ninan

Need to share this.

https://twitter.com/aenimj/status/1169037726038949888?s=21
Somebody on twitter showed this. It is the scene after their confession in the snow in ep43. I was wondering why the next day WWX was so tired and they both had bruises on their lips. No idea if it is really that case but it surely offer a good base for imaginations. Hahahaha~~~

Basically the chinese society is still very conservative about this topic but the young generation is much more open and relaxed. Since the online readers are mostly young people, online novels just reflect their attitude. But still the general public attitude is like: we are ok as long as they stay low profile. The censorship partially represents this attitude.

The censorship also is adapted to the platform because of the different scale of the audience. That’s why we have MDZS novel with hot scenes. MDZS audio drama with a short kiss scene while the animation and the web drama are much more toned down. We are lucky CQL is for web only, otherwise there is no way for it to pass the censorship since dramas for satellite TVs face the most strict rules.

Chinese online novels are generally loose or relaxed about the gay relationship, maybe more precisely to say, open to soulmates kinds of concepts. Historically this kind of platonic bonding between the same gender is also not uncommon in ancient peoms/operas/folks stories etc.

Most online Chinese novel sites offer categories not only on themes like romance, fantasy etc, but also on the sexualility: for boy, for girl, for BL/GL or for no CP. So online readers are very aware of the gay concept. Writers as well. BL/GL writers for sure. It is also quite commen to have gay couples as side characters in a girl romance novel like in love O2O. Even some male writers won’t mind to describe the soulmate relationship for their characters. The best example is Dao Mu Bi Ji, the famous IP thriller/horror novel series about tomb raiders. No FL, only two MLs, very very popular among both male and female readers. The writer himself admitted the two MLs is the CP.

In the chinese fantasy genre, the gay concept is even more common because the term Dao Lv, which means the cultivation partner. Not husband or wife only. Maybe because in this kind of story, as cultivaters, they are beyond the mundane world. Also if someone lives for hundreds of years, who cares about the sexuality of the others partners. So readers accept this kind of relationship in fantasy novel with less struggling.

But of course, there are way less BL/GL novels than normal novels. :-)

https://youtu.be/41MQEkWJgg8
haha, found the Eng version!!

It is a classic soup dish in southern China. A lot of versions but the main ingredients are all pork ribs and lotus roots. https://youtu.be/41MQEkWJgg8. This is one version, but no eng sub.

Actually i recommend another song, That Boy by Liang Hao. https://youtu.be/8GmYYyzT_Rs

In one interview, XZ and WYB were asked to use one song to describe each other. XZ chose When I were Young for WYB. WYB chose That Boy for XZ. https://youtu.be/nFzMvGsDUHw

https://youtu.be/wobHq2VhUUE
What I miss by Sun Yanzi

Most cdramas with over 9 ratings in Douban are those really old classic dramas like Journey to the West and Red Chamber type. At that time, Douban was not even there yet. People rated them so high also partially for nostalgia reasons. After 2010, Douban becomes the major rating site of the industry, then things are getting nasty. It constantly turns into a battle field for fans and anti-fans. Only real good productions can survive the attacking of the anti-fans and remain a high rating. After Nirvana in Fire 2015, there is no historical/costume/fantasy cdramas getting a rating over 9. Actually now if the rating is over 8 in Douban, it is really considered to be very successful. In 2019 so far there are only two out of many historical cdramas were rated over 8. Plus cdramas using idols as main cast are somehow a natural magnet for the anti-fans and bookfans who dislike idols. So the Untamed, which has such high rating like 7.9, is truly a miracle.

https://youtu.be/Dnj5Tcpev0Q
If I Were Young by Li Ronghao

Well, the denying always means something special. :-D

hahaha, i actually feel they were attracted to each other from the beginning, not only one-sided. The difference is that WWX was falling without self conscious but LWJ was falling with self awareness, therefore he struggled a lot. I feel till ep14 he finally figured out his feeling but clearly WWX still did not. :-D

The director in some bts explained a bit of their world concept. It is a world where swordcraft is the major way of cultivation. Magic and spells are more auxiliary. From the drama, it is even more likely that not everyone has the ability to pull out good spells. This setup is like some old HK zombie movies, fighting+talisman. And they are just cultivators, the mortals train themselves to be immortals, so they will not pull out mighty spells like the gods or goddess in TMPB. And for the style of Wu part, the director also mentioned they focused on the swordcraft but not as realistic and brutal as in the Wuxia dramas because of the Xian element in the story. Therefore they go with the style of flowy and dance-like.

Well, the pace is actually nicely designed with the story. The slow and happy mood in the beginning is the total contrst to the intense and anxious moments in the later episodes. Honestly speaking till later 20eps-early 30ep, you will miss the slow pace in the beginning. It is like a wave. Ep10 is just the beginning of a huge emotional wave. The real Angst starts around ep15 when everything goes down. As for the bromance, it is a slow burn in the drama. I like it better than guardian because it is better in showing the relationship development of these two leads, subtle but deep. PS, ep13 and ep14 has some peak bromance moments. :-)

A small correction: the VA in the audio drama for WWX (Lu ZhiXing) is the VA for Xiao Zhan. But the VA for Wang Yibo (Bian Jiang) is not the one in the audio drama. He is the VA for LWJ in the anime. :-)

Since AmylovesDramas asked people, who wanted to have more BL, to give this drama a try, I would like also ask for people, who hesitated because it is bromance or BL related, to give this drama a try. :-)

Even without any BL/bromance elements, this drama still stands out with its story, characters, set design, music and cinematography. Not to mention the writers are clever enough to leave enough room for all interpretations. The result is:

Normal audience: OMG, their friendship is truly touching and heartwarming!
BL/Bromance lovers: OMG, how can this pass the censorship?

So there is really nothing to hesitate about. Just dig into the story to see if it is your cup of tea. :-)

This drama is already a study case for the Chinese entertainment industry. It started with a really low rating on Douban like 4.6 or 4.8 because the leaking photos of the shooting site indicated Wen Qing had a lot of added scenes with the two MLs, which might confirm the rumor earlier that the production team wanted to add romance to the drama. So outrageous MDZS fans bashed the production company in all kinds of social media and gave such low rate in the beginning. Then in the end it turned out that the production team did follow the advice of the fans and deleted all WQ added scenes. The rating on Douban went higher and higher during the airing. From 4.6 to 7.9, the jump alone is already a record in Douban history.

Ok, i see. Basically you have issues with all the efforts drama made to avoid the censor. Well, honestly speaking, JGY’s line there did not change anything because it was just his explanation. The drama writers are smart. They follow the story core closely but play some tricks to avoid possible problems. That line was easily taken as a lie from JGY for the audience because from the story telling before it is clear that the curse is to summon sb back from death.

Anyway, why the comparison? They are all well produced in their own way. Different media, different budgets, different censorship standards. I just saw they tried their best to interpret the original novel in their allowed limit. Appreciate them all.

More he is the first one because he is the founder of this special way of cultivation by using this kind of dark demonic energy. The title of the original novel Mo Dao Zu Shi actually means the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation or Demonic Path Ancestral Master, referring to WWX.

Er... I think it is crystal clear in the drama that WWX was dead 16 years ago. Where did you get this impression from??? The story is the same as in the novel. WWX was reincarnated into MXY's body. They just used the same actor.

That’s the traditional chinese culture thing. After birth, they were given birth names by the family. Then till certain age, they were given courtesy names for socializing, which mostly were given by their mentors, respected friends or elderly. Basically everyone will call their coutesy names afterwards. Only family or really close friends could still call the birth names. One special case is to use birth names as insults. i.e. two sides are in war. The generals from two sides confronted and yelled each other with birth names of their enemy.

For WWX
Family Name: Wei
Birth Name: Ying
Courtesy Name: Wuxian
Title: Yiling Patriarch

For LWJ
Family Name: Lan
Birth Name: Zhan
Courtesy Name: Wangji
Title: Han Guang Jun ( Light Bearing Lord)