Best Choice Ever (2024)

People change and it takes time

Before i start yapping on how everyone should see this drama, I like to point some things out:
1. This is a romance drama and also a family drama. Both have equal weightage and you can't expect the latter to be subtle.
2. Every character grows and it takes time. Its like slow-burn but for character development.
3. Heavily depicts forgiveness, death, and other sensitive topics and teaches how to grow through it.

The reason why I think everyone must watch this drama is because this drama is about growth. It depicts the life revolving around Mai Cheng Huan and Yao Zhi Ming, until their life blends together. The syponsis correctly depicts what is to expect from this drama. In an Asian household, there is bare minimum talk about emotion and morals so growth of any sort in that field was negligible, so to see a family strengthen in that way was quite nice.
Everyone in this drama had a growth, not only the FL but her mom and the ML and his dad. The development takes time so it was understandable to why everyone hated the characters, especially the mom. But honestly, the mom was acting on point to an Asian mom who was meddlesome. Nobody hates the ML for the things he said. Even tho he was stereotypically written just like the mother.
There are characters you can't hate, like the Grandma and the dad. (The ML also, even tho he was rude, he was most certainly right and acted like he had feelings and certainly didn't wait for "someone" to change him)

The overall story was meh~ but it was refreshing to see a strong FL. I absolutely loved the FL. Home girl didn't need a grow-up.
The actors rocked their rocks. I mean yall hated some, got that good acting credit.

In the end, hold on cause ML and FL are cute and their chemistry is also cute.

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Are you irritated by He Sai Fei's acting as Liu Wan Yu?

If you find yourself irritated by He Sai Fei's acting as Liu Wan Yu, then this drama has successfully moved you.

"Best Choice Ever" might initially seem like a drama that follows a classic formula, but upon deeper examination, we can discover rich and complex narrative layers. The drama aims to delve into the dynamics of traditional Chinese family life against the backdrop of Shanghai.

From a critical perspective, this drama succeeds in several aspects but also raises some questions. Yang Zi, in her role as Mai Cheng Huan, delivers a stunning performance, showcasing her character's transformation from a constrained child to an independent woman. However, the question is whether this transformation is portrayed with enough nuance or if it appears overly idealistic.

Xu Kai, as her co-star, makes a significant contribution to the drama, but the relationship between their characters sometimes feels forced and unnatural. Their chemistry, although having intriguing moments, can be inconsistent at times.

The most notable aspect is the depiction of the complex and emotional mother-daughter relationship. This is a very strong element in the drama, providing insight into the social pressures and expectations faced by women in Chinese society. However, the drama occasionally falls into stereotypes and doesn't fully succeed in challenging these norms.

The production of this drama, with its beautiful music and stunning cinematography, is one of its strengths. The carefully written dialogue invites deep reflection, but at times it feels didactic and lacks substance in portraying the complexity of human emotions.

Overall, "Best Choice Ever" is a drama worth watching, with some truly evocative moments. However, as a work of art, it still has room for growth and improvement, particularly in character development and more authentic interpersonal relationships. The drama offers an intriguing reflection of society but needs to explore further the true depth and richness of its narrative.

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surprisingly disappointing

I was really looking forward to this drama given the cast, however i have to say that i was fairly disappointed. This was barely a romance it was rather a story of how a mother controlled her family with verbal abuse and blackmail. If they didn't fall in with her wishes she would become hysterical and scream abuse at all around until everyone would bend to her will. Any romance that there could have been disappeared into the background it was barely noticeable.
When i think about the overall impression now i see the wonderful character of Grandmother who was a wise and beautiful lady who cared deeply about the people around her, and a screaming manipulative mother. I cannot for even a moment understand how this was being presented as a loving family. the Romance faded into nothingness. The ML and FL did their best with what they were given by the writers however they were not given much to work with, I do wonder if this was the outline and script that they signed up for in the beginning.
I do not really know why i watched it until the end of the series.

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If you like overbearing and annoying mother then you may like it. Acting was mediocre by everyone

Best Choice Ever is a Romantic Comedy about a 30-year-old unmarried girl who lives with her overbearing mother, who has done nothing but ruin and embarrass her, even slap her in front of everyone for what her mother called "I did it because I love you."

My Reviews:
1. The overbearing mother is so annoying. She is too much, and Yang Zi's (Mai Cheng Huan) character is too weak to stand up against her overbearing mom.
2. Xu Kai's acting ability is mediocre, but he is handsome and good to look at. I could only manage to finish his modern dramas, but I ended up dropping all of them for costume dramas because the acting was so bad.
3. There was a scene when he lost his dad to a car accident, and his character went through the grieving stage. Xu Kai did not show griefing emotion and barely shed tears for such a loss.
4. Yang Zi is a good actress, but she needs to branch out a bit because she plays a similar type of role, which doesn't stretch her acting ability. She always plays a bubbly girl, career-driven, timid, and filial daughter to an inferior mom.
5. It is watchable since there is nothing good or exceptional with the Cdrama in 2024 until the last four episodes when the mother was diagnosed with something that was not severe but went missing. This caused a frenzy, and everyone had to drop everything to look for her. The last four episodes were annoying and frustrating.
6. This drama focused more on the mother's character than Yang Zi's. I would give it a high rating until the last four episodes when the ending ruined everything because of the unnecessary plot about the mother missing.

Downgraded to 6.0 rating instead of 7.0 rating.

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Worth the watch!!

I actually completed a long time ago but its still a great watch! The story line is great, every character has something to say and the script writers did a great job, other than that the acting is fabulous both the leads did a great job in portraying their role, not only the leads but the parents, friend and sibling all did great. its a very realistic drama i would say and say's a lot about the Asian culture at first i didn't except anything i would say but by the last episode i was bawling my eyes out on how retainable the drama is! I would definitely watch it, i do think the overall rating didn't do justice on how good the drama actually is.

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Dysfunctional families

This is my first time watching both Yang Zi and Xu Kai in a contemporary drama. Their acting was convincing, and kept the plot going. In general, the supporting actors also did a credible job.

Ranking;
#1 Dysfunctional Family Mai... Mother
#2 Dysfunctional Family Xin ... Son, Daughter, Father, Mother
#3 Dysfunctional Family Yao ... Father

MAI family
Mother Liu Wanyu was overbearing and controlling, but she was emphatic and kindhearted occasionally. She was the nucleus of the Mai family. Her husband Mai, son Zao and daughter Huan were her satellites. The drama should have been named Story of Wanyu since she seemed to dominate the plot. The actress should have been attributed a Main Lead designation.

XIN family
A privileged family of four, lacking in ethics, but full of arrogance and condescension. Son was too clingy, trying to manipulate Mai Cheng Huan. Daughter was psychotic and condescending. Mother and Father were calculating.

YAO family
Ex-convict Mr Yao had his fifteen minutes of fame. The day he grew a conscience, was the day he died. That was cold, Scriptwriter! Yao should have lived, reside permanently at Xing Anli, and work as a host. Son Yao Zhiming realized too late that his father had redemption.

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Outlandish family antics makes a cringeworthy watch

I felt that by watching this show I would give Xu Kai & Yang Zi one more chance before I give up on using them as the primary reason to watch any of their shows. And how lucky that I can watch them both in one show before making my decision. I have enjoyed past shows starring each of them, but the enjoyment was due more to the power of the story & production, rather than their performances.

Best Choice Ever is another rich/poor CEO/employee set up in Shanghai. Yang Zi plays 29 year old Mai Chenghuan, a senior employee in the sales department of a luxury hotel. Xu Kai plays Yao Zhiming, the newly arrived, foreign educated, CEO of said hotel, of course. MCH is already in a tenuous 3 yr relationship with the son of a large design company, & of course gets off to a bad start with her new boss.

MCH's engagement to the future successor to a large business partner of the hotel she works at poses the ultimate conflict of interest as both businesses seek to use the upcoming marriage as leverage for their financial deals. The conflicts of interest don't just stop there. The drama presents a lawyer representing his girlfriend, & using work resources for personal issues while proclaiming not to be doing that, as being ok when it involves the main characters.

There's an interesting contrast between modern & traditional Shanghai. Rich families embody the modern, spacious lifestyle, while MCH lives with her 4-member family in a tiny, old apartment so cramped her younger brother has to sleep on a cot in the living/dining room. This living condition is what they can afford & allows them proximity to the business district, where the children can pursue career opportunities & still come home to a cooked meal. This is the commitment of MCH's working class parents.

Trope after trope follows, but the emerging themes are what role should marriage play in a woman's life, & how do you maintain professional integrity when personal conflicts of interest are constantly thrust upon you. It's a dismal world of pure transaction, where someone's interest in you is only as far as what they can get from you. That transaction can often apply to your own family, which drives children to spend their lives slavishly trying to appease their parents' regrets. And, as usual, success only comes with luck & circumstance, rather than how hard you actually work.

Unfortunately, as the drama progresses, the events that unfold become more & more bizarre. It also becomes apparent the story isn't really about MCH & YZM, but rather MCH & her mother. The dialogue is contrived & stiff. Lines are delivered in long, preachy sentences which is very unnatural. Plus, the lengths that the mother goes to in order to force what she wants from MCH was so outlandishly immoral & embarrassing it was painful to watch. Like throwing a surprise lavish engagement party just to publicly force MCH into marriage, or loudly barging in on MCH while she's literally heading a staff meeting just to order her to go eat lunch, would make you cover your eyes faster than the scariest horror movie. Such fodder would've been much better presented as comedy; instead, MCH's mother has to be the most irritating character I've seen in any drama. Does the screenwriter (or author) have an unresolved issue with their own mother to create such a distorted character? Towards the end of the show, the mother is firmly planted in the viewers' faces (as if you didn't have enough yet) by becoming the focus of the final 4 episodes, spiraling downward & taking everyone with her. Was she supposed to be the main character after all? And what is the "choice" referred to in the show's title? Is MCH choosing her mother? She has no choice but to deal with her.

Yao Zhiming turns out to be MCH's step-cousin by marriage, & they connect through their (step)grandmother, but their relationship is hugely overshadowed by the theatrical hysteria of all the other arcs in the show. YZM's character basically stands on the sidelines & clearly takes a back seat to MCH who puts in a gargantuan focus on her mother. He supports her just so she can support her mother, with the consequence being that they still remain unmarried at the end.

YZ seems to be caught in a loop of goody two shoes roles while XK has not changed from the muted, boyish & cocky rascal. This show has simply mixed the two together but nothing new has come out. All in all, Best Choice Ever is over the top & confuses who the viewer is supposed to sympathize with. Mother/daughter relationships are always hard but this show is next level cringe when you see how a mother can ruin a daughter's life.

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If Mother/Daughter Dramas are you're thing, this is the one for you...

I loved this drama because of its heartfelt messages of love and family unity in helping to face the difficulties of life and family strife. These messages are conveyed in the story of Mai Chenghuan, who has dreams of excelling in her career, but has a well-meaning and controlling mother who gets in her way.

I think this drama hits home for many women, young and old, who've had moms like this. They work hard all their lives taking care of you and wanting what's best for you, but just can't seem to make the transition from raising their children, to being hands-off companions to their adult children. They get caught in the push/pull of what they believe will make their children happy instead of listening to what they actually need, making them horribly unhappy because they've grown used to being in control. This is where our story begins.

The mother/daughter leads are played masterfully by Yang Zi, as Mai Chenghuan, and veteran actress, He Sai Fei, as Liu Wanyu. These two actresses were phenomenal together. They took us into their tumultuous relationship, making us cry with their heart-breaking fights and making us cry again when they make up. They got their characters down pat and brought them to life on-screen. What an honor I can imagine it must have been for Yang Zi to work alongside such a talented actress that is He Sai Fei. I could see right off that she took all her younger counterparts to unimaginable heights. My hat is off to the director for guiding them all to go further in their performances. The ensemble cast were all wonderful as the Mai family. They felt like a very real family, supporting each other in good times and in bad. It is no wonder then that Yao Zhiming, wants so badly to be a part of it?

Xu Kai, as Yao Ziming, is the quiet loner who slowly becomes entangled with Mai Chenghuan and her family life. They both share a very important person in their lives and she is instrumental in teaching them that nothing is more important than love for family and doing what is right. She gently guides Yao to become more free and less transactional, employing the efforts of Mai Chenghuan in her endeavors. I was very impressed with Xu Kai's understated performance. He could be the cold CEO, but you could see that he had a big heart and that he was guarding it, not willing to give it away until he was ready. I appreciated that about his performance. He understood his character completely. That inner monologue was present and you don't always get that in less seasoned actors. He was alive, a rock for Chenghuan, but vulnerable at the same time. The rawness of his need for a family was palpable. All I can say is the noodle scene. Without giving anything away, that was the moment he won me over as an actor.

The weakest areas of the plot were at the beginning. The first few episodes felt disjointed and slow. I think the drama was still trying to find its footing and those first 12 episodes could have done with less cliches.

In a forest of Chinese dramas full of young, handsome romantic leads and cliche plots, this was a diamond in the rough because it doesn't just dwell on romance. There is much more going on and that is a good thing. Even the secondary romantic couple is well written and doesn't detract from the main couple or the principal situations. I highly recommend this one for viewers who like slice of life dramas, or want more going on than just the romance.

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Its good but very exaggerated mother daughter duo

I am very confused with this drama honestly.i watched it for xu kai, but ended up watching till the end. i just hated the exaggeration of a mothers obsession towards her children. i kind of did not like the unprofessionalism where a mother can randomly enter a daughter's office meeting and say to have lunch. They were a lot of unattractive points in the drama. but above all the ML and FL has carried the drama beautifully. Even FL's brother and Ex boyfriend did a good job projecting the relationship. It was sensible for a mother to be noisy in a daughter's relationship but it was really really not acceptable for a mother to be noisy in professional fields. I have a lot of mixed feelings towards this drama. Its a family drama with very weird obsessions. The granny was the best among everything.

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Oh so boring! :(

Unfortunately, yes. The trailers and reels would make you think it’s a romance story between Yangzi and Xukai, but it’s really not.

The drama revolves around Mai Chenghuan and her family, centering on her relationship with her mother. The mother has a really annoying character where she talks too much and constantly interferes with other people lives. Too much screen time were given to both the parents which I did not enjoy. The other couple which is her best friend and little brother also did not interest me one bit.

The first half focused mainly on the FL relationship with her bf of 3 years, whom she didn’t know was the son of a very wealthy family. Somehow forced to get married, she finds there’s too many differences in their social status and creates conflict with the future mother and sister in law. These scenes were so frustrating to watch. And her own mother never learns- even after breaking off the relationship, she secretly held an engagement party , tricked her to attend it and it was SUCH A MESS!

After that it gets boring, a grandma dies, she inherits a hotel and navigates her way to run the hotel, whilst getting closer to xukai and liking him… really not that interesting.

So unfortunately will be dropping this. I just fast forward too too much just to get to their kiss scene in ep26- and even that was a lack of chemistry and let down. Definitely not recommended.

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