Best Choice Ever (2024)

Best Choice Drama is the Worst Chinese Drama In History, No romance!

Best Choice Drama ia the worst Chinese Drama in history.
I got frustrated, stressed watching this drama. As my previous comments,
Is this drama about the romance YZM and Huan or the mother.
Huan's Mother gets so much screen time, she is manipulative, selfish, inconsiderate and lots of us get angry with her bad behaviour, She wants her family to be submissive and treated her as a Queen, worst of all, they are all giving in to her. She planned with Huan's ex boyfriend sister and prepared the Engagement party for her daughter Huan's without her knowledge, when her daughter refused and wants to walk out, she gave her daughter a tight slap and threaten her daughter if she leaves, she will sever ties with her daughter Huan's. She only cares for her own interest and not her daughter happiness.
Luckily her daughter refused to submit to her. What kind of a mother is she to embarrassed her daughter Huan by slapping her in front of public.
Anyway I fast forward when Huan's mother come to the screen.
This drama is mainly about her mother not YZM and Huan. No Romance!
Even the last few episodes is about Huan's mother sickness. Who Cares! After what she done to her daughter, she wants her daughter to marry into rich family. Hated it when Huan's mother always said I don't mind to live in poverty but not my children. Bullshit!!! Huan's already own the hotel given by her grand mother.
After all the tormenting, mental torture and was looking forward for the wedding but no wedding, wasted too much time on this stupid drama. Feel Cheated!!! No Romance only Mental Torture by Huan's Mother.
WASTED MY TIME WITH THIS STUPID DRAMA!!! Bad experience watching Chinese Drama, Very Toxic.

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Do not underestimate this drama.

Best Choice Ever is genuinely one of the most thoughtful dramas I have ever watched. I know some people will possibly not like the first few episodes and drop this drama, but let me explain. Best Choice Ever may not have the most surreal, romantic or funny drama, but it sure is realistic. In the modern world, when people start to change and grow, they leave their parents. Now in the story, (no spoiling, don't worry) MaiChengHuan starts to have issues in regard to her family. But the character development in this drama especially of the mother, the independence yet rational of MaiChengHuan, as well as the life of YaoZhiMing and them going through realistic life struggles shapes this drama to what it is. Yes, I would agree, the first episodes of the mother definitely got on my nerves. But with that, let's remind us that we are pissed off of the mother because of her character, not because of any external force. Meaning, the acting is really realistic and touching. The more episodes you watch, the more realistic, touching and genuine this drama becomes. Even just MaiChengHuan's thinking is something many people should try to learn from. Even when she has a mistake or is in a really stressful situation, she is very optimistic and rational. This drama teaches many lessons that people tend to forget in this world. This includes the importance of family, learning to grow and move on, learning to leave a situation, learning to work hard and be independent, learning to be rational and learning to love. The family aspect is so deep, so thought-out and just realistic. Even with MaiChengHuan's brother, his character is also well-thought-out. I would rewatch this drama and reflect on my own life, making me think different about life. It teaches SO MANY valuable lessons, and with two wonderful actors, I think those lessons were really well implemented in this drama.
Now onto friendship and love. You can almost trace each part of their relationship. Unlike some other dramas that revolve around "love at first sight", this drama has a very reasonable love plot. The love is actually established earlier in the episodes, but by doing so, the rest of the many episodes show how they start to trust, love, and actually add each other as family. Even the smallest of details, like approval from parents, is well-thought-out. Usually, I find it hard to believe in other dramas that parents support their children's partner in 0.1 seconds. It takes time, it takes thinking, and sometimes leading to overstepping. But it is not what these actions are that are the problem, it is how you do them, etc. So again, this drama has taught me many lessons and realisticality.

Therefore, I highly recommend this drama. Yes, you may feel annoyed in the first episodes, but just you wait. This drama is one of those dramas that can fit anyone's appetite.

If you have read to here, thank you! And tell me, what do you think of this drama?

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Plot is about How to Bring Up a Dysfunctional Parent

While Yang Zi and Xu Kai are technically the leads, the drama appears to revolve around an unlikeable, and dysfunctional mother character. Even though the show only has 38 episodes, I stopped watching at Episode 35 - the mother character overwhelmed the whole story, even as I could not find any sympathy for this character. The moral of this story appears to be that children should forgive emotionally abusive parents, a premise I totally disagree with, since the effects of emotional abuse last a lifetime. The show was stressful to watch as it contained many scenes of emotional manipulation from the mother character, while showcasing filial children who frustratingly, forgave it all.

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MOM! Stop it!

See if you agree to some degree with my rant.
I was really enjoying this 'coming of age albeit at age 30' family drama but Mama's incessant obstinance to judge and meddle could no longer be tolerated as 'it's just her way of showing her love." Perhaps the actress played shrewish single mindedness on securing money so well it finally became intolerable for me. So I've stopped midway as the story takes a ridiculous turn even though it did set up 'the move in' of the ML-- it's far to contrived for someone to do (I was going to say normal person but part of the set up is that he hasn't grown up in a normal household)....but if having an over overbearing relentlessly meddling mother you tolerate for 10 years (of adult life) is normal, sorry I don't get it.
Add a over the top mean potential sister in law whom nobody seems to be able to stop the vile from her mouth (and also wierdly lives at her parent's without her child and husband for pregnancy (again, an apparent set up that her pregnancy is why she lives with her parents?) AND a lazy rich boy who gets by playing video games yet is supposedly a dream boyfriend for 3 years to a smart and industrious girl AND a well off best frend who can open a jewelry store and pay for whatever a drop of a hat yet doesn't have the business savvy to fend off her ex...and sorry this story gets too melodramatically ridiculous.

I think part of also why I am stopping here is that the end will be obvious--the two will end up togehter (btw,, yes, their acting in these roles do click) with or without marriage, and Mama will realize her life's ambition for her daughter to secure wealth (skipping that she has nearly zero after thoughts for her son's happiness-which even that is set up in backstory as to why she's little invested in his happiness and the father utterly absent in connecting with his son) and herself to finally be wealthy due to exploiting the good things that come her way vs her daughter who works for it (btw where does her daughter's wisdom from anyway since it's clearly not from mom--oh yeah, the other setup--the wonderful non-biological Grandma (yes, this relationship was sweet to watch)). Mama will likely have some sort of aha (though I can't tolerate the story progress to see it happen) and our guy gets a 'normal' family and their joint efforts to run Grandma's legacy will be solidly successful after a few more bouts of obstacles from the stereotypical bad person (ooh, but it's fresh-it's a woman! --being sarcastic).

When I run out of things to watch and this runs its course, I may go back to finish it just to see if the twists and turns in the last half are surprising and fast forward when Mama appears (again, her character is a plot device to make many of the roll your eyes 'events').

Highly suggest Blossoms in Adversity instead for a more rewarding watch about a tenancious businesswomen and family.

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In the race of chicken or the egg, the mother hen wins!

Let’s just get the easy bits out of the way first. This series is watchable and entertaining at times. The OTP are well matched and they have good chemistry. However, this is where things get complicated.

As one of my friends commented after finishing the show, who is the FL of this drama? Ok, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but she does have a point. While there is no doubt Yang Zi is the FL, her mother’s role is more titular. In fact, so many of the subplot radiate from the matriarch that her screen time and presence more than rival the FL’s. Furthermore, a lot of the time, most characters are placed in a reactive roles due to her machinations and has little agency.

I can understand that this will resonate with a lot of Asian viewers because they are probably living in a similar situation or knows someone who is. It is a reasonable premise to kick-start the show and give the FL reasons to grow. In that sense, the first half of the show is the best. This is helped by the sage like grandmother who sees all and pulls the strings to get our OTP pass the frenemy stage. Her presence counterbalances the mum’s and provides a safe harbour for our leads.

It all changes after she passed. The FL’s mum’s presence looms larger than ever before. Her interference reaches new heights once we factor in the grandma's legacy. I understand that it is an effective way to introduce some angst as the official antagonist was a bit light weight. However, it also means that the show becomes unbalanced and lacks focus. Everyone is tiptoeing around the mum and keeping secrets from her which set up more confrontations later. It is a vicious cycle.

In the meantime, the mum continues to meddle in people’s affairs and guilt trip her family regularly. It is tiresome to watch and might trigger some viewers. It distracts us from our CP’s romance. When love is in the air, it is sweet and swoonworthy, but they are like deer in the headlight. After more confrontations and some heart-to-heart talks, the mum finally tones down her actions, but it is an uneasy truce.

The problem from my perspective is that we can't really hate the mum because she is not evil in the literal sense, but her constant meddling is annoying and very harmful to her closest and dearest. Yet she always falls back to the old chestnut of “I’m doing this for the good of ….”. Hence all the characters are in a no-win situation.

This shunted several characters into the margins. Chief among them is the ML. He should have a much stronger presence but between helping the FL in her business and being the peacemaker to her family, he became just the nice guy putting out spot fires. In fact, the mum casted such a big shadow that no characters are spared. This is even more dramatic in the last 3 eps when it is all about the mum.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for a mother centric show and there have been some excellent ones. However, in this case, it felt like the mum was initially used as a catalyst for change but ends up taking over the show. The series is still watchable, but it can be very trying at times.

Ultimately, if you are looking for an escapist rom com then this might hit too close to home to be fun. If you want a family melodrama then this is inferior because it is just a hotchpotch of tired tropes. Throw in the PITA matriarch and we have an inverse trifecta. One time watch for me.

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Family means everything (I will leave it for you to interpret whether its good or bad)

This is a family focused drama with romance as a main side focus. The FL mother is honestly the star of the show. Great acting!! (to the point I really cant stand her but for Yang Zi, I watched till the end).

Lets, start with plot. As mentioned above, this is a family focused drama. It talks a lot about values and "filial piety". Coming from a different background from this drama, I had a very hard time understanding the FL mother behavior. The FL is a people pleaser: pleasing her mother and her ex bf. Essentially, eventually she also got tired of it all and this drama follow the route of how she grows. (did she though... maybe?)

I actually did enjoy how the romance part of this drama played out. From the FL ex to the ML, the transition of how the FL moved on was smoothed. Good chemistry between the FL & ML.

Conclusion:
This drama is not for everyone. A lot of Chinese audience seem to enjoy this drama. But if u come from a different culture, the FL mother's behavior may boil ur blood and ruin ur enjoyment from watching this drama.

Side note: FL mother is the main role not Xu Kai! Once u watch the drama, u will understand what i mean.

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“Romance” should be removed as a genre

There is nothing romantic about this show, it’s purely a family drama, focused on generational differences, family struggles, values and how important those factors are in Asian culture. The overbearing mom was intolerable most of the show, but is quite accurate and relatable to our own. Cast and actors were great, I only stuck around for xu kai and yang zi but the first 28 episodes were not exciting, and didn’t really pick up till episode 30. This is one of those kind of shows you don’t have to focus on, can multitask with it in the background, and still not miss much. Some moments will pull at your heart strings, but that’s about it. Wish I could’ve rated it higher but not when I didn’t care for 2/3 of it.

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Family. A Mother and Child Bond

Honestly, 95% of the time the mother in this series got into my nerves. But, the last 5% of the whole storyline became the saving grace of this show; it is not because the mother changed drastically, but because her changes were very small yet somehow highlighted her somewhat crazy yet caring way of thinking.

The micro management of the Mom about everything and to everyone is honestly grating. She’s honestly and without a doubt the true antagonist and protagonist of this show.

But, there is something gut wrenching about how that kind of suffocating love is also and is still love. Love that some people long for. Love that some people dream about. While it is too much, we can never discount that she love her kids and her family.

In essence, I think this show was able to capture the realness of love in the family. All families are not perfect. All families have feuds from within. But at the end of the day, when all is rooted in love, there is security and peace to be with the family.

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