Within C-ent the S-level drama production means the highest level of money investment so the biggest budget basically. Investment comes from the production company going out to get investors, it’s rare for a production company to cover the entire cost of the budget. Afterwards the drama is sold to platforms and also sells commercials and if it’s a success the investors share in the profits. A star is considered to have made it when he/she is top billed in a S-level drama and even getting second billing is fantastic for any rising actor or actress. Yang Yang and Jin Chen recently wrapped filming for The Immortal Ascension (A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality) based on a popular IP so the drama was already high profile. But now it’s even more primed to succeed as the production recently got additional investors so the drama budget has gone up and is now considered a S-level production. The additional money will be spent on post-production with the special effects and other clean up work to make this drama look top notch.
Well, it will be interesting to see if this investment is worthwhile… I am not a fan of both leads… But visually they look good. I think visual really sells in China.
I always keep my fingers cross Yang Yang will get better in each of his dramas…but …will wait for next…maybe this will be better?
As a fan of Yang Yang this is always my wish, but as long as the plot isn’t too bad I can hang in there. I’m really shallow ahahahah
I too like Yang Yang due to his early drama with Zheng Shuang. But have been so disappointed repeatedly… Saying that I did enjoy Who Rules the World , You Are My Glory ,The King’s Avatar…Others I dropped. even his face cannot save the dramas for me…as his bad acting was just too much. I can be very shallow too…
He was very stiff in the drama with zheng shuang too. Tbh both his and her acting sucks in that one
It was very stiff but it was one of the early C-dramas I watched with new liuliangs artistes then. Did not know what to expect…thus I just watch it as it is. I think his character was suppose to be stiff…as for Zheng Shuang, I never liked her… no feelings nor expectations from her. I just thought she looked very different from my first C-Drama Meteor Shower… I never knew PS can be so advanced…
His acting range is very limited. That’s a fact and I don’t see that’s gonna change soon. He’s been in the industry for so long with some hit dramas but without much improvement in acting other than delivering better chemistry with his FLs. Some actors are born with talent. He’s not one of them. He’s pretty much like Lee Min Ho for Kdrama at best but without his height. LOL. I’m not mocking short folks. But it’s the reality tall guys in showbiz does have an edge in visuals.
@Somebody, tall male artistes do have edge over those shorter ones… In SK, the popular actors are mostly very tall… Raised shoes are very popular amongst male artistes…
Bu of course there are shorter artistes that do well too.
I wanted to finish his drama with Zheng Shuang but for the life of me I could not. Not just his fault but also hers. She was so stiff and so fake.
@HL, I really liked him in that drama too! I think I didn’t mind him because the story didn’t have any super emotional or dramatic things happening. Most of the story, he just needed to walk slow mo and look good, which he is super at. I feel like YY has some of the best visuals in cdrama land. He looks good at basically all angles. Some of the younger liulangs have certain flaws, like they don’t look as handsome when they smile big or something like that. Unfortunately, he’s not the best actor. I give him credit for trying from time to time to take on more complex characters (Martial Universe, Fireworks in my Heart), but the talent really isn’t there.
@HL, it’s true average SK actors look taller. But I do find quite a few SK actors of medium stature (175 cm – 180 cm or 5’6” – 5’11”) very charismatic and great actors. For example, Lee Joong Gi. In the west, height has never been an issue or a concern for an actor to have a successful career. But there’s no such things as idol dramas in the West. So, we don’t expect to see a perfect face and figure in fantasy. LOL. While in Asia, China in particular, the heroes described in ALL the idol dramas or adapted web novels are always tall and looking aesthetically almost perfect. That’s an issue and I certainly will whine about it if actors just don’t look up to par.
Agree, feels like I’m in sync with you! I’m not fond of Jin Chen either. I adored Yang Yang for his earlier works. He was stiff, but could emote sad emotions so I thought he had room for improvement atlas not really…
Yang Yang is so bad at acting, eh. He looks great on costume and then just doesn’t do anything.
costumes and hair still boring. They might as well save investment by renting costumes? Or are they renting hence all look same?
I watched around half of Who rules the world. My fist time watching YY, I didn’t think he was as bad as everyone made him out to be, he’s not as bad as Gong Jun who I consider to be the pinnacle of bad acting.
But then around the mid point where he’s supposed to be devastated because his brother is in a coma after jumping from a balcony and he couldn’t cry at all. I got it lol, he can’t do dramatic emotional scenes. Lol
ook I agree, but Gong Jun is such a low bar…
Yes to everything lol, but at least in WOH, Gong Jun was convincing when Gu Xiang died. Lol. I always rewatch that scene and the fight right after! (Gong Jun needs to work on his voice and line delivery. He’d have a chance at improving if he learns to use his voice and full body to act.) Yang Yang just needs to convince himself that he doesn’t need to be pretty in every scene! Let up!!
I do find him swoony but cringey in idol dramas. But I think he did really well in that Special Forces drama, where he can be as stoic and manly as he can be, without romance. Not to mention he looked really buffed up and even more dashing in uniforms, lol.
This type of drama doesn’t have major requirements from Yang Yang. It’s just a cultivation novel, that he should be able to act out.
His problem is that no matter how pretty he is, he is slowly aging out of dramas of this type. And nothing better is waiting because his acting hasn’t improved and it’s quite obvious won’t improve. He just doesn’t have the talent for it.
Crappy actor Yang Yang’s drama needs a lot of post production work. He is lucky. I cannot bear to watch even one episode of his drama no matter how high the production values are. Same for Dilraba.
It’s really rare to call a guy a vase, but that’s essentially what he is. An eye candy that can’t act. I’ve never been impressed by anything he’s in, and I did watch WRTW (for ZLS’ sake.) He’s coasting by on his looks mostly. If he does better here, that’d be great, but my bet is that they selected him because his aesthetics fit the donghua this drama is based on.
@Coralie, do you know what I really missed….days when people were gossiping about drama show characters instead of the actors…
Actors are chosen these days to be highlight of dramas for their looks. We no longer watch characters of the story…it is very sad.
I rather be gossiping about characters because the actors portray characters so well, you no longer focus on actors but the characters. And poeple can gossip about those characters they like and hate… not personally attacks on the actors…That is the sign of good drama…
But it will not be good for investors who wants viewers to remember the actors instead of the characters. They want to groom and sell looks…
Such a shame…
I too miss the days when the gossip was about the drama and characters than the actors. Why did this all change? It’s like dramas are no longer important. They are just showcases for actors looks, popularity and talent. A crying shame!
@HL it’s a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. For example, back then before actors’ awards were given, people focused on drama storyline only, because credit was given to shows that has high ratings. but because of that, nobody really noticed the individual actors as much, so they miss out on the credit.
Nowadays people give credit to the actors and the storyline, but the focus moved higher towards the actors. The idea is that actors can make or break a drama, but really they’re part of the drama’s recipe for success.
I still remember Journey to the West. It was such an amazing show, but they didn’t give out awards back then, so you don’t see a lot of credit given to the amazing cast for doing what they did, and they just wasted away.
It cuts both ways, I guess. But actors can only do so much for a bad plot and likewise, a good plot can only do so much for bad actors.
@HL and Xoxo I actually check out mydramalist now when I want to discuss characterization or plot. Koala is not really the place to discuss the finer points of a story, because this is just a news/blog site that mostly features individual actors.
The bad thing about MDL is that once you comment, it quickly becomes lost in a mountain of other comments, but nevertheless I enjoy some of the commentary on it sometimes
@Coralie…I love love my first Journey to the West drama…The actor that portray Sun Wukong was a trained Chinese Opera actor whose dad, granddad played that roles in their days…They are trained from young to be Sun WuKong, his acobatics skills was unmatched. I recently saw the Eng dubbed version on Youtube…I prefer original version but it was fun watching the Eng dubbed version.
Over at MDL in the topic list, there are over 100 pages about Xiang Liu THE CHARACTER as depicted by Tan Jianci. There is about 5 percent (if that much) gushing about TJC. The 95 percent focused on his character, the episodes and what the characte’s motive or growth, the many, many long posts about how the novel character meant this or that or how the TV drama did it this way or that is just an incredible read. So, I commend that character portrayal by TJC in doing what you’re talking about–making viewers love/hate his character and not connecting it to the actor, except for his incredible take on Xiang Liu.
I actually liked him in Who Rules The World, I feel like he did fit that character and for the most part he was able to deliver in the emotional scenes but yes not all. His modern romance dramas are meh for me.
I, too, enjoyed him in WRTW. He was more relaxed and ZLS was able to pull some emotions from him, heh. I thought they were pretty cute together, the light banter suited the main characters’ story line and there was no major misunderstanding that destroys their relationship. Very enjoyable.
I too miss the days when the gossip was about the drama and characters than the actors. Why did this all change? It’s like dramas are no longer important. They are just showcases for actors looks, popularity and talent. A crying shame!
This is also why I check out donghuas more these days than actual C-dramas. The only thing to complain about is the animation and/or plot and no fan battles.
I def reco Legend of Siliang (3D animation) and Scissor Se7en to folks new to donghuas.
I have watched afew Donghuas…I like professional Chinese voice actors. They really bring characters to life… I have huge respect for voice artistes. They rarely/never get credit for live dramas…but on Donghuas, they have a place.
It just ‘click’, no wonder you mentioned how Dylan using his own voice annoyed you so much. He really need more training before using his own voice to meet base standard.
@Coralie, where do you watch these?
@Soph Granted, none of these that I reco have ended yet, so watch at your own risk.
Scissor Se7en is on Netflix (2D animation, but it would be way better if you can understand Canto/Mando to understand some of the nuances of the slang.) Try YT or DailyMotion or Bilibili for it if you don’t have Netflix.
Link Click (2D animation) – hands down loved by most. I think this could be found on YouTube OR bilibili. If not, try DailyMotion.
Legend of Siliang (3D animation) – once you get past 3 episodes, it is an absolute visual gem. And plot is also interesting. Def can be found on YT.
The Furious Yama (2D animation) – Found on YT. Really funny female MC. Focused on girls love, but it doesn’t hinder the story nor does it really emphasize their relationship. I would also recommend Heaven’s Official Blessing, too, because the storyline is interesting (focused on boy’s love.)
Bai Yao Pu (The Fairies’ Album) – 2D animation – can be found on YT. Most heartfelt characters…I think I cried almost every other episode.
Fog Hill of Five Elements (2D animation) – Very creative and imaginative 2D animation. Story is beautifully animated and fight choreography is awesome. Can be found on YT as well, I think.
Lol. Dang the consensus overall seems to be that he sucks. Haha. Usually in the comments of other actors, people go back and forth, but seems we all know he’s limited. Like other C-actors, he’s only visually appealing when they get his hair right. Lol. Otherwise, don’t hold your breath for a compelling story through a character of gis. I’m still gonna check it out! Haha
If Yang Yang paired with someone else, I might check it out. But Jin Chen? The actress is a big NO for me.
I found yang yang from who rules the world and it was my first cdrama. I truly enjoyed it ,it is one of my favourites.Both yang yang and zhao lusi did a great job portraying the characters, their relationship and everything was just natural.I’m now watching yang yang’s you are my glory and it is very enjoyable too.I’m surprised to see some saying yang yang’s acting is bad I feel he acts natural and he does not over act.
Yall are triggering me with calling yang yang a bad actor!? Are you serious? Are watching is shows? FWOMH is my 3rd fav drama! His facial expressions are top notch and when be is upset or mad you can tell!
So does anyone know that when will it release?
In my opinion Yang Yang in Lo2o is just too much. I became his fan watching Fireworks of my heart and I love that drama. It is not liked by many ppl but I’m satisfied and I do not agree with any of the things ppl said about his acting bc it is not his fault if the camera man is trying to get his shot like that. After all at the end it is the director, camera man who decides everything to be ok. And I have to say in Lo2o he is much better than FL. But actually the whole drama is not worth of watching YY is so cringe. But in Glory of special forces he is the best no the whole show is the best nothing can win over that. I am not a romantic person for me comes family friendship first and the friendship in that show is in another level. I love how everything is smooth in that drama as a person with trust issue and always going alone he portrays that character the best. In you are my glory it’s just cute drama very naturally done the simplicity wins the attention. But in martial universe damn I dropped the moment I saw the trailer 😳 but then it changed in a good way still I do not like those kinda fantasy dramas so I found the s2 much much better because of the growth in the character was noticeable and the way it ends it socks.
* but the end it sucks* I didn’t know how to edit it so I had to reply back to my own comment 😂
In my opinion Yang Yang in Lo2o is just too much. I became his fan watching Fireworks of my heart and I love that drama. It is not liked by many ppl but I’m satisfied and I do not agree with any of the things ppl said about his acting bc it is not his fault if the camera man is trying to get his shot like that. After all at the end it is the director, camera man who decides everything to be ok. And I have to say in Lo2o he is much better than FL. But actually the whole drama is not worth of watching YY is so cringe. But in Glory of special forces he is the best no the whole show is the best nothing can win over that. I am not a romantic person for me comes family friendship first and the friendship in that show is in another level. I love how everything is smooth in that drama as a person with trust issue and always going alone he portrays that character the best. In you are my glory it’s just cute drama very naturally done the simplicity wins the attention. But in martial universe damn I dropped the moment I saw the trailer 😳 but then it changed in a good way still I do not like those kinda fantasy dramas so I found the s2 much much better because of the growth in the character was noticeable and the way it ends it sucks.