rachfull
United States of America
This review may contain spoilers
It's good as long as you turn your brain off
I'm a huge sucker for contract marriage dramas, so I was really excited to watch this one. I didn't care for the first few episodes (everything felt contrived and it was all very predictable), but things got a little better as the drama went on. I'd even say the last ten episodes or so were a lot better than than the first 25, a rarity in Chinese dramas.
PROS:
--The leads have really really great chemistry. Their interactions feel very natural and believable
--The soundtrack is really cute
--I liked how the English title actually had something to do with the drama itself-- we all know how Cdrama titles usually go, but iQiyi seems to do a better job than other channels.
--The leads' story is really sweet.
--The main leads' acting outshone the writing and storyline. They've both got bright futures ahead of them-- particularly Gong Jun.
--Gong Jun was a pro by himself. He crushed it in this drama. Honestly, I couldn't have made it through if it weren't for him.
--Hot man who's good with kids in the last ten episodes. My heart was melting the entire time XD Gong Jun's interactions with Lu YouYou were very natural and freaking adorable.
--THE FINALE WASN'T RUSHED. That's almost unheard of for a Chinese drama. The final episodes' pacing was actually perfect. They had enough time to wrap up everything they needed to.
CONS (aka my rant and major spoilers ahead):
--I had so many issues with the plot devices used in the show. Near the beginning, they give the ML aphrodisiacs without his knowledge so he'll have sex with the FL. That's literally rape. Even if it's the woman doing it to the man, it still counts as rape to drug someone into having sex with you. So I didn't like that. Not to mention that marriage is NOT consent. Ling Rui refused to have sex with Lu Fangning (once he found out that's what she wanted), and she should have respected that. It is totally possible to rape your spouse. I didn't like that either.
Then there was the whole fiasco of Lu Fangning keeping Lu Youyou a secret from Ling Rui for the first six years of his life. BRO. You need to give your ex-HUSBAND the opportunity to be a part of his child's life. There are very few reasons that a child should be kept from his/her other parent, and "I didn't know how to tell him" or "I didn't want to disrupt his life" IS NOT ONE OF THEM. I just couldn't forgive Lu Fangning for it, even if Ling Rui did. There's being stupid, then there's what she did. I only made it through the rest of the drama by turning my brain off and trying not to think about it.
--The drama couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Did it want to be self-aware of how cliched it was? Did it want to be a dramatic drama or a light, cutesy drama? It never quite made up its mind. Though a lot of the dramatic scenes were well-done, they felt jarring in contrast to the light, cutesy feel of everything else.
--The drama was a little too long. I think they could've cut it back a few episodes and it would've been perfect. They spent too much time on the second leads, though I fully acknowledge that I almost always skip through the second leads' scenes anyway. A good indicator of whether a drama has been stretched out too long is when the old villain comes back to wreak more havoc, which happened here.
--Lu Fangning was *almost* likeable, but then she kept doing really stupid things (like trying to rape Ling Rui and not telling him about Lu Youyou, making decisions for everyone else by herself, etc.). I started wishing that Ling Rui would find someone he could actually trust, since Lu Fangning showed many times that she was not trustworthy. I was so angry at her for running away from Ling Rui without explanation. She could've, you know... just talked to him about Germany and worked something out? That was never her decision to make in the first place. And yeah, he should've told her about it before he rejected the study abroad, but what she did was way worse than that. I don't know how Ling Rui was able to trust her at all when he saw her again. If it were me, I would've been completely done with her.
I know I expected too much of this drama. It really is an ok watch as long as you don't think about it too hard. The last part was particularly well-done. I'm excited to see Gong Jun in more complex roles in the future, since he really made this drama for me.
PROS:
--The leads have really really great chemistry. Their interactions feel very natural and believable
--The soundtrack is really cute
--I liked how the English title actually had something to do with the drama itself-- we all know how Cdrama titles usually go, but iQiyi seems to do a better job than other channels.
--The leads' story is really sweet.
--The main leads' acting outshone the writing and storyline. They've both got bright futures ahead of them-- particularly Gong Jun.
--Gong Jun was a pro by himself. He crushed it in this drama. Honestly, I couldn't have made it through if it weren't for him.
--Hot man who's good with kids in the last ten episodes. My heart was melting the entire time XD Gong Jun's interactions with Lu YouYou were very natural and freaking adorable.
--THE FINALE WASN'T RUSHED. That's almost unheard of for a Chinese drama. The final episodes' pacing was actually perfect. They had enough time to wrap up everything they needed to.
CONS (aka my rant and major spoilers ahead):
--I had so many issues with the plot devices used in the show. Near the beginning, they give the ML aphrodisiacs without his knowledge so he'll have sex with the FL. That's literally rape. Even if it's the woman doing it to the man, it still counts as rape to drug someone into having sex with you. So I didn't like that. Not to mention that marriage is NOT consent. Ling Rui refused to have sex with Lu Fangning (once he found out that's what she wanted), and she should have respected that. It is totally possible to rape your spouse. I didn't like that either.
Then there was the whole fiasco of Lu Fangning keeping Lu Youyou a secret from Ling Rui for the first six years of his life. BRO. You need to give your ex-HUSBAND the opportunity to be a part of his child's life. There are very few reasons that a child should be kept from his/her other parent, and "I didn't know how to tell him" or "I didn't want to disrupt his life" IS NOT ONE OF THEM. I just couldn't forgive Lu Fangning for it, even if Ling Rui did. There's being stupid, then there's what she did. I only made it through the rest of the drama by turning my brain off and trying not to think about it.
--The drama couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Did it want to be self-aware of how cliched it was? Did it want to be a dramatic drama or a light, cutesy drama? It never quite made up its mind. Though a lot of the dramatic scenes were well-done, they felt jarring in contrast to the light, cutesy feel of everything else.
--The drama was a little too long. I think they could've cut it back a few episodes and it would've been perfect. They spent too much time on the second leads, though I fully acknowledge that I almost always skip through the second leads' scenes anyway. A good indicator of whether a drama has been stretched out too long is when the old villain comes back to wreak more havoc, which happened here.
--Lu Fangning was *almost* likeable, but then she kept doing really stupid things (like trying to rape Ling Rui and not telling him about Lu Youyou, making decisions for everyone else by herself, etc.). I started wishing that Ling Rui would find someone he could actually trust, since Lu Fangning showed many times that she was not trustworthy. I was so angry at her for running away from Ling Rui without explanation. She could've, you know... just talked to him about Germany and worked something out? That was never her decision to make in the first place. And yeah, he should've told her about it before he rejected the study abroad, but what she did was way worse than that. I don't know how Ling Rui was able to trust her at all when he saw her again. If it were me, I would've been completely done with her.
I know I expected too much of this drama. It really is an ok watch as long as you don't think about it too hard. The last part was particularly well-done. I'm excited to see Gong Jun in more complex roles in the future, since he really made this drama for me.
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