1
Betweensunandsea
٩(˘◡˘)۶
[Disclaimer: It's going to be a long post.]
I finished watching this show and this is the first C-drama I religiously watched when it was airing. I wait until the last episode to make this reviews.
1. Production
- Budget
This is modern romance drama with $$$ I can tell. From the quality and the post production also the actors in it, it's indicating that the budget is big, not big BIG but big.
- Director
I don't know the details about it especially the director and scriptwriter past works (unlike K-Drama, C-Drama seems lacking info on this one) so I can't really tell. What I got from IMDB page is there are 3 directors working for this drama which is why we can see different treatment for each episode. The pace was good until episode 14. The firework kiss is superb and I can tell the camera movement,the angle and the editing is awesome. Starting from episode 15 when ML and FL are becoming couple I can tell the treatment is smooth capturing ML/FL expressions. After episode 30, this is when the problem began. I see rushed script, rushed treatment and full of fillers. I don't know it's because of script or...?
- Post Production/Art/Photography/Editing
I like the color palette they used during color grading.It's awesome,even for the small screen like mobile phone. The color went excellent. We also can see tons of panoramic footage capturing the city and the sea, the lights are gorgeous. Also don't forget, the close up shot for our main couple is gorgeous! Kudos to the DOP! The editing is good, but we see many scenes were cut. I don't know, it's because of the censorship or the editors and directors decision.....or perhaps sponsors'?
2. Story
Business romance is not new and male CEO falling in love with a girl isn't new either we see so many stories like this, even in Wattpad written by 12 yo girl. LOL. The show is such an eye candy (of course), we have Dilireba and Johnny Huang in it and it was good from the beginning until episode 30 but after that the script also didn't do much. After 30-ish episode the show went downhill with tons of stories left unanswered. The scriptwriters seem like to give a soul in each and every character with so many stories like 2nd leads, the mothers, ML family, the kids, the ex bf, the 2nd female family, the friends, the actress..omg... can you count? At the end, the script failed to tie the threads and we see rushed ending full with fillers.
This drama has so much potential if only we can see:
- FL is independent woman and her struggle to raise up her name in the industry, but sadly we can't see much. All we know is FL is designer, independent she is, but the story is still following cliche romance drama. FL is success because of ML (like it or not).
- Su Yushan story. Omg.... I like his story and I really wanna know more. We've seen he has issue with ML but what? What is his back story? What is his personality? He's not evil I suppose and we can only see his back story a couple of episodes before ending. His marriage issue and his divorce issue.
- The kids story. Rather than QQ and Wushan also the mothers (which is not important), I'd rather to see the kids story in school and their interaction. I'd like to see ML's sister is changing, from the bad girl to a family girl and entering top university.
3. Product placement (hahaha....)
I know I know.... we all hate the product placement but without sponsors we might not see this drama. Sponsors are the one financing the production and with so many sponsors like this, I can tell that the drama is successful commercially.
However I got my 2 cents on the product placement: From the brand perspective, product placement in the drama called built-in product placement where the actors/actress are seen with the brands. Built-in is super okay but pushing the product over and over can create negative sentiment for your brand. I got it H*N*R, you are the main sponsor but having your ringtone beeping over and over also it's amazing that every character used the same ringtone is a turn off. I know the song is sung by Lenka "We are the brave" and they must be spending a lot of money to have Lenka writing/singing it for them, but please don't do this again. I don't know it the creative's suggestions or brand pushing the creative to do what they want but aesthetically, the pushed product placement is a turn off.
4. The Acting
This is my 2nd time watching Johnny Huang as male lead after Moonshine and Valentine and I can tell he's such a versatile actor. He can communicate using his eyes, his gesture, his micro expression even when he speak slowly....and Dilireba is good capturing that. Johnny Huang has so much potential as an actor and I would love to see his future works, not to mention he's a swoon worthy too hahaha....
For Dilireba, this is my 3rd time watching her as female lead and her Zhou Fang is my favorite among all of her dramas that I've watched. She can portray Zhou Fang as a fierce and independent female. She doesn't need man actually because she can do it, but we can see her vulnerable side too when finally she's in love with an alpha male like Song Lin.
Song Luo Luo, omg... I like her! I've never seen her before and I don't know her name but her acting is something!
Overall, I give the score 8/10 because of the production value and the main actors. If it's depending on the story perhaps I would like to score 6/10 because the last 5 episodes are full of fillers and the ending isn't like what I expected to be.
I finished watching this show and this is the first C-drama I religiously watched when it was airing. I wait until the last episode to make this reviews.
1. Production
- Budget
This is modern romance drama with $$$ I can tell. From the quality and the post production also the actors in it, it's indicating that the budget is big, not big BIG but big.
- Director
I don't know the details about it especially the director and scriptwriter past works (unlike K-Drama, C-Drama seems lacking info on this one) so I can't really tell. What I got from IMDB page is there are 3 directors working for this drama which is why we can see different treatment for each episode. The pace was good until episode 14. The firework kiss is superb and I can tell the camera movement,the angle and the editing is awesome. Starting from episode 15 when ML and FL are becoming couple I can tell the treatment is smooth capturing ML/FL expressions. After episode 30, this is when the problem began. I see rushed script, rushed treatment and full of fillers. I don't know it's because of script or...?
- Post Production/Art/Photography/Editing
I like the color palette they used during color grading.It's awesome,even for the small screen like mobile phone. The color went excellent. We also can see tons of panoramic footage capturing the city and the sea, the lights are gorgeous. Also don't forget, the close up shot for our main couple is gorgeous! Kudos to the DOP! The editing is good, but we see many scenes were cut. I don't know, it's because of the censorship or the editors and directors decision.....or perhaps sponsors'?
2. Story
Business romance is not new and male CEO falling in love with a girl isn't new either we see so many stories like this, even in Wattpad written by 12 yo girl. LOL. The show is such an eye candy (of course), we have Dilireba and Johnny Huang in it and it was good from the beginning until episode 30 but after that the script also didn't do much. After 30-ish episode the show went downhill with tons of stories left unanswered. The scriptwriters seem like to give a soul in each and every character with so many stories like 2nd leads, the mothers, ML family, the kids, the ex bf, the 2nd female family, the friends, the actress..omg... can you count? At the end, the script failed to tie the threads and we see rushed ending full with fillers.
This drama has so much potential if only we can see:
- FL is independent woman and her struggle to raise up her name in the industry, but sadly we can't see much. All we know is FL is designer, independent she is, but the story is still following cliche romance drama. FL is success because of ML (like it or not).
- Su Yushan story. Omg.... I like his story and I really wanna know more. We've seen he has issue with ML but what? What is his back story? What is his personality? He's not evil I suppose and we can only see his back story a couple of episodes before ending. His marriage issue and his divorce issue.
- The kids story. Rather than QQ and Wushan also the mothers (which is not important), I'd rather to see the kids story in school and their interaction. I'd like to see ML's sister is changing, from the bad girl to a family girl and entering top university.
3. Product placement (hahaha....)
I know I know.... we all hate the product placement but without sponsors we might not see this drama. Sponsors are the one financing the production and with so many sponsors like this, I can tell that the drama is successful commercially.
However I got my 2 cents on the product placement: From the brand perspective, product placement in the drama called built-in product placement where the actors/actress are seen with the brands. Built-in is super okay but pushing the product over and over can create negative sentiment for your brand. I got it H*N*R, you are the main sponsor but having your ringtone beeping over and over also it's amazing that every character used the same ringtone is a turn off. I know the song is sung by Lenka "We are the brave" and they must be spending a lot of money to have Lenka writing/singing it for them, but please don't do this again. I don't know it the creative's suggestions or brand pushing the creative to do what they want but aesthetically, the pushed product placement is a turn off.
4. The Acting
This is my 2nd time watching Johnny Huang as male lead after Moonshine and Valentine and I can tell he's such a versatile actor. He can communicate using his eyes, his gesture, his micro expression even when he speak slowly....and Dilireba is good capturing that. Johnny Huang has so much potential as an actor and I would love to see his future works, not to mention he's a swoon worthy too hahaha....
For Dilireba, this is my 3rd time watching her as female lead and her Zhou Fang is my favorite among all of her dramas that I've watched. She can portray Zhou Fang as a fierce and independent female. She doesn't need man actually because she can do it, but we can see her vulnerable side too when finally she's in love with an alpha male like Song Lin.
Song Luo Luo, omg... I like her! I've never seen her before and I don't know her name but her acting is something!
Overall, I give the score 8/10 because of the production value and the main actors. If it's depending on the story perhaps I would like to score 6/10 because the last 5 episodes are full of fillers and the ending isn't like what I expected to be.
Was this review helpful to you?
