New Policy Has Fans Worried About “Lost You Forever S2” Release Date and Episode Count

So I’m one of those who prefer to watch a whole series in one go, but here I am, all caught up with the most recent episode of Lost You Forever 长相思 and worrying about what I’m going to do once season 1 ends. Because like past dramas have done so before, Lost You Forever which finished 6 months of shooting on September 25, 2022 has been split into seasons to accommodate for China regulatory board NRTA’s move to cap every drama at 40 episodes.

There’s a New Policy Affecting Chinese Dramas

While the best scenario would be for Lost you Forever Season 2 to air right after season 1 ends, rumors say that it won’t be released until a few months later before the end of the year. However, a new policy from NRTA may just change that. New policy dictates that total number of hours per drama will be capped at 1,800 minutes which means a 40-episode drama can have 45 minutes max. This has been done to combat Zhu Shui Ju 注水剧, which refers to dramas that endlessly drag on, sacrificing quality for the sake of filling the time. To deter needlessly long dramas adopting a seasonal format just to air one “long” drama, the new season cannot air until 12 months later.

Unfortunately, it makes it that much harder for dramas that really require that much airtime, such as historical dramas, which often need longer air time. The 12 month wait for it to air will be painful not only for viewers but also an added risk for the show since what is popular now, might not have the same pull a year later. The new policy should only apply to new dramas being made and because it came out after Lost You Forever started airing, many are unsure what it would mean for the second season.

Questions About Episode Count

Lost You Forever Season 1 has 39 episodes. Season 2 is said to be under review so there is no official episode count but rumors say that the 35 episodes planned for the drama may have been cut to 21. Given the very positive buzz around the show, just the thought of cutting down so many episodes for the sake of reducing airtime is enough to make any fan angry. However, some reason that 35 was just the initial number, that there’s no drastic cutting down of episodes but rather a change in the split of episodes since season 1 was only supposed to be 29 episodes, but decided to air 39 episodes in one go and the 21 episodes for season 2 would tell the rest of the story.

As a fan, I just hope the drama gets to air as it was intended, because for a show that’s now the hottest drama this summer (Tencent heat index has hit a new high of 33,000!), it deserves that and so much more.