Republic Era Toxic Romance C-drama The Lament of Autumn with Cheng Lie and Xu Ruo Han to Premiere Monday October 12th
So this is the second big Republic era C-drama to arrive in just the span of a few months so let’s see if The Lament of Autumn (Yu Dian Qiu 玉簟秋) will manage to be better than Overdo. Lucky for it the bar isn’t high at all to be better, but unfortunately from the previews it looks like the same toxic warlord-pretty young student romance, and this time with like 99% chance of actually being rapey. Starring Cheng Lei and Xu Ruo Han, he’s leaning hard into the My Journey to You level of crazy eyes staring and intensity and she’s just…..there. She’s forever pretty enough to be but between her truly distracting huge veneers and limited acting range I’ve yet to find a drama or role of hers that interesting enough to overlook the shortcomings. But I’m always game for a toxic romance and viewers are already calling Cheng Lei’s character the Republic era warlord version of Jing Bo Ran’s Luke/Luan Nian in The Early Spring. Kinda not amused the burning red flag level male lead seems to be “in” lately.
Preview for The Lament of Autumn:
Both of them have strong backers/connection. One is from iQiyi-affiliated and the other is from He Song (founded by Lin Bing Bing). The c-ent is still trying to make them happen with good resources.
At least CL start from the side character in short drama to get to where he is now
Where he is now? He’s still not popular especially with how c-ent is trying so hard to make him happen.
Add Jackie Chan to Xu Ruohan’s backer and there’s also another veteran actor I forgot the name who is friends with her parents.
Stereotypical of republican era stories with warlords and revenge themed. Not really surprising. But most of these dramas source material is usually rapey. Which is why I gave up reading most source material now or novels based on dramas in general. She was good in that one drama with miles Wei. Her teeth really are distracting though lol. I like the main male lead but will wait to hear how this drama unfolds before watching.
When will cent going to stop trying to make this guy happen? It is and will not be successful, FFS. There is so much promo for this dog poop toxic fest over on Chinese side that it is ridiculous considering nobody freaking cares.
You, as an audience, need to know what it is you actually want: good actors, or names that only serve to drive up the numbers? LOL.
The only drama of hers that I enjoyed was Perfect & Casual. She was still totally green and her chemistry with WZM was good.
I think Where the Mask Ends will come out the same time so it’ll be interesting to see which drama draws more viewers.
To me, Where the Mask Ends has more interesting lead actors. Plus, there’s never been a successful Republic-era drama so far, regardless of the cast.
Tian Xi Wei has acting chops. Yan An is subpar, but the audience will likely appreciate his physique. Visually, he looks like a “convincing” warrior, given that he is 186cm and muscular. But if his screen presence fails to capture a certain aura, then good looks can’t cover up all the work. LOL. Just like Xin Yunlai in The Glory – he was a disaster. And to think Fang Yilun turned down the role.🥲
Cruel Romance, starring Joe Chen (Jiang Li’s stepmother in The Double) and Huang Xiaoming, is considered a commercial success. The Disguiser also achieved numbers that are pleasing to investors and production companies. LOL. I’m sure there are more Republican-era dramas that fall into this “category.”
My definition of “success” in terms of convincing narratives and filming quality. lol.
That republic-era drama starring Joe Chen and Huang Xiaoming was a clown show. I’ve never taken it seriously although I liked some of JC’s Taiwanese dramas. lol
I didn’t take it seriously either, but the numbers are impressive (which is what the industry values above all else). LOL. If they cared about artistic merit, we wouldn’t have an exorbitant number of folks who shouldn’t even be considered actors, or plots that look like they were written by teens on Wattpad.
I don’t think there’s any competition. Historical dramas are just so much more popular. Nobody really likes watching republican dramas unless they are really well written like The Disguiser. The last romance themed republican drama that was a hit is Too Late to Say I Love You, which is 16 years ago.
a skip for me.
This girl has a pretty face but has distant somehow cold vibe whenever I check her dramas.She has a way of acting like I cant feel or see character but instead her in whatever character at that moment..
Cheng Lei has delivered solid performances in several dramas, so I consider him a consistently credible actor. Xu Ruo Han has spent years demonstrating that she isn’t ready to be a lead.
I checked it out purely for Cheng Lei’s sake. But man, the plot is trash right from the get-go, just as expected. Someone in the industry seriously needs to revolutionize this genre. Lol.
I don’t see XRH as lead material. Her on screen presence leaves much to be desired.