Happy New Year to everyone who has enjoyed and is enjoying Whispers of Fate!
On this first Monday of 2026, I'm happy to share that 2025 ended with a bang while 2026 opens splendidly with confirmational details of the phenomenal achievements by Whispers of Fate, which at least one producer mentioned way before airing that this is a heroism-focused xuanxia drama. Hence there is no romance hashtag for this drama.
Actively airing since 24 October to 27 November 2025, fellow drama-lovers such as kwanto, DramFun29212, Areca hana and suzuko_d_law have been collating so many gems until end-December 2025 that I'd like to summarise some of their efforts and attribute the following details to them.
Three channel categories make up total viewership in China for the following market shares:
#1. Terrestrial/Satellite TV ~ 20% #2. OTT (online platforms e.g. iQiyi, Mango, Migu, Tencent etc) ~ 50% #3. IPTV (set-top boxes via China Mobile, China Telecom, etc) ~ 30%
WoF was broadcast on all three channel categories.
CVB (official govt.) calculates metrics for #1 & #3 separately; Maoyan/kuyun ("3rd parties") measures #1 & #2, but only from top 4 OTTs (Iqiyi, Tencent, Youku, Mango). Migu is excluded. CSM (leading media research organisation analogous to Nielsen's) is the only one who measures across all 3 channel categories using a methodology known as New TAM.
You will also see replies celebrating, such as "国家广播电视总局发布《中国视听大数据（CVB) 2025年国产电视剧收视报告》 认证，2025地方卫视黄金档首播收视人次1.6亿人次: 该份报告认《水龙吟》位列2025年芒果TV电视剧播放量第一。 恭喜《水龙吟》，芒果TV2025年冠 "
Hunan Satellite TV - CSM National Network Ratings - Number 1 across all Satellite TV for 19 days - CSM 71 (the richest cities) Ratings - Number 1 for 17 days
CVB rating also confirmed that SLY is top 3 in term of viewership from Satellite TV views in 2025, the only costume drama in the top 3.
For OTT #2: As of 6 December, WoF exceeded 4.9 billion views on MangoTV’s front-end broadcast statistics. The daily view count exceeded 100mil for 35 days, longest ever for Mango TV. As of 2 December, WoF ranked #4 on Maoyan’s chart after garnering more than 1.8 billion views within 39 days of broadcasting, which makes “Whispers of Fate” the fastest-moving entry of 2025 to move up the Maoyan chart for overall drama viewership. As of 30 December 2025, WoF ranked #2 on Maoyan chart for Online Drama effective views. WoF resoundingly broke all records for MangoTV, which might explain why MangoTV started a bidding war over Luo Yunxi's next historical costume drama.
Migu is a state-owned platform, and is not counted on Maoyan. Historical 12000 index surpassed and soared to 15107 peak index at one point. Viewership of other dramas in Migu were also lifted due to WoF due to viewers watching other dramas, while waiting for new WoF episode updates.
For #1#2 and #3: CSM (TAM) reports WoF "total viewing hours" = 384 mil vs. 225 mil for Joy of Life season 2. (Joy of Life Season 2 was the top drama of 2024.) According to CSM data, 2.838 billion views were reached across all platforms.
Despite newly-completing airing, in December 2025 "Whispers of Fate" received nomination for CPOP 2026 (only other two dramas within these 3 years to be recognised and nominated were “Joy of Life” and “Till The End Of The Moon”).
[ From early 2025 until now, CCTV and Rating China have chosen ONLY Shui Long Yin. In fact, SLY is their first nominated IP among drama, film, game, and other categories, is incredible. These two facts are the most authoritative and explosive. Gov officials know the real data domestic and international. After all, China Mobile, as SLY’s largest investor, has all the accurate data. ]
What is CPOP?
As per kwanto's explanation, CPOP promotes Chinese cultural works that have achieved outstanding results overseas in the past two years. This series of events showcases 20 representative Chinese pop culture IPs, including film and television dramas, novels, games, animations, and designer toys. Previous CPOP winners include "The Wandering Earth", "Black Myth Wukong", "Labubu", "Till The End Of The Moon" (Top 1), Honor of Kings (game). Only super-successful IPs are nominated.
All this was achieved despite suppression efforts and not paying protection fees to various mediums, such as Douban and Douyin. "Whispers of Fate" was airing at the same time as five other traffic actor dramas, and trolls repeatedly attacked this drama on Douban. Trolls also attacked "Whispers of Fate" on this drama page using Douban and Yunhe statistics to try to mislead other viewers, while also making other misleading claims such as stating Maoyan is an outlier.
Maoyan stats do not include Hunan TV, Migu or IPTV, whereby IPTV views via China Mobile subscriptions hold a higher market share than Satellite TV. IPTV data shows "Whispers of Fate" viewership was so strong that Whispers of Fate had at least twice the volume of each of the individual heat indexes for dramas ranked #2 and #3: https://lmtw.com/mzw/content/detail/id/249663
One drama producer during a live airing 2 to 3 years ago said if you sign Luo Yunxi, you are guaranteed a direct meeting to the CEO of a big platform whereby they will ask how to get a share and be a part of the project. A producer of "Shadow Punisher" during interviews claimed IQiyi did not approve S+ drama "Shadow Punisher" for 3 years, and claimed LYX is the key for approval.
As of 17 November 2025 on Douyin, Tang Lici's solo hashtag trended at least 700 million views while the hashtag seeking a one-sided romance trended only at 5.38 million views.
Despite being a competitor platform also broadcasting "Whispers of Fate", IQiyi bought billboards in Hong Kong for Whispers of Fate during its airing. In the footsteps of Mango & Migu’s big satisfaction thank-you ads weeks past the SLY finale, SLY peripheral brand KOOCI gave SLY a big “thank you” ad at Beijing Airport for 31 straight days, spotlighting Tang Lici. First time ever for a drama peripheral brand. SLY merchandise already hit nearly 19M in sales by Dec 12. For the final 5 episodes of this drama, all ad slots were filled and one of the most prestigious ads was another confirmation of the overwhelming success of this drama.
There are many other details of success and domestic appreciation. "Whispers of Fate" holds the MangoTV crown for multiple factors. Combined together, total real viewership for "Whispers of Fate" is among the highest of 2025. I hope this summary is a good start for all new viewers wondering how "Whispers of Fate" fared in 2025.
Ps. For those wondering about multiple sources outside of the Mandarin sources, here are a few examples from accounts in English also keeping track throughout the airing of the drama.
Maoyan released its annual statistics of various categories on 30 December 2025, dramas faring well getting their own weibo standalone post. I have shared different dramas below, so you can see for yourself.
Da Wit is always one step ahead of them~ Episode 10 is going to be yet another thrilling one! Can't wait for it…
10 of 12 episodes are out. I have finished 4 episodes. Engaging, heartwarming, funny, and educational. Jung Kyung-ho is devilishly effective in this role, a very versatile and talented actor! I may have to check out his filmography ;)
That's wonderful and heartening to hear, given how it difficult it can be to get a project approved. At episode…
I tend to prefer those types of dramas. I enjoyed several seasons of CSI (not CSI Miami) but when it got a bit too personal into the lives of the individual members of the team, I was less enamoured with those episodes.
In this case, Director is thankfully slowly drip-feeding bits of what we need to know about their past or personality, while altering the dynamics very subtly across every episode (since episode 2).
Do you know if there is a definite season 2 with this same cast, or is nothing confirmed yet?
I believe the first episode would have been AI subbed, if you are using IQiyi to watch. IQiyi's English translations…
The mandarin subtitles for the Japanese dialogue is mostly apt. For English, I am sure there are issues but hopefully not big.
On "the Man's Inhumanity to Man" drama page, I believe somebody did translations for subtitles and at least one or more MDL viewers emailed Youku asking Youku to use their subs (and Youku did so): https://kisskh.at/785144-731
I don't know if this solution could apply for this drama.
like Edward From other stuff but don’t love it’s ai subbed which means everything that’s text on screen…
I believe the first episode would have been AI subbed, if you are using IQiyi to watch. IQiyi's English translations can be good to sometimes-head-shaking, but I believe they are the platform that should have the best English subs.
Understandably people might have lost hope of this drama ever being aired, and the episodes this far showcase the quality of the production as overall solid. Director Zhao Yilong stood out as a supporting actor playing Zhen Ping in 2015's "Nirvana in Fire". In 2016, he shifted his focus to being a Director, and this drama was directed by him in 2017. He also directed "Love Game In Eastern Fantasy".
I encourage more people to watch this drama. For a war espionage drama, it is hugely immersive yet fun :D
While all the previous cases were rather meticulous, I can't help feeling like this 4th one, the people just feel…
I like how Qi Sizhe is indirectly admitting he can be wrong while Han Feng is also admitting he can be wrong, in their short exchange and in Han Feng's choice of reaction towards the insurance agent suspect.
Han Feng and Qi Sizhe are both softening the barrier between them. And Liu Ya-se is easing into the role as their bridge. I've mostly pegged Qi Sizhe's character after trying to figure out the extent of his PTSD (and after the fourth example of expected recklessness that got him into formal minor trouble with Professor Huang Fengming) relative to his role in the team and as an individual.
I don't think the fourth case is over yet.
The Director has improved on his previous works, such as "The Victims' Game" (An 8-episode taiwanese drama available on Netflix, about a senior forensic investigator with Asperger's Syndrome solving mysterious murders linked to his estranged daughter).
Between Qi Sizhe and hotpot, Zhu Qing Yue and corn, plus Han Feng with his nuts, that's a hunger-inducing BTS…
The Director is clinically precise with how he's been steadily micro-altering and subtly-shifting the gravity for the emotional core of this drama, in order to adjust relationships between the three leads. He's quite deft with many little details. After watching 11 episodes, he's achieved what I expected him to do on that subject. By episode 13, I should be able to finalise the answers to my two questions.
He's also improved on his previous efforts such as "The Victims' Game" (An 8-episode taiwanese drama available on Netflix, about a senior forensic investigator with Asperger's Syndrome solving mysterious murders linked to his estranged daughter).
Yesterday, the original scriptwriter of The Truth Within (Peeling Cocoon) revealed that the script was written…
That's wonderful and heartening to hear, given how it difficult it can be to get a project approved. At episode 10, and I find it interesting as to how the emotional core is evolving and bridged.
Xuanhuan. Though you could say, with some xianxia elements.
Xuanhuan is present with xianxia elements. Some people have wondered about the wuxia elements. I have highlighted three classical literature sources involving Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism which is heavily prevalent throughout the drama to explain the strong wuxia elements, with one specific reference for the sonic techniques of Tang Lici, Liu Yan, Fang Zhou and Hong-guniang:
This is really good, highly recommended! I watched the first 5 episodes and they flew by just like that! There's…
A great summary! Considering this was filmed 8 years ago, its quality is impressive. The humour is incredible, skilfully relieving tension at intervals even as the stakes keep getting higher and risks keep getting worse. Silent Tides and The Guardians are excellent dramas, and it's always great to have gems added to the same genre (I haven't watched Lost Identity).
Zhang Ning is a very talented actress. I'm happy to see her in this drama with Edward Zhang. Both of them are proof that great acting is timeless.
This also gives me hope for other dramas that have not yet aired but already surpassed four years since filming XD
I don't see her coming across as dumb and rigid. She's shocked and afraid in certain situations, because of abrupt…
The reason why I use the ballroom analogy is simple:
In that 80% who panic, it definitely includes the most competent professionals such as typical lawyers, doctors, accountants etc. The only ones who won't panic are those people with backgrounds or experience in handling weapons such as guns and/or knives, military, security, espionage, experience dealing with corpses, and some other interesting occupational habits that would lead to the likelihood of doing something different to stop a live shooter.
I wonder if this drama lost anything in editing due to censorship. Currently-airing forensic investigative drama "The Truth Within" lost 3 episodes due to censorship. And thank you for your well-wishes!
It's a lovely Friday! Sunny for completing laundry XDSilent Tides is pretty good and heart-wrenching in a different…
Enjoy binging on all the leads! Zhang Yishan is my favourite there, but the other two are also so good that at times, it's impossible and unnecessary to choose but just enjoy the smorgasboard of their professionalism XD
People who have lived through World War II in countries of East Asia and Southeast Asia are particularly sensitive to atrocities committed by the Imperial Army of Japan. My grandparents did not want to speak of what their parents shared with them. This is something a Western audience may not understand, unless they look at the lenses of suffering through whatever their ancestors suffered under the Nazis or any genocidal events such as the Holocaust.
Rape, torture, humiliation, and destruction of families was commonplace. Therefore, the powers that could best free the suffering populace was the choice of the people. Between the KMT and CCP, mistakes were made on both sides but especially under Chiang Kai-Shek of KMT, when people had to increasingly rely on the guerillas of the CCP to fight and survive the Japanese colonial invaders.
Forgetting all this and/or ignoring all this, when some viewers see the CCP being praised in a drama, they don't realise the CCP of a specific past versus present generations should be considered differently and accordingly as per the circumstances. When they don't, everything positive about CCP in a drama inevitable set during a time of being invaded and occupied and needing fellow Chinese citizens such as the CCP to survive and win becomes wrongly labelled as propaganda.
Republican-era C-dramas can be done very well with top-notch acting, script, directing and cinematography. I have just watched 5 episodes of "River Sunset" (another World War II espionage thriller now with a mission to save a certain individual, set against the events of Pearl Harbour): https://kisskh.at/27149-sunset-in-glory
Zhang Yishan, Han Dongjun and Zhan Tian Ai excelled in their roles for "The Guardians". Edward Zhang and Janine Zhang are also excellent in the currently-airing drama that took 8 years to finally see the screen. Hilarious, heart-wrenching, amazing, unforgettable.
I don't see her coming across as dumb and rigid. She's shocked and afraid in certain situations, because of abrupt…
Here's why I reckon she reacts badly, even though she signed up for this.
Regardless of loyalties she has pledged and her party activities, she appears to primarily be a doctor who has seen the horrors of wounds and deaths caused by shrapnel and worse, where it seems soldiers follow her orders with the wounded. When she signed up for this in a last-minute manner, she was assured she would be a doctor for a specific mission, and she demonstrated signs of stress. Defiance was one way of coping.
The ability to compartmentalise when one is doing a job you're familiar with is completely different, when the circumstances becomes fundamentally disturbing.
She has zero training as a spy, plus her temperament even after 5 episodes is clearly completely unsuitable for espionage.
When she encountered the abrupt brutality of a fellow chinese citizen being shot by Japanese soldiers less than 20 seconds after bolting, she was terrified into not being able to answer. She would have died, if she didn't have help. Many men and women would react badly after seeing and/or hearing someone get shot within 20 seconds of running away, because being shot and killed for no legitimate reason in such a dismissive way is frightening when one is powerless and at the mercy of invading colonisers.
Being told she is the equivalent of a dance hostess at a dancehall instead of a doctor is very jarring. She suddenly finds herself in constantly-changing situations that she has no idea how to adapt successfully and fit in, she has to remember details of a fake persona she hasn't accepted, she's forced to wear clothes that make her feel uncomfortable in a profession she doesn't respect, a man accosting her and pawing her after she had to accomplish a simple but stressful mission of obtaining a pen utilising a persona she hasn't figured out, a dangerous situation she quickly got herself and ML into due to shoving away that man- And then she has to pair up with someone she doesn't know in a seemingly "lover-like" fashion and stay overnight with him.
She basically coped however she could, as I'd expect of the typical civilian and for someone of her temperament: Treading water but nearly drowning at times.
If she was going to be comfortable and competent, she needed at least 6 months of training instead of being thrown into this very dangerous situation.
War time makes for poor preparations in unexpected urgent circumstances. All this will make her more wary. When ML was giving her tips of what a Japanese military interrogation would be like, her fear was palpable.
If someone fired a gunshot inside a ballroom of 200 people, I believe at least 80% of people will panic, shout or scream, and start running for an exit. Whether one falls in that 80% or the minority to do something different depends on life experiences and/or occupational habits. Nothing wrong with being part of the 80%, as long as one is clear about oneself.
The important fundamental is that FL becomes aware of her shortcomings, and remedies her attitude as best and as fast as possible. Otherwise she'll be getting people in her hometown killed. I hope she and ML have happy endings even if they might not wind up together. I would be happy if they did, but I have no idea how this will turn out.
Happy New Year! May your 2026 be a blessed abundant year of goodness and great dramas!
I am a little disappointed with the way the FL character was written. She is supposed to be inexperienced but…
I don't see her coming across as dumb and rigid. She's shocked and afraid in certain situations, because of abrupt brutal reality she wasn't expecting (just like other civilians around her). She's very curious, definitely naive and headstrong on some fronts that could have been fatal, if it weren't for certain people with her. And she's definitely a complete greenhorn relative to what she's been asked to do. To adapt so quickly and totally isn't easy.
But she is smart and level-headed. In episode 5 when she recites a significant section of her choosing from Homan Lai's book, it has beneficial consequences. Looking forward to seeing how the next five episodes unfold :)
5 episodes in, the only word that comes to mind for it all is "Exhilarating!"
Edward Zhang is a charismatic enigmatic chameleon impossible to look away from. Hard for me to believe Zhang Jun Ning was that scheming consort in "Empress of China" but once again, she is superb in a totally different role as Ye Biying who needs to learn some ropes super-fast while being almost too headstrong at times.
I've gone from being somewhat terrified for certain people in certain moments, experienced moments of anguish, unexpectedly guffawing at the interactions of our leads- And it's satisfying to see convincing portrayals of military officers, whether they are from USA or Japan. English and Japanese is expressed fluently, and soothing to the ears.
That said, history being accurate hits too close at times. What Japanese troops did to that family of brother, sister and father was beyond awfully sad.
Finally, I will never look at broomsticks the same way ever again XD
2 
7 
1 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
On this first Monday of 2026, I'm happy to share that 2025 ended with a bang while 2026 opens splendidly with confirmational details of the phenomenal achievements by Whispers of Fate, which at least one producer mentioned way before airing that this is a heroism-focused xuanxia drama. Hence there is no romance hashtag for this drama.
Actively airing since 24 October to 27 November 2025, fellow drama-lovers such as kwanto, DramFun29212, Areca hana and suzuko_d_law have been collating so many gems until end-December 2025 that I'd like to summarise some of their efforts and attribute the following details to them.
Three channel categories make up total viewership in China for the following market shares:
#1. Terrestrial/Satellite TV ~ 20%
#2. OTT (online platforms e.g. iQiyi, Mango, Migu, Tencent etc) ~ 50%
#3. IPTV (set-top boxes via China Mobile, China Telecom, etc) ~ 30%
WoF was broadcast on all three channel categories.
CVB (official govt.) calculates metrics for #1 & #3 separately;
Maoyan/kuyun ("3rd parties") measures #1 & #2, but only from top 4 OTTs (Iqiyi, Tencent, Youku, Mango). Migu is excluded.
CSM (leading media research organisation analogous to Nielsen's) is the only one who measures across all 3 channel categories using a methodology known as New TAM.
CVB records 160+ million views, for the premiere episode of Whispers of Fate (from this link: https://weibo.com/7689086611/QkNIb2eTe
You will also see replies celebrating, such as "国家广播电视总局发布《中国视听大数据（CVB) 2025年国产电视剧收视报告》 认证，2025地方卫视黄金档首播收视人次1.6亿人次: 该份报告认《水龙吟》位列2025年芒果TV电视剧播放量第一。 恭喜《水龙吟》，芒果TV2025年冠 "
Hunan Satellite TV
- CSM National Network Ratings - Number 1 across all Satellite TV for 19 days
- CSM 71 (the richest cities) Ratings - Number 1 for 17 days
CVB rating also confirmed that SLY is top 3 in term of viewership from Satellite TV views in 2025, the only costume drama in the top 3.
For OTT #2: As of 6 December, WoF exceeded 4.9 billion views on MangoTV’s front-end broadcast statistics. The daily view count exceeded 100mil for 35 days, longest ever for Mango TV. As of 2 December, WoF ranked #4 on Maoyan’s chart after garnering more than 1.8 billion views within 39 days of broadcasting, which makes “Whispers of Fate” the fastest-moving entry of 2025 to move up the Maoyan chart for overall drama viewership. As of 30 December 2025, WoF ranked #2 on Maoyan chart for Online Drama effective views. WoF resoundingly broke all records for MangoTV, which might explain why MangoTV started a bidding war over Luo Yunxi's next historical costume drama.
Migu is a state-owned platform, and is not counted on Maoyan. Historical 12000 index surpassed and soared to 15107 peak index at one point. Viewership of other dramas in Migu were also lifted due to WoF due to viewers watching other dramas, while waiting for new WoF episode updates.
For #1#2 and #3: CSM (TAM) reports WoF "total viewing hours" = 384 mil vs. 225 mil for Joy of Life season 2. (Joy of Life Season 2 was the top drama of 2024.) According to CSM data, 2.838 billion views were reached across all platforms.
Despite newly-completing airing, in December 2025 "Whispers of Fate" received nomination for CPOP 2026 (only other two dramas within these 3 years to be recognised and nominated were “Joy of Life” and “Till The End Of The Moon”).
About CPOP, I would like to highlight what kwanto said: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24449484
[ From early 2025 until now, CCTV and Rating China have chosen ONLY Shui Long Yin. In fact, SLY is their first nominated IP among drama, film, game, and other categories, is incredible. These two facts are the most authoritative and explosive. Gov officials know the real data domestic and international. After all, China Mobile, as SLY’s largest investor, has all the accurate data. ]
What is CPOP?
As per kwanto's explanation, CPOP promotes Chinese cultural works that have achieved outstanding results overseas in the past two years. This series of events showcases 20 representative Chinese pop culture IPs, including film and television dramas, novels, games, animations, and designer toys. Previous CPOP winners include "The Wandering Earth", "Black Myth Wukong", "Labubu", "Till The End Of The Moon" (Top 1), Honor of Kings (game). Only super-successful IPs are nominated.
kwanto also clarified how to understand the statistics of a recent December 2025 CVB article: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24601830
All this was achieved despite suppression efforts and not paying protection fees to various mediums, such as Douban and Douyin. "Whispers of Fate" was airing at the same time as five other traffic actor dramas, and trolls repeatedly attacked this drama on Douban. Trolls also attacked "Whispers of Fate" on this drama page using Douban and Yunhe statistics to try to mislead other viewers, while also making other misleading claims such as stating Maoyan is an outlier.
Maoyan stats do not include Hunan TV, Migu or IPTV, whereby IPTV views via China Mobile subscriptions hold a higher market share than Satellite TV. IPTV data shows "Whispers of Fate" viewership was so strong that Whispers of Fate had at least twice the volume of each of the individual heat indexes for dramas ranked #2 and #3: https://lmtw.com/mzw/content/detail/id/249663
Yunhe's gift to "Whispers of Fate" was to constantly provide unreliable figures, such as giving this drama the lowest coefficient ever during airing of the drama: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24241136
One drama producer during a live airing 2 to 3 years ago said if you sign Luo Yunxi, you are guaranteed a direct meeting to the CEO of a big platform whereby they will ask how to get a share and be a part of the project. A producer of "Shadow Punisher" during interviews claimed IQiyi did not approve S+ drama "Shadow Punisher" for 3 years, and claimed LYX is the key for approval.
As of 17 November 2025 on Douyin, Tang Lici's solo hashtag trended at least 700 million views while the hashtag seeking a one-sided romance trended only at 5.38 million views.
Despite being a competitor platform also broadcasting "Whispers of Fate", IQiyi bought billboards in Hong Kong for Whispers of Fate during its airing. In the footsteps of Mango & Migu’s big satisfaction thank-you ads weeks past the SLY finale, SLY peripheral brand KOOCI gave SLY a big “thank you” ad at Beijing Airport for 31 straight days, spotlighting Tang Lici. First time ever for a drama peripheral brand. SLY merchandise already hit nearly 19M in sales by Dec 12. For the final 5 episodes of this drama, all ad slots were filled and one of the most prestigious ads was another confirmation of the overwhelming success of this drama.
There are many other details of success and domestic appreciation. "Whispers of Fate" holds the MangoTV crown for multiple factors. Combined together, total real viewership for "Whispers of Fate" is among the highest of 2025. I hope this summary is a good start for all new viewers wondering how "Whispers of Fate" fared in 2025.
Ps. For those wondering about multiple sources outside of the Mandarin sources, here are a few examples from accounts in English also keeping track throughout the airing of the drama.
On 20 November 2025, this viewer announced a total of more than 1.3 billion views on Maoyan Professional Edition, plus they added a screencap of the milestone in the first comment to their own Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/MyDramaclip/posts/pfbid02U9jnW7iTg2zgYorKd4o8CzHDDhuBXXnhM8Tfj3YY1Mt7YAzg9AMrKHDgeofJGyshl
2025 Maoyan Annual Rankings announcing Wuxia Drama (Highest average effective views per episode and Highest effective viewership) exceeding 1.832 billion views: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS5UOc5DZm3/ ]
30 December 2025: WoF reaches #2 on Maoyan chart for Online Drama effective views (These views do not include Migu, IPTV or satellite TV): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1915331545560246/posts/2283984668694930/
~*~*~*~*~
Maoyan released its annual statistics of various categories on 30 December 2025, dramas faring well getting their own weibo standalone post. I have shared different dramas below, so you can see for yourself.
# Moonlight Mystique (aired on 7/1/25 with collective statistics until 29/12/25): https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5249524826377164
# Legend of Zanghai (aired on 18/5/25 with collective statistics until 29/12/25): https://m.weibo.cn/status/5249525591575351
# This Thriving Land (aired on 13/08/25 with collective statistics until 29/12/25): https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5249521518121624
# The Journey Of Legend (aired on 11/09/25 with collective statistics until 29/12/25): https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5249149758878755
# Love's Ambition (aired on 26/09/25 with collective statistics until 29/12/25): https://m.weibo.cn/status/5249513796146290
# Whispers of Fate (aired on 24/10/25 with collective statistics until 29/12/25): https://m.weibo.cn/status/5249515863935106
In this case, Director is thankfully slowly drip-feeding bits of what we need to know about their past or personality, while altering the dynamics very subtly across every episode (since episode 2).
Do you know if there is a definite season 2 with this same cast, or is nothing confirmed yet?
On "the Man's Inhumanity to Man" drama page, I believe somebody did translations for subtitles and at least one or more MDL viewers emailed Youku asking Youku to use their subs (and Youku did so): https://kisskh.at/785144-731
I don't know if this solution could apply for this drama.
Understandably people might have lost hope of this drama ever being aired, and the episodes this far showcase the quality of the production as overall solid. Director Zhao Yilong stood out as a supporting actor playing Zhen Ping in 2015's "Nirvana in Fire". In 2016, he shifted his focus to being a Director, and this drama was directed by him in 2017. He also directed "Love Game In Eastern Fantasy".
I encourage more people to watch this drama. For a war espionage drama, it is hugely immersive yet fun :D
Han Feng and Qi Sizhe are both softening the barrier between them. And Liu Ya-se is easing into the role as their bridge. I've mostly pegged Qi Sizhe's character after trying to figure out the extent of his PTSD (and after the fourth example of expected recklessness that got him into formal minor trouble with Professor Huang Fengming) relative to his role in the team and as an individual.
I don't think the fourth case is over yet.
The Director has improved on his previous works, such as "The Victims' Game" (An 8-episode taiwanese drama available on Netflix, about a senior forensic investigator with Asperger's Syndrome solving mysterious murders linked to his estranged daughter).
You can read a review here: https://kisskh.at/profile/Alfendi/review/73959
He's also improved on his previous efforts such as "The Victims' Game" (An 8-episode taiwanese drama available on Netflix, about a senior forensic investigator with Asperger's Syndrome solving mysterious murders linked to his estranged daughter).
You can read a review here: https://kisskh.at/profile/Alfendi/review/73959
That said, he's made me very hungry due to paying attention to details (including the BTS you shared), so I ate a lot of campanelle for dinner XD
https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24569086
Zhang Ning is a very talented actress. I'm happy to see her in this drama with Edward Zhang. Both of them are proof that great acting is timeless.
This also gives me hope for other dramas that have not yet aired but already surpassed four years since filming XD
In that 80% who panic, it definitely includes the most competent professionals such as typical lawyers, doctors, accountants etc. The only ones who won't panic are those people with backgrounds or experience in handling weapons such as guns and/or knives, military, security, espionage, experience dealing with corpses, and some other interesting occupational habits that would lead to the likelihood of doing something different to stop a live shooter.
I wonder if this drama lost anything in editing due to censorship. Currently-airing forensic investigative drama "The Truth Within" lost 3 episodes due to censorship. And thank you for your well-wishes!
People who have lived through World War II in countries of East Asia and Southeast Asia are particularly sensitive to atrocities committed by the Imperial Army of Japan. My grandparents did not want to speak of what their parents shared with them. This is something a Western audience may not understand, unless they look at the lenses of suffering through whatever their ancestors suffered under the Nazis or any genocidal events such as the Holocaust.
Rape, torture, humiliation, and destruction of families was commonplace. Therefore, the powers that could best free the suffering populace was the choice of the people. Between the KMT and CCP, mistakes were made on both sides but especially under Chiang Kai-Shek of KMT, when people had to increasingly rely on the guerillas of the CCP to fight and survive the Japanese colonial invaders.
Forgetting all this and/or ignoring all this, when some viewers see the CCP being praised in a drama, they don't realise the CCP of a specific past versus present generations should be considered differently and accordingly as per the circumstances. When they don't, everything positive about CCP in a drama inevitable set during a time of being invaded and occupied and needing fellow Chinese citizens such as the CCP to survive and win becomes wrongly labelled as propaganda.
Republican-era C-dramas can be done very well with top-notch acting, script, directing and cinematography. I have just watched 5 episodes of "River Sunset" (another World War II espionage thriller now with a mission to save a certain individual, set against the events of Pearl Harbour): https://kisskh.at/27149-sunset-in-glory
Zhang Yishan, Han Dongjun and Zhan Tian Ai excelled in their roles for "The Guardians". Edward Zhang and Janine Zhang are also excellent in the currently-airing drama that took 8 years to finally see the screen. Hilarious, heart-wrenching, amazing, unforgettable.
Regardless of loyalties she has pledged and her party activities, she appears to primarily be a doctor who has seen the horrors of wounds and deaths caused by shrapnel and worse, where it seems soldiers follow her orders with the wounded. When she signed up for this in a last-minute manner, she was assured she would be a doctor for a specific mission, and she demonstrated signs of stress. Defiance was one way of coping.
The ability to compartmentalise when one is doing a job you're familiar with is completely different, when the circumstances becomes fundamentally disturbing.
She has zero training as a spy, plus her temperament even after 5 episodes is clearly completely unsuitable for espionage.
When she encountered the abrupt brutality of a fellow chinese citizen being shot by Japanese soldiers less than 20 seconds after bolting, she was terrified into not being able to answer. She would have died, if she didn't have help. Many men and women would react badly after seeing and/or hearing someone get shot within 20 seconds of running away, because being shot and killed for no legitimate reason in such a dismissive way is frightening when one is powerless and at the mercy of invading colonisers.
Being told she is the equivalent of a dance hostess at a dancehall instead of a doctor is very jarring. She suddenly finds herself in constantly-changing situations that she has no idea how to adapt successfully and fit in, she has to remember details of a fake persona she hasn't accepted, she's forced to wear clothes that make her feel uncomfortable in a profession she doesn't respect, a man accosting her and pawing her after she had to accomplish a simple but stressful mission of obtaining a pen utilising a persona she hasn't figured out, a dangerous situation she quickly got herself and ML into due to shoving away that man- And then she has to pair up with someone she doesn't know in a seemingly "lover-like" fashion and stay overnight with him.
She basically coped however she could, as I'd expect of the typical civilian and for someone of her temperament: Treading water but nearly drowning at times.
If she was going to be comfortable and competent, she needed at least 6 months of training instead of being thrown into this very dangerous situation.
War time makes for poor preparations in unexpected urgent circumstances. All this will make her more wary. When ML was giving her tips of what a Japanese military interrogation would be like, her fear was palpable.
If someone fired a gunshot inside a ballroom of 200 people, I believe at least 80% of people will panic, shout or scream, and start running for an exit. Whether one falls in that 80% or the minority to do something different depends on life experiences and/or occupational habits. Nothing wrong with being part of the 80%, as long as one is clear about oneself.
The important fundamental is that FL becomes aware of her shortcomings, and remedies her attitude as best and as fast as possible. Otherwise she'll be getting people in her hometown killed. I hope she and ML have happy endings even if they might not wind up together. I would be happy if they did, but I have no idea how this will turn out.
Happy New Year! May your 2026 be a blessed abundant year of goodness and great dramas!
But she is smart and level-headed. In episode 5 when she recites a significant section of her choosing from Homan Lai's book, it has beneficial consequences. Looking forward to seeing how the next five episodes unfold :)
Edward Zhang is a charismatic enigmatic chameleon impossible to look away from. Hard for me to believe Zhang Jun Ning was that scheming consort in "Empress of China" but once again, she is superb in a totally different role as Ye Biying who needs to learn some ropes super-fast while being almost too headstrong at times.
I've gone from being somewhat terrified for certain people in certain moments, experienced moments of anguish, unexpectedly guffawing at the interactions of our leads- And it's satisfying to see convincing portrayals of military officers, whether they are from USA or Japan. English and Japanese is expressed fluently, and soothing to the ears.
That said, history being accurate hits too close at times. What Japanese troops did to that family of brother, sister and father was beyond awfully sad.
Finally, I will never look at broomsticks the same way ever again XD