1
heavy on the romance, light on the plot
This is the kind of story that is 100% about the love story and everything else is kind of background noise to that. Our main couple has so much chemistry and are both likeable and rootable characters and you watch this show just to see the beautiful people fall in love. Beyond that, however, this story is a bit messy.
Am I enjoying their chemistry? Yes, absolutely. Do I love the amount of screen time given to our main couple? Also yes. One of the things I do love the most about this is the portrayal of the recklessness of youth and passion of young love. That mindset and feeling that we know everything at 18 and love can win all. But the plot logic gets in the way of the emotion. When you really stop and think about all the things actually happening in the story then you realize how under developed it actually is.
Lets begin with the first episode where you already begin to see the convenient story telling put in to play when Zhou Wan goes looking for her mother that abandoned her over a decade before and even changed her name but Zhou Wan knew just where to find her and even had her phone number so she could conveniently find out she is the step mother of our male lead. Okay fine, I'll accept that as a story set up and ignore the logistics of that one. But then this same formula is utilized over and over again with characters overhearing important tid bits of information or random papers just laying out in the open for them to find easily. This type of story telling often feels lazy as the writers spoon feed information.
Next is the lack of proper background. I understand that Lu Xixaio is from a rich family but the show hasn't really made sense in explaining why he is so important to his dad. It does well in explaining the estrangement due to his mother but is his father's only reason for constantly entrapping Xixaio due to the grandfathers favoritism? The company aspect and importance of his role in it is not defined well making the stakes not feel real.
Also the blocking for all the action scenes feels practiced which often pulls me out of the moment. These are fairly new actors and they obviously need to learn but you can see and feel the punches being pulled and the movements being rehearsed. Even the motorcycle race scene lost its thrill due to this.
As the drama goes on and it moves to the latter episodes and the timeline shifts it it mostly held together through misunderstandings and miscommunications which is almost always frustrating to watch. Zhoa Wan's flimsy reasoning, Xixaio's family company being pushed on him because he is the 'heir', a narrative that serves to only push the leads in proximity over and over again. What I would love to see more of is tangible reasoning and real stakes.
Overall this is an enjoyable watch for the romance but could have been so much better with more attention paid to the why's and how's.
Am I enjoying their chemistry? Yes, absolutely. Do I love the amount of screen time given to our main couple? Also yes. One of the things I do love the most about this is the portrayal of the recklessness of youth and passion of young love. That mindset and feeling that we know everything at 18 and love can win all. But the plot logic gets in the way of the emotion. When you really stop and think about all the things actually happening in the story then you realize how under developed it actually is.
Lets begin with the first episode where you already begin to see the convenient story telling put in to play when Zhou Wan goes looking for her mother that abandoned her over a decade before and even changed her name but Zhou Wan knew just where to find her and even had her phone number so she could conveniently find out she is the step mother of our male lead. Okay fine, I'll accept that as a story set up and ignore the logistics of that one. But then this same formula is utilized over and over again with characters overhearing important tid bits of information or random papers just laying out in the open for them to find easily. This type of story telling often feels lazy as the writers spoon feed information.
Next is the lack of proper background. I understand that Lu Xixaio is from a rich family but the show hasn't really made sense in explaining why he is so important to his dad. It does well in explaining the estrangement due to his mother but is his father's only reason for constantly entrapping Xixaio due to the grandfathers favoritism? The company aspect and importance of his role in it is not defined well making the stakes not feel real.
Also the blocking for all the action scenes feels practiced which often pulls me out of the moment. These are fairly new actors and they obviously need to learn but you can see and feel the punches being pulled and the movements being rehearsed. Even the motorcycle race scene lost its thrill due to this.
As the drama goes on and it moves to the latter episodes and the timeline shifts it it mostly held together through misunderstandings and miscommunications which is almost always frustrating to watch. Zhoa Wan's flimsy reasoning, Xixaio's family company being pushed on him because he is the 'heir', a narrative that serves to only push the leads in proximity over and over again. What I would love to see more of is tangible reasoning and real stakes.
Overall this is an enjoyable watch for the romance but could have been so much better with more attention paid to the why's and how's.
Was this review helpful to you?
