In mainland China, a wave of short dramas has emerged, but with frequent controversial incidents. Following the absurd plot of “The Overbearing CEO Falls in Love with Menopausal Me,” there has been a recent production titled “Qilin Brings Offspring, Heaven Bestows Blessings.” The storyline revolves around the female lead becoming pregnant with the emperor’s dragon seed and unexpectedly giving birth to 99 sons in one pregnancy. After sparking controversy, this short drama was taken down.
According to reports from mainland Chinese media such as the “Beijing Evening News” and Blue Whale News on the 16th, the plot of “1 Pregnancy 99 Sons” originates from the short drama “Qilin Brings Offspring, Heaven Bestows Blessings.” In the storyline, the female lead accidentally conceives the “dragon seed” and during childbirth, a qilin (a mythical beast) is seen delivering the babies, culminating in the birth of 99 children. This short drama consists of 68 episodes, and as of yesterday at 6:00 pm, it had accumulated over 45 million views on short video platforms. However, the drama has now been removed from these platforms.
After the “1 Pregnancy 99 Sons” drama became a hot topic on Weibo, it garnered attention, but evidently with a mix of negative feedback. Consequently, both the director and lead actors swiftly distanced themselves from the production by posting statements on social media.
The male lead of the drama responded, saying, “I’m sorry for causing confusion, it’s all because of my agent who said it would be a big hit without reading the actual script.” “Stop scolding, they offered too much.” The director expressed, “When we were filming, I already felt like I was going crazy. If there were any issues, I went to the screenwriter, and it’s what the screenwriter wrote.” The platform quietly took down the drama without any response.
In recent years, mainland China has seen a surge in chaotic short dramas, featuring storylines like security guards and cleaners earning billions in a day, a female lead fleeing with sextuplets, and a mother of the female lead getting married 99 times. According to official regulations from the Chinese Communist Party, micro short dramas that have not been reviewed and filed should not be disseminated online.
Some Chinese netizens commented, “Micro short dramas that have not been reviewed and filed should not be disseminated online!” “This kind of crazy short drama actually passed the review process! Haha!”
Some overseas netizens pointed out that in recent years, China’s low birth rate has prompted the official authorities to encourage young people to marry and have children. This particular short drama seems to have had a political intent to promote “birth encouragement,” but it ended up being poorly received.