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Danni

Buffalo, NY

Danni

Buffalo, NY
Pleasantly Surprised taiwanese drama review
Completed
Pleasantly Surprised
7 people found this review helpful
by Danni
Oct 19, 2014
22 of 22 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
The Story (7.5/10): While it's hard to come by a really original story these days, I felt that this is one of the nicer Taiwanese dramas to come out in recent years and definitely the one I liked most with Puff as the leading lady. Also, as with most dramas, regardless of country, it does drag a bit here and there but that may be more about my own opinion and how I want the majority of screen time devoted to the main couple as opposed to side characters even if they are important to the story. Though having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the side romances and I think that was a real strength of this particular series. I really did adore each of the employees and while some of their antics were a bit over the top it made for some nice physical sight gag comedy. It's something that's just engrained in Taiwanese dramas, so while I may not be a big fan of it sometimes, when it's done right, it's hilarious. Something else known to Taiwanese dramas is the focus on conversation/involvement with family. Arguably, you get that in most Asian Dramas, but if someone's been watching T-Dramas for a while, you'll see that sometimes those family scenes can drag on and on.... we get it, you want what's best however misguided your actions may be, but that was kept to a minimum in this drama and it was a nice change. All of the scenes meant something and didn't feel like they were trying to force drama. Lastly, I really like dramas where the problems between the leads are less about interfering from secondary leads, and more about them resolving issues between themselves. While there are secondary leads that can get a bit annoying, there aren't any over the top stupid misunderstandings, most things are cleared up rather quickly. The Acting/Cast (7.5/10): This drama introduced me to male actors, Jasper Lui, Sean Lee, and Yorke Sun, who I'm looking forward to seeing in many more dramas. As previously mentioned, I really liked Puff the most in this of the three dramas I've seen her in so far. She plays a good strong female lead, it's nice to see a girl who stands up for herself and doesn't take any crap, but of course also has a sensitive compassionate side as well. It was also nice to see a male lead that was genuinely kind-hearted and a nice guy, not a huge jerk that later changes. Nice guys DO get the girl! Learn from this other dramas! The acting was pretty par for the course for me. I didn't feel anyone was lacking, in fact, I think the actors did a great job of making the characters their own and distinctive from one another when they could've easily just been part of the scenery. The Music (6/10): The opening theme was nice, and nothing was really bad, but nothing I felt that stood out either or anything I felt compelled to go itunes to try and download. I think it's just a nice middle of the road soundtrack. Re-watch Value (5.0/10): I think this is well worth watching at least once, but I don't know that I would go out of my way to recommend it or re-watch it personally. If someone asked me if they should watch, I wouldn't dissuade them. There were some cute romantic scenes that I felt could be re-watch, but as a whole not as much. Overall (7.5/10): I gave this a 7.5 overall because it had some really great feed-good adorable moments in it. The leads and even supporting characters had great chemistry whether romantically or not and with such a large cast, that's pretty great. I loved that the side characters had their own stories but nothing that sucked away tons of screen time from our leads but when it did it was okay because it was interesting at the least and adorkably romantic at most. I didn't feel compelled to skip episodes and while I did skip some of the storyline here and there I didn't find myself doing it a lot, mainly because I felt invested in the side romances :P
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