DO YOU GUYS KNOW THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER SHOW CALLED WHISPERS OF FATE?
The title of the show is the same 3 Chinese characters as this drama and also the same name in English. The protagonist of the show is a female WATER dragon who can assume human form. The male lead is her romantic interest. Drama aired recently too!
I thinks THIS drama is a scam/false advertiser, there isn't a water dragon here let alone the "water dragon's chant!" (literal translation of the Chinese title)
(BTW, the difference between the two Whispers of Fate dramas is the other one is only 20-25 mins per episode)
I SMELLED SOMETHING FISHY AFTER WATCHING PEGASUS 1 (2019):https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shen_Teng"With the…
I got no problem with a little friendly competition between peers in the same industry, but when you try to discredit him by imitating his kind of work (hero adopts non-biological son), it WILL not only backfire on you but shows your ugly nature to the world!
(P.S: I know that Wu Jing didn't create Blades of the Guardians IP, but it's the act of PICKING the same kind of work as your peer in order to discredit him that reveals your ugly nature to the world..)
How come in every Chinese drama, there is always a scene where the male lead grabs the female lead's neck and attempts to choke her? (Looking at you Tang Lici!)
DEEPSEEK ANSWERS:
This is an insightful observation. While not literally "every" Chinese drama includes strangulation, the trope of a male lead grabbing the female lead's neck or throat does appear with notable frequency, especially in historical, xianxia (fantasy), and revenge-focused modern dramas. This stems from several cultural and narrative factors:
1. High-Conflict Emotional Expression – In many C-dramas, particularly those with "cold" or morally gray male leads, physical confrontation (like a choke) is used to visually externalize intense internal conflict—rage, betrayal, obsessive love, or desperate protection. It's seen as dramatic shorthand for a character losing control. 2. Power Dynamics & Redemption Arcs – The act often occurs early in the story, establishing the male lead as dangerous or ruthless. Later, as he softens toward the female lead, the contrast highlights his character growth. The choke may even be repeated in a gentler, more intimate way (e.g., hand on neck during a kiss), transforming violence into possessiveness or vulnerability. 3. Censorship & Genre Constraints – Chinese media regulations heavily restrict explicit sex and extreme gore. Producers thus lean into intense physical confrontation (choking, wrist-grabbing, wall-slamming) as a permissible way to convey high-stakes intimacy, tension, or dominance without crossing into sexual content. 4. Wuxia & Martial Arts Influence – In historical or martial arts settings, throat-grabbing is a realistic combat move. If the male lead is a warrior or assassin, this action fits the genre's logic, even when the target is the romantic interest. 5. Melodramatic Tropes & Viewer Expectations – C-dramas (like Korean or Turkish dramas) often amplify conflict for emotional catharsis. For some viewers, a near-death confrontation followed by tearful reconciliation heightens the romantic payoff. It's a visceral way to show that love and hate are intertwined.
That said, this trope has received increasing criticism from modern audiences for normalizing intimate partner violence. Many recent dramas have moved away from it, replacing choking with wrist-grabbing or verbal confrontations. So you're seeing a lingering pattern, but one that is gradually fading as production standards evolve.
"With the success of Pegasus 2, Shen Teng edged out Wu Jing as the top-grossing actor in China, the combined revenue of his films adding up to about 33.5 billion yuan of 25 March 2024."
NO WONDER WHY "ME2" WU JING WENT AND DID A MOVIE WHERE HE ADOPTED A NON-BIOLOGICAL SON LIKE IN PEGASUS 1 -- He was trying to outdo a certain star...
I wrote this version in more formal writing. I think it's better than the previous one I wrote. This also went into the forums thread as that requires more informative/formal writing and "higher level" discussions than in the comments section:
Somebody tried to bribe BiliBili in the comments section of the above video with $50 to highlight his post in red (near the bottom of the comments). He thinks he's supporting the company but actually humiliated the production team who had worked on Nezha 2 and also contracted to produce various donghua series not just for BiliBili alone (they are all probably gazillionaires by now!)
If you look at the date, his bribe was made shortly after the video was uploaded to YT. Normally BiliBili attaches the ENG subs to their videos on YT soon afterwards. Since he made his $50 comment in English, BiliBili has withheld the ENG subs for the video (no subs yet after 2 weeks).
Chinese people never tell you straight up but their actions imply. BiliBili is probably withholding the ENG subs to tell English commenters like him to go away, we don't need your bribes (ahem donations)!!
Can you imagine trying to bribe upscale companies like BiliBili let alone millionaire producers and directors of the work? (Talk about being rude and showing lack of respect for "The Team" [and their socio-economic rank])
BTW, I think the commenter on YT also posts here regularly in the comments section under the same first name. I would avoid interacting with users like him since it's not like BiliBili to be open to accepting bribes from people like him...
Is the movie part of the weekly donghua? I was catching the latest ep and story was kinda strange continuation…
They modded the OP sequence of the series so Ye Fan looks like in the movie, so at least that's some continuity with the movie there. (Wang Teng is also prominently featured in the new OP sequence).
At the end of the movie (after the rolling credits) the female demonness visited Wang Teng's dad and seduced him with her legs. Is it to imply he had sex with him to rebirth Wang Teng as he's supposed to have died twice in the novel (once but reborn and died again later on).
Some idiot by the name of David whatever donated $50 to the YT account of BiliBili in the comments section:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4wf-CBHhYIt's…
I'm starting to think BiliBili worker designated to append subtitles to the videos was scared away when he saw viewer attempted to bribe the company in the comments section. That's why for almost 2 weeks, there were no ENG subs. The date coincides too with the date of his "generous" (NOT) donation.
Anyways, I just checked the previous episode, there seems to be no "bribes" posted in the comments section. So only for the episode with the obvious "bribe" by this user do we get no ENG subs...
Hell, if I was them I'd probably run away from this kind of user too. Pay $50 to have their post marked in red, but lowers the morale of the production team to produce more quality contents!)
Go watch the donghua. There are many ppl who prefer the donghua version becoz it's done by the same studio that…
Lord of the Rings had Andy Serkis dressed in a jump suit with white dots all over his body. The new mocap technique doesn't need a jump suit nor dots, only for facial expressions do you need dots on the actor/actress's face.
It's only possible becoz of AI cameras to capture the motions of the actors in plain clothes.
Donghua series streams here (it's the official BiliBili YT account):
Some idiot by the name of David whatever donated $50 to the YT account of BiliBili in the comments section:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4wf-CBHhYIt's…
Name sounds suspiciously like one of the David's posting here.
Let me give ya a bit of advice David whatever, NEVER GIVE TIPS TO CHINESE. They find it insulting. You can subscribe to their channel, pay for monthly/yearly subscription, but never ever tip them.
Tipping requires you to assume they are dirt poor and really need that extra bit of dough... Almost like they won't do good work, nor live up to their names unless you tip them!
Also like I said, you can tip even $1000's, to millionaires working at Original Force, it's still cow dung amount of currency!
(As if millionaires and billionaires are THAT desperate for your money... In Chinese culture tipping is seen the same as bribing someone. So instead of being seen as an esteemed viewer, you've just bribed the Original Force team to do a better job in the near future...)
Lost count how many times I seen shills paid by the production company to promote their stars/shows here on MDL. It's shameful, but MDL is the only way they could reach out to international audience.
You can easily ID them. Their username usually begins with or contains the star's name they were paid to promote on MDL.
Forum was neat and tidy again after they went on my blocklist.
TBH, I have never seen a drama score below 4/10 before. Even dramas that I would consider utter shiet in the past have scored something like a respectable 4.1-4.2/10.
Rebirth take the cake and is the new record setter!
The only saving grace Rebirth has is, if you pirate it from a Chinese website, the ENG soft-encoded subs are included with the 4K video. Most Chinese dramas don't bother to have ENG subs in the 4K video file containers.
You can pirate it from known Chinese piracy websites.
I'm gonna pirate this movie in 4K, possibly in 60fps if it's available. Then leave it on my hard drive and never watch it, like I have Legend of Condor Heroes movie by Hark Tsui in 4K for almost a year now and never even opened it to have a peek.
This is one of those movies where you get it and keep it so you don't have to watch it... You can bring a horse to the lakeside but you can't make it drink (pun intended since it's the year of the horse!)
(P.S: In the past, ie. last year, I provided the source when I quoted the daily box office figures, but the company made their website inaccessible outside China. Now this year, I'm smarter, I don't provide the source, and the company don't know about it, so they unbanned their website outside of China...)
All the previous episodes 1-7 DO have ENG subs, but nah, not this last episode.
This is the one thing I hate about C-ent companies. They're very sloppy when it comes to actually delivering contents onto streaming platforms.
Of course this is the case of BiliBili neglecting to upload ENG sub to this last episode for almost 2 weeks. But then there's also Tencent...
I lost count how many Tencent dramas/donghua episodes broke down through their streaming software because the video was corrupt. It's almost like the workers at Tencent just upload the videos and never bothered to sit down and check whether the video was uploaded correctly or had any errors in them.
(Almost like most of their workforce is tech illiterate. You don't even need to sit down and watch each episode entirely to check for errors. You only need to get the hash value of the video file, which takes like seconds and compare it to the original hashes to spot video corruption errors)
The last time I watched a Guo Jingming drama was Ice Fantasy. I have to admit, his Legend of Ravaging Dynasties movies were good, but they were forced to be high quality under Tencent's directions.
Ice Fantasy was shiet. They kept tying the ends of capes to strings and pulled on the strings to make the cape flap, it looked like shiet and so awkward on camera. Not to mention, people's faces looked like shiet, either digitally blanched or they wore too much makeup. The script was shiet all over the places with crappy ending. The only thing that saved Ice Fantasy was the score/soundtrack, it was sorta good.
I have collected 24 episodes of Veil of Shadows in 4K 60fps so far and plan to binge watch it soon. I have low expectations after watching the shietfest called Ice Fantasy. But we live in modern times where visual effects have improved, so at least even Guo Jingming dramas can now visually look good. I look forward to the script/story being shiet though...
It's a mini CGI movie of only 20 minutes long, but it makes shows like SoC S2 look like poo in comparison (talking strictly about the quality of the animation and visuals).
I simply think CloudArt studio destroyed an otherwise very good IP. Actually I haven't been very impressed with most studios contracted by Tencent to animate the IPs they hold. Tencent churns out donghua series like fast food. It's inevitable they will pick a bad contract animation studio for half of their IPs.
The title of the show is the same 3 Chinese characters as this drama and also the same name in English. The protagonist of the show is a female WATER dragon who can assume human form. The male lead is her romantic interest. Drama aired recently too!
I thinks THIS drama is a scam/false advertiser, there isn't a water dragon here let alone the "water dragon's chant!" (literal translation of the Chinese title)
(BTW, the difference between the two Whispers of Fate dramas is the other one is only 20-25 mins per episode)
(P.S: I know that Wu Jing didn't create Blades of the Guardians IP, but it's the act of PICKING the same kind of work as your peer in order to discredit him that reveals your ugly nature to the world..)
DEEPSEEK ANSWERS:
This is an insightful observation. While not literally "every" Chinese drama includes strangulation, the trope of a male lead grabbing the female lead's neck or throat does appear with notable frequency, especially in historical, xianxia (fantasy), and revenge-focused modern dramas. This stems from several cultural and narrative factors:
1. High-Conflict Emotional Expression – In many C-dramas, particularly those with "cold" or morally gray male leads, physical confrontation (like a choke) is used to visually externalize intense internal conflict—rage, betrayal, obsessive love, or desperate protection. It's seen as dramatic shorthand for a character losing control.
2. Power Dynamics & Redemption Arcs – The act often occurs early in the story, establishing the male lead as dangerous or ruthless. Later, as he softens toward the female lead, the contrast highlights his character growth. The choke may even be repeated in a gentler, more intimate way (e.g., hand on neck during a kiss), transforming violence into possessiveness or vulnerability.
3. Censorship & Genre Constraints – Chinese media regulations heavily restrict explicit sex and extreme gore. Producers thus lean into intense physical confrontation (choking, wrist-grabbing, wall-slamming) as a permissible way to convey high-stakes intimacy, tension, or dominance without crossing into sexual content.
4. Wuxia & Martial Arts Influence – In historical or martial arts settings, throat-grabbing is a realistic combat move. If the male lead is a warrior or assassin, this action fits the genre's logic, even when the target is the romantic interest.
5. Melodramatic Tropes & Viewer Expectations – C-dramas (like Korean or Turkish dramas) often amplify conflict for emotional catharsis. For some viewers, a near-death confrontation followed by tearful reconciliation heightens the romantic payoff. It's a visceral way to show that love and hate are intertwined.
That said, this trope has received increasing criticism from modern audiences for normalizing intimate partner violence. Many recent dramas have moved away from it, replacing choking with wrist-grabbing or verbal confrontations. So you're seeing a lingering pattern, but one that is gradually fading as production standards evolve.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shen_Teng
"With the success of Pegasus 2, Shen Teng edged out Wu Jing as the top-grossing actor in China, the combined revenue of his films adding up to about 33.5 billion yuan of 25 March 2024."
NO WONDER WHY "ME2" WU JING WENT AND DID A MOVIE WHERE HE ADOPTED A NON-BIOLOGICAL SON LIKE IN PEGASUS 1 -- He was trying to outdo a certain star...
EP 08:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4wf-CBHhY
Somebody tried to bribe BiliBili in the comments section of the above video with $50 to highlight his post in red (near the bottom of the comments). He thinks he's supporting the company but actually humiliated the production team who had worked on Nezha 2 and also contracted to produce various donghua series not just for BiliBili alone (they are all probably gazillionaires by now!)
If you look at the date, his bribe was made shortly after the video was uploaded to YT. Normally BiliBili attaches the ENG subs to their videos on YT soon afterwards. Since he made his $50 comment in English, BiliBili has withheld the ENG subs for the video (no subs yet after 2 weeks).
Chinese people never tell you straight up but their actions imply. BiliBili is probably withholding the ENG subs to tell English commenters like him to go away, we don't need your bribes (ahem donations)!!
Can you imagine trying to bribe upscale companies like BiliBili let alone millionaire producers and directors of the work? (Talk about being rude and showing lack of respect for "The Team" [and their socio-economic rank])
BTW, I think the commenter on YT also posts here regularly in the comments section under the same first name. I would avoid interacting with users like him since it's not like BiliBili to be open to accepting bribes from people like him...
At the end of the movie (after the rolling credits) the female demonness visited Wang Teng's dad and seduced him with her legs. Is it to imply he had sex with him to rebirth Wang Teng as he's supposed to have died twice in the novel (once but reborn and died again later on).
Anyways, I just checked the previous episode, there seems to be no "bribes" posted in the comments section. So only for the episode with the obvious "bribe" by this user do we get no ENG subs...
Hell, if I was them I'd probably run away from this kind of user too. Pay $50 to have their post marked in red, but lowers the morale of the production team to produce more quality contents!)
It's only possible becoz of AI cameras to capture the motions of the actors in plain clothes.
Donghua series streams here (it's the official BiliBili YT account):
https://youtu.be/tvUaryd3wws?list=PLBakWosU0sfhr6k1-ldCYx05AYZ8HwslC
Let me give ya a bit of advice David whatever, NEVER GIVE TIPS TO CHINESE. They find it insulting. You can subscribe to their channel, pay for monthly/yearly subscription, but never ever tip them.
Tipping requires you to assume they are dirt poor and really need that extra bit of dough... Almost like they won't do good work, nor live up to their names unless you tip them!
Also like I said, you can tip even $1000's, to millionaires working at Original Force, it's still cow dung amount of currency!
(As if millionaires and billionaires are THAT desperate for your money... In Chinese culture tipping is seen the same as bribing someone. So instead of being seen as an esteemed viewer, you've just bribed the Original Force team to do a better job in the near future...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4wf-CBHhY
It's near the bottom highlighted in RED. Muahahaha!! LOL!! Sucker!!
Guys at Original Force are all millionaires. Founder of BiliBili is probably a billionaire or close to that. Your $50 is like cow dung to them...
Lost count how many times I seen shills paid by the production company to promote their stars/shows here on MDL. It's shameful, but MDL is the only way they could reach out to international audience.
You can easily ID them. Their username usually begins with or contains the star's name they were paid to promote on MDL.
Forum was neat and tidy again after they went on my blocklist.
https://movie.douban.com/subject/36809858/
TBH, I have never seen a drama score below 4/10 before. Even dramas that I would consider utter shiet in the past have scored something like a respectable 4.1-4.2/10.
Rebirth take the cake and is the new record setter!
The only saving grace Rebirth has is, if you pirate it from a Chinese website, the ENG soft-encoded subs are included with the 4K video. Most Chinese dramas don't bother to have ENG subs in the 4K video file containers.
I'm gonna pirate this movie in 4K, possibly in 60fps if it's available. Then leave it on my hard drive and never watch it, like I have Legend of Condor Heroes movie by Hark Tsui in 4K for almost a year now and never even opened it to have a peek.
This is one of those movies where you get it and keep it so you don't have to watch it... You can bring a horse to the lakeside but you can't make it drink (pun intended since it's the year of the horse!)
Scare Out $0.11 (daily) $199.16 (cumulative)
Blades of the Guardians $0.06 (daily) $211.38 (cumulative)
WHERE IT STANDS:
Top 50 movies in China
#50 Pegasus (2019) Box Office $255.8 million USD
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(film)
FAILED TO PLACE AMONG TOP 50 IN CHINA!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films_in_China
FAILED TO DEFEAT NOBODY IN CUMULATIVE
Nobody (2025) Box Office $215.3 million USD
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobody_(2025_film)
(P.S: In the past, ie. last year, I provided the source when I quoted the daily box office figures, but the company made their website inaccessible outside China. Now this year, I'm smarter, I don't provide the source, and the company don't know about it, so they unbanned their website outside of China...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4wf-CBHhY
All the previous episodes 1-7 DO have ENG subs, but nah, not this last episode.
This is the one thing I hate about C-ent companies. They're very sloppy when it comes to actually delivering contents onto streaming platforms.
Of course this is the case of BiliBili neglecting to upload ENG sub to this last episode for almost 2 weeks. But then there's also Tencent...
I lost count how many Tencent dramas/donghua episodes broke down through their streaming software because the video was corrupt. It's almost like the workers at Tencent just upload the videos and never bothered to sit down and check whether the video was uploaded correctly or had any errors in them.
(Almost like most of their workforce is tech illiterate. You don't even need to sit down and watch each episode entirely to check for errors. You only need to get the hash value of the video file, which takes like seconds and compare it to the original hashes to spot video corruption errors)
https://movie.douban.com/subject/36640236/
The last time I watched a Guo Jingming drama was Ice Fantasy. I have to admit, his Legend of Ravaging Dynasties movies were good, but they were forced to be high quality under Tencent's directions.
Ice Fantasy was shiet. They kept tying the ends of capes to strings and pulled on the strings to make the cape flap, it looked like shiet and so awkward on camera. Not to mention, people's faces looked like shiet, either digitally blanched or they wore too much makeup. The script was shiet all over the places with crappy ending. The only thing that saved Ice Fantasy was the score/soundtrack, it was sorta good.
I have collected 24 episodes of Veil of Shadows in 4K 60fps so far and plan to binge watch it soon. I have low expectations after watching the shietfest called Ice Fantasy. But we live in modern times where visual effects have improved, so at least even Guo Jingming dramas can now visually look good. I look forward to the script/story being shiet though...
https://movie.douban.com/subject/38411029/
It's a mini CGI movie of only 20 minutes long, but it makes shows like SoC S2 look like poo in comparison (talking strictly about the quality of the animation and visuals).
I simply think CloudArt studio destroyed an otherwise very good IP. Actually I haven't been very impressed with most studios contracted by Tencent to animate the IPs they hold. Tencent churns out donghua series like fast food. It's inevitable they will pick a bad contract animation studio for half of their IPs.