Ackery

Not really, since before something gets to air they need to get approved. But you can look out for behind the scenes. Maybe you will notice something there.

100% true. Plus, if I am not mistaken other countries' dramas on douban have better ratings in general. Generally every "rating platform" should be "judged" individually. Like, MDL does have very high ratings for most dramas to a point that a below 8 drama is considered bad. At the same time, Jdramas for example most of the times are rated much lower on MDL compared to Kdramas.

Of course like every platform, douban's ratings are consisted of thousands of votes and many of them are valid. Every person rates something with their own standards etc. I think a douban score is important for obvious reasons, but at the same time I don't think than any rating platform should be a reason why someone watches or not a series. It is up to anyone to judge after watching it and not before, simply judging something because it has great or bad ratings on a platform.

About the HMH and TJR fan wars, I wouldn't be so sure. Many complained that one of them would be getting less screentime and I wouldn't be surprised if some fans were disappointed by something like this and gave a low score.

I agree and it was wrongly advertised regarding that aspect. After the trailer and MJTY I also expected something completely different. Also true about the first eps, but I feel that most series are not really that good in the first eps, at least that is my personal experience with Cdramas. Some of my favs it took me like 15 eps to actually like (Eternal love *cough lol), but I do get that this probably just me.
True, plus this time of the year is the "worst" when it comes to dramas. Many anticipated series come out so the competition is bigger than other times of the year.

P.S. About douban, I am personally mostly impressed when something has a rating above 7.5, anything lower and I don't give it that much attention lol

Didn't enjoy her "love story" with LL that much, but I did like her character.

Hm, first few eps are not that great but it gets better so it depends on your mood.

That aside though, it also depends on how much you enjoy the way the director works.

I can't believe I actually got sad for Ao Yin...

LL also deserved better...
Despite what he has done, the fact that people he cares about always leave him is heartbreaking.

Meanwhile BJ's mom...
WX be like, I understand her, she's a mother
BJ's mom: that is secondary 😂😂😂

And when I thought she did all this to save her son, girl was like, nope scratch that, its about the world

SAME

I am not exactly aware about fanwars, and if it did affect the rating, but Cnets always enjoy fighting with each other and there were fanwars between TJR's and HMH's fanbase (even here on MDL lol). Plus, I am sure that GJM's figure did make a lot of people rate the series this low.

I'm not saying the drama deserves a very high rating on douban, because it doesn't, but I do still think the rating is way too low for what the drama is.

Yes, it doesn't appeal to older audiences and it was never meant to anyways, like the majority of the dramas in this category. However, at least from my pov, it is not that bad to deserve a 4.9 -last time I checked- and it is also not that bad comparing to other series.

Plus, saying that it looks cheap is just pure hatred. It's okay to not like something and even though I really enjoy this series, I do acknowledge it has MANY flaws, but the production quality is phenomenal and much better than most period/fantasy series coming out of China in recent years. Even if someone does not like the aesthetics, because they don't appeal to them, it is unfair to call the series cheap.

I do agree that it seems to appeal more to the western audience, me included. But, on the other hand, it is also hugely based on chinese mythology.

All in all, I don't disagree with what you are saying. I didn't believe the series would get a very high rating on douban, but a 4.9 is still too low for what it is.

And many of the comments are about people not enjoying GJM's style which is something having to do entirely with preference. You love it or hate it.

Also many of the ones talking about an incoherent story rated the series after the first few eps aired. And objectively, first few eps were not great -but not bad either-. So, I do get the low rating, even though I don't think the series deserves it overall and I also choose to not pay that much attention to it, cause barely any dramas on douban have an actual high rating -at least period/fantasy Cdramas-. Cnets are way too judgmental when it comes to their own shows.

So, basically, I don't think a douban rating should "decide" whether something is good or bad and everyone should just watch the series and judge, cause not everyone likes the same things.

Oh sorry! I also mentioned her, so I thought it was for me.

Yeah, I don't know. I just remember her commenting she doesn't like the director's techniques.

That is exactly why I'm saying some people just hate it for no reason. My Journey to You was equally splendid in terms of production. It was so good to a point that any other Cdrama I tried watching afterwards looked truly cheap and I couldn't watch anything for a long while after it finished, something that I feel will also happen here.

I never tried to take her as a "reliable" reviewer. She is just a watcher like everyone else and just offers her opinion (even though she tries to look like an expert). But yeah, it is obvious when she truly likes or hates something. She tends to disregard actual faults of a drama when she does enjoy it and she criticizes every little thing when she doesn't. About GJM pretty sure she didn't like MJTY either.

For me, GJM may be problematic ah as a figure in China, but personally I haven't seen better aesthetics in Cdramaland from anyone and generally his directing choices and the way he knows how to make everything look so visually stunning is unique to a point I would mention that his dramas are some of the best I have ever watched generally visually wise at least.

We are still gonna be talking about it like it never ended 🙃
(unless the ending sucks and then we'll just rant about it)

I have no idea honestly.

But she also doesn't like GJM so I don't know if it's because it's truly a flop or because she is just not following people etc that talk about it.

I personally enjoyed the series from the get go, even though it did got even better after a while.

It is up to preferences. I really liked the choices of the director regarding the shots etc. Everything is very cinematic, something I don't usually see in dramas.

That aside, douban is just a very different and more complicated issue. Besides the possible fan wars, let's take into consideration that many Cnets dislike GJM (the director). He is a very controversial figure and I do believe that is a big reason why it has such a low rating. Plus many don't really like his style.

It's unfortunate that it has such a low rating, but it is not unusual. I mean I literally read a comment saying that the drama looks cheap...
So yeap, probably many haters and their opinions are not to be trusted.

Thank you!

You are right! I saw the bts scene after posting my comment 😅

I really thought they did especially since he didn't seem hurt when he got close to her 😄

Thanks for the answer 💜

Is there going to be an express package?

I'm so impressed by the fact that someone invested money to make this

That's a great observation!
YL also pointed out that he changed in other ways.

🔥Princess and "Meng Xuan's" story
It was obviously wrong of her to kill his wife and unborn child, but do I feel bad for him? No. She told him from the get go that she would be next to him in life and death unless he betrayed her. And what did he do? He betrayed her! And the worst thing is, dude truly cared for her supposedly! Like my man, you deceive a woman to save your family, but you care about that woman and basically cheat on your dying pregnant wife? Like, okay, princess should have just killed him (*sad for the actual wife and kid)...
(I am not sure if saying he cared for her is even accurate cause dude barely has a heart)

🔥 The moment WX stood up, it was obvious she showed them something, so I didn't really believe what happened -I did semi-believe it in the preview though, so sorry YL-.

🔥 PSJ was so freaking relatable! Girl was so anxious, cause she knew she could not act, that would be so me!

🔥 ZYC not seeing WX's instructions 🤣🤣🤣
At first I thought he did see them or it was just a mistake from the director -or I was just seeing wrongly-, but no, dude was about to hurt people, if they took that core! That was so hilarious and embarrassing 🤣

🔥 Really liked the "monologue" of WX about demons, humans and choices cause it sums up what the drama is about. And we didn't see the kiss. I am not sure if it was intentional cause the series is just not romance-based and he is not really willing to show a kiss at all -and well we have seen that happen in other Cdramas- or he wanted to show a more impactful kiss between the two of them in future eps.

"All of us are walking on the same ground, called destiny. Life is like drifting fallen leaves, blown together by winds from all directions, gathering, then separating."

Wow, really? Well, only problem I'll never have, cause no one ever comes here lol

Oh, that is so nice of you 🥰
*whispers* it was intentional