I Hear You (2019)

Nice series, within the voice acting industry

PLOT: FL, a young, poor voice actress who wants to continue her training in Japan, agrees to participate in a reality TV show for couples. She is therefore a fake couple with the ML, a renowned violin maker, composer, rich and not very communicative. To escape repeated scandals (due to an evil rival) she moves in with him.

PROS:
+ a great main couple with Zhao Lusi and Riley Wang, both excellent, with a great chemistry.
+ an interesting context, well highlighted
+ the 2dary characters are well developed and endearing
+ the cat is so cute (Bei Duofen :)
+ the OSTs are well suited, pleasant
+ the production is dynamic
+ the story is coherent, even if at times, there are lengths.

CONS:
- quite a few clichés: the ML who excels in everything he does; the bitch girl, rich, with a large network of influence, always super well informed; the separation of the CL "to pursue their dreams", but the final reunion.
- I know FL is supposed to be 22, but at times she acts really immature.

=> Nice drama, romantic, especially thanks to the 2 main leads.
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Série sympa, qui évolue beaucoup dans le milieu du doublage.

PLOT: La FL, jeune doubleuse, pauvre, qui veut poursuivre sa formation au Japon, accepte de participer à une émission de téléréalité pour couples. Elle est donc un faux couple avec le ML, luthier réputé, compositeur, riche et peu communicatif. Pour échapper à des scandales répétés (evil rivale) elle emménage chez lui.

PROS:
+ un great main couple avec Zhao Lusi et Riley Wang, tous les 2 excellents, avec une belle alchimie.
+ un contexte intéressant, bien mis en valeur
+ les personnages 2aires sont bien développés et attachants
+ le chat est trop cute
+ les OST sont bien adaptés, agréables
+ la réalisation est dynamique
+ la story est cohérente, même si par moments, il y a des longueurs.

CONS:
- pas mal de clichés : le ML qui excelle dans tout ce qu'il fait ; la peste, riche, avec un gros réseau d'influence, toujours super bien informée ; la séparation du CL "pour poursuivre ses rêves", mais les retrouvailles finales.
- Je sais que la FL est censée avoir 22 ans, mais par moments, elle a un comportement vraiment immature.

=> Joli drama, romantique, surtout grâce aux 2 main leads.

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Cute and dysfunctional

Pros: second lead story is interesting, Riley and Zhao Lusi are adorable, and there are some sweet and unexpected moments
Cons: the story feels bland, yet completely confusing at points. It’s like a mild sauce with spikes of chili scattered like mines. The last episode… I mean, what on earth.

Worth a watch if you want the cute and sweet moments. Good tension in the first half before they get together, and plenty of sweet moments afterwards. But plot doesn’t really make sense at points. No rewatch value because I didn’t feel that invested in any of the characters except maybe the 2FL, but the way her story wrapped up was so… deus ex machina.

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Look out for the 2nd couple

The story was a standard reel to real lovers trope. Tangli and Yusheng are producers of a variety show that gives tasks to couples. In order to boost ratings they convinced Erdou and Shuwei to pretend as lovers for the show. Erdou joined to earn her tuition fee to study in Japan and become a better voice actor. Shuwei joined because he lost a bet. They slowly but steadily fell in love as they try to prevent being outed as a pretend couple.

What I liked about their development was that, outside the 4 of them, the main CP was never vague about their relationship. Friends and family members know them to be a couple. Third parties came and went but they remained protective of each other. Their transition from being pretend to actual couple was so smooth and subtle that you can't tell when exactly their feelings changed because one second their pretend care seems real then suddenly they drop the act. But between them, Shuwei seemed to do more to please Erdou in the later episodes which almost resulted to him making a noble sacrifice. I am glad that Erdou loved him enough that she did not want him to do that and he was smart enough to understand her intention in the airport scene. I don't think ghosting ever happened because I choose to believe that they knew exactly where the other was even when they were not physically together and they just chose to be not clingy with each other.

The story of the 2nd CP made me rank this higher than I would have because in contrast to the straightforwardness of the main CP, the 2nd CP relationship was all kinds of vague. Despite having chemistry both in work and play, Tangli was never sure that she and Yusheng were a couple, making me feel that this is a toxic relationship with a man who's unable to commit. I was surprised at the introduction of Mars so late in the game as a third party to their relationship in Episode 17. And I was pleasantly surprised by the mature resolution of this story arc.

I think this story could have been told in lesser episodes if not for the recurrent problems that the drama kept recycling such as pesky third parties.

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I have to start off by saying that Riley Wang is so adorable, I could watch him sleep for the duration of the series and still make it all the way to the end. His portrayal of his character was about 5 degrees too chilly, but flashes of warmth humanized him. Female lead was a little bit of a caricature, but largely well done. There were a few very nice fleshed out roles with reasonable acting, and a couple of regrettable stereotypes.

What made this watchable for me was the creativity of circumstances and the changing relationships in both main and secondary characters -- those were nicely done, carefully acted, and nuanced more often than not. I also give it a thumbs up on passing the Bechdel test, which made it more interesting as well. I would rewatch it because I found it entertaining and not a wad of damp cotton candy, as so many of these are.

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It's not bad, but the editing job was choppy, unfinished scenes, and a good portion of the story felt like cliches. The actress is supposed to know Japanese but obviously had no clue how to speak it according to the dubbing scene at the end. Her lip movements were completely off. Like some of the commenters, I agree that the ending kind of ruined the show a bit. I'm not sure what they thought they were doing. I was more invested in the secondary couple that went nowhere much to my sorrow. And I swear the second season of "Love in Progress" was an absolute after-thought since they never showed anything other than the promotional videos being filmed. It just felt like incredibly rushed episodes and that, unfortunately, is the result of poor writing. It really could have been so much better. "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" was far superior in the storyline, acting, and episode editing.

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No Holds Barred Roast Review - I Hear You (could have done so much better)

So this is one of those "forced to become a couple fake couple becomes real" trope shows, where we get an unlikely couple entering into a "fake" relationship because of the female lead's best friend, producer of a dating show called "Love In Progress" and the male lead's cousin, the production company director. The concept is predictable, so we know what to hope for (that they fall in love). What this show does really well is show the toxic culture of fandom in China. The series would have worked had it had a better script (parts are retarded), Characters (some are annoying), acting (inconsistent) or more realistic violin playing. So let's start the roast:-

The violin scenes - I only watched this drama because I was expecting violin music and a good love story. Thanks to watching too much TwoSet Violin on Youtube, I was COMPLETELY disgusted by how unrealistic the violin playing was. The fingering was off, and the bowing had zero reflection to the music. ARGH!!! I guess I'd better stick to The Devil's Violinist if I want to see realistic violin performances. Sad sighs.

Bei Er Duo (Rosy Zhao) - Female lead is a bimbo who relies on looking cute and pouting as her primary way to get along in life. The character doesn't try very hard and is a loser because of it. The male lead actually encourages her to go "all in" if she wants to achieve her dreams. The character is annoying but FL's acting is sub par and she's completely forgettable.

Ye Shu Wei (Riley Wang) - his character is the stoic hero whose heart gets melted. This worked most of the show as he was not required to show much emotion, but honestly his range is limited so he comes across as wooden. There are many stoic male leads that CAN act, the most recent one I've seen was the guy who played Captain Ri Je Hyeok in Crash Landing On You. Please, Riley, I think you're pretty handsome when your hair is done right but you need more acting lessons. Shout Out - His character is Mr. Piggyback ride. He gave so many piggyback rides ALL the time, he must be the #1 Most Piggyback Rides given Male Lead I've ever seen.

Yu Sheng (Yuan Hao) - his character is a playboy but at least the actor is pretty good.

Tang Li (Gratitude Dai) - her character was the playboy's taken for granted doormat until she decided to choose love for herself. #Girlpower, she's tied for best acting in this show.

Le Tian (Zhang Jiong Min) - tutored by the female lead he's the obligatory Friend Zone guy.

Bei Er Duo's Mother (Tian Miao) - she's the one you love to hate. Unfortunately every Asian will recognize some aspects of the judgmental moms like her in real life. The actress is convincing, and tied for best acting with Tang Li.

Mars, The Italian - he's the best written character in the series and qualifies as the Ideal Boyfriend for many reasons. A rival Italian violin maker, he makes us laugh with his misunderstandings of Chinese idioms, but damn, who wouldn't love a guy who's TRYING so hard?? When Tang Li tells him the meaning of the idiom is pretty girls who are kind will have a lot of men chasing them, he asks innocently "Oh, you mean, like you?" My daughter and I both gasped and I swear my heart skipped a beat. Now THAT Is how you successfully execute a pick up line, best one I've seen in many years. I can't find much about who the actor is but his Mandarin is pretty good, he does end up winning Tang Li with his love and sincerity so that part of the plot actually worked really well. I mean, Tang Li stopped being taken for granted and married someone who actually loves her. I wanted them together and they had a beautiful wedding. If it wasn't for this couple, this series would have had a rating 2 stars less.

The fashion - some really quite seriously questionable outfits from a fashion sense. Please, get more budget or sponsors as some of the clothes look like project Runway ran out of time reject clothes that got trashed by the judges, and that's why the outfits are asymmetrical and look poorly finished. The only good costumes were all the ones in the Maid Cafe especially the cosplay ones, at least they got THOSE ones right.

Overall, if the plot, characters, violin playing or even costumes had been better, this might have been a much more enjoyable series. I was disappointed.

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Only For Fans

I am a sucker for 'pretend couples' who begin with dis-like and then slowly falling in love dramas. The idea of a chirpy, positive Bei Er Duo and the gloomy, not so friendly Ye Shu Wei relationship appealed to me. She is keen to save enough money to further her education in Japan and he, through losing a bet with his nephew, got caught up with her in a Dating Game Show. As expected, they have to try to make the relationship look as good as possible so as to make the program successful for the sake of Er Duo's best friend Tang Li and Shu Wei's nephew Yu Sheng, who are producers of this Dating Show.

As it goes, such story line is as old as time. I held on and managed to complete the drama for the cuteness of Zhao Lu Si (Bei Er Duo) and Riley Wang's (Ye Shu Wei) dimples. Other than that, the drama lacked the depth, excitement and memorable moments that is needed. Only recommended for Lu Si and Riley's fans.

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Another amazing drama from Zhao Lusi!!!

As an avid Zhao Lusi fan, I just had to watch this drama when it came out, and as I expected it was amazing. I was hooked since the intro music (it's by Tian Liang called I Hear You - it's the best orchestral, no lyrics, OST I've EVER heard). The story dragged on a bit during the focus on the second lead couple and the time before the relationship, but after they got together the story was so cute and moving that you just had to keep watching. Though the ending disappointed me a bit and was quite abrupt, the drama is overall worth watching (and maybe even a rewatch ;) ). If you love cute, fluffy, dramas to watch calmly, this is the drama for you. Zhao Lusi and Riley Wang's chemistry was off the charts, and the scenes just make you feel so happy inside. I would definitely recommend.

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I was hooked from the start. Both characters were well developed and lovable. Even though the male lead did the typical COLD face 80% of the time, you could see the fact that he had a sense of humor about himself and others around him. The female lead was also typical in the cute, bubbly type way, but she also had an underlying strength and confidence in herself, even if it was just to admit that she was feeling insecure. There was a bunch of the typical "cliché" moments, but they were handled different in this drama, so they made you smile and think great job. I love that this is a true romance and the show kept the focus where it was needed on the main leads. I love the feel of this drama which is so similar to Love 020, Put Your Head On My Shoulder and Time Teaches Me To Love. They all have a feeling of maturity to the relationships, where they solve most of the problems, by talking it out and being honest. There is a lot of humor and romance in daily life.

The second leads Yu Sheng and Tang Li are the ones that left me with mix feelings and I think it was because the chemistry between these two was off the charts and I was disappointed that Yu Sheng didn't "take it to the end", but as his uncle said that wasn't his personality. I think if Tang Li and Mars had better chemistry, it would have been better, after they went to Italy she actually looked happy, but before then she just looked like she was settling. Plus she did her best with Yu , so I don't think she could have to many regrets.

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Don't expect too much

I watched this for Zhao Lusi and I think her acting was pretty on par with her other works.
The storyline is a little cliche and includes the typical enemies-to-lovers, rich man/poor woman, fake relationship tropes but it kind of does it well initially.
I would've enjoyed it more if they talked about the show they were on for a bit more but sometimes it doesn't work out that way.
I personally would've liked a bit more relationship development. This was interesting because the storyline got significantly slower starting from the midway point of the series so you would think that they would have enough time to flesh out the relationships.
But the part that irked me the most about this drama was the editing. You can tell this was a low budget series but it could've been done better. The flow of the drama was interrupted constantly. I would be immersed in a scene and then suddenly it would abruptly get cut to something that seemed unrelated. It breaks the immersion.
NGL nearing the end, although the relationship was sweet, I found myself watching at a faster speed and skipping scenes.

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It was going well, until the end...

I was enjoying this light heart drama, it was truly very sweet and the pace was pretty good.

The chemistry was good, the story was good, and the acting was good.

The best friend/second couple, i really loved how that played out, it was unexpected, but they did a great job with the decision the best friend made, it was rational and she placed her happiness, pride, feelings and heart above anything else and got the happiness she deserved instead of waiting for something toxic.

While watching this i kept wondering why the reviews score was a 7.9, i kept thinking that does not give it justice, until the last 2 episode. I just finished watching it, so this is fresh off my thoughts. Everything was going well until the female lead got a phone call saying the ML is giving up his dreams for hers or whatever, i did not like that, but i kind of let it go, FL started thinking about it and had a convo with ML kind of about it, but never mention about the phone call. She then got another call, this one worse than the first and i was sooo upset about it, to make it worse she made certain decisions after that and this for me ruined the drama.

This is why, the ML is a cold man as they mentioned, but he had already told the FL earlier and before they officially started dating that no one can make him do what he does not want too, actually FL is the first to even mention that, as that's what she knows about him, that he doesn't let anyone influence what he wants or don't want... so can someone tell me why she thinks him going to Japan with her isn't his own decision?? And then the fact that that rude phone call wasn't addressed, like i was so upset because of that. She knew him well enough before they started dating and all of a sudden, its like she doesn't know his personality. What she ended up doing, was forcing him to do something he did not want to do. She should have understood him, especially after having a similar convo with him mom prior about those type of decisions, to be this is what made this lose some stars.

Then, the last scene or the ending was just blah... it really was a good lighthearted drama, but would have gotten a 9.5 in my books based solely on it being light hearted and good. But the ending just didn't do it justice.

All in all, it's a good watch.

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