Sweet show, mostly feelgood

This is a really sweet show around growing up, friendship, family, and love.

A bit slowpaced, without big conflicts or "villains", mostly feelgood.
There are some very heartwarming scenes, like between Guang Feng (?) and his grandma, and the small gestures from Rangrang showing us how he cares about her.

The ML's role is kind of similar to that in "You are desire" and the same of his friend (Gu Ran). I like both of their acting - suitable roles.
FL is very sweet, although I do find the female characters in Cdramas often to be a bit overly childish.

I can see myself recommending this as something to watch for a mum (/parents) and teenage (daughter) together.

Leia Mais

Sweet, easy watch

I would say this is a rather “innocent” story: it’s sweet and uncomplicated, without any big ups and downs and dramatic plots.
it contains a lot of the familiar tropes, but they are kept at a “calmer level”.
The cast is ok; the two main leads portray their characters’ personalities rather well, although their chemistry could have been stronger.

The screenplay also stays focused on the main characters. Yes, the supporting characters also has a story, but it is not elaborated too much.

Don’t expect any big surprises, but if you want an easy, feel good sweet romance with some funny elements, this is worth watching.
I liked how they approached the part that led to his “night time online study” ?

Leia Mais

Familiar tropes, but entertaining

Don't expect original plots – this script contains a lot of the familiar ones, but it is still rather entertaining. It also covers some more serious topics, like harassment in the workplace, but it isn't a serious, heavy drama. You have to watch it on the right premise; I kind of remember it as a hybrid of a romcom and a drama.

The kid is an absolute charmer, and he almost makes this worth the watch on his own, lightening up the show with funny scenes and "adorableness".

I like that the FL is strong and independent with a career in what some might think of as a more male dominated area.

The cast is quite good, and the two main leads interactions are often spot on.

Leia Mais

Charming and feelgood, although not very original

This was a lot better than I expected after reading the synopsis.
Although the storyline itself contains a lot of the familiar tropes from Cdramas, the charm, the small lighthearted humorous moments, and the acting resulted in a feelgood viewing experience for me.
Some of the common plots are also kept at the "less dramatic" level, keeping it more realistic.

The soundtrack is not intruding, but well chosen, adding to the mood and vibe in the differen scenes.

Grandad was excellent – the actor portraying this character did a fabolous job. I kind of wished we saw more of him!

I liked Xu Ruo Han (FL) in “Forbidden flower” and thought this role suited her quite well.
Even if kind of typecasted, Wei Zhe Ming (ML) is also an actor I like, and he nailed this role quite well. I can't really remember if I have seen him in many humoristic scenes before, and even if these were just small lighthearted moments I found his timing and execution to be spot on.

This is a Cdrama I can see myself rewatching when in the mood for something not too heavy, not too melodrama.

Leia Mais

Realistic and charming, challenging stigmas

What sets this apart from a lot of other Cdramas for me:
- That it challenges what I assume are stigmas within some groups (certain careers and disabilities) in a very natural way (not overly "preachy" or "propaganda-ist").
- The locations: I love that the majority of the story is unfolding in their hometown, not in Shanghai. It is charming and creates a very natural atmosphere. At the same time, the Shanghai-scenes are an important part of the story.
- The character gallery, their individual progressions and developments.

In addition, I think they nailed the casting, and pretty much all of the actors delivered strong performances.
All in all, this is a series I would recommend, and one I can see myself watch again some time.

Leia Mais

Don't watch in public (but do watch it!)

I often watch Kdramas on my commute. This drama is one I recommend you watch in a comfortable place, with easy access to tissues, as it gets quite emotional and will most likely tug hard at your heart strings.

Don't be fooled with the "chaebol cold guy, sympathetic poor girl" synopsis, as this story is so much more than that. Or, should I say - it adds a whole new layer to this kind of plot. You still have the typical characters of controling parent, love rival and so, and although kind of cliché, it adds to the main story revolving around the FL and ML.

Main reason to watch is the performances of the two main leads.
Especially the FL does an exceptional job I think, in portraying and displaying all kinds of emotions; despair, wishfullnes, disbelief, resolutness, love ...
ML is also delivering a strong performance. I like this character's development, and also how he handles it; we can see the changes he goes through in his expressions and body language.

To be honest I don't really remember the soundtrack. It kind of makes sense the music took a backseat in this, but at the same time I have watched other series where the soundtrack still can evoke emotions, so they might have missed an opportunity here as well.

When I had watched around half of the episodes I ended up binging the rest, as I wanted to finish it before my vacation was over.

Leia Mais

It plays on one thing - a lot

The amount of times the FL gets held, pushed, pinned to the wall/bed/sofa far exceeds any other drama I’ve seen. If those kind of scenes trigger you, then stay away. If not, it was the chemistry between the ML and FL that kind of kept this worth watching from my pov.

There were things that bugged me in the story (which I’ve already forgotten after a few days), so can’t exactly say it’s memorable.
Although I didn’t really like him, the 2nd ML was an interesting character, and his acting was decent.

So, if you are looking for something with a bit of action and suspense but story doesn’t have to be very strong, and you don’t mind a lot of male dominance, then this is something that can help you kill time.

Leia Mais

A bit of everything

What would happen to a sommelier who loses his or hers taste? It’s an interesting foundation for a good story. Here, it is told with fiction, mixed with a bit of crime, romance, and what is supposed to be comedy?
To be honest, it became a bit too much. I wish they had concentrated more on one direction instead of trying to cater to all.
Especially the influencer character (Xia Fan), who felt like he was supposed to bring the humorist element was over-the-top for me.

Other than that, the two main leads did a good job, although I find Gong Jun’s role is a bit stereotypical for him.

There’s no real surprise in the story, although it seems like the scriptwriters tried to throw a curveball it was a bit too obvious.

All in all, it was an easy, entertaining viewing experience.

Leia Mais

Could have been so much better

This review is for the complete series (1&2). My star rating is also based on the two seasons under one.

Besides some illogical/unrealistic things, this started off fairly interesting. I felt it peaked as season 1 progressed, and then sadly, pretty much everything declined in season 2.

The quality of both filmography and sound was occasionally real bad, some dialogue and scenes felt very stiff and unnatural, and all the long and repeated flashbacks and other unnecessary long scenes (2 minutes theme park rides). The repeated flashbacks also occurred in S1 by the way.

There was also more (small) holes in the script in S2, and a few bloopers if I recall correctly (daytime/nighttime). Disclaimer: What I questioned as holes in the story might sometimes be due poor translations.

The highlight was the actors. Seven Tang brings a special energy to her performances, and although she might appear to be a bit over-the-top in some scenes, I still think she did a good job.
In some of the casual, relaxed scenes with the ML it kind of seemed like they were not acting, just goofing around having fun. It made me wonder if some lines were unscripted but they decided to keep it in ?.

ML (Jiang Chao) was quite good - I think to play a rather emotionless character well must be pretty hard. He did have some moments where he was really charming, so I am curious to see some of his other works now.

All in all, this could have been much better if it didn’t appear like they had to cut costs and/or rush it. Some elements were a bit too “soap opera-ish” for my liking.

Leia Mais

Familiar tropes in a fantasy-historic setting

Evil, scheming family members, cold, ruthless man, misunderstandings and love; this drama contains a lot of familiar tropes, but is still entertaining.

Nice sets and costumes.
Could have been a bit shorter; some parts of the story was dragged out too much.

ML and FL was quite good, whereas some of the supporting cast was somewhat lacking.

The one thing I didn’t quite like was how her character went from appearing quite tough and brave to being helpless a lot of the times.

The place some of the clues led them to find more clues in regarding 8th prince was a bit too far-fetched; it didn’t sit quite well with me. Could have been scripted in a different way.


The ending just reminded me a bit too much of other drama; I won’t mention it (spoiler).

Leia Mais

Don’t let the title fool you

This is definitely not a typical Cinderella story. The synopsis (neither here nor on Viki) doesn’t really give it away either, but although there is romance and fate encounters and funny moments, there is also an originality to the story.

I liked Fumi Nikaido (FL) in “Eye love you”, and I think she is good here too.
Gordon Maeda (ML) seemed a bit too old for his role, even though I see he was only like 4 years older than his character when this was released. Other than that he acted well too.
Takanori Iwata (2nd ML) was kind of anonymous - I wished he could have had a bigger presence.
Matsui Rena did a brilliant job portraying Akira/Kikuno, which was a very interesting character adding a lot to the originality of this series.
Grandma and the “butler” added both warmth and humour, and some elderly wisdom.

The length was good; episodes were not too long, and it wasn’t dragged out over too many episodes.

What bugged me a little bit, and I see others too, was the ages. Not so much the 10 year age gap, but 17 and 27. It would have been better if it had been just a few years older, say 20 and 30. But then I guess the storyline with his games wouldn’t really have worked…?

So to sum it up:
Not a typical romance, but entertaining, and a nice little break from my usual C- and K-dramas.

Leia Mais