sulkytofu

Mhmm, I am honestly sympathetic and understand. Not to mention sometimes the drama might really not be to your taste; honestly speaking my disappointment at this drama was really because of the potential that I saw that it had.

Have you tried the romcom Begin Again (it's the drama with Simon Gong?) The FL is apparently a very boss CEO while he's a doctor, and they have an arranged marriage together. I wasn't really a fan of the series, but you might like that FL a lot more.

Meeting You (with Fiction Guo and Wan Peng) is also one of my favourites; while it's still being subbed the FL has a very chill, "boss of the class" personality and ML deals with social anxiety. Another one too is My Love Enlighten Me, which has one of the worst MLs I've seen in my life, but one of my favourite all time FLs.

There's also some dramas which really aren't romcoms, but have strong FLs (i.e. Arsenal Military Academy, The Song of Glory). Hope you find a drama that works better for you!

Honestly, my personal tolerance towards FLs is very high, so I genuinely did not really have many problems with her as a character. I do think some of the writing of the plot itself however may exacerbate some of the issues with the drama (and therefore the inability for the FL to take more initiative in certain instances, or for us to really get a sense of her true personality). Again, that being said, I don't really ever consider FL's stupid or dumb, and I generally like of all of them, so I admit that perhaps my tastes veer on the more forgiving side.

Oh boy, I honestly don't know how to feel about this one. I'm definitely excited about Wang Runzhe, but I just watched the trailer and I'm not sure whether this is going to be a heavy, tragic watch or a fluffy romcom. I admit I'm also not feeling the chemistry between FL and ML, but hopefully when I give it a watch it will be better than I expect!

Honestly speaking, this is an interesting drama. I think it tried to do a lot of really cool and subversive things, and while the execution wasn't great, I think it's actually quite fresh and I'd love to see another take on this.

The whole transmigrating into the villainess, mysterious second lead gets the main girl, and the dash of thriller/psychological manipulation I think are very fresh. I loved how truthfully I could see her with Ouyang Chen in a "typical CEO rom-com fluff drama," and then how the show just broke that down completely through the relationship Zhen Zhen had with Lu Li. The fluff scenes are so adorable, while the plot keeps me wanting to know what happens next so that I don't get bored of the drama.

Unfortunately, there were some elements that didn't really work and/or made the show convoluted. I really think the main problem is that #1) the story would have been better if the "novel" Qian Zhen Zhen simply disappeared/was replaced, and we focused instead on "transmigrated" Zhen Zhen (aka Chunxi). It started getting much too confusing constantly switching between the both of them, and this also made Zhen Zhen as a character suffer in development (not to mention giving the role two actresses just gave me a headache being able to tell the difference between them). The second problem is that #2) there is a complete loss of the genre of the novel in the drama. By that I mean when Zhen Zhen transmigrates, she doesn't think about how her knowledge about the novel's characters and people can help her to make strategic decisions or choices. In other words, once Zhen Zhen transmigrates, we don't really hear about the fact that this world she went into is the "novel world," and how she can use her "foresight" and "existing knowledge" to influence the novel's trajectory.

That being said, I still think it was a decent watch even with all of the issues. I did get confused sometimes (I entered this drama thinking it was light fluff, but sometimes you need to carefully watch to understand the plot). While I wasn't entirely satisfied, I definitely think it brought something a little unique to the table and mixed in a lot of genres which were quite fresh.

His acting and chemistry was so much better with Song Yiren than the male lead! Totally agree and I'm so excited!

One of my favourite tropes tbh is actually when the SML and FL get together for some time, and then they have a falling out/things don't work out and she ends up with the ML. Perhaps this one is a slow burn romance. I was going to pick this up because I love Jin Han and because Tian Jianci will be in one of Priest's BL novel adaptations, and so I have high expectations for this one!

I'm crying, this comment cracked me up

I've been watching a lot of the fluff dramas airing this season which I thought I would love since my tastes always veer that direction. These include General's Lady, Perfect and Casual, Be With You, and also this one. And I think I've been dropping all of them very early on (within the 8 episode mark) because either the FL falls for the ML first, or there is some form of "insta-love" and I don't really see the romance develop over time.

I'm really missing the chase, the bickering, and the tension between both characters, as well as instances where the ML is doting to the FL and she's completely oblivious. I may pick this up when I get the chance once again, but I've been having a difficult time completing these dramas even though usually I love my "sweet" dog food and fluff.

Honestly, I'm really, really impressed by how the drama is depicting Nanxi's neurodivergency, and he's slowly becoming one of my favourite male leads next to Zhang Yao's ML in The Best of You In My Mind. Both Fiction Guo and Wan Peng are doing such a natural and incredible job at bringing to life their characters, and I really appreciate how sometimes Nanxi gets better, sometimes he gets worse, and that there isn't a "linear" way to "cure" or "resolve" the struggles he likely will have in terms of social communication for the rest of his life.

Moreover, I think it's also important that the drama slightly touches on how it is not his own individual problem, but rather an issue that society is unwilling to and/or cannot accommodate his neurodivergency. That there is still stigma of seeking psychological help, that the drama challenges the perceptions and ways in which this is conceived (especially in a high school setting) is really awesome. I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the drama as they grow up together, but so far the main couple has great chemistry, and I just love how wholesome and supportive both Nanxi and Xia Rui are, and how their relationship is so healthy. How they communicate, share with each other their burdens, and cheer each other in adversity is so admirable, and I really think this is one of the fluffier and sweeter drama gems this year that balances out a lot of thoughtful commentary while keeping it light and adorable.

Guys, how is the chemistry and romance in this drama? I'm totally okay with slow-burn romance but probably will only pick this one up if the sparks between both leads are good.

I definitely cannot rewatch it. It's really a painful watch; that being said I definitely do not feel like my time was wasted even given that this is a tragedy and that this is angsty. Honestly, Peng Xiaoran and Chen Xingxu's performances were incredible, the OST was amazing, and the sets and costumes were beautiful.

If there's one complaint I have, most of the middle parts seemed quite fillery to me (once it gets past around Episode 30 I found the plot to much less intense, until we get to the very last couple episodes). Overall, however, it was a great watch and I really do not regret bingeing it, but do make sure to bring tissues and prepare yourself.

Honestly, I felt like Song Yiren had a lot more chemistry with Zhang Yao in The Best of You in My Mind, and I felt like the storyline and gradual development of their relationship in that one was much better. I was surprised by the great comments so far since Aaron Deng's acting is definitely very stiff. His coldness is very forced and it's very clear when he's trying to be brusque, and his acting comes off as unnatural a lot of the time (which makes his personality rather unrealistic).

On the other hand, Wang Runze did a great job as the second lead Song Siyi, and in fact I find that he and Song Yiren have a lot more chemistry (and find myself constantly supporting this ship even though I know it's very clear that Yuan Qian will get together with Qin Shen). Overall, I feel as if right now the drama focuses much less on the school aspect, and a lot more instead on the relationship development. It's a fluffy watch that's right up my general selection and drama taste; but given the lack of chemistry and the stiff acting from the ML, I'm thinking this one will likely be a drop for me.

One more note is that for some reason, the "university" feels A LOT more like high school. Even though almost all of the cast are definitely either above or at college age; the setting and everything for some reason does not seem like college at all.

As someone who usually gravitates towards fluffy romance, would you guys recommend this for a watch? I personally loved Secret with Ji Sung and Hwang Jung Eum b/c even though it was DEFINITELY not fluffy, the chemistry between the two leads really kept me watching. Are there enough sweet scenes to cover the painful/bitter moments?

Don't feel bad. It's okay to like someone because they are handsome or good looking, while also recognizing their acting may not be up to par. This is very self-reflexive of you, and it's awesome you admitted it too. It's great we are having these discussions though, although it says a lot about what the acting industry privileges and upholds, and how notions of "merit" or being "good at acting" often are irrelevant towards other factors (good looks, connections, profitability, etc.)

It's honestly really sad. I see so many newer dramas with rookie actors that do such an incredible job, yet after seeing them once or twice I see them sidelined as side casts for other projects. On the other hand, I see some actors who continue to receive projects despite a questionable acting ability, or some actors who have been in the industry for years (maybe even a decade) who still have yet to get their big break. The notion of working hard and simply being talented is a lie; it's obvious that there are so many other factors involved in the casting decision than just one's own merit alone.

No, absolutely. Unless I read the translation wrong, Guo Jingming also noted that he gave the S card because he simply wanted to cast He Changxi in some of his own works... (again, within the constraints of knowing that there may be scripted arguments, etc.) but it really goes to show how subjective such decisions often can be, and how these often are associated with broader systemic biases and issues. It's so frustrating, not to mention that these issues are often representative of double standards (such as notions of ageism towards female actresses versus male actors).

I think my wording was not careful enough, thank you for pointing it out. And please keep your comment up here (I think it's really helpful for others!) I meant to say "unsure if BL adaptations have been selected based on plot reasons," and then use Priest as an example. For a really great analysis of this, the article is a case study on Guardian by Cathy Yue Wang (it's available open-access!) where this is one of the reasons that (may potentially) factor into the censorship of BL works. Good point checking this though and requesting for sources!

Haha no problem! Always glad to give recommendations. Thank you for sweet and kind words, definitely made my day!

The acting was honestly really, really bad. I'm really curious why some of these actors come on the show when clearly they either do not have acting training or are not ready yet (I wouldn't expect someone to be able to act if they've never done it before!)

Possibly the most frustrating thing is that it really goes to show how casting is a complete roll of the dice/drawn by luck. There are so many stars who have such great acting skills that take years to become famous or star as leads in main projects, while others easily hook on to projects from the first time for a variety of reasons not correlated to their talents.

Again, I'm sure part of the show was scripted, and that there were arguments that may have been amplified and intentionally done to create drama in the show. But at the same time, He Changxi was really, really, objectively bad as an actor.

Unrelated to the drama, but I saw some BTS clips of Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, and Luo Yunxi's singing was actually so good even though he was playing around? He also has a PERFECT Cantonese accent, which I was shocked by since he can also speak the Sichuan dialect!