whoissilmoy

just a HT quote: Your enemy today can be your friend tomorrow.

I have noticed many warnings on the MDL comments page for SOKP regarding the show’s sensitive material. Since ABAY is a pretty wholesome drama in my view, I’m curious about what specific warnings you think are needed for ABAY?

You torture yourself to watch dramas you hate to write reviews on why you hate them. I hope there aren't too many dramas you hate this much, otherwise, it must be too stressful on you.

HT's gaze at JX, admiration, pleased, satisfied, intrigued, longing, adoration, and so on.

ZD is not technical. She started Guangsha with HT's plans. JX went to work for Guangsha and was the chief designer of the robot which is why she was able to fix that problem for Dr. Cloud so fast. I noticed in a scene that she brought HT a proposal to expand technology to remote areas and that was a proposal that JX had asked her colleague to give to management after she resigned, she still cared about her mission. HT recalled what JX said to him at the fishing village, so he knew it was JX's idea. Later in a scene, I see ZD asking HT for Dr. Jiang (if I recall the name) help and he promised it to her. ZD even complained about losing some low-level engineer although a long-time core member but one who makes mistakes. I cant' remember why XingChen would hire her and then she becomes a troublemaker.

HT didn't need to tell JX about Hanhai because when they shook hands, HT promised he'd give JX two years of full autonomy. JX turned down every investor because she wanted full autonomy which only HT would give her. JX initially would only give 15% but finally settled on 33.4% but HT initial offer was 51% (novel). With majority interest, HT will give XingChen access to Donyang's vast resources (manpower, consultants, supply), established networks and other connections, and sales channels but JX turned him down and said I don't need anything else from you, just the funding, because JX is young and inexperienced and overly confident that she can solve the problems herself. HT really just wanted her to focus on engineering. So then in the novel, HT lowers it to 49% and let her do engineering and production only but leave everything else to him, but JX still say no so they settled on 20M and 33.4% same as what Han Yuan had offered which HT knew in advanced. Think of it, if JX gives HT more shares, JX's life would be easier, she would have gotten materials she needed and printer she needed, if it broke down, no problem, and when the product is released, Dongyang already has sales channels, etc. But I can also understand from founder's dream, JX wants control of her startup. Every time JX mentioned her product strategy or positioning and Hanhai, HT told her not to worry about Hanhai. HT allowed her to make her own decisions. JX told her employees since Hanhai is too far ahead they would focus on a niche product where their strength lies. If JX tried to compete head on with Hanhai, then HT would not have interfered either and XingChen would fail because Hanhai is basically run by HT, but JX wanted full autonomy. HT trusted JX judgment and valued her innovation. But HT's internal fight with his cousin, HY, forced his hand and JX or XingChen became a pawn, but he did get XingChen back at a huge financial loss. I think he did that because Guangha's business was never in his long-term strategy anyway, but XingChen products were, so he valued Xingchen more than Guangsha.

AI is the future unless the world falls into a period of 'dark ages'

The story is about two people expressing love in different ways. A conflict exposes their differences and causes them to explode. There are many references in the drama that JX is an emotional person; however, she's also resilient and she actually moved on rather quickly and forgave Han Ting in her heart. Since she no longer needed him to say I'm sorry to her, she basically didn't blame him - she got over it and able to look at the situation without the emotions, but it doesn't mean she agreed with him in the area of love. She just couldn't get back together with him because she felt their relationship is not balanced and she's afraid of getting hurt again. Han Ting thought he was doing what she wants and giving her what she wants. There were never any bad intentions, only misunderstandings. Their fight they weren't communicating at all, he was communicating in business terms, and she was communicating her personal feelings.

HT has always thought very highly of JX since college. He was impressed by her good judgement to turn down funding from his cousin. He trusted her completely to the point he would not interfere with her operational issues when she couldn't get materials or when the printer broke down, and many more problems she faced. If she could not make the deadline and break the agreement, he would have had to cut her off, and that would actually risk his own career because his cousin was using XingChen's failure to bring him down, so XingChen became a pawn for him. HT only has two years to deliver on his deal with the Board that he would double Dongyang's stock price in two years (or something like that). His entire life mission driven by his parents' death is hanging by the thread due to XingChen. Also, he had a deal with his grandfather that in two years, if JX failed, he'd have to marry whoever his grandfather picks for him. What HT did provide was his experience and he gave her a lot of good advice, signed her up for 6 months MBA program with the right professor in the same industry, gave her startup a discount on office space at Dongyang, and got her well connected, but he never interfered with her startup product, operations, or management or stepped in to solve their product or operational issues nor helped her to develop plans and strategies. Afterall, she was not just someone, she was the brilliant girl he knew from college who worked on the robotic project that they won first place in national contest, and it was that project that was for both of them the beginning of their vision and mission. For HT he was driven to do it for his parents and for JX, she was driven for her compassion to help those in need.

HT was always meaning to discuss the future of XingChen with JX but due to politics, people who want to destroy him, and JX played into their hands, he had to make his move, and she was in the crossfire of his war. He was willing to sacrifice her for Dongyang. But after the breakup, it broke his heart. My take is that HT wanted JX to take XingChen as far as she could on her own, but I doubt XingChen can go IPO, or maybe it can, but I doubt it due to the nature of its business, a merger makes more sense. He never intended to destroy XingChen or squeeze out JX in a merger, not because of personal favors as that would violate HT principle and character, but he always felt XingChen had innovative products and JX has great talent in product innovation. He initially offered JX and SZZ to work for Dongyang, but they wanted to start their own company. But in the end, he had to use XingChen or JX as a pawn to expose his cousin and to save XingChen.

HT does not invest in a company for personal reasons. He avoided investing in XingChen until after JX turned down his cousin, HY. That showed immense good judgment, and he then decided to invest in XingChen. HT’s decision to invest in XingChen, despite its low chance of survival, was a strategic move or preemptive measure to ensure no one else gains control over it. He viewed JX as a capable rival should anyone get hold of XingChen. If Han Yuan invested in another startup, she could also kill XingChen herself. It was better for XingChen to be in his hands than to be destroyed if it fell into someone else’s hands. I don’t think it was out of personal liking for Ji Xing; otherwise, he would have invested in her earlier. The fact that she could still turn down Han Yuan in her most desperate moment showed great judgment and tenacity, traits that impressed him.

Interview: XK himself also agrees (HT) with this way of expressing emotions. He says there is a song called "Love reveals the heart" which has the same meaning as the classic line ABAY. "There are different ways to love. Some people use earth shattering, while others choose long lasting love. No matter which way you choose, there is no right or wrong. The most important thing is the two lovers can accept it".

This is a good read if you enjoy this drama but it's in Chinese. It shares what TSY thinks of her character and what XK thinks of his character and why the characters appealed to them.
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/309932983/?_i=3626807_x2nO8B

To put into perspective how great a run ABAY had in July, per Maoyan data:
ABAY (40) 1.5B, 7/2 to 7/24, 23 days
War of Faith (38) 1.5B, 3/21 to 4/13, 24 days
Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty (40) 1.5B, 7/18 to 8/13, 27 days
The Double (40) 1.5B, 6/2 to 7/3, 32 days
BCE (37) 1.5B, 4/9 to 5/10, 32 days
Blossoms in Adversity (40) 1.468B, 4/2/24 to 5/3/24, 32 days

Due to Olympics, it took ABAY a bit longer to reach 2B, from 7/2/24 to 8/10/24, or 39 days.
I think the Olympic finals delayed it by at least 3 or 4 days, maybe even an entire week. To put in perspective, War of Faith reached 2B in 37 days, from 3/21 to 4/26. ABAY seems to have slowed considerably since the Olympics aired. I hope it can resume its run although slower pace.

I think LYFS2 and ABAY were always very close during its weekly airing
ABAY (40), 1.9B, 7/2 to 8/2, 32 days
LYFS2 (23), 1.1B, 7/8 to 8/2, 26 days (it finished airing 2 or 3 days earlier)

The powerhouse of them all are #1Joy of Life S2 and #2The Legend of Shen Li.
JOLS2 (36) 1.2B, 5/16 to 5/29, 14 days
The Legend of Shen Li (39) 1.2B, 3/18 to 3/30, 13 days
The Legend of Shen Li (39) 2B, 3/18 to 4/6, 20 days
The Legend of Shen Li (39) 3B, 3/18 to 4/24, 38 days

Another example: AJTL which was super popular took 58 days to get to 1.8B, from 11/28/23 to 1/25/2024, so ABAY arriving at 2B in 39 days is no small feat for a modern drama that had low expectations.
https://x.com/liu_yuning08/status/1752557087349977262/photo/1

Han Ting puts his last picture of him with his parents inside his German vocab book. This is very meaningful.

The business story is substantive in this drama and is intertwined into their personal story. You can't have one without the other.

I like Zeng Di because she adds depth to Han Ting and gives Xu Kai more range. His interactions with Zeng Di are well-acted. His cold demeanor makes the character more interesting to me.

Their love scenes are gentle, sweet, delicate, and deeply touching, making them pleasing to watch. The term I’ve seen in Douban translations is “it’s not greasy,” which perfectly describes their natural and effortless chemistry. They truly seem like they were made for each other.

You sound like you're bored with Chinese dramas, "same storyline", "pointless storyline", "same characters", etc.

Found this tidbit bts of the fight scene, the person who posted it said:
#XuKai so dedicated in filming. I feel sorry for Xu Kai’s professionalism. I want to praise him every time and he always cares about other actors very nicely. However, I feel sorry for his original back injury (on set of Court Lady). You are more beautiful than Xingguang.

p.s in second video u can see #XuKai was touching his head bc accidentally he got hit in the head yet he still care about others only asking by are you ok

https://x.com/i/status/1815763787389272312

Action scenes can carry risks. You can see bts here the amount of dedication and effort that goes into making the scene. Notice that's a real metal object he has to back into it but it's been wrapped to avoid injury during rehearsals. They seem to use real objects, not props (well, except the knife, I doubt they use a real knife! but the stick is real-looking and can injure). I wonder in the actual scene do they remove the wrapping, or they can somehow edit it out? Notice the fast action of the fighting. It's all real movements, no stunt man. XK's figure is impressive and so are his movements.

XK portrayed HT as a tempered-down, restrained character. Can you imagine if this was Gu Yan Zhen from AMA?"
https://x.com/i/status/1823269816515575897

Do you make this same comment for other 30-to-40-episode dramas which is probably the majority of dramas?

"I just have never found a Chinese drama that couldn't shave off 10-15 episodes and make the drama better."

I think those are called period dramas or historical dramas in ancient historical settings like the ancient Chinese dynasties. There are Republican Era dramas too after the fall of dynasties. Also, Wuxia can contain some fantasy elements too.

https://movie.douban.com/subject/35874293/
21.4% 5-stars
24.9% 4-stars
26.7% 3-stars
19.3% 2-stars
7.8% 1-stars