XiaoNaNa
Remake of Queen In Hyun's man, but better
I saw the korean drama Queen In Hyun's man when it aired in 2012. It was one of my favourite dramas then and I was soo happy when I heard a chinese version would be filmed in 2015. Since I have rewatched both dramas several times. Sometimes only a few scenes and sometimes the whole drama, so I can guarantee: the rewatch value is very high!!
Why is that?
First: the story is quite simple and easy to follow, noentheless very capturing. The male lead lives in the Han Dynasty (chin. version) and because of an amulet for protection transported into the future (our present time) whenever he encounters a lifethreatening situation. The first person he meets there is the female lead, an uprising drama actor, who happens to play the role of a Han Dynasty Queen - exactly the one the male lead knows personally... The story goes on with him trying to use the knowledge of the future to change the past and the female lead helps him to find his way around in the complicated future and of course, they fall in love. So much for the story.
Second: the actors are quite well known and have a really really good chemistry! The female lead might be better known to the regular chinese drama watcher, as she acted in dramas like "LoveO20" or "Till the dead of summer", but the male lead is also quite famous, but acts more in films, best known maybe for his mane role in "The little Monster". Their acting is good and they portray their characters very well. Especially the male lead never ceases to amaze me with his on point facial expressions and body language. Good looks on top :D The female lead has been criticized for mediocre acting, but I actually think her acting fit the role - an actress, who just can't stop to being a little bit over the top and trying to act a bit sweet around the man she hopes to win over. Anyway the best about this drama defenitly are the super sweet scenes between the main couple and that there are a lot of them.
Third: although there is a lot of drama, no misunderstanding or separation lasts longer than two episodes, so no dragging here! The drama has only 24 episodes so there are no boring filler episodes and the story unfolds in a good pace. I really like the way the relationships in this drama are portrayed. The main lead's relationship develops quickly but reasonably and their problems are realistic, despite the whole time travel thing, and are solved in a mature way. Even though their scenes are very sweet it is never too much or extremely cliché, just right. The side characters are funny and weird in present time and serious but friendly in the past, but all very likeable. The only little bit annoying character was the female lead's ex-boyfriend, but it was never so much that I would have wanted to skip. Also very good were the friendships in this drama. We have a few of them and all of them are different, but all are good. I think I liked the friendship between the main lead and his childhood best friend in the past the best.
Why do I like the chinese version more than the korean one?
In the chinese version they added the best friend of the male lead in the past and also changed the past story a little bit. It seemed more in detail and it brought the main leads connection to his period a bit closer and also more relateable why he repeatedly chooses to go back. Also, the chinese drama (24 eps a 45 minutes) is a bit longer than the korean version (16 eps a 60 minutes) and that's how we get a bit more in depth development od story and characters. And last but not least the female lead in the chinese version has not so many utterly devestated crying scenes. I really didn't like the crying nearly screaming of the female lead in the korean version. That was just too much!!
So all in all, I can really recommend this drama. Even though it is a little bit older, the clothing style and phones they use are not ofsetting yet (in comparison to older dramas like "Full house" or "Boys befor Flowers"...).
Why is that?
First: the story is quite simple and easy to follow, noentheless very capturing. The male lead lives in the Han Dynasty (chin. version) and because of an amulet for protection transported into the future (our present time) whenever he encounters a lifethreatening situation. The first person he meets there is the female lead, an uprising drama actor, who happens to play the role of a Han Dynasty Queen - exactly the one the male lead knows personally... The story goes on with him trying to use the knowledge of the future to change the past and the female lead helps him to find his way around in the complicated future and of course, they fall in love. So much for the story.
Second: the actors are quite well known and have a really really good chemistry! The female lead might be better known to the regular chinese drama watcher, as she acted in dramas like "LoveO20" or "Till the dead of summer", but the male lead is also quite famous, but acts more in films, best known maybe for his mane role in "The little Monster". Their acting is good and they portray their characters very well. Especially the male lead never ceases to amaze me with his on point facial expressions and body language. Good looks on top :D The female lead has been criticized for mediocre acting, but I actually think her acting fit the role - an actress, who just can't stop to being a little bit over the top and trying to act a bit sweet around the man she hopes to win over. Anyway the best about this drama defenitly are the super sweet scenes between the main couple and that there are a lot of them.
Third: although there is a lot of drama, no misunderstanding or separation lasts longer than two episodes, so no dragging here! The drama has only 24 episodes so there are no boring filler episodes and the story unfolds in a good pace. I really like the way the relationships in this drama are portrayed. The main lead's relationship develops quickly but reasonably and their problems are realistic, despite the whole time travel thing, and are solved in a mature way. Even though their scenes are very sweet it is never too much or extremely cliché, just right. The side characters are funny and weird in present time and serious but friendly in the past, but all very likeable. The only little bit annoying character was the female lead's ex-boyfriend, but it was never so much that I would have wanted to skip. Also very good were the friendships in this drama. We have a few of them and all of them are different, but all are good. I think I liked the friendship between the main lead and his childhood best friend in the past the best.
Why do I like the chinese version more than the korean one?
In the chinese version they added the best friend of the male lead in the past and also changed the past story a little bit. It seemed more in detail and it brought the main leads connection to his period a bit closer and also more relateable why he repeatedly chooses to go back. Also, the chinese drama (24 eps a 45 minutes) is a bit longer than the korean version (16 eps a 60 minutes) and that's how we get a bit more in depth development od story and characters. And last but not least the female lead in the chinese version has not so many utterly devestated crying scenes. I really didn't like the crying nearly screaming of the female lead in the korean version. That was just too much!!
So all in all, I can really recommend this drama. Even though it is a little bit older, the clothing style and phones they use are not ofsetting yet (in comparison to older dramas like "Full house" or "Boys befor Flowers"...).
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