Nepeta 22

You should put that in a spoiler.

No problem. It's just I do keep seeing "it's because of censorship" most of the time for Chinese dramas. Whilst it's true on some subjects like violence, gory details etc, but on the whole, regarding police corruption, mistakes or local government officials, these are not likely to be censored. It's the opposite, it's the endings that needs to show it's closed, criminals locked up, no open endings if possible.

It's not to do with censorship that dramas like these are not picked up for promotion. The Knock-out, arguably one of China's hidden successes blew up big time in 2023 and it centred on corruption from the police to local government officials down to small villages. It did not get huge promotion, but the drama did well because of certain characters. That was an accident. It's quite normal for these types of dramas to not get a lot of promotion.

Idol style dramas need the promotion to try and get back what huge backers put in. That means trying to gather as many passerbys as possible because most of the time, the budget has gone, not into the drama itself, but for the stars' wages. Therefore, the drama may not always be quality, but the big name stars are the "pull" into getting more viewers.

I don't usually take the ratings too seriously when choosing which dramas/films to watch. I guess I'm stuck in my ways. I know what I tend to like, so read synopsis to get an idea.

I actually hold Douban higher because they have stringent checks on those that post ratings. They will also look at dodgy activities and that's why some ratings take a long time to come out because of suspicious activities. Raters there are also tougher because there's so much competition.

Unlike MDL, costume romance dramas over there are not respected much by the general viewing public, so that leaves only hardcore fans to rate, which often ends with extreme voting.

I recommend you watch a very underrated drama called City of the City. One of my all time best dramas to come out of China. They managed to make the banking industry look cool as the mafia. Tu Song Yan was evil yet pitiful.

The most recent Flourished Peony. with the second half due out late summer this year. His role will no doubt expand and at the moment, he's the pure evil father with a soft spot for his daughter.

MDL is a fan site rather than a drama site. The ratings are often inflated for idol style dramas. After a while, anything below 7.5 seems mediocre when in actual fact, many of the low rated dramas are very good, and the ones with higher ratings are filled with popular young actors but the storylines tend to be quite predictable and paper-thin. That's how it is on MDL nowadays..

I wondered why the story telling style and half of the cast are the same as Chasing The Undercurrent. I have just found out the director is the same. Really enjoying this. For those that like this set up, and haven't watched Chasing The Undercurrent, I recommend it. There is also a season 2 coming too.

You are missing the point completely. It is unnecessary to hire someone under 18 for this role. The fact that they do is the problem. Normalising young late teens in these roles with a "loose" distant love-line shows the mainly male dominated industry is trying (yet again) to blur the line between youthful to under age.

Why should late teen girls be sexualised so early in media? If you feel this is acceptable, you have already been brainwashed by the mainly men dominated world that is not likely to do that with boys of 17. And you don't need me to spell it out to you on why the male version does not wash.

Also, BTW, another classic trope that makes this more palatable (we saw this already in The Forbidden Flower) is to put the onus on the female so not to make the man look "predatory". So not only do we see this storyline, but put the blame on girls or women!

This role could have been taken by Xia Meng for example, yet they cynically put HYTT because she simply looks a bit like ZYL. This is just desperate and quite sad. No doubt the production can hide behind that. They can also hide behind Yu Zheng & GJM who have already move the bar on decency. This is why I make a stand to say what I say. If not enough say this out loud, it will slide into yet another classic exploitation of women as nothing more than objects first and foremost, and talent a very distant second.

Exploitation is the issue. It's the same the world over. An industry dominated by men normalising the need to sexualise girls at such a young age is damaging. We don't see this with the boys. Does this happen to Rong Zi Shan? Do I need to spell out the reason?

This begs the question of making more and more excuses and acceptance of grown men hiding behind "she looks so mature" for her age get out clause. Movies, gaming industry and the modelling industry have already done the harm, and if people like Yu Zheng and the likes of GJM start, the rot will pave the way to carry on happily hiding behind one another to push this into mainstream making it more palatable and accepted.

This is why I make a stand on this - to make others who agree that this is OK to think again. I'm not against young actresses playing young women, but I draw the line on those younger than 17 years old with a love line even subtle. The excuse of historic or fantasy is not good enough an excuse. Xia Meng could have easily played this role, but it's a cynical ploy to hire HYTT because she just so happen to look more like the former actress before her.

Exploitation is the issue. It's the same the world over. An industry dominated by men normalising the need to sexualise girls at such a young age is damaging. We don't see this with the boys. Does this happen to Rong Zi Shan ? Do I need to spell out the reason?

This begs the question of making more and more excuses and acceptance of grown men hiding behind "she looks so mature" for her age get out clause. Movies, gaming industry and the modelling industry have already done the harm, and if people like Yu Zheng and the likes of GJM start, the rot will pave the way to carry on happily hiding behind one another to push this into mainstream making it more palatable and accepted.

This is why I make a stand on this - to make others who agree that this is OK to think again. I'm not against young actresses playing young women, but I draw the line on those younger than 17 years old with a love line even subtle. The excuse of historic or fantasy is not good enough an excuse. Xia Meng could have easily played this role, but it's a cynical ploy to hire HYTT because she just so happen to look more like the former actress before her.

So if they are romantically linked, this is just normalising the usage of minors. Early sexualisation of girls are common the world over, and these types of dramas are not new, it's just paving the way for more of them.

From modelling for girls as young as 14 says it all. Ask yourself this, is Rong Zi Shan given the same storylines in C-dramaland? Has he had romantic scenes for his 17 years of age? You will say no because why? It is always normally girls that are forced and taken advantage of because there is a need to use girls younger and younger using the excuse of they look "mature" for their age.

Of course, there is something more sinister than that which I will not go into right now. Think about that before you do the dirty work for the male dominated world that we live in.

Your argument doesn't stack up. Around the world, films where there is death, whether that is directly linked to the presence of a child in the drama or a "minor" watching it or playing a game that involves the act is more or less given the green light. But, any film or drama involving a minor or even a very young late teen involved with an adult is frowned and not accepted. Unless it is a piece based on real life history, there is just no need to do this in fiction or even worse, fantasy.

I get that she was cast because she looked like a previous actress, but truth is, it could have been played by the equally talented Xia Meng. This is really the wrong direction and normalises the usage of underage girls in the mainstream industry, forcing them to be mature before their time. Note that this has not happened to Rong Zi Shan. You don't need me to tell you why that is...

I agree. I'd say the cases are very interesting, up there with Under The Skin. I'd even say better because like you said it incorporates the 3 departments well and delve into more details. What I don't get is how in some dramas they blur out bits like on the operating table in medical dramas, but here, they literally show the charred up bodies in the forensics scenes. I'm not complaining, but the effort to show them here is quite graphic.

Me personally no. But in some circumstances, those that are there may lash out because they're emotional at this point. Chairs, objects on the table and even the table itself may be used as a weapon to harm themselves and others.

Hey, when I first watched C-Dramas, I was also taken aback with this set up. Someone told me, in China it's guilty until proven innocent. I guess quite the opposite of how other countries may operate. After thinking this all through, although it looks quite scary, but as a whole, it might be for their safety and the police safety too.

Thanks for pointing them out. I have read some of your comments on this forum and they certainly help to gain more from the drama.

I understand. However, I recommend something light and easy. Les Belles is light, fun, set in beautiful surroundings, lovely costumes, and full of eye candy... Great comedy with a strong female lead. I think under appreciated.

I don't think so. But then I don't understand Mandarin. The only bits that might mean more to Chinese speakers are scenes of FL's parents, their behaviours may resonate with those from east Asian backgrounds, like putting on a front for guests, dressing up for what they think are big reveals. The dream with the Legend of White Snake with the hammy classic tunes, but apart from that and some plugging of Lost You Forever for those in the know, I think general humour works for everyone.

Once again, it looks like it's come out of Yu Zheng's home made collection. Seen all before. The colours are not with what natural dyes of the time would use. The blues are too bright for its time, the patterns are garish and big, the cuts are all heavy swamping material that looks like if you run or rub too hard, a fire will ignite. Even when he stuck pearls on the actresses' faces in The Double, they had to be the biggest ones. Yu Zheng productions doesn't do subtle very well.

But it would not make sense. If they are hating on Yu Zheng, then why was The Double a success? Perfect Match did extremely well too. BTW, their first and foremost, is success in China. The international audiences are just not that important because the domestic audiences always dwarf international figures.

Yu Zheng knows how to whip up discussion, and nothing better than creating drama and discussion outside of his dramas. Billing announcements are obviously deliberate. As if they'd let out 2 announcements one after the other by mistake. Just like how someone just leaked an alternative ending on The Double. The eye roll is for the cynics on Yu Zheng. He also full well knows, the hype he creates will amass a load of hate watchers.