The Chinese costume drama Twisted Fate of Love, which is popular overseas, has failed to achieve good results in China’s local market

Twisted Fate of Love, a Chinese costume love drama co-produced by Haitangguo Pictures and Penguin Pictures was broadcast simultaneously on Tencent Video, WeTV and Line TV on November 23, 2020.

The play, adapted from Yu Zhaoci, a novel by a Chinese novelist Jiu Shi, tells a story of time travel:

In the Yin Dynasty, Dong Yue, a brave female general in the Dingyuan uprising, was sent back in time to prevent a war that might take countless innocent lives. In order to prevent war, she began to murder corrupt Lu Yuantong officers. On her journey, she met Feng Xi and Pang Yu. Pang Yu and Feng Xi were old friends. They loved each other deeply, but later they fell out and became enemies. While trying to reconcile with the brothers, Dong Yue also tried to stop Lu Yuantang’s evil plans, which were prepared to split the country with their help.

Although the plot from ancient time to ancient times is very creative, the play has not achieved much on Chinese mainland.

As of December 2020, the play has always ranked around 20th in China’s TV series ratings, failing to make it into the top five. On Maoyan, China’s online drama statistics platform, it has a cumulative total of 186 million views, significantly lagging behind Eternal Love Rain, a similar online drama released by iQiyi in the same period. Although the show is only halfway released in 40 episodes, its popularity curve on Chinese mainland has fallen sharply. Overseas, its heat continues to rise, according to Google Trends.

The drama has received too few reviews on Douban to form an average score, indicating that the show is not popular on Chinese mainland. In some comments on Douban, it is believed that there is something wrong with the rhythm of the show. Audiences who have not read the original novel will find it difficult to understand the action logic of the characters in the play. As a result, the creative plot of the drama is wasted and can only rely on the love between the characters to attract the audience.

Sun Yi, a 27-year-old Chinese actress, plays the heroine Dong Yue in the play.
She was known for her supporting role as Princess Liu Yao in the classic Chinese TV series Legend of Miyue, which was broadcast in 2015. In 2017, she married her manager.

Sun Yi became the spokesman of American luxury clothing brand Kate Spade in China in January 2019, a contract that continues to this day.

The film’s leading actor Feng Xi is played by 27-year-old Chinese actor Kim (Jin Han).

He entered the entertainment industry for the first time after winning the championship in the 2015 Chinese reality show: Road to Star. Over the next few years, he appeared in TV dramas such as The Princess Weiyoung, Princess Agents and Our Glamorous Time. Since he has been playing the villain in these Chinese costume dramas, his range seems to have been fixed. Although he is the leading actor in this play, the hero in this play is also a villain to some extent.

Chinese singer JC-T (Tan Jianci) plays Pang Yu in the play. He entered the entertainment industry in 2009 and is now the youngest singer in the Chinese boy band MIC. On WCG in 2009, he sang the theme song Beyond the game with other members of MIC.

The show is directed by Hon-to Wai and Xu Huikang, two well-known directors from Hong Kong, China, who have previously directed many classic TV series. But there are also comments that the two directors have never directed an online series before, which may be the reason why Twisted Fate of Love is not good enough.