A fun tongue-in-cheek look at common tropes

Oh Begin Again, how I love thee, let me count the ways. For a romance drama built on common tropes, it is quite self-aware and well-executed.

- The gender role reversal is so satisfying and hilariously well-done: the cold, business-like, domineering female CEO chasing the reluctant, shy, empathetic male doctor. They really commit to this -- Lu Fangning is a practical, badass businesswoman who sees something she likes (they even have her do the kabedon lol) while Ling Rui is sweet, warm, does the cooking for his mom and aunts, and cleans obsessively when he's upset. Of course, they soften towards each other as the romance progresses, but this dynamic is still rare in dramas and it's always nice to see competent ladies on screen.
- Interesting female characters with their own emotional arcs: of course, Lu Fangning is the lead with complex emotions and background, but even all the other ladies have distinct personalities and the relationships between women are complex but overall positive (FN with Tang Ping, FN with Cai Siyu, Ling Rui's mom and aunts, etc.). They all start in stereotypes, but they start to become more human and enjoyable over time.
- There are no "evil" characters: while not always executed successfully, the drama tries to avoid cardboard evil characters that are just there to be malicious. While there are antagonists and conflicts, actions come from mostly understandable motivations and the writers try to make all the characters 3-dimensional.
- The romance is sweet: while there are some eye-rolling and tropey moments, for the most part the romance is really cute - there aren't any serious threats from secondary leads, and their dynamic together is pretty adorable.

BUT these are all true up until the last part of the drama - then there is a turn that honestly doesn't make a whole lot of sense but is clearly there to create conflict for the end so that the writers can totally change up the dynamic. Then, they try to tie up a whole bunch of emotional arcs and loose ends, but without earning them, the last bit feels out of character and almost like these are totally different people. Although, at least they comment on how tropey it is, so they're self-aware!

Acting-wise, I thought the FL was great (and her dad too). I thought everyone else was fine, but maybe not as good (though the ML is SO pretty). The 2nd ML seemed so wooden that I fast forwarded through all of his scenes and his whole storyline/romance.

While this was still a romcom drama with all the tropes and cliches that follow, it was something fresh and surprisingly good.

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The standard by which I measure all other dramas

It's been 5 years since this drama came out, and still there is almost nothing that compares to the magic of NIF:
- a focused, structured story that is well-paced, doesn't have any filler content, and also doesn't think of its audience as idiots
- strong, intelligent characters that are unique and lovable (or at least understandable), both male and female, with character arcs that go somewhere and feel earned
- natural, expressive acting where you feel the full personality and history of each character
- beautiful costumes, settings, and scenery as befitting a historical/costume drama

NIF has the clear elements of good narrative storytelling, which seems rare in dramas nowadays - setup, rising action (with each step a necessary piece of the plot and building up the tension), climax, and resolution. Most other dramas that I've seen fall into a trap of just having things that happen one after another, with nothing to link them together and no clear advancement or tie to the plot = it's less a story and more just a series of events.

The only criticism I might have of NIF is that I felt the resolution was a bit rushed, but otherwise this is the drama that I measure all others by, and the vast majority of them fall short.

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This is a feel-good sports story with surprisingly good CGI for a Chinese drama, but the writing and acting let it down a bit.

As the main character, the majority of the show rests on Yang Yang's acting chops, and as attractive as he is, I just don't find him to have the emotional range and subtleties of expression to carry an entire drama. I simply didn't feel any of the emotion that he was supposed to convey in his scenes, other than thinking, "he's very pretty." (In Love O2O, his character is similarly meant to be this perfect male "god," but the main character in that drama is the female lead and the story is set from her perspective, so it's more understandable that he was a somewhat blank and inscrutable Prince Charming.)

Some of the other performances were ok, some were not great. I loved some of the minor characters (Huang Shaotian and the other team captains) - they had interesting characters/personalities that were more fun to watch and added more life to their scenes. I found the antagonists' acting a bit over-the-top, almost straight-up "mwahahaha" which seems out of place in a modern drama that is meant to be more grounded.

Story-wise, it was a fairly standard sports "group of misfits come together to become a winning team" kind of story, which I love, so all the story beats are familiar, but that's not necessarily a bad thing if you like these tropes. However, storytelling-wise, the tropes are all a bit too generic to be really compelling and each member of the main team has a very predictable character arc and backstory. It kind of drags in places with filler episodes as well, so I fast forwarded through most of the "emotional" and "character" scenes in favor of the team and game/competition scenes, which were more fun to watch. While I had to suspend my disbelief on some of the plot points and how the game worked, the CGI was actually pretty good and I always enjoyed seeing the gameplay and everyone working together.

I quite like the songs in this drama, but it does use the same 2 songs for every "exciting" and "sad" scene, which gets a bit noticeable after a while. To be fair, though, lots of dramas have this same problem.

I'll probably still check out the second season when it comes out if only for the gameplay scenes.

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A tight, intricate story of romance, mystery, fantasy, emotion

This is probably the closest thing to Western serial shows (like on Netflix) in quality and storytelling that I've seen so far in Chinese-language dramas - a tightly-written, intricately-plotted story that unfolds, turn by turn, in only 13 episodes. Every shot, every moment, every line is there for a reason.

The acting is phenomenal - as the story takes place in multiple times, the actors portray characters of different ages, contexts, and emotions, and you can always tell who/where/when they are just based on their acting. The plot kept me guessing and mentally engaged through the whole story - each twist that unfolded made sense in the story, but was still a surprise. And, while this is a plot-driven story, it also covered a number of important themes/messages and real issues, which surprised me.

I would add a slight warning that it did get a bit darker than I originally assumed, so be aware of that going in. This is a romance, but it's also a mystery/thriller, as well as a fantasy/sci-fi story. Since so much of its magic was in seeing how it all happens, I'm not sure of its rewatch appeal, but it was honestly such a rewarding experience, both mentally and emotionally, that I would recommend it to anyone. I laughed, I cried, I hid under my blankets - I loved the characters. I only wish we got more of the end!

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Feel-good drama about cooking

This is a lovely, feel-good slice-of-life drama about a woman in a rural village becoming a chef, where everything centers around food. It honestly felt like the show creators looked at the popularity of Li Ziqi's videos and decided to recreate that in drama form -- romanticized rural village life, close-up cooking cinematography, beautiful scenic backdrops (mountains, rivers, beautiful old bridges) -- with a dash of romance.

The big draw here is the cooking! Those beautiful close-ups and slow-mo shots of food being prepared - chopped, boiled, fried, steamed, arranged - are enough to make you hungry every episode. That's what I'm here for.

For the rest...

There's very little drama or tension in the story - challenges and issues come up, but they are quickly resolved or even avoided by our smart protagonist(s). On the one hand, this is great because lord knows we've all seen enough unnecessary angst and conflict being drawn out in dramas so it's a pretty happy and chill watch with loving, supportive relationships. On the other hand, no conflict or tension also means this isn't really a "story" but is more of just a series of events in our protagonist's life (fairly standard for the slice-of-life genre), so after a while I do start to skip past scenes that aren't cooking-related. Also, there are a few character threads left unaddressed at the end, which I wish they had fit in - there really wasn't a standard climax and resolution, so they honestly could have just added another episode to cover them (or put them in an earlier bit).

Characters and acting are mostly fine - a few standouts to me are Erqiao (FL's sister) and ML's mom, props to the writers for having overbearing/hot-tempered female characters that are still good people. Yuhuai is also an ideal ML, and the romance between him and Xiaomai is acted and portrayed so sweetly that there are almost literal hearts in my eyes seeing their scenes together. One thing that does bug me a little, though, is that Xiaomai is a bit of a Mary Sue - her cooking is the best, she always outsmarts her opponents, she always has the answer. While she is the main character, she's just not really compelling to me because there's no character growth - if she has always been the best/smartest, where is there room to grow? And this also means there's no room for the other chefs to grow or contribute by coming in with a clutch idea or solution.

But again, I'm mostly here for the food. Worth the watch.

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Overhyped

I thought I'd give this drama a try since so many people seem to enjoy it, but was extremely disappointed with the quality, so beware of the hype and set your expectations appropriately. I fast forwarded through the majority of this drama.

First off, production value. This is a very low-budget drama, so if you're coming to it from something with beautiful costumes, sets, props, and cinematography (like Nirvana in Fire, Rise of Phoenixes, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, etc.), the change is quite jarring. Much of my enjoyment of period/costume dramas is in the beauty of the costumes and settings, so I was already skeptical of the drama from the very first scene.

Plot-wise, I thought the premise was actually quite interesting - combination of time travel and sort of dissociative identity disorder - but in terms of why and how and what happens, I found the story execution kind of nonsensical and the plot goes way off the rails.

Characters - I know some people appreciate that the FL is feisty and independent rather than some kind of wilting flower, but whether due to writing or acting, I found her unlikable and too over the top, though I did appreciate how the actress portrayed 2 different personalities. I didn't like the ML all that much either. Or anyone else in the drama, come to think of it. Again, not sure if it's due to the writing or acting or both, but I found all the characters to be either too flat or too over the top.

At the end of the day, unfortunately, I couldn't suspend my disbelief that this was more than just actors on a set saying lines that someone wrote.

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Cotton candy - fluffy, sugary, light and airy

This is a sweet, fluffy drama built out of well-loved tropes:
- Sweet bubbly girl + aloof intelligent/super-competent guy
- Girl provides the EQ to guy's IQ
- Guy who starts out thinking girl is foolish but falls in love as he gets to know her
- Guy is cold/indifferent to others but devoted to her
- Contract marriage to real love

This drama goes all in on the sweetness and cuteness of the relationship rather than playing up angst and conflict - there are some of the standard obstacles as well (FL has another suitor, ML has another suitor, relationship insecurity, family pushing them together/pulling them apart), but they're not taken very seriously and quickly resolved. It's also nice to see a supportive and loving relationship where the 2 want to help each other accomplish their goals. The acting was fine - I felt like ML's acting was a bit above FL's but they were still cute together and had good chemistry.

I really enjoyed watching their relationship progress and all the sweet fluffy scenes, but without a real story structure or any significant stakes or obstacles to overcome or even anything serious outside of romance, I started to lose interest, especially in the last quarter. There were big things that happened in their lives but they get resolved and there are no consequences. Also, I was not a fan of the story arc for either of the secondary couples. The sweetness of the drama was great, but it was just lacking depth for me.

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Great acting and healthy relationships

You Are My Hero is the rare romance drama that has real, actual, natural acting and believable characters/relationships, but I guess it aspires to be more than just a romance drama as it tries to portray the pressures and challenges of being a SWAT officer and a doctor. Not always realistically, but it tries.

The ACTING. Most of the actors so perfectly portray their characters grounded in real human emotion - the uncertainties, the joy, the awkwardness, the fear, the fun, the pressure. They have believable, specific personalities and you almost forget that you're watching actors and start to think these are just real people in real situations.

The RELATIONSHIPS. Thank goodness we can have dramas that portray healthy relationships without dumb misunderstandings - people who trust each other, support each other, and communicate. And we have different types of people having different types of relationships - we get to see the awkwardly sweet courtship, the bold chase, the mature adult certainty, and more. And not just romantic relationships - XKL's relationship with his sister is just... *chef's kiss*.

The only reason why this isn't a 10/10 for me is that the story and pacing is just ok. As much as I loved the characters and relationships, I was pretty heavy on the fast forward throughout the drama. It starts with an exciting beginning scene, but then the first 10-15 eps are heavy on trope-y setups, and then various plot arcs around the SWAT stuff and the hospital stuff (while they seem to be well-researched and portrayed) I liberally fast forwarded through since many of them had very little impact on the advancement of characters and relationships, which was what I was there to see.

Where this drama shines is in showing the relationships and interactions between the main characters (and 2nd and 3rd leads). The trust. The communication. The adorable awkwardness of XKL and MK! The amazing sibling relationship between XKL and XKY! XKY and SYH's adult maturity! So much to love!

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Boring

It was... fine? Average. Boring. Forgettable.

While the actors are great - ML is cute and charming, FL is timidly sweet - I don't really feel the chemistry and I don't really believe they belong together. Also, the story is just average - the premise sounds interesting but the plot just hits standard tropes and all the interesting devices set up in the beginning (the curse, the narcolepsy) aren't even resolved in a satisfactory manner. It's the type of show that's cute while I watch it, but as soon as it's over, I've already forgotten everything that happened.

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Love IS sweet

Pros:
- Bai Lu and Luo Yunxi are adorable together as Jiang Jun and Yuan Shuai - their relationship and onscreen acting and chemistry is so natural and sweet.
- Du Lei! Gao Hanyu looks amazing in suits.
- The acting of the main 3 (Bai Lu, Luo Yunxi, and Gao Hanyu) is great

Cons:
- The second couple's acting and storyline were pretty terrible - I skipped all of their scenes.
- The story is honestly kind of boring, I skipped a lot of the corporate drama and really only watched the scenes of the main 3 and their relationships.
- Pretend episodes 31-35 don't exist - they destroyed Du Lei's character.

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