Here's hoping GOTD prevails over this madness.

I like witnessing the budding of a romantic relationship. When Xu Qi An fell in crush with Lin An at first sight in ep 6, it pulled my romantic heart strings and increased my interest in the drama. For me, the romance started at that point. The development of a romantic entanglement between the leads became another aspect I looked forward to and enjoyed watching. Just because sweet pure romance is not your type doesn't mean nobody appreciates it.

Lin An is not objectively unlikeable. Like Orchid in Love Between Fairy and Devil who some people found annoying and others found cute, it's a subjective thing. I found Lin An cute, funny and intriguing from the get-go. I have a feeling she's pretending to be silly and flighty so royal power players would not think she's competition. But some viewers have varied reasons to not like her, e.g. they want another CP for Dylan or they just want to throw dirt at the drama for ANY reason. I love the romance in this drama. It does not get in the way of the other aspects of the story, but it serves its purposes - spice up Xu Qi An's life and show that he has a well-rounded heart, i.e. not just all about family and duty.

Mainland issue

Hoping Tencent would just continue the 2 eps daily schedule. They owe this drama a lot after messing up the cloud seats in a suspicious "site crash" on day 1 that reduced the heat index. This drama could have reached a heat index of at least 29k on day 1 were it not for that crash. Been wondering if losing cloud seats is one reason at least 14 million viewers turned to a pirate site instead.

great comparison of the two

Princess Lin An turned out to NOT be unnecessary after all, as some viewers prematurely tagged her. She paved the way for him to redeem himself, saving him. This is why I try not to judge characters until the drama is done. This reminds me of how Orchid of Love Between Fairy and Devil was maligned for her babyish voice and mannerisms at the start of the drama. Look what she turned out to be! If only viewers learn to enjoy and try to understand a drama instead of criticizing it every step of the way, the world would be a much more peaceful and entertaining place.

Yey, so happy for him 😁💐🎉 So proud of him too, having accomplished such a great feat on his own merits, not resorting to dirty tactics such as blackening other actors.

Didi’s agency has already sued several accounts. Bu it seems the worst offender is a very powerful agency in C-Ent. Hope the government crackdown will help.

Here's hoping there will be more positive comments about Didi and GOTD in Chinese social media. Weibo recently banned 800 accounts active in spreading rumors and slandering celebs and dramas. Some of those banned accounts have been attacking Didi.

In addition, the Cyberspace Administration of China has started Investigating water armies and other such group of netizens that spread fake news about celebs and dramas.

What award did Didi get? I read in X it's some grand prize but wasn't sure...

To Dylan’s bullies, watch episode 15. You might not be aware of it, since bullies normally lack self-awareness, but you’re like Zhu Chengzhu, bullying the powerless. And bullies like him deserve what happened to him.

viki.com

Xu Qian eating melon while listening to melons about gold gongs fighting over a copper gong with A+ mark 😂 Princess Lin An’s cheap shot at blackening the Grand Princess being discovered by XQA and him pompously reporing it to her face, clueless about her subterfuge 😂 and many more rib-tickling scenes. The comedy is relentless. There is never a dull moment in this totally entertaining gem.

GOTD is much better than many dramas with higher ratings

The Chinese Entertainment industry is a vicious and brutal environment. There are netizens who are paid to blacken actors and dramas. Months before this drama started airing, a netizen who had been recruited to blacken Dylan blew the whistle that people are out to get him (Dylan). Dylan is one of the most popular cdrama actors not just in China but all over the world. Supporters of other actors are green with envy at witnessing this young man with no family wealth, no powerful backers and no big publicity machine making it in this industry with nothing but good looks, talent, great personality and hard work.