If you are looking for a romcom full of heart-racing cute scenes, hilarious jokes, and a great story, you are at the right place. The Romance of Tiger and Rose (RTR) will not disappoint to provide all types of audiences an enjoyable viewing experience.

Let me start what I love about this drama:

♡ The creative world setting:
With so many costumes dramas get produced these days, time-travels are not new. However, the female lead Chen Qian Qian will have to survive in a city in which the role of male and female are reversed (the rose city). Imagining that this world exists in an ancient environment builds up the curiosity about how she will survive there. This provides a novel touch to the drama. I would almost watch a story just about this city itself. I appreciate that despite a comical and foolish nature of a romcom, the makers use a world setting to indirectly criticize the inbalance and biases existing in historical and even in the present world. Coming from a Chinese costume drama that is usually scrutinized by various types of censorships, this gives me hope in the future of the Chinese drama world.

♡ The pacing and hilarious jokes:
I cannot remember the last time to be this entertained by a drama. Next to the time-travel aspect, there is also the fact that the female protagonist knows she is stuck in her own script. Thus, the 4th wall between viewers and characters is continually being broken - a brand new way that feels refreshed. Then there are these a bit stupid but hilarious supporting characters such as the two close footmen of the main leads or the mountain bandit leader. Even when the plot became more serious towards the end, they manage to pull off a very amusing scene between the lords of the two cities.
The pacing of this drama is swift (e.g., it took the female lead about 5 min to realize she is stuck in her own script), and 24 episodes are quick to absorb. The turns in events are not expected but still very logical. The makers use the right storytelling methods to build suspense and release anxiety quickly enough (e.g., by clarifying misunderstandings between the leads).

♡ The switch in roles between male and female leads; their chemistry:
I have never watched a Zhao Luo Si-led drama though I have heard great things about her (and that she has had a bite of the cutest actors nowadays, including my favorite Xu Kai.. arrg). After watching RTR, I finally got to know why she is this popular. She has a cute round face that does not appear to be sculptured or perfect. There is no idol aura in her acting, and she does not refrain from pulling off all kinds of facial expressions. This makes her acting very natural. ZLS is well-known for her dorky, adorable, slight foolish but pure-hearted characters. One can see that CQQ's personality assembles ZLS in real life, so you cannot help but like her.
However, I was most surprised by the performance of the young actor Ding Yu Xi playing Han Shuo. At the start, I found his acting a bit stiff, but he soon showed his other sides: cold and determined, kind and sweet, funny and dorky, strong and protective. The makers purposely switched the script between the female and male leads, letting Han Shuo chase the female lead for the most of the drama and show this cute and dorky part of his personality. And this is so irresistible! My heart soon was taken away by Han Shuo and his sweetness. I think I have not experienced this kind of heart racing and pain for a long time. His and CQQ's chemistry is top, so that some drama reviewers believed DYX really fell in love with ZLS. I started to rewatch the drama even before the final episodes were out just to watch these two lovebirds. I sincerely hope DYX becomes more popular from this drama, so he gets to try out various roles as I see endless possibilities for this 25 years old actor.

Now I few words why I did not give the drama a 10 (I really wanted to...!):

❤ ︎Plot holes in the world setting:
Despite my liking for the world setup, there are few plot bugs to this arrangement that could have been more thought through. For example, militarism is considered the main symbol of power, even in the rose city does not make sense. I agree that women can be equally talented and passionate about militarism, but retain this concept for a female-led society is a bit shallow thinking.
Also, why would the musical concubines behave this feministic? Why do they play music in the first place (which is the same art as female concubines in ancient times)? Why can't they perform arts that are "more masculine" and appreciated by women? I wished there could have been more creativity to some of the details given the stage was all set.

❤ ︎Losing the grip towards the end:
Though this drama does not have a lousy tail, it did disappoint me a bit towards the end. The story continued to pace very fast from one surprise to the other without the full logic. The behaviors of lead and supporting characters became less rational so that I even became confused at the end what QCC really wanted to achieve. Also, the ending is up for interpretation of the viewers. It can either be read as a happy end and that there has been a bug in the character setup of Han Shuo or that there is no problem in the character setup. It can also be read as a mixed ending. The fact that there are so many somewhat different interpretations of the ending deducts a few points for me.

Overall, I would recommend this drama to anyone who loves romcom but cannot stand draggyness or sudden change of theme from comedy to tragedy. Once again, it has also proven to us that it's not about the budget as this drama clearly did not have a big one... Do not hesitate and let the world of Tiger and Romance take you away.