Nowonder actor who can gracefully use circulate wire mostly had background in dancing. I.E Leo Yunxi.
People with backgrounds in classical dance, martial arts, gymnastics, or acrobatics should be able to look graceful in wire‑work stunts because of their training. In college, Luo Yunxi earned a national‑level gold medal as part of a group ballet performance in a major and highly respected competition.
We get to see the boys fight!https://x.com/i/status/2015472217350406179https://x.com/i/status/2015458266965528801Laughter…
Fans call his short sword a “little ruler.” Shi Wuming fights with a short blade while Su Xuelou uses a long sword. I noticed Shi Wuming spins with his sword fighting. I would think that would be too risky in real sword fighting, but in the story he must be absurdly fast to make up for the short reach.
Calling Mei Zhuyu "wooden" or "flat" is proof that Xu Kai nailed the character's core design. Mei Zhuyu is written as emotionally detached on the surface (lifelong Taoist isolation, desire suppression, ascetic discipline), so outward stoicism isn't a flaw—it's fidelity to the role. It's like calling a method actor "boring" for perfectly portraying a stoic monk; a committed actor performs as the character, fully inhabiting their psychology, habits, and emotional state, which is exactly what Xu Kai does.
In Mei Zhuyu, there’s always a quiet intensity beneath the surface. He feels deeply — he just doesn’t express it loudly, not even in his final moments, which is why his death scene is so refined and quietly powerful.
If the performance were truly poor, those subtle, quiet moments wouldn't hit so hard for fans who appreciate the nuance. "Wooden" critiques usually just mean the viewer prefers louder expressions, not that Xu Kai failed the character.
I really like Xu Kai since his bald egg days, but recently I'm noticing something... he doesn't have many facial…
His acting didn’t change — the characters did. Gu Yanzhen was written for big, loud, mischievous expressions, so of course he looked more animated. Mei Zhuyu is the complete opposite: raised in isolation from the world, emotionally suppressed, ascetic, and trained to eliminate desire (reciting Taoist teachings to suppress those impulses). Mei Zhuyu was the purest embodiment of the Taoist Way. A character like that shouldn’t be expressive. Xu Kai adjusted his performance to match the role.
It’s easy to miss the nuance in character‑based acting, so it can look “less expressive” at first glance. Since you overlooked that he’s played plenty of expressive characters after Gu Yanzhen, it suggests your taste leans toward louder reactions, which makes the subtler work stand out less for you. Zhu Zhanji, for example, is noble, temperamental, and romantic, and Xu Kai portrayed all of that with refined precision. There's the clever prodigy Wan Lu and playboy Cheng Chu Mo to name a few more. Gu Yanzhen was unusually loud and animated — a truly iconic character — so anything after that naturally feels different in comparison, but that doesn’t mean he stopped being expressive as an actor.
Mei Zhuyu specifically is meant to appear emotionless on the surface. His entire upbringing was built on restraint: raised in total isolation trained to suppress desire and emotion devoted to Taoist discipline and detachment emotionally inexperienced and socially unformed carrying deep internal conflict he never shows outwardly
When Mei Zhuyu first saw Wu Zhen, it was also the first time he had ever left the Taoist monastery. He wanted nothing to do with the outside world until she pulled him into it. Mei Zhuyu feels things — he just doesn’t know how to express them, yet his proposal to Wu Zhen was so pure. His emotions are buried, not absent. That’s why his acting in this role is subtle and internal rather than loud or reactive. It’s a very difficult type of character to portray, and he handled it with control and nuance.
Even in his talisman scenes, Xu Kai deliberately avoided flashy martial‑arts moves and chose controlled, graceful movements that show power without exaggeration. The director even said he knows Xu Kai can do martial arts well, but for this drama they intentionally kept it understated — and it gives the show a unique, beautiful style.
Xu Kai keeps expanding his range with every role. Even when he plays a CEO, he plays it differently. He doesn’t follow trends; he adapts to the character.
The drama also didn’t give him much screentime, which limits how much emotional range the audience gets to see. Even so, his scenes were impactful, and his action work was especially impressive considering he performs his own stunts.
Xu Kai himself has said he won’t take on such an extremely restrained, ‘emotionless,’ and pure type of character again.” Mei Zhuyu is an outlier — not a sign that he “lost” expressiveness.
Xu Kai doesn’t cry the way idol‑drama leads are ‘supposed’ to cry — he cries the way each character would cry. His acting sometimes feels like art.
Wanda Margraf was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at The 16th Macao International Television Festival "Golden Lotus Award", although she did not win, it's quite an honor for someone so young in her first drama.
I would like to correct ur statement. she is the lucky one to work with top actor like Wu lei not vice versa.…
Thank you for the correction. I meant that Leo Wu brings his reputation and popularity, and Wanda Li brings a fresh energy. I think both are lucky to pair up because I think highly of Wanda Li and believe she will bring, as I said, a fresh energy. I find her different from the usual popular drama actresses out there, so she intrigues me. But yes, she’s also very lucky to work with Leo Wu because of his reputation, popularity, and excellent acting. Wanda Li has excellent acting skills too, but she’s just starting out, so audiences don’t know her talent yet.
I don't remember if I shared the short which collects english translation of Xu Kai's interview on Men's Style…
"For Xu Kai, taking on genres like crime and mystery - "every boy's dream" subject - is thrilling, but more importantly, it's about finding the right place within the craft of realistic acting. He doesn't rush to define his path, preferring instead to "take one step and see where it leads.""
Is this his first time filming action scenes because he is not doing too badly. This drama is going to be action-pack…
I don’t know much about Miles Wei beyond what I see on his MDL profile the dramas he’s been in. I noticed a shift in his roles around 2024 which positioned him well for this role.
LLJ and RSB: LLJ will continue working for the people of Linji, while RSB will take charge of the Rong family.…
Oh, he tried acting but failed so he became a scriptwriter and plagiarized. I saw an X post, he wants to try acting again, not sure if its' true. People make fun of it.
The 2.8B is Mango TV’s internal total‑plays number. It’s real inside Mango’s backend, but it isn’t public because Mango TV never releases raw cumulative play counts. That means no one outside the platform can verify it — but “unverifiable” doesn’t mean it’s false. Producers can see these backend totals and often use them for hype.
Yu Zheng placed that internal 2.8B next to Maoyan’s public data to make it look more official. It’s a classic Yu Zheng move — using a private Mango number alongside Maoyan’s public metric to boost credibility.
The 2.8B is raw total plays — every click, autoplay, refresh, and partial view.
The 1B is Maoyan’s effective play count, which filters out autoplay, repeated clicks, very short views, bot traffic, and inflated plays. That’s why Maoyan’s number is always lower than platform totals. Mango’s backend data is private; Maoyan’s data is public.
The drama performed very well — that part isn’t in doubt. I’m only pointing out the way Yu Zheng framed the numbers, not denying the show’s success. This isn’t unique to Yu Zheng — producers often pair a private platform total with a public Maoyan metric to boost hype. Yu Zheng just does it more openly… he literally writes ‘根据猫眼数据显示…’ even when the big number isn’t from Maoyan. The sentence connects 2.8B to Maoyan, but the number itself comes from Mango’s internal backend. Tricky.
the ratings and everything made yuzheng happy but are they really going to make a sequel? did he make an unrealistic…
YZ is the kind of person, he will praise you when it benefits him and also pay to destroy you if it benefits him. I wouldn't take anything the man says as genuine. It's pure business.
LLJ and RSB: LLJ will continue working for the people of Linji, while RSB will take charge of the Rong family.…
I truly hope that if there is a season 2, it'll be different actors because, YZ has to offer something to get the same actors back, which means it will affect his top male artists.
According to the script LJL should be the one solving cases. But Yu Zheng changed the original script and gave…
He is described as outspoken, media‑savvy, and unbothered by backlash. He treats notoriety as a strategic asset rather than a liability. He has a bad reputation, but I think he wants it that way. It makes for great publicity for him. He jumps into disputes, escalates them, and inevitably becomes the center of attention again. That cycle keeps him visible in an industry where visibility is currency.
Why Niche Philosophical Fantasies Like SAF6 Can Be Underrated Gems
The reason for the lower rating, I think, is that the story's Möbius time cycles and bittersweet ending are more polarizing, which pulls the average down. You can see this with recent fantasy dramas like Feud at 8.2 (low for a Bai Lu fantasy) and The Unclouded Soul at 7.7, both with similar themes of time loops/time travel/reincarnation mixed with bittersweet endings, although that can be up to interpretation just like SAF6 too. But Xu Kai dramas tend to be underrated on MDL. If Feud is 8.2 and The Unclouded Soul is 7.7, then SAF6—which is not lower in quality, especially with the cast's strong overall performances—should be as high. People rating it low often just don't like the story; it doesn't mean the drama is bad. It's truly a niche and unique type of storytelling with themes that open the door for some to pile on and rate it down. SAF6's narrative structure is unconventional compared to Feud and The Unclouded Soul, which lean toward more traditional fantasy romance tropes, but it's also what makes it refreshingly different. Of the three dramas mentioned, the time travel makes the most sense in SAF6 because it's the core of the entire story, whereas the others use it more as a device to wrap up the ending. All three use non-linear storytelling to some extent but SAF6's version is the most structurally experimental and immersive — it demands you piece together the 'loops' actively, which makes it feel more niche and polarizing. It uses romance as a way to explore philosophy rather than using philosophy to enrich a romance. Its structure, themes, and ending are designed to leave you wrestling with big, unresolvable questions about time, fate, memory, and love. That’s why the Möbius time cycles feel like the heart of the drama rather than just a plot device to wrap up the ending — the philosophy is the engine of the entire story.
Above all, SAF6 is a deeply philosophical and poignant story that truly tugs at your heart. This kind of storytelling is polarizing because it demands emotional investment and interpretation, rather than delivering a tidy happily-ever-after, same as in Feud or TUS.
(I’m only bringing these other two dramas here not to compare them, but to make a point.)
2 
1 
In Mei Zhuyu, there’s always a quiet intensity beneath the surface. He feels deeply — he just doesn’t express it loudly, not even in his final moments, which is why his death scene is so refined and quietly powerful.
If the performance were truly poor, those subtle, quiet moments wouldn't hit so hard for fans who appreciate the nuance. "Wooden" critiques usually just mean the viewer prefers louder expressions, not that Xu Kai failed the character.
It’s easy to miss the nuance in character‑based acting, so it can look “less expressive” at first glance. Since you overlooked that he’s played plenty of expressive characters after Gu Yanzhen, it suggests your taste leans toward louder reactions, which makes the subtler work stand out less for you. Zhu Zhanji, for example, is noble, temperamental, and romantic, and Xu Kai portrayed all of that with refined precision. There's the clever prodigy Wan Lu and playboy Cheng Chu Mo to name a few more. Gu Yanzhen was unusually loud and animated — a truly iconic character — so anything after that naturally feels different in comparison, but that doesn’t mean he stopped being expressive as an actor.
Mei Zhuyu specifically is meant to appear emotionless on the surface. His entire upbringing was built on restraint:
raised in total isolation
trained to suppress desire and emotion
devoted to Taoist discipline and detachment
emotionally inexperienced and socially unformed
carrying deep internal conflict he never shows outwardly
When Mei Zhuyu first saw Wu Zhen, it was also the first time he had ever left the Taoist monastery. He wanted nothing to do with the outside world until she pulled him into it.
Mei Zhuyu feels things — he just doesn’t know how to express them, yet his proposal to Wu Zhen was so pure. His emotions are buried, not absent. That’s why his acting in this role is subtle and internal rather than loud or reactive. It’s a very difficult type of character to portray, and he handled it with control and nuance.
Even in his talisman scenes, Xu Kai deliberately avoided flashy martial‑arts moves and chose controlled, graceful movements that show power without exaggeration. The director even said he knows Xu Kai can do martial arts well, but for this drama they intentionally kept it understated — and it gives the show a unique, beautiful style.
Xu Kai keeps expanding his range with every role. Even when he plays a CEO, he plays it differently. He doesn’t follow trends; he adapts to the character.
The drama also didn’t give him much screentime, which limits how much emotional range the audience gets to see. Even so, his scenes were impactful, and his action work was especially impressive considering he performs his own stunts.
Xu Kai himself has said he won’t take on such an extremely restrained, ‘emotionless,’ and pure type of character again.” Mei Zhuyu is an outlier — not a sign that he “lost” expressiveness.
Xu Kai doesn’t cry the way idol‑drama leads are ‘supposed’ to cry — he cries the way each character would cry. His acting sometimes feels like art.
https://x.com/AVirtualVoyage/status/1988077284700340613/photo/1
is thrilling, but more importantly, it's about finding the right place within the craft of realistic acting. He doesn't rush to define his path, preferring instead to "take one step and see where it leads.""
Yu Zheng placed that internal 2.8B next to Maoyan’s public data to make it look more official. It’s a classic Yu Zheng move — using a private Mango number alongside Maoyan’s public metric to boost credibility.
The 2.8B is raw total plays — every click, autoplay, refresh, and partial view.
The 1B is Maoyan’s effective play count, which filters out autoplay, repeated clicks, very short views, bot traffic, and inflated plays. That’s why Maoyan’s number is always lower than platform totals. Mango’s backend data is private; Maoyan’s data is public.
The drama performed very well — that part isn’t in doubt. I’m only pointing out the way Yu Zheng framed the numbers, not denying the show’s success. This isn’t unique to Yu Zheng — producers often pair a private platform total with a public Maoyan metric to boost hype. Yu Zheng just does it more openly… he literally writes ‘根据猫眼数据显示…’ even when the big number isn’t from Maoyan. The sentence connects 2.8B to Maoyan, but the number itself comes from Mango’s internal backend. Tricky.
The reason for the lower rating, I think, is that the story's Möbius time cycles and bittersweet ending are more polarizing, which pulls the average down. You can see this with recent fantasy dramas like Feud at 8.2 (low for a Bai Lu fantasy) and The Unclouded Soul at 7.7, both with similar themes of time loops/time travel/reincarnation mixed with bittersweet endings, although that can be up to interpretation just like SAF6 too. But Xu Kai dramas tend to be underrated on MDL. If Feud is 8.2 and The Unclouded Soul is 7.7, then SAF6—which is not lower in quality, especially with the cast's strong overall performances—should be as high. People rating it low often just don't like the story; it doesn't mean the drama is bad. It's truly a niche and unique type of storytelling with themes that open the door for some to pile on and rate it down. SAF6's narrative structure is unconventional compared to Feud and The Unclouded Soul, which lean toward more traditional fantasy romance tropes, but it's also what makes it refreshingly different. Of the three dramas mentioned, the time travel makes the most sense in SAF6 because it's the core of the entire story, whereas the others use it more as a device to wrap up the ending. All three use non-linear storytelling to some extent but SAF6's version is the most structurally experimental and immersive — it demands you piece together the 'loops' actively, which makes it feel more niche and polarizing. It uses romance as a way to explore philosophy rather than using philosophy to enrich a romance. Its structure, themes, and ending are designed to leave you wrestling with big, unresolvable questions about time, fate, memory, and love. That’s why the Möbius time cycles feel like the heart of the drama rather than just a plot device to wrap up the ending — the philosophy is the engine of the entire story.
Above all, SAF6 is a deeply philosophical and poignant story that truly tugs at your heart. This kind of storytelling is polarizing because it demands emotional investment and interpretation, rather than delivering a tidy happily-ever-after, same as in Feud or TUS.
(I’m only bringing these other two dramas here not to compare them, but to make a point.)