Amastris Dratwka

It really is interesting the cultural differences and how we view and categorize things. This conversation enlightened me, and I'm glad I asked. I would have continued being dumb to these ideas. Now I know. lol. ;)

Yeah, this has been actually a really interesting and refreshing conversation. I appreciate the enlightenment about Chinese drama terminology.

I started watching Asian dramas, even though my 2nd language is Japanese, went to HS in Japan, and worked for a Japanese corporation, from watching Taiwanese drama versions of Japanese manga adaptations. I then found South Korean drama. I didn't start watching C-dramas until much later, mainly due to, in the early days, the bad dubbing and CGI. I would literally show my kids the poor CGI and laugh because it reminded my of the old Godzilla movies we used to watch. But I think starting around 2014-15, when 'Boss & Me' hit the top of my Fav drama list, that I actually really started to pay attention and watch C-dramas and think they had equal quality. Over the last half decade there's been a lot of improvement.

Anyway, in Western culture we don't use the term "Idol" for any genre. "Idol" shows are just, you know, youth dramas put out be the "Disney" channel or something like that. They tend to be aired on specific cable channels and time of day, like "Ater-school Drama". I think we just know automatically by the topic of the drama, plus the production company and cast involved what its content is, so the terminology isn't used in the USA. That means my knowledge of the term is based in the Asian dramas I first watched. Taiwanese basically use the same terminology as Koreans. In Korea, an idol drama is a youth drama specifically made for and that includes an idol from a boy or girl group. If an idol was able to get cast in a 'sageuk', they're not calling it an 'idol drama'. It's simply an historical. When an idol is cast in a makjang, they're not calling it an 'idol drama'. It's simply a melodrama. When Kim Soo Hyun is cast in Dream High, he's in an 'Idol Drama'. But when he's cast in 'Moon Embracing the Sun' its still a sageuk; 'My Love from Another Star' is still a fantasy rom-com; & 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay' is still just a romanctic drama. My frame of reference is more based on this and I've been applying it to all Asian dramas. But now I realize that's not right and the Chinese viewers and their picky style of referencing dramas has more sway on what Chinese dramas are called than just literary or film production company's list of genres. I get that now.

After our discussion later on, I actually went on chinesemov-dot-com and looked up the current 2021 "Idol Dramas" that are listed there, and it's clear, that merely a pure love story, that appeal to women in general, seem to be the main reference. In the USA, we have the Hallmark Channel, we also have things like "Harlequin Romance novels" etc. In the USA, those wouldn't be referred to as "Youth/Idol" just because women like them. They're all just categorized as "Romance", so being raised by this mindset makes this idea of women's romance "idol" a bit harder to follow especially after discovering the term through Korean dramas. lol

I used chinesemov website to check out Yang Yang and Reba's body of work for all their specfic dramas. These are how their dramas are categorized:

𝒀𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒀𝒂𝒏𝒈:
𝐚) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞:The Dream of Red Mansions; Flower Pinellia; Tiny Times; Love 020
𝐛) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲: Raise the Red Lantern; Together
𝐜) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲: I Am Your Bleating Phone; Martial Universe1 & 2
𝐝) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐖𝐚𝐫: The War Does Not Believe in Tears; Special Forces
𝐞) 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲: The Four; The Lost Tomb; The Chronicles of Town Called Jian; Just Test the World
𝐟) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: Legend of Goddess Luo
𝐠) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚: Ultimate Conquest
𝐡) 𝐈𝐝𝐨𝐥, 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚: Youth Melody; Whirlwind Girl; The King's Avatar; You Are My Glory

𝑹𝒆𝒃𝒂:
𝐚) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Cosmetology High; Sound of the Desert, Hot Girls 2; The Ladder of Love; The King's Woman; The Long Ballad; Legend of Anle
𝐛) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲: Swords of Legends; Backlight Love; Eternal Love; The Flame's Daughter; Eternal Love of Dream; Dragon and Tiger 5 Worlds; The Blue Whisper
𝐜) 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲: The Door
𝐝) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: Ban Shu Legend
𝐞) 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚: Microblog Time Love; Princess Huai Yu
𝐟) 𝐈𝐝𝐨𝐥, 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚:Sweet Dreams; Love Designer; Diamond Lover; Pretty Li Hui Zhen; You Are My Glory

Tbh, the only dramas they categorized as "Idol" on each actor's list that I have watched are 'Love Designer', 'Diamond Lover' [unwillingly]; & 'You Are My Glory'. I've mainly watched these two in things other than that category, so, I guess that's why I didn't consider them "idol" actors or their dramas "idol dramas".... but now I've been enlightened to the fact that this is what this drama is categorized as in China. Thank you for all your clarification. It's interesting the cultural difference even with different Asian countries. ;)

Your comment made me so interested that I ended up researching and reading some excerpts from the book ‘Television in Post-reform China: Serial dramas, confucian leadership and the global television market’ by Ying Zhu. I think the clarification there is better.

Based on this author who traces the genres going back to the mid-80s and discussing how the trendy/idol/pure love dramas originated in Japan and were imported to Taiwan, and then South Korea develop the trend and Post-reform China picked up on it. There’s a lot of context about consumerism etc but that’s divergent.

I think the key take away is that China’s “trendy” dramas fall into 2 categories: 1) “Pink Drama” that cater to professional women in their 30s, & 2) “Idol Drama” that appeals to college students and even high school kids and are meant to compete with Taiwan and Korea’s own “Idol” dramas.

So, based on this, and considered the specific age, context, and issues surrounding the main leads characters having to do with being 30, I suspected this is more a “Pink Drama” than an “Idol” drama. The fact they had to work many scenes to get past censors means, I don’t think China wants youth high school and college kids to be all into this. Now FIYS, yes.. but even with the explanation, I still couldn’t wrap my mind around calling THIS drama a Youth/Idol drama. lol. ;)

Interesting.

So, Chinese place the difference on youth vs adult, and/or childish romance. However, in that context they don’t think this drama is ‘adult” enough to not be considered “idol’ even without an actual idol. I’m guessing due to the added context of gaming? Poor Gu Man has her drama and it’s context referred to as “idol’ instead of a true serious drama merely because the lead actors are considered young and popular, even if they’re not traditional idols. =/ Poor Reba & YY. Too bad all 3 are not considered serious enough to have dropped the label “idol”.

I’ll just look at it as, anything the CCP thinks international fans will like or topics they’re not wholly approving of are “idol”, regardless of whether there’s an idol in it or not. Too bad they don’t think aerospace is a serious enough topic, =/ Thanks for the explanation though. :)

I’m sorry if I came across as wanting you to correct your terminology. I’m not trying to dictate to you. I’m legit just trying to understand why the term is used, since, you’re right, many people use it like this. I’m not trying to call you out. I’m just asking a question. Sorry, if I upset you.

I wasn't being rude, I legit questioned why it would be called an idol drama. I legit asking what I'm missing here because I don't get the terminology. How is that rude? I said "people" because you're not the only one to refer to it as such...

But if simple romance=idol, I'm still not getting the terminology. What does "idol" have to do with romance genre if it doesn't include an actual "idol". No, seriously, it makes no sense to me... not being rude, just saying, that terminology and my understanding of "idol" is legit, an "idol" is included.. If the romance novel isn't based on an idol why is the adaptation of a romance novel make it an "idol" adaptation>

Again, I just don't get how a drama without any idols merely because it's a romance is an idol drama. So, why is "romance" drama, in China, refer to as "idol drama" rather than "rom-com" or "romance" drama"??? What does an idol have to do with it? Can a non-romance drama be an "idol" drama, or are all romance dramas simply Idol dramas and that's it? I'm utterly confused.

O
M
F
G..... OMFG....
Again, they killed me... this is my millionth time being dead.
@0:45 Reba does this INCREBILY cute aegyo while sitting on YangYang's lap... and his reaction is just priceless....
I really just can't with this two... no, seriously I.... CAN..... NOT.... lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL85rNRsgH0

I'm not getting where people are referring to this as an "Idol" drama. Gu Man's not writing "Idol" dramas. This is simply the adaptation of her novel, not created for some particular celebrity. The co-stars are just actors playing a modern drama based on a novel. They are not pop/idol stars.

My idea of an Idol drama is where a popular pop singer, or "Idol" is in a drama, usually created for them to debut into acting. Back in the day, that'd be like when Aaron Yan did dramas with Tia Li or Puff Kuo, of Dream Girls. Current examples would be Zhai Xiao Wen, and Cheng Xiao in 'Falling Into Your Smile' or He Luo Luo in 'Love Cross'.

By using the standard of most popular actor to refer to an "Idol" drama almost every C-Drama would be one. Would you call 'Legend of Fei' an "Idol" drama since it has popular actors Wang Yibo and Zhao Li Ying? Or 'Go Go Squid' an 'Idol' drama because it is adapted from a novel and has popular actors Andy Yang, and Li Xian? I don't think so. Reba and Yang Yang are just popular actors like them in a novel adaptation. So, I don't think this should be referred to as an "Idol" drama. What am I missing here???

I believe it should be after the final episode is released in general. So, despite MDL using the Fast Track date of August 16th as the final, it should be August 23rd, for EP. 31-32.

It's doing about 100m views ~every 9hrs. At that rate it will get another 800m views by Sunday which means it likely should go over 3B views by Sunday. ;)

2.21B views now. This pace is not slowing down, folks.

For Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ngame.allstar.eu&hl=en_US&gl=US

For Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/arena-of-valor/id1150318642

I was saying a couple days ago that the pace of the views is around 100m every 8-9 hours. I also agreed that I felt once all the non-vip/fast track episodes are aired it should slowdown, and also during the early morning when people should be sleeping.

It's been about 21 hours, it's Thursday @ 3PM and the views are at 2.13B. That's ~140M views in that time frame. So, a bit of a slowdown, but not as much as I suspected. I really think it's gonna hit 3B by the weekend.

The bts of the bed kiss scene... every time I think they cannot kill me further.... I find I'm even more dead than I was the last time I watched a bts. *sigh*

https://share.api.weibo.cn/share/243080108.html?weibo_id=4669359617739160

I swear, Yu Tu & Qiao Jing Jing's texting, driving together, and dates outside and at home are so freaking realistic. The things they say and do are like the kinds of things we all say and do with our romantic partner.

I just love this drama for how it portrays everything so simply, clearly, and without all that trope-y bullshit you see in 98% of all Chinese dramas. I'm gonna keep saying it over and over, Gu Man is a freaking treasure we should all cherish!!

Obviously, it's a mobile android game app.
In China it's known as Honor of Kings.
International users download the game on their mobile phones as Arena of Valor.

If you look at that scene in a vacuum, maybe. But with everything these 2 have said and done over the years, and the issues that crept up for QJJ in the beginning that had her being insulted by classmates for being publicly rejected by him, I think he had MORE than her consent to do this.

He literally asks her, "...Did you come here because of me???..." that's the asking for consent, right there.

QJJ's reply, "...I forgive you..." is the giving consent. He kisses her AFTER this statement.
If she wanted to reconcile in a NON-public manner, she would have, and could have chosen a more suitable environment to meet up with him and forgive him. It's not like she doesn't have his phone number, or that he wasn't pursuing her and asking her to go out to 'the lakeside town' together and have a date. He was calling her, and she was ignoring him. This was the place she chose to make her acceptance of him known. In no where during their exchange did she have a reaction to him like you're having.

Different strokes for different folks. You felt he required more consent than he got, but she clearly felt she gave that consent. It's not like she doesn't have a backbone to stand up to him when she feels she's being mistreated.

Let's not become social justice warriors at every turn when it's clearly not callled for in this case.

Other than being openly acknowledged as handsome what else do they have in common? What exactly is comparable in their personalities. I am chill. My initial example didn't prove my point, so I gave you others. Give me your reasoning. I'd like to know other than a mere statement they are, why you think this way past being good looking. Xiao Nai doesn't even once get criticized for choosing an unpopular career path. Gaming isn't an occupation supported by the CCP. =/

It's been announced that this drama will be pre-recorded and Jang Ki Yong is scheduled to enlist for military duty straight after their initial promos.

Nope. It's not just simply career paths, and the people he works with at all. It's everything. I said that was the "prime example", not that it was the only example.

Again, Xiao Nai never worries about anything because he's perfect. Xiao Nai starts a video game development company in China where the govt, in general, is against these kinds of products because the govt believes it makes children unproductive thugs, and it has a small superficial audience. In fact, irl, the kinds of negative comments you see from Chinese about YAMG expressly convey this kind of attitude. But in Love O2O, Xiao Nai NEVER questions his choices; gets funding before he has even graduated college; his parents support him; his friends work with him; he's never humiliated; he always humiliates others; he's never scolded by teachers etc. He IS perfect. Everyone loves him and accepts his choices and they never insult or question any of his reasons for doing what he's doing. Thus, Xiao Nai doesn't have to struggle an ounce. His only concern is that because he's so perfect, the only way people can beat him is by sabotaging him, and he has to be 1 step ahead of that to beat them from messing up his work, and he ALWAYS is 100% ahead of his competition.

This is the EXACT OPPOSITE of YT's experience over the majority of his life, including college where he had to double major, working harder than everyone else. Yu Tu, unlike Xiao Nai, is working in a field supported by the govt and the citizenry, in general. He also over hears his parents concerns about all this because they worry about him doing all this stuff. The majority of his male schoolmates make fun of him for being a loser who choose a path that isn't lucrative, so he mainly hangs out with his co-workers who also struggle in life, with finances, and family. His ex- g/f wanted to change him. He's scolded by his teachers. His projects don't always work out. He questions himself and dreams constantly. He internally struggles over just about every choice he makes. As he explained to QJJ, he overthinks and over analyzes everything because he's not always confident in his choices and the direction he's going. He questions his entire life as you hear in is own explanation to QJJ saying "...I came up with a few lame excuses..my income..what I could give you..do I have time to take good care of you..I'm different from you..I think too much..I've been thinking about the rest of my life..." That last sentence needs to be understood. He's always questioning what he's doing for the rest of his life. He's at the cusp of having to make a final decision. He's got a house mortgage, and elderly family members to care for, and not enough income to raise a family.

Again, Yu To questions everything, Yu Tu even admits this out loud. Xiao Nai questioned nothing. They are complete opposites.