I will just give you all the reasons WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH BEHIND YOUR SMILE :
1) The intrigue plot of revenge. It's nothing original about it. You got a main male lead who was hellbent on taking revenge on people who had done wrong to his family and eventually lead to the death of his father. It was the only mission of his life provided that he successfully carried out his revenge. He since then become the Ice Prince, cold and heartless. Then our main heroin, the Warm-Hearted Princess came along into his life accidentally. She who since then melt his frozen heart and teach him how to smile again. The story sound so typical was'nt it? This no mistake was the foundation of the show but what made me fall in love with the show was how the story being directed and developed. There was nothing typical of it. It was addictive and compelling. Watch it if you want to know!
2) Good acting and great chemistry between leads. At first while watching Marcus Chang potraying Zhao Yi Ting, The Ice and Jerk Prince, I'm not so convincing. I noticed the awkwardness and it feel slightly fake. But as the show goes on, as I became more warm up to his character, I think that his acting became much better. He became better with his facial expressions even the subtle one. When he's in pained expression, I can feel it as my own. I can feel his heart breaking even when he wore a cold facade. I tell you that,if an actor manage to make the viewer feel that, He. Is. Really. A. Very. Good. Actor. And Liu Eugenie as Lei Xin Yue. Her character was annoying at first. Definitely became annoying and weak were her characters in the early of the show as the one who has been sheltered entire of her life and she did very good at that. Later on, she became the strong heroin that I want. She also shows that being strong is not when you let go of the person that you love but being able to forgive and hold on the person that you love even if he hurt you beyond reason because you can see the ways he love and take care of you more than the ways he hurts you. It sound dumb I know I know. But she really shows only those who have big heart can forgive people. :P
3) Very smart and wise male lead. This show have it. Zhao Yi Ting was never one step behind while dealing with his enemy. He is sensible and insightful.To have a revenge based drama, a smart and clever lead was a must. It is absolutely no fun in watching revenge show with dumb and slow-witted characters.
4) Good looking main leads. If you only watch the show with good looking leads. This show might be for you. At same point while watching the show in it's early episode, I even thought the 2nd male lead was much more good looking than the 1st male lead :P
5) No love triangle. If you hate a romance show with love triangle/ rectangle / polygon this might be the show for you. There was only one-sided crush present in the show and even that was'nt too burdening because our heroin's love to our main male lead was unwavering to the end.
6) Very hot steamy kiss scene :P (I'll leave it to your imagination of how hot it is.. :D )
7) The OSTs was so great. All the soundtrack was so damn fantastic that I must download all of them and keep it in my phone. I usually got bored while hearing the same song over and over again but it was'nt the same case with all the song in BYS. It now has been dozens of times already I listen to the Shi Shi - He is'nt Worth It, I keep wanting to listen to it more. I also love the Don't panic song the same. It is cute and catchy.
Alright, I think 7 reasons are enough for now. Lastly, I recommend this to everyone who want to watch revenge-melo-romance drama at this moment. Give it a try, you might love it the way I did ^^
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Story
The story is a combination of a romantic comedy with a grain of melodrama accompanied by a revenge subplot to spice things up. Tsundere male, seeking revenge for his destroyed family, meets the naïve and gullible female lead who tries to find her impeached mother. The two are intrinsically linked and form an ill-fated relationship that develops into a deep romance – havoc, tears, cheesiness and twists ensued.
The drama, despite its 75-minute-long episodes, was extremely easy to watch, enjoyable, not too basic plot-wise and not too complicated just enough to keep things interesting. Even if it was extended I can’t say it was dragged. The plotline was well-thought out making forward steps either on story or character-development.
My favourite part of the drama was the fact that it had a something for everyone. Mainly a romance-comedy, it was heavy on romance and even if I didn’t see any particular chemistry between the leads they shared some steamy, fan-servicy kisses, they looked great together and had good synergy.
Moreover, the comedy was kinda cheesy but cute and entertaining. While lastly, my favourite part, the backstory was not new but well-written and strong, implicating families, revenge, had twists and some melodrama, good for every taste and thorougly entertaining. I sincerely enjoyed the whole thing.
Continuing, the music was sensuous even if it was regularly repeated. Worth downloading, what I mainly enjoyed was the re-arrangement of the title song to fit many different situations, dramatic scenes, comedy scenes ect.
Character development and the concept of forgiveness and selflessness drives the story and gives significant lessons to viewers.
Acting
The acting wasn’t the drama’s strongest suit but I can’t say it prevented me from enjoying it.
Liu Eugene is probably the weakest link of the chain, maybe it was her character maybe not. It was kind of annoying to watch her being that defenseless at first, also her childlike attitude didn’t help, but it was part of the character, similar characters are usual in dramaland. In some scenes I was enjoying her performances some other times she couldn't convey her feelings properly tending to fall short or overact. Not bad overall, but a bit weak.
Hong Angel excelled in being a bad bitch with anger issues, I loved her, her role was a bit limiting, and she also couldn’t cry express any other emotion other than fury to save her life. She was good though as a raging mean girl and that was why she was there.
Yang Esther is probably my favourite out of the female characters, cute, funny and badass with a misunderstood emotional side. Beautiful as well.
I left my personal favourite for last; Chang Marcus wasn’t only the best actor in this but also he is easily the most handsome Asian actor that has graced my laptop screen. Extremely charismatic and charming he had the arrogant, mean bastard with a soft and kind interior act down. I’ll be stalking his next projects.
The full supporting cast did alright but the drama was mainly Eugene and Marcus, even the rest of the main cast didn’t really have a prominent role in this. –also thank god no unnecessary love triangles!
Recommend/Rewatch
As it was already mentioned, behind your smile has something for everyone. Rom-com fans will definitely enjoy this; the backstory makes this good enough for people who like more serious dramas too. It is a light-hearted drama, easy watch but still interesting with a strong plot. Even if there is nothing innovative about this drama, it is cliché done right. I will never rewatch this but I can see how it can hold some rewatching quality for some viewers.
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I'm a huge Taiwanese drama fan, and usually there are about 1-2 good series released per year with a lot of familiar cast members. I decided to give this drama a shot as I hadn't seen a good Taiwanese drama in a while, and although I usually go for the romance/ comedy dramas (most Taiwanese dramas fit this criteria) I didn't know what to expect from this series as it was a melodrama/romance, BUT I am so happy that I started watching this.
This literally drew me in, within the first 10 minutes! I finished binged watching this drama in a matter of days.
The soundtrack fits with the drama and I have listened to the tracks over and over again (esp. the OP theme song.. LOVE the opening song). I love how the drama is filmed with the scenery/ mood of the drama being a little darker and more serious (usually there are always a cute title of the drama with cute animations during the breaks/ on the bottom of the screen). The actors have GREAT chemistry and the lead actor is SUPER HANDSOME, lead actress is BEAUTIFUL. It is refreshing to see new faces in this industry and I hope to see more dramas with the leads, because the acting was FLAWLESS and they played their characters really well- chemistry was 100/100. I felt every frustration, friendship, betrayal, sadness, love and happiness that the characters felt and overall I really really enjoyed this emotional roller coaster.
I love the story and romance in this drama. This is not so typical that it gets boring and cheesy in the middle, but a drama that constantly keeps you drawn in! It showcases the dark realities of the world and how a naive woman chooses to face it, which I really like. The only downside is the last half of the last episode where everything felt a little rushed, but for me, a Taiwanese drama that keeps me engaged for over 95% of the series deserves a huge RECOGNITION.
For those considering whether to watch it or not, don't say anything - GO WATCH THIS SERIES NOW! I highly recommend this drama to anyone who enjoys romance (with some cute bits in it too), handsome/ beautiful leads, stories about betrayal, friendship and building trust/ learning forgiveness. I really enjoyed this drama... and now that I have finished it.. don't know what to do in life anymore but rematch this series! GO WATCH IT :)
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Awesome Drama, loved it.
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DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME
Honestly, I was hankering for some Melodrama/Revenge stories after watching 'Secret' (which was excellent!) and the whole love/hate dynamic was heartbreakingly good to watch. In Secret the chemistry was amazing and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wanted some censorship friendly hate s** , or at least some bruising kisses between the Main Leads. This is how I ended up watching this show. Boy did I take the wrong turn! I really don't understand why this has a 7.9 rating and glowing reviews.
Story was not bad, immature at times but actually thought out. nothing earth-shattering or even highly original but easy to follow and the mystery that we follow throughout all 19 episode get resolved somewhat satisfactorily at the end. Just that the way it was filmed was confused in the sense that you realise that the director/writer just wasn't sure if this was a Melodrama, a rom-com, or a thriller.
Cast/Characters were totally mismatched. Nothing against any of the actors, they played their part well enough but whoever did the casting was either romantically numb or just plain blind. Marcus Chang had better chemistry with BFF/spy and should have been given the main female lead role. The actress playing Xi Yu should have been cast as the vet. and the vet as the bff/spy. The only perfectly casted actor was the fiancee. She did the job well.
Honestly the writer needs to learn to write better tv female leads. The main female felt like a caricature of a warm-hearted, kind, earnest & naive Damsel in Distress. Seriously I cried for feminism as she tumbled her way across the screen not even thinking about self preservation (seriously the whole town knows your face and are after your mommy, change your hair style and wear some Clark Kent glasses or something!) I get that's why the other characters are supposed to feel protective over her but one can be a spunky, sassy damaged heroine who others want to protect too!
Music/OST was the only real redeeming quality, both the opening and ending songs were very catchy.
Overall waste of time. I stuck it out because the reviews says it gets better. I'm here to tell you that it doesn't. I do respect that other people have different opinions and if you decide 1 bad review is not going to stop you from enjoying this, then go ahead. I reserve the right though to draw comparisons with this and the worst Harlequin romances I've read so far (and trust me I've read quite a few, don't judge, I travel a lot ok?)
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Acting/cast:
The cast was perfect especially Zhao Yi Ting. His acting was phenomenal and he has one of those killer smiles. We actually saw how his cold facade melted slowly. That brings me to character development. This series had an amazing character development starting with Lei Xin Yu. She was annoying and weak were her characters in the early of the show as the one who has been sheltered entire of her life and she did very well at that. Later on, she became the strong heroine that I want. She understood what love was and forgiveness.
Music/
Let me just say that it's very hard to find a series that has a good ost and this one definitely had a perfect ost, "he isn't worth it" by chi chi fit perfectly and I absolutely fell in love with it. I feel like all the songs used described the charcaters.
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Story - 10/10
I rarely give a drama a rating of 10 but this one deserved it because I enjoyed each and every episode! Really good story, a perfect Melodrama Romance to watch, it had a bit of everything, drama, revenge, romance, family drama etc.
Once you get past the few 2 or 3 episodes it gets a lot better, all the characters have their own story.
I would recommend watching a youtube mv of it as a trailer to decide weather to watch it or not
Acting/Cast - 9/10
Great acting, the leads have great chemistry together. Marcus Chang really suits this type of role, I think Eugenie Liu aka XinYu was the best actress in this drama, she hasn't been in many dramas but her acting is very good and I hope to see both of them in more dramas cast as leads together again!
Music 10/10
This drama had THE best music in a taiwanese drama I have seen so far,
I love the fact this drama is filled with Rock songs, it makes the drama even better in my opinion. One of my favourite OST is ''None of Your Business ????? by the band 831''. I like how it starts slow with the piano and then goes full on rock mode.
This song really suits Zhao Yiting's conflicted character, The lyrics are telling the way he feels, You can just imagine Zhao Yiting telling people to leave him alone as he was fine living in his closed off world while trying to exact his revenge.
Rewatch Value 10/10
I'm planning to rewatch it already lol, it was that good.
Overall 10/10
Definitely recommend this drama.
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***
First of all... I Loved it!
I know I'm enjoying something when I find myself watching each and every scene without skipping a single moment. It's been a solid two years, if not more, that i've last checked out a Taiwanese drama but after watching this, I feel like I have a strong sudden renewed interest in them again.
The storyline is what first intrigued me. As a lover of more darker and revenged filled love stories and as a fan of the Korean Drama Secret, this was just my kind of drama.
I thought the acting from the main cast was great and I really cared about the characters and how their stories would unravel. You liked the characters you're supposed to like and you hated the ones you're supposed to hate.
The writing for the most part was great but It did have a few messy moments.
I feel like this was most apparent with the writing of the main female. Sometimes her character can come across as too whinny and naive to the point she could frustrate you but she really grows into her own as the drama progresses and I did like her character. The chemistry she had with the lead male was amazing. I just couldn't get enough of seeing them together.
The supporting cast were just as interesting. The friends and family were really likable and I enjoyed their scenes a lot.
But the standout performance by far was definitely Zhao Yi Ting. Chang Marcus really did carry this drama by himself and I'm so happy to have discovered him. I'm now such a big fan of his. The way he portrayed the tormented, angry and vulnerable Zhao Yi Ting was perfect. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing him. He frustrated you but at the same time you just wanted to give him a hug. You understood why he was the way he was. You could see his inner struggle through his facial expressions alone and he was always captivating to watch.
As for the music. It was great. I really enjoyed listening to the different renditions. Especially, Shi Shi's, He's Unworthy.
Overall, I found It was definitely worth watching and I have no hesitation in recommending this to others.
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This review may contain spoilers
How to Mess Up a Good Thing
The story was promising. A tale of revenge with the most compelling of intentions, thrown off the tracks by 'true love'. The acting in this piece, with one glaring exception, was stellar! The ML played his role to perfection. The intensity of his hatred and desire for vengeance. The way he held on for dear life when he realized his feelings were changing - and he was falling in love. The confusion, the indecision, the turmoil... he did a great job bringing Yiting to life. The supporting players did a great job also. Their interactions, their emotions, drew the viewers in and made us a part of their struggles and their personal situations. I would have loved to know more of their own stories and see them developed more. I'm so glad the promise of happy endings for Yiting's brother and the best friend were given to us. I especially liked that the writers didn't just sugar coat the mother's wrongdoings - and even the bitchy ex-girlfriend got some measure of redemption.Now as to what messed this drama up for me... I cannot determine whether the writers meant for the leading female character to be so dumb, or to act like a first-class fool. I get that she was supposed to have grown up spoiled and protected and naïve but come on! This girl behaved like a three-year-old (apologies to three-year-olds everywhere) for most of the series! If the actress was portraying clueless, she sure did a convincing job. Surely there was another way to make this character a little more appealing and a lot less annoying! Even if she started out dumb and stupid but grew up through adversity and pain and became a strong, independent, intelligent adult! At one point I was rooting for the bad guy to kidnap her and throw her over a cliff (we know that cliffs are never the 'end' in CDrama)... and frankly, I would have been ok with a happy ending for the ML without her! I have never not liked a FL character this much. She had ZERO redeeming qualities except maybe a little chemistry with the ML (but to be fair, even a rock would have chemistry with one as hot as him). I want to say I would take a look at other works of this actress, but if this one is any indication of her acting ability, no thanks!
Absolutely NO rewatch value, which is a shame for the other actors I liked so much, and the ML - but I will look at their other dramas to be fair and give them a chance.
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Started it for Marcus Chang, finished it for the OST and decent plot.
I didn't like the first episode. At all. But started and continued this drama for Marcus Chang and later the OST.I finished Secret (Kdrama) right before this, and Yi Ting gave me serious vibes if the ML, Min Hyeok. But, the execution of this drama is very different in the sense that as the audience, we don't actually know the back story of events and why the ML is doing what he's doing.
Plot:
Typical revenge plot. ML sort of plays the girl, but then actually falls for her. FL is, as expected for these types of plots, sweet, naive and really friendly.
OST:
This is probably my favourite OST. The music suites this drama so well, suspenseful and fast pace with AMAZING lyrics. The lyrics (translation) of the songs suited the scenes so well and were also like a reply to one another. Here are 2/3 OST's.
1st OST (Opening) Chorus:
I will love you [English]
Love is like mockery
Don't accept his nonsense
I will be waiting [English]
How ridiculous is love?
He was the one who turned it into a joke (his love is a joke).
It's not the incapability of loving, it's that he's unworthy (he is unworthy of your love).
2nd OST Chorus:
Walked past so many intersections I was once confused and suspected the map in my hands.
Heading towards your direction , caught in a maze of pursuit , exhausted , exile.
Even if this journey in search of you is toilsome painful and makes me lose my way.
You are that happy destination that will end my lonelyness.
Yi Ting:
Yi Ting started off as a serious bastard in this drama (especially where the SFL, his business partners daughter was concerned), but it also made him hotter, especially his ('evil') smirk. I love Marcus Chang, but I wanted to punch his character in the face at the start, but then you realise that he was NEVER bad. Yi Ting is a character you love to hate (because you don't yet know why he's doing what he's doing, or what he's actually doing), but a character you grow to love. He's really bipolar if anything, gives so many mixed signals and it takes half this drama to figure out where he stands and whether he's sincere. Like the OST lyrics, I wasn't sure whether his love was real or not. Best way to describe him is that he comes off as very SKETCHY and lonely. We don't see his whole story at first, which makes his actions more intriguing, and Marcus Chang just looks really, really HOT in this role as an anti-hero lead, and not just a jerky/narcissist person as his character was at the start of Lost Romance.
Lei Xinyu:
I liked her a lot because I understood her. She didn't annoy me and didn't come off as a damsel in distress. Though she's naive, it's not unreasonably so, and it makes sense for her to be the way she is. Her character made sense and in a way, she was really strong. She lost everything in a day, but bared through through it and came out better. Personality wise I really liked her, but she was a bit too nice, surprisingly not that forgiving though. She was also unexpectedly smart, she has great education, but she was also smart in the way the ML was smart, I didn't think she could pull off hiding secrets, but she could.
Lin Man:
No spoilers or anything. I didn't ever think she was as bad as everyone said she was, simply for the fact that Lei Xinyu was her daughter. And her daughter thought the world of her, the daughter she raised herself and who grew up with her influence. But, I also knew that Yi Ting couldn't be entirely wrong about her because he spent 12 years obsessing over her.
Xiao Yue:
I loved Xiao Yue. She was my favourite characters. A strong/badass female, who's also nice and genuine. Unlike the FL she puts people in their place from the start. She is the kind of friend that I can only wish to have. Zhong Wen was the perfect man for Xiao Yue, I knew from the moment she started taking his emails that they'd have some sort of romantic pairing.
Zhong Wen:
Similar to the FL personality wise. A really good, friendly but naive person when it comes to social interactions. Xiao Yue has street smarts and understands how people really are, whilst Zhong Wen, like Xinyu, was protected from the real world and at first didn't really understand it. But he was also well educated, from a wealthy family and book smart.
Got bored towards the end and started skipping through it. But overall, it was worth the watch.
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Watch it for Marcus Chang and amazing OSTs
I am gonna say right up, I came here after Lost Romance for Marcus Chang. The FL is really dumb at times but its not bad acting its just the character. I guess if you sympathies with people easily you will understand hwr better than me. But oh by Marcus is sizzling in every episode. His character, Zhao Yuting, is probably my most favorite of all others.Also AMZING OSTs ALERT. This was the first C/T show i watxued without skipping intro even once. Rather rewatched lol.
Revenge romance is common trope but just like contract marriages we can never get enough of it.
Lastly, Marcus please make a new drama!! He is really picky lol.
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Marcus Chang and Eugenie Lui make such a good on screen couple. You can literally feel their chemistry even in sad scenes.
I hope to see them in another drama again.
I can HIGHLY recommend watching this one, you won’t regret it.
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