Tencent Period Drama The Road to Splendor with Ding Yu Xi and Deng En Xi Gets More Good Reviews than Viewership with Solid 7.1 Douban Ratings
Last month August Tencent air dropped The Road to Splendor, a A-budget period romance and politics C-drama starring Ding Yu Xi and Deng En Xi. Overall it slid under the radar, getting more strong reviews than bringing in viewership based on how well made it was. This one felt like the quality was there, the acting was validated, and the leads had chemistry, so I think it would have done better if the leads had bigger fandoms and more popularity to bring in casual viewers who check out dramas solely on recognizing a lead or two. It didn’t help that the drama felt more serious and quiet in tone and story, lacking the pizzazz and exciting screen grabs that can create an immediate hook. The drama got a very respectable 7.1 Douban rating which may bolster it having decent longevity on the streaming platforms as more people may end up watching it in one go now that it’s done and folks are looking for quality fare to watch.
I am at episode 23, I love it! It is not Pursuit of Jade, but it is great, the story, the actress that plays the female lead is fantastic, the music, not everything was filmed in a studio. Way better series than Blossoms of Power, that in my opinion is a snoozefest
This is another of his dramas that has good reviews… but I have not warm to him yet.. such a shame. Those artiste I like are just not in great dramas..
The quality is good but it had too many stressful character situations that made my blood boil. I will watch it fully later when I find myself in the mood for it.
Even for Chinese novels, I drop stories with too intense storyline. Mentally tiring.
They threw every sad thing and the kitchen sink for the two leads to endure. The historical aspect of the salt distribution was very well-done but gads, there was just a long road of misery.
I had to drop it midway for one because the story was getting a bit boring, but mainly because of Ding Yuxi’s overly effeminate styling that was incredibly irritating and pulled me right out of the story every time he appeared.
His character was supposed to be a rough salt smuggler turned military man, but he wore more eye-shadow than the female lead! This may be passable in a xianxia, but it has no place in a historical costume drama.
I actually started watching this because I quite like him, but both the way the character was written (bland) and his looks were a disappointment. Deng Enxi, on the other hand was unexpectedly pleasant to watch..
Oh, I missed this one! I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks.
Currently, I’m addicted to Against the Current, starring Tan Songyun and Liu Xueyi. I never expected to like their dramas. TSY actually turned me off in her Xianxia drama with Hou Minghao, but I think she has found her niche. Just like Ren Min, she needs to avoid playing sweet, bubbly characters in genres like Xianxia. Honestly, I kind of wish I hadn’t started watching AtC yet because it leaves me unsatisfied every day, just longing for more episodes! lol.
Now, I can check out The Road to Splendor while waiting for AtC to release new episodes.
I dropped it 10 minutes into the first episode. 💀 I just can’t take DYX’s acting or visuals seriously. lol
I won’t trust douban rating to be honest. It seems like this drama was produced to promote a no-name actress by using a more popular actor, that’s why the male lead’s scenes felt disjointed. I’m not sure if it’s the script or the acting, but the female lead was unbearable to watch later on that I had to drop this drama. Most viewers must have felt the same way too because the female lead’s character popularity is lower compared to even supporting characters which is unusual.
They were a very successful CP in Melody of Golden Age, that’s why they were picked for this drama. And often the female lead is less popular on those indexes, unless she’s a bigger traffic star.
I won’t say their cp is very successful. A very successful cp would be like mzy x lyr, xz x wyb, etc. Compared to other s or s+ dramas produced by tencent, only this drama casted an obscure actress as its female lead. The actresses that starred as Mdm Yu & Lady Zuo are not traffic stars too, yet their character popularity on tencent is higher than the female.
LOL! I didn’t say it was an iconic, bestest ever CP of all C-Ent throughout time. It’s like his second most successful pairing, behind Esther, and both of their fans know them. The point is, she’s not an obscure actress and Tencent has been reuniting previously successful couples in productions lately. You do realize that most of those popularity charts are about viewer engagement, not whether or not a character is liked or not? The supporting characters you mentioned are villains / antagonists, aren’t they? They are literally characters people love to hate.
Love this, and it’s the first drama this year that I finished. Deng Enxi is usually solid (except in MOGA, but I think it’s more about how her character is written), I admit I’m biased because I’ve always liked her, but her acting here truly exceeds even my expectation. Such a maturity at such a young age. She has the classical beauty very fitting for period dramas, and the way she carries herself with grace is indeed very pleasant to look at. I’ve warmed up to Ding Yuxi since MOGA, and here I think he’s very solid. There were some criticism earlier about his acting, but I did think it was his deliberate decision to show his character growth — from a salt smuggling commoner to a high rank palace official. I agree, though, about his cakey makeup.