Yingmi

I'll double check when I rewatch because I've watched several times but can't remember him saying it. Even in the novel he states he was and is invisible to others.

On another hand, even if he said it, we don't see it to put in tags, and what happens afte iisn't traditional "bullying" therefore the tag is tricky. And can be largely musunderstood. In any case, I just wanted to mention that people do not watch with the same eyes. A tag that makes sense to someone, doesn't to me, when it's insignificant in a romance.

I don't misunderstand but disagree:) There is nothing ironic in him wanting to be an artist becaise he wants the same affection as an artist. I also do not know how to tell this otherwise. So let's agree to disagree.

When did Hira say that? I can't remember that. On the contrary. He said he was happy to be invisible...

As you said, this is a romance. So the reason I wrote was to remind it, so that other people do not make the mistake I almost did:)

I will quote you to explain well what I am saying
"Kiyoi is starved for affection. Genuine affection and not the idolizing kind he usually receives, which is kind of ironic since he aspires to be an artist for that specific reason".
First of all, if you are using the words aspires to be an Artist,I explained already, that Artists do not want 'worshipping'. And Kiyoi didn't either.
You are interpreting what he said as wanting to be idolised', whereas what he wants is being 'loved' (which is another word for affection), being wanted... And if you think that this is what idolizing means, then your statement has no logic, since from the beginning your whole statement is that real affection is different from being superficially worshipped. Kiyoi wants to be an artist to be happy and loved and wanted (that's with 'all their heart' means), and therefore, there is no irony in him wanting to be an Artist, because whether as a person or an Artist, he wants the same thing.

I'll stop here. After all, we can just disagree. I don't mind people not agreeing with me either.

Even if you simply said it about Kiyoi, you still misinterpret. He never said he wanted to be idolized or worshiped. He said he wanted to become an idol because idols he saw on the screen, laughed and seemed to be happy... Very different...

A while ago you were discussing WuJi with another user and which version you liked. I didnt get the chance to reply at the time.
My favourite version is the version sung by XZ and Yibo. And the second favourite is the piano version that we hear during different parts in the drama, and the snow scene. I absolutely love that version.
Several months ago Lin Hai published a post about WuJi on weibo, and talked about three versions of WuJi from a composers point of view.
I'll copy it in Chinese, and fans who are interested can google translate it and get the general feeling of what he said...
Knowing you love WuJi, you should absolutely read this.

关于《无羁》的版本问题：有好多小朋友在问我，#陈情令# 片尾那个主题歌版本会不会发布？还有，周笔畅的那个版本？…
统一回复：这次我们会发布三个版本的《无羁》。分别是：【深情版】【浪漫版】【写意版】。
接下来我就以创作者角度来给大家说说这三个版本的不同之处：
【深情版】
这是剧中出现最多的版本，也就是真正的配乐版。这个版本突出的是“情”，温柔，细腻，满满的爱意！没有什么大的起伏，在平静中蕴藏深情。
【浪漫版】
这是博肖演唱的主题歌的版本，也就是片尾曲版本。这个版本气势恢宏，一幅热血江湖，爱恨情仇的壮美画卷。伴奏中融合了博肖主题歌版本和忘羡主题歌版本的精髓伴奏，是最值得收藏的经典。从另外一个角度，器乐卡拉OK角度来说，戴着耳机听着这版伴奏来演奏你所会的乐器无疑也是最带感最激动人心的。
此版本已制作完成，将于近期上架。
【写意版】
这是后来为周笔畅量身定做的钢琴弦乐版。这个版本没有在剧中任何地方出现过。这是一个另外的视角，也就是现代的现在的视角。或者叫做“以第三视角看忘羡”。这个版本比较“文艺”。清新 淡雅 脱俗 似一泓清水般娓娓诉说着美丽的爱情故事。这个版本是最值得细细品味，深入聆听的。
戴上你的耳机，不要辜负了我们顶尖的演奏家的深情演绎哦！[doge]
此版本正在制作中，何时上架请留意通知[污]

To drop this after episode 1 is the biggest mistake you can make..
The drama starts '16 years later'... Which means that there are many events happening during the first 2 episodes, but we do not understand really the reasons for them. And that's normal.. You aren't supposed to understand because you need to know as to what happened in the past... And you'll start learning the past starting from the 3rd episode...
The first two episodes are kind of an introduction to the characters.

Also, the first two episodes have almost no scenes between the leads. Whereas even when we are watching a very intriguing plot, the feeling changes, when we watch scenes with the leads, because the drama is centered around a relationship after all.. Therefore, when you are watching this drama for the first time, the feeling you get from episode 1/2, is going to be different from the feeling you'll start getting after ep 3.

In fact, I was rewatching CQL these days, and I just finished watching episode 50 today. And I was telling a family member, that when I rewatch CQL, by the time I reach episode 50, I already miss the beginning, so can watch it all over again.
All I can recommend, do yourself a big favour and continue watching:)

A little about my experience...
I don't usually check descriptions and tags when watching dramas... But for some reason I checked for Utsukushii Kare before I watched. And the terrible thing is that because of the old synopsis and tags like 'bullying', I almost didn't watch this..

The reason is that I have seen more kdrama than jdrama or cdrama, and bullying can get pretty serious in kdrama. I am not speaking of dramas like BBF even, where there is a fair amount of bullying (and frankly, the scene in utsukushii kare is nothing compared to BBF), but some dramas with dramatic contents, where bullying is kind of unpleasant.

When I watched this one, I was wondering as to who even input bullying, since the scene in Utsukushii Kare is about something else, and isn't even violent. And therefore, I am writing this, to remind that people feel differently about different contents when watching.

There is something that disturbs me in what you said. That artists become artists to be idolized... This is a complete misunderstanding of Artists' profession. I feel that I need to stand up for every artist I love.. Especially, that we are on a drama page. A person does not become an artists to be idolized, but to TO DO what he or she loves to do... To sing, to act, to dance... Wanting to be appreciated or loved, is another notion. But even that's not the ultimate OBJECTIVE of an Artist...

I don't really agree with your interpretation of Kiyoi or Hira, either, but I won't go into details... Just to tell that I understand them differently.

👌

I know. I wasn't answering you but 'copied' my reply to you.

Thanks. I'll check into this. You made me a huge favour today. If not for your link, I might have not known for a long while, that I could get items from amazon japan. Instead of amazon in europe.

And the drama. It certainly deserves to be a bestseller. I have a last question if you don't mind. About the book. Are there many photos in it? I can check online, but it's better to ask a friend who has it:)

I answered surbhi0111 about Yusei Yagi, but wanted to make sure you read this too. Considering this is an older post, I am just copying for you.

I wanted to write to you something else about Yagi Yusei... I dont know if you are interested in the novel, but just to let you know, that the novel is written from Hira's point of view (the beginning), and what we learn about Kiyoi in the beginning, is all from hira's thoughts. And therefore playing this role, or even writing or directing this role wasn't that evident. Considering Yagi Yusei, had to really be very subtle, in order to stay credible, but at the same time for the twist in the 5th episode to work, he had to deceive Hira:) but also the viewers. When rewatching and seeing all of the subtleties and also thinking about all of this, I think he did a really great job. This type of writing is easy, when it's a novel, but in a drama, Yagi Yusei, is a human an in front of us, so he needed to be really subtle playing this role.

I wanted to write to you something else about Yagi Yusei... I dont know if you are interested in the novel, but just to let you know, that the novel is written from Hira's point of view (the beginning), and what we learn about Kiyoi in the beginning, is all from hira's thoughts. And therefore playing this role, or even writing or directing this role wasn't that evident. Considering Yagi Yusei, had to really be very subtle, in order to stay credible, but at the same time for the twist in the 5th episode to work, he had to deceive Hira:) but also the viewers. When rewatching and seeing all of the subtleties and also thinking about all of this, I think he did a really great job. This type of writing is easy, when it's a novel, but in a drama, Yagi Yusei, is a human an in front of us, so he needed to be really subtle playing this role.

EDITED
It's interesting what you are saying and it goes a little in lines with something I wanted to say about Kiyoi/Yagi Yusei.

Because the beginning of the novel is written from Hira's point of view. We learn as to what Hira thinks about Kiyoi's reactions or actions, but we do not know what Kiyoi feels in reality or why he does this or that action.

There are many dramas where a character doesn't know about the thoughts or feelings of another character, but the viewers do... But this drama couldn't portray the roles like that, becaue of the twist in episode 5. And also, it's easy to write the characters in this manner in a novel, but it isn't easy to film or play the role, because, in a drama, we have a 3d human in front of us. If yagi yusei, didn't show any feelings at all, it would just not be credible. And if he showed all, then it woulnd't work either, because the twist (when we start learning his point of view) would lose all of its meaning. In a way, we are watching the beginning of the drama from Hira's point of view... And Yagi Yusei, didn't just have to 'deceive' Hira, but also the viewers...
And to interpret Kiyoi's character, this should absolutely be considered. Otherwise, his actions will just be interpreted wrongly.

Isn't it great to see it as a #1 bestseller?
If you have the link to the book, could you share it too? Have you got it already? Sorry, I think you've shared this info already. But I didn't check much into it because I wrongly believed I couldn't order from amazon Japan. I never realized before that this depends on the item, if it's available for global shipment or not. If you don't have the link, no worries, I'll find it. Thanks!

Which platform did you buy it from?

I was thinking...

Out of 450 or so dramas I have watched or dropped within the last 10 years, this is within 30 I've ENJOYED most when watching. which means within about 6 %.
And if I were to take the dramas filmed after 2010, this is within 1% I've enjoyed most.
All dramas, all countries, all genres including...
If I have to take all dramas with male leads, then this is my #2, the first being CQL. But just to explain, without comparing the two, since it would be comparing apples and oranges.
And the rewatch value of this drama for me, on the scale of 1 to 10, is ....... 100.

I am watching CQL these days... And yesterday, in the end of the episode there was a publicity for juice, and XZ's text is actually from the novel... I don't want to include spoilers for those who have never read the novel... But well, just to mention, that even Ads during the drama referred to some very romantic scenes in the Novel.

And I agree with you completely, there are many ways to portray love and romance.
And the beauty of CQL is also in the fact that they managed to surprise the viewers also by exactly how they portrayed the romance. And in this sense, even if we have dozens of danmei adaptations in the future, and I hope we do, it's not clear yet, if the other dramas will manage to surprise the viewers. Because, should they merely repeat as to how CQL did it, it won't work, because the plot matters, and the characters matter.

I guess what shocked me most is your thought that a person should like someone just because the person treats him well and not a 'beautiful' person, because that's superficial.

First of all, the one treating him best was still Kiyoi... You just watched everything 1st degree thinking that if someone tells a friend 'you're sick' he certainly means it:) And yes, for example, Russians do not translate you're disgusting, but you're sick, therefore, I don't believe I need to write such evident things, that languages have subtleties, and once again, you can't understand the word '1st degree' either.

When you said he liked someone just because he's beautiful, you are also forgetting the most important. That the person you like is the most beautiful to you.

Liking is a passion, is physical, too, and you just want Hira to accept someone because he is treats him well??? And you think people fall in love following their reason? And this isn't superficial but the character is?

People might be thinking about love in a superficial manner, but good literature and cinema never do. And this is actually one of the reasons why we love the world of the books and films... Just think about it...