Sorte da Camélia de Xu Chunchun (2021)

Don't waste your time

Just another C-drama that starts out promising and gets ruined around mid-point by forced marriage, palace intrigue, meddlesome tyrants known as emperors, etc. Why, why, why do we always have to get the emperor involved? Can't we just have a drama based on merchant rivalries/mysteries/intrigues? Every time we have an emperor or prince, we get forced marriages, forced engagements, concubines, etc. This is why I'm not crazy about historicals set in the Dynasties. I'll tell you up front that ML is forced to marry another woman so I'm using this review to warn those of you that dislike this type of angst trope as much as I do. I don't care if the MC get together in the end, I thoroughly dislike the leads getting married off to other people. It totally kills my interest. So if you don't mind that kind of plot, go ahead and watch it. If you hate it, don't waste your time. Go watch Marry Me, Under the Power, Arsenal Military Academy, The Sweet Girl, Your Sensibility My Destiny, Truth or Dare, Dr. Cutie or Oh, My Sweet Liar if you like historicals. My Sassy Girl (Korean) and The Tale of Nokdu (Korean) are excellent as well.

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Another Jealous Love Rivals Drama

Frankly speaking, I think I chose the wrong drama to watch right after completing Rebirth For You. There are similarities in both with jealousy being a big part of their plot. The only reason I gave A Camellia Romance a slightly higher score is because the drama is much shorter. As such, it is more tolerable as there is only so much jealous third parties that you can take in a story.

I guess if you see this as a filler drama with low expectations given the not so popular cast, then perhaps you might enjoy it better. But if you start hoping for originality and really fluffy romance, this would be a disappointment. It has shades of a rom-com but it is definitely not a angst-free watch like General’s Lady or even Your Sensibility My Destiny. The reason is simple – it uses jealous love rivals to drive the show.

Cliche Plot (Spoilers Alert!)
Basically, A Camellia Romance is about a rich and handsome young man who is a great catch for a husband. However, he only has eyes for one woman who is the love of his life. So, what you will get is 3 jealous women going after our hero with each subsequent one being a bigger threat than the one before. The first woman is the man’s cousin and she appears from Episode 7 to 9. The second one went to school with him and she takes the spotlight from Episode 13 to 17. The last one is a ruthless princess and she wreaks havoc for the main couple from Episode 20 to 24.

On top of that, you will also have a jealous childhood friend of the female lead who can’t stop eyeing her for himself when he appears from Episode 5 onwards. Hence, you can see clearly the focus of this drama. It is all about 4 people breaking the couple apart because they want the man or woman for themselves. These schemes are interspersed with sweet interactions between the leads and the investigation into the male lead’s father’s death.

I think the kisses and sweet moments of the couple do help to make this rom-com more watchable. At least, there are enough of these scenes to balance things out a little because the endless jealousy is annoying to watch. However, it also doesn’t detract from the fact that A Camellia Romance is another rom-com with a cliche plot of jealous love rivals with their wily schemes.

An Independent Female Lead
If there is one good thing worth mentioning about this drama, it would perhaps be the female character, Chun Chun. She is a very independent and assertive lady with an ambition of building her own business. While she is not as matured and smart as the female lead in Jun Jiu Ling, at the very least, she is not someone who is timid and waiting to be rescued. Chun Chun is a woman who knows what she wants and go for it.

As for the male character, he is smart but also tends to hide problems from his beloved in the name of love and protection. You will find this in many romance dramas and the male lead does this a few times in A Camellia Romance. I get why he does it but then, you will also start to feel that all these is yet another romance drama trope that you have watched time and time again if you are an avid Chinese drama viewer.

Chemistry
Guo Zi Fan and Li Mo Zhi have somewhat good chemistry as romantic on-screen partners. To me, it is good enough for a low budget rom-com. If they could feed off each other’s energy better to up the chemistry to a sizzling level, perhaps the drama could be more highly rated. After all, there is no shortage of kisses and hugs for this couple.

Personally, Li Mo Zhi looks slightly more matured than Guo Zi Fan at times in this drama. This is not surprising as she is 4 years older than him in real life. It doesn’t exactly mar the couple’s visuals but you don’t get the feeling that this is a perfect match either unlike the Liang Jie and Xing Zhao Lin pairing in The Eternal Love Season 3 and Dilraba Dilmurat and Leo Wu in The Long Ballad. Simply put, they are passable as a main couple but doesn’t leave a lasting impression once the story comes to an end.

My Verdict – Nothing Special
I have to admit that love triangles and jealousies are not my cup of tea for a romance drama. Hence, I find it annoying watching A Camellia Romance especially towards the last quarter when there have been other possessive love rivals gracing the screen for most of the episodes. So, I’m also thankful that they have kept this short rather than dragging it out for more delusional jealousy and angst for the viewers.

Of course, you might have a different view if you do not share the same bias as me. Furthermore, the ending is nicely wrapped up with no complications or confusion for the viewers. It has a predictable ending but I dare say it is also what most romance drama fans would like to see when the curtain comes down.

Before I end this A Camellia Romance review, perhaps a word of warning would be good. This is not a pure fluff romance drama in case you are looking for one. There will be annoyances and angsts. You might also plough on once you start because you want to see the villains getting just desserts for their evil schemes to break up a loving couple. So, whether you like it or not, you could end up sitting through it because you want the feel good factor of seeing the villains punished even if the story isn’t that great to begin with.

Overall, I would give A Camellia Romance a 6.5/10 score for this review. I don’t think I can rate it any higher give the cliches and a very average production. I guess it is still watchable if you don’t mind the jealousy theme. Otherwise, it is really a waste of time if there are other dramas on your ‘To Watch’ list.

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