Only 25 C-dramas on Tencent have hit 30,000 heat index ever and now add another one with The Prisoner of Beauty. I hope this drama has the same legs as two of my favorites of all time Lost You Forever (Part 1) and Love Like the Galaxy both of which hit 32,000 at its peak but I’m not sure of … Continue reading →
IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT! Omg, I cannot believe just released period C-drama The Prisoner of Beauty is even better than I expected and could have hoped for. It changes, swaps around, and condenses the novel substantially but stands on its own so it’s like the novel is amazing and the drama is amazing (so far) but in its own … Continue reading →
Hot diggity it’s here! I’ve posted over half a dozen posts about rumors that Tencent will airdrop or release The Prisoner of Beauty in the last two years but this one isn’t a rumor – the drama got dropped today May 13th at noon. The soft ban on female lead Song Zu Er lifted two months ago and her other … Continue reading →
C-ent has the reputation of being fast and quick to make decisions on scheduling and it shows the industry is keeping a close ear to feedback. Case in point, with iQiyi airdropping The Demon Hunter’s Romance with Allen Ren and Song Zu Er after it got the soft green light, initially Tencent was planning to also airdrop Song Zu Er … Continue reading →
So earlier this year the drama The Days of Seclusion and Love (Feng Yue Bu Xiang Guan 风月不相关) was rumored to start filming and cast Liu Yu Ning and Tian Xi Wei. But then the production stalled and she left the project. Now it’s back on and the male lead remains Liu Yu Ning but the female lead now being … Continue reading →
I actually think Zhao Lu Si acted decently in The Story of Pearl Girl, her performance was not even in my top 10 of complaints with the drama. But the drama is a flop for sure now, with the amount of money put in and advertising dollars vis-a-vis the reception, reviews, and viewership. A week after the drama finished its … Continue reading →
If I were a professor I would absolutely be an easy grader. If you try hard sincerely and the output shows that effort I would acknowledge it, in that sense I’m not very black/white in life or in entertainment offerings. I’ve liked plenty of objectively bad movies and dramas because I enjoyed certain elements of it enough to overlook the … Continue reading →
At the end of the day, the core of any good drama remains the Story, it has to grip the viewers to give it tens of episodes to unfold and take us on a journey. The Story of Pearl Girl even has story in the title but sadly it had a very uninteresting story. Coupled with choppy directing it just … Continue reading →
Hot damn why did the drama gods have to reunite Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning for their second go-around and this time both as first leads rather than their second lead romance and then NOT give them a great story. Ugh, I’m so frustrated with The Story of Pearl Girl but with zero complaints about these two in … Continue reading →
Even if the final airing numbers come out with The Story of Pearl Girl on top, the industry talk now is that same time aired Love Game in Eastern Fantasy will likely be the bigger “winner”. It had a smaller budget, less promo, and has reached near same level if not more popularity than Pearl Girl. Both dramas also had … Continue reading →
So I finally started watching The Story of Pearl Girl after much expectation and hype and my takeaway is fairly mixed. Solid production values (aside from some dubbing not matching lip movement well), a methodical story about merchants and trade and jewelry and female empowerment, and a nice cast that are all doing well so far. But it lacks excitement … Continue reading →
So the big November C-drama premiere actually had two high profile dramas arrive on the same first day of the month. Female empowerment Tang dynasty drama The Story of Pearl Girl with Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning and game play fantasy xianxia drama Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus) with Yu Shu … Continue reading →
This Friday is this day, the start of November and the arrival of big budget C-drama The Story of Pearl Girl. Youku will hold a press conference with the leads in the days prior to the premiere and drum up more interest, but it’s been spending loads of ad money with giant billboards in cities and buying up searches to … Continue reading →
