Love Designer (2020)

I see many people here and there complain about the amount of product placements all over the entire drama. I don’t care much about that as I know it’s show business, they need those sponsors. What’s more important to complain about is, with that amount of sponsors they have, why weren’t they able to spend on Zhao Fang’s designs/creations? It is entitled, Love “Designer”, isn’t it? They could have at least hired a talented designer to do “Zhao Fang’s work”. As it is, her creations looked so cheap and tacky, if you ever get to see them. No one in their right minds would believe she has the talent as a designer. They always talk about her as being talented in her field, but from what they show (or don’t show), I see no talent anywhere. She’s always working in her work station but you wouldn’t even see any of that “talented work” showcased anywhere. I couldn’t even call her stylish.

For me, Zhou Fang comes off as a pushover, stubborn, fickle and foolish. When she’s talking to someone, she always pauses as if deep in thought, so you expect a witty clap back, but no, there’s nothing there. If well meaninged people around her did not interfere numerous times, she would have found herself in deep shit. Throughout the drama, her impulsive/thoughtless actions often encumbers people around her. Song Lin and Qin Qing are right when they say she is of low intelligence. There's a fine line between being too nice and being foolish. She won’t listen to reason, always does what she wants but then rely on them to defend her.

I first found the second lead couple entertaining, but after a few episodes, the girl became obnoxious and full of herself when it came to her relationship with Yu LIn that I had to skip all their scenes altogether. Like, she made push and pull a habit, I wish all men distance from her forever. I hate women like that, real and reel life. She was cool when it comes to her relationship with Zhou Fang, being her voice of reason, but other than that, she was bratty, unreasonable and just annoying. In fact, I skipped a lot of scenes, scenes with Luna, Fang’s mom (man, she’s over the top), the business side of things, President Su, and all the side characters that were just there for conflict purposes. The only ones worth watching for me are the main leads’ (except when Zhao Fang was being dumb), Song Lin and Xiao Luo’s, Xiao Luo and Xiao Di’s scenes. Knowing that the drama has 45 episodes, I figured, I wouldn’t miss anything story-wise even if I skip that much. But come episode 27, even with that much that I skipped, I suddenly felt that I’ve watched quite enough but have only come halfway. I was tired of the conflict after conflict but story really not getting anywhere. So I dropped it in the middle of episode 27, and I must say, I didn’t even miss it. I’ve decided to watch the drama because I liked Johnny Huang’s face and have been meaning to watch him again since I saw him in Moonshine and Valentine. Having Dilraba in it was a plus because, who wouldn’t wanna watch such a pretty face in a drama? I can’t deny the fact, too, that I think they looked good together.

I’ve yet to watch a Dilraba drama where she isn’t playing this dumb/gullible/martyr girl though. I admire actresses who aren’t afraid to play the smart, strong, independent woman who kicks ass, and not just rely on viewers sympathy for their pathetic characters/roles they think they always have to play.

Of all the characters, I liked Song Lin the most. He’s smart and shrewd. Except for the way he handled the Luna thing at beginning, I liked his attitude. I liked his humour. His banters with his sister and his unexpected retorts to her. Next is Xiao Di, just because he was meek and kind, but we only get to see hin a short time maybe because so the main couple can have their privacy at home. Then Xiao Luo because she was spunky, well except at the start when she was being rebellious at the start of the drama.

Oh, and lastly, it irked me to no end that they found it necessary to make all the characters use the same phone with the same annoying af ringtone!!

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What has business got to do with it?

Let's talk about the positive side of drama. The male lead is excellent! As usual, he delivers the best and his adaptability to the mood of character is amazing, From slightly cocky, to a touch of humour and cold when they all need to be without overacting or reacting. As for Dilraba, this is the first series I have seen her in a modern drama, and I think she is very suited to play a modern sassy lass than an ancient period drama. Her acting is very convincing. This is a light romantic drama and both are great. The chemistry between them is great. . The costume styling in this drama is the best by far I have seen in any of the modern Chinese dramas and even better than the Koreans, well done!!

NOW the bad bit. The business side of the story, but that one is unbelievably bad! The way the story is told and unfold in drama, which half of the drama talks about is completely illogical and unbelievably bad. I shan't go into it as it will be a long list of gapping non-sensical scenarios. You need to tell yourself that this is just a load of bullshit drama, not meant to make any sense. The logic behind the romance does not make sense at all, there is a huge trust issue there. The writer obviously creating a drama based on nothing. To be honest, if Song Lin is really the maverick that he was in the beginning, he would have won the invasion of the wolf, and not even been involved with Zhao Feng in anyway. Basically the storylines on both, romance and business suck big time.

Then the second couple, the boy knows exactly what's the boss is like, and made no effort to clear the misunderstanding? And the meddling Qin Qing? A friend I can do without.... heart in the right places but lack of understanding and logic.

Who wrote the script? She or he should never write again!

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CHEMISTRY ON FIRE

Okay, Basically I knew only Dilireba, Hit me ya, because I had no clue about Johny Huang, Okay! Stop it, Now I know, I was so eager to watch this drama because after 8 months, Dilireba came with this drama and I was curious to know what will she do in here. And Boy! I was not disappointed.

The Chemistry, Guys, The chemistry is on fire and jumping all over burning everything, The chemistry Zhou Fang and Song Lin share are beyond acting, It is Love, It is Pleasure and it is in real Chemistry.
They do full justice to their character, No shy kisses and For the second time after The King's woman, Dilireba rocked the Kissing scenes. Idk, Is it because she is comfy with her Costar but They rocked kissing scenes.

The second couple was also good, More than their romance I loved the banter and BFF between them. The romance seemed forced and they looked very odd as a couple. The guy looked way younger.

Rest of the cast was also good, Every cast from Mother to Father, From Nephew to Sister, From Staff to Staff like everyone justified and played their part well. I admired the way the makers balanced the work and love equally. The storyline is not new but it was creative, and you can sail without any pause or skip.
The most awesome part other than romance is Styles, Loved the way they dressed up. Makeup, styles, accessories were point on.

I have no complaint and Yes I will be watching this drama again.
Every romantic scene is etched in my memory and I will replay it again.
The only drawback was that Second couple got too much Screen time.

But overall, Awesome drama, No wonder it's ruling the chart with its highest ratings.
Best OST, Best Casts and awesome drama.

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Don’t watch this. This show is the most boring and dragging

I bet you all know how Chinese drama starts dragging w/ unnecessary plots. This drama takes it to another level. So my cousin forced me to watch this show. It was a pain in the ass to watch. So the female main lead is a fashion designer who’s ambitious about her work but they don’t really show how she works or what she does. And her acting kinda has some flaws, I’d have ignored that fact if the drama itself was interesting but it really kills the mood to watch anything . And the male lead’s sister does cultural appropriation all throughout the drama. Bruh it’s exhausting to watch it. And I didn’t complain about the female leads bright red lipstick is on all the time even right after taking a shower. If you wanna mess your mood and be infuriated, this show is best for you

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11/10 Johnny + Dilraba Chemistry

This drama reminded me of a mix between all the powerful girl boss moments of Dilraba's drama Sweet Dreams and Nice to Meet You. To be completely honest, this drama was a very stereotypical 45 episode Cdrama in terms of the plot, BUT it had a lot of western television drama vibes with its characters. Such as, I have NEVER seen a C drama nor K drama where the characters were super touchy and hanging all over one another. I thought touching was against the law in these dramas! It was really refreshing to watch a drama that had the elements of a cdrama, as well as the romance we see in westernized tv. This drama reminded me of Nice to Meet You simply because the two main female leads were designers, Zhou Fang in clothing design, and QQ in jewelry design, where their dreams are to open up a customization section. Plus, there were hella people behind the scenes trying to ruin Fang's career, such as the other drama, simply because of her relation to Song Lin. It reminded me of Sweet Dreams simply because I felt like Dilraba's character in this drama was all the good elements as well as her boss lady kickass vibes that weren't explored enough in Sweet Dreams.

I am not going to lie, I am a little biased, as I am a huge fan of Dilraba, and love her dramas, even though, most of them aren't that very good. So I was happy to give this one a higher score as this one is def my favorite of hers. But her chemistry with Johnny is what made me want to give this drama a 9. I would give their chemistry an 11/10 honestly because it seemed like they were a real-life couple.

But I ultimately gave this a 9/10 because it was just too long and I wasn't into the side characters. This 45 episode drama seemed to drag on towards the end. Yes, the ending was super cute and I teared up a little, but there was way too much filler even though, this drama was supposed to be about two people being dragged through the mud, but come out on top. And it goes hand in hand with my feelings about the side characters. I feel like QQ and Yu Lin were main characters in this drama, and if you cut out their bull crap, the drama would be shortened in half. Don't get me wrong, I loved QQ as a friend, and Yu Lin was an adorable person and friend, but as a couple...yuck. QQ was super back and forth all the time, which annoyed me for being such a strong character in every other way. Then we have Yu Lin, who was a cute puppy dog the whole drama, until the end when he would rather lie and put QQ in a weird position, rather than stand up for his relationship with her. It was annoying, BUT I did appreciate that the writer didn't force any relationship because it was a drama and everyone should be happy.

Overall, I am happy I watched this drama, and I will 100% rewatch episodes here and there. I rewinded so much watching this drama the first time, just to see the hot and heavy Dilraba and Johnny moments. Another point, SO MANY insinuated sex scenes and I AM HERE FOR IT!

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despite the story being pretty cliche and really has not much special qualities in it, i really enjoyed watching love designer. this is one of the chinese dramas that i did not struggle to finish, even if there are still some annoying scenes. i think it was all because of the chemistry between the leads (zhou fang & song lin). i was so eager to see both of them in one frame. the romance of the leads gave this drama more watch-worthy. i especially like how the leads' romance progressed. it was so smooth and nothing seemed forced. actually, it felt so real that i forgot that both of them were only acting. i also loved that there weren't overly cheesy scenes that you see in every idol chinese dramas. and most of all, i love how the character of song lin was made. he was such a boyfriend material!!! i fell in love with johnny huang/huang jingyi that i proceeded to watch his other shows such as moonshine and valentine, and let go of my baby while waiting for love designer's episodes. i also like zhou fang's independence. she was never irritating in my eyes.

HOWEVER, there are also a lot of things in this drama that are irritating, but bearable. for example, the ringtones, product placements, and wu san's mother !!!! ( qin qing & wu san's story was also too much on the last episodes, i just coped up with their scenes. i feel like they had more screen time than the main couple. i guess that was because zhou fang and song lin's has solved all of their problems by that time, while qin qing and wu san's are yet to be solved. i wished the writers/director just made wu san's mother a little more likeable because that means their story will be cut shorter. but i still kinda like wu san after all. he was so cute and he kinda looks like choi minho. but for qin qing, probably the only thing that i liked about her is how she was as zhou fang's best friend )

also, some things that i enjoyed in love designer:

1. shen di & song luo — the friendship between these two was so pure. they spiced up the episodes they were in. i also enjoyed each of the time song luo was on the scene, especially the ones where she was teasing her brother. when they both went abroad, i missed their presence a lot.
2. all the swoon-worthy scenes between the leads — includes both their kissing scenes and just scenes where they talk
3. slow burn romance — as i mentioned earlier, i love how their romance progressed. i think it was all due to the fact that the leads took a slow route and just enjoyed the slow pace, making the romance less forced. ( it was written on the tags that this was a slow burn but i dont think it was because i enjoyed it so much lmao )
4. both the leads were straightforward — and they would not spend so much episodes to hide secrets or their feelings. ( i specifically love how song lin just casually confessed to zhou fang )
5. the cliche things the leads do but in their own style — for example, the wedding. man, i really dont like watching wedding scenes, but love designer has a bit of originality in it.

so, was love designer worth it?
— a big fat YES. all for the chemistry of the leads and how their romance progressed.

should i watch love designer?
— if you want the same old cliche drama with CEO male lead and employee female lead, but you dont want those overly cheesy cliche scenes accompanied by weird ass sound effects, and you dont want immature scenes then you should give this drama a try. i suggest watching it up to around ep 15, but take note that there are a lot more swoon-worthy scenes to come, so if you really wanna give it up, give up at around ep 33 and up.

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Modern, intriguing premise ruined . . .

The show is frankly a mess, and I'm confused as to why the two main stars signed on to this. I would absolutely like a modern, big city romantic storyline with two mature adults in the second phases of their career . . . this however is a disappointment

The only thing that kept me watching is the two main leads have a good amount of naturalistic chemistry. All the other plot points, however, from its portrayals of the fashion industry and corporate politics, to abusive partners, to difficult parents and family dynamics is terribly done. There's no point to any of it and for a show about fashion not much emphasis is put on the actual industry itself, nor do we get to see many finished designs from the main characters. As others have said, the product placement and cellphone ringtone was out of control.

I may finish this at some point just to see how it ends so haven't put it as 'dropped'

A little bit of a higher score for the music as I liked the end credits song. I will not be rewatching. I grade on other criteria as well.. .

Complex Themes - 3
Barely any. You need to work hard to have a successful career? Talking about your feelings is helpful?
Character Growth - 3
The little sister I guess matures and becomes well rounded. Everyone else is basically the same
Complex Women characters/relationships - 6
Higher points as I liked the female friendship between the two female leads and the friendship was not 100% centered around the men of the show. There was also a decent amount of female investors and mentors.
Production - 6
It's shot competently with attempts to not overly rely on artificial sets. But, if you were hoping for a big splash out budget of lavishly beautiful cinematography and clothing be prepared to be very disappointed. Frankly some lower budget shows with a fashion focus do a better job than this one.

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45 episodes of greatness

I am not one to watch lengthy dramas but I am glad that I started this one. The cast as a whole had great interaction, I loved them.

Johnny and Dilireba together OMG SO MUCH CHEMISTRY! legit the reason I came back to each episode. The family dynamic and the real-life problems that they depicted, especially within a relationship it is 1000% relatable.

The story-line also was easy to follow and not once did I get lost. I only put the rewatch value so low because honestly, who has time to rewatch 45 episodes lol.

I say watch, watch, and watch! It is really worth it! <3

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Whether I am brainless or the direction team?

I don’t know why Dalbara agreed to do this trashy drama because there is nothing in this drama. Forcibly I finally finished this title. Most frustrating thing in Chinese dramas is From drama to drama there is no change in the male characters,
1. male characters are fully dedicated to their love and relationship for only one person but female characters can love any number of male characters.
2. Male characters acts like without her they can’t survive but female characters can change their feelings at any time to anyone.
3. Only in Chinese dramas we can see this kind of shameless, brainless, annoying and shi**y ML and FL characters, without thinking he sacrificed everything for FL but when ML asked her to leave his rival’s company and to join his company because he needed her but she lectured him about morals and ethics, previously when he acted in the same rational way she was heartbroken because he didn’t consider her as his first preference.
4. Most annoying part is Qing Qing, from time to time she acts like a different person. When ML decided to protect his company not the FL she told to FL that he doesn’t love you, in the next episodes when he sacrificed his company for FL she told that that’s his problem for loving the ML that much and she dumped her lover because he is not settled but she always give lecture about love and relationship to others.
5. I don’t know why Chinese are interested in making shameless male characters, irrespective of who’s mistake it is female characters always suggest to break up but shameless always male characters beg for forgiveness and beg to get back together.
6. Always FL are annoying and shameless, to protect FL ML got bankrupt and lost his company but FL start to work for his(also her) rivals company because she wants to protect her dreams which results in again severe loss to ML but talks about morals and ethics even tough he was responsible for her and ML bankrupt.
7. Zero professional exposure, simply every one keeps on telling that FL is most talented and good designer but nowhere her talent is shown, simply she was expanding her shop but not a single excellent design shown.
In over all I can say nothing is clear and relevant to previous episodes which means there is no effort in making a good story or script. I can’t say this is because of financial problems but only because of inability to do a good job.

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If I had to write the synopsis for this show I would write this:
This story is about two girlfriends who are strong independent women, balancing their parents’ cultural norms with their own need to live life on their own terms; pursuing their own dreams. It is about how they find love customized to them and supporting each other along the way.

We see familiar themes as each “sister” finds her own unique (“Customized Love”) love story:
-Compromise between traditional parental values and modern notions for marriage
-Female empowerment for career and dreams within the context of relationships and marriage
These are not new themes but worth retelling - and the acting and chemistry in this drama makes it worthwhile to sit through and embrace the message again.

I found myself enjoying the relationship between the leads in this show because the characters are written to have mutual respect. Both main couples are honest and open with their feelings and mature in their handling of falling in love. When they become a bit childish there is a best friend to pull them back from the edge.

If all you want is the romance, the tantalizing interactions between the main couple should satisfy this need in spades! I found myself thinking many times, “I wonder if they captured that movement while they were taking a break from filming and decided to use it?”. Their interactions were very organic and natural. I felt the same with the friendship between the female leads. They have great chemistry as well – I wanted a best friend like this.
This was the best part of the show for me. Because I enjoyed the romance and feeling you get from this type of on-screen chemistry, I was able to finish the drama.

However, it was not without the liberal use of the fast forwarding button - the show definitely could have been done in less episodes. I also found there were characters showing up conveniently to move the story (as with all dramas) but in this case it is awkwardly done (abandoned storylines) and this distracts from the quality of the show.
There were also a few points where the script failed the actors (this tells how well they did their job because they were able to shine regardless).

…but the pretty fashion, gorgeous sets and SIZZLING CHEMISTRY makes it worth sticking through to the end.

Side note: There are messages in the drama that resonated with me:
First half: The fashion industry fighting to protect original design in a world market that is overrun with knock-offs due to mass consumption.
Second half: Security of our online data has become an important aspect of business and has the potential to destroy firms.
Throughout: Run your life/business with integrity and be willing to compromise and forgive in love/life.

Finally: did I mention the chemistry, easy banter and skinship of the two main leads? :)

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So amazing worth a watch

I love the storyline. It’s very interesting their are parts that make you frustrated but the acting is so amazing. Theirs a lot of natural skinship and kisses. For the majority of the show the two leads are actually dating so theirs so many cute moments. Some characters like Luna and her mom annoy me but their not a big deal. There’s a happy ending and it’s just such an amazing show and the two leads have so much chemistry. I also wanna add the ML relationship with his sister was so adorable and watching his sisters character development was amazing even the sisters relationship with the FL was so cute.

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