It’s been a week since period romance C-drama Unchained Love (Forbidden Love) premiered and the first Douban audience ratings are out of a decent 7.3. It seems high to be since the reviews have been more negative but then again male lead Dylan Wang has an extraordinary level of popularity and fandom loyalty and this drama isn’t that bad, The worst recent drama in the last few weeks goes to Shining Just For You, that drama was the turdiest turd that ever turd it was THAT BAD. Anyhoo, Unchained Love for me was not as good as I expected and nothing in it to hook me to continue watching, but if one was a Dylan fan I can see this drama as totally worth the time as he’s got so many scenes and plays a cunning and cool character. Chen Yu Qi (Yukee Chen) just exists and continues her amazing streak of one note eye acting, *slow clap*.
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Koala has been exaggerating the “poor reviews” to get clicks, the reception has been middling to good because this is a unique drama where the male lead is eunuch albeit a fake one. There are also a lot of innuendos like the eunuch lead meticulously washing his hand after serving the Queen because in the novel it is stated they have a relationship and he fingers her, and risque jokes like the godson of the fake eunuch joking that it’s a miracle he didnt get a boner despite sharing a bed with the female lead and saying he’s more of a eunuch than a real eunuch.
In any case it isnt a big budget blockbuster, it’s an A grade drama that only had the money to cast Yukee Chen and pre-liuliang Wang He Di and the scriptwriter is notorious for losing the plot in her other works. I would say it’s watchable but Koala and other people shouldn’t treat the drama as if it was filmed post LBF&D and is a blockbuster. If anything the viewership and rating already far exceeds expectations due to the male lead’s liuliang, if LBF&D wasn’t a massive hit this drama wouldn’t get much attention at all. I am surprised He Di’s liuliang is strong enough to carry a 6+ drama to a 7.3 on Douban, Zhao Lusi’s WRTW and Wang Yi Bo Legend of Fei got middling reviews despite their popularity. People are curious what his next costume drama will be since it’s definitely going to be a big IP and he’s proven his ability to attract viewership.
@Zap
Good inputs 👍
I agree with you. Fans of Dylan alone won’t be able to create a high spike in rating for Unchained Love.
I think the high Douban rating could be due to its lighthearted fare. Since it’s not meant to be a blockbuster epic show, viewers merely watch for entertaining values. And while the acting may not be award winning, it’s still fairly watchable to have two good looking leads having a slow burn romance on screen.
Compare that to another two shows airing now: the draggy & depressing Song of the Moon and the delirious and dodgy Shining Just For You.
Both shows have far more established actresses and actors and I wonder if their rating is high.
Even with the far more established actors in both “epic” shows, it’s clear that the Dylan & Yukee haters are castigating Unchained Love instead of commenting on other shows. My guess is that the haters prefer both shows coz of the great acting of Feng Shao Feng, Peng Xiao Ran, Xu Lu & Vin Zhang 😅🤣
Why don’t you compare it to Nugu Youku The Blood of Youth? Oh right, that doesn’t suit your agenda to say a drama with nobodies is way more watched, managed to break 2 on Detavin unlike your precious star. My,my.
He has proven his ability to attract viewership…by not even managing to break 2 on Datawin.
Delusional stans are not only delusional but massively delusional.
Appreciate your fair assessment and insight! And I fully agree that is a very unique and refreshing drama! I HIGHLY recommend sticking with the show because it actually isn’t a slow burner, the heat turns up surprisingly fast in this and it is AWESOME. I SWEAR this show gets better with each episode, I don’t know if anyone feels the same. I LOVE the more mature humor and jokes being thrown around, and greatly appreciate how more progressive this show is! I am pleasantly loving this show more than I thought I would have since it’s tough to follow up after LBF&D. Each show has it’s own unique flair and charm, I would hate to see folks hating or giving Unchained Love a lower score because it’s not like LBF&D 🙁 I personally think Dylan and Yukee play their characters very well and I am digging their chemistry/scenes together A LOT!!!!
There are mixed reviews on Douban including positive reviews. It’s not as bad as what people think but anyway viewers on koalasplayground has very high standards.
So it’s not surprising they will only expect Eternal Lice or Ashes of Love to be worth watching. Other than that nothing is worth watching for most of the highly critical commenters.
The comments here include heavy criticism of Zhao Lusi in Love Like The Galaxy and Dylan Wang in Love Between Fairy and Devil. Nothing is good enough for the Chinese Drama Critics of Koala’s community …
Typos:
…Viewers on koalasplayground have very high standards
….Eternal Love
Just to add, it’s better that since the critical viewers are so fussy, then better avoid watching so many shows. Just stick to one Drama every few years with high Douban ratings and the actors and actresses you like.
Stick to one drama every few years 🤣🤣🤣
Well, water armies are powerful. You can see by bad ratings that real people aren’t watching it.
This drama is pure fan service from Dylan Wang. Dylan is hot as usual with great array of wardrobes. Dylan rarely goes wrong when it comes to looking great anyway. Happy for those enjoy it.
Btw, I dropped this drama after few episodes….haha
Not bad at all, currently. It’s not as good ,exciting , addicting as LBFD but I don’t have anything good to watch right now and this one makes me curious and look forward for next episode. I also want to know how will they hold on to their forbidden love.
I thought it sucked until episode 14 and now I can’t stop watching it. Starting to get good so excited for episodes 19-36
Yep. Finally picked up the pace after 14 episodes.
Agreed, but I actually thought the drama started getting good around episode 9 or so. There’s not a lot of room for Dylan to showcase a need for acting skills, so it is really just for fan service. But, man is it good fan service – still hawt in all his attire.
And Yukee, her looks and her acting both don’t attract the audience and she apparently has another drama with Dylan coming up. Money can sure win casting choices.
I love all of Dylan Wangs movies! Young actor that has a great future ahead of him! His background is a great example to me how important it is to follow your dreams and believe in yourself and have faith in your kids!
I wasn’t planning on watching this drama until I saw this, and why isn’t anyone talking about Blood Of Youth?
I saw the trailer and thought it looked pretty good 👍
It’s great, you should watch. Don’t expect superb acting but it’s enough to pass and everything else is fantastic. I don’t know a single actor there but as a whole, its working out brilliantly.
The (not) monk is such eye candy, mmmmmm.
hmm After i started to watch these series I came to value even more the hole crew of LBWD, the direction, the art, the production and postproduction. I don’t want to comment about the main leads’ acting skills – there are already many opinions about it.
I am rather sadly surprised about the hole set up for directing the scenes, leading the actors and the story but and specially the editing of the series, which doesn’t add to the narration of this drama, but just following the standards. …
Quite a fun drama with lots of laughs and unexpected turns. Just curious when the FL eyeballs will fall out or if she has a medical condition to explain her bulging eyes… Dylan’s acting has improved… Supportive casts are actually good too.
I loved unchained love Dylan Wang was wonderful they could have alleged the deleted scenes and it would have made it better But I loved it it should be higher than 7.3
I think the bad reviews are all crap! Do you know how many dramas I’ve watched where I skipped to the VERY end? Like through 6 episodes of crap? Not this one though, the ending was well though out and superb. BOTH leads did an amazing job, pretending to be a crazy possessed lady? Saying the actress has no ability is crazy! You try it then if you know so much. There was no crazy rush to finish it, the chemistry was incredible and I’m sick of people critiquing this drama so cruelly.