cnguyen1031
Like most people, I definitely have to agree - the first half of the drama, as they're exploring their relationship and slowly becoming friends after a very hard start was captivating to watch. As obnoxious as Chen Jia Yang's character was at the beginning (such a prick), he definitely grows on you when he realizes that Qiao Fei is a very capable translator and very dedicated to her job. Things flowed well as QF works her way through the ranks, dealing with the pressure from CJY and the other interns at IAI. Come the second half of the drama and it just seems that all of the stereotypical drama tropes overwhelm the whole series and really make things take a sour note. Disapproving parents, illnesses, misunderstandings, etc. It's all common storylines, but the combination of all of these, combined with just ridiculous actions by the characters just ruins the show. By the end of the drama, I was somewhat left confused by the main characters' actions and decisions and seriously wonder who thought that the way the story progressed was a logical and natural progression.
ACTING:
Yang Mi and Huang Xuan do great jobs (with what they are given).
Qiao Fei (YM) is vibrant and strong headed. A very hardworking intern who struggles in life, but does not let her struggles wear her down in public. She cares deeply for the people in her life and she is not afraid to stand up for herself.
Huang Xuan does a pretty solid job, though I've definitely decided I don't like his character Chen Jia Yang. In the beginning, he is overly prideful and arrogant, assuming the worst of QF and really just an overall ass. By the end of the drama, he's ridiculously lovestruck and loses his backbone when it comes to anything involving QF. It's one thing to be in love with someone, but he lets his love completely consume his entire life.
Gao Jia Ming (Vengo Gao) - yet another character who honestly just irked me the whole time. After TMOPB, I was really excited to see Vengo in a completely different drama, and honestly, he was super annoying. Yes, he had struggles in his life which led to his personality being very curt and rude, but his complete lack of emotion for just about anyone in most situations was just unbelievable. And after, he literally spends every moment for the last half of the drama just trying to break up CJY and QF, and just butting in where he really didn't belong anymore.
REWATCH VALUE:
Definitely not anywhere on my rewatch list. Again, the first part of the drama was really interesting and fun to watch, but the second half of the drama just makes everything go downhill and makes it feel like a waste of time.
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Another drama based off of the popular web author Gu Man (Love O2O, My Sunshine). This one is definitely the middle road between the three books/tv shows. It has its cute light-hearted moments, but also has more serious and dramatic moments. Somewhat Cinderella feeling (lower class, young girl falls for the upper class male lead) but definitely has good character development in Xue Shan Shan (Zhao Li Ying). With so many TV shows out there, it's hard to have super ingenious new story lines, so this one is definitely just a good melodrama to watch and not expect any crazy twists and turns.
Features the main two (Zhao Li Ying and Zhang Han) exploring the relationship between two very different people and dealing with all of the issues that come standard with that type of relationship, while at the same time dealing with mixed emotions from other characters who want to find love as well. Definitely nothing mind-blowingly new or unheard of before, but still a good watch altogether. You get to see Shan Shan go through all of the normal relationship stages where she isn't sure what's going on at first (and somewhat dislikes the male), to realizing they have feelings for each other, and dealing with being together and what not.
ACTING:
I haven't made it a secret that ZLY is one of my favorite actresses so until I actually see a bad drama from her, she's gonna get good critiques from me. ZLY really is smart at choosing dramas to act in because it always seems like her character really changes and develops by the end of it and almost always for the better. She is really a great actress who is amazing at showing the different parts of a character and making it feel like she really IS that person (and not just playing the same characters all the time).
Zhang Han - another very popular Chinese actor. I haven't really seen a ton of his works. Even though he's not a bad actor, he just doesn't do it for me, so I never go out of my way to watch his shows/films. He does a good job as the rich/powerful guy with a soft side, but again, he's just not my cup of tea.
Huang Ming - I'd only ever seen him in Perfect Couple before this, but he really changed my mind with this drama. In Perfect Couple, he was the geeky sidekick who fell in love with someone way out of his league, so the first time I watched this, I couldn't take him seriously as the super suave, flirtatious playboy he was started out as. Eventually, watching him more, I really had a change of heart with him and really started rooting for him to find love.
REWATCH VALUE:
I'm a young female adult, so all of Gu Man's stories (and others like it) always attract me to watch over and over again. I've rewatched about 2-3 times in the past few years. The fact that her stories are fairly standard plots make them easy to watch because you're so used to that type of story, but at the same time, all three of the adaptations have had fairly good actors/actresses at the helm which makes it easy to watch again and again. (This would rank #2 for me after Love O2O)
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This review may contain spoilers
STORY: Overall I think it was somewhat a predictable story. Innocent young girl, joins a new world to escape her past, fights her way up the ranks, becomes the head of this new world. You knew who the enemies were. You knew who would end up with who. You could assume that essentially everyone would end up dead by the end of it.
Even with the predictability of it all, I think it was still a very enjoyable drama. It was somewhat weird for me though. I normally breeze through dramas pretty easily (hello binge watching) and this is a fairly short drama (on average for Chinese dramas at least), but for some reason it took me almost two weeks to watch just 36 episodes. Partially I was busy at work, but I think there were certain times I lost a little bit of interest honestly.
Pertaining to the actual story, I think honestly my biggest gripe about it was Wan Mei's personality. I think in this kind of setting it would have been the more obvious choice to just have her become a skilled assassin all in her own, but the constant moral turmoil she faced was honestly kind of off-putting for me. I get that she was supposed to be a loyal and morally righteous person, but honestly if this were real life (using that term lightly) it really would make ZERO sense that she survived in Gui Hua Cheng, let alone become the new leader. I get that in the end people showed her loyalty because she was not a sinister person, but really, a city of assassins and the leader refuses to kill anyone.
It just made little sense most of the time that she kept fighting to be a part of Gui Hua cheng, but was constantly thrown off by having to kill anyone. Again, I get that she was escaping a past life and this was her escape, but idk, it was just giving me very mixed emotions.
Romance wise, I wish that there could have been more skinship between the leads (or really anything aside from hugging and longing looks) A) because who doesn't love a good kiss here and there but B) for two people who were in such life and death situations with each other and constantly fighting for there lives, you'd think there would be more passion involved. Other than that, I do really like the relationship between Wan Mei and Chang An. I think they relied on each other well and I think the angst between them while she hated him was very strong.
I also appreciate that for the most part, the characters who disliked each other felt like logically reasonable to dislike another character. I get really tired of dramas where a bad person (typically a female) hates the female lead because of a boy but then EVERYTHING that happens is always blamed on the female lead/etc. I know that trope is never going to die, but it's just super overblown most of the time (my most recent memory is Pei Yuan from Legend of Fu Yao who literally every scene was her just hating on Fu Yao and blaming everything that went wrong on her even if it was someone else's fault. Just Bleh.)
ACTING:
Tong Li Ya - I think she was very good in this drama. She portrayed emotions very well and she did a very good job with the character she was given.
Qu Chu Xiao - Especially for a very young, very fresh actor, I think he did an exceptional job as Chang An. He powered through this role both as Chang an and as the lost heir, Xie Huan. Even though he knew his past life (for the most part) all along, I think there was a distinct difference in his personality when he was just the lowly shadow and when he comes to terms with his true identity. I know that QCX has also received nationwide recognition for this role, so it's no surprise to me.
Everyone else - Overall I liked all of the acting. The people who needed to be exaggerated were the right amount, whereas the more solemn characters hit those notes as well.
OVERALL:
Looking back at my review it feels like I had more problems with this drama than I enjoyed, but honestly I don't have a bad impression when I think back on this drama. Even with the things I mentioned I disliked, I overall still enjoyed watching and I'm hoping that there will be a second season coming out because the ending could definitely be a cliffhanger.
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Story: The beginning of the series was definitely interesting. It was somewhat predictable, but overall still an interesting watch. The different stories that occur throughout were all again things that could be assumed and there was nothing about the show that really blew my mind. The actual ending scene was entertaining, but overall the last few episodes just felt weirdly paced and I felt more like the ending of the plot a few episodes till the end should have been the correct ending.
Characters/Casting: This is where the show gets the most points. The four main actors, specifically Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki were absolutely amazing in my opinion. The chemistry between them was literally radiant and I love the humor that they each share. While I haven't watched a ton of newer K-Dramas, the relationship between the two and the way that they joked with each other seemed like a fresh type of personality for asian dramas. This obviously leans into the script, but the somewhat sarcastic and light hearted way that the two joked with each other was captivating to me.
Overall: I'm more of a fan of Chinese dramas for the most part, so it's rare for me to want to rematch K-Dramas (though I've rewatched a few). I wouldn't put this on my list of have to rewatch shows, but in a few months or a year or so, I wouldn't be opposed to rewatching.
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I usually don't care for modern dramas because the story lines are basically the same. Office drama/romances, love triangles, corporate espionage, etc. This drama honestly wasn't different in that aspect. The story lines were fairly the same as most modern/office dramas. The one good point was that this drama essentially skips all of the beginning relationship building, and at the beginning of this drama, the ML and FML already have a strong work relationship.The FML is actually the ML's "lucky person/mascot" and they've been together since day one of the company.
For me this plot advance gives you more time to really see the development of their relationship from boss/employee to lovers with good detail. It also makes the FML stronger, IMO, because you and other characters see the effort she already put in for the company, so there's little "back-door, climbing up the ladder" feeling that many other dramas end up having. No major twists and turns, but I think the development of their relationship was actually pretty solid.
As for the side characters, I honestly didn't care too much about them. The sister and her husband plot line pretty much worked out ¼ of the way in and they were just side characters by the end. The SML and SFML relationship was longer building, but honestly felt a bit more rushed to me. They were both "in love" with the ML and FML, but after one night, the SML was immediately in love with the SFML. Meh.
Characters:
ML - I like that more Chinese dramas are adapting the "cold boss" 霸道总裁 trope. The ML can still have some characteristics of that without being overly "cold" and ridiculous. I think Xing Zhao Lin honestly was super cute in this drama. His little smiles and facial expressions won me over while watching this.
FML - I honestly think Bai Lu was really good in this drama. She played the cutesy FML part well, but also showed a very responsible, dedicated, hardworking side as well. Overall the chemistry with XZL wasn't super deeply amazing, but it was cutesy and surface level good.
Others - The ex-girlfriend was honestly a bit overacted for me. Most of the characters were fairly realistic to me, but her character was just overly extra with no real substance.
Overall:
Again, decently cutesy drama. The kiss scenes were pretty good for a chinese drama. I would probably watch again whenever I have nothing else to watch, but it didn't blow my mind.
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An old but FANTASTIC drama. Based on a Japanese manga, Mars is honestly one of the best dramas ever adapted in that it's ridiculously different from the others of its time. It was not cutesy and adorable like many other "idol" dramas of its time, but deep and emotional, with each character having their own set of difficulties that they had to overcome. It was dark and angsty and one that you'll never forget, but it still had those heartwarming moments between the characters where you saw love, friendship, and so on overcoming the darkness in their lives. Well paced from the get go, answering the questions you have and also showing a steady and realistic portrayal of relationships between the characters.
ACTING:
Barbie and Vic were amazing, of course. From their first drama together, Meteor Garden, you could already feel the crazy sparks between the two. Come time for Mars, their chemistry was ridiculously real and you could see how well they worked together. They were so capable of bringing together two polar opposite characters and let the audience see why they ended up falling for one another. While you could tell from the beginning they would end up together, you still had that sense that they truly trusted and cared for each other before the romance began.
REWATCH:
I've definitely seen it at least 3-4 times now, but just now writing a review since I just rewatched it for the first time in a while. Still tugs at the heart strings in all the right ways.
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Even though you're splitting the time between all five girls (obviously some have more screen time than others), it still feels fairly well balanced and spaced out. The stories intermingled with each other fairly well but with so many leads, you definitely find yourself rooting for some more than others (or hoping for more screen time for a certain storyline).
The drama was highly rated, and I don't disagree. I normally watch more ancient dramas than modern ones, but this one had a good realistic feeling to it, compared to others I've seen. Everything that went on seemed like things that people could relate to more readily (family problems, being an older lady but still single, being a young entrepreneur, being an entry level worker dealing with relationships, or being new to the workforce and finding your footing in life). Many times, dramas have to overly exaggerate what happens to get people to feel intrigued, but I think Ode To Joy kept it realistic enough but still intriguing.
Plot never felt super lagging at any point. (It took me a while to get into it at the beginning, but a lot of shows are that way). Overall good with story lines.
ACTING:
-Olivia Wang: Had to mention her first because hands down loved the story with Qu Xiao Xiao and Zhao Qi Ping the best. I already loved Wang Kai coming into this drama, so I knew I'd like him, but Olivia Wang was a good surprise (I'd already seen When a Snail Falls in Love at this point, so knew they had good chemistry). At the beginning of the story, I didn't really like QXX. Her character was super snobby and standard scheming rich girl, but later on (and after she and ZQP get together) she soon became my favorite. Once her character developed more, you saw her become someone who had good intentions, even though sometimes she went about it the wrong way. I will argue though that a lot of times, she got blamed for something (which yes she instigated), but the real problem was with the person she schemed against.
-Yang Zi: Qiu Ying Ying - ABSOLUTE WORST for me. I actually skipped through most of her scenes while watching. I'm not attributing it to the actress because she was following the script, but my god her character was annoying. I get it, each girl was supposed to have a different personality, so obviously one had to be the naive and bullheaded one. She honestly just annoyed me so much how she went about everything - blaming others for things that weren't really their fault (Yes I'm a little biased because I liked Qu Xiao Xiao). Again being bullheaded and impulsive are common traits that a lot of people had, but something about how her character went about it made me not feel sorry for her when bad things happened because she deserved it in some way (not everything, but most things).
-Liu Tao: Always a great actress. If anything I was hoping her character would open up more and develop quicker, but her character was the oldest of the bunch and fairly set in her ways.
-Jiang Xin: another great actress. Very good at showing off the sides of her character - the nonchalant one who goes to parties and dates, the lonely one who just wanted to find love, the struggling one dealing with her family issues, etc. I'd say of all of the characters, hers was the most rounded for me. You saw a lot of different sides to her, whereas some of the other characters (while not one dimensional) felt like certain parts of their character overtook the rest. Jiang Xin's character really felt the most balanced of all (showing all of her sides, I mean).
-Qiao Xin: Guan Ju Er - a very new actress, which kind of showed at times. She really didn't have a lot to do in the first season. Most of her focus was on being overworked as an intern with the small sprinklings of her one sided love. She had most of her progression in the second season where she really finds what she likes as a person and obviously finds love eventually.
Additional Characters:
Wang Kai is always great for me. This was a new side of him that I hadn't seen yet. The playful and flirtation doctor, but still had a very strong moral upbringing.
The other males didn't really shine for me. They were all fairly one dimensional for the most part, just filling the space for what the girls were lacking.
REWATCH VALUE:
I'd definitely rewatch again in a few months or so (I just watched it through a few months ago). I'd honestly probably just skip around a lot and watch the stories that I actually enjoyed. (Aka, i'd honestly probably skip all of Qiu Ying Ying's stories again). A very good drama, but I definitely wouldn't rewatch the show in entirety.
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**Similarities to ISWAK**
- Male Lead: Super smart (Always first in school), very attractive and popular, relatively cold personality. - Even the same surname as the TW version of ISWAK (Jiang ?) and even aesthetically he was super tall (actually the same height as Joe Cheng from ISWAK).
-Female Lead: Not very smart, but very positive personality. Bright and hardworking (when she wants to be). Places very high value on friendship and family. Somewhat obsessively in love with the male lead for the brunt of the drama.
-Many plot similarities (especially when they are in high school), but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone
If it WAS meant to be ISWAK but with a twist, I'm honestly all for it. One of the things that I really enjoyed (in comparison to ISWAK) is how strong of a person the female lead becomes. Even with all of the negatives that occur, Xiao Xi still works hard and achieves what she wants (with sprinkling of help from Jiang Chen occasionally). She isn't just a weak female character who does everything for the guy she likes the entire show.
Really enjoy the change of how the drama feels throughout their life. Begins as very innocent and somewhat seemingly one-sided love and eventually feels like a real relationship as they get older with real life problems and arguments.
Downside to the story:
-I enjoyed the time they spent showing their lives in high school, but when they graduate from high school and move on, it feels a little rushed to me. Half the drama is spent when they are in high school and the other half is the rest of their college/adult years all crammed together. I understand why since high school was the foundation of their relationship, but it was like 50% foundation 50% everything else (being together, dealing with relationship issues, etc. etc)
ACTING:
I think the two leads did a great job for how young they are (Presently 24 for Hu Yi Ran and 20 for Shen Yue). They had cute chemistry and seemed to really enjoy working together. Both did a great job showing how their characters progressed and changed from high school times to adult hood (you could really feel the changes in personality as they grew up).
Never felt very annoyed with any of the characters (aside from the class leader's friend in high school) which is definitely a contribution of acting and producers. Everyone felt relatively multi-dimensional. All of the main characters had moments to show off different sides of their personalities which was really good.
REWATCH VALUE:
I'd definitely throw it in as a rewatch whenever I was in a lull and didn't have a good new show to watch. The story feels really familiar (to ISWAK especially) so it gives it a good nostalgia feel, but the second half of the drama has enough differences (mostly good ones) that gives it a fresh feeling and (imo) even better than ISWAK at certain points.
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