Yi Wen Cun Dang (2024)

Fun, but shallow and requires heavier suspension of disbelief than one might think

Why I watched:
I am a big fan of Chen Fangtong, and probably have more than a bit of bias. I think she is adorable and have been consistently impressed with her acting. When I saw this show was available, I had to jump right in.

What I liked:
- As expected, Chen Fangtong was a treat. I think she sells comedy well and there were a number of good laugh out loud moments in the show. Her expressions are on point and I love her sass.
- The premise is a little different and somewhat novel because of it. Instead of transmigrating and staying in the new world, the FL transmigrates when she falls asleep and is back in the real world when she wakes up. This created an interesting duality and it was interesting to see the scenes set in the real world, with other characters who are aware of what she was going through.
- It definitely doesn't take itself too seriously and there were some great light-hearted comedy moment.
- It is an easy watch/binge. Events move at a good pace that makes sense in the context of the story. It does wrap up instead of being a cliffhanger.

What fell flat:
- The chemistry was massively disappointing. Chen Fangtong has shown in other shows that she can create amazing chemistry with her co-stars but there was so very little of it here. The kisses, though there were many, were the stoic pecks that I would not have expected from Chen Fangtong.
- I have seen the male lead in one other show and I have not been very impressed. I thought he was very wooden in this show for one of his roles and was not especially stand-out for his other one.
- The story started strong but quickly started feeling nonsensical. The villains' motives made almost no sense and the main characters' decision-making seemed lacking at best. The entire conflict feels like it could have been avoided with one call to the authorities and at no point did it feel like there was a good explanation as to why it had to unfold the way it did.
- The backstories felt forced and shallow.
- The CGI for some scenes were pretty bad. The rooftop heart-to-hearts with blossoms falling in the background looked like it was done by some amateur VFX artists.
- The costumes/hair/make-up were questionable. I give it a bit of slack because within the context of the story, it could make sense. But at the same time, it sometimes just looked bad.

In summary:
I thought this show was underrated (currently a 7.4) when I first started because I found the beginning to be very charming and hilarious. It was an easy watch, but it quickly became an exercise in suspending my disbelief because none of the characters' motivations were that deep or even made much sense. I wanted to like this more because of the lead actress, but I have to admit that overall this short form falls on the side of mediocre and around a 7.5 is where I would rate it as well.

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