Youku Announces Premiere of Period Politics and Revenge C-drama Legend of Zang Hai with Xiao Zhan and Zhang Jing Yi for May 18th
Well this is going to be a fulsome May of 2025, I’ll remember it well due to the fallow prior months in C-drama land and the potential for not just one hit drama but two. Youku has announced the airing of Legend of Zang Hai with top actor Xiao Zhan and successful drama actress Zhang Jing Yi for May 18th. I really disliked Xiao Zhan’s last drama the floofy xianxia The Longest Promise so I’m even more excited for him to deliver a dark, more serious, and hopefully intelligently scheming period piece based on the preview. Zhang Jing Yi is also a solid performer and better yet doesn’t come with liuliang fans or baggage or criticism of her visuals so thank goodness viewers don’t have to deal with any out the drama issues once the show premieres.
Preview for Legend of Zang Hai:
I did not know she was in this. I might just check it for her.
I am really looking forward to this!!!
Why you posting Xiao Zhan, only to put him down, seriously koala 🤡
Btw as the title, “The Legend of Zanghai” is the big ML drama, people know where to focus not on the shipping materials and CP, but on the interesting plots which made the drama even more exciting and unique. Esp in china.
Koala you sound too bitter for my taste. Try better next time.
@DramaNews and emoji
What are you talking about? Since when is saying “excited for him” and looking forward to this drama ‘bitter and putting him down?”
The Longest Slog was not good, IMO. I literally fell asleep watching some episodes. Even amongst fan circles, people have favorites and works that they don’t like. That doesn’t make them a hater or bitter or have bad taste. It just means they have different tastes. Though I do wonder about people that somehow yawned at the rest of Xiao Zahn’s well known oeuvre, and suddenly became a fan with The Longest Promise???
That said, I also am looking forward to The Legend of Zang Hai, as it looks like good and is the sort of drama I enjoy.
You really can’t win with some fan groups. Perhaps Koala shouldn’t post about him anymore to be on the safe side.
You really can’t. If they refuse to post or talk about XZ, they still get dragged, because they aren’t posting about him. smh
I’m excited, it’s been a while since Xiao Zhan’s previous drama.
By the way, Koala. The new layout’s comment section can be difficult to tell who’s replying to who. And I think the reply function is kind of wonky.
Mind you, c-fans are still discovering The Longest Promise and becoming new fans of Xiao Zhan bcs of it. It seems they have better taste than you at least. Anyway, I look forward to watching The Legend of ZangHai. Btw, Legend of ZangHai now has 8 million reservations and it looks like it will break the all time Youku record. Congrats to the cast and crew!
ZJY is perhaps my favorite actress among all XZ’s leading ladies. She had chemistry with her ML regardless of interesting dramas or not. I hope she and XZ deliver strong vibes too. Although romance may not be the focus of the plot, strong chemistry is a bonus for fans. XZ has been busy with activities off small screen for a while. I miss him on small screen. He will spend more time filming movies in the future. That means we will see him less in drama.
Youku has released several previews that looked really intriguing. There are vibes and something in these previews giving a snapshot of the synopsis that is what I really liked about the C dramas of early years, such as Bu Bu Jing Xin, Nirvana in Fire, and of course Empresses in the Palace. Those old Cdramas told not only fascinating stories, but also mirrored reality of court politics and had depth depicting humanity. It was very gratifying watching those classics. I don’t see that anymore in newer Cdramas. The current Cdramas are entertaining at best. That’s a shame. Given that this director’s reputation and strong supporting cast, I have very high expectation for ZHZ. Hopefully it’s not a disappointment. The premier comes in the right time when I’m back from an exciting hiking trip. Looking forward!
The director is the same as the one from Empresses in the Palace so you’re on point!
Good news for international fans. ZHZ will be aired on Disney+ too.
I believe Disney+ is only for Hong Kong and Taiwan region. VIU for Singapore FPT Play for Vietnam and international Youku for the rest of the countries. I’m hoping Netflix will pick up the drama globally after it’s been released for a few weeks, like they have done for some of the other Youku dramas.
I see. That’s a shame Hulu won’t upload the series. I hope Netflix will air it too. International Youku is more limited to Cdrama fans while Netflix can outreach to broader audience. The Untamed had been on Netflix for many years and it’s still by far the most streamed Cdrama on that platform.
I hope drama viewers will give The Legend of Zang Hai a chance this Sunday, May 18. The new drama is from director Zheng Xiaolong and the production team behind The Legend of Zhen Huan (Empresses in the Palace).
Like Zhen Huan, it’s a big male lead with a very strong ensemble cast with many talented senior actors and actresses. Wallace Chung and Michelle Chen will be making special appearances as the parents of the main character played by Xiao Zhen. It’s a big revenge drama about power struggle, court intrigue and geomancy (tomb building). Youku and CCTV 8 have been doing heavy promotions promoting the drama this past week with great expectations!
I was about to say the same about the comments’ section. Moreover, the thumbnails of the main page is also eliminated which makes it hard to follow the title.
Regarding the drama, I also read the news yesterday at YesAsia.ru. Hope it would be good. I personally prefer serious plot lines.
I hope it’s good. So far, Youku’s been disappointing like Iqiyi.
I was referring to @Lilith comment.
And I meant *are eliminated* not *is*. Wish the comments had edit button.
Oh look Koala with yet another bitter anti-post about Xiao Zhan. I at least hope you are getting good money for that because this is just embarrassing. Do you like looking pathetic?
@Moocy thanks for your explanation. I get more optimistic about this new drama. Empresses in the palace is one of my top 10 favorite c dramas (it has also scored 8.5 @ imdb) and I hope this one could be that good. Fingers crossed. I got disappointed with LOCH: the hero. Though ML’s acting wasn’t the problem there.
@Gelar Empresses was a huge and very beloved Chinese drama! The cast and the writing was stellar and storyline was amazing. You won’t be disappointed with ZHZ either. It has the grand sweeping storyline as Empresses with a top tiered cast, production team and huge investments and promotions too.
I’ve read part of the script and I can telling you it’s a suspenseful revenge drama full of mysteries, intrigue and heartbreak. The footages they have released so far give me very optimistic and exciting feelings, especially the scenes that I have read come to life with faithful and vibrant adaptation! And XZ’s acting will continue to impress as he challenges himself in this new drama helmed by one of the best Chinese director.
Not a fan of his previous drama but hereyy, it’s xiao zhan, no matter what, he’s gonna make this drama popular. And i like both actors, their visuala, omg… cant wait for this drama. I really love XZ’s serious era. He looks damn hot. When thinking about a novel male lead, i always think of him, lol.
The preview looks good 👍 just what I am looking for. Good looking characters with intriguing plots. I think Xiao Zhan is really suited for this role. Cool, ambiguous, intense.
I have not seen Zhang Jing Yi yet but I am looking forward to her character which seems interesting. And yes she is pretty too
So excited to watch LOZH tomorrow. I am loving all the promotions for this drama these days.
He is going to soon start filming for the Daylight drama called SpyING. Hopefully we can see this drama next year.
I thought that was a film. But nope? A drama? Nonetheless, I hope it’s not a period drama that I usually avoid.
Ahh, I was trying to make the previous comment as a reply to Somebody. Sorry, I think messed up and now I can’t delete it. 🥲
Anyways, if you like the trailers then please watch Legend of Zang Hai tommorow on youku.
Can’t wait for this drama, The legend of Zanghai already made history as the highest reservations with 8.45 M people on youku with heats already on 6770 today, with the speed, it is possible to get 9 M tomorrow. Everyone just excited to see Xiao Zhan is gray character XD
@Moocy I also liked empresses very much. Its production quality and robust script spoke for itself. And if I remember correctly Ruyi’s royal love was its sequel. The images of legend of ZanHai that I saw also made good impression on me and look quite promising. So I am looking forward to watching it. It has been a while I couldn’t find a C drama to my liking.
BTW I have a question. Does C dramas also publish their scripts (with its deleted/cut scenes) online like western dramas do? There are some C dramas that I have watched but there were parts of them I didn’t understand (probably due to some parts being lost in translation or cultural barriers) and I would like to read them to help me understand what happend. Thank you in advance.
@Gelar From what I understand, there are some official scripts that were released by the production drama team but most of cdrama scripts floating out in the web are unofficial leaks from the drama staff. And these scripts could be from the early revisions of the script and not the final one. But at the same time, even these leaked scripts do provide context about scenes that may have been filmed but were cut due to time constraints, changed during filming or did not pass review due to censorship. If you can find a reliable source for the script, then I highly recommend reading to better understand the drama.
Even with the same reputable director for ZHZ, you may expect to see many negative reviews about this new dramas cuz XZ got many antis and they have been working 24/7 pretty hard to bring him down. LOL.
No matter what the fans will find a way to put their two cents in. It is what it is lol. So easily offended.
Koala, may I give you a minor suggestion about this new look of the blogs? I can tell each response to the OP in each thread is indented, which is good but not enough. Does your web design app (or software) allow you to indent more for all the responses to each OP? That would make it easier to follow discussions. Thanks.
I browsed a bit of ep1 set off with sexy actor, Wallace Chung LOL. What was he doing there as a supporting actor? It looked intriguing and the setting design had more classical drama approaches rather than relying on recycled concepts of design that are being abused in many short dramas. There is still some CGI but at least doesn’t negatively overwhelm the entire backdrops of cinematography that looks lazy and cheap like in many costume dramas, e.g., The Prisoner of Beauty. I can see the production team made much effort on the filming sets, not just relying on green screens, which I like.
This is only my initial impression of the drama based upon the filming sets minutes into ep1. Yet to watch the drama and see if it’s as interesting as the previews advertised.
On a side note, useless for antis to give negative reviews or mock XZ, desperately trying to bring him down again and over again. It’s been proven that he can carry dramas alone regardless of other negative factors for the dramas to be good or popular. The industry and investors know that pretty well. His thriving career, expansion into movies, and plenty of new projects seeking him out as the ML is an undeniable fact. Antis like it or not, the bitterness about XZ only lingers on their keyboard and has no influence. Antis only get comfort in their brains of pea size LOL.
I love ep 1. It’s intense with some fantasy elements to start off. Kudos to Wallace Chung and Michelle Chen as XZ’s parents for their great acting. Their brief screen time just in one ep had the maximal impact on viewers like me to be ready for hero’s journey for revenge. The buildup of the emotions in the scenes they got murdered was so convincing and a very powerful introduction to what is gonna evolve around the hero played by XZ. Kudos to these two veterans’ heartfelt performances. Overall, the series had a very intriguing and solid start to woo me to follow. The only minor flaw was the dubbing was not in sync sometimes. I hope the issue would disappear in the latter eps.
BTW, I don’t have to worry about lead actors’ visuals for this drama. For actors without looks for costumes, I really hope they look up to K actors, many of who don’t have looks as MLs for romantic roles but have won fans’ heart for their great acting. That being said, I do think visuals are essential for leading actors in costume dramas.
I watched the first four episodes, so far the story is very paint by numbers nothing new. Plus I don’t like how they explain and spoon feed you after every ‘trick’ or scene as if the audience are idiots.
Plus it’s not very believable that the male lead goes from being a naive bumpkin and getting tricked left and right by his 2nd master and the female lead in one scene to a scheming strategist in the next scene.
He isn’t naive per say, he is just pretending. His character should look like a people pleaser’but not naive.
He isn’t naive per say, he is just pretending. His character should look like a people pleaser’but not naive.