WK1

Haha! You used a new name, no wonder I cannot recognise it. That old one, for sure, I can recognise! You said you were a student, something like that. Am I right?? Yes, we exchanged views a couple of times on the page of TLB.

It seems that he has not crossed that line. It has continued to be love, right till E16. But, later on, I have no idea. And even reading the novel will not help, since he was only like a brother to her in the novel. The screenwriter can take his character whichever fits the story that she want to tell. For dramatic effect, may even make it such that he is willing to die for her, maintaining that love till the very end. That will make many viewers cry.

In that case, just wait for the legal platform. These unofficial platforms that you mentioned, their subs may not be good. And poor subs could well do more damage than watching it raw. Especially if you have read the novel.

Quite a number of non-Chinese viewers who are here. They read the novel and are watching it raw, and just making deductions of what is going on from all the actions. Because all the acting is so good, they are able to follow some portions of it. Many of them are waiting for officials subs.

I could understand maybe about 70-80%. Still, I am one of those waiting for the subs. It is to be fair to the drama producers. Lots of money spent in making this drama. We enjoy it, so it is only fair they get their money.

Good for you, to use the spoiler function.

It will be revealed later, of, if you look at the relationship chart right above, in the Photos section, he has a one-side crush on Ji Yunhe. Ji Youhe loves only Changyi, but this does not seem to lessen his crush. Guy is really determined. Drama is still unfolding, so not sure when he will let go of his crush.

OAO was really popular, because sometimes, people like that kind of storyline, where mutual love is prevented from happening because of something, whatever that thing is. This is not a new trope. It is as old as Romeo and Juliet. The Hollywood blockbuster of some years ago, Love Story, merely changed the story slightly, and it became such a big hit.

So, this sort of storyline, somehow people are drawn to the pain. Maybe it reminds them of their own love story, that there were someone whom they love and who did love them, but circumstances prevented them from doing so. So, they see their own love story being portrayed in a drama and are touched by it.

Furthermore, viewers already know that the happy part will come in Forever and ever.

And both Allen and Bai Lu acted very well in both dramas. Although the core plot is not really new, good acting can charm viewers and they certainly did in those two dramas. Especially when they did have a happy ending.

I agree with you, that Allen uses his eyes to do a lot of acting. Just happy that here in TBW, he is also using his mouth.

Thanks so much! They know we have to wait for a few days for the next few episodes. These lessen our pain while waiting.

You did? But so many complained about that, and I usually do not keep track of who does all this complaining. And so, you were disappointed about lack of kisses between Dilraba and Leo, in the The Long Ballad?

I wish I do, but I don't. I can only tell, the earliest is April 2 (because this drama finishes on 1 April in China, for VIP viewers) or around 16 April (it finishes on 15 April, for non-VIP viewers in China), or it could be around 22 April, which is the widely rumoured date.

If your Chinese is ok, you can always watch it raw first, and join in the discussion now. And then watch it later with good Eng subs.

But, I must say, it is rather troublesome to do. We must always hide important details in spoiler, in order to hide plot details from others who have yet to watch this. It is still ok though. If we need to hide in spoiler, so be it. So, the key question is still whether you can handle Chinese. I am told that the subs in the unofficial channels are not good.

Or maybe you are waiting for the official channels, because you really want to support the official channel and watching on unofficial channel is just not fair. For me, I watch now, on unofficial channel. But, I will definitely watch it again later with good subs. Because, my Chinese is not great. Also, I want to support both Allen and Reba, by watching on official channel.

Haha, I have watched Bai Lu's dramas. And I fully agree with you. She is hardly a shy one, when it comes to doing kisses.

I am told that Dilraba is a close friend of Allen's wife. Maybe that helped to put both Allen and his wife in a great degree of trust, in doing kiss scenes. There is always a first time, if you know what I mean. So, this is the first time Allen is not hold back, showing that both he and his wife have gotten over that barrier of trust in their relationship.

We shall see what happens in his future dramas. If there more kisses, we can say that in TBW, he and his his wife broke through that trust barrier. If he again refrain from doing kisses, it can only mean that his wife can only trust Dilraba but not other women.

Relationship is very complicated. And we can all tell that for Allen, his relationship with his wife is far far more important to him then doing all those kisses. If people are not happy about what he does or what he does not do, it is their problem, not his.

Indeed. We need more people like you to be here, to speak up for Allen, hightlight his strengths. Onlycdrama also speaks up, but we need more Allen fans to do so. Dilraba fans will never want to turn TBW into her drama. This is their joint drama. They should both shine and get equal attention.

Perhaps Allen fans are a bit sad that he is not getting enough screen time. But, that is just the way the director wishes to do the story telling. His time will be coming real soon, more screen time I mean.

So, maybe more Allen fans will descend upon this page, when the later episodes are aired.

And not just netizens in China. Even here in MDL, lots of people said the same thing, urging him to give up on romance dramas, since he does not like to do kisses.

Perhaps, after crossing the barrier here, gaining the trust of his wife, and his wife comfortable in seeing him do kisses, he might just do more in future.

Still, kissing should not be held as a core acting skill. Allen's skill set is far wider than that. Kissing should just be icing on the cake. People who do not like Allen, they are likely only using the lack of kissing as a convenient excuse to thump him down.

So far, their kisses have indeed been very polite. Nothing compared with kisses she did in Eternal love of dream or You are my glory.

Not sure about later episodes, whether their kisses will be more passionate. If it stays at this same level of politeness, it must surely be out of deep deep respect Allen has for his wife. If the level of passion does go up, it can only mean his wife is comfortable with that. His wife has no feeling of insecurity whatsoever.

Passionate kisses will increase the level of CP. But, kisses is not the only element viewers are looking for. Eye gazes, hand holding, body proximity in hugging, etc. All these can convey CP as well.

Lili, there is a romance tag in this drama. I think in China, and later, in the overseas market, it will be marketed more as a romance drama than a dark drama of suffering and pain. They need those kisses to convey romance, even if this is a historical drama.

And doing romance drama is Dilraba's forte. We've seen it on display in so many of her past dramas. Not many cdrama actresses can look their male leads with those beautiful and alluring eyes of hers, those inviting lips and do kisses like she does.

And Allen is good too! Just that out of the desire not to upset his wife (this is what many people suspect - I am stating this as a fact), he did not do many in the past. Some people even suspect that a body double was used in his past kiss scenes.

But here, somehow, he was set free from that burden of holding back. And we are just enjoying that benefit.

And we are talking about 10 times up to E16? There could be more coming. As the director said, this is to compensate for all the people who complained about no kisses in The Long Ballad.

Do you mean taking revenge on Yunhe? This is not a new trope. When he finally understands why Yunhe did what she did, he will forgive her. This trope has been used in countless Cdramas, and I suspect, also Kdramas.

But the key difference here will be the acting. The fine acting of the two stars will make this trope believeable. And this being a cross species romance, and Changyi's species values honesty so much, Yunhe will need to do lots of things to change his mind about her. Really looking forward to all that!!

Gosh, this is making me hungry!! Yearning for calamari now.

He did? Fried it and took it with chilli dip, Singapore style?

You must be quite happy then?? You were so disappointed he did not do enough in his past dramas.

With a beautiful woman like Dilraba, and the script does call for kisses, all the motivation is there

Dilraba must have convinced his wife, don't worry about those kisses. They are just professionals doing their job. Nothing more and nothing less

Here in the drama, it looks like he will become more and more powerful. If that squid monster is not careful, Changyi can zap him and turn him into a nice dish of calamari for Yunhe.

Thus far, it is really fun to watch her. We know that she has evil intentions. But two things are making us less terrified or hateful, when we see her. I mean, thus far. Later it might change. Two things:

1. She is pretty, unlike those evil stepmother out of Hollywood.
2. She is not all that powerful. Each time Ji Yunhe transforms into the nine-tailed fox, Yunhe looks more like a terrorist and Shunde looks terrified. However, judging from the comments of novel readers, I suspect this will change later on. I could be totally wrong, but I seem to sense that she herself will become more powerful later. How else can novel readers hate her so much??

But, what a great actress she is, Cristy Guo. She plays a character that is quite the opposite of her real personality and is doing such a great great job. She is Reba's peer. Graduated from the same academy that Reba went to. Wonder if they had known each other since their days in the STA. Hope that drama directors are watching her character in TBW and be amazed and give her more opportunties to play the FL in future dramas.