Xiao Zhan’s Top Star Status and Visuals Carries the Cheesy Xianxia C-drama The Longest Promise with Ren Min’s Dumb as Bricks Female Lead Character
Man, I thought The Longest Promise was delayed getting its airing permit because of the shizun (teacher)-student romance love line being frowned upon for breaching those ethical mores but turns out it was just a very poorly written, directed, and acted drama where the production may have tried to salvage it. Alas the just air dropped first four episodes just left me dumbstruck by a few first impressions – the story is by-the-book xianxia exiled prince learns powers and needs to go back to take over his kingdom and save it, Xiao Zhan is the ONLY good thing about this drama in both acting and visuals, my first time watching Ren Min and it may be my last as her visuals are meh (I’m so distracted by her nose, sorry not sorry) but worse yet her character is dumb as bricks and her trying to act cutesy/dim has me itching to reach into the screen and punch her face, and the special effects are laughably low budget. Verdict – total waste of casting a S-level lead like Xiao Zhan if they can’t give him a good female lead and a better production. Also the voice dub for Ren Min makes her acting and character worse, it’s the voice dub for Zhou Ye‘s character in Word of Honor who is a teen and can pull off the uber-cutesy precociousness. If you must watch for your Xiao Zhan love I suggest watching on mute. Early C-netizen reviews are slaying Ren Min and also non-Xiao Zhan fans are saying he’s wooden here but goodness at least he’s easy on the eyes and doesn’t overact (yet). For sure there are way worse xianxia dramas but this one was hyped as S-level and cast Xiao Zhan hence the bigger gap between expectation and rock bottom reality.
Man, I have never laughed so hard at someone’s harsh review.
I don’t mind actors not being perfect beautiful to act (unecessary) but if the acting is not good, then I am staying away. Good acting can save almost anything. bad acting will crash everything. I think they kept this away from our screen until after Xiao Zhan could prove himself in other dramas. He had good reviews for that 80’s theme propaganda drama that just ended, so he has room to breathe if this drama crashes and burn.
Why would it crash and burn based on koala’s opinion? She is hardly some kind of authority.
This drama is currently exploding in China, the data is crazy. Whether it will continue, we have to wait and see but Ren Min very obviously isn’t a problem for Chinese viewers. Antis though have been attacking her non stop. The things being said about her looks are so disgusting that I had to stop reading. “Good” to see Koala adding on to the pile on. When in the end the actress breaks down, I am sure everyone will contact amnesia and pretend they never said a thing about her looks.
Ren Min is pretty enough for the heroine in the novel, who was described as not particularly pretty among all. The heroine was also a bit rash in personality in the book. So far, I see Ren Min’s acting exudes aura of Zhu Yen as depicted in the book. I even wonder if all the baseless criticism is coming from real book fans or simply out of nobody as usual lurking to censure Xiao Zhan’s projects. Some criticism may make sense since there’s never been a perfect drama or acting. But as a regular visitor of this site, I still have to honestly say that all the allegations in Koala’s blog about TLP are unfounded and subjective with personal bias.
I have been taking a LONG hiatus from Chinese Xianxia dramas since the Untamed. I’ve tried to give a shot to all the popular dramas in this genre since then but ended up just wasting my precious time off very busy work schedule. I dropped them all because the plots are almost predictable with recycled stories and boring acting along with horrible makeup (taking about The End of The Moon specifically, yes!). Not to mention most main leads aren’t even up to par with ethereal beauty as described in the books. That’s a laughing stock for me. I can’t take those dramas and actors seriously!!!! So far, I haven’t seen that happen in the first few episodes of TLP yet. Well, ppl can agree to disagree.
@Somebody She is not pretty and the fact that you need to write a long ass pharagraph show it, lol.
Oh yeah The Youth Memories like many C dramas of post-Republic era certainly have set purposes of state propaganda. Aside from that, TYM is a drama of good quality with decent production and cast compared with many crappy C dramas, mostly dumb and frivolously useless school dramas and xianxia dramas. Tbh, without Xiao Zhan, I wouldn’t even have given a sh*t to C dramas.
I watched this drama because xiao zhan, and seeing the teaser it looks really interesting
But all my interest was crushed, seeing FL’s acting and visuals which were totally not my type
I’ve tried to hold on until eps 6, but i can’t take it anymore
Naah The acting of the FL is super bad plus I got annoyed by her nose too.
Then don’t watch! She acts exactly like what the book describe and is prettier than Esther Yu and Bai Lu imo. I can’t stand Esther Yu’s voice and her looks. She’s one of the ugliest actresses I’ve ever watched. I think Bai Lu needs some orthodontics work.
@Somebody If Bai Lu is average, it means you lool better? 🤣
@Somebody The same goes for you, don’t watch and stay silent. Lol.
@Julia, exactly what I did. I dropped all your gals’ cheesy dramas. LOL
You should also get over Xiao Zhan! Why bother visiting an outdated thread talking about him? LMAO. You’re obsessed! So You can’t help stalking him! Bingo!
Oh well, dumb as bricks? Should you refer to the FLs of “Love Between Fairy and Devil” and “Till The End Of The Moon” instead? LMAO. I see Xiao Zhan and Ren Min’s aura perfectly fit the OTP in the novel. Ren Min isn’t your style. I get it! Ppl have different tastes. You basically are saying TLP isn’t up your alley just as LBFD and ThEotM aren’t my cup of tea either. LOL Your scathing remarks about the first few episodes of TLP certainly won’t diminish fans’ interest in following this long awaited drama of Xiao Zhan, exactly as you predicted. LOL
I’ll be back to check if my comment is removed or not because it’s not in your favor. Then I’ll see if I will continue to visit this site again.
Rabbid fan getting worked up, lol. It’s her opinion, but you can take it personal and stay pressed. Lol. So you only want to read good comments about Xiao Zhan’s projects? 🤣
LOL. You’re obsessed with Xiao Zhan so that you’re still making comments on this old old blog. LMAO. I can see that you’re seething since Xiao Zhan is so popular, way more popular than your faves. I’m Xiao Zhan’s fan. So you expect a fan to hope for negative comments about the fave and say Amen Amen Amen? Seriously? You’re deranged! LOL. Whenever there is criticism related to Xiao Zhan, which is personal opinion and subjective at best, I’m entitled to object to the negativity and speak up. This is what you are supposed to expect from a fan! So you’re talking about nonsense! LOL
Keep seething! Nobody cares!
@Somebody Nah, it’s just that I’m very entertained with your derranged, delusional and obssesive fangirl comments 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 “Expected from a fan.” Since when fans need to act like sh*t-for-brains? You are acting like a cult member 🤣🤣🤣🤣 It’s hella funny to see you going nuts!
You are not relevant, you are just another rabbid Xiao Zhan fan. Lol. If things are subjective, why are you trying to impose your personal opinion? Lol. Shit for brains.
You sound exactly like a butthurt anti who is pressed that her faves LBFAD and LLTG are getting blown out of the water. Too bad you can’t do shit about it and are just going to have to deal with it.
You could be a decent human being though and not attack Ren Min’s looks. That is just low.
Ren Min looks pretty, prettier than average women, Bai Lu and Yu Shuxin. In particular, I can’t take Yu Shuxin’s looks and voice seriously. I cringed at YSX’s voice and Bai Lu’s makeup particularly that drove me away from their dramas.
I’m here for Xiao Zhan. Only 3 episodes are available on Netflix and so far, omg…I am blown away.
The FL’s looks is not really to my liking, but she still looks better than me LMAO 🤣
I’ve watched Love between fairy/devil and tried to watch till the end of moon. Omg…I really tried till the end of moon because everybody was raving it, but I just couldn’t get past episode 7.
Visually, the costumes just look so popping with white against red. Love that the clans are different. Crimson, White, Ice, etc.
While watching it, I thought of Journey Of The Flower. One of my favorite dramas.
Your favourite actor’s nose looks like a child tried making it out of play doh then got bored and left the job unfinished. As you can see, we can go after your Wu Lei just as much as you go after Ren Min.
Seriously, I’m starting to wonder whether you are paid for some of your drama reviews. This isn’t the first time where I felt that your reviews are jarringly out of place, I felt it with She and Her Perfect Husband too. That drama was actually pretty good but was attacked vehemently by Yang Mi’s antis who made a mountain out of a molehill for every tiny flaw, and yet you echoed their words.
The quality of The Longest Promise is notably higher than the other S+ Tencent dramas. The special effects are pretty on par with Ancient Love Poetry and all the actors/actresses’ acting are on point so far from the first 4 episodes which I’ve watched. The only flaw is Ren Min’s visuals, but she isn’t ugly by any means and the drama didn’t claim Zhu Yan to be some incredible beauty either. I’m surprised you find so much fault with her visuals yet have no issues with Yang Zi and Zhao Lusi when they all have the same level of visuals.
Of course, I do understand that people have different preferences and standards, but claiming that the special effects look “laughably low budget” is just laughable. And I don’t know why you have to specifically emphasise on “non-Xiao Zhan fans” instead of just C-netz, are you trying to say that any positive reviews about Xiao Zhan’s acting must be from Xiao Zhan’s fans?
Of course she is. I guess Koala thinks that she is going to get more hits by inviting haters here. Which, fair play. I thought it was a pretty decent place here but I guess not. So I will take my own hits with me somewhere else. You take care, it was nice chatting with you these months.
Agreed! With the way Koala described The Longest Promise, I would have thought it’s as terrible as Miss the Dragon or Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities if I hadn’t watch it already. Her review sounds so biased.
That’s a shame, I was planning to watch this and I’ll probably still do but this review will always be on my mind. I don’t normally agree with koala and I think she’s wrong to criticize Ren Min’s looks but it’s her blog and she’s entitled to her personal opinion. It’s up to you to accept or disagree which am pretty sure doesn’t really bother her.
Personally I liked the The Youth Memories and I am planning to check this out because of Xiao Chan but without a good storyline I probably won’t stick around for long.
1. Visually, RM not really compatible with XZ but it’s not really far from the novel’s heroine.
2. I don’t quite like her character in the novel (only read up to a certain portion) so i don’t expect to do so here.
3. I thought the special effects are pretty good in Ep 2.
4. About to watch Episode 2, so let’s see whether it’s that bad
5. I will still watch it for the sake of XZ & actors and the popularity of the novel…
6. I won’t say anything to harsh about RM but I guess that’s a sad reality when the pairing is not equal in terms of looks, experience and status.
7. I think netizens can be too critical in terms of acting… as for myself, I am fine with XZ as I find him very watchable and relatable in his various roles in films or dramas so far.
Get to episode 8, it get s soooo good.
Imo she is definitely not ugly, but perhaps MC vibe isn’t there when compared to XZ. Netizens think she pissed off her makeup stylist 😂 as for drama itself I am not sure how much XZ can carry…? I think his face sells way beyond his acting skills. Last I watched of his was Oath of Love and he was pretty stiff.
I’m not sure if we had watched the same drama, Oath of Love. Xiao Zhan is the only thing good I can rave about that bland drama with Yang Zi. Yang Zi was overacting A LOT in that drama and had the same issue with many Chinese actresses with heavy, unrealistic makeup all the time, even at sleep. She was extremely unprofessional in the sense she was a laughing stock as a celloist. I play classical piano myself and have been an avid classical music fan since childhood. Even you can’t play cello in real life, there’s a basic posture you can mimic and match up the music rhythm while playing music. NOPE! She’s amazingly out of place and looked as dumb as a baby playing a toy instrument. Compared with the 2nd FL of The Youth Memories who definitely had done her homework playing a violist, YZ obviously was short of due diligence. YZ failed OoL. Fortunately XZ saved that dull drama with convincing acting as doc! I got to finish OoL although skipped many boring and unnecessary scenes only because of Xiao Zhan. Ironically, I watched OoL because of YZ not because of XZ since I did not know actor XZ back then. LOL
Damn, her visual complaint was so uncall for. What are they to do, get plastic surgery & get more hate? Sometimes it’s best to let that angry dead down before acting on your emotion.
I completely agree with your review
Watch out,Koala. All the crazy stans will be coming for you having a less than fawning opinion.
So tired of all these airheaded, idiot female leads. It feels like C-dramas have actually regressed with how they portray heroines
I’m pretty sure Koala needs Xiao Zhan’s fans to boost up streaming volume of her site. LOL. I’ve been visiting her site for years. I was just quiet most of the time before. The number of visits is apparently down from early years. Look what posts she put up have drawn more comments?
At this point, picking which xianxia to watch highly depends on how much you like the actors. The plot and genre is so overdone its hard to get anything fresh from it.
Koala is going to be labelled as a Wang Yibo fan pretty soon for even daring to say a Xiao Zhan drama is bad xD
It’s actually pretty bad. XZ’s hair isn’t even good. Lol. I didn’t know he had such an intense fan base and equally intense antis until I commented on here one time about his acting. Haha. This production, sadly, was definitely not worth the longest wait 🥴
Just watched the 1st episode.. but i agree with Ms Koala. It’s ok to have average look as long as the acting and chemistry are on fire. Shinning for one thing didnt have pretty or handsome leads but their acting, chemistry, story… aaahh the best.
I’ve been enjoying this drama so far, don’t understand the criticisms here. It’s fun watching the leads bickering, the male lead is gorgeous and female lead is cute! The CG also looks good to me!
Xianxia genre storyline have definitely been recycled and rehashed so many times that’s it’s hard to say that “hey this is something new!” But I do admit there are some cringe scenes here and there in TLP. But this is just the beginning, it still building up the story foundation, so not much can be said since it’s not up to the meaty part of the story yet. Actors can be hit and miss. There’s this thing called gradual progression. Sometimes there are also state called progression+regression taking turns. Because that’s when actor can improve and fine tune their acting skills. As Xiao Zhan have said he accept all criticism about his acting. And yeah I saw one comment saying how much can Xiao Zhan carry a drama? When his looks far exceed his acting skills. I mean looking at the reality out there, he mostly hard carried his own drama. And just because he is handsome, you should never looked down on his acting skills. For me it’s a cause to applause because it’s quite a fit to see someone so handsome can have a good acting skills. And Xiao Zhan is that. Don’t just watch 1 work skip 2 then watch half and then throw your judgement. For me I can definitely see his acting progression.
I don’t agree with you. I started watching The Longest Promise yesterday because my friend (she’s a huge fan of Xiao Zhan) gifted me a WeTV subscription and she has been telling me about this drama since last year or last last year. This drama is certainly not poorly written, directed or acted as you’ve said, I’ve seen way worse xianxia dramas. Both Xiao Zhan and Ren Min’s acting are good, so are the supporting leads’. Sure, Ren Min has some scenes where she looks weird for a few seconds, but there’s plenty of other scenes where she looks okay, it doesn’t affect the overall watchability. I don’t know what you mean by by-the-book xianxia exiled prince. The recent xianxia dramas which I’ve watched all have the female leads learning powers and saving someone or the world, not the male lead like this drama. In fact, gods, supernatural powers and saving the world are common tropes in xianxia dramas. I would say this drama managed to keep me interested so far and I look forward to seeing how it will pan out.
In my opinion Ren Min has more of an edgy cool girl look. I personally think she is better suited for modern dramas, but she is by no means ugly.
Agree. Ren Min is pretty in a modern way. While she isn’t exactly a celestial beauty for xianxia dramas, she is not ugly. So it’s back to casting decision, perhaps they think she does carry the vibe for the lead based on the novel, which I think she does.
Thanks for the honest review Koala. I think i’ll give this one a miss. Saves me time.
Lol how do you know whether a review is honest or not if you didn’t even watch the drama? Unless bad reviews = honest reviews while good reviews = fake reviews?
I honestly think her face is fascinating. Whether either of the characters will be so is a different matter.
I visit this site almost every day, so I’m surprised by the petty commentary. Ah well.
LOL. Totally agree on the nose part!! I will give the storyline a bit more time, but so far it is quite disappointing… This may prove XZ’s star power cannot carry a drama… not yet.
Get to episode 8 and you’ll fall in love with this drama. It is so well done. She is perfect for the role. Her character is strong, fights against bullies, and backs up her weaker characters. Her nose may be distracting to you but shallow people will be shallow people. Not much I can do to help you with that.
Not to mention, I tried watching this drama cuz of my love xiao xhan but the girl’s ( actress) overacting and irritating voice lost me my interest, I can’t believe I downloaded 24 episodes just to drop it in 8th , tried watching though I disliked the girl so much thinking will find improvement but no can’t continue anymore… Feels so sorry for my poor Xiao Zhan, . ❤
I watched 90% Korean dramas and 10% Chinese dramas though I am a Malaysian/Singapore Chinese. I watched this drama 2 times and really felt I need to comment about the selections of main leads. Ren Min is definitely a poor choice. 1st time seeing her acting, she looks like any girl next door. Not sure about her big nose but it’s her mouth path that is visually unattractive. Sunken mouth, larger than usual. Really unattractive as an actress. At lst I thought she was one of the maids, but oh no, she is the lead actress. Her best friend though nicer a bit in looks, but not actress material. The other birdman also not handsome. I don’t know their name but this drama lack good looking actors and actress. Of course only Xiao Zhan bring up a little of the show. I wanted to comment like that I dislike Till the end of the moon main actor too – Luo Yun Xi. At first people were just complaining about his looks in the first few episodes and then towards the end, they were raging about his good looks. As for me, I hardly can look at him in the drama. I close the chapters from 3rd episode. It was hard on my eyes and I cringe everytime I see him appear. He was too skinny and tall, his chin too long and his eyes was starring-king. His visual too me is scary and ugly. No sorry to his fans.
Love this drama. Ren Min’s looks suit the character’s personality. Although I think in the crying scenes she could be more expressive with her mouth abd eyes.
Love this drama. Ren Min’s looks suit the character’s personality. Although I think in the crying scenes she could be more expressive with her mouth and eyes.
more than anything else, I cant tolerate Xiao Zhan’s bad acting in this drama. sorry…
Why do you have to be sorry? Just don’t watch! LOL
But many more ppl love him from head to toes in this drama. XZ gained the most new fans from TLP out of his three dramas this year. You’re a none factor.
Oh ppl still care about TLP and Xiao Zhan even the drama was wrapped up with domestic airing several months ago. LOL. See how someone hasn’t forgot TLP yet and came back to rant even it was aired a while ago! It just proves XZ is still a big thing and antis will continue to get salty about his non-stop success. FYI, XZ’s characters in all his three dramas this year topped VLinkage drama/character chart throughout all the airing periods, regardless of whether his dramas received the same level of popularity or not. On top of that, Weibo just released the top 3 most popular drama characters this summer (in your face, antis):
Top 1, Xiao Zhan/Shi Ying (The Longest Promise)
Top 2, Cheng Yi/Lee Lianhua (Mysterious Lotus Casebook)
Top 3, Xiao Zhan/Xiao Chunsheng (The Youth Memories)
LOL. I bet Xiao Zhan/Sheng Yang (Sunshine by My Side) would be on top 3 or 4 if dramas in Sept. were also included.
If XZ were the 2nd most successful rising star in Cdrama industry, then nobody would be the most successful one. Take it and move on with your life! It’s always entertaining to see XZ antis get worked up and butthurt!
I can handle some really cringe acting and storylines in most Xianxia, actually I half expect it now, but not only is the female lead, like the character herself is so unlikable, she is damn near unwatchable. I’m not sure why they cast her. I can’t imagine chemistry between her and the male lead, and I don’t even want to root for her. She reminds me of every bratty side character, who isn’t evil enough to be the main bad guy but still is one. I guess her character is supposed to be wide eyed, bull headed, and naive, but the actress doesn’t fit this role. She looks very misplaced pretending to be dancing and dainty in a sparkling dress. I wish they cast someone else.
Also the soapy dramatics came too early, and way too ridiculous. Usually they save these for the later episodes — by the time the storyline feels like it’s run out of plot points and is running empty– but you’re too invested to quit watching. I’m barely getting to episode 5, and it feels like pulling hairs.
I’m sad because the show itself, the imagery, the costumes, the visuals of the set look so beautiful, and it feels like it could have had a lot more potential had it been done better. I really enjoy the genre when it’s done well, but none of the main characters seem to fit, I’m rooting for no one that I’m supposed to, and I’m already exhausted by the dramatic backstory, that also, could have been written and portrayed so much better.