sara

3 episodes in and I’m actually lowkey obsessed. One thing about cdramas is they really know how to write interesting and charming female characters, with layered personalities and complex relationships. I’m also really digging the directing, color grading and music in this drama!

Posted by a big drama blogger.

"The criticism of the “foundation-general” has never really been about how thick the foundation on his face is but about how the core of the character has been tainted by superficial polish. It’s about the actor lacking acting skills and cultural understanding—failing to grasp the essence of a general, unable to portray a general’s spirit, and instead turning the general into something like a KTV male model.

A real general is never defined by how rough or rugged he looks on the outside, but by what’s within—an inner armor, sharpness, quiet authority without anger, as steady as a mountain, silent yet resolute, gentle yet powerful. That is what a general looks like at the core of their being.

CCTV News’s official account has deleted its previous article praising Zhu Yu. Weibo has also edited related content. On Baidu Index, the keyword “Zhu Yu” shows as not included today, and even pirated entries about it are gone.

It seems this “foundation-general” issue is about to reach a conclusion."


I didn’t know the issue had gotten so big that it significantly affected the drama’s reputation?

Why do you keep putting words in my mouth?? I literally said he’s a good-looking guy, just not that good-looking. Since his visual is all people talk about. Critiquing on his visuals isn’t the same as making a derogatory remark about a whole group of people lol. If you don't get it, that's a you problem.

When did I ever call him unattrative?? I’m saying I finally get his appeal from this drama, which means I’m starting to like him… but then his recent SEA remark kind of turned me off, just when I was warming up to him. He didn’t outright call anyone unattractive but the SEA remark generalization shows internalized racism and stereotypes. That’s totally different from me commenting on his visuals lol. God forbid a girl doesn’t find a celebrity THAT attractive, especially one hyped so much as “top visual.” People talk about celebrity looks and proportions all the time and me saying his body ratios are a bit off isn’t the same as making a discriminatory remark about an entire region.

Unpopular opinion I guess but I never found ZLH that handsome or attractive until this drama. People always hype him up as a top C-actor visual along with SWL but when I saw him in Story of Kunning Palace and The Best Thing, I thought he looked pretty average. Sure he’s a good-looking guy but not that good-looking, if you know what I mean. Something about his lower face and overall body proportions looks a bit off to me. I get the visual hype for SWL though. I feel like he’s the only one who really deserves the “top visual” title because he looks good pretty much all the time, with perfect head-to-body proportions. Other actors have their fair share of good and bad days depending on their condition and styling, ZLH included (I personally think he looks better when he’s not too skinny).

While I still think there are a lot of other actors who are more charming and more charismatic than ZLH (such as Wang Xingyue), I gotta say I finally get his appeal a little while watching this drama. Maybe it’s because I find his character here attractive and his acting has improved, so it finally clicked for me. But his recent remark did make me feel a bit “eh” about him. I guess I’m just going to focus on the drama and the characters especially the FL, she's definitely the highlight for me in this drama!

Yup, pretty much. Chinese citizens enjoy a similar level of material abundance and everyday freedom as people in many other countries. Many are also supportive of their government, especially given the country’s rapid development in various fields and improvements in public welfare over the years.

As for "unique government", personally I don’t believe that democratically elected governments are the only “right” way to run a country. Throughout history, societies have been governed by monarchies, family dynasties, theocraciese etc. Today, countries use a variety of models: democracies, one-party states, constitutional monarchies, or federations. The label itself doesn’t matter, what matters is the effectiveness and people-centeredness of the government.

People keep calling China a communist country but tbh it's not exactly right. Communism is actually hard to apply in real word. Human societies are complex, completely eliminating private ownership and markets is extremely difficult especially in today's world. No country has ever fully achieved pure communism (meaning: no private property, no social classes, collective ownership of all means of production. Basically means everyone is equal)

What most people call “communist countries” (like the former Soviet Union, modern China, Cuba, Vietnam) are actually Socialist states or Marxist-Leninist states, meaning the government controls the economy and political power is centralized under a ruling party. They still have classes, wealth differences, markets, and private enterprises to varying degrees. They are “communist in ideology, socialist in practice”. The pure vision of classless, stateless communism has never existed on a national scale.

China describes its governing system as “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” It may not fit other countries, but it works for China. I'm sure managing over a billion people and guiding the country to its current level of prosperity is no easy feat. I can imagine multi-party systems and national elections might create a lot of chaos and division in such a large and populous country like China. Cause that's what kinda happening in India.

I once saw someone describe the relationship between the Chinese government and its citizens as somewhat similar to that of Asian parents and their children; sometimes strict but generally acting in what they believe to be the country and people's best interest. As long as people aren’t openly calling for the government to be overthrown or engaging in highly sensitive political activism, most go about their daily lives without issue.

If you watch more street interviews from the channel I shared above or simply check out regular travel vlogs on apps like XHS, you may gain a broader perspective on the country and its people; and also realize how powerful and sometimes insidious mainstream media narratives can be.

I've started to notice this more clearly when I see how Western media cover the Israel-Palestine issue or even the current war in Middle East. The propaganda and biased framing are real. It’s always good to think critically about information you see on the internet.

Just putting the examples here:
https://x.com/i/status/2028291128383143963

https://x.com/i/status/2028445657128915337

Sorry this got so long, but I hope it gives you some idea of what China is like. I’ve picked up all this because I’ve always been into geopolitics.

The social credit score is indeed a myth and not based in reality. It has been debunked multiple times by knowledgeable geopolitics analysts that have lived in China as well as by many Chinese citizens I’ve come across on social media.

The street interview link I shared above shows this perspective firsthand. I’m not saying your friend is a liar but it’s unlikely anyone knows the country better than its own citizens.

Regardless of where you get your information from, I’m simply correcting the misinformation about the social credit score part since it’s not true at all. To be fair, I’ve seen a lot of people believe it because of mainstream media coverage. I’m not commenting on the other parts about China that you mentioned in other comments. Although I consider myself fairly well-versed in geopolitics, there are still many things I’m not completely sure about.

Sorry, but there’s no such thing as a single “social credit score” dictating what people can and can’t do in China. That’s an exaggerated claim and lie peddled by mainstream Western media as part of their routine anti-China propaganda. What China has is a standard financial credit score, similar to what other countries have. Like if you have serious overdue debt, your credit record can be negatively affected, and banks may deny future loans etc.

You can watch this street interview and the comments to get better insight about it. This channel also have a lot of other interesting topic interviews, just simply search asianboss china
https://youtu.be/nGhOssPumUU?si=S_9akiEK-Fu57nT7

This drama is indeed underrated among intl cdrama fans, but then again, considering it's a slice of life period drama set in 70s-90s (a genre that usually isn’t popular overseas), it’s actually gained a decent amount of attention, I'd say. It helps that this drama is also more romance-focused.

I hope there will come a day when cdramas beyond idol dramas and costume romances become more visible and widely appreciated by intl cdrama fans too huhu

It was doing okay I guess. It's not really a hit but not a total flop either. One thing for sure, the airing of this drama benefits Wang Churan more than Cheng Lei bc most of the online buzz centered around her. But then again, she's always been the more popular one between the two.

Why are some viewers so male-centered? They’re quick to empathize with the ML, but suddenly lose that same understanding when it comes to the FL..

I think this drama did a good job of laying out the foundation of the main characters — their backgrounds, personalities, values, motivations and circumstances. Their actions make sense within who they are. It’s really not that hard to understand where they’re coming from or why they respond to certain situations the way they do. So far, everything they’ve done has been consistent with the kind of people they are.

If they didn’t act the way they did and instead behaved differently just to please the audience, that wouldn’t be true to their characters. What really matters is whether there’s meaningful character development or emotional payoff that follows their actions, and so far, the drama has handled that well.

Do you even know what Heat Index actually is? Heat index number is only published when the drama already starts airing. There's no such thing as upcoming drama breaking hit index on platform. Why do I even bother talking with you when you don't actually understand how C-ent works.....

You're actually stupid. I’m stating facts and raising a valid question about how things don’t add up but you responded with completely irrelevant points. Who cares about popularity charts by country, international views don’t affect the heat index, nor will they ever exceed domestic viewership. Not gonna bother with idiot like you anymore.

A lot of SOM fans have been shitting on AASOL for no reason, claiming SOM is more popular, blah blah. If you haven’t seen it, that’s on you. The funny thing is, my comment isn’t even hate toward the drama. I’m just stating facts and pointing out that things don’t add up. If a valid question triggers you, that’s not my problem.

What does the heat index have anything to do with international popularity? It’s not like I’m calling the drama a flop. All I’m saying is that it isn’t the massive hit fans think it is when you actually look at the viewership. And if you think views from illegal sites are higher than the official numbers, then the same applies to other hit dramas too lol. That argument doesn’t even make sense

It’s not an opinion when it’s a fact. Whatever lol you say you don’t care, yet here you are replying. I don’t give af about this drama at all, but now everyone here knows that among all Tencent dramas that hit 30K, SOM is the most artificially boosted one.

I wouldn’t have any issue with it if some SOM fans weren’t going around acting like it’s Zhao Jinmai’s most popular idol drama. I don’t even care about this drama, but when yall fans start spreading misinformation, I’m going to correct it with facts.

Who cares about your country?? I'm talking about how SOM surprisingly has very mediocre viewership despite hitting 30K which is so unfair to other actual hit dramas. SOM fans really believe their drama is a huge hit when it's not. This drama just had big capital support that's why the CP marketing goes crazy.

What do you even know about the Heat Index? Because you clearly know nothing with this stupid comment.