C-drama A Journey to Love Faced with Negative Criticism from Netizens Over Liu Yu Ning’s Not Leading Man Looks and More Screen Time then Female Lead Liu Shi Shi

Like all C-dramas nowadays, the bigger the hit the more likely there is criticism, blowback, and nitpicking. I try to cover it even if I like the drama, this year the ones I liked My Journey to You, and Till the End of the Moon had plenty of naysayers, and the ones I didn’t The Longest Promise, Legend of Anle, Scent of Time, Love You Seven Times, and Only for Love had its share of directed complaints for various issues. Currently airing A Journey to Love with Liu Shi Shi and Liu Yu Ning is considered a hit already thanks to viewership and online buzz but the online chatter is pretty split between positive and negative. The two biggest complaints are that male lead Liu Yu Ning is not good looking, and there are memes with AI face swapping other male leads into his popular character Ning Yuan Zhou.

The second major complaint is that the male lead has more screen time than the female lead despite Liu Shi Shi being top billed over Liu Yu Ning, and fans are upset that’s the reason his male lead is much more than popular than her female lead. I’m watching this drama and I do not notice the screen time differential but I am insanely obsessed with male lead Ning Yuan Zhou simply because he’s the swashbuckling with a single love conviction with a side of bromance character that’s the quintessential wuxia male lead. C-ent insiders are saying its Liu Yu Ning’s anti-fans and water armies stirring up the waves against him. Liu Shi Shi apparently may have responded to the criticism on the second point with a Weibo post that Ru Yi, her character, knows exactly what she is a doing ala she knew what this drama script was and is fine with it.


Comments

C-drama A Journey to Love Faced with Negative Criticism from Netizens Over Liu Yu Ning’s Not Leading Man Looks and More Screen Time then Female Lead Liu Shi Shi — 114 Comments

  1. I’m sure the people complaining and crying over over these issues are not watching the drama at all

    I did not notice yet the problems mentioned in the article

    26 episodes released so far and each one with more or less 48 minutes of duration

    There is time for everyone to shine when the scripts makes it happen

    • Are you sure? LOL. I’m pretty sure Cdrama fans are oftentimes overconfident of their ideas of what’s going on. I’m currently following the drama and found some criticism not unreasonable although I’m still watching it since the overall cast has better than average acting.

      • Nitizens are blindly jealous!! This is by far one of 2023 best Cdramas!! And the male lead is killing his character… they really have nothing to complain about

      • @Laboosh, that’s your personal preference at best and you can’t speak for everyone. LYN’s acting is natural and he recited lines with ease. That’s good. But he’s not charismatic to the point like some memorable roles played by irreplaceable actors in other hit dramas, e.g., Hu Ge in Nirvana in Fire and Xiao Zhan in The Untamed. I wrote a long a$$ essay to share my opinion about this drama and the acting. My opinion is fair and square.
        Nobody is jealous of LYN since he’s done a solid job. LOL. Too bad Koala somehow blocked my comment to let it sit in the closet. I’m too lazy to repeat the same lengthy speech again. LOL. That’s fine. This is just entertainment. My comment here is not like an executive summary that I definitely have to make sure it’s released. LOL

      • @Somebody Xiao Zhan is average in The Untamed, that’s my personal opinion. You saying Liu Yu Ning is not charismatic enough is also your personal opinion, so why you are acting like your words are the absolute truth? 😅

      • @Camila, then why did you even bother to reply to me? We just agree to disagree. LOL. I continue to like XZ and consider him a great talent in acting. And you continue to fangirl your LYN. Who cares? When did I say my personal opinion is the truth of universe as you implied? Other than my God, nothing is worth my worship. You’re just butthurt cos I prefer Xiao Zhan and Hu Ge to your idol. That’s why you couldn’t help responding to me with a joke. LOL

      • @Somebody Liu Yuning is far from being my idol, I hardly tolerate him in this drama, so your assumption is incorrect. You have to be fragile to throw accusations just because I touched a weak point based on the facts regarding your responses lol. It’s not a matter of saying ignore comments because by doing so, you’re implying that debates shouldn’t exist and thus you would have avoided responding to me lol, but you did. And it’s not a joke, I just used your same logic, but even you don’t know what you write lol. Your own words betray you. You don’t even realize you want to impose your opinion (or is this another “Somebody”?). If I responded more analytically you wouldn’t stand it and would just end up writing that I’m jealous because my favorite (the one you made up in your head) isn’t on Hu Ge and Xiao Zhan’s level and you would have started mentioning how popular he is. It is typical of fans who fall into blind spots. It’s actually funny because I love all of Xiao Zhan’s performances except in The Untamed. Lol!

      • @Camila, LOL. You’re not aware of your tone driving me to being sarcastic in return. If you’ve read all my responses to other commenters, it’s no brainer to figure out how I responded depends on how ppl reacted to my comments and you’re not on a nice side. I’m not a nice person. I usually eye for eye to online strangers depending on their tones and attitudes. You have no bearing in my real life. Therefore, I don’t have to taking into account what I say may hurt your ego and make you butthurt. I’m usually just very blunt to get straight with the points on SM. You don’t like Xiao Zhan. I got it!!! Your point is to dismiss him. That’s why you had to particularly address how he’s an average actor even this blog was about LYN. LOL. My compliment of XZ obviously made you extremely uneasy and therefore you had to in particular dismiss him. LOL. Why not Hu Ge? That’s why I said you sounded so bitter and butthurt since Xiao Zhan is so popular and successful in his acting career and you obviously feel very uneasy about that. LOL. So, stop gaslighting me as if you were a better and more rational drama fan since you’re not. Both you and I are no more than keyboard hugus that just happened to find a common avenue to lash out our points and sometimes rant. Chill!

    • Yeah, I’m up to episode 10 and so far both leads are delivering great to me, don’t let all these offscreen drama affect you. I personally agree with the comments that Liu Yuning is lacking in visuals and posture, and is kind of green tea, but his acting as Ning Yuanzhou is convincing enough to me and I’ll watch any drama that’s good as long as the lead actors/actresses didn’t commit heinous crimes.

      From what I’ve understood so far, this offscreen drama is due to the power battle between iQiyi and Linmon Media where both wanted to push different actors, with Linmon wanting to push Liu Yuning.

    • @somebody what are you talking about? Your lengthy comment is not blocked at all And for sure not by Ms Koala. Just scroll down! There it is!!! December 10, 2023 at 2:41 PM ( => 2 diffrent comments at the same time. did you copy and paste? )

      I don’t know the technical issues with the host to this website, but if you would READ this site CAREFULLY, you would have known by now (since you are commenting a lot. on this article alone 11 times already), that there are always some comments by diffrent persons which are not showing immediately. Hence some double postings. It happened to me too.

      So, why just randomly accuse that your comment was specifically targeted? When it’s simply a technical issue that happens here every now and than to all of us.

      Seriously, stay calm and don’t make false accusations out of anger.

      • LOL. It did not show up after days later with my repetitive whining. One of my other comments were also deleted shortly after it was posted first but showed up again after my protest. The time stamps only show when I made the comments but do not show when they were posted. I guess Koala might be mad at my opinion about his obsession of NYZ. LMAO. That’s fine. I like apple but others prefer orange to apple. No problem with that. Oh I’m not accusing her. She’s my favorite drama blogger. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother to contribute visiting traffic to her site. LOL. I was making those protests to perhaps get attention from her. And it might be working that way too. LOL. I made way more comments about this post cos this drama is one of very very very few C dramas that I stick to watch from ep to ep without fast forwarding. I’m invested in this drama a lot.
        Therefore, I’m more motivated to talk about it. Does it make sense?

  2. Considering that Liu Yuning’s next drama is with Linmon, its not surprising that they want to push him to ensure that their next project is a hit as well. LYN is a decent actor with a nice voice, but his visuals arent my type. Even Ning Yuanzhou’s awesome characterization won’t make me like him.

  3. First time I’m hearing that people actually count screen time. Wow.

    LSS is awesome here and LYN is standing his ground as NYZ opposite her. And yes NYZ is hot. Not to everyone but his NYZ is hot enough to get so much buzz.

    Everyone just watch whatever floats their boat.

    • I’ve seen fans count minutes of screentime in survival shows, so I’m not surprised some crazy obsessed person would count the screen time of a drama. This is just pettiness at its finest down to the second.

      • Just wow!

        If the drama have flopped, they would have blame it on LYN. But since it became so popular and his NYZ is so hot and buzz worthy, they have to complain about something else.

        Some other actors might be better and look better but did they play NYZ? No, so that a moot point. LYN did and his NYZ is popular. He deserves credit for that.

        Also, I’m glad this is an original script. I see how it can get worse if there’s a source material to compare with.

  4. LSS is more costly then Liu Yuniang. and They are grooming Liu Yuniang. What is so surprising. Creating fanwars for nothing. Some of these fans are just allowing themselves to eat right into the hands of troublemakers.

  5. Is this even an issue,c neitzen needs to complain about every little thing lol. Is this some kind of entertainment for them too. 🤔 Any has I said before watch what interests u. It their opinions, it doesn’t have to affect u .

  6. Well yeah. He is famous for being one that takes over his coworkers screen time. He has done this numerous times and it’s why ZLS fans didn’t want him.

    He can’t act, he looks like a rat but he has the most important thing in cent – money backing him. His raw photos are awful so let’s see how long he holds on.

    If your fave takes on a project with him, my sympathies because that won’t go well.

    • Jeez,do u even hear ur self, it just a drama people. And I have seen his pics a lot, n is not has awful has u make it sound. What makes u think the picture u saw is not the edited one, because I know anti – fans like to edit stars pics to make them look ugly when they r not . I get that he doesn’t have that pretty boy look,I find him striking n have a unique look in historical garment. A Look to spice up the male leads in c ent a little , a good difference in my opinion.

      • Actually that’s one of the biggest problems in cent. Not talking about LYN here but it always goes more or less the same.

        So for example, the most famous recent issue was that jiejie romance with Xiao Zhan. The hockey couple was signed as very small parts. He is a Xinli actor though and he was cast in jol2 and they wanted to promote him so they expanded his role way beyond what was in the initial script that was signed, without the knowledge of the main leads, counting on XZ name to carry the drama. This is why his story was huge and basically separate from the actual drama and why XZ studio had to say it will protect the actor better in the future.

        This same Xinli team did that same thing in another drama from earlier this year, except the actor used to carry the nugu was Jin Dong.

        It’s a well known practice in cent where the producer or the actor’s agency uses capital to force smaller roles to suddenly expand, often significantly, beyond the initial signed scripts, at the expense of other roles and by using others to carry the actors they want to promote.

      • How is he not? Do you even know what is going on?

        Screwing over LSS because he got to film additional stuff that wasn’t in the initial script to enhance his importance. The drama is purposefully undermining her interpretation of her character by publicly opposing her, all to promote him. Purposefully using blur on her face to indicate that scene was shot by a double to cause her trouble by implying she doesn’t film her own stunts, even though LSS actually did shoot that scene.

        The most popular ship is LSS and CHS but they deleted CHS on purpose from promotion because of this.

        Your precious Liu Yuning is on record saying idol dramas don’t need acting and just need looks and now that cnetz have finally had enough of his shit, he is trying to cover for himself.

        Well he stepped on the wrong actress this time because she is a well loved and established name and he is nothing but an untalented influencer pushed by the capital.

      • @Lmfao, I’m indeed more impressed by CHS (LSS’ pupil? I guess) than by LYN. I think that young actor emoted pretty convincingly and his character isn’t even unlikable although that’s an obsessed nut. LOL. I just checked Weibo and found a hot search regarding the production team calling CHS a “maniac” on their official website, which caused ruckus and protests to inundate the official account. LMAO. Why the heck would the production team mock a main actor of its own cast? That’s a blooper. LMAO

      • @Somebody

        It’s because his and LSS (their characters really) CP is the most popular and that doesn’t suit the production because they are desperate to push LYN and they counted on using LSS for that through shipping. So they have been removing the kid from everything and are now attacking him openly.

        They have also attacked LSS, when she gave her opinion about her character, the drama account publicly started contradicting her but she wouldn’t back down. She is getting all the accolades about the acting (she and Alen) so I guess that doesn’t suit them either.

        The fans are just done with both the drama team and Lyn.

      • @Lmfao, aw please share more about the popular CP. I’m rarely interested in shippers. But this one sounds intriguing. Really? I also feel the chemistry between the pupil and the teacher interesting to watch although it’s designed to be one obsessed unrequited love. LOL. That young actor can act ! Along with the princess actress, he and Alen Fang are most appealing to me in terms of acting. Of course I don’t have qualms about LSS. She is the queen!

    • if u don’t like then don’t watch no one force u to watch …there are thousands of people who like him and support him ..why can’t u just leave him alone

    • This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard about him so far. Stealing others screen time? Lol
      Is he the director?
      Is he the script writer?
      Did he produce the drama?
      What kind of stupid accusations are these. How old are you?
      Go watch your handsome male actors who can’t act to save their lives. Stop judging people’s looks with your toxic beauty standards. The funny thing is the ugliest people call other people ugly. The man isn’t even ugly. He looks great. He doesn’t have to be pretty. He’s handsome and manly.

  7. I find both leads amazing and on an equal footing. Miss Koala is right, Ning Yuanzhou is the quintessential wuxia character and he’s doing great. As for his looks, in the drama Ren Ruyi (FL) wants to get him to be the father of her child “because he’s tall and good at martial arts”. That is the role description. Although, to me he is hot enough too.

  8. Wow!!! I’m enjoying the main male lead and the female plus the other actors. He may not have the pretty boy look that people are claiming to say, but he is far from ugly and he acts very well. I’m glad to see him with a ML role and looking forward to continue seeing his growth.

  9. Are you sure? LOL. I’m pretty sure Cdrama fans are oftentimes overconfident of their ideas of what’s going on. I’m currently following the drama and found some criticism not unreasonable although I’m still watching it since the overall cast has better than average acting.

  10. Ppl have such a wide range of preference of drama and acting. Just to the opposite of Koala’s taste, I dislike Till the End of the Moon to the bone cos of scrawny looks of the ML plus the FL wasn’t likable and My Journey to You thanks to slow and lackluster plot development for the first few episodes. While there’re tons of criticism of The Longest Promise as usual for EACH of Xiao Zhan’s dramas since naysayers have always been lurking to wish full his drama to flop since The Untamed, it’s the only costume C drama I got to finish so far since Love Like the Galaxy (without fast forwarding and I even skipped some scenes of LLTG). It’s all fine cos the showbiz should be just like a normally thriving market to have a great variety of products to satisfy all needs from different customers. We just agree to disagree.

    I binged A Journey to Love to ep 24. So, I think I’m in a justified position to critique this drama fair and square. For me, it was a solid drama so far. But I don’t think this would be one drama like Nirvana in Fire and The Untamed or quite a few K dramas that I would feel a lost after finishing watching nor would I feel like re-watching again. It’s one drama that’s good enough to kill time but not to the point that I’d rave about it to the moon. The best part of this drama is the casting that’s pretty solid with decent acting from each main actor. That being said, I’m most impressed by the young actress who played the little princess followed by the actor who played the former pupil of Liu Shi Shi’s character. As to Liu Yu Ning, he’s ok with natural expressions and delivering his lines with ease, but not to the point mesmerizing. It’s easy to be likable with a perfectly written character without any major flaws which is the case of LYN in this drama. The hero is nothing but a warm and caring CEO type in antient costume. LOL. An actor is charismatic only when he’s versatile and can nail different types of characters across various genres. I haven’t seen that yet in LYN’s acting so far, nor the perfect hero he played in AJtL appears as magnetic as Wei Wu Xian in The Untamed or Mei Changsu in NiF. That being said, I attribute the lack of nuanced complexity in LYN’s character to writer’s weakness in fleshing out a more interesting personality. The writer wrote an intriguing heroine and LSS slays it. She also wrote a more complicated character of the little princess and that young actress has showcased her great acting talent to make it convincing and interesting for viewers like me to want more screen time from her. But she did not do justice for LYN’s character to be charismatic enough to be regarded as a memorable hero and him, as an irreplaceable actor like XZ for WWX or Hu Ge for Mei Changsu. I can randomly name other male lead roles that outshine LYN’s character in this drama, e.g., the two I’ve already mentioned above, Fan Xian in Joy of Life I (although I skipped those cringe-worthy flirting arcs between FX and other supporting actresses LOL), Dongfang Qingcang in Love between Fairy and Devil (that I dropped bcos of FL’s voice LOL), and even Tantai Jin in Till the End of the Moon (although I hate his scrawny looks but not his acting there). LYN’s character in AJtL is likable cos it’s somehow an unattainable version of perfect boyfriend in all women’s daydream. LMAO.

    I’ve recently just realized that the same writer also scripted A Dream of Splendor. I dropped ADoS midway through. Although Crystal Liu and Chen Xiao are great actors but the plot had too much unnecessary focus on the love lines between the OTP that were overdone and weakened the intensity of the storylines that could have been more subtly intriguing. The same writer exhibits the same traits of weakness in AJtL too. That’s the reason why I consider this drama a solid play so far but not to the point, memorable!

    BTW, although LYN’s Vlinkage hot index has been on top each day, it’s still not to the levels of other more popular actors in the industry when they had dramas on air. Therefore, his fans should not overstate his current popularity even this drama has been doing pretty well. I still believe in certain measures of popularity indices supported by certain data companies, which are, relatively speaking, closer to reality than fans’ objective feelings.

    • Lol, I agree LYN’s character is written like a perfect fantasy, that of a rare, unicorn-like man, defender of microaggressions against women, refuses s*x without love, strong and protective etc it’s directly targetted at women, hard not to cheer for such a character.lol

    • I think Xiao Zhan is perceived as charismatic in The Untamed because his co-stars were bad at acting. He was fine, but that’s it for me. I’m not impressed or touched. His facial expressiones are off in certain scenes. Just my personal take, not an hater/anti.

      • It’s fine to your critique about anything of a drama including acting. We have different tastes and we just agree to disagree at this point. You don’t find XZ’s acting mesmerizing as much as I find LYN’s acting in AJtL ok but forgettable. The only two actors that I consider iconic and irreplaceable for their roles are Hu Ge in Nirvana in Fire and Xiao Zhan in The Untamed. Not just many ordinary fans, but C-ent industry insiders including director Chen Kaige also acknowledged that publicly. Other actors including LYN have yet to get this level of recognition.

      • @Somebody I also don’t find Liu Yuning acting to be particulary great. He is just an adecuate actor. Speaking of Chen Kaige, there is a supposedly prestigious Chinese list that has mentioned memorable characters in C-dramas, including Hu Ge’s in Nirvana in Fire, but I don’t remember what it was called, although I’m sure there were liuliangs on the list.

        There are actors who would have the “luck” to play interesting characters whose writing comes from the novels in the first place. But for me an actor/actress stands out when they can make a generic/conventional character look complex and leave me with imagination when I finish watching the episodes. Ni Ni in Parallel World is a great example. Opposed to her, Meng Zi Yi’s character was the best written in the original source, with a wide range of emotions but her acting was bad and her character passed indifferent.

        It depends on the charisma and acting range. I think he played Wei Wuxian without adding his own layers, I know there are changes because of censorship logically, but it didn’t let me imagination as I expected.

      • @Mayo, it’s fine to have your opinion and critique about anything to do with drama as long as there’s no harassment and bully like many other online imbeciles here in this thread. I always appreciate discussions from many different perspectives. I have no comments about the said actresses you mentioned since I’ve not watched any or many of their dramas. As to Xiao Zhan, his WWX was the one bringing me back to Cdrama. Before then, I had been a Kdrama and 2nd gen Kpopper for a while. I was totally invested in Cdrama in 2022 because of him after watching OoL and The Untamed. I personally love XZ’s acting in The Untamed. Nirvana in Fire and The Untamed are also the only two Cdramas that I consider the epics in their own genres and deserve my compliments. Many international fans agree with me and that has been reflected in many international (English) drama forums/rating sites including IMDB and Reddit. You can dislike XZ and not be impressed by him as WWX. That’s fine. But equally I’m not shy of telling you that XZ is the one and only one actor in the world that I stan even I like many other actors including many Kdrama actors. Nobody can ever change my mind unless I see XZ going downhill and flop myself. LOL. Thank you for your opinions, nonetheless.

    • Criticism on his acting or drama I get and then still to each their own. Why someone would keep forcing themself to watch someone they don’t like is beyond me.

      I feel if the drama have flopped, it would all be blame on LYN but because it became so popular and his NYZ became so hot, people have to complain about other things.

      He looks good and acted well enough to make NYZ buzz worthy. That says a lot about what audiences think. 😊

  11. Omgah, maybe this is proof I’m really not as shallow as other drama watchers! He’s smoldering!! What makes a guy, or anybody for that matter, in REAL LIFE AND FICTIONAL attractive is the way they carry themselves. LYN’s character has been soooo likable and crush inducing, and he’s actually really good looking in period garb, especially the way they styled him in this one! Plus, his voice—yes, his speaking voice (and not just his singing voice)—is soooooo beautiful!

    WHO actually thought Yang Yang was hot, or even mildly attractive, in that fiery disaster of a drama “Fireworks in my Heart”??? Lol!!!

    Anyone who chooses Yang Yang’s character appeal over Liu Yu Ning’s is not the same category of drama watchers I fall into…. probably not the same circle in real life too… 😅

  12. Pingback: C-drama A Journey to Love Faced with Negative Criticism from Netizens Over Liu Yu Ning’s Not Leading Man Looks and More Screen Time then Female Lead Liu Shi Shi – Fairyonline

    • I don’t think she’s blocking you. There just seems to be a lag sometimes between when you submit and when it actually posts. It’s happened to me a few times.

      • Yeah. It was posted one day later. Also some comments were uploaded more than once. Don’t know how her website code was written. Other SM like DISQUS do not have this problem. I’m not able to inspect the source code of her pages since it’s blocked. If she doesn’t intend to moderate like Redditors, then she should modify her source code.

      • LOL. Your comment is shit nonsense. Koala did read comments and respond to my requests several times in the past, including deleting egregiously offensive comments. You’d better watch out too and don’t go deranged with crap. LOL

  13. Liu Shi Shi is acting circles around Liu Yu Ning. I think he’s watchable, basically playing himself, not as bad as some traffic stars but he is definitely the weakest actor along with the actor who plays Yuan Lu in the cast. Whenever Liu Yu Ning has an extended scene without LSS or Alen Fang it becomes obvious he can’t carry a show by himself…yet. Alen Fang is hilarious, I want to see him and Liu Shi Shi as leads in another Wuxia/comedy lol

    I also really like the princess actor, she’s completely in character and successfully selling her acting skills rather than visuals. lol

    As for the show, initially it felt like a modern drama with modern issues packaged as a Wuxia with long-winded conversations about unfair treatment of women/relationship issues but the recent episodes where they question why they are fighting so hard for these incompetent powerful people and then decide to try less hard and save themselves made me lol.

    I just hope the ending doesn’t go crazy by killing off all the likable characters, having someone’s hair turn white and living in seclusion on a mountain or something.

    • Not the white hair and secluded mountain arc!!! LOL!
      I totally agree with you. LYN may not be the most handsome guy in C-land but he’s got manly looks that appeal a lot. And he’s holding the role up the best way he can, what’s there to complain about? These fans have too much time on their hands for real. If it were someone whose name stats with an X, they’d say this is the best drama that aired since the history of the world began. Sigh

      • LOL. I bet you don’t read Chinese. X’s fans don’t care about other actors’ dramas cos most of them have been too occupied with their idol’s fashion activities, vlog, movie, and rumors about his new drama. But most complaints have been coming from either LSS’ fans or the 2nd ML’s fans. These fans bitched about LYN cos there has been something negative spread around their faves. It’s basically the internal power struggles within the cast. There is currently an uproar criticizing how the 2nd ML was mistreated by the production team and it’s on Weibo hot search. Don’t randomly drag X into an irrelevant drama of a B-list actor who’s too far behind X’s popularity and acting chops. LOL. Your irrelevant nonsense is just telling ppl how bitter you’re about X’s status. Aren’t you? LOL

      • @Somebody Lol. “X” is not about Xiao Zhan, lmao. Your irrelevant nonsense is telling folks how rabbid you can be when you think the world revolves around your fave, lol. Don’t take it personal for God’s sake. Xiao Zhan deserves better fans. Dude is great but his fans are just shit-for-brains.

      • @jussu, you’re pretty much a troll. I respond just to expose you. LOL. How do you know X isn’t Xiao Zhan unless you’re the same person as another random keyboard nugu She Who Sees. If you two nugus are the same dimwit, you should know it’s pretty low to use different names faking multiple opinions online. Just get lost!

    • I actually think LYN’s scenes with LSS were a bit overdone. I wish the writer and the director could have given more time to the substance of the plot rather than repetitive and sometimes cringe-worthy love lines between the OTP. That’s just my personal preference. Nonetheless, the overall acting of the cast is better than average C drama used to have. I also agree the actress playing the little princess has great potential. Besides LSS, her acting is most impressive to me. I also enjoy Alen Fang’s presence. LMAO. He’s such a fun tease to watch and he nails the role.

      • I also found some of the romance scenes and lines really cringy and cliche, I started to skip those scenes such as the ice bath. Some of the romantic interludes also happen at really odds times, like when Yuan Lu his adopted son is like dying, they have a romantic scene.

  14. It’s sad how LYN is getting bashed for his look. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea or a handsome face, but there’s something charming about his acting; he’s not the best at acting yet but he’s also not the worst. Like someone says, his character was never described as handsome but tall and good at martial arts. With his tall feature, he’s able to have more of a commanding presence with his comrades. Also, I understand why he gets the same billing as Liu Shi Shi because his character is also as important as hers; you can’t have one without the other, they complete each other. Liu Shi Shi already knew what she was getting into when she signed the contract and with the billing issue or else she would have pulled out already – her team already clarified this too. She’s already happy that the drama is getting a lot of recognition and love! I’m a big fan of Liu Shi Shi since her early days so I’m actually really happy that they chose Liu Yu Ning for her because I can’t imagine anyone else to play as her better counter part.

  15. now i’m at the 26th ep, and i do have some problems about the drama, although none about things mentioned in koala’s post.
    – i get it that this is a wuxia drama, but dang some scene really has no logic. drinking blood to cure poison is one thing but NYZ’s ice bath to aid RRY’s fever? lol they just want to show off his bod.
    – boss Ning and shisan tracking the path of the pagoda and counting the steps ALOUD, then, discussing the ambush plan in an unsafe environment (public restaurant?? in broad daylight? with no protection measures taken??) this drama is about SPY and highly dangerous diplomatic mission right??
    – the end part of ep 26, li tongguang and boss ning face off, again, in public, in broad daylight, screaming things about Ren Xin/Ru Yi and their agreement, that should be kept secret for IDK..SAFETY REASONS?? OMG.
    – i don’t like how they builds li tongguang’s character.

    i’m annoyed, but dang, i’m already too deep into the drama, and i really, really love most of it’s characters. i will see it through no matter what, (then maybe rants about it later)

    • Hmmm seems like the drama lost its momentum in later episodes? Dang indeed, I’m up to episode 10 and it was good so far, sad to know that it will be losing logic later.

      • Yes it was so good, still good if you turn down the expectation a bit.
        Good acting from majority of the cast, good character developments, some good moral/life discussion, great fighting scenes..overall,a proper wuxia drama. But the story writing is getting sloppier especially in the intelligence war/political intrics territory,after they shifted the story to An Kingdom.
        Wth with people in Wu delegacy seems to be easily go anywhere anytime, fighting anyone as they please, talking about anything that should have been highly confidential anywhere anytime? They are in the enemy kingdom! Shouldn’t An secret polices shadowing their every moves? Ruyi & boss ning even get a fashion-date with no reason other than fluff content! (I like it, but, dude!!)
        With security like that, just forget about An Kingdom wants to eat up Wu & Chu. It’s a wonder they haven’t been crippled from within. And i’m getting annoyed because they have been so good so far! Arrgghhh!!

      • @Pampimpum. I’m on the same page as you. I thought this was a rare C drama that started all good and addictive. But man, the writing appeared getting lazy from my perspective. The script made the intel squad of a just defeated nation Woo too potent. Remember they lost the war not long ago and their commander in chief was even captured all due to failing intel. But now once the omnipotent Intel chief Ning returned in power, the intel all of a sudden worked wonder. The intel squad accompanying the envoy is like Chinese version of Avengers. LMAO. The protagonists just got their way around all too easy without many challenges. LSS’s assassin character also got her revenge journey too easy a path with her enemies knocked down one by one as planned. OMG! This such a convenient but cheap writing perhaps just to please fans so that they can all feel good watching each ep. Other than brilliant acting from the main cast, the plot is losing intensity without many intriguing tropes. There is almost no suspension that would let you sit on the edge of a chair. I found at the end of ep26, I don’t recall any memorable storylines that I’d be interested to watch again. Fans are obsessed with the romance between the OTP. But I personally prefer more substantial plot development and meaty content in the story. So far, the plot is very simple besides more than needed elaboration of the romance and also a love triangle. LMAO. This has become a romance drama, not really a Wuxia I expected at the beginning. Again, it’s mainly the script writer to blame for weakened plot. Fans rave most about the steaming romance between the OTP in AJtL but not much discussion about the plot and even characters. The same trend also happened to the writer’s drama, A Dream of Splendor. Most heated discussions back then were all about the steaming romance between the OTP starring Crystal Liu and Chen Xiao. Other than that, many plot holes in ADoS. I got an inkling that the writer’s strength is in writing swoony romance but has very limited ability to flesh out more complicated plots. ADoS is a romance packaged in a historical setting (Song Dynasty). Now it looks like AJtL is also on the way to be another romance packaged in a Wuxia setting.

        I’ll see how long I can hold on to AJtL. If the same pattern of weakness continues for the remaining eps, this would be again another C drama I dropped.

      • @somebody OMG yes! I was so damn exited at the first part, thinking that it’s an out of the box drama similar to JoL. Ah well..
        A hero is only as good as the villain. What made a drama interesting is when the hero and the villain out-smarted each other strongly, when every paybacks is crueler than the last.
        This is what the drama lacks in the 2nd half. It’s been too easy for our heroes.
        And yes, it’s similar with dream of splendor, they came out first very strongly and then when the story getting more complex, it became messier.
        Also, i dont get it why everyone seems hell bent arguing about looks and screen time when it’s clearly the writing that being the most problematic one.

        Ah well, i guess it’s just me that unable to rein my expectation. Or maybe my drama standart has been forever ruined by NiF & JoL

      • @Pampimpum, yes the script is more problematic than everything else. Sorry I can’t help comparing Cdrama writing with Kdrama writing. Take Kdrama Arthdal Chronicles II for example. AC II was like Korean version of Wuxia + fantasy.
        Some ppl said AC II was a copycat of Game of Thrones. Even that were true that I don’t think so, AC II’s writer did a great job manipulating twists and turns masterfully that literally put me on the edge of a chair from the get-go to the end. There wasn’t one single boring moment in the storyline that I felt like skipping. AC II may not have eye catching settings and fancy costumes etc.. But the plot was so brilliantly written and well executed that visuals weren’t that important to a viewer like me. On top of that, the acting was top-notch from all the cast that turned AC II into an epic. I have to be honest. In average, C writers are not on par with K writers.

    • I just watched the ep with ice bathing scene. LOL. That’s overkill. I guess the writer tried to show how much NYZ was in deep love with RRY. But the scene was completely overdone. Or had that ever been the way in antient China to treat high fever? LOL

      I’m on the minority side with unpopular opinion about this drama and Liu Yu Ning. But my opinion was banned by Koala for now.

      • Girl you seem like a kdrama fan.like how could you compare AC with this drama,the story line is completely different including the plot twists and whatsoever. If you wants to compare a drama together you could do it with -my journey to you even though it is also an entirely different story but comparing the plot twists and the suspense line,i think comparing could be okay.
        And also I don’t know why you find it appropriate to be interested in the visuals. Do you compare or judge people with looks in reality too.not you but how good looking are these people too, who are bad mouthing others people looks.
        You might be right about the weak story line, but don’t compare the story line of this drama with AC, it’s like you comparing Game of throne with -bridgerton or even let say -A wheel of time.
        It’s a big shame that some(but the way I see it most) east Asian people are after looks, especially the way I see it with the kpop idols.
        not to you but!
        But most of these people saying these,has got no say when we are talking about visuals, even if some of them were lucky to have this so called fine face ,do these people think they have the right to judge the other person,or does that make them a good person,and what contribution have they done to there society to make them to be so proud to judge people like that and they have forgotten that thing they were obsessed it will not last forever,they could lose it when they are still in their youthful age or eventually when they are old (surely).
        Girl,I know you will come fully at me with my response,the way I saw your response which were kind of rude to other people’s text.
        But sure! Disrespect or insult me with your words the way you want. Cause I know people like you,The know it all.

      • @Sidrah, READ THE LINES CAREFULLY before you rant! You’ve spoken so much fallacy about me and my comments that I think you’re wasting time responding to a wrong person.

        1. Why can’t I compare Cdrama to Kdrama? I’ve been talking about script writing most of the time. And it’s an undeniable fact that in average, Cdrama writing is poorer than, not on par with Kdrama writing. I just took AC II as an example of excellent writing about fantasy costume drama. It was used as an example to make my point about getting lackluster and lazy writing of A Journey to Love, equally a fantasy costume drama (Wuxia has A LOT of fantasy elements in the writing itself). Do you even read wuxia novels? I did quite a lot when I was at school. I know what I’m talking about. No nonsense here. If you’ve never read a Wuxia novel, you’re not qualified to argue about what I said.

        2. When did I dismiss anything to do with visuals and looks in this drama? When did I ever mention visuals and looks of ANY actors in the drama? EXCUSE ME! I didn’t even mention LYN’s visuals that were the focus of this blog. LOL. I only gave my opinion about his acting, but mostly the plot and script writing. Therefore THINK and USE YOUR BRAIN before bitching! Your accusation is so laughable!

        3. People reap what they sow. Respect has to be earned and deserved. Based upon your emotional and irrational response to my comments without even being sure about what I have really said in this thread, you surely don’t deserve my respect. I’m not nice to those who gravitate towards lashing out emotions without corroborating or verifying the information or impression they got in their heads first. And frankly speaking, that’s what the majority of Cdrama fans display. No offense! Sorry no sorry.

    • I just watched the ep with the ice bathing scene. It’s overkill. The writer might want to showcase how deeply the hero was in love the heroine. But that arc was overdone, I agree. I don’t get any romantic implication from that arc at all.

      I hope Koala would not delete this comment again. I posted it before but was deleted later on. I thought she’s different from Redditors. But it appears she’s also pretty biased with personal obsession that obviously any criticism of her obsession can’t be tolerated? I hope not.

      • Just letting you know, we can see your comments. They appear after a while you post comments, not immediately so check back the site after an hour or so. I at least can see many of you comments including the lengthy criticism one.

      • @ Somebody

        I noticed when I typed my comments from my iPad then they will show up here, but not from my Samsung phone.

    • To be fair, they were blending in while checking things out.

      He was also counting under his breath, not aloud. You can tell he was whispering so not sure where the aloud came from. He spoke normally after YSS started talking.

      Also, as they say, the most dangerous place is the safest.

      LTG is a delulu character for sure. How people can suddenly ship him with Ruyi is mind-boggling. She has no feelings for him for one. She’s in a healthy relationship with someone else for two. His secret fetish disguises her for three.

      I still hope and seem like he might be redeemed later, which is nice. He needs it.

      • He was audibly whispering counting the steps while being surrounded by male scarlett guards (a line of guards in grey uniform in each side of the path). The nearest guard only steps away from them. This is an equivalent of ‘aloud’ in my opinion. They already establish scarlett guard capability as intelligence agent, then why overlooking it now? no attention to detail.

        The most dangerous place is the safe one,sure. But discussing the ambush plan out in the open, in an unsafe environment, complete with ambush plan map and all? With the danger of war hanging above them? Again, no attention to detail.
        Blending? sure. They still look the same. Any worthy scarlett guard would be able to easily identified them. And as an enemy in host territory, a bunch of scarlett guard/police/military spy should’ve been shadowing their every moves. But they are not.
        This is obe of my major problem.After they establish the capability of scarlett guards & An kingdom military in the first part, why now they treat them like a bunch of doofus?
        I dont get it.
        I really like the acting and the looks, and the romance, but the story writing is just getting lazy.

        Ah well, maybe it’s just me and my too high expectation.

    • Adding to the last part of ep 26, I wouldn’t call that a straight face off. NYZ came to stop an assassination attempt by LTG. LTG was the one screaming about his shifu and possibly blowing her cover. If they kill him, they have a reason.

      Nothing specific was said about their agreement (yet). NYZ said he thought LTG was an ambitious man worth cultivating but he was wrong. Then asked if he thought about what kind of trouble An and Wu would be in should he kill prince li.

      So yep, I hope they put a closure on the delulu in the next ep or so. So far, this is the draggiest arc in the drama.

      • Ah yes, no specific said about their agreement yet. But the way their exchange words and overall of their interactìon should’ve been alarming enough for scarlett guards/military spy, especially with how paranoid their emperor is.
        But now that they treats scarlett guard as doofus, maybe it will still safe for our wu avengers.
        And yes, LTG is too crazy volatile with not enough reasonable background. They really need to redeem his story arc ASAP

      • @pampimpum I don’t know why there’s isn’t a reply under your comments so I’ll have to reply this way. Haha

        Regarding the scarlet guards, left and right Emissary are gone and the Deng guy is now up to his neck in trying to stay afloat and covering his behind. He probably doesn’t have much time for them.

        As for the writers, I’m good with just about everything else except the delulu at this point. If there’s a perfect drama, it hasn’t interest me yet so I guess I’m good with this.

        Hoping the rest doesn’t get too out of hand and things are wrap up nicely.

  16. I love the lead actor. He’s very manly and sexy. What’s wrong with people watching this drama? It’s refreshing to see a male lead that’s not a cookie cutter copy of every good looking actor that are currently out there.

  17. Liu YuNing is NOT ugly. He has enough good looks plus the characters he plays, to become a superstar. Just wait, when he is paired with Rosy, he will shot to the top.

    • In his dreams. And Zhao Lusi isn’t LSS, she won’t stand for his games because she has her own backing. LSS is way too nice and is paying the price. ZLS is not.

  18. Everyone’s taste is different, and as the saying goes one man’s meat is another man’s poison. The most important thing should be whether I myself enjoy the drama. My enjoyment should not depend on other’s opinion.

    That being said, here is my take on the drama. There may be spoilers as I am up to date on the drama. (Ep 26). I have no complains about the drama so far. Hopefully it will remain good until the end.

    For me, I am personally loving the drama and I absolutely love the cast, especially Ning Yuan Zhou. His acting and visuals are both stellar to me. Attractiveness is subjective and while I find him really attractive, I think it’s totally understandable if he’s not others cup of tea. Ren Ruyi is lovely as well and I find her poise and character in the show really attractive. And LSS really lives up to her name for fighting scenes.

    The main couple’s chemistry is off the charts. I live for their sweet moments, I would totally hardcore ship the actors if LSS wasn’t married. The pictures of both of them in black on one of their promotions was swoon worthy and made me wish they could act in a modern office setting drama together.

    I have seen some complains about there being too much romance in the show. It’s titled: A Journey to Love. Romance should be expected in spades.

    My favourite moment in show is still the scene in episode 12 after he agrees to father her baby. When she asks him to prove that he won’t renege on his promise after the mission by pretending to go in for a kiss. LYN’s acting was good in that scene. His shy anticipation when she starts going in for a kiss, his stunned pause when she suddenly drops her head onto his chest. Then the slow realisation that she’s teasing him again and the final rueful look of resignation to being teased.

    Somewhat illogical moment in the show: the ice bath scene. I mean if he really wants to be a human ice pack, both of them should be in the nude for it to be effective. But it’s probably fan service for the CP fans. I still think the moment is really sweet.

    Given that there’s only been one illogical moment when the show is 60+% done. I think it’s more than I can say about almost every drama I have watched.

    The acting is really good overall, although there were some scenes where I felt that some of the non lead characters were little stiff. The blend of comedy and seriousness is perfect.

    Overall, this drama will probably be my favourite for the year and is it the only drama I did not increase the speed for since the function started existing. It is also the only drama which I have rewatched my favourite scenes over and over.

    P.S I find NYZ riding a horse in ep 22? super attractive for some reason. He just exudes masculine energy compared to the others around him.

    • I agree with you. They have such a sweet and comfortable chemistry together. I always cringed at food/medicine feeding scenes because they are totally unnecessary when no one hands were broken but when NYZ fed RRY I just smiled at the scene. He just wanted to pamper her after her ordeal and she let him do just that.

      The human ice pack scene is ridiculous but so does the transfer of internal energy thingy and the fact that these people can fly up to the roofs. I just watched those scenes under wuxia lens, where anything is possible.

      LYN looks fine to me, neither the most handsome face ever graced my screen nor the best actor out there. Though I do think he looks particularly attractive in his uniform. The gold inner robe compliments the embroidered purple outer garment really well.

    • @Passerby, LOL. A Journey to Love is the English title the production team obviously schemed to woo international fans who perhaps are drawn to Chinese romance than anything else. But the original Chinese title isn’t like that at all. The Chinese title is very Wuxia, no indication of any romance. LOL

      My critique about too much love scenes is fair and square cos that steal room for fleshing out more subtle plot development. Other than very solid cast (and brilliant acting from some actors, e.g., the little princess), the plot isn’t particularly intriguing with depth. Therefore, this drama won’t be memorable like some other breakout hits.

  19. His role is an intelligent, composed, world weary squad leader, he actually looks the part? So what’s there to complain about? He’s not the best looking but decent enough and it’s not like the role calls for a pretty boy or beefcake. And it’s nice to see when the FL is prettier than the ML, which is increasingly rarer given the most popular actresses now are also the plainest.

  20. I am so enjoying this Chinese Drama. Both male and female leads are doing an amazing job. I don’t see what all the talk about the male lead. He is doing a fantastic job in his role and his acting skills are on point he shines in this role this coming from an international fan and I have watched all the best Chinese Custume for 2023 and this one is in my top Chinese Custume Drama for 2023.The production level, quality of Male Actor, Female Actress and all the supporting actors are very good. This is definitely a must watch highly recommend.

  21. I love this drama and can’t see anyone other that LYN action NYZ. I can’t be the only one who’s tired of too-handsome-and-made-even-better-by-makeup looks of all these Cdrama leads, ha. If y’all don’t like what you’re seeing, drop the drama and stay away from us! I think they’re lamenting how big this drama is and why it didn’t go to their faves, that’s why they’re making scenes and waves. Off to watch episode 25!

  22. If Liu Yu Ning really had a big backer with a lot of money behind him, would he be cyber bullied by them to this extent?

    Everyday from the day the drama aired, he’s been on weibo top hot search for all sorts of negative things and accusations to mock him and make him look bad.

    The majority of Liu Shi Shi’s fans hate LYN and their excuse is that they deem him “unworthy in terms of identity and looks” for her.

    He has never done anything bad to LSS or her fans but they are just so hostile towards him. LSS herself seemed comfortable filming with him if you watch the bts videos taken by “daipais” and fans.

    They have accused him of some crazy things such as “making the director replace the scenes LSS filmed with the one filmed by a stuntwoman”, “not allowing LSS to dub herself”, “choosing a voice actress that’s unsuitable for her to dub her”, “adding bgm to himself”, and “changing the script, changing the lines and adding scenes to himself” etc, justifying their claims with a “leaked script” they spread around.

    If LYN had that much influence, he’d make himself the male lead of a male centric drama. Why bother being a female lead’s accessory?

    Because LSS’s fans hate LYN and just want to embarrass him and make him look bad, they’ve also been pushing the LSS cp ship with Chang Hua Sen. Now this CHS is from an iQiyi reality show so that’s why they really want to promote him.

    IQiyi actually shaded LYN in one of the posters to celebrate “heat index” milestones the drama crossed. They had previously posted the same poster as the ones AJTL’s weibo posted but one time when AJTL posted a poster with LSS and LYN together, iQiyi actually posted a poster where LSS and other actors were sitting around a table and LYN was not in that photo. Netizens caught on quickly and mocked LYN for “not being able to get on the main table” despite being the male lead. The “main table” in a banquet is where all the vips sit.

    The reason the smear campaign against LYN is so successful is because this is a win-win situation for LSS’s fans and CHS’s company and iQiyi.

    So LSS’s fans, LYN’s existing anti fans, CHS’s fans, CHS’s company and iQiyi’s money is what’s keeping this going.

    Unlike that one supporting actor who has daddy’s money to keep buying hot searches and keeping his character’s supertopic on weibo no.1 everyday, it remains to be seen how much money CHS’s company and iQiyi are willing to invest in CHS.

    LYN did his role as AJTL’s male lead rather well so the claims that “he can’t act or that he has no chemistry with LSS” can’t really gain traction no matter how they buy negative hot searches on weibo or try to push the other cp to be no.1 on weibo supertopic everyday, so they focus on calling him ugly.

    Everyone is entitled to their opinion of beauty but going around calling LYN a rat and wanting to use rat poison on him has crossed too many lines. It’s such disgusting behavior.

    LSS’s fans want A Journey to Love to flop and claim that Linmon will go bankrupt after AJTL finishes airing especially since it is rumored that LYN will star in another Linmon production next year.

    Claiming that LYN is Linmon’s “son” because they are promoting the female lead and male lead together instead of the female lead and third male lead is just beyond ridiculous.

    Isn’t it a no brainer? Why on earth would the drama promote the female lead with the third male lead instead of with the male lead? Why do you think the third male lead is called “third” in the first place?

    They thought it’ll be easy to outshine LYN in the drama because he’s not a pretty face and he has no backer but they forgot that LYN has a very solid fanbase built up from his busking days and he has decent skills to back himself up.

    Mission promote CHS will not be a walk in the park much to iQiyi’s chagrin.

    This is just the beginning. LYN fans should take this as practice because when The Legend of Jewelry airs, they can expect a similar situation again.

    For his own mental health, maybe LYN can reconsider being an actor. He’d be much happier just staying a singer even if he enjoys acting, in my opinion.

    To think he continued filming AJTL for a month after breaking a foot just to be in this situation. And with that broken foot, he continued to act in The Prisoner of Beauty and we all know it’s unlikely for TPOB to air in the near future. The losses sure outweigh the gains

    • Hilarious washing attempt, A for effort. Pity some of us actually speak Mandarin and find your little fanfic amusing.

      His time as some innocent dove is up, everyone is wise to his ways now. He thought he could do it again but LSS is too well known and respected and he couldn’t get away with it.

      Good luck to all his future costars, they now know in advance this guy will stab them in the back, repeatedly.

  23. He is like really handsome, I know he is not the typical chinese handsome but I think he is always good looking.
    On top with that physique, he fits the role to a T

    • I agreed that his physique fit to a T. LYN embodied NYZ so well and made the character so very likeable.

      People should just accept it and move on. It is what it is.

  24. Sorry, But this is a great drMa. And I believe every actor is carrying out their roll perfectly. This is a drama I do not have to skip over because it drags on. I don’t want to miss 1 part. And every actor in this drama male and female are very nice to the eyes. If those who don’t like the actors or show stop watching then you would not need to critique them or the show.

  25. @somebody wtf are you saying….?! Did u even know about his character named Bai in the cdrama heroes and black glass in ultimate notes. If u watch this both then u didn’t talk like this

      • LOL. Here comes the mob of delulu and delirious nuts! So funny! Chill! Your fave won’t be gone just cos he can’t act! LOL

      • @Somebody He can’t act and your mind is deranged. Facts. What changes? Nothing. Does it hurt you that your opinion is not shared? Go to the kitchen, woman.

      • LMAO @ paradis! See the maniac like you are exploded cos I don’t get your points from your delirious mind! I don’t even know whom you’re talking about! LOL. On the other hand, you’re obviously full of resentment cos I, like many others, don’t like what you like?

        BTW, are you discriminating your mommy per your last sentence in lunacy, kid? LOL.

  26. omg koala, another blog post hit, congrate! lmao…and @somebody, can you summarise you post, I don’t like read long essay.
    I want to enjoy my popcorn.lol

    • Sorry to your disappoint. I was just about to go back to work from my afternoon break, having enough coffee, cookies, and C-ent gossip already. How did you pass your reading test if those short paragraphs (compared with a 50-page novel LOL) are too long for you? LOL.

      Get more popcorn! LOL

  27. People get their panties twisted over everything. He’s great she’s great just enjoy the show or switch it off and move on. Honestly it’s simple. Can’t understand why people complain about everything. Hello it’s just a drama if you don’t like it you don’t watch it that’s it.

    • I totally agreed!

      We just watch what we enjoy… If it’s good it’s good. If not your cup of tea, leave.

      I’m really selective on what I watch and this is the 1st drama in a long time that I’m loving to pieces, imperfection and all.

      Some most raved dramas? Didnt interest me.

  28. As a passerby who has not watched the show this is so funny me. But it’s crazy how c-netz are suddenly having an issue with looks, considering most of these idol actors have very average/sub par looks. I mean off the top of my head, actors like Tang Xi, Zhao lusi, Lou yunxi or even Gong jun aren’t people that would neccessarily stand out in a crowd, yet they don’t mind gagging over there “beauty”. And I like some of these actors too but they should keep the same energy for everyone.
    Also apparently the actor in question said Idol actors only need to have looks? He doesn’t even have the looks in question 😭.
    A little off point but If agencies have the money to increase a specific actors screen time they might as well invest it in acting lessons. Because most of these “idol actors” are just straight up bad and we only tolerate it because there is no other option/point of comparison.

  29. As a passerby who has not watched the show this is so funny me. But it’s crazy how c-netz are suddenly having an issue with looks, considering most of these idol actors have very average/sub par looks. I mean off the top of my head, actors like Tang Xi, Zhao lusi, Lou yunxi or even Gong jun aren’t people that would neccessarily stand out in a crowd, yet they don’t mind gagging over their “beauty”. And I like some of these actors too but they should keep the same energy for everyone.
    Also apparently the actor in question said Idol actors only need to have looks? He doesn’t even have the looks in question 😭.
    A little off point but If agencies have the money to increase a specific actors screen time they might as well invest it in acting lessons. Because most of these “idol actors” are just straight up bad and we only tolerate it because there is no other option/point of comparison.

  30. To be honest, these complaints c netizens took me by surprise. This is one of the few cdramas I’ve gotten addicted to and have lasted this far without dropping. The comments about him not being good looking enough for the role also took me by surprise, since his acting seems perfect for the role. Especially since some of the actors that netizens photoshopped onto him, I have found to have boring faces and never considered them attractive LOL (not going to say who).

    • LOL, who? I only saw Wallace Huo as AI and some mentions of Chen Xiao and Cheng Yi, which I think the two latter are a bit on the shorter side with prettier faces. Wallace would have been a good NYZ candidate, but LYN is killing it already as NYZ and Liu Shi Shi needs a new face so I’d say no to Wallace too.

  31. Seriously, if I were LSS fans I would much rather worry for He Landou (the princess), she’s really standing out and that without having any fancy fight moves.

  32. Liu Yuning is gorgeous! He’s fun to watch. He’s new to acting so they need to give him as much time as they have given to the Xu Kai (who can’t act his way out of a hat) but he’s getting better👍. I just wish he was more expressive. I think for the few dramas that he’s done he is doing a good job and he is improving in each one. He is an amazing singer and he will be an amazing actor too!! Give him time😉😚

    • No. Why would we give time for him to romp around “learning” while he is messing up lead roles and taking the spot from people who can actually act?!

      What idiotic logic.

      • Who are YOUR top actors? lol. As if all your biases’ projects have been good, yeah right! 🙄 I bet I know which fandom you stand in. You guys are unrelenting lol

  33. Liu Yuning is gorgeous! He’s fun to watch. He’s new to acting so they need to give him as much time as they have given to the Xu Kai (who can’t act his way out of a hat) but he’s getting better👍. I just wish he was more expressive.
    I think for the few dramas that he’s done he is doing a good job and he is improving in each one. He is an amazing singer and he will be an amazing actor too!! Give him time😉😚

  34. It’s always surprising to what extent rabid fans can be vile and shallow. Liu Yuning does an excellent job on this drama and his unconventional look is refreshing.

  35. netizens are stupid they have nothing better to do than complain and talk nonsense liu yu ning is beautiful and i like him in wuxia. so shut up and look at your life.

  36. Well this is LYN first drama as male lead.. I think his NYZ is very good… I believe he will work hard to improve his skill.. success to LYN

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