blackmoonlightexpress - Tumblr blog

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Follow Your Heart has just received its airing license, likely to air Mid May

Follow Your Heart received its airing license yesterday. It'll most likely air mid May on iQiyi, going head to head against Joy of Life 2 on Tencent.

Even though they have been stingy on promotional materials, here's a few reasons to be excited about the upcoming drama (beyond being a Luo Yunxi costume drama of course):

A Studio Known for Dark Horse

FYH is produced by the iQiyi studio behind Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty (唐朝诡事录), New Life Begins (卿卿日常), and Mysterious Lotus Casebook (莲花楼). iQiyi dramas generally have better quality control when it comes to production quality, and this studio (奇光) in particular is known for producing a disproportionate share of dark horses.

Song Yi

It stars Song Yi as the female lead, who's been the low key female lead of 2 of iQiyi's top 5 dramas ever. She's seen as a really solid actress with a strong track record with viewers.

iQiyi's Favorite Genre, with a Twist

It's suppose to be a light romantic comedy with a sprinkle of crime investigation and court politics, a genre that has done well for iQiyi where they have a large built-in audience base.

But there's a twist to keep things fresh. The male lead suffers from face blindness whereas the female lead has a mysterious disease that changes her appearance, and only the male lead can recognize her. This premise is actually inspired by a Kdrama (from which they've obtained the rights to adapt)

Cameo Appearances

Because of this, you can expect cameo appearances from a large cast of actors (some will be playing different versions of the female lead), including TVB veteran Yuen King Dan, Wang Yifei (Siying), and Sandrine Pinna (Legend of the Demon Cat).

Love is Sweet Director

FYH also reunites Luo Yunxi with Love is Sweet director Yu Zhongzhong for the third time. He managed to make Love is Sweet, a pretty unremarkable screenplay, interesting to watch. And he's also good at pushing Luo Yunxi as an actor (he's the one who told him "you should go home if you cannot act" which haunted him ever since.)

Personally, I think it's better to keep expectations low. Follow Your Heart is not based on a novel or any proven IP, so no one knows how good the story will be. While it is an S class production, it doesn't have the same level of investment or anticipation as TTEOTM. Finally, Luo Yunxi plays a more grounded character, with plain costumes and hair tied up, which looks... different.

BUT I'm definitely looking forward to watching it and keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be good!

[blackmoonlightexpress]

honestly luo yinxi is that good that you cannot literally connect tantai jin, ming ye and the original devil God with each other just because they're played by the same actor

it's the same face but you know they're different people, even the gleam into his eyes is completely unique and different for each character, they're distinct in their own ways, independent of one another and exist as such.

many actors I've seen in cdramas don't really have this "magical touch", they're playing different characters in the same drama, but their performance hasn't been as convincing and successfully done, at least in my eyes.

Like, for an example Ming Ye is demure, quiet, solitary, proud, composed most of the time, while Tantai Jin is indifferent to the world around him, used to being demoralised and hated, at the same time devoured by hatred, yet also in so much want of affection and love and you can literally see this in his eyes perfectly, these traits that make them distinct, despite being played by the same actor.

[blackmoonlightexpress]

[blackmoonlightexpress]

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Gotta catch 'em all

Who says Luo Yunxi only looks good in white? (Almost) Every Luo Yunxi Costume ever

Featuring 16x8=128 looks in total from 9 dramas, 4 games, and 1 photoshoot.

Additional looks from Yan Xin Ji and Shui Long Yin will be added as high quality official images become available.

We actually have more leaked photos from Immortality, but I've decided to exclude them in the end - the collage just doesn't look great with such a large gap in quality.

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Who says Luo Yunxi only looks good in white? (Almost) Every Luo Yunxi Costume ever

Featuring 16x8=128 looks in total from 9 dramas, 4 games, and 1 photoshoot.

Additional looks from Yan Xin Ji and Shui Long Yin will be added as high quality official images become available.

We actually have more leaked photos from Immortality, but I've decided to exclude them in the end - the collage just doesn't look great with such a large gap in quality.

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Episode 15, Till the End of the Moon (2023)

[blackmoonlightexpress]

babe, wake up, new religion just dropped

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Luo Yunxi's current endorsement deals

Commercial Endorsements

1. Shiseido (Cosmetics & Skincare) Brand Spokesperson (Jan 2024 onwards), Skincare Spokesperson (2021-2023)

2. 滋源 Seeyoung (Hair Products) Brand Spokesperson (Oct 2023 onwards)

3. COGI 高姿 (Cosmetics) Suncare Spokesperson (Mar 2023 onwards)

4. 真果粒 Zhenguoli (Beverages) Brand Spokesperson (Dec 2023 onwards)

5. 《浮生忆玲珑》 (Mobile Game) Spokesperson (Nov 2023 onwards)

6. League of Legends (E-Sport) "Chinese Style" Spokesperson (Aug 2023 onwards)

Cultural/Public Roles

7. Thailand Tourism Board China-Thailand Cultural Friendship Ambassador (announced Oct 2022)

8. China Mobile Migu Video Asian Games E-Sports Ambassador (announced Sep 2022)

9. Xi'an Tourism Group "20 Years of Hanfu Resurgence" Cultural Ambassador

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Hi, I read on one of your posts "Immortality (everyone who's read Immortality's screenplay will know it's all but a guaranteed hit)" and was wondering where you or anyone else was able to read the screenplay? Can you share where you found it? I have read 2HA and of course would love to read the Immortality screenplay since I've been devastated at the thought that it'll never finally be released. IMO LYX was perfect for CWN and even though it's been a year, I still can't get over it.

Hey yes I have it. Give me your email and I’ll send it to you?

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Is this the most epic battle scene in a xianxia or what?

Episode 14, Till the End of the Moon (2023)

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》 - What we know so far about this massive project

By now many of you have heard about Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》, Luo Yunxi's upcoming and third project with the studio behind Till the End of the Moon. Here's my read on the announcement earlier.

1. Good news - It's going to be largely the same creative team behind TTEOTM. 

You have Wang Yirong as Lead Producer & Artistic Director, Huang Wei as Costume Designer, Wang Haiqi as Action Director, Tsang Mingfai as Makeup Director, Huatian for World Concept (also known for Ashes of Love and the Untamed). Basically, we'll see the return of the brilliant minds behind the Dunhuang-inspired costumes and hour-long epic fight sequences.

It's a good sign they're holding most of the team together. A lot of great directors, like Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, work with the same creative talent over and over again. There's certainly an argument that you produce better work when you collaborate with people you trust and know well.

2. Up and coming Director Chen Zhoufei will make up some of the deficiencies of TTEOTM in the cinematography and lighting departments.

Chen Zhoufei started out as a cinematographer in films with the likes of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. More recently he directed The Forbidden Flower (2023) and Double Tap (2021), which, if nothing else, is beautifully and stylistically shot.

It's interesting they've moved away from the old school Hong Kong directors they used in Immortality and TTEOTM. Directors from the TVB system are known to be more experienced, scrappy, and reliable when it comes to working within budget (which is why they're favored for big xianxia productions), but they've also been criticized for falling behind on technical execution and artistry.

It is as the industry article I shared predicted - Otters Studio is a relatively inexperienced player, but they can quickly close their gaps by bringing new blood to the team.

3. They're bringing a new Art Director, Zheng Chen from Lost You Forever.

This isn't all that surprising given that Luan Hexin, TTEOTM's Art Director, is with Huanyu, Bai Lu's management company. (In fact there was a bit of real life drama when Yu Zheng, Bai Lu's boss, publicly called out TTEOTM's producer for not refuting false rumors that Bai Lu was only cast because the production wanted Luan Hexin, arguably Huanyu's biggest asset, as part of her "dowry".) Now it's sad to see award-winning Luan go, but he is best for authentic period sets and IMO not the most suited for xianxias.

Instead, they've tapped Zheng Chen, who most recently worked on Lost You Forever, which I have yet to watch. With that said, some of the sets look great to me, with bold use of colors, and I can already see this pairing well with Chen Zhoufei's aesthetics.

4. This time they're not working with screenwriter He Fang, instead going with Lin Conghe (unofficial)

He Fang is the lead screenwriter behind TTEOTM and Immortality (everyone who's read Immortality's screenplay will know it's all but a guaranteed hit) and in my opinion one of Otter's greatest assets. She's brilliant at staying loyal to the spiritual core of source novels, while weaving convoluted plot points through a more robust background story and logic.

It's a slight disappointment that she won't be back, but it's also not entirely surprising. TTEOTM and Immortality are both big, female-oriented fantasy romance IPs. Meanwhile Shui Long Yin's IP is quite dated, lesser known, and incomplete, so I'd expect that the drama will only be loosely based on the original. While we don't know much about Lin Conghe, he did recently work on the Blood of Youth sequel, where he was the lead screenwriter alongside author Zhou Munan, so he might actually be a better choice for this genre (xuanhuan wuxia).

5. The way HunanTV & Mango announced the drama is unusually high profile, indicating that this is one of the platform's biggest projects.

It's rare to have one of China's biggest hosts announce a new drama that hasn't even started shooting or released any details yet live on prime time TV. (Usually a drama's official announcement comes out on the day of its booting ceremony, if not during its production or at its wrap ceremony.) It's even rarer for a costume drama to announce a TV platform at this stage. These days it's quite difficult for costume fantasies to get a coveted TV airing slot given genre restrictions and additional censorship requirements. Typically you do not find out officially whether it will air on TV until literally right before it airs.

Before the official announcement, rumors have already been circulating that there's a bidding war behind the scenes for this project, with Mango and its parent HunanTV outbidding Youku in the end. Mango/HunanTV is already the market leader in variety shows, but is behind the other three platforms in scripted content. Apparently, they've recently received an injection of funding to shore up their drama department and now investing in tentpole projects that can help them gain share. Clearly they saw what TTEOTM did for Youku.

6. There's another interesting player in the mix: China Mobile and its subsidiary Migu. 

It appears that China Mobile (one of the most valuable companies in China and a state-owned enterprise) has invested in the drama, which will be made available on its online video platforms. Apparently, the last time China Mobile invested in a drama, they sent text messages to every user to publicize it when it aired. Now not sure if this will happen (it's not patriotic drama after all), but they've already been promoting the drama through their gazillion affiliate social media accounts. Either way, it should be a good thing for the drama's distribution to have such an influential backer given Mango's lower daily active user.

7. They're making it super clear that Luo Yunxi is going to be the dominant male lead in this drama

In the first Weibo post, they only announced the title, Luo Yunxi, and the airing platforms. In the second Weibo post, where they announced the rest of the creative team, they still did not announce the other actors! Of course, this is likely because Luo Yunxi's company (which is really just him) bought the source novel's IP and is credited as a co-producer. (They don’t have any production capabilities at all, so Otter will likely be quarterbacking this.)

This suggests, like many who have read the novel already know, that Luo Yunxi will have by far the biggest part. The other roles, including the female lead role, will likely be smaller and revolve around the main character.

8. Shui Long Yin is already generating a lot of hype.

To date its Weibo announcement racked up >1M likes (more than double that of TTEOTM). There's already a very active Douban group debating all the rumors, most importantly whether Luo Yunxi will use a wig or his real hair (a highly divisive topic). The new drama has even been reported by China Daily, China's state media facing the international community, which is again exceedingly rare. China Daily doesn't usually report on entertainment news, and most hit shows don't get mentioned even after airing.

There's always a big risk with productions with this much anticipation so early in the process, from fan wars and disruptive stalking on set to accusations propagated by competitors that can invite more state scrutiny. Fingers crossed that the team knows what they're doing and can weather all the storms that will undoubtedly come its way.

9. Finally, I remain cautiously excited.

Production quality will likely be great, with such a strong creative team and financial backers with deep wallets. My main worry is that it'll be beautiful, but boring. For this genre (xuanhuan wuxia or basically wuxia with high fantasy elements), it's really important that the story moves fast and the underdog hero keeps outsmarting or outfighting everyone else in a way that gives viewers a sense of exhilaration. It'd be all too easy for the story to get bogged down by a large cast of unmemorable characters and a meandering plot. Otters Studio is usually great at delivering fast-paced high drama (just based on TTEOTM and the screenplay of Immortality), but they're working with a different screenwriter this time and it's not easy to be a consistent hit maker. Let's hope they stick to their intuition and continue to present stories and characters that excite viewers.

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin Booting Ceremony

Today, the cdrama Shui Long Yin, starring Luo Yunxi, Xiao Shunyao, Chen Yao, Ao Ziyi, Jeremy Tsui, Lin Yun and Bao Shangen, started filming in Hengdian. While some actors like Riley Wang were absent, others like Li Jiahao (Nian Baiyu from TTEOTM) made a surprise appearance!

I love our fox-dragon Tang Lici! Luo Yunxi looked absolutely stunning! Just look at this cutie!!

After the ceremony, Luo Yunxi changed hairstyle, make-up and costume and went to shoot the first scene!

Now I'm waiting (not so) patiently for the official poster and cast announcement. While I have only read the first 3 chapters of the novel, I think I recognize some of the characters.

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》 - What we know so far about this massive project

By now many of you have heard about Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》, Luo Yunxi's upcoming and third project with the studio behind Till the End of the Moon. Here's my read on the announcement earlier.

1. Good news - It's going to be largely the same creative team behind TTEOTM. 

You have Wang Yirong as Lead Producer & Artistic Director, Huang Wei as Costume Designer, Wang Haiqi as Action Director, Tsang Mingfai as Makeup Director, Huatian for World Concept (also known for Ashes of Love and the Untamed). Basically, we'll see the return of the brilliant minds behind the Dunhuang-inspired costumes and hour-long epic fight sequences.

It's a good sign they're holding most of the team together. A lot of great directors, like Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, work with the same creative talent over and over again. There's certainly an argument that you produce better work when you collaborate with people you trust and know well.

2. Up and coming Director Chen Zhoufei will make up some of the deficiencies of TTEOTM in the cinematography and lighting departments.

Chen Zhoufei started out as a cinematographer in films with the likes of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. More recently he directed The Forbidden Flower (2023) and Double Tap (2021), which, if nothing else, is beautifully and stylistically shot.

It's interesting they've moved away from the old school Hong Kong directors they used in Immortality and TTEOTM. Directors from the TVB system are known to be more experienced, scrappy, and reliable when it comes to working within budget (which is why they're favored for big xianxia productions), but they've also been criticized for falling behind on technical execution and artistry.

It is as the industry article I shared predicted - Otters Studio is a relatively inexperienced player, but they can quickly close their gaps by bringing new blood to the team.

3. They're bringing a new Art Director, Zheng Chen from Lost You Forever.

This isn't all that surprising given that Luan Hexin, TTEOTM's Art Director, is with Huanyu, Bai Lu's management company. (In fact there was a bit of real life drama when Yu Zheng, Bai Lu's boss, publicly called out TTEOTM's producer for not refuting false rumors that Bai Lu was only cast because the production wanted Luan Hexin, arguably Huanyu's biggest asset, as part of her "dowry".) Now it's sad to see award-winning Luan go, but he is best for authentic period sets and IMO not the most suited for xianxias.

Instead, they've tapped Zheng Chen, who most recently worked on Lost You Forever, which I have yet to watch. With that said, some of the sets look great to me, with bold use of colors, and I can already see this pairing well with Chen Zhoufei's aesthetics.

4. This time they're not working with screenwriter He Fang, instead going with Lin Conghe (unofficial)

He Fang is the lead screenwriter behind TTEOTM and Immortality (everyone who's read Immortality's screenplay will know it's all but a guaranteed hit) and in my opinion one of Otter's greatest assets. She's brilliant at staying loyal to the spiritual core of source novels, while weaving convoluted plot points through a more robust background story and logic.

It's a slight disappointment that she won't be back, but it's also not entirely surprising. TTEOTM and Immortality are both big, female-oriented fantasy romance IPs. Meanwhile Shui Long Yin's IP is quite dated, lesser known, and incomplete, so I'd expect that the drama will only be loosely based on the original. While we don't know much about Lin Conghe, he did recently work on the Blood of Youth sequel, where he was the lead screenwriter alongside author Zhou Munan, so he might actually be a better choice for this genre (xuanhuan wuxia).

5. The way HunanTV & Mango announced the drama is unusually high profile, indicating that this is one of the platform's biggest projects.

It's rare to have one of China's biggest hosts announce a new drama that hasn't even started shooting or released any details yet live on prime time TV. (Usually a drama's official announcement comes out on the day of its booting ceremony, if not during its production or at its wrap ceremony.) It's even rarer for a costume drama to announce a TV platform at this stage. These days it's quite difficult for costume fantasies to get a coveted TV airing slot given genre restrictions and additional censorship requirements. Typically you do not find out officially whether it will air on TV until literally right before it airs.

Before the official announcement, rumors have already been circulating that there's a bidding war behind the scenes for this project, with Mango and its parent HunanTV outbidding Youku in the end. Mango/HunanTV is already the market leader in variety shows, but is behind the other three platforms in scripted content. Apparently, they've recently received an injection of funding to shore up their drama department and now investing in tentpole projects that can help them gain share. Clearly they saw what TTEOTM did for Youku.

6. There's another interesting player in the mix: China Mobile and its subsidiary Migu. 

It appears that China Mobile (one of the most valuable companies in China and a state-owned enterprise) has invested in the drama, which will be made available on its online video platforms. Apparently, the last time China Mobile invested in a drama, they sent text messages to every user to publicize it when it aired. Now not sure if this will happen (it's not patriotic drama after all), but they've already been promoting the drama through their gazillion affiliate social media accounts. Either way, it should be a good thing for the drama's distribution to have such an influential backer given Mango's lower daily active user.

7. They're making it super clear that Luo Yunxi is going to be the dominant male lead in this drama

In the first Weibo post, they only announced the title, Luo Yunxi, and the airing platforms. In the second Weibo post, where they announced the rest of the creative team, they still did not announce the other actors! Of course, this is likely because Luo Yunxi's company (which is really just him) bought the source novel's IP and is credited as a co-producer. (They don’t have any production capabilities at all, so Otter will likely be quarterbacking this.)

This suggests, like many who have read the novel already know, that Luo Yunxi will have by far the biggest part. The other roles, including the female lead role, will likely be smaller and revolve around the main character.

8. Shui Long Yin is already generating a lot of hype.

To date its Weibo announcement racked up >1M likes (more than double that of TTEOTM). There's already a very active Douban group debating all the rumors, most importantly whether Luo Yunxi will use a wig or his real hair (a highly divisive topic). The new drama has even been reported by China Daily, China's state media facing the international community, which is again exceedingly rare. China Daily doesn't usually report on entertainment news, and most hit shows don't get mentioned even after airing.

There's always a big risk with productions with this much anticipation so early in the process, from fan wars and disruptive stalking on set to accusations propagated by competitors that can invite more state scrutiny. Fingers crossed that the team knows what they're doing and can weather all the storms that will undoubtedly come its way.

9. Finally, I remain cautiously excited.

Production quality will likely be great, with such a strong creative team and financial backers with deep wallets. My main worry is that it'll be beautiful, but boring. For this genre (xuanhuan wuxia or basically wuxia with high fantasy elements), it's really important that the story moves fast and the underdog hero keeps outsmarting or outfighting everyone else in a way that gives viewers a sense of exhilaration. It'd be all too easy for the story to get bogged down by a large cast of unmemorable characters and a meandering plot. Otters Studio is usually great at delivering fast-paced high drama (just based on TTEOTM and the screenplay of Immortality), but they're working with a different screenwriter this time and it's not easy to be a consistent hit maker. Let's hope they stick to their intuition and continue to present stories and characters that excite viewers.

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin Official Announcement

Officially Announced:

Drama: Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》 (no official English title is announced yet, but it loosely translates to "Water Dragon Roars"

Starring: Luo Yunxi

Platform: Hunan TV, Mango, Migu Video, China Mobile HD

Produced by: ZSTC Media Group 中视同成 (Luo Yunxi's own management company who owns the IP but has no production capabilities), Otters Studio 獭獭文化 (main production company)

Producers: the 11 producers listed are essentially executives of the platforms and production companies mentioned above

Lin Jun 林君, ZSTC Media Group Founder/CEO

Ye Fangcang 叶方仓, Otters Studio CEO

Tang Pan 唐潘, Mango Producer

Gan Yuqing 甘雨青, Migu Video Production Content GM

Zhou En 周恩, Mango/HunanTV Producer

Jiao Yunfei 焦云飞

Jiang Hao 姜浩, HunanTV Producer

Bu Yanan卜亚男

Chu Jianfeng 储建峰, Mango/HunanTV Producer

Tang Chenqi 汤辰骐

Lead Producer & Artistic Director: Wang Yirong 王翼荣 (Till the End of the Moon, Immortality)

Based on the Novel by: Teng Ping 藤萍 (Mysterious Lotus Casebook)

Director: Chen Zhoufei 陈宙飞 (The Forbidden Flower, Double Tap; also cinematographer of Shadow, a Zhang Yimou film)

World Concept: Huatian Concept Art 花田概念艺术 (Till the End of the Moon, Immortality, The Untamed, Ashes of Love)

Art Director: Zheng Chen 郑辰 (Lost You Forever)

Costume Director: Huang Wei 黄薇 (Till the End of the Moon, A Dream of Splendor, Immortality)

Action Director: Wang Haiqi 王海岐 (Till the End of the Moon, Immortality, Ashes of Love)

Makeup & Styling Director: Tsang Mingfai 曾明辉 (Till the End of the Moon, Immortality, Ashes of Love)

Unofficial Information

Genre: Xuanhuan Wuxia (basically wuxia with more fantastical elements, similar to Blood of Youth)

Production Period: Dec 2 (rumored start) for 4-5 months

Air Date: 1H 2025 (my estimation). It'll likely wrap around April 2024 and will need at least 9-10 months in post-production, which makes the earliest airing window CNY of 2025. Given the large investment, it'll likely air as soon as it receives its license. which will take longer than the average costume idol drama due to additional review requirements for TV broadcast

Episodes: 40

Screenwriter: Lin Conghe 蔺丛鹤 (Little is known about the screenwriter, which is not unusual. He was last credited as the lead screenwriter for the yet to be aired Blood of Youth sequel 《少年白马醉春风》 and a low budget drama The Yin and Yang Formula 《阴阳诀之祭情》).

[blackmoonlightexpress]

One of my favorite scenes: Sangjiu's late night booty call.

Till the End of the Moon (2023), Episode 14

[blackmoonlightexpress]

One of my favorite scenes: Sangjiu's late night booty call.

Till the End of the Moon (2023), Episode 14