Li Hongyi Loses Fans For Not Defending Himself on Billing Position for His New Drama

 

This is one of the craziest reactions of fans in the C-drama fandom so far regarding the billing position of actors in a drama. What's wrong with C-entertainment fans nowadays? 

So this latest billing hullabaloo began when Li Hongyi and Wang Churan were officially announced as the main leads of the upcoming drama, "The Shadow Burns Plum Blossoms" (literal translation of its Chinese title) which is based on the novel, Female Assassin of the Song Dynasty.

Li Hongyi

Apparently, Li Hongyi's fandom insisted he should get the first billing position because he debuted in the industry (2014) years before Wang Churan's own debut (2017) and that he is more popular than her. 

In China, Wang Churan attracted so many haters due to her appearance in Fireworks of My Heart with Yang Yang last year which did not suit well with domestic viewers. So her succeeding drama projects are ridiculed by local fans, throwing any nasty comments they could think about. 

So you could just imagine the amount of hate thrown at her when it was announced she would take the female lead role for this upcoming female-centric costume drama.

The reaction of fans was even more explosive when they found out Wang Churan got the first billing position over Li Hongyi. 

His fandom called out Li Hongyi to stand his ground for the sake of his image. But the actor's response was in opposite of what his fans expected.

Li Hongyi tried to pacify his protesting fans on his personal Weibo account by saying, "As an actor, the luckiest thing is to encounter a good script, play a good role, and meet a good team. I am lucky enough to try my best to play every character I encounter".

When you try to analyze Li Hongyi's post, there's nothing wrong with it, he is just voicing out his position as an actor, as a professional performer in the field of arts whose job is to play whatever role is given to him. 

Considering the fierce competition in the Chinese drama industry, he is just lucky to get a project where he can showcase his talent. 

But his fans were not pleased lol! Some of them left his fandom out of resentment because they were pissed off by his lenient reaction. Oh goodness! What kind of mindset is this? 

Wang Churan

Hopefully, Li Hongyi's fans know that this drama is a female-centric story. The narrative revolves around the female lead character, so naturally, Wang Churan will get the first billing position because that's the standard practice in the industry.

Name credits (billing) in a drama do not matter who is the most popular or who comes first in the industry, it is determined through the narrative of the story or whose point of view the story is told.

Since this is a story about this female assassin, An Jiu, naturally Wang Churan should be credited first. Li Hongyi's post on his Weibo indicates he is a man of character and knows how the industry works.

Wang Churan and Li Hongyi at the booting ceremony of their latest drama

C-fandom is really the craziest when it comes to worshipping their favorites, most of them are prone to crossing boundaries. And they often go ballistic when they think their idols are in a disadvantageous situation. 

Just how many times has this billing position caused trouble in the C-fandom? Just days ago Ju Jingyi and Chen Zheyuan fans were trading hate and throwing vitriolic comments against each other on social media due to billing arrangement issues also.

Can't help but think about what age bracket most C-Drama fans belong to? Seems like most are still in high school. They seem cannot distinguish fiction from reality or how the real world works.

Anyway, here's the plot summary of this drama:

An Jiu (Wang Churan) returned to the Song Dynasty and became a tough female assassin. She was injured in a mission when she met the kind and weak Mei Jiu.

They were brought home by Mei Jiu's mother. Upon entering the Mei family's mansion, An Jiu realized suspicious things were happening around, leaving her with no choice but to hide her real strength. 

Not long after, she discovered the Mei family's secret: they train secret bodyguards for the royal family. They are actually one of the most ancient families of secret killers of the Song Dynasty.

During this time, she and Mei Jiu gradually went from being two people who did not understand each other to becoming very good friends. 

An Jiu trained in martial arts under Chu Dingjiang (Li Hongyi), the commander of the Crane Control Army. His eyes hidden under the black robe are like the night and his tall figure is like an eternal monument standing in the wilderness. An Jiu was attracted to him and secretly fell in love.

Just when everything was going well, the Mei Mansion was suddenly exterminated, Mei Jiu was killed, and her master, Chu Dingjiang, became more and more strange. 

To avenge her friends, An Jiu cautiously peeled off this cocoon, vowing to find the murderer, but step by step, fell deep into this spiral of conspiracy, hatred, and revenge.