Xiang83

Constructive criticism is always helpful. But there will unfortunately also be malicious trolls that make all sorts of comments just to shoot down an actress, or try to dissuade people from engaging in contributions.

For example, Mephisto is a misogynistic troll who goes around to various articles and leaves irrelevant derogatory comments in their desire to be the first poster, which you can see at the bottom of this article, They blocked me months ago after I engaged them in an exchange and they were unable to handle my retorts, where I also sharply pointed them out as a racist anti-chinese troll that goes to different C-Ent drama pages and C-Ent actress pages on MDL spraying hate at females.

Longtime MDL Writer CryssyAnne complained about Mephisto at the Support Forum for spamming her Recap article and also gave examples of Mephisto being racist while spamming other posts, but nothing happened:

https://kisskh.at/discussions/support/148162-spam-on-my-recent-article

~*~*~*~*

I put together three more in-depth articles this year. They are about the movie "Blades Of the Guardians", "Kitakata Kenzo: Suikoden", and two upcoming unaired dramas starring Zhang Yunlong opposite Ju Jing Yi and Esther Yu respectively.

https://kisskh.at/profile/Xiang83/articles

These articles are all voluntary on my part, also because a majority of MDL users interested in C-Ent or J-Ent won't be able to understand the original contents unless someone can do more than translate. I was very happy to do each of them, such as BoTG because of it being a classic wuxia film and not a modern wuxia attempt. And my pre-airing predictions for it have come true, given how it easily broke box office records, rewrote the expectations for wuxia films, and became the highest-grossing wuxia film of all time globally and earned a CPOPwave nomination.

Have fun, if you read those!

Thank you for your appreciation! I had a blast putting this article together for two talented ladies plus the rest of their talented colleagues!

I definitely believe all of them should get more love.

"It's such a shame that posts like this get lost in the sea of clickbaits that don't offer anything." - Lost in a sea of- Why would this article be lost amongst other articles? Is there something you've noticed that I am not aware of?

Liang Yongqi is someone I and another MDL user hope will go into films, as we briefly discussed below. And he will be in this drama plus another not-yet-aired drama with Wu Jin Yan. That's a great bonus for watchers like me! The extensive buffet of micro-emoting and tension in "Those Flowers" is going to be delicious, especially with Huang Jue and Tu Songyan and Liu Dan. "The Truth Within" also had all this, and I was so happy with Jiang Qilin and Liu Ya-se in that drama with Luo Yunxi!

April was a month of significant news in C-Ent, including Yunhe being rejected for the 7th time in five years by CNIPA for being unable to access raw data (which also means anyone who's been touting Yunhe as a holy grail for validating their dramas looks completely amusing to the rest of us who know better over the past five years), the first longform "AI blockbuster" looking to be released in Q3 2026 which Tencent and IQiyi head honchos are referring to- If you really want to know the exact details of those issues also pertaining to why extras in Hengdian have been experiencing significantly less jobs with AI advancements and IQiyi's approach with AI, this discussion will be illuminating.

If you care about the human element in Chinese dramas and the future, then yes, this will be highly relevant to what is happening right now, and why:

https://kisskh.at/profile/Xiang83/feeds/JBExRjtP#comment-26160468

His upcoming dramas with him in a leading role are shared in this just-published MDL article I put together, where he also has a supporting role amongst an award-winning cast of "Those Flowers" (and this drama should be airing soon in June):

https://news.mydramalist.com/article/wu-jin-yan-and-jiang-shu-ying-stride-towards-the-light-in-those-flowers

Thank you :D Two lovely ladies here, in the photoshoot for OK!China. Their chemistry and tension is delicious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljUKgvP4_rc

Of course I prefer "Above The Wall" to air first. Ai Mi clearly gained her acting improvements through non-idol dramas such as "Minning Town", around veteran actors and actresses and great Directors, such as Wu Er Shan and Cao Dun. After she graduates from Beijing Film Academy, I would like her to return to acting in a non-idol drama. That's where the audience numbers and accolades are, especially if she wants to go into films and be recognised for her professional capabilities. She has obviously been steadily building her filmography in nationally-watched productions with unique roles, if one looks at it objectively from a professional mandarin media perspective.

Ai Mi was praised for her performance as the younger version of Qu Tong in a non-idol drama lead by Luo Jin. I'm sure more than 95% of C-drama watchers on MDL have no idea how difficult it is to become the FL in a non-idol drama directed by Cao Dun, or get a significant supporting role in a strong ensemble cast of skilled veterans in a non-idol drama directed by Mao Kunyu. It's called serious auditioning that can take several rounds, where your talent and acting chops will help you qualify for the role or not.

All this is not obvious to those who are solely idol-drama watchers. MDL is an echo chamber, where many viewers also have no idea Yunhe has been a joke all along. Yunhe has zero credibility with the chinese government or industry insiders after being rejected for the 7th time in five years by CNIPA due to being unable to access raw data. Watching someone wave Yunhe as a holy grail reference to proclaim a drama is awesome tells me enough about where they stand on the credibility scale for assessing C-Ent drama success.

If you watch "Beloved" (which I did because of the Director and Luo Jin), you'll see how strong her micro-emoting is. And when Cao Dun is in charge, I am looking forward to another level above what she exhibited in "Beloved".

Looking great! Thank you for your hard work!

The compilation is wonderful emotional and stylistic popcorn, to see how well the leads get along in many different situations. If Youku doesn't want to be in IQiyi's very-dire financial straits for churning out overly-budgeted romance dramas with poor returns in numbers (and shows most obviously in their inability to generate enough revenue but only increase losses), focusing on plot and characterisations should be first for longform dramas to elevate the talents of the cast getting to showcase their acting ranges, and romance only as a side dish.

"A-Chan" is looking very promising. When the drama airs, I hope the editing will also be strong, so the entire production shines.

Liang Yongqi does complex characters well. He was excellent opposite Wu Jinyan in "The Double". I also found him to be the best thing about "Feud"(which I watched a bit of and then dropped, also because his acting is severely under-utilised there).

I'm hoping that with these three dramas including the other two I mentioned in the article, he might be able to go into films. Would like to see him opposite Simon Yam or Francis Ng.

Tu Song Yan is an actor very easy and pleasant on my eyes. Yu Hewei, him, Luo Jin and Huang Jue shift very easily and naturally between moods and emoting, because they have excellent control over minute details of expression and knowing what to withhold.

You mentioned City Of The City, where I remember he maintains tension and easily dominates a scene without overshadowing the other actress:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cxKErgzKSJM

I'm in glee with this cast for this drama of "Those Flowers". I will apologise if the airing date for this drama doesn't happen on 2 June, but I wish IQiyi could make life easier for those of us wanting to write and share about their non-idol or non-romance dramas.

Oh yes, here is the trailer: https://www.weibo.com/2949989907/R1Eev0WcD

Everyone's got different preferences, so no worries :)

Zhou Ye does nothing for me in her historical costume dramas, but I absolutely enjoyed her presence in "Dream Of Golden Years" where she captivated me with her performance. That's a drama I'd recommend with Zhou Ye in it.

I'm also interested in another drama starring Wu Jinyan, and I like how she insists on pushing herself. "Origin: Gate of Rebirth" is where she is a top thief which wrapped in February this year, and the action scenes looked great in the BTS:

https://kisskh.at/777257-chong-sheng-zhi-men-yuan-qi

Some people have go-to artists. For me, the main creative team plays the biggest primary part in what I choose to watch, unless one of my top must-watch artists are in there, such as Luo Jin. The one time I deviated from those basics, based on a trailer? I learned my lesson.

I reckon Wu Jinyan will have a positive ending. It's Jiang Shuying's character that I'm more concerned about for an ending, because she has expressed an affinity for tragic characters.

Wu Jin Yan was great in "The Double". She actually saved certain scenes for me, at times when Director Lu Hao Jiji couldn't be reined in by the other two Directors. And when Lu Hao Jiji has complete autonomy working with a main screenwriter of certain issues, the likes of "Rebirth" with horrible editing, over-usage of full frontal lingering shots making for some awkward unnatural moments interrupting the flow, at least three different endings, eye-blinking characterisation, and an inconsistent storyline is what you get.

The creative team for "This Flowers" at least has me assured, just like the main creative team for "The Heir".

Now, if only IQiyi could at least provide decent promotions instead of having a few of us guessing whenever a specific date comes out... But even before 2025, IQiyi had significant cashflow issues (which is why dramas such as "The Unclouded Soul" dropped in December 2025 also had no promotions). January this year was quite bad. April during the IQiyi World Conference was terrible.

https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/315581941972577

[ But outside this grand event, another screen shows a figure: 1.41 USD.

This is iQIYI's closing price on the Nasdaq screen, with a market value of only 1.361 billion USD, just one step away from the delisting red line. When it was listed in 2018, iQIYI's stock price peaked at 46 USD, with a market value exceeding 31.2 billion USD. From 31.2 billion to 1.3 billion, it has dropped 97% in less than eight years.

While the outside world debates whether AI can perform well, the capital market only cares about whether AI can tell a good narrative. Over the past decade, iQIYI has burned through hundreds of billions in funds but has yet to find a sustainable path to profitability.

In 2025, this streaming giant's content costs still reached 15.45 billion yuan, accounting for 56% of total annual revenue; the annual net loss was 206.3 million yuan, going from profit to loss; operating profit was only 640 million yuan, a 73% plunge compared to 2.36 billion yuan in 2024. Just two years earlier, in 2023, iQIYI's net profit was as high as 1.93 billion yuan, the peak since the company's founding.

It took just two years to go from peak to loss.

More troubling is that iQIYI's free cash flow has plummeted from over 3.3 billion yuan in 2023 to less than 10 million yuan, rapidly degrading its self-sustaining ability.... ]

This drama has an A-budget, and ran out of money for drama promotions. They spent it where it mattered, including the styling for male characters.

As someone who read the novel, this drama did a great job of adapting a mediocre novel and also making many characters hugely relatable. I really enjoyed Feng Suige's underlings, especially Lu Ke. Even the villains touched my heart.

Li Qin was great in this! Chen Zheyuan was a very pleasant surprise for me. One kiss was enough for me. Not a fan of kisses in C-Dramas, given what I grew up with for C-Ent.

Glad you enjoyed reading this! It was great that OK!China shared many awesome details about Jiang Shuying and Wu Jinyan, whose acting I always enjoy. I don't think anybody has shared about Huang Jue and Tu Songyan's filmography or achievements on MDL, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to do so. They are in a league of their own. And so is Liu Dan.

My grouse is that IQiyi airdrops dramas without warning. They did it with "River Sunset" of 44 episodes early this year: https://kisskh.at/27149-sunset-in-glory

"River Sunset" took 8 years to see the light. 2 June is the first time a specific date was mentioned for this drama. "Those Flowers" wrapped filming in November 2024 and if it doesn't air on 2 June (given what was shared during IQiyi World Conference in April), it should air soon enough with the teasers from CCTV's weibo account late last year and April this year.

It is a killer cast. The OK!China article providing insight into Wu Jinyan and Jiang Shuying for this drama was fantastic. It was such an enjoyable lengthy article.

After looking through what was available online, I took several days to put together an article to also share what Huang Jue and Tu Songyan have achieved as actors. Many on MDL aren't aware of exact details (plus the chinese sites sometimes get certain filmography details mixed up about Huang Jue), while also mentioning Liang Yongqi's upcoming dramas:

https://news.mydramalist.com/article/wu-jin-yan-and-jiang-shu-ying-stride-towards-the-light-in-those-flowers

My only grouse is that IQiyi airdrops dramas without warning. And they have done it before, such as with "River Sunset" of 44 episodes early this year: https://kisskh.at/27149-sunset-in-glory

That production took 8 years to see the light this year. "Those Flowers" is slated to air on 2 June (first time there is an actual specific date in all the mentions of this drama), but could be another date. Either way, it wrapped filming in November 2024 and should see the light soon, given the teasers from the weibo accounts of CCTV and "Those Flowers".

I'm not a Yang Zi fan and I usually don't watch her dramas, but I'll say this drama is definitely worth reveling in. The first two episodes made me so hungry, and the first episode with child actors and actresses is very well done. Between the intricacies of ink-making and food, I really enjoy the build-up and pacing of the storytelling. Li Zhen is very talented, but she also learns to earn her stripes and she makes mistakes. She's not a know-it-all business wonderwhiz, whereby I usually can't stand those types of dramas complete with OTT speeches from the FL that I find to be unnatural.

The family politics doesn't make me bang my head. Some elders are typically idiosyncratic and bogged down by traditions, but the drama will progress to show you how some changes can happen naturally for the better. Romance is a side-dish.

I came for Cao Lei whose acting I always enjoy, while curious about how Elvis would do here because I adored him in the Republican-era "The Guardians". I stayed for the storyline and art, and Yang Zi being able to make me root for her. At one point, I genuinely had tears in my eyes when she had tears in her eyes.

Elvis and Yang Zi have this natural chemistry of slow burn, from friends to more than that. It's beautiful to watch. I haven't watched a majority of Yang Zi's dramas, but still reckon this is her strongest pairing or second-strongest pairing with an ML because Elvis is a very good but under-rated actor on MDL.

Lovely cinematography and apt colour-grading: Soft, warm and soothing. Lots of well-crafted shots showing you how the scale of things and details bigger than the people are most important, as the bigger picture. The main Director definitely knows what they are doing since it is Hui Kai Dong, who directed "Winter Begonia", "Arsenal Military Academy" and "Story of Yanxi Palace" alongside Guo Hao (who isn't directing in this drama). The rest of the main creative team are also highly noteworthy, with screenwriters Gao Xuan and Ren Baoru as examples.

At the 24th Huading Awards in 2018, Ren Baoru and Gao Xuan won Best Screenplay Award of China's top 100 TV dramas for "The Way We Were" starring Luo Jin and Tiffany Tang. That screenplay was also shortlisted for Best Original Screenplay at the 25th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards. At the 29th Shanghai TV Festival in 2024, they won Best Original Screenplay with "Imperfect Victim" while this screenplay was also nominated for best screenplay at the 32nd China TV Golden Eagle awards.

20 episodes have been well-planned. Episode 24 had me mentally saluting-

I usually cannot finish dramas where romance is the main aim. I prefer dramas where romance is a side-dish or non-existent, and storytelling is strong while characterisations are engagingly nuanced and flawed yet endearing ie non-idol drama types. Winning all the time doesn't happen. Negatives happen, but also positives, all natural. Persistence and ingenuity by the female characters is a great reward to enjoy.

Very apt balance of details about tradition, art, developing friendships and characters, all wrapped in a main storyline progressing well with sub-stories. The storytelling is strong, and the editing is good overall. This is one of those dramas where some viewers might not be able to pinpoint why it keeps you here, but I can. Definitely not for romance-only or romance-focused watchers.

Wu Jin Yan stars in a female-centric non-idol modern suspense drama that as of now, is slated to air in June. IQiyi appears to have unfortunate financial issues as per certain news details, so as per the pattern exhibited with some of their dramas such as "The Unclouded Soul", a sudden airdrop is possible.

The cast is top-notch. The article I put together for her and the rest of the leads has been published today:

https://news.mydramalist.com/article/wu-jin-yan-and-jiang-shu-ying-stride-towards-the-light-in-those-flowers

I don't know if it is due to experience or too much C-Ent over the years, but I found Jiangyue rather tame and almost boring, because she has a simple one-track mind of jealousy and insecurity (which I deem very easy to handle). And is all too real.

In terms of being dragged back, I see it as stressful but something Li Zhen can cope with because whenever she is at the main Li family household, she's mostly busy helping the Li family stay alive and preventing further decline, ink-wise.

Having watched episode 20, the one I would want to slap is someone else (it's not the one getting slapped in this episode). But that one should wise up after episode 20, based on the previews of episodes 21 and 22 :D

"The Heir" is very soothing for me. Between lots of beautiful history pertaining to inkstones and creation, sumptuous food, negative characters I can easily tolerate, a strong easy main plotline to follow... Relishing ingenuity, perseverance, and relationships of strong female characters understanding each other is a great way to end the day XD

Considering how much more malicious, annoying and horrible elders could be, when they are against someone... I'd say the two Li family members against our FL are easily watchable for me, simply because they are merely pathetic, typically not bright, and much less-annoying than what I would expect (also because they are relatively incompetent). My sympathies though, since you're not used to this.

Traditions can be beautiful but also come with varying levels of tediousness. Incredibly outdated limiting traditions that cannot change can only change through two circumstances. And episode 20 is one of those circumstances.

Confucianism dictates that the elderly are to be revered with deep respect, and elders should be cared for unquestioningly. The parent-child relationship is the foundation of all virtues, where children are to care for and respect parents accordingly... Right there are two people who don't deserve any of this. Thankfully the circumstances in episode 20 should be sufficient catalyst for much-needed change to the Li family.

Thank you for your exercise of vocabulary. Also for the chuckles. I'd recommend your post as an example of how to sklifully maximise capslock XD

Set in 685 to 688 CE as per the settings of 周垂拱年, Di Renjie must tackle five cases, while balancing legal principles with feelings.

Changes in government are intertwined with folklore creating eerie atmosphere and supernatural elements, but this series is ultimately about human nature, where the human heart can be more frightening than monsters. In-depth investigations tackle the chaos created by strange forces, where reality via evidence dismantles fear and other uncertainties in the fog of the human heart. "妖鬼喻人心" is most apt for this series, where demons and ghosts are metaphors for the human psyche.

Nuo theatre, fox demons, water towns, temples- In rainy misty settings of the Jiangnan Circuit (south of the Yangtze River), cases must be unraveled to understand abuses of power, human desires, and potential conspiracy which lies behind their mysteries.

Adding to what one fellow MDL user shared earlier, traits of those who will help Di Renjie solve cases include:

Duan Shishi - Aids in the investigation, skilled at tracking, and skilled in changing disguises.
Chu Qinglan - Helps in uncovering details of a case, and in the reasoning process of solving a case

Wu Zetian portrayed by Golden Horse Award-winner Vivian Wu will be quite fascinating and stirs my curiosity most, given her iconic roles such as Wen Xiu in the 1987 movie "The Last Emperor of China". Looking forward to enjoying all interactions of Feng Shaofeng with the veterans of the cast and his team, as tensions peak!

Bonus: If you want to enjoy the ending song MV of visuals as it is, with lyrics, and nothing else:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1EEGv6cEPG/

Main theme song of this drama:《雾散》ie The Fog Disperses by 小时姑娘 as posted from her bilibili account

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV172GL6gEV6/

Latest trailer, as of yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyDHWIGYRQI

Very suitably atmospheric and eerie!

Today:

"若儿, 我回来了 ｡ 我回来了 ｡"

"Qi Feng... Qi Feng..." Episode 2 opening scenes- Now that's a way to introduce an episode!

Posters of individual characters and scenes are gorgeously sublime:

https://www.weibo.com/8461676080/R0J1q12og

For those of you wondering where to watch "Minning Town" officially with English subs, NewTV热播剧场 curates the best of CCTV dramas. All 23 episodes are here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpZqeVqtMKk&list=PLUg6CGAXr7pktTjLdLYzBtgpjUMgUfkaZ