phoenixfrost

Yup, this novel is amazing. I had vowed not to watch another revenge cdrama, but it made me recant. I'm eagerly anticipating these enhancements - fleshing out XJX's story and finishing the item search sub-plot.

Lol The dance sequence in P&P was when they were at the Netherfield ball and Lizzy and Darcy had an icy conversation at the start of the dance then the other dancers disappeared showing only the two of them coldly dancing 🤭

Yup, I expect that too. I also expect nitpicking on writing, direction, acting, chemistry between leads, camera angles, filtering, etc. People who are determined to criticize would find something to criticize.

The producers have been eyeing Dylan for the ML role since 2022. He rejected it at least once before finally agreeing to take it.

For me, the story of a novel is sacred. The POV may be changed, and some artistic flourishes may be added, like the dance between Lizzy Bennet and Mr. Darcy in the Keira Knightly adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but the story needs to be intact. This novel was written long before many current dramas were made. So, it would actually be interesting to see which other dramas are similar to this. I know a very popular drama that has almost the same background for Shen Miao, i.e. daughter of generals and left with grandma and other relatives, but this similarity did not affect my enjoyment of the novel which I read after watching the drama. One enhancement I'm interested to see is having the story of XJX fleshed out. Another is filling out the hole in the novel regarding a search that XJX has been doing that provided opportunities for him and SM to meet many times, but the novel didn't reveal what item he was searching for. It seemed like the author forgot about it.

We don't even know whether the POV is going to change, why get all worked up, already accusing the ML of arrogance and messing up productions for his ego? That's indulging in the male equivalent of misogyny called misandry which is just as bad. Dylan, especially, does not deserve this prejudice and hatred. He has been an outsider of C-Ent since he started, having come from a humble background with no powerful backer and publicity team. He is a grassroots actor, depending solely on his fans. This is why he is being bullied to death by industry bigwigs who don't want him to compete for resources with their boys. Despite the bullying, he wrote a rap song about being elegant/graceful such that even if "storm beats the face", one needs to "block the malice and still keep good manners".
If there are going to be changes made for this drama, it might be with fleshing out XJX's story, e.g. instead of perfunctory description of his origin, from babyhood up to when he meets Shen Miao, the drama might dramatize its highlights. And that can only be good for the drama as XJX's story is just as compelling as Shen Miao's. There are also holes in the story, such as that item XJX has been searching for that caused him to cross paths with SM many times. Yet it was never revealed what the item is. It seems the author forgot about it. Here's hoping it will be explained in the drama.

Hoping that most, if not all, issues are sorted out by the time the drama airs so we can focus on the story. It's such a beautiful story that made me rethink my vow not to watch any more revenge dramas.

I think it's good that the circus is happening now, while there is enough time to explain and understand why things happened, e.g. billing

I heard this is based on a true story and dramas like this take a while to be licensed. But I'm not sure about this rumor.

Dylan’s haters like to paint him as a bad boy which he definitely is not. He is always featured among the top 3 kindest cdrama actors/actresses. But he is such a good actor that in Love Between Fairy an Devil and Unchained Love, he made the audience believe he has a scummy side. It would be funny if the producers also heard of the bad boy image his haters want people to believe and made it another consideration in giving him the role lol

He is candid, funny, very likeable. Those who choose to hate him due to envy are missing out a lot. Have you watched him in variety shows like Wander Together, Hello Saturday, The Inn, Keep Running? He makes me laugh so hard! He's a natural comedian 😂 He also showed his versatility in Guardians of the Dafeng, going from comedy, action, romance to heavy drama.

Mostly by those who are envious of Dylan and Ziyi bagging the most coveted roles in cdrama history, or at least since the novel came out in the 2010s and became much loved by Chinese novel readers.

He is well-loved except for those who envy him, threatened by his popularity and those, like the powerful businessman, are mad they can't make money off him.

This novel is set in ancient times, so being concerned about its adaptation being "stale" is rather odd. Wouldn't adapting a novel in its original form be too boring for the novel readers? What's the use of watching a drama that is exactly how it is in novel form? I might as well re-read the novel. What I'm interested in when I watch a drama based on a novel I love is how the drama is able to convey the story. If the story is intact, I'm happy.

Nah, Xie Jing Xing is not one to be toyed with. He has his own compelling story that if fleshed out would make the drama truly magnificent without taking anything away from Shen Miao's story. XJX is SM's dark knight, somebody who protects her from the shadows, not making a grand show of it.

I'm a voracious reader who doesn't mind when novels I love are adapted creatively, e.g. with different POVs, as long as the gist of the story is the same. For me, the story is the most important, not the POVs. If the story is happy-ending but is adapted into a tragedy, I would protest like crazy. Anybody's story can be told from different perspectives while keeping the story intact. In this novel, Xie Jing Xing has a rich background that if fleshed out would make the drama more compelling without taking anything away from Shen Miao's story. I'm looking forward to seeing that happen.

Dylan is, in fact, probably the most bullied actor in C-Ent. He is from a humble background, from the province instead of hailing from an elite city and has no powerful backers and publicity machines. He is a grassroots actor, depending on fans to support him. Thus, the bullies think he is easy prey. I heard there is a powerful businessman with a "if I can't use you, nobody else can" mentality who has been attacking him relentlessly. This businessman was probably behind the massive smear campaign against Guardians of the Dafeng, and now too, against Dylan's movie Per Aspera Ad Astra and this drama.

Dylan was very good in EN2 and I also became a fan. As @LalaLand noted, the hostility against the drama was mostly a case of viewers not being able to accept the cast changes. I read the rest of the novel (what would have become season 3) and it was anti-climactic. I lost interest in the story after reading it. Probably why season 3 didn’t get made.

Repeating a post that explains the billing arrangement quite well (thanks @lily):
"Actually, there are rumors of big actresses turning down the offer of this drama cuz whoever takes it will risk her career and will be targeted by novel fans just like how it's happening rn for both leads. Whd already rejected this previously but now the ip was about to expire and xinli needed someone big quickly. Since they failed to get any big actress willing to work on this project, they approached whd again and convinced him by offering Guardians of the Dafeng S2 so he accepted... He attracts a lot of investment. He is commercially successful... Xinli is a production company which doesn't risk by taking small actors... This is S+ budget drama so investment and money to make this will be more so need higher return and profit and Xinli won't risk this. They need guarantee of it at least doing decent which whd & mzy together can give them. If whd is not the ML then the project investment will go down and budget will drop from S+ to S. This is how industry works and Xinli doesn't want to lower their budget for this project."

Regarding the ability to attract investments, Dylan's Guardians of the Dafeng broke records for the highest overall ads duration, 4311 seconds, the highest in all platforms in cdrama history. Please see details below:
https://mydramalist.com/photos/l0ZrgQ_3

Thanks 😊 I'm glad to be on a team with folks who know what they're talking about 😊

This is Dylan's first foray as lead of a Chinese New Year movie. He is a newbie in this capacity. Apparently, the production team also lacks experience in the cutthroat business of getting movies scheduled for Chinese New Year. But at least the movie and acting have been acclaimed to be of high-quality.