Lighter & Princess (2022)

World is a battle field , few just haven't given up yet.

If you're here to connect with few characters deeply to their present, past and future, this drama is for you. If you are one of those who doesn't want to hope because of broken friendships or relationships, This drama is just right for you.
You live through the rash youth, the one where you have hope, You will live through the adulthood where you have to push yourself to hope and maybe , maybe if you have atleast one person in your life who would stand for you when the world stands tall against you, this is where it is. Overall watch this to see dreams , to just love even when you have nothing and when you are just surviving, it is alright , This is your fight.
Loved few characters , hated few but overall lived through it all.

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really good drama, eng subs don't do it justice :(

Prior to this drama's release, I had heard about the cast and filming of it. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the drama, the cast's chemistry, the storyline, and the soundtrack. The writers did an amazing job adapting the novel to the screen, maintaining many key moments from the novel and the two main characters' relationship, while making minor changes to plot and character backgrounds for better story flow and progression. The drama covers the story of romantic, familial, and friend relationships.

I think the story portrays a very realistic relationship between the two main characters. The male lead, Li Xun, and the female lead, Zhu Yun come from very different family backgrounds and experiences, Li Xun a more tragic and Zhu Yun from a loving, well-off family. The story starts as more of a friends-to-lovers trope, but it's very clear how quickly they fall for each other. Zhu Yun, having always been an obedient daughter sees a side that she desires to be in Li Xun, and by being with him, she can rebel and be her "true self." The leads are not actually together for much of the drama, however, the team did a great job illustrating the push-pull of feelings prior to the actual relationship.Both characters have flaws--Li Xun is too closed off, a bit arrogant, and impulsive, but both love each other immensely, shown through LX pushing away ZY to protect her, and ZY still trusting him all throughout. Aside from the obstacles in their relationship, The college segment of the drama was so charming; all characters were lovable and the interactions and work they did remind me much of my own college experiences.

The distinction between the college romance and workplace romance is something I really enjoyed; there was a very obvious character development and while things seem different, they still are the same. LX and ZY still love and trust each other, continuing off from before, LX is still pushing away ZY to protect her, but ZY comes back stronger and determined to help him win his life and dreams back. I really love ZY's character in the way that she is strong and does everything in her power to protect LX because she loves him. I also think that the other coworkers at Feiyang are so funny a highlight of these emotional first few episodes of part 2.

Both lead actors portrayed the characters so well, I truly believe that they were meant to play them. Through behind the scenes clips, you can tell how hard they worked on bringing Li Xun and Zhu Yun to life. Chen Feiyu and Zhang Jingyi had amazing chemistry--there were so many moments in the episodes where they improvised and their interactions felt so natural.

I watched this drama completely in Chinese and had read the novel prior, and the Youtube English subtitles don't do the lines justice, often translated too simply or cliche/cheesy. Many of the lines hold deeper references to the novel and directly relates the personality and character progression, which is lost in these translations. Lighter & Princess is so much more than your standard idol drama; there's a long time span, imperfections in characters and relationships, and growth. While I feel like the ending few episodes of Lighter & Princess were a bit rushed, I'm still amazed by the closing scene, quoted exactly from the novel, with the carousel turning back time through their relationship, the coded heart stops beating, Li Xun's breathing, up to where they first met in college--this time from Li Xun's perspective. Though it's a happy ending, I can't help but feel a little sad every time I see that last clip. I will definitely be rewatching.

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He is a true king and she is his princess knight

There was not a single moment in this drama where characters were OOC.
Amazing chemistry between leads and the heartwarming story line was something I can never forget. They were so true to themselves and their love.
From the start to the end of drama it was not a let down. Not a moment felt draggy and pointless.
LX and ZY were amazingly played by chen fei yu and zhang jing yi. You could see the emotions in their eyes. Their love and guilt and regret.... it was so heartwreching and beautiful to watch these two together.
The story line was meaningful and had a lot of lessons in it.
Almost all the characters had depth in their personality. There was no complete black and white -except for FZJ that was a true trash- and I cried when I finished the drama just because it was truly beautiful.
I'm glad the drama ended on a high note and didn't disappoint at the final episode.
The song tracks were so so beautiful that I couldn't resist playing them over and over.

I will rewatch it again because I can't get enough of this truly wonderful couple!

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The drama itself I found to be decent and enjoyable at times. Plotwise, it is pretty standard. It's got your classic college to working life story arc. The only difference is that the ML disappears for a couple of years due to some incident and then the story starts back up again after he returns. However, what happens to the ML is a pretty common trope in melodrama plots, so this is not anything new. Speaking of the ML, he is a cocky asshole just because he's a genius programmer. There was no reason for him to be so stubborn and rude. He's unlikable except for that pretty face of his. The writers try to justify his attitude by giving him a "tragic" backstory. I still don't think his past justifies his behavior. Part of his story arc is learning how to make friends. I think they did a good job with this. He still, however, has that cocky attitude until the end of the drama.

The way the writers set up the story in the second half makes it seem like it's going to be a revenge story after the male lead returns. They also set it up to be a business drama about a start up company. The start up related stuff is fun to watch. The revenge story fell flat for me. There was all this buildup making it seem like they were going to get the perfect revenge. What actually happened to the bad guys was not worthy of all that buildup. I really wanted to see one of the antagonists go down in flames. Yet all I got was 5 seconds of him going down for his own unrelated wrongdoing.

Now for the romance, this couple was cute at times (there were a lot of tickle attacks). However, someone mentioned their relationship was toxic and I have to say I kind of agree. In the beginning, a lot of it involved ML leaning in, invading her personal space, trying to make her blush, and ordering her to do things. He would get away with being bossy and rude because of his pretty face and the fact that he is a "genius" programmer. FL's obsession with ML was a bit alarming. They manage to slip in a shirtless scene toward the end for the thirsty folks...so I guess that's a plus. Like I said, they were cute together, but there were a lot of red flags that should not be ignored either.

One thing I liked was FL's growth story. She becomes a better programmer and gains more confidence in herself. I wish she gained the ability to stand up to her parents. I think she actually did toward the end, but I don't think it actually resolved anything.

Overall, I think it's a decent watch. It's not amazing or mind-blowing as some people are making it out to be. The romance is okay (though it has some red flags). The songs are pretty awesome. I think if you lower your expectations, there's a good chance you will enjoy it.

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good drama, terrible message

Let's be clear. I watched the drama and liked it, but I'm pretty freaked out by the amount of people giving it 10.
As a drama watcher I could give it a high score, but not as a woman.

The moral to take away from this as a woman is that we better meet a brilliant man and be his shadow. No matter how brilliant you are, be content to sacrifice yourself for him and everything will be fine.

There is a particular moment, where they are given an award for a project where the FL has been the leader, but he is the one who gives the speech and gets the credit. Because what's going to make you happier than seeing your man succeed!

The same goes for Xu Li Na. The egg scene is extremely disturbing. Her husband is clearly an abuser, but she still stays with him, because it's our responsibility as women to make men better through our love.

No, thanks. I've had enough of this. The better the drama is, the more it pisses me off that it has such a toxic message.

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best youth drama..i love it!!

i was never a fan of chines dramas until i watched L&P. once you watch its first ep you become crazy to know what caused all of them to this stage and then you go for it! it has amazing storylines ,some dialogues are worthy to be written down on your dairy . FL and ML made the drama fantastic . i just cant help myself not to be obsessed with it .truly love love love it!!! briefly it is an excellent combo of romance, comedy, seriousness and the things which we youth are facing these days . it deals with reality that you just cant say it does not Happen in real life , i suggest you must watch it .I BET YOU WONT REGRET IT :)

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Best drama of 2022!

First of all I’m not one to cry at all during a drama but for the first time in my life I’ve actually cried for a damn couple they really do have an extraordinary acting skills for the characters I want to say i’ve seen zhang jingyi in fall in love and i have to say she’s a real talent and for the case of chen feiyu this is my first time ever seeing him in a drama and i gotta say he’s a really versatile actor I really am lucky to have ever watched that drama the details the storyline and from the support character is extremely incredible I really do recommend this extremely well played out drama

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Be ready to stuck by lightening

Where to start… its amazing story. From start to end a journey full of emotions, love and compatibility. The chemistry was on fire n I am not exaggerating if i say that they didn’t even need to kiss to create fire ?. Don’t worry you will get plenty of ?. My favourite character was Li Xi although he seemed to be a stubborn guy (exactly opposite to a gentleman, sometimes acted like a jerk yes an extremely proud guy .. or Atleast he pretended to be) but deep down he was a softy. He took his time to understand his surroundings and value friendships but he tried after many events (considering his background we can digest it). All in all I congratulate Arther Chen for being my new offical crush (damn cute). The FL was good. The thing i like most about her that she was not hesitant to express herself. She didn’t care about the so called ‘I am girl’ image n confessed her feelings from time to time . She trusted him in every stage. She was not blinded by jealousy even he purposely tried to mislead her yet she knew him so well and trusted him till the very end!
Other characters played their parts well. Guo showed most versatility in his character. He made me like him, hate him and felt sorry for him. I wished he could stop himself but … it was too late when he realised! The friendship was stained…!! ( Still happy that he ended up with Xu Luna at the end (an ending different from novel)). Ran Di was cool… Fung Xiamo was also unique in her own way( I wished she could ended up with that guy from uni days (who had a crush on her) but the director didn’t put attention on her storyline as she was already additionally acted from novel). I like the changes they made in drama version but i also liked the novel (except the last part where the writer dragged it). All in all it was one of the best dramas with a good rewatch value.

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Created a MDL account just for this drama

I’ve been watching c-dramas my entire life, and my taste and standards for them have grown exponentially over the years. I had a phase where I strictly only watched k-dramas because c-drama actors and plot are usually slightly lacking and cringey. But as I began to gravitate back to c-dramas, I spend hours browsing new releases just to pick out the few that are worth watching and actually memorable.

I’ve been using MyDramaList for years now, and I contemplated writing reviews for all the top dramas I’ve seen but I always felt too lazy to make an account. Before watching this drama, my top c-drama was without a doubt “Where The Lost Ones Go”. I’ve rewatched it about three times now and the chokehold it had on me still didn’t push me to create an account and write a review, but this drama did. The plot and timeline is very similar for both dramas, so I’d highly recommend you give that drama a watch if you liked this one. Definitely less lighthearted, but the unconditional love really goes a long way.

I think partly why I love this drama so much is because I relate to ZhuYun when it comes to love and relationships. She acts in a way that I would or would hope to, having both pride yet also ambition, and her love for LiXun is unquestionable. The chemistry of the two young actors on and off screen is probably what ultimately pushes this drama to #1 in my c-drama list.

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70% relationship, 30% revenge, 100% great.

I absolutely adored this drama. I’m a sucker for a badboy/girl drama, and this one ticks every box and more. Yes it does have some faults, and I will discuss them, but don’t expect me to mark it down because of them. I’m just going to be blatantly biased…

At heart, this is a story about relationships that are entangled with a competition/revenge plot. But it’s 70% relationship and 30% revenge. And it examines not only the relationship of the central couple, but beautifully realises a whole raft of other connections and gives all of them depth and time to progress and change. So, if you are someone who moans about pacing being slow, forget it and move on elsewhere. The pace slows down to accommodate the depth and it’s an intelligent and perceptive depth at that.

The drama sets up and defines the attitudes that can deliver success in the cutthroat world of IT, where survival demands not only ruthlessness but also the ability to engage with, or accept that immorality is a necessary component. It requires you to be willing to employ the tactics that will destroy any competition particularly if it is superior to your own offering. That this is a reflection of the real world is backed up by the history of IT. In the 1980s-90s Bill Gates foisted onto the world a mediocre operating system (Windows) with a substandard suite of office software (MS Office). He did not create his original operating system (MS-DOS) on which Windows was built, but reputedly purchased it for $75,000. Other operating systems and office software with superior performance were thrown to the wall in the marketing hype. This is the world of the story, and it examines how characters are crushed, survive or thrive in this environment and the personality traits and abilities which inevitably seal their fate.

One of the really attractive aspects of this drama is that there are no clear lines that mark good and bad, right and wrong. All the characters have flaws and reasons for them, and virtues that define their core. So this is not a simplistic revenge plot where a notional good triumphs over a notional evil. It is an unfolding of the damage that revenge and competition wreak on individuals and an examination of what they are willing to sacrifice and learn in order to survive. As a consequence it has a high believability rating. There are some moments in which credibility was lost for me, but overall it mesmerised me and carried me through those times with ease. This is not a drama for those looking for wish fulfilment, it’s full of flawed people and the flawed relationships that they have. But they are viewed through a compassionate lens.

Structurally, the story falls into three distinct phases. Each phase has its own vibe and focus and this helps to a large extent to refresh the drama and keep the viewer interested across the 36, 35 minute episodes. The drama opens in the present (2019), then flashes back to 2012 and works through sequentially. I’m not sure why the director chose this cut and it does, to some extent, take away the element of surprise later on. One possible explanation is that they wanted to establish this as a serious drama from the off, and not just a University romance. And I must admit, that the start hooked me right in there and I was not as entranced by the next few instalments. But stay with it, it is necessary to watch the whole development of the characters from start to finish to really appreciate the story.

This was a dramatisation of two novels. I’m not sure how closely they were followed and where the credit for the dialogue and characterisation should go, but the script in this drama was beautiful. It was subtle, nuanced, multi-layered and deep and often left me feeling I wanted to stop the action to mine the meaning of some of the lines. There is so much in here that a second time through can only improve your understanding and enjoyment.

In so many ways, space and time were taken by the director, actors and cinematographer. No-one was afraid to linger, whether over a pause before a line delivery or a close-up on a facial expression. It really gave the viewer time to appreciate the layered meanings hidden within the dialogue. Could it have been improved by editing? Yes, I think it could have benefitted from some pruning, especially in the middle section where things did seem to be visited repeatedly. But overall, it meant time to savour, rather than gulping things down and rushing on to the next course.

The beating heart of the drama is the relationship between Zhu Yun (Zhang Jing Yi) and Li Xun (Chen Fei Yu) and it is superbly realised. There are tensions, arguments, heartache, loyalty, love and chemistry by the bucketload but also the most beautifully improvised playful moments for which we can thank the director Lui Jun Ji for having faith in his cast. I can only imagine that these two actors get along together. Their interactions were so credible and powerful that you often feel you are a fly on the wall. Chen had the more complex part and he rose to it, providing a real sense of the inner vulnerability of the character. Zhang was less impressive earlier on, but as the character development demanded more of her, she brought it to the table.

I was a little disappointed in the performance by Zhao Zhi Wei as Gao Jian Hong. I thought he performed brilliantly in the first half of the drama, but failed, for me, to really show me the subtlety of his motivations and inner feelings in the second half. I don’t think that it was entirely his fault. The script was thinner than previously for the character and maybe the director failed to bring out more nuance.

The director really captured the abundant humour. Nothing was overstated or obvious, but with the co-operation of the actors and cinematographer, a wry smile or a sidelong glance never went to waste. This is not laugh-out-loud stuff, but the sort of appreciation that time spent observing people can bring. It really added so much to the characterisations.

The cinematography was clean and crisp, with some well thought out angles that supported and reflected the action. I think its real value lay in the way it captured emotional responses. I wouldn’t say it was brilliant, but it was definitely good enough to contribute to the high quality of the overall production. The music was used to help the viewer appreciate the current state of feelings of the leads. The lyrics, large chunks of which were in English, were really a series of spoken thoughts. I didn’t find the music itself exceptional.

When a drama can force you to binge watch and make you regretful that you are nearing its end, then you know it’s a special one. My last comment is for the drama poster — REDO IT!!

What my rating means: 9+   A drama I totally fell in love with and is endlessly re-watchable. It ticked all the boxes and had some serious wow factor. It would go on my personally recommended list.

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