Summer countdown, fairy tale drama "battle royale" is here

Seeing that the summer season is imminent, many fairy dramas to be broadcast have released materials in an attempt to take the lead in the "fairy drama war". Although realistic dramas have been more popular in the entire drama market in recent years, they have repeatedly aroused social discussions. But as a traditional strong category, fairy tale dramas have always had their own stable audience.

In the sequence of the fairy tale drama to be broadcast, there are not only works adapted from big IPs, but also game and comic IP adaptations, as well as many original works. So in the fairy tale drama "Battle Royale", who can highlight the siege and gain market recognition? Perhaps it doesn't just depend on the popularity of the IP and whether the cast is luxurious or not.

The audience's discussion of Xian Xia drama in recent years has proved that the audience preferences of Xian Xia drama are quietly changing. The plot bridges that have been tried and tested are now very likely to become the object of criticism by the audience. This year's audience has higher requirements for dramas and character shaping, and fairy tale dramas should also change in line with the needs of the audience.

(In this article, "fairy tales" is a general term, and fairy dolls and ancient dolls are within the scope of discussion)

Big IP, big production, big gimmick

Such a lively fairy tale drama to be broadcast

Let's take a look at how many fairy tale dramas to be broadcast are held by each platform.

Since shouting the slogan of "Xian Xia First Platform", Youku has invested more hard in Xian Xia dramas than before. This year's two highly discussed fairy tale dramas - "Long Moon Ember Ming" and "Heart Protection", were broadcast on Youku. In the previous film list released by Youku, "Lang Jun is unsatisfactory", "Under the Stranger", "Anle Chuan" and so on are also in the category to be broadcast.

Among these fairy tale dramas to be broadcast, "The Legend of Anle" is the one with the highest expectations. This drama is adapted from the IP "Book of the Emperor", focusing on sadomasochism, of course, the cast of this drama is one of the reasons why it has been widely concerned.

The starring cast composed of Di Li Gerba, Gong Jun and Liu Yuning does have a strong appeal. As one of the 90 flowers, Reba became popular by supporting roles, especially "Feng Jiu" is still memorable, but after picking Da Liang as the protagonist, he has always lacked a sufficiently convincing masterpiece.

The heroine in "The Legend of Anle" has a complex life and meets the expectations of the current audience for the "big heroine", and whether Reba can interpret this role in place should be one of the concerns of the outside world.

And Gong Jun and Reba's situation is somewhat similar, with the double male lead drama became popular, he put into the shooting of new genre dramas after the series was completed, but due to the theme and other reasons, these dramas did not reach the discussion heat of the original double male lead drama. Therefore, the success of "An Le" is also crucial for Gong Jun.

Let's talk about Liu Yuning. He is arguably the most successful Internet celebrity in recent years, and unlike other Internet celebrities who always have mixed reputations, Liu Yuning's reputation is very good, and the fan base is very solid. Previously, Liu Yuning's performance in "Long Song Xing" made the outside world quite amazing, and also changed the stereotype of "Internet celebrities can't act", if after the broadcast of "Anle Chuan", Liu Yuning can continue his previous performance in other dramas, then his name of "carrying the ratings actor" will be more worthy of the name.

iQiyi, which has always followed the theme of realistic suspense, has not given up the market of fairy tale dramas. Among its fairy tale dramas to be broadcast, "Covering the Sky", "Huarong" and "Dust" are the three with high attention, especially the latter two.

The protagonists of "Dust" are Yang Ying and Ma Tianyu, although AB's acting skills are always criticized by the outside world, but it must be admitted that she has a certain appeal, and in recent years, the wind evaluation of AB in the social field has been good, so "Dust" may rely on the male and female protagonists to attract many audiences to share.

"Hua Rong" is jointly produced by iQiyi and old friend Siba Media, and most of the actresses in this drama, including the heroine, are independent artists and SNH48 members of SIBA Media, and the head artist Ju Jingyi plays the heroine in this drama.

At that time, Ju Jingyi was criticized by the outside world for the title of "4,000 years of beauty", a "Yunxi Biography" made her reputation warm up to a certain extent, the broadcast platform of "Yunxi Biography" is iQiyi, "New White Snake" is also another masterpiece of Ju Jingyi, which is also broadcast on iQiyi.

It is reported that the cooperation between Ju Jingyi and Siba Media has come to an end, and "Hua Rong" is likely to be her last work in Siba, "If Xiao Ju leaves 48, maybe he will transform and never make fairy tales again", many fans look at this series with such a mentality.

There is also the comic book drama "Fox Demon Little Red Lady" series, which is also very popular in iQiyi's fairy tale dramas to be broadcast.

The "Moon Red Chapter", which has been filmed, starring Yang Mi and Gong Jun: the "Bamboo Industry Chapter" that is being filmed is picked by Liu Shishi and Lin Xinxin. The former 85 flowers have returned to the fairy tale drama, which will undoubtedly set off another wave of discussion.

The most important fairy dramas in Tencent Video's hands are "Jade Bone Yao" and "With Phoenix Xing". The former is adapted from the fantasy novel "Zhu Yan" by "new martial arts writer" Cangyue, starring Xiao Zhan and Ren Min. And the roles played by these two actors have a big contrast with the impression they give, and the IP itself has a certain appeal, and many people have bet that "Zhu Yan" will explode.

The highlight of "With Phoenix Xing" is that Zhao Liying and Lin Xinxin continue the frontier. At the end of "The Legend of Chu Qiao" that year, the final ending made many viewers uneasy, and the legendary second season was delayed in filming, and the "rotten end" became a regret for the audience. Therefore, many people regard "With Phoenix Xing" as a sequel to "The Legend of Chu Qiao", of course, Zhao Liying, who kills all sides in the realistic theme, will return to the fairy tale drama and what amazing performance will be, which is also one of the highlights.

Compared with the three Youaiteng, the highlights of Mango TV's upcoming fairy tale dramas are not so obvious. From the official narrative, "Thousand Autumn Order" is also the main god and demon entanglement sadomasochistic relationship, but it must be pointed out that this kind of god and demon sadomasochism can easily pry the audience's happiness in the past, but now it may become a fuse for overturning.

The audience is no longer strong

It's time for the fairy tale drama to change

The entanglement of gods and demons and the deep sadomasochistic love can be said to be one of the classic routines that have been tried and tested by fairy tale dramas. That kind of narrative that disappoints the world for the sake of one person's heart has fascinated many boys and girls, but from a series of related discussions during the broadcast of "Long Moon Ember" this year, it is not difficult to find that the audience's preferences have changed.

Because "Long Moon Ember Ming" was hoarded for a period of time before it was broadcast, the concepts and bridges conveyed in the play are no longer in line with the preferences of the current audience. First of all, the audience no longer buys the unlucky drama of god and demon sadomasochism.

The reincarnated Tangtai Ember of the demon fetus is born desperately in love, so he acts perversely, but treats the heroine specially. If it was in the past, the audience would definitely shout for the double standard of the demon fetus, but now many viewers point out that it is difficult for them to substitute the perspective of the heroine, but instead substitute for ordinary people in the play, feeling that "it is really a bit unlucky to be in the same world as the male and female protagonists." ”

Especially in the past, the setting of "the most noble so-and-so" in the past fairy dramas has caused the audience's rebellious psychology. "Such a role is becoming more and more unsubstitutionary, and too suspended, and I will substitute for those ordinary people in the play."

Secondly, the audience began to pity the so-called "vicious female match". The emotional promotion between the male and female protagonists relies on vicious female matching, which is a standard configuration from the era of "Three Lives and Three Lives". After recovering her memory and skills, Bai Shao, played by Yang Mi, finally gouged out Su Jin's eyes to take revenge for her various vicious actions, which made the audience excited, and since then, the female partners of other fairy tale dramas have also undertaken the task of doing bad things and promoting the progress of the relationship between the male and female protagonists.

In "Long Moon", the second female played by Chen Duling is also such a vicious female match, but she unexpectedly gained a large number of audience love, and even made Chen Duling himself a solid wave of fans. The audience's love for female partners is because many viewers see themselves constantly suppressed by life in the process of vicious female partners becoming bad.

Coincidentally, although Suying played by Yang Rong in "Protect the Heart" is a villain who "does all bad things", he has been understood by many audiences on social platforms. Some people said that although she went astray and did a lot of bad things, "she has always cared about the human camp and her Xuanmen disciples in her heart, and although she is a villain, the role has been established." ”

Finally, it is the audience that begins to demand the logical self-consistency of the characters in the play. In fact, in the past fairy tale dramas, as long as the male and female protagonists sprinkle more sugar and the emotional line is sweet and cruel enough, someone will pay, but now the audience begins to pay attention to whether the character's behavior is logical, and the attitude of the male and female protagonists to other things besides feelings.

"Canglan Tips", which was broadcast last year, was praised as an honor student because it met the audience's preferences in these aspects. The male and female protagonists will care about other people around them, and the supporting characters are no longer the tools to promote the plot, they also have their own wonders. In addition, compared with other fairy tale dramas, the male and female protagonists say that they are righteous, but in fact, there is only small love in their eyes, and the male and female protagonists of "Canglan Recipe" have achieved putting Cang Sheng before personal love. It is also these treatments that allow the audience to spontaneously amway the series, and until now, there are many new fans of "Canglan Tips" who continue to enter the pit.

"I don't want to see only the male and female protagonists are beautiful, I want to see all the characters are rich and full of flesh and blood." Some viewers said.

Audience preferences change

Will fairy tale dramas return to the "classical era"

It is worth noting that the audience began to have a rebellious psychology against the protagonist who was "born noble", and even supported the vicious supporting role who should have been "disliked" because of this rebellion. This change in preference may mean that fairy tale dramas will return to the "classical era".

The so-called "classical fairy era" is the creation mode when game reform IPs such as "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" came out. This kind of drama adapted from well-known game IP, the protagonist is often an unknown pawn, due to adventure or accident, step by step towards a different life.

The script of the game IP is greatly influenced by classical martial arts novels, and basically follows the "small shrimp and rice swimming in rivers and lakes" routine of classical novels. Because this model was the mainstream of creation at that time, the audience had aesthetic fatigue, and it also gave Xian Xia dramas the opportunity to enter the "era of power", with "Three Lives and Three Lives" as a watershed, and the identities of the male and female protagonists of later Xian Xia dramas were almost indescribably expensive, and the distance from the public was getting farther and farther.

Whether the audience pays is one of the reasons for the success of the series. Whether the actor's interpretation is in place is also important to the final appearance of the series. Due to the star-making nature of fairy tale dramas, many young actors, especially those who have transformed from idol, take fairy tale dramas as their starting point, but their performance in the play is always ruthlessly judged by the audience.

Aside from the problem that the acting skills are still immature, the young actors' persuasion in fairy tale dramas is not convincing enough, which is related to the fact that it is difficult for their experience to interpret the setting of "the most noble so-and-so in the world". Because in general, young actors interpret roles, especially actors who are not from professional backgrounds, need to draw from past life experience, but the setting of the characters is too noble, making it difficult for them to learn anything.

This also leads to the fact that the audience always feels like a play when watching a fairy tale drama, because the distance between the character and the actor is too far for the actor to learn from when performing. The roles of the classical fairy tale drama era can give young actors great room to play.

At that time, Hu Ge played Li Xiaoyao and became popular, because the origin of Li Xiaoyao's character is not complicated, it is the second junior of an inn in Yuhang Town, he does not need any noble temperament, only the unique momentum and youthful vitality of young people. For Hu Ge at that time, this was not difficult to interpret, and therefore left a classic role with a clear image in the history of TV series.

Therefore, if the text creation of fairy tale dramas can change the background of the current war between gods and demons and return to the classical era, it will also be a good thing for actors.

Of course, the existence of female characters in classical fairy tale dramas is weak, mostly serving the male protagonist, and this configuration of weak women and strong men is not suitable for the current viewing preferences, which is also a "thunder point" that creators need to avoid in the creative process.

For the audience, fairy tale dramas are a paradise of fantasy. Here, there are fairylands, magic, and the wrestling of various gods and demons. This fantastic and magnificent scene is the reason for the longevity of fairy tale dramas. And the audience is growing, the needs are also changing, and the one who can win in "Xian Xia Battle Royale" must be the one that meets the needs of the audience.