RJR
Dhaka
This review may contain spoilers
'In the storm, you have to be like an adult. In beautiful weather, you have to be like a child.'
I was very excited to begin watching this drama because its plot paralleled that of the Romance of Tiger and Rose (which I absolutely loved!). Unfortunately, I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would. The first two episodes were boring, but it picks up momentum between episodes 5 and 12, and after that...mediocre at best.
The Good:
The cast is very likeable, particularly the three main leads and Chuntian. I'd only seen Vivian Sung in Our Times before and had no idea she was such a big deal in Taiwan because I don't watch many Taiwanese shows (I should have known better, she's an amazing actress who deserves every bit of recognition!). Despite her character's tragic backstory, her personality was so vibrant and endearing that she carried the show on her back. She was a hard worker who pursued love despite the fact that the odds were stacked against her. Our male lead, Hu Tianxing, portrayed Marcus Chang, was a fascinating character. Marcus's ability to portray two distinct (yet eerily similar) characters was flawless, and you could tell he's a seasoned pro actor. I must admit, however, that I was not particularly interested in his character because he was simply a conventionally written ML. Qingfeng, played by the stunning Simon Lian, was the show stealer for me; I adored his character and am grateful that this show introduced me to him. I rarely have SLS because the FL rarely gets adequate screen time with the second ML; thankfully, this was not the case in Lost Romance, but it made Qingfeng's character so difficult to watch because he was so palpably and deeply in love with our FL. It broke my heart when his backstory was revealed, and it broke my heart after when he and Xiao En could not be together. Chun Tian, Xiao En's best friend, was especially entertaining. It was heartwarming to see her stick by the FL through thick and thin.
The plot's concept was unique. I liked how we got snippets of the characters impersonating characters from popular South Korean dramas like Goblin and DOTS; it was hilarious how they got those bits in. At times, Xiao en's random use of Korean was very relatable, reminding me of my own life as a kdrama fan :p
I really appreciate the messages that the show was attempting to convey. Throughout the 20 episodes, there are numerous encouraging messages about life and oneself.
If you just look at it from the main characters' points of view, the ending is quite satisfying because they all got a happy ending. I expected the last few episodes to be rushed as our two leads reunited in reality, but the transition into their relationship actually made sense and was quite smooth.
(Very steamy scenes between the two leads, enjoyable if you're a fan of those stuff ahaha ;))
The OST is quite catchy, might have to relisten soon!
The Bad:
Oh well...I have a lot to say. First, I know the plot of the book was exaggerated and cliche on purpose but I was just bothered by a lot of tropes and dialogue. I think the writers had a solid concept at the beginning but lost their way in the middle lol. I did not enjoy the plot that was happening in the real world setting either because it was just so 'makjang' (for the lack of a better word) for me. It was a very generic plot and rather boring because it's something I have watched too often. I skipped a few episodes and even watched on 1.5x speed because I got annoyed by the plot.
What disappointed me even more was the characterization throughout the show. I didn't like how all of the women around Tian Xing were shown to be in love with him and to be 'mean girls' to each other in order to win his heart; this is a horrible trope that should be left in the past. I dislike seeing women portrayed in this way. In my humble opinion, they also did ChuChu's character a disservice because some of her actions towards our FL just seem out of character for me at times, even though I understand that's how cliche romance books are and the writers were probably merely mocking them. But, in reality too, they didn't do much with ChuChu's character other than make her a damsel in distress madly in love with the hot CEO. I had similar criticisms with other secondary characters like QingFeng and Chun Tian. To be honest, I enjoyed QingFeng's backstory more than the leads', and I believe an entire drama could be based solely on his backstory. So it was disappointing that we didn't get a deeper glimpse into his story and that he was sidelined (his ending was fine though, could have been longer but I understand why it was done the way it was). Chun Tian deserved a backstory as well; I'd like to know how she and our FL became so close. Perhaps a romance for her would have been nice as well. That being said, there was a lot of potential for a romance between the evil (turned less evil) sister and her secretary (?), and I kinda wish they went down that road. Don't we need more hot chairwoman x secretary/ bodyguard romance in shows? let's change things up a bit people! I've already mentioned it, but I didn't like how they made every woman around Tian Xing fall in love with him (I mean, he's a hot CEO, everyone should be in love with him, but eh), including Shanna. They could have simply implied that she regarded the CEO as a friend and kept it at that. Of course, I understand that giving each character a proper backstory would have been difficult, but a lot of time was wasted on unnecessary flashbacks, so...
To summarize, Lost Romance's plot is quite cliche in many ways, but it has a very pleasant cast and leads who make you want to stick around for the entire drama. The plot's overall concept is novel, but it suffers from poor execution. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a lighthearted romance with delightful main characters.
The Good:
The cast is very likeable, particularly the three main leads and Chuntian. I'd only seen Vivian Sung in Our Times before and had no idea she was such a big deal in Taiwan because I don't watch many Taiwanese shows (I should have known better, she's an amazing actress who deserves every bit of recognition!). Despite her character's tragic backstory, her personality was so vibrant and endearing that she carried the show on her back. She was a hard worker who pursued love despite the fact that the odds were stacked against her. Our male lead, Hu Tianxing, portrayed Marcus Chang, was a fascinating character. Marcus's ability to portray two distinct (yet eerily similar) characters was flawless, and you could tell he's a seasoned pro actor. I must admit, however, that I was not particularly interested in his character because he was simply a conventionally written ML. Qingfeng, played by the stunning Simon Lian, was the show stealer for me; I adored his character and am grateful that this show introduced me to him. I rarely have SLS because the FL rarely gets adequate screen time with the second ML; thankfully, this was not the case in Lost Romance, but it made Qingfeng's character so difficult to watch because he was so palpably and deeply in love with our FL. It broke my heart when his backstory was revealed, and it broke my heart after when he and Xiao En could not be together. Chun Tian, Xiao En's best friend, was especially entertaining. It was heartwarming to see her stick by the FL through thick and thin.
The plot's concept was unique. I liked how we got snippets of the characters impersonating characters from popular South Korean dramas like Goblin and DOTS; it was hilarious how they got those bits in. At times, Xiao en's random use of Korean was very relatable, reminding me of my own life as a kdrama fan :p
I really appreciate the messages that the show was attempting to convey. Throughout the 20 episodes, there are numerous encouraging messages about life and oneself.
If you just look at it from the main characters' points of view, the ending is quite satisfying because they all got a happy ending. I expected the last few episodes to be rushed as our two leads reunited in reality, but the transition into their relationship actually made sense and was quite smooth.
(Very steamy scenes between the two leads, enjoyable if you're a fan of those stuff ahaha ;))
The OST is quite catchy, might have to relisten soon!
The Bad:
Oh well...I have a lot to say. First, I know the plot of the book was exaggerated and cliche on purpose but I was just bothered by a lot of tropes and dialogue. I think the writers had a solid concept at the beginning but lost their way in the middle lol. I did not enjoy the plot that was happening in the real world setting either because it was just so 'makjang' (for the lack of a better word) for me. It was a very generic plot and rather boring because it's something I have watched too often. I skipped a few episodes and even watched on 1.5x speed because I got annoyed by the plot.
What disappointed me even more was the characterization throughout the show. I didn't like how all of the women around Tian Xing were shown to be in love with him and to be 'mean girls' to each other in order to win his heart; this is a horrible trope that should be left in the past. I dislike seeing women portrayed in this way. In my humble opinion, they also did ChuChu's character a disservice because some of her actions towards our FL just seem out of character for me at times, even though I understand that's how cliche romance books are and the writers were probably merely mocking them. But, in reality too, they didn't do much with ChuChu's character other than make her a damsel in distress madly in love with the hot CEO. I had similar criticisms with other secondary characters like QingFeng and Chun Tian. To be honest, I enjoyed QingFeng's backstory more than the leads', and I believe an entire drama could be based solely on his backstory. So it was disappointing that we didn't get a deeper glimpse into his story and that he was sidelined (his ending was fine though, could have been longer but I understand why it was done the way it was). Chun Tian deserved a backstory as well; I'd like to know how she and our FL became so close. Perhaps a romance for her would have been nice as well. That being said, there was a lot of potential for a romance between the evil (turned less evil) sister and her secretary (?), and I kinda wish they went down that road. Don't we need more hot chairwoman x secretary/ bodyguard romance in shows? let's change things up a bit people! I've already mentioned it, but I didn't like how they made every woman around Tian Xing fall in love with him (I mean, he's a hot CEO, everyone should be in love with him, but eh), including Shanna. They could have simply implied that she regarded the CEO as a friend and kept it at that. Of course, I understand that giving each character a proper backstory would have been difficult, but a lot of time was wasted on unnecessary flashbacks, so...
To summarize, Lost Romance's plot is quite cliche in many ways, but it has a very pleasant cast and leads who make you want to stick around for the entire drama. The plot's overall concept is novel, but it suffers from poor execution. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a lighthearted romance with delightful main characters.
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