C-drama Only for Love with Dylan Wang and Bai Lu Air Drops on Hunan TV this Friday November 3rd

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• Aaa, you're finally watching Devil&Fairy!!! Thanks for letting us know, Koala.

  I kept hoping you would try it and give an honest opinion.

  I loved your comment on Luo Yunxi's portrayal of Tantai Jin = mix of 4 Shakespeare tragedies. I always remember that as it's spot on :)

  • Speaking of Luo Yun-xi ... Bai Lu's Drama wasn't that captivating initially, on first look.

    When flipping through new Dramas and having previewed a very boring 'Love is Panacea' - in comparison, this Only for Love drama suddenly looked more exciting.

    Luo Yun-xi just looks thinner and more wan with sharp chin, each time. I think a favorite enjoyable one was Love is Sweet, and it stayed there and no further. Initially, he used to remind me a bit of Lee Dong-wook (the chin? the fairness?) - not anymore.

• The fact that Dylan is supposed to play a CEO just comes across as so HILARIOUS to me lol...It's like a boy playing dress-up! Well, I know visually it's not as bad as that Mr. Crow and Mrs. Lizard fiasco, but eh. Bai Lu of course will do just fine.

  I'm just sick of these "C.E.O." dramas. it's so early 2010s. Can't we just get a director or male Secretary romance from time to time? LoL.

  • Ha ha this is what I pointed out on reddit too, but someone very correctly remarked that now in tech you have real 15 year olds CEOs, so there you go 🤣🤣

  • At least it's not (at least, from the stills) the usual CEO expensive snip around "bowl over the head, leave the bangs please" haircut. Yeah, that was how I used to cut my little bro's hair. Heh.

• I've watched the trailer but hmmm...How do I put it across...They don't look suited for the characters, like the vibes don't come off right. The only thing I like so far were the interior designs of the house and office LOL.

  • I agree with u lilith, I also thought the trailer was off, but I thought it was just me, maybe is the way they put out the trailer, l like both actors,so I hope everything connect well in the actual show

    • @Mercy Yeah, I've liked Wang Hedi ever since LBFAD but I don't feel the same attraction while watching this drama trailer.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSVaawmj100

      There's a couple of scenes where he still looks cute though. As usual, I'll probably watch an episode or two before deciding whether to continue watching it.

• Dylan's acting as a CEO in the trailer is so cringe. I;m not convinced by Bai Lu's acting either, but I give her the benefit of the doubt because she's a competent and much better actress then the ML.

• I think this can pass as a comedy show because come on. CEO? Lol forever. And his voice is terrible for this role. I think she is more than ok but he looks like he is playing dress up.

  • His voice does pull me out of immersing myself in the drama. I kept asking myself why his accent sounded so strange. I don’t speak or understand much Mandarin, but I’ve been watching Cdramas for a number of years and he speaks Chinese different from the other actors, plus his voice doesn’t seem to match him. Kept wanting to ask if that was his real speaking voice. I get the same feeling when Yang Mi talks, cause her voice doesn’t match her appearance at all. Kind of high pitched and babyish.

    • He is from Sichuan, that's why. You are used to standard Mandarin and his is not it. It's actually a bit better than it used to be but it's still no where near good enough. He needs lots of work on it but doubt we shall see that happen.

• I'm surprised by how confident viewers are in Bai Lu. Personally, since her debut, I haven't been impressed by her acting. She's passable, but she hasn't wowed me. Since her debut, she's starred in 16 dramas. Dylan has only been in 11. She's very prolific and started slighly earlier than Dylan. I suppose with so much experience, she has to be better at it now.

  • Wow Bai Lu in 16 and Dylan in 11 dramas when they started playing main roles in 2017 and 2018 respectively? C-stars seem like such work-a-holics compared to Korean and Japanese actors...

    • For Dylan, that's averaged to roughly 2 dramas per year, sandwiched in between variety shows, advertisements, engagements, etc. Is that too high?

      For Bai Lu, it's like more than 2 per year, along with her other jobs.

      Not sure what K-actors' drama yearly schedule looks like...I haven't followed K-ent for a while

    • China is also a much bigger market and more projects to divvy up compared to Korea. If Korean artists had access to the same market, they'll be workaholics too

    • One last note - I think i'm used to seeing HK actors and how crazy their schedules look like - Chinese actors look lazy in comparison lol.

    • Don't know, if the different drama production styles and requirements can be adequate compared with each other cross-border, since the audience' expectations are not 100% the same, too. Wouldn't describe one group of professionals as workaholics and others als lazy (as another commenter has put it).
      Is gathering a lot of dramas under one's belt a sign of success or is quality rather than quantity the goal to reach? I may be wrong, but aren't liuliang aiming to do more dramas than other C-actors to use as much of the momentum as possible until their star is probably burned out? I'm not judging. It's what it is 🤷‍♀️

      Every filming production is hard for all involved. That said, the Korean live shoting system is terribly exhausting for actors. Combined that with the impression that K-ent audience doesn't receive drama overexposure well, it's not that far fetched to have less dramas under you belt in comparison (if it otherwise could harm one's reputation in K-ent).
      Higer profile = less dramas + more CF

    • @eJc HK's largest drama production station, TVB, is notorious for working their artistes to the bone. They're infamous even. It's one of the reasons why they're losing artists to China (amongst other issues) - China's working conditions are considered much better, along with higher pay. It stands to reason that China's treatment of their artists is better and their schedules look better, hence why it makes Chinese celebs look more idle in comparison.

  • On your note about HK actors, I think that's because there's a smaller pool of actors to work with. The talent has been deteriorating significantly over the years. Most of the notable male leads from TVB are in their late 40s or 50s. They also probably get paid much less so they have to work more. The ones who have any bit of name recognition in China are all going up there to work.

    • Agree with you. I've recently seen their A-tier contracted artists, and most of them are still so green. The ones with more experience under their belt are getting more promoted, but there's none of those fadan competitions anymore, because the candidate pool is sparse.

      Plus, the celebs that have moved to China acknowledge that China's working conditions are much better. You're not doing 14-48 hours acting gigs at any one time. It's a lot less hectic.

  • Tbh, most C dramas are not watchable in terms of overall quality compared with K dramas. That's why I have almost abandoned C dramas after exploring the whole year. Surely domestically wise, C dramas have more viewers than K dramas. No brainer LOL ! But the international market is still way broader for K dramas than C dramas. Just look at where the money of investors from big streaming sites like Disney+ and Netflix goes !!!! Then it's easy to know dramas of which country are more popular globally. LOL

    • I'm the exact opposite. I have been watching K dramas for almost 15 years, dabbed my feet in C dramas in the couple of years, and made the switch totally to C drama this year. I haven't watched a single K drama this year. Not going to debate about drama quality, but one of the reason and pet peeves is that K dramas has gone to big streaming sites and I didn't want the extra subscriptions. On the other hand, C drama are mostly still on my local pay TV, but just this week I saw Scent Of Time being promoted on HBO Go. So I'm predicting C dramas soon go to Netflix/Disney. C dramas had a late start compared to K dramas, but they are catching up really fast.

    • This is also one of the reason K drama is not enjoyable anymore, with the intention of catering to the Netflix audience, K dramas are now more violent, faster paced etc

    • Nah. Your personal experience can't speak for facts. Numbers matter! Netflix alone doubled down on K drama production this year investing $2.5 billion USD. Netflix and other big streaming sites have invested ZERO in C drama production, however. There are quite a few K dramas not only ranked #1 in viewership of foreign film genres but also topped global ranking overall. But none of C dramas even ranked in the top lists. C dramas are still far behind in terms of popularity. People don't know Chinese language appreciate C dramas less than K dramas, obviously. C dramas only started to pick up some market share in SE Asia, mainly in mini series, not major web or TV series.

      There are many choices in Kdramas. But in general, mysterious genre is the most popular in any film industry including K-ent. It's rare for mystery without graphical elements. That's just the nature of most human beings that are always appealed to graphical images.

      Do you know Chinese? I do. It's supposedly easier for me to watch C dramas and I did try the whole year in 2022 but found 95% I checked out pretty boring mostly with bad scripts/directing. Not to mention poor lighting quality and crappy CGI of C dramas. That's why now I'm completely switching to K dramas and found it more satisfying watching K dramas.

    • I’m actually the same with K. After almost 20years watching K-dramas (my first ever being “Autumn in my Heart”), I find myself watching more and more Cdramas these days. Recent genres of Kdramas dont interest me at all (the extramarital affairs/revenge/bully.. hmmm..no thanks). I miss the rom-coms and the weekend family dramas. So they even make them anymore?
      Whilst with Cdramas, I love the historical/colossal/period ones, especially those with epic fighting scenes. And the fantasy ones like Lost You Forever that i so very much love. The modern ones are hit or miss for me.
      Anyway… must we compare the two? Kdramas have been around for 20+ years and now there are options of CDramas that we can watch. Each has its own charms. Cant we just enjoy the best of both worlds?

    • I’m with K on this one. K’s experience and feelings on Kdramas mirror mine, and I personally know a lot of long time dedicated international audiences of Kdramas who feel this way. Netflix may have the numbers on Kdramas, but they are appealing to new markets and not the longtime dedicated watchers of Kdramas. It has yet to be proven if they will continue to appeal to and develop a long time fanbase of Kdramas or if this a temporary phase of people attracted to a shiny new toy before the international audience moves on to the next big thing. Time will tell.

      A lot of long time Kdramas watchers moved on to Cdramas because they didn’t want to pay more for Kdrama content, or it was no longer readily available, and because Kdramas have become too Westernized. Cdramas have consistently been improving in quality over the past few years, have become abundantly available to international audiences, even being loaded on YouTube so you can watch it for free with ads and their historical/Wuxia/Xanxia dramas are unrivaled. Very few, if any, Sagueks can compete with the variety of stories or beautiful costumes or even cinematography of that genre. Cdramas are giving Kdramas a run for their money and it’s only a question of time before they edge out the market share of Kdramas in the international market.

      The biggest challenge Cdramas have to conquer to dominate market share is the Almighty Censorship Board that makes them butcher even the best told and exquisitely filmed Cdramas.

    • Agree with you @Somebody. I'm the opposite. I was introduced to C-dramas first through Nirvana in Fire, which still remains my favorite historical drama of all time. After dabbling in a few historcals, I gradually started watching modern and found such a stark difference in overall quality of writing, direction, and production value. Many were draggy and outdated with often times horribly written/unsatisfying endings. This is when I switched to kdramas after being recommended to watch Extraordinary Attorney Woo and My Liberation Notes.

      I don't agree with others' arguments that kdramas have, as a whole, become Westernized. That may be the case with Netflix, Disney+, etc original series, but not with those airing on public television. You won't be seeing explicit sex scenes or gore on TV, for example. It's also highy dependent on genre. Kdramas seem to be having a resurgence of romcoms in the coming months, so that "wholesomeness" some viewers crave will return after the having had a couple years where thrillers were the dominant genre on TV.

      In my opinion, Chinese non-fantasy costume dramas are generally better than sageuks, but modern kdramas of all genres are in their own league. TV series that ends up becoming popular worldwide still lean on the modern side, which means Korean dramas will continue to dominate over other dramas in the Asian region, especially with all of the investment pouring in from abroad. Korean celebrities in general are also more well-known outside of China and Korea, so I don't see C-entertainment, especially with their stict censorship, ever beating K-entertainment which has not only dramas but kpop as well.

    • To each their own. One taste can also cange over time or one can get bored and try out new stuff and discover something more appealing. It's all personal preference, which is totally fine. And apparently access opportunities.
      Nevertheless, personal experience doesn't represent objective evidence. I doubt that international platforms are catering to just one specific genre in K dramas as it isn't supported by the diffrent genres offerings.
      However, it is true that the most successful dramas globally are the dark and more violent drama over e.g. romcom, fluffy escapism or period dramas. Due to diffrent reasons (like not a female centric audience anymore). And plattforms like netflix are notorious for putting most money into projects with the greatest possible ROI and not into artistic mertis. Still, they are buying other domestically produced dramas. So, they offer a broad range and still, the most watched are a certain type.

      BTW, way before K dramas got popular in the western countries the dark, twisted and extremly violent K movies got famous and had their own avid fan group in the west. So, dramas produced by streaming services are just catching up with the movie offerings. My guess is, that K domestic networks are ristricted what they can show and therefore have had a diffrent offering than movies, but got a little more up-to-date with the pacing.
      I wouldn't call that "westernized". It's just evolution.

    • @Somebody Def YMMV situation. I used to be Kdrama fan all the way, but nowadays have barely touched any Kdramas. The last one I finished was Business Proposal. But I've been consuming numerous C-dramas these past several years. While Kdramas have better quality, they can't beat Cdrama production value. The expense C-dramas put into their sets and costumes is something Kdramas wish they have the budget for. With that said, though, I rarely watch any modern C-dramas lol. I stick primarily to historical ones because that's my fav. Kdramas focus too much on modern shows which doesn't entice me and recently like some mentioned, they're catering to darker grittier material, which while it has its niche, it's hardly something that most of us like to watch.

    • @K, "C drama are mostly still on my local pay TV." So, I guess you're from SE Asia? I commented somewhere else that C dramas started to foray outside China, mostly SE Asian market. China produced many mini series that're very popular in those countries in SE Asia. Those are easy-watch dramas with very little investment in the production. That's it! But globally C drama is still far from behind to catch up with K drama.

      Investment does make huge differences in film quality. Most significantly, C dramas storylines are dragging and slow paced that are snoozefests to most international fans. (You and other few C drama lovers may be still among minority of drama fans TBH.) The difference in film quality is obvious. I once showed several very popular C dramas and K dramas to my relative who is a CGI engineer who's considered a filming buff too and has no exposure to any Asian films. I did not tell him the countries of those productions and he doesn't understand either language. He immediately pointed out Kdramas superior in production quality, very close to Hollywood standards and just laughed at Cdramas that he said was too crappy. The setting, lighting, camera angles, and cinematography etc. of C drama in general isn't up to par with K drama, let alone writing and directing. Cdrama will continue to waste actors' talent if no reform on the production culture.

      Your personal preference is one thing; but pro opinions about film quality and investors preference is something to not dismiss if C drama would really like to expand the global market. That being said, perhaps C-ent doesn't care about global market at all cos they've got a huge domestic market closed to other films. C-ent higher ups just care about how much they can milk from domestic market and won't bother with production values.

    • @Coralie, I beg to differ from you about production values. Extravagant costumes and historical sets =/= production values. LOL. IMO, Cdrama has been investing and wasting money in wrong areas. At first, I was also dazzled by all colorful eye-catching historical drama sets. Compared to more monotone K historical drama setting, C dramas certainly have richer history treasure to tap (5000+ yr history vs. several 100s?). But other than those dazzling costumes, head pieces, and aesthetically mesmerizing architecture (to the extent exaggerating authentic antient society and culture TBH), lighting is pretty bad in general, CGI is obviously crappy products of lazy work or fund-shortage (according to my pro CGI engineer relative), and camera shots are not as crafty as Kdrama. I just listed most obvious flaws of C dramas besides more critical elements such as plot flow, writing, and directing.

      Pretty sets without substance in other critical areas of filming quality is still a failure in production. I'm not talking about anyone's personal preference of watching experience. I'm referring to production values in general that can be fairly assessed and appreciated by the majority of critics and viewers. There're reasons why Netflix and Disney+ investors have been putting money in Kdrama productions but not Cdrama yet. Western investors bank where they see potential cash flows. LOL. There're reasons why they don't invest in Cdrama other than buying broadcasting rights to cater for a smaller group of C drama viewers. Ask why western investors bet money in Chinese solar panels and batteries but not C dramas. LMAO!

      Certainly the most internationally hit K dramas have graphical elements in the films that are not up to everyone's street. But I found many lovey-dovey or family-oriented K dramas pretty enjoyable and still beat up Cdramas in terms of production quality. I wouldn't just forgo Cdramas for Kdramas if Cdramas offered something interesting to watch besides easy language for me. I only have that much time off busy work. Dozing off through most C dramas is really depressing. LOL

    • @Somebody okay and like I said YMMV. Check the cost of production for one hit Cdrama versus the cost of one hit Kdrama and you'll see the difference. There's a reason why Kdrama stars wanted to work in China before Korean wave ban - they paid more in general. Whether it's good enough quality production values in certain areas is up for debate, but the numbers don't lie. The resources Chinese dramas use, even if incorrectly, is way higher than Kdramas. The cost of building sets is higher in C-dramas already.

      Btw, not sure if you notice, but there's always been stigma attached to anything Chinese-produced, even if they're great productions. For example, donghuas made in China have been fantastic yet there's little to no fanfare about them in American markets. Why is that? Lots of C-dramas have been great IMO, but they were barely purchased by western companies, e.g. Joy of Life. Korean productions may have more easily consumed subjects since they're usually modern, but maybe that's where C-dramas need to work on more for wider audience acceptance.

    • @Coralie, I actually think Chinese anime and computer games are pretty good. Tencent produced some legendary products in these two lines in the past that are still very popular around the world nowadays. But since when the Chinese government banned gaming industry in China, Tencent had fallen from grace in the global market. It's a pity. China has so many talented pros in those two lines of entertainment, very promising businesses and markets.

      But C drama is a different story with totally different dynamics from anime and gaming. As I said before, C-ent has used money in wrong areas to produce dramas. I actually think actors in C-ent are overpaid. If writers got higher pays instead, perhaps C dramas would have better scripts for actors and directors to work with. Also extravagant settings can't cancel the importance of other filming elements. Lighting and camera are critical to produce good films, so is graphic editing post filming. It's said that over 90% of filming nowadays need CGI more or less. Nonetheless, C dramas are extremely poor in the preceding qualities. I wonder if too much money is squandered on actors that no much left for quality control in other areas given limited funding nowadays. TBH, many C leading actors aren't doing due diligence to deliver performance worth their pays. While K-ent may be paying actors less than their counterparts in C-ent, I do think K actors are more professional dealing with their jobs on set in S. Korea. I've observed quite a few K actors making impressive progress in acting, who were lackluster and dinged very often a few years before. But many C actors including big names have just been staying where they were after they became popular in the showbiz. Exorbitantly high pays perhaps make them complacent and lazy.

    • @Somebody well, maybe that's 'cause K-actors have a lot of time on their hands lol! That's what we've been discussing - that K-actors are less productive than C-actors and have less filming opportunities. They rather spend their time doing CFs and advertisements which doesn't take very long. So they have extra time to hone their skills. Ok, admittedly this is just my speculation - dunno if it holds any water.

      In China, you never know when you might be cancelled or forgotten. There's so many up and coming new actors on the daily and it's a huge country. They want to use their time to act in as many projects as possible before they run out of opportunities. Not the best idea, but understandable. I enjoy C-dramas more than Kdramas nowadays and it has very little to do with lighting and how things are shot. Those are always going to be icing on the cake for me. I'm more interested in storyline, the chemistry between the cast, whether there's any heart/wholesomeness in the plot and comedy. Many C-dramas deliver on that.

      K-ent rose from Kpop and from that a whole industry sprang (or maybe concurrently with Kdrama, who knows). To make great artists, you need great videographer, CGI developers, lighting, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why they do so well in dramas - they have the experience. I don't recall any Kdrama that had amazing CGI, but granted I haven't watched a ton since the last one I saw that starred IU. C-dramas are constantly evolving (if the govt doesn't mess with that.) Donghuas are definitely doing a great job and I'm hoping that these skills will continue to advance there and transfer over to other industries where this is needed, C-dramas.

    • @Somebody, I think where I take issue with your statement is your claim that C-dramas are not watchable in terms of quality. But many of us here have rebuffed your claims and are steadfast in our pursuit of C-dramas or switched over completely from Kdramas to C-dramas, so the quality you speak of, doesn't matter to many of us and we have abandoned Kdrama ship to stay on Cdramas. This wasn't the case in the past, but C-dramas are making progress and attracting more audiences. It's for good reasons. Whether you agree with those reasons doesn't matter, but making a broad claim that C-dramas are unwatchable due to bad quality is inflammatory. By that measure, Kdramas are not watchable in comparison to American shows because GOT is so much better than Kdramas.

    • @Coralie, so we basically just agree to disagree. We both are repeating our personal preference and experience. There's no right or wrong about that. You don't have to get worked up bcos somebody like me doesn't share the same taste as you. LOL. 95% of C dramas are indeed unwatchable from my standards. You don't have to be on the same page with me. But based upon just a handful of commenters visiting this blog (I guess many of them are either ethnic Chinese or speaking Chinese more or less) to judge that C drama is more favorable than K drama now is completely ignorant and wrongly biased. Anyhow, business data and financial information just indicate otherwise. By far, Kdrama is getting more popular globally even ppl without experience watching any Asian drama know Kdrama is popular while Cdrama isn't. Although C drama is gaining some market share outside China, mainly in SE Asia (that's been reported by some financial media), Kdrama still overwhelmingly dominates the global market in Asian films. How are these facts I repeated inflammatory to you? LOL. I'm not obligated to pamper Cdrama fans' psychology. I basically just presented facts based upon business data to rebuke the spurious claims from many Cdrama fans. You can watch what you like. But as I said, your own preference has no way to dismiss the facts and data. There are hard statistics regarding how many people watching Kdrama vs. C drama. The largest international streaming sites like Netflix and Disney+ have those data and know pretty well what is the best business decision for them in terms of investment. Why did they invest in Kdrama but not Cdrama if the latter were more profitable than the former?

      Well, you made your points but they are not convincing. I stand by my opinion that most C dramas have quality issues and not watchable from my standard.

  • Maybe because she got a good diction ? Personally she does nothing to me. Very plain all around.

    • Bai Lu? I like her face, calm, and especially VOICE. Beats some of the higher pitched China actresses and especially the excited Japanese ones. (or the cutesy).

      Looks matter less than Voices for me.
      3 of them have kinda the same type of look to me - Bai Lu, Liu Yi-tong and someone whose name I cannot recall.

• Ahh so happy you’re finally watching LBFD. One of the best drama I’ve watched tbh

• OK, just checked out Episode 1. I think that's Dylan's real voice, not dubbed, right?

  • I have the same question.

  • It is, yes.

    • Thanks. I kind of recognize it but wasn't sure. :) I'm going to stick around for another couple of episodes and decide. So far, nothing that's hooking me, but I heard the sexual tension is supposed to be "sooooooo amazzzzzzing," so I'm being patient. I do like both actors individually.

  • I checked this drama, and Love Panacea (Luo Yun-xi) - this Dylan dude reminds me of him but a healthier looking version. Plot not great, but much more captivating to me when there's meagre offerings except Castaway Diva.

    Luo Yun-xi's Love Panacea is non captivating (to me), but he looks very pale, sharper chin and wan - which is also not enticing to stay on for 12? 16? 32? (sorry never know with Cdramas) episodes.
    The one he starred with Bai Lu, remains my favoite. Chemistry was great.

• I love Bai Lu and I’m a huge fan. Love her acting style too. That being said, I always prefer her period pieces to her modern dramas. Looking back I have never, not once, been able to complete her modern dramas or even watch more than a few episodes of it before dropping it. And I have no idea why. She could act with the same male actor and it would be no different.

  It was most evident to me when I watched One and Only, and Forever and ever. I fawned over the costume drama and completely disliked the modern one. Might be because modern C-romcoms plots are a drag and not as tightly woven but I’m finding that only a handful of Cdrama actresses are watchable in a modern setting. Most of their acting flaws are better hidden in costume dramas.

  • I am partial to Bai Lu dramas. I like her calm, and her VOICE especially.

    Checked out this drama, and Love Panacea (Luo Yun-xi) - this Dylan dude reminds me of him but a healthier looking version. Plot not great, but much more captivating to me when there's meagre offerings except Castaway Diva.

    Luo Yun-xi's Love Panacea is non captivating (to me), but he looks very pale, sharper chin and wan - which is also not enticing to stay on for 12? 16? 32? (sorry never know with Cdramas) episodes.
    The one he starred with Bai Lu, remains my favorite. Chemistry was great.

• I do think Dylan can act and has potential even I've never got to finish any of his dramas. LOL. It's really hard on actors when writing and directing and everything else are pretty lacking.