So the big female lead drama battle this month in November 2024 between Zhao Lu Si in The Story of Pearl Girl and Yu Shu Xin for Love Game in Eastern Fantasy is looking more and more like there will be a clear winner. But this is just a prelude for an even bigger battle coming next month in December with two A-list male leads in S++ budget level dramas arriving. There is Guardians of the Dafeng with Dylan Wang on Tencent and over on Youku there will be Yang Yang in The Immortal Ascension. Both are based on popular IP source materials and will be a true test of these actors ability to bring in viewers.
How about iQIYI? What’s iQIYI doing in this competition? I hope iQIYI will release FSM: Love in Pavilion to compete with Tencent and Youku.
I was looking forward to immortal ascension so will be checking that out for sure. It does look a tad darker and more serious than Guardians, which looks honestly abit comedic and light-hearted. Might check it out if I have the time. But could go either way, can never tell with audiences these days and big names don’t mean the story or acting is good.
Immortal ascension is not dark. It’s a great novel though so the base is there.
Will certainly tune in for both!
I’m definitely looking forward to Guardians of the Dafeng. As for The Immortal Ascension, I’m not feeling its trailers so far.
I am yet to watch any trailers as yet…will search for them now.
Wang Hedi has such atrocious lines that I just can’t listen to him. His acting also isn’t something to write home about. The team has been going crazy on both Weibo and Douban proclaiming how this is a huge hit, major victory etc when the drama hasn’t even aired. That happens when they actually doubt the product on their hands.
Yang Yang can’t act but this is a character that doesn’t require much plus it’s an incredibly popular IP. He has a large popularity base in China and they will watch.
It’s the time for quite a few of these male centric dramas. Yu Zheng predicted that they will all flop. Let’s see ah? I have popcorn.
Yu Zheng is a known hater. Dylan and Yang Yang are two of the biggest traffic stars. Even when there dramas are straight garbage (Only for Love & Fireworks of my heart for example) people will still tune in and watch.
Yu Zheng commented on these 2 dramas??
@HL
Quite recently he went on a major rant how all the male centric dramas, including these two, are going to flop. Sounded like he was drinking vinegar because he wishes he could but can’t.
@Eeeeh, 🤣🤣 he does sound like he had drunk a jar of vinegar. His male actors are not able to pull such ratings..
Interesting! Why the heck did YZ diss both dramas with two liuliangs? LOL.
He didn’t just diss these two. He dissed male centric dramas as a whole, which includes Xiao Zhan’s Zang Hai Zhuan, Luo Yunxi’s Shui Long Yin, Cheng Yi’s Fu Shan Hai etc. Altho what he said is prob true, most male centric dramas (男频) flopped over the years.
Probably they both rejected working with him at some point ? I don’t know whether its true or not but its YZ anyway so lol. The guy is such a narrow minded person, the type either you’re with me or against me. And he also thinks he’s the next big thing since cheese that everyone must be queueing to be in his drama and don’t take rejection well. And if its still not clear enough, yeah i don’t like YZ much lol
So with that logic, does he predict his IT boy Wang Xingyue’s next drama is gonna a flop too? LOL. Ｉ heard WXY’s next drama is male centric.
@Somebody
He said WXY’s drama won’t flop because it’s male centric in a female genre or something like that but then later said that it has no emotional/romantic plotline (when asked how it compared to Tang Palace and in spite of the reuters of a kissing scene) so it’s all his usual nonsense lol
If they flop it’s nothing to do with the concept of male hero drama per se (frankly, I could do with a good male-led Wuxia drama instead of the umpteenth female revenge/business plot), but more with the fact that they cast traffic stars who can barely act as ML instead of choosing a strong actor.
I can see neither YangYang nor Wang Hedi successfully carry a drama.
All they have is water and will be unlikely to draw in many passers-by.
Honest opinion. Who do you think is the better actor between these two.
Wang hedi is the better actor
Don’t care about either one, neither can act so I am here with popcorn to enjoy the fight.
I usually go for a more serious-tone costume drama than a comedic one but the trailer for Guardian of Dafeng grabbed my attention more. I found myself dozing off a couple times while watching the Immortal Ascension trailer.
Dafeng trailer is fun. I really hope it’s good
I feel like the writing and directing will make or break the drama more than the male actors? Both guys have lots of fans. I’m curious to see which one will be the first to piss off fans of the original IP by betraying the original story and characters.
One seems like an irreverent comedy and one is serious/straight. I like this mix so that if you’re not into serious, you can pick the comedic one and vice versa. And if you’re into both, you get both!
I didnt know YY count as Alist actor in China.. Im quite surprised about that I cant even comment on the matter lol
More surprised with Dylan Wang count as Alist actor.. YY at least become a key player since LoveO2O days. What have Dylan Wang even done to deserve that?
Dongfang Qingcang, obviously
from what I have observed. It’s because their dramas or certain key dramas that did well upgraded their status. The acting of both can be a hit and miss at times. But their popularity brings that edge and why they are both in demand so much now. The way some actors and actresses make it there seems a matter of luck at times atleast when it comes to acting. Whether they improve or not is debatable because of these strong fandoms now and need for profit who knows 🤷🏻♀️
Are you serious? Where have you been? Love Between Fairy and Devil propelled him to superstardom.
Second this. Only having one popular drama and rose to A list? Is korean actor BWS an A list? Not yet. I dont think, K netizen will accept it.
Didi only had one popular drama under his belt comparing to YY. Well, he’s popular but A list? Uhm…
LBFAD and his variety shows. The variety shows kept up his popularity after LBFAD success. Although the other dramas were terrible, he at least explored other characters and themes. Dafeng and the suspense drama with Pan Yue Ming should keep him in the spotlight. His team is also smart enough not to seek 1st billed projects and look for quality by working with the veteran Pan Yue Ming.
If YY is not considered A-list in your mind, who is? I can’t think of many men with his status.
“A” isn’t that high when you have S, S+, and S++ to describe things nowadays 😅 joking aside, I think YY is pretty up there as a traffic actor. He may not be “A list”in the acting department, but he brings in the fans. I still think he’s one of the best visuals in c-entertainment.
You are my glory and Love020 did great. Personally I liked YY struggling financially vulnerable character in YAMG. And I liked his dynamism with the richer star-actress played by Dilreba (visual OTP well done). Cdramaland needs more rich FL/poor ML storylines
2 eye candys…wow. But I like Dylan more… Looking forward to both dramas.
There will be a clear winner in the person of who please @koala.
What’s the ratings like. I mean LGIEF and TSOPG
LGIEF is currently winning. It’s currently topping most of the charts.
Interesting! I read some news otherwise. PG beat LGIEF as of today.
@Somebody Which chart? It’s a little difficult to compare as there are days where either LGIEF or TSOPG only airs 1 episode instead of 2. But from what I gathered, the days where LGIEF aired 2 episodes and TSOPG aired 1, both its Kuyun and Yunhe data win TSOPG by a long shot. Whereas when it’s the opposite, TSOPG’s data only win LGIEF by a small margin.
@Lilith They’re probably talking about Vlinkage. I just watched Mark’s recent yt video and said PG topped the weekly chart on Vlinkage , which is weird because Mark usually gathers the data for multiple charts not just Vlinkage. Maybe he just didn’t have the time Idk.
@Love Probably. But as per what @lina said below, LGIEF is winning most charts. For C-ent we have to look at all the charts to get a feel of the real popularity for a drama because some charts can be “watered”. Hopefully this Mark is not specifically curating the data that’s being shown to his viewers.
Lgief winning in most of charts
Yunhe,kuyun,datawin,douyin,
For maoyan,aiman changeable between the 2 drama
But considering all data, lgief is the clear winners between the 2
Who has won the SOPG vs LGIEF battle??
This post has nothing to do with either drama. Stop comparing the two and trying to stir the pot.
Love dylan. Devil and fairy was 1 i liked
Wish him the best. Also liked yang yang in who rules the world. It will be interesting to see who’s fan base will push them over the top.
Yang Yang has a much bigger fan base and a much larger nationality. It’s really not debatable.
That of course isn’t a guarantee that this drama won’t do worse than Dylan’s but as Fireworks of my heart showed, even in bad times, YY has a steady base that watches his shows with good results.
I don’t understand YY’s appeal at all. I get it, he’s good looking, but acting-wise, he feels stiff and needs help loosening up. He needs to be put into a drama with ZLS or YSX to pull out that chemistry, otherwise his acting has always been flat for me. I haven’t been able to finish any of his dramas, including that hugely cringe Love O2O, which is the OG show that shot him to meteoric fame. I despised that drama.
He worked with ZLS but ZLS was horribly miscast as a wuxia heroine lol. And now he’ll prob never work with YSX due to billing issues.
@Coralie
I think it’s simply his good looks and that he can be very charming. I really think that’s all that is combined with his timing and roles he got. It’s certainly not his acting lol
But whatever the reason they show up for him when he has a drama out. I get surprised every time, I was sure for Fireworks it would finally end up badly for him but no. His TV ratings were excellent. Since this is a big IP, he can do martial arts well and it’s not a demanding role at all, I think he will once again do just fine.
@Coralie @Eeeeh Probably because regular people who aren’t into C-ent simply are not up to date with its news. I personally knew someone who rarely watches Chinese dramas or reads C-ent news and she’s still under the impression that Yang Yang is the most popular young Chinese actor based on the last Chinese drama she watched and it was LoveO2O.
@Eeeh I respect that explanation, but I still have a hard time accepting it lol. If anything, though, he does fit the animation ‘looks’ of the main ML for Immortal Ascension, and I am convinced that’s the reason they chose him lol. That and his popularity with the ladies (not for his acting chops.) There’s actually a Taiwanese actor who looks a lot like YY, but I’m not sure why he’s not talked about as much as YY, because he’s a way better actor and can emote about 50% better. I wish they extended that role to him instead.
@Lilith so you’re saying YY is actually not popular? Or that he’s only popular to folks who aren’t that familiar with C-ent?
@Coralie, I just have a thought. Yang Yang was bought up in People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art. It is a very tough school with extremely strict teaching. I wonder if their teaching may have more effected his character building more then we think?
Yang Yang is generally a very private person and seem quite weak in some ways. Thus when artistes he dates gets into trouble, he never speaks out. And it affects his ability to really relax and act? Fortunately he looks good, otherwise he will just disappear by now.
Just a thought, no offends towards anyone.
@Coralie
I understand what you mean but I guess we just have to accept it. If you had told me just six months ago that he would get to do a Daylight production I would have laughed yet look where we are now.
I think one major bonus he has is that he isn’t just popular among the circles that are online. He is quite well known among the general audiences and liked. This is a huge boost for him. I get really unhappy when people like the one you mention don’t get a chance even though they are much more talented but on the other hand I do get it. Nobody wants to risk a big investment especially in these times on someone who isn’t a sure thing. And Yang Yang is one. So he gets these roles while others do not. It is what it is I guess.
@Coralie He used to be popular for real back in the 2010s, LoveO2O had very strong outreach and influence as there is a very large group of casual viewers who prefer sweet modern dramas. However, like all liuliangs, popularity will decline and Yang Yang’s popularity has been on decline for many years. Just that to people who aren’t up to date with C-ent, they probably think he still has the same level of popularity.
@HL
That’s a nice analysis. Seems like he has hard time freeing up his stiffness when acting cause of that. Either way I don’t know if he still can improve his acting, but I hope he does
@Yuhyi, I hope so too.
You can watch both ! LOL
This 1v1 battle is just media tricks to generate talks. We don’t have to go with the media nonsense.
I’ve never finished one single drama of Dylan Wang. While I liked Love 020 and You Are My Glory, I think Yang Yang has a limited acting range and Dylan is a better actor among the two. I don’t like the FL of the Immortal Ascension but will check this out for YY. Not a fan of slapstick comedy in costume, I won’t watch Dylan’s new drama most likely if the trailer has shown what it is.
same i dislike slapstick and especially in the costume era. the trailers minus the action scenes come across quite childish and silly. both dramas also dont have strong FLs. dylan i feel has more charisma and tries out different things, though not an exceptional or strong actor. I personally really liked rational life (though it was also cos of the story and qin lan). i feel he’s better in modern dramas – LBFAD and unchained love was so OTT and cartoonish – and his accent/voice – which i dont have a problem with – suits modern setups. In costume, it just takes me completely out of the scenes, and for dafeng it seems like he dubbed himself, gosh.
I love comedic dramas, they provide the entertainment after long days at work or stress. So of course I would pick Dylan’s drama no question. However, his voice… would bring down the overall enjoyment of the show to me. I still think he’ll do fine in the acting dept, at least he won’t be a stiff neck like YY.
Based on previous track record, Dylan’s drama is going to do better since the drama is produced by the team behind Joy of Life, Sword Snow Stride and My Heroic Husband – all 3 were successful male-centric dramas.
Anyhow I’m gonna watch both because the genre is a fresh air among all the romance focused dramas nowadays.
Hhmm, I swooned over YY in LoveO2O and You Are My Glory, but I didn’t for Dylan in LBDAF (for a fair xianxia hit comparison, I swooned big time over Mark Chao in 3Lives).
Did you swoon for YY in that drama with ZLS? Mark Chao is a bona fide veteran actor, can’t compare to the likes of YY and Dylan. I already knew Mark was awesome back when he first debuted. I believe he even won a Golden Horse award, over Vic Chou, in his FIRST acting debut. The tea was that Vic was pissed off and was a sore loser afterwards lol. Can’t blame the poor guy. But yeah, this already puts Mark on a level way above these successors.
Anyways, to each their own fancy lol.
I love YY with ZLS. I really loved their pairing in WRTW. I hear more similar opinions outside this forum, that they enjoyed their CP.
Ya..I heard that tea too…
I loved that drama. That cemented my love for c-drama. I think their pairing worked. I was quite surprised when I heard it was not as well-received? And ZLS was getting hate for being paired with YY, like how dare she and who does she think she is kinda thing
Hmmm….I like both actors so I’ll tune into both. And it really depends on the script on who will win.
As a fan of yang yang, I hope he wins! After all he is my first crush in cdramaland. Since this role doesn’t seem to be that different from what he usually does, it should be fine. As long as the plot is good I’m satisfied
Same! I knew Hu Ge first, but Yang Yang was my very first true crush in C-Dramaland.
I think Wang He Di is a good actor. He uses his face and body to express underlying feelings emotions of his character. He does humor and seriousness well.
Yang yang is very good actor his acting is very good i liked his every drama his aura is next level in historical as well as in modern day darma his personality is cute he is a humble actor
I will most likely watch both. I enjoy a good serious drama but sometimes need something lighter so a comedy is good to have on hand.
I am not a huge romance follower. I prefer action and if there is romance in it, ok.
I do think an actor can ruin a good plot and good writing, just as they can elevate a poor plot and poor writing. It is not uncommon to hear viewers say “ It was a terrible movie but such and such actor still did a good job” or vice versa.
We will just have to deal wait and see for ourselves.
I have been waiting for Dylan Wang He Di for the entire year now! Love his acting. The character suits him to a tee. Really a must see TV for me.
Honestly am loving how open people get to talk about the reality of the ent circle especially regarding the issue of “popularity vs acting skills” people should dive deep into these to bring realization especially for the sake of real talented individuals who never get to see the spotlight despite being good at what they do and got overshadowed by this scenario of A-rating leaving them struggling in mud while those who enjoy the glory aren’t that much cut for the praise ,i’ve seen this issue in the C-ent a lor