C-drama War of Faith (Wind Chaser) is about to wrap its fun and turns out a drama that was air dropped with barely any promos is the surprise big hit of 2024. Starring Wang Yibo and Li Qin, it’s a republic era communist party during the war drama that was filmed awhile ago and seemed to be one of those stock rah rah CCP leaning dramas. Despite airing in a very competitive end of March period with so many other C-dramas available to watch, War of Faith has managed to become iQiyi‘s biggest drama of 2024 breaking 10,000 index and also the first streaming spy genre drama ever to break that milestone. It’s also getting strong reviews for acting, directing, script and in particular Wang Yibo is probably getting the best reviews of his career. Not award winning level praise but just that he’s doing a really good job in the role and not letting his idol status be a roadblock to bringing to life a three dimensional character.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the show. It is a solid production, the story is interesting and the acting is good, including by Wang Yibo who seems to have completely dropped all his idol baggage.
Ccp propaganda all the way. Wang Yi Bo truly is basic looking for an “idol”. Small eyes, flat face. What a pancake face. If it wasn’t for the homo shippers who ship him with Xiao Zhan, he’d be nothing in the industry. Ugly, can’t act and sucking up to ccp for scraps. Such a flop wishes he could do both dramas and movies well like Wu Lei. Not everyone is born with the complete star package. Can’t stand the 2nd hand embarrassment
Seriously, get a life, ur comment is irrelevant, so pathetic
Did he steal your boyfriend, holy cow on a pogo stick.
I’m not Yi Bo’s fan, trust me, but he is doing very well in acting department in this drama. Of course this drama makes CCP agents and the party look heroic. Do you think they ( producers, actors) had any other choice?! If they don’t do it what will happen to them? No they won’t be killed like CCP’s generals and party members, but their taxes will be looked into, or they won’t get funding for another project, or their other projects will be put on hold for years. There are many ways CCP will get at you if you cross them or deny them. Get real.
You’re just jealous because Wang Yibo was very good in this drama, you’re just an anti, or maybe a shipper, just cut the crop and be quiet.How dare you insult wang Yibo, majority loves his acting we read all the reviews not from fans but people who are in the industry, so get your fact right.
Lol everyone knows how hard WYB fans worked to hit that 10k heat index on iQiyi, they only managed to hit it towards the end of the run. The drama producer got anxious and personally gave tips to WYB fans on the easiest way to increase it – buying multiple iQiyi’s subscriptions under the drama’s designated link.
The final CVB rating is 1.7+ which is really average for this drama genre and broadcast period. I heard that during its run, CCTV strangely didn’t air any war movies on its other channels during the drama’ s broadcast time at all when they usually air at least one war movie every other day. FYI war movies always pull in high ratings.
Xz fans claim that he’s the biggest traffic but his 1st billing drama with Bai Baihe, a senior actress better known to gp than xz, could only get 7k heat on the same platform. A very pathetic and poor result. WoF hit 10k for two days in row, and on the last day got an even higher record. Actually your fave xz drama genre is more popular than republican/spy war/financial but only managed to get 1,5 cvb. Funny how cctv didn’t air any movies during your fave’s drama airing, no war movies or any other genre. But it didn’t help the rating much and your fave’s drama only had daily peak 1,7 cvb while War of Faith passed 2,0 daily cvb.
Firstly, I’m not a XZ fan if you consider exclusively stanning one person as a fan. I do like him because he’s handsome, well-mannered and is good at acting, but I also like a few other actors and actresses because of similar qualities stated above.
Secondly, you either must be a newbie to C-ent or just talking nonsense. Republican era and war-related dramas have always scored higher ratings than other genres, but the two XZ dramas you’re talking about is either modern city drama (Sunshine By My Side), or broadcasted during exam period in which that month always has the lowest ratings throughout the years (The Youth Memories). You praising War of Faith here is like praising a university student scoring 60/100 on a middle school exam while putting down a elementary student for scoring 55/100 on the same exam.
I’m not here to listen to xz fans excusing his flops. The facts – both his dramas are remakes of well liked stories not original scripts. Chinese people enjoy life drama and 70s setting more than republican dramas and War of Faith is finance centered with higher threshold. Xz noona drama flopped both on tv and online, even if you try to excuse the big flop on tv it did just as bad online, so it’s simply a failed drama. Xz fans acting as c-ent experts and calling other newbies is silly, everyone knows that xz fans always try to brainwash international viewers but in China they’re just a laughingstock and no one buys their theories.
@Ed Yeah, you’re not a newbie. You’re just a habitual liar who’s more obsessed with XZ and his fans than your own idol that you had to bring them up in your own idol’s articles. Ask any Chinese non-fan and they’ll repeat my words, that republican and war dramas always get higher ratings than other genres in general. And no one is a bigger laughingstock than your idol who’s infamous for being a hopeless illiterate.
In spite of its redness, I really enjoyed this drama. Wang Yang was excellent and Wang Yi Bo was surprisingly good. Thumbs up.
Not my kind of drama, but good for Wang Yang. He’s such a charismatic actor.
Big hit? Where? I seem to have missed it.
For CCTV, prime time and this time of the year this drama is in the bottom of the middle range of ratings.
Not to mention CCTV ended up criticising in their wrap which is unheard of. They simply do not criticise dramas that they broadcast.
Let’s not talk about the watered 10k heat on iQiyi. That was so embarrassing that cnetz are still laughing about that fakery.
Radicules comment, you think people have no internet!!!👎👎👎False
Yelousy is such an ugly thing..
Another Xiao Z desperate fan 🤑🤑
Like many here, I haven’t been impressed by recent Republican era C-dramas. War of Faith surprised me in a good way. Wang Yang and Li Qin got me to give it chance and I’m glad I did.
It was tense like a good thriller. I can understand why people might be skeptical because here the “good” guys are described as CPP agents and sympathizers, but the more I watched, I realized you can substitute any repressive, corrupt regime— which given China’s recent crackdown could actually be an indictment of the present government.
The 1930’s was a fascinating period when the world saw a rise of workers pushing for reforms in the form of communist, socialists, and fascist parties around the world. Unions battled for fair pay, benefits and safer working conditions. If you were rooting for the underdogs, you’d be rooting for the workers here.
Anyway, I thought Wang Yibo did a nuanced job playing a naive, young man struggling to survive in a very turbulent time. Watching him grow and how his relationships evolved with other main characters was atmospheric and tense. There were a couple of standout performances by other younger actors too. I was never bored. It isn’t a romance or a thriller with simplistic good and evil plot. I hope people give it a go. Forget it’s Wang Yibo and enjoy the wonderful script and the acting of a seasoned cast instead. It’s very good storytelling.
That is what I thought too. The drama comes across as making veiled (small but still) parallels with current China regime’s handling of their critics and inside party opposition. You really need to understand current CCP’s moves to see it. They have quietly killed off dozens maybe hundreds of party insiders AND what they see as opposition since 2020.
Glad you liked it, definitely feels like a drama you have to be in the mood to watch and invest your time. I’ve seen clips of this show through osmosis via social media, but even so, I can tell that it was a solid production with some great actors. I saw a brief scene with Li Qin and was super impressed. A lot of the comments on here seems like fangirls of other actors wanting to put down a show because it stars someone they deem to be a threat to their favs’ popularity. Which is kinda sad, because they’re the same people complaining about the lack of good dramas while constantly going on fanwars anytime a drama airs with certain actors/actresses. It’s one thing to leave constructive criticisms or funny complaints, but it’s another to constantly leave childish conspiracy theory comments. We get it, data can be bought, it’s not the first drama to do so and it won’t be the last. Watch it if it interests you or ditch it if it doesn’t. No need to hate on it so much.
Isn’t that because Koala called this drama a big hit? People are just refuting her claims, if that’s called hate then we might as well not make any comments except for fake positive ones like the ones posted by fans (praising obvious bad acting).
Refuting false statements is hate?
Data is data and you can cry about it till the end of time but this drama was not only not a big hit as claimed in this article but a hugely mediocre showing that ended up hurting CCTV because this was the first time in forever CCTV actually *lost* commercial time. That’s a huge blow for any TV station and unimaginable for CCTV.
Wang Yibo fans need more education, just like their idol.
“just like their idol”… Tell me you’re Wang Yibo hater without telling it.
@Olesya
So yes, you can’t refute anything. Because it’s all facts.
War of Faith at some point topped almost all the charts, Datawin, Maoyan for many days, Kuyun peaked at 2.6% etc. The amount of passerby discussion and 50-50 ratio between male and female audience proved that War of Faith went out of circle. But xz fans can’t stop barking because their fave’s dramas have much lower results although they boasted them as biggest hits last year. They attacked and downvoted War of Faith from the beginning but weren’t able to stop the audience from loving it, they’re bitter.
@Ed Lol delulu fan. The Legend of Shen Li is the one that topped most charts.
@Ed
Why are you always so desperate to link anything about WYB to XZ? Can’t you stand on your own two feet after five years? FIVE
Charts mean nothing in cent. Ratings do and they were mediocre for this time of the year and CCTV, especially as this genre suits that section of viewers.
The drama actually lost ad time for CCTV. It’s unheard of. CCTV doesn’t lose ad time. Except now. The webcast had lost all ads and aired without for over ten days.
They literally published a criticism of this drama when they usually never do that. YH marketing accounts were so desperate that they ended up posting edited screenshots of this text, with criticism removed. That’s how big of a deal this was.
Nobody here is saying the drama is a flop, it’s not. It’s just not a big hit the way it was presented here. It’s a mediocre drama that did decently. You can twist yourself in a pretzel here trying to claim it was a huge hit but it won’t matter because real data is this.
There’s a lot of angry and bitter people in the comments. Not to mention that a couple of the comments reek of the typical brainwashing kit a certain flop actor’s breed has been brought up on who keeps trying to leech onto Wang Yibo and Yang Zi because of their own irrelevance.
Now onto the drama itself, whether it is CCP propaganda or not is upto each individual to judge when they watch the show. We all have to accept China works in a certain way and if you can’t accept it, it’s better to turn your attention to maybe Korean or Japanese dramas. Censorship is and will be a part of Chinese media even costume dramas have to go through it. So accept it or don’t, all C-Ent dramas have to toe the line. But using the excuse of a red drama,no one can question what a truly organic hit this drama has been. The storyline and character building is unique and heart tugging.Iqiyi gave 0 promotions, it’s official name was changed literally 2 days before airing, the Cvb chassis was so low and it took the drama days to build up. There are numerous discussion on Douyin and xhs regarding this drama. The online playback numbers for this drama exploded. The male viewership numbers increased. All the characters got recognition and new fans. Wang Yibo added 150000 New followers on weibo. Li Qin has won a lot of credibility and national popularity for this role which she failed to get in other red dramas she’s filmed till date.
Coming to the article itself, the author is not very subtle in their prejudice against Wang Yibo when they say “not award winning material”. Thank you for the condescension because that means you’re threatened enough.Though why Wang Yibo is always targeted by a certain section of people in the international media for being an “idol” will always remain a mystery to me since most of C-Ent actors and actresses ARE idols if you’re going to use that term. Compared to them Wang Yibo has already been on the path to transformation from years ago. His last “idol” drama was The legend of you fei in Dec 2020! He’s an active movie star who works with seniors in the industry like Tony Leung, Zhou Xun and Huang Bo. He’s been nominated for the Golden Rooster Awards for his debut movie.I’m sorry but anybody who brings his credentials into question need to check themselves because what are your faves up to that can match up with what a 26 year old has been doing in C-Ent
Why are xz fans in the comments screaming, crying, throwing up? War of Faith started low because it picked up after a drama with like 1.1% cvb but managed to make it rise 60%, with ratings getting higher and higher every day despite competing with sports like fifa, ping pong not to mention movies. War of Faith did better than any xz CCTV8 drama ever did, let’s not forget that noona drama of his that barely passed 1% cvb but his fans claimed it as a huge hit, what a circus
Lmao WYB fans are so desperate to link this drama to XZ, looks like you guys can’t live without attaching WYB to XZ’s name, as expected of the leech. By the way, the old people didn’t watch this drama for your fave WYB, they watched it for Wang Yang, which is a huge difference compared to people watching The Youth Memories for XZ.
No one would even remember a flop xz existence if his fans weren’t barking here like some rabid dogs although the article has nothing to do with him. Seems like xz fans can’t stop being obsessed with Yibo and pendanting on his hit drama. Pitiful. Btw, people watched War of Faith for everything, plot, acting, directing, storytelling, and all the aspects were praised just like it should be with a high quality work. Yibo’s fans never claimed that people watched it only for him because they’re not delusional like xz fans. Unfortunately your fave can only rely on big IPs and remakes.
@Ed Lol look at how you guys never call me a fan of other celebrities whom I’ve praised and openly voiced my love for them here, only insisting on tagging me as XZ fan just because he’s one of the celebrities I’ve praised. Face it, you only want to talk about XZ and XZ fans, you are obsessed with them more than your own idol. Tsk tsk, here’s a sound advice for you. If you keep going like this, your idol will be the one to flop first because you fans pay more attention to other people. Don’t mention it, yeah? 😊
And don’t taint the name of high quality work, please. I know WYB backers are trying to buy him the upcoming Magnolia Awards, that’s why you guys are going around washing the web with praises for this drama and his bad acting. But people have eyes, ok?
@Lilith
I sometimes wonder if international WYB fans are genuinely brainwashed or not. They don’t speak Mandarin after all so it is very easy to sell them a whole pack of lies. I kind of wish I could give them that language knowledge for just one day, I think they would die of shock if they read through cnet contents.
It’s funny to watch YH try and fight for Magnolia, especially as BJT has his own backers and had a better result. But nothing is impossible in cent, after all they bought everything else. I do wonder if CCTV openly criticising this drama and in general YH’s current state will end up preventing them.
@Ehhh For all we know, some of them may not even be international fans. Don’t forget YH manages their celebrities’ fandoms directly and is involved in Kpop business too. They were the ones bringing back all the shady fandom management practices from K-ent and spreading them to C-ent. And since they’re involved in Kpop, they got to have some staff monitoring the international side as well.
You have problem,
I’m wondering if you’re spreading toxins in purpose or you”re brainwashed..
Poor you
Why are WYB and XZ stans always at the crime scene? It’s always same commenters spouting the same nonsense here. I see why koala posts about them, so much fanwar engagement.
I’m curious too, why do WYB fans love labeling people as XZ fan? You never see people labeling so-and-so as WYB fan under XZ’s articles.
Get a life, Lilith
You should tell that to those WYB fans who kept bringing XZ up in WYB’s articles. Or are you guilty of it as well? 😂
XIAO ZHAN FANS ARE RADICULES, DESPERATELY ATTACKING AND CRITICIZING YIBO.
THE NUMBERS SAY EVERYTHING!!!SOME FACTS :
XZ last drama ‘The sea of dreams ‘ didn’t hit 10,000 heat index, the CCtv peek ratings was only ones 1,7 % , the average rattings 1, 5%
“War of faith ” hit so many records
#1 drama at the entire network, the average CCtv ratting 1, 76 %,with the peek ratings 2,6%!!!!
Wang Yibo as Wei Ruolai is the most popular and the first character in Kuyun history with 19, 386 heat index !!!
WHAT MAKES XZ FANS SO DESPERATE IS THE FACT THAT WANG YIBO is the top 95s actor in both -drama and movie.
1.He is the only and the youngest actor nominated to Golden Rooster Award (movie)
2.He is the only 95s actor with the highest box office sales(movies)
3.95s actor with the highest CVB average tv ratting !!!
Xiao Zhan has none of that .
XZ fandom thinks people have no internet and they try so hard to spread fake news and data .
Radicules!!!
Radicules comment, you think people have no internet!!!👎👎👎False
i had heard about the enmity between xz fans and yibo fans but this is the first i see it live. wow.
Xiao Zgan has black aquatic army that keep attacking Yibo for years, spreading false data .They are criminals, acting like gang …
Just been to China this week, literally everyone above the age of 50 was following the drama on TV as each episode releases so I suspect the iqiyi numbers are the tip of the iceberg. It’s a drama pitched at a totally different audience. It’s surprisingly watchable for something that is clearly propaganda.
Wang Yibo was superlative as Wei Roulai. An ordinary man with a big heart and ambitious, his acting traversed several nuances. I am now unabashedly a Yibo fan. He’s brilliant, handsome and he has a spark that cannot be easily categorised. He’s absolutely smashing whether as Roulai or the three films he acted in earlier. Do I love Yibo? You bet I do 🔥