Amastris Dratwka

Here is the online novel of the original work for 'Ashes of Love': [https://www.99csw.com/book/9193/index.htm] by the author Dian Xian

Here is the online novel of 'Ashes of Love 2' that author, Dian Xian started writing Feb. 7, 2020. I'm not sure if she considers this a completed work but based on her own comments, the novel isn't well written as she'd like. If you think it's an actual sequel including the male/female leads from the original, you would be mistaken. Please read it for yourself. [https://www.ihuaben.com/book/3289721.html]

Per the writers own synopsis of the story, it's about:

'The daughter of Flower World's Fang Zhu, Ye Lan Ruo, is born during the time of the Great Demon War.

During the Great Demon War, Emperor of Heaven, Run Yu's spiritual powers are greatly reduced so he enters the mortal realm to restore his powers. As a mortal, Run Yu meets Ye Lan Ruo who also happened to be in the mortal realm. They both fall in love at first sight, but upon return back to the immortal realm, Run Yu forgets it all.'

Thus, it has a very similar story base as 'Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms' and doesn't involve much of the original characters of Book 1. As far as I can gather, the only original characters in Book 2 are Run Yu, Liu Ying, Mu Ci, Immortal Yuan Ji. There are references to new characters like Ye Lan Ruo, Lu Bai Chuan, Xian Ye, Wan Neng Long Tao/Dragon Immortal, & Yue Xia Xian Ren/Moon Immortal.

So, good luck with your hopes for a Season 2. I suspect if it gets done, after 5 years, not only will it not include the original cast, it won't be based on Dian Xian's written novel, and suspect they'll need her permission to adapted her novel into a sequel of their own creation. As it stands, per the author's own words, there's not a finely tuned and completed write work to base a drama on.

Hmm... I think you're not in the medical field and either don't understand addiction vs dependence, as well as the differences between what substances you're abusing and for how long. You likely don't know of anyone who has really gone through this process either to say it's impossible. I link an article so you can understand the process.

Let's be honest here. The guy is in the pharmacology field. He's a long time pill popper. He's not been sober for the majority of the time he's been in prison. The dude was taking 'cold medicine' while in prison while *not* sick. In essence, he was using the ingredient in the medicine DXM as an opiate for hallucinogenic effects and it's similar to taking PCP or Ketamine. The dude didn't always have that slow speech, as seen in his flashbacks, which are likely due to overuse of these kinds of drugs that can cause severe brain damage with over use for an extended period of time. Look up the list of drugs that do this and Ketamine, DXM, Heroin, LSD, GHB, Cocaine, & Meth are some of those drugs that can induce brain damage.

From this drama's posting at the beginning of various episodes either the month or the season, we know that Han Yang was still taking meds past May and into July. He told his significant other he had stopped doing drugs for 3 months. He's a druggie trying to keep his relationship. He lied. It was only, at most, a month at the time of that visit.

So even if it's months afterwards, I think you have no idea how hard it is to get off substances like meth, heroin, DXM, etc. Opiates are some of the worst to try to go clean from, tbh.

As stated in the artice, "...The first week of withdrawal is typically the worst, but be prepared for some symptoms to last longer. Symptoms typically last up to one month, but can linger for several months. Symptoms that can last longer than one week include tiredness, depression, anxiety, and trouble sleeping..." Per Han Yang's symptom's that have lasted are the tiredness, depression, and trouble sleeping which fits completely. Also, you're not taking into account that the prison isn't a Detox Ctr. They didn't provide him with methadone or anything like that to get over his withdrawal symptoms. He got an IV, because his vomiting was a sign of loss of electrolytes, but, thankfully, he hasn't had any seizures. He's not getting medically attended to during the process, so it's no walk in the park for him, and his character is acting in a consistent fashion to the withdrawal from the types of drugs he was using.

https://www.healthline.com/health/coping-opiate-withdrawal#risks-and-benefits

It's just curious. One of the bigger deals is supposed 'gaslighting' but I'm confused how Knetizens run with shit. Let's break it down:
1) The supposed person 'gaslighted' denies it.
2) The supposed person 'gaslighted' brought up issues blaming his former agency and, via his lawyers, accused the agency of causing the problems by not listening to his concerns about his health.
3) The supposed person 'gaslighted' was originally 'outed' by tabloids as being in a relationship with another women with a similar name, and that similarly named women was accused of 'gaslighting' him.
4) After mutual denials of a 'relationship', another actress' name is brought up as the cause and 'gaslighting' by tabloids....

...I gonna assume that this actress didn't hand over her cellphone data to the tabloids. The actor, himself, is denying all of this, so I'm gonna assume that he didn't hand over his cellphone data to the tabloids.

Exactly who was it that obtained PRIVATE cellphone data and distributed it to the tabloids, and why am I supposed to trust this when they didn't even get the initial "relationship" accurate??? Who is the ones actually doing ILLEGAL actions, and 'gaslighting' manipulative stories to sway personal sentiments towards others???

Why do people blindly believe whatever the press/media say and think they have no agenda to it whatsoever? In this day and age, if you believe ANY news outlet, no matter HOW reputable they are, you're naive.

It's explained the reference towards the end of the drama, but I just wanted to get the way it translates in Chinese is all, just to be more specific. It doesn't have much importance past that.

I guess some people are in for full transference of actors, but, for me, the ones from S1 that needed to be in this drama were, and the others who were replaced, I felt, were for valid reasons and didn't effect the continuity of the drama at all. I know quite a lot of rom-com lovers who preferred S2 to S1...and others who just, plain, like the plot of S1. It's just personal preference...and since it's concentric dramas of the same world, with no story mixing that isn't apply explained, it's not really required to watch S1 or S2 in any order or together at all. They hold as standalones in that aspect. However, if you're a fan of the novels, love this type of story, they both provide you something fun to watch. ;)

I don't care about Fan Wars and all of that. I just brought it up to point out that the adaptation was no where near the original material, for whatever the reasons, and it's acknowledged. Fans "annoying behavior" didn't have anything to do with how good or bad the script was written, and the actors can only act what they give them. =/

I truly appreciate your efforts.

I will admit this about your article: Despite any negative reviews, I'm now willing to watch this drama all the way through in order to disgust your POV and see if you prove me wrong.

Thank you for testing boundaries and taking the risk. You deserve so much praise for that.

There's nothing wrong with agreements and disagreements. We've come to a point in time where to debate is to name call and throw a fit. It's utterly refreshing to have a back and forth discussion about a topic without it ever having to take a personal slant. It's just differing perspectives...heck, we could have been sitting on the stage of opposing debate teams. In the end, we bow to each other and shake hands! =)

It's public knowledge that Zhao Liying was unhappy with the adaptation and posted the now infamous "Hamburger" weibo comment literally stating the screen adaptation lacks in many ways to the original content. Of course, it's the actors who end up bearing the cost of the results of poorly written scripts that change and crucify the original source material. They should be able to voice their displeasure, even though, for decorum's sake, they rarely do. =/

[Edit]
Then you have dramas like Go Go Squid, where the actual author of the novel writes the adaptation and takes it upon themselves to rewrite the content. It was obvious Mo Bao Fei Bao knew that, in order to air, her novel would have to be reworked for the screen. Dramas that can be construed as promoting online videogaming is a 'No-No' to the CCP. So, to get ahead of it, she made sure SHE was the one deciding how that would be adapted to get past the censors and put on-screen. ;)

I thought the article was well written and posed with reasoning they attempted to back up. I also thought it was a bold statement, and wasn’t attempting to criticize the writer for their persuasive essay.

In that vain, I’m in my 50s, an international business major, minor in finance who worked in aerospace & industrial manufacturing and was employed by companies like All Nippon Airways. I’ve spent my life doing SWOTs, gathering information to analyze, or compare/contrast [i.e. juxtaposition] and provide my findings to executives. What I wrote was based on this tendency.

My comments were only my analyzing thoughts, and, just like any good debate, I tried to provide my reasoning with data so as to show my efforts and backup the fact that I was simply providing another point-of-view not trying to attack the writer, who is a very good writer and should definitely continue writing articles and never back down on making bold statements!!

It’s exciting to have this kind of back and forth that really makes people think about what they are watching in more than a superficial way! I praise the writer for doing this and their respectful dialogue!

https://kisskh.at/article/impacting-kdrama-industry-sisyphus-the-myth#comment-6027593

I'm sorry. I think you misunderstood my point. It's no longer enough to start off well in the international market, but important to maintain the audience. The current climate of Hallyu entertainment, with the success of BTS, and the Oscars, along with NetFlix increasing SK's GDP, forces TV/Cable Execs to have a higher bar to overcome for their *stockholders*. You cannot get around that. Losing money on your drama is NOT an option, and *will* make Execs 2nd guess the genre in the future.

We cannot look at all these affects in a vacuum. Your comparison to 'The King: Eternal Monarch' has to overcome a LOT of caveats:

1) Prior to The Covid19 Pandemic, 'Parasite' became the 1st *foreign* movie, period, to win Best Picture Oscar in the 92 year history of those awards. Let that sink in.

2) 2 months after the Oscars, The King: Eternal Monarch, with a big budget and production company, Studio Dragon, that has produced the likes of, 'Guardian: The Lonely and Great God'; 'Mr. Sunshine'; & 'Search: WWW' released this drama to NetFlix at a time when the USA had started into the 1st lockdowns. NetFlix viewership was an explosion, and that must be taken into account.

3) Even so, the IMDb ranking, Americans ranking system similar to China's Douban, has 'Monarch' *still* rated much higher than 'Sisyphus'.

4) By the end of the airing of 'Sisyphus', the ratings were tanking that 'Mouse' even overtook it. If the Asian market critic reviews give it a rating of 1.5/5 stars, and pan it as having a horrible, illogical ending, that's VERY hard to overcome: [https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3128902/k-drama-review-netflixs-sisyphus-myth-disappointing-and]

What I'm going to say is, I think at this current time, Execs will look at dramas that have success both at home & abroad, and being able to do both is important to them, since they've already tasted this kind of success.

To that end, this drama doesn't even hit JTBC's Top 10 where 'The World of the Married' tops the list and 'Itaewon Class' ranks 3rd, & "Something in the Rain' ranks 10th. This was supposed to be JTBC's 10th Anniversary Drama, and it didn't really do well. It's kind of a slap in the face of JTBC, tbh.

Then you look at 'Taxi Driver' that has been reviewed on the Forbes Magazine website putting SBS on the map, and tvN's 'Vincenzo' becomes that cable network's 6th best drama of all-time. You'll have to note that the international critics are all talking about South Korean "REVENGE" drama styles, and touting it as very good. If anything, these 2 dramas will have more impact on how dramas are made in the future. I'd suspect what JTBC will do, when looking at the landscape, is veer away from any Big Budget production with a complicated plot.

I will always come from the prospective of the ROI to the Execs, because, fortunately OR unfortunately, money will always talk to them first.

I'll preface my point regard this drama's impact with the fact I have not watched this drama yet. I also have to admit that, in the past year and a half, K-Dramas have tanked in their appeal to me, when I've always been an avid K-Drama watcher.

To truly have a cultural and industrial impact the drama has to make execs stand up and take notice. It not only has to capture the audience's imagination but it needs to translate to income as well. So, as far as I can tell, based on the national/international reviews from big news media, this drama never past 3rd place and even with a slight uptick at the end, basically dropped to 6th place midway through, a clear indication it didn't retain its audience. That's not gonna move networks to invest this kind of money into a project in the future, and in fact, might cause hesitancy, since this drama obviously lost them money.

Regarding impact on K-Drama industry, let me address the fact that the drama doesn't even have to be "good", as in sophisticated & well-written. South Korea has worked hard on its industry, and the other dramas you mentioned indeed had their impact. But South Korea entertainment industry is at a point where it is looking to be international not just national, & with that viewership is essential.

Take 'Descendents of the Sun' that came out 3 years AFTER 'Nine" Nine Times Time Travel'. This drama, that has a 8.7 rating on MDL, is probably the single most impactful drama for the Hallyu Wave to date. South Korean Entertainment Industry can be categorized as pre-'DotS' & post-'DotS', whether you liked the drama or not, it doesn't matter.

'DotS' became so popular it caused a major increase in tourism, not just to South Korea but to Greece. It even drew tourism FROM Vietnam. It was the most-watched show on Viu in Singapore, Thailand, & Hong Kong. It's popularity even lead the CCP to issue warnings on Weibo about the dangers of watching too much K-dramas. In the US, it boosted Viki's streaming impact over traditional American streaming sites and English speakers started to add KBS World to their cable channels. Due to the popularity it NetFlix acquired the rights to stream it as well. Additionally, the filming sites got restoration money and to this day receive many tourists and attention. It boosted the entire SK GDP, and created many new jobs. Reports indicate the drama's direct/indirect economic effect was ~$880 million USD.

Why do I bring up 'DotS'? Because it's thanks to this drama's trajectory that you were able to see a South Korean receive an Oscar for acting this year, and for a movie like 'Parasite' to receive Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay over any American productions, thus making it the 1st non-English language film to come in to win it all ever, after a 92 year history of the Academy Awards. That's no small feat. This is post-'DotS' era. These are the expectations to be considered game-changing nowdays.

Pre-'DotS', you had Korean Americans [NOTE: Americans] trying to get Hallyu Wave material to convert to the US market to little success. For me, there are 2 dramas that stand out that helped grade the road later paved over by 'DotS' that has lead to Hallyu success: 'The Good Doctor' & 'Nine: Nine Times Time Travel'. As we all know, Kim Yun Jin, 'Lost' actress, who ended up becoming a producer/exec with, at the time, ABC's production company, Fake Empire Productions, that has produced 'Gossip Girls', attempted to get 'Nine' remade in Hollywood, but the deal fell through. On the other hand, Lee Isaac Chung, did the same with 'The Good Doctor' and succeeded in getting the American remake, and although it has mixed reviews, it's currently in its 4th season. Success for an American drama is based on how many seasons it can successfully achieve.

These are 2 dramas, with very differing subject matter, that were unique in many ways, that successfully aired in the same year in South Korea. This is the year that via Viki & DramaFever apps increasing popularity were driven by dramas like these. Many English speaking viewers started to switch to watch these dramas. This is the year the DramaFever started co-producing dramas with 'The Heirs'. Viki didn't attempt to self produce until the creation of Dramaworld in 2016. Thus, as you see, through the years 2013/2016 show where specific dramas caused a reverberation in their impact. This is what changes the direction of the Hallyu industry. In the case of 'Nine', even in 2016, you can see through South Korean news outlets what the intention and hopes are for the future of the Hallyu industry, and how important it is to them to break into the US market [https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20161017006300315]. The expectations were even more apparent post-'DotS'.

Post-'DotS' has seen NetFlix invest more an more into the Hallyu industry. DramaFever was a casualty of this effect. DramaFever got acquired by Warner Bros in 2016, but they abandoned the entire thing in 2018 for 1 reason and 1 reason alone: the INCREASED cost to invest, partner, and acquire content due to bidding wars where none existed prior to 2016. [https://digiday.com/future-of-tv/dramafever-casualty-big-money-ott-war/]

So, with the pre-'DotS', post-'Dots', post-'Oscars' in mind, for a drama to have impact nowadays, the bar is really very, VERY high. So, even having not watched 'Sisyphus' yet, I can feel arrogant enough to say, this drama doesn't fit that bar.

With older dramas that aired prior to the creation of MDL, you have to take the ratings with a grain of salt. The productions are very lacking to today's offerings so someone new to K-Dramas that watched some big Hallyu production won't necessarily appreciate the older K-Dramas for what they were back-in-the-day. If the have a fairly higher rating, you know they're a game-changer.

So, I'd like to juxtapose the dramas you've named to 'Sisyphus' to make my point. Starting from worst to best, although 'Sandglass', a 1995 drama, has only been rated by just over 172 users, it's impact was obviously so good that the rating is ~8.0. Same with 'Hwang Jin Yi [2006] being rated ~7.9 from 1.7K out of 4.4K. These dramas still remain in the minds of those who watched them back -in-the-day.

'Winter Sonata [2002]' gets a 7.7 rating from 3.8K out of 8K+ indicating they're watching it. Being a 'makjang' with such a high rating speaks volumes. With new Hallyu lovers coming in after streaming from NetFlix, there still are many that don't understand Old School K-Dramas and what a 'makjang' is at all. Many rate melodramas poorly because they feel they aren't "real" or promote "poor behavior", not realizing that this is EXACTLY what a MAKJANG is supposed to be. Take out the 'getting away with murder', 'spousal abuse', 'amnesia', 'hidden identity', etc. etc. then the drama ceases to a 'makjang' anymore. So, strictly speaking, having a 'makjang' this highly loved shows it was a game-changer.

'My Girl [2005]' is obviously beloved with you've got 13.7K out of 23K viewers giving it ~7.8 rating. This became a template for a lot of K-drama rom-coms afterwards. This brought in many international women who wanted less 'sex' and more 'romance' on their screens. Hallyu entertainment brought a new kind of spice that was so much more well-written and executed than the 'Hallmark Channel' Christmas specials were offering. Again, it was a template that, although repetitive, many foreigners still didn't get bored with it.

'My Girlfriend is a Gumiho [2010]' put Fantasy/Supernatural on the table. This expanded the appeal of rom-coms into so many new aspects and has had such a wonderous impact on the Hallyu market in so many varying ways. This is a much beloved drama that garners an ~ 8.1 rating from 25.5K viewers out of 48K.

In a post-'DotS' ~ post-'Nine' world 'Sisyphus' seems to fall flat in its appeal. This is a big budget NetFlix investment. NetFlix has continued to invest more and more and more in Hallyu industry post-'DotS'. You have to compare the investment NetFlix put inton 'CLOY' 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay' & 'The King: Eternal Monarch' and have them exceed the sales revenue those garnered, which was a record-breaking $135m USD, about a 25.9% increase from the prior year. Without a major ROI breaking even and making further impact in comparison, this will be considered a dud by the studio Execs. There's no way around that. Their expectations are not the same as they were even 3 years ago. Being that, in SK, this drama never went over 3rd, and ended with lower and lower ratings, I don't see how they feel good in investing big budget when they can get more out of a show like 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay', which garners a ~9.1 rating from 38K out of 69K viewers. It's coming up on a month post-airing of 'Sisyphus' and it's rating of ~7.8 comes from only 4.3K of 14K viewers, indicating that there was very little interest in the drama at all. On top of that, a show like 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay' had added marketing value in that, the script writer was able to actually produce the children's books and EXPORT them internationally to fans of the drama.

If, in the future, a show wants to do a big budget like this, there's no doubt in my mind that the execs will think twice about spending the money. Money talks, whether we like it or not, and businesses will always revert to looking at the ROI over anything else. =/

Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

This has been set back to air sometime between July and August, with no confirmed release date. Broadcast reporters aren't even sure it will be released at that time either, or if it will be set back again, so bear in mind this still isn't set in stone whatsoever:

https://www.sohu.com/a/457984273_263594

The filming of "Dream Awakening Chang'an" officially ended on October 23, 2020. PD stated that they're looking at releasing it sometime in 2021. Some of the sites said it was going to air this month, but so far, it's not listed to broadcast even for May. So, we'll have to wait and see further.

Nope, it's not just the same production team. Yes it is a NOVEL trilogy. There isn't going to be any 'Ashes of Love' S2. S2 was 'Skate Into Love' & it's why Allen Deng made a guest appearance in that drama as the ML's hockey hero.

These drama compilations are based on the novel trilogy referred to as "The Honey Trilogy".

The order of the novels is 1) Ashes of Love aka Fragrant Honey; 2) Skate Into Love aka Rock Candy, & 3) Love When Star Falls aka Star Candy. The original concept was to have the leads from the 1st be in the 2nd, and then in the 3rd. however, not only did it not happen for S2 but based on the current indications, not even those from 'Rock Candy' will be in 'Star Candy' which is THIS drama.

The producers official announcements read:
"Two flowers growing side by side on the same stem, a mixed up marriage, which tore apart two absolutely beautiful fairy romances.
#thehoneytrilogy #thefinale #tvserieslovewhenstarsfall
Officially launched the original team from 'Ashes of Love', 'Skate Into Love', assemble together, build up craftsmanship. Please Stay tuned.

They explain the connections, the 3 season compilations based on the novel trilogy, and that this is the final drama in the series. There will NOT be a S2 of 'Ashes of Love' since it is complete. S2 was actually 'Skate Into Love'.

Just in case anyone questions where I got my information:
https://38jiejie.com/2020/03/11/ashes-of-love-producer-confirms-sequel-love-when-the-stars-fall-is-in-the-works/

Yep. This is actually the S2 the producers were referring to. The dramas are based on the novel trilogy referred to as "The Honey Trilogy". The order of the novels is 1) Ashes of Love aka Fragrant Honey; 2) Skate Into Love aka Rock Candy, & 3) Love When Star Falls aka Star Candy. The original concept was to have the leads from the 1st be in the 2nd, and then in the 3rd. however, based on the current indications, not even those from 'Rock Candy' will be in 'Star Candy'. It's why Allen Deng, out of no where, played the ML's hockey "Hero" as a guest role.

Based on what the producers official announced and all the information they provided, 'Ashes of Love' is the complete story in that realm, not intended to have any further seasons. The other 2 are connected based on the novel trilogy, and they initially did have the idea to have the *same* leads but it just didn't work out that way. I don't see any of the actors from S1 or S2 doing S3 'Star Candy' either.

So, essentially, the idea of a 'Season 2" of 'Ashes of Love' is dubious.
Let me put this more bluntly, this drama will NEVER happen, nor will we see the leads from S1 together.

S2 is actually the drama 'Skate Into Love' [https://kisskh.at/34030-skate-into-love] and S3 will be 'Love When Star Falls' [https://kisskh.at/58165-love-when-the-stars-fall]. It's unsure whether any of the cast from 'Ashes of Love' will appear in it though.

To understand what's going on, the drama compilations are based on the novel trilogy referred to as "The Honey Trilogy". The order of the novels is 1) Ashes of Love aka Fragrant Honey; 2) Skate Into Love aka Rock Candy, & 3) Love When Star Falls aka Star Candy. The original concept was to have the leads from the 1st be in the 2nd, and then in the 3rd. however, based on the current indications, not even those from 'Rock Candy' will be in 'Star Candy'.

This is why Allen Deng made a guest appearance as the ML's occupational "Hero" in 'Skate Into Love'. It remains to be seen if either Yang Zi or Allen Deng will even guest appear in the final drama of the trilogy...

But, with this... and based on the producers official announcements and information, 'Ashes of Love' is the complete story in that realm, not intended to have any further seasons.

Just letting you know so you don't waste your time waiting for it and speculating, and so you fully understand how 'Skate Into Love' etc. applies to this drama....

Petty? You literally cannot input any data on MDL from *any* drama or movie that is PRODUCED in any other nation than China, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand, period. It has nothing to do with where the actor is located. It's specific to the TITLE only. If the TITLE was NOT produced in any of those nations listed, even if it's another Asian country like Malaysia, etc. you cannot input the title. It's ALWAYS been this way. It's not "petty". lol.

I made the same comment, just rhetorically. LOL. It seems sad that an actor listed here would only have part of their life's work acknowledged but, it is fair.

When I first started helping input titles to the MDL server you couldn't upload anything from the Philippines even though a lot of us were watching their shows and it's "Asian". It wasn't until the OTP #JaDine duo craze began that MDL got the push, and the Admins updated to include those titles.

We still cannot upload anything from Singapore or Vietnam, even though we have 100s of data requests for them... so including an American production over those Asian countries wouldn't be right. ?

We have to acknowledge that MDL is a not worldwide database. There are fuller databases available. This is just an interactive database based on specific regions with attached forums. Let's enjoy what we have, and appreciate the efforts the Admins have gone to in order to give us such a fun site to use! ?

Congratulations. Such a pleasant win!

I’m not gonna write a review but, based on people’s comments I want to shed some light on this prequel:
1) Both GGS1 & GGS2 are based on a novel trilogy about standard esports written by Mo Bao Fei Bo. When I say std, it would be like written about Chinese LoL, DOTA, CS:GO, AIC, MDI teams like OMG, Vici Gaming, Edward Gaming, Royal Club, FunPlus Phoenix, Invictus, LGD, LMQ, Rogue, Team WE, IG, etc. In fact, I stopped watching LoL in favor of AWC [WoW/Blizzard] but they only have EU/NA teams so I wasn’t even aware that Chinese competing until these books were translated. In fact, for THIS season, a Chinese team already did the highest keystone clear for Mythic World First. There’s a link to video of the Team’s clear on this site [https://raider.io/news/182-world-first-mythic-25-completed-by-chinese-team].

2) For the trilogy, the 1st book is all about esports and a make-believe team, Team Solo, and is quite nationalistic. The 2nd book is about DT/Appledog and the trials and tribulations of Team Solo. The 3rd book is about Gun & Lil Squid’s relationship and is not really a sequel but a concentric story that happens concurrently with the 2nd novel, however, the 2nd novel spans quite a LOT of years longer than the 3rd novel. I only fully read the translated version of the final book.

3) Unfortunately, the CCP have tasked the censors in what topics they favor or disvalue broadcast airing. The CCP has long, for a while, been disfavorable to the topic of esports, and are against promoting esports and video gaming. In order to avoid the censors’ wrath, the PDs had to divert and rewrite the basis of the stories.

3) The only way Mo Bao Fei Bo would allow this trilogy to be adapted to screen was if she could write the screenplay for it. Therefore, she wrote the script of GGS1 herself. There are very few gaps between the original story and the drama since she is the writer. She choose CTF because the CCP were promoting and competing in the field. Interestingly enough Wang An Yu, who replaces GGS1’s Grunt in GGS2, previously starred as the ML in Forever Love where he is a college level competitor in the field, showing that the Chinese govt promotes citizens getting into the computer hacking field. Mo Bao Fei Bo was quite interested in the field so it was easy for her to write on this topic. The only difficulty was, the intensity and understanding of the competition didn’t properly translate to the screen.

4) As to the changes in characters, those in GGS1 who would be focused in GGS2 as well remained, all others were changed. Why Grunt was replaced is likely acting skill required for a lead, as an assumption, and the fact that Wang An Yu has acted in similar genre. Additionally, he sings 1 of the songs on the OST. GGS2 is the drama that FILLS IN THE GAPS of GGS1. Go back and watch GGS1 again if you didn’t realize it. TBH, Xiao Bai is hardly ever shown in the gaming house, or in discussions when he should be. Both seasons were crafted quite well in this regard. There is NOTHING repeated in GGS2 that happened in GGS1. What you are seeing in GGS2 is what Grunt, Appledog, Solo, & Xiao Bai were doing when they weren’t around in GGS1. Since Xiao Mi was focused in GGS1, he wasn’t a focus in GGS2. ?get it?

5) Mo Bao Fei Bo did not write the screenplay for GGS2. So, indeed, the concept was different from the outset. Since the CTF was difficult to translate to screen, and in GGS2 would have to be focused MORE on the gaming, because that ‘s were the drama takes place, plus they needed it to be a topic suitable to get past the censors they decided to change it. Robotics was picked specifically for that reasoning along with the timing. China just started getting into IRL international Battle Bot competitions in 2017, and held their first competition in China in 2018. The CCP is promoting the field, so the PDs knew they could get this drama transferred to airing quite quickly. [Just a note for those who find themselves WAITING a long time for a beloved drama to release and wonder why others bypass it and get aired before when it was directed later than it.]

Lastly, I didn't get to read the translated version of DT Appledog. I was wondering if anyone who had could explain to me more clearly the translation of the meaning of DT. I know what they say it stands for, but I don't get **specifically** how that translates. Like, I get how KK translates and why. That's easy. But how DT relates to Appledog, I'm not understanding that. It would be appreciated if you could put in spoiler an explanation. =)