Nepeta 22

I fear that since season 1, the dynamics of Tan Jian Ci's fame has shot up, and it may have affected how the direction has gone. They have (in my eyes for now) effectively made Du Cheng's character regress back to what he was like at the earlier parts of season 1. This does not make sense since we all now know he was angry about his colleague's death and it affected is moody attitude.

Here in season 2, they've made him even more obnoxious, almost like a support role. The uplifting of Tan Jian Ci feels quite evident. I'm not sure if this is pandering to the money people to get this second season done, or whether Shen Yi's character is more appealing and the obvious one to expand on. Either way, it has changed so far.

Kukan on Youtube with subscription. Or
https://ca.duboku.fun/vodplay/5017-1-1.html#google_vignette

I have waited for this drama for a while and have to admit I cannot get into it. Was not what I was expecting. Too much family and police politics with the wrong amount of comedy.

Many of the actors in this can be found on Chasing The Undercurrent. For those that are interested in a similar set up but with a much more smoother story telling. I'm told they are doing a season 2 on that, which is good news for me.

Yes, I read her response. It's a shame that something like this was not translated properly as it was quite an important part of the dialogue! Well at least it's explained.

Yes, this was picked up and whether that was some translation error, it's caused confusion. Throughout the drama, I was waiting to see where this other sword was, and it didn't appear. Added to my list of dodgy plots that go nowhere. Like how ML conveniently finds the block of wood on the floor and infects himself just to push the plot along. Considering how precious this branch was, it was just there waiting to be discovered by accident.

I didn't see any plot twist, if there was any plot. Pretty much of what we saw on the Reuters was all seen, with nothing left to see.

The old trope of the older uglier man is the baddie. The ML is typically there as sacrifice. The storyline seems dated and too earnest. Punctuated with weird comedy.

I think what you meant in your last paragraph was it's so earnest. I also couldn't stop laughing at inappropriate scenes. That chef god dying scene and the prolonged agony was great, (because he lifted the drama with the right amount of comedy) but just pure comedy gold. I just couldn't stop laughing.

Such high drama is often out of place in today's dramas. I guess this is what made this drama feel dated and stale. The story is there but the execution is poor.

As for FL plot device, I don't think so. Do find Chen Lu's review which gives a comprehensive insight into Chinese mythology and why she was present. I blame the director and scripts for making her appear like a spare part but she is not. I also think some people need to question themselves about saying censorship and using her as some plot to divert. This is a bit desperate. Her role was not expanded properly and being weak does not mean they are useless. We should all be more open minded about all types of women, since I note men are given a pass. And that is problematic in itself.

Yeah, that's a hard problem for MDL to sort out. I wish there is some sort of system in place.

I've seen people vote for episodes before they've aired. I have seen a film with ratings, even though it was never released. But I think this is a very tall order for MDL lol.

Your post actually answered a lot of the questions I had about Douban. Now I just need to crack the mystery that is MDL's ratings lol🙃.

Yeah I heard about that. It probably did have some affect on the rating, but not a lot overall, as people gave it the early views due to MJTY, and it had a spike during that time.

At the end of the day, Douban isn't everything, and same with MDL. If people like GJM style dramas, they will watch it regardless of ratings.

Are you referring to the favouritism?

TBH, if you follow GJM long enough, he has always had controversies, (plagiarism, s.harassment claims, fan-wars).
But the audience always carried him.

Times might have changed now, or there is more competition from newer producers/writers. This is probably the first time it didn't happen for him.

And if you read the comments more on other dramas including LGIEF you will find there are also people talking in a similar way and voting ones. But there is a high volume of viewers so you are unlikely to see them straight away.

Sure GJM has a few that dislike him but take a look at Chen Lu's very measured response up on the discussions section started by Kaddie001 regarding hate posts on Douban. It's a very comprehensive dive into how things work. It's not as simple as what some have said on this forum regarding ratings.

Lol, 6.2 is decent and high for GJM. For example, TSoPG just got theirs at 6.3.

MJTY was GJM's first drama after his cancellation for plagiarism but he still got a good reception.

This drama, you either like it or don't. It was high on visuals & music but the plot was not plotting enough to catch enough people outside the fan circle.

It's not because of that. The director had high viewership and rating for MJTY. This one had more competition and the plot was light so it stayed within the fan circle. It needs a strong plot to appeal to passerbys.

OK, I get it. Yes, I agree on that.

Yes, I agree that Douban has issues and it's been very difficult to police these suspicious activities. Chen Lu writes a very detailed post up in discussions here on Douban ratings, and I agree with it.

However, Douban seldom release scores so early on. I take this as they felt it was stable enough to. Normally, a delay in releasing scores are the ones that are under immense attack from rival fandoms. We see this with The Longest Promise.

As for MDL, I don't know how the formulas work. I have heard so many posters' comments about rating per episode to getting the account verified to be counted can put your votes as priority. All to me just speculation. What I do know from past and present, most idol dramas or those with a traffic star tend to be rated excessively high. This is why I have come to the conclusion of MDL being a fan site and not to take the ratings as gospel.

Your comment is quite comical. Especially when you discount Douban and conveniently compare it to MDL, which is a very small portion compared with China's population. Everyone knows that MDL is just a fan site. Most of the ridiculously high scores are by fans piling in to vote excessively, regardless of acting, plotline or pacing. This happens all the time.

Dramas without traffic stars or "fresh meat" tend to score lower because most of the people that watch those dramas are more honest about their vote. It's quite clear that this particular drama is populated by a group inside an echo chamber.

See how it goes for you. It's not for everyone. I think it might appeal more for those that are quite interested in what China was like during the seventies and eighties.

I'm only on episode 9 at the moment, but without a doubt one of the best dramas I've seen this year, so far. If you like stuff like The Bond (same director) then this would be an ideal watch.