FM_dramas

This drama is excellent – actors, plot, sets, costumes, historical period... It's refreshing to set the action between the 19th and 20th centuries, the Qing Dinasty final years, bringing us a world different from that usually portrayed in Chinese historical and fantasy dramas. And although most people find the male haircut strange and dislike it, I find it so beautiful, highlighting and emphasizing the features of the male faces.

Please don't believe everything you see on internet. We live in very dangerous times, where people's names and lives can be completely ruined by rumors, fake news, manipulation of images and videos, and even creation of totally false "evidence" with the help of AI. We must be careful and critical, verify sources, and not believe everything. I refuse to trust channels and influencers who thrive on fake news and contribute to a world of tension, lies, and malice without any proof—I repeat, no proof whatsoever.

There are many Cdramas that fall below this value. On MDL, the highest ratings are always given to Kdramas; lately Cdramas have improved their average ratings a bit, but they always lag behind, and lastly come the Jdramas, which are given the lowest ratings, many of which are of excellent quality. Often these rankings are unfair and result from the popularity of actors and fandom's actions.

Here at MDL, low ratings of this type appear on C-drama, K-drama, and J-drama pages. This happens in days following the premieres, then the ratings start to rise and become more reliable. It's funny: protests about the unfair ratings and the justifications for them are common to all pages – it's always the haters who give very low ratings to harm the actors/dramas, etc

It's true! There are many agencies that manage artists' careers that are actually mafia!
We know of many organized prostitution's cases , providing actresses and actors for parties of politicians and businessmen (we have, for example, the famous case in South Korea of ​​the actress Jang Ja-yeon, who took her own life and left a letter denouncing her agency, which forced her to prostitute herself by going to parties of powerful men, but no one was charged), abusing and exploiting their artists (see the case of Zhao Lusi, the courage she had to go public and expose everything in China), sexual abuse of young artists by agency owners (the founder of the Johnny & Associates agency abused his young artists for decades in Japan). Not to mention Western countries, where these cases are also frequent.
It's good that there are people who have the courage to show their faces and speak out, although, unfortunately, justice is not done in many cases and many crimes are covered up.
The Epstein case is a prime example of how American public opinion has been demanding for years that the names of those involved be released, and so far nothing has happened!

You've probably noticed that lately, quite a few Chinese actors have admitted to having suffered from depression and taking time off to rest and seek treatment. And that's already a good sign – speaking publicly about something that's almost taboo in Asia – mental health issues.
But beyond depression, many actors and singers have extreme addictions – from alcohol to drugs, including the influence of spiritual gurus and strange rituals – and this affects their behavior, leading to psychological breakdowns (we see this happening publicly with members of famous bands and actors from the US and UK, mainly ).
The truth is the entertainment industry worldwide is extremely dangerous and devastating for the lives of many artists, to the point where they only find relief in death. Extreme addictions, insecurities, many parasites and predators in these artists lives, too many voices advising, a lot of blackmail too... The fear of failure is extreme, and when public forgetfulness or temporary failure comes, people are not prepared to face it. What's even sadder is the public doesn't realize what's going on, doesn't care about people while they're alive, often contributing with comments and actions to the unhappiness of these artists, and after the death of the actors/singers, they all flock to the internet to "spit out" conspiracy theories. What hypocrisy! After all, it seems that most people just want to show their "perfect detective" side in a world of fake news!
One of the cases that shocked me the most was the death of Moonbin, a member of the K-Pop group ASTRO, who died at age 25 in 2023, taking his own life. No one noticed his pain, his anguish, his loneliness... Rarely does a young Korean actor/singer refer to their family. The reason is they are separated from their families from adolescence to be trainees, and this also makes them more exposed (In contrast, Chinese actors talk very frequently about their families and are mostly accompanied by them).
We should have a healthier attitude towards the entertainment industry and not demand perfection, not treat them like gods, not use hurtful words that offend actors/singers, and above all be attentive to their behavior and health, encouraging them to take care of themselves.
So it's good that there are people concerned about Guo Jun Chen, encouraging him to take care of himself and showing him that he is not alone.

@kushaa360 Exactly. Thank you for your comment,

I wasn't offended at all, and I also apologize if my tone is too assertive. And it's true: if the authorities were more transparent and provided more explanations, perhaps there wouldn't be so many rumors...
Having been through a few situations myself, I have a different view of Yu Meng Long's case. I really don't believe many of the rumors about his death. I'm very suspicious of the channels involved in this campaign. They're very biased and misleading, and everything they report is completely out of touch with reality and people's real, natural experiences. One of the last posts on one of these channels (with 78,000 views) featured a video of Liu Yuning crying, and the channel reported that he was crying because of Yu Meng Long's death. But it turns out that this video is a long time ago; I had already watched it months ago. Liu Yuning was actually crying because he had eliminated a contestant in a competition for which he was a judge, and he was moved with pity for that contestant. This is a small example of the processes of fake news and what they do to manipulate public opinion. Here's the original video (with 1.7M views): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5fr5HLI0684
All the best to you! I enjoyed interacting with you.

My position is the same: what we really have is nothing more than rumors, manipulated videos, AI-generated channels, and a group of opportunists who, based on this situation, launched an anti-Chinese campaign—the biggest criminals in the universe. The fact that the cause of death wasn't disclosed isn't at all strange. If we research Korean actors and singers who have died, there are also many cases where the causes of death aren't revealed. And perhaps in some cases, we should be skeptical...
And, yes, China is a dictatorship; it censors the internet to prevent free speech, fearing political and social unrest, given its huge population and heavy use of social media. I remember the case of Xiao Zhan, who saw his name dragged through the mud in a fan war, and the government intervened by taking down a social media platform, such was the lack of control and the amount of fake news. So the fact that the government censors doesn't mean there's something behind Yu Meng Long's case. It is the modus operandi of Chinese power that censors everything that could put it in question, whether true or false.

Of course, it's up to you.
But along those lines, you should also stop visiting many other countries and stop seeing many of their productions, because the evidence of crimes and abuse is much more reliable than relying on internet rumors. However, you probably won't be as determined to cancel them, perhaps because they're all too real.

I apologize for what I'm about to say: but you've taken a very superficial and stereotypical approach to the issue of suicide. In reality, no one can say who is the type of person who commits suicide or not. We don't know what goes on in their minds—a person can be very cheerful, calm, or seemingly happy and have already decided to take their own life. We're always caught off guard. I also have to say that many people who commit suicide don't leave a note! I assure you! Of the suicides of people I know, none of them left a note. Of course, the act is individual, but it can be done in one room of the house, and family and friends can be in the next room, unaware of anything...

How many Asian actors (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese) suffer from abusive contracts? I honestly don't know if the agency is state-owned or not, because many companies in China are privately owned. However, we know that contracts have rules and clauses worldwide, and Yu Meng Long was subject to these rules. Furthermore, many Chinese actors now have their own agencies, having freed themselves from their previous agencies. I'm convinced that Yu Meng Long was going through very serious personal problems and that her agency was the least of her problems—we could see it in her body language and sad expression. In these cases, friends, aware of the situation, want to help. However, this help can be counterproductive: the person may become more depressed, comparing themselves to their friends, or there may be insensitive and unwise conversations, making the person feel worse. . Therefore, people often take their own lives after being with friends and family, which brings even more sadness and guilt for the loss to the latter. Just because they don't appear in public doesn't mean they've harmed you; they're simply well-known people who don't want to be seen. And let's not be hypocritical, because this also happens in our countries. People don't want to talk publicly about cases. I recognize that we don't have much information, which is why many people hypothesize murder, BUT they don't have to defend their position by creating fake news. This is happening a lot these days: people always want to be right, and their points of view and theories need to prevail. So, if there's no evidence, we'll invent it. And many people believe it!
We also have to consider the possibility that the authorities' statements are true, or not? In this, as in many other cases, the most far-fetched conspiracy theories are created, especially in the case of China, coupled with hatred for the Chinese regime and dictatorship and, by extension, the Chinese themselves.
So, we must ask ourselves what moves us: did we really care about Yu Meng Long while he was alive? Did we notice his sadness, his thinning... And by extension, did we pay attention to so many other actors and singers from South Korea and even Japan who often died for unclear reasons? I don't know...
It seems to me that our emotions and reactions follow trends and are extremely manipulated, having abandoned our critical thinking, common sense, and rationality. It's funny how we scream and hate so much that we forget our humanity and do nothing to change our own society—we good guys just point the finger at others, whom we don't even know

What channel/website is publishing this information, and what is its source? What data are you basing it on? We have the right to know the sources they rely on to publish this information. Typically, reputable channels that seek to provide reliable information, in the case of statistics, reveal their sources. But what if the channels that talk about Yu Meng Long are the same ones that spread blatant lies with sensationalist headlines about Zhao Lusi's case? And that's just one example!

The Chinese government is all-powerful and can manipulate anything. It would even be convenient to say it was a case of suicide, to hide the real reason—murder.
I honestly don't know what the police modus operandi is when it comes to suicides—looking at known cases, in South Korea, where they are very frequent, and even in other countries, usually, when it comes to suicide, it's not publicized, out of respect for the family's grief and often because the family doesn't find out right away or there's someone who doesn't know yet. They can disclose it later, but they don't always do so.

I don't think this is affecting Chinese tourism. I did a survey and there was a significant increase in foreign tourists visiting China this year and in 2024 (the pandemic and restrictions until 2023 had reduced arrivals to the country). And this year the week of October 1st to 8th saw a record number of arrivals.

This is happening in my country, in your country, ALL OVER the world... Only those who aren't aware of what's happening around them, only those who don't go out and walk the streets of their city or travel around their country, can point the finger at others. We must be more attentive to others, because the overwhelming majority of what happens in the world isn't reported on social media. There's social media and there's reality—two very different things. We can escape social media, but we can't escape reality, because we work and study, because we have to pay bills, because we have to interact with others in various situations, because we suffer, because...

I'll tell you, quite honestly, not to believe everything you see on the internet. We're in the age of fake news, AI, manipulated videos, and the use of photographs from other cases/situations to sell theories, promote propaganda, and maximize views and profit. Honestly, after witnessing the case of two friends, honest and kind people, whose lives were nearly destroyed by similar processes, I refuse to believe "news" spread by YouTube channels and the like. And I refuse to stone and persecute people just because of negative posts about them on social media. This is my position.

Honestly, it's very strange the autopsy report was leaked. I'm sorry, but perhaps because I've seen REAL PEOPLE suffer because of fake news, with these friends of mine nearly taking their own lives after seeing their names in the mud, even though IT'S ALL A LIE, I'm truly perplexed that people believe everything they read without question. Sensationalist videos, without reference to reliable sources and often produced by AI, are not reliable sources and only spread fake news. How can anyone believe an autopsy report that hasn't been verified, let alone leaked?!! This doesn't happen in our countries! We only learn something when the authorities release the autopsy findings.

Can you believe this?!! Then it's because you don't understand that in the US, too, when it comes to powerful people, many situations are "forgotten." Why aren't the reports on the Epstein case made public? Maybe because they're "erasing" evidence... Would the FBI, which in many cases can't resolve cases in its own country (let's be honest, there's corruption in the US and within its own security agencies), take on a case whose evidence is essentially based on manipulated videos, photos from other situations and countries, and pure AI? Please! ~
We must also be careful with our sources of information. I don't know if the China Insider channel and the half-dozen channels that have recently emerged and feature videos mostly created by AI are the most reliable in terms of information. It's interesting that when videos, screenshots, and photos of our beloved idols emerge, we all rush to defend them, claiming it's all manipulated and produced by AI (and in some cases, this "evidence" is genuine...). In this case, we don't even question the veracity of the "evidence," and we should, as critical and intelligent people. Because as much as we dislike the Chinese government and regime, and know that freedom of expression and justice do not exist in China (even in our own countries, justice fails so much!), we shouldn't buy into fake news, repeating stereotypical rhetoric and a complete lack of knowledge about China, believing everything bad, because for us, the Chinese are the bad guys and we are the good guys!

The entertainment industry is an industry of death—look at the number of actors and singers who die every year, not just in China, but in South Korea (the country where the most artists die), Japan, and the US. And many of these deaths are never fully explained. So, let's look at our own countries and around the world, not just China, because magical rituals, blackmail, powerful sexual predators, the destruction of young lives by alcohol, drugs, depression, and loneliness are common aspects of the entire global entertainment industry. And we only need to pay attention to the behavior of artists to notice the excesses to which they submit or are subjected. There's a video of one of the Blackpink members completely drunk getting into a car. And everyone found it hilarious. I can't find it funny because I've seen many scenes identical to this, with other artists, which already indicated serious personal problems, addictions, and depression.