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Guardians of the Dafeng has premiered amidst high popularity and mixed reviews.
Guardians of the Dafeng tells the story of a modern-day worker, Yang Ling, who unexpectedly finds himself in the fantasy-filled world of the Dafeng Dynasty. There, he goes by the name of Xu Qi An, a night watchman tasked with supervising officials and solving cases for the people of Dafeng. Utilizing the knowledge and skills from his life in the modern world, including scientific knowledge and deductive reasoning, he successfully cracks a series of bizarre cases, earning the reputation of a master investigator in Dafeng.
Dylan Wang plays Yang Ling/Xu Qi An. Xu Qi An is a constable at the Magistrate's Office in Chang'an County, Jingzhao Prefecture, of the Dafeng Dynasty.
The C-drama has generated immense buzz in China. Before its release, Guardians of the Dafeng had over 5.9 million reservations on Tencent Video.
Within just four hours of its teaser video release, it garnered nearly 20 million views. The hashtag #Guardians of the Dafeng quickly trended to the top of real-time discussions, claiming the #1 spot. On the day the premiere date was announced, multiple related topics about Guardians of the Dafeng dominated Weibo's hot search list and ranked first on Weibo's Drama Influence list. Among them, the hashtag #Guardiansofthe DafengPremiere peaked at #2 on the hot search, while #Guardiansofthe DafengPromotion reached #3.
Additionally, the series has been sold internationally to air in multiple countries and regions across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Australia. The C-drama is airing on K+ in Vietnam, Disney+, Astro in Malaysia, Viu in Singapore, ELTA in Taiwan, Rakuten Viki, MOA in South Korea, and NewTV on YouTube. It is also reported that more than 30 brand sponsors have invested in the show, indicating the show has been expected to be among the all-time hits even before its premiere.
On the afternoon of its premiere day, Guardians of the Dafeng hosted a grand launch event. The event offered an early reveal of the story's beginning. That evening, Dylan Wang, who plays Xu Qi An, joined a live watch party after his concert, watching the show with thousands of viewers, which in turn boosted the drama's popularity.
After its release, Guardians of the Dafeng continues to retain popularity, with all metrics skyrocketing. On the premiere night, the CCTV Kuyun viewership for the drama reached 1.27, which ranked the drama first among all TV dramas airing during the evening timeslot. On Tencent Video, the in-platform popularity index quickly hit 26,087, securing spot in Tencent Video's "Love to Watch Club" while dominating the overall rankings, drama rankings, and fantasy drama rankings. By the second day, the popularity index had climbed further, surpassing 27,000.
Additionally, the series topped charts across authoritative platforms such as Maoyan, Douban, DataWin, Vlinkage, and Lanying.
As its popularity soared, Guardians of the Dafeng sparked widespread online discussions. Since its official announcement of the release date, the show, (as of December 30, 10 a.m. CST) has amassed 841 trending topics across the Chinese search network, including 509 Weibo hot searches, 105 of which made it to the main trending list. #GuardiansoftheDafeng has accumulated over 4.3 billion views on Weibo, maintaining the top spot on Weibo's Drama Influence list.
On Douyin (TikTok), the series has appeared in 153 entries on the trending topics list, with #GuardiansoftheDafeng garnering nearly 2.5 billion views. Even before its broadcast, it had already secured a spot on the Douyin Film and TV Chart, becoming the only waiting-to-be-broadcast series on the list.
Talking about international popularity, as of December 30, Guardians of the Dafeng ranks 9th on Viu's list of Trending Chinese Drama in Singapore.
Moreover, the Chinese drama also won awards of Most Anticipated Drama and The Most Anticipated IP of the Year at the Tencent Video Star Awards 2023 (December 17, 2023) and Weibo Vision Conference (November 2024), respectively.
However, despite the drama's huge popularity in China, the reviews are not entirely positive. After its release, many Chinese viewers have been comparing Guardians of the Dafeng to Joy of Life, starring Zhang Ruo Yun.
They note similarities between the two in terms of plot and dialogue and say that the series fails to reach the level of Joy of Life. Comments like, "Having just finished the first three episodes, it’s decent overall, but let’s not compare it to the first season of Joy of Life — it doesn't measure up," have been circulating.
Additionally, the lead actor Dylan Wang's delivery of lines has come under criticism, even trending on Chinese social media for this issue.
Although the fight scenes in the series have been praised to some extent, they have also drawn criticism from some viewers.
As a drama adapted from a novel, the series' deviations from the original work have also caused dissatisfaction among fans of the novel. They argue that the extensive modifications to the plot may have undermined the essence of the original story.
In summary, the reception of Guardians of the Dafeng has been sharply divided. While some viewers find the series highly enjoyable, others are disappointed with the extent of its adaptation and its overall quality. Nonetheless, the series has successfully attracted significant attention and has become one of the most trending topics online in recent days in China. It remains to be seen whether the drama's reviews and ratings will improve further or deteriorate with the upcoming episodes.
Source: Phoenix Entertainment
