cnguyen1031
STORY:
I remember physically watching the TW Summer's Desire in 2010, but honestly didn't remember having any particularly good or bad memories of it. As I watched the remake, certain main plot points (more towards the beginning) made me remember the original version, but overall I was essentially watching this as a brand new drama. The story itself is a fairly basic domineering alpha male who gets jealous because of a new guy that joins the female lead's family - as a starter at least. Eventually the change into present day with Xia Mo trying to enter the entertainment business, etc. obviously adds some new elements to a somewhat familiar story. While I didn't dislike the story in general, I do think that certain areas felt unnatural or just weird to me. Basically the development of all the relationships.
Normally when I watch dramas I can see the buildup of the relationship or at least the turning point when you realize that they truly care for each other. I honestly don't get that from this story. I don't remember when Xia Mo actually started to care for Luo Xi romantically (which makes it hard for me root for the relationship). And I don't remember the turning point for when she gets together with Ou Chen (the actual one yes, but not the emotional one). And even with that, by the end of the drama I didn't feel like she ACTUALLY cared for the person she ended up with, but more that the drama writers just decided "this is the OTP, so just go with it." I think part of that leans on the writing/directing of the drama, but the rest is probably more on the acting.
ACTING:
Zhang Xue Ying - I think I enjoyed ZXY's acting overall, but had issues with her character (which is a common issue I seem to have with dramas lol.) Her character was never a very openly showy/emotional type of person, so her somewhat coldness, I think ZXY did a good job at portraying (whether or not she was supposed to, idk). For the most part, because Xia Mo was a more reserved person, it seems a bit hard to judge ZXY fairly because if you don't understand the character, she just seems a bit lifeless and emotionless at times. She gave me a good impression overall though and I most likely will watch her other dramas in the future.
Qin Jun Jie - I have somewhat of a bias because I didn't really care for Peter Ho in the original TW drama, so I think that leaned over into this drama of me not caring for Ou Chen as a character. Overall I just can't get behind Ou Chen's personality. The alpha, domineering rich guy is not a new role, but something about Ou Chen specifically I just really dislike. I think this bias against the character really biased me against QJJ's acting honestly because I skipped through most of his scenes, so sorry Qin Jun Jie. Maybe I can give you a more fair review from another drama in the future.
Huang Sheng Chi - In the original drama and in this one as well, I definitely preferred Luo Xi over Ou Chen. From the beginning, he had that mysteriousness and suaveness to him, but obviously still had his faults. Comparing HSC to Huang Xiao Ming, I think HSC was much more lacking. Whether it's because of his youth or the writing, This Luo Xi just felt very childish at times and didn't have that weird pull that HXM had in the original drama. Did he do a bad job? No, I honestly rooted for Luo Xi and Xia Mo more than Xia Mo and Ou Chen, so I think he was fine, but again, maybe it's a youth thing that I just didn't really LOVE his acting, but didn't hate it by any means.
REWATCH/OVERALL:
I honestly probably wouldn't rewatch this drama. It wasn't bad by any means, but the story itself isn't one I particularly care for. I definitely have a bias towards historical/wu Xia dramas (because they always have so much more going on), but this wasn't a bad modern drama by any means. I do think overall this younger cast of characters didn't have the emotional pull that the more experienced 2010 TW cast had, so if you liked the story, I'd probably recommend the TW version over this new remake.
I remember physically watching the TW Summer's Desire in 2010, but honestly didn't remember having any particularly good or bad memories of it. As I watched the remake, certain main plot points (more towards the beginning) made me remember the original version, but overall I was essentially watching this as a brand new drama. The story itself is a fairly basic domineering alpha male who gets jealous because of a new guy that joins the female lead's family - as a starter at least. Eventually the change into present day with Xia Mo trying to enter the entertainment business, etc. obviously adds some new elements to a somewhat familiar story. While I didn't dislike the story in general, I do think that certain areas felt unnatural or just weird to me. Basically the development of all the relationships.
Normally when I watch dramas I can see the buildup of the relationship or at least the turning point when you realize that they truly care for each other. I honestly don't get that from this story. I don't remember when Xia Mo actually started to care for Luo Xi romantically (which makes it hard for me root for the relationship). And I don't remember the turning point for when she gets together with Ou Chen (the actual one yes, but not the emotional one). And even with that, by the end of the drama I didn't feel like she ACTUALLY cared for the person she ended up with, but more that the drama writers just decided "this is the OTP, so just go with it." I think part of that leans on the writing/directing of the drama, but the rest is probably more on the acting.
ACTING:
Zhang Xue Ying - I think I enjoyed ZXY's acting overall, but had issues with her character (which is a common issue I seem to have with dramas lol.) Her character was never a very openly showy/emotional type of person, so her somewhat coldness, I think ZXY did a good job at portraying (whether or not she was supposed to, idk). For the most part, because Xia Mo was a more reserved person, it seems a bit hard to judge ZXY fairly because if you don't understand the character, she just seems a bit lifeless and emotionless at times. She gave me a good impression overall though and I most likely will watch her other dramas in the future.
Qin Jun Jie - I have somewhat of a bias because I didn't really care for Peter Ho in the original TW drama, so I think that leaned over into this drama of me not caring for Ou Chen as a character. Overall I just can't get behind Ou Chen's personality. The alpha, domineering rich guy is not a new role, but something about Ou Chen specifically I just really dislike. I think this bias against the character really biased me against QJJ's acting honestly because I skipped through most of his scenes, so sorry Qin Jun Jie. Maybe I can give you a more fair review from another drama in the future.
Huang Sheng Chi - In the original drama and in this one as well, I definitely preferred Luo Xi over Ou Chen. From the beginning, he had that mysteriousness and suaveness to him, but obviously still had his faults. Comparing HSC to Huang Xiao Ming, I think HSC was much more lacking. Whether it's because of his youth or the writing, This Luo Xi just felt very childish at times and didn't have that weird pull that HXM had in the original drama. Did he do a bad job? No, I honestly rooted for Luo Xi and Xia Mo more than Xia Mo and Ou Chen, so I think he was fine, but again, maybe it's a youth thing that I just didn't really LOVE his acting, but didn't hate it by any means.
REWATCH/OVERALL:
I honestly probably wouldn't rewatch this drama. It wasn't bad by any means, but the story itself isn't one I particularly care for. I definitely have a bias towards historical/wu Xia dramas (because they always have so much more going on), but this wasn't a bad modern drama by any means. I do think overall this younger cast of characters didn't have the emotional pull that the more experienced 2010 TW cast had, so if you liked the story, I'd probably recommend the TW version over this new remake.
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