My Amazing Boyfriend (2016)

I really loved this show! The storyline is satisfying, with many unsuspecting twists and turns. The characters are adorable and more human then a lot of the characters in dramas I've seen, even if that makes them frustrating from time to time. The actors for this show are perfect the roles that they are given. I'm not very good with names and faces, but whoever played Feng Dong Dong is one of my favorite actors, he makes the character so enjoyable! The main villain was not at all who I expected him to be, and that makes the show even more fun. Being able to completely trick your audience with a red herring is a talent!
The ending is a tad disappointing, but the choices made are understandable and extremely human.

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Acting/Cast: The leading man in this show acts very well, and not to mention gorgeous too. He very charismatic, which doesn't make him seem like he is a new actor at all (even though he is). He's able to make the show pretty interesting to watch. The leading lady, on the other hand, doesn't act as well and seems stiff and unrealistic in some scenes.  Also, they sometimes don't seem as a couple unless they're doing something intimate. :/

Music: I CAN SAY THE ONE THING THAT KEPT ME ON THIS SHOW WAS THE MUSIC!!!! I absolutely lovedddd the opening and closing theme songs. I rarely ever skipped over them. The intro/ending songs just go with the tone of the story very well and were really catchy. I don't even speak Chinese, but knew most of the lyrics to the songs halfway into the drama. The show also makes the songs in the show fit the mood of the situation the actors/actresses are in most of the time.

Story: The story line is very unique and interesting. It's not just like any other cliche Twilight story. The backstory of the characters is very original, but also VERRYYYY confusing at times. You might have to re-watch some parts over again to understand what's fully going on. TRUST ME I DID IT SOOOO MANY TIMES.  The drama is VERRYYY SLOWW in some episodes. I'm talking two facts per episode (NO JOKE).  It might take you like five episodes to get to the juicy parts of the story. You might not be hooked from episode one (like me), but if you give it a chance, you might actually be surprised and like it later on.

Rewatch Value: For MOST episodes that have some juiciness and crucial moments in the drama, I would most likely rewatch.  BUT........ overall I wouldn't really consider watching this WHOLE drama over again. It's just boring at sometimes. So boring that makes you think, "Why am I rewatching this part again?"

I HOPE THIS REVIEW HELPS :DDDD

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Interesting premise, funny in parts, one of the better modern c-dramas

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2016 Chinese romantic comedy romance series with 28, 45 minute episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then a review.

Synopsis

Xue Ling Qiao (Kim Tae Hwan), was transformed by a snow leopard bite into a being that heals quickly, has super human powers, and doesn't age. He was put into a perpetual slumber when his blood was drained and 100s of years pass until he is discovered. The scientists are transporting him to a research facility when a traffic accident results in him being revived. Tian Jing Zhi (Janice Wu) is a B grade actress who would have died in the traffic accident had Ling Qiao not chosen to share his blood and revive her. With everyone who knew long gone, Lin Qiao circles back to Jing Zhi and convinces her to let him stay at her place while he finds who put him in perpetual coma. Jing Zhi's high maintenance attitude has caused many boyfriends to run for the hills but she may have met a match in Lin Qiao who is calm in the face of every storm she creates. The two grow to like and depend on each other while working together to solve the mystery of Ling Qiao's past. Will the two figure out the mysterious circumstances and can they stay together?

Review
I typically read a lot of opinions and reviews before I watch anything. This one showed up on lists of recommendations so many times I finally decided to give it a try. I am not a huge fan of Chinese dramas. It has been compared to "He Who Came From the Stars" but I think of it as more in that same genre than a Chinese equivalent to that. The lead male character in both are sort of cold and unemotional and have super powers but I think that is the strongest ties between the two as they are completely different stories. While there have been some good Chinese dramas such as "Arsenal Military Academy" and "Falling Into Your Smile" and "You are My Glory", for me there are two many elements in C-Dramas that I find annoying. So, I read a lot of opinions on this and it seemed most people that liked other things I have enjoyed also liked this. Overall I have to agree. But the things that lessened it for me was the humor and it is really just a difference in what different cultures find humorous. The humor in this is mostly slap stick and they make silly noises and even have silly drawings to emphasize it. in the first episodes the female lead acts extremely slap stick silly and it was almost so much that I quit watching it. But I was determined to get through it to see what others had enjoyed. I am glad I stuck with it because it got a lot better. There was a lot less slap stick humor as the story progressed and she became a more mature and solid character. There were times she was way more clingy than I am comfortable with, I think if someone isn't putting any effort in then it's time to go "He's Not That Into You" and quit trying to so hard. It really felt like, if she backed off, he might value her more. I also did not find the male lead incredibly attractive so I had to accept that he was supposed to be or it made certain aspects of the story a challenge. His hair style contributed a lot to making him look not very attractive in my opinion. It was all brushed forward in sort of a modified bowl cut. I called it "coconut hair" and it was a very unflattering style. The actor has a very angular face which was "softened" and allowed his dimples to show when his hair was styled back. I felt like everyone was very harsh and cruel to Jing Zhi almost making comments that she was unlucky and a poor actress. Because of that her friends and family really angered me in the beginning. I know the luck aspect is very culturally important in Chinese culture and some of my impatience with that is because I come from a different cultural perspective. The voice over dubbing was really awful and it made things seem very unnatural. The voice over dubbed Chinese to Chinese I guess to give it a studio sound quality? It just makes their voices seem "off" very frequently and was unnecessary. I wanted to hear their voices as they were speaking not some later over dubbed voice.

Spoilers*
Her ex-boyfriend/nearly fiance having lung cancer and her having to choose between getting him to use his blood and losing him, was a good plot angel. I thought it revealed his character a lot that he had her make that decision. I understood what he was saying about nature and human greed and they made it even clearer with the glimpses into his past. To me though it is radically different making a choice whether or not to save someone nearing the end of their life or someone who would naturally die early. Especially since he was a police officer, a good one at that, and would have died as a result of exposure while on the job. I felt he should have understood why she couldn't ignore the obvious option of curing him. Although he did not admit to jealousy in that situation, I think it did motivate him. And it did reveal a more human side to him. Having been burned in the past by curing someone - he should have known that situation was very different and the individual that got greedy and held not saving someone against him was clearly mentally ill. I was not completely surprised at who the villain turned out to be although they did a good job of throwing the viewer off the trail on several occasion. I suspected the cousin multiple times. I will rarely watch a series without reading reviews enough to be sure it will not be sad ending. This was not a sad ending, they both were alive and well. But it was disappointing in that they were not together. She is holding out hopes he will come back as he left his ancestral jade with her and his house. And she is "dating" her cousins and stole his turtle to lure him back. I would have been way more disappointed if I did not know there was a 2nd season and they were very clearly leaving it open.

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I saw a video of this drama on YouTube and fell in love with the story, so I decided to watch it. This was my first time watching Chinese dram and I really enjoyed watching it. The story line is interesting and worth watching the drama. People who like supernatural/fantasy kind of dramas will definitely like this drama.
The male lead is handsome, attractive and also very cute but the only thing is he is not very good at acting as this was his first drama and his actual profession is modeling. Also, even though the story was dragged a bit I did not feel bored at any scene of this drama. It would have been nice if the male lead's character has much more scenes to convey his love properly to the female lead. The music has perfectly suited the drama, it also gave me goosebumps at some scenes.
Some scenes were left unclear. Everyone who watched this drama can tell that it has the kind of ending which is 'satisfied but unsatisfied' or 'clear but unclear'. The ending was not bad but it gives the feeling of disappointment or emptyness. Despite of everything the drama is very lovely and you'll like watching it.

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Not worth the time

I started watching this and all I could think of was how did this get such high reviews?

The story of a "monster" immortal whatever being brought back to life by the FL's blood and then they become roommates. Since he had money that never made sense. In generally the seance ML and the FL's best friend we there only interesting characters. The FL lead was generally silly and annoying, with some redeeming moments. The ML was one of the worst actors I have ever seen. The stoic, unemotional ML is standard in Chinese dramas but he never managed to make you like him at all.

I admit by episode 10 I kind of lost interest and I was looking forward to this being over.

Also, the created a cliff hanger for a second season but then had different leads for season 2 so it was like 2 different people.
It's the worst clog hanger - after Princess Agents which didn't even get a season 2.

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Good, unproblematic romance

It's been a year since I watched it and it must have left a deep impression since the story is still quite fresh in my mind. I loved the reincarnation of an ancient soul having to adapt to living with the one who resurrected him and the hilarity that ensued was solid.


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Fun to watch

I am not a big fan of supernatural dramas but still this one kind of impressed me. I have seen other works of janice wu and I was not as impressed as people say about her. But this character of her made me fall in love with her. Sometimes her expressions are way too much but it really matches her. It's so cute. Talking about the male lead, i'ts quite evident in the drama that he is not chinese. There are many scenes where his lip movements did not match the dialogues. But still, I really liked the character. This drama is funny as well as serious. It's a good one time watch drama. I really wish that the second season had the same cast.

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Cool Idea!

I came across this actually because someone recommended My Amazing Boyfriend 2 and after accidentally spoiling the ending to season 2, I wanted to give this one a try. I have been stuck in the middle between two different dramas - one that get updated every 2 days with english subtitles that is extremely slow and another one that I started on Netflix about a month ago and just don't want to finish because it is so good and I know the ending isn't a happy one. So I've been searching for something lighter and sillier and I decided to give this one a try. And it wasn't that I didn't like it. It is very unique compared to other Chinese dramas I have watched before and I am currently in love with the main actress (she is the main in the other drama I am watching that comes out every two days.) I think the thing I didn't enjoy about this drama is how irritating the two mains were. I enjoyed that the main actress was optimistic even after all the bad luck in her life, but she was very oblivious to most things and when the main guy says no to something, she takes it as a future yes. She was strong in her own ways and somehow kept saving the main guy. I enjoyed the character development of the main guy through out this series, but I disliked how he told her he was going to leave once he got his revenge, but kept building a relationship with her, well knowing that he was going to leave regardless. Plus he was too stubborn to go back on his word. At one point, after a romantic weekend, he tells her that if he was a human he would stay and be with her forever, but since he is not, all he can do is enjoy her company until he leaves. I understand his reasoning, being an immortal and everything, but by saying this, he was hurting her as well as himself. Which seemed like a theme in this drama. He would physically save her, but emotionally hurt her. And it wasn't that he was abusive or anything, but he basically made this decision on his own, not thinking about how she felt about it.

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This was my second time watching it. Please note that I never watch My Love From Another Star (MLFAS) the Korean drama except for the first episode.

The story itself was interesting. I don't know any of the cast and decided to watch it after I read the summary. "A romance story between a 500 year old superhuman and a B-list actress". The series is an adaptation of a popular Chinese novel by Shui Qianmo. And it does baffle me when others compare it with MLFAS and said it was inspired by it. The only similarities that I've known of, again I only watch the first episode of MLAS, was that both male lead have super power. My Amazing Boyfriend wasn't a fantasy drama because both main lead are human; only the male lead's genetic was altered and thus making him immortal. And because he can control certain elements, he have the power of speed, strength, super hearing and floating/flying.

For a debut, Kim Tae Hwan did a good job. He didn't portray much emotion because his character was mostly aloof but, when he did show them, it was subtle and yet, as a viewer, I saw the change. Janice Wu however, did a brilliant job portraying her character. She managed not to make it annoying or else, I've drop it after the first episode like I did with MLFAS. The female lead relationship with everyone around her was the highlight of the show. There were scenes where she was whiny and slightly annoying but, Janice Wu managed to salvage it by making the female lead cute and strong with her resolve. I particularly like when the female lead declared that she would take all responsibility towards the male lead and somehow she managed to do in her way. Apart from both leads, the supporting cast also did well in their role especially Yang Aro as Feng Dong Dong.

The opening and closing soundtrack suit the drama but, to be honest, I usually skipped it.

Well, I did mentioned this was my second time watching it. Of course, I wasn't sitting on edge anymore after knowing who was the villain. But, the rewatch value was there.

Overall, I truly like it and will wait for the second season. There wasn't much left in the book unless the author added new chapter to it.

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