Neptune

You need to tell that to the Knetz. It was them who've been dogging this drama from the beginning regarding the hat/ costumes etc. I agree the C governing bodies should not have caved in as it'll just encourage more of this behaviour.

Yes, there are ppl in China who believe him too, and the Chinese are not vindictive ppl who suddenly decided 1 day to tear down one of their own. Most are rational and when presented with solid evidence of a concerted campaign would definitely welcome it.

I was speaking of the sentiments of the general public, who are neither way. The 2 C actors being on the list would be prideful for them while his no 1 spot would sit differently and suspiciously, rightly or wrongly. Like I said there is a deep scar that's not been resolved with Japan, it's bigger than ZZH.

The taking up by foreign anti- China media of this situation will inflame and work against him. ZZH needs a high profile industry person to back him and present the evidence of the smear campaign to help resolve this.

I know about the antis and the toxic CP brigade who've turned on him, and I have an open mind at this point. But because I'm from the culture I know how they feel and how this runs deep for them ( not spec to ZZH v the Shrine ) it's bigger in a way.

By the Japanese endorsing him, it's the last thing he needs. What's needed is a strong industry backer to come out to vouch for him, with proof about the goings on to finally clear his name.

There were too many articles so I chose 1 randomly ;

https://inf.news/en/entertainment/6a19d73d64239a272b28f212161f1ccb.html

The Japanese endorsement of ZZH to 1 - stick it to the Chinese and 2 - try and legitimise Yasukuni, is an association that won't help ZZH clear his name and re-enter the industry.

In the original shrine photos he was pictured with the son of one of Japan's former Prime Ministers who worshipped at that shrine. Domestically that picture alone is not what did it, it was his other photos with other contentious Japanese ppl.

Disappointed the Marcus/Sina rumour didn't pan out. On LYT's weibo she posted she was in dubbing. Not sure if it was for small touch-ups or more. That'll realistically make the release at least another couple months ... 😥.

I was put off by the comments initially but was between dramas and I like LYT so checked it out. For starters I haven't watched GGS1 and didn't know the background on Wu Bai/ Ai Qing so this was a clean slate. I watched to the end ( which is rare ) and loved it. It was cheesy, slushy, romantic, heartwarming and funny, and sometimes you need just that.

It was my 1st time seeing HYT''s work. I had a 'cold & arrogant' impression before but he was convincing as the dorky, lovelorn Wu Bai and she the mature, level headed, hesitant one. Also loved the side characters, especially the hapless duo of'97' and 'one', and 'Solo' who I felt bad for. It was refreshing to get a FL that was respected, sharp & strategic yet sweet. They ended on Appledog's reveal which brings us full circle and perfectly seals their future.

Collection of BTS/production clips on BiliBili - https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ds411w76P?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click

Had dropped this at ep 27 and originally hung in there for Yang Mi, Lai Yi, Gao Hanyu, Huang YouMing and all the positive comments I'd seen. I found Ethan Ruan's smirks, gurning and over-acting off putting. I expected the smirking as it was mentioned below so didn't think it'd be an issue, but in the end for me, it was baddddd. In addition to the overacting and chin jutting, he was more modern gym jock than ancient prince and you needed to like him to get by as the drama in actuality is 'The Legend of WuJi' show.

I was looking forward to this based on all the chatter, but for me it started to drag after ep 29, especially after SF reveals he's a demon. The interactions between the main cp started to seem repetitive and this drama requires you to be invested in the cp to get into it. YBY's character wasn't fleshed out like CY's, so she came across as weaker mentally & physically, but we're told throughout she's supposed to be the strongest one in the mortal realm. While Hao Chen's Immortal King living as a mortal would've made an dimensional and complex antagonist, but he was reduced to a stock villain storming off disappointed or pissed for most of the show.

I got to ep 50 and it's currently on hold, however the actors were good, particularly CY who gave a raw, gut wrenching performance.

To me he looks like a mixture of Jing Boran and Tim Pei. I've only seen him on a reality series called ' Call Me By Fire', where he was a emotional softy, uncool without pretensions, so it's interesting to see him get described as ' cool, cold CEO types' here.

Agree that China is not 'uncivilised', it's far from it. I didn't know that about Greece and Europe, I'm in the UK ...maybe it's the same here too! but I do know in the US it's jail time, BUT their system is corrupt so the ones with connections can lawyer up whereas in China at least they hold rich, public figures and politicians to account.

I think it's a E. Asian collective culture thing where they expect the person to bow out and do self reflection, not just say sorry/pay and carry on making buckets. Unless it's a heinous crime, after a time they normally come back to their careers. They're not being imprisoned and 'disappeared' like what the media here are pushing. They're just living ' normal' lives, not ' famous' during that time lol.

So glad there are sane ppl around. I too like Den Lun and was disappointed but accept we don't know him and he's human. It'll pass, he's paying the fine and having to do penance time.

It's actually the reaction of some fans who feel he didn't have agency for any of his actions who are doing him a disservice as it'll be forgotten soon and he'll be back quietly to his career like the others, it's better than going to jail.

I was here for Wang Duo and feel bad for all the others involved but I have a feeling the drama will be released quietly at one point... fingers crossed.

Can't believe there's a gap in his dramas after Bloody Romance. He can do complex, imposing and intense like I've never seen done by a C. actor, with depth and screen presence too. Hopefully he gets wider recognition when his new dramas get to air.

He was warned by the Shanghai Tax Office 3 times about anomalies but he chose to ignore. If this was a middle aged businessman who plead ignorance due to being too busy we'd roll our eyes. The fact that he could pay, tells us he wasn't short on cash. Us, the hoi-polloi have to pay our taxes. Being good looking and famous doesn't mean you're in a separate category where you're coddled and have no agency.

I feel bad for all the production and actors who'd worked on this. He broke the law, if this happened in the US he'd be looking a jail time.

btw- the trope that Deng Lun was getting too powerful doesn't make sense, he was past his apex which was 2018 to 2020.

I wasn't expecting this dark, surreal drama. From the STUNNING film-like cinematography, set design, animation, magic realism, witchcraft, to morally grey characters - I've not seen this in other Cdramas. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, it's left-field and trippy. If you're expecting a straight up strong female assassin/romance/good V evil story, it's not quite that. I remember seeing Gong Zi & the Emperor's visuals and thinking 'what the freaky deaky is this '. And the themes of torture/sado might be off putting. This drama on 2nd viewing after seeing many others is still in my top 3. It sucked me in, tossed me around & spat me out.

Lots of good actors. Particularly the Emperor, Taifu, LYT. & Wang Duo who gave us a complicated & intense Gong Zi. Wan Mei and Xing Feng's last scene was bittersweet & poignant as it drew a circle on their lives.

I like the fight-work it had the feel of a retro Wuxia. The production: music, cinematography, set, animation, costumes. You can feel the creativity, care & attention. Even though it was low budget, from the choices made the drama doesn't suffer. Glad I watched this, I've not seen anything like it since. It took me on a ride & defies categorising. The bonus was the bgm with heavy traditional instruments & that beautiful opening song by Tia Ray.

Looking forward to LYT and Jin Han's pairing, it's supposed to be airing this month, hopefully.

LYT & Bi Wenjun's ' Cold Warm Night in the Nine Heaven's ' should be out too, as it's listed for a 2nd Q release.

Happy you're not taking me wrong as it's not personal to you and you did seem like you'd had your share of military dramas and were being extra cautious venturing in.

Yes, YY surprised me in this role he wasn't afraid of being hateful/ugly (and I came for LTY, which was false advertising). They've fleshed out the other characters, they're not just props for him. It's intense but just enough to not be too much (so far... ).

The definition of Sinophobia isn't as crude as just making fun of appearances etc. And while we enjoy C drama's here, you still can have elements of suspicion/fear in regards to China, which is Sinophobia in definition .

I am not saying you were the case when you asked, but I get why she said that as that question had been asked quite a bit and it probably wouldn't have been a consideration if it was a military drama from another place.

I don't think most people are aware they're doing it. I've caught myself doing similar and had to ask myself why. The reality is if this was an US military drama the question getting asked would have been if it had too much military stuff in it rather than ' propaganda'.

Don't know about the others but the actor who plays Lu Tu was in the army.