Investigation Thriller Modern C-drama Eight Hundred with Xu Kai and Veteran Ding Yong Dai Airs to Praise and Solid Viewership
This isn’t my typical C-drama genre that interests me but it’s still positive news to share and may even tempt me to watch. Tencent modern thriller investigation and police C-drama Eight Hundred (方圆八百米 Fang Yuan Ba Bai Mi) with Xu Kai paired with veteran Ding Yong Dai and young actress Deng En Xi premiered end of last month on April 26th and has been a surprise bright spot for the platform and the industry. It’s gotten strong reviews for directing and story and veteran Ding Yong Dai, and the surprise is the positive acting praise for idol actor Xu Kai. The Weibo rating of 8.2 is a great indicator and when the Douban ratings come out it should validate the strong reviews, and within Tencent it got as high as 24,000 heat index which is high for this dark and serious genre. I’m glad Xu Kai has delivered an improvement in his attempt to shed his pretty boy image especially after a slew of dramas where he just seems stuck in a rut.
I’ve also seen a lot of praise for him. The drama had no marketing and visibility. Popularity is pretty great depending on audience enthusiasm means good. I read Yuzheng say he had nothing to do with and he wasn’t optimistic about. He was surprise about people raving on xu kai acting trend lmfao. Yuzheng doesn’t really want his artist development.
ANYWAY I love crime and serious drama. I’ll give it a chance. I have nothing else to watch right now.
So happy for them! Always nice to hear about unexpected success and about idol actors doing something different. Xu Kai actually looks attractive like this.
oh i am happy for xu kai– this is the type of drama I usually what during weekends.
I’ve just watched 2 episodes of Eight Hundred and he did well so far. Xu Kai has always been one of the more versatile actors, that’s why I like him (besides visuals 😛). Although his acting is on-off depending on his chemistry with his female leads in past romance dramas, this drama doesn’t focus on romance so it brought out the best in him.
I’m willing to believe he played well. Cnetz is so critical and petty. They’re ready to go down to the pitch and fire live rounds. It’s incredible they’re making you trend for your good acting. They even made someone trend because of heavy foundation ROFL. I can never forget. A huge positive breakthrough. Using his original voice is also good for nomination. He can be proud.
I wouldn’t generalize C-netz because there’s many sides to their criticisms. Some criticisms were valid ones made by the real general public while others were made by antis and water armies. The foundation general issue I stand with C-netz, and that issue wasn’t really about putting on too much foundation, it’s more on how an actor focused more on making his character’s visuals and actions look pretty instead of realistic acting.
Xu Kai’s case confirms to us that C-netz do recognize good acting and actors.
Just done watching this drama. Man, it’s good. Very solid production with good directing, story, and acting. The cat-and-mouse game, plenty of twists and turns. Shame there isn’t much marketing for it, but then again, dramas of this genre usually don’t get much marketing. Xu Kai excelled in this drama.
I jumped into it without watching the trailers/reading the synopsis and was shocked at the reveal at the end of ep 1 that…
Xu Kai’s Chen Hui is the villain and we know how villains end up in any chinese drama. I was shocked too when ep 2 revealed the other villain.
And so I didn’t want to continue watching knowing what was to come. But the good reviews came in and I couldn’t resist watching some more. I’m now at ep 7 and the previously absurd side-villains now feel more dangerous and I can feel the restrained, but overwhelming panic that engulfs Chen Hui and Songge.
This could be a career-defining milestone for him, just as Yanxi Palace, to a certain extent was. There are plenty of idol actors/actress who want to shed their idol image but can’t seem to find the right match (strong drama script plus good production values) to do so.
The chief producer and director were explaining why they chose Xu Kai for the project (I’m paraphrasing but something about how they needed an actor who can show both the innocence and idealism of youth vs the gradual wearing away of it as life takes you over and over to a more somber reality). They were singing praises too with how he willingly threw himself into the role (darkening his skin, letting saliva drip when the scene needed it, learning rollerskating etc.)
Where does he go from here? I hope he can find more projects where he can show his acting chops without going too dark and oppressively heavy. It’s a very hard balance.
Why would you spoiled things ! Not cool
Hmmm. I put a huge spoiler mark before and after the part that was meant to be hidden but it somehow didn’t appear on the post.
Also, in my defense, it isn’t exactly a spoiler, it’s there right smack on the trailers and synopsis.
Investigative thriller is my genre. But C-ent has a poor track record of producing truly compelling investigative thrillers. Those I tried to watch were snoozefest. I just gave up checking. XK as the ML doesn’t help. lol. He has a very limited acting range. The one drama where he did a better job was Wonderland of Love. But he wasn’t magnetic enough to keep me engaged until the finale. Without my fav, I’m not much interested in C modern drama.
I suggest checking it out until at least episode 6 or 7. Even if you don’t end up liking the genre/story, I think you’ll walk away with a changed mind about his acting range.
I may give a shot since I don’t dislike him as many people do. So far, his performance all felt phoned in. C-dramas have let me down so many times. It’s frustrating to start a new one only to end up dropping it halfway through.
@Snails Don’t bother with @Somebody, she’s here solely for criticizing C-ent, C-dramas and China.
A modern C-drama I can recommend is Twelve Letters.
Maybe Reborn (2025) depending on if you can bear sad themes.
“Do not answer a fool according to her folly, or you yourself will be just like her.”
LOL
And you have answered many times, fool 😂
“Answer a fool according to her folly, or she will be wise in her own eyes.” lmao
I’m replying to you this time, bozo!
Yeah that’s why I reply to you, lest you will be wise in your own eyes. 😂
I’m not sure if I myself am wise or not. But I’m 100% sure you’re thick. lol
That’s because you are thick. 😂