This review may contain spoilers
I'm still stuck on their hair!
This is the first Taiwanese drama I have watched in a while. It was sweet, it made me laugh, it made my heart sink and it made me think. I loved the pacing. I loved the unrequited love. I loved the side characters. The last episode finished the story off perfectly; lots of laughter and a great almost-epilogue.This drama had a great cast of side characters. The parents definitely win the most points for best side characters as they were the oddest parents I've seen in a drama, yet obviously cared about their daughter so much. The way her dad rented the house of his old friends touches my heart, especially as its something you wouldn't expect from a 'gangster.' Notable mentions include Angelina, and the Fighters from the other school who were obsessed with South Korea.
It's not winning any awards for a trail blazing, never seen before plot but it does the simple plot justice. While I don't like the use of car accidents as a plot device to further the story, it did its job and furthered the story enough to see development without having to wait an age. I have an intense dislike of mid-episode title reels that are too cinematic to reflect that drama but those appear in every Taiwanese drama.
The only other issue I had with this drama was the styling. The hairstyles for both leads looked odd, more so for the male lead who's hair looked like a bad toupee at some points. However I have a feeling this is due to the need for multiple hairstyles to show the passing of time and changing of styles. You can tell they looked most appropriate to their roles in the epilogue.
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Cute show, not the best executed, but sweet
In general, Attention Love, is a pretty light show that fits well into the high school/college opposites-attract rom-com genre. Joanne Tseng and Prince Chiu are well-cast as the scrappy, energetic heroine and brooding, serious male lead, respectively. But I agree with other reviewers that the second couple steal the show. There's definitely some second lead syndrome with the second ML and even though the second FL, An Xiao Qiao/Angelina, starts out kind of annoying, she will quickly steal your heart too, through her adorable persistence and cleverness. The supporting characters are sweet and hilarious too; special shout out to the FL's parents who are hysterical and my favorite parts of the show. Honestly, a lot of times the supporting characters were more interesting to watch than the leads.The plot is your pretty standard "waiting for the leads to realize they love each other" fare. I had some issues with the pacing; there are definitely conflicts that dragged a little and then got resolved surprisingly quickly, as well as conflicts that were raised early on and then basically ignored for the rest of the show. But the whole series is only 15 episodes, so it's pretty easy to watch in a short amount of time. The OST is fun, with a lot of classic hits from Taiwanese singers. Overall, if you're looking for something light and frothy, I'd say Attention Love is a nice to show to unwind to.
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The story is not something very original but I loved how they pulled it off. It wasn't draggy, had just enough plot for its entire run to keep you on your toes to go on watching the next episode. Its a great romcom for people who love watching cute first love stories and school drama without the super cliche parts. there are of course some cliches but they will make you swoon. What I love about this drama is that it is very relatable. It will strike a chord in your heart if you have ever had an unrequited love or at least a crush on someone. The feelings the drama will evoke from you is worth the watch.
Acting/Cast:
I would like to say that Joanne Tang and Prince Chiu did a great job with their roles. Each emotion was potrayed perfectly. The female lead exposed her sadness of being in an unrequited love in such a relatable way. One particular quote that I love is she said every girl when they say they like someone, they have hesitated, struggled for a long time to confirm their feelings for the other person before confessing. Since they are so serious about it, they are even more afraid of getting hurt by the response they get. Another one is "Its not that I don't have the courage to tell him I like him. I just don't have courage to face life after losing him." Prince chiu also potrayed Li Zheng perfectly. Those feelings of insecurity, struggle with losing his parents, confusion with his feelings and his jealousy was shown very realistically. The second leads were great too although I didn't have second lead syndrome because Prince is too handsome keke. The two best friends were a nice addition to the female lead's life.
Music:
I LOVE ALL the OSTs. they were really great, every one of them. the starting song was sung by our very own main male lead Prince and the ending song is sung by our female lead. "Close to You" was great too and international fans will be able to appreciate this song better because its in english haha.
Re-watch value:
I would definitely rewatch this again. <3
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However, what made this drama much more watchable than many other Taiwanese dramas was probably the pretty awesome side characters. Their introductions are less than stellar, but they really do help move the show along and add substance to it. As for the leads, they're not so bad. There were many comments about the angst in this drama. But, I mean, they're in high school and are freshman in college. Of course they act like this. It would be kind of ridiculous if they acted like the perfectly mature and reasonable adults they actually are. They are portraying teenagers, so get ready to really feel that teenage angst. In my opinion, the reasons holding back the main couple were more realistic than the usual dumb misunderstandings concocted by a jealous second lead. If you really think about Yan Li Zheng's back story along with what kind of person Zhong Shao Xi is, then the situations in the show aren't that hard to understand. The show could have done a little better reminding the audience about the backstory, but that did not take away from the story as a whole.
All in all, this is a pretty cute, light drama that is consumed much better in the form of a binge. The story was pretty cute, the acting wasn't bad. Casting was pretty on point. Music is super catchy. Especially the adorable opening sequence. The cuts to commercial man. So freaking adorable. I rarely rewatch dramas and this is no exception. Overall, pretty solid drama to watch if you just wanna see some cute moments of young love.
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2. Handles high school-esque problems well, other than the fistfighting, but the butt kicking makes it fun.
3. The chemistry between the leads was memorable. I liked the actors, even if they’re not particularly believable as high schoolers. I’d love to see them in a less youthful production. Something with meat on it.
4. Sometimes it was overly saccharine. To the point where I really wanted to stop watching it. Kept it up as background entertainment for most of the show while I did other things, I won’t lie.
5. It is what it is, and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. The opening song and beginning reel kind of prepares you for what’s coming, unlike others where it’s misleading. If the lot of them popping up in the beginning doesn’t immediately make you cringe then you may be ok. I however would not even half watch this again, it’s not my milieu. Share it with some 12-14 year olds you know, or those that need light, fluffy and fun in their life.
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Mixed Feelings but in a good way
Started this drama with low expectations but it turned out much better than I thought. Though the first episode reminded me of lower budget daily dramas from the cameras used and editing, it seemed to get better over time (or I just got used to it) and stuck around for the main leads I grew to like. Though slow paced, the main characters were still enjoyable to watch and pro tip if you decide to give this a chance: watch on 1.5 or 2 times speed!The Good:
-internal monologues: this added dimension to the characters and helped me become more invested in who they were.
-script (parts of it): they actually tried to TALK things out which is something I rarely see being done.
The Meh:
-cliches: this drama is jam packed with them. Certain elements of the story and characters reminded me of many other dramas that I've seen before like "Playful Kiss" and "Boys Over Flowers."
-slower paced: for some reason, these episodes felt really looooong even though a lot of different events occur in each episode.
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The story revolves around two leads that are destined to be with each other before they were even born, which is what I found interesting when I initially read the synopsis for the drama. Shao Xi is a tomboy-ish tough girl that's raised in what she considers to be an abnormal family with her mother and father. Li Zheng is a closed off personality that lost both of his parents through a car accident, and lives with his Uncle. When they end up living together, there's this beginning in their relationship that just makes you want to watch more of. The joke on their name, the history between both of their parents, and the eventual bond between the two of them adds to narrative, something I personally enjoyed. The drama focuses more on the one-sided love, it shows the struggles that they face, the cliche misunderstandings, and the growth of both of their characters. I found Li Zheng's growth to show a newer side of the male lead, as he gains the color in his world that he lost after the death of his parents through his relationship with Shao Xi. Of course, there's also the real side of life that the drama shows, which adds the angst to the story on how you could probably (or maybe not) relate to woes the characters face. (I still think that you're able to relate to at least one of the characters, as they're all so diverse in their stories and personalities)
Now, acting? I absolutely loved the main couple. To me, their chemistry seemed just enough where it didn't push the over-the-top need to force anything. It's not perfect at times but it's got a lot of depth to it. I initially had doubts when I first watched the drama but the acting was nothing but on par throughout most of it. The other characters, such as Shao Xi's friends, Jin Li, and Angelina were all good in their respective roles also. Shao Xi and Li Zheng do look kind of older for their age in my personal opinion, but it's less relevant as the story progresses.
I have to say though, this drama did have a lot of my newfound favorite songs to listen to. From the beginning track sang by Prince Chiu himself to Tseng Joanne's beautiful song, I fell in love with a lot of songs in this drama (I also find it highly impressive that both of them can sing). The song that I found was honorable to mention was "Close To You" by Karen Lin (a cover of the original version sang by the Carpenters). Of course, I loved all of the others sounds featured.
S/N: If you do want to check them out, they're all on Spotify (or YouTube if Spotify isn't available in your country).
Funnily enough, in terms of rewatch value, I've already watched this drama numerous times. I never see myself as a person to rewatch a drama as I think it denotes the initial feelings I felt while watching it, but with this drama in particular, I still feel the same way I did when I first watched it. It's not boring (probably will though once I watch it 100 times) but it does take away the surprises I had while watching it the first time, which is reasonable.
To end off this review, I think it's clear how much of an amazing drama this is. The story is love at first sight, which is probably how I would describe the relationship between Shao Xi and Li Zheng. Even so, I recommend it so highly since it's THAT good to me. If you don't believe me, you can always find out for yourself.
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LOVED The Main Characters
I really liked the plot of this drama. It wasn't a very serious plot which is very different from what I usually watch, even for a youth drama. But the characters were what made this show so good. Even the characters that you dislike would grow on you and the plot wasn't serious enough for you to actually hate anyone. If you want to watch something light and sweet, then this is it.My favourite character throughout this drama was the FL. This is the first time in any drama that I actually loved the female lead throughout no matter what she did. Her character was also relatable, so even if she ever did do anything absurd, it was justifiable. This isn't a spoiler but, everyone knew that the FL had a crush on the ML and that she really liked him, and I loved the fact that it wasn't a secret at any point. The FL was always upfront about her feelings and was loyal to them, but she didn't let her emotions get in her way of anything.
The ML is a whole other story. I loved his character especially at first. For the first 10 episodes I loved him and even understood him for most of it. But he was the exact opposite of the FL when it comes to expressing his feelings. After 10 episodes I got really annoyed at him for not expressing himself despite the fact that he had no fear of being rejected. There is one thing I especially LOVED about him though, his dark side, which reminded me a lot of the ML in Cheese in the trap (Kdrama). The ML in this drama was always really good to the FL don't get me wrong, but when someone hurts someone he loves, he will go PSYCHO on them.
I also loved SML all throughout this drama. He was the funniest character on this show and the situations he always ends up in is hilarious. He was exactly the charecter the ML and FL needed in their lives. He is similar to the FL in many ways and had the one thing the ML lacked, courage, to express himself and believe his own emotions. Despite there being a love triangle, it didn't stop a really good friendship from forming between the three characters as well as the SFL later in the story.
I hated the SFL at first, but her characteristics at first made sense. A careless rich girl who knew nothing about the real world. But she grew and became one of my favourite SFL's in any drama. She completed the friendship group and was also similar to the FL. Unlike the FL, the SFL didn't use her muscles to fight, she used her voice and her connections, and when she takes people down without a punch, it's so much more satisfying.
I loved the family element of this show. I mean the parent REALLY knew who to set their kids up with because their matchmaking skills were PERFECT, for both the main lead and second lead couples. The characters were all destined for each other and I love how both the main leads family shipped the ML and FL before they were even born. They weren't forced to be together or anything, the parents said that they knew that their kids were destined for each other, and they let destiny take its course.
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Cute, make us remember our first love
I love the plot and the OST. The FL is my favorite as well as her parent, they are really supportive & loving. The ML is indeed a psycho, but imo his worst era is when they were in Uni, we can see from his hair it's a symbol of drifting away from the "right path". Nevertheless, he is very protective of the FL and loves her quietly. There is some symbolism that we can pay attention to. Some people said that the ML is taking too long to confess his true feelings, he is, but I think it's natural for him to do so. It's such a beautiful drama honestly, I am 100% sure you will instantly remember your first love while watching this!Was this review helpful to you?
