CKDramaddicts
Canada
Warm, gentle, healing slice-of-village-life romance with beautiful scenery, cute secondary couples
This quiet-burn romance is perfect for those who appreciate the bucolic pace of countryside life with the occasional dash of city spice. Filled with warmth, light humour, and a cast of immensely likable characters, Dear Mr. Recluse is an easy watch (just 24 half-hour episodes) for anyone looking for a wholesome and healing drama.
There is a bit of angst, a touch of corporate drama and underhanded backstabbing, no annoying or draggy misunderstandings, no painful breakups, it does not take the entire drama before our OTP to get together, and the ending is relatively unrushed.
Chen Jingke and Tang Ming complement each other very nicely here and they are supported by a great cast of wonderful villagers. For me, this is also a rare show where the 2ML/2FL's pursuit of the FL/ML does not feel aggravating for the most part. Their characters are very cute, but the maturity with which they ultimately handle rejection and maintain close friendships with the main couple serve as a model for all unrequited Dramaland love.
The scenery showcasing traditional wood buildings and gorgeous tea farms (filmed on location in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan) is also lovely and a huge highlight of the series. C-dramas have miles to go in terms of representation and addressing social issues obviously, but within the context and limitations of existing dramas (and politics), etc. it was also nice to see the show highlight the cultural traditions and struggles of an ethnic minority community in small ways.
For me, Dear Mr. Recluse rates somewhere between an 8 and an 8.5, but I am giving it an 8.5 to balance out the overall, initial lower score. I hope to see the ratings climb as more viewers who appreciate gentle slice-of-village-life romances discover this drama.
Stray thoughts:
- Look for the doggy and stroller in the background of the influencers awards show ?
- The exchange between the rival influencer and the couple with 30 million followers gave me life!
- For anyone distracted by XZ's "stained" shirt in Sunshine in My Life, there are no less than three shirts worn by the ML here that look like 1) a bleach stain on a black shirt 2) someone stepped on the shoulders of his white shirt and 3) a black shirt covered in chalk dust ?
- Otherwise, I actually really loved the simple, monkish "hermit" outfits worn by the ML. Some of the shirts especially were truly beautiful
There is a bit of angst, a touch of corporate drama and underhanded backstabbing, no annoying or draggy misunderstandings, no painful breakups, it does not take the entire drama before our OTP to get together, and the ending is relatively unrushed.
Chen Jingke and Tang Ming complement each other very nicely here and they are supported by a great cast of wonderful villagers. For me, this is also a rare show where the 2ML/2FL's pursuit of the FL/ML does not feel aggravating for the most part. Their characters are very cute, but the maturity with which they ultimately handle rejection and maintain close friendships with the main couple serve as a model for all unrequited Dramaland love.
The scenery showcasing traditional wood buildings and gorgeous tea farms (filmed on location in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan) is also lovely and a huge highlight of the series. C-dramas have miles to go in terms of representation and addressing social issues obviously, but within the context and limitations of existing dramas (and politics), etc. it was also nice to see the show highlight the cultural traditions and struggles of an ethnic minority community in small ways.
For me, Dear Mr. Recluse rates somewhere between an 8 and an 8.5, but I am giving it an 8.5 to balance out the overall, initial lower score. I hope to see the ratings climb as more viewers who appreciate gentle slice-of-village-life romances discover this drama.
Stray thoughts:
- Look for the doggy and stroller in the background of the influencers awards show ?
- The exchange between the rival influencer and the couple with 30 million followers gave me life!
- For anyone distracted by XZ's "stained" shirt in Sunshine in My Life, there are no less than three shirts worn by the ML here that look like 1) a bleach stain on a black shirt 2) someone stepped on the shoulders of his white shirt and 3) a black shirt covered in chalk dust ?
- Otherwise, I actually really loved the simple, monkish "hermit" outfits worn by the ML. Some of the shirts especially were truly beautiful
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