Editor's note:

This column mainly recommends good-looking short dramas, cute actors, delicious Xipi, as well as reliable directors and conscientious screenwriters. The most important thing is to give fans of the recently popular and concluded short drama a warm home.

In July, the market for summer long-form dramas is in full swing, making the short-form dramas a bit dull. However, the author still found a few short dramas that you can watch and recommend them to those who want to "pump themselves up first" before going out this summer.

Wouldn't it be nice to drink this beauty tea?

【newest】

"Jade Nujiao"

This year, idol-turned-actor Xu Zhenzhen has been intensively promoting dramas. "Marrying in the East Palace" and "Xing Jun Xing" have been seamlessly connected, and now he is promoting "Yu Nujiao".

Xu Zhenzhen, who has a beautiful voice and a sweet voice, has good quality control. The short dramas she starred in are basically online, and she can also enjoy some sipi.

Xu Zhenzhen as Xie Yun

"Jade Nujiao" tells the story of Xie Yun (played by Xu Zhenzhen), the daughter of the Xie family, who originally met and fell in love with Yin Ji (played by Cheng Yufeng), but was misunderstood as a person who betrayed Yin Ji and passed on to the King of Qi. After Yin Ji ascended the throne, he began to torture Xie Yun like hell, making her a slave and a maid, falling in love and killing each other in various ways.

Stills of "Jade Nujiao"

How can I put it this way? This drama focuses on an abusive female protagonist, and the male protagonist is all kinds of "I love you, but I won't say it, so I will abuse you. After the abuse is over, I will feel sorry for you again." (This should be the author's eye roll.gif ).

Therefore, the character of the male protagonist played by Cheng Yufeng is not very good, and he is far less likable than the "he loves him so much" character of Lin Zehui in "Marrying in the East Palace" and "Traveling with the King".

Xu Zhenzhen’s crying scene was quite good.

Fortunately, Xu Zhenzhen's acting skills have improved, and the feeling of fragmentation really touched me.

By the way, Xiao Baobao, the second female lead in the show, is Teng Zewen aka our stepmother. Friends who want to see Sa Shuang's stepmother act coquettishly and clinging to others, don't miss this one.

Teng Zewen as Xiao Baobao

"Burning Heart"

A gangster, falling in love with a scheming sister, the Republican version of pseudo-orthopedic taboo love, with all the elements.

"Burning Heart" tells the story of Fu Yunyue, the second leader of the Red Flame Gang in Dragon City, despite the obstruction of his brother Fu Yunzheng, disguised his identity and approached Shen Xize, the young master of the Shen family, to avenge his mother and assassinate the master of the Shen family, Shen Wende, but who knew that more hidden things were discovered? secret.

Stills of "Burning Heart"

Needless to say, I don’t really like the publicity point of the male protagonist spanking the female protagonist, but pseudo-orthopedics has always been an important part of the dramas of the Republic of China. Therefore, "Burning Heart" still found some niche audiences.

Ling Meishi + Zhao Yingbo, a magical combination——

Zhao Yingbo, a boy who became popular in 2017 after participating in "Happy Boys".

Ling Meishi, the heroine of Fang Yilun's "The Moon Shines on My Heart", is a girl with top-notch acting skills and good looks. She is one of the familiar female supporting candidates in long-running dramas, such as Zhou who is on the air in the drama "Yan Xin Ji". Lord of Yang County.

"Burning Heart" behind-the-scenes photos

In terms of dramas to be aired, she is included in Jing Tian and Zhang Linghe's "Four Seas Chung Ming", and she is also included in Lu Yuxiao and Wang Xingyue's "Five Fortunes".

Come on, girl!

"The Bride of Fire"

Wen Yuan, the male protagonist of the movie "Contract Bride" that I recommended when writing about Ke Ying, plays the role of the Young Marshal in a Republic of China drama again. Sure enough, the rich lady approaches the young commander with the purpose of revenge, and the script of marrying first and falling in love always has a strong base.

How come you never get tired of taking pictures?

Two men and one woman are chasing their wives, and the male protagonist is a double-standard tsundere who is tearing up green tea while looking weak, helpless, and pitiful in front of the female protagonist. But the sober heroine belike: Wise men don’t fall in love. Some basic routine plots, with occasional twists and turns that are not so smooth, were quite interesting to shoot.

"The Bride of Fire" poster

However, here’s a cue from the screenwriter: Please don’t write some bad lines about “three-married girls are broken shoes” next time. What we are saying is that you can obviously write well, so there is no need to step on you first.

"Blade with You"

How can the cold prince Jun Mo (played by Yang Ze) and the top killer Zhao Xiaoyan (played by Hong Xiao) break through the shackles and renew their relationship?

Stills of "Blade with You"

Miss Jie Li from "Canglan Jue" is also very busy this year——

Among the long-form dramas that gained popularity are "Young Master of Dali Temple" and "Fox Demon Matchmaker: The Red Moon"; among the short-form dramas that gained popularity, there are also the previously recommended "Boundless Love". Now, "Meet the King" "Blade" continues again.

Behind-the-scenes photos of "Blade with You"

Hong Xiao, the god of materials for film machines.

Screenshot of Hong Xiao’s Weibo

In the past two years, watching Hong Xiao step by step, I actually sighed that the girl drama is really good. The genres selected are basically the same, and even in dramas with a poor reputation, she is not bad.

This shows one thing: actors still have to keep filming in order to keep making progress.

【Supplement】

"Beauty Strategy"

The new drama starring Guan Chang, the heroine of "Love for Three Lives", is starring Zhang Jingyun, the idol that Lehua sent to "Youth With You 3".

"Beauty Strategy" is adapted from TUTU's "A Generation of Spiritual Empress". It tells the story of Princess Shuoye of the spirit race who narrowly escaped from the war between the five races six years ago. Six years later, she transformed into Lingzhi (played by Guan Chang) and entered the human palace to get close to the human race. The story of Emperor Mu Xuanjue (played by Zhang Jingyun), in order to seek the truth about the genocide and save his imprisoned relatives.

Now that the series has concluded, it can be completed in one go.

"Beauty Strategy" poster

Although the main theme of this kind of "love and peace", the author has been suffering from PTSD recently and understands everything, but I watched Guan Chang's drama with my eyes closed. After all, her scene in "Love in Love" was really great. Murong Wanwan, the Hede Emperor's concubine from the "Fu Tu Yuan" period, was also very playful and cute.

Stills from "Beauty Strategy"

By the way, "Beauty Guide" also has Yuan Ziming, the second male lead in "Love". For him and Guan Chang, they can play Soda Green's "Meet Again" on demand.

Yuan Ziming as Bingjian

【database】

According to Yunhe data, the top three short dramas on the Internet in terms of effective market share in June were: "Jade Nujiao", "Step by Step" and "My Name is Bai Xiaofei".

Data source: Yunhe Data

In terms of the annual list, "Written" ranked first with a box office share of 22 million, and "Give Her the Handle" ranked second with 19 million. Previously, Li Muchen and Ye Shengjia had reunited in the commercial drama, and it is said that the second costar of the drama is also on the way.

Li Muchen

In recent years, the domestic micro-short drama market has shown explosive momentum, and many of these dramas have also chosen to go overseas. The following list data is synthesized from YouTube and TikTok platforms, as well as the rating platform MyDramaList (MDL). MDL has become a rating platform for drama series in various countries and regions in Asia.

Top 10 micro-short dramas released overseas in the first half of 2024

(Sorting after weighting based on total play volume, number of entries in each language, etc.)

1. "Blind Heart" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking viewers account for 95%, with a total of 6.45 million YouTube views, a total of 1.2 billion TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.7;

2. "Love" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking viewers account for 70%, with a total of 3.4 million YouTube views, a total of 492 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.2;

3. "The Reason I Returned to Seventeen" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking viewers accounted for 85%, with a total of 1.7 million YouTube views, a total of 96.2 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 8.2;

4. "Counter Romance" , overseas non-Chinese speaking audiences accounted for 85%, with a total of 7.25 million YouTube views, a total of 83.5 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.7;

5. "Wind Moon Like Snow" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking audiences account for 80%, with a total of 3.25 million YouTube views, a total of 75.7 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.4;

6. "Love from Zero to One" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking viewers accounted for 85%, with a total of 5.15 million YouTube views, a total of 54.9 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.6;

7. "Don't Go Wild with My Sister" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking viewers account for 80%, with a total of 2.15 million YouTube views, a total of 45.8 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.9;

8. "You Can't Hide Your Heart" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking viewers account for 90%, with a total of 2.2 million YouTube views, a total of 23.3 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.4;

9. "Contract Bride" , overseas non-Chinese viewers account for 75%, with a total of 4.4 million YouTube views, a total of 21.7 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.3;

10. "The King's Heart Is Hard to Lose" , overseas non-Chinese-speaking viewers account for 80%, with a total of 2.85 million YouTube views, a total of 14.9 million TikTok entries, and an MDL score of 7.4.

Looking at the list of overseas short dramas, actresses such as Li Muchen, Ke Ying, Guan Chang, etc. are all old acquaintances in short dramas.

[Write at the end]

This year, Teng Zewen and Ming Jiajia, the heroines of the popular short dramas "I Was a Stepmother in the 1980s" and "Give Her a Handle", were also discovered by sharp-eyed netizens. In "Between Rain and Clouds", a guest appearance is made by the heroine's classmate, a kind of passerby who watches the heroine "ascend" while playing the piano.

Although the beauties are all beautiful in their own way, I still want to lament that the makeup, clothing, and even changes in shooting angles in different dramas can make the same person's appearance look completely different on camera.

A few days ago, at the post-screening meeting of "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" at the Shanghai TV Festival, Zang Xichuan, the director of "Nine Yin Manual", talked about the rhythm of short and long dramas when answering questions from the audience -

"This rhythm must be in the development of the characters themselves, rather than deliberate. Going fast for the sake of fast is not good. In fact, it goes against the rules of creation. Therefore, in the current era of the popularity of short videos, it is important for us screenwriters and We are also looking for a common approach when it comes to directing and production.

I hope that one day, everyone can measure the quality of a work based on the quality of the play itself, rather than just its size;

I also hope that one day, everyone can define an actor based on his voice appearance, not just the amount of traffic and the beauty and ugliness of his makeup.