So it’s now past the midway point for xianxia C-drama The Last Immortal which is proving itself quite mortal to growing criticism. The drama premiered with a bang, a fast rise out of the gate and solid first impressions. It looked like Zhao Lu Si‘s first big S-level female lead top billed drama would cement her level but now it’s looking like she may just be happy to come out of this one unscathed. The reviews as the drama went on have gotten worse and now the drama has dropped out of the top 5 viewership list of online dramas at just the midway point. The four major complaints are Wang An Yu being miscast and his looks unsuitable for the xianxia male lead, sticking him in girly bright colored costumes to accentuate the colorful palette of the drama but makes it worse for him, and the plot being hard to follow especially if one did not watch the story this is a sequel to Ancient Love Poetry, The critique of Zhao Lu Si’s baby girlish voice is there but isn’t being attributed as a reason for the dwindling interest, and in fact viewers are saying if she wasn’t hard carrying this drama it wouldn’t even be worth watching in the first place.
Mm I bet once we reach episode 26/27, ratings will go up again lol
Yup. Most are waiting for that episode before tuning back in.
@Coralie, have you started watching it? how is it? No need to be great but did it entertain you?
@HL It’s okay, ZLS’s not an idiot and does things very logically for the majority of the plot. The only glaring difference is with the ML. You can tell by all the hate demonstrated in this topic, that he’s not really doing so great lol. I enjoyed it up till episode 16? And waiting until the torture parts of the plot are over by episode 26/27, and then resuming my watch.
It has all the typical cliches of xianxia, the evil antagonists, the heart-of-gold FL, the 2nd ML who is in love with FL, etc. Nothing really new. I still enjoyed ZLS’s portrayal though. She’s very charming. The ML is the weak-link. He’s just kind of there and exists, but doesn’t really DO much, except cause problems. I still don’t understand why FL loves ML lol, but at least I can understand his reasons for acting a certain way.
Thanks!! I am also interested to watch if Rosy’s brand will be affected by this drama…but we can see all the media play that magnified the ML is the weak link…I feel there are megaphones shouting this loud to protect the other cast.
I really cannot imagine how Wang AnYu must feel…
I am beginning to appreciate more of those artiste thru not perfect but they can take on such Xianxia dramas.
@Coralie, Thanks!! I am also interested to watch if Rosy’s brand will be affected by this drama…but we can see all the media play that magnified the ML is the weak link…I feel there are megaphones shouting this loud to protect the other cast.
I really cannot imagine how Wang AnYu must feel…
I am beginning to appreciate more of those artiste thru not perfect but they can take on such Xianxia dramas.
It is funny what you said about the middle bit that can be not as entertaining to watch…I tend to forward the middle of many long Period dramas as very few are enjoyable for me… Then wait for the end. Lol…
@HL I do feel a little bad for ML because Lusi straight up said she didn’t want to play an illogical, airheaded FL (paraphrasing), so she picked this up lol. Of course, now that she’s not the bumbling FL, it’s the ML who has to take up that role… hence the subsequent hate lol. I didn’t know who Wang Anyu was prior to this drama, but after partnering with ZLS, he has higher exposure so maybe it’s not all a loss.
I bet also. Xianxia is also not everyone’s cup of tea. So for that alone, I cannot categorize this as a flop.
It’s actually not that bad.
I think a huge detriment when it comes to Chinese dramas is they try to avoid connecting to the previous material (in this case, Ancient Love Poetry) instead of fully embracing it. For example, they change the names of the characters of Ancient Love Poetry because the production staff is different and they couldn’t get the rights. Which sucks, but at least it’s something more with the industry.
Meanwhile, Western shows and films COMPLETELY go full throttle. If it’s a sequel or a spin off, they keep the same names, they try to get the actors who played the characters to resume their roles, if any, they try to get the same staff, producers, director, etc. And they successfully bring in the bucks because not only do they get fans of the past show to watch as bait, they also get a new audience. It’s one of the best marketing strategies and it works. It increases both viewership of the original and the sequel/spin off.
China has this asinine opposite view point for some reason…I say asinine, because they lose out on more hype and money by strictly wanting it to be stand alone.
Can you imagine seeing Xu Kai comeback as Bai Jue and Zhou Dongyu as Shang Gu? Or other cast members that watchers loved? Xu Kai in particular I feel would do it for free knowing how he is. They don’t capitalize on the connecting series’.
Well, you’ve said the reason yourself. They don’t own the rights. Certain companies on the otherhand, bought up everything. Disney owns all of Marvel now and all of Star Wars. They can keep churning out expanded universes and series that are in the same timeline because they own all of it.
Sucks for Wang Anyu, this could have been a breakthrough for him, paired with such a traffic star.
He reminds me of Ren Min for The Longest Promise, both are dinged for visuals. It didn’t matter that much if the characters were intriguing enough and the acting were outstanding. However, these two characters were written based upon two many recycled concepts that only exceptional visuals with the help of on-screen charisma could make them fun to watch. Unfortunately, both RM and WAY are lacking from that perspective and end up being, pedestrian.
I didn’t watch this drama, but Wang Anyu’s styling here looks bad, he suits manlier styling. I find him kind of adorkable in Divas Hit The Road, hope he chooses his future roles more carefully.
The drama’s plot is too outdated. I watched until ep 10 but can no longer stand how boring it is. It reminds me of Beauty of Resilence all over again with the phoenix female lead vs bitchy peacock second lead. I guess I’ll watch again when Feng Yin appears; but dropping this for now.
I agree the plot is too out dated, with so much xiaxian c ent have produced, audience want something new, n the fact that the story is being told so slow isn’t helping either.
I’ve watched a couple episodes but this drama isnt my cup of tea. I like both Lusi and Anyu, but have to agree with the majority, Anyi’s styling is one of the worst in xianxia dramas. And the story is typical. I guess, the only xianxia that i liked was Ten Miles. Lost you forever wasnt really xianxia tho.
And i always wonder, why most… yeah, most of the female characters in xianxia were always foolish, childish and stubborn?
Only a few that were smart and cool.
Because the writer can’t make good character development, they resort to making the fl foolish and then just making her strong in the later stage. This is just like how for the ml, he would be a jerk at first then became kind to the fl. They just can’t make up any other shit
Dropped at episode 10, it’s so freaking slow and bland both story and acting. Started watching for the fox guy who I recognised from Love like the Galaxy, but his acting seems to have regressed. Was going to hang on to see the hatching of the second egg, to see how the relationship between the sisters would work but it’s just so freaking meh.
Can anyone tell me which episode the second egg hatched.
I love Lusi but her manager should stop being obsessed with billing and start looking for meatier roles for her and stronger male leads, even if that means she gets second billing.
U win some n u lose some, this does not have to be billing issues. What r the probability that when she is second billed that means the project will be better, it not like she is the only popular actress who get the top billed n the show didn’t do well. From what I see u can never know with how a show will be received unless it airs.
@Nena, I sorta agree with you. For example, I hope Xiao Zhan and Lusi can collab one more time. They had stronger chemistry in that poorly rated Oh My Emperor than Lusi and that nugu ML. It’s impossible for XZ to not on the top billing now. In all her dramas, I rarely felt impressive chemistry between her and her MLs. Hidden Love is perhaps one exception though.
I forgot Love Like the Galaxy. That’s bcos Wu Lei is equally a more charismatic actor too.
Indeed, Love like the galaxy was great but it was in part because she acted like a normal person (she’s a really talented actress imo) and not a 10 year old and in part because Wu Lei is a very good actor, not your typical idol actor. As for Xiao Zhan, you know I love him, but a romantic pairing with Lusi would be kind of weird for me, she looks so younger. Then again, acting her age and not like a preteen would help!
@Somebody, I personally dont think Xiao Zhan will work with Lusi, I feel he has moved on to another level and taking up other challenges. He is not keen to work with female artiste with very strong, young fandom. He will stick with actress who are mature and experienced. I dont think he want to deal with too many online battles. Xiao Zhan do not like play fan games…he just wants people to focus on his work….
That is the stage he is in… But who knows, if money is good, script is good and crew and producers are good, it will be different.
@HL, I agree with you on XZ’s part. Nonetheless as his fan, I still hope he somehow can work with a more popular actress. I’d be thrilled if that can happen. I don’t understand why this is impossible in C-ent cos it’s very common in K-ent for two A-list actors to collab in the same drama. Sigh! XZ hasn’t shown swoon worthy chemistry with his female costar yet although I greatly enjoyed his scenes with Li Qin in both The Wolf and The Youth Memories. Yang Zi was the exception whom he had impressive chemistry with but I don’t really like YZ’s character in that drama.
@Nena, age gap shouldn’t be a caveat. I believe talented actors can work wonder together regardless of certain limitation. Good script and directing would make it work ! Now I’m only seeing talent and charisma these C actors exuded on screen so far. They just lack great scripts to work with. I’ve been watching a popular Kdrama recently in which the acting is a bit lacking but with decent writing/directing, it’s still something interesting to follow ep after ep, very watchable. I imagined if some acting talents in C-ent could work on interesting projects of a similar scale too. Chinese writers are pretty lacking IMO.
Please koala, when u put out a post like this can u please clarify what viewership they drop out from. Because so far from Datawin, Mayon, lighthouse they r either in top 1 or top 2. Don’t get me wrong this project is not great by any means but it doing bad either.
VLinkage have it #1 too, above A Journey To Love. Go figure where Koala is looking the numbers. LuSi as AhYin is at #1 too today.
Exactly so what viewership is he comparing it to
It’s either kuyun or yunhe. I think the others that you mentioned is about popularity index rather than organic view count
Probably Kuyun or Yunhe data? People refer to these charts since platforms don’t show the number of views anymore.
It not kunyun for sure, they just declared it has a hit series after 20 million views. So am still wondering which viewership koala is comparing it to. Come to think of it, it doing well actually, I wouldn’t call it a hit series but it not a flop yet for sure.
It has been certified by kuyun has a successful show after hitting 20 million views, so I really don’t know what viewership koala is talking about or comparing it to , to certified it has a flop, when the show has not even ended yet.
I haven’t watched this show and most likely won’t. It’s supposed to be the sequel to one of my absolute favorites Ancient Love Poetry, and from what I have seen and some of the others commenting,it seems as though it has NOTHING to do with ALP. Their names are never mentioned, only some of the scenery looks the same like the bamboo hut and the palace of GuJun, Hoichu etc the you would never know. No mention of anyone from ALP they even changed Yongqi’s name and supposedly sealed his power?! Why? I don’t even want to know about Dong Hua so I will pass and go watch ALP again. Even with Eternal Love being the sequel to Ten Miles, we saw Bai Qian,we saw the fox clan, we saw Dong Hua and third prince we saw it was a continuation but this hot mess…no sorry can’t do it
Their names are mentioned, they just changed the names, so you won’t hear Bai Jue being called “Bai Jue”. But the character is technically mentioned.
Honestly people can go on!as a matter of fact why should mention be made of ALP? For viewers who care like I did it’s not hard to find out the reason his name was changed was to protect him and his power was sealed because he was unable to control the chaos power being a combination of immortal and demon and parents are mentioned just not by name and addressed as the true Gods. As far as ML looks go what do viewers expect Superman his looks are imo charming and his acting on point after all it’s about the craft not the candy! Everyone seems to not want cliches but at the same time want the perfect xianxia fantasy cliche hero make up your mind. But more and more I’m convinced platforms like Koala just promote bitching! After all negativity attracts more comments honestly it’s about entertainment not about crushing creativity and actor’s morale. Be supportive if there’s a way to improve make suggestions rather than flat out pouring shit on actors and people in industry.
Honestly people why should ALP be mentioned? If you are interested in this it’s easy to find out like I did the reason his name was changed was to protect him, the power was sealed because he could not control the chaos power at that young age, his parents are mentioned but are addressed as the true Gods.As regards the ML’s looks I deem him handsome and charming he doesn’t have to be Superman to play role on the one hand show is criticized for xianxia cliches but on the other you want the cliche xianxia fantasy super good looking hero make up your mind! But stop stifling talent and creativity of actors with needless negativity meant only to hurt young striving talent be supportive by offering ways to improve and progress rather than just outpouring of mean negative comments it’s unnecessary and petty.
I’m not sure where all the hate is coming from. Yes the ML is a little weak, but not that bad. I agree about how the 2nd ML seems to be regressing, I liked him better in LLTG. The filters and colors are a little washed out, that’s probably my biggest critique and that’s not the actors fault but production. Not sure where “flop” data is coming from. It might not be a major hit, but far from a flop. I actually enjoy the story and show, seems like it is classic xianxia. Lusi is a joy to watch and her acting is really good. Looking forward to the next episodes.