WK1

Soon, we can watch from E1 and start discussing like it has just been aired. Lots of people have left this page. Hope some will come back. And new ones will join in the discussions

Please do not open the link below. The one by Veronika. Could be malicious.

Oh dear! Yes, please do rest well.

Very likely just a rumour. They started filming only in early March? So earliest they can finish is around early June. Maybe right after her birthday. Latest could be late June or early July.

Really? Where did you hear it from? Twitter?

I see! No wonder I did not see you on the page of TLB. That drama prompted me to start an account in MDL. So, I am also relatively new.

After TBW, Dilraba has another new one called legend of anle. And then another one called prosecution elite. Both of those should be very interesting to watch.

Exactly. And once you pay, you might as well watch part 1 again, just to compare the subs, or if you want to take part in discussion. You likely watched part 1 few weeks ago and may have forgotten some of the stuff.

You did watch The Long Ballad? Did you go to that page to make comments? Because I was there on that page for months. Maybe you did and I cannot recall your name.

You really covered a lot of ground in the last two years. But, you need not worry. China and Korea will continue to produce many great dramas in the years to come, so there will always be new stuff for us to watch. Especially for you, since you've watched that many in 2 years. Shows that you love many different genres of dramas, as long as they are good.

Gigibear, wow! Thanks for those lovely words! You have just made my day.

When my husband did his post graduate studies in the US, we visited lots of places, including Miami, of course! The US is a lovely place. But, it is quite far from my location. Our last trip there was in 2010. But, we only had two weeks, so we stayed mainly on the west coast, in California and Arizona, mainly. Will need more time, if we wish to visit the East Coast. But thanks so much for the lovely lunch offer. It is really sweet of you.

People on MDL pages are all really nice. Here on this page, we only have one single individual who is slightly immature.

Supporting Dilraba comes so easily for so many people. Like you said, she is such a doll. Some of her photoshoots, she does look like an Eastern Barbie or maybe even a middle eastern Barbie. For such a beautiful girl who can also act, it is indeed a rare combination. She is already so popular in China, despite not being a Han Chinese. We can only imagine what it would be like, if she is.

Yes, this new wave of cdramas started only in recent years, way after you left HK and Guangzhou. But your stay there in those places likely made it even more interesting, in that you are able to see just how far cdramas have improved in recent years. For historical cdramas, lots of the improvements come from HK directors who moved to the mainland to explore better opportunities and showcase their talents to a wider audience. The director of TBW, for instance, is from Hong Kong.

I enjoy interacting with all kinds of people, and interacting with non-Chinese is always such a bonus because of cross cultural differences. And as a Chinese, I cannot help but harbour that tiny bit of pride to see how far cdramas have progressed in gaining international appeal and respect.

Really look forward to exchanging views on TBW, with you and so many others, once the subs are out.

I doubt it is going to be free. Especially if you wish to binge. Most of the money for this drama has been made by Youku, in the broadcast in China. Huace/CM likely made money from selling the rights to the broadcast in S Korea, Thailand plus other countries that will come on board later.

I think they are only charge us to watch this drama with the English subs. They need some returns on their investments too. It is only fair.

Long ago, historical Wuxia type of movies from Hong Kong and Taiwan were very popular.

These days, China produces lots of great historical Wuxia and Xianxia dramas. With the pandemic over the last two years, more and more people in China switched from watching movies to dramas. I think the same could be happening outside China. Other than those Hollywood blockbusters, most people would rather stay home and watch either cdramas or kdramas on their big screen tv.

For historical dramas, Chinese dramas are already much better than kdramas. The production sets are much bigger and more realistic. Kdramas still have an edge in modern dramas.

And our dear Dilraba, she really shines in historical dramas, although she is doing just as well in modern dramas. In looks and acting abilities, she can match some of the best Korean actresses.

And she has just ventured into a serious role in modern drama. So, following her is going to be fun, as she is at a crossroad in her acting career.

You started watching historical cdramas 2 years ago? Did you watch The Long Ballad last year? That was a good one that Dilraba acted in.

Likely part 1 first, followed closely by part 2.

There was this chart in Twitter, and someone in Twitter interpreted that chart to indicate that TBW has 14b views in China.

It will make all the fans of TBW very very happy. But, personally, I am not too sure. That chart is in Chinese. Someone kin Twitter could have interpreted those figures wrongly. 14b views looks really really high, even though I feel TBW is a great drama.

So, I would rather Youku release official viewcount, rather than relying on that chart in Twitter.

The drama was completed on 18 May. Youku may only release viewcount a week or two later.

Tencent is different. We can get immediate feedback on viewcount even on the MDL page of TOOL and SSS by just clicking on the Tencent video icon.

Youku prefers to use their heat index to track popularity of their dramas. And, using that index, TBW has done very very well. It is the only drama to hit 10,000 since 2018, which is the highest possible a drama can hit.

When Immortal Samsara is aired, you may want to take note of the Youku heat index it hits. Look out for the maximum, and how many times it hit the maximum. TBW hit 10,000 around 9 times.

Meanwhile, we wait for official news from Youku, how many views have been recorded in China.

I must add, not just friends I met on the page of TLB, but new friends I am meeting on this page.

I do not blame you for not knowing Mandarin. It is not easy to master it at all.

I happened to be an overseas Chinese, studied Chinese/Mandarin for years, but English is my first language.

Over the years, due to lack of use, both my Chinese/Mandarin went downhill.

I must credit Dilraba for making me switch from watching kdramas to cdramas. The charming girl from Xinjiang made me support her ethnic minority background. Since then, watching lots of cdramas in raw has helped to improve both my Chinese and Mandarin.

For non-Chinese overseas viewers, I am already amazed that so many of you are watching cdramas. And also amazed that Dilraba has so many international followers. And Allen too, has so many international fans.

So, I look forward to rewatch everything with everyone and look forward to wonderful discussions of this amazing drama with international friends I met, while on the page of The Long Balled.

There is no need to worry about this. When they showed this in China, the gap between the last day of part 1 and the start of part 2 was a mere 3 days

Croton is fully aware we have been waiting for months, and are rather upset. There is no reason why they would not want to release everything as quickly as possible.

But, they will do it in a way that preserve or maximise their revenue. However they do it, I personally believe, it will be rather swift.

Yup. I saw it. It is one those fake accounts, with a malicious link. Wise of you, that you did not open it.

I honestly do not know how Croton will do it. My best advice? Be mentally prepared for anything. Could be all episodes at once, for VIP members. Or just two episodes every night. But part 1 only has 22 episodes. So, even at 2 a night, it will quite fast. In 11 days, part 1 will be done, and we will likely get part 2 right after that.

Don't worry. it will take more than one click for anyone to steal our money in the bank. But, it may be possible for that one click to infect our computer, if it indeed something that malicious. Thankfully, it isn't.

I think the technical people at MDL must be trying to find a solution to this issue. These fake accounts and links must be stopped, or else the next wave could be something vicious enough to destroy our computer system.

Not to worry. We do it the way we did for TLB. We will start our discussion from E1 of Part 1 on the Part 1 page. And then, we move over here for Part 2.

Even though there has already been some discussions, I doubt we have exhausted all the ideas. People who have discussed earlier have also been holding back some of their thoughts, waiting for the rest of us.

With the subs, even those who Mandarin is great, may still find something new that they might have missed.