WK1

I am not a hammer, trying to pound you into submission, and make sure that you only say nice things about the novel. Of course, you are entitled to your unique experience and response, after reading the novel. Have no worries. But, when some of the others respond, do be prepared for them to give you their views, and why they feel that the novel is good.

I read a short article that says the novel is highly popular in China.

There will be changes.

There are many kinds of novelists out there. Some are really proud of their work, and when a producer wants to adapt it for drama or a movie, they insist on being the scriptwriter, so that the drama/movie will follow their novels to the T.

But, it seems that Jiu Lu Fei Xiang is not like that. In many of the dramas that were/are adapted, you do not see her name appearing as the scriptwriter, thus indicating that she is quite ok to let others interpret her work the way they deem best.

A novel and a drama are two very different medium. I feel that we have a very very good team helming this drama. Director Chu is a very experienced director. Reba and Allen are both very experienced actors. They will give us a drama that even Jiu Lu Fei Xiang will be proud of.

Not sure why none of those who have read the novel did not respond. All I can say, the novelist is Jiu Lu Fei Xiang. She is quite a popular author and a number of her books have already been made into dramas (The Legends, 2019; Cang Lan Jue, 2022; Back from the brink 2022; The Blue Whisper 2022). There must be hundreds and hundreds of novels in China. If the source material is not good, no one will be interested to adapt it into a drama.

What is more, we have a very good director; two great leads. I have no worries at all. Read at least one on-line article which indicated the drama You Are my Glory, was better than the original novel by Gu Man, because of Dilraba's interpretation of the character QJJ. Article mentioned that her superior interpretation and portrayal of QJJ turned YAMG into a smash hit. The book, on the other hand, focused too much on Yu Tu. It seems that in Douban, the drama has a higher rating than the novel.

I am sure that the novel 驭鲛记 is good. And the drama, The Blue Whisper, will be even better.

My usual habit is not to read the source material, before watching a drama. But others who have read it commented that the storyline is great. Let's see how the others respond to your comment.

This finishing earlier will add pressure on the post production team at The Blue Whisper. They will know that Youku want to air that one in Q1. Earliest LOA will air will be around Sept 2022. They can finish post production by July-August, but still need to apply and wait for broadcasting license. Also, they will want to leave a gap between TBW and LOA.

Assuming TBW airs in late March-April 2022, this one coming on air in Sept 2022 will be just nice.

Right after Eternal Love of Dream, she clearly indicated she want to co-star with different MLs, to further her acting career. And beginning from Love Designer, she has been doing that. And with each collaboration, she keeps improving, both in her individual roles as well as her on-screen chemistry with her male co-stars. I think LOA is just going to be a great drama.

Yup. I think they will be just fine. I saw a BTS of Reba touching Allen's head. I think that scene was used in the main promotional poster we can see above. It is a gender reversal of sorts, because, in most Cdramas, it is always the guy touching the girl's head. And our dear Reba was her usual cutie self. The two of them had great chemistry even in the BTS. So, I think their on-screen chemistry will be a great one. Really looking forward to this!! No more furry distractions.

Very likely the case, since TBW finished filming way back in June. Filming duration indicates episode count for that drama likely reduced from 60 to around 43, hence they should not need a year to do post production. Q1 of 2022 sounds about right, making Q3 for LOA very much a possibility.

If filming for LOA wraps up by mid-Nov, they can be ready as early as mid-July 2022.

If both TBW and LOA are aired in 2022, next year will be just as great as this year. It might even be better, because both TBW and LOA are expected to be mega-hits. Just about every single online article that I read mentioned both dramas in the same breath, when they discussed the most anticipated dramas of 2022.

It is. I have forgotten her name. And she could well be the same voice actress who will voice Reba in Legend of Anle. I do feel that Reba herself likes her voice and her skill. You will notice that the voice is totally in sync with Reba's mouth movements in all of her historical dramas. And this voice actress is totally able to change her tone. In TLB, if you listen carefully in E15, in that snow walk surrender scene, she changed the tone of her voice, to match the dignity of that scene. I have watched that scene countless number of times, and I never fail to be amazed by the tonal quality of that voice. Reba's performance in that scene was perfect, in her facial expressions, and that voice conveyed her emotions of sadness, anger and disappointment just as perfectly.

Allen did very well in One and Only and Forever and Ever. I do not expect Bai Lu's fans to be here, but it will be a surprise if Allen's fans from the pages of those dramas are not here.

The success of TBW will only bring him more fans in China and overseas. Acting as Reba's male co-star in a drama is a very low risk strategy. All of her dramas are viewed in the billions in China.

Allen will be great as the Merman, and Reba as the demon master. Their sweet interactions will surely set this drama on fire next year. The Blue Whisper is one of the most anticipated Cdramas in 2022.

And Reba fans have one characteristic. We will also support all her male co-stars. Anyone coming here to attack Allen will get some reactions from Reba fans.

I totally understand what you said. And I think that is why they managed to persuade Allen to do the kissing scene. That it is not just about romance, but about the FL's life.

I am aware that Vengo is not married. But romance can be communicated by many means, other than kisses. They can use these other means, such eye gazes, warm embraces, sweet dialogue, and then end some of the romantic scenes with kisses. Good actors and actresses can do that.

There are lots of Reba fans here. I can recognise lots of names from the forum of TLB and YAMG. Believe me, everyone of us wants her projects to be successful. I think Allen's fans are here too. Just that we do not recognise their names. Some could be adopting a low profile, till the drama starts.

I think the same voice actress did Reba's voice in all the historical dramas of hers (starting from Ten Miles of Peach Bloosom to TLB). And she did a great job for TLB! I think it will be just fine in TBW as well.

Yes, I am merely echoing what Titania said earlier. This drama will be fine, and we have absolutely nothing to worry about. This is destined to be a blockbuster next year.

I think Birdlady has tried to explain how Allen does his kisses in his rom-com dramas. However he did in those, we are sure glad that in TBW, there will indeed be kisses between him and Reba. I think those kisses will work wonder for this drama, just as they did in YAMG. Allen is a great actor, and together with Reba, they will charm us with their screen magic.

I think that makes sense. If I am not wrong, Google search engine is banned in China. So, this list could be a ranking of composite of various search engines they can use in China to search for dramas, and comprised list of names of top 20 dramas that were searched, up to Oct 2021. Hence, names of unaired dramas could also be on that list.

Still, it showed that TLB is popularly searched.

Haha. Won't be long. Novoland Pearl Eclipse coming up soon (in Nov). And early next year, maybe as early as Jan, Royal Feast (Imperial Cuisine). Before you know it, TBW will be with us.

Don't worry. Based on the trailer, it is a 'good' kiss. Director Chu directed many kisses in ELOD between Reba and Vengo Gao. They were well done.

This drama will be a massive hit next year. Despite the less than stellar trailer, I just read an online article with nothing but praise.

Why should we be optimistic?

1. The storyline. Although this is a fantasy drama, it is unlike Reba's two previous Xianxia dramas (TMOPB; ELOD). Those use the 3W3L formula, which viewers are pretty tired of by now, while the plot/storyline for TBW is completely unique, and charming. No more Heavenly Emperor or Donghua Dijun.

2. Director Chu is a very experienced director. There are plenty of fight scenes in this drama, and he will excel in directing those. Those who have watched The Long Ballad will agree that the fight scenes there were extremely well choreographed. As there is no specific scriptwriter stated, I suspect he could be the one who did the screen adaptation. Since the novel was very well received, he will not change the main storyline, even if the number of episodes have been slashed from 60 to 43 or 44. Some side stories will be sacrificed.

3. Some online articles mentioned about the muscle pack that Allen wore during the filming. Even if this is true, not much damage will be done. This is Xianxia. They can easily use computer graphic to make his muscle look more realistic. People will not care too much, because in Xianxia, we expect CGI to be used anyway.

4. Some of you expressed concerned about Reba's voice. I think you will get used to it. Anyway, there is no way for Reba to dub her own voice in this drama. After filming this in June, she was back in Hengdian shooting Legend of Anle in July. I believe this is the same VA that was used since TMOPB. It did not do any damage to viewership. Not in TMOPB, ELOD or the TLB. None of the online articles that I read expressed concern, though one did suggest that it would have been great if the main leads could use their own voice. We know that is not going to happen and any damage from dubbing will be minimal.

5. Some of you expressed concern about Reba's tail. Pink and white, just like in TMOPB and ELOD. Very cute and sweet. You are afraid that will make her too 'nice'. Not to worry. I think they made her eyes red whenever those tails appear, to make her look menacing. If those tails of hers can do serious damage to the main villain, our perception will quickly change.

6. At least one article mentioned that viewers in China feel that the CGI is not up to par. This, too, we need not worry. From now till next March (which could be the likely broadcast date), there is a good 5 months. A number of you said the CGI in ALP is great and the same team will be handling the CGI in TBW. Hence, we are in good hands. Among other things, they will improve on Changyi's tail and make it look adequately powerful, as powerful as could be visualised in the novel.

7. Lastly, we must not forget one very important positive element we saw in the trailer. We saw a kiss between Reba and Allen. In the drama, there could be more than one. And no body double. This is critical. I have come across many online articles which panned TLB for the lack of a kiss between Reba and WuLei. It seems many viewers in China do not like that parrot-kiss scene, which, fortunately, we will not be having in TBW.

Director Chu must have learned his lesson, and have enough of those birds (no offence to bird lovers). Perhaps he, together with Reba, drawing from the negative feedback, managed to convince Allen and his wife that doing a kiss is vital to the success of TBW. They cannot use kissing gouramis to depict those kisses. Even if it is the mere touching of their lips, shot at a good angle, a real kiss between Reba and Allen is more than enough to convey love and affection. This is a historical. Viewers will not be expecting a repeat performance of Qiao Jingjing and Yu Tu (from You are my glory). Besides the kiss, both Allen and Reba are very good actors. They will be able to use their excellent body language to convey deep romance, not forgetting good dialogue between the two. We already saw glimpses of those in the trailer.

So, whenever this drama is aired, we should expect nothing less than an epic, with viewership in the billions.

That is rather strange, that dramas yet to air are on that list. But I do know that, for Tencent's streaming platform, namely Tencent Video, which tracks the number of views, You Are My Glory is ranked 5 and TLB is ranked 6, for dramas that are streamed on this platform in 2021.

There is blockbuster just about to air, Novoland Pearl Eclipse. with Yang Mi as the FL. She has more followers than Reba in China, so both YAMG and TLB could be pushed further down the rank.

Yes, very happy ending for the lead couple, No stupid love triangle. As a matter of fact, not even any kind of love triangle to talk about. They both got rid of exes in less than 1 episode.

Great news! Both of Reba's dramas in 2021 did very well. Why is Pillow Book even in the list? And Joy of Life? Those are older dramas.