Divine Aria

Took a break from dramas to focus on the filming industry. He has done 4 major theatrical films and played some more minor roles in a few other films as well as a political drama called Northwest Years since then. His costume drama(The One/Jian Lai) will release later this year or early next year.

I don't know that plotting and planning with Li Shimin means that he would have known the two ladies on a personal level. I'm sure they were all aware of each other's existence, but that may have been about it at that point. I wasn't really under the impression that they knew each other well. It's really not something that greatly impacted the plot of the story anyway. I was just curious.

That's assuming he knows the two ladies well at that point. I don't know that he does or that they've ever interacted much because he also gets a lot wrong about Changge, and the only thing Leyan seems to know about Hao Du at that point is through what Shuyu told her(which is that he's dangerous)...but, I guess we'll just pass it off as such.

Pretty sure the director knows what he's looking for in his cast.

Hmm. To be honest, I don't know that this is the kind of project Wu Lei would want to do anymore. I was hoping for a costume drama with the two of them...but, hey, whatever. Just make LeiLei and Song Zuer happen, pls. Thanks!

In the drama, he is not an adopted Khitan though. That's his backstory from the manhua. In the drama, it is insinuated that he is simply Han(because his origin is said to be the Central Plains). The Central Plains is where all the Han people live. And it's Khaganate, not "Khanagate". That's what I was pointing out. Ashile is turkic and part of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, too, in the drama. Apparently, changing the name from "Ashina" to Ashile" is related to political sensitivities and controversies regarding real ethnic history. Basically, I guess since we're getting the story/some history from the perspective of the Han which might be seen as controversial to the views from those of Turkic descent then the name change is supposed to "fictionalize" the Turkic tribe in this drama version in order to prevent those controversies. I don't know if that makes total sense.

Oh, strange, I don't recall him pulling it out before getting to Louyang. Even if he had it on him though, he never pulled it out all that time until then, so I'm not sure that it's saying he'd been in love with her since the very beginning. I think it might actually reinforce that his feelings for her in that moment were in the process of changing, which is why he finally pulled it out to look at. I just don't really see his story as a story of being in love with her from the start. To me, his entire story is a story of change, where his character and feelings go through a process and develop over time as he interacts with her and gets to know her.

I wonder though, how would he have known that it belonged to her anyway when he first picked it up? Changge was there too when he found it, so how would he have known which girl dropped it?

lol...that's really hilarious. Only intelligence was passed on, not looks, lol. I'm dead.

Well, he picks it up and it just never gets mentioned again(who knows what he actually did with it), so I don't think there's much importance to it other than, like I said, a symbol of their tied future. He wasn't shown thinking about her before or even after he picked it up. To be frank, I think he was actually a little annoyed with being around her until he started developing feelings for her after the first several episodes. The guy was pretty much all about business in the beginning.

Yes. He's dividing his time between dramas and theatrical films. He's been focused on films the past two years, but he recently just filmed a costume drama called "The One"/"Sword of Coming"/"Jian Lai" that is expected to air either at the end of this year or early next year.

I know he's got Li Changge, but I still want to marry Wu Lei's Ashile Sun some day, lol.

I don't recall Wei Shuyu clocking early on that Hao Du looked like he liked her. Where and what moment was that? I know this drama pretty well, and I don't recall that detail being there.

Ashina are Gokturks...Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Also, you have it backwards. In the manhua(not the drama), he is a long lost prince of the Khitan people. His real name is Mohui. As a young child, he was actually handed over to the Turks as a hostage of good faith, but was eventually forced to be adopted by Jieli Khan(Great Khan) who renamed him Ashina Sun. The drama actually changed his origin to simply being that of Han. It was mentioned several times in the drama that he was originally from "the Central Plains"(the cultural center of Han civilization).

Ashile Sun isn't like LBY, and I don't think the acting is really similar. The only similarities is that both are quiet warriors/generals. LBY gives off cunning, secretive, red flag vibes. There is malice in his facial expressions and eyes, while Ashile Sun is much, much more green flag/honorable/honest/and respectful even though he is a hardened grassland warrior. And that also shows in his facial expressions as well. You don't see the cunning malice in Ashile Sun's expressions the way you do with LBY. In fact, you get some rather surprisingly innocent expressions from him at times. Even their postures are different. I saw an interview clip where Dilraba was laughing and joking about how the Ashile Tribe guys were so silly in their stance and arm postures.

I don't think he did. Him finding that bag, IMO, is more an indication of their fate/future ties to each other. There was nothing indicating that he originally had feelings for her. I think he develops feelings for her over time(though I really don't think the transition of feelings was portrayed all that well, especially when you factor in how little amount of screen time they had). I always thought it was a bit weird how Hao Du prioritized going after Changge and didn't really even care all that much that Leyan was gone, and then it was a little too sudden that he was scrambling around looking for her and then getting all awkward and conscious around her the moment he found her again. For me, their love story lacked proper transition.

Personally, I enjoyed their chemistry, but more than that, I just really loved the characters of Li Changge and Ashile Sun. If you go into TLB expecting some heavy and intense romance, you'll prob end up finding it lacking and disappointing. Going into it mainly for the romance is not the right approach for this drama. I think TLB has so much more to offer viewers than its love stories though. The original manhua didn't really have much romance in it at all(or what's written of it so far anyway), and I feel that Dilraba and Wu Lei, in terms of the romance, did very well with what they were given. Neither Ashile Sun nor Changge are very sensual/romantic-type characters to begin with. In the manhua, they both feel even colder and more calculating, and there is even less romantic interactions. I think, in many ways, the drama actually made both much more grounded and more human.

He just took a two year break from dramas so that he could focus on movies for the theater. He has had multiple films at the theater the past two years. In terms of dramas, he just finished filming a new costume drama called "The One" or "Sword of Coming" a few months ago. There's only one trailer out for it so far and it doesn't have a release date yet, but it'll prob come out either later this year or early next year. Wu Lei has divided his time between movies and dramas since he was a child actor, so, no, it doesn't mean he's not doing dramas anymore.

Her lipstick is just for the camera, not a part of the plot, so I don't let it bother me. I'm pretty sure Li Changge is not running around with makeup in her pocket :P

I am so excited to be able to watch this film at some point in the future. I enjoy the sci-fi genre and also happen to love Wu Lei. Congrats to the entire cast and the production team!

I think you guys are mistaking "not caring about the aftermath" with "having no other choice in those situations". Can you give specific examples and also talk about what you REALISTICALLY would have done in her shoes without all the hindsight and 3rd perspective views that only the viewers(not her) are privileged to have? There was really only one instance where I thought she shouldn't have made the moves that she did(and that was only because she already got proper warning from Ashile Sun regarding who she should only trust).