Say what you will about rating websites be it Rotten Tomatoes for movies in the US or Douban in China for dramas but it serves at least a central aggregate of consumer feedback. I find the public ratings more or less accurate, sometimes it’s higher or lower than my personal opinion but never wildly inaccurate. It’s also rare to not have a rating and in China the Douban ratings for TV shows typically come out two to four weeks after airing. When it doesn’t the reason is that the votes are wildly unreliable, the website either sees repeated fan votes up to buoy the rating or anti-fan votes down to tank the rating. For the Xiao Zhan and Ren Min starring xianxia C-drama this past summer The Longest Promise, first the drama took forever to air before suddenly getting released and now it’s taking forever or maybe never to get a Douban rating. It’s not a shock as Xiao Zhan dramas in recent years have been fraught with lots of opinions but it’s still weird not to see a rating. For his other dramas Sunshine by My Side has 7.2, The Oath of Love has 6.0, Where Dreams Begin has 7.5, and if anyone doesn’t already know The Untamed has a 7.7.
I may not be a fan of this drama but to be fair to Xiao Zhan, Unlike Gong Jun who really cannot act well. Xiao Zhan is can act and he looks good too but he really do not get very good scripts. He lack the resources Cheng Yi, Gong Jun, Wu Lei have.
I hope this will change now. I hate to watch him not being able to excel and shine…
I agree with you in everything exscept two thigs.
Xiao Zhan have amazing resources. To say He does not have them is liying. I’m a Xiao Zhan’s fan and I research The People behind his works. He is doing amazing with great People.
Gong Jun have terrible resources. He have only two good projects after Word Of Honor.
Thank @Jiao, I must have gotten those wrong. But thinks for pointing out in regards to Xiao Zhan’s resource. I know he had a very bad manager previously which lead to a lawsuit. I am glad the situation has changed. In that case, I really hope he picks better script.
@Jiao XZ only started having good resources recently after delivering good results with his projects. The Untamed was declined by every actor with decent recognition before going to XZ. Douluo Continent had very little budget and would have ended up with laughable CG if it wasn’t for XZ hitting jackpot with The Untamed while Douluo was in the footage edit stage and investors decided to add more money for the CG. The Oath of Love initially had a lesser known actress as female lead, but after The Untamed, Yang Zi decided to join this drama instead (she likes working with up-and-coming actors). In Ace Troops, Huang Jingyu used his connections to increase his screentime and upgrade himself from 2nd billing to double 1st billing without XZ knowing. Only starting from The Longest Promise did his resources started getting better, but even then, TLP was an obligatory Tencent drama to help push Ren Min.
A good example of actor with amazing resources is Zhang Ruoyun. Look at Joy of Life and Sword Snow Stride, they had famous veteran actors like Chen Daoming, Wu Gang and Hu Jun to help push him.
@ Lilith
Thank you for pointing those things out about Xiao Zhan.
@ Lilith
I stopped watching Huang Jingyu after Ace Troops. I don’t like HJY and what they did to Xiao Zhan. What a jerk!
Xiao Zhan had WDB this year with an almost CVB 1.6 in the worst month possible which is June in China due to entrance examination. That same show is airing for the 14th time from today, on TV, and first day already 0.8 no where near prime time.
And you compare flops that are Gong Jun, Wu Lei etc to him. The stuff people write here.
I love GJ for a totally superficial reason, he is hot…haha But I have to say that he is more suitable as a model than as an actor. Both him and Reba are rare beauty but terrible actor.
CY has to work sooo hard for years to gain the recognition and he deserved everything he has today.
With XZ I think those so called bad scripts were his personal choice. Most of his works aren’t mainstream flavor.
@Lady Bird, I am one of that started watching Gong Jun drama when he debut. I found him pleasant to look at and he has screen presence. But since Word of Honor, I have not enjoy his productions. Hope he pick suitable script next year…no more romance theme.
Truly there’s no reliable script in china, a lot of good IP become trash getting adapted to screens, what’s more original script. Arghhh why is it like this in china, there is no way they don’t have talented scriptwriters. More likely investors being too handy, even in recent xz drama it’s filled with nepotism seeing how a side character getting so many airtime
Yang Zi fan worrying about Xiao Zhan lmfao. Worry about your 0.01 queen.
The man who holds CVB 1.56 and 1 doesn’t need your worrying. I realise you got used to flops with her but that’s not his problem.
LOL. Here comes obsessed xfx again attacking XZ’s former costar. We’re talking about TLP, nothing to do other actresses than Ren Min.
Lol, I like both Yang Zi and Xiao Zhan. I even like Ren Min is her other movies/dramas. I dont have dislike for any artiste in all those I named. As for who I want to worry about, it is my choice, You have a problem with my choice, suck it up! I live my own as you live your own.
@Lmao, Lol, I like both Yang Zi and Xiao Zhan. I even like Ren Min is her other movies/dramas. I dont have dislike for any artiste in all those I named. As for who I want to worry about, it is my choice, You have a problem with my choice, suck it up! I live my own as you live your own.
@HL
That tired old act of I am a xz fan doesn’t pass with anyone who has a brain.
You cry about poor XZ not “excelling and shining” when Where Dreams Begin is an absolute hit and he has gained huge industry recognition for it and actual achievements.
This type of downplaying of his achievements, dressed as concern, passes only with idiots.
@Lmao, whatever, whether a fan or not, it is really none of your business.
I know who I am and you on the other hand are just one of those that think you know it all.
Are you a idiot? I dont know but I do know you are a troll. I bet I will read your trolling habits on myself and others who you want to mess around with.
Trolls are such Ugly creatures…with Bad Habits. They just continue spitting Venom…
@HL
It is my business when you are posting lies dressed as concern.
Now you are crying because you got called out on those lies. Love your type, it’s so pathetic that it’s funny.
@Lmao, vemon splitting troll…as I said you will just troll me like a parasite. Many drunks dont admit they are drunks. Trolls will be judge based on their trolling behaviours. Fan of Xiao Zhan or not, none of your business.
@HL
Keep posting lies and someone will always come up to correct you. You can rant about random things to divert attention from that all you like, it won’t change your fake concern posting.
In other news, the according to you another drama where he does not excell or shine, WDB, just easily broke 1 on its fourteenth rerun, in the middle of the day. Something your idol can only dream of even in the premiere run and something all the people who managed this year celebrated like crazy.
Concern troll is all you are but easily seem through.
@Lmao, your aggressive over-defense truly brings xfx bad names. When you are attacking someone with a very neutral opinion about XZ’s dramas like this, I know something goes seriously wrong in your mental state! As XZ repeatedly suggested, have your own real life rather than being a keyboard busybody living in a fantasy world. SMH !!!!! XZ doesn’t need your rudeness to add to his fame and accomplishment. LMAO.
@HL, I don’t see anything wrong with what you said. You were neither insulting, just voicing you hope XZ gets better scripts. I don’t know why some fans are so offended. Even as a fan, I admit he’s had some lackluster projects. I could barely sit through Duoluo Continent. Jade Dynasty was also terrible. Oath of Love was mediocre at best. Out of his projects after the Untamed, I found his character in Joy of Life the most interesting. I feel he can portray gray characters very well with a lot of charisma. His better projects, like Youth Memories, were all more recent.
I sincerely really want to watch Xiao Xhan in good scripts, as he can definitely deliver and score another goal. I too dont see what is wrong with that, to be honest. Dont fans want the best for their idols?? I may not be considered his fan by normal standards as I dont follow him on any social media nor a fan club etc. But I watch him when he sings, dance and act on my screen.
I feel it will be a shame not to watch him truly fly high and show his amazing charm and skills.
Aww, Zimmies and their fake concern. Go focus on your idol and leave XZ alone.
i fail to see the need to bring up GJ’s name in other actors’ articles/news. I am a fan of Xiao Zhan but I’m a bigger GJ fan and simply don’t understand why people are always trying to start any beef between the two. They’re both really good looking, have different vibes and acting styles and *gasp* are two very different people.
If you think XZ is a good actor, just say so, no need to bring “examples” to prove your point. I’ll be the first one to agree he acts really well.
It was horrible. There. The rating is in. Lol. The plot line and acting failed to be moving. At least in stories like “Fairy and Devil” and “Love Like the Galaxy”, the stories and acting were solid enough to where a piece of my brain feels like those worlds and characters actually exist somewhere in this universe. XZ needs his management to stop putting him in sucky dramas. And he needs more than a little synergy with his female leads to move a story. Tbd.
It’s not being released because it’s a good score and Tencent hates that. Everyone in China knows what happened with this drama because of Tencent’s new boss. Whatever, water under the bridge but I sure hope it was worth it to them to lose him as an artist, together with everyone else who showed them the middle finger because of terrible treatment.
Yup, the old “new boss sabotaging the previous boss’s projects to make herself look capable” plus the new boss is also best friends with Yuehua’s boss.
Yes, the new boss and that piece of trash are best friends, have been for a very long time. She even stonewalled Wonderland of Love. It will be interesting to see how long she can hold on considering the absolutely insane amount of money she has spent pushing her fake “success” dramas that aren’t bringing anything in while on the other hand, people walked away permanently.
Oh…that is interesting..
I read quite a lot like this. At first it sounded so bizarre and unbelievable. But given all other contradictory data released later by several rating companies including Tencent itself, it becomes more convincing TLP was mistreated…..
Oh my God I love Xiao Zhan but he is a constant source of off-screen drama. For no important reasons, at that. I mean the guy has fans that worship the air he breathes and anti-fans that would happily cut out sais air so that he can’t breathe. Also, he’s so good looking and a talented actor but his projects are pretty much mediocre. I so wish he would just pick a good one for a change. Anon romance, if possible, just to spare his FL from all the cyber bullying.
Agree
I don’t think I ever saw a FL or potential FL of a XZ’s drama not being the target of malicious comments made by his fans (XZ’s fans are very “protective” over XZ) or by fans of WYB. WYB’s fans hate everyone and everything surrounding XZ.
XZ’s fandom and WYB’s fandom are always at each other’s throat. These two fandoms hate each other to the point of always trying to cause as much harm as possible to each other and to their idols.
Aww, cry more.
It’s not XZ fault you worship flops. Don’t worry about him and stay in your lane.
You want to go to go dirty with assumptions.
An example of a mentallly ill with fanatism for XZ. That’s what about I’m talking about.
The fandom go around attacking everyone and they’re proud of it.
Not just XZ’s fandom, of course.
Fandoms are breeding ground for sick people.
BTW, I like XZ and I do not belong in any fandom. I did not lose my mind yet.
@Jiao
I mean you and your friend Nena here are crying about XZ mediocre projects when his drama is sitting on television for 10+ times in five months with a great CVB that is only a dream for any young actor today.
Do you really think people are stupid and can’t see your “I am a fan of XZ but” fakery. Smh
I mean this off-screen “drama” is common in C-ent. He has the biggest fandom and anti-fandom, so everything’s amplified.
There are also a bunch of antis pretending to be fans in order to worsen his image, which leads to insults from other netizens. He’s a victim of this “cyber bullying” too.
@Nena, I too wish the best for him…he is such a darling. And I have all respect for his co-stars. They are all normal people like you and I, no one deserved to be bullied. That is just nasty, everyone is just trying to do their jobs well.
Wihing the best for Xiao Zhan so he keeps getting good scripts and allowing us to watch him on our screen…my 2024 wishlist.
Doban ratings have ZERO impact on my decision of which drama to watch, TBH. It’s a non factor to me. I believe I’m not the only on among international fans. The Untamed is obviously underrated. So is The Youth Memories. Unfortunately I don’t think any XZ’s drama will be able to go beyond 8.0 given how much he was hated by antis and how much his rivals are eager to bring him down.
Do brand names, investors, writers, and directors look at Doban ratings as a credible source for recruitment of actors? It’s really questionable. I doubt it.
I have already mentioned many times C drama in general has quality issues given poorly written scripts and lazy execution. Cheap CGI doesn’t help. Even for those which have Doban ratings higher than 8.0 and were highly recommended by many C drama fans, I found them extremely boring. The main actors leading those dramas made them worse to watch since I don’t like them. There are very few interesting C dramas that deserve really high Doban ratings. Nirvana in Fire is an example. But Doban ratings mainly cater to C fans who have different taste from international fans. Therefore, no complaint about it. It’s just irrelevant for me to check which drama to watch.
P.S. Per XZ’s Weibo official account, he gained the most fans between the premieres of TLP and Sunshine by My Side. It’s legit to say that TLP is perhaps the most popular drama of XZ this year and a lot of fans love his character in TLP. Therefore, saying TLP flopped (or “horrible”) is just some ppl’s personal opinion at best. It’s like I’ve never got to finish beyond 3 eps of Love between Fairy and Devil. LBFAD is a “horrible” drama. LOL
@Somebody, I like to say you I made a reply to a member recently that you might have misunderstood my reply. I have absolutely no intention to class you as one with ‘no 2 cent’. You have very strong and firm opinions and you voice them with facts that you research on. I applaud that. There are trolls on site that just wants to mess people around for their nasty games. It is those I am referring to. I enjoy chatting with you as I do learn alot from yourself. Just like Nathan Chen, I enjoy his figure skating skills too.
You are aware I too have my preference to which artiste I like more then others. But I have to be honest, I really dont fandom anyone that much to go beyond their off screen news. I just watch what I like and switch off if I do not.
I have never been to China thus I do not really know how a Mainland is like. My granny lives in Taiwan thus I know more about Taiwan. I may not personally know many China born people…but I do enjoy my chatting with my Taiwanese friends. Sometimes you mention CCP in your chats, I am always curious how do people of CCP really think? I hope my apology gets to you.
Aw. That’s misunderstanding. I was in emo too. LOL. So I was kinda blunt. I was juggling fighting a cohort of rabid Fanyus and debating with C drama lovers around the same time. That’s why albeit necessary very often, it’s not always a good idea to do multitasking. LOL. Per your tone and the way you made your voice out, you’re actually on a more gentle and nicer side while I’m not. I’d like to cut to the chase. Therefore, I don’t really have negative feelings about your comments here in general.
Don’t worry. We will continue to be happy campers on this blog site as long as Koala don’t shut it down. LOL.
BTW, nice to know your grandma lives in Taiwan. I have no ill feelings about China. Otherwise I wouldn’t even a fan of XZ since he IS very Chinese. LOL. But I’m losing hope on CCP overall because of this one dictator Xi Jinping. That party is totally hopeless!
BTW, just ignore those sick xfx (official name of XZ fans) whose uncontrolled and untrained mental gymnastics always land them ugly. LOL.
I found XZ’s fanbase actually way larger than those who would call them xfx. Many people like XZ. But it doesn’t mean we can’t critique his choice of projects or works. Nonetheless, 227 seemed to make a negative impact on many xfx’s mental states that they have hard time taking different opinions nicely. It’s very common and also important in the West that different voices including criticism are all heard. This is the force to push for improvement. XZ also repeatedly said that he welcomed critiques of his dramas in many interviews. But many xfx are too protective to have level head and therefore reject even constructive opinions. SMH. That’s why I don’t close rank with them even though I’m a staunch fan of XZ.
@Somebody, I am glad you saw my comment. You know how this section sometime moderate comments. We may not see what we type appearing till 1 day or 2.
I get your emo rant at me…was not offended at all. Just felt I better explain myself. Happy Chatting! We need not agree on some topics like I enjoy Leo Luo but he is not your style. But that does not stop us respecting we all have different opinion.
Oath of Love took forever to get the Douban score and Ace Troops still has no score despite having finale in January 2022. It makes almost two years without a score. Doesn’t it seem weird?