WK1

The pie is pretty big. But, so is their appetite.

If you watch carefully, right after the scene when the ML walked away from the lava lake after speaking to the young heavenly king, there is a caption that says 300 years later. The post production people forgot to add a final caption to explain, but the young actor who acted as the heavenly king explained, it was the final pearl that the ML gave to the FL that transformed her into a mermaid, after being inside of her for 300 years . She would have the powerful mermaid tail that easily helped her break out of the crust covering the lava lake. After which she found the ML sitting by the cliff and she joined him.

There was a document that circulated around that supported this explanation of event, leading to the final 5 minutes in the drama. So, it was a happy ending for the ML and FL.

Which part of the final scenes? The final 5 minutes? How she got her tail?

I tend to agree with you. I was told that without any warning, last year, Youku aired Word or Honor. Tencent had wanted to air Immortaliy and was hoping that they would coordinate in the airing dates. But Youku went ahead with WOH, and Tencent had to delay. By the time Tencent was ready with Immortality, the Chinese authorities had clamped down on BL dramas. And now, that drama is stuck on the shelf.

So, yah, I will say the relationship between Tencent and Youku is complex. The owners of the companies obviously know each other and are at least good business friends. But, the two companies sometimes collaborate, yet, at other times, they just compete like crazy.

Youku does have its own app. But, so far, it can only be used by the viewers in China.

Tencent is smart. It created the WeTV app for international viewers like us. Youku is a bit slow, in this regard.

I suspect, Youku wants to compete with Tencent and Iqiyi in the China market first. This is their first collaboration with Dilraba, for two dramas, TBW and Legend of Anle. I think they want to see if streaming dramas exclusively on their platform in China is a workable option. Or must they still stream on Tencent's platform?

The success of TBW in China clearly showed that it is viable. They don't need Tencent.

If Immortal Samsara is equally successful, which I am sure it will be, I think for all future dramas, they will go solo. Shows that they can compete against Tencent and Iqiyi, even tho these other two are the market leaders in the streaming business in China.

Once they are comfortable with that, they may next turn to create an app for international viewers, the way Tencent did.

It will not happen to IS, because Youku is the sole producer.

And Youku has its own channel in YouTube. It is already airing a modern drama staring Seven Tan, using its own channel.

Liz, if you like this, and you feel that it deserves much higher than what is shown up there, you can rate this as high as you feel it deserves. That will help to counter all the haters and antis.

I gave a more detailed explanation of what could have happened between Youku and Huace, the two co-producers of TBW in a post not too far below.

I got in touch with someone at Croton Media. And that person mentioned about their agreement with Youku, that subs can only be released after 18 May. That person also said this matter cannot be made official, as it is a very sensitive issue between them and Youku

I promised this person at Croton, I will do my best to explain to international viewers to come to this page.

The show yet to end in China, for non VIP Youku members. Last episode will air on 18 May.

I watched the clip and I fully agree with you. They are going to show the cast members clearing the customs at a typical airport. We see some African looking policemen meeting Reba and her male co-stars, supposedly exiting from arrival area and waiting to be picked up. So, yah, they will likely use some fictitious country in Africa with some strange name, so no 'real' country will be given a bad name for being associated with crimes. So totally agree with you. That colonial looking building could well be somewhere in Chengdu, the city where PE is filmed. The production people would have scouted around and found something that would fit a foreign country. Reba in that pantsuit looks very much like a prosecutor. Everything looks great! In court, she might wear that official dark blue uniform. We shall see.

Yup. It is the pain that made people who have watched it in raw appreciate this drama. Pain that made people rushed for their tissue boxes. That is why we watch Xianxia in the first place. The more angst the better. But, there is also romance. And enough humour. It is mix of everything that made this drama a delight to watch.

I made too many posts. Cannot remember what I said previously. But May 18 is the last day of broadcast for this drama in China, for non-VIP members. So soon after that, we should get official subs from Croton Media.

Glad to be of help.

Johanna, this is a unique case, not likely to happen again. I have explained many times, and will do it again.

In this partnership between Youku and Huace/Croton Media, Huace got to the novelist first, and bought the rights from her. Whether they were sneaky or not, I do not know. But Youku is one who signed all the big stars to this drama. They paid big bucks, so they got the rights to air this exclusively in China, leaving Huace/Media the smaller market, which is the international market. The deal between them is that Croton Media can only release the English subs when Youku is done airing in China, which is 18 May.

While we do appreciate the fansubs, there is no doubt, that will lead to revenue leakage. You can be sure, Croton is going to end up earning less, because of the fansub. For all practical purposes, they are no different from Dramacool or Kissme. The subbers do not make money, but Croton will lose some. Lots of people will watch it in fansubs and move on to other dramas (if the fansubs can finish before 18 May).

Only faithful Reba or Allen supporters will wait for official subs.

For me, personally I do not feel bad watching it raw on Duboku. Because, when the official subs are out, I will watch it on Croton's YouTube channel, and then hang around here to discuss with all the pals from the days of TLB. That is my way of supporting Reba, and be fair to Huace/Croton Media. I can see that Youku is making a lot of money from TBW in China; but Huace/Croton Media need not be making lots of money.

Just saw a trailer of PE in Weibo. Reba is looking good. Fitting the role.
The production itself looks great! Unfortunately, I do not know how to post it here

Indeed! Very rare to have a stalker like that. I must be really fortunate to get this kind of attention.

But, you know, most stalkers are half crazy. I am not sure if this person is any different from most stalkers. So, I must also stalk this particular stalker. Go to the drama page of the drama this person likes, and stalk his behaviour there, and then report it here. So everyone here will know this stalker's true intention.

Whatever the case, we must resist doing what this person does, which is to go to that page and create trouble there.

Or else, we are just as crazy as this person is.

No I am not grumpy. It is so obvious to everyone you deliberately come here to make trouble, so that the drama you like will do well.

Do you think we are stupid not to know what you are trying to do? And what you are doing on the page of the other drama?

No wonder you keep getting angry when I showed how well TBW is doing. You get annoyed because it makes the drama you love look bad. But facts are facts. You cannot deny all those indices that show TBW is number one, no matter how hard you try.

Neither do you behave like a typical fan of the other drama. They do not come here and do what you do.

So, very clearly, you have a mental problem. You do not feel secure. You are psychologically unwell. Go see a specialist and get healed.

Interesting. If that is your intention, to be nice to me, the best way is to seek professional help. I seriously think you may have some mental issues.

We already read your opinion a thousand times. You said Youku productions are terrible. We show you evidence to prove otherwise, time and time again.

So which part of this conversation you do not understand?? You are a statistical outlier of no consequence to anyone here. You cannot seem to understand what the majority feel but keep repeating the same stuff. We heard you, but you do not seem to be hearing us.

Do you need help but can't afford the money to get help?

Yeah, I now have a very nice dog who keeps following me around. Very tempted to shout 'fetch' and see what is the reaction.