Luar (2021)

Nice to Watch Fun Main Couple

This is a 9.5 for because I really enjoyed the watching Chu Li and Zhou Chan. It made up for all the things that annoyed me.

I liked Esther Yu and how she portrayed Chu Li. There are a lot of comments about her voice and all, but I think it fits with the overall and I didn’t mind it at all. You’d think that she was acting too cutesy, but as I said it just fits with the overall character. She also played well in parts when it called for serious scenes. I liked Chu Li’s character. In the beginning I thought she was going to be the dumb female character who will be a pushover and bullied in the workplace. She turned out to be someone smart and got things done in her own way, sometimes while being cutesy  I loved how she dealt with Zhou Chan’s tantrums; sometimes he doesn’t even realize he’d been had.

I like Ryan Ding so I just enjoyed watching him  but he played Zhou Chan well too. His subtle expressions that tell all.

Their relationship was refreshing to watch, they communicated with each other, considerate and supportive of each other. Even that breakup and getting back together moment was just right, they were both reasonable – “I’m mad at you and I’m showing it. Realize where you were wrong. Sincere apology accepted. Back together.” No unnecessary dragging out problems – what a relief cause that always happens when there are too many episodes.

As much as I enjoyed watching Chu Li and Zhou Chan, it exhausted me to watch Jiang Yu Cheng and Gu Bai Zhi. I won’t go into too many details, just thankful that they finally sorted it out – well during the last two (?) episodes.

Leia Mais

Sweet but long winded

Sweet romance but the leads took too long to confess their feelings. This whole drama have lots of incessant scenes and I found myself having to skip through everything because the second leads are really boring. Story is mediocre but at least the romance is about authors and editors, rather than the typical overbearing boss with clumsy employee. Female lead is smart and naive at the same time. She is very successful and capable but failed to realise that male lead lied to her when she confronted about his other identity. There were so many clues and the reasoning he gave her to brush her suspicion off were not convincing enough and she believed it. It was nice to see the female lead changing the male lead from a hot tempered, weak-willed, lazy, unromantic with zero social skills to someone romantic, heart warming and supportive boyfriend. Female lead is very capable, successful and smart and is a huge pillar of support for male lead. She’s extremely bubbly, adorable and cute. When both of them were at their lowest, both of them stayed strong together and female lead slowly climbed her way up. There were no break ups at all. The dog was really cute. The second leads were boring. Literally skipped their parts out as they were predictable. This drama could have shortened to 24 episodes but they choose to have 36 episodes of unnecessary scenes.

Leia Mais

Wholesome, no misunderstandings drama

Ryan Ding deserves an award for this. He was able to pull off the childish and rude caharcter of a famous writer while making us relate to his emotions. The FL voice was annoying sometimes but it is her batural voice, no dubbing. I also really like how mature she was and how the couple handles all hardships together. Most poeple do not understand the importance of editors in the literature world, and this drama gives a great inspiration for people seeking suchvlesses known careers. In short this drama is like a combination of Full House, Romance is a bonus book, and Love 020. If you liked any of these, definitely watch this!!! If you know "the moon is beautiful tonight" you will love this drama for sure 😉😜❤.

Leia Mais

It's not that I disagree with the positive reviews...

...but honestly I don't have the attention span for this kind of slow-progressing storyline.

The slowburn romance was lovely. Ding Yu Xi absolutely blows it out of the water as the tsundere ML who is clingy and head over heels in love but unable to show it. I love a good grumpy/sunshine setup.

But the majority of the drama revolved around the FL's career in editing and her workplace troubles, which almost immediately got tiring and I started skipping scenes by like 8 episodes in. (Ironic, actually, since I personally have worked in the fiction editing business for years now. You'd think it would be uniquely interesting to me.)

Also, Esther's voice >.< I cannot get over the baby talk, it's just impossible to ignore.

TROPES:
- boss/employee relationship (author & editor)
- grumpy ML / sunshine FL
- ML falls first and is clingy, possessive, jealous, physically affectionate
- cheerful, hardworking but poor FL
- love triangle & eventual secondary couple
- workplace drama set in the publishing industry
- good skinship, great kisses, but be prepared to wait for it

Leia Mais

A dreamy and cute romance!

goodness me, what a delightful watch!

pros:
- wonderfully written characters who developed well as the episodes went on. there was a beautiful balance between romance and plot happenings.
- healthy relationship between the leads. it started off rocky with ZC’s very apparent daddy issues but I love how his character actually grew and matured while still maintaining a playful air! i love the trust and loyalty they had towards each other, with a sprinkle of healthy jealousy. it was so nice to watch <3
- the plot was actually good! i feel that often with cdramas, the romance and story can clash or be incompatible sometimes and i lose interest in one or the other after a bit but i enjoyed both in Moonlight! it was nice seeing some insight into the publishing world
- i loveeeee the beige/warm colour palette and aesthetics. so comforting :)
- the acting was great :D DYX has really nailed the loving gaze (reminds me of Mark Prin’s loving gazes haha) and his kisses are so good lol there were some bits from Esther’s side where i felt was a bit awkward? but overall, everyone did a good job.
- side characters were not jarring and i didn’t feel like they’re screentime was taking away from the leads’ storyline. well written once again!
- the natsume soseki references. ugh will never be soft for ‘the moon is beautiful tonight’ confessions.
- the ending was perfect! beautifully wrapped up :) love it when they end with them becoming a family and not just a wedding :D
- er gou. that’s it. that’s the tweet.

cons:
- i did skip Jiang yu cheng’s storyline and romance, it was so boring to me lol
- it got a *little* draggy near the middle before zhou chuan and chu li got together. they overused the interruption before the leads wanted to say smth trope and it got annoying after a point. nothing a good skip can’t solve though.
- sorry but zhou chuan’s style was horrendous LOL he’s meant 28 year old man they were dressing him like a 12 year old fortnite kids at times (what was with the hoodie + blazer/trench coat combo?!) esther’s styling was nice though.
- i am not a fan of babyish female leads and unfortunately chu li was just that. it took me at least 10 episodes to tolerate the baby voices, sounds, accent and mannerisms. while i still enjoyed her character in the end, i felt like her character could have done without it. it seems she always gets casted in these type of roles since her voice is very scratchy and squeaky and is so unpleasant to listen to when she wails. her acting is pretty good though so it didn’t ruin the drama for me in the end.

overall, a very smooth sailing drama and such a gem! i highly highly recommend it! 9/10

Leia Mais

This drama was good because of the acting. The story had some depth to it as you get to understand more about the publishing world, but I found it difficult to swallow that her male supervisors were such obvious haters of her and trying to sabotage her work. The lead and secondary couples were both good even if I hated that deep red lipstick the secondary FL always wore to look tough/cold. I watched this twice and picked up a few points I missed in the story. The FL needs to just work on lowering her voice - these actresses with their baby voices are kinda irritating but at least overall she comes across smart and hard working. Give this a try

Leia Mais

The best Cdrama ever

I finished all the episodes. I really like Ryan Ding Yuxi’s character in here and looking forward to watching more of his drama series.

I watched Ryan first in the Romance of Tiger and Rose, I also loved it.

Thinking of watching Intense Love after this.

Hope Ryan will continue to choose great drama to act on.

As for Esther Yu, I do not like much of her acting but her character is great in this drama.

I like also the story of the 2nd Female Lead and 2nd Male Lead.

Great Cdrama to watch this year, never a dragging moment in any episodes.

Leia Mais

Comedia romántica sobre escritores y editores.

Comedia romántica que pude ver en Amazon Prime, que ahora tienen un montón de series asiáticas.
Como todavía no le he encontrado el gusto a los dramas históricos chinos me suelo inclinar por las series actuales, o por películas, algunas de las cuales son muy buenas.

Luz de luna, o Moonlight es la historia de Zhou Chuan, un escritor de fantasía de unos veintisiete años, que se encuentra con Chu Li, una recién licenciada que desea ser editora, y que debe rondar los veinte dos años.
Chu Li acude a la editorial de sus sueños y después de demostrar su desparpajo es contratada. Ya sabes que para tener el trabajo que deseas solo tienes que ir a esa empresa y decir que quieres trabajar para ellos, porque es tu sueño... En fin, que Chu Li es contratrada pero debe mostrar su valía y para eso le imponen la tarea de conseguir que Zhoy Chuan, uno de los escritores jóvenes más valiosos del país, firme un contrato con ellos. O sea, llega una joven a la oficina, les dice que quiere trabajar para ellos, porque es su sueño, consigue el trabajo y su primera tarea es conseguir a la gran estrella literaria del momento. Es importante porque es lo que define toda la serie, lo que Chu Li quiere conseguir lo consigue, no hay frustaciones, pesares, odios, o nada malicioso alrededor de ella, salvo un jefe editor que no la quiere mucho. El resto es un baño de rosas para la protagonista.
En cuanto a Zhou Chuan, lo mismo, un protagonista que no tienen ningún pesar salvo una visión de la literatura distinta a la de su padre. Él escribe fantasía y su padre literatura clásica china, con lo cual hay una ruptura generacional que nunca llega a ser un gran conflicto abierto. No grandes dramas, la madre de Zhou Chuan actúa de conciliador en todo momento.
Como pareja no dan para mucho. Su relación desde el primer episodio hasta el último no varía, es la misma. Lo más curioso de todos es que puedes verlos como novios, o marido y mujer, porque son tal para cual.
La pareja secundaria, la del escritor Jiang Yo Cheng, y la de la editoiral, Gu Bai Zhi, es un poco mas compleja porque fueron amantes antes, y ahora no quieren verse, pese a que se aprecia desde el principio que ambos aún se quieren. Esta relación es mucho más madura, y hace que la de Zhou y Chu Li parezca el noviazgo de dos niños de secundaria.

A lo largo de los treinta y tantos episodios no hay nada interesante que decir, y siendo sincera si quitara todas las escenas que son copias de otras escenas, o copias modificadas de otras escenas, nos quedaría una serie de dos episodios de una hora cada uno. Y soy generosa.
Le debo añadir que casi todos los secundarios son adorables -salvo claro ciertos compañeros de trabajo trepas- pero en términos generales es una serie llena de buenos personajes. La mejor amiga de Chu LI, es una diseñadora de pelo rizo y grandes gafas que parece tener la personalidad de un pez. Luego otra editora que también es adorable. Su jefa, que ronda la perfección. Su jefe mayor, otro dechado de virtudes. Los padres de ella, adorables a pesar de que su madre tiene un gran cáracter. En el caso de los padres de él, es al revés, el padre es rígido en sus pensamientos y la madre es la adorable.

¿Recomendaría esta serie? Yo la he visto hasta el capítulo 30 y luego he saltado al 35 y al 36. Estos últimos de modo rápido, y la razón es simple. Me gustaba la relación de Zhou y Chu LI cuando no estaban juntos porque él podría llegar a ser bastante simpático cuando estaba celoso, lo que le llevaba a ver a su amigo Cheng para quejarse y pedir consejo. Ella en su modo de lerda, al no enterarse de nada, daba ese toque infantil dulce que no resultaba empalagoso en exceso. Que sean capítulos de cuarenta minutos ayuda mucho. Pero una vez que son pareja, ya no hay ese tira y afloja, y los elementos inocentes que provocaban una sonrisa cuando no eran pareja y no sabían aún definir sus sentimientos, se vuelven estúpidos. Puede que sea porque mi visión occidental sea más explícita pero el pudor excesivo de Chu Li me resultaba muchas veces irritante.

Como nota final algunas consideraciones. Zhou Chuan, o el actor que lo interpreta, Ding Yu Xi, me pareció excesivamente delgado. Muy delgado. Hay planos en los que la delgadez que muestra, sobre todo en la cara, es impresionante. Sé que es un hombre delgado, pero aún así dan ganas de plantarle un bocadillo de chorizo en todo los morros.

En cuanto a Chu Li, o Yy Shu Xin, también es delgada, pero tiene la cara redondada y se la ve más sana. Que su novio de diga que está gorda o que tiene la cara grande no es algo que me haya gustado mucho. Por cierto, tiene una voz de pito -no sé si lo hace ella o no- que se vuelve más irritante a media que pasan los capítulos.
Ma Yin Yin, me parece una mujer muy bella y hace una buena pareja con Yang Shi Ze.

Resumiendo.
La historia es excesivamente larga, si ves los dos primeros episodios y los dos últimos estás servido.
Producción, excelente, Se nota que hay dinero detrás. Los decorados están muy bien, y los actores tienen un guardaropa que es mayor que la ropa que tiene el Corte Inglés en cualquiera de sus centros comerciales.
Interpretación. Es correcta rozando al notable. Para un guión tan pobre creo que lo han resulto bastante bien, aunque hay momentos en que los actores están un poco acartonados, pero puede que sea más problema de direción artística que de talento. Eso sí, no creo que tengan grandes recursos en las escenas dramáticas, aunque si en las de comedia.
Música. Muy bien. Me ha gustado mucho, aunque no hayan sido muchas canciones. Muy escasa la banda sonora, supongo que gastaron todo el dinero en ropa.
Sigo sin entender porque los actores se doblan a si mismos. Hay momentos en los que parece que no hay doblaje, en otros sí. Raro.

En general no ha sido una mala serie, es de esas series románticas amables que están destinadas a ser puro entretenimiento sin ofrencer grandes dramas al espectador. ¿La volvería a ver? No, con una vez es suficiente.

Leia Mais

It’s good but not that good.

Looking at the high rating, I had the urge to watch this series. However, it doesn’t satisfy me enough.

Plot wise, it’s interesting but a bit too draggy and repetitive. Can easily cut some episode to make it compact. Romance and chemistry? Great! The sole reason that keep me going until the last episode. Their relationship are cute and fluffy. Definitely a good serotonin boost. Acting wise? Honestly cringing most of the time listening to FL high tone voice. I don’t mind if she want to baby talk to ML, but she’s also act like a child in front of her older colleagues. Doesn’t seem professional and it annoyed me so much. ML is also childish but at least, he only acted like that around his close ones. Despite FL being child-like behaviour, i still like her character, radiating positive aura and a happy pill. It will be 100% better if she act as a professional during the work setting.

Overall, still enjoyable if you crave for happy couple moments.

Leia Mais