baekhyunniee
United States
One of the hidden gems of 2020 with unique storytelling, beautiful music, and amazing acting
I haven't watched many really good and captivating Chinese dramas this year, but this one made the cut!
To Love has a unique way of storytelling as it shows the perspectives of both Xiao Ou and Yan Jin so viewers can piece the full story together for the first 14 episodes. Then the remaining episodes continue with the present timeline as the leads work to solve the murder of Zhan Yu. The writer does an excellent job of introducing and developing the story and slowly divulging more facts. I am happy to say that the writer does not disappoint with the pacing even though this is a 40-episode drama. The drama shows that every character has their faults, that no one can be perfect, as some show personal growth. As for the ending... it may not be the ending many of us wished for, but I think the writer did well to stick to the original novel. If you are hardcore HE watchers though, this may not be a drama for you.
Anyways, the directing and cinematography are really well done, transitioning smoothly between scenes and creating an element of suspense/drama too. It is clear that they spent a good amount of money on producing this drama as the locations are beautiful and the sets and props are very realistic. There is also barely any PPL :) And the soundtrack is SO BEAUTIFUL, matching perfectly to the mood of every scene. Props to whoever decided the BGM because the score maximizes the tone and emotions of each scene. The music definitely helped pull at my heart and draw some tears to my eyes. Another thing worth mentioning is that this drama does not have any dubbing (except for the "live" singing) and kept the real voices of every actor!! I wish every drama could do this, so I don't have to see anymore cringey dubbing.
On that note, the leads have AMAZING chemistry. They look so cute on screen and the dating rumors make it even more so! I have seen Li Geng Xin in Princess Agents so I know he's a pretty good actor, so I have no complaints in the way he portrayed Yan Jin with a good amount of confident, cocky, and sweet. I love his bromance interactions with Zhao Ting Hui (even though ZTH was frustrating at first) and Cheng Rui Min. The lead actress is a new face to me, but she is pretty good, so no complaints with her either. Her emotional range is as good as LGX, with her heartbroken teary eyes. The supporting actor playing Zhan Yu is great too. He is a relatively new actor but I can see his potential. Not only does he have a handsome appearance but his acting is good too, drawing my empathy for his character's unfortunate family background. I'll definitely keep an eye out for his future projects.
And that concludes my review. I hope this was relatively helpful to you who is reading this.
To all of our first encounters and last partings... :')
To Love has a unique way of storytelling as it shows the perspectives of both Xiao Ou and Yan Jin so viewers can piece the full story together for the first 14 episodes. Then the remaining episodes continue with the present timeline as the leads work to solve the murder of Zhan Yu. The writer does an excellent job of introducing and developing the story and slowly divulging more facts. I am happy to say that the writer does not disappoint with the pacing even though this is a 40-episode drama. The drama shows that every character has their faults, that no one can be perfect, as some show personal growth. As for the ending... it may not be the ending many of us wished for, but I think the writer did well to stick to the original novel. If you are hardcore HE watchers though, this may not be a drama for you.
Anyways, the directing and cinematography are really well done, transitioning smoothly between scenes and creating an element of suspense/drama too. It is clear that they spent a good amount of money on producing this drama as the locations are beautiful and the sets and props are very realistic. There is also barely any PPL :) And the soundtrack is SO BEAUTIFUL, matching perfectly to the mood of every scene. Props to whoever decided the BGM because the score maximizes the tone and emotions of each scene. The music definitely helped pull at my heart and draw some tears to my eyes. Another thing worth mentioning is that this drama does not have any dubbing (except for the "live" singing) and kept the real voices of every actor!! I wish every drama could do this, so I don't have to see anymore cringey dubbing.
On that note, the leads have AMAZING chemistry. They look so cute on screen and the dating rumors make it even more so! I have seen Li Geng Xin in Princess Agents so I know he's a pretty good actor, so I have no complaints in the way he portrayed Yan Jin with a good amount of confident, cocky, and sweet. I love his bromance interactions with Zhao Ting Hui (even though ZTH was frustrating at first) and Cheng Rui Min. The lead actress is a new face to me, but she is pretty good, so no complaints with her either. Her emotional range is as good as LGX, with her heartbroken teary eyes. The supporting actor playing Zhan Yu is great too. He is a relatively new actor but I can see his potential. Not only does he have a handsome appearance but his acting is good too, drawing my empathy for his character's unfortunate family background. I'll definitely keep an eye out for his future projects.
And that concludes my review. I hope this was relatively helpful to you who is reading this.
To all of our first encounters and last partings... :')
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