Its worth the watch
I really love overall message to story and all the characters and relationships thru out drama never get boring.Great casting and acting.This OST with Eric is probably one of my favorites.Love his music.The plot is well written.The transitions from being an emotional turning point to then throw you into such an upbeat poppy song (that is surely to get stuck in your head)nicely done though,To always remind you of the lead relationships story timeline and also to refresh you so it doesn't leave it stagnant .It keeps the story and plot moving well without putting your emotions on to much on a rollercoaster.Was this review helpful to you?
Super Cute Love Story with a ML , who is a dream, too good to be true
It's a Light hearted Love Story. ML's Character is too good to be true very supportive and encouraging of FL's character and FL reminds me of Yang Zi. I love the OST. The Actors are believable in their portraying of the Characters. Also the supporting actors are a treat to watch. I especially love the SML, Cai-Xiao Gang. He is also a too good to be true character. It ends with a happily ever after for all the Characters.I watched it 3 times already. And could rewatch it again.
The 1st time I watched it, I watched all the episodes in 1 go. The progress of the story is in a good pace. Not too dragged and not too slow.
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Feel good
Bruce He is an amazing actor. You can see small nuances of his expression in everything. I can't believe he is this new. I feel he is going to make good future once he gets right opportunity and his dimples are too cute ....This is one of those series where guy is crazy after the girl and girl is smart, intelligent, calculated and selfish. They had a good chemistry also I loved the chemistry of second lead couple if you can say so. Not FL friend but ML cousin, yes i mean that couple. Story is pretty okay but if you are looking for sweet moments this one has pretty good ones. This show is something when you have exhausted everything and want to just watch fluff, you can watch this one.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Best Rom-Com EVER‼️
Hello Again is surely my most favorite romantic comedy EVER! Movie, TV show, Asian drama, you name it! This one has all the feels, with ups and downs aplenty as our couple make their way to a somewhat corny but pretty satisfying happy ending. The romantic leads have perfect chemistry, the writers having created two likeable characters and a storyline full of laugh out loud comedy, moments brimming with romance, and scenes of heated argument between the two where it's tough to take sides. I've been watching it over and over again for a couple of months and in these Covid-19 times, it's diverting, funny, and uplifting all at once!An excellent drama like Hello Again has all three required elements that combine to make it such a success. Start with 1) good writing that creates 2) compelling characters in a storyline that is brought to life by 3) talented, attractive actors. The formula is well worn: high school adversaries meet later in life where circumstances have changed and they make their way toward the expected happy ending (not really a spoiler alert but OK). But honestly the real reason for me to have fallen in love with this series is the man crush I have on the male lead, Bruce He (HaoChen). It was a YouTube video on the subject of certain Taiwanese men going shirtless in dramas (https://youtu.be/8rWWXd-NPyM) that led me to Hello Again actually and I'm so glad for it! He is absolutely drop dead gorgeous and is surely one of the most beautiful men I have ever watched on ANY screen and brings to light that the real reason I enjoy watching these Asian dramas is for the most superficial of reasons: eye candy. Give me a gorgeous man playing someone with resolute character who's fighting for love and shaping circumstances with all sorts of tribulations along the way and I'm hooked! First was Dylan Wang in Meteor Garden, then on to Marcus Chang (LiAng) and now Bruce He! He is truly one of the most stunningly beautiful men I've ever seen! Handsome as hell with the deepest dimples when he smiles, a deep sexy voice when he's taking charge, AND a tall, decently muscular gym body that is frequently showcased with him leaving the bathroom post shower and tying his robe just enough to make sure his abs and pecs are evident. He's played a few comic roles and knows how to get the laughs in Hello Again. In previous works his smile and even his body revealed his underlying attractiveness and charm, but he tidied up his looks (was it the cameo in Ex-man?) and is in pure handsome as hell leading man status now! He is just perfectly cast as the guy whose love is so sincere, supportive, and longstanding that you can't help but root for him to successfully woo his down trodden love interest.
Our main man looks dashing in a suit too. Playing a young department store executive he clearly looks the part and must have access to all the best designer looks as his character has a beautiful wardrobe of three piece and double breasted suits that he wears strikingly. Broad shouldered, tall, and lean, he cuts a v-tapered silhouette and loves to stand in a Superman posture with his hands on his hips screaming alpha in charge here even though that's not always the case! He may have even brought turtlenecks with a business suit back in style! As mentioned above he's often shirtless, almost gratuitously, including in one of the kissiest, most initimate love scenes I've ever seen in an Asian drama. The director knew she had a beauty to work with and opted to use her gorgeous dimpled hunk to maximum appeal with plenty of closeups and I'm certainly not complaining!
In YZH, the writers have also created a character of privilege who's a filial son and sees his executive role as more than just making money and ordering around subordinates. He's not just some rich jerk but a fighter who wants to make his parents proud, his customers to have a unique shopping experience, and his employees to have a chance to grow and be successful. He is even willing to apologize to those employees when he's made a mistake. He truly cares about his company and its people. He also seeks to challenge CKA to be her best and believes that she too can change her life circumstance and through hard work create a brighter future for herself, a future that he completely intends to be part of. The positive message of personal empowerment is uplifting and I also love that he believes in her intelligence and is so turned on by how smart she is and not just her physical attractiveness. He romances her by giving her more and more challenging opportunities at work to show she's just as capable as any college grad and giving her the chance to prove it, especially to Tiger Mom.
YZH is handsome beyond belief but certainly no player. He's got no experience nor interest in dating and neither does he know how to woo his love interest beyond coercing her into his proximity by having her make his breakfast every day or dropping by her house when he know she's off work. He uses his position as boss to come up with excuses to stop by her sales counter to make quasi-business demands on her time. Of course he's also the typical heroic male lead, catching her when she's falling, fighting for and protecting her from assailants and building up her debt of gratitude to him to the point that she feels she has to acquiesce to his demands, no matter how childish. But his childishness, which is noted in multiple situations, is part of his charm and what makes the drama so fun to watch. He knows he's like a high schooler and likes pranking her, but he's also the boss, and when they finally get back together for real he states out loud that she won't be able to get rid of him now no matter how childishly he behaves, which starts the next morning when she has to carry his briefcase weighted down with dumbbells to finally start making good on a bet. In fact, he actually only wants to support CKA because he loves her and owes a deep debt of gratitude himself and believes that someone who was a top student is capable no matter what. He states out loud a few times that there's nothing she can't succeed at and seeing a man absolutely supportive and in love with someone who's smart AND beautiful is heartwarming.
Finally (spoiler alert!), there's a major subplot with a lesbian character that is handled beautifully as she is also a love rival for the affections of CKA. She pursues CKA on the sly until she can't take it anymore and confesses her love after a kiss out of the blue and explaining that her love is more than friendship. This same lesbian is also pursued so sweetly by YZH's male cousin and fellow vice president. The cousin falls in love with the lesbian even telling her he'd become a woman if that's what she'd want. We don't know how they end up but we do get a real love scene with morning after embarrassment and ensuing complications! There's also another single gay father who's captivated by the uber handsome YZH and he's right in there with the women gushing and dishing over the boss. I love that there is zero homophobia around either of these characters and as a gay man myself I pay particular attention to how such characters are handled.
Clearly I LOVE Hello Again and Bruce He as the romantic lead. This excellent, high profile drama has absolutely springboarded him into other work as leading man, but it will be hard to top this breakout role. In the meantime it's fun to scour the internet to see how beautifully he's evolved though his body has usually been something we get a good glimpse of! In the meantime we can always enjoy Hello Again and the smiles and laughter it will always bring‼️👍🏾🔥❤️🥰💯
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The story really could have been better, and it got a little repetitive, but if you're looking for a simple, sweet drama to watch and feel stupidly happy while doing it, esp. towards the end, this is the one. The Male lead's acting could be better, and at times the female lead's acting was **stiff** but they're both hot, so what's new in dramaland? It's not glaringly bad, but if you're super sensitive to the tiniest bit of acting, then probably not for you. This isn't to discredit the actors though. They still did a fantastic job, and I genuinely had fun while watching some parts.
The story can be a **little** unbearable, but it honestly doesn't take itself too seriously, and going off what my memory serves, doesn't have a convoluted, overly ambitious, or plain infuriating plot at all.
Also, the opening song slaps! One of the few OPs i never skipped, and even felt myself dancing to from time to time!
Overall, if you want a simple, cute, and fun romance story, that's not too serious, this is your show :"D
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Really love the ML’s character being all cute and clingy (childish in his ways) In order to get the FL to notice him; typical story I know! But a very cute drama to watch. I also like how the FL is portrayed as a smart lady with her own insecurities to deal.
A really lighthearted and cute office romcom drama to watch, although I would prefer an alternative ending! ( it ended well, but could be better)
PS. The ML has really nice body *laughs*
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Catchy music!
This show started out so strong, they met in high school, lost touch with one another and now she works for him. He has the biggest dimples I’ve ever seen, and I loved the way his character was written. About midway through the show, my enjoyment began to wane. Her character bothered me. She was so strong in sales, in protecting and taking care of her family, but she was so weak relationship-wise. She would never tell him how she felt, and the multiple separations because she wasn’t “good enough” were working my last nerve. I loved all of the male characters in this show, they were always true friends, not out for their own gains. There was one storyline I didn’t like at all. Good music, wonderful, catchy theme song. Happy, yet kind of silly, ending. And I have to say that this show has the best theme song ever - you love it while you're listening to it and it makes you want to dance, then it burrows into your brain and you find yourself singing it for the rest of the day!Was this review helpful to you?
My happy place
I haven’t laugh like this in a while, this drama reminds of soo many things. I feel like I was watching my life story unfold. I love the dances, the dialogue, lot of life lessons here for me. Such a beautiful drama and it was done really well...................................................................LooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttTttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttWas this review helpful to you?
Uh... "Department store drama"?
Main guy is okay, but main "girl" (34) could be better. What's more weird is that in the school flashbacks, she was still bearable, I mean she could look like that as a grown-up but then instead, she appears after the time skip with frizzy hair and some funny hair clip sticking out of her head: just look at this drama's poster (basically, she keeps making facial expressions like a toddler). I WOULD understand if they made her look like that in an attempt to convince us for a few school flashback scenes, but not for the rest of the show, where she's supposed to be already grown up! Did the creators had her past & present visage switched? Who did such a mistake?The school times flashbacks, the main couple has a good dynamics. He is the wealthy spoilt brat, she is the clever stuck-up. Now they are grown-ups, she no longer acts stern towards him, which was the only little thing creating a pinch of romance angst. Nothing makes sense anymore... Main guy also acts kinda childish... He says she owns him interest from their old bet. That literally stated: If you and me are in the same university attending the same class, then I'll carry your backpack for a year. But they did not both get in the same class. Only he got in. Had she got in, he would not get in (he was on the waiting list). So, either way, she owned him nothing. Yet he keeps talking nonstop about how he's going to make her repay him all those years... He's in fact overly interested in her since the very early episodes, he helps her (saves her, in fact), cares about her, even is jealous right in episode 2... It's like he's already DESPERATELY into her.
When there was a poignant scene in 1st epi where FL talks about the past events which prevented her entering college with the main guy secretly listening, the expressions on ML's face were great in conveying how he felt, but FL's looks AND acting was all over the place. I couldn't take her crying seriously, while the loosened hair clip kept wobbleing over her head...
I had to take time before 2nd episode... I had to smile when ML buttoned the loose button on FL's shirt. Watching her since she entered, that's precisely what I wanted to do:) But did they have to make her wear yet another headwear? In her new job, they wear platic tiaras with animals and other childish-looking objects attached to it, to promote the store... Like, was she sentenced to have something permanently stick out of her head? I missed how she just had a straight hair in her school days. She was more bearable. Also, our ML had even more childish behavior now, than back in school? Who did write this?
But... Each episode opens with dancing sequences, which are actually the best thing about this show!:) So funny. The "chillaxing" song is actually pretty energetic and catchy. I enjoyed the opening credits time and time again. Still, I DID wish the show would go back into school setting. So what if the main actor was 29 and the main actress in her thirties. They still looked better there. More importantly, their characters really had better dynamics in the school days... Just her working at his shop - with the awkward elements alternating with her moping about the fact that she didn't get into uni - already started to drag. I admit that ML's office had a REALLY funny interior. Else, I didn't really care for the "department store drama"... Instead, give me more of the super funny "loving, loving" dancing, LOL.
For some reason, Sean Lee was also added to the cast here, he's similarly "youthful" as FL is (I think I remember him from shows like TWENTY years ago) and I soon skipped his scenes. Problem was, I often wished to skip even the main ones. Episode runtime was too long for me to digest, I had to cut it in smaller portions. One of the biggest "dramas" happening in there is when one of street gangs gets into the department store. It like contradicts itself:) It's so stupid it really IS funny. Plus, the dance sequences. The dance sequences! This should have been a musical. THAT would really be good. Seriously.
First kiss is epi 8/16. They made sure FL was wearing pretty dress in that moment, nevertheless they let her look totally dead fish (and this is Taiwan, NOT Japan or Korea). ML is shown hyperventilating after the kiss, while FL just keeps making faces which makes her quite unappealing given her age. I would prefer had they not kissed. What follows is the scene when ML keeps pouting lips to the air and mimicking kiss movements while talking to his friend endlessly about the kiss. It's kind of ridiculous because that is precisely what we did NOT watch. The kiss was completely still. Then there are more scenes like both the mains keep texting about the kiss. Basically it's 1 minute and a half of screentime of the stiff kissing and the rest 1 hour and something of talking about it. There really is hardly any romantic suspense. As if the guy who pays millions for your debts, shields you with his own body, is super kind to you even after you treated him like cr*p, creates whole environment for you where you can feel good about yourself, and then kisses you, does NOT like you, LOL.
During episode 9, there was a school flashback, during which the song I know from 'We Best Love' was playing. Which fascinated me more than ANYTHING else. Perhaps, this should have been BL, too. LOL. It's clearly so hard to find likeable female leads. Then, the episode ends up with the decision that instead of a salesperson, FL should become ML's secretary. It's getting more and more idiotic.
Episode 10... Had enough after 5 minutes. Had enough in general.
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This review may contain spoilers
Frustrating Leads, Cute Side Characters
I needed a break after watching a psychological thriller KDrama ("Tunnel"), and Tdramas tend to be lighter in my opinion. "Hello Again" followed that trend. However, I was impressed with some of social themes that came up. Debt and loan sharks are no new trope in Tdramas, but this was my first series to see a female love interest for the female lead. Granted, it was unrequited, but I really adored Zhen Yi's character, even if the way she treated Zi Jie was a bit cruel. Speaking of which, the problem I had (and I think, based on comments, that most viewers had) with this show was the way Ke Ai treated Zi Hao. I appreciate that she was flawed, but it got to be infuriating to see her treat him poorly time after time after time.Equally frustrating was Zi Hao's enablement of this treatment. But if you take the show for what it is, it's still a cute romance story. I'd have to say the secondary characters are what made this show shine; Brother Gang, Wen Wen, Zhen Yi, Zi Jie, Daniel etc. But I don't know that I could stomach another 16 episodes of codependent Zi Hao and Ke Ai's emotional withholding just to enjoy those other characters. And to be honest, as hot as Bruce He is? Let's face it, Zi Hao's obsession with Ke Ai would have been totally creepy had he not been so attractive LOL But maybe I just prefer tsundere male leads. :) Anyway, cute show with great music (Amber An and Eric Chou!) and overall engaging if you can get past the frustrating female lead.
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