The writer tried to play on the viewer’s judgment of character but it failed to impress. Instead of focusing on character progression, they decided to do a complete 360 on two of the characters which could have been executed well if we could see the progression of this change instead of just throwing it out there in one episode. They try to salvage their mistakes later but it still somehow leaves a bad taste.
One of the main downfalls of this drama for me was the concept of depression, I don’t think the writer understands what “Chronic depression” is, I don’t recall them mentioning in the beginning so when it was brought up I was shocked, the character did not show any signs of depression in the beginning other than having some flashbacks so it was not anticipate it at all. (Also if you are triggered by such subjects please do refrain from watching as this topic is continued for a couple of episodes).
Another thing that I did not enjoy is the main female character. The writers tried to make her appealing by having her portray the innocent naïve girl who sees the good in everyone EXCEPT her boyfriend which is frustrating, it seemed like every single moment where he needed her to be by his side, she would either not trust him or completely support the person whom he is opposing. Honestly it was infuriating to see her laughing and having a good time knowing that her lover was in a bad state. Throughout the whole drama you are left to question her judgment and it’s quite frustrating.
On a more positive note, I really did like the friendship between Shang Bo Ran and Wang Xing Ren. You can see that Wang Xing Ren cares a lot for Bo Ran and it was quite fun to see them bickering. There are also many scenes where you see how they depend on each other and I enjoyed that a lot.
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Poor, Unbalanced, Confusing Writing
Since this is the only work left from Nana that I haven't watched, I really tried my best to finish it even though I'm so mentally checked outI don't know what's up with the story because the way the events unfold feels like out of place, if not really fast-paced. I feel like the writer had lots of ideas, but didn't know how to tie them all together nicely and didn't even know how to build it up or leave hints throughout the show in order to show the viewers what to anticipate what the future events might be. The way they establish the beginning of the show was such a drag for me, it felt like it doesn't have any grand meaning or connection to the overall story because the first ten 10 episodes unpacked some major turns already, so I was like "eehhh... why is this happening already?" They could have replaced some of the fluffy fashion scenes with meaningful interactions with the characters to help build it up nicely if they were planning to progress the plot that fast in the first place. And then it tried to salvage the story in the 2nd half with the drama between ML and FL, and low key it kinda got me interested a little bit, but it's still wasn't enough.
The way they pull a twist feels like the writer didn't know where to take the story and maybe some big heads wanted to drag this drama, so they keep pulling plot twists that weren't even hinted at in the show like "Where did this come from?" and then would try to tie it by showing flashbacks or maybe some insignificant scene that a viewer wouldn't even catch, like "Oh its actually hinted but you just didn't notice" Of course I wouldn't because you did not highlight it. When ML got depressed, what's up with that? And i can't even take it seriously because the story and the characters don't take itself seriously, it felt like i was watching a Steven He Emotional Damage Parody Video. I don't have a chronic depression, but how the fuck did he got bedridden or paralyzed, like what?! Is that how it's supposed to be? Another Plot device that really annoyed me, is that when they need help or they want a person capable of something, magically one of the characters knows someone and would call them "blah blah can you help? he/she said okay", like huh?? I kinda understand it since ya'll are the big heads of the company and your families are influential, but in some sense, i don't get it, like how? how are you connected to this mysterious powerful person? and how tight are you that you can just casually call them and somehow they would say "okay"? but sometimes they would do it right when it comes to Leng Shan because she actually meets the person she's connected with and would suck up to them whenever she needs help.
When it comes to the characters, it feels like a gamble because sometimes they would act right, but then would fumble right away. The FL wasn't really as annoying as the comments make it out to be, like maybe, in the beginning, she's super annoying, especially when she says "Fighting" every time, I feel like I'm gonna hate that word just thinking about it, but her annoyingness actually got toned down as you go through the episodes and i kinda liked the development in that part, but in some parts because FL was still 16 in real life when this drama came out, it really shows in her acting. She's supposed to be an adult in this film, i don't know what age, did they even stated it in the show? Anyway, she doesn't know how to act like an adul. She is so childish for the most part and maybe sometimes would act like 18 or 19 and her styling also shows how young she is. It also creeps me out, like a red alarm would sound in the ear knowing she's a minor and her partner is 26, that's a 10 years of age gap, like maybe the hug and kiss on the forehead would be a pass, but when like there's an interaction that would really sound an alarm bell to me I'll be like "Woooaaahh! chill....". The ML tho on the other hand, really gives off jackson wang vibes, I don't know... maybe it's the hair and because this drama has fashion in it. He did a good job acting like a feminine fashionista. I like his playful acting, it lands really well when he does a joke or prank. I also like his chemistry with Wang Xing Ren, but in the later parts of the drama, it kinda gave BL vibes, so that kinda fell off for me a little bit.
The Side characters are okay, but i think they took up too much time, so i felt like they overshadowed the Leads. I really like Gao Ming, i kinda prefer him over ML, tho i wouldn't say it's because of the 2nd Lead Syndrome, it's just he's really a good character, and his dynamic and side plot with Angela was really cute, but they didn't really expand on it that much. Xue Zhen Ni really annoyed me whenever she's on the screen her jokes don't land really. It just leave a sour taste in my mouth. Victoria really amazed me. I feel like her actress really understands the assignment, from the way she walks, her body movement, and attitude screams fashion to me. Because there are a lot of side characters, like i said they took out most of the screen time and some of them were used for like 1 or 2 scenes, so many side characters are wasted.
Couldn't really say much about the music, cuz i feel like i was deaf in that aspect of the drama, but when Nana plays Cello tho... knowing what she does in real life.
So yeah, all in all... bad drama, it's very unbalanced with it comes to its core aspects and it doesn't even know what it's trying to be a times, wouldn't recommend this one, I'm just here for Nana.
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Confused!
I watched this on YouTube and found the quality of the filming quite poor at times and several times through the series, there was no sound! Trying to find the reviews and synopsis was very difficult, as on YouTube it was billed as Senior is Clingy and only by accident searching for another cdrama to watch did I happen to see a clip from this series titled Yes! Mr. Fashion.It started off ok but was shocked at the FL age, even before I found about the cast I could see she was very young, and I think for the character she was cast for, needed an older more mature actress for the part especially when it came to the romantic scenes. Age gaps shouldn’t normally be a problem but felt it wasn’t right in this case and it showed. FL was very cute but was over the top in her gaiety for the role, think this is where the actress’s age became apparent. It became rather irksome after a while. She’s a beautiful girl so hope she comes back to acting with a bit more experience. Rest of cast played their parts well, but found some scenes a bit of a shambles. ML and his friend at times, to me, came across as a bromance! They had some funny scenes though. I have a son who suffers from chronic depression and the way it was portrayed in this, sadly not correctly portrayed.
Found the ending really confusing. Was it trying to be funny? Think they should take tips from the KDramas on that one, which I love to bits. Some Chinese dramas are really good, but go on far too long .
What I really enjoyed in this was the music, it really got to my heart,and was beautifully sung
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