#Wang Rui Chang

[zhouyes]

WANG RUICHANG as GENERAL CHANG YUQING

fighting for love, 阿麦从军

[01432853]

Fighting for Love (2024) • EP 18

[ladynamie]

CHANG YU QING and A MAI Fighting for Love 阿麦从军 (2024) | Episode 21

[modernlonging]

If there's ever a Link Click live action Im begging on my knees for this cast

[ginsoakedgirl80]

I'm feeling like doing a public service today, so if you want to watch the mess that is Fighting for Love for Wang RuiChang or because of two women get married for plot reasons, I got the what to skip for you since I was stupid enough to watch the whole thing

For starting out: This drama is about Mai (Zhang TianAi), who is a poor orphan who wants to avenge her parents, living in Shengdu, the capital of Nanxia. She watched them get killed by henchmen and her adoptive brother Chen Qi 9 years ago. To move freely in the world, she disguised herself as a man since then. My Drama List is not representing her life well since she is in fact not roaming the martial arts world when we meet her but doing petty crime to fund her life and revenge quest. For plot reasons she saves the life of male lead Shang YiZhi (Zhang HaoWei), a silly son of a Marquis. He invites her to stay at his house where he sees her back when she takes a bath and finds out that she is actually a woman because heavens beware of a man falling in love with another man. He doesn't tell anyone that she's female though so it's funny to see people react to him being overly protective of Mai. (Seriously the amount of times his attendant steps out when those two hang out. Mu Bai is an ally)

His father, a general, dies from a bad medicine prescription upon returning from the border. His mother is the sister of the emperor and fears for his life so she uses her sisterly influence to send YiZhi to the border to take over his father's army. We also find out that his mother is actually his aunt because he is the son of the late crown prince. This is why the emperor wants to kill him, though he doesn't know his real identity. See the emperor is a paranoid cuckoo bananas dude and likes to have cleavage and dance and get people killed and look at the sun through his fingers.

Also for all the things this drama probably cut to get to the 36 episodes they really HAD TO keep in every time the 700 sliding doors between his living and office quarters are opened and closed to emphasize how removed from the world he is. The things those sliding doors operators have seen!

Meanwhile Mai travels to a border city to meet a man who knows where Chen Qi is. To get into the border city, she steals a passport from Chang YuQing (Wang RuiChang) who is from the enemy country Beimo and happens to be on a spy mission.

So if you only watch for Wang RuiChang, enter at episode 3 at 35:00.

But be warned, his character is minor and if there was ever any more backstory to him shot to explain his motivations, his sworn brotherhood with Cui Yan and the trouble of the Chang family at the court of Beimo or why Chen Qi hates the Chang family, it was all cut (or I already forgot about it). I told you this drama is a mess.

This is also a good time for the people who want to watch for the two women getting married (spoiler alert: it's one sided love and a marriage to proof that Mai is a man) because YuQing and his army sack the city and this is when Mai rescues teenager Xiu'er (Jiang YunXi) as a promise to a prison guard. Xiu'er got a crush on her and has no clue that Mai is a woman until they get engaged. For Mai she is someone who needs to be protected and she wants to marry her off to her bestie before.

Also pictured next to Mai feminist icon Tang ShaoYi a true dage who got no problem with Mai being in the army once he finds out and just wants to be bros with her.

Mai finds out that Chen Qi is actually the marshal of the Beimo army that is attacking Nanxia's border so she decides to enlist to fight him on the battlefield. Her father actually taught her battle tactics and she read the art of war so obviously she rises through the ranks despite going absent without leave and other things that would get you executed if the general of the army wasn't in love with you.

Plot (which I won't spoil) that includes Wang RuiChang sometimes more and often less happens until ep 22, when Yizhi gets summoned back to the capital and Mai joins him with his other trusted guys and Xiu'er (she is an afterthought mainly). This is also when the screenwriters or the editors lost any interest in Beimo apart from some captive prince stuff, so if you are only watching for Wang RuiChang you can skip ahead after his (great) scene in ep 22.

In Shengdu too much time is spent on Yizhi and his court stuff, like I want this to be about Mai doing cool army stuff not some badly written and edited succession to the throne plot. She does use her plotting skills for him to survive because dude is a silly jerk who is not worthy of her and yet she loves him. sigh.

queer intermission

Due to something that happened before ep 22 the rumor that Mai is a woman spreads in her army causing unrest which leads to Xiu'er proposing marriage to her.

(THEY NEVER SHOW THE ACTUAL DIVORCE???)

This is shampoo commercial territory. Just that for censorship reasons Xiu'er emphasizes that Mai is too important for the army and therefore the whole country to get executed just for being a woman and also she still owes her for saving her life back in the day.

Tang dage gets it with her reasoning.

They're having the cross-cupped wine on camera but not the bowing to heaven, parents and each other to not piss off the censors.

Once they are in the bridal chamber/tent someone spies on them and sees Mai without her binder so he gets killed. End of wedding. Why is Xiu'er in the army camp in the first place? During the border defense arc she heard that Mai got wounded and went to tend to her and never left.

Xiu'er is plot relevant again in ep 32 and is in the final episode but apart from that she is little more than Mai's attendant.

Mai continues to wear male attire most of the time, after she stopped being undercover, apart from the time she actually had to be in the harem and hated it.

end of intermission

ok back to the Wang RuiChang scenes

What is relevant for getting what is going on once you jump back in:

Yizhi's mother didn't go through hiding Yizhi from the emperor for Yizhi to not become emperor so she throws him into the struggle for the throne against his will. He does not want to do that and just be with Mai. (the good old putting the greater good above ones personal desires it never gets old. Of course his mother wins by guilt tripping him into becoming emperor by getting herself killed.) People get kidnapped, people get killed. Mai becomes the master of the emperor's grandson.

Yizhi's mother had made an agreement with the prime-minister that he would help Yizhi to the throne and in turn Yizhi would marry his daughter further increasing the prime-minister's influence in court. (like me you will think dude you are already having the highest office under the emperor what is your deal, well he wants his family to be the rulers of Nanxia eventually. dude likes to draw tigers in his spare time so you know his deal)

So who do we need to show up? Yuqing! So Mai can be implicated as a Beimo spy by the prime-minister. Luckily Yizhi had killed Yuqing's sworn brother earlier on so Yuqing had a reason to sneak into Shengdu to make an attempt on Yizhi's life at the beginning of episode 30 (it was only 8 episodes without him but it felt like eons).

We do get a little of him being cheeky in ep 31

He leaves in ep 31 and shows up again in ep 35 (starting ~min 15) and 36.

ep 31-35 So after Yizhi married the prime-minister's daughter and she becomes empress, Mai was devastated and went on a bender. The prime-minister turns the court against Mai so she loses her general job. She asks Yizhi for the mansion of her father and lives there, wallowing in lovesickness, grief and childhood trauma until Yizhi sends the edict to make her his honored imperial consort. She reluctantly lives in the harem but hates being locked up (she is a general gdi), dealing with the jealous empress and also refuses Yizhi so they strike a deal that allows her to live outside. More palace stuff happens with the prime-minister.

When the Beimo army invades again, she is the most capable to do it, so she gets her army back and sets off to fight against Beimo in episode 35.

I think there must have been more filmed and then cut for length because some things are alluded too that would have required some scenes beforehand. Ultimately this drama feels rather lifeless and is just going through the motions apart from some characters adding some sparkle.

The ending does make sense, gotta love that she didn't let herself get locked up in the harem for that loser.

I need to stop watching ascending to the throne dramas that are not well written, why do I keep doing this to myself? Oh right, because I thought that this would be about a female general and ignored that he is the son of the legitimate crown prince. Of course he had to become emperor xP

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Fighting for Love (2024)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama "Fighting for Love"

【ENG SUB | FULL】 Fighting for Love EP1: Zhang Tianai changes from noble miss to soldier | 阿麦从军 | iQIYI

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uwUFWQyNX4

[maitzong94]

[redmayniac-roleplayer]

Chún

*

*

*

[florientius]

one of my friends just called me racist,,, bc i said two actors, one korean and one chinese feel alike. like what, bitch same font, same flavor, same vibe; diff guys; i might be ignorant but i aint racist. (do correct me if it feels like i am but i am not.)

Ladies. Gentlemen. Everyone attached, in the middle, weirdly somewhere in between, not on the gender graph at all. Without further ado, here i show you the dudes!!!

LSH:

And lo and behold,,,

WRC:

So, I judged myself and I am right. they are similar. have the same vibe. all i have left to say is this:

YOU'RE GONNA LOOK AT ME AND YOU'RE GONNA TELL ME THAT I'M WRONG? AM I WRONG? GROW TF UP BRO. GROW UP

[thedramaden]

Fall in Love | 当她恋爱时 (2019)

[01432853]

You can punish me however you want.

Fighting for Love (2024) • EP 6

[ladynamie]

Fighting for Love 阿麦从军 (2024) | Episode 18

[junebluues]

voice claims for s40/41!!!! everyone cheer!!!!

sirius

speaking: mafuyu asahina from project sekai (cv: rui tanabe)

“don’t leave me alone…” as a more emotional way of speaking

“strange? if i’m strange…” (starting at 5:43) when they stop masking

mafuyu self-introduction when they’re masking

singing: mafuyu asahina (aishite aishite aishite solo) and mafuyu asahina (usseewa solo)

note: sorry these aren’t in english!!! for all the pjsk voice claims, unfortunately none of them will be in english. please imagine their voices in english for my sake… i chose a more feminine voice for sirius. i was thinking of my masculine options, but i thought the way mafuyu sang and spoke in both her kinder and apathetic voices fit sirius too well to pass up this chance.

nene

speaking: mahiru koizumi from dr2 (cv: carrie keranen)

singing: villain by stella jang

note: nene’s voice gets deeper after the horrors. please imagine a gritter, lower, more gravelly version of these two voices for post-anakt nene.

numa (made by @/spcells)

speaking: reki kyan from sk8 the infinity (cv: matt shipman)

singing: love in a song by bo en

note: not much to say other than i took creative liberties here since numa is in fact borrowed… dont forget that… but i thought these fit him pretty well for this au, since i actually have full ownership of him (and shichiro) for alnst according to my qpp 😓 i also ask them for permission to do a lot of the things i do and if their ocs are in character in lore even if i dont have to… i love them a lot please appreciate him i love youuuuu if you’re seeing this march

additionally, because i have full ownership of this au for the characters, some inspirations for them and their arcs have changed (with permission)

xael

speaking: langa hasegawa from sk8 the infinity (cv: howard wang) (not linking another video since langa also speaks in the above video for numa’s speaking voice)

singing: bitter choco decoration syudou self cover vers.

note: thought it would be cute if numa and xael matched voice claims… right… its so silly right… also i love bitter choco so i had to

shichiro (made by @/spcells)

speaking: wriothesley from genshin impact (cv: joe zieja)

singing: help its. okay well. well. it’s before i forget by slipknot…

note: shichiro is very different from my other ocs, hence the very different style and such… this isn’t a bad thing, it’s more of a lore thing. he’s not really trained to be a performer, and he was raised to become more of a “weapon.” his owner sent him to anakt for a reason shichiro doesn’t know. it’s a very good thing he adapted quickly…

marin

speaking: nicole from class of '09 (cv: elsie lovelock)

singing: readymade by ado

note: i thought nicole was funny to put as marin especially because of her behavior.. and i also really like ado's voice as marin's because ough i love ado dearly. i just imagine marin's singing to be so different from her speaking voice.

akari

speaking: marceline abadeer (cv: olivia olson) (starts at 0:33, video has spoilers for adventure time: stakes!)

singing: woke up (from adventure time: obsidian)

note: i love marceline and i wanted to use her for an oc.. and i thought akari was the perfect fit for herrrr especially the video and woke up and oh. it fits. i love marceline.

basil

speaking: toya aoyagi from project sekai (cv: itou kent)

singing: toya aoyagi (fragile solo)

note: i didn't think basil would have a higher male voice. i thought toya fit pretty well in terms of personality and the way he presents himself. he's rather soft spoken and lets others do the talking for him, but when he's on stage it's totally different.. ogh..

mira

speaking: mizuki akiyama from project sekai (cv: satou hinata)

"i'm sorry for not being able to face it..." as a more emotional way of speaking (spoilers for mizu5!)

mizuki's character introduction for normal speech

"if i talked about it earlier..." for an emptier feeling? ish? (spoilers for mizu5!)

singing: mizuki akiyama (bug solo)

note: mira... oh mira... they were a mizuki oc from the very start... i love her dearly... mizu5 pushed them here :3333

elodie

speaking: march 7th (cv: skyler davenport)

singing: emu ootori (telecaster b-boy solo) (cv: kino hina)

note: i imagine elodie's speaking voice to be high pitched like march, but when she sings, she's forced to sound a bit more childish like how emu's voice is (but not by much, which is why i chose telecaster instead of for example, tondemo-wonderz) because of her guardian.

AMALGAM

speaking: princess bubblegum (cv: hynden walch) and sunday from hsr (cv: griffin puatu) (help is there still drama with him or. not because i want to use sunday's voice for amalgam no matter what happens to the voice actor)

singing: sweet dream luka & sua mashup (cv: BL8M and C!naH)

note: please imagine bubblegum and sunday's voice overlapping when amalgam speaks. the masculine and feminine voices inside the amalgam mix when it speaks. this is also why i used the luka & sua mashup for their singing voice. amalgam's voice also echoes. also, remember that amalgam only has one body and has its own identity. the amalgam is not ellie, vera, hanno, or chiara. the amalgam is itself.

@4listr @aakaneeee @apriciticreveries @bluemoonscape @rockwgooglyeyes @zerostyrant @pwippy @nottoonedin @paradisedisconcert @starry-skiez

[rainbowsky]

Yuehua has issued an update on some of the legal cases they are pursuing on DD's behalf.

Translation under the cut.

YUE HUA ENTERTAINMENT

Explanation on the progress of Mr. Wang Yibo’s reputational rights protection case

Recently, our company has found that there are still a large number of Internet subjects who continue to publish suspected insulting and defamatory remarks against our artist Mr. Wang Yibo on various platforms, which has attracted the attention, reprinting and comments of many Internet users. The release and dissemination of relevant content has caused Mr. Wang Yibo to his reputation and social image have been seriously affected, and he is suspected of seriously infringing on Mr. Wang Yibo’s right to reputation. In this regard, our company resolutely safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of Mr. Wang Yibo and protects his rights through legal channels. Our company now makes the following explanation on the progress of some of Mr. Wang Yibo’s reputational rights protection cases that have been initiated:

1. The case between Mr. Wang Yibo and Yu ** [Weibo user "Half hawthorn yys!", UID: 7583092450] Internet infringement liability dispute (right of reputation):

Between July 2021 and September 2022, Weibo user "Half Hawthorn yys!" continued to publish multiple insulting and defamatory blog posts against Mr. Wang Yibo through the Weibo platform, seriously damaging Mr. Wang Yibo's personal reputation. After our company and Mr. Wang Yibo entrusted lawyers to initiate litigation and accountability proceedings against the Weibo user’s real-name subject Yu **, the court made a first-instance judgment on November 15, 2023, and ordered that Yu ** be on the Weibo involved in the case (UID: 7583092450 ) publicly apologized to the plaintiff Wang Yibo for 15 consecutive days and paid a total of 28,000 yuan in moral comfort and legal fees to the plaintiff Wang Yibo. [Case No.: (2023) Beijing 0491 Minchu No. 14528]

At present, the defendant has fulfilled its apology and compensation obligations in accordance with the judgment. At the beginning of the rights protection in this case, Mr. Wang Yibo stated that he would donate the full amount of the compensation in the case to public welfare. Our company will donate the full amount of the compensation in accordance with Mr. Wang Yibo’s wishes.

2. The case of Mr. Wang Yibo and Weibo user "Heartbroken but Fascinating" [UID: 5850457719] Internet infringement liability dispute (right of reputation):

Weibo user "Heartbroken but Fascinated" has been posting suspected insulting and defamatory remarks about Mr. Wang Yibo on the online platform for a long time. Our company and Mr. Wang Yibo have entrusted lawyers to file a lawsuit in court in accordance with the law, requiring the relevant online platforms to disclose the real-name identities of the Internet subjects involved. After the information is disclosed by the platform, it will file a lawsuit against the real-name authentication subject as soon as possible, requiring the relevant subject to publicly apologize to Mr. Wang Yibo in accordance with the law, and compensate for the corresponding mental damage solatium and reasonable rights protection costs.

3. The case of Mr. Wang Yibo and Chang ** [Weibo user "Hanhanqvq", UID: 7799836585] Internet tort liability dispute (right of reputation):

In March 2023, the Weibo user "Hanhanqvq" published a related article against Mr. Wang Yibo through the Weibo platform.

The defamatory remarks are suspected of seriously damaging Mr. Wang Yibo’s personal reputation. Our company and Mr. Wang Yibo have appointed Lawyer Tuo initiated litigation and accountability proceedings against Chang**, the real-name subject of the Weibo user, and the case has now been heard in court.

After the processing is completed, the court will make a judgment in accordance with the law.

4. The reputation dispute between Mr. Wang Yibo and WeChat user "Zhu Rui Gabriel Jiumenwu Pictures":

In September 2022, a screenshot of WeChat Moments was circulated on the Internet platform. The content was allegedly infringing content publicly released by WeChat user "Zhu Rui Gabriel" against Mr. Wang Yibo. The screenshot was widely disseminated. Our company and Mr. Wang Yibo have entrusted lawyers to file a lawsuit, and the case is currently under trial.

5. The case of reputational rights dispute between Mr. Wang Yibo and Wu ** [WeChat user “Xinxin”, WeChat ID: W1526896***]:

n July 2023, WeChat user "Xinxin" publicly made allegedly defamatory remarks against Mr. Wang Yibo in the WeChat group. After the platform disclosed the user's identity information, our company and Mr. Wang Yibo have entrusted a lawyer to real-name the account involved in the case on November 27, 2023. The subject Wu ** filed a lawsuit with the court in accordance with the law, requiring Wu ** to make a public apology to Mr. Wang Yibo in accordance with the law, and compensate for the corresponding mental damage solatium and reasonable rights protection costs. This case is currently awaiting court arrangements.

6. The reputation dispute case between Mr. Wang Yibo and Wang ** [Weibo user "user 2233567890", UID: 5777773235]:

Wang ** continues to publish a large number of blog posts that are suspected of insulting and slandering Mr. Wang Yibo through the Weibo account "user 2233567890". The lawsuit between Mr. Wang Yibo and the real-name subject of the Weibo account Wang ** is currently under trial. 10078410

In addition to the above-mentioned cases, there are still other cases in progress regarding Mr. Wang Yibo’s reputation and portrait rights protection. Our company once again sternly warns all network entities to immediately stop publishing and disseminating remarks that are suspected of infringing on Mr. Wang Yibo's reputation, so as to avoid further expansion of the damage and incurring their own legal liability. Our company will also pay close attention to network dynamics, continue to entrust law firms to collect evidence and file lawsuits on suspected infringing content, and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Mr. Wang Yibo.

Beijing Lehua Guoyu Culture Communication Co., Ltd.

January 15, 2024

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Fighting for Love (2024)

Gifs of Ending of cdrama "Fighting for Love"

【ENG SUB | FULL】 Fighting for Love EP1: Zhang Tianai changes from noble miss to soldier | 阿麦从军 | iQIYI

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uwUFWQyNX4

[linghxr]

I watched all the Chinese idol survival shows so you don’t have to (but you should anyway)

About three years ago, I watched 创造101 Produce 101 China, and it kinda changed my life. Yes, really! This show dragged me down a rabbit hole that eventually led to me watching many more Chinese shows and listening to almost exclusively Chinese music. I’m even branching out to cdramas now. All under the guise of, um, improving my listening comprehension!

OK, so “all the Chinese idol survival shows” might be an exaggeration. I’ll be talking about these three classic idol group survival shows from the “golden age” period of 2018-2021:

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

创造101 Produce 101 China

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

Here is the order I actually watched these 10 seasons in:

创造101 Produce 101 China

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

I started 创造101 Produce 101 China in late 2019/early 2020 and finished 少年之名 We Are Young on Christmas Day 2022. I was literally tearing up. Three franchises, ten seasons, something around 1000 contestants, and three years of my life.

In order to refresh my memory for this post, I rewatched almost all of the performance clips from these shows. I didn’t watch the initial evaluations or any practice room videos (it’s simply too much content). It was simultaneously fun and exhausting. I will go over why you should/shouldn’t watch each season and give any other notable remarks. Let’s get started!

*Please note that for any YouTube links below, there is a risk of muted sections, parts/entire episodes being unavailable, and missing/out of sync subtitles. For official links, whether or not a VIP subscription is needed may change in the future. Fansubbed content may have sections or entire episodes missing.

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

iQiyi rebranded the series by changing its name from 偶像练习生 Idol Producer to 青春有你 Youth with You after the first season. However, they really didn’t change much about the format at all. From what I’ve heard, iQiyi doesn’t have as large a budget as Tencent, which you can see reflected in the show’s production quality. However, I’ve long felt that this franchise has a real charming quality that makes up for lack of flashy sets.

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Idol Producer Subs (English fansubs, missing part of finale)

Why you should watch it: Though not China’s first idol survival show, this show was the first of a new era. It’s iconic! The theme song is a bop, 10/10. Also, I had heard of all of the winners before I watched this season, so there’s some real cultural relevance. I can’t believe it was nearly five years ago! The whole top 20 remains iconic to this day. In most seasons, there are at least one or two popular contestants who I don’t really like or don’t see the appeal of, but that wasn’t the case this season. This season is also a lot shorter than later seasons, so it’s easier for those who are new to survival shows.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, there is a lack of flashy sets/stages here. The background of the stage often looks empty. There were some performances that were better than I remembered, but there were others that were...not. I’m pretty sure 黄明昊 Justin was 15 when the show began, which shocks me in a BAD way. And if you’re a Jackson Wang fan, I think he barely appeared in the second half of the show.

My picks: 郑锐彬 Zheng Ruibin, 周彦辰 Zhou Yanchen, 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun, 王子异 Wang Ziyi, 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie, 周锐 Zhou Rui

Favorite performance: PPAP A组 PPAP group A This was a powerhouse group. And it was hilarious to watch the boys’ reaction when they heard the whole song and realized the style was not at all what they had initially expected! They totally pulled it off though.

Iconic moments: 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun’s outfit (and ego) in the initial evaluation, B-A-L-A-N-C-E, when we realized 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie can sing too, 林彦俊 Lin Yanjun's platinum hair, one of the songs was called Mack Daddy which causes me great distress to this day, 周锐 Zhou Rui aka 周美锐 Zhou Meirui, I’m still laughing over 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie’s resemblance to 胡巴 Huba.

Verdict: Though this was not my first idol survival show, I think it would be a great first foray for anyone. It’s iconic for a reason. You should watch it (and I might rewatch it). 

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Qing Chun You Ni Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This season is the forgotten child of the franchise, but it still had some great performances and a lot of talented contestants. The theme song is also probably my favorite out of all ten theme songs! It was love at first listen. Personally, I enjoyed this team of mentors more than the first season’s. I also feel that the vocal-based performances were stronger this season. For instance, there were great performances of 李荣浩 Li Ronghao songs.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I feel that some of the magic of the first season was lost, and overall the contestants were not as memorable or charismatic in my opinion. There were also several contestants I found extremely irritating and some contestants who ranked much higher and last much longer on the show than I feel they should have based on their skill level...but I won’t name names.

My picks: 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu, 李振宁 Li Zhenning, 周士原 Zhou Shiyuan, 连淮伟 Li Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 隔壁泰山 A组 Neighboring Tarzan group A This is a very unusal song, but it’s so catchy and memorable. 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu really made this performance for me. And this song still gets stuck in my head months later!

Iconic moments: 冯俊杰 Feng Junjie and 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu trying to outdo each other, 胡春杨 Hu Chunyang looked angry 24/7 for no reason, they literally got 蔡依林! Jolin Tsai! as a mentor, 李汶翰 Li Wenhan was everyone’s older brother, their performance made me fall in love with the song 耳朵 Erduo, they kinda did a steampunk concept which I love.

Verdict: It’s not necessarily a must-watch, but I still enjoyed it. If you’ve fallen into the black hole of survival shows and want more, I think it’s worth your time.

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: As iQiyi’s first time with female contestants, this season was highly anticipated. iQiyi stepped it up with subtitles, got Lisa from BLACKPINK as a mentor (I saw people say they came for Lisa and stayed for the trainees), and made a lot of content available on YouTube. As a result, some of the performances from this season have millions of views. It’s well deserved—a lot of the contestants are overflowing with talent and charisma. And honestly, you should watch this for 蔡徐坤. He’s a great MC/mentor to the girls and was truly a highlight of the season for me.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This is the only season that I watched week by week as it was airing. It was EXHAUSTING. iQiyi started pumping out two episodes a week, doubling the overall episode count. I was literally burnt out by the finale. So if you watch this, please take it slow. Also, I forgot how much they did that thing where they cut away from the performances to show other contestant/mentor reactions and then have to go rewind on the performance...it really drives me nuts. They overdid it for sure.

My picks: 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin, 喻言 Yu Yan, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan, 刘令姿 Liu Lingzi, 许馨文 Xu Xinwen

Favorite performance: 不奉陪 No Company This was a tough choice! I went with this performance because I actively sought it out for relistens. That’s so rare for 主题考核 theme evaluation songs for me. All the members got to shine yet they were a very cohesive team.

Iconic moments: Bad Guy was the ultimate dark horse, how no one knew the song 想见你想见你想见你 Miss You 3000, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan defeated the evil quads, 乃万 Nineone basically replaced Jony J as rap mentor, seeing 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin with a wig was terrifying, they let the girls wear shorts if they didn’t like skirts #feminism, I still think about 张钰 Zhang Yu and 王清 Wang Qing’s initial performance all the time.

Verdict: I don’t think I could rewatch this season due to its length, but if you can commit the time, I think you should watch it. I’m sad I’ll never get to see a second 青春有你 Youth with You female season.

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on iQiyi (no English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: This season was probably the one I felt most emotionally invested in. I feel like I got to know the boys and was in it together with them (parasocial relationships, I know). And the friendships between contestants were so touching. Like 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, this season was also extra long, but I watched this season after it aired, going at my own pace. There were so many charming contestants and memorable performances. The dancing especially shone, but we got some great vocal moments too. I think iQiyi did a really good job picking songs this season.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Sadly, the finale never aired. Due to the infamous milk-wasting scandal, the show was cancelled (but a winning group still formed and debuted). Even though I knew this before watching the show, it was still quite sad to never see a conclusion. Additionally, I believe this show started with more like 120 contestants, and I felt that increased number. Lastly, there was some painful singing and lots of very uninspired rapping. I feel like the gap in skill between the contestants was larger, and some of the teams felt very unbalanced as a result.

My picks: 姜京佐 Jiang Jingzuo, 杨昊铭 Yang Haoming, 十七 Shiqi, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei, 张思源 Zhang Siyuan, 连淮伟 Lian Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 燕尾蝶 Wings of Love This performance was everything I could ever dream of. 徐子未 won the world over instantly. He has the voice of an angel. Love the song, love the concept, love everything about it.

Iconic moments: 罗一舟 Luo Yizhou and 余景天 Tony Yu Jingtians’s friendly rivalry, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei’s back-to-back victories, Yuta’s adorable accent, 王南钧 Wang Nanjun would not shut up about 竹 Bamboo, touch 梁森 Liang Sen’s head for good luck, 刘隽 Liu Jun dances like he’s possessed (in a good way), that 雨爱 Rainie Love stage was a trainwreck tbh.

Verdict: Despite the scandals and lack of a finale, it was worth the watch for me. I feel so fond thinking of this season. Truthfully, season three has surpassed season two for me.

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

I read somewhere that Tencent officially licensed the Produce 101 name from Mnet, making this franchise more “official.” For season two, they ended up changing the name to 创造营 Produce Camp. The Chinese name remained the same for seasons three and four, but the in English they started promoting the show under the name Chuang. I think they wanted to beat iQiyi in the contest to see who can have the most titles for the same show.

创造101 Produce 101 China

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, episode 7 here, episode 10 here) Watch via Produce 101 China Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This is the only season I’ve seen twice, so that says something I guess! This season holds a special place in my heart as my first survival show, so I rewatched it earlier this year with some friends who hadn’t seen it previously. One thing that stood out to me about this season was that it felt like there were several dark horses who started to shine closer to the middle/end of the show. I liked this because it’s boring when the debut lineup is completely predictable! And if you’re not already a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, you will leave as a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, guaranteed.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Not gonna lie, I was not a huge fan of this mentor team. I am fine with these people individually, but together it was not an ideal combo in my opinion. They collectively made some very odd decisions that I strongly disagree with. After my rewatch, I’m just kinda done with 黄子韬 Huang Zitao. I also realized there were a lot more instances of...rough singing than I remembered, so be warned.

My picks: 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi, Yamy, 刘人语 Liu Renyu, 许靖韵 Angela Xu Jingyun, 吴映香 Lucia Wu Yingxiang, 李紫婷 Mimi Li Ziting

Favorite performance: 别人家的小孩 Other People’s Kids This is one of the most iconic performances (and one of my favorites) ever from all of these shows! It’s so unique and really has everything you could want. It was truly a perfect collab performance.

Iconic moments: When they had to tap 杨超越 Yang Chaoyue so she wouldn’t miss the beat, 王一博 Wang Yibo’s blue hair was gorgeous, Triple A group reunion, Look What You Made Me Do with creepy marionettes was perfect, when 陈嘉桦 Ella went barefoot on stage, 黄子韬 Huang Zitao literally screamed at them all, I’ll never forget the iconic 乐华 Yuehua performance.

Verdict: Even the second time, this was a season filled with surprises. It’s not perfect, but I think it will manage to charm you anyway. There are some real hidden gems here.

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: This was the first ever male season I watched, and I remember being apprehensive. I ended up having a lot of fun! This season really tugged at my heartstrings with the touching friendships between the boys and the intense 导师推荐生 mentor recommendees segments. I felt like I went through the wringer with them as they were forced to repack all their belongings, endure the brutal F班 demotions, hike across the beach, and more. There were countless hilarious moments too. If I were to rewatch, it would be for 周震南 Zhou Zhennan AKA 南南 Nannan. He just dominates the stage (despite his short stature)!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I’ll admit, this season probably has the greatest number of contestants that annoy me. Sometimes it’s for no good reason...I just look at them and go ugh. The first round especially has some pretty painful singing, so be warned of that as well. Also, my rewatch made me realize I remembered very few performances from this season, which probably isn’t a good sign. Also, a lot of the performances were very short, sub-three minutes, which personally bothers me.

My picks: 周震南 Zhou Zhennan, 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang, 姚琛 Yao Chen, 陆思恒 Lu Siheng, 李鑫一 Li Xinyi, 贺俊雄 He Junxiong

Favorite performance: 开门见山 Kaimenjianshan I’ll admit that this performance was not as good as I remembered it being (probably because now I’ve heard the original by A-Mei many times), but I picked it anyway to acknowledge the amazing 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang.

Iconic moments: 张颜齐 Zhang Yanqi giving away jars of 老干妈 Lao Gan Ma, we never saw 王晨艺 Wang Chenyi again, 姚琛来了~ (Yao Chen is coming), when 周震南 Zhou Zhennan had his hoodie on but his ears were sticking out omg, try saying 李昀锐 Li Yunrui's name ten times fast, they had 30+ year old men here, this was the OG 乘风破浪 chengfengpolang.

Verdict: Among so many seasons, I don’t think this season stands out that much, but I still remember it fondly. If you want a good laugh and some fun, check it out.

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on Viki (English subs, no Viki Pass needed)

Why you should watch it: They went all out on the sets, the location, the accommodations, everything. The performance setup was that the seats were in the middle and various stages were located around the perimeter. The seats would rotate to face the stages!! Some of the stages were stunning. I also want to mention that there were some great vocalists this season and I feel like they got to shine, which always makes me happy. The best round by far was the second round (专业方向). We got some beautiful vocal performances and intense dance performances.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This season felt messy to me. I think they tried to mix things up, but not everything landed. The beautiful sets almost got distracting…they were more interesting than some of the performances. Several very talented and promising contestants never even made it past the first round. And since the final group only had seven people, the finale was just a frustrating experience. I never want to hear that 小摩托 xiao motuo song or 夏天的风 Summer Wind again. I don’t feel this season lived up to 创造101 Produce 101 China (unless you wanted MORE comments about weight/thinness).

My picks: 王柯 Wang Ke, 华承妍 Hua Chengyan, 刘些宁 Liu Xiening, 苏芮琪 Su Ruiqi, 朱主爱, Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai, 王一桥 Wang Yiqiao

Favorite performance: Manta There were a lot of performances I liked, but I really struggled to pick a favorite. I ultimately went with this because it’s one of the most memorable dance performances I’ve seen on these shows.

Iconic moments: That thin waist contest was simply the worst, they were in a literal castle, we all went crazy for the band and 王柯 Wang Ke, 朱主爱 Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai won the collab stage, wtf stop filming 姜贞羽 Jiang Zhenyu, I want to ride that cute train up the mountain, 毛不易 Mao Buyi did not want to talk, pretend that 吴亦凡 Wu Yifan wasn’t there.

Verdict: This season was competing against 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, and I chose to prioritize 青春有你2 Youth with You 2. I would make the same choice now. If you decide to watch, just be warned it may be a frustrating experience.

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed)

Why you should watch it: I wasn’t sure I was going to watch this season because of its international theme. Having foreigners is nothing new, but such a large number was certainly going to alter the show’s dynamic. Well, I watched it anyway. Overall, I’m glad I did. There were some talented and lovable contestants that made this season all worth it. The mentor squad (mostly 宁静 Ning Jing, 邓超 Deng Chao, and 周深 Zhou Shen) were so entertaining. Lastly, compared to the 2019 season, there were more popular vocalists this season, which I 100% support. I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember a lot of the performances from this season, but I ended up pleasantly surprised by how many great ones there were!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: It felt like there was so much focus on Nine and Patrick, Santa and Riki, the Intersection boys, and eventually Lelush as well. The other foreign contestants honestly had very little impact. This didn’t ruin the show or anything, but sometimes I got a little sick of the Santa and Mika show, you know? Also, none of my favorites made it into the winning group unfortunately. While I acknowledge the talent of the winning members, for whatever reason I wasn’t really that invested in most of them.

My picks: 俞更寅 Yu Gengying, 井胧 Jing Long, 林墨 Lin Mo, 奥斯卡 Oscar, 张星特 Zhang Xingte

Favorite performance: Lover Boy 88 This performance was simply infectious! I even made my friends watch to it. 林墨 Lin Mo is so charming. And 张腾 Zhang Teng and 张星特 Zhang Xingte’s vocals were perfect. Just wish it had been longer!

Iconic moments: Mika and 曾涵江 Zeng Hanjiang = my last two brain cells trying to communicate, I still can’t believe Lelush went viral worldwide, 刘宇 Liu Yu broke the Produce curse, Nine and Patrick only learned Chinese for how long???, Caelan kinda does look like Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar AKA 熊熊 Xiongxiong, the 网红 wanghong group was so talented actually.

Verdict: I think this season got more international attention than 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, and while I prefer 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, this season is worth a watch for its uniqueness and improvements over the previous year.

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

I watched both seasons of Youku’s shorter-lived franchise in 2022 only after (and only because) I had finished the other two franchises. I think Youku had a smaller budget and thus tried to stand out by shaking up the traditional survival show formula. I think they made some poor choices and some good choices. I don’t know the story behind the name change between seasons, but the seasons are so different from each other that it makes sense.

以团之名 All For One

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: I’m going to say a lot of negative stuff below, but I wanted to add at least a few positive words. During the finale, the remaining contestants sang S.H.E’s 你曾是少年 Wings Of My Words, and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so emotional over a performance ever. 任家萱 Selina was a delight throughout. I also really grew to appreciate 奶茶 Naicha and what a great and thoughtful leader he was.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, this show had some unique features that made it stand out. The contestants formed ten groups of eight, and the composition of the groups remained unchanged throughout. Entire groups got eliminated together. This created a dynamic where some really talented contestants went home too soon due to their group. It also meant that some groups were popular really just due to having one popular member. In the end, one group won...but I guess they realized this was a bad idea, so they formed a second winning group of the most popular contestants from the non-winning groups. I didn’t like this format and felt is really negatively impacted my viewing. Personally, seeing new team lineups form is one of my favorite parts of survival shows. And because the leaders were constant, they had there was too much focus on them. Also, the mentors were so harsh all the time. Maybe it was deserved, but it really bummed me out to watch them constantly talk about how disappointed they were.

My picks: 奶茶 Naicha, 田书臣 Tian Shuchen, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao, 赖煜哲 AJ Lai Yuzhe, 热亚提 Reyati, 赵品霖 Zhao Pinlin

Favorite performance: 饕餮 Taotie This was not one of the performances that stood out in my memory, but it stood out to me when I did my rewatch. I feel like they really nailed every element, and I don’t think the other teams could have pulled off this song.

Iconic moments: 何展成 Jonathan Ha gave up on speaking Chinese and 袁娅维 Tia Ray had to translate for him, the 王霏霏 Wang Feifei and 孟佳 Meng Jia reunion, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao’s beautiful dance to a Shawn Mendes song, I’m not sure why 奶茶 Naicha chose milk tea as stage name, AJ vs. the hidden snacks, they made 周艺轩 Zhou Yixuan perform a UNIQ song.

Verdict: Maybe you can skip this one. I definitely didn’t devote my full attention while I was watching it. And it felt like the show and the mentors were being mean to the boys all the time.

少年之名 We Are Young

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch via We Are Young Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: They improved on basically all the issues I had with the first season, and I was pleasantly surprised. Also, this is basically a 青春有你1 Youth with You 1 mini reunion with a few 偶像练习生 Idol Producer alums plus some future 青春有你3 You with You 3 contestants. It was so wonderful to see how the contestants I already knew had grown, and I loved seeing them get new opportunities to shine. There was surprisingly a lot of good raps/rappers on this show! Also, there were some truly incredible performances this season that aren’t like anything I’ve seen on other idol survival shows. And I enjoyed almost every performance—there were only a few that I disliked or thought were, um, not good. The mentors did not always agree...but I don’t care!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Because they have to be different, when doing the initial evaluations, only about 50 contestants advanced to the next round. This was nice because it meant fewer names/faces, but wow, it felt so mean. Sometimes I wished they had stuck to a more traditional format. Besides that, I don’t have much else negative to say!

My picks: 郭震 Guo Zhen, 寇聪 Kuo Cong, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie, 李希侃 Li Xikan, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng, 杨超文 Yang Chaowen

Favorite performance: Don’t Start Now I don’t think I’ve ever seen this exact concept on one of these shows before. This performance was instantly a standout for me, especially because it had some of my favorite contestants!

Iconic moments: They literally had a corgi, 林 (Lin) MUA, everyone shipping 薛恩 Xue En and 程潇 Cheng Xiao, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan in a CROP TOP, 胡彦斌 Hu Yanbin told 寇聪 Kou Cong to wear less to show off his body what, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng’s entrance through the pink smoke, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie really bungee jumped with his eyes closed, how 郭震 Guo Zhen, 左叶 Zuo Ye, and 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan were in the same group four times without anyone noticing.

Verdict: This season ended up being better than it had any right to be! I think it’s worth checking out, especially if you are missing the boys from the 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You series.

>> Conclusion

If you actually read this entire post, I’m thoroughly impressed. If you, like me, have spent way too much time watching these shows, feel free to send me a message because I need someone to commiserate with. 

I honestly have this weird feeling that a chapter of my life is over. I have so many treasured memories from watching these shows—moments of laughter, tears, shock, pride, and more. They’ve provided a way to ground my language studies and engage with Chinese pop culture. They made me feel less alone during earlier COVID times.

Well, I’m off to find something to fill the survival show-size hole in my heart...maybe I’ll just rewatch 偶像练习生 Idol Producer.