Step by Step Love (2024)

Leads chemistry is the only strong point of the show.

The drama is a mix of many cliche tropes summed together but the story and its pace has been quite good so far. The drama as every other romantic C-drama has SML and SFL who are gonna try to separate the leads but get rejected and like every other drama they aren't the type to hear NO so will continue with their shit till the end.

There are moments where the story felt a little dud but the sizzling chemistry of leads make up for it. Lu Yang Yang has improved a lot when it comes to her acting over the years while Zhao Zhi Wei is one good actor who can pull of both positive and negative roles well. Both the leads have strong chemistry and don't really hold back in showing it off.

I still think the drama could have been done in 24 or less as the last few eps will be quite draggy with the confrontations, cliche breakup and stuff. The ending is done fairytale, even the antagonists who have commit crimes and done shitloads of bad shit are easily forgiven and let go without any legal issue so it was quite crappy to watch.

It is a one time watch, if you are fan of the actors otherwise it can be ignored.

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Why did I actually complete this?

if i could give step by step love a 0/10, i would. that was probably the worst drama i have actually watched, and I'm being serious. i would take a show with horrendous acting over this. idek why i continued watching it but my goodness that was horrendous.

it's like everybody and their mom were out to get the leads and break them apart. even the leads themselves. like oh my gosh. how can someone be so short sighted? the ml was pissing me off half the time, the fl should've stood her ground and called people out earlier but she was the only one i didn't have a ton of problems with

The sml oh gosh oh boooooooy, absolutely not. red flag red flag red flag. BUT THE THING IS... i actually rooted for him at one point. that just goes to show, i hated the ML SO MUCH at some points, that I AGREED with the FETCHING SML
The sfl who is obsessed with HER LITERAL BROTHER, idc if he's adopted and y'all are not biologically related THAT IS DISGUSTING. you guys grew up TOGETHER. +she was so confusing half the time, her character wasn't consistent at all. like girlie you're terrible, please stop.

the fl's family was a riot, like c'mon... there's no way y'all are this obsessed over somebody living their life separately. you have literally disowned her part of the family so why are y'all still coming for her? ridiculous.

the storyline was an utter trainwreck. it was like somebody set bombs on every part of the train tracks. it was extremely messy, did not have a single intelligent thought put into it. literally NOTHING was good about it. they thought they could throw in a few "kissing" scenes that were "steamy" and call it good. and even if you were just there for the "skinship" you literally had to wait 17 or so episodes for it to even happen. it was also disgusting to watch those scenes bc they were just going at it and it didn't even look comfortable. their poor lips were probably swollen after every scene and not bc of "steamy" kisses but bc of chafing. +they were making out in public, in a freaking ELEVATOR like please have some decency and respect for those poor souls who just want to take an elevator and get greeted with their boss's and coworker's lips bright red. NASTY.

this whole show was a mess. the acting wasn't even that good. every character, i hated at one point in time which just goes to show how bad this show was bc I'm pretty forgiving of characters' actions but NAH SON they were B.A.D. Actually ykw, I liked one singular character. The plant man who just watered his plants and gave good advice. He was the only one keeping me sane watching this. Hallelujah to him. Oh and the dad and the mom, they were the real ones in this show.

omg i actually hated this drama so much. maybe it's bc i watched this at 2am or just I'm in one of those moods, but nothing could save this drama. was it a hate watch? definitely. was it an enjoyable hate watch? absolutely not.
it's been more than 3 years since I've written a review, but this drama was so bad, I was forced into writing a review.

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I love lead pairing and their chemistry

This isn’t really the only drama I enjoyed the pairing but perhaps I haven’t come across one lately in my watching that these two awakened my interest. I haven’t seen the works of either so it was quite refreshing as if watching my first cdrama. These two compliment each other matching their arduous feelings. There’s a scene in the office that was embarrassingly lit.

I liked how the male lead decided his feelings for the female lead is more important than his supposedly revenge. It doesn’t drag out which is a relief. There’s plenty of couple moments of sweetness instead of often last episode get together. Yes there’s an annoying character who tries to make trouble but lead guy is never swayed. Those things is what I often want to see and this drama has it. Sure it’s not perfect but overall, I highly enjoyed this for its simplicity, and overboard cuteness of leads.

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A good start and hot scenes, but a disappointing end

Although I liked the drama until ep.19-20 or so, and especially the very hot office kissing scene, I grew very disappointed and bored in the last third of the drama, when the conundrums took over with the SFL psycho step sister (daughter of ML's adoptive father) and the "best friend" of FL (step brother of SFL with same father, still wanting to possess FL when she had made clear she loved ML only). ML "CEO", who lacked acumen to see through the jealousy of his "secretary" cum "amnesic hidden sister", became increasingly boring, despite a few randomly thrown in kissing scenes, break ups and make ups.

The over repeated "I can do everything for you" bgm song grew on my nerves, so I almost slammed computer shut. But being a completionist, I stayed to watch the drag and chore of last episodes. They were not worth purchasing into express package : it was a tedium for me to stay until the "happy ending" with SFL standing in a field of flowers facing the ex hostile scion of the antagonist family, to accept his proposal! while a drone brought a white head veil to be plucked from the sky by ML to accompany his proposal, said drone operated by "best friend" who had taken over the role of CEO at ML's company, to push it into merging with the once hostile competitor.

This "business romance" drama, which was filmed last year, April 1 to May 28, 2023. had won attention to be in the top 10 web dramas previous week, and was still #5 in the top ten ratings for last week ending 2024.04.14. But I doubt it will get a high Douban rating, now. The unraveling of the unnecessarily convoluted knots of the story ended up voiding it of any meaning, so, I can't leave a high rating.

The ML Zhao Zhiwei and FL Lu Yangyang had good chemistry, and SML Brian Chang, looked good, that's all. I hope the leads will get better roles in the future

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Here for the leads everything else is frustrating

The leads romance really drives this drama and holds this drama down, without it it would not be worth it.

Basically a battle of the Yi family and Lu family to see who can on the top as the best estate company. I hated the Yi's grandma so much ! She is the female lead's grandma. The grandma treats the female lead her family horribly. She is willing to sacrifice her granddaughter for the Yi company. She does so much to hurt the female lead. Also the rest of the Yi family are leeches, trying to do all that they can to sabotage the Lu company. They are really horrible and dirty to try to try the Lu family. Watch this made me so made, so much dog blood.

As for the Lu family, the male lead is the adoptive son of the Lu family, The Lu company once went broke and the dad committed suicide, leaving behind the male lead's sister but she was in an accident during youth so she forgot her memory but is now the secretary of the male lead.

Female lead's best male friend is the abandon / real son of the Lu family. Of course the male best friend starts of trying to take revenge but gets melted by the female lead's kindness.

In this drama there is seriously male lead snsyndrome, where whatever evil the Yi family tries to do it doesnt hurt of phase the male lead, lol he always has the upper hand. haha how you like that lol, but except for the last incident...

The female lead is daring and brave and has wits willing to stand up for herself, she aint a dimwit or doormat.

The leads kisses are so steamy had to rewatch a couple times haha! They are seriously what made it through this drama. Too much scheming and plotting throughout , it gets really tiring...

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turned out so disappointing

what can I say… I enjoyed this a lot at first. The leads chemistry is the strongest aspect of this drama. I watched 16 complete eps, after that only reading comments, watching some parts of eps and spoilers videos. + checking out the last ep. I was waiting for more eps, but turned out too annoying to watch complete episodes later on.

pros :
- the leads chemistry
- such passionate kisses, probably some of the hottest kisses I’ve seen in a cdrama.
- FL’s parents, I actually like them. I knew from the beginning the dad was acting and that he wasn’t a bad guy. He loves his family and he wants to protect them. they aren’t the annoying type of parents and they just wanted to live happily together.
- I enjoyed the workplace scenes at first, FL’s journey in the company and her getting recognition for her work
- them being neighbors / landlord ML. I like this trope
- them bickering and the interactions between the leads before dating. I liked their first encounter too
- they had cute moments while dating
- « happy ending » … we will get to it

cons :
- so many annoying and insufferable characters. Who ? :
-> FL’s family (grandma, uncle, aunt, cousin). I hated them, but in the end, they weren’t the most annoying characters surprisingly
-> ML’s sister… she was insufferable, crazy, annoying… name it. wtf seriously. her being in love with her “brother” (adopted brother), obsessed and jealous. trying to break the leads up, scheming and doing some crazy shit, like faking being r*pe by FL’s cousin… the plot around her was horrible and ruined the drama
-> another character that ruined the watch : FL’s friend. Again with this annoying trope that never go away… the friend in love with the lead, that have 0 chance, has been told no and that she only sees him as a friend… but no he can’t accept it and he needs to get her. Again, with the scheming and trying to break up the leads, even trying to work with the enemy. no respect for boundaries and doesn’t know his place as a friend. it’s crazy to me that some people wanted FL to end up with him
- the plot turned out so annoying to watch and the script so bad. so many people scheming against the leads and with the relationship with the second leads : like
-> why was FL spending this much time, staying friend/as if nothing happened with SML after he confessed his love to her. Weird and she didn’t set boundaries with him after being in a relationship with ML. that whole thing wasn’t enjoyable, we know he still wanted her
-> again but now with ML and his sister. he was too much protective, always taking care of her and putting her first (which ended up screwing up his relationship with FL). She’s a grown ass women and also he didn’t put boundaries either with her.
-> the villain were “forgiven” as if nothing happened. no consequences… like what the hell. In the end, they still hang out with the second leads which makes no sense, again as if nothing happened. I know from the beginning it would turned out like this. like why were they even there in the end for ML’s proposal
- ML’s sister and FL’s cousin romance… really weird and uncalled for. completely unnecessary
- such an unsatisfying ending even if the leads ends up happy together and engaged.


I wouldn’t recommend or maybe yess with some fast forward past ep like 20

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This one's like dancing the Cha Cha...

I was so excited to see Eden Zhao and Hanna Lu together in a drama. I've missed seeing them both, and sure enough, their chemistry did not disappoint! For the first half of this story, I eagerly awaited the drop of each episode, and wouldn't go to bed until I finished it -- no matter how late it was when I started it. ;)

The angst and push-pull in the connection between the ML and FL was exciting at first, but I felt that this story didn't really move forward. Rather it seemed to get stuck in this monotonous plot rhythm of: A) romance moves forward a little bit, B) An obstacle appears that must be dealt with or overcome, C) Romance stalls -- will they get together or won't they? D) Relationship/mis-understanding resolved -- go back to A) and repeat all over again. This went on for nearly the whole drama -- using new and/or returning stumbling blocks for the ML and FL each time.

While both of the leads are solid actors, this "2 steps forward, 2 steps back" pattern really grew old after a while -- and I found myself fighting the urge to fast forward. I didn't out of my respect to the cast -- but this could have been a much tighter script with a shorter arc -- and the story would have probably been just as good.
For as long as the plot was -- the ending wrapped up so quickly -- in about 1.5 to 2 episodes. So overall, this drama left me feeling MEH.
Definitely not the the actors' best works. But still worth a watch, especially if you're a fan of either lead. Their connection was the most refreshing part of the whole show.

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Had potential but somehow lost its charm towards the end!

So I've been in a C drama slump for months now, I din't remember the last time a C drama made my heart race or had me hooked but I got to feel that atleast for the first half of this drama....but then later on it went back to being bluhhhh.

This drama started out great , I loved how the story sort of felt new get it wasn't and I must say the acting was amazing and so was the chemistry between the goods which I must say was the only thing that remained consistent throughout the entire show!

The story later on started to drag on I guess they needed something to fill the 28 episodes, they started including unnecessary conflicts and some motivationless characters that just weren't convincing or interesting at all......side this I loved how the leads relationship kept up and how their chemistry still kept me going through the series.

Either way this is cute watch that gets rather frustrating in the later episodes but aside from that the leads chemistry was amazing and sizzling and the osts are good and so are he kiss scenes.....but aside from that you need to brace your self for the latter bit of the drama that's feels off and could have been cut out.

So I recommend this?

Maybe if you want something cute to watch with amazing chemistry between the leads....

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Could have done better without the "ending dramas"

I have never watched any of the male and female lead shows before this one. I have to say I actually quite like this show, they make a remarkable pair together - romantically and all -along with their funny antics. All in all, I would say the entire crew + casts did a great job bringing this series to life. Though they could have minimized the episodes and make do without the last few episodes with the extra drama and etc from the 2nd female lead and the greedy family. Those episodes, to me only, was quite a turn off and I ended up skipping quite alot of scenes from the last few episodes. Other than that, I would say this series is a good first time watch - especially if you like what you read in the synopsis. As for re-watching, it would really depend on individual to decide if it is worth the 2nd shot. To me, not really, unless I watch this for the funny, romantic and awesome parts and completely skip the last few episodes again.

The songs paired for this series is also quite nice. Looking forward to hunting down the songs.

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