So this official promo drop came from nowhere so I didn’t see it until a few days later but no fret here it is, the first posters and stills for the upcoming xianxia C-drama The Last Immortal (Hidden Gods). Starring Zhao Lu Si and Wang An Yu, the drama is a sequel of sorts to Ancient Love Poetry which starred Xu Kai and Zhou Dong Yu. The character posters first stills are perfunctory playing up Zhao Lu Si’s cute vibe but I’m more taken with Wang An Yu’s surprisingly strong visuals here.
Did they Photoshop extra eye and lip makeup with those beauty apps, it’s a bit unnatural. in her shows she looks like this https://douban.com/group/topic/282723790/
The outfits is kinda similar to her previous xianxias, she has an upcoming drama as a TCM student airing soon, and another as a middler schooler. Wonder if she will be stuck playing teens, students, cutie pies 傻白甜 even into her mid to late 20s because her comedic and rubber faced demeanour doesn’t suit portraying more elegant FLs. Esther Yu has the same problem in that her baby voice limits her roles but her height and tall build can help her portray workplace alpha women and not just cutie pies. Esther and Lusi did not attend acting college so time will tell if they have the range and speech clarity to do realist dramas.
Non-liuliang FLs who just graduated like Tian Xiwei, Song Zuer, Ren Min, Zhou Ye, Li Landi are also releasing a lot of xianxia or historical dramas this year, lets hope they will pose a challenge to Esther and Lusi since a lot of them sound and look better onscreen without Photoshop.
Older liuliang actresses like Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, Angelababy etc are still doing idol historical dramas and portraying young girls at the age of 35+. It’s not uncommon for idol actresses to be stuck in playing the same roles even past the age of 30, as they often do not have the range or resources to get those realist drama resources. So yeah, I forsee both Zhao Lusi and Yu Shuxin being he same.
Yang Mi, Angelababy, Liu Shishi are all considered beauties in their youth, even at age 35+ as mothers (granted many say they look tired) their costume visuals are considered better than 25 year old Lusi and Esther but they also get criticised for constantly redoing the same xianxia roles over and over.
I don’t wanna say Lusi & Esthers visuals won’t hold up in time but there are more beautiful trained actresses like Tian Xiwei, Song Zuer, Zhou Ye, Hu Lianxin whose visuals are AB, LSS, YM standard with better pronunciation. Esther and Rosy’s biggest problem is their speech, it’s hard to do realist dramas well when you mumble in a cute voice. They could soft retire and have kids since they are rich girls. Even film graduates Yangmi and LSS’s acting gets rightfully criticised when they do non-idol dramas I cant imagine Lusi or Esther.
Lmao the editing!
When you see her RAWS compared to these, you almost can’t recognise her.
I really love Wang Anyu’s look in this.
Me too. It’s more subdued but he still looks like a deity, and it doesn’t overlap with Xu Kai’s styling in “Ancient Love Poetry”.
The photo editors really did Zhao Lusi dirty in her character poster by excessively airbrushing her face, she looks unrecognizable at first glance. I saw those of the other cast members, and they looked fine.
The lashes were a bad idea imo, they look spidery.