Cloudini

You mention the obvious.
I did say to set aside everything except visuals, lol. I think you've missed my main point, so I'll say it again. The cast's visuals does have at least have some influence on the drama's popularity since it attracts the viewer's attention. Plain and simple.

Oh, hai, you seem familiar :3 I think you've brought up an interesting comparison. Someone can probably write an entire thesis behind The Untamed's success. There are so many contributions. Stating the visuals of the actors as part of the reason would not be entirely wrong just as long as you explain and provide examples. I happen to have one.

Let's take Scarlet Heart (2011) and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016). If one doesn't know, they are both adapted from the same novel, meaning they are essentially the same exact story. Let's set aside everything except the visuals of the actors. Yes, it's shallow, but for the purpose of this little essay, it's a must.

So I question why Scarlet Heart is a commercial success (mainly across Asia) whereas Moon Lovers is globally popular. Let's make it simple and take MDL's numbers for reference. Scarlet Heart has about 8.1k watchers, and Moon Lovers has 54.1k. If one compares the visuals of the actors of the two dramas, I have no doubt in my mind which cast most people would prefer more. Moon Lovers has the younger, more handsome cast. Heck, even in the first episode, they all have their abs showing. You can't tell me their visuals was not a part of the team's marketing ploy to hook the audience. Thus, it would be perfectly fine to say that its visuals had something, even if it's a small percent, to do with its global popularity which Scarlet Heart did not have. Let's not forget a certain someone from a certain popular boyband was a part of Moon Lover's cast. I mean... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like you mentioned, there are so many amazing aspects that contributed to The Untamed's success. What's wrong with saying the eye candy was a part of it? I mean, Xue Yang was one sexy villain. HA.

P.S. I like how you didn't include Wen Chao. LOL.

Beauty is subjective.

Ahahaha, I love tragic endings, the minority in the drama world. Happy endings are overdone and overrated, so I enjoy the change :D

Hi, I sort of scanned your article, but something popped out to me. I don't know when you wrote this article, possibly and understandably not recently. I'd appreciate it if, in your article, you don't call the virus "Wuhan Pneumonia" even though the outbreak did begin in the city of Wuhan. The main reason being, it comes with many stereotypes and implicates the Chinese. Xenophobia is real, and "Wuhan Pneumonia" doesn't help. I fully understand that, of course, this was not your intention. WHO and ICTV has renamed the coronavirus (its temporary name from before). COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and SARS-CoV-2 is the actual new name for the virus. The news article you linked was from January 14th so of course, you wouldn't know the recent names or new information, but I do think the writer and/or editors should have picked up on this, especially since coronavirus was its name for a while. If you do make the change, thanks~

The truth. In the early days, when he was filming Dong Yi, he still joined the cast late at night after he was done filming.