Thirtythree2

Cheng Yi ❤️❤️❤️
I keep coming back to this one, can't wait for it to get finally released.

The truth is that we don't really know why it got cancelled. Maybe it's because there was a copyright issue over the picture of a Korean celebrity in the show, maybe it's because it's BL. At any rate, now after more than a year, Japan's WOWOW has bought the broadcasting rights, but the version they're airing is edited. Again we don't know who edited it, Youku in China or WOWOW, even though people suspect it must have been Youku. And no one knows whether we'll ever get the original version at some point of time. Right now, people are divided and don't know whether to watch WOWOW's edited version or not, although it seems that at least here on MDL, most people following the show want to keep watching, saying that the edits aren't too bad.

Well, I guess we're all disappointed because we know how good this could be if the government just let them do their work. So I think it's not really fair to slash out against Chinese BL, even though I do understand your sentiment. Like, we're all disappointed exactly because we like Chinese BL so much. 🙁

Yep, that might be a reason why it hasn't been bought by anyone else. Why specifically sell it only to a Japanese broadcaster in the first place? They could make more money with a worldwide release. So maybe the other big players really weren't interested in buying - maybe even considering the backlash from fans accusing them of homophobia for airing a censored version etc.
I also think it's not worth it to watch this butchered version. It might even be counterproductive as it might incite others to do the same with their shelved BL adaptations.

Sounds like the most plausible explanation to me, after all - WOWOW didn't cut the scenes themselves, but they weren't opposed to buying the censored version either. Otherwise, the right course of action would have been to insist on buying the original version. I just wonder whether Youku will at one point sell the broadcasting rights of the original version to some other broadcaster. At any rate, just accepting this butchered version seems like the wrong approach to me. Who knows, maybe Viki will jump in if they see that there's a considerable amount of international fans dissatisfied with the Japanese release.

It's so weird, isn't it? I don't understand what they're doing. They didn't to this to the Spirealm, they didn't even do it to Blue Canvas.

The car scenes are a bit intimate, with them exchanging looks. It's nothing that usually gets censored, even in Chinese BL adaptations, and the fact that they were cut means they're really determined to get rid of all BL elements, I guess.

That's so frustrating. I loved the birthday cake car scene, where Luo Wei Zhao drops the cake in Pei Su's lap and he panics as though it's going to bite him 😂 And the way Luo Wei Zhao teases him about having to spend his birthday with an "old man". And of course the GPS announcing their destination: 家! 🥹

There are thousands of crime dramas without BL elements you can watch, no need to wait for a BL drama to get gutted and stripped of BL.

Which car scene(s) exactly? I really loved all of the car scenes 😓

I never really believed it was because of that photo, to be honest. Sounds like an excuse to me. Like, if you want to stop a show, you can always make up some random reason. Remember what they did to Zhang Zhehan? They also had their perfectly valid reason for boycotting him that time around, but I've always wondered whether that would have happened if he hadn't played the ML in Word of Honor. And then there was this stupid "scandal" about that Xiao Zhan/Yibo fanfiction because of The Untamed. These things are all, at first glance, completely unrelated to the dramas being BL adaptations, but you just have to wonder why there tends to occur some "scandal" when it comes to BL.

And yes, there's no doubt that the first six episodes were beautifully done (let's see what happens to the rest). It's just so sad that BL adaptations don't get the recognition that they deserve these days, including an uncensored version.

Well, I don't think people who say they won't watch it at all (me included) really won't watch it. Like, it's still an okay drama even without the whole BL aspect. The reason why I say that I don't want to watch it is that I still hope that we'll get an original release at some point of time. So I'll just wait a year and if nothing happens until then, I can still watch WOWOW's version ... 🫠

If you watch Chinese dramas, you should know that even with hetero couples, they don't show much intimacy. If you cut three scenes suggesting intimacy in a hetero drama, that would mean you cut the confession of love, the first kiss and this one scene suggesting that they did it. That's enough to make it a platonic relationship.
So yes, cutting three or four scenes can change the whole dynamic of a relationship.
Now, talking about BL adaptations, it's even easier to change the dynamic by cutting a few selected scenes.
Example (spoiler alert for The Untamed):
In the Untamed, cut the scene where Lan Zhan grabs Wei Wuxian's arm holding the flute at the beginning and them staring at one another, Lan Zhan carrying Wei Wuxian on his back, part of the scene in the cave where Wei Wuxian wants to take off Lan Zhan's clothes (let's say they're only sitting by the fire talking about how to get out instead) and the boat scene where Wei Wuxian lies in Lan Zhan's arms and he gives him a lotus flower. I dare say that removing these scenes would lessen the emotional impact of the drama.
So yes, cutting only a few scenes can have a huge impact if you don't get many romantic scenes to begin with. If it didn't make a difference, they wouldn't cut anything in the first place ...

Then the question is why Youku was only willing to sell the edited one. That's a question I've been pondering for two days now. Like, it can't be because of any scenes in the eight episodes that are still online on their website. Can it be that there were other scenes in the unaired episodes that they aren't willing to show at this point for whatever reason? Oh the tease.

I get what you mean. But then again, there was no scene as intense as this one up till now. So now we sort of know what things will and will not be censored. Looks are okay, it seems, touching is only okay if it doesn't give you butterflies. As this scene was only six episodes in, there's a high chance that there were more scenes like that in episodes to follow that we won't get to see now. Seriously, how can I not be angry and disappointed? How can one be okay with this?

We can just pretend WOWOW didn't air it at all and hope that if this ever gets picked up by one of the usual broadcasting services, e.g. Viki, we will get the original edit. 🫠

No, it's in the original version on Youku, but it's missing in the Japanese version.

Scenes implying/building up intimacy between the two MLs, it seems.
So for those who haven't seen the original edit:
In the "pulse scene" that was mentioned below and that was cut, Luo Wei Zhao complains that Pei Su drinks coffee after drinking alcohol. He drags him to a chair, forces him to sit down and touches his neck, feeling his pulse and remarking that his heart is beating really fast. Pei Su is not pleased and pushes his hand away. As a viewer, it makes you wonder whether his heart is beating fast because of the coffee of because Luo Wei Zhao is so close to him all of a sudden. It's a very cute scene.

The problem is that it's a really important scene. It's not about quantity, it's about quality. And worse than that, it means that we won't see anything more in the lines of this scene in the remaining 22 episodes. Is that a problem? Hell yes. Of course I didn't expect them to kiss, but the coffee scene was one of those that made the chemistry between them very palpable.
Yes, the acting is top notch. That's why it's even more frustrating.

I think it doesn't really matter who re-edited it, Youku or WOWOW. The real question is why WOWOW is airing this version. Like, if it's Youku's edit, why did they buy it? Right now on Youku international, you can still watch the original first eight episodes with the pulse scene included. And you're telling me that WOWOW couldn't buy that very same version that Youku itself provides for international viewers? For real?