Per Baidu, some had voice dubbing, and others did not. Luo Yunxi is listed as doing his own dubbing. There are…
Maybe they modified his voice or he modified his own voice to suit the scene. If it is him acting but another voice is being used, as you indicate, that's exactly what that is = voice over, dubbing. There is NO unknown person behind-the-scenes doing the dubbing.. It is very clear by the information regarding Luo Yunxi's acting for this drama that he used his voice for every character he played in this drama, whether he dubbed over himself or they used what he said while he was acting the scene. It is ALL his own voice.
I cannot even scroll through all these comments to get ANYTHING resembling a comment regarding this drama.
The entire comments section is just an attempt to get a certain "number" of comments under this drama, for whatever political/popularity reason. All I'm left with is going through the reviews and deciphering who wrote something real or who just fangirled something.
Because of this, I think I'll skip this drama and put it on-hold until AFTER the new year.
Hi, I'm new to mydramalist, but I was wondering if someone knows the voice actor of Ming Ye in episode 11 when…
Per Baidu, some had voice dubbing, and others did not. Luo Yunxi is listed as doing his own dubbing. There are also many Chinese entertainment articles written about this subject for this drama. The headlines state that Luo Yunxi, not only did his own voice over dubbing , BUT, he DEMANDED that he do his own voice work for this drama.
Let’s not forget this whole conversation was in Korean, so let’s not interpret a conversation according to…
H: It’s okay, what’s the point of being sorry? All I need to do is report you. I waited for this moment. It looks like you made it? You made it.
H: Eora, why are you saying this? Even that day on the hill, did you or did you not surround me together with the other kids while accusing me of hitting [redacted]?
H: I’m waiting for your downfall. I don’t mind our identities being revealed. Because we’re the victims, and you’re the perpetrator. It’s not like we did anything wrong.
****************************
Man OH man. We're talking 2001-2003, when cellphones weren't even in use and South Korean culture was a LOT different than it is today!! Also, in these conversations are the fact that TEACHERS HIT THEIR STUDENTS for poor behavior. We're talking about a country where adults and kids alike regularly used violence to handle situations.
Who fucking remembers in their mid-30s EVERYTHING that ever happened to them specifically with accurate detail about everyone? Who remembers even every name, face, or person in their middle school classes and what they all said and did, even after school, and who they all hung around with, and their motivations in life and their family and upbringing? We're talking TWELVE to FOURTEEN YEAR OLDS here....
MY GOD, if EVERY human being has to pay the price with UNEMPLOYMENT and SHAME and OSTRICIZATION for every stupid little thing they ever did when they were 12 through 14, I fear for the productive of the society you're attempting to create. The age of ADULTHOOD is 18 for a fucking reason.... You're still a DEPENDENT not fully responsible for your actions because you're not 100% mature enough to understand the ramifications of what you're doing.... Especially when the society you are in has adults HITTING children as a form of discipline IN SCHOOL, teaching young impressionable PRE-teens that this is ACCEPTALBE behavior!!
NEXT WE'LL BE SAYING WE SHOULD DO AWAY WITH JUVENILE COURT, SEALING JUVENILE RECORDS AND MAKING ANY CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, THE KID'S NAME & FACES EXPOSED AND CHARGE AS ADULTS. WHY EVEN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN A 12 YEAR OLD AND AN 18 YEAR OLD AT THIS POINT IF THAT'S HOW IT'S GONNA BE PLAYED??...
But isn't it all too convenient to ACCUSE DECADES LATER when everyone's memories are in disrepair and ALL the accusers can get FAME, SYMPATHY, and EXTORT MONEY from the situation, by piling on.... Everyone gets a piece of this pie, they think.... NEVER MIND that they are JUST as likely to have done BULLYING, by "HITTING" others... which they admit they were "ACCUSED" of... and all the DRAMA related to FRIENDS ONE DAY.... ENEMIES THE NEXT.... and we're NOW after DECADES only going to believe ONE SIDE OF THE STORY and a tabloid rag like DISPATCH to be the SEEKERS OF TRUTH in all of this... and accept that the memories of 30-something year olds about what happened at 12 and 14 is the end all and be all of the subject???? Just unbelievable..... to think this what amounts to the EVIDENCE of ending someone's livelihood and career.
'Most of you writing comments live in the Cancel Culture era, with FB, Twitter, & IG where you think you get to stand in judgement of everyone and everything in humanity, and never have to look in the mirror yourself. Hell, iPhone wasn't even released until 2007, nearly HALF A DECADE after these incidents supposedly occurred. Most of you probably don't even remember what it was like living without a cellphone, and how you contacted people and got around......
You know.... With MOST crimes, there is a Penal Code, and society sets that up for a reason.... WHY!?! Because the idea that you're going to make humans pay FOR LIFE for everything mistake they ever made is erroneous. We have STANDARDS of JUDICIAL SENTENCING..... If you expect a CRIMINAL TO REDEEM THEMSELVES when they get out of jail by NEVER ALLOWING THEM TO WORK IN SOCIETY AGAIN, what do you think will happen????? How do they make a living and feed themselves and their families when you SHUN them FOREVER???? CANCEL CULTURE??? You might as well live in CCP China where a LARGE segment of the population live under bridges and inside industrial cement pipes. And you even wonder why South Korea has the HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE of all developed nations????? It's this mentality. The minute you make a mistake, you're shunned, you can't work, you can't feed yourself OR your family, AND your friends AND family are now guilty by association..... HOW CAN YOU LIVE???? The ONLY solution for them is death..... AND BTW, this is for ADULTS sentenced.... We're talking TWELVE YEAR OLDS here having to, without due process, court, a trial, non-hearsay evidence, and a jury of their peers, pay the price of UNEMPLOYMENT from a career they developed over a decade, for what SOMEONE SAID they did in middle school, online, without releasing THEIR identities for scrutiny.... and you're ALL for it....
And you commenting and standing in judgement OUTSIDE A COURT OF LAW demanding the ENDING OF A CAREER for HEARSAY and evidence PAST THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.... mind you a LIMIT that is set for the very reasons we have here,,,, memory of witnesses, and THEIR financial motivations to LIE as well.... and the INABILITY of the person the victims ACCUSED to defend themselves due to lack of FACTUAL evidence other than WITNESS MEMORY which is KNOWN to be EXTREMELY FAULTY the FURTHER OUT FROM THE CRIME YOU GO.... and all these Armchair Judges and Juries on the INTERNET can feel real cozy and happy that they've......
SERVED JUSTICE....
Pfft.... May Karma Hit You All On The Back Of The Head.
If you've been obsessed with K-dramas or K-pop for several years, you'd understand that this is the way it is…
you also fail to understand my point. Additionally, I have a international business degree. Part of diplomacy is understanding the culture you're dealing with, and yes, most ambassadors have studied regarding that, so wouldn't be a "newbie" who needs the explanations. It's the Johnny Come Lately-s that need the glossary...not the veterans...the veterans are the ones appointed to posts at the UN... so your point is mixing apples with oranges.
Regarding the terminology of dating being referred to as a "Dating Scandal"... that's exactly what is called in Korea and there is TN reasoning behind it and stating it differently doesn't explain the public reaction to some news.
Ji Soo is an idol... ...as noted in this BBC article discussing the concept of these things being a scandal it states.. "....The "no dating" clause of the contracts has resulted in some idols being sued for breaking it, accused of damaging their reputations..." Read it. It explains thee taboos and how Korean society is MUCH more conservative about relationships, among other things. etc. Ji Soo is fortunate that YG Family is allowing them to openly date. As they point out "...These “scandals” also depend on how fans welcome the new couple..."
This article actually focuses on how it's even harder for Japanese celebrities to date than Koreans etc.
Even international news media that deal with cultural issues understand these matters...it's not new nor needs to be written in a Western positive manner. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35368705
First person to try to explain:"....The whole drama was a trainwreck and the fallout is still ongoing due to Wang…
But this is what I'm saying... it wasn't just the fire agency that posted on their "official" weibo about the matter but an "official" ecological conservation weibo account that complained about the waste of water. Those 2 agencies have nothing to do with antis, competition, etc. Any of these excuses given for why the drama has been downvoted to the floor. THIS is what caused all those CCP social justice warrior passerbys to add JET FUEL to the fire that was already blazing. You're right, they likely didn't even watch the drama. These are the types of fools that go around pointing fingers and tattletaling to an undercover cop about their best friend or next door neighbor talking shit about Xi. They get off on criticizing everybody and every thing. It's unfortunate that happen in the process of this show airing.
So, people cannot merely blame everything on fandom haters as a fact. Plus, if you read through it, there are actually more detractors saying the watched the drama and hated the acting and the story so they dropped it halfway through...just like you can see in the comments here below. Even those who trying to counter the hate have had to acknowledge there is a lot of problematic things about this drama that have nothing to do with fanwars.
Anyway, after all of this, I'm now still on the fence as to whether or not I'll watch this drama. I don't want it to taint my good vibes about YY, tbh.
If you've been obsessed with K-dramas or K-pop for several years, you'd understand that this is the way it is…
I have been watching K-dramas and listening to Kpop for an extremely long time, even before MDL existed. I used to go to Dramabeans for updates. I think they are very high quality translators. They literally have a glossary of Korean drama terminology because it is specific to Korea. As an example, we westerners all know what a melodrama is, but there is another class of melodrama that does NOT translate to Western perspectives of "melo". The closest Western idea you can come to regarding it is "Jumping the Shark" -- a term that harkens back to the American TV show 'Happy Days' where Fonzi legit waterskied over a shark for tv ratings. This term, in Korean, is called Makjang. Makjang is a special form of "melo".... And as such, will always be referred to as Makjang-- thus, Dramabeans lists it in their glossary of terms because it is entirely too cumbersome to ALWAYS explain this to the newbie.
There are just some things that will never be translated across cultures. It is what it is, and this is the terminology that is used in Korea. Koreans refer to these matters as scandals, and as a Westerner, you just understand the difference, take in the information based in cross-cultural terms without demanding Koreans change their terms to fit the international community that they pay little attention to regarding about their own national celebrities, and move on.
welcome to 2023 where people Asian do not accept this kind of writing. Thank god for the progress. The writer…
Really? Is this true??? I don't think so. A large swathe of K-EXOL's literally demanded Chen and Chanyeol be kicked from EXO-- Because Chen announced that he had a non-celebrity girlfriend and would marry her as she was expecting their child & Chanyeol was swept up in cheating allegations by someone claiming to be his ex-girlfriend. THIS WAS THIS PAST MAY, 2023... So....
K-EXOLs literally sent trucks to SME in May, 2023 to demand they both be removed ahead of their FULL ALBUM release to protest because of these reasons.... the INTERNATIONAL headlines read "...Internal fanwar break out between Korean and international fans after the former sent protest trucks demanding Chen and Chanyeol’s removal from EXO...."
The articles go on to say "...South Korean fans were still vehemently against Chen and Chanyeol’s inclusion in the group. They believe that the duo ruined the group’s reputation and continue to do so..." and that there is in-fighting between INTERNATIONAL fans and KOREAN fans.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is the reality WITHIN KOREA itself. These actions are considered SCANDALS, and actionable towards a Idols career. The only ones seeing it different are INTERNATIONAL fans... so, yeah, the South Korean general public, and press will continue to refer to these things like dating, getting married, having a kid, cheating on your g/f as "SCANDALS" for the foreseeable future, and whitewashing it HERE won't do anything to change the cultural sentiments with South Korea, period.
First person to try to explain:"....The whole drama was a trainwreck and the fallout is still ongoing due to Wang…
Please, let us be reminded that these are not MY ideas or thoughts.
1) I have yet to see the drama because my drama watching habit is to binge watch a FINISHED drama after ALL episodes are released. I also pay attention to the sentiment because I use that in determining what I spend my precious time watching and often don't mind spoilers for that reason.
2) I'm not a fan of any 1 actor/actress in particular but, for the most part, I don't find YY's acting to be bad, even in Love O2O, that many 'passerbys' pan as horrible acting.
3) This is the absolute most hate I've ever seen YY get. To me, he's never truly been a controversial figure in C-entertainment circles, even if a large section of Cnetz 'passerbys' think is acting his canned & he's only a himbo. I'm looking to watch this drama, thus, that's why I 'researched' the matter because it was actually quite unusual for him.
4) I don't really know much about the other actors. I have 3 other WCR dramas I'm planning to watch where she is a supporting actor. I'm especially looking forward to Joy of Life 2 and have The Longest Promise on my NetFlix list of dramas to watch. I'm still debating whether I watch this one or not... because I lately haven't been feeling the makjang style Slow Burn dramas with irritating characters.
So, let's be clear here, because this situation cuts both ways......
This drama has been downrated to hell on Doubin and the comments on that site are bad... Maybe it started out by haters BUT now, you cannot say that is the case. The majority of comments that hate this drama etc on there NOW are from mere 'passerbys'. This drama will never recover from this AND YY's reputation will have this drama follow him.
I'm actually shocked by it because, as far as reputation, this is a HUGE hit to YY that he really has never seen before. Majority of the passerbys are pointing to YY's age as a problem. He won't get anymore passes from them, after this, for acting like a himbo or mere pretty face in a drama. He's going to have to make sure that his projects going forward don't further tear him down. I specifically wanted to point out that the comments have little to do with 'personal' issues with the actors and more so regarding the process and acting of the drama itself. The fact that not 1 but 2 govt agencies posted on their weibos to not follow the lead actors' behavior in this drama just tops it off. Actors have been completely canceled for less than that -- take Zhang Zhe Han as an example. You can merely take a picture somewhere you shouldn't be...hell, the end of 2021 they tried to do the same thing to Gong Jun who had to literally give cnetz his itinerary for clarification so as to not get cancelled so that now of his dramas were released in 2022. That was just from loud barking from cnetz on weibo, not having a govt agency criticize you. YY goes from aerospace govt agencies praising him to the complete opposite. Again, if enough negative hoopla, to the point govt agencies are involved, happen, and actor can EASILY get disappeared. I don't know if any of you realize just how strong Xi is about these issues. Not just in entertainment circles. There is literally being a PURGE of military personnel by Xi currently going on -- 'suicides' and large swathes of replacements within the Rocket Forces. YY is small potatoes compared to that...so, you never want to have THIS kind of large scale negativity coming at you. It takes the CCP very little effort to erase you and they don't like 'drama' surrounding dramas... period.
Let me point this situation in perspective for you all:
384495 Doubin reviewers have rated this drama and 71% of them gave a 1 rating for an entire rating of 3.2. This drama finished ONLY 2 weeks ago. That's a massive amount of 'haters' making this effort. They can easily downvote everything an actor has down for his entire career.... so let's make note, this is hate for THIS drama in particular and there's a LOT of it.
475394 Doubin reviewers have rated YAMG and 5% of them gave a 1 rating for an entire rating of 6.9.. including govt agency praise. This drama aired exactly 2 years ago. Again, if haters merely want to hate on an actor they can mass campaign to downgrade his entire work.
143600 Doubin reviewers have rated WRTW and 16% gave a 1 rating for an entire rating of 5.7. Lusi received a bump in her reputation after this drama. So.... there's clearly a LOT more attention on THIS drama, and I honestly think it has to do with the attention that those govt agencies put on this drama by calling it out on Weibo, to be quite honest. I think that had a LARGE part of DRIVING cnetz PUBLIC SENTIMENT towards this drama, because CCP tattletales LOVE to tack on and put in their two cents and reprimands. It's the Chinese way of the internet. Their are large batches of CCP style social justice warriors... and I think that had more driving influence than any rumored romance, or fandom hate towards 1 or both of the leads.... and the outcome was, someone who was an innocuous supporting character, like WDX, ended up looking like a prince in the aftermath.
The below *spoiler* sentiments are not mine. I picked them up from a English-Chinese site where commenters seeked…
First person to try to explain:
"....The whole drama was a trainwreck and the fallout is still ongoing due to Wang Churan’s attitude controversy. Please don’t come after me I’m just relaying what happened.
1)Wei Daxun’s unexpected popularity: his tortured stepbrother role went viral over the uncouth firefighter played by Yangyang, compounded with WDX’s variety fame and clean easygoing nature with 0 controversies despite acting for many years, netizens started to fangirl him and his character.
2) The drama’s producer Jia Shikai who happens to also be Yangyang ’s agency boss and novelist JiuYueXi all wrote long posts to defend Yangyang’s ’s role and acting, and the novelist JiuYueXi even said fans who prefer the stepbrother played by WDX are ‘superficially attracted to wealth and power’. Netizens counterargued that the FL herself is attracted to wealth and power because she refused to leave her stepfamily for love and demands her firefighter boyfriend buy a big house 四合院 which is impossible on a firefighter’s salary.
3) Cutting of WDX’s scenes by the producer Jia Shikai who happens to be Yangyang’s agency Yuekai’s CEO. Yangyang also has a 30% stake in Yuekai so it‘s clear netizens will perceive it to be Yuekai, Jia Shikai, Yangyang (all the investors in this drama) bullying Wei Daxun. I didn’t watch the drama at all thankfully but apparently his scenes got reduced which made netizens hopping mad and support Wei Daxun the actor even harder, and hate the show even more. Worse Yangyang complained that his cool skateboards scenes got cut so netizens found behind the scenes skateboarding footage that looked ‘greasy’ so Yangyang got another round of acting criticism
4) Plagiarism: JiuYueXi got exposed by another novelist for plagiarism of her book where the FL is an adopted girl who falls for the ML her stepbrother. In other words she accused JiuYueXi of copying her plot, setting, characterization of the adopted family and adding a new uncouth firefighter ML so the original ML got shifted to 2nd ML. JiuYueXi had previous plagiarism scandals at JJWXC or China’s main webnovel site where another author who accused her quit JJWXC in protest of the site’s inaction so netizens sided against JiuYueXi and hated the show even more.
5) Yangyang’s greasy acting aside, both his & Wang Churan’s characters got deemed problematic because of how they characterise firefighters and their personalities got picked apart too. I really don’t want to comment too much as I’ve not watched to show but Yangyang also got criticised for being a himbo like his role because he often gives shallow substanceless answers and is overly affected by how he looks. There is even a viral clip of Wang Churan calling Yangyang ‘empty brained’ to his face at a drama fanmeet because he called her role a nurse 白衣天使 when she’s a doctor, now that clip has a new connotation in light of Wang Churan’s apparent attitude issues
6) Wang Churan’s issues: Last weekend a Weibo user posted online that she ran into WCR who was filming an advert at a mall and got called a witch because she wore black clothes. Subsequently WCR’s agency started harassing this user to delete her post so the user posted the chatlogs. Then various industry insiders with proof shots who worked with WCR starting posting on Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu that they witnessing WCR being rude to assistants or losing her temper easily. Suddenly all hell broke loose and previous compilations of WCR rolling her eyes (this used to be seen as her being cool) at costars or interviewers were now interpretated as proof of WCR being rude. Netizens even found an old vlog where Churan showed fans 3 books that her mother bought for her (‘How to not lose your temper’; ‘How to not let emotions get the better of you’; ‘How to control your state of mind’;LOL) which further confirmed their suspicions that she is ill-tempered. Also the previous clip of her calling Yangyang ‘empty-brained’;was now seen as less funny and more mean-spirited.
The biggest winner is Wei Daxun by far, he is a newly minted liuliang and has new endorsements and magazine shoots. It remains to be seen if his new fans will stick with him past 3 months though. The issues are still ‘fermenting’;a nd the show will have a negative effect on the leads especially Yangyang that they would be better off if they didn’t film this drama. Like Zhang Han’s Gentlemen of East 8th, Yangyang probably regrets investing to produce this drama and needs to rescue his reputation from the drain. The director Li Muge was deemed promising before this (he did Goodbye Princess and Rattan) is also a longtime collaborator with Yuekai and Jia Shikai, his rep will be affected too. Chinese netizens hate Big Capital and their cronies shilling untalented actors and posting holier than thou comments on viewers’ perception and taste, hence the low Douban score is a middle finger at Jia Shikai, Yuekai, Yangyang who is Yuekai’s shareholder and top dog. I’m glad this has happened because many top stars like Yangyang do think too highly of their poor skills and don’t see the need to improve since Big Capital will cast them to act as leads, plus they’re rich enough to invest in productions which they can helm once they reach 30+ like Yangyang and Zhanghan. Unsurprisingly these productions that are meant to be a vehicle to push the lead actor who also happens to be a key investor in the drama turn out to be dogshit...."
2nd Person to add to the explanation:
"....No, morally complex characters are universally preferred in China. The biggest Cdrama in 2023 was The Knockout which hit 60% ratings (almost unheard of) due to the criminal characters and great villain acting by Zhang Songwen who was an unpopular actor til his 40s, Cnetizens went crazy over him and Zhang Yi and dug up their old Weibo posts and musings where Zhang counselled fans and gave deep life advice as a small time actor and acting teacher. Before The Knockout it was dramas like The Thunder, First Half of My Life(my aunties love this due to all the cheating), All Is Well, and Yanxi Palace was a megahit because the FL was cunning and vengeful. Currently Lost You Forever is a summer hit because the FL is morally grey and cynical, and the most popular ML Xiangliu is a demon snake. Likewise LBFAD went viral in 2022 due to Dylan Wang’s devil character. Better Days is one of the most successful Oscar nominated recent C-films because it had morally questionable leads who were bullies or victims who lashed out. You simply don’[t know what you’re saying… Beyond fluffy idol romcoms mainstream Chinese audiences prefers complex morally grey main characters like Ye Wenjie in 3 Body Problem.
Also Hidden Love did better outside China,in China it was popular with kids and regarded as cringe by anyone not a teen due to the FL’s baby voice. It’s very popular on Netflix,Korea, Southeast Asia and places where they read subtitles and can’t understand the immature Mandarin dialogue.
Dilreba sounds fairly eloquent if you understand Mandarin too. What you said about top stars not speaking their minds only applies to a few idol baggage afflicted liuliangs because they fear crazy fans. Most actors are not liuliangs and speak their mind a lot, some are bland but some liuliangs are very outspoken e.g. Liu Yuning is a liuliang actor/singer who does regular live sessions and talks about everything from his experience as a street busker, to life in the industry, to his divorce scandal. Others like Yangzi, Li Xueqin Dylan Wang, Tan Jianci are very outspoken and upfront too. Earlier this year when people were picking on Wang Yibo netizens already gave a long list of actors who are impressive interviewees and analyse their role well. Even Dengwei the newish male star from LYF was surprisingly eloquent at expressing his thoughts in interviews despite looking kinda thuggish
As for Yangyang, he was never a good actor and his age has caught up so people judge him harshly now. You can get away with looking pretty and being a himbo in your 20s but once actors hit their 30s Chinese viewers expect more since they are too mature for idol romcoms and need to do more realistic dramas like crime, work place or family dramas. Ultimately you need to watch less idol dramas and pick better fare: The Knockout, Yanxi Palace, First Half of My Life..."
The below *spoiler* sentiments are not mine. I picked them up from a English-Chinese site where commenters seeked to explain the criticisms of this drama and YY+WCR. Hint: it has very little to do with the rumors regarding the leads and is WAY more complex than you can imagine, and it's more about the reactions from 'passerbys' watching this drama than fandoms etc.
Unbelievably reading a LOT of comments here attacking the MDL writer of the post for their terminology "dating scandal". I will posit that the issue isn't with the MDL writer who deserves an apology BUT with the newbies to K-drama & K-pop that don't understand the terminology in and of itself.
THIS is how the Asian entertainment market refers to such dating incidences if it involves a celebrity, especially if one or both in the relationship is an "Idol" which has very SPECIFIC connotations in Asian culture, not just in South Korea, but Japan, China, & Taiwan. Also, in the Philippines & Thailand they literally have CP duo acting couples that work in tandem who are expected to outwardly portray a 'dating relationship' even OFF-screen to the public. An example of 1 such couple that supposedly turned REAL was #JaDine, which refers to James Reid & Nadine Lustre, the Filipino CP who was made popular by their pairing in 'On the Wings of Love'.
So, before a bunch of folks @ me for this comment, let me point out that the TERMINOLOGY used, i.e. 'Dating Scandal', is an Asian Culture description, and how the media in those nation's refer to topics like this NOT an MDL writer's personal take on the situation. It's a **translation** of the 'entertainment' news coming out of those Asian nations, which is the sole focus of MDL in particular. If you've been watching Asian drams and following the actors and idols for decades, you should already be aware of this. If you haven't, it's likely you simply don't understand the culture implications and how Asian general population perceives these topics. This is simply how they refer to matters such as these, they literally ARE a "dating scandal' to them. Seeing it different is to see it through the prism of another culture's eyes, most likely Western vs Eastern.
If you want to watch a drama that portrays these concepts in a realistic way so you can better understand what I'm saying, I suggest watching the South Korean drama 'Sh**ting Stars' with Lee Sung Kyung & Kim Young Dae from 2022. It's a really good 16 episode drama where LSK plays a talent manager who would be the one to issue the Idol's "public statement" and cover for their "scandals"; KYD plays an Idol actor; and Park So Jin, who was a member of the Kpop Idol girl group 'Girl's Day', portrays an entertainment reporter trying to get the scoops on 'dating scandals' etc. This way you can see a drama that shows you exactly how Koreans view these topics in general.
Why is it a "dating scandal"? Like they're both grown up adults, where is the scandal? If you want to publish…
If you've been obsessed with K-dramas or K-pop for several years, you'd understand that this is the way it is reported in South Korea. This is how South Korean press, media, celebrities, and the general public describe such incidences. It's not revolutionary nor is it MDL's personal spin on it. It's the direct translation from the media and how the actor/idol's agencies would address it. It's been like this for decades. lol.
I've been watching K-dramas and listening to Kpop since 2005, and, btw, that's the way it's referred to by most Asian entertainment circles, e.g. Japan, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand et al. This is an Asian thing because, especially in Ji Soo's case, the idea is that they're 'selling' a single image & fantasy 'boy/girl-friend' to their fans. SO, when they charge money for their fan meets, and merchandise under that guise, the general public, right or wrong, believe they have the rights to or own their bias. They expect them to remain single for the duration. As a foreigner/Westerner, this concept has ALWAYS been appalling to me, BUT, I have no right to dictate to other cultures and since it's multiple Asian nations that portray entertainers this way, then the talent involved are VERY aware of the risks and expectations they are setting themselves up for in the long run.
We'd like to see Asian nations and fandoms grow up and out of this ideology and they are slowly moving away from portraying every romantic relationship as something negative by calling it a 'scandal'. It takes time to change a mindset BUT I also think it's a translation issue. I don't think they really consider it a 'scandal' in the Western expression, like someone did something criminal, but more like something newsworthy for the press & public to oogle over for a time. Anyway... Hope this clarifies that it's not MDL pushing the narrative but Asian Entertainment culture in general which is what MDL's focus is on.
I thought I saw Vin in the trailer... boo... only a guest role... *sigh* Saw stills of the OTP...they're fire...which trembles my YAMG heart...because, as always, you have to move on...
I know this drama was filmed between May, 2022, and October, 2022, but, after seeing the trailer, I cannot shake the feeling that this drama got speed thrusted by the CCP since the context is very "Rah-Rah China Nationalism" and the sacrifices "firemen make to save all Chinese lives'. It also helps that the most apolitical and neutrally appealing actor in China, Yang Yang, is the male lead to spoon feed this propaganda like sweet honey. It's, honestly, tailored made for the CCP to wipe itself clean of the tragedies of Xi's 'Zero Covid' policies that caused many deaths of Uyghurs locked in that apartment building in Urumqi that spurred unprecedented protests across China. Protests that ultimately forced Xi to then do a 180 degree reversal on those policies, which also caused chaos. Suffice it to say, Yang Yang is such a non-confrontational actor that can turn the attitude to pride about fire safety, etc. through this drama. lol.
It is very few and far between, in essence, extremely rare, for a Mainland Chinese drama to go from Booting Ceremony to public release in little more than a year's time. This drama's production simply came at the right time, with the right topic. I think the star's shine on Yang Yang....
3 
2 
1 
"Only Luo Yunxi starred in the original voice, and the other characters were all familiar CV actors." [ https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20221111A0AO2W00 ]
"Chang Yue Jin Ming: Luo Yunxi insisted on the original voice, Qiao Shiyu voiced Bai Lu, and Deng also voiced Chen Duling?"
[ https://www.163.com/dy/article/HM2DLA9L05539YJ1.html ]
[ https://www.sohu.com/a/605641101_121388130 ]
Video of him doing his own dubbing and narrating:
[ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ey4y1X7LH/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.5 ]
Video of Luo Yunxi changes his dubbing voice based on interviewer's request with the same dialogue:
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-C4BTl1KDA ]
The entire comments section is just an attempt to get a certain "number" of comments under this drama, for whatever political/popularity reason. All I'm left with is going through the reviews and deciphering who wrote something real or who just fangirled something.
Because of this, I think I'll skip this drama and put it on-hold until AFTER the new year.
H: Eora, why are you saying this? Even that day on the hill, did you or did you not surround me together with the other kids while accusing me of hitting [redacted]?
H: I’m waiting for your downfall. I don’t mind our identities being revealed. Because we’re the victims, and you’re the perpetrator. It’s not like we did anything wrong.
****************************
Man OH man. We're talking 2001-2003, when cellphones weren't even in use and South Korean culture was a LOT different than it is today!! Also, in these conversations are the fact that TEACHERS HIT THEIR STUDENTS for poor behavior. We're talking about a country where adults and kids alike regularly used violence to handle situations.
Who fucking remembers in their mid-30s EVERYTHING that ever happened to them specifically with accurate detail about everyone? Who remembers even every name, face, or person in their middle school classes and what they all said and did, even after school, and who they all hung around with, and their motivations in life and their family and upbringing? We're talking TWELVE to FOURTEEN YEAR OLDS here....
MY GOD, if EVERY human being has to pay the price with UNEMPLOYMENT and SHAME and OSTRICIZATION for every stupid little thing they ever did when they were 12 through 14, I fear for the productive of the society you're attempting to create. The age of ADULTHOOD is 18 for a fucking reason.... You're still a DEPENDENT not fully responsible for your actions because you're not 100% mature enough to understand the ramifications of what you're doing.... Especially when the society you are in has adults HITTING children as a form of discipline IN SCHOOL, teaching young impressionable PRE-teens that this is ACCEPTALBE behavior!!
NEXT WE'LL BE SAYING WE SHOULD DO AWAY WITH JUVENILE COURT, SEALING JUVENILE RECORDS AND MAKING ANY CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, THE KID'S NAME & FACES EXPOSED AND CHARGE AS ADULTS. WHY EVEN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN A 12 YEAR OLD AND AN 18 YEAR OLD AT THIS POINT IF THAT'S HOW IT'S GONNA BE PLAYED??...
But isn't it all too convenient to ACCUSE DECADES LATER when everyone's memories are in disrepair and ALL the accusers can get FAME, SYMPATHY, and EXTORT MONEY from the situation, by piling on.... Everyone gets a piece of this pie, they think.... NEVER MIND that they are JUST as likely to have done BULLYING, by "HITTING" others... which they admit they were "ACCUSED" of... and all the DRAMA related to FRIENDS ONE DAY.... ENEMIES THE NEXT.... and we're NOW after DECADES only going to believe ONE SIDE OF THE STORY and a tabloid rag like DISPATCH to be the SEEKERS OF TRUTH in all of this... and accept that the memories of 30-something year olds about what happened at 12 and 14 is the end all and be all of the subject???? Just unbelievable..... to think this what amounts to the EVIDENCE of ending someone's livelihood and career.
'Most of you writing comments live in the Cancel Culture era, with FB, Twitter, & IG where you think you get to stand in judgement of everyone and everything in humanity, and never have to look in the mirror yourself. Hell, iPhone wasn't even released until 2007, nearly HALF A DECADE after these incidents supposedly occurred. Most of you probably don't even remember what it was like living without a cellphone, and how you contacted people and got around......
You know.... With MOST crimes, there is a Penal Code, and society sets that up for a reason.... WHY!?! Because the idea that you're going to make humans pay FOR LIFE for everything mistake they ever made is erroneous. We have STANDARDS of JUDICIAL SENTENCING..... If you expect a CRIMINAL TO REDEEM THEMSELVES when they get out of jail by NEVER ALLOWING THEM TO WORK IN SOCIETY AGAIN, what do you think will happen????? How do they make a living and feed themselves and their families when you SHUN them FOREVER???? CANCEL CULTURE??? You might as well live in CCP China where a LARGE segment of the population live under bridges and inside industrial cement pipes. And you even wonder why South Korea has the HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE of all developed nations????? It's this mentality. The minute you make a mistake, you're shunned, you can't work, you can't feed yourself OR your family, AND your friends AND family are now guilty by association..... HOW CAN YOU LIVE???? The ONLY solution for them is death..... AND BTW, this is for ADULTS sentenced.... We're talking TWELVE YEAR OLDS here having to, without due process, court, a trial, non-hearsay evidence, and a jury of their peers, pay the price of UNEMPLOYMENT from a career they developed over a decade, for what SOMEONE SAID they did in middle school, online, without releasing THEIR identities for scrutiny.... and you're ALL for it....
And you commenting and standing in judgement OUTSIDE A COURT OF LAW demanding the ENDING OF A CAREER for HEARSAY and evidence PAST THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.... mind you a LIMIT that is set for the very reasons we have here,,,, memory of witnesses, and THEIR financial motivations to LIE as well.... and the INABILITY of the person the victims ACCUSED to defend themselves due to lack of FACTUAL evidence other than WITNESS MEMORY which is KNOWN to be EXTREMELY FAULTY the FURTHER OUT FROM THE CRIME YOU GO.... and all these Armchair Judges and Juries on the INTERNET can feel real cozy and happy that they've......
SERVED JUSTICE....
Pfft.... May Karma Hit You All On The Back Of The Head.
Regarding the terminology of dating being referred to as a "Dating Scandal"... that's exactly what is called in Korea and there is TN reasoning behind it and stating it differently doesn't explain the public reaction to some news.
Ji Soo is an idol... ...as noted in this BBC article discussing the concept of these things being a scandal it states.. "....The "no dating" clause of the contracts has resulted in some idols being sued for breaking it, accused of damaging their reputations..." Read it. It explains thee taboos and how Korean society is MUCH more conservative about relationships, among other things. etc. Ji Soo is fortunate that YG Family is allowing them to openly date. As they point out "...These “scandals” also depend on how fans welcome the new couple..."
This article actually focuses on how it's even harder for Japanese celebrities to date than Koreans etc.
Even international news media that deal with cultural issues understand these matters...it's not new nor needs to be written in a Western positive manner.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35368705
So, people cannot merely blame everything on fandom haters as a fact. Plus, if you read through it, there are actually more detractors saying the watched the drama and hated the acting and the story so they dropped it halfway through...just like you can see in the comments here below. Even those who trying to counter the hate have had to acknowledge there is a lot of problematic things about this drama that have nothing to do with fanwars.
Anyway, after all of this, I'm now still on the fence as to whether or not I'll watch this drama. I don't want it to taint my good vibes about YY, tbh.
There are just some things that will never be translated across cultures. It is what it is, and this is the terminology that is used in Korea. Koreans refer to these matters as scandals, and as a Westerner, you just understand the difference, take in the information based in cross-cultural terms without demanding Koreans change their terms to fit the international community that they pay little attention to regarding about their own national celebrities, and move on.
K-EXOLs literally sent trucks to SME in May, 2023 to demand they both be removed ahead of their FULL ALBUM release to protest because of these reasons.... the INTERNATIONAL headlines read "...Internal fanwar break out between Korean and international fans after the former sent protest trucks demanding Chen and Chanyeol’s removal from EXO...."
The articles go on to say "...South Korean fans were still vehemently against Chen and Chanyeol’s inclusion in the group. They believe that the duo ruined the group’s reputation and continue to do so..." and that there is in-fighting between INTERNATIONAL fans and KOREAN fans.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is the reality WITHIN KOREA itself. These actions are considered SCANDALS, and actionable towards a Idols career. The only ones seeing it different are INTERNATIONAL fans... so, yeah, the South Korean general public, and press will continue to refer to these things like dating, getting married, having a kid, cheating on your g/f as "SCANDALS" for the foreseeable future, and whitewashing it HERE won't do anything to change the cultural sentiments with South Korea, period.
1) I have yet to see the drama because my drama watching habit is to binge watch a FINISHED drama after ALL episodes are released. I also pay attention to the sentiment because I use that in determining what I spend my precious time watching and often don't mind spoilers for that reason.
2) I'm not a fan of any 1 actor/actress in particular but, for the most part, I don't find YY's acting to be bad, even in Love O2O, that many 'passerbys' pan as horrible acting.
3) This is the absolute most hate I've ever seen YY get. To me, he's never truly been a controversial figure in C-entertainment circles, even if a large section of Cnetz 'passerbys' think is acting his canned & he's only a himbo. I'm looking to watch this drama, thus, that's why I 'researched' the matter because it was actually quite unusual for him.
4) I don't really know much about the other actors. I have 3 other WCR dramas I'm planning to watch where she is a supporting actor. I'm especially looking forward to Joy of Life 2 and have The Longest Promise on my NetFlix list of dramas to watch. I'm still debating whether I watch this one or not... because I lately haven't been feeling the makjang style Slow Burn dramas with irritating characters.
So, let's be clear here, because this situation cuts both ways......
This drama has been downrated to hell on Doubin and the comments on that site are bad... Maybe it started out by haters BUT now, you cannot say that is the case. The majority of comments that hate this drama etc on there NOW are from mere 'passerbys'. This drama will never recover from this AND YY's reputation will have this drama follow him.
I'm actually shocked by it because, as far as reputation, this is a HUGE hit to YY that he really has never seen before. Majority of the passerbys are pointing to YY's age as a problem. He won't get anymore passes from them, after this, for acting like a himbo or mere pretty face in a drama. He's going to have to make sure that his projects going forward don't further tear him down. I specifically wanted to point out that the comments have little to do with 'personal' issues with the actors and more so regarding the process and acting of the drama itself. The fact that not 1 but 2 govt agencies posted on their weibos to not follow the lead actors' behavior in this drama just tops it off. Actors have been completely canceled for less than that -- take Zhang Zhe Han as an example. You can merely take a picture somewhere you shouldn't be...hell, the end of 2021 they tried to do the same thing to Gong Jun who had to literally give cnetz his itinerary for clarification so as to not get cancelled so that now of his dramas were released in 2022. That was just from loud barking from cnetz on weibo, not having a govt agency criticize you. YY goes from aerospace govt agencies praising him to the complete opposite. Again, if enough negative hoopla, to the point govt agencies are involved, happen, and actor can EASILY get disappeared. I don't know if any of you realize just how strong Xi is about these issues. Not just in entertainment circles. There is literally being a PURGE of military personnel by Xi currently going on -- 'suicides' and large swathes of replacements within the Rocket Forces. YY is small potatoes compared to that...so, you never want to have THIS kind of large scale negativity coming at you. It takes the CCP very little effort to erase you and they don't like 'drama' surrounding dramas... period.
Let me point this situation in perspective for you all:
384495 Doubin reviewers have rated this drama and 71% of them gave a 1 rating for an entire rating of 3.2. This drama finished ONLY 2 weeks ago. That's a massive amount of 'haters' making this effort. They can easily downvote everything an actor has down for his entire career.... so let's make note, this is hate for THIS drama in particular and there's a LOT of it.
475394 Doubin reviewers have rated YAMG and 5% of them gave a 1 rating for an entire rating of 6.9.. including govt agency praise. This drama aired exactly 2 years ago. Again, if haters merely want to hate on an actor they can mass campaign to downgrade his entire work.
143600 Doubin reviewers have rated WRTW and 16% gave a 1 rating for an entire rating of 5.7. Lusi received a bump in her reputation after this drama. So.... there's clearly a LOT more attention on THIS drama, and I honestly think it has to do with the attention that those govt agencies put on this drama by calling it out on Weibo, to be quite honest. I think that had a LARGE part of DRIVING cnetz PUBLIC SENTIMENT towards this drama, because CCP tattletales LOVE to tack on and put in their two cents and reprimands. It's the Chinese way of the internet. Their are large batches of CCP style social justice warriors... and I think that had more driving influence than any rumored romance, or fandom hate towards 1 or both of the leads.... and the outcome was, someone who was an innocuous supporting character, like WDX, ended up looking like a prince in the aftermath.
"....The whole drama was a trainwreck and the fallout is still ongoing due to Wang Churan’s attitude controversy. Please don’t come after me I’m just relaying what happened.
1)Wei Daxun’s unexpected popularity: his tortured stepbrother role went viral over the uncouth firefighter played by Yangyang, compounded with WDX’s variety fame and clean easygoing nature with 0 controversies despite acting for many years, netizens started to fangirl him and his character.
2) The drama’s producer Jia Shikai who happens to also be Yangyang ’s agency boss and novelist JiuYueXi all wrote long posts to defend Yangyang’s ’s role and acting, and the novelist JiuYueXi even said fans who prefer the stepbrother played by WDX are ‘superficially attracted to wealth and power’. Netizens counterargued that the FL herself is attracted to wealth and power because she refused to leave her stepfamily for love and demands her firefighter boyfriend buy a big house 四合院 which is impossible on a firefighter’s salary.
3) Cutting of WDX’s scenes by the producer Jia Shikai who happens to be Yangyang’s agency Yuekai’s CEO. Yangyang also has a 30% stake in Yuekai so it‘s clear netizens will perceive it to be Yuekai, Jia Shikai, Yangyang (all the investors in this drama) bullying Wei Daxun. I didn’t watch the drama at all thankfully but apparently his scenes got reduced which made netizens hopping mad and support Wei Daxun the actor even harder, and hate the show even more. Worse Yangyang complained that his cool skateboards scenes got cut so netizens found behind the scenes skateboarding footage that looked ‘greasy’ so Yangyang got another round of acting criticism
4) Plagiarism: JiuYueXi got exposed by another novelist for plagiarism of her book where the FL is an adopted girl who falls for the ML her stepbrother. In other words she accused JiuYueXi of copying her plot, setting, characterization of the adopted family and adding a new uncouth firefighter ML so the original ML got shifted to 2nd ML. JiuYueXi had previous plagiarism scandals at JJWXC or China’s main webnovel site where another author who accused her quit JJWXC in protest of the site’s inaction so netizens sided against JiuYueXi and hated the show even more.
5) Yangyang’s greasy acting aside, both his & Wang Churan’s characters got deemed problematic because of how they characterise firefighters and their personalities got picked apart too. I really don’t want to comment too much as I’ve not watched to show but Yangyang also got criticised for being a himbo like his role because he often gives shallow substanceless answers and is overly affected by how he looks. There is even a viral clip of Wang Churan calling Yangyang ‘empty brained’ to his face at a drama fanmeet because he called her role a nurse 白衣天使 when she’s a doctor, now that clip has a new connotation in light of Wang Churan’s apparent attitude issues
6) Wang Churan’s issues: Last weekend a Weibo user posted online that she ran into WCR who was filming an advert at a mall and got called a witch because she wore black clothes. Subsequently WCR’s agency started harassing this user to delete her post so the user posted the chatlogs. Then various industry insiders with proof shots who worked with WCR starting posting on Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu that they witnessing WCR being rude to assistants or losing her temper easily. Suddenly all hell broke loose and previous compilations of WCR rolling her eyes (this used to be seen as her being cool) at costars or interviewers were now interpretated as proof of WCR being rude. Netizens even found an old vlog where Churan showed fans 3 books that her mother bought for her (‘How to not lose your temper’; ‘How to not let emotions get the better of you’; ‘How to control your state of mind’;LOL) which further confirmed their suspicions that she is ill-tempered. Also the previous clip of her calling Yangyang ‘empty-brained’;was now seen as less funny and more mean-spirited.
The biggest winner is Wei Daxun by far, he is a newly minted liuliang and has new endorsements and magazine shoots. It remains to be seen if his new fans will stick with him past 3 months though. The issues are still ‘fermenting’;a nd the show will have a negative effect on the leads especially Yangyang that they would be better off if they didn’t film this drama. Like Zhang Han’s Gentlemen of East 8th, Yangyang probably regrets investing to produce this drama and needs to rescue his reputation from the drain. The director Li Muge was deemed promising before this (he did Goodbye Princess and Rattan) is also a longtime collaborator with Yuekai and Jia Shikai, his rep will be affected too. Chinese netizens hate Big Capital and their cronies shilling untalented actors and posting holier than thou comments on viewers’ perception and taste, hence the low Douban score is a middle finger at Jia Shikai, Yuekai, Yangyang who is Yuekai’s shareholder and top dog. I’m glad this has happened because many top stars like Yangyang do think too highly of their poor skills and don’t see the need to improve since Big Capital will cast them to act as leads, plus they’re rich enough to invest in productions which they can helm once they reach 30+ like Yangyang and Zhanghan. Unsurprisingly these productions that are meant to be a vehicle to push the lead actor who also happens to be a key investor in the drama turn out to be dogshit...."
2nd Person to add to the explanation:
"....No, morally complex characters are universally preferred in China. The biggest Cdrama in 2023 was The Knockout which hit 60% ratings (almost unheard of) due to the criminal characters and great villain acting by Zhang Songwen who was an unpopular actor til his 40s, Cnetizens went crazy over him and Zhang Yi and dug up their old Weibo posts and musings where Zhang counselled fans and gave deep life advice as a small time actor and acting teacher. Before The Knockout it was dramas like The Thunder, First Half of My Life(my aunties love this due to all the cheating), All Is Well, and Yanxi Palace was a megahit because the FL was cunning and vengeful. Currently Lost You Forever is a summer hit because the FL is morally grey and cynical, and the most popular ML Xiangliu is a demon snake. Likewise LBFAD went viral in 2022 due to Dylan Wang’s devil character. Better Days is one of the most successful Oscar nominated recent C-films because it had morally questionable leads who were bullies or victims who lashed out. You simply don’[t know what you’re saying… Beyond fluffy idol romcoms mainstream Chinese audiences prefers complex morally grey main characters like Ye Wenjie in 3 Body Problem.
Also Hidden Love did better outside China,in China it was popular with kids and regarded as cringe by anyone not a teen due to the FL’s baby voice. It’s very popular on Netflix,Korea, Southeast Asia and places where they read subtitles and can’t understand the immature Mandarin dialogue.
Dilreba sounds fairly eloquent if you understand Mandarin too. What you said about top stars not speaking their minds only applies to a few idol baggage afflicted liuliangs because they fear crazy fans. Most actors are not liuliangs and speak their mind a lot, some are bland but some liuliangs are very outspoken e.g. Liu Yuning is a liuliang actor/singer who does regular live sessions and talks about everything from his experience as a street busker, to life in the industry, to his divorce scandal. Others like Yangzi, Li Xueqin Dylan Wang, Tan Jianci are very outspoken and upfront too. Earlier this year when people were picking on Wang Yibo netizens already gave a long list of actors who are impressive interviewees and analyse their role well. Even Dengwei the newish male star from LYF was surprisingly eloquent at expressing his thoughts in interviews despite looking kinda thuggish
As for Yangyang, he was never a good actor and his age has caught up so people judge him harshly now. You can get away with looking pretty and being a himbo in your 20s but once actors hit their 30s Chinese viewers expect more since they are too mature for idol romcoms and need to do more realistic dramas like crime, work place or family dramas. Ultimately you need to watch less idol dramas and pick better fare: The Knockout, Yanxi Palace, First Half of My Life..."
THIS is how the Asian entertainment market refers to such dating incidences if it involves a celebrity, especially if one or both in the relationship is an "Idol" which has very SPECIFIC connotations in Asian culture, not just in South Korea, but Japan, China, & Taiwan. Also, in the Philippines & Thailand they literally have CP duo acting couples that work in tandem who are expected to outwardly portray a 'dating relationship' even OFF-screen to the public. An example of 1 such couple that supposedly turned REAL was #JaDine, which refers to James Reid & Nadine Lustre, the Filipino CP who was made popular by their pairing in 'On the Wings of Love'.
So, before a bunch of folks @ me for this comment, let me point out that the TERMINOLOGY used, i.e. 'Dating Scandal', is an Asian Culture description, and how the media in those nation's refer to topics like this NOT an MDL writer's personal take on the situation. It's a **translation** of the 'entertainment' news coming out of those Asian nations, which is the sole focus of MDL in particular. If you've been watching Asian drams and following the actors and idols for decades, you should already be aware of this. If you haven't, it's likely you simply don't understand the culture implications and how Asian general population perceives these topics. This is simply how they refer to matters such as these, they literally ARE a "dating scandal' to them. Seeing it different is to see it through the prism of another culture's eyes, most likely Western vs Eastern.
If you want to watch a drama that portrays these concepts in a realistic way so you can better understand what I'm saying, I suggest watching the South Korean drama 'Sh**ting Stars' with Lee Sung Kyung & Kim Young Dae from 2022. It's a really good 16 episode drama where LSK plays a talent manager who would be the one to issue the Idol's "public statement" and cover for their "scandals"; KYD plays an Idol actor; and Park So Jin, who was a member of the Kpop Idol girl group 'Girl's Day', portrays an entertainment reporter trying to get the scoops on 'dating scandals' etc. This way you can see a drama that shows you exactly how Koreans view these topics in general.
I've been watching K-dramas and listening to Kpop since 2005, and, btw, that's the way it's referred to by most Asian entertainment circles, e.g. Japan, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand et al. This is an Asian thing because, especially in Ji Soo's case, the idea is that they're 'selling' a single image & fantasy 'boy/girl-friend' to their fans. SO, when they charge money for their fan meets, and merchandise under that guise, the general public, right or wrong, believe they have the rights to or own their bias. They expect them to remain single for the duration. As a foreigner/Westerner, this concept has ALWAYS been appalling to me, BUT, I have no right to dictate to other cultures and since it's multiple Asian nations that portray entertainers this way, then the talent involved are VERY aware of the risks and expectations they are setting themselves up for in the long run.
We'd like to see Asian nations and fandoms grow up and out of this ideology and they are slowly moving away from portraying every romantic relationship as something negative by calling it a 'scandal'. It takes time to change a mindset BUT I also think it's a translation issue. I don't think they really consider it a 'scandal' in the Western expression, like someone did something criminal, but more like something newsworthy for the press & public to oogle over for a time. Anyway... Hope this clarifies that it's not MDL pushing the narrative but Asian Entertainment culture in general which is what MDL's focus is on.
Saw stills of the OTP...they're fire...which trembles my YAMG heart...because, as always, you have to move on...
I know this drama was filmed between May, 2022, and October, 2022, but, after seeing the trailer, I cannot shake the feeling that this drama got speed thrusted by the CCP since the context is very "Rah-Rah China Nationalism" and the sacrifices "firemen make to save all Chinese lives'. It also helps that the most apolitical and neutrally appealing actor in China, Yang Yang, is the male lead to spoon feed this propaganda like sweet honey. It's, honestly, tailored made for the CCP to wipe itself clean of the tragedies of Xi's 'Zero Covid' policies that caused many deaths of Uyghurs locked in that apartment building in Urumqi that spurred unprecedented protests across China. Protests that ultimately forced Xi to then do a 180 degree reversal on those policies, which also caused chaos. Suffice it to say, Yang Yang is such a non-confrontational actor that can turn the attitude to pride about fire safety, etc. through this drama. lol.
It is very few and far between, in essence, extremely rare, for a Mainland Chinese drama to go from Booting Ceremony to public release in little more than a year's time. This drama's production simply came at the right time, with the right topic. I think the star's shine on Yang Yang....