WK1

I was scrolling and scolling, and just realised I did not respond to your message of 2 months ago. My sincere apologies. What did I watch 2 months ago? Completely forgotten, which goes to show whatever it was, it was lousy

Even tho you left at 22 + plus k, you were part of that first wave of commentators who helped to create the crazy amount of discussions there. So, your role was critical. I will need to go back to that page, scroll back a couple of months and see what was the comments count when I first joined.

I checked the date that I joined MDL and it says May 8, which means I had finished watching the entire series of TLB before I joined. But I started reading all the comments way before that. The comments section was still red hot, when I joined. As mentioned by Colessa, if we were to leave the section for 1-2 hours, we cannot even find our own comments. Not sure when you joined, but I think by then, yah, we had already discussed lots of stuff. But you were not all that late, as I had a number of substantial exchanges with you.

I watched each episode of TLB as it was aired. Could not bear to wait for the entire series to finish.

I am likely to do the same for YAMG. There are pros and cons of doing either method. I have nothing to watch right now, so I will go with 6 episodes a week, and come here and see how people feel about the drama

Got it! So that is the one that shows Dilraba to be number 1 for the week 12 to 18 July 2021? 2nd is Yang Mi, followed by Yang Zi, Zhao Liying, Seven Tan, etc. Is this the one you are referring to??

I will respond to your 2nd para. Hard to find two people more beautiful than Dilraba and Yang Yang. Very few actresses can match Dilraba, once she wears her long beautiful hair. Even in The Long Ballad, where 90% of the time, she hair is bundled up, she still looked great. And Yang Yang is simply handsome beyond words.

When we put them together, every scene in YAMG will be a visual treat. And they are both great actors, so their on screen romance will be highly believable. Whether there is drag or no drag, will depend on the skill of the director. And this director does have a good track record for modern dramas. His most recent modern drama did not do well likely because of the age gap between the two leads.

So, all your boxes for a good drama should check

I understand your frustration concerning Oath of Love. I go over to the Oath of Love page on MDL, I see so many sad and angry people there. Some have been waiting for that drama to air since 2020 or even earlier. For the sake of the fans of that drama, I too hope it will air after YAMG.

Yup. Joy of Life, one of the best around, just hit 9.0. The immensely popular The Untamed, hit 9.1. If there are enough people to counter all the haters (who want their favourite actors/actresses to do well), and YAMG does really well, we could well see an averate of 8.7 to 8.8. But, yes, ratings are not all important. Particularly ratings on MDL. The producers, director, etc. are more concerned about viewership in China, which is their main market, which may well be affected by ratings in Douban. In the end, word of mouth may still have the final say, if YAMG is really good.

Don't worry. The collective viewing experience of people in this forum is massive. Once it is aired, we can more or tell if the drama has delivered.

We are in the same shoes. I have not read the novel either. We can see how our views compare and contrast with those who have read the novel. Even for the both of us, our views may also differ due to our background and age differences.

Wow! We have brought our love for writing long posts from TLB to YAMG!

I will respond to you the same way I responded to you in TLB page. Point by point, in this case, para by para, to show you that I read every word you typed. First para, in terms of dealing with expectations, for you and all those who have read the novel, you need not worry. Reba is well known for having good onscreen chemistry with all of her male leads (whoever they might be). Her career is pretty much build on that. So, have no fear, you and all have read the novel. Reba and YY will deliver.

2nd para, I will definitely share my opinions. No point joining a page, if I were to keep quiet. Which will lead me to the the third para, now that you mentioned about growing up watching HK drama in the 80s. So, I can tell I am slightly older than you, because I grew up watching HK movies and dramas in the 60s. Hence, like you, the lack of kissing scenes in TLB hardly register anything for me. Reba and Wu Lei did more than enough to show love through their excellent body language, all their electrifying eye gazes, those lovely forehead kisses, and their affectionate one-on-one conversations. Younger folks who grew up on Hollywood diet probably wanted kisses more than we do.

Which now bring us to your next para. Yes, for modern dramas, we do expect kisses and closer body hugs. Not just the influence of western TV dramas, many viewers are also influenced by modern Kdramas, where there are indeed lots of kisses. Even married female korean actresses have no problem kissing their male leads passionately, which shows us just how much trust their husbands have in them. I suspect, before marriage, these actresses made it very clear to their potential husbands, they intend to continue their acting careers and they would only marry on condition that they be allowed to do that. Who knows? This may even be written in their marriage contract, so those husbands cannot use this issue as a ground for divorce.

Now to your next para, yes, after my 2.5 months stint at the page of the TLB, many people did say they really do not mind sad ending, as long as it makes sense. Like if Ashile Sun died saving Li Changge or vice versa. Senselessly killing off either the ML or FL (like the case of Goodbye My princess), will not go well with many viewers.

Which brings me to your final para, I do think YAMG will deliver. Yutu and QJJ are almost custom-made for YY and Reba. This is YY's third gaming related drama. He did very well in his previous two. Even if YAMG may have less gaming than his previous two gaming related dramas, he should be able to leverage on those experiences to bring it to the aerospace industry. As for Reba, the QJJ character is like an YouTube influencer. She is a real life celebrity, portraying a celebrity in a drama. I mean, what can possibly go wrong??

And the supporting cast looks great too! Let's hope the OSTs are great too! And BGM. Those are also necessary ingredients for a great drama. We shall see, but YAMG should either meet or even exceed our expectations.

Yup. An average score of 10 is just not possible. For everyone that rates it a 10, there could be someone coming here to rate it 2-3. And they will have all kinds of excuses/reasons. This is to be expected. It happened in other forum pages and it will happen here as well. If we take 8.6 as a benchmark, as that is the highest either Reba or Yang Yang had scored in MDL as leads, anything from 8.6 to 9 would indeed show that YAMG has met or exceeded our expectations.

Ah, if you left at 22+k, then for sure, we must have exchanged some discussion!! So sorry, I could not recall your name as a person that I had exchanged views with, as there were just so many people there.

Yes, at one stage, after 1-2 hours, there were so many posts, we could not find our own comments. And so many people felt the way you mentioned: withdrawal symptoms not just for the drama, but even for all the wonderful discussions.

From 22K, we reached 30k pretty quickly. And thereafter, things began to slow down. You made the right decision to leave that page. It was very addictive at around 22k.

Once YAMG starts, I will leave that page. Not for good, but substantially. Maybe just go there once a while and see if newcomers need any help in understanding some stuff related to TLB.

Like you, and many others from TLB, I will be here cheering Reba and Yang Yang.

Replacement for Qu Chu Xiao. He was already announced as the male lead for TLB. Just when filming was about to start, and before the acting contract was signed, Qu Chu Xiao got a scandal. Ex girlfriend claimed domestic violence.

Qu Chu Xiao is quite a good actor. He did a very good job acting as Chang An, who was a bodyguard in the drama Bloody Romance. But after the scandal broke out, the producer and director of TLB gave the role to Wu Lei, because they do not want the scandal to affect the performance of TLB. Viewers from China are notorious for avoiding dramas with tainted leads.

Yes, some viewers really wanted to see kids, before they are convinced it is a happy ending.

Yes, Dilraba conquered both historical and modern cdramas. A very rare feat. Even Yang Mi, her boss, does not do very well in modern dramas. Reba did extremely well as Li Changge in TLB, quite possibly her best performance in a historical Cdrama. That role called for her to exhibit the full range of emotions of sadness, anger, happiness, disappointment, and her ability to jump, tumbling, horse riding, and handle weapons like sword, dagger, bow and arrow, long poles, and even twigs.

She will shine along with Yang Yang, in YAMG.

I am sure YAMG is huge in China. There is a lady from China who is here on this page. Hope she reads this and confirm our suspicion. Maybe you can also ask your friends from China?

Same for me. I lurked around MDL pages for years. At least 3. But never had the urge to join. Until TLB. I joined only after the last episode was aired, which mean I joined only after you. I saw your name there, and was there only for a week before you left that page. So I must have read many of your comments there, but I cannot recall if we exchanged any messages.

I joined because so many people were just attacking that drama without valid reasons.

Even today, I am still there. But I no longer take part in any extensive discussion. Those days are gone. Just hang around to give short reply to people who still go there and ask why no kisses, or whether they should watch TLB.

Babepiggie is still there. Same like me. Just short responses to people who wondered if they should watch TLB. But she joined later than me, and we exchanged many messages.

I don't know if you are aware. That page now has 32k comments.

Yup. TLB has a great story and great chemistry between Wu Lei and Dilraba. Even without those kisses, this is a great drama

Fully agree. TLB, the main focus is more on character development and adventure, about Li Changge's learning experiences. There is romance, but it will shown more through what Jaden Philip had mentioned, ie. through body language. I may add, also through their very intimate one-on-one conversations.

Happy ending, but no kiss

Ah, but the Wu Lei, who portrayed Ashile Sun, was a last minute replacement for the original male actor who was supposed to portray Ashile Sun. The director did not have much of a choice, but to respect his wishes for no kisses. I have now been told that in Wu Lei's movie that will be aired in August, he will indeed kiss the FL.

That's good!! We explained so many times, I thought it will be easier you just read those comments.