Destinado a Te Amar (2008)

Ethan Juan is just hilarious

Woaw ! This comedy is just brilliant. I laughed all way through and loved all the characters but Anna. Among all the very funny scenes and crazy ones, there is also a big tragic event that is very much unexpected. Maybe the very last episodes are a bit draggy and don't bring any better value to the storyline but still I enjoyed watching them for their crazy moments.
The actors were all very funny. Ethan Juan was so hilarious : just watching to his facetious cute and silly expressions makes you burst into hysterical laughs. Episode 18 is a real comedy master piece !
Great show, only Baron Chen's hairstyle disappointed me !
Filmed on 2008, this very good entertainment hasn't aged at all. It's a real 'must watch' comedy.

Leia Mais

this is just a regular story with regular happenings nothing special really but the cast was wonderful. xin yi did a great job playing a sticky note girl she owned the character well as well as cun xi.the acting was not perfect it lacked in some realness but overall it was an entertaining drama. i loved the second sister she was so funny and her voice was just unique and believable. big childish sis. the sissy boy was awsome too maintaining his flamboyance. dylan was hot and i couldnt take my eyes off him whenever he comes on screen. grandma and mom were loud and a trip and sweet baby ji was just cute.
the drama was abit exaggerated esp towards the end that it became cheesy. seriously should have lasted only 16 or 20 episodes, they tried to add more stuff that was unnecessary. its not really a rewatchable show, one time is enough.

Leia Mais

I loved the story to this drama. The acting was good as long as they were not fake acting for the other characters in the drama (when u watch u will understand). I thought the music was overdone at most points throughout the movie. I don't know if I will watch this drama again just b/c there r so many other things I want to watch. But I have to say I enjoyed watching it b/c they touched on some really serious issues but there was also humor. If u watch this drama I don't think u will be disappointed b/c it will touch u at times. This is not 1 of my faves, but I think those that watch will enjoy it for the most part.

Leia Mais

"Fated to Love You" starts out with your typical characters, but it also brings a fresh and encouraging love story. With its sweet and quirky characters, over-the-top jokes and realistic romance, it's worth the watch.
Story: Chen Xin Yi is a "sticky note girl". She's the type of girl everyone walks over and uses. At the beginning, she irritated me because she just stood there and *took* everyone's treatment of her. She didn't have the courage to stand up for herself. Meanwhile, Ji Cun Xi started out as the type of male lead who doesn't really care about other peoples' feelings, but not in such a way that it makes him seem like the biggest-jerk-you-have-ever-met. He's likable, but not exactly to the point where you would consider him amazing. I liked how the main leads didn't change (mainly) because of each other, but because *they* wanted to. In Xin Yi's case, the second-lead helped her through it and gave her that courage. I thought it was a refreshing change where Xin Yi actually gave the second lead a chance to get her affections, but in the end the show stuck with the whole "the heart likes who it likes" thing. That irritated me a little, because I thought he was a better choice for Xin Yi, but by that point Cun Xi had changed enough for me to begin to root for him, too.
And the second lead girl? I wanted to like her. I really did. And it wasn't like she was overly hateful either- I honestly thought I could root for her a little too- but the things she did and the way she treated the main characters was just too much.
Acting: Everyone was sort of okay. It wasn't like they were stellar or anything, but they worked as well as they could in their roles.
Music: The usage of the music wasn't that great- it popped up at random moments and sort of messed with the mood, but it was okay.
Rewatch Value: This drama is the first one I've seen that made me *cry*- and i have the emotional capacity of a brick. I'll rewatch parts of it whenever I need to convince myself that I have a heart after all.
In all seriousness though, I don't envision myself rewatching this in the near future. This is the sort of drama you like, but you don't love.
Overall: The mood and tone was pretty standard as far as Taiwanese Dramas go. But this one just tugs at your heartstrings in a completely different way.

Leia Mais

The reason because I watch this drama is because of the remake of the Korean version. We could really see the difference between the two dramas. Set by the year 2008, graphical effects isn’t that great compared to the Korean version. What I like though in this drama is that it has that comedic feels (*more likely slapstick comedy) that only Taiwanese drama could really portray. The love also of family is much greater seen in this drama. I like that I’ve seen this after the Korean version although mas tsada jud unta na first nako ni nakita. So far I have good memories while watching this so I’m quite grateful that I’ve seen this.

Leia Mais

I guess that the fact that i watched this while it was airing, the very long waiting for a new episode and the hype that this drama created (tw drama with the highest rating at least until 2015) made me like it way more that i should, but i really fell in love with this characters and actors; and thought the years it stayed in my mind as a gem. I admit that a lot of it is exaggerated, from the acting (kinda typical of tw dramas) to the situations that occurred. Years later when i rewatched it didn't meet up with the memories and impressions i had of it. So somehow it felt like a bubble that got burst.

Leia Mais

Как это у меня часто бывает, неожиданно посмотрела тайваньскую дораму. Думала не осилю 24 серии по 1,2 часа. Но сериал оказался не просто смотрибельным, а очень и очень хорошим. Есть конечно, законы жанра, штампы и правила съемок, но актеры играют безукоризнено. За что им большой респект.
Дорамка начинается как комедийная,и правда было смешно. Очень многое делали актеры второго планы: мамы, бабушки, сестры и мужья сестер, помощники и адвокаты.
К 8 серии началась романтическо-дущещепательная линия. 12 серия просто вынесла мне мозг... Да, такой вот сюжет. но это слишком больно и страшно
Между главными героями не просто искрило, а жгло и пепелило. Не сразу, постепенно, особенно когда девочка нашла в себе силы измениться. А по началу она была дура дурой, хотя тоже по сюжету.
В общем и целом отличная мелодрама, никто не раздражал, все вызывали искренние чувства, даже Анна, которую можно понять, но тяжело простить.

Leia Mais

Easy to watch and lighthearted

I saw there was a Taiwanese version of Fated to love you and decide to check it out. One thing I have to say the acting of the female lead was amazing she was so natural and those tears seemed to come out so easy for her. I still prefer the Korean version to this one, but I still think this version is defiantly worth the watch. At first I couldn't stand the male lead but he did grow on me at the end. The Korean Version seemed a bit more serious and this version was more lighter and supposed to be funnier. So if that's your taste you will enjoy it more. Overall a great watch I did find myself skipping some scenes here and then tho. Always I love the second male lead here wayyy more than the Korean version because of his conversations with the female lead. And the kissing scenes were hot

Leia Mais

I didn't mind this drama. I liked the premise and mainly watched it because of Joe Chen. I felt the leads did really well in the role and I liked Chen Xin Yi's family members, the people of Ginger Island, Anson and Cun Xi's grandmother (they were all hilarious).

I did not care for Dylan or Anna and skipped through a lot of their scenes. Based on how Dylan's character was written, I couldn't believe he was a priest and I didn't like that he blabbed about things Xin Yi told him in private (something priest aren't supposed to do especially if they were told things during confession). I also felt he was a rude character and would say things about Cun Xi warranted and unwarranted. He would push himself on Xin Yi and encouraged her to run away from situations instead of facing reality. I didn't like Anna at all and never really felt sorry for her. She constantly took advantage of Cun Xi's love for her and she had a tremendous sense of entitlement.

I did skip through this drama a lot though and really didn't miss much. It kept dragging on and on and even though it had a nice ending, I really didn't feel satisfied with it. Not sure if I'll rewatch it.

Leia Mais

Just a Heads Up: This review is being written literal Years since I watched this drama. At least ten years now, if my math is right. That means it won't be an accurate representation of what I thought of this drama just after completing it but more of a reflection of my feelings for it now with all the nostalgia, the frustration, and eyes wide open to the stories flaws.

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Ooooooh, Fated to Love You. What a history we have together. You were my first Asian drama ever, where it all began for me. You were the Definition of a crack drama; over-the-top, melodramatic, ridiculous, and yet somehow intensely watchable. Your female lead hit me in the feels so hard I'm Still feeling it. And you were So. Damn. Infuriating.

I loved and hated you at the same time.

First and foremost, I Love Xin Yi as a character. I know mousy, downtrodden, insecure, damsel-in-distress characters are considered passé now, offensive even, but I like them, and I always will. (Judge me all you want.) And Joe Chen's portrayal of such a character is simply superb. When she cried, You cried. (And don't tell me you didn't, cause you're lying.) Of course, Cun Xi is a terrible person, and you hate most of the things he does and frequently hate him himself, but he still made me like him at the same time, and whenever he did something lovely for Xin Yi, my heart melted into a puddle at my feet. (So sue me.) Anna, unsurprisingly, is one of my least favorite second female leads of all time and probably the main source of ire for me in this drama. She's bloody awful, and you spend most of the time she's on screen thinking up creative ways for her to die. And Dylan may have been a nice (ok, he Was nice), but that doesn't change the fact that I find clingy secondary leads annoying on most fronts, no matter how nice they are, and I did find him clingy.

Looking back at this drama now, I fully recognize the myriad of flaws with the story, and if I were watching it today for the first time ever, I probably wouldn't be able to finish it. I actually tried to re-watch it a few years ago, and I couldn't get more than halfway through. There are a lot of things I love about old-school dramas and sort-of miss, but there are a lot of things I put up with while watching them too. Draggy sections, extreme noble idiocy, wringing every last ounce of drama from a situation as possible to the point of inducing intense rage. I didn't enjoy those things then, and I don't enjoy them now. But I put up with them, because the stories made me care. And that's how it was with Fated to Love You. It may have had extreme noble idiocy, and it may have dragged in places, and it may have spent a large chunk of time trying to wring every last ounce of unnecessary drama from some of it's plot points, but it made me care. I wouldn't care Now, but it made me care then.

So I love this drama. And I hate it. And I will probably always feel that way, lol.

....

I don't remember anything about the music of this drama, so I've rated it a 1, but I'm sure it was like a lot of dramas of it's time and therefore holds some level of nostalgia/cringe of it's own, lol.

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Original Review:
This is the first drama I ever watched, and I consumed it like it was crack. I both love and hate it at the same time, and it will forever have a special place in my heart.

I tried to rewatch it a couple years ago, and I couldn't get more than halfway through, lol.

Links to my reviews for the other versions:

https://mydramalist.com/profile/OhSoEnthusiastic/review/22004

https://mydramalist.com/profile/OhSoEnthusiastic/reviews/75009

https://mydramalist.com/profile/OhSoEnthusiastic/reviews/274737

Leia Mais