How to sell Zhao Yunlan

[sakana17]

My good friend thevetia asked me to show her Guardian, I very happily complied, we've watched through episode 13 (♥ 13! ♥) and she mentioned that she... doesn't like Zhao Yunlan much. ;__; But she wants to keep watching, so there's hope.

1.) Shen Wei is a quietly dazzling package of awesome, and I totally understand her devoting more attention and thoughts to Shen Wei because, yes.

2.) On first watch I didn't immediately love Zhao Yunlan, either, but he quickly interested me, and by this point (ep 13) I was sold. Now I love him so much I don't actually remember how I got here. :)

Through episode 13, what are Zhao Yunlan's best qualities? How would you describe his good points to someone who didn't notice them? I made an attempt, but... was not rational about it.

I don't need her to love Zhao Yunlan, of course (if she wants to watch the rest just for Shen Wei, I ain't gonna say no), but...!

Advice? Suggestions?

Comments

[ranalore]

Is it an active antipathy or is it just disinterest? I would say not to worry about it, honestly. She's happy to keep watching, she loves Shen Wei, and while there might be a few bumps coming up, depending on if it's disinterest or actual dislike, I think Zhao Yunlan will grow on her. Once he's in on Shen Wei's secret identity, Zhao Yunlan clearly feels safer about letting Shen Wei occasionally see beneath his masks, and I think the realization of how much of his behavior is a performance works retroactively. So, if she's not quite sold on him now, she may reach a point where he has a raw moment that hits her in the feels, and suddenly she won't even be able to remember why she didn't love him in the first place.

It may also be she does the first watch-through without really getting into him. Honestly, as someone who has had someone repeatedly try to demand that I love their fandoms—and who has a deep aversion to the fandoms and even the actors to this day, as a result—my best advice is just, now that you've stated your case once, step back and give her room to develop her own relationship with the character. You've said why you like him, now you have to have faith in the source. Don't push him at her, and I think she'll be more likely to try to figure out the appeal for herself. It may still be she ultimately remains meh, but I'm going to predict it's far more likely she will soon have her very own "GODDAMNIT JUNJIN" moment.

[sakana17]

As I was responding to comments, I talked to her again & she says she doesn't dislike him but doesn't understand his motivations. It's sounding way better than it did last night! *phew*

So I think you & others are right that Zhao Yunlan should grow on her, especially as more is revealed about him in upcoming episodes. She also wants to rewatch the eps we already watched, because some things will look different in retrospect. *g*

I mentioned some of the points others have made here, to set out the groundwork that there's a lot to concentrate on, and it's okay if she's missed/forgotten some Zhao Yunlan details. I think part of what seemed like a harshness earlier was maybe a fear/suspicion that she was missing something big & obvious about the character. And that's not the case -- it does take time to get to know him beyond the first impressions.

as someone who has had someone repeatedly try to demand that I love their fandoms

I hear ya. I usually don't respond well to active or pushy pimping from others, and I try very hard to avoid doing it myself. Getting thevetia to watch Guardian was kind of an accident: I brought a USB drive of the eps to Germany to give to someone who ended up not needing it, we noticed the USB input on the hotel's TV, gave it a try and it worked. It gave us something fannish to watch at night, and I didn't have any expectations for her getting into it or not. Ha! I had underestimated the power of Shen Wei's sleeve garters! :D