BearFightingFanBackAgain

Actually, this is an unpopular opinion but I’d argue that he didn’t make it work. And while I wouldn’t say he’s necessarily selfish, I feel like he wants to shape his worlds to his own vision regardless of what the story needs or the audience wants and his amount of voice seems to be getting in his way. That’s why there’s this constant argument about screen time which is essentially an argument about focus and why his character driven shows are always said to have wandering plots.

I started loosely following the show from when it was still in the casting rumors stage and my feeling has always been that the main characters of FoF are ZYZ and WX. This is what GJM initially sold to the audience so this is what the audience expects. A well developed character driven story understands where the focus needs to be and that all the key characters must be 3D. But he didn’t deliver this. ZYZ is sidelined and WX is crushed so the story feels very unbalanced. It has been said FoF is a group portrait in response but group portraits are delicate balancing acts-depicting many main characters requires a keen sense of proportion. FoF doesn’t have this and I don’t think GJM has mastered it yet. He’s still focusing a good chunk of the story on a single daffodil when he first told the audience it was story about roses and then said it was a story about a garden.

It probably has to do with censorship but it’s like he can’t choose the correct protagonist(s).
And if you don’t choose the correct protagonist, the whole story suffers. His fix seems to be to shift the camera to whom he thinks should be the protagonists but he can’t market one set of characters to then keep the camera on a completely different set of characters- the audience will either feel cheated or they will feel something is wrong with his storytelling ability because he fails on a key element of storytelling which is to deliver the story that was sold.

That said, I don’t doubt he loves the worlds and characters. It’s just that sometimes a creator gets so stuck in their world, they can’t see the forest for the trees.

This^. Directors can be key decision makers. That’s why there’s so many people clamouring to work with good or famous ones. I think some forget GJM came from movies. Movie directors generally have more control than TV directors and director with his own core fanbase definitely will have some sort of voice. As you’ve mentioned, he was part of writing the original story. Even if he is not the screenwriter, the screenwriters will use his story as the base/core of their work. As a director, he also has the ability to cut, amend, add scenes, as well as shape the characters’ emotions and portrayal. As the director, he works with the editor who sets the tone of the show and can make or break a film. If he is an executive producer, this also gives him a level of voice a pure director might not have.
Honestly, rather than intentionally deciding someone was going to get more screentime, it feels more like GJM wanted to focus on a particular storyline/character and as a result, they got more time. He’s good at visuals but he struggles with rhythm and showcasing the world outside his favourite characters. And while I’ve never read his work, his directorial style is the type that spends a whole page describing a flower he feels is pretty regardless of how it affects the pace of the story or the reader's experience.

Yeah, each lead has their own separate pairing.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!!
This photoshoot is gorgeous!
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5218740155187359
Assistant Live Photos
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5218771358712038
Studio photos
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5218765017189707

It’s about assassins, power struggles, and politics. Romance is present but isn’t the focus of the story. The leads are also not together.

It’s a subsidiary is my understanding.

Basically the ML and the FL are trying to sort out the evil and corruption on the human side to end the cycle of violence between humans and demons.

It could be Youku’s review. They are weirdly strict. They even go and re-edit old shows.

There are couples in the show but there won’t be much. The focus is more on martial arts, power struggles, and politics in the assassin world.

Nah. This is about assassins. It’s got a completely different vibe.

I thought Love and Crown was Yehua. Also, I dunno about the plot not being allowed unless it’s the platform cutting everything out again. I just saw a clip of a drama with the FL and ML fighting each other to the point of drawing blood. There was even a scene of the FL whipping the male lead. 🙂‍↕️

Yeah, that doesn’t make sense to me. If it already lost episodes, I can’t see more being cut. It feels that the cuts would be the platform. There are a lot of rumors about this second review though.

Yeah, I feel he’s way too male centric now. The poster alone is giving me doubts. His current aesthetics are also not suitable. It didn’t used to be like this but now it’s all about conforming people to his aesthetic rather than individualistic beauty which suits female characters more. And if he decides to turn a female centric drama to a male one or tries to suppress the heroine like he did Wen Xiao, I don’t know if it will do well. Praying he taps into the spirit that possessed him when he shot Tiny Times.

Is it Bai Yao Pu? I feel so sad for it. Maybe in the past he could, but I don’t feel the current GJM can do a heroine story justice.

Tbh, I kinda wonder if this is hype😅 One of this show’s marketing techniques seems to be its melodramatic plot and how it resembles short dramas. The points brought up to be cut for being too extreme are exactly some of the points trying to be sold. What better way to bring in audiences interested in these elements than by saying they’re so intense, they might get censored?

It would be scenes but if they cut enough scenes, it would affect the episode count. However, if it’s the platform making cuts, the cut scenes can be added later as was the case with GMP and Royal Nirvana.

Trailer doesn’t mean anything. Stuff gets cut all the time. It happened with GMP. Even the opening credits aren’t safe. Shining Just for You didn’t even air episodes shown in its opening credits.

Welcome to being a PXR fan😅 Her dramas always take a while but if things go according to plan, at least we’ll get a big meal. We have Blood River and then Love and Crown.

Happy 1 year anniversary!!!
Posting footage from the opening ceremony to celebrate🎉:
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5083637337557495

It’s not up to the production when a drama gets released. They can get it ready and push for it but it’s ultimately the platform that decides when a show airs. If it’s not on the 2025 list, it may be on the 2026 list.