WK1

I don't think even Reba will do a drama like Tiger and Rose. It fits Zhao Lusi really well. She likes FL role like the one in Tiger and Rose. It is totally in her comfort zone, being a young actress. Now, we just wish her well for next year, when she has two serious historical dramas airing where she plays the FL.

It is. That is how to get to 34k comments. So many of us, just discussing the various aspects of this masterpiece, from the cinematography to the great OSTs, to the great acting by the entire cast, the unique storyline, the many values it tries to convey, the character growth and change experienced by so many characters in this drama.

I think Birdlady is a true fan of Reba. She really likes YAMG, but somehow like TLB less. Not sure if she was influenced by the view count. Many of us like both dramas, more or less equally. Some Reba fans might actually prefer TLB to YAMG.

If we are true fans of Reba, we should really like TLB a lot, because she herself really love playing the role of Li Changge. We can see that in so many videos, even in the latest one, when she recorded the video to thank everyone, in connection with her winning that award.

I personally feel that playing Li Changge impacted her more than playing QJJ, even if YAMG is a bigger commercial success than TLB. I think the character Li Changge really meant something to her. In YAMG, she was basically just playing herself. But, of course, she did it with her unique sense of cuteness, and acting across a guy who had no problem kissing, she was able to showcase her acting skills in a drama of that nature.

But, looking at the number of comments here this forum, we can see the impact that TLB has made on so many of us. TLB is just a far more complex drama than YAMG. Both the plot and the characters are way more complex than those in YAMG.

Yes, Wu Lei did really well as Ashile Sun; and Yang Yang as Yu Tu. There are so many types of awards in China. It will be a big surprise if Reba, Wu Lei and Yang Yang did not win some kind of acting awards next year, for what they did in 2021.

Zhao Lusi won an award for her role as Leyan, at the Seoul international drama awards.

Some big awards will be coming up in China next year.

Reba has two hits this year. She might win something for her role here or in You are my Glory. And both dramas might win something. We can hope for the best

Hope that TLB winning that American award might have some influence on drama judges in China, that they don't just look at view count.

Same for me. I watched it, and after that I thought, ok. It was fun. But that was it. And then, when I saw the view count in China, I was totally shocked!! I mean, the ML there, he played a comedic role in Joy of Life. The FL lead played a support role in JOL. In My Heroic Husband, they were just so so actor/actress. Visually, he looks like a clown. I am not saying he is ugly. The hairstyle they gave him was not all that great. The plot, which involves time travel, is not even novel.

TLB is pure art!! One day, this drama will become a classic, even if the view count is lower than some other dramas.

Yes, many of us are curious to know Reba's 2022 new projects. We are coming to the end of 2021, yet, there is no official announcements of her new projects. Two possibilities. One, they are still negotiating the contracts, and nothing official has been signed. Hence, they cannot make any annoucements. Two, in some projects, maybe she has signed up, but the male lead is not confirmed. Hence, Reba's studio did not make any announcements.

Whatever it is, it should be soon. Because 2022 is coming upon us in no time at all! I suspect at least one new project will be a modern drama. In 2021, she filmed two historical dramas. She will not want to film another two historical dramas in 2022. Will not be good for her career.

I googled Xiao Yang. Is he the 41 year old singer/actor? If this a modern drama, and action-packed, visuals may not be all that important. And it is sci-fi? So, he could dressed in some kind of uniform, making visual even less important.

I am trying to point to you, Zhao Lusi is also a traffic star, even if not as high as Reba. My heroic husband has many well known stars as well, may not be as high traffic as Reba. Go to the page of My Heroic Husband, and you can see the comments there. Not many interational viewers like that drama. I watched it myself. It was only so so, hence I was very surprised it did so well in China.

China viewers and international viewers are different. Some dramas, we have the same tastes. Many other dramas, we may have different taste.

Yes, it is better that we do not continue this conversation. It is very clear to me you do not like TLB, not as much as many of us.

Yeah. Definitely the case, and one can hardly blame you.

Zhao Lusi does have a decent fan base in China, and that drama was a good drama. The leads in My Heroic Husband became well known in China because of Joy of Life. And a number of other cast members from JOL acted in Heroic Husband. That likely drew in the views. But, it was a surprise hit. Every now and then, we have surprise hits like that in China. It happens, but not very often.

The general rule in China is that, to be certain of getting a big hit, you need bit stars. With big stars, at least you are sure that it will not be a failure, and investors will get their money back. Big stars are those with millions of followers. These followers will more or less support dramas that their idols act in.

I do not have the exact number, but Zhao Lusi does have quite a lot of fans in China. And, collectively, all those who acted in My Heroic Husband may also have lots of fans in China. While the director of that drama did not have any big hits, I think the screenwriter Qin Wen is quite well known. She wrote the script for The first half of my life and I think that drama was a big success in China.

I am not a full time drama analyst and really have no time to explain to you why this drama is a failure and that is a success. There are just so many factors involved.

All I can say, TLB is a success, and was never a failure, whether we are talking about China or overseas. It may have been below expectations in terms of view, but hardly a failure. Let's be very clear about that.

TLB was a big success. Earlier, some people already posted about how much money it made overseas, not to mention the amount of money it has already made in China, given the view count.

When we talk about comparing dramas, we are talking about expectations, given the calibre of the leads. Hence, yes, more people in China did expect LOF to have even more views than what it managed. Some for TLB. It did fall below expectations in China and we are not going to deny that. But, we already provided the reasons why viewers do not like it. Animations and no kiss. The lack of kisses, cannot be helped. We know the reasons. Animation was the decision of the producer. That is fair. She made the decision, and the drama may have lost millions of views in China because of that.

But, I do not understand why you do keep harping on this. This is really old stuff, which we already know back in May/June. We are now celebrating the great success of TLB in America, why do you keep bringing up old stuff??

Not really. It is a good enough hit to gain great visibility for Reba (as well as for the drama itself). For Reba, it means she has two great dramas in 2021. For the drama, with this latest win, it might help TLB win some awards in China next year. Even if it does not win, 3.37B views in China is hardly a failure. Some dramas with really big stars have failed to cross the 3B mark. My best friend's story is a good example.

Do not be misled. Word of Honor did not have all that many views in China. It was more a hit internationally than domestically. And the Untamed was a breakout success for both of the male leads and has bromance as one of themes. It was novel then, with good acting, etc., and hence successful. But I watched it once, and never wanted to watch it again. I have watched 4-5 times of TLB.

Word of Honor was aired in 2021. It did not win any prize at the Golden Eagles Award, did it??

Did you read the source material for The Untamed? It clearly has a LGBT theme. Are you a fan of dramas that rely on that kind of theme? Because, I am not. And given the current climate in China, dramas with that kind of theme will never see the daylight again. And in that drama, Xiao Zhan did well, but Wang Yibo only had one facial expression. Not sure if you could call that good acting.

In China, it is very possible to have a hit, even when there are no big stars. We call them 'surprise' hits. However, they are the exceptions, rather than the norm. One surpise hit in 2021 was My Heroic Husband. The ML and FL are not unknown. They acted in Joy of Life. But, they are hardly traffic stars of the same calibre as Reba. The ML looks like a clown, but viewers in China did not seem to mind. Why was it hit? Got to ask viewers in China. I am sure it is not popular overseas. It is a comedy, and hardly a serious drama like TLB.

Reba did well in TLB, very well. Whatever shortcomings we find in TLB, none of it has to do with Reba. So, we hardly need to make any excuses for her.

Likely around Q1 of 2022. Sometime in March.

Yes, indeed Qiao has been in the business longer than Reba! She is 35, Reba is 29. We can see the difference. Acting, she is no match for Reba. But voice acting? That is a totally different thing. For historical dramas, very few can boast of doing more voice acting than her or can do it better than her.

That would be fun. She can certainly pull it off, skill wise. Just not sure if she will be willing to do it, as it might affect her image. We shall see!!

Yes, it is indeed a pity that Wu Jing Yan's career got stuck, since Yanxi Palace, while Xu Kai's career took a totally different trajectory. Both of them will be having a drama soon, as soon as Q1 2022. I am also looking forward to that, while waiting for The Blue Whisper. I, too, hope that that new drama will help Wu Jing Yan's career to break out of the rut. She is indeed a good actress and even won a very prestigious acting award for her role as Wei Yingluo. It will be a pity for her talent to go wasted.

Reba's career is now just flying!! I think after the great success of TLB and YAMG, directors will be queuing up to sign her up for new dramas. She will have the luxury to choose something that further her career and sharpen her acting skills.

Definitely. TLB will forever be very special in many of our hearts. Even without kisses and make out sessions, LCG and A'Sun are a very very special couple, in the context of their ages, in the context of CG's character and, in the context of the time period in history.

Like you said, many viewers are just spoilt. They still want lots of kisses, even in historical drama that is more focused on character growth and imparting of important values like forgiveness, putting aside personal motives and thinking for the greater good.

But the TLB, in winning this prestigious award, shows that all is not lost. There are lots of judges out there who has chosen this TV drama, out of the many hundreds from around the world, and judged it to be the best TV series, even without those kisses. It is wonderful reward for the director, producer, all the cast members, and production team. All of their hardwork has received some measures of reward.

There could be more to come. Next year, maybe receiving this award may convince judges in China to give even more awards to TLB and its cast members members!

Yes, in the short video celebrating her win of this latest prize, we can tell that Reba was extremely happy to play Li Changge and playing this role, she learned many things from the character Li Changge. In terms of character growth for herself, Reba likely learned more from playing Li Changge than from playing QJJ in YAMG. When the drama started, QJJ was already very matured. But LCG really grew from E1 to E49.