momo

I recommend Knight Flower! But honestly, same, most kdramas just go for that low-effort, cringy humor usually brought by three ahjummas that have no other purpose in the story...

First of all:
- His manager's attitude was criticized in ep 1. We don't know anything about Nan Feng (actor).
- I don't see why NF couldn't portray those toxic traits. If he point is to make fun of them, if LYN has distance towards himself. The goal is clear - to show how ridiculous that behaviour is.
- NH, who is actually our main hero, of course is a positive character in that regard.

There is no need for the script to be 100% consistent with the reality. It isn't some documentary. They clearly have something to say about the industry, but don't have to make LYN's character pure and innocent to get justice for him. They have more subtle ways of getting the point across.

Regarding rumors - the hate train towards LYN is a fact, as well as the hate for the "leaked" script. The only part I can't say is true, cause I can't speak chinese fluently to check sources, is LSS involvement and behaviour. I think this theory is believable knowing cnetz tho. But yeah, I can't check sources, you're right about that.

Yes, it seems that rather than being just plain entertainment (which is not that easy to do competently in the first place), this drama has much more background and certain decisions about the plot were very deliberate! As well as choosing LYN for the main character of course. I love this so much, the emperor at this point is basically a portrait of unfair and hateful fans, who would rather support lazy and incompetent actors and hate and cause pain to the ones who got where they are with their own hard work. Genius writing imo, never expected so many layers from this show.

I heard people complaining about LYN's looks and the part about the script leak, but had no idea how big it was, and (apparently) organized. But it all kinda makes sense - in no drama since AJTL did LYN get such a big backlash about his looks, even though he was starring with huge female leads too. Sure, it was his first big main role but it was just too much. It's beyond my comprehention how a senior in the industry (or at least her staff/fans), could fuel such a hate train. Some people don't have their own lives I guess. Glad that LYN got through it and could star in ADWAD to kinda show his side of the story, let's say. Also it makes me believe that the ending will be good for NH!

I don't know if this was discussed, but it gives a very interesting background for the drama. So in ADWAD review, Avenue X mentions that in her eyes, the drama is in a lot of ways a commentary on what happened during the airing of A Journey To Love. I searched through some comments and one from a lovely user @lynyun gave a good background to the situation (I myself know snippets from it, but didn't realise the whole situation is so messy):
"During AJTL, LSS, her team, and her fans pushed hard to frame the drama as a “big female lead” project. They threw tantrums over posters, demanded she be the biggest and most centered, and accused LYN of stealing billing for being taller 🙄. But as we all saw AJTL was about team focus, not a single-character focus.
LSS’s fans, still stuck on her Scarlet Heart glory, couldn’t accept this. They played victim, claiming she was tricked into joining, and circulated an “original script” (likely an old draft) showing a typical “big female lead” plot where all the guys are in love with her, though the screenwriter never acknowledged it.
When the drama aired, it did well until it hit 10k heat index. Then a massive hate campaign against LYN started like it was plotted. They called him a nepo baby, accused him of changing the script, stealing screen time, and even claimed he locked LSS out of the voicing studio (when everyone except her and male 3 used their own voice).
At one point, LSS herself posted on Weibo, saying, “Women can be trees too,” in response to a line from the second male lead, “Women are flowers, men are trees.”
This fueled feminist criticism of the drama, with many blaming LYN for a storyline where the ML saves the FL, turning it into “Why does the big female lead need saving from a man?”, claiming that viewers were “lied to.”
The campaign dragged on, attacking LYN’s looks and character, calling him Linmon’s “prince” while trying to ruin his reputation.
Meanwhile, LYN and his fans endured, and focused on gathering evidence to clear his name and found out LSS’s team was illegally fundraising with fans likely to run these hate campaigns.

Ironically, LSS has a history of actually changing scripts (she once did so with the same screenwriter for AJTL) and frequently plays the victim whenever a coworker outshines her, causing her fans to accuse them of “bullying.” She’s married to a Nicky wut, who invests in many projects, including AJTL. Who would dare bully her, especially LYN, who comes from one of the poorest family backgrounds in the industry?

So ADWAD from ep 1 there's parts kind of shading her instead they use "big male lead". And a lot of the injustice ML is facing is really similar to what LYN experienced back then where somehow everything is his fault"

I just rewatched ep 3-5 and have to agree with you. If the scenes where NH tries to kill YM weren't played for laughs, they would be terrifying. He straight up tortured her trying to kill her all day long! And all that after she tried to become somewhat of an ally to him (sure, after treating him unfairly when he saved her from drowning, so his doubts were justified, but still). Not to mention the script she read.

Also cdramas actors are way busier overall I feel. Combined with weird schedule of releasing dramas, we can get 3 dramas with LYN back-to-back, which doesn't really happen with kdramas.

Hahaha you're so right!

This is the theme of the drama - the male character has to be TRAGIC to be beloved by viewers, and they are playing that card to the max. But I agree, it can get frustrating at some point

I nearly spit on my computer at work hahahaha

100% true! Was just going to write a comment that FL acting frustrating does not mean she is badly written. If she's acting consistent, but with a slight progress, it's actually good and believable writing. Like I hate Scarlett O Hara in Gone with the Wind sometimes, but it doesn't mean she's badly written! So if the ML is acknowledging and telling her she's cruel and unfair, this means the writer is aware of it too and hopefully lets her get that character progress.

I need the hat, it's so cool 😭

I felt the same way about the first episode. I'd recommend you give it another chance and watch till ep3-4, many people have changed their minds!

We're not even a week in and you guys say that there is already angst incoming?? When did we even get time to enjoy the happy moments 😭😭 I can't with cdramas 😅

I don't know whether to savour the episodes or be up to date to enjoy the discussion 😆 This is a problem reserved only for dramas I truly love haha. With kdramas it's easier to decide, cause of only 2 eps weekly lol

Ooh I just realised that I really love this about this story. It gets so tiring when first episodes of transmigration stories are just the character trying to repeatedly break free, when we know they can't and won't. They saved so much time lol

He was one of the more interesting characters. His only out of character action was advising other law campanies against hiring Hosu, I really don't know why he did that when he really cared about him.

After first episodes, I thought that it's gonna be hard to build romantic tension when everything is turned into a joke. Especially as I'm not a fan of the transmigration genre, cause they have to eventually go back to their real life. But they proved me wrong, their relationship is growing so well! I find kdramas so lacking in terms of chemistry recently, but LYN singlehandedly is taking me out of my drama slump this year haha

SAME. The chemistry just wasn't there. All this time I was reading comments that there is not enough romence and I thought - are we watching the same drama? Cause I wish it just focused on the work stuff lol, the romance was a miss for me. The only chemistry I felt was between her and the coworker, and her mom and the vicedirector... imo, PJY is just a very mid actor with limited range and that's one of the main problems for me. Whereas in the strawberry couple the female lead being totally emotionless was the problem.

It is a very unpopular opinion tho, criticizing this drama is not easy as a lot of people will instantly turn into defense mode.

He's not the brightest crayon in the box