BearFightingFanBackAgain

Her interviews are very good, very thoughtful. Her interviews during the JJL period are what made me a diehard fan. Everyone was ridiculing her, the show, and her costar but she gave some interviews that thanked the crew, explained everyone had different aesthetics, and that girls should love themself. It was really touching and a very clearheaded outlook.

Yes! This! This is why the drama choice comments are so upsetting. 😭😭
Xiao Ran had to work so hard to even get a show like this or JJL. She basically had no backing after FBB’s scandal and no one would cast her because of it. She didn’t have work for two years and things got so bad she thought about returning to hosting. That’s why she had to go on an acting variety show despite GMP receiving decent reviews. Otherwise her acting career would be dead.

A lot of the negative comments are coming from preconceived notions, personal preferences, and or viewers who don’t like/understand the genre or character types. I mean there are complaints about comedy and romance being the focus of a romantic comedy…😅
The plot is simple but most of what happens gets explained as the story goes on or it has a purpose. I’m not sure why this was such a big issue but most of the early negative comments are from people who didn’t wait.
The leads are the biggest draw. They have really sweet chemistry too. I rewatch a lot of their scenes.
I’d recommend this drama to those who like lighthearted shows with really sweet romance and goofy, quirky female leads similar to Sailor Moon and Bea from Bea and Puppycat.

It’s a really sad drama but I think Xiao Feng is a great character. She may not be the strongest heroine but I love her independent spirit that neither the East Palace nor LCY can completely break. Also, if this ending makes you really sad, you can cheer up watching her new show, Romance of a Twin Flower. The couple there is very sweet and it’s supposed to have a happy ending.

There’s a YouTuber who has said he will translate her future interviews. If he does, I’ll come back and post the link.

It’s actually they break up and then have to pretend to be together because of circumstances but while they’re pretending, they still have feelings for each other that are hard to fight. Someone killing your father is a pretty wide gulf to cross.😅

Great minds think alike lol.
Yes, her luck and age definitely weighed against her. In fact, I think it is/was mostly age tbh because that’s what’s usually been said when the resources question gets asked. There’s that weird popular by 30 rule everyone seems to swear by. But I’m not sure it still holds her back because a lot of passerby think she’s a 95 flower, which may also be why she doesn’t have fans (people think she has time 😭) and older actresses are taking on more idol roles.
A lot people think a second ride would catch fire but I actually think it would be the worst thing for the two of them right now. They don’t have enough hit dramas on their own yet. If they did a second ride, it would a) only tie them together more or b) basically kill their last leverage point if the audience doesn’t think it feels the same. I think B is the most likely to happen because the people crying out the most for the second ride often overlap with people who won’t let them leave the East Palace. If anything feels remotely different, which it will because it’s been 5+ years, those same beggars will trash them no matter how much they say the don’t care about quality etc, especially the GMP fans because what they want to see is just LCY and XF frozen forever. It really is better to let their match in GMP remain the only one because it has scarcity value and a nostalgia value.
For CXX, I think he just needs to stay the course and market his acting ability and lowkey personal life and personal cultivation with the archery hobby. Show some videos of his archery training looking cool. A couple cat videos. Low-key stars who are educated and cultivated seem to be in right now. There really aren’t many good actors after 90s so he has advantage and his more mature looks give him the opportunity of playing against really popular 85 flowers which will give more exposure.
As for dramas, he just needs a serious costume drama which is easier said than done because they’ve been on the decline as whole due to censorship - most costume dramas are actually idol dramas now. GMP is actually an idol drama which it why I think it’s ridiculous for people to criticise the both of them saying they need more serious dramas. A star has to have seriously good resources to get into the big serious ancient ones now, which I’m not how how powerful his family run studio is.
PXR also just needs to stay the course and stay away from producers and platforms that eat the Xiao Feng bonus or want to suck her blood. Actresses don’t gain fans in the same way as actors. They have to produce a lot of works and she’s only aired 5 shows. Most of the 90s actresses who are popular now have been the industry for almost a decade and have almost twice the number of shows as her. People complain about the quality of her dramas after GMP but if you look at the history 90s actresses, they also have a lot of duds too. In reality, her drama quantity is closer in line to 95s than 90s. And out of 4 that have completed airing, 2 are considered high quality without marketing which isn’t bad considering her circumstances. She’s also shooting a movie which could put her in the film circle. And despite public opinion, her shows sell a lot overseas. And Jun Jiu Ling did quite well airing on TV for the first time beating out Immortal Samsara’s TV airing despite the channel being a smaller local one. I think if it airs and hasn’t been butchered, My Talented Neighbour could break the Wangchuan couple deadlock which would give both a lot more objective evaluation.
Xiao Ran should also probably do more hosting gigs. I actually think she’d be amazing and really popular if she did a travel/food variety show because she loves both so much and has such genuine reactions.

And also can we stop hating on lively roles? They are also not easy to act, especially when an actress gets older. And, they have their own style within the Cdrama ecology. It’s understandable that some viewers don’t like the style but that doesn’t automatically make the acting “worse” or lessen the performance.

That’s one of the things I dislike about C-ent - how there’s obviously talented individuals but due to its mechanics, so many get pushed to the side. It’s always explained as metaphysics as to why some stars get popular and others don’t but I still think it’s sad. It’s one of the reasons I like stuff like Refinement of Faith and Faith Makes Great. They may have been tribute series but I felt like the overall quality of them levels the resource playing field and gives opportunities for up and coming talent to showcase themself. The only other drama of PXR that people don’t trash is to Our Dreamland of Ice, which is a tribute drama. However, even tribute dramas seem to have barriers to access so I don’t know if she’ll get more opportunities in that vein.
I don’t really judge actresses like the above for having resources. It’s a reality of the system and would be hypocritical of me because if Fan BingBing didn’t have her tax scandal, Xiao Ran would have definitely been a resource coffee, and actually was when given GMP. I just got annoyed at seeing the post about Xiao Ran’s drama choices coming from an OP with a profile picture of Nini, (who I love) but is a Zhang Yimou Girl and in the film circle, criticising Xiao Ran’s choice when it’s a known fact that Zhang Yimou Girls and those in the film circle have some of the best resources, and movie directors tend to give more support/training when filming than webdrama directors. It was just too hypocritical. Xiao Ran who only had one web drama to her name and no real backers at the time of shooting RoaTF, isn’t going to be able to compare when it comes to choices and options.

Yes, it seems like its rating on Weibo is okay which is what really matters. 🥳It has done well in the charts too despite so little advertising. And though the characters aren’t out of the circle, at least they have made the Top 5 on some charts a few times.
I think the problem does lie with the director but not sure which one because this show seems to have different directors. Whoever shot Episode 9, 15 and 16 is good and should have shot the whole show.
I also hope the two can work on the dramas they like. They are both good actors. And for Xiao Ran, I hope she continues to take the roles she likes. She gets criticised so much but in reality how many 90s flowers can beat her Xiao Feng in terms of looks, beauty, and recognition? People still publicly mourn Xiao Feng on Weibo 4 years after GMP ended. Last year, her Li Binghe got her a nomination when other more popular 90s actresses didn’t get anything. She even got invited to speak at her prestigious alma mater to talk about her performance and the craft of acting alongside the director and another seasoned actor. And Li Binghe was shot after this drama so how could her acting skills regress?

Yeah, I go by acting too. Without good actors, a good plot would be rubbish but good actors can rescue a bad plot. Honestly only really good acting can survive this director’s lens when he has full control. It’s like everyone forgets what he did to Xiao Ran’s performance in the opening scenes with his bouncing camera. For any other director that would have been an amazing scene and Xie Ze turned it into a joke😩

Yeah,
I think this drama is very good because of the two leads too. I think the problem is not the actors but the director. If an actor is okay in other shows but not in this particular show, then the problem is usually the director. This is the same person who shot JJL.
I think the plot is actually okay. I don’t understand why so many people are trying to hold a light romantic comedy to such high standards… it’s not Nirvana in Fire and it’s not going to be lol. It’s a simple plot but it has been answering all of the questions little by little which is fine for the type of drama this is.

Plus,
This is a light comedy. The plot will be light and emphasis will be on the comedy aspect. This doesn’t mean this isn’t a challenging role though.
Comedy is legitimately one of the hardest genres to perform well. It is said to be even harder than “serious” dramas because of the delicate balance between hitting the right expressions and overdoing it. If Xiao Ran is not doing well, it’s not that her skills have regressed but that her skills haven’t reached the level they need to be to convincingly do comedy. This is why it is important for an artist to continue to challenge new roles, genres, and directors. Each is a test and a lesson.

If you don’t like the drama, fine but please stop blaming Xiao Ran for her choice of dramas. Sis has got to eat too 😩 😩😩
She is not a top line actress. Her choices of drama and production quality are limited. She was only able to do a drama like GMP because she had the backing of Fan Binbing at the time and Fan Binbing was a top actress during that period. During GMP’s filming, she lost FBB support and has been pretty much going it alone with very poor resources in a world where resources are everything. What’s important at this point of Xiao Ran’s career is staying in the public eye and gaining more recognition, which is easiest and most effective to do through costume dramas. Unfortunately for her, due to not having much backing, she only gets access to certain levels of dramas. This will only change if she has a hit drama, gains more recognition and popularity which this “low” show RoaTF is doing for her right now.
If the need to see her in a more serious role exists, Li Binghe in To Our Dreamland of Ice is an option. For that she was nominated for her acting. She can also be seen in the higher quality productions such as Tian Yu in Refinement of Faith and Qu Mu Ge in Faith Makes Great.
In the meantime please let fans watch one of her shows without her being dogged for an environment that she can’t control and has worked very hard to stay in.😭😭😭

It’s a light comedy (equivalent of a soap opera) but for some strange reason initial viewers came here expecting more serious plot and deeper plot logic. The character archetypes are a lively/bubbly female lead and a cold/domineering male lead (only in the beginning) and that put off some. There were also complaints about plot holes but most of the answers are being slowly revealed throughout the drama like a good story does.
All and all, I think it’s a pretty cute relaxation drama with leads that have good chemistry and are super cute.

They’re twins and they become mixed up when NSY jumps off a cliff.

No, not really at this point although there’s two guys into the female lead. There’s not much competition in the book so I doubt the drama will stray too far.

It’s such a shame none of her costume dramas use her real voice. Her real voice tidbits for Jun Jiu Ling were really good, I dare say better than the VA.

It’s cool. Everyone has different tastes😊

Fair enough. It’s just funny you don’t like her leads😂. Have you tried Jun Jiu Ling? She’s a bit Mary Sue but much closer to the image of independent heroine.