Very slow but finished because of Bai Lu
As usual there are many epic and eloquent reviews out there already. I'd like to just add a very quick take.Executive Summary: You should watch this only if you will be very into a literary, poetic story with a small stage feel.
The Good:
Bai Lu is awesome as usual. She is the reason I could finish this drama. She is beautiful and cute and her natural acting in an unnatural story is what made this worth the watch.
The cute/comedic moments were very well done and were a nice respite from the slow pace and bad vibes.
The Sub-Optimal
This story is the slowest, least intense drama I have managed to finish. Really too slow for me.
The secondary characters were not fleshed out well. A couple of the secondary female characters were very well done and acted (by Wang Yue Yi and Wang Rui Xin).
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Forever and Ever, a fitting title.
TLDR: watch this drama even if you haven't/couldn't watch one and onlyI've been putting off this drama for a long time because I thought I need to watch One and Only in order for me to enjoy this drama. I've never been so wrong! I am one of the people who really can't watch sad endings, and I have heard that OAO is one of them.
All of the OAO watchers probably would've appreciated this drama more than the people who haven't watched it.
and for those who don't (like me), we will probably regret a little bit that we haven't watched OAO.
Why do I say that? because the love I felt from this drama contains both one and only and forever and ever.
This drama managed to make me feel the love from a drama I haven't even watched.
The drama has some flaws but the love story across two lifetimes makes this drama worthwhile.
though I almost dropped because I felt so sad about Wang Ruixin's character, Zhou Wenxing... I wanted the best for her.
All in all, highly recommended especially if you're a fan of Bai Lu or wants to know more about Bai Lu!
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A Calm and composed story
Story was not at all connected with " one and only" . Though story started with this story line but no connection. Samelead characters with the same name ,only name connects the strangers.
A boy who was the professor and a girl who dubbed her voice . Two persons belong to different professions fall in love . It was love at first side from girl side . They met many times coincidently but the girl never told him about her feelings and the boy character was ambivert . He got little shy while speaking with girl though he also felt something for her . Eventually they said to eachother whatever they feel for each other .Girl side's family ready for their marriage but boy side's not . As his family though live in modern era but they followed old principles set by their ancestors ,had a very big family . Girl respected his family and had no problem with their principles . But something happened in his family because of that they got separated and in the end showed how they become one .
This was the glimpse of story .
Acting was good .
Story was little slow and the male lead's character was also slow as he was so calculative so he behaved accordingly .
Love story with little romance but still different
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Read the novel if you want a complete picture
I loved this show. I love Mo Bao Fei Bao's writing (both novels and scripts), and I think Allen Ren and Bai Lu made a perfect couple. They both fulfilled their characters perfectly, and the rest of the cast was well-chosen too. The cast as a whole came together beautifully. The sets were stunning, costumes lovely, perfectly suited to the story.That said... it wasn't perfect. There were gaps in the story that would not have made sense without the book. In the latter half, there were way too many scenes in bed (usually on an IV drip).
In comparison to the book... It filled several holes that weren't well-explained, such as Zhou Wen Chuan's story arc, which seemed kind of arbitrary in the book. Some of the scenes improved, such as the step from "not married" to "married"... where the drama gave her a say in the matter. I loved the way that grandma was woven into the drama; she became a very interesting character.
Lots of comments seem to be upset about the lack of kissing -- Allen Ren's contracts usually have "no kissing"... (and the one kissing scene isn't, if you watch closely) but I personally didn't find it lacking. They had enough chemistry without the kissing. I did find it annoying how they stopped the kissing scenes with stupid stuff... like people walking in, or suddenly she has something to say (that could have easily been said a moment earlier). None of that was necessary.
Overall
1. Watch "One and Only" first -- it's a really nice complete version of their past lives
2. Read the book (hui3r.wordpress.com)
3. Then (and only then) watch "Forever and Ever"
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How an actor who has signed a"no physical contact" clause manages a Romance drama..
There is just something that puts me off from watching dramas of actors/actresses who are married.This has been one of those,no matter how much i wanted to watch Bai Lu doing her things,but
Ren Allen being married doesnt help my delulu..so i kept passsing this one.When the dramaland well
dried up and there was nothing captivating to watch,I broke my own promise and pressed play.
I never saw the prequel One and only so i had no back story to fall on to but the FL's flashback memories
helped to understand that she was a "reincarnation" from the past and from what i red this prequel had a sad
ending that broke people's souls so it was good that the characters were given a second chance to live.
That aside,It is just a good drama,the creators did a good job to bridge both project without washing off the
historical setting.Its a modern drama with a histirical twist in terms of the storyline and the Set/architecture
The viewers who had wathed the prequel,could identiffy who is who from old to new.
Now here comes my pain,I and a thousand others.Ren Allen. a solid actor and to be honest I would watch him
again but not in drama with romantic tags.I though the "no physical contact" clause was a roumour but watching
him and the directors playing hide and seedk with anything that would bring him an inch closer to the FL,went from
anger to what in the name of all saints is this to now this is comedy.
It could have been ok if he was paired with a cold FL who has no personality but common,we are talking about Bai Lu
here,even her smile and facial grimace tell you that she is down to whatever..
Anyway I will going to go on and on,I have already recovered from this so lets just say that its ok to have these types
of boundaries on paper but it is also ok to send your manager a memo that says dont acccept romantic dramas.
Overall,It was a good drama my grievances are just from personal opinions.If you dont mind wathing a frustrated wife
with a clueless but smart nerd husband with green flag qualities,You will enjoy the SLOOOOOOWWWW BURN
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I'm a sucker for happy ending. This one has it..
I admit, I didnt watch the first installment. Read somewhere that it didnt end well. So, here I am tried this one instead. Pretty slow start to be honest, and a bit boring.Cast/Acting was ok, not much excitement at the beginning but it did improve as the story progresses. I feel like the ML had the quota of crazy with his family. He was a straight laced nice guy with a big traditional family. Amidst all the secrets, lies and betrayal, customs and tradition, in his own way, he loved them still.
FL reflects sweetness, innocence and a bit vulnerability, pretty and talented too. No wonder ML find her interesting enough to propose early on.
The family drama, crime mystery is a bit mediocre for me. It was lacking something. It feels like it was just put there just for the sake of conflict. Rewatch value is not that high.
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Easy watch when you want to feel good
Main leads both are fantastic. Allen Ren is trying different roles and his acting is very nature. He is not dashing but a cute type. Bai Lu is one of my favorite, she got good acting. She does not over do or under do and this role fits her the best. I liked the drama where there were no unnecessary misunderstanding or villainous monstrous enemies. I liked how main leads understood each other. It was not a sizzling chemistry but not too bad also. Every thing about this drama is what it should be. I haven't watched one and only becoz of the sad ending but you don't need to watch one and only to watch this. This story was able to carry itself. Also i liked that the FL had a good dressing style unlike other dramas. All and all when you are feeling down go watch it, its easy to watch and predictable.Was this review helpful to you?
Some comfort after watching One and Only
LIKEWhat ZhouSheng Chen did when he found out that Zhou Wen Chuan had been plotting
When Zhou Wen Xing confessed to Shi Yi what she did and there was an unspeakable secret in the ZhouSheng family
DISLIKE
ZhouSheng Chen's status which kept on putting Shi Yi in danger
MUSIC - personal fav
续写 Xu Xie - 单依纯 Shan Yi Chun
毛不易 Mao Bu Yi - 给你给我 Gei Ni Gei Wo
REWATCH VALUE
When I want to chill some day
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Warm and comforting
First of all, I know that my ratings are all 7's and 8's, which many might think is low, BUT if you look at my other reviews you'll notice I have never given anything a 10 because I feel like giving everything you like a perfect score makes it lose its meaning.Overall this is a great, heartwarming drama. I don't care much for the family politics and stuff about the ML's research lab, but I can't say that it's bad or poorly written, as it's actually just fine. I just didn't care about it as I mainly wanted to watch this to heal my heart after One and Only (as most people did). On its own, this is actually still a very cute drama; their awkward interactions are squeal-worthy because it just makes the romance feel so genuine and honest. It's like high school awkwardness but with adults, but not in an infantile way. They are both mature adults who understand the world but are new to romance, so it gives me the warm fuzzies. Great for older people like me who aren't really into high school romances but still love the innocence of first love romance.
Obviously there are characters that you dislike (Zhousheng Chen's mom), but there are also family members you adore like the grandma and Zhousheng Ren. The kind supporting characters also heal your heart.
As a sequel to One and Only, the connections are very subtle, especially if you are not fluent in Chinese (as I am not). I actually had to read Cyn Lynn's blog for episode recaps as she draws more attention to the connections: https://cyn-lynn.blogspot.com/2021/09/forever-and-ever-recap-and-review.html
That being said, the connections do make everything all the more sweet, so it's still very nice.
Overall the drama does have some angst, but not within the main couple's dynamic itself, which is the most important. Their previous lifetime was so sad, they let nothing stop their love now that they finally can be together in this lifetime.
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This review may contain spoilers
Most Satisfying Drama Ever, LOVE IT
this is a 2nd season or can say the story of Reincarnation of "One and Only" even tho i didn't watch "One and Only" but im still understand the love between Zhou Sheng Chen and Shi Yi at the past.This drama i love it so much, not like most of the drama this drama relationship between Lead Couple is the best no disagreement problem ,no any exes problem , no misunderstanding at all, overall this Lead Couple only let you feel their love ,Zhou Sheng Chen have shy and responsible personality and Shi Yi have straightforward and bubbly always willing to teach him about love.
But this drama also have a antagonist plot not all perfect happy story, which is ML family problem , his family have complicated problem but tbh im not to interesting even this its still won't effect ML and FL relationship and to be surprised that is their good relationship really last to final episode i never watch any drama like this beside Love O2O drama but of course their relationship almost "ruin" but not that bad to say ruin XD because of a slightly accident at close to final episode.
Overall i just love how ZSC and SY interaction ,i as viewer keep getting butterfly feeling because their love interaction.
Finally is not to important , which is what most people say that you must watch " One and Only" first to understand this "Forever and Ever" drama but my opinion is you don't need to watch the "One and Only" to understand "Forever and Ever" cause i didn't watch "One and Only" and i jump straight to "Forever and Ever" still understand maybe because i already know spoiler Sad ending so i don't wanna watch it , but it doesn't effect at all to "Forever and Ever" , BUT if you wanna watch the 1st one then watch the 2nd one i welcome you to watch it.
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Even the second time it was wonderful
This was definitely a slow burner but maybe that contributed to the developing love being so believable. I only know I still did not fast forward any part on the second viewing of this drama. For me, the plot managed a great balance between, romance, family drama and 'business". The script also added to the sincerity of the story.However, the best part was the performances of , not only the leads, but the whole ensemble. I particularly became a mad fan of Ci Sha. I could rave about the music as well...I know this is not a good review as such. My only excuse is that I watch a lot of Asian drama, and have a list of favourites from a number of countries including China and this one is definitely in the top five .
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This review may contain spoilers
Slow burn romance + old money family cdrama
Initially I started watching One and Only because according to synopsis, this modern series is tied to the historical drama series. I am not a fan of historical drama and honestly strugged with One and Only after 6 episodes in. I immediately switched to Forever and Ever.What I like
1) Romance - I like the pairing of Ren Jia Lun & Bai Lu. Even though there are not many kissing and intimate scenes, two scenes (they got wet due to rain, and bathtub) are quite exquisite.
2) Male lead characterisation - I like that Zhousheng Chen is intelligent, quiet and inexperienced in love. Those qualities made him endearing. Ren Jialun played his role very well - just look at his facial expressions. Ren Jia Lun with bangs & wavy hair reminds of zb1's Matthew.
3) Female lead characterisation - I like that Shi Yi is smart, capable & have high EQ. She knows the type of men she likes and goes after him. Bai Lu also played her role very well.
4) Supporting chracters - Uncle Lin, what would have Chen done without you? Ren, Chen's cousin - it's cute that he looks up to Chen so much. I also like Chen's grandma.
6) Snippets from One and Only - Right amount at right time. Despite sharing the same names, I feel the historical couple are different people from the modern couple.
What I dislike
1) Chen's mum - haughty and snob. She never gave Shi Yi a chance. That's why karma bites her really bad.
2) Zhou Wenchuan - I feel that his character is underdeveloped despite being assigned a baddie. I don't understand why his romance with the tailor was given screentime. I fast-forwarded their romance because I don't think it adds value to the story.
3) Shi Yi's parents when she was in coma - I know they were angry at the circumstance but they shouldn't prohibit Chen from caring for his legally wed wife.
Favourite scene
Bathtub scene. Ren Jialun gave a raw performance of being very deep in pain and almost catatonic.
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