Nepeta 22

I feel it's aimed at a younger audience. the fight scenes are like computer games and very sanitised. The "fresh meat" is aimed at thirsty teenagers. Not sure why you said it doesn't fit? Just my opinion.

I made a comment on the top bar under discussion about Douban on this page, so feel free to look under Kaddie's discussion about Douban.

China is well aware of the abuse on Douban and this is not new and there have been numerous instances of ratings not being released until they've sieved out malicious activity. The Longest Promise and New Vanity Fair had big gaps between finish airing and publishing the scores. This is because of the issues with rival fandoms trying to down vote. So far there has been no hard and fast rule to stop this. Any Douban ratings coming out early usually means within the industry, the activity is stable and generally, there is minimal malicious activity. That's why some scores come out quite quickly. It's the delayed ones which are the ones more likely the target of dodgy voting.

It's good to hear that this has captivated you as a passerby, and you hope to see the story unfold the way wish. I'm not a fan of voting per episode, so I made this comment to you because I noticed you had made a vote per episode.

I disagree with that comment. I think it's the other way round. The passerby are the more logical ones with no filter or influence. They will analyse the plots in full details. Reality is, this drama is not offering anything unique. Excess music and the attempt at deadpan might not have worked. Is it possible that first impressions are not good?

From what I have seen the audiences in China are vast. Sure, the younger demographics play the same game as what I see here on MDL (Data, manipulation of information, pushing marketing through fandoms). We're only past half way and you say you hope it does well. Why? Surely you don't know what the next 30% of the drama will be like so in a way, that's also emotional. You will be voting already when the full drama has not completed.

Yes, it's more appealing to the international audiences because it's more a nod to stuff like Star Wars/Game of Thrones and has grand dramatic scenes and music. Perhaps in China they're not into the over the top dramatic scenes. After all, they've seen a lot of that already, and now moving on from that.

Personally, I feel this drama is more aimed at a very young audience because of the way it tries to hammer home what is wrong and what is right. It draws on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory style of ticking others off, using side characters along the way to build up the morals. They just spiced it up with some above average looking actors to make it a more visual appealing watch.

Although all ratings are questionable just like Douban, I keep seeing people referencing it even when it suits them. Here on MDL, it's the same. In the end the most important thing is if you like it or not and just ignore others' opinion.

Personally, I think the ratings here on MDL is inflated, but not seeing anyone say that much here. We all have our biases and accept that perhaps in China a core portion are not into flashy posey slow motion scenes that is more in place of a music video.

They might want more content, not drawn out thin story lines that have been seen before. It is draggy and the comedic timing is off. The attempt at dead-pan is often cringey and forced. These are my take on it so far. Perhaps some expected more from GJM?

This is a very light insight into a segment of this drama. I would fill more pages if it's on more areas. Not everyone likes to just post barrages and be influenced by others at the heat of the moment. I can't speak for others, but regardless of whether it's an idol drama or some short drama, it's an opinion, which is what this forum is for.

There's this 'sling your hook' type of comment on quite a few pages, as if there is some sort of invisible gate-keeping of a drama. The intolerance is a way to shame others for holding an alternative view to the mass viewpoint.

It's common for the partisan gate-keepers on these pages to tell anyone with even an ounce of a different opinion to sling their hooks. That's how sad it's become. They forget people can watch it and also criticize it. But the intolerance of any other opinion shows how far gone some are.

I'd be surprised if it's not that to be honest. This drama is far from subtle for a start. It hammers home the message, but done in cringe-worthy fashion. Using lazy flashbacks to avoid making actors and the story telling more nuanced. It's as if his audiences are just 14 year olds. The many comments on this page basically are of an eco-chamber padding out and covering the story lines and trying to make it more interesting than it is.

He just wants to cobble together above average looking people and men willing to whip their tops off for the predominantly female audience. That is what he is famous for. The thirsty lot are here pretending to be something more profound.

Yes, but did it need 17 episodes to get to that? Many of the episodes are filler self-indulgent slow-mo music videos. Maybe that is enough to sustain some viewers who are new to c-dramas or are at entry level into idol dramas.

A core portion of the comments are quite hilarious. So many are padding out and thinking for GJM's direction because he's basically offered very little in content except stylised scenes (posing and extra slow speaking.) I know this helps to cover up some actors' squeaky voice and questionable line deliveries, but when that's punctuated with constant flash-backs and endless chain of music, it really makes this story more and more hollow.

Yes, and there are some on here in denial claiming they didn't get enough promotion hence the lack of success. I'm not sure what success they mean. From word of mouth to hitting the heat index, they can't make up their minds. No doubt, the goal-post keeps shifting when it suits.

These last 2 days have seen many concocting a mad brain storming of how profound they are...the characters are very unique, and how others don't get all the BL elements and the tragedies of demons Vs humans and how each are so different. It's as if none have lived their lives or seen any other dramas that offer all that but in little doses here and there, not like this hammering home in such toe curling way.

GJM is well known to queer bait for success and profit. He knows that using a mainly female audience guarantees his success, as long as the men have their tops off, or are above average in the looks department. So far, I have not seen anything unique nor new. Only change is he has upped the music collection to the point of giving his critics exactly what they want - they say he's just a 2 hour man, who likes to make everything like a music video. As for content, go for visuals.

It's thin on plot and any interesting in the storyline. Slow talking, low whispers (keeps the actors from sounding high pitched and even exposing some of their short-comings) and stylised posing including the fight scenes, all seen before,

Certainly nothing new here, and most of the inside the circle fans are re-telling the story with their own filter and padding it out with their own take on it, and like GJM trying to act all profound within their eco chamber. The biggest success so far is it's a master stroke in branding.

I only finished 3 episodes so maybe what I write might not be right so someone might come and correct me.

So far from what I can see, it might be due to his failure to speak up for his wife or protect her from his own family. They are very traditional, and expect the wife to do everything for him and his family. They don't respect her and he refuses to speak up for her and even sides with his own family.

He comes across as someone that is a workaholic, often putting his family second. He instils a lot of discipline on his own children, particularly his eldest son, so I'm assuming the expectation and pressure will be high for his eldest son. I suspect, this will have some far reaching consequences later on in their lives. Who knows, that's my take on it so far.

As far as I'm concerned, using flashbacks continually like this only shows a failure to use acting and the subtle story telling to push the drama along. It's fine to do it here and there, but here, it's a lazy and terrible way to tell a story. It makes the drama look basic.

Instead of expanding about demon and humans and their differences, I had to read someone else's comments on why certain characters behaved a certain way. Unless I missed something, or it's really only aimed at their domestic audiences so for the wider international audience, some may not get some of the "in the know" world of this story.

Lol, I was thinking exactly the same thing.

I'm now beginning to wonder whether they are doing last minute re-edits to take out scenes of more slow-mo, music, and crying after the feedback they got.

I thought so too. It seemed like the story was going somewhere. It's a really weird time to leave a long gap.

I'm wondering whether they are actually editing parts out to stream-line the story after the feed back about the slow-mo and excess music.

I'm here for Li Guang Jie. The director is the same as The Bond, and you can feel the same vibe. So far I am enjoying it a lot.

Regarding MCU, I don't watch big American style films or dramas with fantasy elements, so would that mean I'm not qualified to make a comment on Chinese dramas? You immediately label me as weird because I am not entirely moved by PSJ's arc. That's a bit narrow minded. I think the story was there, but the excessive brawling and slow-mo shots and choice of how edits did nothing but prolong the message. Beyond that, it felt like filler. I felt it could have been cut by half. That is my opinion.

I also did not claim there is no promotion happening in China with other dramas either. I was commenting on the fact that FoF had also done promotions releasing music videos, sending their stars on a few reality type shows, these are all attempts to drum up interest. The fact that they did these even without a distribution licence shows how desperate or perhaps cocky they were with getting the drama out at the projected 26th October date.

Air dropping in China happens more than you think. Sometimes, for negative reasons such as A League of Nobleman. Another very big budget drama, The Longest Day in Chang'an dropped quietly without any warning with limited promotion. Every drama has their idea of what's best, but it does not mean they don't care. FoF was very conscious of their marketing.

As for flash backs, we have different opinions on how it can be used. Here, it's repetitive and uncreative to consistently do so. But you have made your point, and I respect that opinion.

I just hope the ML doesn't end up as always being the smart Alec with the dead-pan humour, having the last say and solves many of the mysteries. That will make the others look like tool characters. We sort of know the format will be spent on each character as the episodes move along. This is commonly used as a way to introduce a bit more of the character's background, but PSJ's story dragged on a bit, with the excessive crying I felt some scenes were filler scenes. Hopefully future characters will get a more decent intro.

I don't know whether my opinion is majority or minority here. I'm only writing what I see and feel from watching the drama. Flash backs can be used well when appropriate. Here, it's been used excessively to fill in gaps that they seem to not want to show on the surface level. It's fine here and there, but it seems to be used consistently so far, which feels like a short cut method to telling us the character's back story. There are more creative ways to do that. The flash back option is one way, but to do that so many times makes the story telling very repetitive and shallow.

GJM today uses his name to be the star. His brand is himself. The other one is having an open set so rueters can get plenty of material to sell to sister stations. Using his Weibo to engage with the public about the on-going story throughout the filming process. Anything or any star he uses, it's almost an unspoken thing that he has the potential to make them stars. This is seen with Ryan Cheng & Lu Yuxiao. In the past, I would hardly say Deng Lun or Mark Chao as small time actors. Not sure how you define A-List. Today, traffic stars seems to have taken over the stardom in China.

Promotion is not based on what someone writes on the front page of MDL. This site is more or less a fan-site, so it's not unusual for someone who's a big fan of Liu Yuning to post an article for The Story of Pearl Girl. Just as it's an active page here because there are a handful of very fervent fan-bases bombing the site day and night. That fan base does not actually represent the international audience either.

GJM started the dancing music video trend and now many other productions have moved away from finger dances to full on dancing as seen in the closing credits of this drama. The excessive usage of music, especially modern music is growing all across the board because many of the new stars bring along their fanbase which are normally from the music background. But here, GJM has amplified this to the the next level, which has made the drama almost hard to watch because the amount of music is not complementary but more distraction.

GJM is a two hour man. He made his money in the film and wants to enter drama land. His issues showed up in MJTY when he prolonged the drama up to episode 18 when it all unfolded. The majority of the drama as slow mo whispering to keep the almost non existing dialogue hidden and lots of posing and stylised shots.

In this drama, it looks like he's looked at how investigative dramas have had more success, and he's influenced by STofTD's weird and curious styled story lines and thought he could try it here against some poor attempt at dead-pan. The end result is a mish-mash of everything. Sometimes less is more.