Not What I Was Expecting
From the description, I expected this to focus mostly on the main couple with the obligatory 2nd couple. However, this drama actually has 1 main couple and 3 other side couples. This is really a story about a woman and her 3 best friends and their individual paths to finding love. It focused on their careers as well but I wouldn't say that career growth was a major storyline even though they are often at work and talking about work.Although I really enjoyed the first and last quarters of this drama, I was a bit let down by what I thought it would be and also what it could have been. Since it wasn't what I was expecting, a romance with 1 main couple, and instead had the 4 female friends, I was thinking it would focus a bit more on their friendships but this just didn't happen. The friendships felt forced and other than the 1 female who joins the company of the other 2, we don't know much about how they met or how long they've known each other.
Also, there is so much that feels unresolved about what happened in the past. Why did someone leave someone else? Who is the other person involved in a certain little scandal? I have questions and never got the answers.
Honestly, I think I would have dropped this if not for the ML (Lin Yu Shen) but I really love Yu Shen so I stuck with it. To be fair through, sticking it and watching the whole drama I really enjoyed the FL's (Elvira Cai) acting and would be happy to watch her in other dramas. Lin Yu Shen and Elvira Cai were pretty entertaining to watch but the rest unfortunately just fell flat.
Would not recommend
Would not re-watch
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Live Your Life explores themes of friendship, pursuing career goals, relationships with parents, finding love, and letting go of the past. I liked most of the main characters but I wasn't necessarily a fan of their storylines. The middle part of this drama really dragged and then towards the end, a lot happened at such a fast pace. Also, the series begins by introducing a car accident, and I had expected it to be addressed earlier in the drama—but at least it wasn’t used in a melodramatic way.
Cai Wen Jing (aka Elvira Cai) is pretty charming and only occasionally cringey as the spirited and determined Wu You, while Lin Yu Shen's He Xi Ya is more serious and unbending. Although I usually like bickering/dislike to mutual respect/friendship to love narratives, I never felt invested in these two as a couple. The balcony scene towards the beginning really made me laugh out loud but there aren’t many scenes later in the drama that stand out. I cringed when they spoke to each other affectionately. The most fun part of their storyline is when He Xiao Yu is introduced at episode 17—he’s such a bright and funny character, and I loved his interactions with both Wu You and He Xi Ya. I also liked He Xi Ya’s friend and colleague Liang Kuai but it’s too bad he’s only used for comic relief!
As for the rest of the friends, Lu Man's character was too over-the-top and Tu Bing sometimes got on my nerves. But at least she was a rich heiress who is actually interested in working hard and pursued her own goals. I *loved* her love interest Lin Qing, who is played by Zhou Ting Wei (I recognized him as Mu Ci from Ashes of Love!). These two actually have a similar bickering/dislike to mutual respect to love path, but their storyline was so cliched (and rushed) at the end.
I ended up skimming through the storylines of the other two main characters. I really liked Qian Jia Yi (played by Jane Cheng)—she’s the marketing director at the same company Wu You works at, and is smart and confident. (Love her hair, too!) Her storyline explores ideas about marriage and having children, and I really liked her perspective but I truly despised her love interest (and his cousin!!!). Jia Yi is resolute in her choices and lifestyle and has a strong personality, but I think over time she could've slowly changed a little as a trusting relationship formed. He claims to accept her as she is but has his own agenda (for example, "accidentally" bumping into his friend). Lastly, Su Fei live streams her own show and she was a very loyal friend but I just wasn’t interested in her storyline. I’m also not a fan of a certain character tricking her into moving into their house, but at least she calls them out on it!
Overall, this wasn’t the worst modern c-drama but it just wasn’t memorable.
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Better than expected
Surprised to see all the low rating reviews, so figured I'd post one too. It's a nice drama with entertaining main ML/FL, the side male charas are mostly very amusing and lots of random funny moments in the later half episodes as you get to know their friendship. Although not exactly realistic - it's a decent amount of realism for a typical drama, it's definitely entertaining if you don't take it too seriously.I normally don't like dramas that are too calm/boring, but despite this being more of a business drama there's enough comedy and other entertaining occurrences that make it very enjoyable to watch. Actors/actresses are attractive and visually pleasing for the most part too.
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Bickering couple vs an extremely selfish character who somehow makes it to the end
This is not one of those memorable dramas. So if you are not bored, i'd suggest you watch something else.*Things i liked about this drama: The first couple wu you and he xi ya, their bickering is top notch. There is a constant need to out wit each other while slowing falling in love with one another. The process is funny and interesting to watch. Next is Lu Man and. Li qing, their journey is admirable and how they grew into accepting their feelings for each other. Lu man is not just your silly hare brained heiress, she actually works and motivates herself to do better amidst her shortcomings.
As for su fei 's character my favorite part was the dive into her insecurities and the scum of her first love/crush. And lastly to jia yi who depicts clearly the struggle and emotions and battles of a single woman, powerful woman in the work place vs a married woman in the workplace. Her ideologies against the backdrop of singleness vs married and the inequality and bashing woman face in the workplace be it as a single woman or as a married woman.
* Things i disliked: he xi ya unnecessarily withholding the truth about lu man's sister which was resolved in a rushed manner towards the end of the series. Lu man very stupid tantrums on behalf of her amazing sister(pun intended), her unprofessional and frankly stupid approach to things that had to do with business. Business is business, a smart corporate woman should know that yet a character behaved like an annoying child and caused unnecessary havoc due to unhealthy idolization of her sister. And finally the extremely selfishness jia yi who's selfishness is one of a kind. She is amazing to her friends but to the man she married, she is intolerant, unnecessarily controlling,inconsiderate, and down right down extremely selfish but somehow at the end of the drama we are believe she found happiness with the man she married but divorced and her friends are constantly there to give a patting on the back for being the most annoying and selfish person ever.
In all other character were good and hilarious where they needed to be. It is just an okay drama, watch when bored only!!!!!
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slow paced drama with a rather annoying couple
The story is too slow, and the main couple is pretty annoying. Initially I found Wu You's character cool since she is someone who can is strong. Yet, she turns out to be rude, and insensitive. She bickers for the sake of bickering, even if she's at fault.On the other hand, I liked Xi Ya. There is a reason for his cold demeanour, and he is such a precious human being in general. He went through such hard times, but he is actually still nice to people in general.
I actually enjoyed Lu Man and Lin Qing's love story instead. He was sincere with her, despite feeling insecure and unconfident for the first part of their relationship. I could understand where these feelings came from.
As for Su Fei, I thought Xing Yi was cute as he fell for her and the way their relationship progressed was cute. Am glad his sincerity reached her.
The story which I disliked the most was Jia Yi's. Her husband was annoying, for not respecting her. She was also inconsiderate with him. Their ending was the best for them I guess.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this show and skipped several scenes to finish it. It is a show that I wouldn't rewatch nor recommend.
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