Concerto de Outono (2009)

Second time to watch Autumn Concerto and I’m still drooling whenever I see Vanness Wu‘s body! I have to say my reaction I had now compared to when I first watched it is fairly different. Yes, I still love it but there are just things I can’t make myself not to notice. This time my gushiness as a fangirl isn’t enough to make little flaws pass.

Gosh. I’m totally captivated. Not by the drama but by Vanness Wu! I want to hug that delicious body! Yum. Haha. What? I’m still a fangirl you know. I can’t stop it. Haha. Seriously, I can say that my love for this drama isn’t as profound as when I first seen it. One of the things I let pass before was the plot. It’s almost similar with our local teleseryes. I don’t know if that’s a plus or what but I’m certain I’m not a fan of overly dramatic scenes and utterly stupid storylines.

Autumn’s Concerto‘s story is promising. I know the plot is nothing new; it’s one of the most used and abused storyline in our local dramas. But this drama had so much potential. They happen to choose the right cast for the characters and the kontrabidas (villains) are not as evil as the kontrabidas we have here. It was nice, really, but there are some parts of the story I can’t tolerate.

I enjoyed the first six episodes of this drama. It was interesting and the kilig moments are there. The story slowed down in the next few episodes and it picked up pace after Guang Xi had remembered his past. This was a long drama. I personally think that the story would fit in 12 or 16 episodes. Stretching it to 21 Episodes is just probably because of the ratings.

Leia Mais

Autumn's Concerto unlike the name implies really has nothing to do with music at all. Music is not part of any theme in this drama nor is it mentioned often enough to warrant the name. Therefore I question the logic of this English name for the drama. It's Chinese name in fact means 'Next step, Happiness' which is a much more fitting name for this drama. Therefore be warned, do not watch this drama expecting something similar to 'Nodame Cantabile' with music as its theme.

Chinese and Taiwaness dramas of the few i watched have always followed a similar formula with regards to character creation, triangular relationships, and view of modern society. Autumn's Concerto is dime in a dozen and very closely follows this well trekked and guaranteed to succeed formula to high viewership. The formula is as below:
1. Rich/well off/successful guy (with an attitude) meets poor/innocent/pure/kind girl and finds her special
2. The rich guys' family disapproves of them together and thinks of various devious plans to split them up
3. Insert: Secondary male who is often the best friend of the girl, he is kind, thoughtful, helps her with problems, does not care that she is poor or has unfortunate family background
4. Just when it looks like the couple is about to get together, some kind of accident or tragic circumstance cause them to separate and split up
5. Separating for 'insert time period' often going to 'insert random city/town/village name' they meet again by freak chance
6. Various misunderstandings will occur without any of the characters trying to explain anything to each other causing episodes to drag on for a long period without anything seeming to be resolved
7. Just when it seems like things cannot get any worse, all the characters suddenly become smarter and realize 'wow we can just talk with each other and explain' which results in a hasty get back together, pregnancy and happily ever after

This is a phenomenal which appears to only occur in Chinese/Taiwaness dramas. Of the Korean dramas i've seen there appears to be much more creativity and uniqueness when it comes to character and story creation. However Autumn's Concerto should not be judged merely by it's adherence to the formula as it is not without good points some of which includes it's emphasis on familial love, loyalty to friends, and strength in females to overcome difficulties.

Watching Autumn's Concerto is one of the only time I was tempted to drop a drama in the first 5 episodes due to bad acting. With kdrama I don't understand the subtle nuisances in their words and matching facial expression, but I did not have this luxury with Autumn's Concerto because i understand Mandarin. One of the most upsetting thing while watching this drama is how sometimes the tone and meaning coming out of the actor/actress's lips does not match their expression at all and looks fake. In the beginning of the drama, I felt this way whenever Ren Guang Xi (Wu Vanness) was doing his playboy act and flirting with the girl he is interested in. After a while his act became more solid but I still can't give him high points for his acting.

Liang Mu Cheng (An Ady) did a much better job comparably. Her expressions and speech was always spot on and realistic without appearing faked or forced. She performed really consistent through the drama and so props to her. The bad acting is most obvious in the first 5 episodes, the side characters too were just off to a rocky start and overall I've never felt more tempted to drop a drama. Later on around the time of the time skip, the acting improved and it feels like the cast was finally getting comfortable with their character and story.

The music is really the highlight of this drama. The OST of this drama is composed of some old famous Chinese songs that felt vaguely familiar to me as i was watching, as well as some new songs by various artists all of which was really lyrical and soulful. More than once i found myself singing along to the music playing in the background. The music inspired the mood, often enhancing the scene playing on screen and was overall great choices for this drama. I usually rate music not by personal preference but by how compatible a fit it was for the drama and this drama's music is one of the best.

I don't plan to ever rewatch this drama. The good and sweet moments are few and far in between, if i really miss their romance (which i won't because the story dragged too much and killed the romance for me) it will be hard for me to find the specific scene that i miss since this drama is so long.

My last words are Autumn's Concerto is a worthwhile drama to watch if you have lots of time. Pros are the characters and music. Cons are the story which drag its feet and bad acting at the beginning if you understand mandarin like me. Overall a solid drama from one coming from Taiwan.

Leia Mais

First of all what attracted me to watch this was the main actor and actress. I love both of them very much and have seen great things that comes from them. My first impression of this series is that it's just another romcom drama. But I was very surprised about the plot, the characters and also the twists and suspense were all top notch.

This show reminded me of books and shows that are from a different century. The love loss and the coming together again were all done so well. The show had a really good pace and I was hooked just by watching one episode. I've seen this series about 3 times and since it's come onto Australian Netflix I keep going back to it. The chemistry between Ady and Vanness were perfect and one of my favourite characters was their little boy. He was really the star of the show.

I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Leia Mais

Loved it. Oh deep-v, I miss you in all your horribleness. Only complaint is that the end had a few episodes that dragged on pretty slowly and probably could have been cut to fit in the 20ish minutes of the last episode. And how Guang Xi has a tendency to bare his teeth like an apex predator to indicate his anger or frustration which is pretty funny.

Total classic I will always recommend. It's so beautiful and the cast is phenomenal. I'm about to rewatch it for the first time and I'm so excited. Despite being a total melodrama it is very grounded and stays very centered in reality, not as over the top as you would expect

Leia Mais

This is my favourite drama of all time. I think I've watched it around seven times now and each time I get swept away in this gut-wrenching, emotional and beautiful drama all over again. I watched the whole thing in one sitting (minus a 3 hour break at 9am to sleep, only to wake up and continue again). To be honest, it took me a few tries to get into it, I watched half of episode 1 at least 3 times before I finally settled and then got promptly hooked. I normally can't stand the exaggerated nature of a lot of the Taiwanese dramas so this was a refreshing change in that the comic relief was not saturated throughout the whole drama.

Story
I absolutely adore the story. The pace was realistic, the buildup on the relationships felt natural and progressive, unlike a lot of dramas where they suddenly realise they're in love with the other and that's that. I found it really easy to believe the characters and the happenings (though when you realise all they've gone through, feels too extraordinary I suppose). I was hooked and couldn't bring myself to sleep until it finished the first arc. I laughed with the characters and bawled my eyes out when they did. Hell, I loved the whole thing. I especially love how you can't just easily hate the 'antagonists', as they're so multidimensional. You come to see why they did what they did, and you just can't completely hate them for it. This is the first and only drama which has done this build up of support characters and it's so refreshing and more realistic for it.

Acting/Cast
LOVE. I suddenly became a Vaness fan after this. Ady An is beautiful. Her character as Mu Cheng really grated on my nerves at some time (the self sacrificing nature, unwillingness to explain), I just wanted to yell at her to just TELL HIM. Vaness as Guang Xi  stole my heart, he was so passionate as a character and I really found myself believing his feelings. I love the chemistry between them. I loved their acting and their scenes together. I love the support cast too, I feel so so so terrible for the Chris as the second lead, he really made me feel pain and his acting was spot on. Xiao Le was was superb.

Music
Loved the music. Came in at the perfect times and for different characters. Wo Yi Wei was so appropriate for Tuo Ye's. It made it all the more sad whenever it played. Love the OST.

Rewatch Value:
I've watched it 7 times with different people and also alone. Enough said. Although some time is needed between runs due to the intense nature and drama so as to not diminish the story :)

Cannot recommend any higher. ARGH. Even though the ratings here are relatively low. This is still my all-time favourite, #1 drama. I think it's about time to rewatch it again. 

Leia Mais

I liked everyone but the female lead

I didn't really like this drama, mostly because of the female lead. Not that she was bad or anything, she's much better (personality) than the FL's in some of the Cdrama's I've watched. But considering the fact that this is a Taiwanese drama and one with really high ratings, I had higher expectations where the plot and the FL were concerned.

I really liked a lot of the characters in this drama. I didn't hate anyone, in fact I really liked the SFL. When I saw the tag 'love triangle' and 'forbidden love', I didn't expect to like the second leads, but I loved her. The SML was okay, but he was more pitiful than anything and after the time jump, I wouldn't even consider him, the SML, as a romantic interest.

What I didn't like about the FL was her whole vibe. She was born in a somewhat wealthy family and is shown to have had everything at a young age before it is all taken from her, at that point she was already very mature and I'm assuming around 10. But, by the time she is an adult she is shown to be a "bento girl". Her whole image was a poor and innocent girl, somehow her past as a well educated and mannered child is completely erased and she is a world apart from the ML who starts off as a rich playboy. The FL's charecter was annoyingly cliche in this whole 'Rich Man/ Poor Woman' trope drama. I thought it would be different since she grew up rich, but it didn't make any difference to this cliche plot. I also hated her style, the actress is pretty but I didn't like her country style, overly innocent look which remind me of really bad romance novels that I'd never read.

The ML was okay. I really liked his character, but again he was somewhat cliche. I think I liked him best after he regained his memory, that was when the plot started to get somewhat good and all the characters are shown to develop. But this takes place much later in the drama.

I thought the ML's mother would be the typical rich mother in these 'Rich Man/ Poor Woman' dramas, but she was actually okay. The best part of this drama is probably her relationship with her grandson, it was adorable. The ML's relationship with his son was also really cute, but they didn't have as many scenes together as I would have liked.

Leia Mais

A story that proves that love deserves second or third chances

Story gives so much emotions. From the typical young sweet love. Mischievous young ML had a bet with his friends, to get close to FL. Circumstances brought them together, fell in love then tragically broke apart.

With all the love shown in the story comes with so much pain too. Secrets, lies and deception riddled the tale of two lovers. All could have been avoided only if they told the truth.

FL left and broke his heart. ML lost his memories and moved on with his life. And when fate decided to intervene and brought them back together, their story restarted.

Leia Mais

This kinda love ......hurts

To be honest, i dont think whatever i write can explain this drama but still i wanted to write a review to show people that this is a classical drama which portrays a rare kind of love. Through the plot u can get the whole story but when u see the story u get to feel it.
This kind of love, personally, i would stay away from because it is love at its purest from. It hurts and pains but still holds. It shows the sacrifice and love they have for each other. Throughout the whole drama, i felt the pain, hurt, anger and the sadness too. i felt happy and calm sometimes too. sometimes i would raise my voice and scream at the drama because of their dumbness hoping my voice would reach them.
The characters got on my nerves sometimes. before u do something, THINK! i was pissed because the family members made decisions for the leads thinking it is the best option for them. i would like to take and initiative and slap everyone except the villagers who spoke what they wanted to. i hated the second FL. i thought she was a good person but that girl is just ignorant and selfish.
the cast did a good job and acted well. Vanness Wu actually did a better job than i thought (thanks for the fan service) though i thought Ady An could hv done a better. Overall i liked the acting so no worries ;) The second leads also did a good job and even the tiny little kid.
i wouldn't recommend ppl to see this drama unless u r ready to face the sadness that makes it beautiful. We always find the saddest romance the most loved because u can see what it brings to out heart. U cant forget it nor can u blame it. it stays and it because a good memory.
As it was my first Taiwanese drama i am impressed they could express the beauty well but ofc all old dramas are a masterpiece. i hope to see more dramas like this ( i hope my heart is still in one piece to see all of it).

Leia Mais

Some of the best emotional scenes EVER!

I'm late to the party as this drama is over 10 years old. Excellent story. The drama happens in the middle and towards the end. It is definitely worth the roller coaster of emotions. The female lead was annoying in that her character was portrayed as caring and gentle but some of her actions proved otherwise. Each character came into their own realizations and awakenings except the female lead no matter what she faced. I loved the male lead's character revolution. He is amazing in this... I never cried so much. The child star also! This is definitely one to watch. I wish it would have stayed in the original 21 episodes...34 episodes is dragging on a little too long. Be prepared for the editing inserts during the show.

Leia Mais