Love Designer (2020)

Waste of time..

One of the worst c drama I have watched. Couples in this show don’t communicate openly, hide things from each other, don’t trust each other and keep breaking up for every damn thing. Mother of the lead actress is super overbearing. Only thing she wants is for Dilraba to get married. Oh my god how much she talks crap! She thinks her marriage is best but she just ignores her husband all the time. Lady get a life and stop bothering your daughter. She is 26 and she knows what she is doing.
The second lead’s parents are worst. They use the boyfriend for hospital work then they tell daughter to get married to someone else. What nonsense!!
The character Luna, is pathetic. She is a famous actress but she doesn’t have self respect. What are they trying to portray in this show?!?!
Why do people think chasing unavailable people good? When someone says no let’s break up and not interested, just move on. Chasing someone who isn’t available and doesn’t trust and communicate is not something to normalize !!
The second leads mom who is a teacher but holds such prejudice. As a teacher she should know that kids grow up and change and they should be treated as adults when they are adults. She still treats her son like he is a toolset and his girlfriend like her student. What the hell?!?’ Grow up lady. You are supposed to be an example to your students but if students follow your values then god save them ??‍♀️??‍♀️?
I don’t know how this show has 9 rating nor I can understand how this show was no 1 for long time. Please don’t watch this show
If you want to watch a fashion designer based and CEO type Cdrama then “Our glamorous time” is much better. At least they show trust and unity among couple and communication between them and how supportive they are to each other.

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If anything, just watch the main lead's scenes

I watched this drama purely for Dilreba, who happened to have great chemistry with her co-star Johnny Huang. The story line started out interesting at first (2 strangers meet, end up working in the same industry, crossing paths often, falling in love, etc), but as it got into their professional struggles and showed more of the second pairing, I lost interest.

There was no suspenseful or compelling drama. The only enjoyable aspect of such a slow paced drama is the natural, mature relationship between the 2 main leads.

Otherwise, I dropped the drama about 70% of the way and only came back to watch Reba and Johnny Huang's scenes. Skipped most of everything else.

There just really wasn't much to this drama.

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I’m happy I decided to watch this series despite the not so positive reviews I read.
I think this show was wholesome and heartfelt. There were a lot of sweet and funny moments and of course there were frustrating moments as well.
There was some repetition in the show, but nothing too bad in my opinion. Don’t relationships typically have some repetition? There will be some situations/characters you’ll get frustrated with though so prepare for that.
The ending was very cute. I think they wrapped everything up very nicely and it made me feel like watching all 45 episodes was worth it. A happy ending for a couple with great chemistry plus a happy ending for other characters gave it that worth.
Even though it was worth it, I wouldn’t really watch it again. I’d only watch some parts.
I think overall Love Designer was a good show that represented real life situations and life lessons. It’s a relate-able show with a lot of fun scenes, but in typical c-drama fashion, it is very long.

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OTP Incorrectly Billed! OTP/SLC Switch:

This could have been such a great drama but this writer was so lacking it ruined it completely.

CONS:
1) If someone set out the task, like they do with lyric distribution for K-Pop idols' music, to calculate how much on-air screen time the Secondary Lead Couple got to the OTP, I'd say that it would be 2:1. This isn't even counting the amount of time the OTP, either as a couple together on-screen, or individually, spent discussing the SLC's issues, problems, life, and not focusing on themselves.

2) For me, it was like false billing where Viann Zhang & Yi Da Qian were actually the true OTP and Zhou Fang/Song Lin couple were the SLC, and the ONLY reason they billed Reba and Johnny as the OTP was because of the Qin Qing/Zuo YuLin story being lacking, and trying to get away with it. Qin Qing's character annoyed tf out of me...and the topic of this couple's issues and problems, and roundabout relationship and work place stuff was so PAINFULLY boring, it ruined this drama for me.

3) The editing wasn't the worst I've seen but it was certainly messy. Too many random scenes, and the OTP meeting in random settings, talking about random things.

4) A LOT of predictable scenes and conversations.

PROS:

1) Reba & Johnny as a couple are the best. Off-the-charts chemistry. Both acted the hell out of their characters despite the poor and lacking script/plot. They were the most natural couple I've seen on screen in a while. So much so, I wouldn't be surprised by eventual dating rumors. lol.

2) Johnny's character was absolutely the best, hands down and he played Song Lin the best anyone could. Reba's Zhou Fang was good as well, and she played her excellent, but, unfortunately, her character was trashed by the writer a handful of times, and it wasn't pleasant and made me frustrated watching it.

3) The friendships, bromance/sismance are really pretty good, even despite not liking some of the characters initially or on/off during the course of the drama based on their actions and boring topics.

The beginning had the seeds of a good story... it's just too bad that the writer decided that the boring SLC's story was better and worth more promoting than the actual OTP. The only time I really enjoyed this was when the OTP were together on screen.

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Love Designer was one of my anticipated releases for 2020. Initially I waited for it to be over so that I could binge watch it put I kept putting it off due to the negative comments I read. I can see why people weren't pleased with this - I am not happy either. However I am glad I gave this drama a chance because at least the first 20-ish episodes were well made and I discovered Johnny Huang thanks to this.

STORY:
Oh lord. Was there even a story, a plot? I cannot pinpoint to what the drama was about. All the characters do are talk about dreams and yet everything is underwhelming and a bore. There are some nice moments and some fluttery romantic scenes. The main problem of this drama is that nothing fits. It's like putting too much to eat on your plate, and you end up tasting a bit of everything, but by the end you can't tell what was what. None of the sub-plots fit or compliment each other. Characters drop in and drop out at random times. Some random "problems" arise which make no sense or seem like they were written just because they had to. This drama has good actors and shallow plots with stories that go nowhere. There was nothing that could keep me interested enough to appreciate even a single plot/struggle/growth of any single character.

This drama tries to play it smart but it fails- there is no depth or enjoyment in it. The writing is lazy and I feel like it was written by a bunch of people who all had their own ideas. The end result was that it went nowhere and left me underwhelmed to a great degree. The half-assed ending was thrown into the mix as a formality because they wanted this to end finally.

ACTORS:
Now this is why I ended up finishing the drama. This drama has one of the better main and supporting casts I have seen in a modern C-drama. Dilraba isn't the best actress but the character of Zhou Fang really suited her. She is really beautiful and sometimes left me in awe of her visuals. Johnny Huang is perfect as Song Lin and did an amazing job of his otherwise maybe an "okay at best" character. He is really manly and super charming. He was really good at holding my attention. The others- the friends, family and Song Luo were all good to watch but unfortunately the plot didn't leave them much to do with.

ROMANCE:
This was really nice. Johnny played his part perfectly and his pursuit and the dedication towards Zhou Fang remained strong till the end. The main female lead was confusing at times. Their romance was super cute and only got boring towards the end. Their interactions, skinship and chemistry felt very natural to me. There are secondary couples also which you could either care or not care for - I didn't.

OVERALL:
The worst part of this drama was it that I had so much I wanted to watch but those parts never materialized. It was like a bunch of unresolved plots till the end. The episodes are pointlessly long and dragged out. This drama was best suited for 24 episodes. More time should have been dedicated to our leads and there should have been more challenging subplots/arcs for Zhou Fang. I felt like Dilraba really tried this time but the it didn't show as her character remained the same throughout. Johnny managed a good job due to his exuding charm but even that fell flat by the end.

This drama is one giant mess. There are beautiful people in it and other than that I say there isn't much reason to watch this. Maybe if you have nothing to do and wish to appreciate the beauty our leads - it's the drama for you.

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A very chill drama with chill leads

I actually liked the drama. The drama is basically a chill love story with chill leads and mostly none annoying characters, (other than the actress, Luna, in the beginning)

Story:
Both the female lead and male lead are independent people. The FL focuses more on her job and the ML is kinda a bit the opposite and finds the FL more important, which I like. Many modern dramas nowadays focus much more on the love part chasing each other and how everything is just perfect if you just love each other, but no, cause that's not realistic and that's why I find this drama different and interesting. This drama actually shows how important a stable job is in a relationship, and all the conflicts are just realistic. I must admit that there were many misunderstandings, but all those misunderstandings again have to do with the job, and not a third person, which i like.
I love how chill the ML is in serious situations.
I like how they so quickly tell each other that they have feelings for each other, instead of first saying it in episode 15, as in many other dramas.

I've read many other reviews and many think that the main leads don't have chemistry and how everything is just so cliche but I do not think so. regarding the chemistry, I just think the main characters want to show the worst of themselves first, sort out all the conflicts, get a stable job, and then finally be happy together.
Both the FL and ML are super chill and doesn't show an "I can't live without you" feeling, which is nice.

The bad thing about this drama is that the second couple has too many scenes, why can't they just be happy together????
And the "third couple" should have more scenes, so that we can know exactly whether they end up together or not, instead of guessing it.

The acting was superb, good actors and actresses. I love Johnny Huang and Dilrabas super chill acting.
I also love how the ML's sister is involved and all the funny scenes.

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Heaven & Hell in One Drama

OVERALL
This drama manages the impossible! Somehow, it has the ultimate best AND the ultimate worst. Definitely watch it if 1) you are looking for an OTP with great chemistry and lots of smexy scenes, 2) you're a fan of good humor (there're some priceless scenes in this drama, and when I say priceless, I mean it), 3) you like a female lead that's mature and outspoken. Maybe pass if 1) the guy putting the girl down isn't your thing, 2) annoying mothers aren't your thing, 3) never-ending business drama isn't your thing.

THE STORY
So here's the thing. To be honest, about 60% of this drama is bad. First, for half of the drama, the interactions between ML and FL are very problematic. He keeps on putting her down all the time, but it's supposed to be cute? Then there's the issue of the work drama that never ends. There's always something bad around the corner, which...gets tiring and repetitive. Then there's FL's mom that is the most annoying character ever (even if she does redeem herself). And I'm not even getting into ML and FL's communication issues or the antics of the second leads. So many negative points with this drama.

So why watch it? Because the remaining 40% is GOLD. Once things start moving between ML and FL, their dynamics, chemistry, their skinship, everything has got to be some of the best I've ever seen in a drama. A-MA-ZING. And it comes with some pretty epically funny scenes. I really liked the FL's character too. She's not manly and she's not necessarily the smartest, but she still comes off strong because of how frank and straightforward she is. So this is a case of the 40% being well worth the trouble of watching (or skipping) the remaining 60%.

THE ACTING
Pretty good! I first saw Dilraba in The Long Ballad and became a fan. She makes each of her characters different, but we still feel like it's her; she's a natural. I really liked ML too, of course, and ADORED their chemistry. Second leads were fine too, but the guy more than the girl - she sometimes felt too much. This isn't the kind of drama in which characters make you feel really emotional, though, and I feel like that's a minus.

THE MUSIC
It's okay, but nothing I feel like downloading and listening to by myself.

REWATCH VALUE
Not gonna lie, I'm 200% going to watch this again, and more than once...but with lots of skipping!

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Either your kind of drama or not

There was only one character I liked during the whole series: Song Lin.

Song Luo and Shen Di played a little part in the drama....I liked them, I hope they develop their friendship into something more in future.

It was 45 episodes long therefore there were a lot of side stories and a lot of issues that got extended some I felt repetitive. I had to skip parts I wasn't interested in. I don't think I missed a whole lot of the story even then. I wasn't too interested in that whole aspect of the show. All I was really interested in was the love story of Song Lin and Zhou Fang which started out with great chemistry but somewhere along the way I found Zhou Fang to be wishy washy.

Scenes where Song Lin (Johnny Huang) was in, I never found draggy though :-) His acting is just so natural regardless of what mood he was in. He was what made me finish the series.

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