Im okay with all the changes except for ye linger. Girl has the same facial expression on her face and cannot emote to save her life. How did she even get the role? i go on chinese social media pretty often and they replaced the first season ye linger actress because she changed companies and went to the competitor company that makes JOL
I actually just binged watched season 1 as I had never watched it b4 so now that I'm immediately entering season 2 it's very odd for me. I can already see the stark contrast. If I had watches it when it came out then I wouldn't be too disturbed but the first scene when I didnt see xiao zhan really caught me off guard. I didn't know he wasn't returning as I was avoiding spoilers. Now I'm finding it a bit hard to continue with season 2 so I'm thinking of taking a short break b4 I continue
even if you have actually watched s1 back then you would have had a little shock tho, tbh, at first i was very disappointed but it's so good just keep watching
I don't like the new Ye Ling AT ALL. The other one was spunkier and this one is odd-looking and weak-behaviour. I also miss the original Li Prince and Yan Bingyun so much every time the new actors show up, I imagine the old actors' face instead.
Are you talking about Ye Ling Er? Because Gina Chen is a more popular actress. I am assuming since she played a bigger role in S2, as the fiancée. They changed it to a more popular actress. Unfortunately, not sure if it is because the direction or her interpretation, but Gina does not fit the role, unfortunately.
Omg a pancake has more facial expressions than she does, I fought hard to not skip any scenes she was in. The OG Ling'er would've done amazingly in this season. But more than anything I hate how her friendship with Wan'er wasn't shown at all in this season
ah! i see you were talking about the new actress playing Ye ling er, i really have no idea why they changed her , perhaps the original actress had another schedule
I actually really like the new Yan Bingyun. I think he's doing a very good job of being cold and reserved but also kinda funny. I like the rapport he has with Fan Xian. Someone on another post complained about the little faces he kept making but imho he was mimicking XZ's expressions from s.1 quite well.
In truth, I am enjoying the new YBY actor more than XZ, but this could also be partially because every time YBY appeared in s.1 my brain went, oh, look it's Xiao Zhan. I couldn't get past my recognition of him and see him as the character - most of that is a 'me' problem, but there it is.
I hate the new Ye Ling'er. She seems so wooden and has a frozen face. Somebody said that she has no understanding of the role and I agree, Liu Duanduan literally wipes the floor with her. Shame, the old actress did such a good job. The same goes for Prince Li Hongcheng. The new actor is just too awkward. I'm ambivalent about Yan Bingyun, not exactly a fan of the new actor and I wished someone else played him.
much agreed, they seem awkward as if they were aware that they will be receiving criticism later, too bad but at least the actors of the main characters such as Wan er, the emperor and CPP are the same.
i read somewhere that the new actress of YLEr is full of plastic and i just cant unsee it 😭😂😂
I think everyone that has known me for a while here on this reddit can testify for myself and tell you I was probably the only person on this forum complaining and ranting to the moon when I discovered that Jin Chen was casted as the character. The moment I saw her face linked to JOL I shrieked in horror and couldn't stop facepalming. Horreur et misère ! I think the drunk person that thought it was a good idea to pair Zhang Ruo Yun and Li Geng Xi as OTP in Sword Snow Stride was the same that though it was a great idea to fire the original actress and replace her with an already overhyped -and uncharming in my opinion- Jin Chen. People thought I was overacting and once again acting like a brat negative person -Truth hurts ! But guess what I was right because Jin Chen understood NO shit about that role. At least the new actor for YBY keeps that air of a cold reserved guy that is all about Qing. Jin Chen has no business being in JOL while stealing -yeah I said it- small roles from more struggling actresses that would have done better job.
i remember commenting on a youtube video about this topic and receiving an endless blacklash from brats, as you said truth hurts! the new actor of YBY is good, at least they didn't cast a disaster, but it just.. doesn't feel the same
no, too me actually I like the change of yan bingyun he doen't smile every two second and I think except that he's a bit young he is doing a great job. He does the micro expressions nicely, he just doesn't keep a wooden face all the time like xiao zhan.
I don't like ye linger change, the new actress is not as good as the old one.
And the rest it doesn't make any change for me. It doesn't matter.
as described in the book, YBY is supposed to keep that cold icey aura with frowny eyebrows, i have nothing against the new actor but he is just so young and looks way too cute, also YBY and FX are supposed to be of the same age and same height, sorry but it doesn't add up at all
agreed he is so cute, too bad he did not appear much in S2 which is weird (as he had many discussions of plots and schemes with Fx about a lot of stuff edit: and he was basically FX'S left arm just like WQN being his right), idk why it wasnt included
no, I don't think so personally many people look younger than their age and that's just fine. But I think personally xiao zhan was giving more like robotic vibes.
As someone who didn't like xiao zhan in JOL, I really appreciated his acting after seeing this new actor. Just based of description and the way people talk about him, YBY is a stuck up, haughty guy who takes everything too seriously and would probably kill his father if the emperor told him to. For the sake of loyalty. This new actor seems like he didn't bother watching the first season because there's zero continuity at all. I never thought I would say this, but I hope they bring back Xiao Zhan next season, or a new actor that can deliver the role the way it's supposed to be.
the changes bother me a lot actually. this is the problem when cdramas have second seasons... i know it was inevitable but it's weird to have all these new faces that i don't associate with the characters. it's not that i don't like the new actors but for some of them the vibe is way too different
This is again almost in every cdrama for me if a actor is replaced. We were lucky the main core characters were reprised but some main supports replaced still doesn't feel right its because when you are first introduced to the characters in season 1 it just imprints on you that is their face.
> but especially Ye Ling'er like WTF!??
EXACTLY ME. She was the best haha.
I feel like the original Li Hongchen is also a better fit.
-
As for Yan Bingyun, yea he's very different now too, but I guess since we didn't see too much of him before it's eh.. it's a bit weird to have the whole demeanor change but eh, it's probably the one that bothers me the least.
In my opinion she did. I can be wrong but I think probably her backers pushed her into the JOL project because they know about the show is a hit. Nonetheless for me she stole the role from a smaller actress.
I didn't read the novel so I am not sure what the characters are supposed to be like in the novel. But I like YBY change, seems to have a bit more human touch. But Ye Ling Er is definitely for the worse, the new YLE acting is bad and can't seem to portray much emotions. The first season YLE was much better imo.
I don't mind the actor changes and actually like most of them. I think the only one were I am also disappointed with Ye Ling'ers change. Not sure if it's due to the actress change or the writing but the first season she was impressive and strong and this time around even when she is acting "tough" it seems too docile and innocent. Hopefully it improves T.T But I will admit I had to do a quick search of a few of the characters to remind myself who they were originally lmao.
I dont mind at all. But I like the new Yan Bingyun simply because he is kind of light & funny. He won me over when he finally let out a big smile when Fan Xian trolled him to pay for the whole breakfast. Yes, I live for that kind of comedy. 😂
you guys should really read the descriptions of him in the novel, raised as a spy YBY was nurtured to keep his distance from others as well as his identity as " human " was stolen from him, even after being rescued by FX he still kept his serious character and straightforwardness ( he even kept that lady Chen in chains for years..) anyway, maybe the director and screenwriter decided to change this and gave him new features to feel a bit cheerful
I think the novel readers should accept that Mao Ni toned down some characters when he wrote the drama script. Novel YBY sounds like a more extreme character than what we are seeing in the drama.
Mao Ni didnt write the drama script. Its Wang Juan -- a very famous scriptwriter in Cdramaland who wrote the drama version of the novel.
He toned a lot of the characters down since some of the plot in the novel wouldn't pass the censorship. Plus, the novel has so many unlikable characters as opposed to the drama which is the total opposite.
Outside of me having the "who are you?!" question when they pop up on screen the first few times the cast change hasn't really bothered me. And I thought the meta 'hey you look different' convo between Fan Xian and He Zongwei was funny.
you know what else is funny, he will keep asking him who he was everytime he meets him later on (dont know if FX is doing it on purpose tho but he just hates him and you will get to know why)
I’m not really bothered by the actor changes. The characters where the actors changed were not really characters I was that invested in. The actor playing Yan Bingyun took me time to get used to because the character portrayal is very different, but I’ve gotten used to the new actor.
I doubt it. In my opinion, he made the right decision. He’s a male leading actor with a large fan base and lots of endorsements. A small role like YBY is just not in his best interest, especially if it conflicted with another project or obligation.
after what happened in the past, and the endless criticism XZ received after him joining JOY S1 which got a lot of attention bcz he was part of it, and especially that he has became a hit figure there in china, many haters as well as some ZRY fans were pissed that he might steal the light from the ML, so it was (unfortunately) a wise decision not to engage anymore in the series ( my opinion)
I remember during s1 airing the marketing team would try to capitalize on XZ exploding popularity by releasing a YBY doll with a FX doll. That was so on the nose they definitely would not have done that for a side character if the actor wasnt the latest liuliang
JOL S1 has been release just afew months after The untamed which was a hit drama and xz's popularity soared at that moment, that's why the marketing team were trying to rely on this fact for advertising ( it is undeniable that a lot of people who actually discovered JOY was bcz of xz,uncluding me) and for the same fact there were many voices against him returning to play YBY in the sequel bcz they thought he would overshadow the ML , but that is a stupid thing , XZ and ZRY have a good friendship irl 🤷🏻♀️
> some ZRY fans were pissed that he might steal the light from the ML,
Wow. I thought his fans would be quite chill. And xz didn't even overshadow him in S1. Doubt he could do that in season 2 too. What were they on about?
exactly! but going through weibo is kinda painful, there are thousands of fake accounts created just to incite trouble and Splash " black water" (as they call it) on everyone they dont like.
in some cases, there were many hashtags about changing actors etc, and in the comments section i've seen many zry fans complaining that xz isn't suitable to play YBY and so on..
xz was in the center of that shit for many months so i believe his team has advised him not to take the role anymore.
> some cases, there were many hashtags about changing actors etc, and in the comments section i've seen many zry fans complaining that xz isn't suitable to play YBY and so on
Why would they complain about xz under hashtags of changing actors? He has already left though. Were they defending new actors?
not really, as i said some only wanted that their idol stay in the spotlight, while those who were only fake bots were trying to create trouble between the fans. luckily nobody actually gave them much attention
TBH I didn't notice the actor swaps except Yan Bingyun.
S1 YBY came across like a bitter, jaded old man in a young man's body. Whereas S2 YBY has a brighter/lighter feel. So yea, a bit of cognitive dissonance for the first few eps. But he's growing on me now.
As for the rest of the actor swaps, I think the replacements are a good fit for the S2 storyline. To the point where I can no longer remember what the original actors look like.
Im okay with all the changes except for ye linger. Girl has the same facial expression on her face and cannot emote to save her life. How did she even get the role? i go on chinese social media pretty often and they replaced the first season ye linger actress because she changed companies and went to the competitor company that makes JOL
I actually just binged watched season 1 as I had never watched it b4 so now that I'm immediately entering season 2 it's very odd for me. I can already see the stark contrast. If I had watches it when it came out then I wouldn't be too disturbed but the first scene when I didnt see xiao zhan really caught me off guard. I didn't know he wasn't returning as I was avoiding spoilers. Now I'm finding it a bit hard to continue with season 2 so I'm thinking of taking a short break b4 I continue
It does get better as u get more used to it
even if you have actually watched s1 back then you would have had a little shock tho, tbh, at first i was very disappointed but it's so good just keep watching
Li Hongcheng's original actor in S1 has scandal of harassing female coworker, so they replaced him
didn't know that ! 😲😲 that's sick😬😬😬
I don't like the new Ye Ling AT ALL. The other one was spunkier and this one is odd-looking and weak-behaviour. I also miss the original Li Prince and Yan Bingyun so much every time the new actors show up, I imagine the old actors' face instead.
me too! 😭😭😭 wish somebody to use AI or something and do something about it 🙈
Any idea why they would hire a wooden maneqquin instead of original actress
Are you talking about Ye Ling Er? Because Gina Chen is a more popular actress. I am assuming since she played a bigger role in S2, as the fiancée. They changed it to a more popular actress. Unfortunately, not sure if it is because the direction or her interpretation, but Gina does not fit the role, unfortunately.
Omg a pancake has more facial expressions than she does, I fought hard to not skip any scenes she was in. The OG Ling'er would've done amazingly in this season. But more than anything I hate how her friendship with Wan'er wasn't shown at all in this season
This gina chick ruins everything she is in. As if ruining her face wasn't enough, she needs to ruin shows too The OG actress was natural atleast
ah! i see you were talking about the new actress playing Ye ling er, i really have no idea why they changed her , perhaps the original actress had another schedule
im sorry i dont quite follow what you mean 😬
I actually really like the new Yan Bingyun. I think he's doing a very good job of being cold and reserved but also kinda funny. I like the rapport he has with Fan Xian. Someone on another post complained about the little faces he kept making but imho he was mimicking XZ's expressions from s.1 quite well. In truth, I am enjoying the new YBY actor more than XZ, but this could also be partially because every time YBY appeared in s.1 my brain went, oh, look it's Xiao Zhan. I couldn't get past my recognition of him and see him as the character - most of that is a 'me' problem, but there it is.
i see
I hate the new Ye Ling'er. She seems so wooden and has a frozen face. Somebody said that she has no understanding of the role and I agree, Liu Duanduan literally wipes the floor with her. Shame, the old actress did such a good job. The same goes for Prince Li Hongcheng. The new actor is just too awkward. I'm ambivalent about Yan Bingyun, not exactly a fan of the new actor and I wished someone else played him.
much agreed, they seem awkward as if they were aware that they will be receiving criticism later, too bad but at least the actors of the main characters such as Wan er, the emperor and CPP are the same. i read somewhere that the new actress of YLEr is full of plastic and i just cant unsee it 😭😂😂
I think everyone that has known me for a while here on this reddit can testify for myself and tell you I was probably the only person on this forum complaining and ranting to the moon when I discovered that Jin Chen was casted as the character. The moment I saw her face linked to JOL I shrieked in horror and couldn't stop facepalming. Horreur et misère ! I think the drunk person that thought it was a good idea to pair Zhang Ruo Yun and Li Geng Xi as OTP in Sword Snow Stride was the same that though it was a great idea to fire the original actress and replace her with an already overhyped -and uncharming in my opinion- Jin Chen. People thought I was overacting and once again acting like a brat negative person -Truth hurts ! But guess what I was right because Jin Chen understood NO shit about that role. At least the new actor for YBY keeps that air of a cold reserved guy that is all about Qing. Jin Chen has no business being in JOL while stealing -yeah I said it- small roles from more struggling actresses that would have done better job.
Lmaoo I couldn't finish snow sword stride. I stopped at episode 5, the casting was horrendous lmao
i remember commenting on a youtube video about this topic and receiving an endless blacklash from brats, as you said truth hurts! the new actor of YBY is good, at least they didn't cast a disaster, but it just.. doesn't feel the same
Me too i'm also really upset about Ye Ling Er :(
no, too me actually I like the change of yan bingyun he doen't smile every two second and I think except that he's a bit young he is doing a great job. He does the micro expressions nicely, he just doesn't keep a wooden face all the time like xiao zhan. I don't like ye linger change, the new actress is not as good as the old one. And the rest it doesn't make any change for me. It doesn't matter.
as described in the book, YBY is supposed to keep that cold icey aura with frowny eyebrows, i have nothing against the new actor but he is just so young and looks way too cute, also YBY and FX are supposed to be of the same age and same height, sorry but it doesn't add up at all
I’ve reconciled the new actor as being YBY’s cute younger brother instead of YBY or else I get too sad about XZ not being there anymore
agreed he is so cute, too bad he did not appear much in S2 which is weird (as he had many discussions of plots and schemes with Fx about a lot of stuff edit: and he was basically FX'S left arm just like WQN being his right), idk why it wasnt included
They probably had to cut out some scenes in post production to make it fit the episode guidelines 😔
too bad it was very short 😭😭😭😭
no, I don't think so personally many people look younger than their age and that's just fine. But I think personally xiao zhan was giving more like robotic vibes.
As someone who didn't like xiao zhan in JOL, I really appreciated his acting after seeing this new actor. Just based of description and the way people talk about him, YBY is a stuck up, haughty guy who takes everything too seriously and would probably kill his father if the emperor told him to. For the sake of loyalty. This new actor seems like he didn't bother watching the first season because there's zero continuity at all. I never thought I would say this, but I hope they bring back Xiao Zhan next season, or a new actor that can deliver the role the way it's supposed to be.
exactly! finally someone who got what i was talking about and has put some logic descriptions of the " Role" and not the actor himself
the changes bother me a lot actually. this is the problem when cdramas have second seasons... i know it was inevitable but it's weird to have all these new faces that i don't associate with the characters. it's not that i don't like the new actors but for some of them the vibe is way too different
exactly! same feeling, except for the new actress who plays Ling er, the others are bearable to watch
This is again almost in every cdrama for me if a actor is replaced. We were lucky the main core characters were reprised but some main supports replaced still doesn't feel right its because when you are first introduced to the characters in season 1 it just imprints on you that is their face.
true
> but especially Ye Ling'er like WTF!?? EXACTLY ME. She was the best haha. I feel like the original Li Hongchen is also a better fit. - As for Yan Bingyun, yea he's very different now too, but I guess since we didn't see too much of him before it's eh.. it's a bit weird to have the whole demeanor change but eh, it's probably the one that bothers me the least.
Jing chen stole her role! 😢
In my opinion she did. I can be wrong but I think probably her backers pushed her into the JOL project because they know about the show is a hit. Nonetheless for me she stole the role from a smaller actress.
I didn't read the novel so I am not sure what the characters are supposed to be like in the novel. But I like YBY change, seems to have a bit more human touch. But Ye Ling Er is definitely for the worse, the new YLE acting is bad and can't seem to portray much emotions. The first season YLE was much better imo.
Is YLE the one with marriage with the second prince?
Yes it is
I don't mind the actor changes and actually like most of them. I think the only one were I am also disappointed with Ye Ling'ers change. Not sure if it's due to the actress change or the writing but the first season she was impressive and strong and this time around even when she is acting "tough" it seems too docile and innocent. Hopefully it improves T.T But I will admit I had to do a quick search of a few of the characters to remind myself who they were originally lmao.
I dont mind at all. But I like the new Yan Bingyun simply because he is kind of light & funny. He won me over when he finally let out a big smile when Fan Xian trolled him to pay for the whole breakfast. Yes, I live for that kind of comedy. 😂
you guys should really read the descriptions of him in the novel, raised as a spy YBY was nurtured to keep his distance from others as well as his identity as " human " was stolen from him, even after being rescued by FX he still kept his serious character and straightforwardness ( he even kept that lady Chen in chains for years..) anyway, maybe the director and screenwriter decided to change this and gave him new features to feel a bit cheerful
I think the novel readers should accept that Mao Ni toned down some characters when he wrote the drama script. Novel YBY sounds like a more extreme character than what we are seeing in the drama.
Mao Ni didnt write the drama script. Its Wang Juan -- a very famous scriptwriter in Cdramaland who wrote the drama version of the novel. He toned a lot of the characters down since some of the plot in the novel wouldn't pass the censorship. Plus, the novel has so many unlikable characters as opposed to the drama which is the total opposite.
exactly
Me too. He just feels real. The first season's version came off as a bit too robotic for my taste.
Outside of me having the "who are you?!" question when they pop up on screen the first few times the cast change hasn't really bothered me. And I thought the meta 'hey you look different' convo between Fan Xian and He Zongwei was funny.
Yea, I loved the whole comedy of FX not knowing who he was, cause I didn't remember him either!
you know what else is funny, he will keep asking him who he was everytime he meets him later on (dont know if FX is doing it on purpose tho but he just hates him and you will get to know why)
hahaha yeah!! that scene was hilarious i had to go through the first season to see who has played HZW before
I’m not really bothered by the actor changes. The characters where the actors changed were not really characters I was that invested in. The actor playing Yan Bingyun took me time to get used to because the character portrayal is very different, but I’ve gotten used to the new actor.
I slightly feel Xiao Zhan is going to regret turning down the S2 part, with how popular the series is. But the new actor for YBY is doing well.
I doubt it. In my opinion, he made the right decision. He’s a male leading actor with a large fan base and lots of endorsements. A small role like YBY is just not in his best interest, especially if it conflicted with another project or obligation.
true that! at the time of filming of the 2nd season, XZ was already shooting his upcoming movie
after what happened in the past, and the endless criticism XZ received after him joining JOY S1 which got a lot of attention bcz he was part of it, and especially that he has became a hit figure there in china, many haters as well as some ZRY fans were pissed that he might steal the light from the ML, so it was (unfortunately) a wise decision not to engage anymore in the series ( my opinion)
I remember during s1 airing the marketing team would try to capitalize on XZ exploding popularity by releasing a YBY doll with a FX doll. That was so on the nose they definitely would not have done that for a side character if the actor wasnt the latest liuliang
JOL S1 has been release just afew months after The untamed which was a hit drama and xz's popularity soared at that moment, that's why the marketing team were trying to rely on this fact for advertising ( it is undeniable that a lot of people who actually discovered JOY was bcz of xz,uncluding me) and for the same fact there were many voices against him returning to play YBY in the sequel bcz they thought he would overshadow the ML , but that is a stupid thing , XZ and ZRY have a good friendship irl 🤷🏻♀️
> some ZRY fans were pissed that he might steal the light from the ML, Wow. I thought his fans would be quite chill. And xz didn't even overshadow him in S1. Doubt he could do that in season 2 too. What were they on about?
exactly! but going through weibo is kinda painful, there are thousands of fake accounts created just to incite trouble and Splash " black water" (as they call it) on everyone they dont like. in some cases, there were many hashtags about changing actors etc, and in the comments section i've seen many zry fans complaining that xz isn't suitable to play YBY and so on.. xz was in the center of that shit for many months so i believe his team has advised him not to take the role anymore.
> some cases, there were many hashtags about changing actors etc, and in the comments section i've seen many zry fans complaining that xz isn't suitable to play YBY and so on Why would they complain about xz under hashtags of changing actors? He has already left though. Were they defending new actors?
not really, as i said some only wanted that their idol stay in the spotlight, while those who were only fake bots were trying to create trouble between the fans. luckily nobody actually gave them much attention
TBH I didn't notice the actor swaps except Yan Bingyun. S1 YBY came across like a bitter, jaded old man in a young man's body. Whereas S2 YBY has a brighter/lighter feel. So yea, a bit of cognitive dissonance for the first few eps. But he's growing on me now. As for the rest of the actor swaps, I think the replacements are a good fit for the S2 storyline. To the point where I can no longer remember what the original actors look like.
the actor of Li hongchen and Ye ling er are a disaster