Crush (2021)

Some comparisons between the novel and the drama

I don't hardly ever write reviews, but I really love this drama. So much so I went and read the novel (I can understand about 90%), and then watched the drama again (okay maybe even twice more!) Just wanted to point out a few things...

Beware lots and lots of spoilers so don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled.

- Lots of reviewers didn't like the second half of the drama because they like the ML's personality in the first half more. In fact I think his personality remains quite consistent, it's just how he actions his thoughts and feelings that had changed, and in fact the drama has stuck true to the novel. In the novel ML does become a lot more assertive and dominating in actions (in fact even more so in the novel than portrayed in the drama IMHO) Throughout the story ML is quit rigid and likes things a certain way (his autism traits), it's just that in the first half in the drama he was lacking in self confidence because of his challenged vision, preferring to withdraw and felt unable to assert himself. In the second half his business dealings (and in the drama his new ability to see) gave him the confidence to act on this thoughts and feelings. Even though his actions changed I felt he stayed true to character.

- I think Evan Lin actually did an amazing job as our ML. He conveyed the tortured emotions as well as the confused first love and then the dominating boyfriend all quite well without making it cliched. I could see the layers of emotions as the ML grew through the drama. I already feel the drama has toned down the ML"s character quite a bit to make it more palatable as a drama. In the novel he smoked and drank A LOT and was even more forceful. In fact at times the narrative called him a "Bo Guan" which is a term for "violent/forceful dictator" usually used for a king/emperor.

- The scene where ML steals a kiss from FL whilst she was asleep made quite a few viewers unhappy. In the novel he actually goes a bit further, tries to taker her top off but stops himself in time, which is why he stomps off and splashes cold water on his face whilst he admonishes himself for his bad actions in the bathroom.

-Ditto the scene where he comes out of the shower in a robe and they make jokes about it falling down. In the novel he was half naked only with a towel around his waist. Remember in the novel his is still visually impaired so he can't see his towel. They joke back and forth about the towel falling and the FL says "she has seen him in less" and embarasses his secretary.

- The resolution of FL's hallucinations of conversations with her friend was not very clear in the drama. In the novel the FL is quite heavily pregnant and is presumptively in premature labour , her waters burst and ML rushes her to hospital. (In the drama where she was getting tummy pains whilst ML's scandal broke) She becomes unconscious as she is wheeled into ? surgery. That's when she sees her friend who says good bye to her, that now FL has her husband and baby she won't be needed any more. FL asks if she will see her again and her friend answers "probably not" and FL wakes, which in the drama is where ML grabs her hand as she wakes up.

- The relationship with between the ML and his step mum is also only alluded to but not explicitly clarified in the drama. They were presumably in some sort of a relationship before she married his father. FL finds this out from her the senior braodcaster woman she works with at the station, who in the novel also likes the ML. This is one of the major factor that causes the ML and FL to break up. FL is really quite jealous of ML's step mum and is a big point that was stopping her from getting back with him, because she felt that she would always come second to her. The scene where she gets drunk and hugs the beer bottle like a baby, in the book she questions if ML likes "her" better, and the reason why she makes him say "you only love me". When the scandal broke about ML being the mysterious lyricist there were also rumours about him having an illicit affair with his step mum which is why they were swamped by journalists.

- On second watch of the drama you get to pick up little things that make you appreciate the production team even more. When he becomes the CEO, the ML always has one single white rose in a vase on his desk. This alludes to the one single white rose he gives the FL, even when she thinks he should be romantic and give her a large bouquet. The MP3 the ML listens to, with all the songs and memories of her reading to him, is an old style airpod, and in line with that it always has the wired headphones attached, whereas when he listens to her radio show on his phone he is shown to be wearing airpods. The lyrics to the songs ML writes are also perfect, especially the one he writes just after she leaves him.

Despite the differences I've pointed out the drama team did an amazing job sticking to the plot and feel of the drama. I found the secondary couple a bit boring and the FL's mum hard to watch sometimes, but this is the only drama I have ever given a 10 to on MDL. Thanks for reading!

Leia Mais

First half 10, second half 0

I managed to finish this drama, just out of morbid curiosity to see how far they would go.

The first half of the drama is fantastic: the dynamics between the characters, scenography, ost, thematic... A little gem that left a good feeling after each episode. I really enjoyed it.

The second half was horrible: it becomes out of nowhere an extremely misogynistic CEO-poor girl drama (and it also has many script flaws).It gave the feeling of watching a pamphlet about what a young woman should desire and how she should behave. (it really makes me wonder if it was made as a propaganda to promote traditional marriage).

If you want to watch it go ahead, (he looks amazing... why deny it) but chew it a little before swallow because everything in their relationship is wrong. Kisses without consent, infantilization of the woman, wife waiting at home for the husband to return, the general idea that you have to put up with your partner shitty behaving because he loves you... just to name a few...

A pity, really. It promised a lot and ended up this way.

Leia Mais

A Rare Gem of 2021. Highly recommended!!

I watched this drama without having high hopes and much expectations because I wasn't familiar with the casts. When I watched the trailer, it was something unique and ML is blind and so handsome. So, I decided to check it out. Trust me, it doesn't disappoint me at all. Since Ep 1, I was completely hooked into this drama and super active in the comment section of MDL.
This drama really got me.

THE STORY: It was so simple, but attractive romance. Since it has only 24 eps, it was perfect for binge watch. The story does not drag or rush in every way. It was absolutely fascinating and beautiful. I was not bored even one second while watching this drama.

THE CAST/ACTING:
All the casts did very well. Kudos to Our Male Lead, Lin Yanjun. He was the one who carried the whole drama with his incredible acting skills. You won't believe this drama is actually his first acting debut work. He can really act. Lin Yanjun rocks as Su Nian Qin so perfectly. His gestures and movements are all perfect and convincing as a blind person.
Wan Peng also did well as Sang Wu Yan.
Their acting seems really natural, nothing was out of place and I could feel the emotions they tried to show with their acting.

CHARACTERS:
Su Nian Qin - He is a visually impaired person. He is not completely blind. He can see blurred things within 3 feet. He works as a song-writer with the name "Yi Jin". He actually comes from a rich family. He is unpredictable, lonely and sensitive person. He has insecurities and hurts.I love him so much.
Sang Wu Yan - She is bright, friendly and curious person which dreams of becoming a radio host. She studied psychology at the University.

THE CHEMISTRY:
Lin Yanjun and Wan Peng.. their chemistry is off the charts. I'm amazed by their genuine and excellent acting and chemistry.

MUSIC:
The first thing that I felt in love with was the music. I am not a person who is much interested about a OST but I seriously loved all the songs. It was amazing! My favorite OST is Yuan Lai Wo Hen Ai Ni (I love you very much) by Lin Yanjun.

REWATCH VALUE :
I am sure I will re-watch it many times. I could see myself rewatching at least 2 times a year from now on.

OVERALL :
In conclusion, this drama is everything I need in a modern romance drama. It was fun, interesting, enjoyable with a few cliched moments. I truly invested in it emotionally.
So you can say that this drama is definitely worth a watch! Highly recommended!

Leia Mais

IT WAS GOOD UNTIL IT WASN’T

I only watched up until Ep 18 although I wanted to stop sooner, but I figured it just might get better.

The beginning was so good, the conflict and plot was good too. But what drives me mad about Chinese Drama (I still watch a lot btw) is how relationships are written immaturely. How even after the heartbreak and heartache, they act like kids afterwards, playing the push and pull game without confronting the issues that caused the breakup.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, she had to be the one to initiate the conversation and go after him even when he was in the wrong 3 years ago. She took the initiative before when he was blind and shut himself out from the world. Even after his surgery, he never took the initiative or even attempted to apologize to Wu Yan for being arrogant and insecure to which caused her not to say her final goodbyes to her father. But, yet again, she initiated the conversation as she reached out to him. She had to be the one to consider his feelings and circumstances 3 years ago, to justify his lack of consideration in the present.

This is what I hate about the screenwriter of these Chinese dramas. The representation of women is so poor and idiotic. Always making them inferior to men in every aspect of life. It’s so disgusting! It’s not enough to insult the intelligence of the FL, strip her of her pride to go running to him again, disregard the feelings of the FL while feeding the ego of the ML. She’s always been the one who loved more. Even until the end, she loved him more than he did her.

It was a good drama until it wasn’t.

Leia Mais

Complex story with complicated/multilayered characters masked with loads of Sweetness and Fluff!!

Minor Spoilers: Everything about this show is deceptive, from its generic-cute title to its summary. Nothing, at first glance/read, would hold your attention or even pique your interest. Chances are that you are going to just pick it up as a filler drama. However, don’t be fooled. Neither the title, nor the summary, even comes close to encapsulating the true depth of what this show is trying to portray. On the surface, this is a show about our exceptionally cheerful, optimistic FL with a heart of gold and clumsy but, cute demeanour. Our ML is visually impaired, cold, musical prodigy with a tragic past that should justify his insensitive behaviour. They meet, sparks fly, someone dies, they breakup, meet again after 3 years, sparks fly, this time, they marry and live happily ever after!

Well, if you plan to binge-watch this show, the most you might get out of this show is the above story and great chemistry between FL and ML. However, this show has to one of the best C-dramas till date which managed to portray people with mental illnesses from various spectrums in the most realistic way possible. The fact that this show takes a ‘show not tell’ stance in their portrayal of the mental illnesses does backfire quite heavily for the audience who aren’t from psychology major or have no experience in the field. In fact, ‘TIME’ is the greatest ANTAGONIST in the show and for the people who made the show. This show, if it had more episodes, could’ve dealt explicitly about the mental health issues that it was just trying to ‘show’ through the actions of the characters in order to justify their behaviour. However, it makes this great assumption that people are already aware about mental disorders and would understand the motivations and actions of the characters in relation to it.

The FLs – high functioning depression, long and repressed grief, paranoia, hallucinations, delusion disorder. The MLs – visual impairment, autism, trauma, overall personality disorder. Both ML and FL suffer from mental health conditions which are unfortunately, masked or not portrayed well enough for the audience to really understand their actions. ML is on autism spectrum and it is reflective from his need/obsession towards routines, his inability to let go of the FL, his headaches and pained expression when hearing out of tune music. The FLs depression and paranoia is reflective in her delusions about her friend Cheng Yi.

However, time is their biggest enemy. They weren’t even together for long enough, when they’re cornered with personal trauma and loss. Their reaction and emotional outburst in the face of their personal tragedies was absolutely justified, but poorly represented.

Acting: Evan Lin as a new actor absolutely nailed the visually impaired, tragic cold ML character. Wan Peng does an amazing job as the pretty, cheerful FL. However, its their chemistry, which is the real winner in the show and an absolute delight to watch. The Second ML and FL’s story or performance doesn’t make an impression and is quite forgettable. However, keep an eye on Xiao Lu as she’s the most stable character and voice of reason in the drama.

Music: The music in the show is what puts it on another level. However, our ML is a composer, so lousy OST would have been quite unacceptable. So, just get ready for great musical tracks.

It has high re-watch value because there are a lot of moments in this show which makes sense in retrospect, like, in the last few episodes when they say that the ML was on Autism Spectrum and so, all his little actions and fixations suddenly make whole lot of sense! And of course, the leads are super cute together to not watch again!

As a viewer, if you looking for logic, this one has it, but you’d have to find it, unpack it, carefully and patiently. Through its thoughtful cinematography and direction, they try many times, to show little things but important things which indirectly contribute to the larger message, progress of the story and portrayal of characters. They take shots of light and dark, show how the ML perceives the world, furniture corners, the adoption scene, only for show charity and politics, reference to Silver Linings Playbook movie, John Nash and 'A Beautiful Mind', Little Prince. However, you can choose to just go with the flow and love it for the fluff because the more you try to understand the characters reactions, actions and motivation, the darker it would get. This is a complex story with multifaceted characters masked with sweetness and fluff. Also, for a change, this show doesn’t have even a single character which you might hate!

Leia Mais

heh...?!

I don't understand why people like this... Majority people really like this drama. For me this drama is really boring and has many plot holes. The more toward the ending the more messed up this drama is.

I have to agree with most people that give the same score as me, like baeehand and Lisa Veavea. The beginning was so good, the conflict and story in the beginning was reliable. But the middle and ending it's so sucks. For me this drama began to sucks after they became a couple. The conflict wasn't reliable again. Maybe like Lisa Veavea wrote: "How even after the heartbreak and heartache, they act like kids afterwards, playing the push and pull game without confronting the issues that caused the breakup".

And the reason for break up is more proof they are so childish. It's only about their communication. The ending is just like they push the fwd button, everything happened so fast. 

Plot holes / fast fwd scene:
- the wedding of Wei Hao & Xu Qian
- the love rival. They want to make Nie Xi become the crazy woman who is secretly in love with Su Nian Qin (NQ), but it just suddenly stops without even starting.
 - Isn't the relationship between NQ and his dad already better when his dad was sick. Why at the end we can still see the relationship become sucked again...
- What actually the problem with NQ and his family has never really been explained. 
Maybe there are more the plot holes but I think I'll stop here.

Overall: this is just one drama to spend your days. What I like best from this drama is actually the soundtrack. For me this drama maybe better if they have longer eps or maybe just erased unimportant stuff and add more make sense stuff...

Leia Mais

There's many plot hole

I just finished it until 24th eps. The beginning was sooooo GOOD. The melodrama vibes, the story and their acting. It was gave me butterfly in my stomach when finally Nian Qin fell in love with Wu Yan.

BUT

It was change until they broke up and Nian Qin not blind anymore, maybe start from 13rd eps. Suddenly I feel upset because WHY from this eps. there was SO many plot hole. Many stories wasn't explanated specifically until I'm like..... eh? while watching this.

Then, too many repetition tho from every scene, like Nian Qin too often hug Wu Yan lol I even not feel this scene is sweet anymore so sorry :(

Leia Mais

It was good until

Like another reviewer said. It was good until it wasn’t. For a first timer I think the ML did a really good job. I have watched dramas by the FL but I didn’t feel her in this one.
Story starts off good and the ‘shameless pursuit’ by the FL is actually realistic according to me. It’s good till ep 17-18 and then they introduce subplots and situations which are not addressed. So many of the side characters were not reused. The FL is supposed to be a reluctant psychology student who has her Masters actually but I’m not sure why she takes advice regarding the ML than actually trying to analyze it herself. The PTSD after the incident was not necessary cos they didn’t address it properly.
But coming back to the ML. Can’t help fangirling over his face and the pout.
The songs/ lyrics were translated so well in the subs and are really good.
I will recommend it in case you don’t have anything else to watch and in case you want some eye candy in the form of the ML.

Leia Mais

How to Date An Arrogant Crush.

Crush
A very simple title but has meaningful and deep storyline.

▪️Main Point
~ Mostly a perfect god was a male lead but in this drama it’s different since male lead has disability. He was blind. But he did not take it as a problem since he manage his life very well and become a popular songwriter.
~ A girl fell in love with the guy at first sight and happened to meet him during her internship. She gets to know him and become close to him.

▪️ Short Synopsis
The woman fell in love with the guy at the first sight when she happened to meet him at the park. Luckily, she met him for a second time at the school where she got an intern to teach there. She closely observed that guy and always took an initiative to get close with him. Then she completely fell into him.

In episode 9, they're finally become a couple after Wu Yan confessed for second time in radio. They were sweet, cute and happy when became a couple even though Nian Qin was not able to see how she was look like. But they did not unhappy just because of that. However Wu Yan's mom did not agreed with her choice and wanted her to back home. Wu Yan disagreed at first but later when she heard Nian Qin telling his step mum that Wu Yan’s mum didn’t like him because of his disability then Wu Yan was hurt. At that time her dad also died so she decided to go back and take care of her mum.

** I love this series because Nian Qin and Wu Yan got married in second last episode. They’re both so happy with their marriage even Nian Qin at first shows a weird behavior that makes Wu Yan annoyed but to me it’s funny and lovely. Every time Nian Qin back from his work, he will rang the doorbell and wait for Wu Yan to open the door then he told her that ‘I’m back’ while giving a kiss at her forehead. This is to me so romantic since he wants to keep doing it as a daily life. The most important they’re got a daughter and she’s lovely and normal like others children.

For your information, there was a little suspense in this series. Wu Yan’s bff, Cheng Yi was dead when they’re both trapped in the lift. Wu Yan cannot accepted it thus she makes her own imagination that Cheng Yi still alive.

▪️Characters Intro
~ Evan Lin was a new actor. This drama was his first debut as actor. But he’s already nailed it! He so professional to act as a disabled person. He acts as Su Nian Qin who handsome, talent and arrogant guy. He has a flaws which is he cant see or blind since his childhood. So he was a little sensitive and do not want to get close with the people except his cousin, Xiao Lu.
~ Wan Peng always good in acting. She has more dramas before this and I watched it for several like Meeting You, First Romance, My Gf is an Alien and others. She always showed a great acting for sure and we cant denied it. In this drama, she act as Sang Wu Yan who was a happy go lucky girl, cute and also sociable. She always try to get close with Nian Qin and make him a little bit care about her.

▪️OST
Wan Peng feat Lin Yanjun - Meeting You
The OST also was nice and sweet ~

▪️Overall
I liked this drama since it was different from the other dramas. I could see on how people date even though they were disable or have the flaws. It's quite interesting to me. Thus, This drama indeed has a great values.

Leia Mais

A beautiful story that will make you not want to let go

Wow, I haven’t come across a story that gets me straight in the feels like this since Go Ahead.

This story is beautifully written and executed. Our main leads go through many twists and turns but none of it felt unnecessary. I could understand the thoughts and actions of the characters very well. That’s one of my pet peeves actually, when the characters make really stupid decisions that makes me question whether I like them or not lol

Here even the events that led up to their break up felt frustrating but understandable. I understood why Wu Yan was at her wits end. She loved Nian Qin but in the worst possible time in her life she felt like he wasn’t there for her and she had to cater to his temper and feelings. Of course she also needs someone to lean on. The equality was off. She took care of him and loved him but it felt like he had some growing up and maturing to do.

The reversal in the second half of the drama was well thought out and I appreciated seeing their roles reversed and now Nian Qin being there for her after all the emotional trauma of losing not only her father but best friend back to back. She was scarred by life and left fragile. Not to mention after seeing her do all the pursuing in the first half of the drama it was nice to see him have to win her over for once.

The music in a drama rarely leaves an impact on me but I have to say the songs and background music in this drama was perfection. It gave the drama such a melancholic and ethereal kind of vibe that’s hard to describe.

The secondary characters if I’m being completely honest are the only thing I was whatever about in this drama. I skipped almost all of their scenes but I don’t think that took away from my viewing experience because for me the main characters is why I’m watching.

Overall this drama is definitely worth watching and for the first time in a good while has earned a complete 10/10 .

Leia Mais

Watch it because of Evan Lin

actually I've started this drama the first time and then put it down after watching 1 episode, because at that time I felt nothing attracted me to this drama.
but after I finished the drama "Fall In Love" starring Oliver Chen with Evan Lin, I started to be interested in Evan Lin's acting there and restarted this drama, and I was quite surprised because his acting was very good even for his first drama in FIL and second for Crush. he delivered very well, like an actor who has been acting in the drama world for a long time.

I feel that the development of the story in this drama is quite interesting even though after 16 episodes everything seems to have changed drastically in terms of the story and the main leads character, but so far I can still accept it, although I wish the author would maintain the male lead character as a famous songwriter after he turned into a CEO. it would be great if it was kept, but yeah...it doesn't disappoint me either of course even if it's different.

the acting of the casts in this drama is also good, but lacking for second leads in my opinion. What makes and attracts this drama is only the main leads for me. both in terms of their chemistry which is really very good or in terms of their good acting performance, especially Evan Lin. (I became a fan of him after watching this drama and Fall in Love), but wan peng's acting doesn't really stand out in my opinion here, but well it's still in a good category for that, although sometimes I still feel her acting development is not that different from her other dramas .

I quite like the soundtrack in this drama, especially what Evan Lin brought after episode 16 entitled "yuan lai wo hen ai ni" I just realized that he is also a reliable dancer and singer.
this is one of the romantic and sweet chinese modern dramas.

OVERALL : 9/10 for this drama.

Leia Mais

I would have rated this even higher had the story not shifted tone in the second half.

What I didn't like:
- First half was good up until ep 16 I think, and then the editing became increasingly choppy (scenes' transitions not done seamlessly) and some issues were thrown in without being properly addressed or even being necessary (her friend, her mental condition, ML identity revelation to the public etc.).
- Drama felt more melodrama as first, but when the leads reunited, it was more romcom-y. What with the common CEO trope being introduced later.
- Too long epilogue to stretch the drama for more episodes. Would have worked better with less episode count, but that's an issue with most c-dramas.
- ML's behavior deviated a bit too much after the separation. I understand he got his sights and lifestyle change from a reclusive songwriter to a CEO, but the changes made were a bit jarring that I felt tad disconnected with his character. Mom also accepted the ML so easily after all that happened in the beginning. Had I not watched mother-daughter argument when she visited her, I'd have thought that she accepted him cos he was no longer blind and for his status hahaha.
- Love the songs and BGM, but a lot of times, they didn't fit the scenes.
- Her being a psychology graduate was not too relevant to the story.
- ML family relationship was not fully explored (tho I like that we were shown his relationship with his father remained quite distant despite reconciled when FL came over cos that seemed more believable, for me at least)
- Second couple was boring that I FF them a lot.

Might seem like a lot of dislikes, BUT, this is actually one of the few modern c-dramas that I enjoy quite a lot this year.
- No overdubbing.
- The acting. Almost everyone acted so well in this, even Evan Lin whose this was only his second acting project (but first being aired). I think he will benefit most from working in this drama and I look forward to his future projects. Wan Peng was great as always. She was very convincing in whatever the character's trying to sell that I didn't feel like she was acting.
- Leads got nice chemistry.
- Their relationship progressed naturally and believable. I totally get why they fell for each other.
- No evil second lead trying to come between them. Even their separation was not caused by anyone else but was personal issues that they needed to overcome themselves.
- Characters behaved like real people. Conversations were rational and relatable.
- We were shown what the characters feel, and not just told verbally. (I like the scene in the hospital when ML was trying to touch his father before he went into surgery, but retracted his hand upon contact, cos it was unfamiliar for him).
- Like I said before, love the music, when inserted properly.

Overall an enjoyable watch.

Leia Mais