BearFightingFanBackAgain

I don’t quite understand the name change either. I liked Tales of Dark River but maybe market research said Blood River would be better.

It’s called Blood River now.

PXR isn’t paired with the male lead so I’m not sure romance would give her more screen time. Mu Yumo’s storyline is kinda interesting though because it’s kinda a career line that turns into a romance. It’s a bit cat and mouse so it’s very interesting.

Time will tell everything. I believe those who focus on their craft will only get better over time and both Peng Xiao Ran and Yang Zi have achievements that others can’t touch.

Yeah, I agree. I feel she has a beauty and charm that others don’t have. I also feel like her onscreen presence is becoming more charming over time and her aura is becoming more elegant and powerful, closer to auras of the previous big flowers.
I think media presence for Cdrama stars has a lot to do with marketing and background/resources. The way a star is packaged seems more important than their actual acting ability. There’s also an element of emotional vampirism and control in fanbases which demands a perfect package so “fans don’t have to worry “. Even though they’re actors, the atmosphere feels very similar to idol culture. After following Xiao Ran for several years, I think she has less media presence because she doesn’t really market and she doesn’t cater to the idea of being a perfect package. Her fandom is also on the smaller side and doesn’t seem to have as organised of a structure as others anymore when it comes to promotion.

I was wondering about why the trailer got taken down so suddenly, especially since the BTS trailer didn’t get taken down. If a coordinated attack is true, that’s really awful. It’s already so hard to get up to date and translated content for overseas viewers, I hope this doesn’t mess things up.

I’m hoping one of her dramas starts to air and/or she joins the crew soon. It’s so boring without her posts😭

14092025
“It’s so cool” series
This photoshoot is gorgeous.
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5210726341804207

Yes, I think this true. There’s always a grand narrative and/or bigger worldview in the good martial arts shows.

I agree with you on the MDL audiences base being skewed towards romance. Though I’ve also seen Chinese posts asking about romantic pairings too. Not as much but it’s still there.
It’s really got me thinking though because I don’t think of romance at all when I think of martial arts but then when I think of a good martial arts work, my first thought is always
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which definitely had romance. And even those shows you’ve mentioned, they don’t focus on romance but I think there are some romantic elements in them even if it’s a small part .

This I think has to do with promotion. The actual promo poster used for investment is a solo poster of Xiao Huan. Some platforms/producers have decided to focus the official promo mostly on the lead since they bring the most investment. There’s a few dramas like this but maybe they don’t stand out as much because they’re not romances. Love and Crown is pretty lucky because at least posters of both leads are released. Some shows don’t do this.

That makes sense. I was just curious about why questions around romance in particular keep appearing as opposed to any other genre. My hobby is writing so I’m always interested in what makes shows work or what brings audiences. Several martial arts shows I’ve come across lately are light on the romance or have none at all and some shows use this as a selling point so it has been interesting to see that so many people do want to see romance in a martial arts show. Thank you for answering the question. Haha curiosity sometimes gets the best of me😅

Question out of genuine curiosity- why is there so much interest in whether or not this drama has romance?

The first two are older shows so they probably don’t get recommended as much. The last show didn’t market itself much even within China. Goodbye, My Princess is really good though if you want to be either sad or angry for a long time😂

You’re welcome.
They’re not together romantically but their characters do have a close friendship and travel together at times so they will have scenes together.

To this day, I still don’t understand why GJM didn’t revise the script so the character’s portrayals could be more balanced. He started out as a novelist so those skills should still be there even if he works as a director now. It’s not a problem to have a very strong secondary character but it must be proportionate to the story. If the secondary character’s portrayal is strong, then the main characters must also have strong portrayals, otherwise the story will run into problems or feel unbalanced.

I read somewhere that the length of a demon’s hair is determined by either the age of the demon or their power level. I can’t remember which.

No, they’re not a couple. Pairing them together would break up the original pairings. Gong Jun is paired with Yang Yutong. Peng Xiao Ran is paired with Zhang Shian.

Peng Xiaoran. Her most famous role is as Xiao Feng from Goodbye My Princess. She’s also the heroine of Jun Jiu Ling, which has a decent rating on MDL. And her show, Unshakeable Faith, did well on Chinese TV, with her currently ranked #1 for 90s actresses airing shows on CCTV-8 and #3 overall.

Yes, but not too much. It shouldn’t be the main focus. And both leads have their own pairings.