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he's not the director of either this or The Double. He is the producer though.

It filmed in November of 2023 . But it only got its distribution licence like a month or two ago. the female lead, Wang Ziwen said it should be airing "soon" LYN also said something similar in a livestream.

I'm not sure about its english title, but yes the new chinese title (it's been changed a few times haha) is Rosebush or something like that.

He also has Cicada Girls that should be coming out this year, a modern drama.

More and more actors are dubbing themselves these days. More than they use to anyway. Dubbing with VA's has been the "thing" for decades. If anything, it's less trendy and popular to now.

Both of the leads have dubbed themselves before so I wish they'd just let them do it here too.

It's not that he doesn't want modern drama he just said that he's not keen on the idol modern dramas with lots of romance. Unless the script is something special. He wants more realistic dramas. He's hoping to do suspense.

That being said he does have a modern drama coming out soon. Cicada Girls.

I have watched the drama. He was struck by her beauty the first time he saw her, that is true, the seed was planted. But he did not fall in love with her at first site. If you had watched the drama you'd understand what I mean. They are not in love right from the beginning. In fact there is still hate and resentment in the beginning.

In the very beginning she wants to save her people. But she develops feelings and an attraction to him and it is then that she tries to get closer to him while he remains somewhat at a distance. But even so this is an enemies-to-lovers trope so you have to start with them being enemies to some degree. Also, I don't see it as "making him wait an entire year" when the mourning period custom was a real custom at that time. and in the drama's case, there was a part of him that really did not want to sleep with, or desire her in that way as he saw it as a betrayal to his family and people.

There is more than one love scene. with both taking turns in dominant positions. But yes, in one of them there is one point where she is on top of him. But he encouraged her into this position on top.... regardless, I don't see why this would be a problem or a deal breaker for anyone. Men and women in love do tend to take turns with that anyway. If something like that puts you off maybe this drama isn't for you.

That's not really how it plays out. If anything she actively tries to get closer to him rather than the other way around.

Neither of them are in love with each other at the beginning - enemies really. sex would have been just a matter of duty in consummating the marriage. He gives her a mourning period of 1 year for her grandfather ( this was common in that time) There is growing tension between them of course, and over the course of that year they fall in love for real, their attraction grows as well, and by the time the mourning period is over, they definitely both want each other. you'll know it when you get there.

I felt he was clearly joking. I kept telling people not take that seriously

You could watch some of Liu Yunings other dramas if you havent already. The Story of Pearl Girl and A Journey to Love. Heroes (2024) etc. But you have probably watched them already

I think it's worth it. It's a good drama. You just have to prepare for the angst.

Liu Yuning and Zhao Lusi both give great performances in it.

It's actually predominantly romance based, albeit a slow burn one. The revenge, politics and war part doesn't play as much of a part as many initially expected.

I think it depends on what you classify as "friendly". I felt there were plenty of sweet romantic moments in AJTL but the kisses were indeed tepid (as Liu Shishi's onscreen kisses usually are tbh.) His interactions with Zhao Lusi in The Story of Pearl Girl were filled with romantic and sexual tension (and the bts of their kiss scenes were LONG! very very long. unfortunately edited down by the director for the drama) I don't think he has a problem being close with his female leads.

The romance here is a slow burn. and that's not really different than a lot of cdrama. (common in costume dramas especially. Censorship plays a part) They may be married but they're not really in love for a lot of it. But once you get to their kiss/bed scenes coming up, it's very passionate. It might just be one of the most passionate kisses I've seen in a historical cdrama.

So traumatic! But such good episodes at the same time. The angst lover in me was conflicted 🤣

I think the idea is that she was born with it, as a birthmark. Signifying that she is a fated emperess. But it's fake. So the "fated" story is BS.

Do we count it as his second? haha The Liu Tao one was cut, but he kissed Liu Shishi a few times in A Journey to Love before he filmed TPOB. They just weren't passionate kisses, but rather sweet ones (her onscreen kisses do tend to be pretty chaste) 😂

Don't know for sure, but if there is it will probably be around the 28th or the 29th.

They had completed filming before the tax evasion issues came about.
It was during the post-production

It was filmed from January 31st - May 2023.