Nam Gonzales
Romcom as sweet and light as cotton candy
I’m leaving this review here in the hopes of convincing more people to watch this light and fluffy romcom, My Neighbor Can’t sleep (available full ENG sub in dramacool). I first noticed this drama when I saw a clip in YT and when I saw how cute MiDo and Xi Song’s interaction were, I couldn’t help but get hooked and binged watch this series in 10hrs at 1.5x play speed.
The 24 ep count can be a bit dounting but once you start the show, it just breezes by really fast without giving you too much of a heartache and no noble idiot moments. Here’s my breakdown of the elements of the drama:
Plot - The plot summary definitely caught my attention with the pseudo cohabitation and mysterious “only the FL” can cure the ML’s problem premise. It gave me vague Nodame Cantabile/It started with a kiss vibes which I really liked. You get the typical drama cliches but the problems/obstacles that the OTP encounter are introduced and solved pretty quickly. The “villains” of the story are not even proper villains but are more like pesky unaccepting relations at the beginning but don’t really pose any serious threat. The story basically concentrates on the OTP’s love journey and never really delves into their respective passions (ex. Piano, writting, etc). The story is so uncomplicated that you finish the series feeling like you you went on a nice train trip.
Characters - The characters are as simple and as uncomplicated as the plot with MiDo being your typical 19yo girl who’s still searching for her dreams and Xi Song as the Mysterious Piano Prodigy. Both characters are similar to the Chiaki/Nodame or Zhishu/Xiangqin but Mi Do is not as die hard, stupid, or eccentric as these 2 other female leads. Xi Song is on the same prodigy level as Chiaki and Zhishu but not as hot. Lol. I also love that the OTP are smart enough and trust each other that they don’t let misunderstandings or other people affect their opinion and love for each other.
The Supporting characters are also as adorable and cute as the OTP starting from Mido’s cool and quirky parents, handsome childhood bestfriend Li You, cool big sis friend Mimi, and even the sometimes pesky Aunt Gu, Liang Ge, and Su Lin. The characters are not written with extreme traits (ex. Super stoic, with obsessed unrequited love, etc) so they don’t irritate you as much as in other dramas. I’m also very surprised that the 2nd leads are pretty reasonable to the point that they can accept defeat without being psychotic and suicidal.
Acting - Chen Yixin is definitely the show stealer with her quirky and adorable portayal of MiDo. I don’t find her outfits and hair distracting and on the contrary I found that her styling actually added to her unique charm. She also gave a very refreshing take on a sweet, a bit naive, and imaginative teenager/college student. Wang XiZin as Xi Song also complemented Chen YiXin’s Mido by giving us his own take on the prodigy with a human heart. Chen Yixin and Wang Xizin also have chemistry that you can see in the short romantic scenes to the kissing scenes too. The supporting actors also did a great job in their roles and I want to give a shout out to Mido’s mom who played the part of a fan club pres to a T and to the handsome/cute Damon Xue as Li You.
Cinematography/Directing/Editing - I appreciate the format of having “mini flashbacks” at the start of each episode that shows us the what happens “behind” certain scenes in the previous episodes and gives us several Awwww moments. I like the transition between scenes like you’re just reading a manga without the need to know the exact dates of each scene. OST is ok but the use of Music in the scenes is not as believable as in Nodame Cantabile where the actors actually play the piano. The locations are also ok with special mention to the Mido’s “goals” room that Li You “furnished” for her.
Lastly, I recommend watching MNCS after watching several depressing, very long Chinese dramas to let off some steam and get good vibes. Don’t expect too much and have an open mind. Remember this is like cotton candy, sweet, easy to digest but not that nutritious.
The 24 ep count can be a bit dounting but once you start the show, it just breezes by really fast without giving you too much of a heartache and no noble idiot moments. Here’s my breakdown of the elements of the drama:
Plot - The plot summary definitely caught my attention with the pseudo cohabitation and mysterious “only the FL” can cure the ML’s problem premise. It gave me vague Nodame Cantabile/It started with a kiss vibes which I really liked. You get the typical drama cliches but the problems/obstacles that the OTP encounter are introduced and solved pretty quickly. The “villains” of the story are not even proper villains but are more like pesky unaccepting relations at the beginning but don’t really pose any serious threat. The story basically concentrates on the OTP’s love journey and never really delves into their respective passions (ex. Piano, writting, etc). The story is so uncomplicated that you finish the series feeling like you you went on a nice train trip.
Characters - The characters are as simple and as uncomplicated as the plot with MiDo being your typical 19yo girl who’s still searching for her dreams and Xi Song as the Mysterious Piano Prodigy. Both characters are similar to the Chiaki/Nodame or Zhishu/Xiangqin but Mi Do is not as die hard, stupid, or eccentric as these 2 other female leads. Xi Song is on the same prodigy level as Chiaki and Zhishu but not as hot. Lol. I also love that the OTP are smart enough and trust each other that they don’t let misunderstandings or other people affect their opinion and love for each other.
The Supporting characters are also as adorable and cute as the OTP starting from Mido’s cool and quirky parents, handsome childhood bestfriend Li You, cool big sis friend Mimi, and even the sometimes pesky Aunt Gu, Liang Ge, and Su Lin. The characters are not written with extreme traits (ex. Super stoic, with obsessed unrequited love, etc) so they don’t irritate you as much as in other dramas. I’m also very surprised that the 2nd leads are pretty reasonable to the point that they can accept defeat without being psychotic and suicidal.
Acting - Chen Yixin is definitely the show stealer with her quirky and adorable portayal of MiDo. I don’t find her outfits and hair distracting and on the contrary I found that her styling actually added to her unique charm. She also gave a very refreshing take on a sweet, a bit naive, and imaginative teenager/college student. Wang XiZin as Xi Song also complemented Chen YiXin’s Mido by giving us his own take on the prodigy with a human heart. Chen Yixin and Wang Xizin also have chemistry that you can see in the short romantic scenes to the kissing scenes too. The supporting actors also did a great job in their roles and I want to give a shout out to Mido’s mom who played the part of a fan club pres to a T and to the handsome/cute Damon Xue as Li You.
Cinematography/Directing/Editing - I appreciate the format of having “mini flashbacks” at the start of each episode that shows us the what happens “behind” certain scenes in the previous episodes and gives us several Awwww moments. I like the transition between scenes like you’re just reading a manga without the need to know the exact dates of each scene. OST is ok but the use of Music in the scenes is not as believable as in Nodame Cantabile where the actors actually play the piano. The locations are also ok with special mention to the Mido’s “goals” room that Li You “furnished” for her.
Lastly, I recommend watching MNCS after watching several depressing, very long Chinese dramas to let off some steam and get good vibes. Don’t expect too much and have an open mind. Remember this is like cotton candy, sweet, easy to digest but not that nutritious.
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