WK1

So Linh, you noticed the same thing too??

Yes, it just does not make sense to release this only now. Maybe someone at Tecent is not doing his/her job right. Maybe too busy with other stuff and completely overlooked some of these BTS? Or perhaps they have reasons that they cannot disclose, for this late release. Be that as it may, we are still so glad to get it. Better late than never, so they say

Oh, that is because I belong to a group of individuals here who are totally obsessed with this drama. And obsessed with the GeSun couple. Yet, like you, they are still a bit puzzled about certain issues. Why is this drama lacking in a little something here, and a little something there?

If my explanation is good, it is not because I am clever. It is just that I have hung around long enough to learn from people who have been around here much longer than I do.

It is with this collective wisdom that I was able to give you the explanation that I did.

We went through a lot, we nvested a lot of our time, to understand this drama. We just want that investment to result in bringing greater joy to more people.

Here, we also journey along with people to the extent that they wish to join us. If they wish to engage in more discussions, we will be more than pleased, and we will provide more information to make the discussion more interesting and constructive.

But, this is totally voluntary. We are very good in reading between the lines. When people conveyed to us that, that is all they wish to say, we will not push. We will respect their wishes and go no further.

I belong to a group of individuals here who love this drama very much. So, whenever we have people who first joined us and said they do love this drama, we are just do delighted. And we just want to find out more, why and what they like about it. So that we can get to share in your enjoyment. Sometimes, we also have indivduals who joined us and they come from a totally perspective, so we get to learn something new as well

So, lots of reasons. The last thing we want to do is to put people on the defensive, as if they need to be held accountable for their feelings. Not at all.

Just that sometimes, when someone asks us what we like about this and that, we are then forced to think deeper and that thinking process may well cause us to reflect and thinking about what made us truly like or dislike a particular character in a drama.

Like for example, you told someone, you like mango. Someone then asked you, so what makes mango so appealing to you? You said, oh, it is sweet. So now, we know why you like mango, because you like fruits that are sweet. Prior to this questionning, they have no idea why you like mango. Unless of course, that someone has known you for years and always noticed that you seem to consume more fruits that are sweet

All the signs look very promising. If Netflix pick up this drama. If the national TV channel in China air this drama and responses are good in other countries, the producer of TLB will be very pleased. She may then want to bring Wu Lei and Dilraba together for a modern drama

It is ok. You have done enough.

I was just trying to see if this was kind of evolutionary process, because many people experienced the same thing. That at the beginning, they did not understand her and hence felt the way toward her character. But, when they finished the drama and understood why she did what she did, they came to appreciate her more and love her charactor more, and with that, they also appreciate the drama as a whole even more.

That is all I was trying to get it. Not so much to put you on the defensive in anyway.

If you feel like having her heart at the right place is what impressed you about her, it is ok. No need for further explanation.

It is good. Very very good, to have someone here who understand the four tones used in Mandarin, and explained it so well

We may yet get it, if all goes well. If the final viewership tally for this drama crosses 4B (domestic and international combined), we may see them filming a modern drama next year and get to see it 2 years down the road

He is 22 now. This drama was filmed last year, so he was already 21, so age cannot be a good explanation, assuming an actor/actress must be at least 20, to do kisses. Actually, we do not even know if this is the case, I mean the age where one is allowed to start doing kiss scenes.

So, you want to know why there are not so many romantic scenes? Because, here in this drama, the main focus is not on romance, but the journey of Li Changge

This drama is an adaptation of a comic or cartoon. In Chinese, it is call Manhua. And in the manhua, the main focus was not romance, but the journey of this character call Li Changge, which is played by Dilraba. And the journey was more focused how Changge's journey changed her perspective in life. Her values were totally altered from wanting to seek revenge for the death of her parents, to one that put value on the safety and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

Romance became a secondary theme, or one that is less important than showing the change in her. And, one might add, not just her, but all the important people around her

Your Waer is also your She'er? Not sure if you are aware, all the voices, with the exception of one or two, were dubbed by professional dubbers.

Indeed! It must have rather stressful to film this in the midst of the pandemic last year. Everyone must have been so tense, being stuck at the studio for 4 months. So, he was just trying to de-stress everyone, and he did a good job! As good a job as playing AS.

So, you are familiar with Eternal Love of Dream. There are no kissing scenes in this drama, because, very likely in Wu Ler's acting contract, there is a no-kiss clause. That is in all his previous dramas, there are no kisses.

So, if we are to see Dilraba and Wu Lei in a modern drama, we may still not see kisses. However, it does not mean that there are no kisses, a drama is not romantic. I am sure you would agree that romance can be communicated in so many other ways.

Here, in this drama, romance was communicated more through the way they looked at each other. Their dialogues are very interesting and are full of love language of care and concern. There were quite a few physical embraces and some of them were quite romantic, especially the later ones. There were also two lovely forehead kisses. More important of all, they communicated love through actions, how they would be willing to put their life at risks, in order to save each other.

Their love is based on mutual trust, understanding and respect. A bit deeper than mere physical attraction.

It could well have been some of the above, that made you fall in love with the GeSun couple? Or, perhaps, it was something else?

She is one of those. There are images of her in Google Image, where she crossed dressed as a Japanese schoolgirl. And she looked just like a typical Japanese schoolgirl.

She must have been heavily influenced by Japanese manga, and many things Japanese. Even her Chang Ge Xing manhua, full of Japanese influence. No wonder the manhua is so popular in Japan. Reading this, they probably feel that they are just reading one of their own mangas

Please do not be alarmed by my question. Do you notice the number of comments in this section? There are so many comments because many of us come here to share our opinions, and our responses after watching this drama. And in the process, we understood more about the various characters in the drama and came to appreciate the drama ever more.

Oh? You did come to understand her. How do you feel about her character, after you understood her?

I thought it will be nice to do it, since many people are concerned about numbers. We are concerned about the rating of TLB, which is a number. We are concened about the viewership of TLB, which is another number. So, why not an estimated target date to hit 30K comments? Or a target of 250 comments a day, in order to reach 30K?

We will not get any prize for htting 30k. But we can at least be proud to be part of this crazy community that is somehow held spellbound by this drama. So much so, we keep coming back to share new insights, new BTS, new ways to show our appreciation to this wonderful drama.

Glad you found each other on this page. Here, we don't really care about each other's nationality. Most of us just prefer to remain anonymous, so that we can engage in meaningful exchanges without any preconceived notion that our nationality could affect our views.

We are here because we love the drama The Long Ballad. If the two of you also like this drama, do not be shy, just join in any of the discussion that someone has started

She has a child-like face. Even on this page, if you enlarge the Cast and Credit section and see a photo of her, you would not be able to tell that she is 40. I thought, maybe she was just around 20 or 20 plus. I even thought, maybe that is where she found her inspiration for writing the character Li Changge, that it was a disguised autobiography, that the manhua was about her life, her journey.

It was only when I googled her profile that I learned she is already 40. In Taiwan, they called her the beautiful cartoonist with long long black hair. Maybe that is where she found inspiration to draw Li Changge with long long black hair.

I then read about her legal issues with her former studio that caused the manhua to be stuck in a hiatus since 2016. Such a pity. She would have taken Changge on a far longer journey than what she did in the manhua

It is fortunate that her manhus is now adapted into a drama that has become very very popular in China and, soon, around the region. The will make her famous. Bring her more money to continue her work as a manhua artist.

Yah, both are great and used at just the right time throughout the drama