The discussion of the two Chinese Paladin drama adaptations airing at the same time and both flopping with CP4 Sword and Fairy 4 and CP6 Sword and Fairy at least has two different casts. Unfortunately for C-actress Song Yi Ren (Irene Song) she has two dramas that premiered at the same time with period time-travel drama A Different Princess airing first then a few days late the modern romance drama My Perfect Girl dropping and unfortunately for her both are duds. Unlike the higher budget two CP dramas, at least her two dramas are both relatively small budget streaming only dramas intended to just some make money but no one on the production team expected much anyways. The same thing happened to her last year with The Inextricable Destiny, also small budget and came and went without much notice. She was supposed to breakout with Ever Night and never did, same gen C-actress Tian Xi Wei has seen her star rise in one direction to likely top billing her next big budget drama. I can’t say I disagree with how the drama fates have panned out, I do not get Song Yi Ren’s appeal whatsoever, she’s not a bad actress, she’s got a cute appeal, but she always comes across like a teen trying to play an adult and I can’t get into her characters or romances.
She does really look like a kid, probably would be better to capitalize on school drama
So January was the month of failed projects… hopefully february will be better. So far “Amidst a snowstorm of love” with Wu Lei and Zhao Jin Mai is on its way to become the first big hit of 2024. They just broke 28000 heat index on Tencent.
I have difficulty taking Song YiRen seriously. She always looks on the verge of fainting.
Amidst a Snowstorm is getting boring without highs and lows. The story is flat and slow paced. Is there even a plot? LOL. The directing of camera shots isn’t very interesting or creative. But shooting on site with real scenes does help; I can see that’s appealing to domestic viewers in China. I’m watching it simply for good chemistry between Wu Lei and Zhao Jin Mai. But I’m not sure if I’ll continue given that so many good K dramas are airing now and there’re more on the way.
Watch Judge Dee’s Mystery, it is a enjoyable drama so far.
That is the issue with chinese modern drama, there is hardly any plot in them just sweet romance which eventually becomes boring if u r someone who enjoy a story with some depth. They honestly need to start limiting their mordern dramas 20 eps. And ZJM fans r going to come for me on this but she is too green for this role, she comes of has stiff, wide eyed , jumpy and scared in their intimate scenes together, so far with this role am not impress with her acting, I feel Lei is doing all the work on this one
@Mercy, recent idol romance have been just so boring and long winded … I am taking a break from Cdrama romance for now.
I feel like that’s the case for a lot of Mo Bao Fei Bao adapted novels. Nothing happens, just sugar and sweet. Same thing with Love Me Love My Voice with Zhou Ye and Tan Jianci. The plot is thin… nothing really happens. I didn’t even bother watching this one even though I think they look cute together.
@Mercy OMG, I may also get flack for this but something is off for me as well when I was watching their scenes. At first I can’t really pin-point it because it’s not like there’s no chemistry (there is!) or that they can’t act (they can!). Perhaps it’s difference in sexual intensity, IDK? Like, Wu Lei is extruding such a passionate and smothering intensity and Zhao Jin Mai is like so chaste and puppy-love…It could be Zhao Jin Mai’s character or her portrayal of the FL lead…I am really not sure intentional or not…
aasol is largely plotless (which seems to be typical of this authors works anyway). and at this point you’re either in for the leads or out. luckily, i’m in and i could just probably watch them stare at each other and be okay with it. it’s a nice drama to watch when winding down. i love both and i do think zjm’s portrayal is clearly intentional because her character is shy and hesitant about a lot of things but you can tell by the newer episodes she’s gotten more comfortable and (very) slightly more assertive. there’s something really natural about their chemistry that i just enjoy watching. i do think it would be nice to see both actors in something a bit heavier and more plot-heavy because i know they can bring it acting-wise and this show isn’t necessarily asking a lot out of the as actors.
@Mercy & ilikehim, hahaha I can see your points. Yes, some of their intimate scenes made me nervous somehow. LOL. It might be attributed to ZJM’s stiff or awkward responses. Yes, agreed.
Hey I am also chiming in on this one… I am not enjoying this drama. Wu Lei’s gazing is not romantic at all, he looks like he wants to eat the FL. On the other hand, the FL is like a little girl not yet ready for love, but just wanting some fun with the boys… Totally not into this CP at all.
I take it as a normal love story between two decent young people. I mean what I saw in the teasers is not different from what I see in the drama. Plain simple
@HL, I did watch the first ep of Judge Dee’s Mystery. Not up my alley. I can’t take seriously a typical character reek of exaggeration in one’s intelligence and abilities with cases solved too easy. Same for Mysterious Lotus Casebook. So I’ve never considered MLC a good drama.
Snowstorm of Love a hit?
With failing ratings? Nah.
Failing ratings ? Lol if anything the numbers are showing otherwise 🤷♂️
big hit ? it is indeed popular but obviously not a big hit.
For Tencent at least yes. They are getting close to 30000 heat index on their plateforms. I think they are happy with the numbers
A Different Princess’s failure wasn’t her fault IMO. Her leading man is EXTRAORDINARILY ugly. LMAO. I’m so puzzled how he got a leading role given that there’re still quite a few experienced actors out there who have much better visuals. I don’t speak about other dramas of SYR though since I either didn’t watch or have never finished any one of them.
C-ent has come to a point inundated with low quality dramas; actors aren’t up to par; scripts are badly written; directing is sloppy; settings look fake like make-believe. China’s economy is in a very bad shape with no signs of improvement. It should be better for them to just concentrate capital in the investment in fewer dramas to perhaps enhance average quality. Many actors aren’t qualified for leading roles, even 2nd leads. These eyesores on screen shouldn’t waste investors’ money and let the market decide their appropriate place.
I agree that they should capitalise on fewer dramas going forward. And focus on production team that actually cares to tell a story or creat something good.But the disadvantage of this is that some of the actors and actress will be left unemployed. So I guess that why they keep on producing dramas to get everyone something to do n get them some income too and beside some of this low production has brought about some good actress now, so I see why they can’t stop producing these dramas , thinking on both ends of the spectrum here.
Yup! These perspectives you mentioned are something perhaps in their consideration. I was talking from viewers angles only. China’s underperformed economy really has ripple effects in every field.
You win some, you lose some. I am not a fan of hers and could only stand her acting in Ever Night 1 (because she was playing a somewhat child-like character) but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch her in a drama. I saw her acting in The Prince of Tennis and didn’t care to watch her other dramas. So when I saw these two dramas, they were a hard pass for me. I’m sure she has her fans and admirers. But truth be told, January was a really slow month for Cdramas. Hopefully February picks up from there.
This is an odd post,I doubt she was ever meant to break out like Tian Xiwei who is much younger? FYI this actress appeared on healing program Wonderland S3 after Dylan Wang invited her and proclaimed her his best friend in entertainment surprisingly. On the show she said she constantly faces rejections from auditions because she’s “not pretty enough” and has severe appearance anxiety due to it. After I saw that segment I felt bad because I recall thinking that she looked plain for an idol drama FL in Ever Night before. She turns 31 in 2024 so she is too old for school dramas, it’s tricky but hopefully she finds her niche in career, lifestyle or family dramas like a lot C-actresses do in their 30s. Not everyone has to get successful in idol dramas, there are a lot of trained actresses who skip idol dramas and focus on finding success in 正剧 like Reyizha, Tong Yao, Huang Yao, Rachel Mao, Zhang Xiaofei, Xing Zhilei, Bu Guanjin, Gao Ye. A lot of these actresses find fame only in their 30s but are more well regarded than idol drama actresses. Song Yiren’s “plainer” visuals suit family or lifestyle dramas more than idol dramas and she’d look the part acting as a young modern career woman or some 1950s villager in China.
https://dramapanda.com/2023/07/not-pretty-enough-song-yiren-reveals-she-gets-anxious-about-her-appearance.html this is the post
Thank you for your nuanced take on Song Yiren and the tricky situation she is in considering industry expectations for looks and her age. She’s also at that weird intersection where she looks like a teen sometimes and like a woman entering her 30s at other times.
She’s a decent actress and can be compelling to watch sometimes. I’m also hoping she finds her way into other genres. As grateful as she must be for the roles she gets, she must be tired of playing the cute ingenue. Still, I’m glad that there are some dramas willing to take her on, even if they’re low budget web dramas. At least there is some exposure somewhere until a director outside of the idol drama world takes notice.
A Different Princess was filmed years ago. I wonder what the hold-up was in airing it.
The hold up was probably due to the male lead’s scandal.
I agree, I like her she’s quite a dynamic actress. She was good in Ever Night S1 and I enjoyed Inextricable destiny quite a bit. I just started My Special Girl to check out Leon Zhang who is the male lead of Fox spirit matchmaker 2, so far it’s old school fluff and both seem a bit old for this type of story. Song Yiren would benefit from a good stylist to transition to more mature roles. She reminds me of Wang Ziwen from A Snail falls n love.
I thought Different Princess was enjoyable and FL and ML both very likeable! Low budget but really zipped along. Each to their own.
Song Yi Ren is not really FL quality. She just happens to be in C-drama at the right place at the right time when they were looking for an actress who is small and short, looking like a child but is not, to play the Ever Night character. Ever Night 1 is a success probably because of all the famous supporting cast. Ever Night 2 is a flop. After Ever Night, SYR cannot settle into any character that fits her style possibly because she does not any style by looking like a kid. In Different Princess, her real age is showing with eye bags and poor skin… also not helping is the terrible ML… all their scenes look so cringy. The ML in My Special Girl is a lot better, but I just do not understand why she always wears those ugly shorts even to work… Stop acting like a child when she is no longer one… Yikes.
She’s not pretty enough to be a female lead in an idol drama imo. I won’t want to watch her unless the script is very good. Agree with the comments that she should seek a carer path in other genres.
I dont know but her acting is boring. I haven’t finished anything with her.
Anyways, Amidst a Snowstorm of love is good. Their acting and chemistry are on fireee. Im not a fan of MBFB’s books but for this time, i enjoy this story.
I hope it’ll hit daebaaaakk. Fighting!!!
Don’t judge a book by its cover , ok!
There’s one costume drama of Song Yiren that’s still not aired – Her Fantastic Adventures with Guo Junchen. Don’t know why it didn’t get a go signal for release.
Good visuals is one of the main selling points in idol dramas but Song Yiren doesn’t have the looks to pull it off. She looks, dresses and behaves like a plucky pre-teen in all her dramas so I’m never interested. I did like Evernight 1 but that was bc everyone else was good.
She’s in her 30’s now… maybe start to embrace other genres where she can find and show off her strengths. Why keep beating a dead horse?