Michelle Topham

What you say about KPI, though definitely true, still doesn't detract from the reality that K-drama IS still outpacing C-drama by massive numbers though on international streaming platforms, and it's pretty obvious, whether KPI from domestic viewership is enough for their investments, or not, the production companies STILL want their dramas to become international hits.

If they didn't, they wouldn't be selling them to platforms like Netflix and Disney, or opening up their own platforms (YOUKU, Tencent (WeTV), iQIYI etc) to international subscribers, or uploading them to YouTube for non-Chinese audiences (which is currently giving them hundreds of millions of views per month across all C-drama channels - big thumbs up from me :)

Personally, though, I think they HAVE made a smart decision by limiting many of their dramas to their own platforms, or their own YouTube channels, as that keeps THEM in control.

Something K-dramas and anime should have done years ago, IMO as, without that, they are constantly under pressure from western companies/fans/media etc to censor or conform what they create to so-called " western values". Something the Chinese will never do, and rightfully so.

Now if they would just promote those platforms more, they could see views skyrocket as there are still many viewers who enjoy Asian dramas that don't even know WeTV/YOUKU etc exist (spoke to a Thai friend recently who watches solely K and J-dramas, and she had NO idea WeTV existed, or that C-dramas are so good, and her ethnicity is Thai Chinese!!! - And yep, she's now a WeTV subscriber :)

Agree with you on the subs though. Abysmal that some Chinese companies are so bad at this, but... I will add, WeTV has been offering AI-translated subs to some of their dramas lately and, for the most part, I have been pleasantly impressed. Hopefully, companies like Mango TV will eventually follow suit, as some subs they add are barely understandable.

Oh and thanks for your correction of my 38 episodes comment. I couldn't remember when I typed that if that was the correct number :) And yep, I think you're correct that most production companies won't go the 40-plus episode route as Chinese drama fans have been complaining about "too many episodes dragging out the plot" for eons.

And, if they do, we will likely get 2 seasons instead of one (and I don't mind that if the drama is engrossing).

Did read the Reddit convo a while ago, btw. Others should read it if they haven't. Much of it is speculation, but still interesting. Thanks for the link :)

I'm still stuck mid-way thru Ep 24 - can't seem to muster the enthusiasm to finish it :) (about to make a cup of coffee and plonk my bum on the chair and force it to sit there until it's ended - LOL).

Hahahaha, I need some support as I'm about to put my fist through my laptop screen if this goes on much longer :)

Yep. And that's, unfortunately, the problem with a huge percentage of C-dramas, and one of the reasons why K-dramas are still outpacing them in the international market, IMO. They are too damned LONG. (And the Chinese authorities stopped that, capping them at 38 episodes for a few years, but have recently removed that cap, so expect some of the new ones to go back to 45 to 65 episodes (ridiculous!).

Most stories peter out after 30 episodes (max) and, IMO, most do better at around 25-28 episodes or even below. Anything above that, unless the story is very well-written and the characters are incredibly interesting becomes draggy.

(I classify The Outsider in that, as it's 38 episodes and it kept my attention like nothing else as its characters and ensemble cast are SO good, and the writing is excellent -- watched all 38 episodes last week in 2 1/2 days. Brilliant).

With 28-30 episodes of Miyu, and the writer could have scrapped some of the unnecessary bullying, as well as some of the idiocy around the FL and ML's relationship.

Instead, with not much else to the story, they've had to stretch it and stretch it until it's like seaside taffy that's about to break. Annoying.

EDIT: For you non-Americans -- seaside taffy :) -- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mhnTn13m4d8

You'll hate Ep 23 then - LOL.

Yep. Especially because Ji Feng has told her again and again and again to stand up for herself. To which she nods and smiles and then, apparently, his words go in one ear and out the other because...

Every time a new person steps on her (or a person who's done it before) she just gets this sickly sweet blank look on her face and then walks away. I would have been fired by now/arrested for smacking at least 5 of these people into the middle of next week (my parents didn't raise someone wiling to put up with bullsh*t - ROTFL).

I have a feeling she will eventually blow and all hell will break loose but, Ye Gods, why are we on Episode 24 with the same events as Episode 1?

Mid-way thru Ep 24 and, believe me, nothing has changed. Problem is neither the FL or the ML has a backbone. They're both such insipid people and, unless things drastically change, I don't see them becoming much else other than that. Teaser for Ep 25 also looks like more of the same. I'm a hair's breadth from dropping it at this point and so disappointed.

The first 15 episodes are superb, but we now seem to be stuck in the quagmire of stepped-on Miyu and Mr. Milk Toast Ji Feng being sucked down and down and down.

I think I'll give it a couple more episodes and, if Miyu being trodden on again and again and again and again, and these two pussy-footing around their feelings continues, it will be "Thanks but moving on" from me. Hopefully not.

And I think the problem with this is like with many C-dramas -- waaaaaaay too many episodes for such a simple story, so every annoyance gets dragged out x 10 until you're just so sick of all of it.

Yikes, getting pretty close to a drop at this point as I'm watching at 2x speed, and still bored rigid. (And I drop VERY few dramas, btw).

Episode 23 and Miyu is still being walked all over. This time by a front desk receptionist, and Miyu says NOTHING, just does the job herself that she asked the receptionist to do instead. We're more than TWO THIRDS the way through and this narrative is getting old.

Now beginning of Ep 24 and still being walked on by both the receptionist and the Duan a-hole. Tired of this. It's becoming so badly written.

Unwatchable. Most idiotic, immature FL I've seen in a long while. Like nails scraping slowly down a blackboard watching a woman who's a lawyer act and sound like she's a 10 yr old child. Horrible. Easiest drop in ages.

It's actually a very good drama (an excellent cast), just frustrating how slowly the relationship between the ML and FL develops, and how the eternal bullying the FL is the victim of by various people (not the ML) seems to be never ending.

I think, if the writer manages to properly pull it all together by the end though, AND have the FL become the person she has the potential to become, it will end up as a VERY good drama. Hang out then and see how the comments go :)

I have a feeling she turned him down as he tried to kiss her, as he did apologize in another trailer, and she accepted his apology.

And yep on the SMLs. Always annoying.

And I have NO idea why C-dramas are always shoving a love triangle in and, in this one, it looks like we've got TWO of the damn things :) -- one with the slow-as-a-snail ML and one with the FL -- ROTFL.

IMO, a large percentage of people that use MDL are either very young or very inexperienced. They must be. As, in just about NO world is it wrong for a woman to kiss a man if she is NOT in a relationship with another man and has NO kind of commitment from another man.

I always think it's bizarre the comments people leave on MDL about relationships though. It's as if most of them are from countries still living in the 15th century (and we all know the world does have those), or people who are so young they've never really dated anyone properly.

Otherwise, very few adults would think it was wrong to kiss someone when they have NO commitment/relationship with anyone else.

And if the ML doesn't like it, then he needs to step up his game, doesn't he, before Miyu gets taken by somebody else :)

LOL. Exactly, because it's obvious she likes Mr. Ji as much as he likes her :)

You're welcome, and it's sooooo good, isn't it? I could NOT stop watching. Had to stay up late to finish my work as I spent so much time on Wang Ju An and Su Mo :)

Yep. You can't judge anything on clips. Most of the time, they are taken out of context, or they cut off right at the exact moment when the circumstance in the clip is about to change, or when we learn there is a good reason for the person's behavior :)

I judge after the episode and not before.

That's what I'm hoping for too. Reserving my judgement until then, as that should take us well into the drama's last third and, IMO, about time there is progress between the two.

And I don't mind the ML at all, other than his virgin-y behavior :) as I do think he's watching from the sidelines as someone up above said. Especially as it was never his place to jump in and save her. Not unless they have a strong personal relationship and, so far, at least, they don't..

My frustration is more with the FL and the writing, which seems to be stagnating. Fingers crossed though, it will get better, as I've thoroughly enjoyed it up until Eps 19 and 20. (And mid-way thru Ep 21 right now, and it's a little better).

Exactly. What's interesting to me too is I loved Zhu Zhu in Why Is He Still Single? (brilliant drama, and had hoped TEoM would have been similar) where she plays a mature single woman who isn't putting up with ANY of the ML's sh*t.

Would have loved it if she had either been the same in this, or at least become that way by now, instead of the insipid and softer than soft way she acts towards everything that happens to her.

And yes, the ML seems to have some serious issues with communication. It's always the same in so many Asian dramas/anime/donghua etc though, isn't it -- I mean, why allow a 1-minute conversation to fix a misunderstanding when you can have 6 months of stupidity instead. ROTFL

Yep. I kept expecting Miyu to grow exponentially but we're still seeing the doormat behavior and I'm now 20 episodes in. She's better, but still isn't particularly mature, IMO.

I started out loving this and, like you, am getting increasingly exasperated as each new episode drops and becomes draggier (Eps 19 and 20 in particular were dull), as the plot just keeps going round and round in circles, with not much new happening except Miyu getting castigated yet again by another a-hole.

Getting pretty tiresome, IMO. And yep, both the FL and ML are grown adults, he's obviously been in at least one serious relationship, and she was married for a decade, but we're still supposed to believe they are chaste virgins with no experience. Or at least that's the way they are both acting.

And no, the Chinese are no different to westerners when it comes to romance/sex between grown adults.

Will definitely finish it but, unless the writing digs itself out of the swamp it seems to have been sucked into, I think my score will drop quite drastically. Fingers crossed it will.

UPDATE: Eps 21 and 22 much better than eps 19 and 20, IMO.

Watch the drama. Clips are always taken out of context.

The MDL rating is pathetically low, so you know this one is one of the best dramas of 2026 :)

And yes, it is.

A perfectly cast group of actors, superb performances from all of them, nicely directed in that Yang zeros in on unusual moments and things (although I expected it as he also directed Swords into Ploughshares and Three-Body), a beautifully written narrative that's quite surprising in places and obvious in others, but that even the obvious then seems unusual, the cinematography is gorgeous -- all sepia, haze and atmosphere -- and it has a unique plot and characters.

Not your typical Chinese romance drama at all, and that's a good thing. Easy 10/10 for me.

And no, it's not for everyone because, if you expect and like more of the same predictability (nothing wrong with that if that's your thing), which the majority of C-dramas are, this one isn't for you. Otherwise, I think you'll like it.

Interestingly, it's earning a 9.3 on WeTV, and an 8.6 on Viki, so their users are obviously not the usual MDL raters :) (It's really no wonder most people don't take MDL ratings seriously though, isn't it?)