janec

And it gets worse with each episode. I'm relieved that I'm not the only one who would prefer this drama to be less generic :) Thank you for your comment :)

If I may, I will tell you a story. Maybe you will believe it is true, maybe not. In 2019, after a very long and serious illness, my mother passed away. During the last two years of her illness, I had to give up my job and my studies just to take care of her. I cut myself off from friends, because I had neither the health, strength nor time for them. After my mother died, I actually didn't know what to do with myself. I found myself in some kind of emotional limbo. I had to find a job, but I couldn't even begin to look. I watched TV series to somehow kill time. Then I watched The Untamed, and in the first minutes of the movie, when WWX gets kicked by Master Mo, something broke in my heart. Suddenly, I could feel the emotion. Xiao Zhan had something amazing about him, something that made me believe in his pain. Within a month, I watched everything that was available featuring him. I especially liked his vlogs, where even though he was a man I had never met, I knew he loved me. No, it wasn't any illusion of an emotionally ill woman, it was the magic of Xiao Zhan, who had so much warmth and gratitude for every person who liked him. Those who remember those days know, those who don't - their loss. Thanks to Xiao Zhan, I believed in myself. I returned to writing books. During 227 I made some friends with xiao fei xia and one of them told me to try publishing books on something like wattpad. I chose one of the platforms owned by Tencent. I won my first contract and it was one of the happiest days of my life. Influenced by Xiao Zhan and his steadfastness, I started my studies again. I am pursuing a career in science and writing books for fun. Long BL. My life, which was at a standstill, has turned around really well and I have achieved my dreams. I'm not the only one. Many people have told me their own inspiring stories, where for cultural reasons, family reasons, or simple shyness and lack of confidence, they couldn't dare to do something for years. Xiao Zhan, the boy who gave up his office job to make his dreams come true was an inspiration to us, and many people have achieved their dream success. How can we not be grateful to him?

I am not a fan. I don't have the mentality of a fan in me. I don't buy him flowers. I don't inflate the ratings of his series. If I like something, I rate it highly, if I think something is a bad production, I do not spare harsh words. That's me. However, I understand people who want to show the world in any way that they love him. After all, he's not the only one receiving flowers on MDL.

If you knew anything about Xiao Zhan and his career you would know that he is one of the most outspoken people who has no back, who was completely ignored by his agency and hired acting teachers out of his own pocket. People loved him sincerely and faithfully precisely because of his sincerity. As a singer he wages a cold war with his agency (Wajijiwa), as an actor he has no agency. His current popularity is not bought votes, no automatons, but real people supporting him out of the need of the heart. Because although he has no idea that on some MDL people are buying him flowers, fans believe they are helping to promote him to the world. By accusing them of being paid, you insult their sincerity. Are you also insulting the sincerity of fans of other actors buying them flowers? You don't know what is in the hearts of others, what drives them. Don't judge them with your measure.

I think it is not a question of money. Wu Lei is much older and is now working on a more serious career. Li Qin is also already playing bigger roles. ML's teammates were part of a boy band that practically no longer exists and probably Gu Jiachang and Peng Chuye could return, Wu Jiachang seems to have given up acting and Xiao Zhan, well, he doesn't play supporting characters anymore. It's more than 5 years since season 1 was filmed, so the actors' careers have moved on and they don't want to play idol drama anymore. It's sad, but true.

It is not known when the first episode will be. This is China, after all. Here the drama may appear unannounced. The premiere may be canceled on the day of release. We can only guess.
My guess is late July or autumn 2023. Now Tencent has The Longest Promises, so they are unlikely to make competition. TLP is due out on July 20. FBS 2 is a big ML IP, so it supposedly doesn't go in conflict with TLP, but I think it will take off when that ends, maybe some low-grade costume romance will appear in between.
FBS 2 is on my "must watch" list, so I'm waiting with gleeful excitement.

It could also be a matter of the fact that no serious costume projects are currently being shot in China, or at least I haven't heard of any. Two are in the pipeline, but if they are in the early stages of pre-production, it could take years before they start shooting. If Xiao Zhan is currently only getting props to play pretty generic characters, he may feel discouraged and wait for something interesting. Anyway, I remembered how after The Untamed he complained that he wasn't going to take dramas where he had to wear wigs because it hurt his hairline, and we've had two such dramas since then :).
Xiao Zhan is a sincere man. His interviews usually reflect his current mood. If he was hot in a costume and wig, he could say "never again." It's not that he can't change his mind when he thinks the project is interesting. I guess each of us has had a "never again" moment at some point, and it turned out that the temptation was too great after all (for example, never again ice cream after six in the evening ;) ).

Hello! Thank you for the warm welcome :)

I will definitely watch. Season one was my second c-drama I watched. I don't mind the cast change. I'm curious to see how HLL will perform as an actor. I've seen the trailer and I'm pleased.

Gosh, I really like this drama.

Yes, it's been a while.
If XZ didn't want to do costume/historical, it wouldn't have gone to Condor Heroes.
People talk, they gossip, they have their ideas and their fantasies, and so do I, he, he. None of us know what the future will bring, so I guess there's no point in worrying about rumors.
I know one thing - there is no working man who is not subject to certain pressures from his surroundings. XZ is beautiful in historical costumes, and I'm sure he and the producers know how much viewers love him in such costumes. Many fans say that XZ still wants to measure himself with new roles, but in that doesn't mean that he will completely come out of period drama. He can be a prince, a thief, a beggar, a general, an ordinary soldier, a doctor, a farmer, a merchant, a dignitary, a scholar.... XZ probably has a good 30 years ahead of him on the big and small screen, so rest assured, he will definitely appear in something historical :)

Totally understand you. However, it has been said for years that China needs a successor to Jackie Chan, that is, someone who will be China's face to the world. For a long time, XZ has been the most serious candidate because of his current international popularity and talent. The only thing he lacked was a good cinema project. At the moment, China is trying to reactivate good quality wuxia, which died some 30 years ago, and they chose XZ to do it.
I think there may be another "problem". I heard about it somewhere a year or two ago. If Xiao Zhan becomes a cinema star, producers of smaller, even interesting series, may be afraid to approach him with a proposal. They will expect that he will demand a huge fee, beyond their means. And with a queue of film producers, XZ may not even have time for drama.
Of course, there are also big TV series projects in China. At the moment, I have three in mind for XZ, in which he would be happy to participate. One is a serious historical, no cast yet, another is in a similar vein and is also in the early stages of preparation, and the third is a Tencent production, a really good quality science fiction. Like you I think XZ will not give up dramas completely, but we may have a longer break.

What Zoro1711 said, plus in China (Korea and Japan too) there is an idol profession. These are people who sing, dance, appear in entertainment programs and sometimes play srials. They are usually pretty and have some talent, but no professional acting training. They are amateurs. XZ was an idol when he starred in The Untamed, for example. It was an idol drama. Since XZ starred in the theater, he is seen as an actor, not an idol. He has made a career change. Now he is not expected to look pretty and attract audiences with the fact that he is famous. He is now required to be able to act at a high level. An idol can play well, the best example being XZ himself in his early years playing in TV series. This talent allowed him to go to the next level despite the fact that he did not finish acting school.

I agree with Zoro1711. It all depends on the scenario and whether the character is interesting to XZ. However, it may be difficult to see him again in something like The Untamed or TLP due to the fact that xianxia is not a genre where an actor can thrive. However, there are other costume dramas like wuxia or historical drama, and I'm sure XZ will be happy to star in those. So instead of an immortal cultivating on a sacred mountain, we will rather see him as a general leading the Tang army. My private opinion is that XZ will enter wuxia or realistic warrior roles, as he will have a good background in martial arts and horseback riding. If audiences like the new film, and I suspect they will, Xiao Zhan will stay in a similar genre for a long time. The only question is whether he will return to series or stay in film in the coming years, but no one knows, since we have no insight into the c-ent's backstory.

No, TLP is not considered that way, but it carries the characteristics of an idol drama. It is not considered so if only because XZ, despite not having completed acting school, is not considered an idol and Ren Min is a professional, although young, actress. It can be associated with idol drama because it is xianxia, so an undemanding genre unlike more serious dramas. In my opinion, TLP combines the qualities of both, but because of the pair of main actors and the actual efforts in production quality, it is not an idol drama. It is xianxia of high quality.

I had a great time on episodes 9 and 10. I was reminded of how when I was in the early years of elementary school some of my classmates clung to our teacher's skirt. We were then 6, maybe 7 years old. It's cute how SY can say without saying anything, "My personal space is my personal space. Get lost!"

That's what I thought, because I've been following information about this drama rather closely. Thanks for the confirmation.

Thanks for the info.

Yeah, except these are 10/10 ratings, just check the review on MDL. It used to be that there wasn't even an option to mark that you finished watching during the brodkast of the drama, so I thought I missed something. Anyway, thanks for the info.

Hm, you may be right, for me, however, there was still too little SY to be able to say that this character is written well. SY simply had too few scenes. I think the script didn't include instructions like "SY holds back so as not to show FL that he thinks she's stupid." That's why I think the credit goes to the actor. The character seems interesting, I just can't tell how much of it is the script and how much is the work added by the actor. If XZ actually influenced some scenes or dialogues, it's also the actor's influence. And I'm skipping the book altogether. I focus solely on what the drama shows me.

Where can I watch all 40 episodes? I saw in the review that several people have already finished this drama with all 40 episodes, and on WeTv last time I checked there were only 8.

He is definitely interesting to watch.