Xing Zhao Lin and a Cat. What's not to like?

First things first:
I’m writing this comment after watching the entire drama.

Overall
It wasn't as bad as many comments suggest. Acting was good, and secondary characters were fun. The meeting of the in-laws cracked me up. If you are looking for something light with a good dose of humour, go for it. There were many scenes that made me laugh out loud.

Music
Music was pretty good like for a Chinese drama.

Cat
The cat was cute as cats are and well trained but it was obvious nobody working on the production had any idea about cats. They even installed a door for dogs in a cat cafe as if cats couldn’t jump over barriers several times higher than they are. There were also strange holes in the plot. At the beginning it was said that the cat was spayed, but by the end of the drama they wanted the cat to have babies! And really, who still has stray cats reproduce in the 21st century? Also, throughout most of the drama the cat alternates between the respective houses of the FL and ML, but when FL stays at ML’s for several days the cat is probably left alone in the FL’s house. Still, since cats and dogs are rare in Asian dramas, I was really glad to see the cat there.

General impression
All in all I enjoyed the drama up to the 21st episode. It was funnier than most Chinese dramas so I had a good time watching it. However, in the 21st episode there's a scene with a kiss that comes far too early, when there are still trust issues to be cleared up between the leads. It's the second time when the ML makes decisions and takes action without putting FL in the loop, even though she turns out to be crucial in finding a solution. He keeps plotting with other people and watching her worry for days (and even makes her jealous in the meantime), but doesn't tell her anything as if he didn't trust her at all. And after that he just says "sorry" and everything is fine. This way it'll happen again and again. It was the first time I cringed during Xing Zhao Lin's kissing scene because it felt so wrong at that point. Then what followed was very chaotic. Some of it was funny, like FL’s clever revenge, some was dragging too long, some was making no sense at all like worrying that people in the office would know about them as if they hadn’t already kissed in front of cameras a couple days earlier. And then the ending was like WTF. Actually I’m not even sure there was one.

Fireworks
I hate fireworks as they are deadly for birds, animals and environment, so I deduct 0,5 point.

Rating
On the whole it's 7/10 for me, which is low considering how much I like Xing Zhao Lin.

Xing Zhao Lin
Even though I like overbearing CEOs I hope he’s going to play other roles soon. Or at least another type of an overbearing CEO. He did have better roles in the past.

Read More

Great Romance between Independent Woman and Cynical Man Ruined in Last Episodes

If I reviewed the first 35 episodes it'd be 9/10 or even 10/10, so I'll focus on the first part to keep the balance.

Qin Shi is an independent woman and a brilliant lawyer in her mid 30s, working for one of the best lawyer offices in the country.

Yang Hua is a smart, cynical, unemployed man of 28. I saw in the comments that some people thought he suffered from social anxiety. He didn't. We are shown on many occasions that he didn't really have a problem interacting with others. At times he was even more at ease than his outspoken wife i.e. while meeting foreign investors for the first time. He has no problem with irony and reading between the lines. He can also express himself very clearly whenever he wishes. He also says himself that he doesn't have a problem with crowds. But he simply doesn't want to meet others. He thought that meeting people was a waste of time, which is typical for cynics. Cynicism comes from disappointment in humanity, and that's what happened to Yang Hua. Personally, I loved the character because we usually get the shy boys or arrogant CEOs. A cynic in a drama is a gem!

The two very different people enter a fake marriage, but at the same time decide to create a wonderful romantic relationship. And that's what really makes the first 35 episodes so good. They are honest towards each other, straightforward, mutually supportive, looking for common solutions, and very very loyal. It's really rare to see such a couple in a drama.

On top of that they are in awe with each other's values. Yang Hua finds his wife arguing a point extremely sexy, and Qin Shi feels grateful for her husband's views on equality.

Now, do you know this feeling when you are anxious watching a drama, but not because you're afraid the Leads won't end up together, only because you see that, in order to write some angst, the authors ruin a character so much that they might not be able to redeem him?

That's what happened in this drama. The honest and straightforward Yang Hua suddenly begins to lie and play tricks to make the FL jealous. And the effect was so bad I rather feared than wished for a happy ending. And I'm really a forgiving person when it comes to all the usual plot bunnies in dramas as long as all the issues with an ex etc. can be written off as a misunderstanding. Here however, the ML creates the misunderstandings on purpose and later pretends the FL just misunderstood. It really is that bad!

So by all means: watch 35 episodes, and then skip to the last 10 minutes of the 40th episode. The ending is nice and sweet only if you haven't seen what happened in the meantime!

Read More

I hate sacrifice so only 5/10

This drama had a potential to be really interesting, starting with a mystery and introduction of many different characters. Yet the plot was weak, full of people creating problems that could have been avoided with just one honest conversation. And though I know it's a normal behaviour in a Chinese drama, here the authors took it too far. There's no trust among any of the people in this story. Everyone keeps things from others and does whatever they think is best, usually very stupid things bringing harm to everyone involved. In the end the FL sacrifices so much it's ridiculous and really not needed. Probably only her selfish BFF was worse than her in this drama.

Read More

Worth Watching for Just One Role

As much as I enjoyed the drama, it was mostly for just the Din character played by Mike Angelo. It's not unusual for a teenager to go through many emotional turmoils but Mike made this boy real and nuanced.

The storyline was captivating, and I noticed Thai dramas often strive for more original scenarios. However, it was unusual that I cared for only one character, while the rest were annoying.

***My general reflections. Spoilers galore so don't read if you don't want to know***

Before Darakan marries she has an illegitimate son Jang by another man. She leaves him in a shrine, where she visits him frequently, while her legitimate son Din is left behind. Although by the end of the series it's said that she tried to love them both (because it's a rule in Asian dramas to forgive your parents no matter how bad they are) throughout the series we see she really didn't love Din, and whenever she showed any concern for him it was either out of duty or guilt. Esp. when we compare her behaviour towards Jang when he comes to live with them. We can see that the things she does for him, like personally cooking, decorating his room, throwing a party for his friends etc. etc. she never did for Din. And she does it in front of him not even once stopping to think how indelicate it is. Even when she does something for Din, like when trying to separate Jang from his girlfriend, it's not to make Din really happy, but because she worries Din's relationship with Jang could worsen. She's very happy seeing her husband accepting Jang as his own son and giving him a major position in the company, and not even once she worries how her other son will take it. Whats more, she didn't see it fit to find 5 minutes to talk to her other son and explain that he has a brother who will be joining them. Din learnt about it in the most awful way, and since he loved her he didn't even want to believe it was true because he didn't want to think about her as an easy woman. By the end, we see how she worries that Jang is in grave danger but doesn't try to stop Din when he's going to put himself in the same danger to save his brother for his mother. So every time Darakan says she loves Din or loves both her sons equally it comes off as hypocrisy, and I'm not surprised Din doesn't even want to listen to it.

Din takes it all really badly and grows up as a messed teenager. However, under the violent surface there's a loving, caring and loyal boy ready to do anything for the people he loves. Whenever it really matters he's selfless towards his father, mother, and Dongyiwa. At the same time his "better" brother is very quick to turn against anyone, including his girlfriend, over the smallest misunderstandings.

It's ironic that Din is again and again accused of being inconsiderate, while he's always the first to stop and think how others must feel. Even when standing in front of the dilemma of getting rid of Jang his biggest concern is it'd make his mother sad because she loves Jang so much. Neither Jang nor his mother ever do something like that for him unless pointed out by others, and often not even then.

Thus said, I wasn't crazy about Jang character even though it was the main role. He was nice to everybody because it's how he was raised but he wasn't that much better than Din. We can see it when he turns as violent as Din messing up the company's contract, or when he defends his friends who beat up Din, even though one of them was kicking a bleeding person on the ground. All he had to say was that his friends didn't know Din was his brother. Unlike Din, however, he's given many chances. And whenever he fails he can try again with the support of others. Din never gets a chance to do anything, no matter how hard he tries.

Then there is Dongyiwa, a girl both brother fall for. First Din, and it seems for a moment like they might hit it off, but then she meets Jang and it's clear which brother she prefers. I mostly found her annoying. Din liked her because it seemed like they could be honest with each other, to which she pays him with such an amount of dishonesty, leading him on and misusing for her father's or Jang's benefit that it's really sorry to watch. To top it off she considers herself a martyr who has to spend time with Din against her will, as if she couldn't just tell him that she doesn't care for him 20 episodes earlier. In the end she just accuses Din of not really loving her but only wanting her to win a rivalry with his brother, which is neither true nor fair considering he told her he liked her long before he even knew he had a brother and how respectful he was towards her feelings once he knew them.

As much as Dongyiwa and Din had some chemistry, I found her romance with Jang lukewarm, so I didn't care about their ending. I wish for a better ending for Din though, because Teresa is just a random leftover from his brother while Din is a character who deserves real love.

Read More

Forget about Itazura na Kiss before watching it

This story shouldn't be seen as a remake of Itazura na Kiss. Even though the premise and some events are similar, thinking of the original story is going to spoil this one for you.

The Male Lead is a very different person from Irie. Irie is socially awkward to the point of autistic, but Tenten is simply a jerk. His behaviour doesn't stem from his emotional incapacity. He's just prejudiced towards the FL due to their past experience and their intellectual incapability. Irie will always be awkward, even after marriage, because that's what he is. Tenten can be loving and charming if he chooses so. Understanding the difference between the two characters will make the story more palatable, esp. in the last quarter when Tenten chooses another woman not because he has to sacrifice himself for his father's company but simply because he thinks the other woman might be a better match for him.

Thus said, it is interesting to see how he falls in love with the FL "against his better judgement", esp. that Mike Angelo can portray emotions really well. Kudos to Aom Sushar Manaying as well. Both are great actors with sparkling chemistry between them.

Read More

Good acting but a very poor plot

I found the drama, and esp. the ending disappointing. I think the writers patched up Chef's relationship with Bong Sun. I hated that in the end Bong Sun turned into Soon Ae. The high pitched voice was awful and made her seem as fake as the ghost when she was trying to seduce the Chef. Bong Sun lost her own personality and warmth that we've seen in the beginning of the series. Even though the Chef cares for Bong Sun from the start and finds out that she's the author of his fav blog, he never does anything to actually get to know her. With Soon Ae he knew all her likes and dislikes, he planned to take her out to every single place she wanted to go. We had several episodes of their dating even though plot-wise 20 minutes would be enough. Alas, he never asks Bong Sun what she likes. Actually, he never takes her out to a date once she tells him about the ghost girl. He tells her he always liked her but he fell for the ghost, and that's the end of their talking about their relationship. It's like he doesn't really care about Bong Sun, and stays with her because it's the only viable option, while she's so desperate to be loved by him that she turns into Soon Ae, because she knows she's his second choice. Moreover, watching the series I really didn't expect it'd come to that. Bong Sun is an introvert, but her personality seems more interesting and mysterious than that of the outgoing Soon Ae, who has nothing interesting going for herself except for lumps of confidence. I really hoped the Chef, who himself used to be a timid boy in his youth, would be willing to do the work and get to know the real Bong Sun. Sadly, that's not what's happening. The ending was sad and disappointing. I'm going to rate it 4/10.

Oh, and to be sure. His relationship with Soon Ae sucked even more because it was fake from the start to the end. It was based on lies and deception. Soon Ae pretended to be someone she wasn't just to get laid. And even if she developed feelings for him in the process, she never really showed to him her real self. We've watched the series so we know that the ghost girl with blond hair and the ghost girl with brown hair were two different personalities. Unlike Bong Sun the ghost girl repeatedly lied to the Chef without a blink of an eye. She didn't care for the consequences because she was going to leave anyway. The ghost girl the Chef dated was just a fiction. It was a very poor choice to show us so much of the fake relationship and so little of the real one.

Read More

Disappointing

I binge watched season one, so I was happy to see there's more, but having finished season two I now regret going on.

The main leads, who were a perfectly likeable couple in season one, are so annoying in season two, that by the end of the drama I really didn't care whether they'd end up together or not.

At the beginning the FL keeps making various decisions about her life that seriously affect the both of them, but fails to consult her boyfriend beforehand, so he always learns the last or by accident. Finally, she breaks up with her BF, just because some evil woman tells her she wants him for herself. I mean, WTF???!!!

The ML is no better and keeps making decisions over his girlfriend's head and behind her back, too, and thinks it's perfectly fine as long as he can say "I'm sorry" afterwards.

In the end they both promise to be truthful with each other, but since they haven't managed that even once during those 24 episodes, it's simply unbelievable.

I liked the Li Mingcheng and Ms Brainiac couple. They were the only reason I kept watching till the end.

Read More

A levelheaded heroine

Since the mother kept saying how wonderful her son was and that he could be happy only with a capable wife, I really hoped Tang Mingxuen would finally tell everyone how helpful Mo Fei was to him. Her help was crucial for his company at every critical moment. And yet it doesn't seem he even notices it. He only likes hearing from her how great _he_ is.

Overall, the drama was too long. I'm not usually a skipper, but I skipped all the XXL romance. I really couldn't care less for her character. Also, the scenes were too slow, and the dialogues often turned into monologues. This drama should have been shortened by half. At the same time many conflicts were left without a resolution. You know the Chekhov's gun principle. There were many "guns" in this story that failed to fire.

I'm glad that the main couple avoided serious breakouts, but I felt that Tang Ming treated Mo Fei too superficially. I hoped that, as a couple working in the same industry, they'd go hand in hand. But he never discussed with her anything serious, treating her like a teddy bear good for nothing but cuddling. Even though she helped him on many occasions it was often in spite of him. I also don't remember him standing behind her when it mattered. She was often left to fend for herself.

I did like however how levelheaded she was. That was refreshing for a Chinese drama. Still, I felt she was sometimes too easy on him. Esp. when he was lying to her for a long time and then pretty much just brushed it off.

I enjoyed the Chinese fashion history. I didn't enjoy the fake French interiors. Even the staircase that was the simplest to make failed to look genuine. Still, as much as I could suspend my disbelief and see it as a staircase in Paris, it gave me a weird feeling whenever the action moved to another "Parisian" place that looked Chinese, like Mr Feng's apartment or Cayman HQ, or that tacky restaurant where Andre takes the students. It felt like jumping continents in a matter of minutes.

Read More

A Love Story of a Skilled and Ambitious Couple

The second season of Go Go Squid! is neither a sequel nor a prequel. It follows an alternative storyline with only some similarities. Some people find it disappointing because they hoped for a continuation of the original story, but I think this way it's more interesting.

DT and Appledog are a very different couple from Gun God and Squid. They are more mature, private, and quiet, they share a different kind of energy than the couple in season one. Yet the story is also interesting and I liked both couples equally.

The competition of robots helped to better visualise the duels, whereas in the first season most of the competitions were skipped because it's difficult to explain a chain of events just by showing a screen full of code. On the other hand, the robot fights seemed more childish than the coding that could hack or secure a system which is a useful thing in real life. It wasn't more childish than other e-sports though and as we know they are now a competition at the Olympic games.

I liked Hu Yi Tian's portrayal of the male lead. It was different from the usual overbearing CEO in other Chinese dramas. DT spoke little and was restrained, sensitive and romantic, and yet really witty and capable, and his eyes and smile could convey an array of emotions.

The female lead portrayed by Li Yi Tong was skilled and ambitious. She didn't behave like a little girl, which was refreshing in a Chinese drama. There were moments when I thought she was too selfish, and I really hoped for an ending where she would join K&K and they both would become a couple of Kings. I didn't understand why she pursued career in the competition. Still, I'm glad that they could do it in an amiable manner.

I liked the grandpa, but I thought the girls' father was too much. I don't find it funny when adult people's life is being controlled by their parents. I liked the relationship between the sisters, and the overall fair play attitude of the sports teams.

I appreciated that there weren't as many retrospections as in the first season. I would like to see a bit more intimacy but the many kisses were a nice touch.

All in all a nice drama without much angst that I might rewatch sometime in the future.

Read More