Clichéd But Hilarious, Sweet and Delightful
This drama is by no means revolutionary or original, but having said that, it is also light-hearted, somewhat "modernised", and comforting. It's a given that the main leads would end up together, but despite knowing the obvious, I couldn't stop watching, plus the laughs and pinching heartaches I felt (in a good way) were incredibly addicting.STORY
This is a story about a manhua character, Xia Yu Bing, changing the lives of other manhua characters in her world through maintaining high readership ratings and preventing the manhua from getting axed (thus preserving her own life). She does this by employing various familiar business models that are frequently used in the real, modern world. The manhua artist's initial story had a dark beginning, but as she made changes to her storyline, Xia Yu Bing also independently changed her fate in her world. Everything about the drama is riddled with traditional tropes - corny fall-and-catch shoujo moments, the obligatory rain scene (lots), show-your-love-through-cooking, including the initial dislike the main leads had for each other before eventually falling in love, and yet the joy encompassed is in all of these things. What is a romance drama without some villainous plot and angst? Other than romance and friendship (Xu Zi Yan and Ye Wen Zhao are best friends), I also love the dynamic Xu Zi Yan had with his father, Xu Guang Ling. The scenes of this father and son pair were definitely some of my favourite. Xu Senior is not only loving father to his son, but also to his daughter-in-law. Each time father and son bicker playfully with each other, knowing they both care deeply for the other gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Plot holes notwithstanding, all of that still makes for an entertaining watch and I could ignore the implausibility of certain parts in the script. Lastly, although the official Viki synopsis says the male lead was "determined to wipe her (female lead) out and conduct experiments on her body", this is grossly misleading and inaccurate.
MUSIC
I love the songs they selected for this drama. The non-vocal OP is upbeat, catchy and suits the overall theme of the drama. The ED theme, 人生一回合, translated as "One Round of Life" is sung by Ye Wen Zhao's actor in the drama, Xu Bing Chao. The other song used during interludes, the more romantic 落雨纷, translated as "The Scattering Falling Rain" is sung by Qing Sang. This song is my favourite.
ACTING
What I say may sound generic, but it's true. Everyone did a wonderful job in this drama. Dong Si Yi was wonderful to watch. She was funny, expressive, smart, girly, and cute as Xia Yu Bing. I especially love whenever she behaved coquettishly towards Xu Zi Yan. Watching him crumble under her charms was really rewarding for me. I can't imagine anyone but her in this role. I was quite surprised by Lee Ge Yang's performance, seeing that he's relatively green in the industry. While his character, Xu Zi Yan, didn't have much room for expressive navigations at first for being the cold, emotionless genius, he nevertheless performed quite well at portraying the desperation and despair Xu Zi Yan felt in the later half of the series.
OVERALL
I started this drama with zero expectations, as I only happened to see it aired on the day of its release. Suddenly, I found myself marathoning this throughout the night, and the next two days after. And after finishing the series, I looked up on videos and short interviews the main leads gave soon after the show. In one clip, when asked to describe their characters, Lee Ge Yang called Xu Zi Yan a medical genius who is a "wife-doting maniac", but Dong Si Yi responded, "He's okay..." in a slightly dead-panned manner lol. This exchange just made me feel they're really perfectly cast as the characters they played. The drama overall has left me with nothing but a lasting good impression - and I will surely watch this again for the comedy and romance.
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Charming Comedy with likable leads and wonderful acting
Our story begins with a murder. A young bride (Xia Yubing) is force-fed poison on her wedding night, the groom (Xu Zi Yan) justifying the action by saying she had framed his beloved (Xia Liu Qing) and someone that evil deserves death. We learn Yubing was tricked into framing Liu Qing and that she really isn't villainous at heart. The tale is then jolted from the past to the present where we learn Yubing and Zi Yan are both characters in a comic by a newbie author and her editor isn't pleased with a story about a stupid girl and a heartless hero. The author swears she will do better next go around and after a few edits turns Yubing into the female lead and a good character in the story, with Zi Yan an eager young doctor wanting to force-feed her medicine in order to save her from a rare but deadly disease.In spite of that somewhat confusing set up this is an easy-to-follow rom-com that (almost) never forgets its a comedy. I laughed during most of the episodes, even during what would typically be "dark" moments like an execution or torture. The story's emphasis is less on plot than it is on relationship building. Yubing turns out to be a savvy businesswoman with a lovely, warm heart. Not only do she and Zi Yan wind up having a wonderful romance but Yubing also establishes a terrific connection with her sister Liu Qing, Zi Yan's bestie Ye Wen, and with Zi Yan's father Xu Guang Ling. Yubing is a positive presence in all their lives as she helps to create a better family/friend situation for herself/those around her and a more cooperative and caring business environment for her community. If you like feel-good stories, this is definitely a show you'll enjoy.
The acting is excellent and the chemistry between our leads is fantastic.
Few things are perfect, however, and this is no exception. The story gave way too much time to the villain, which caused it to drag in parts. The ending, while happy, is a touch incomplete. The character of Gu Gu/NPC was fabulous and excellently portrayed but I could have done with less of the author, especially in the final episode. All that said, this is easily my favorite Chinese rom-com.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is a nice and cute comedy romance fantasy in a historical setting. Although it is full of clichés, it has a lot of funny moments and a bit of a dark villainous plot. Although the leading couple has good chemistry, it is Li Ge Yang as Xu Zi Yan that carries on the romance vibe the best. Even though Dong Si Yi as Xia Yu Bing is funny and refreshing to watch, she lacks on facial loving expressions on some of the romantic scenes. The drama is very entertaining for the most part but it has a villain, Xue Mu, portrayed by Liu Yao Yuan which becomes very irritating and insufferable without reason. Due to the comedy aspect of this drama, there is overly exaggerated acting from the cast intended that many times is funny but sometimes can be awkward. Still, the drama is entertaining. Was this review helpful to you?
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The Business-centric Wife and her Benovelent Husband + Would've been better with lesser episodes.
In this world, everyone has their own identity. If everyone is the protagonist, this story would be too boring - Gu Gu (NPC)So, to put things into simple words... This is a story that has been going under multiple revision to achieve the best quality yet— A work in progress.
In terms of how the story progresses, I'd say that it was rather mundane at first, like a straight-up tropey and corny comedy skit from a gag show that slowly gets dull and stagnant after achieving its momentum but was still able to keep things all together at the very end. It was imperfect and can be very boring several times but wasn't that bad for me to halt or drop it. It's one of those dramas that made me realize how tolerant and trustful I am that there's always a good side in everything. Even to the point where I had to ask myself "Why do I feel stupid watching this?" and "Am I that credulous for continuing this even when I know how ridiculous the entire drama has been going?" Hahaha! But, Fret not! This drama is still enjoyeable overall, specially with how they ended it.
Ending - It was unexpected yet fulfilling... For some reason they made the ML kinda lose his credibility for not being able to cure the FL even after years of practicing and researching on how to cure that specific disease; then kept things hanging by making them going 'Missing in Action' for years, resulting to a timeskip and finally be presented with the Main Leads coming back... FL still alive and apparently in great health and even with 2 kids. It was surprising but I'm just glad and grateful they gave them a happy ending.
Main Leads - I guess what I love about our leads is that they balance each other. Male lead is always there to provide advisement and correction to his wife whenever she's doing something accidentally harmful to others. While Female lead kept things more exciting and lively by filling his husbands weaknesses and providing countless entertaining scenes with her clever business tricks and ideas. Also, their chemistry might have been a bit questionable at first but they make it all out flawlessly as the story goes on.
2nd Male Lead, 2nd CP and Supporting Roles - Xue Mu as a character is simply hateful. Someone who goes deeper and deeper into darkness because of his loathe and greed. Ye Wenzhao & Xia Liuqing on the other hand is an interesting combo. They're unique in their own way. While the siblings Xia Lan & Xia Yaozu are that foolish, naive and hateful characters who was given a chance to turn into a new leaf.
Xia, Xu & Ye Patriarch - One thing I find odd about this drama is how the Matriach's were all dead... Like, do the writers have some kind of resentment? Lol. Anyways, the additional chaos the patriarchs brought made this show extra boisterous. They serve like a secret weapon that made this drama different and fascinating in a really good way.
Lastly, I wanna say that I love how rich this show is when it comes to marketing and business ideas. The way they innovate and expand their business everytime it fails is an interesting and worthy progress to see. I just find the used of Child labor very wrong and problematic at some point... But I guess, reality hits really hard, huh?
P.S. I'm captivated with the Female leads yellow costume. It was very pretty and one of a kind. Something rarely seen. Simple yet explicitly beautiful.
Story - 8.0, It was actually fun and entertaining in general but the repetitive dull and boring scenes worn me out eventually. I feel like it could've work out much better if they reduce the episodes to 20 and concluded Xue Mu's infuriating revenge agendas as early as possible.
Acting/Cast - 9.0, I'm pretty satisfied with the casting and acting is actually good, but the way they set up the scenes tends to have this unnatural and forced vibe in it, like a self-explanatory thing that it's all scripted. + Although I find the Main leads chemistry a bit rough at first, they surprisingly carried each other very well with how comfortable they act with each other. The only acting I find really cringy up until the last moments are from Thea Xi, who feels like she needed all the direction she could get and Xu Bingchao's portrayal that feels exaggerated at times. Special mention to Liu Yaoyuan! He freaking nailed it!
Music - 9.0, The BGMs used fits the overall theme of the drama. Although I find the opening a bit too lively and intrumentally loud at first, I'd say it fits perfectly with the playful and funky feel of this drama and helped out a lot to better accentuate the overall vibe of the show. While the other Ballad song just sounds really good as well.
Rewatch Value - 8.0, Just, so-so... I'd rather watch other shows with better story direction than this. I still feel like they could reduce the episodes and get rid of the repetitive and wearisome plots that made this show draggy. The Xue Mu plot still makes me sick up till this point! The way he came back all the time after getting defeated felt like a loophole that truly exhausted and irritated the hell outta me.
Overall - 8.5, This drama could've been better if they didn't purposely drag/prolong the entire plot. It feels like they tried really hard to make it seem interesting and unique but it ended up getting tiring and boring. I guess, trying hard wasn't always good? P.S. The ending made this rating a bit higher. Thank god they didn't murder the leads or something.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know
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Strong start, disappointing development
Love a good transmigration series, and as one of the few full length episode transmigration period cdramas of 2022, I had to check it out! While the premise was interesting and the acting good, the storyline itself started to flounder midway, before starting to drag, and plotholes dotted the story + characters like Xue Mu remained one dimensional. I ended up skipping through eight entire episodes, which is pretty poor for a series that's already pretty short.Personally, I'd skip this one.
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A romantic comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously and is still adorable ♡
The first thought anyone should have when starting to watch this drama is: don't expect a complex plot. The story revolves around how a beginner author develops a story from characters who come to life and are aware that they live in a story. Knowing this, the drama ends up being full of clichés to emulate how an author would venture into creating a story.For those who want to watch a lovely romance without having too much anxiety about conflicts, this drama is a great indication. There is no lack of kisses and affection between the protagonists, much more than the secondary couple, who are also adorable. I found myself smirking whenever the main couple had sweet moments with each other.
The drama itself doesn't take itself seriously, making fun of some plot holes or things like when they mention lazy script or lack of creativity, but it's VERY funny at several points, and that's what made me love the drama. I believe that the low ratings come from expectations for a complex story or a certain level of depth (I'm glad the ratings didn't stop me from starting to watch!), if you look at it from another angle or have another type of expectation, you might find it incredible, and the chemistry of the main couple is insane.
An interesting point to be taken into account, the female protagonist is not silly, she is very good at doing business (unlike her husband, who has a much more sensitive personality being a doctor, and is also terrible at math hahaha) and has several inspirations on how to make money, which turns out to be a very funny feature. She has a great survival instinct and changes history to save herself (in this respect everyone who has watched The Romance of Tiger and Rose will feel some similarity, but it is the only aspect of the drama that has this notorious inspiration).
Well, naturally the drama has its drag moments, and villains who repeat the same types of antics; surprisingly some change their personalities and regret it, although not in a very realistic or fluid way.
Knowing what to expect, if you want to watch a light romance where the protagonists don't take long to develop affection, even if you might think of the drama as a guilty pleasure, go for it. :)
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Senseless
Inside story another story is running .... I mean a girl who writes the story for an organization .so what she was writing we viewers were watching. She kept on changing the story line as it was not found interesting for the organisation.Inside her story , female protagonist died on her wedding night and whenever she died she got another chance to safe her life just like in video game that you have six lives to pass the level .
Few characters were there and all were good but story had no impact which connect the viewer . A big no to drama .
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Semi-slapstick Comedy
I'm at the ending of only episode 2. So far both ep. 1 and 2 (in my humble opinion) got a good screenplay (screenplay writer or scriptwriter). The dialogues and acting's are hilarious. Even the "fathers" are outrageously funny. Hopefully, all the way to the last episodes will be as good as these two episodes that I just finish watching. Somehow this is a semi-slapstick comedy. Bothe main leads (male\female) did a good job portraying their roles. Also, thank you to the translator of English translations, you are the force to be hailed as money earners behind the scenes.Was this review helpful to you?
