#weibo: february 2024

[ozataku]

[Weibo] 240201 SCAN TVガイドdan[ダン] Magazine vol.50 cr 猫科_kimunishi

[all-hallows-street]

Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Year of the Dragon!

New Illustration to celebrate the start of this year's Spring Festival from the All Saints Street team! Also, some accompanying merch for the top favorite WSJ characters from the Team Battle is going to be released soon.

I feel awful that I completely spaced out and didn't post about the 2024 FRZ Team Battle sooner. Fortunately, you can still participate until February 22th! The bad news is that you need a wechat account... I know there is a way to get one if you have a weibo account, but I haven't tried. However, a more accessible path might be creating an Alipay account. I got one to buy access to the new comics and I believe every country should be able to make an account even without a phone number, unlike weibo. I will make a guide on how to make the Alipay account and buying access to the latest comics (hopefully soon).

Anyways. Once you have your WeChat/Alipay account just scan the QR code bellow to vote!

The names are in chinese, but you can also base it off the chapter they first appear in that is mentioned as well.

High Res

[wangmiao]

Three-Body: Anniversary Edition (三体周年纪念版) will be released on March 20th, 2024!

This is just announced on multiple offical weibo accounts. What we know so far is that there will be new BTS scenes, and this edition has 26 episodes. Fans highly suspect that it is the director's cut because Yang Lei has been updating the fans casually about it. In late February, he said that the director's cut would probably be released in mid March.

Also as I said in a previous post (screencap below), fans have been hoping for this to happen, and it is freaking happening! I'm so used to being disappointed by cdramas and c-ent stuff, so this kind of things feel extremely unreal.

Oh yes, this is definitely a smart strategic release to go head to head with Netflix.You are very welcome to try out tencent's Three-Body if you don't like the other one. Let's also appreciate these beautiful posters featuring the Three-Body games in Chinese art style.

We'll see exactly what this edition is after it's released. I guess it's time to rewatch (and gif more) Three-Body!

UPDATE on Mar 21st: It's now confirmed that this is a director's cut. No new scenes are added (since new scenes will probably require censorship check). According to a fan who fastforwarded through the new edition along with the original version right after the release, the new edition is the result of the director listening to feedback from the audience:

Certain scenes are deleted to make it more fast paced (eg. a lot of Mu Xing's scenes, Sha Ruishan trying to repeat the universe flicker, and moving scientists to the safe house etc.)

Order of certain scenes are changed

Episodes now stop at better places to give more suspenseful feels

Visually, some scenes are lightened and the blue filter is toned down. Some fans also feel that the visual/movement of the Three-Body game seems to be clearer and smoother. Basically this is an improved version of the show without restrictions due to things like ads or TV run time.

[rainbowsky]

Yuehua Entertainment

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

Recently, our company has discovered that some online entities are still maliciously posting allegedly infringing remarks against our artist Mr. Wang Yibo through online platforms, which has had a severe negative impact on the network environment and has also been suspected of serious infringement of Mr. Wang Yibo's reputation rights.

In this regard, our company resolutely safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of Mr. Wang Yibo and actively protects his rights through legal channels. Our company now makes the following explanation on the progress of some of the reputational rights protection cases initiated by Mr. Wang Yibo:

Regarding the WeChat user "Xinxin" (WeChat ID: W1526896***) who deliberately made defamatory remarks against Mr. Wang Yibo in the WeChat group, our company and Mr. Wang Yibo entrusted lawyers to collect evidence and file a lawsuit as soon as possible, and obtained the above-mentioned documents in accordance with the law.

After the WeChat user real-name identity information was obtained, he immediately filed a lawsuit in court against the publisher Wu **, requiring Wu ** to publicly apologize to Mr. Wang Yibo in accordance with the law, and to compensate for the corresponding mental damage solatium and reasonable rights protection costs.

After learning about the fact that he was being sued, Wu ** took the initiative to issue an apology statement through his registered Weibo account "Xinxin No Hot Night" (UID: (UID: 7718976556)) and publicly apologized to Mr. Wang Yibo (Wu* *Screenshot of apology statement on Weibo), and is also taking the initiative to fulfill its liability for compensation to Mr. Wang Yibo. Our company will continue to supervise Wu ** to fulfill his legal responsibilities.

In addition to the above cases, Mr. Wang Yibo still has other rights protection cases in progress. In addition, in response to the recent defamatory remarks related to Mr. Wang Yibo, our company has immediately entrusted lawyers to collect comprehensive evidence, and will seriously pursue accountability for Internet entities that continue to publish suspected infringing remarks and fail to delete them, and the circumstances are serious. The latest rights protection progress will be announced at a later date.

Our company once again sternly warns all Internet entities to immediately stop publishing and disseminating remarks that are suspected of infringing on Mr. Wang Yibo’s reputation. When any network subject makes public remarks on the Internet, he must not cross the legal bottom line and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others, otherwise he will be severely punished by the law.

Cultural dissemination is necessary

Beijing Lehua Yuanyu Culture Communication Co., Ltd.

29 February 2024

Apology Letter

I sincerely apologize to Mr. Wang Yibo!

Dear Mr. Wang Yibo:

apology statement

Hello! I have used my registered WeChat ID "Xinxin" (WeChat ID: W1526896673) to post untrue remarks about you online. The slanderous content has seriously infringed on your reputation and caused you harm.

I deeply apologize for the harm caused to Mr. Wang Yibo.

I have now deeply realized that the Internet is not a place outside the law, and I also realize that my behavior is infringing and illegal.

I promise to delete all the untrue remarks and promise not to publish or spread any negative or illegal information.

I sincerely apologize to you again.

Apologizer: Wu

20th, 2024

[accio-victuuri]

wang yibo - yuehua weibo update on rights protection cases

For a long time, our company has found that there are a large number of users on the Internet who publish and spread information against our company on multiple platforms. The release and dissemination of the allegedly infringing content of our artist Mr. Wang Yibo not only caused serious damage to his reputation but also had a huge negative impact on the entire network environment.

The behavior of the customer has been suspected of seriously infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of Mr. Wang Yibo. In this regard, our company resolutely has zero tolerance and actively

Protect rights through legal channels. Our company is now defending Mr. Wang Yibo’s partial reputation and personal information rights.

The progress of the case is explained as follows:

①During July 2024, WeChat user "Saku La" (WeChat ID: mi************25)

Several seriously insulting and defamatory remarks against Mr. Wang Yibo were posted in the WeChat group chat, which are suspected of infringement.

②During 2023-2024, Weibo user “Like Nine Cats” (UID: 75*****17)

A large number of blog posts against Mr. Wang Yibo were publicly posted on the Weibo platform. The content of the blog posts contained a lot of insults, Defamatory remarks, suspected infringement,

The above suspected infringements have caused Mr. Wang Yibo’s social evaluation to lower and damaged Mr. Wang Yibo’ personal reputation and has been suspected of serious infringement of his reputation. Our company and Mr. Wang Yibo have entrusted Lawyers continue to collect evidence and will file lawsuits in court in accordance with the law, requiring relevant online platforms to disclose the network owners involved in the case.

After the platform discloses the real-name identity information, it will file a lawsuit against the real-name authentication subject as soon as possible and request relevant information. The relevant subject publicly apologized to Mr. Wang Yibo in accordance with the law and compensated him with corresponding solatium for mental damage and reasonable compensation.

③Mr. Wang Yibo’s online tort liability dispute case with an online platform and an airline company In February 2024, a certain subject (hereinafter referred to as the "booker") purchased tickets without the consent and authorization of Mr. Wang Yibo. In this case, Mr. Wang Yibo’s name, ID number and other personal information were used without authorization to use a certain website platform to purchase a ticket from an airline. The above behavior of the booker is a violation of Mr. Wang Yibo’s personal identity.

In short, fraudulent use is suspected of being illegal, and it also seriously affects Mr. Wang Yibo’s normal work schedule, and is suspected of infringing Wang Yibo’s normal work schedule.

Regarding the legitimate rights and interests of Mr. Bo, our company and Mr. Wang Yibo have entrusted a law firm to continue to collect evidence and will continue to collect evidence in accordance with the law.

File a lawsuit with the court, requesting the court to order the relevant online platforms and airlines to disclose the use of the ticket bookers involved in the case

Account name, platform registration information, contact information, real identity information, payment platform, payment method, payment information, IP address and other order information. After the court discloses the above information, our company and Mr. Wang Yibo will further commissioned a law firm to file a lawsuit against the real-name authentication subject, requiring the relevant subject to file a lawsuit against Wang Yi in accordance with the law. Mr. Bo publicly apologized and compensated for the corresponding mental damage and reasonable rights protection costs.

In addition to the above cases, there are still other rights protection cases concerning Mr. Wang Yibo’s reputation, portrait, personal information rights, etc.

The item is in progress. Our company once again warns all network entities to immediately stop publishing and disseminating suspected infringements against Mr. Wang Yibo legitimate rights and interests to avoid further expansion of damage consequences and incurring one's own legal liability.

Our company will also pay close attention to network dynamics and continue to entrust law firms to collect evidence and collect evidence on suspected infringing content.

File a lawsuit and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Mr. Wang Yibo!

[mysticmonkiebusiness]

Clearing Up Misconceptions on the S5 Trailer

LEGO has never released a trailer before

I can see where this is coming from but it isn't true.

Yes, S4 was shadow dropped, the trailer and poster only came out after it was released but that doesn't go for every season.

"The Emperors Wrath" was first advertised with a literal TikTok edit, S1 and 3 both got trailers about a month before they were released in China, and the "Embrace Your Destiny" trailer was even edited to remove spoilers. 

The trailer was leaked/unofficially released

Yes, the trailer hasn't been officially released on YouTube but that's because Monkie Kid trailers are never officially uploaded to YouTube. LMK is mainly meant for a Chinese audience, therefore advertising is mostly done on Chinese social media.

Every other trailer has been released on BillBilli, Weibo, or Douyin, which is where the Season 5 trailer was dropped. These are LEGO’s official verified accounts. 

Aside from personal accounts from artists working on the show or sets there is no official English LMK account to do promotional work or "officially release" anything.

LEGO dropped Flying Bark because they unionized

Once again, I see where people are coming from but this probably isn't true because WildBrain is also unionized. They've been unionized longer than Flying Bark has. Flying Bark joined the union February 2024 while WildBrain unionized with the Canadian Animation Guild in Fall 2023.

This is not me saying there couldn't have been crunch or mistreatment, just that the studio change probably wasn't because of Flying Bark unionizing. The previous series director cites scheduling and "logistical errors" as the reason for the break up.

[svt-sunnie]

𐙚 Seventeen’s Sunnie Receives Backlash Over Latest Solo + Brothers Response

𐙚 written by — pai.kim | march 6, 2024

𐙚 taglist — @seolboba @amnesixa @allthings-fandoms

. . On March 5, Sunnie of Seventeen became a hot topic on the internet following her solo album ‘Good, Bad, Ugly’ released a little over a week ago.

Netizens were outraged after Sunnie openly spoke about her relationships during her February 26th Weverse livestream and how they inspired the lyrics to her songs. People are also outraged about Sunnie saying she thinks she's “old enough to talk about dating” and that it's “not a big deal.”

Despite the album’s success, the backlash from users online has blown up and is too big to ignore. Sunnie’s Instagram, Weverse, Weibo, and even other members' comment sections are full of people calling for Sunnie’s removal from the group. This isn't the singer's first time being under fire for her solo lyrics. In 2022, she released her solo debut, ‘Obsessions’ and received massive backlash for the ‘Provocative’ lyrics.

Pledis nor Sunnie have yet to make a statement, while unexpectedly, Sunnie’s younger brother and Chinese model ‘Bei Yu Xuan’ took to Twitter yesterday to express his frustration.

Fans are also speculating if Sunnie is currently in a relationship with anyone after her songs ‘My Love’ and ‘Star’ went viral for their soft and romantic lyrics.

VIEW ALL COMMENTS . . ?

I guess rudeness runs in the family ㅋㅋㅋ

she must be dumb? ruining her career so shamelessly…

should’ve just left the group in 2018 lmaoo

i wouldve even preferred her stupid brother to have debuted in the group instead of her ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

as expected lol she’s been an attention seeker since 2015, she’s definitely dated half the industry.

you guys are still hating on her in 2024? pathetic

she turns 26 tomorrow and you really expected her to have never dated before??? get serious

how sad do you have to be to still be throwing hate on her? seriously since she was like 15.. let’s grow up.

anyways, stan ot14

[new-sandrafilter]

Timothée Chalamet makes a stylish exit from Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Hollywood. ​​​February 01, 2024

(嗨Q电影 on weibo)

[lunanoc]

Hey I'm doing some fanlore edits (https://fanlore.org/wiki/Daomu_Biji) and do you have any sources for popular ships in Chinese fandom? I basically just cut it down to pingxie and heihua because those were the ones showing up in 2021 lofter data (https://hardwareabstractionlayer.tumblr.com/post/649989752761810944/the-top-100-ships-in-chinese-fandom-according-to) and like basically ONLY pingxie is on ao3 in any numbers but I'm pretty sure HuaXie was a whole big thing I just can't find a source for it... Thanks in advance!

hi! i don't know if i'm necessarily the best person to answer this question because my incursions into the chinese DMBJ fandom are very curated and basically mostly limited to pingxie spaces, so my knowledge of other ships and their hubs is pretty sparse

that being said, finding centralized hubs to get full numbers and stats from for dmbj ships historically in the chinese fandom is complicated for a number of reasons, one of them being that DMBJ is an older fandom, which means a number of fics were hosted on websites and forums that no longer exist. another is that due to the state of chinese internet, fans also host fics and fan art of ships in closed access forums that are sometimes more or less difficult to gain entry to so as to create safe spaces. that being said, there are still ways to somewhat measure the current popularity of a ship. since this is an ask, i figured i'd turn this into a small informative post if anyone is interested in a surface level overview of what's popular in the chinese fandom by comparison to the english-speaking one. just keep in mind that because of all the above reasons, this is only ever going to be an overview of what's currently popular in general and not everything that exists, because arguably probably everything exists in some capacity, and of course this is all very surface level, so i'm sure someone else could do a more in-depth deep dive, especially if they get around more

disclaimer: because i know some might take this the wrong way, to be clear this is NOT meant to spark any kind of discourse surrounding ships, nor is it here to say that some ships are "better" than others. it's purely numbers i've tried to present as objectively as possible, mostly to provide comparison between two different sides of the fandom that behave differently and have sometimes vastly differing preferences

Chinese DMBJ Fandom Ship Popularity

to start off, i think it's relevant to point out that ao3 isn't the best way to measure a ship's popularity in chinese fandoms even if it can give you a rough idea. it can get you rankings to some extent (and even then it really depends), but the numbers aren't going to be at all accurate considering ao3 isn't the platform of choice for chinese fan fiction for several reasons i won't get into here, but that i'm sure people who've been in cdrama/novel fandoms are probably aware of

so your best bet to get any sort of idea of what ships are most popular is by looking at how they rank on big public platforms, namely lofter and weibo

lofter has yearly rankings like the one OP mentioned that people talk about, and it's a fairly good way to get an idea since it's a pretty popular blogging website for fan fics and fan art. lofter isn't cooperating with me right now, but i'll be using the data compiled for end of 2023 (or as of february 2024) by this bilibili video for the 200 most popular ships on lofter. among those 200 most popular ships, 3 of them are DMBJ ships, and are ranked as follows:

XiePing (not to be confused with PingXie, because yes, chinese fandom differentiates ships by top/bottom dynamic) at #120

HeiHua at #25

PingXie at #2

no other DMBJ ships make an appearance on this list, and if nothing else, it tells you not only that both PingXie and HeiHua are by far the most popular DMBJ ships in general, but also gives you an idea of just how insanely popular DMBJ is in china overall to have three ships in the top of a general fandoms ranking

next we have weibo where getting an idea of a ship's popularity is a bit different, and there are multiple ways to do it, but one of the easiest ones to get an idea is by looking at how high a ship's super topic ranks on both the real time and weekly popularity rankings. super topics function similarly to how communities work on X and aren't tags, so not everything tagged with a ship is necessarily going to reflect what's posted in the super topic and vice-versa, but it still gives something of an idea of overall popularity. looking at the today's super topic ranking in the fictional characters category, again the same two ships show up in the rankings:

HeiHua at #23

PingXie at #5

for the sake of comparison, because it's easier to actually see figures with weibo super topics, i also looked up both other ships that do get some traction in the chinese fandom despite being less popular, as well as ships that the english-speaking fandom tends to talk more actively about (in tumblr spaces anyway)

HuaXie at #174, which has an audience, but the numbers are already very different and speak to the fact it's generally speaking a smaller ship as of now (for reference, 万 that you see on these pictures is a unit for ten thousand, so here 1.1 万= 11,000)

HeiPing (unranked), which is in somewhat of a similar situation as HuaXie, but considering HuaXie is ranked, it's safe to say that's probably the only other ship that's even remotely popular by comparison to the two giants that are PingXie and HeiHua

allXie at #160, which is less a ship and more of a bottom!wu xie enjoyers cocktail that has a little bit of everything under the sun, though is mostly a mix of wu xie being shipped with some of the main male characters (i.e. xiaoge, hei xiazi, xiao hua) as well as other more minor characters such as zhang haike notably. it's not really a thing in the english-speaking fandom, but it's worth mentioning because it does exist enough to be represented

PangXie (unranked), which is quite honestly one of the bigger contrasts between the chinese fandom and the english-speaking one in that this ship is pretty much non-existant, or at least i've never seen fan fiction for it. again, my view of things is biased because my experience is deliberately curated so it's entirely possible there are things i just don't see, but the numbers don't seem to contradict that impression

PangYun (unranked), which i'm providing here mostly because pangzi is most often shipped with yuncai (and usually as a sideship that i can tell), though these numbers aren't necessarily representative of what content exists for this ship, since most things tagged as PangYun are posted to the general DMBJ super topic. if anything this mostly gives the impression the ship doesn't have much of a dedicated following, especially given it's part of the other category rather than the fictional characters category

PingSang (unranked), which is one of the only two ships that have any kind of following that involve liu sang, is also in the other category, and along with PangXie and his other most notable ship, is most definitely a rarepair, which is another notable difference with part of the english-speaking fandom where liu sang ships tend to be both fairly popular and have active communities

CanSang (unranked), which is in yet another category (CP as in couple as in ship), though this one's rarepair status might be explained by the fact that, if you couldn't already tell, the chinese fandom has little to zero interest in secondary or minor characters, and beyond that, the core of the chinese DMBJ fandom doesn't care much for the dramas/live action adaptations and is largely centered around the books, so given the premise of this ship is based in the adaptations, it's not surprising

Iron Triangle at #65 is getting a special mention, not only because it is ranked, but also because it's not necessarily what you think. the 角色 or fictional characters category for super topics isn't limited to ships, so you also have super topics for characters on their own in it. what chinese fandom considers to be the six main DMBJ characters, aka wu xie, xiaoge, pangzi, xiao hua, hei xiazi, and huo xiuxiu, each have their own super topics that are in the top 200. the iron triangle topic is ranked, but it's more in the same vein as those, that is to say it's a gen super topic, not a ship super topic. the chinese fandom doesn't seem to be into polyships in general, so that might explain it

i'm not sure how informative this post is, since i get the feeling some of this information is either obvious or things that people already know more or less, and i'm also not sure it really answers OP's question about finding reliable sources for numbers, but it's a surface level attempt. if anyone has more in-dept knowledge or would like to add onto this with different sources or data feel free to!

[ozataku]

[Weibo] 240201 SCAN Men's PREPPY Magazine cr 猫科_kimunishi

[lovelybrandt]

Bravertz New Special Edition Lunar New Year Animals Pet Model Human Style 🧧🥮🏮🐉🎆 This Was End Of A Year February 2024 Posting Image From Sameen Chan On Weibo And Twitter These New Privates? Are Available Photos Not Now!

This Was A Scan Link For WeChat

This Is Adorable Soo Cute!!!! 🐱🐰

Kai Havertz Looks Like Between As Eeyore From Disney's Winnie The Pooh And Becca From Talking Tom And Friends Character

Julian Brandt Looked Like As Angela From Talking Tom And Friends Character

Thanks To Sharing!!!! For Kevkesblog And BabyGirls FC Daisy 1929

[rainbowsky]

Gucci Milan Fashion Week - How to Watch

Gucci's Fall Winter 2024 Women's Fashion Show

23 February 22:00 CST* (6AM PST, 9AM EST, 2PM GMT).

Weibo

YouTube

Twitter

MFW Site

I will be updating this with any new information or links as they become available, so check back here if you have any issues.

*China Standard Time

[accio-victuuri]

xiao zhan weibo update

We hold hands and move forward. We are both dreamers and look toward the future together. Come to @TencentVideo on February 3rd to watch #2024在线 Audiovisual Festival#

[bizarrequazar]

GJ and ZZH Updates — February 11-17

previous post || all posts || following week

This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

[Glossary of names and terms] [Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]

02-11 → Tissot posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun.

→ The Instagram posted a video that I did not care to watch long enough to figure out what it was.

02-12 → The Instagram posted another of the same.

02-13 → Fresh posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun.

→ The Instagram posted another of the same.

02-14 → Gong Jun posted nine pictures to his Weibo: six of the god of wealth and three of him dressed as the god of wealth. Caption: "Please choose a God of Wealth from the pictures below to spend Valentine’s Day with 💐" His studio reposted this with the added caption, "The house is full of joy, the God of Wealth has arrived! @ Gong Jun Simon wishes you to get rich without getting lost, and find wealth on all roads!"

→ Gong Jun posted a douyin of himself as the God of Wealth. Caption: "Money comes, money comes, money comes from all directions." Fan Observations: Some are speculating that the person who taps him (rather hard) on the shoulder could be Zhang Zhehan. [hand comparison]

→ Gong Jun's studio posted an additional three photos of him. Caption: "On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, we welcome the God of Wealth @ Gong Jun Simon, and wealth will come and come!"

→ PRSR posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun for Valentine's Day.

→ Gong Jun's studio posted a douyin of behind the scenes footage from the God of Wealth photoshoot. Caption: "Soft-hearted God of Wealth @ Gong Jun Simon invites you to share good luck, click to accept the invitation immediately~"

→ The Instagram posted a vlog of London.

02-15 → The Instagram posted another vlog.

02-16 → The Instagram posted seven photos of "Zhang Zhehan" in rehearsal.

→ The scam held another concert, this time in Hong Kong. This one included Zhang Sanjian strutting around topless with fake tattoos (I'll spare you the link) and saying that Zhang Zhehan's songs are "too soft". Tickets sold so badly that VVIP tickets were reportedly being given away for free a week before, and photos from inside the venue show empty seating sections and a number of audience members who were likely hired.

For previous info I've collected about these concerts, see [here] and [here].

02-17 → The Instagram posted six photos and a video of "Zhang Zhehan" showcasing the scam concert's venue.

Addition 02-24: Tumblr user @moniquill posted an article about a group of anti-Indigenous extremist Wikipedia editors. Among the editors listed is OnCamera, the editor who has also been maintaining the misinformation on Zhang Zhehan's Wikipedia page since 2021. (previously discussed under 2023-02-07, original exposé by Flora [here].)

Additional Reading: → Apologies for missing last week, I had some personal issues going on.

previous post || all posts || following week

This post was last edited 2024-02-24.

[usafphantom2]

New Images Of China’s J-35 Naval Stealth Fighter, Could Depict Third Example

Oliver ParkenPUBLISHED Mar 13, 2024 9:10 PM EDT

A prototype J-35 stealth flghter in flight

Chinese internet via X/Twitter

Recent imagery shows what could be the third flying prototype of China's carrier-based Shenyang J-35 stealth fighter. The new visuals, which depict the aircraft from its underside, come after growing indications that the J-35 might eventually operate from China's two in-service carriers, Type 001 Liaoning and Type 002 Shandong, as well as future carriers fitted with catapults and arrestor gear, including the soon to set sail Type 003 Fujian.

The images were originally posted to the Chinese Weibo microblogging website earlier in March before being shared more widely. While the precise date they were taken remains murky, it has been indicated by Hui Tong on the Chinese Military Aviation blog that the aircraft was pictured as it approached the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in Liaoning after a test flight. That same blog posits that this could be the third J-35, although we cannot confirm that at this time.

The images give us a view of the bottom of the J-35. We know from previous photos that the overall skin of the J-35 is quite smooth for low observable requirements. The rear of the aircraft shows largely standard exhaust nozzles — although we know the J-35 has serrated petals on its nozzles, although the enhanced image at the top of this post appears to have smoothed them out. The jet appears to be wearing a ventral bolt-on Luneburg lens (radar reflector) as is customary on stealth fighter aircraft when low-observability is not needed and can also be a challenge for flying in dense airspace. The style and placement look similar to the one found on the F-22 and, subsequently, the J-20. The J-35's landing gear features a twin nose wheel for carrier operations and a similar general layout as the F-35C.

Chinese internet via X

A navalized variant of the land-based Shenyang FC-31, the first flying J-35 prototype made its initial flight, at least that we know of, in October 2021, sporting a blue-green primer finish and wearing the serial 350001. The second known flying J-35 prototype, 350003, was subsequently spotted in July of 2022 with a low-visability gray tactical paint job. There was speculation that a third was pictured in flight in September 2023, although, as we noted at the time, the quality of the imagery made it difficult to ascertain whether the aircraft was indeed a navalized J-35 or a land-based FC-31 variant.

Of course, the emergence of the J-35 had long been considered closely linked with the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN) future catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) carriers.

For a time, it was widely assumed that China would stick with operating J-15 fighters from Liaoning and Shandong, which are both equipped for short takeoff but arrested recovery (STOBAR) operations. More capable future CATOBAR carriers such as Fujian would subsequently feature air wings that include J-35s and CATOBAR versions of the J-15, among other aircraft and drones. This may no longer be the case.

However, imagery that emerged out of China at the beginning of last month purported to show a J-35 mockup onboard Liaoning while the carrier was in dock. Then, later in February, further imagery materialized which showed the article next to a J-15 mockup aboard Liaoning as the carrier set out to sea for further post-maintenance trials.

A close-up view of the mockups of the J-35 and the J-15 variant from late February. Chinese internet via X

While the possibility of J-35s performing regular operations from Liaoning and Shandong may not have been anticipated by many observers, this would seem to make sense, Andreas Rupprecht, a longtime China aerospace analyst and contributor to The War Zone, has stressed: "In my opinion [the J-35 joining the Liaoning and the Shandong] makes perfect sense," he said. "Before the Fujian is ready, especially as an operational carrier, the PLAN will need to spend a lot of time training with the J-35 on the deck and in the air. Even if the training is limited due to not having a catapult, the PLAN can gain a lot of flight hours and a lot of experience."

Actually operating J-35s from STOBAR carriers would have some drawbacks, it should be noted. While recovery is the same for both STOBAR and CATOBAR carriers, J-35s would have to make use of Liaoning and the Shandong's ski-jump ramps on the bow to launch. As such, they would have to take off with less payload, in terms of weapons and fuel, compared to launching via future CATOBAR carriers. The Fujian will feature advanced electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) type catapults, instead of traditional steam-powered catapults.

However, the overall benefit they would bring to China's in-service carriers could be significant. Alongside its low-observable characteristics, it is assumed that the J-35 will feature an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar alongside a host of advanced sensors, as well as very capable weaponry. Above all else, it would get these aircraft out to sea and operating, where major lessons can be learned, before Fujian is fully ready.

While this is all intriguing, it remains speculative. It could turn out that J-35 is either unsuitable for STOBAR operations or developmental timelines will mean that waiting for Fujian is a better move. We will have to wait and see how it all plays out.

Contact the authors: oliver@thewarzone.com, tyler@twz.com

[discluded]

Do you have any expectations/predictions for BOC's 2024 line up?

wait are you asking me in the context of you saw this and want other predictions or?

because this is definitely happening 😂

I don't need this to be a romance but if there is romance, I hope it gives Barcode the opportunity to do it with a similar age costar. Jeff was the perfect first costar for Barcode and I'm excited to see how their chemistry has evolved in Wuju but I do agree Barcode's age made it challenging for Jeff in KPTS

regardless of if it's a romance or not please hire female actors BOC 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

as for expectations: lowering my expectations ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

and predictions: BOC will find some new way to annoy me I've never could've imagined

I also think MileApo might not have a (starring) BOC project next year unless if they are going from shooting in China to production on a BOC project. I know KPTS shooting took something like 5 months. the Uni Icon project is unlikely to start until post mid February. Chinese new year is Feb 10 this year (Dragon babies!!! gonna be aunt to two Dragon babies next year 😍) so it makes no sense to start production and halt just to break for the holidays.

I think they'll likely get some breaks in between to do other promos but if expect even longer period of minimal updates except maybe on Weibo during that time...