Heartwarming family drama with bonus super sweet friends to lovers like romance

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 Chinese drama with 40, ~45 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis and then review.

Synopsis
Li Jianjian (Tan Songyun) lost her mother who died in child birth but has a dad, Li Haichow, (Tu Songyan) who loves people. He is the dad everyone wants and winds up taking in He Ziqiu (Zhang Xincheng) after making a comment to his single mom that if she doesn’t want her son he would take him. A police officer and his wife move in upstairs and their fights become the talk of the building as the thin walls allow everyone to overhear their conflicts. Ling Xiao (Song Weilong) spends a lot of his time quietly reading on the communal stairs to get out of the apartment when his parents are fighting. The Li’s are determined to invite the young boy into their warm apartment to share meals rather than sadly sitting on the stairs. It is not long before Xiao’s mother leaves the family and now it is just the boy and his dad. The two single fathers become close relying on each other to raise the three kids. This series follows this heartwarming family through many stages of life.

Review
The child actress who plays young Li Jianjian is cute like Shirley Temple. She is kind, courageous and a little mischievous and both boys wind up drawn to her energy. I love the two dads and especially Haichow who uses his culinary skills to feed those that need not only the meal but the human caring. The way it portrays the concept of family as not just those with blood ties, but those that take care of and love each other in a formed family unit is very touching.

I highly recommend this for a sweet, friends to lovers coming of age romance. It is a great family drama. There are many comedic moments that flow very naturally. I enjoyed it start to finish. It ended happily with all major plot points resolved.

Spoilers*

I read elsewhere and I have to agree her proudly declaring she is menustrating to the table of her all male family is funny. It does not even cross her mind that it might make them uncomfortable. But they do their best to help the only female in their midst mature even doing things like gifting her a bra in secret.

Some reviewers felt weird with both of her brothers liking her romantically. Her ”oldest brother”, Ling Xiao (Song Wei Long) was not a blood relative and did not even live in the same apartment. So them harboring romantic feelings was not weird to me at all. The younger brother, He Zi Qiu (Zhang Xin Chang) was thinking along those lines but it was more from his deep desire to be a part of the family officially than real romantic feelings for his ”sister”. They were not blood related either but they were close to being step siblings and, in the end, they were officially step siblings. But other than a brief encounter when he had some romantic feels for her when they were decorating pastry (he was sort of back hugging her to guide her hands) he was more like “ooh sister cooties“ when she jokingly suggested they kiss. I think he was briefly confused about the nature of his feelings for her and they sorted out as more brotherly.

The filial above all else was a problem for me with this one as they even largely encouraged forgiving and looking the other way on behaviors that were physically and emotionally abusive. Chen Ting (Yang Tong Shu), Ling Xiao’s mom, was awful, she was abusive to her husband, Ling He Ping (Zhang Xi Lin) and her son when tgey were married then abandoned her young son to let her now ex, He Ping and super dad, Li Hao Chao (Tu Song Yan) raise him. She returns later, remarried, with a step sister in tow and expects the son she abandoned to just pick up where she left off. And it was not just that expected it the adultsdid a bit by not putting an immediate full stop to it. I looked up the child abuse laws in China because I was curious about the adults lack of intervention. It doesn’t appear like there’s a lot they really could’ve done if they had chose to press the issue at least not legally. But I would have been a harpy so that it was in inconvenient enough that she just left him alone. In the end they try to make it out Chen ting finally saw the light but I still thought she was horrible as she was emotionally blackmailing them with suicide even then. Shenwas not even close to repairing any if the emotional damage she caused and would likely continue to cause. In my opinion someone that behaved like that has borderline personality disorder. She exhibited all the major traits which include: Unstable relationships, sense of self, and emotions, impulsivity, recurrent suicidal behavior and self-harm, fear of abandonment, chronic feelings of emptiness, inappropriate anger, feeling detached from reality. The disorder cannot be cured but can improve with therapy. She was not seeking help with her persiponality issues so she would continue to do things both emotionally and physically harmful.

Then there was Little Big Brother’s biological dad, Zhao Hua Guang (Liu Jin Long) and he was also awful and abusive. He, admittedly did not take care of his son when he was young, because he was too poor to afford taking care of a child so he let him be raised by others. Then he makes money and thinks he cannot have children with his new wife so he comes back and expects Zi Qui to just to turn his back on the people that care for him, and raised him all those years. Then rather than asking nicely and being so pleasant, his son would want to come with him he blackmailed him and threatened to harm the only family the son knew and loved if he did not do as he wished.

Then there was her friend and roommate Luo Hong (Mei Ling Zhen) whi had a crush in Big Brother, Ling Xiao, and was angry when she mistakingly thought he had romantic feelings for her but only saw her as a good friend. She was willing to give up her years long friendship with Jianjian out of a situation of her own making. Then she takes her mom’s side when her parents are going to divorce criticizing her father for not being there and her mom doing it all when she was a housewife and he was working to support the family. It was the same with Zi Qiu’s police officer father and his mom, also a housewife who could not cope with her young children so much she locks them up so she Can go play cards then blames her son (like an abuser) amd her husband for her daughter’s tragic death. I found Luo Hing an unlikable character.

#Zhang Xinchang
#TanSongyun
#GoAhead
#TuSongyan
#SongWeiLong

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Ok in the beginning, cheesy and cliche in the middle, but hey a happy ending

4/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 Chinese romantic comedy drama with 24, 30-47 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Su Yan xi (Lu Xin Yi) is living a challenging life as a beauty influencer as her mother is gravely ill and the medical bills exceed her earnings. Chance or perhaps fate causes her to cross paths with Gu Xi Cheng (Luo Zheng) , a wealthy president of a company, on several occasions. Gu Xicheng is looking for a fake girlfriend to make his grandmother happy by allowing her to think that he is pursuing a relationship. When a misunderstanding leads Yanxi to interview, Gu Xicheng decides she is the best fake girlfriend candidate even though she refuses when she finds out the real purpose of the interview. After she leaves, Gu Xicheng runs a background check and accidently recieves the information on Yanxi’s identical twin sister who has gained some celebrity. Yanxi’s sister is also in need of money for an urgent surgery that is to be performed in the USA. So she signs a relationship contract with Gu Xicheng then coerces her sister to play her so she can go to the US. When real feelings develop between the fake couple things get complicated. Can Xicheng forgive the deception? Is there a way forward for a couple that started on such deceptive terms?

Review

I read other reviews before watching this and a lot said it was cliché but that alone was not enough to deter me as one person’s cliché can be another person’s tried and true. A cliche here and there I can handle but this was like the cliche dump truck spilled over turning it into a B grade soap opera. It is reasonably good in the beginning, cheesy and ridiculous in the middle, and has a happy ending. It also has so many flash backs of their developing relationship that they could have cut it by multiple episodes. I would not watch it again. But it might be worth watching it, with low expectations for the content, if you are a fan of any of the actors. The grandmother is a cute enough character to watch it for.

Spoilers*

Some reviewers criticize this for having a male lead that exhibits “toxic masculinity“. With the train wreck that was the plot, I am like THAT is what you focused on? I wholeheartedly disagree with him having toxic masculinity as a woman that likes men that act like men and not little soy boys who ask permission to sneeze. The female lead is not a push over, she exerts herself and her opinion when appropriate. Well she does in the beginning but then goes through this change to wimpy uncertainty but it had nothing to do with the male lead.

Grandma Gu (Zhao Shu Zhen) drugging the chicken soup to make the couple amarous and quicker to produce offspring is one of the most comedic elements I have experienced in the over 300 dramas I have watched so far. Grandma’s chicken soup then becomes an inside joke among the couple. I love the grandmother and have seen her play the grandmother role in other series. In this one she is caring, genuinely wants her grandson’s happiness but is just a wee bit mischievious.

It did have a happy ending if you can survive all the over dramatized scenes, cheesy lines, and some draggy parts.

How did they overdo tropes you say? Well they had the push someone out of the way and then fatally get hit by a car trope not once but twice Thy had first one toxic female after lead guy in the beginning, then later another one. But wait. There is more. There was the hidden identity trope, the contract relationship trope, the con man parent trope, the obsessed ex trope, the Cinderella trope, the I like you but you never wanted me but people think that means you have to accept me trope, the parachute at the company trope, the I’ve never done this thing before but I am suddenly better at it than everybody trope, the it is raining so I might die trope, the sexy kiss in the rain trope, the umbrella trope, the someone got me drunk and took risqué pictures trope, the looked like I was cheating trope, the I was a capable person and a little sassy but now I met you and am helpless trope, the I am going to pledge my unfaltering love but the minute there is adversity it falters trope, the childhood friend trope, tge separated twin trope, the evil twin trope, the almost kiss trope, the hidden box of secrets but then you find it and I freak out trope, the scheming at work to make a lead look bad trope, the stealing your work trope, the sick parent need money for hospital bills trope, the kidnapping trope, the blackmail trope, the confession while dying trope, the parents ditched me for the grandparents to raise trope, the plastic surgery trope, the got sick “don’t leave“ trope, the I am going to leave you to make myself worthy trope and more. A few tropes here and there are okay, they become tropes often because the viewers like them but this many tropes sometimes repeated and even layered was too much.

Then there were things that just did not make sense. Like why it was such a big deal she was not her sister. I understood he did not like that she lied to him but, had she told him early on, he was just looking for a fake relationship at that point anyway. But they made it like it had to be her sister without making it clear why.

They way over dramatized many of the kiss scenes, still framing, slowing it down then a bunch of different camera angles.

She was doing okay as a streamer and I thought had a gig with his company for doing make up. Then Grandma decides she should be at the company to keep lead guy and crazy 2nd gurl apart and she winds up agreeing to work with crazy 2nd girl. Why? Made no sense she let her torture her.

They played the same refrain of music ad nauseum. You are my dream, YOU are my dream ok music I get it they are each other’s frickin‘ dreams.

I do not care how much you like this girl, who pays that much for a necklace? And second guy, who find out later was just being a psycho for second girl, also tries to buy the necklace.
He was pretending to like her to steal her away so his actual love, second girl, could have lead guy. Because he loved her so much he just wanted her to have what she wanted even if it was another guy. But they gave zero indication he felt that way through all of his chasing of lead girl. He even acted jealous of lead girl when only us viewers would know. I know they were trying for a plot twist but that was a turn if not a complete reverse. We should have been able to think back and remember times when he seemed into second girl. But there was not a time if anything it seemed he thought she was ridiculous.

#TimetoFallinLove
#LinXinYi
#LuoZheng

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Perfect classic romantic drama

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 South Korean romantic comedy series with 16, 60-77 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique Synopsis then reviiew.

Synopsis

Cheon Sa-rang (Im Yoon-ah) has finally landed her dream job as a concierge at the King Hotel. She has a smile that was made for the role and her beauty and above average capability has her climbing the ranks at the hotel rapidly. Although her aspirations and goals are on path, Sa-rang often finds herself squarely in the cross hairs of Goo Won (Lee Jun-ho) the handsome chaebol who is set to inherit the conglomerate.

At first the two only find the other annoying. But they soon realize there is way more common ground in common as they each pursue their dreams in the hotel world.

Review

This was very good and perfect for anyone that likes a slow build, well developed, heartwarming and enduring romance. The lead couple had perfect chemistry to the point if you discovered they were dating in real life it would not be a surprise. It has a happy ending and all major plot points are resolved.

Spoilers*
Lee Jun ho plays a chaebol that is sensitive and caring and very sweet. He has a gruff exterior but it is a very thin veil for a vulnerable but very kind person. Once he fell for her he did not change his feelings or interest from that point despite family and social pressure.

Even those who tried not to like Sa-rang were unsuccessful. Her amazing competence and unflappable concern for the customers and all those her around her won over virtually everyone.

I loved that she reached the dream team level and realized that it was not all about providing an experience and making people happy. From the classic maid uniform to the tone of that highest privileged experience of serving the Chairman and his guests, it was clear that it was about the elites flashing their elevated status by having the best wait staff at their beck and call. It paid extremely well but she did not think it was worth prostrating your pride on the alter of social narcissism. It was disillusioning for her. So when she decided to quit the King Hotel and create her own experience it made sense. But I was not a fan of the cliff hangar where it made the viewer think she was going to break up with him for his or her own good. I hate that trope and it just so happened that was the episode I was ending on for that night. It was a good and surprising twist but not one I was fond of.

I loved Sa-rang’s grandmother, Cha Soon-hee (Kim Young-ok) is a character that is always in lead girl’s camp, strongly supporting her in all she does. Soon-hee plays the elder in many dramas but thus very cantankerous exterior was a new twist on her usual much more amiable roles. Social status did not intimidate her or overly impress her and she felt her granddaughter was invaluable and not someone to be won with mere money and social status. Her relationship with Won was endearing. Although she made it hard to win her favor, once she decided he was the one she was proud and happy to have him as her grandson in law. It was cute he tried so hard but also that he seemed to genuinely care for her and felt like her trials were reasonable as he understood it reflected the deep caring and love she had for her grandchild.

I did not feel like the story between Won’s parents made a lot of sense. She was supposedly his great love where he was willing to buck social traditions, and be with her, but the minute she did something his father seriously disapproved of not only did he abandon their relationship, but he stole her son and cast her out. They never showed who the wife of his daughter was (his other wife and someone that was socially acceptable) and that might’ve helped explain how that whole situation went down. It just did not make sense that somebody who loved another enough to go against society would so easily give up on them. Later when she comes back, he doesn’t seem to have any remorse over what happened in the past, and instead sort of doubles down on the way he is with his son until the very end when he does have a slight reversal. On has a brief touching encounter with his mom but, other than her attendance at the wedding, we do not get to see the mother and son grow closer. Overall the way that played out did not do justice to the build up to that point. .

The other minor plot flaw was how much it showed her roommate and friends unfair treatment at work without significant satisfaction is seeing them flip the script. I mean the airline stewardess revealed who the ex was and kicked him in his sensitive parts (which he well deserved) but you never saw her make that next level. There was significant screen time devoted to jer desire to become purser and how she was continually passed over unfairly. The romance with her friend and fellow flight attendant was bonus level but it would have been good to see some positive resolve to her unfair work situation. Her other friend had a dead beat husband who she got back at but it never seemed like she had the relationship with him she deserved.

When Won’s sister gets in a verbal altercation with her soon to be ex husband and he slaps her, I was shocked and not okay with that scene. It played through like she had it coming but I personally do not think partners should be physically violent with each other, She slaps him back and that was slightly satisfying but still, men should not hit women in general. Now if it is some psycho woman who started things, and he has no choice, then defending himself is acceptable. But that was not the case, he was angry she bought his girlfriend off and slapped her. Men are built more robustly than women and have greater muscle mass so they should protect not harm.

#KingtheLand
#ImYoonAh
#LeeJunHo

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I have watched over 260 and only dropped a couple I dropped this

5/10 is my rating. This is 2023 Chinese Action Romance drama with slices of medical and fire emergency life. There are 40, approximately 45 minute episodes. Adapted from the web novel “Waiting For You in a City”

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis
Song Yan (Yang Yang) and Xu Quin (Wang Chu Ran) fell in love in high school but their social status was very different leading to Xu Quin’s mother driving them apart. After breaking off their relationship, Xu Quin leaves to study abroad.

It has been ten years since Song Yan has seen the girl who shattered his heart and he is not ready to start up where they left off when their paths cross again. He has excellled in his chosen field, firefighting, and while his goal is to become successful enough to stand before anyone it does not mean he plans to forgive and forget. Xu Quin is an emergency room doctor and finds her path crossing Song Yan’s frequently. Her desire is to win Song Yan back.

Can the two resolve the past and find a new path to love?

Review

I stopped watching after episode 9 as I found it too slow and boring. I do not know how two such exciting careers could be portrayed in such a hum drum manner but they were able to. If you like series that are heavy on the dramatic element you may be okay with It.

I do not quit watching many, I will usually muscle through if there is just one aspect I do not like. But there were so many things I did not like. i thought they seemed horrible for each other, he was whiny, she was clingy and selfish, and it was boring. I was not interested in watching another 31 episodes of a drama where I did not care if the couple got together nor to see more of their jobs.

Spoilers*

I found the male lead character whiny and abrasive. He took his moods out on everyone around him. It is not an admirable trait. His relationship with his best friend had a very gay vibe. Men do not tend to act jealous and cry over other men in a typical friendship. They were also very touchy feely to the point if they kissed I would not have been surprised. Some like boy love series and that is fine. It is not my preference so it felt misleading to have two supposedly heterosexual characters act very homosexual in their interactions with each other. I have seen the actor in other roles and he is very manly, handsome and charismatic but I was disappointed in this role.

The female lead character sees him after a decade and then rather than slowly trying to win him over she comes at him like a sledge hammer. She also did not seem to have overcome the issue with her mother making it likely she would break his heart again..

#YangYang
#WangChuRan
FireworksofmyHeart

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Heart Sizzling Romance that will hit all your feels

This is a 2023 Chinese romantic drama with 25, 45 minute episodes. It is adapted from the web novel entitled “Secretly. Secretly but unable to hide it”.

First I will provide an original synopsis then review

Synopsis

Sang Zhi (Zhao Lu Si) is your typical younger sister who engages in all the standard sibling rivalry but acually looks up to and relies on her older brother a lot. Her older brother, Sang Yan (Victor Ma) brings his best friend, Duan Jia Xu (Chen Zhe Yuan) over a lot to hang out and play video games. The spirited Sang Zhi is immediately drawn to the kind and more tolerant than her big brother, Jian Xu. She asks him to help her with some trouble she is having at school and that sets the stage for a relationship of quasi sibling hood that develops between the two. He becomes like her second brother but the good brother who never torments her. Amd she is like the mischievous amd charming little sister he never had. After all she is five years his junior and a kid still in school while he is in college. As the years go by and their relationship deepens, Sang Zhi is the first to realize the feelings she has are not at all sisterly. As things develop you realize the spark was always there and these two, who have hidden their feelings from long, even from themselves, are unable to force an ending only because of their beginning.

Review

Overall it is one of the best romantic comedy dramas I have ever watched and I am currently at over 270 Asian dramas, mostly romance, watched. There is a reason the majority of reviews are overwhelmingly positive. If you like coming of age, age gap, she falls first but then he falls harder, romances this one is perfect for all of that. If you like a lot of intrigue and plot twists then this may not be as much your ideal. The chemistry between the two leads is so on point it would be easy to understand them dating in real life. Both actors are amazing and you really feel every emotion they go through.
Spoilers*
I read several reviews where people were worried that Zhao Lu Si might be in a role where she suffers as a character, that is how much people like this actress. So for those that worry about that it is not like that. She does have some scenes where she is heart broken but they more than make up for it later. So your favorite actress is not going to be in some Nicholas Sparks like Greek tragedy. It is very heart warming and she plays the role spectacularly as I am sure, if you are a fan, you would expect.
I did not feel like the age gap was large at all. I did wonder how they would transition from their brother/sister like relationship to a romantic one but it actually made sense. It was like he also had hidden feelings for her way earlier than he even admitted to himself. They were very soul mate like so it is not at all hard to envision them gravitating toward each other. Once the brother got over the fact that his best friend was attracted to his little sister it seemed he picked up on just how perfect they were for each other. This was apparent when the brother actually stuck up for them a bit with the parents by going with Jia Xu and nodding his approval in the background.
Personally I identified with the sibling relationship between the brother and sister. My brother is 5 years older than me and our relationship was much like theirs. I did date one of his friends and he dated several of my friends (I called him the friendship killer). The difference was he actually trusted his friends to date me more than someone he didn’t know. He really should not have because his friend was one of the worst people I ever dated and I only dated just that one of his friends. So I could see where it could go either way. Of course I did not date his best friend, the one he trusted acting on his behalf, I dated just a regular one of his friends. It may have been different, and my brother may have felt betrayed more, if it was his best friend. But, because my situation was very similar I could really relate to that sibling relationship and I am sure others would as well. It was a very nice part of the series to explore that relationship.
I did not get the age gap thing being an issue once she was an adult. Five years is not a huge age gap it is within most normal ranges. The girl that played the younger Sang Xi (Zhang Xi Wei) did a fabulous job but did not look 14, she looked much younger. So, it did make the age gap seem a lot larger in their younger years. They did a remarkable job with Zhao Lu Si making her look younger than her actual years by just changing her hairstyle and makeup.
There were no compelling 2nd or 3rd romances and the love triangle was not that persistent. But the romance between the lead characters was so intense none of that was needed. It would have been nice to see the brother with someone and they did drop a hint about something when he knew so much about birthing centers and that never bore out.
I think the second most heart warming and interesting relationship was between the brother and sister. He called her “Little Demon” which was so cute as it reflected that kind of playful rivalry siblings can have for the parent’s affection. She was your typical little sister and he was very much within how most older brothers are. It also reflected what I understand about the shifting view of daughters in China. There were so few females at one point because of the one child policy and favoring boys during those times that daughters actually became precious once the policy opened up. There was a part where she was having a really hard time on her internship and she just wanted her brother. But, it showed he was accepting her relationship and even embracing it when he said you have Jia Xu.
I loved what a warrior to his defense she became when anyone was “bullying” Jia Xu. He had such a hard life because of the horrible incident surrounding his father that I wanted nothing but happiness for him. When the crazy daughter of the man who was hit and killed by Jia Xu’s father threw water at him and she, without hesitation, turned and threw water right back at her I cheered. I also loved that she made it clear to him that she did not all feel the sins of the father were his own. She even was willing to combat her brother when he beat him up. I was a bit angry with her brother for doing that as well and was disappointed when they seemed to lie about him hitting him back. The cut away scene when they showed that he actually did hit him back was a perfect way to wrap that up. I was glad he did not lie to her even to protect her brother.
In other dramas I have been disappointed when the lead would be made to distance themselves because the parents did not approve so I loved that she even took her parents on for him by leaving early when their harsh words drove him away. In really good relationships, the significant other is the first person you can count on being on your side and having your back. The depth of their relationship and connection was apparent in the fact that you could see they were hurt too when the other one was hurt either physically or mentally.
There was a separation, but it made complete sense. He was going back to her hometown to set things up for their future. And neither of them were okay with it but went through it as they knew it was the best in the long run. The scene at the airport where she wanted every last second with him and he indulged her because he actually wanted it too was so cute. I loved that they did not follow the tired trope of I must go away and I am just okay abandoning you in the middle of a deep relationship. And the reason the person is going away is usually inane and you feel like yeah I get you want to do that but why do you insist on doing it now. Or can’t you just do that with the person you love? This wasn’t like that. His going was actually because he knew how important her relationship with her family was to her and there was no reason he couldn’t resettle there as he no longer had a family tying him to his hometown. He also was taking steps to make their financial future more secure. And he wanted to make her parents more comfortable with his ability to provide and take care of her. So all of the reasons he had were good ones.
The proposal scene was just beautiful. I was fully tricked by his surprise as well. It was really sweet and seeing her family there just beaming about it was very heart warming. It was clear that they fully accepted it and that he was now going to be a part of that loving family.

#HiddenLove
#ZhaoLuSi
#VictorMa
#ChenZheYuan

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FL is cruel to ML through most of the series

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 South Korean romantic drama series with 16, 65 minute episodes. It is based on web novel “Senior, Don’t Put on that Lipstick”.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Yoon Song ah (Won Jin-ah) feels she has reached the top of her game as a marketer for a major South Korean cosmetics Brand, Her and her boyfriend, Lee Jae-shin (Lee Hyun-wook) are approaching their two year dating anniversary and she is sure he will be popping the question. Her success has led to her recruiting and training Cha Hyung-seung (Rowoon). She feels completely blind sided and betrayed when Hyung-seung reveals that her boyfriend is not only cheating but about to get married. As is often the case her initial anger is not as much at her cheating boyfriend but at the messenger. It is fairly clear that Jae-shin thought she never needed to know about the wife and he could just have her as side chick. Upon revealing her boyfriend’s deception, Hyun-seung decides to confess to her, perhaps to make her feel better but it has the opposite effect., She suspects his motives and initially tries to drive him away. Will Soon ah see Hyung-seung’s real feelings. Can she get revenge? Will true love develop from a rebound relationship?

Review

This starts really slow and I found the first episodes to be only minorly interesting. It picks up when she is dealing with her boyfriend of two years and his cheating. Then it is all about lead guy winning her over. If you like romances that are heavy on the drama with few comedic, suspenseful or mysterious moments then this might be one you would enjoy. There are some characters with deep flaws that have only minimal character growth.

Spoiler*

There was a huge disconnect between the way that the characters were acted and portrayed in the first part of the drama, and the way that they were acted and portrayed in the next part of the drama. It was not simply character growth as it happened too suddenly and radically, For instance Song ah was completely against going to Europe. They made a point of Song ah saying how much she enjoyed her company, and that it was like a part of her. It seemed to be true and also seemed like she was portraying to him that he was mire important than Europe. Her ex gets taken off the project and her mentor takes over and suddenly she could not do without Europe. And suddenly she could care less how Hyeung-seung felt about it. That was an odd reversal. In the first episodes, the ex pledged he would never give up trying to win her back then went never mind. It was even more odd that he gives up on lead girl, throws it all in with sugar mama rich girl, then decides to strike out on his own and suffer. That was such a complete reversal that the loss if his dad, who he professed to not care about, could not account for it. Also, the lead female character’s mom was very child like and selfish but she has a sudden denouement and becomes a social butterfly doing a complete flip flop from being desperately clingy to hard to reach. Peopke can change but not fundamentally and not typically in such a short period.

In regards to the situation with the sister and her husband, the chef guy, his befriending the sister, and the entire circumstances of the relationship between the three was just a confusing addition to the story . He didn’t really go after the husband in a way that made it make sense that he would cause such a rift in the relationship. The husband was a little cold and distant but it wasn’t like he sees the chef and is like oh right I was in love with him. The storyline with the chef only revealed this weird subject from his college days that he was very conflicted about. It did not show him feeling attracted to the chef or other men so him hurting his wife and little girl whom he obviously loved to continue his journey of self discovery was pointless. It was like they wanted to explore the topic of suppressing sexuality due to social pressure but they weren’t brave enough to go any further. They did not give him a gay romantic interest so it just created this weird ambiguous situation. The little girl was nine so all they would have had to do was wait until she reached adult hood and he could have continued his self searching without breaking everyone’s heart. A perfect ending to that story would have been him with a partner, her with someone that romantically loved her and the little girl happy in this blended family.

They built the little girl up to be wise beyond her years. It seemed like the purpose was going to be she would respond to her parent’s break up in a very mature way. Like yeah I knew daddy was unhappy and was interested in men I was waiting for him to realize. Or I am glad you are separating now you can find someone and be happy. But she broke down and was surprised like any kid would be. It made the whole build up of how mature she was pointless.

Maybe the cutest side romance was lead guy’s sister and the grandson of the company. He saw her and it was instant infatuation. Him moving heaven and earth to get the lipstick she liked remade was such a compelling romantic gesture. I felt like it got Netflixed a bit when she proposed to him instead if the other way around and when she was the one paying so little attention to the details of the wedding. Has to have those feminist undertones if it is on Netflix. i thought there was missed opportunity for him to favor the lead guy in the company. Like when the other manager was sabitaging the launch of the new product lead guy developed, they could have discovered it was that corrupt manager behind it, and it could have been a big reveal to him that lead guy was now an extended part of the chaebol family. It would have been fun to see him grovel. But they just dropped that story line.

I liked the way the romance between the rich sugar fiancé and lead girl’s ex played out. Tgey became friendly again but did not get together romantically. They both had serious mental issues. Her emotionally black mailing him with suicide if he was not with her was such a toxic thing I could never see them having a healthy relationship. Him just using her for what she could give him financially was also a non starter. So I liked that he finally refused to let her emotionally manipulate him. I also liked, when he was back, she had moved on.

Many reviewers say, and I completely agree, that lead girl was just mean to him. I get the “shoot the messenger” aspect if him being the one to reveal the affair so she directed her initial anger at him. I have seen that happen often in real life. But she took it beyond that and seemed to enjoy him fawning over her and returning his devotion with near disdain, But the whole Europe thing to me was unforgivable. Thatvwas after she confessed and they were in that over the moon phase of a new relationship. He asked her not to go and she ignored his heartfelt request and said she was going anyway. Then when he chose to accept it and try to make the distance relationship work she did nothing to bridge the gap instead she continually chose work over him. Then she breaks it off with him in the cruelest way possible when he came to Europe to see her. She knew his past relationship and how that ex had treated him but showed a total disregard for his feelings in much the same way. I think she broke up with him then not because she was hurting him as much as she felt guilty and wanted to pursue her selfish goals without remorse. Then she cuts her Europe assignment short professing it was because she realized her error and missed him but that did not seem genuine either. It showed her mentor essentially using her like a lackey and little joy in her work there. So it seemed the oversees job was not as wonderful as she thought so that is why she came back. After that I really did not like her and was not happy when they reunited. He at least made it a little hard for her. And what happened to his ex that proposed to keep trying to get him back? I would have liked for leadvgirl to experience some heart break seeing him with someone else and I thought perhaps that would be the case, he would get back with the ex. But she just dropped out of the storyline.

Siwon is such an unusually handsome man that it was hard to buy that he would’ve put up with her cold indifference, and even cruelty at times when you would expect, he would’ve had a lot of women very interested in him. In real life I have seen it but it’s rare. And usually it is either the woman has such an attractive personality or has an allure in the bedroom. Since he was several attractiveness levels above her you would’ve thought, at minimum, when she broke it off with him so coldly that would’ve been the end of it.


#SheWouldNeverKnow
#SeniorDon’tPutOnThat
#WonJinAh
#Rowoon
#LeeHyunWook

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Very funny and cute romance

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 Chinese romantic fantasy drama with 24, 35-47 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Nan Xing (Shen Yue) has talents at all ends of the spectrum and as a former athlete she has gained somewhat super heroin status in her ability to aid the police in stopping criminals. Another of her interests is writing fan pieces and other online literary posts so when one of her characters is criticized as lacking depth and not being villainous enough, she rewrites his character to be super bad. Little does she know that action will come back to haunt her. Because she has such a strong and unique character she scares off potential suitors who trend to the fragile femme fatale. Frustrated with her fails in the romance department she makes a spontaneous wish for unforgettable love in front of Fairy Zhen's water fountain. At first she does not realize that the appearance of the villain from her web novel, Xiao Wudi (Chen Zhe Yuan) is connected to her wish for love. Having a character come to life is startling enough and why would she think a villain is her heart’s desire? Xiao Wudi is not pleased to be summoned from his past world and by none other than Nan Xing, a woman he does not find suitable as a romantic partner. Threatening to expose his presence to her mother, Xiao Wudi gets Nan Xing to allow him to stay in her spare apartment next door. He is able to gain some wealth and independence in this new to him world by selling jewelry he was wearing. He also learns all about this time 500 years in his future by using his photographic memory to absorb reference materials. He plans to carve out his own life in this new realm until he discovers Nan Xing can summon him, from wherever he is, when she needs boyfriend like services. Since he was pulled from his world to satisfy Nan Xing's wish for an unforgettable love, Xiao Wudi determines if he plays fairy godfather/cupid and finds an unforgettable love for Nan Xing, he can return to his world. After all nothing in the wish fulfillment dictates that unforgettable love must be him. However the mire time Xiao Wudi spends around Nan Xing transforming her into an ideal romantic partner, the less villainous he feels toward her. He was after all summoned by magic as her unforgettable love and fate might have known its business.

Review

If you like heart warming romance that is not overly complicated and ends happy then I highly recommend this one. I laughed so often at Zhe Yuan’s antics. I thought the main couple were believable as I could see two people such as them fall for each other. The story was well paced and there was resoltion to all major plot points and a very happy, well developed, ending.

Spoilers

It was a little odd that Nan Xing makes a wish, this character from her story appears, and then that is not even a big part of the story. She seemed incredibly underwhelmed that this strange miracle just happened. Some people thought, in the end, when she was reading parts of her novel to her fans, that the whole thing had been a dream and never happened. She did say some things like that about time travel and all but I just took that as the “cover story” so no one would examine her relationship further. He did have her childhood love’s identity but the mother never acted like he was her actual son.

Xiao Wudi did not show any obvious magical ability in the beginning. She could summon him but that magic seemed external to him. He used what seemed like concrete physical abilities for most of the series. So I thought it was odd when he was suddenly able to fly around like when he wanted to prove the story to the mother. He was not a God or any other supernatural so they did not integrate nor explain that ability well.

I thought it was strange that he was not her made up character after all. They never explained how this character made up by two people independently would have the same name and so many similar characteristics. They were calling him a hero when he went back to the past but there was no details on what made him heroic.

The love she had for her childhood sweetheart was not at all compelling as, up until the fire, he was fairly cruel to her. It felt very much like “he pulls your pig tails because he likes you.” So I never found that unrequited love that was actually requited angle very engaging. To me it felt like he was meant to be the reincarnated son, but for some reason they never went that route, but they had everything set up for that to be the case. Instead, he just had some of his memories for some reason we never really fully got to understand.

When he was desperate to find her the unforgettable love and set her up with all the potential Mr. Rights he dressed her so over the top then set her up with the most ridiculous possibles but then acted confused when she was mad at him about it. He did not dress her well as an actual potential marriage partner but perhaps as an escort. It was unfortunate there was no friend or other outside character to point out to him that he had foiled his own attempt, perhaps deliberately, as he was already starting to like her.

The lead male character‘s animosity towards Nan Xing’s boss, never made a lot of sense, because he was never set up to be a romantic rival as he never showed any interest in her that way. It was like they were Frenemies for no real reason. I determined he acted that way towards him simply because he didn’t like anybody else having her attention but that was never made clear that that was his motivation.

I honestly was just never very interested in the second couple. They were sort of late in telling us their backstory, which helped in understanding why he was so into her. Without knowing their backstory, and the fact that they had a romantic thing going until she made the agreement with his dad, it made no sense why he was doggedly pursuing her, as there was no clear basis for his feelings. They were such opposites that understanding their tie was important to getting their romance.

It was weird that they made the female President of the company out to be a tragic character like she sacrificed so much taking on that role was a little hard to swallow. Being that high up in any company in any country in the world is a hard roll to get and a lot of people would dream to have that job even if it didn’t pay a lot. She did not seem picked on holding such a rare position, that she excelled at, if not for the wealth then just for the status and prestige that came with it. The fact that the company was successful indicated there must’ve been some cash flowing in or they wouldn’t have continued, she had to of been making some money. Ifshe really did not want to work in that job she had built her resume enough to work elsewhere. President Ye striking out on her own and working with her family in the restaurant was weird because it did not seem preferable to being some high-powered president of a company. Then she comes back but only as his assistant. I cannot see anybody being happy dropping rank and influence. I mean if you hate it that much, get an a vice president that can take on some of the responsibility when you’re gone. That also made their relationship a bit awkward because it made it like she sacrificed the whole time when it felt like she really only sacrificed in the beginning.

The wedding night to me was cringy. Their awkward physical advances was unnecessary. That is usually left to the imagination and I am fine with that. The may I this can I that made it weird. And seeing the kids and so forth felt like a little too much of their after the happily ever after.

Having the other office couple catch the boquet and confess at their wedding was not good timing for a third romance.

#MrBad .
#ChenZheYuan
#ShenYue

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Cheesy romance with Romeo and Juliet ish vibes

7/10 is my rating. This is a 2014 South Korean romantic comedy drama with 16 ,~60 minute episodes. Also known as the hundred year bride.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Na Doo Rim (Yang Jin sung) agrees to impersonate a wealthy heiress for a hefty sum of money not knowing she is subjecting herself to a curse. It seems the Choi family, who own the Taeyang group, a major South Korean conglomerate, have been under a hundred year curse. As her luck would have it she looks exactly like rich heiress Jang Yi Kyung (Yang Jin sung) who was set to marry the eldest son of the Choi family which would have triggered the curse. The curse is the first bride if the eldest son always dies and now Na Doo Rim is in the role of that first bride. It is an arranged marriage for business reasons and the eldest son, Choi Kang Joo (Lee Hong ki) did not love Jang Yi Kyung his would be bride. When Jang Yi Kyung disappears, in their desperation to keep the wedding going forward, the Jang family finds doppelgänger Doo Rim. But the two women only physically look alike and are opposites in nearly every other way. Where the heiress is rich, Doo Rim is poor, where the heiress has a cold, indifferent personality, Doo Rim is warm and bubbly. Choi Kang Joo does not know his bride has been swapped but finds he is seeing a new aspect to his fiancee and he likes this new leaf he thinks Jang Yi Kyung turned over. He surprisingly falls in love with this woman when he thought it would be a marriage of convenience and he would keep a distance. Na Doo Rim realizes Choi Kang Joo is kind under his cold exterior and falls for him as well. But what will happen if Choi Kang Joo discovers he was deceived? What if the real Jang Yi Kyung returns? And will Na Doo Rim become the victim of the curse?

Review

If you consider in 2023 this is now about a decade old it is easier to overlook some but not all of the way the romance is portrayed. There are rare instances where people fall in love pretty much at first sight although I would argue that that’s not love at the beginning it’s more love the way the person looks but love can develop from that. In this series it’s not love at first sight but It is a bit of a quick transition from him being mostly indifferent, but perhaps a little intrigued with her to having some kind of undying love for her. For her to fall for him it was a little bit hard to understand because he was so arrogant and cold for so long that it also felt like she just suddenly decided she was deeply in love with him. It is a good example of romance during that time frame where you did not have a slow build up to love. If you want a point in time romance that has all the flavors and tropes of romances a decade ago you might
like it. If you are a fan of FT Island’s Lee Hong ki you might watch just to see him in this role. He also sings a lot of the songs for the series.

Spoilers

I depart from a lot of other reviewer‘s in that I thought a lot of the romantic scenes were over the top and cheesy in the things they said and gestures they made regarding their romantic feelings. Like I thought Na Doo Rim saying that she didn’t care if she died as long as she got to be his bride for a day, was not something anybody, but perhaps a teenage girl in their overly dramatic hormonally driven phase, would say or think about someone they knew such a short time. Her overly dramatic actions around being apart from him were out of her earlier character and not something a grown woman would typically say or think. Most mature women would realize that no love is truly worth just a single day unless you’re suicidal and then I would say you need mental health help. To add to the over the top love at all costs element when Kang joo is pushing her away because of fear of the curse she jumps in front of a car and uses emotional blackmail to get him to listen to her. To me that was completely an immature action, and it didn’t suit her earlier character where she is very responsible, and if anything, somewhat mature for her age. I also thought he changed a lot in terms of he just suddenly had this undying love for her which didn’t fit or makes sense. I am not a “giving your heart” fan. If you give your heart to someone they have absolute control of it and that is not a healthy dynamic. Having someone in your heart is a better way as that means they have a place in your heart but not absolute control. It is a healthier love.

The whole ghost angle, wound up being rather disappointing. It was not a curse but rather a trick. It was a twist, and I generally like twists, but in this case it detracted rather than added to the story. Since the ghost was not deadly, it was ironic that it wound up being the people around the First Bride, that were more of a danger to her than the “family curse.” I thought it was completely out of character for Doo rim to be willing to sacrifice her life and leave the grandmother she loved so much. I felt like in the latter half of the series a lot of what she did seemed selfish, and that she didn’t care if she hurt the people around her as long as she could be with Kang Joo. It had a very tragically fatalist vibe like Romeo and Juliet but those characters were much younger so their over the top made more sense for immature teenagers to respond that way.

There was way too much forgiveness of atrocious behavior for me. For example, I did not like that they tried to make the murderous grandmother a sympathetic character, and that somehow her guilt was enough to absolve her of murdering somebody. The fact that Kang joo’s mother was willing to make her son marry Yi kyung simply to cover her mother and to avoid some damage to the family business made me like her less. After being such a strong and formidable character through most of the series, it was ridiculous that she would allow herself to be black mailed. Yi kyung’s mother had nearly murdered her own step son and Doo rim, and Kang joo’s mother could’ve turned that into the police as a current crime where the grandmother’s crime occurred long ago. I get that Doo rim was supposed to be some super magnanimous person but she over forgave so many it made her seem a push over. She forgave Yi kyung who had no problem her dying as first bride and did not care her mother attempted to murder Doo rim. She forgave both Kang joo and Yi kyung’s mothers who were willing to have her die under the curse.

It was such a minor point that the grandmother was a runaway bride that it simply distracted from the main plot elements. And I had really liked the grandmother to that point but, after her confession, she was also a flawed character. I mean if she that adamantly did not want to marry why wait until the wedding night to make your break? I am assuming her family had already derived whatever benefit. I know part if it was to reveal the origins of the curse lore but it conficted, a bit, with what the ghost said. The grandmother’s husband said he spread it to discourage the well positioned brides from marrying him so he could marry her. The ghost said it was a true love test. I realize the meaning of such things can twist over time but she is this all seeing ghost so why didn’t she reveal the full story? And the reveal of why Doo rim and Yi kyung looked identical, that the ghost visited baby Yi kyung and changed her features was silly. How would a ghost have that power? And it never explained why she did that. It leads you to think she saw the future and set the whole thing up but again, how does a ghost have that power?

There was a reincarnation angle as it seemed the ghost, Yi kyung’s mother, and Doo rim were all tied together in the past. It was an important aspect but was not even hinted at until late in the series. The ghost changed Yi kyung’s features ensuring the ancestor she was protecting, Kang joo, would have a better suited bride. Or at least Ithink that is why it never really says.

#LeeHongKi
#YangJinSung
#BrideoftheCentury
#TheHundredYearBride

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Starts out cute and is good 3/4 of the way but loses its way the last episodes though ends happy

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 Chinese romantic comedy drama with 24, 41 minute episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then review

Synopsis

Xiaobao (Sun Sicheng) tends to create a whirlwind of chaos wherever her goes. He is the only child being raised by single father, He Qiaoyan (Wei Zheming), CEO of Heshi Group. He is non verbal and instead holds up cards to communicate with others. He has burned through nannies and doctors until he meets Qin Yiyue (Hu Yixuan), a child psychologist, who Xiabao takes an immediate liking to. At first opposed to having Xiabao work with the young, eccentric doctor, his son’s earnest desire to befriend Yiyue convinces the robotic like CEO that she may be the one that can help his son. After overcoming her original reluctance, Qiaoyan gets Yiyue to agree to a contract marriage for Xiaobao (Sun Sicheng). But what starts as a business arrangement as the two very different people find that lobe cam blossom in unlikely places. Turns out the sweet, warm amd highly capable psychologist is a perfect foil for the distant, cold and logic centered CEO.

Review

Overall a good not great heart warming romantic comedy. I like both leads and look for them in other series. They have great chemistry and the romance between them is well paced and believable. Anyone who likes the single parent, Cinderella, and cold executive tropes will like it for those reasons.n That being said there were some plot holes and character inconsistencies that developed toward the end. But it was a happy ending just some odd twists and turns immediately prior.

Spoilers*

I liked the first 3/4 of the show so much I would likely have considered it a 9 or 9.5 out if 10. But then the writers seemed to lose their way in tying up the mystery and ending the story. The strange directions they took the main plot and subplots decreased the value of the series in my opinion. For one here she is supposed to be a uniquely talented psychologist but when she finds out he had major past trauma that he may be blocking she decides breaking up with him is best. Like breaking his heart in the middle of a mental health crisis is better than him remembering past trauma. They also act like well he has PTSD so he is just a lost cause. Two talented psychologists do not know how to deal with PTSD. That did not make sense. In facy Yiyue listens to the Aunt, who has no psychological training, and who has stated she doesn’t think Yiyue is socioeconomically good enough for Qiaoyan. The Aunt tells Yiyue she needs to leave Qiaoyan and Xiabao and never show up in front of them because her presence would be a reminder of the accident. And she was clueless because Qiaoyan has never gotten over the accident because he struggles to remember the details So he has regular nightmares. But Yiyue listens to the Aunt, who so obviously might have selfish motivations, and goes against what she should have learned as a psychologist, and breaks it off even “giving” him to her love rival. Like that is not psychologically damaging or hurtful. And Qiaoyan, who had been robotically stoic to this point, uncharacteristically falls all apart when he finds out he was the driver. It would have made sense for him to be sad or feel guilty but to fall apart to the extent he did was out of character. Then Yiyue comes up with this “dream of hers to go to Germany” thing and it is the first we heard of it. If the main character supposedly had this long term dream it makes no sense to only hear about it in the last episodes. If she had been faking it to provide a reason for the break up to Qiaoyan it would have made a little sense but no, she verifies it to her parents and friends. When she realizes that Qiaoyan has learned of the past and is in acute mental crisis ,she says screw Germany I am staying as they need me (like really “brilliant” psychologist, you only now realize that?) but then she randomly gets kidnapped. When Xiaobao tells him mommy was kidnapped he chases the kidnappers down and winds up putting his car in front of theirs to stop them. Then he wakes up in the hospital and Yiyue tells him the reason she was kidnapped and why the accident that killed his brother wasn’t his fault because his rival company found out his brother had dirt on them and they caused the accident. These arch rival/enemies were new to these last episodes. I think they were trying for a surprising plot twist but it was just weird and confusing, She was distancing herself, then he was, then she was and it went back and forth like that netween them a lot. And through all the adult’s nonsense there was Xiaobao. He was always snapping the adults out of it. Xiaobao was better at psychology than Yiyue. Like in the last few episodes when his dad was being an emotional zombie, Xiaobao used calling Qiaoyan daddy to get him to snap out of his psychological funk and it worked. So that gets sorted and it seems Yiyue has finally given up on going to Germany. Whicj was a stupid thing because it came out if nowhere. But the writers were not done with Germany because Qiaoyan suddenly is like you should go to Germany because it was always your dream. And she is like you are right that was always my dream (it wasn’t) so I am going to go to Germany and we will have a long distance relationship because right after you barely recovered psychologically and when Xiaobao is finally experiencing some stability - that is the best time for me to leave and pursue my dream. Then they have the weirdest long distance relationships and it seems she is really bad at it because even Xiaobao comments, anout not hearing or seeing her much. But then she is coming back and plays a prank about not coming back but then is back but we do not know why or how long. If it sounds chaotic it was. The writers just lost their way in those last episodes forgot some key characteristics of their characters and had them doing all kinds of things odd for their character. They also threw in some random elements then just rushed through them.

#UnforgettableLove
#WeiZheming
#SunSicheng
#HuYixuan

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A very good work place centered, love over the long term romance

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Chinese romantic comedy drama series with 32, 45-52 minute episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then review

Synopsis

Xiang Yuan (Wu Qian a.k.a Janice Wu) is living a carefree life as a top gamer/influencer when her grandfather’s threats of blind dates and marriage lead her to strike a deal for her continued freedom. If she can save the Xi'an branch of the Donghue group from bankruptcy her grandfather, and guardian since her parent’s early deaths, will drop the subject of marriage. Grandfather is confident he will win their deal and even gives her three feathers to be used for favors toward accomplishing her mission. She does not realize that the boy she was in love with in school, Xu Yanshi (Vin Zhang), who rejected her before transferring, is now a mature but still devastatingly handsome man, who works at the Xi’an branch of her company. Prior to being rejected, Xiang Yuan pursued Xu Yanshi throughout their school years. Seeing him again she initially takes up with trying to win his affection then remembers a romantic relationship leading to marriage is the very thing she was avoiding. As a brilliant navigation engineer, he is almost single handedly keeping the company afloat. So they must work closely together to save the ailing branch. The feelings that were always there spring back to life only now it is Xiang Yuan that realizes his feelings for Xiang Yuan and seeks to convince her he still is the one for her. Can the two save the company? Will their second chance at romance end happily?

Review

It is overall a feel good love story with a happy ending. The only person the female lead character is a push over for is Xu Yanshi. She is strong, confident and provides instant karma to those who need it. In their younger years she relentlessly pursues Yanshi and is rejected by him several times. When things finally flip and he is the one pursuing her she slowly finds out his feelings ran longer and deeper than the rejections would indicate. We also get to see her grow from a heir without a lot of confidence in her business acumen to a force to be reckoned with who is capable of running the family conglomerate. I liked it very much and would recommend it to others that like modern romantic comedy dramas. I loved several of the OST songs from this.

Spoilers

Toward the end both main characters make some decisions that were inconsistent with their central character traits to that point. For instance Yanshi is suddenly OK with her significant other being gone, long periods of time when she found that extremely hurtful as a child when her mother did the same. I know they tried to spin it that she changed it and now as an adult she finally understands why her mother was so focused on her research, but I don’t care being absent is being absent. They also tried to make it into the love of country and ability to bring your country to the next technological level is more important than personal family relationships, and it felt like it had a very heavy CCP influence on that aspect. Not to say that the United States doesn’t do the same thing with some of the patriotic aspects to movies , but in this, it just felt like they took one direction through the majority of the movie with putting more focus and care on personal relationships to only at the very end make it so that yeah but it’s OK if you’re furthering the interest of the country. That love of country over family was also contradictory to Yancey‘s personality, because that had been his dream early on but so many things in his life had come along that changed his perspective on that it seemed like a reversal. Rather than having his time tied up on a research track and being absentee he could have continued on the business track and still furthered the technology yet had more time with her and their son. They specifically emphasized he did not regret, taking a step back from his dreams to raise his brother and iIn fact, he felt like that was one of his greatest gifts. Therefor it made no sense that he would be an absentee with his child, and would spend less time with his own family to focus on his dream when he quickly altered his goal and dream to raise his brother. So the ending is happy, but would have been better if he had revealed that had been his dream early on but his love for her and being there for his family was his new dream.

I thought what Yanshi’s mentor said to Yuan about being selfish, and, holding Yanshi back from his dream, was not only uncalled for and unmerited, but extremely rude and unkind. Later they portrayed it as he was really embarrassed about it when he realize that wasn’t the case but I wanted the moment where lead guy set him straight and said yes, that was my dream when I was younger, but now that I have Yuan my goals have shifted. That would have been more satisfying. I also thought that it was his mentor being selfish and living vicariously through Yanshi that resulted in him pushing so hard for Yanshi to join the academy.

I could see her point that she did not want him to give up his dream to help save her family’s company. What thought he should point out was that if he pursued his dream and her company went bankrupt when he could have saved it - he would not have felt good about that either.

#JaniceWu
#HereWeMeetAgain
#WuQian
#VinZhang

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You are more likely to like it better if you did not read the webtoon

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 South Korean paranormal romance drama with 12, 70 minute episodes. It is based on a very popular webtoon of the same name.

First I provide a synopsis then review.

Synopsis

If you not only reincarnated but were able to remember all your past lives you would excel at many things but feel isolated and lonely. Ban Ji-eum (Shin Hye-sun) considers her "ability" a curse until something haopens in one of her lives that changes her mind. After reincarnating for nearly 1000 years Ji-eum meets someone in her eighteenth life that makes her happy she can remember. When her life is cut short by an accident, she vows to find him, Moon Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun) and make him fall for her again. It is not easy though because Seo-ha experienced a lot of trauma from losing his mother at a young age, the accident and feeling guilty and responsible for Ji-eum's death. So when the ever persistent Ji-eum shows up he is now t sure he wants to entangle himself with this odd woman. But fate and familiarity will have their say and the 19th life may be the one that counts.

Review

When I read some reviews I noticed a trend where those that read the webtoon were, in general, less satisfied with tge direction things took in the last part if the series. This started really well. I loved her confident, spunky, knew how to do about everything personality. Her relentless pursuit of Seo-ha was entertaining. The 2nd couple was also cute. I did not read the webtoon but even for me it felt like they destroyed the story toward the end. Watch it for the interesting story and slow build romance for both couples. It is heavy in the 1st love aspect. It is a deep thinking topic for anyone interested in reincarnation. It also visits several historical points in her flash backs to previous lives. It is a happy ending if you can accept the strange twist it takes.

Spoilers*
My daughter read the webtoon and said that female lead character did not reincarnate due to a revenge arc like was portrayed in the drama but rather she lost her twin sister through murder and was reincarnating to be reunited. So that was very different. In the drama anyone who found out she was reincarnated suffered bad consequences such as strange ailments. It was weird within the drama as there was no sensible reason that would be the case. And apparently that was never a thing in the webtoon., there were no ill consequences of finding out she reincarnated. In the webtoon Ha Do-yoon (Ahn Dong goo) was her reincarnated sister and that was a surprising twist. In the drama. He was not her reincarnated sister he was a man in her 1st life, a side character, and he looked exactly as he did in her 19th life. In her 19th life her sister had reincarnated as Yoon Cho won (Ha Yoon kyung) and she also looked exactly as she did in her 1st life. There is also a character in the drama who murdered Ji-eum in her 1st life, who also was continually reincarnated and remembered his past lives. He got close to Ji Eum and wanted her to remember so they could break the cycle because, in the drama, Ji Eum created the situation where they reincarnated and remembered as she vowed to not forget and get revenge. In the drama Seo ha's mom had reincarnated and was watching over him to remedy an injustice around his attempted murder. So it makes it seem like remembering past lives is common. In the webtoon there was just her and another character. Then, the reincarnated mom, makes a decision to do some ritual somehow the murdery guy knew about where she stops remembering past lives. Main female lead sees her after and it was like, not only did she no longer recall, but her personality was different. Somehow that makes lead girl decide to do the same. Supposedly it fixes all those suffering harm from knowing about reincarnations if you are just willing to do some weird ritual that makes you selectively forget. And lead girl is like yes I struggled to get everyone to like me and accept that I reincarnated but now I just want to forget all about all of that. It was cool she knew so many languages, had so many skills and had historical knowledge, it added a lot of depth to her character but then that is all wiped clean. So then this now different person who somehow remembers how to be an engineer from her 19th life but not where the ring on her finger came from. But all the people she met in her 19th life remember her and all that but now it doesn't make them sick somehow. So then he relentlessly pursues her. But there was this slow build romance to that point with him and the super cool her who could do all these things but niw there is this renewed her that he is determined to make love him. If you can completely suspend your belief that things you experience shape who you are I guess you could buy off on that. Realizing some changes need to be made to adapt it to drama but many just seemed unnecessary.

#ShinHyeSun
#AhnBohyun
#SeeYouInMy19thLife.

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Neither are perfect but they are perfect for each other

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 Chinese romantic comedy drama with 24, 45 minute episodes.

First I will provide a synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Zhang Si Zian (Wei Zhe Ming) is a genius level math professor who is handsome, wealthy and generally seems to have it all. His personality is on the coldly logical side and his emotional intelligence is only slightly better than a robot. Yun Shu (Xu Ruo Han) Is almost the direct opposite she is so warm, calm and caring that she is easily swindled. She has to work hard for academic success. A series of unfortunate events for Yun Shu leads her to rely on Si Zian for a place to live. Si Zian’s grandfather meets Yun Shun in a chance encounter and thinks this ray of sunshine would be the perfect match for his grandson who lacks warmth in his life. Now that Yun Shu is no longer a student, they have no reason not to please Si Zian’s terminally ill grandfather’s wish and strike a deal for a secret comtract marriage. What they find is grandfather may have had it right about them all along, they balance each other beautifully. But love that starts under such unusual circumstances is never easy and the two must decide if they want their comtract to become the real deal.

Review

This is a well paced, relatively straight forward plot, with a lot if really engaging characters.
The way the lead couple compliment each other makes it easy to see why they would fall in love. When she thinks she is not right because rhey are too different the grandfather says two parallel lines never intersect. That was such a profound and brilliant way to state it. Being too different can be a problem if it is not complimentary but being exactly the same can be boring. I like that having the Male Lead’s support made her absolutely flourish. And the grandfather as the match maker was cute! He fell in love with her as a granddaughter candidate and knew she was perfect for his grandson who needed someone sweet and warm to offset his cooly logical personality. It ended happy and all major story lines were wrapped up.

Spoilers
Practically perfect but it did end with some question marks. Did the grandfather ever go for treatment? Was the reconciliation of her two best friends as a couple successful? What happened with her webtoon career because it was taking off then she did not go abroad so how bad was it derailed? It would have been good to see her sister and her actor boyfriend fully together. It ended with him on relationship “probation.”

#PerfectandCasual
#WeiZheMing
#XuRuoHan

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Expect to lose sleep in binge watch sessions

8,5/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 Chinese romantic comedy drama with 30, 45 minute episodes

First I will provide a synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Lu Li (Zhu Xu Dan) has shaped her life to be around the man she fell in love with. Her singular focus to become the type of woman to win Jiang Yi Cheng’s (Xing Zhao Lin) heart, led her to not only majoring in the same program focusing on computer programming but even attending the same college. When she was unable to get Yi Cheng’s attention as a student, her plan shifted to working at his company. That plan hits a snag when it is revealed Jiang Yi Cheng's company does not recruit female employees. Not to be deterred, Lu Li disguises herself as a man to get hired with the intention of revealing her true gender after she has proven her worth. Jiang Yi finds himself attracted to this very feminine looking new male employee such that it is a relief when he discovers “he” is actually a she. Since he discovered it before the intentional reveal he is initially angry that he was duped. But his mother, who was already pressuring marriage, is happy when she discovers her son is not interested in a relationship with a man after all and is happy to pressure her son to make this person he showed interest in her daughter-in-law. To satisfy his mother, and yet not be forced into a relationship, Yi Cheng secretly strikes a deal with Lu Li to do a one year contract marriage and work at his company. Lu Li plans to win his heart and turn their fake marriage into the real thing.

Review

There were so many big milestone events I found this was one I could not stop watching even when I had work the next day. I would be like I am watching it until he figures out she is a girl, I am watching it until they kiss, I am watching it until they are married, I am watching it until she gets tired of his cheating, I am watching it until he discovers where she is, I am watching it until they reconcile, and so on. They did such a food job with the plot there was always something big going in that you wanted to see what happened with this or that. If you like heart warming romances with a strong female lead do not let the early part of this deter you, it would lead you to think she is a push over and simply too nice. But she comes into her own later in the series, so it is worth sticking with it, You might also think in the first half that he is always going to be somewhat cold and unfeeling toward the main girl but when he falls he falls hard. The slice of life of a female in a non traditional job in China adds a uniqueness to the story. I recommend this for those that like romances with happy, well wrapped up, endings and lighter, less complex plots. Those that like characters in disguise, cold CEOs, love triangles, surprise pregnancies, and women in non traditional roles will also like this.

Spoilers
It was cringy early on how little she looked like a guy. She was way too pretty and feminine to pass for a guy so I was glad, at least, they commented about it a lot and we did not go through too many episodes until he discovered she was a girl. The scene in the horse where he would have been cuddled up to what he thought was a guy caused a lot if 2nd hand embarrassment for me. i was super glad she was “discovered” and switched to a woman in like episode 7 or so. Up to episode 20/21 I was getting frustrated she was putting up with his emotional cheating. Even in a contract marriage, you should not do things that embarass the other person. If people think you are in a genuine relationship, having people pity you because they think you are being cheated on is humiliating and hurtful. So he should have realized that. She was so sweet to him and his behavior toward her was cold and cruel at times. I was cheering her on when she ate the stinky noodles right outside his room. And when she would stick up for herself and ignore him or defy him I thought he was getting a little bit of the punishment he deserved. The “other” woman/ex girlfriend was inferior to lead girl in every way. She was way less attractive yet they stated several times how pretty she was. Her personality was seriously lacking so that other men did not seem interested in her at all. It made it hard to understand what he ever saw in her and even angrier at him for the way he treated his wife.

When Lu Lin finally left him I was cheering so hard internally. No one ever needed a lesson more than he did. It showed her strength of character that she went to a new city, far away, and set herself up and was doing well. Her unlikely romantic interest/turned out to be just what she needed was awesome. You could have seen an alternate reality where she was forget Yi Cheng and went for the hottie new boss. He was cute with her and it was apparent he was a ladies man at that stage where he was ready for someone to knock him off his feet.
I have experienced a few guys like that in my life. Hard to catch but when they actually encounter someone who does not fall for their Romeo ways they fall for her. I would have liked to know what happened with him and his forced fiancé.

When the sister saw Yi Cheng with the ex girlfriend at the mall I thought she was going to let him have it. When he told her the girl was just misunderstood previously and she flipped so easy to accepting her excuse and mentioning her brother now had two romantic interests aI was very disappointed. She essentially helped her brother cover up his very bad behavior.

The Lu Jingwen (Pang Han Chen) character gave me serious Siwon vibes (Korean singer with Super Junior). In the show he is the boss who hires Lu Lin and has serious romantic interest in her until he discovers her heart is totally taken by Yi Cheng. You won’t get the Siwon vibe just looking at a picture of him it is more like a slight resemblance but his expressions and mannerisms totally remind me of Siwon. I love the role he plays because he expects a lot of her and yet he protects her and is her biggest advocate, He makes it very clear to lead guy you treat her right or I am right here.

In reality the character transformation Yi Cheng went through rarely happens and if it does it is not lasting. In my experience men and women who are cheaters, whether emotional or physical or both very rarely significantly change. Especially if they never fully understand how what they did was cheating. The show portrayed that Yi Cheng saw the error of his ways and would never do something like that again, but odds are that he would. The fact that so much had to happen for him to understand his actions were wrong shows that, at his core, he feels that behavior was okay. That would not make for a good romance though. And perhaps her showing what would happen to him if he ever did something like that again would deter him.

#CuteProgrammer
#XingZhaoLin
#ZhuXuDan
#YiDaQin
#GuanXin
#TianZiTong
#PangHanChen

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Heart warming, happy ending, contract like marriage, cool executive who melts, cinderellaesque

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Chinese Romantic drama with 30, 20 minute episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Qi Si Le (Jade Cheng) feels very fortunate to be a mom even though she is single and has to suffer the brutal corporate world where women in general and single mothers in particular are not held in the highest regard. However, she is willing to do whatever it takes (except compromise her morality) to earn enough to get her beloved daughter, Xuan Xuan (Huang Bo Si), life saving surgery. That is why, when she needs to land an important account, she sets her sights on convincing company President Hao Yu to select her firm for his advertising need. Running into each other outside of the business setting, Hao Yu notices that both children, who are the same age, have a very distinctive broach from their mothers. Not only are they the same age but they also have the same birthday. All the connections make Hao Yu suspect that Si Le and Xuan Xuan have ties to his family. When a secret genetics test reveals that Xuan Xuan’s is indeed genetically related, Hao Yu proposes to Si Le. Although reluctant at first Hao Yu’s generous and gentle actions toward Si Le and Xuan Xuan lead her to think he is being sincere so she ultimately accepts. However not all is as it seems and as real feelings develop it is uncertain if the budding relationship can survive the initial deception.

Review

Overall a heart warming romantic drama. She and he are both single parents which, right there, puts a unique spin on things. There is mystery surrounding the kids and who the other parent is. She is pretty but not beautiful so it has that sort of single girl next door vibe. He is the cold executive who warms up and becomes the perfect, doting husband. Their relationship was founded on deception without true love, but they grow to love each other deeply, so it has similar aspects as a contract marriage. The side characters are interesting and their romances are also compelling. The kids are adorable. She is a jewelry designer so that is a bit of a slice of that profession. I highly recommend it for those that like happy ending romances with a female character who sticks up for herself when it counts. If you like the Cinderella like story of an impoverished single mother climbing out of poverty this is a good one on that front. Cool executive type that melts for main girl this has that. Love triangles of course. Great friendships. It hits a lot of the tried and true tropes that drama fans tend to like.

Spoilers
This had one of the most second hand embarrassment/cringy moments I have experienced in watching over 300 Asian dramas. Hao Yu is rich, handsome and well connected and has many women chasing him for relationships and marriage. Si Le is barely making it and has no power or influence. She is pretty but not beautiful still men are interested but she is not what would be considered a catch because of her status as a single mother and a relatively unstable professional history. When Hao Yui unexpectedly proposed to her she turned him down as she thought it was pity. That made sense and is what any woman with an ounce if pride would have done. Then, when Xuan Xuan takes a turn for the worse, and he is right there caring for and nursing the little girl and comforting Si Le, she suddenly decides he cares about them both a lot. What would have made sense would be to ask if the proposal still stood now that he knows the child had a serious health condition. But no. Si Le decides to do him a favor and agree to be his son’s mother (okay that is a big deal) but announces she will be Hao Yu’s wife as if she is doing something big for him being his wife. And that is not the worst, she makes this announcement with some weird wedding veil she made from something in the hospital and a bouquet that materialized. He had expressed his interest with a trunk full of beautiful roses (which it turns out she was horribly allergic to but there is no way he would know that) and she reciprocates with a table cloth on her head and an I will do YOU the honor. I am still cringing the next day. So that was an unecessary way for her to accept his proposal and detracted a bit for me. I had to get over it and was nervous it would not be good enough to make up for the cringe but it was.

Later, when she finds out he tricked her and did not care for her when he proposed she is naturally hurt and is on the brink of divorcing him. Ok I get it he was a jerk the way he did it back then and deserved her anger but I thought she took it way too far. And she wasn’t believing him but was believing the villainous second guy who she knew had lied and also deceived her. She would believe villian guy over the man she supposedly loved. But the worst of that was when she decided to leave Hao Yui to go to her parent’s house then lies to the children and leaves the little boy behind. He chases the car down the street hysterically and falls in the road. Not only could I not do something that selfish and heartless to a child I loved and was the mother for but I could not be that heartless with any child. It made me mad at her character.

It was crazy and cute how Si Le was able to turn all her romantic rivals into close friends. I have never seen it like that but it was one of the most heart warming and cute aspects of the series.

The show was good enough even with these detractors I highly recommend it.

#PleaseBeMyFamily
#BinbinXie
#JadeCheng

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If you like cold CEO, Cinderella and just a light hearted romantic comedy this is for you

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 Chinese Romance Drama with 24, 45 minute episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then review

Synopsis

Gu Xixi (Wang Yu Wen) is a fashion buyer who dreams of opening her own store to sell her line of fashion designs. In need of a difficult to purchase item for a client she pretends to be with Yin Sichen (Wang Zi Qi) the CEO of a mall and son of a very wealthy conglomerate family. Not one to be used for nothing, Yin Sichen helps Gu Xixi catch the attention of the designer whose item she needs to purchase but then uses that to make her beholden to him. The designer is also someone Sichen wants to strike a deal with to feature his fashion in his malls. The designer, Alex, takes an interest in the two thinking they are an ideal couple to promote his wedding dress line. To seal the deal with the eccentric designer he gets Xixi to be his contracted wife for three months. Xixi is in need of cash so she agrees to the arrangement. As the two spend time together as a “married” couple real feelings begin to grow.

Review

This is just the perfect romantic comedy. The two lead’s chemistry is off the charts. Sichen starts as the arrogant, bossy and aloof CEO but turns into the most attentive and doting husband when he discovers his feelings. Xixi is bright and sweet and wins almost everyone over very quickly. If you like heart warming romance you will live this. If you like the Cinderella and cold CEO tropes this is very good in both those aspects. It does not have a deep complex plot and there are no real twists but if you are looking for bubbly romance you don’t want all that anyway.

Spoilers*. This does not have the tired mother in law buying off the girlfriend or boyfriend trope. The mother became one of my favorite characters. My mother in law was wealthy and flew in to our wedding on a private jet to tell my fiance it wasn‘t too late to change his mind. Life can truely be stranger than fiction, So I am never surprised when one of the mothers are cruel. I expected his mother to take the side of his childhood friend who thought he was hers but she did not, instead she said how she was a great sister to her son. The grandmother was Betty White level enjoyable older character. The female protagonist was a crazy stalker and one of the best moments was when Xixi told her you do not do things to hurt those you love. Inalso cheered when her best friend tricked evil girl into insulting her own fashion choice to reveal her wicked tricks. Second guy was steadfastly there for lead girl but he never did anything hurtful. He was like a foil for the 2nd female showing how you can show your love by wishing the target if your affection happiness even if it is not with you. The only couple I was not a huge fan of was his friend and the austere career woman. I did not dislike their relationship I just did not care. I could have seen second guy and his assistant as a couple as she was so amazingly supportive of him. I thought Xixi’s best friend and Sichen’s assistant may become a couple and there were some hints. Liked how Xixi was her own person and kept her own identity yet was an affectionate and playful wife. Sichen’s transformation was fun to watch. The lead couple were so on the same wave length they even planned the same surprise for each orher.

#OnceWeGetMarried
#WangYuWen
#WangZiQi

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