Aryael
Twenty steps away from the toilet and just around the corner from the stairs.
I'd watched My Amazing Boyfriend Season 1 when it was airing and followed My Amazing Boyfriend Season 2 as it aired and here is my review:
Story: Although you can watch Season 2 without watching Season 1, you'll get a much better understanding of what's happening if you'd watched Season 1. The story continues with where it ended in Season 1 with Tian Jingzhi finding herself pregnant with Xue Ling Qiao's baby. You'll still get the quirky interactions and conversations between Tiang Jingzhi and the people around her, though in Season 2, you'll get to better understand Tian Jingzhi and her motivations. On the outside, she may come across as a happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care character, but in many circumstances, she'd thought deeply on matters and like any other woman, had her reservations and worries about her relationship with Xue Ling Qiao. On another hand, while Xue Ling Qiao was portrayed as being somewhat detached in Season 1 because he didn't want to involve Tiang Jingzhi overly much in his matters in order to keep her safe, in Season 2, you'll get to see a more involved Xue Ling Qiao as he finally realised he could not live apart from Tiang Jingzhi. In Season 2, you'll get introduced to a few more characters and side-couples. I am sure you'll ship at least one of the side-couples. Overall, the story maintained its fidelity from Season 1 and ended nicely. Though we can now close the chapter to the story of Xue Ling Qiao and Tian Jingzhi, I will not say no if the producer and director decide to further this franchise and tell the story of their son in Season 3.
Acting/Cast: Initially, the change in lead actress threw me off a bit. Esther Yu as Tian Jingzhi has big shoes to fill as her predecessor, Janice Wu, did an excellent job in portraying the quirky, sometimes annoying but surprisingly lovable Tian Jingzhi. In fact, Janice Wu pretty much carried most of the weight of the drama from Season 1 on her shoulders as her acting shone in it. It took me somewhere around 10 episodes before I could watch Season 2 without the bias of comparing Esther Yu's Tian Jingzhi to Janice Wu's Tian Jingzhi. All things considered, Esther did a good job but I couldn't shake the feeling that she's simply emulating Janice Wu on the character. She was a good copycat, and that is in no way something bad because it takes good fundamental acting skills to perfectly emulate another person's acting. For a relatively newish actress, she did well. Hopefully as she grows in her acting career, she'll one day be able to interpret and act out a character entirely based on her own acting style.
As for the male lead, I wasn't very keen on Kim Tae Hwan in Season 1. In my opinion, the man cannot act to save his life (apologies to his fans!) and his only selling point was because he's Korean and nowadays, anything Korean pretty much sells ("The Oppa Trend"). I was actually glad they changed the lead actor to Mike Angelo who is better looking and can act (at least he's a better actor than Kim Tae Hwan!). Also, Mike can speak Mandarin pretty well and although his voice was dubbed, you can tell that he'd spoken his script in Mandarin throughout from how his mouthing of the words matched the dubbing. This is a great improvement from watching Kim Tae Hwan act in Korean but dubbed into Mandarin. I 'll award Mike an extra star for his extra effort in learning Mandarin so he could act in Mandarin dramas. At the back of my mind, I cannot help thinking...if only Mike Angelo was in Season 1 with Janice Wu and they maintain this pairing to Season 2, that would be perfect! Both Mike and Janice are more seasoned actors and I am sure the chemistry would be better too.
Casting for the supporting characters was spot on. Young newbie actor Li Ge Yang as the playful but loyal Zhen Yi Jiao was a lovable character. Mature actor Liu Guang Xiang was perfect as the well-meaning but ambitious and highly principled Qiu Yue Bai/ Lion. Kudos to the ladies too - Yang Zhi Ying as Bai Lu and Tian Yi Tong as Ye Mei Xiao. Of course, we must not forget returning actors from Season 1 - Fu Jia as Li Yan Zhi and Yang Yi Fei as Feng Dong Dong reprised their roles to perfection.
Music: Initially, I wasn't keen on the OST but after a while, it grew on me.
Re watch value: Decent re-watch value as it's an easy and relaxing watch with minimal repetitions and good story pacing.
Overall: A good drama to fill your time, but do not expect this to be a 10/10 or a phenomenal hit. It's light on the viewing and if you'd watched Season 1 and wondered how Tiang Jingzhi and Xue Ling Qiao's romance progresses from Season 1, watching Season 2 will answer your curiosity and give a nice end to their story. Enjoy!
Story: Although you can watch Season 2 without watching Season 1, you'll get a much better understanding of what's happening if you'd watched Season 1. The story continues with where it ended in Season 1 with Tian Jingzhi finding herself pregnant with Xue Ling Qiao's baby. You'll still get the quirky interactions and conversations between Tiang Jingzhi and the people around her, though in Season 2, you'll get to better understand Tian Jingzhi and her motivations. On the outside, she may come across as a happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care character, but in many circumstances, she'd thought deeply on matters and like any other woman, had her reservations and worries about her relationship with Xue Ling Qiao. On another hand, while Xue Ling Qiao was portrayed as being somewhat detached in Season 1 because he didn't want to involve Tiang Jingzhi overly much in his matters in order to keep her safe, in Season 2, you'll get to see a more involved Xue Ling Qiao as he finally realised he could not live apart from Tiang Jingzhi. In Season 2, you'll get introduced to a few more characters and side-couples. I am sure you'll ship at least one of the side-couples. Overall, the story maintained its fidelity from Season 1 and ended nicely. Though we can now close the chapter to the story of Xue Ling Qiao and Tian Jingzhi, I will not say no if the producer and director decide to further this franchise and tell the story of their son in Season 3.
Acting/Cast: Initially, the change in lead actress threw me off a bit. Esther Yu as Tian Jingzhi has big shoes to fill as her predecessor, Janice Wu, did an excellent job in portraying the quirky, sometimes annoying but surprisingly lovable Tian Jingzhi. In fact, Janice Wu pretty much carried most of the weight of the drama from Season 1 on her shoulders as her acting shone in it. It took me somewhere around 10 episodes before I could watch Season 2 without the bias of comparing Esther Yu's Tian Jingzhi to Janice Wu's Tian Jingzhi. All things considered, Esther did a good job but I couldn't shake the feeling that she's simply emulating Janice Wu on the character. She was a good copycat, and that is in no way something bad because it takes good fundamental acting skills to perfectly emulate another person's acting. For a relatively newish actress, she did well. Hopefully as she grows in her acting career, she'll one day be able to interpret and act out a character entirely based on her own acting style.
As for the male lead, I wasn't very keen on Kim Tae Hwan in Season 1. In my opinion, the man cannot act to save his life (apologies to his fans!) and his only selling point was because he's Korean and nowadays, anything Korean pretty much sells ("The Oppa Trend"). I was actually glad they changed the lead actor to Mike Angelo who is better looking and can act (at least he's a better actor than Kim Tae Hwan!). Also, Mike can speak Mandarin pretty well and although his voice was dubbed, you can tell that he'd spoken his script in Mandarin throughout from how his mouthing of the words matched the dubbing. This is a great improvement from watching Kim Tae Hwan act in Korean but dubbed into Mandarin. I 'll award Mike an extra star for his extra effort in learning Mandarin so he could act in Mandarin dramas. At the back of my mind, I cannot help thinking...if only Mike Angelo was in Season 1 with Janice Wu and they maintain this pairing to Season 2, that would be perfect! Both Mike and Janice are more seasoned actors and I am sure the chemistry would be better too.
Casting for the supporting characters was spot on. Young newbie actor Li Ge Yang as the playful but loyal Zhen Yi Jiao was a lovable character. Mature actor Liu Guang Xiang was perfect as the well-meaning but ambitious and highly principled Qiu Yue Bai/ Lion. Kudos to the ladies too - Yang Zhi Ying as Bai Lu and Tian Yi Tong as Ye Mei Xiao. Of course, we must not forget returning actors from Season 1 - Fu Jia as Li Yan Zhi and Yang Yi Fei as Feng Dong Dong reprised their roles to perfection.
Music: Initially, I wasn't keen on the OST but after a while, it grew on me.
Re watch value: Decent re-watch value as it's an easy and relaxing watch with minimal repetitions and good story pacing.
Overall: A good drama to fill your time, but do not expect this to be a 10/10 or a phenomenal hit. It's light on the viewing and if you'd watched Season 1 and wondered how Tiang Jingzhi and Xue Ling Qiao's romance progresses from Season 1, watching Season 2 will answer your curiosity and give a nice end to their story. Enjoy!
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