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Modern Youth Romance C-drama Our Generation with Zhao Jin Mai and Zhang Ling He Airs to Unimpressive Viewership and Reviews

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

Awwww, such a bummer that the little lightning that made The Princess Royal such a solid watch didn’t hit twice in their second outing. Zhao Jin Mai and Zhang Ling He reunited to film Our Generation immediately after TPR aired last year and maybe in their haste didn’t fully vet this drama plot out because OG is being called a flop after it aired. There is some buzz but comparatively low to their prior work and to other currently airing dramas, and the two doing promotions hasn’t helped buoy more viewership. The issue seems to be with the plot – they are not believable as high school students, the parents are annoying, and recent episodes they spend more onscreen time apart then together. If the second half gets better I’ll still check in and marathon once it’s over because I adore these two leads together but am glad I’m glad to hold off any not get aggravated from a weak start.

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Modern Youth Romance C-drama Our Generation with Zhao Jin Mai and Zhang Ling He Airs to Unimpressive Viewership and Reviews — 40 Comments

  1. The main issue is still with the episodes being reduced imo. Story-wise and acting are okay, ZJM and ZLH’s chemistry is still there albeit watered down because they don’t have many scenes together. The scenes and time skips are regrettable, although they don’t turn me off from continuing to watch the drama, they still marred my experience.

  4. A complete flop.

    ZJM is attacking both Daylight and ZLH for it. I hope she really has the impressive backing that she thinks she has because Daylight isn’t some two bit nugu company.

    Oh and she sucked, hard, in the drama. A black hole of charisma and terrible acting.

    • Lol. In any case, Zhang Linghe has been attacking himself for quite some time now because of his acting poverty. Aside from Maiden Holmes, he has been mediocre.

      Zhao Jinmai is similar — she started her career with charisma, but it faded soon and now there is only inconsistency to offer.

      I have a soft spot for both of them and tend to watch their dramas with the hope that they will regain what they lost (?)

      To pretend that one of the two is talented, but is being absorbed by the other, is utterly risible.🤣

      • His fandom has always been like this. Everything he does wrong is everyone else’s fault. They have even blamed the weather.🤷‍♀️

      • Lmao I didn’t mention him at all, damn you ZJM fans are so pressed. She is the one trying to throw the pot at him and the production company, sorry, you are going to have to deal with her facing the music and people realising what kind of a trash person she is.

        He had less screen time and he definitely isn’t accusing Daylight of being at fault so I didn’t comment on him but to appease you pressed ZJM stans, no, he isn’t a better actor than she is. He sucks too. He does have charisma on screen though, unlike her.

        And he is obviously smarter than her because he isn’t attacking one of the biggest and most prestigious production companies in China.

      • @Good luck, a big LOL! I didn’t even comment anything in favor of her or her performance but you were quickly ready to pretend I did. So the one who is pressed is you. You can’t even concentrate on reading properly because your adrenaline is pumping fast. It’s still laughable.

        By the way, why are you always pretending to be different users? Are you trying to run a one-man campaign? LOL.

      • Zhao Jin Mai acting was really good in Reset, Bleach and Yesterday. I even have some fondness for her in Snowstorm. But She just doesn’t work with Zhang Ling He.

    • Is ZJM blaming the company for the episode cuts, or how is she attacking Daylight? And that’s an unusual thing to do in C-ent, regardless, no? Burning bridges and all, and with her still not really super established in her career yet.

    • Lie again, It’s ZLH team that has been attacking the drama calling it a fraud because he wasn’t in every episode. ZJM team has been promoting it all by themselves while his fans are screaming boycott. Now you’re turning the true story around ?

  5. I don’t think they look like high schoolers either even though both leads are young. Not feeling the chemistry and both the story and acting are so lackluster. I don’t think C-ent makes modern dramas as well as it makes costume dramas. Maybe that’s why all the hits are costume.

    • There were a few hits from school/youth dramas, but not of the same scale as costume dramas. Love O2O, The Whirlwind Girl, A Love So Beautiful, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, Go Ahead etc. I may have mixed up some dramas though as I didn’t watch all of them.

      • I continue to get my modern drama fix from the West and occasionally K-ent or J-ent. I want a proper modern drama from C-ent, not idol or youth, but grown adults with careers facing societal challenges and going through heartache and breakup… basically slice-of-life style. Do you know of any?

      • I had enjoyed a great number Youth dramas, and those were really enjoyable. Such a shame this drama’s review is bad.

      • Not necessarily slice-of-life style, but All is Well, Imperfect Victim, Sunshine by My Side, and The Ideal City are few that came into my mind.

      • I’ve actually seen two of them already. I’ll check out Sunshine By My Side and The Ideal City and see if either sticks. Thanks!

  6. The problem is not with them not looking like high schoolers but the plot, kept flooded with annoying issues. Not many scenes to flash out their chemistry. ZJM acting in OG makes me tired looking at her. Was alot of exaggerated contrived expressions. I am rewatching first frost…..the plot is excellent and 2 cast that knows how to restrain their feelings, hence, expression well. OG is not enjoyable and tiring. Reborn is deep and dark but wholesome. ZJM can’t carry this role well.

  7. They didn’t have much chemistry in their first collaboration to begin with…that’s why I’m not that surprised it isn’t doing well. Zhang Linghe’s role in this one feels more like a guest appearance/special lead than anything else (second leads have even more screentime than him). Heard most of his scenes have been edited/cut…no wonder his character is inconsistent and confusing in the end. Production didn’t even care to flesh out his character or explain why he’s acting this way (I’m starting to believe the rumor about the number of episodes tbh)

    ‘The Best Thing’ was way better in that regard. It was soothing, fresh, enjoyable and most of all, chemistry between the leads was sizzling and off the charts.
    Here, it doesn’t feel like a high budget production at all. I trusted Daylight Ent. to at least bring us a quality and meaningful product but in the end they failed miserably.

    I’m actually forcing myself to continue this show (episode 14) and I sure won’t miss it when it will end (I still can’t believe it is the same team behind The Story of MingLan🤯😵‍💫)

    As for Zhao Jin Mai, she is a talented actress but I think she is more suited for thriller/crimes type of roles. Romance is not for everyone and I do think she’s struggling in this genre…

  8. I like both individually, but not together. They don’t match at all visually. Wish they had cast a different ML or FL to start with.

  9. I like both of them. But their acting didnt convince me at all. Boring with weak chemistry. However, the main problem is the plot. I used to like C youth dramas. I still think that China produces the best youth dramas compare to K or J. But this one is a total flop. I dropped it at ep 10 after fast forwarded many scenes in ep 8 and 9.

    Last night saw some clips of Our Gen on X, he keeps ghosting her. Lol. Shoujo type drama.

    • What youth dramas with good artistic values does China have? I’ve only seen Go Ahead, I thought it was decent until the poorly constructed sibling love triangle came along.

      • I totally agree with you about Go Ahead.

        For other c youth dramas, i recommend shining for one thing, love o2o, When We Were Young, when i fly towards you (i didnt finish it but my sist loved it so much), always home, a love so beautiful, my Huckleberry friends, put your head on my shoulder, skate with love etc. There’s a lot.

    • I agree with you. China does produces good Youth dramas. I have enjoyed a great number.

      • I have always enjoyed C youth dramas, often the leads are not big names. Strangely, this drama has big names but boring drama.

        Zhao Jin Mai broke out from a Youth Drama. Zhang Linghe was quite okay in Flourish in Time, he was suited for the lead role.

      • ZJM has Shine On Me with WeiLong, which is from one of my fave novels. I better keep my expectation as lower as possible. ZLH has a better range of emotion tho. But still didn’t successfully capture the interest of the audiences. While SWL, except for Go Ahead, i havent finished anything with him. Last time i saw, his acting was still meh.
        ZJM is a miss or a hit. Sometimes she struggled to deliver her emotion well.

  11. I can’t imagine ZJM team blaming the company and the ML. She has a couple of hits under her belt, she is not at that stage where all she touches turn to gold.

    • It’s a whole lie, it’s ZLH’s fans saying they would bury the drama because he had less screen time. They’ve been bullying ZJM and calling her all sorts of name. Her team has been graceful and not said anything negative about anyone

  12. Zhao Jinmai should just quit romance dramas. She looks emotionally constipated in all of them; her deformed frog eyes aren’t helping either.

    • Omg, this is the second time I’ve seen a comment linking ZJM’s looks to a deformed frog. I’m neutral toward her but I’m not sure if I can undo these comments in my head if I ever watch anything with her! 😬

      • It’s the same person, I think she has it out for ZJM, her eyes are large and they work really well for her. Mel is just an old ugly soul who can only insult people who she aspires to be like but can never be

    • Girl I m sure you’re a very ugly person in real life, her big eyes are perfect on her face .

  13. I really loved the chemistry of these two in princess royal ans was waiting for this one. I’m still waiting to marathon this when it’s finished but sad to see these negative comments about it and fighting about screen time. Friends really need to stop blaming each other about how much time each actor got I don’t think they control their screen time and these two really seem to enjoy working together so it’s sad to see fans create these obstacles. As for the plot, perhaps cutting down the drama from 40 episodes to 24 impacted its quality and the drama industry should take that into consideration when slashing episodes right left center. These two are at its best when bickering and feed off really well and I wish they took on projects where their chemistry highlighted like that.

  14. I like this modern drama way better than the Princess Royal where the acting was awkward, specifically ZJM’s presence. I actually think she did a nice job with ZLH in MUR in the first 5 eps, unlike cringe-worthy “chemistry” throughout Love Amidst the Storm. But I’ve never been the one for school romance. Love O2O is perhaps the only one exception that I got to finish the whole series. So, it was bound to happen for me to be distracted to other dramas such as Coroner’s Diary and some K dramas. Given so many other more interesting dramas on my plate, I have no strong desire to pick up MUR again.

  15. I’ve just finished watching Our Generation, alongside re-watching Princess Royal. I find the chemistry between ML and FL, which many comments seems to find disappointing, is just as enticing in both series. They have an unusual way of interacting, which in the quieter moments seems to show the characters are really thinking before speaking, though I particularly enjoy the faster-paced scenes in both dramas when they they fight together, their chemistry at these times is excellent.

    However, the secondary characters in Our Generation are insufficiently delineated, some are not much more than faceless subordinates. The parents are rather clichéd, and perhaps the ML’s final bout of depression was not well prepared. As with many dramas, both C and K, the numbers of characters and the meanders and digressions in the plot could be streamlined to make for a shorter and more intense drama. I tend to think that most dramas modern-day dramas could easily limit themselves to 12 episodes that would be more pacy and really grip viewers’ attention without sacrificing character development. And would cost less to produce.

  16. Ive been watching this and not overly impressed. Feels very much like its a vehicle for the female lead ZJM. ZLH is really hardly in it, has minimal speaking lines and relegated frequently to the background – which is bizarre for a male lead role. I think he’s doing a good job, but lacks opportunity to shine in the final product.

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