phoenixfrost

OFL is undoubtedly a success. However, it could have been a blockbuster, one with a Datawin index of at least 2.5 (it reached only 2.4), a VLinkage index of at least 85 (it reached only 82) and VLinkage character indices for both Shi Yan and Shu Yi of at least 9.30 (Shi Yan reached only 9.13 I think and I can't remember if Shu Yi reached 9). Before Kunning came out, those records were achievable.

The opening douban rating was from 31k reviewers. Apparently, douban has something in place to check for yxh and water armies, however, the process is manual. Somebody needs to actually check the reviews and report the fishy ones. Fans help with this and this is where Bai Lu's massive fan base could have helped. 31k reviews is too much for Dylan's fans to go through. And I think Chinese people still believe in douban that's why yxh and water armies are proliferating. The power of douban is that a low rating undermines a drama. Once a drama is seen as weak, vultures come in and find more faults or spread the negativity even further. Even mdl was not spared. I think the drama could have reached 3 billion views or more. I think Meteor Garden reached 3.5 billion?

He is smart. He knew from the moment she pretended to borrow a powerbank she was no strictly proper lady, especially when she said she'd pursue him. Had he not liked her, he would have rejected her right away. But he played along because he also knew she is his match. Please see discussion topic "Choosing a Partner Like a Venture Capitalist with Shi Yan [Long] [Analysis]" for what he saw in her. She is spoiled and self-centered but not mean or a real flirt. She is, in fact, such a bad seductress, showing she is not one at heart. She wasn't turned by Yu You or Yi Yang, both very eligible young men. She never treated either of them as more than friends. She has never given her heart to anybody but Shi Yan, even her first boyfriend. She just needed to grow up to realize she loved him. And the break-up was what she needed.

yes, the moment he started to make his move, when he invited her to his uncle's dinner feast, he was decided on her. Even when he blocked her, I'm sure he didn't intend to block her for good. It was to force her to think seriously about what she wanted. He said to himself, "It wasn't me she wanted". He was giving her space to make up her mind and he would go with her decision. He would be ready to welcome her back with open arms should she decide it's him she wants.

I watched both. she's ok there, but I can't remember a scene where I went, "she's good" as I did with Zhao Lusi's acting in Love Like The Galaxy for example when Shao Shang was trying to read. Here in OFL, I will always remember the bravado that Shu Yi tried to assume when she walked to the office after being dumped or the way her legs wobbled after getting off the horse she was riding with Shi Yan. Small details somehow impress me more than big scenes.

he's a techie. i won'tbe surprised if he has a drone following them around

well said! 🥰 you're right, the drama was overcriticized. flaws that many cdramas have like bad writing, bad direction, being draggy, fillers, filters, etc. were exaggerated as if this is the only flawed cdrama in existence 🤨

huh, i wonder if she was Avenuex herself and couldn't take the comments here 😂

she mentioned OFL makes up the fifth entry in her list of 5 worst dramas of 2023, the other ones being:
- Gen Z
- Till The End of the Moon
- Fireworks of My Heart
- Hidden Love

Tsk, tsk, seems like she has a thing against popular idol dramas.

As with many cdramas, this drama has some lousy dialogues but good ones too. This one made me laugh. It paints a vivid picture of the dynamics of their relationship at present:

Shu Yi to Shi Yan: Don't call me by my full name, it's scary

Parents tend to call their children by their full names when scolding them.

In a relationship, one tends to assume the parent role and the other, the child. There's no surprise about who is who in this relationship. Shu Yi has been spoiled all her life, as her mom said. Maybe that's why she lies a lot, she's still a child underneath that self-assured, confident and capable career girl she thinks she is.

Shi Yan has been groomed from childhood to take over a company and his upbringing seems to be genial. So he is mature and would not mind assuming the parent role while Shu Yi grows up.

Like a parent, he knows when she is lying to him and tries not to give her the satisfaction of thinking her lies work. He knew she was lying when she pretended to be looking for a powerbank and when she pretended not to know how put the belt on at the racecourse, so he did not indulge her both times. He even gave her the name "actress" in his phone.

Knowing she is flawed and still loving her, that's true love.

So unoriginal. i've read most of the criticisms she said on weibo and douban, criticisms that may well have been written by yxh (netizens paid to defame celebrities/dramas). Seems like she's just jumping on the bandwagon and parroting what she read. She did admit, she only watches dramas to find fault. That makes her the worst kind of drama critic. A drama should be felt, not just seen and you cannot really feel a drama when all you're looking for are faults.

i was wondering about it too. but it was not just Yi Yang. Shi Yan's ex also knew he and Shu Yi had fallen out. I interpreted that as them being kind of celerities so people knew what was going on between them

she did! she really showed her self-centeredness by the way she treated her boyfriends

As much suffering as a 25-year-old pampered girl in China could experience in our times. Her mother admitted she's spoiled. Her self-centeredness indicates she has been pampered and not suffered much, if ever, in her life. And she has not really loved before. It seems she just accepted Xing Zhou because he has been pursuing her for many years. But their break-up did not cause her much grief. She was more incensed that in Xing Zhou's eyes, she was worth less than a car. It was her pride, not her heart, that got hurt. Her break-up with Shi Yan did break her heart, first time in her life she suffered such heartbreak.

Actually, she has been suffering from fear that Shi Yan would think she used him to get back at Xing Zhou. But being immature, she kept lying instead of telling him the truth. When she thought she lost him for good, she realized she loved him because she felt the heartbreak. She went along with Yi Yang's antics because he was insistent and she considered him a friend and she made it clear to him she would never see him as more than a friend. The most visible sign of her suffering was her growth in maturity. She did not try to make excuses for what she did as what a spoiled child would have done. She felt guilty and remorseful. She remembers Shi Yan's thoughtfulness and was ready to talk to him in person. Imagine the added heartbreak when she saw him with Fiona. When news of Shi Yan's shareholders broke out, she first thought of Shi Yan's feelings instead of the upgrading of her online magazine. She finally broke down, not caring that her fiercest competitor, Yuling, was there to witness her anguish. She deleted him in her contact list because the pain was too much. And she got sick, most probably brought on by emotional pain and psychological stress that lower the immune system.

So true! I had never really appreciated Bai Lu's acting before. In some dramas, she acted positively cheesy. But this drama showed a maturity and finesse in her acting that really suited the character. She might still act somewhat cheesy when she's hamming it up for the comic scenes. I can't imagine another actress who could appear so smart and confident yet get you so mad at her cluelessness and wishy-washiness, and still manage to make you root for her 😊

Wow, even without the purple lights and banners, the response is tremendous. Now I understand why it's called Scream night and why he's the Scream god 😄

I was actually half-expecting him to leave with nothing. i wouldn't have been surprised at how low iQiyi could get after the Only For Love/Kunning Palace betrayal. I was just wondering why Didi still went to the affair where he could have been made looking really pathetic. I have to admit this apology is better than nothing. It shows a spark of decency in iQiyi and the Chinese Entertainment industry.

I had been thinking of quitting cdramas after Only For Love and just come back when Dafeng is released. But maybe c-ent is not that bad, yet.

If I could give 100 likes for your comment, I would 🥰 Such reminders of the heart-warming honor bestowed on him at the event somewhat pacify my rage at what happened with Only For Love and Didi, the sacrificial lamb 😭

Me too, i would have boycotted that event😄 Only For Love could have easily become a blockbuster had iQiyi not cripple it by taking most of Bai Lu's fans away. Didi's fans were left with the gargantuan task of checking tens of thousands of douban reviews and as many if not more weibo posts to report entries of yxh and water armies. And many viewers who still believe in douban and weibo jumped on the bandwagon and propagated the negativity, including the fault-finding. I cry whenever I think of the injustice done to Didi. I think the other platforms are aware of the profundity of what iQiyi did so they showed hearty support for Didi.

Dylan, though quite young and can act his age (childish) at times, is so mature when he needs to be. Such high EQ leaves me in shock at the same time in awe 🥰

i have stopped reading the posts of some commenters when it was obvious they didn't bother to understand my posts, just as they obviously did not watch the drama to understand it before throwing stones at it

agree with everything you said. good point about the difference in her attitude towards her breakup with Shi Yan and Xing Zhou.

Same here, not to mention being called airhead, braindead and blind by those who criticize the drama but vehemently refuse to be called antis.