Chapter 142: New Dramas Premiering
Chapter 142
On the day "Mandala" aired, Lin Yuan flew to City A to begin participating in the production team's promotional activities.
As the lead actor in this series, Lin Yuan was fully engaged in the filming of "Bloody Past" before the series premiered, while the director and other actors handled the pre-release publicity.
Netizens know he is filming "Bloody Past", but the production team is keeping the news very secret and has not released a single behind-the-scenes photo. As for the inside story of "Bloody Past", netizens only know that Lin Yuan fought for the role of Xu Lijia.
Apart from that, "Bloody Past" is so mysterious that no one knows anything about it.
It wasn't until Lin Yuan appeared this time that netizens realized he looked much older and even had the haggard look of a middle-aged man, and that he had probably made a great sacrifice for the role.
Sang Zi: "..."
If Lin Yuan had appeared in this image earlier, she probably wouldn't have become a fan.
More than 80% of fans in this world are attracted to good looks, and now that she has become a fan of Lin Yuan, she sees Lin Yuan as handsome even when he looks haggard and weathered.
Lin Yuan has always been very willing to sacrifice for his roles.
After becoming an actor, Lin Yuan doesn't play handsome men very often, mainly because his acting skills are so outstanding that viewers unconsciously overlook his face.
Sangzi was more concerned about Lin Yuan's health.
Lin Yuan did not appear at the New Year's Eve concert, and the movie "Killing" was released in September. During this time, although Lin Yuan has experienced a lot of ups and downs, he has disappeared without a trace.
Sangzi sometimes feels that she might be a fake fan.
Whose idol hasn't shown up for so long?!
She was able to hold back because she was such a good person; she didn't run away.
Although... Sangzi noticed that she didn't see her fellow fans very often, as soon as Lin Yuan's airport photos came out, one fellow fans after another popped up in the comments section.
Where do you usually go?!
Lin Yuan hadn't shown his face for so long, and his sudden appearance, with a completely different image from before, gave Sang Zi the feeling that Lin Yuan had suddenly become a different person.
However, it is necessary for celebrities to change their image. In Sangzi's opinion, no one stipulates that Lin Yuan must always stay young. Occasionally changing his image is quite refreshing in Sangzi's eyes.
She became a fan of Lin Yuan because of his work, and Lin Yuan's current image only makes her feel that her liking for him is not wrong. From the beginning, Lin Yuan has always focused on his work, and even though he is already famous enough, he still practices this.
"Bloody Memories" is sure to be a stunning film.
Sang Zi naturally saw the negative comments about "Mandala" online, but she didn't think too much about it. After all, Lin Yuan and the two protagonists of "Moon Shadow Starfish" were not rivals. The success of "Moon Shadow Starfish" did not mean that "Mandala" would necessarily flop.
On January 5th, Sangzi turned on AIR Video early in the morning.
Her only complaint about video platforms is that every platform requires a VIP membership, and she feels it's a waste of money to buy a membership from one platform to another.
However, she is indeed looking forward to "Mandala".
This year she watched "Killing" and "The Art of Ghosts". Unfortunately, the two movies together are less than 5 hours long, which is all the time she has spent watching Lin Yuan's works this year!
Other celebrities at least appear on variety shows or are occasionally spotted by passersby, but Lin Yuan is a complete shut-in and you almost never run into him.
Who would believe it? Since his debut, "Tomorrow's Star" is actually the only variety show Lin Yuan has ever appeared on.
Although Sangzi doesn't like Qingxi Video, she still opens "Tomorrow's Star" from time to time just to see the younger version of Lin Yuan singing and dancing.
No matter how many complaints she had about Lin Yuan, when it was time for him to make his appearance, Lin Yuan would always show up with his best work.
Therefore, Sangzi will not have any complaints.
She knew very well that Lin Yuan was doing what he believed in, and that he was always on the path he insisted on.
Sang Zi has never been a deep fan of celebrities, but she knows very well that it is not easy to reach this level in the entertainment industry. Many celebrities start out with ideals, but gradually become assimilated by the entertainment industry.
Looking back years later, you'll find that this person has become so rotten that they are completely unrecognizable from who they were back then.
It's hard to imagine that he once had a youthful, beautiful, and innocent side.
He was utterly rotten, but in the hearts of his fans, he will always be remembered for his most innocent self.
Sangzi doesn't want Lin Yuan to become that kind of person, she doesn't want Lin Yuan to be blinded by greed. Lin Yuan's current state—showing up from time to time, making movies, and occasionally arguing with people—is exactly what Sangzi likes best.
In her view, Lin Yuan was at least free, and had a sense of ease and freedom.
Lin Yuan was not fake at all; this was Lin Yuan's true self.
...
On its first day of broadcast, "Mandala" only garnered about one-fifth of the attention that "Moon Shadow Starfish" received.
At 8:00 AM sharp, AIR Video and Qingxi Video simultaneously updated 4 new episodes of the drama, but the most prominent one on the trending searches was still "Moon Shadow Starfish". AIR Video also bought a trending search for "Mandala", but it was drowned out by the vast army of "Moon Shadow Starfish".
To be honest, Sangzi is quite interested in both dramas.
"Mandala" stars Lin Yuan and is a revenge drama, which is clearly Lin Yuan's comfort zone. As for "Moon Shadow Starfish", the original novel is known to everyone. It is a book that Sang Zi read in her teenage years. It is rare for it to be adapted into a TV series, and it is a big production, so she naturally has high expectations.
Sang Zi has read many online novels and watched several adapted dramas because of her expectations for them. So now, she avoids these so-called adapted dramas.
Nowadays, when it comes to adapting online novels, many viewers have the same impression—most fans of the original work are very resistant.
In fact, if the adaptation is of good quality, there is no need for fans of the original work to boycott it. The reason for the boycott is simply because the adaptation is so bad that fans are disappointed time and time again.
Fans knew from the cast alone that the adaptation was definitely not going to work.
As for "Moon Shadow Starfish", at least in terms of its cast, it is reliable.
Sang Zi sincerely hopes that both dramas will achieve good results.
There is no animosity between the two dramas. The male lead of "Moon Shadow Starfish" is not any of the four characters Ye Liuchuan, Xie Yu, Geng Yue and Xu Lijia. Why create enemies for no reason?
With these feelings in mind, Sangzi opened the book "Mandala".
To be honest, although there are more negative comments about "Mandala" online now, Sangzi has a feeling that "Mandala" might be of higher quality than the other two dramas.
The reason for her thinking is unknown, but it's probably because she has read every one of Lin Yuan's works and has unconsciously developed a trust in him.
Lin Yuan would never let her down; this was something Sang Zi was very certain of.
The moment the image of the "Mandala" appeared before Sangzi's eyes, she sat up straight, rested her chin on her hand, and quietly began to look at it.
The theme song is sung by a male singer unfamiliar to Sang Zi. His voice is quite hoarse and carries a sense of despair. The trailer doesn't reveal much about the plot either, only showing figures flashing before Sang Zi's eyes.
Everyone seemed to be burdened with worries and scheming, making it difficult to distinguish between good and bad.
The title "Mandala" probably says it all.
The story begins with the murder of Han Shen and Han Wen's parents. From that day on, revenge became the main theme of the Han siblings' lives.
The revenge is led by the older brother, Han Shen, with the younger sister providing assistance.
They are not only siblings, but also each other's most loyal comrades-in-arms; they will never betray each other.
Han Shen studied hard and finally entered the company where his enemy worked more than ten years later, and the revenge began from then on.
In "Mandala", Han Shen rarely showed off his urban youth style, constantly changing suits, while usually wearing shirts. His hair was neither too long nor too short, and even his profile exuded the temperament of an urban elite. Judging from his appearance alone, no one would know that he harbored a deep-seated hatred.
However, this is evident in the details of the Han siblings' relationship.
The first episode serves as a background introduction, giving viewers a general understanding of the story of "Mandala." The pacing is neither too fast nor too slow, yet it is very comfortable to watch.
At least no one here is holding Han Shen back.
Han Shen didn't inexplicably get involved in a romantic subplot, which would have ruined his revenge efforts.
The eye contact between Han Shen and Han Wen, and their cryptic conversation, actually piqued Sang Zi's curiosity, making her patiently continue watching.
The production team of "Mandala" did not intend to let the mystery continue indefinitely. After the relatively leisurely urban life in the first episode, the pace of "Mandala" suddenly quickened, unfolding Han Shen's revenge against the lawyer.
Sangzi didn't even have time to react.
"!! It started suddenly!! How exciting!"
"High-energy content ahead!!"
"Wow, so lawyers are such awful people? Spoiler alert: the lawyer died because of XXXX."
"The main character ahead is so cool!!"
"The comments section is spoiling that XXX didn't happen! Are you crazy to have to spoil it here?!"
Sangzi's sudden realization that the pace had quickened was clearly thanks to the comments on the screen.
But she decisively turned off the live comments.
People who spoil the plot are absolutely despicable! She can't accept the phrase "high energy ahead" either. Whether it's high energy or not, she'll have to judge for herself.
The lawyer has family, children, and people who need his protection, while Han Min, as a teacher, has contact with that child in her daily life.
Han Wen chose the teaching profession because she is essentially a warm person. Despite experiencing a dramatic change in her family, she was well protected by Han Shen and has a soft side.
The cold and hard side of the Han siblings is more evident in Han Shen.
At times like these, Han Shen would reveal a tougher side: "We were just kids back then."
The murderer showed no mercy, the lawyer showed no mercy; they watched helplessly as the brother and sister fell into the fire, and even gave them a push. Now they have everything, so what did what Han Shen and Han Wen went through?
Whenever such a scene appeared, Sangzi would carefully examine Lin Yuan's eyes.
Although Han Shen's words to his younger sister sounded cold, there was still a hint of tenderness in them.
When Han Shen was a child, he was a gentle older brother and was described as a "cute" child by those around him. He did not grow into the person he is now overnight, but rather he constantly accumulated the idea of revenge and used it as a means to survive for decades.
They also had a very difficult life.
When bad people commit evil, they don't struggle; but when they begin to seek revenge, they start to struggle.
They should have responded even more swiftly.
Han Shen's eyes burned with a fierce fire, and when he looked at the evidence of the lawyer's wrongdoing, the anger contained in his gaze could almost set everything ablaze.
But when he looks at Han Wen, he still possesses a gentleness.
This feeling made Sangzi very uncomfortable.
Han Shen should have existed purely as a vengeful figure, but Sang Zi saw his struggles.
If she could, she really wanted to reach into the screen, clench her fist at Han Shen, and encourage him to keep going.
After the tender moments between the brother and sister, Han Shen's revenge was a swift and satisfying storm.
When enough dark clouds gathered in Han Shen's eyes, the massacre began.
He was a good person disguised within the enemy ranks, and the enemy always trusted him, probably because he had a clean background, a good education, but an ordinary background.
Even if an "ordinary person" like him wanted to harm someone, he wouldn't have enough leverage.
The lawyer felt comfortable letting his son associate with Han Shen, unaware that Han Shen had already sought out his enemies.
In a sense, Han Shen's revenge was not only for his family from 11 years ago, but also to protect those who should have lived well but suffered unjustly because of the murderer.
He relentlessly searched for information, acting as a go-between, connecting people who were previously unconnected, thus creating one link after another in the chain of revenge.
Han Shen did not take action himself, nor would he. He always hid behind the scenes, becoming the one who instigated it.
But... the bad thing about the lawyer's son is that some people are willingly seduced by Han Shen.
Even knowing the price they would have to pay, they were still willing to join in, because they knew very well that without Han Shen, they wouldn't even have a chance to make a move.
They couldn't even get in touch with the person who had harmed them so deeply.
In "Mandala", whenever Han Shen finds useful information, his eyes always light up, giving Sang Zi the illusion of seeing Qiu Heng.
However, Han Shen is not Qiu Heng. No matter how depressed Qiu Heng is, he will always be full of energy when he encounters evidence related to solving the case.
As Han Shen gathers more and more favorable evidence, his gloomy demeanor will become increasingly apparent.
Those eyes were reflected in the mirror, but there was only darkness.
Once revenge begins, it is destined to be unstoppable.
Today's episode concludes with Han Shen acting as a go-between, bringing the avengers together in one place.
These people live in different parts of the city. In the footage, they pour into the center from all directions, getting closer and closer to each other. Accompanied by slightly faster-paced musical notes, it's like the prelude to a formal revenge, or like tolling the death knell for the lawyer.
Seeing this scene, Sang Zi felt incredibly inspired.
She didn't even notice the progress bar; by the time she did, "Mandala" had already been updated to the latest version.
Sang Zi: "???"
When the live chat was turned on, everyone shared the same thought as her—
"??? How did it just disappear?"
"What the hell?! How could it stop here?!"
"Just show me one more scene of a group fight, please! My God, what a cruel reality!!!"
"Unacceptable!!!"
But the story of "Mandala" has come to an abrupt end here. Today's update ends here, and the platform cannot release another episode.
Knowing full well that a satisfying revenge scene is about to unfold, yet being unable to see anything, is an indescribably terrible feeling.
Sangzi slammed her hand on the table with a "bang," hurting it, so she had to apply more hand cream.
"It's gone! Aaaaaaah!"
She also went to the live chat and yelled a couple of times.
"Han Shen is so handsome!!!"
This truly reflects Sangzi's genuine thoughts.
She had watched two of Lin Yuan's TV dramas and three of his movies. Objectively speaking, Lin Yuan's characters in these works were not ugly, but the character Han Shen had a strange eroticism about him.
Perhaps it is because he is not the typical cold and hard avenger in the process of seeking revenge. On the contrary, Han Shen is able to bend and stretch in order to seek revenge.
He is a flexible, dark, and ruthless figure, whose shirt... is a little tight, concealing his emotions and never revealing them, which instead evokes more speculation.
and!
Lin Yuan looks his best in a suit!
It is excellent.
"A director who makes Lin Yuan wear a suit the whole time is definitely a genius."
"The director who made Lin Yuan wear non-prescription glasses is a genius!"
Sangzi liked these two comments with a deep sense of empathy.
Han Shen has no way out; he will only unintentionally reveal his vulnerability, and this vulnerability is what makes him so likable.
In short, he's handsome!!
The plot of "Mandala" is also very good.
Sang Zi was certain that Lin Yuan would not disappoint her when it came to choosing scripts. The pace of "Mandala" quickened from the second episode onwards, but the first episode was neither dragging nor verbose. The story was explained clearly in just a few sentences, unlike some dramas where you don't know what the beginning is about, and it takes four or five episodes for the audience to understand the general plot.
The problem is that the audience isn't reading a mystery novel; there isn't that much content to scrutinize.
Sangzi added "Mandala" to her favorites, and she will start following it from tomorrow.
nice! !
The revenge plot that follows is definitely going to be really exciting; everything's been set up so far—why didn't they let her see the latest episode?!
hatred! ! ! !
Sangzi opened Weibo with a lot of resentment and searched for real-time discussions about "Mandala" as usual. At this moment, the trending topics were all related to "Moon Shadow Starfish". "Mandala" was surviving in the cracks.
However, Lin Yuan is no longer the obscure nobody he once was; the number of people discussing "Mandala" is quite considerable.
Perhaps most of the viewers right now are fans, but Sangzi didn't see a single negative review.
The vast majority of viewers had a positive reaction to "Mandala".
To Sangzi's delight, an artist blogger on her homepage had also seen "Mandala" and was planning to draw an illustration for Han Shen.
"Han Shen in a suit is a treasure." — So said the artist blogger.
Sang Zi wholeheartedly agreed.
While scrolling, a new message suddenly popped up on Sangzi's homepage—
"The entire cast and crew of 'Mandala' will be appearing on 'Happy Hour' this Saturday. Stay tuned!"
“All members”, “Happy Time”... Sangzi keenly captured these words.
"All of them" means...
She scrolled down to the next picture, where the "Happy Time" program team announced the list of participating guests, and Lin Yuan's name was the first one listed.
It's a variety show!
Lin Yuan is going to be on a variety show!!!
In the comments section of "Happy Time," Sangzi saw several messages that shared the same thoughts as hers. In short, Lin Yuan had been in the industry for a long time, his dramas had aired, and his movies had done well, yet this was his first time appearing on "Happy Time."
"Who would believe that??"
Sangzi silently replied, "Family," and the other party responded with a handshake emoji.
Indeed, only Lin Yuan's fans know the joys and sorrows they experience.
After browsing Weibo for a while, and thinking that she still had time, Sangzi went to Qingxi Video and opened "Moon Shadow Starfish".
Sangzi also has a membership to Qingxi Video, mainly to watch "Tomorrow's Star".
In Sang Zi's eyes, "Tomorrow's Star" was Lin Yuan's beginning. Now, Lin Yuan, who is full of star power, is very touching, but "Tomorrow's Star" was the period when Lin Yuan was most immature.
The past will never return.
Lin Yuan kept moving forward, but she still liked the Lin Yuan of the past.
Sangzi didn't know if the show was good or not; she only knew that the trending topics were all related to "Moon Shadow Starfish." But when she clicked on the trending topics, they were all topics started by various influential figures, and Sangzi couldn't find many real people leaving comments.
She actually disliked the production team's marketing methods and even found them annoying.
What the media finds amusing, ordinary viewers like her don't. Sometimes, when the production team exaggerates too much, Sangzi actually feels embarrassed.
She just wants to quietly appreciate the work. The excessive marketing by the production team makes her feel that the media has robbed ordinary people like her of their right to speak.
Fortunately, "Moon Shadow Starfish" did not use popular actors; otherwise, the viral marketing campaign copied and pasted by fans would have been an even bigger headache for Sangzi.
She really wanted to ask those fans: if hundreds of identical comments are posted under a single Weibo post, will casual viewers really be attracted to it?
Won't you hate their brother/sister even more because of all the spam?
However, according to Sangzi's friends who follow celebrities, this is an automatic defense mechanism of fans. When they spam the screen, the haters have no room to survive. Although passersby find it annoying, they will not get involved.
When it's time to watch a show, even casual viewers will still watch it.
Sang Zi: "..."
There seems to be some truth to that, but she hasn't thought it through.
"Moon Shadow Starfish" clearly cost a lot of money.
The theme song was not accompanied by a typical trailer, but rather by an oil painting style. The scenes where the protagonists met, the mountains, rivers, the war... all the elements were richly colored, conveying a sense of a heavy story, and the helplessness of the protagonists being trapped was also evident in the ink.
This is an oil painting that complements the story of "Moon Shadow Starfish".
It is said that "Moon Shadow Starfish" was filmed on location, unlike "Mandala". "Moon Shadow Starfish" recreated some of the buildings from the last century and had a huge investment.
The story begins with the meeting of Zou Yueying and Gu Haixing.
In a chaotic world, young people with ideals fell in love with each other in the most romantic way. They not only fell in love at first sight, but also realized after getting to know each other that the other was the one who understood them the most.
Love doesn't come suddenly, but once it appears, it determines your entire life.
Wu Yao and Ou Kai both have above-average acting skills, and their cooperation is also very tacit. At the beginning of their acquaintance, the two did not encounter any obstacles. After all, this is an era that began to advocate free love, and obstacles could not stop passionate young people from going through fire and water.
Not just for love, but also for freedom and hope.
Sang Zi had read the original novel of "Moon Shadow Starfish" and had a deep impression of it. She specifically recalled the original work and was very sure that, at least at the very beginning of "Moon Shadow Starfish", the series was faithful to the original work and did not miss any details.
Wu Yao and Ou Kai also have great chemistry.
Moreover, these two are very suitable for filming stories of this era. Whether in school uniforms or cheongsams, Wu Yao looks beautiful in them.
After watching the first two episodes, Sang Zi understood why Qingxi Video had such high expectations for this drama.
The visuals of "Moon Shadow Starfish" are exquisite, and the money was spent where it was needed. The pacing is also good. It is a bit slow at the beginning, but it does not make the audience feel that it is long and boring.
Moreover, this is a melancholy story, filled with countless sorrows along the way, and ultimately ending in regret. The pace should not be fast; it is told in a gentle and gradual manner, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.
At the very beginning of this series, even though the love between Zou Yueying and Gu Haixing was sweet, it still revealed an underlying sadness.
Great show! So good!
Sangzi felt that these two dramas shouldn't be airing in the same time slot and competing with each other. One drama per quarter and one drama per second would be the normal configuration. Otherwise, sometimes when she wanted to watch a drama, she couldn't find a single good one, but instead, a series of bad dramas would be released. Every time, Sangzi would click on one with high expectations, only to leave full of disappointment.
They are all indeed good-looking, and as a fan of Lin Yuan, she thinks so objectively.
Sang Zilian had been working on "Mandala" and "Moon Shadow Starfish" for almost 12 o'clock. At this time, the posts from marketing accounts decreased, while comments from real people gradually increased.
Online reviews for "Moon Shadow Starfish" are still overwhelmingly positive, and these are clearly from real people, with little sign of paid trolls.
These evaluations are all quite objective.
Viewers like her who watch two shows at the same time are a minority; the vast majority of viewers only watch one.
It's hard for dramas airing in the same time slot and on the same day not to become competitors—viewers will always only have one choice out of many.
If things continue to develop this way, "Moon Shadow Starfish" will definitely have a better reputation, more viewers, and wider media coverage, while "Mandala" will suffer a bit more.
But Sangzi really hopes that more viewers will see "Mandala".
"Mandala" is also a great drama!
The next morning, Sangzi made a point of getting up to check the popularity of the two dramas.
She went to bed late, and by the time she woke up, the popularity data from various platforms had already been released.
Upon seeing the popularity of "Moon Shadow Starfish", Sang Zi's eyes widened in surprise.
How much buzz did "Moonlight and Starfish" generate on its premiere?!
13862!!
This level of popularity is absolutely dazzling.
At least, in her memory, since she started following dramas on various platforms, no drama has ever achieved such a high level of popularity upon its premiere.
This data is terrifying!
For most dramas, or even popular dramas, an initial viewership exceeding 10,000 is already a very good achievement.
In the past two years, the TV drama market has been stagnant. Occasionally a few hit dramas will emerge, but most of the time, it's just a group of 8,000+ or 9,000+ viewers sticking together for warmth. Occasionally, one or two dramas will appear that are so bad they can't be worse, getting 6,000+ views for rival fans to laugh at.
13862 is absolutely terrifying.
With such terrifying numbers for "Moon Shadow Starfish" right in front of her, Sangzi couldn't bear to look at the popularity of other dramas.
In her opinion, "Moon Shadow Starfish" could probably drain yesterday's TV drama box office.
As for "Mandala"... the number of comments and interactions wasn't small, but its popularity...
Sang Zixin felt a chill run down her spine, her gaze slowly moving downwards, and further down...
The data for the Mandala is 9599.
"Huh!"
Sang Zi cried out in surprise.
The premiere ratings for "Mandala" were surprisingly good.
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Author's Note: Here I am! [doge][doge][doge]
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