Kiss — the warmth of love, to know the sweetness of love you need the bitterness and sourness

Kiss — the warmth of love, to know the sweetness of love you need the bitterness and sourness

This quote roughly describes The Girl Who Sees Smells. Like the “cheap”, simple rose wine created by the FL, the show is one of your C/D type romcom with forced skin ship. But what makes is different from the other C/D dramas that is also airing (Like Miss Chun is a Litigator), is that there’s already a spark in the first episode which continued to the next. This is why I decided to skip MCiaL and watched this instead.

The show is predominantly a romcom with “tropey, cliche” conflicts but the way the show unraveled them nicely spaced out was both entertaining and also infuriating. If the show had less “sweetness” like the kisses and romantic scenes, I wouldn’t have been able to finish it. But thankfully the sweetness was enough to dull the sour and bitter undertones that show at the end.

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Everything else but Romance

**Court problems, Sisterhood, comedy… miles away from romance**

Good thing iQiyi classified this under comedy because if it was classified under romance IT WOULD BE A COMPLETE SCAM. 70% of the story revolves about court intrigue and how the women in the story always have a solution for it, 20% comedy, and 10% romance.

Bai Jin Ting and Tian Xi Wei got me to watch this but this should not even be called romance or them the main couple when the romantic scenes of all the other supporting couples are more than theirs! Their romantic scene is so little and few that even the romance of Prince Qi and Guan Jing and annoying stepsister is better. They are pulling another My Heroic Husband where the FL and the MLs scene together is so few that you’d think they’re strangers. In the MHH, the ML had more scenes with the 2FL in the second half while here the FL had more scenes with everyone else but the ML. Out of the romance only 30% of that is between the main OTP while the 70% is from all the other couple.

NLB had so much potential to be the younger version of Story of Minglan, but why did they have to take the same route as Tang Dynasty Tour?! Why? T.T I know it’s more than realistic for that time but why you gotta scar my Li Wei that way? AggH! I’m skipping the scenes now starting that episode and will just watch in normal speed if the leads are in the screen other wise NLB you are dead to me.

I don’t have a problem with the FL being a normal female using her own strengths and “street/food/farming smarts” but I have a big problem with weak ass MLs that couldn’t even do what they promised to the FL at the start. Which is why I like characters like Mo Liancheng in The Eternal Love and Dongfang Qincang in LBFAD, because they don’t let circumstances stop them from protecting their love. I would like to give plus points too to Prince Qi because even thoughe may be not be the most capable prince but he is honest about his feelings and doesn’t care if his actions will cause him a beating or two just as long as he’s protecting Guan Jing even though she’s more than capable of protecting herself physically.

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70% punishing the bad guy, 30% romance

This is a light hearted romcom, that focuses on punishing the villain with a touch of romance. It is rare now to find mini dramas with this type of plot because most are centered on romance. You usually see this type of story for 24-36 episode dramas like maiden holmes and under the power.

I also have to give props to the writer for creating truly intelligent protagonists/supporting characters that are as cunning as the villain and can do the main con in the long run.

For the chemistry, the ML and FL have chemistry but very little skinship. But the chemistry of the protagonist group is very good.

Watch this if you want a bite sized procedural, romcom ala maiden holmes or under the power.

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Bullied victim's revenge that falls flat because of the weak "adult bullies"

**Bullied victim's revenge that falls flat because of the weak "adult bullies"**
Acting was was ok for all of the actors, specially Song Hye Kyo and the young cast. But I don't know if it's the writing, directing, or maybe the adult casts' decision, but adult Yeon Jin and Jae Joon were complete misses. With the level of evilness of those people you'd expect them to turn out like fake, manipulative Seong-hye of One the Woman, and psycho Tae-goo of Voice -- but they didn't. *eye roll*

**Evil Queen B turned weak ass news anchor**
Young Yeon Jin was portrayed as a strong, evil, b***h that likes to manipulate people around her but is not averse to getting blood on her hands. She isn't lose and doesn't immediately use her body to get what she wants -- that's Hye Jeong's thing. She was also usually classy and rarely showed her craziness -- that's Sa Ra's thing. But the adult Yeon Jin seemed to forgot her youth and combined Hye Jeong's and Sa Ra's thing. What happened to her sting? To her strength due to growing up getting everything she wants?

**Mysterious, silent evil dude turned short tempered G*g*lo**
Jae Joon was also another big miss because he was the silent enabler of the group with his hidden vileness. But somehow he turned into a sorry example of gangster, wannabe, lovelorn rich guy. It was like the writer rubbed off some of Myeong Oh's horniness on him. Also, I felt like Do Young looked more like adult Jae Joon than adult Jae Joon himself. Do Young knows he's rich and powerful, silent, mysterious, but hides a ruthlessness inside his calm façade.

I was so miffed by how weak and shallow adult Yeon Jin and Jae Joon were that I continuously irritated when the show made it seem like Dong Eun was doing something so difficult when Yeon Jin and Jae Joon can barely fight her. Even basic Kdrama logic, the rich villains, would have countless of henchmen and 1 competent side kick from the get go and it makes them seem bigger than life which is why whenever the protagonists best them we feel a sense of accomplishment. But with Yeon Jin and Jae Joon it was like Dong Eun was playing with her food. I also think they just want to make the show edgier by adding s*x so they delegated those scenes to the supporting actors (Im Ji Yeon and Park Sung Hoon). I think SHK would ask for way more if she was asked to do that.

So disappointed with the wasted potential. Not really looking forward for S2 because the antagonists are weak. Maybe I'll watch it for the adorable chemistry between Dong Eun and Hyun Nam, and how Dong Eun will use Yeo Jung and Do Young.

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Anti-hero ML with glutonous, naive FL

With the recent slew of anti-hero MLs for mini series, Wei Shangzhi (played by Li Qi Ge), is one of the most charismatic because of the way LQG played the character. If you’ve watched The Legendary Life of Queen Lau, Shangzhi is like the younger version of the Grand Chancellor Liu Xie if the story was centered around the anti-hero.

The FL Bai Zhi (played by Yang Xiaoting) was poorly written for me with the main character description as a glutunuos, naive lady. But at least YXT is very pretty and makes BAi Zhi’s character adorable and tolerable. Her chemistry with LQG is ok and there were some interesting and sweet scenes related to food that some might find off putting if you’re a germophobe but I like it.

What I don’t like is the mini series got confused if it was a romcom or a court intrigue drama because it introduced some problems that were poorly explained/resolved and the logic was so ???

I would recommend this as a filler to bide your time while waiting for the regular Cdrama to drop. Just play it in 1.5x speed.

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Legit Strong FL but the Men are not demonized

|Riddled w/ cliches but the KEY IS IN THE DETAILS|
My Uncanny Destiny’s main premise about a cross dressing monarch who falls for her enemy might not be new, but the way the producers directed and wrote the characters to be 4D without being too angsty is just so refreshing!

I don’t know who the writer is and their other work, but the way they decided to pace out the story by having subplots in each episode that contributes to the overall story arc made each episode exciting and relevant. We don’t see a lot of those useless, draggy scenes, repetitive misunderstanding between the leads, or side characters stealing the spotlight because most if not all of the episodes had a climax that had you wanting to watch the next episode. The writing was so on point that I don’t even mind that they teased about a 2nd season because the current season was tied up nicely.

|70% comedy and romance, 30% court intrigue|
Several costume dramas posing as rom-coms end up as being trying hard angsty, court intrigue dramas which is irritating. This is why I appreciate the fact that MUD never forgot it’s true rom com identity by giving us a lot of extremely cliche that it’s hilarious scenes, together with interesting romantic scenes throughout the episodes. That’s not to say that there’s no hardships in the story but rather that these obstacles are presented in a very matter of fact way and resolved in just 1 or 2 episodes. No need to drag the drama in several episodes. Likewise, we have to appreciate the directing because even with the limited budget, the team knew that for rom-com it’s more effective to concentrate on your characters than big sweeping battle scenes or boring repetitive court scenes.

I hope other writers/producers can learn from this team that even if they want to milk their stars, they should create stories that end properly and none of those misleading 24 episodes but are in fact 50 episodes but divided to 2 seasons so you’re left hanging in season 1. I’m looking at you drama with popular C starlet.

| Female characters are strong without being Mary Sues and demonizing the male characters|
I can recall several recent dramas define “strong” female leads as mary sues protected by plot armor — incredibly strong just because, doesn’t do or like feminine things, genius tactician, that doesn’t bow down to anyone (basically toxic traits in female form). What sets MUD female characters apart from the recent ones is that most if not all of them represent women in different shapes, form, and personalities and how they are strong in their own way.

We have the cross dressing FL, who proves she doesn’t only need to be good in kungfu to be a great heroine but she also needs to empathize with the people around her, and also use her brain to solve her problems. She’s not averse to asking help from the people around her (even the male characters) because she acknowledges everyone’s strengths.

We have several supporting female characters that are also strong in their own way. The spoiled princess that’s very witty and ingenious in her tricks that she was also able to use it to help her friend and change her man for the better. The initially irritating jealous girl that had a character arc turning her into the FLs friend. The doormat concubine that showed her loyalty and kindness that acknowledged her worth and fought for her own happiness. And the female villain/s that used her abuse to fuel her ambition making her a worthy opponent of the FL.

The male characters were not your typical aggressive, domineering type but more like the whole rainbow of male characters. The brawny, slightly dumb, ambitious, but patriotic general. The smart, suave, but playful 2ML. The bumbling adoptive family. And finally the smart, capable, confident, but also goofy ML that can plan as well as the FL but also knows when he needs to support the FL to do her thing.

|Ok chemistry, but not as addicting as LBFAD|
I thought I’d seen all kinds of romantic scenes, but MUD managed to show some interesting new take on kiss scenes. The ML and FL have ok chemistry which made their romantic scenes believable. If I were to compare the chemistry, it would be like Minglan’s chemistry with her ML — like soul mates turned lovers. Not as fiery but still as fun.

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A short drama with gripping story and great chemistry

Most short dramas have very basic plots and invests more on cute scenes rather than angsty ones. So The Only Girl You Haven’t Scene was such a surprise because it’s the opposite of the short drama formats.

|Plot/Story worthy of long format dramas|
Based on a webtoon/manwha/animation, TOGYHS has a well thought out and gripping story about the reincarnated FL and mysterious ML. Similar to the setup of My Lovely Swords Girl, it has the arranged marriage and “weak” ML at the center of the drama. There are so many layers of intrigue/twists that I’m surprised that the drama was able to hash all the twists in the end.
Main plot was the arranged marriage between FL and weak ML. Another plot about the secrets that the ML has. Another is FLs revenge on the MLs brother. Then there’s the thing about the ML surviving court life. Everything is just so interesting.

|Great acting by the newbie cast and good chemistry between the main leads|
As an avid Chinese drama watcher, I’m so surprised to see the FL (Weng Mo Yan) having normal beauty, deep voice, and still deliver the chemistry with her ML. On the other end, the ML (Wang Su Yi) is a cross between your typical flower boy and fierce model look — similar to Lee So Yuk. The ML did a great job in portraying his 2 personas (as the dumb and weak husband, and the scheming, smart prince). Both Mo Yan and Su Yi also delivered during their emptionally charged scenes and whatever time they had together on screen — you can really feel the chemistry cackling between them.

This drama had great potential to be another epic drama because of the plot and cast, but saddly it is also plagued by the low budget, dark lighting in some scenes, and the unavailability of good subs. I was only barely able to understand the drama when it initially aired but thankfully Yoyo fun station subbed the drama.

Overall, if you have time in your hands, this is a good drama to watch if you want something gripping and romantic but don’t have the time to watch 36+ episode standard dramas.

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A short drama with gripping story and great chemistry

Most short dramas have very basic plots and invests more on cute scenes rather than angsty ones. So The Only Girl You Haven’t Scene was such a surprise because it’s the opposite of the short drama formats.

|Plot/Story worthy of long format dramas|
Based on a webtoon/manwha/animation, TOGYHS has a well thought out and gripping story about the reincarnated FL and mysterious ML. Similar to the setup of My Lovely Swords Girl, it has the arranged marriage and “weak” ML at the center of the drama. There are so many layers of intrigue/twists that I’m surprised that the drama was able to hash all the twists in the end.
Main plot was the arranged marriage between FL and weak ML. Another plot about the secrets that the ML has. Another is FLs revenge on the MLs brother. Then there’s the thing about the ML surviving court life. Everything is just so interesting.

|Great acting by the newbie cast and good chemistry between the main leads|
As an avid Chinese drama watcher, I’m so surprised to see the FL (Weng Mo Yan) having normal beauty, deep voice, and still deliver the chemistry with her ML. On the other end, the ML (Wang Su Yi) is a cross between your typical flower boy and fierce model look — similar to Lee So Yuk. The ML did a great job in portraying his 2 personas (as the dumb and weak husband, and the scheming, smart prince). Both Mo Yan and Su Yi also delivered during their emptionally charged scenes and whatever time they had together on screen — you can really feel the chemistry cackling between them.

This drama had great potential to be another epic drama because of the plot and cast, but saddly it is also plagued by the low budget, dark lighting in some scenes, and the unavailability of good subs. I was only barely able to understand the drama when it initially aired but thankfully Yoyo fun station subbed the drama.

Overall, if you have time in your hands, this is a good drama to watch if you want something gripping and romantic but don’t have the time to watch 36+ episode standard dramas.

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A sweet upper when you’re feeling down

My Fairy Doctor is the perfect short format drama if you’re feeling sad/depressed after your favorite standard drama *Love Between Fairy And Devil* just ended.

|Plot as sweet as your lozenge but has some kick in the end|
Plot has some cliche time traveling hijinks like the forced co-habitation but the story still delivers a decent amount of unique conflicts/surprises. Even though it’s a short format drama, the characters are well fleshed out even with the little dialogues that they have. The “real life” conflict are believable in real world perspective and the fantasy conflict provides us with just the right amount of angst to balance out all the sweet scenes.

|Cute chemistry but not that much skinship|
I’ve always liked the FL even when I saw her in My Neighbor Can’t sleep because she has that sunny/vibrant aura that fits most Cdrama heroine. She’s not the prettiest but she definitely has good chemistry with her MLs. I’ve seen the ML in Maiden Holmes but he didn’t shine as much because Zhang Linghe is just too good looking to notice anyone else. But here in My Fairy Doctor, he got to showcase his manly charms. He’s not your typical idol/boy toy ML but has a more serious, manly look like a young Feng Shao Feng. They didn’t have dramatic scenes but the OTP did deliver the right amount of angst, and romance that the scenes needed. I guess they are more comfortable with acting together because they only have a 1 year age gap

Finally, I would recommend watching My Fairy Doctor if you want something light but still has good special effects and set. Even though it’s a short format drama, yo7 can see that the production still invested in the effects and chose the right setting.

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A naive word where the ML should be the Grand Chancellor

This series shouldn’t even be called a TV drama because this is a naive person’s utopia with no mega villain, and the villain should actually be the ML because he’s much more interesting than the ML.

|A plot without a true villain and where the “villain” overshadows the ML|
As much as I love Li Hongyi, I feel bad for him because he was relegated to the role of a spoiled prince that’s still finding his footing/power after growing under the tutelage of possibly one of the BEST ANTI-HERO/VILLAIN in the whole Cdrama verse. The problem with having the best anti-hero is that almost half of the characters know that he’s not a true villain and you get frustrated because only the ML and FL are the only ones creating an imagined villain or problem for themselves.
Since the show didn’t have a truly villainous person in it, you’d expect the internal conflict between the ML and FL to be more dramatic because the FL is not really your typical Cdrama heroine. But the sad part is they put too much emphasis on the FL being too funny and failed to give more light on her inner qualities that the ML got to see. I’d say the FL had more valuable interactions with the side characters than the ML which is such a waste.
Lastly the main conflict of the story about how the FL and ML became the “emperor and empress”, falls flat because the problem they solved were not as epic and life changing as you’d expect and the “anti-hero” was always giving them clues or helping them secretly so any breakthrough the FL and ML had wasn’t as satisfying.
In the end, the conflict was not enough to call for 36 episodes. I think if they made it 16 episodes the might have made the story more cohesive, titillating, and have a sense of urgency that we need.

|Meh Chemistry but good rapport between the cast|
I think the cast had fun with the show seeing the easy and good rapport between them. Jackie Li and Li Hongyi looked like they could be friends but I never felt the “heart wrenching love” that most Cdramas aimed to portray. If you compare Li Hongyi’s Xuan to his Qia Yue, Xuan doesn’t even come close to Qia Yue’s feet in terms of his great love, conviction, and strength of character. Jackie Li may be the perfect actress for her character but the show failed to show her inner qualities more dramatically to make us believe that Xuan had no chance of resisting loving her. I’m not sure if the actors were uncomfortable with it, or maybe the director or screenwriter couldn’t feel it, but choosing to have Xuan kiss Jinfeng mostly on the forehead sure cooled any ember we had for the ML and FL. Cute & chubby women also deserve passionate kisses! But the problem with the story is that they didn’t create scenes that called for one so everything just felt Meh. I hope the screenwriters watch Bridgerton with Penelope’s story so they can get an idea on how to properly give chubby girls the passionate love affairs they deserve.

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When love is strong enough, it can even cause fate to change its course

This quote by PC Cast definitely encapsulates the story of Love Between Fairy and Devil.
Overall the drama is well pace, have great chemistry, and gave us what we always wanted — happy ending for our Little Orchid and Dongfang Qingcang. This also has the best performance for Esther Yu and Dylan Wang, both of which have been accused of Over the top (Esther), and Wooden acting (Dylan). *lol* Xiao Lanhua’s nickname for Dongfang Qingcang is so fitting. LMAO

|Great chemistry and believable romantic development|
Recent dramas usually use the shortcut of love at first sight to establish the plot which is very unrealistic. I liked how LBFAD started Little Orchid and Dongfang Qingcang as reluctant partners with their prejudices, to friends, and eventually to lovers. But from the start, you can already feel the palpable chemistry between the FL and ML because of Esther Yu’s and Dylan Wang’s chemistry. This palpable chemistry is also the reason why we are eager to follow the story of the OTP because we can’t wait for them to be together. It’s also nice that the drama also showed that both the ML and FL both don’t know Love at the beginning — the FL confused gratefulness with love, and the ML removed love from his heart. In most dramas, it’s usually the FL teaching the ML to love but in LBFAD I think Little Orchid and Dongfang Qungcang taught each other to love.

|Well paced plot and no unnecessary court dramas|
Most xianxia are bogged down by unnecessary drama between the deities and never ending reincarnation plot from heavenly realm to mortal realm and back again. What I liked about LBFAD is that they limited the drama to scenes that are actually relevant to the development of FL and ML character and story arc. Their advantage was that they also retained their bodies/memories so they’re not pushed around in the mortal realm because of the limits of mortal bodies. Also we must give the team props for limiting themselves to 36 episodes, because D*ang those other xianxia’s have 40-60 episodes and they can’t even retain our interests in all the episodes.

|Great side characters that actually make the OTP shine|
Other Xianxia’s have so many top billed actors/actresses that they have so many “main characters” that you tend to loose track of who is who and what is happening. LBFAD, even though it’s a Xianxia, knew who the star of the drama is — Little Orchid and Dongfang Qingcang — so they gave just the right amount of characterization to characters that actually affect the story of the 2. I also liked that they gave an arc for Jieli and Shangque but it’s not so complicated that it takes time away from the OTP. I’m a bit torn if I like the arc for Rong Hao and Chidi woman but I guess it is still relevant to make the story move forward.

|DISTINCT key locations unique to LBFAD, beautiful cinematography, costume, and production design|
I only saw an episode of the LBFAD animation, and I can say that the drama did a great job in recreating the world of Heavenly Realm, Cangyan Sea, and Yunmeng Lake. Most xianxia’s maximize the use of Hengdian studio sets so they usually have similar looks/locations. For LBFAD, I like that they gave us the unique Artbiter Hall, they have special “court” and look for the heavenly realm, and the Moon Tribe realm also looks unique. The costumes are lovely and the accessories of the heavenly realm make them more ethereal and the moon tribe more exotic. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s on iQiyi, but I love the color palette they used which is mostly iridescent pastels in the heavenly realm and rich hues in Cangyan sea.

In the end, I think LBFAD is a one of the best xianxia of recent years in terms of chemistry, plot, visuals, and OST. Will I rewatch it as much a my other top dramas (7x for The Eternal Love 1/2/3 or 3x for Love Better Than Immortality) maybe but maybe not as much.

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The badly needed recasting and rewriting needed to save this show

As an avid iQiyi viewer, I was disappointed when I watched the first season because 1) the plot was more on csi than romance, and 2) the leads barely had time to develop chemistry even though they tried. I didn’t even plan to watch this because the gap between S1 and 2 is so big and unlike the gap in other iqiyi shows like fantastic mr. Right, and lovely swords girl.

|New FL brought life back to the OTP|
The previous FL was pretty but her take on the somewhat spoiled heiress was not endearing enough for me to tolerate her. But recasting the FL with He Nan is probably the first best decision because He Nan just fit the role of a pretty, spoiled heiress perfectly! She might be a bit whiny, but she’s also endearing because she was able to clearly show her weaknesses and her awareness about her shortcomings. Add to the fact that He Nan just complemented Qiu Shi Lun so well in terms of their looks — she looks like a ray of sunshine, while he has a scowl fit for Hades king of the underworld. Their chemistry was also very believable and their kiss scene was passable. I think the FL was the only one changed, so I’m glad that her chemistry with the other original cast is also there.

|Rewriting that saved us from the boredom of crime solving|
I like CSI and Under the Power, but it’s because they had the perfect ratio of crime solving and romance — HDRA S1 DIDN’T. So having the script refocus on what really maters — the story of the FL and ML — we get to see more of how the leads fall for each other without dropping the ball on solving the FLs and MLs twisted fates. There was some moments that I got scared they will drag the angst but thankfully everything was solved in a reasonable amount of episodes.

The ending was ok with a bit of open ending giving more room for S3. As it is I’m ok with the ending because we already have 36 episodes (12eps+24eps) but I saw that there’s a 12 episode S3 in the making so let’s just wait and see.

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A Disappointment for a Kiki fan — when star power is not enough to mask the boring script

A Good Script Makes a Whole lot of Difference

I watched Sassy Beauty (Snow Kong) together with The Flowers are Blooming (Kiki Xu) expecting that I will like TFAB more since I’ve seen Kiki Xu’s work before and I like her. Both dramas didn’t have the A lister cast that you’d expect so I was totally banking on Kiki Xu’s charm. But 2 episodes in both dramas and I hate to admit that TFAB was a disappointment for a Kiki fan like me.

|Boring, all over the place plot|
I had no problem with Kiki Xu’s acting but it’s just that the plot was just so lacking that the main leads don’t even have as much romantic scenes as you’d get from a rom com and the supporting characters remain as disposable characters that even if you remove them from the scene they wouldn’t matter and I wouldn’t care.

|Barely there chemistry|
I know Kiki can have chemistry with her co-star because she did have it with Wang Yuo Shuo in The Blooms at Ruyi Pavillion. But in this drama, I can see That they tried but there’s just some disconnect with Huang Sheng Chi. Also I never liked the MLs face/acting because I always found it so wooden in his past drama.
I think the secret sauce is that both Kiki and Sheng Ci needs the perky, impish co-stars because they both suit the elegant, poised characters. Which is why Kiki also worked well with Yuo Shuo who has the impish vibe.

In the end, I already finished SB while I had trouble finishing this drama because of what a let down it is.

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Short version of Story of Minglan but better chemistry compared to my Heroic Husband

Finally finished this drama and I must say it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a wholesome drama, with relevant side characters, that is not too draggy, and has a good ending.

As my intro, TLitBH is similar to Story of Minglan where the main story revolves around the butcher Hu Jiao and her fiancé Qing Jia. Like in Story of Minglan, both the ML and FL are given almost the same amount of scenes to give life to their characters. The first half the focus is the FL but the ML is still in the episodes, while the latter focused on the ML while the FL is the supporting lead. Though this has a more similar plot to my Heroic husband, the focus is better in TLitBH because none of the couple disappears in an episode. Unlike in MHH, there was a story arc where the FL wasn’t even in the same location as the ML that you can almost forget that she exists.

In terms of chemistry, this drama reminded me of the older/more traditional Cdramas which are very chaste so you don’t get a lot of kiss scenes, so the actors have it harder to make the audience see their chemistry in their interactions. SoM will be in the forefront in terms of chemistry, followed by TLitBH, then last will be MHH.

In terms of plot, SoM with its 78eps definitely had more time to deliver a great plot. MHH and TLitBH both have 36 eps and though MHH showed us several story arcs with better plot developments and villains, I still like TLitBH more. It’s because it’s the right amount of serious and light at the same time. They don’t give us unnecessary angst, problems are resolved after 1 or 2 episodes, and we still get our happy ending.

PS. IMHO Qing Jia (Tong Meng Shi) is also better looking than Ning Yi (Guo Qi Lin).

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A Good Script Makes a Whole lot of Difference

I watched Sassy Beauty (Snow Kong) together with The Flowers are Blooming (Kiki Xu) expecting that I will like TFAB more since I’ve seen Kiki Xu’s work before and I like her. Both dramas didn’t have the A lister cast that you’d expect so I was totally banking on Kiki Xu’s charm. But 2 episodes in both dramas and I hate to admit that SB is a whole lot better than TFAB!

I had no problem with Kiki Xu’s acting but it’s just that SB’s plot is more riveting, interesting, and provides more room for Snow Kong and the rest of the cast to provide as much emotion as they can. I found the characters here to be more 3D and the supporting characters actually had their own character growth and story. While in TFAB the premise was just so lacking that the main leads don’t even have as much romantic scenes as you’d get from a rom com and the supporting characters remain as disposable characters that even if you remove them from the scene they wouldn’t matter and I wouldn’t care. I guess SB had the upper hand in terms of having an IP that actually works. Also Yan Zi Dong is not the most handsome and best ML actor but somehow getting paired with Snow Kong with her refreshing charm actually works and they do give off a believable chemistry even with their cardboard like kisses.

In the end I already finished SB as a marathon cried tears, laughed, and felt happy when the characters had their own fitting endings. Congrats to Snow Kong for getting a great script for her breakout drama. As for TFAB, I am mustering all my will power to finish the 24 eps but urg, their chemistry is just soso.

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