Two hours later.
Yuan Lan and her best friend walked out of the cinema.
Her friend bit on her drink straw, reminiscing about the film they had just watched. "Though thinking about it now outside the theater, the overall story frawork seems a bit far-fetched, but it felt quite moving while watching. Mainly because the enemies kept coming in waves after waves, which was exciting and left no ti to consider any logical issues."
"And the special effects were really well done," her friend paused before continuing her evaluation. "The male and female leads were also good-looking. Overall, it's a successful comrcial film, though the plot isn't as amazing as the director's previously hyped works... but it was definitely worth the ticket price."
As she said this, she tossed her empty drink into the trash bin, then turned to look at Yuan Lan, only to find her busily typing away on her phone with both hands.
No wonder she hadn't been responding.
"What are you doing?" her friend asked curiously. "Writing a film review?"
"No," Yuan Lan looked up during a brief pause in her typing. "I'm demonstrating a live unfollowing."
"Fan?" Her friend thought hard for a mont before finally rembering: "Oh, right, you an that Fu sothing—Fu Lianghui, right? It's been almost two years, and you're still his fan?"
"Not anymore," Yuan Lan continued typing, head down.
"When did you unfollow? A month ago? A week ago?"
Yuan Lan: "Just after finishing the movie."
After saying this, she concluded her discussion in the Fu Lianghui fan support group chat, typing a final line: "Sorry sisters, I've officially unfollowed him. Wish you all the best in your fan journey, and perhaps we'll et again soday!" Then she pressed the "Leave Group Chat" button.
"...What triggered you?" Her friend looked at her with a strange expression.
Yuan Lan ended the pointless debate, looked at the "You have left the group chat" notification, and felt refreshed.
"It's nothing, just realized that comparisons really do reveal the differences," Yuan Lan decisively turned off her phone screen and looked at her friend. "By the way, to celebrate my successful unfollowing, want to watch 'The Long Ballad of Immortals and Demons' again? I rember this theater has another preview screening tonight. We can buy tickets now, shop around a bit, and still make it in ti."
"What, watch it again?" Her friend was surprised. "Aren't you going karaoke tonight?"
"My treat," Yuan Lan winked. "Or we could go sing now—so, are you going to watch it tonight or not?"
"Yes, of course!" Since any form of entertainnt was fine, her friend readily agreed.
And so, Yuan Lan successfully jumped out of the pit of being Fu Lianghui's career fan and began advancing at eight tis the speed toward becoming Li Xingyu's career fan.
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Regardless of what kind of shock was caused in the Fu Lianghui fan support group by one of their leaders publicly unfollowing him, or how many fans on the verge of leaving were stimulated to follow suit, Fu Lianghui's TV drama premiered on the sa evening as the film's release.
Clearly, whether it was a desperate asure or not, the platform had high hopes for this TV drama. Not only did they give it a hopage recomndation spot, but "The Long Ballad of Immortals and Demons" TV version was also the first auto-suggestion in the search box. It was hard to say whether the TV station had confidence in it, but on the premiere day, the drama aired right after the platform's flagship variety show, with significantly reduced ad ti—moving directly from the variety show to the drama, which would inevitably retain many variety show viewers, ensuring at least decent viewership for the premiere.
With both the video APP platform and TV station placing such emphasis on it, Fu Lianghui's fans rekindled their confidence in the drama's quality. They struggled with their family mbers for control of the TV remote to increase their brother's ratings, while also clutching their phones, intending to boost his play counts on the online platform.
But they quickly discovered that the quality of the TV drama was... truly quite poor.
Not only were the scene transitions inexplicably bizarre, but their idol's acting wasn't as good as they had imagined. One of the drama's main selling points was the male lead's split personality, showcasing how the actor could successfully portray two characters with completely opposite—or at least distinctly different—personalities. The first plot climax was supposed to focus on the mont when the Heart Demon removed his mask, revealing a face identical to the male lead's.
Obviously, the director understood this point, which is why he deliberately placed the Heart Demon's mask-removal mont at the end of the second episode, to give the audience a thrill.
But he clearly overestimated the male lead's acting ability... or underestimated the deterrent power of cheap special effects.
According to real-ti unofficial ratings, half of the first episode hadn't even finished airing before viewers were already leaving in droves, not waiting for the so-called second episode climax.
Moreover, the drama's streaming platform was already filled with negative reviews, mostly from disappointed novel fans expressing their thoughts—after all, "The Long Ballad of Immortals and Demons" was a significant IP with quite a few book fans.
[What's with the special effects in this drama? It's the 21st century, and I can still see such eye-searing post-production? Did they not have enough budget?!]
[The male lead's acting is so terrible. The dubbing doesn't even match the lip movents. Was he just counting "one, two, three, four, five" during filming?]
[Awful, not watching anymore. I advise everyone not to waste their ti. The female lead hardly appears in the first episode before they imdiately introduce an original female character who flirts with the Heart Demon. I'm not kidding, if you're going to promote soone with connections, could you at least put so effort into improving the script? Isn't it embarrassing to stray so far from the main plot?]
[This Heart Demon and Qi Changge are acted with absolutely no difference. Did the director instruct the male lead to perform this way? To give viewers an early taste of the body-rging experience? Why even remove a mask then?]
Occasionally, there were so enduring Fu Lianghui fans who ca to defend their brother through rose-colored glasses: [I think it's quite good. Everyone's expectations shouldn't be so high. TV dramas can't possibly be 100% faithful to the original work.]
This reply imdiately sparked a towering thread of responses.
[We're not asking for 100% faithfulness, but it shouldn't be so altered that even its own mother wouldn't recognize it! Cover up the nas of the male and female leads, and this TV drama could be viewed as an entirely different show!]
[Good? You're calling it good when the male lead can only do that sinister smile in his acting?]
[Looking at special effects that resemble a South Polar Bear Group animated film, can you really say it's good with a clear conscience? Oh, sorry, even animated effects for children are better than this TV drama. I apologize to the South Polar Bear Group.]
[For those saying it's good, go check the platform rating yourself. It's already on the edge of 7 points and rapidly charging toward 6.]
Fu Lianghui's fans naturally couldn't fight against a large number of dissatisfied viewers on their own and were soon defeated.
Among these uniformly negative reviews, there were occasionally other voices—for instance, so people recomnded: [If you don't want to watch the TV version, why not try the film version? I bought a ticket today to see the film version of "The Long Ballad of Immortals and Demons." The special effects were excellent, the fight scenes thrilling, and even the plot beca more reasonable. More importantly, the protagonist is literally Qi Changge co to life! The Heart Demon co to life! Original novel fans won't be disappointed at all!]
This behavior of promoting the film by trampling on the TV drama naturally displeased Fu Lianghui's fans. Moreover, since the film version was only in limited preview screenings, viewers who had seen the film were still a minority. Thus, these comnts triggered another wave of conflict, with Fu Lianghui's fans and Li Xingyu's fans at loggerheads, creating a rather awkward atmosphere.
Nevertheless, it was undeniable that this dispute actually brought increased attention to the film version of "The Long Ballad of Immortals and Demons"—after all, with the TV version being so terrible, people beca more curious about the film version: Was it equally bad, or did it truly far surpass the TV version as claid?
Many people were waiting for the week-long preview period to end and the film's official wide release day to arrive.
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While the controversy intensified, the film version of "The Long Ballad of Immortals and Demons" quietly began its release warm-up.
Whether by coincidence or intentionally—judging from the previous behavior of the official Weibo account, it was almost certainly intentional—the content of the promotional videos subtly aligned with the TV drama's current plot.
When the TV drama showed the male and female leads' eting, the film's official Weibo released clips of the two actors' scenes together.
When the TV drama showed the Heart Demon's appearance single-handedly raiding the enemy's lair, the film's official Weibo released a Heart Demon solo segnt.
When the TV drama showed scenes with added original characters, the film's official Weibo released special effects clips highly faithful to the novel...
Most people could see at a glance that the film's official Weibo was directly competing with the TV drama.
But the film clips released were truly spectacular!
In the clips, Qi Changge appeared in flowing white robes, cold and lofty, smiling rarely, while the Heart Demon, in his black robe and mask, was wild and unbridled. Though it was the sa face, the actor portrayed distinctly different personalities.
And unlike Fu Lianghui, Li Xingyu was undoubtedly doing his own voice work, not seeming out of place among professional voice actors, demonstrating solid professional abilities.
With these trailers released, Li Xingyu's fans went wild, if no one else did.
[Sisters! Appreciate this profile! Appreciate these fingers! Appreciate these eyelashes!!]
[In the second trailer, the Heart Demon's lancholic smile at the end is so heartbreaking! Baby, don't be sad, let mommy give you a kiss!!!]
[The male and female leads look pretty good together, but brother is still mine!]
[The person above is dreaming.]
...
Besides fans, there were also so regular viewers comnting, mainly with positive reviews.
Shao Yichen scrolled through Weibo, feeling like she had never been so concerned about a film's public reception before, so nervous that she hardly recognized herself.
However, the results so far were still within her expectations.
She then checked the current pre-sales for the film. The nearly one hundred million yuan in pre-sale box office was quite astonishing, sufficient evidence of the audience's anticipation for this film.
She sighed.
Tomorrow was the film's official release date, and she had never been as nervous as she was today.
Would this film truly succeed?
Just as she was lost in thought, her phone suddenly rang.
She took out her phone and, not surprisingly, saw Li Xingyu's na flashing on the screen.
Author's Note:
It's about to end soon, and I'm feeling a bit excited (?)
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