Guardians of the Dafeng Premieres to Strong Opening Viewership Numbers But Mixed Reviews with Usual Complaints About Male Lead Dylan Wang’s Acting and Dialogue Reading
It’s been a few days since Tencent premiered period C-drama Guardians of the Dafeng with Dylan Wang and Tian Xi Wei and the first reactions are out. The viewership is strong off the bat, one of the best viewership numbers of the year in terms of opening days which makes sense due to Dylan’s buzz (good and bad). Whether it will retain or even grow the opening numbers remains uncertain due to the very split opposite extreme reviews. The complaints are on Dylan’s still limited acting and his own voice dialogue reading, as well as the very slow set up pace in the first four episodes, for example the female lead character hasn’t even appeared yet. The other side says the story is interesting and the directing very strong, and Dylan’s acting and line reading grows on the viewer. I’ll check this out this week and report back with my own opinions.
I find it interesting and refreshing, bored of the countless romance stories out there. Dylan’s acting and voice accent is okay here as this drama has fantasy elements, kind of like LGIEF, so the modern speech and behavior don’t feel out of place in the ancient setting.
I’m liking this so far, really funny and Dylan is soo fine..looking forward for the FL
This drama is trying to replicate Stephen Chow’s type of nonsense slapstick comedy but from episode 1 it’s failing so hard to be funny. Acting by the male lead is so bad and exaggerated but somehow he still has no presence, completely unrestrained and untrained, that he reminds me of Gong Jun and his high school play acting.
As of episode 8 there are a million characters who pop in and pop out you don’t get a chance to get to know any of them and the female lead has had about 5 minutes of air time.
The story is complete nonsense jumping from demons to political corruption to alchemy and police investigations, it’s like it was written in bullet points on the back of a cigarette packet and the director just went yeah let’s go with it.
The background music is good and doing the best it can to set the comedic tone.
I actually saw someone on weibo comparing dylan & gonjun’s acting, how their mouth move when they talk 😅 I watched a bit of this drama here & there, he really exaggerated his acting that it seems tryhard. Tbh, I don’t know why his acting is still bad when he’s been in the industry for years. Sometimes he raps, sometimes he acts, but he’s just bad at both. Not to mention he released a rap song talking about only he can play dfqc & his character in this dafeng drama before it even aired.
This is brutally honest and I love it!! Thank you very much for the honest review
Every comment is actually someone’s brutally honest opinion and not a fact!
@Rrrt, you hit the nail on the head, to the point.
I like it actually
Me too!
I am loving this drama. The main lead is brilliant in this role and is extremely funny. I’ve watched a few Chinese dramas and it’s too mushy and lovey dovey at times. It’s refreshing to watch a drama that isn’t too serious. I think the plot doesn’t get boring and I like the fact that it doesn’t stick to the same story because Chinese dramas tend to be very long.
Excellent performances from the cast. I love it!
Correct, Agreed,,
I want to be entertained when I watch a drama and its entertaining. I’ve read books written in this style of stories before so it doesn’t bother me in the drama.
I don’t know what the others were expecting. I actually don’t want a SINGLE plot point in my drama. It makes it so dreary so the very complaints people are complaining about are the things I like. Go find a historical drama which focuses on one thing to the last episode. Skip this drama then.
Ms Ockoala- I have a few serious dramas on my plate. They are boring the shit out of me but the acting is good. This is like a GA Aiken or a bouncy adventure movie sort of vibe. Everyone is slightly crazy or kooky. It’s light- hearted. It’s the school holidays. I want something zippy and fresh at the end of the day. This hits my sweet spot.
Exactly. I don’t know why people are even comparing this drama with The Double and Blossom when they’re obviously different genres. Even if we’re purely comparing the directing and camera work, it’s GOTDF > The Double > Blossom so far. I also find it funny that people would continue watching this type of frivolous isekai dramas after experiencing LGIEF and found it to be not their liking, I personally skip dramas which clearly aren’t the genres I like after watching the trailers.
I watched the drama for the entertainment value. The actors well they’re secondary. All in all this is like a summer popcorn movie, it’s entertaining. If you can gloss over some of the performance it’s alright.
This hasn’t been up to par with The Double and Blossom YET. I’m still following the drama hoping to see something interesting, but may drop anytime without feeling any misses. So far it’s a slew of mostly failing slapstic. I’m fine with Dylan’s lines and “accent,” but acting? Where? Sorry to say nowhere to see YET. LOL. He wasn’t funny at all as he tried so hard LOL. The only actor who’s funny is the one playing his immediate supervisor. So, I still got a few laughs from a few tropes. The scriptwriting and the directing are the biggest problems. Dylan’s styling in this drama doesn’t help at all. LOL.
On a side note. I read somewhere that Dylan got the ML because Xiao Zhan turned down the offer. I’m glad XZ did.
I think this story is strong already even though the FL not appear yet. Xu qian, his family and his comrades are already strong attraction to viewers.
Such a refreshing drama. I am enjoying this immensely. It was clever for WHD’s less than perfect pronunciation already being pointed out by his modern day colleague. His behaviour is consistent with a modern person who has transmigrated into ancient times. The world building is interesting and story set up is reasonable. I look forward to new episodes every day!
Even dramas aren’t in the same genre, you still can compare the craft in everything from writing to directing to acting. LOL. What’s the problem with the comparison? If it’s good, viewers will see the selling points that are convincing and a lot of viewers will rave about it. Some ppl just have low (or no) tolerance of opinions that differ. LOL
FL’s acting is pretty bad here. Her tone and expression is always the same from drama to drama. You can’t differentiate her characters in different stories. Dylan also has the worst acting here besides very boring plot. S budget? What a waste!!!! LOL. I quit after following 4 eps very patiently and starting to fast forward a lot through ep 10. Back to Kdrama and replaying Blossom sometimes while waiting for other new costume dramas in 2025. Happy New Year! Wish myself a fresh start with When the Phone Rings. LOL. I temporarily put WTPR on the back burner to watch addicting Blossom even WTPR is by far the most brilliant drama of 2024 I’ve ever watched so far. I just need to save the best for last.
The drama is quite entertaining which is mainly due to the many seasoned actors giving a top performance. The two academy masters fighting are just hilarious and the uncle is a real treat every time he comes on screen.
As for Dylan’s acting, it is bad. I don’t speak Chinese and even I can tell that his lines sound weird. His grimacing is exaggerated and I am unsure how much of that is due to comedic effect and how much is just bad acting. The styling in the first few episodes isn’t doing him any favours either, as it makes him look rather ugly.
Is it a S budget? Really? I see otherwise. But well, i’ve tried the first 3 episodes and this one wasnt my cup of tea. I didnt laugh at the entertainment area. But i wont compare it to the other dramas. I just quit.
Yeah, this type of drama isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I can see the props and sets look more elaborate but the CGI is average and even below average for some background scenes. Drama comparisons are okay, but this drama should be compared to similar dramas like Joy of Life and My Heroic Husband instead of romance dramas. Not to mention Blossom’s directing and script is not good at all, the scene transitions look like an intern’s shoddy work and the storyline broke down towards the end.
@Lilith, Happy New Year!! I hope this will be a good year for dramas! I am happy Xiao Zhan is back on screen…
@HL Happy New Year, may your wishes come true! 😊
I think Stephen Chow would be pleased to see his legacy continued with this period piece. The acting is mediocre, but I found myself laughing out loud several times. The girls are all very cute and funny. I look forward to each new episode
This drama is based on a novel. It closely follows the novel with minor changes. The story gets more intense and serious as it progresses. Every next adventure or battle is going to be greater than the previous ones. The main character is quirky, smart, cheeky and practical. He doesn’t take himself seriously. He isn’t pompous as most “heroic” main characters. Of course, there is a tremedous growth of the main character. All things that at first seem unrelated will gradually be explained and then the viewer can connect all the dots. There are a number of villains who haven’t appeared yet. Just because we aren’t given major spoilers in advance doesn’t mean it’s a standard plot where everything is clear from the beginning. I adore comedy here. It’s so entertaining. Wang He Di is very relaxed and acts well.
Dylan Wang has so much star power he doesn’t really need to have superior acting skills. In this case, he is perfect for the role. Besides, the supporting cast are awesome!
Dylan is a
Brilliant actor.. He’s amazing actor, so far so good
I didn’t know Dylan wang had a drama and im so glad I started watching. I didn’t have an expectation when I started it. but I love it so fair its one of those nonsense dramas that makes me so happy and laugh. I’ve been laughing so much since the frist episode. rarely do I go back to watch already watched episodes of an ongoing drama but it’s so funny. some might say the acting is bad but i think it’s great. I mean his in a different world then his own so his personal will be different he gives his character that Disassociation that’s needed. I love that and the other cast so far is so good and funny.
What really gets to me is how some complain how the drama is not like the novel to a T but like hello censorship won’t ever let the drama go as the novel to a T. His acting is ok but not ground breaking but this drama is hilarious and fairly interesting with the side characters and story building up. If anything the main female lead so far is a little off putting how they wrote her character. She is a good actress but it is hard to root for her character so far but I am sure her character will change as the story goes along. It did give me similar vibes of Joy of Life but I think it came from the same people that did Heroic Husband which also carries that similar environment of silly with dramatic and interesting plot development. It’s the drama I look forward to though right now because the dramas airing now are not so captivating to me right now.
The drama is average. Not great, not the worst. Dylan Wang acts like the ML is acting. This fits some scenes, but he does it for all the scenes. People call it variety show acting. Plot is all over the place, but the core is “male channel” with a harem of women and men fawning over him
I found the drama very entertaining and Dylan Wang was a perfect match for the male lead. I also know he is being attacked and criticized by haters and other actor’s fans. I would highly recommend you to watch it yourself and make your own decision and comment. You will found these haters and other fans negative comments on his acting skills, trying too hard, and his accent was terrible. These are all signs from the haters and from other actor’s fans. Do you know why? First, Dylan’s performance was very relaxed, nature, and very smooth especially on the comedy parts of the storyline. You can tell when these haters and actor’s fans attacked him for trying too hard or poor acting are all lies. They don’t even want you to at least watch one episode. They knew by watching at least the first episode you will like it and continue to watch it. The quality and special affects are very well made too. It’s one of the very rare Chinese drama that was very well made, very entertaining and most of all had great actors and actresses. Second, haters didn’t even bother to watch the drama before criticized it if they complained about his accent or Mandarin. His character was made it very clear that he was originally from Sichuan and a modern day real estate agent who didn’t pass the police academy exam. The drama even has a scene that which Dylan’s character manager is saying he needs to have perfect Mandarin to be a professional real estate agent from episode 1. It was specifically addressed Dylan’s may not be so perfect Mandarin but it wasn’t important because he time traveled in the storyline to the world of Dafeng. Third, you know they are haters and other actor’s fans if they mention the drama was slow and boring. Thats very funny because the drama was very fast-paced and very entertaining from episode 1. So, now you see where some of these negative comments and criticism came from please go watch it. You should be able to see what I just pointed out and be the judge for yourself. A great drama and great actor are not afraid of judging and criticisms. Dylan Wang’s performance and the drama high viewer ratings are facts and the truth on how the drama is currently doing very well around the world.
I was so hyped for the show before it aired as I like watching male lead centric dramas. but honestly it was a letdown. My main complaint isn’t even dylan wang cos I never expected anything more from him tbh, but everything about this drama was very shallow like it was just another idol drama centered around a male character. I was expecting Joy of life or sword snow stride 2.0 but what I got was just another idol drama which you can drop at any time.
Dylan wang obviously doesn’t know how to shape a character or how to pull off comedy but I would have stuck to it if the supporting cast were interesting. but supporting cast wasn’t good either, some of them were even worse than him. here i was scratching my head because I remember most of them from SSS and they were very good in it. so maybe the director is the one to blame. Its promotion doesn’t make sense to me too cos xinli was all out with its publicity before it aired but when it actually aired, they made zero effort to promote it. Im not even dylan wang’s fan but I can see why his fans are upset with xinli. You can see from the quality of the drama that xinli spent big money. what even is the point of spending so much money if they would act lukewarm when it actually aired??? are they laundering money or did they just want to set up dylan wang? Bro was even putting it in his song. I kinda even feel sorry for him.
It’s really good drama ,why people saying his acting was bad and his accent .he used his real voice where others are dubbing isn’t it good ? He is really a good actor can act cold and childish very well.he can rap well ,act and he is good in sports.GOTD was mixture of comedy, mystery,time travel, romantic also there but it’s not released yet
Couldn’t get past episode 2. The slapstick comedy and Dylan’s foot in mouth acting sealed the deal for me. Not to my taste at all, although some may like it. For me, it’s on to the next drama. To be brutally honest, I’ve never really resonated with Dylan’s acting, although in LBAFD, it was tolerable because of Esther’s strong chemistry with him. Here his acting reminds me of the flop drama Miss The Dragon. I’ve read that people say he is playing himself. I like him in variety shows which I think he does much better than acting.