SUNNY

The frustration of this drama is it has the potential to be better than it is. I don’t think poor editing is the only reason. The character portrayals are weak, in general. Their dialogue is uneventful. They make declarations of revenge, but, their attitudes afterwards look like they are just going through the motions. Even the evil characters look like they should be easy to beat. It’s disappointing. I will shelf it to wait for the ending.

This started out with a lot of promise of a unique story with strong personalities in both main characters. The story got too complex with the multiple secondary characters that kept popping in and out of the story. The drama’s length made it hard to follow sometimes. It got frustrating the last ten or so episodes as the flurry of plot twists (more like plot braids) kept revealing themselves. It got tiring to adjust the image of the “bad” characters to fit the next plot twist. I felt exhausted, not entertained, by the end and was glad it was over. 7.5/10

This is a good cast. Looking forward to this.

Put him in a main role so he can have more screen time! I beg you!

He looks like a hotter version of Song Wei Long, if that is even possible. He’s a scene stealer in Princess Silver ep. 37 as Agent Wu! He should have been in the earlier episodes!

That’s my favorite scene in the drama plus the fact she told the bosses he not her has severe diarrhea!

It’s subbed on YouTube

This is a tough one to watch to the end because of mostly tragic romance that takes over and the sudden death of Godfrey. The drama needed more happy moments to balance the heartbreak of the main couple. This drama repeats the selfless trope of suffering in silence (for years) to not be a burden to loved ones even when the act of selflessness causes heartache and new burdens for the people the protagonist is trying to protect. This is repeated for more than half of the drama and it got boring. The misunderstandings and miscommunication are overused. They are key to extend a drama but this drama has too much of it. The acting was decent. It’s hard watching the sad scenes with Godfrey. I’m a huge fan of Godfrey and I’m glad to see any of his projects.
Anne Wu deserves credit for her supporting role. She played the part of the gold digger extremely well and gave it heart. I was hoping her character became a better person as the drama played out. 7.5/10

I have seen three versions of Scarlet Heart. This is my least favorite because they stretched out the middle too long with fillers. The beginning 18 or so episodes were good because of the lead couple and the princes: lots of chemistry, charisma and good acting. The wicked sister character was played well throughout. There were just too many unnecessary episodes of the female lead getting trampled that it got boring and expected. The ending was alright, but, bland in its execution. 7.5/10

Couldn’t get past episode 4 because of the screeching voice dub of the female lead. The male lead was great. Dropped.

The dubbing hides the dialects (hundreds) and accents that are different from “standard” mandarin. Chinese viewers can better focus on the storyline. I was not a fan of dubbing at first. I prefer real voices. I’m just used to hearing the same voices come out of different people’s mouths from drama to drama!

The chemistry was the best part of the drama. But, it didn’t start feeling meaningful until over half way into the drama. The storyline felt random. The action scenes were basically fillers. Only the cute scenes have rewatch value. 8/10

Dropped after ep. 22. The cute romantic parts were more of a tease for the full relationship that didn’t happen by episode 22. The ocean science was vague. Neither kept me motivated to keep watching to the end. Location shots in Greece were beautiful along with the modern labs. The fake underwater swimming scenes that showed CGIs of billowing hair we’re too much. Money would have been better allocated on an upgraded script, the weakest part of the drama. Also, the second female lead kept almost the same mask-like facial expressions throughout. This was unexpected based on her level of experience. 7/10

I was thinking the same thing!

Added to the list. This group of people must work for Cheng Yi’s agency. They show up in a few of his projects.

Zhou Dong Yu is the FL in the movie version. She fabulous! She started acting in lead roles from the start of her career as a teen. My favorite of hers is the movie The Palace (2013) that she starred in, when she was about 21, with Zanilia Zhou — Its a must see! The other movies I liked where she starred are Soul Mate (2016) with Sandra Ma about besties liking the same guy — It’s deeper than it sounds; Us and Them (2018) with Jing Bo Ran who also starred in the movie version of Love O2O — About a roller coaster relationship; and Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010), her first movie and lead role at 17, where she starred with a very young Shawn Dou.

I recommend the movie version, This is Not What I Expected. The female lead character is funny, but, toned down in the comedic scenes and superb in the sad scenes.

I hope the humor lasts throughout as well. But, too many Chinese dramas have sad endings.

It starts out very funny.

WeTV, Viki, Tencent