sara

Because both are Tencent dramas??? Why can't I compare? You can simply search “Tencent Heat Index 2025.” In what world does The Prisoner of Beauty, which has much higher average views, end up with a lower heat index than SOM? It doesn’t add up at all. The Prisoner of Beauty is a much bigger hit in China, yet its heat index is lower than SOM. Tencent obviously lowered the threshold to reach 30K for SOM. Normally, only dramas with consistently high viewership can hit 30K, but SOM didn’t even average 20M views during its peak period. That’s not a jealousy, it’s literally a fact, and it's unfair to other actual Tencent hit dramas with mucubhigher viewership. SOM has big capital backing it up and marketing it like crazy to make the drama's success look bigger than it actually is when the actual average views didn't even cross 20M views during hot period. Just embarrassing.

I just think it’s crazy that this drama hit 30K on Tencent when its views during the hot period didn’t even average 20M per episode. How is that even possible? What kind of “hit drama” can’t crack an average of 20M views?

I really thought this drama was a huge hit in China with all the online hype and when I finally looked into it further and compared the data with other hit dramas, it's not even comparable ijbol.

The Prisoner of Beauty has much higher average views during hot period around 31M and yet its heat index is lower than SOM. This is so unfair to other actual hit dramas.

Tencent is really a joke 🙄 They clearly lowered the heat index threshold just to push SOM to 30K club, even though the viewership is underwhelming.

Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, Tencent’s biggest modern idol drama hit of 2024, had much higher average views during its hot period and still didn’t hit 30K. Meanwhile, SOM easily entered the Tencent 30K club with a measly 20M views 😐

Artificial hit pushed by big capital. This drama did a great job of making its success look bigger than it actually is and their fans bought into it.

SOM fans can lie all they want but AASOL will always be Zhao Jinmai's most successful idol drama in China.

This drama feels similar to TBT in terms of storyline simplicity, except LBL actually delivers when it comes to acting and chemistry.

CXX is undoubtedly a good actor but LYX particularly stands out in this drama.

Not that I like the SML character but he does have a special charisma and really strong line delivery.

This drama has some flaws but they don’t take away from it being a solid romance overall.

Worth watching 👍🏻

Some of the underrated ones: Meet Yourself
You Are My Lover Friend
Why is He Still Single

Similar cozy vibe

I can't believe even an almost-perfect FL still gets criticized somehow. MDL users are seriously impossible to please. Flawed FLs get hated. Flawless FLs get nitpicked. I'm honestly amazed at how people manage to find fault in the tiniest details even when the FL is written to be very likeable and near-perfect. And it's crazy how the FL always gets blamed more than the SML for apparently "not setting clear boundaries."

Even if it may lead to unwanted misunderstandings or consequences... so what? In real life, humans make mistakes all the time. Relationships have problems sometimes. That's when you communicate and work through it. Just let people be human?? There's nothing wrong with things not going perfectly, as long as the people involved can navigate, learn, and grow from it.

Do any of y'all in real life always know exactly what to do, behave flawlessly every moment, handle relationships perfectly, or react appropriately to every single situation? Come on, let characters (and women) be messy and human without tearing them apart over every little thing. How boring would it be if everyone was too perfect and everything went smoothly? There'd be no plot, no drama... might as well just write your own fanfiction at that point if you want all sunshine and rainbows.

Good that you feel that way! Yes the poster and the drama vibe is so different.

I just checked out the drama casually since I have nothing to watch and although the first two episodes were confusing, but the next episodes were really good. I went into it with low expectations but the super charming main characters and cozy vibe of the drama instantly got me hooked ;)

She should have apologized for her poor attitude and for misunderstanding her.

That would be perfect. Either both of them on the balcony, or the ML on the upper balcony and the FL on the lower one. Plus, the alley looks so lived-in and beautiful. What a complete waste of potential to not do a poster photoshoot right there in the alley!

The poster is so ugly and really doesn’t do justice to how good the drama actually is. It doesn't capture the sophisticated, cozy, warm vibe that the show has. I noticed this drama trending first on the MDL homepage, but I feel like the poster is so underwhelming that it probably won’t pique anyone’s interest enough to check the drama out. The poster makes it look like a low-budget, cringey webdrama when it’s really not. This is so frustrating.

I’m currently watching the first episode and I don’t get why the FL got so angry and flipped off the Japanese woman when she’s clearly the side chick. If anything, the Japanese woman is the one who has the right to be upset, no? The FL should have apologized and said she didn’t know the bf was cheating with her. Both are victims in this situation, they should’ve blamed the guy together. It would’ve been nice if this turned into a “girls supporting girls” moment. They should both just drop the guy for good. Idk I just don’t like the dialogue in this drama so far. It feels poorly written and lacks depth.

Please please be good from the start till the end🙏 Last year, there wasn't a single good romance kdrama that didn't turn wreck in the latter half. Let me enjoy one good romance kdrama in peace without any disappointment for once pls it's been a while!

Mediocre start, great middle (Changbai arc was peak), underwhelming and weak finale.

The ending matters way more than I thought because I realized how much the ending/closing scenes can change how you feel about the whole show. I didn’t walk away feeling satisfied or moved because the final scenes were kinda lame and underwhelming (egg/sun scene included). Enjoyed the romance overall, but damn, I wish they had a stronger, more emotional close.

I feel like this drama has been airing since forever. Probably feel longer bc people hardly talk about it on social media.

Why has SOM turned so dramatic in the last few episodes? I feel like I'm watching a rich-family makjang drama instead of a romance now… so many unnecessary scenes. I already thought the detailed business meetings were pointless, and now they're dragging out this annoying debt and family conflict even more. It's kinda dampened the good feelings I have for this drama . Now I just can't wait to be done with it. I wish it had fewer episodes and cut some of the side plots.

Huh wdym you skip 10 episodes when the drama only has 16 episodes? 😭 That's like missing more than half of the story.

For the Tencent heat index, climbing from 28,000 to 29,000 is really, really difficult, and getting from 29,000 to 30,000 is even harder. As it approaches 30,000, you need an extremely high number of average viewers tuning in. Usually 50M+ views.

Just like on iQIYI and Youku, reaching 8,000 is pretty achievable, but climbing from 8,000 to 9,000 and then to 10,000 gets progressively harder. The ones that surpassed 10,000 (iQIYI, Youku) and 30,000 (Tencent) indicate both massive view counts and very high popularity.

So unless SOM suddenly goes viral with the general public, I don’t think the heat index will reach 29,000—those that did really blew up in popularity beyond the fan circle and SOM isn’t quite there yet. Still, it has already done pretty well on its own. I feel like Tencent is releasing the episodes slowly and extending the run because they’re hoping the drama will attract wider attention.

Note:
- SOM's heat index reaches 28,000, with daily views exceeding 20M yesterday according to Yunhe. In comparison, Amidst a Snowstorm of Love peaked at 28,504 index with an average of 31 million views per episode (daily views were consistently around 30M and peaked at 45M)

- Only 4 dramas have surpassed 29,000 heat index on Tencent in 2025: Love's Ambition, The Glory, The Prisoner of Beauty, and Six Sisters. 5 dramas, if we include Guardians of the Dafeng which aired in late December 2024.

Since you've read the novel, can I ask you a few questions? Up to which chapter has episode 15 covered? Because 36 episodes for a modern drama is really a lot. I'm just wondering if there's that much material to cover. In which episode do you think they'll get together? From the current episode progress, is it still far away? And lastly, after they get together, are there lots of conflicts? Related to their relationship, family, work, etc.?

I really adore Zhao Jinmai. She's such a natural and charming actress. Sometimes I'd replay certain scenes because I find her choice of facial expressions and body language is so good and captivating. Some actors simply read their lines without knowing how to deliver them effectively or what to do with their hands or posture, but then there are actors like her, whose acting feels effortless and instinctive. She knows how to control her voice, tone, microexpressions, gestures, and every little movement, and uses them to deepen the character and make the scene feel richer and more immersive.

You clearly have not watched enough cdramas to not be able to tell how outdated the camerawork/editing/cinematography is. Let's stop being stupid now and act like this drama have great production quality bc it doesn't.

Xu Kai is not my favorite actor. I don't need to be a fan to tell which actor has screen presence for not. Also, I'm specifically talking about his character in that drama.

It's fine I'm not the only one who think SWL is stiff and lacks charisma. I don't need your validation for what I think about him.