JJJ

Agree for sure, you can just watch this drama without thinking too deep about it. The highlight moments are great, the characters are not NPCs, and the ship got chemistry, there really isn't much else you can ask for in an idol drama.

Yeah, unfortunately a lot of these dramas fumble in S2. Though it is not even a separate season, it is really just the second part that couldn't air all at once due to episode limits. And they probably did that too so the rating for at least one of the seasons would be good. If everything is just one season, the latter half would have bombed the overall ratings and decreased it.

Yeah, the ship really did a big one for this drama. This being such a healthy relationship really stood out against a lot of the C-dramas this year. The cast being great together irl also got more people to check out this drama.

The script is unique with the case-breaking for this year (though one can argue the cases can be written/filmed better) and also one of the first ones to air this year, so the timing really helped.

"Our Generation" technically should have been fighting with this drama but that drama is not doing well at all, and the other drama is an anti-drug drama (which idol genre fans are not going to be into), so this is really the main drama from mid-July to the end of July. All the other period idol dramas will be coming out in August.

Honestly, I think they didn't adapt it as well as they could (if it was a more capable scriptwriter, I think this drama could have been even better). They took out some of the best parts of the novel (in terms of the cases) and changed things that didn't really needed to be change which opened up for some plot holes.

I am also pretty sure the scriptwriters have conflicts with each other because some of the character dialogues conflicted with previous dialogues. Yan Chi for example saying he doesn't want a woman who just knows how to put on make-up waiting for him at home while also uplifting women in some other scene later. Or Yan Chi lowkey saying "you are different from other women" while Qin Wan has the dialogue not to compare women. It has been discussed on the C-side that there is probably a male scriptwriter adding in some of these dialogues which conflicted with what the female scriptwriter wrote.

I think overall they were able to keep the characters well enough but there definitely are some dialogue issues/conflicts which shows some internal conflict with the scriptwriters behind the scenes. Yan Chi in the novel for example never even stepped into the brothel (he recognized it was one and turned around to walk away when he was taken there) but they added in the brothel scene and weirdly have Yan Chi talk about his sad past which some viewers took it as PUA. It is just small things here and there with the characters.

Yeah, I did hear about issues with S2 of FP. Too many plots on jealousy and miscommunications.

Hi, please put this under spoiler as this is the misdirection I was talking about. The whole farmer's son story was meant to throw people off.

It is basically just fan circles fighting. LLD and ARP are about to get more opportunities, and it just means one less opportunity for their own fav. It also exposes their overestimation of traffic actors/actresses + fans carrying dramas. If a drama has several good things going for it (+ luck and timing), it will do well with non-fans. This drama is just another example that production doesn't need to spend as much money hiring these traffic stars if they can hire other non-traffic talents instead for idol dramas and still gain profit.

Yup, if you use the Chinese platforms for these dramas, it is rare to turn on the bullet comments if you are not a fan. It really affects the viewing experience when fans taken over the comments.

Yes, I am good with the same director and production crew but let's swap out the scriptwriters. 🤣

Yup, it is a very healthy relationship, and it is something that is praised about this drama.

Oh for sure, the amount of black marketing I have seen after this drama hit 10K increased significantly. But there are also data accounts coming out and defending this drama too saying the drama has consistently rise in a normal trend and it makes sense across the board. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Back when iQiyi dropped their prediction report, this drama wasn't even on their list of expecting to hit 10K just because barely anyone knew this IP and the cast being non-traffic but here we are today.

Crying, iQiyi is so damn lucky with this drama because they are spending bare minimal on promo and now there is this edit that is going viral on Douyin without them paying.

It is a fan edit of the forbidden love between Consort Qin Wan X General Yan Chi: https://v.douyin.com/ZByJRrHCSzM/

Anything to get people to tune in, I guess! 🤣🤣🤣

Top female student of her graduating year in Central Academy of Drama like the previous comment mentioned. 🤭 When these actors/actresses are trained, they are /trained/. It makes such a difference and can elevate average plots.

He was involved in the downfall of Shen Yi in the novel, but he thought he was doing the right thing. He didn't know the full story. 🥲

The 7th case is closely related to the 8th case. They "solved" it, but it is not the end of it. The cult is not just some simple cult either and very related to what is going on in the palace. They gave hints already about "punishing the heavens", the similar cases now happening in the capital, etc. We still have some characters that haven't shown up either too that will connect the pieces together.

Their jokes are so funny and witty. They have such GOOD sense of humor, and it is not even being biased.

Yup! They are getting married!

Yup. 💯 Her "mistakes" or "impulsiveness" over certain things were understandable too and the script gave her enough narrative power that it did be hard to hate on Qin Wan versus some of the dramas who have cut down a lot on the FLs' POVs so it is easy to ignore their pain and get mad at their decisions in favor of the MLs. This is one of the few recent dramas that is FL-centric that is /actually/ FL-centric. We get Qin Wan's mental state, her skills, her pain, her happiness, friendships, family relationships, and romance.

Episode 15 officially!

Yup, I get that some fans aren't that deep into the drama circle to know many of these melons are fake (and then start being invested in the drama actually being their favs'), but it is always better to see these drama rumors as false until they start filming. You have actors/actresses who can even get swap out on the first day of filming.

Also, I have seen rumors going around on TikTok that Bai Lu (and Ryan Chen) were supposed to have these roles and that is not true. These dramas usually release fake melons first with popular actresses/actors to just generate interest, but it doesn't mean production actually gave them the script. LLD was given 2 choices, this drama or "Serendipity" at the same time and she picked this drama. ARP was then also selected to match her and for his role.

I have seen BL X ARP shippers trying to spread this for a long time due to them loving MM and because the producer is also a producer of MM (plus a lot of the same actors/actresses) but BL was never considered for this role (at least based on the info available from drama insiders), nor would it have been possible for them to have a 2nd collab that early especially because of billing issues.

She has such a sweet smile! She can look so "cold" when she doesn't smile and switches into a whole cutie when she does. It is such a great contrast.

Sharing some excerpts from this drama's screenwriter's interview: https://weibo.com/3809799228/5192048480095521

-Rewatch rate of this drama: iQiyi has data to track whether viewers continue watching episodes of a drama beyond the 3rd episode and if they rewatch it (because that is when they usually drop it if they don't like it).

-The rewatch rate for this drama is 81% by episode 3 which is a really high number compared to their other dramas. In addition, the rewatch rate goes even higher with the later episodes compared to some of their other 10K heat index dramas.

-It took the team a lot of effort to find the right actress for Qin Wan because the character is too hard to play; she needs to be young, pretty, looks smart, and able to memorize a huge amount of dialogues so requires someone with really good acting skills and vocal skills. When they saw Li Landi, everyone thought, she fits every single quality they needed for Qin Wan. They praised her for being able to memorize and say all her lines without missing a word when even the screenwriter has a hard time saying the lines.

-For Yan Chi, they wanted to look for someone with high/good visual, good acting skills, and someone relatively new as they know the audience was sick of seeing the same few people acting with each other (swapping partners). They saw Ao Rui Peng and he gave off "living vibes" (sincere, hardworking, not a diva, has that young energy, etc.) and he was just missing an opportunity.

-Li Landi is easy going and bubbly but turns into a total professional/serious when it comes to discussing/acting her role. For the water/drowning scene for Case 3 (Herbs Garden), she was hanging on wires for 6 hours with her waist almost injured and did not complain even once. Ao Rui Peng would analyze his character and plan how to act out his next scenes. Both are just very sincere and hardworking.

-Li Landi and Ao Rui Peng rarely rest even when it isn't their scenes. They would watch others perform by watching the monitors. Ao Rui Peng rarely asks to rewatch his own scenes, but he would constantly watch Li Landi's performance and constantly say she "acts so well".

-Potential second collaboration between them.