Yummy Yummy Yummy
To kick us off is the 32 episode drama 宴遇永安 or Yummy Yummy Yummy. This time travel period romance drama began airing on Tencent on October 9 and stars Wang Ying Lu 王影璐 and Li Yun Rui 李昀锐.
Here’s the plot synopsis. A modern day family all of a sudden travels back to ancient times to the city of Chang An. In order to survive, the family decides to open up a small restaurant. The spunky modern day girl 沈韶光（王影璐 饰）encounters the cold and calculating capital magistrate 林晏（李昀锐 饰). Despite their first encounter being filled with amusing misunderstandings, Lin Yan’s heart gradually softens as he gets to know 沈韶光 and her family. The family and their dishes make a lasting impression on those in the city. 林晏 and 沈韶光 building a beautiful relationship with a “feast” of encounters.
This is 王影璐’s 4th time headlining a drama this year and Li Yun Rui’s 李昀锐 second, although this is his first time headlining a period romance drama since last year’s hit Blossoms. Based off of a popular novel and airing on a major platform like Tencent, hopes were high for this drama but…this tanked. I never read the original book but I read comments that the adaptation strayed too far from the source material AND added in a bunch of political plot elements that were superfluous, which dragged the whole show down.
The drama barely breached 26000 on Tencent’s popularity index and hasn’t breached 10M views per episode. For every metric this is a dud. Wang Ying Lu…hm, I thought she was fine in When Destiny Brings the Demon but without enough acting chops to headline THIS many dramas. Li Yun Rui still can’t carry a drama by himself but he’s only now getting leading roles so he’s got a bright career ahead of him. He will be reunited with his Blossoms costar Meng Zi Yi in the highly anticipated drama 尚公主 or Marrying the Princess that’s currently filming. I really enjoyed that book so I can’t wait to see how that drama turns out.
Light Beyond the Reed
Next up is the 18 episode modern day drama 余生有涯 or Light Beyond the Reed starring Zhang Bin Bin and Mao Xiao Tong. This drama began airing on Dong Fang TV and Tencent on October 16.
Here’s the plot summary: Ye Sibei 叶思北 (starring Mao Xiaotong) is a quiet yet stubborn young woman who has long endured, compromised, and avoided confrontation with her parents. They favor sons over daughters. She has a loving husband, Qin Nan 秦南 (starring Zhang Binbin), who is frustrated by her unwillingness to stand up for herself. He eventually reaches his limit and asks for a divorce.
Around this time, Ye Sibei becomes the victim of an assault, leaving her devastated and hopeless. After learning of her assault, Qin Nan stays by her side and encourages her to pursue justice through legal means. With the involvement of the judicial authorities, the truth is uncovered and the criminal is sentenced. Ye Sibei and Qin Nan support each other, reconcile with their families, and begin a new chapter in their lives.
The original book was written by popular author 墨书白 who typically publishes period romance and fantasy romance novels. I’m impressed that the author ventured into more serious topics. This is Mao Xiao Tong’s first lead drama to air in more than two years. She had a cameo in last year’s Joy of Life season 2 so I’m not going to count that. She’s paired with Zhang Bin Bin, who’s previous drama The Blossoming Love didn’t perform too well but I quite enjoyed it. From what I’ve seen on social media, the acting is great but the storyline is a bit heavy, which probably contributed to the low popularity and viewership. I do hope to see more of Mao Xiao Tong and it looks like she has quite the pipeline for 2026.
Blood River
The Patriarch of Blood River, an elite assassin organization that is formed by members of the Su, Xie and Mu families, is poisoned after a fight with a Tang family elder. Wary of the members of the 3 families who want him dead, he instructs Su Mu Yu ft Gong Jun, his “kui” or key protector and likely successor, to help him find aid from the legendary doctor, Bai He Huai.
The road for medical treatment is perilous as the members of the 3 families and several other sects join in the chase to ensure that the Patriarch dies and a ruthless struggle for power begins. Su Mu Yu is torn between his loyalty to the Patriarch and his familial bond with Su Chang He (ft Chang Hua Sen), with whom they fought together to survive in the deadly pipeline of Blood River members.
On Douban, this drama has garnered 7.1/10 which is the highest of the bunch for all recently airing dramas. For me though, I WANT to like this drama more than I do. I like story which is more about creating a regime change and giving those born or forced to be killers the opportunity to reach the opposing bank to live in the light. It’s a refreshing change from the political dramas, family dramas and fantasy spirit vs demon fights we’ve seen. Additionally, there is no doubt that this is a big production film. The costumes are elaborate and intricate, the CGI fantastic, and the cast enormous. This is a huge world with new characters introduced at every turn.
But the execution for me is lacking. The drama throws you in to a massive and deep world but it takes several episodes to become engaged with the characters because there’s just so much going on. Some side plots/relationship storylines not wholly necessary but this is also driven by wooden acting from some of the actors/actresses.
Whispers of Fate
This is a fantasy martial arts drama starring Luo Yun Xi. This drama follows Tang Li Ci 唐俪辞 played by Luo Yun Xi who is framed by a former friend and forced to enter into a plot to upend the martial arts world in order to clear his name.
This morally ambiguous man uses martial arts learned from a distant land to discover secrets, create alliances and enter battles in order to confront the House of Pleasure and their nefarious plots. During this process, he meets 池云（敖子逸饰）、沈郎魂（肖顺尧饰）and several others and is touched by their willingness to protect the world. He ultimately decides to shoulder the same responsibility to face his destiny.
I watched the trailer for this because the plot synopsis online was not super helpful. Unfortunately, the trailer was also not super helpful. The drama looks stunning I’ll give you that. The special effects, costumes and hairstyles all look absolutely gorgeous. But I’m still not entirely sure what the drama is about. It’s set in Wu Lin aka martial arts world but the fights and powers of the various individuals all involve tons of special effects. The drama is based off of the martial arts novel Enduring a Thousand Tribulations (千劫眉) by Teng Ping (藤萍) so maybe in the novel, there’s more fantastical elements.
Sword and Beloved or 天地剑心 starring Cheng Yi and Li Yi Tong that began airing on October 25 on iQiyi. This 36 episode fantasy drama is the 3rd and final installment of the Fox Spirit Matchmaker Trilogy.
Here’s the plot summary. 王权富贵（成毅饰) is the son of Wang Quan Hong Ye (王权弘业) and Dong Fang Huai Zhu (东方淮竹) from the previous installment Love in Pavillion. As the heir of the Wang Quan family, he grew up with a strict regimen to be fit for battle. 清瞳 （李一桐饰）is a spider spirit who’s been sent by the Poison Lady to the Wang Quan family to spy for intel. She meets Wang Quan Fu Gui and, with his help, obtains her freedom. She is inspired by Wang Quan Fu Gui’s own desire for freedom from his family’s shackles. He, after experiencing a near death experience, adamantly denounces his birthplace to find his own path.
I personally have no idea why IQiYi decided to air this drama so soon after the disasters that were Love in Pavillion and Cheng Yi’s September Drama The Journey of Legend or 赴山海. Cheng Yi was roundly criticized for his performance in Fu Shan Hai for a handful of reasons including his poor enunciation and similar acting performances. The debacle that was The Journey of Legend really turned people off from even wanting to watch this new drama because on the surface, it really just looks more of the same. His hairstyle and costumes seem very similar to his style in The Journey of Legend. Perhaps the producers of Sword and Beloved heard those complaints because Cheng Yi is dubbed in this drama rather than using his own voice. What’s also peculiar is that the producers seem to REALLY want to distance themselves from the original IP but that decision was also made at the last minute.
Back in September, this drama was still called 狐妖小红娘王权篇 or Fox Spirit Matchmaker Wang Quan Chapter, it was only shortly before airing did the drama rebrand itself to 天地剑心 which tells you nothing about its comic and digital animation origins.
Despite those changes, this drama has been another dud and that’s 3 for 3 for this trilogy even though it boasts some stellar casts. The main criticism that I’m seeing is that the adaptation is too different from the book and doesn’t make any logical sense. I’ll start watching it to complete the trilogy and share my thoughts. The drama finally breached 9000 on iQiYi’s popularity index but it’s looking like it will struggle to even have 15M viewers per episode. For a drama that was highly anticipated even just 1 month ago as the savior for the series, reality has sunk that the producers and screenwriters just couldn’t create a good adaptation.
The next drama to discuss is 山河枕 or Fight for Love. This 40 episode drama stars Song Qian or Victoria and Ding Yu Xi in this period romance drama. It began airing on October 30 on Tencent and on November 3rd on Zhe Jiang television.
Here’s the plot summary: Chu Yu (starring Song Qian) hails from a military family. Her father recently died on the battlefield and her severely injured older brother reveals that their father’s death was caused by potential treason. Chu Yu vows to discover the truth and turns to seek aid from another powerful military family, the Wei family. Wei Yun (starring Ding Yu Xi) is the youngest son of the Wei family. After devastating losses to the family, he must now take charge. Chu Yu decides to marry into the Wei family as a widow to uncover the secrets of her father’s death. Wei Yun becomes infatuated with the intelligent and strong Chu Yu. The two experience life and death situations together as they fight for their kingdom and uncover the truth.
The original book is another book written by 墨书白 and definitely more of her bread and butter. The original book was a story of reincarnation for Chu Yu as she relived her life. The drama dispenses with that trope to tell a straightforward story. I really enjoyed the book and I like Song Qian and Ding Yu Xi as actors so I’m chasing this drama. There are some highlights, but overall, it feels a bit flat. There’s nothing wrong with it, it just is nowhere near as gripping as the original text.
Unfortunately this drama hasn’t been performing too well, just breaching the 25000 mark on Tencent which is not good for such a strong IP. Ding Yu Xi continues to deliver as the childish Wei Yun but again, the plot just feels flat. I do hope this drama picks up some viewers.
The Queen of News 2
Modern day drama featuring Charmaine She, She Shi Man, Huang Zong Ze.
This hongkong drama is a sequel to 2023’s The Queen of News. The drama revolves around news broadcasting and is set in HongKong’s biggest news media outlet SNK-News. It follows Charmaine She’s Wen Hui Xin who made a huge name for herself following her report on a major criminal in season 1. Now, in this season 2, Man Jie in cantonese, she welcomes another formidable opponent. Originally just a cameo appearance in season 1, now Gu Zhao Hua ft Huang Zong Ze suddenly becomes the executive director for SNK’s news channel. His sudden arrival breaks the calm at SNK news and starts a new battle with Man Jie.