I never heard of this show, but for 8 episodes....it's full of good laughs, and how to get revenge. Each episode's intro and ending credits took too much time. Only wish that there was more time in each one, but unfortunately, it was a pain to deal with every episode. I won't nitpick the bad parts, there wasn't too many of them to ruin my watching.
I haven't been able to find if there's a 2nd season by searching google, but if anyone knows where to find it please post here on My Dramalist, please!!
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It Felt Unfinish But I still Enjoyed it
Because of my Revenged Love obsession, I decided to check out the original version—and honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. The story had so much potential, but it was just way too short. The ending felt rushed and unresolved, and there were so many things missing.For one, they didn't even explore the love story between Gou Cheng Yu and Jiang Xiao. There were no snakes at all, Chi Cheng's ex never showed up, Wu Sou Wei's mom’s death wasn’t mentioned, and even Chi Cheng going to jail (which was such a powerful part in Revenged Love) wasn’t there. It really felt like a watered-down version of the novel, and to be honest, Revenged Love is 100% better executed.
That said, I get it—this original was made back in 2015, and you can tell from the production quality and cinematography. Not the best, but still, it managed to keep me engaged.
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Let’s talk about the characters:
Wu Suo Wei didn’t really catch my eye at first, but wow—when Chi Cheng cut his hair, he actually looked really good 😅 And as the series went on, I found myself liking him more and more. Especially when he smiled around Chi Cheng—that was super cute. He may not be as charming as the Wu Suo Wei in Revenged Love, but he has this lowkey sex appeal. There’s something about him that grows on you.
Now, Chi Cheng... he’s cold and intimidating, and very physically expressive—just like in Revenged Love. But I felt like his character development was lacking here. Unlike the Chi Cheng in Revenged Love who slowly warmed up to Wei Wei, this version just stayed cold throughout. I’m guessing it’s because the series was too short, so they didn’t have time to flesh out his character arc properly.
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Final thoughts:
I still enjoyed watching this original version, and I appreciate what it tried to do—but nothing compares to Revenged Love. That one is honestly a masterpiece for me.
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Late but Loving It: My Thoughts on Counter-Attack & Revenge Love
Okay, I know I’m really late on this one, but I just watched Counter-Attack yesterday — and wow! I can’t believe I slept on this for so long.Recently, we already watched Revenge Love, and now it totally makes sense that Counter-Attack is actually the first part of the story. It’s like Revenge Love continues what Counter-Attack started. And honestly? That connection makes both of them hit even harder. It’s really nice.
I managed to catch some parts of Counter-Attack before the next episode of Revenge Love dropped, and I’m glad I did. Everything ties together so well. The characters, the tension, the way the story unfolds… it just works. Honestly, I want to call this a masterpiece.
If you haven’t seen it yet, please do yourself a favor — watch Counter-Attack first. It’ll help you really (really really really!) understand what’s going on in Revenge Love.
Peace ✌️💙
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Overall, this has no flaws. It was beautiful. The love between the main characters was honestly top notch, and I can't wait for season two (hopefully it comes out)
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Feels incomplete and effortless at the same time
These is actually the first time where the remake is far better then the original one, i mean according to me which i have experienced so far. I didn't know revenged love was a remake of some series. I have watched revenged love already very before and trust me that series has something to make you feel stuck with it, everything is perfect there. Talking about these series this feels a low production cause and also acting were kinda meh for some scenes with weird expressions.It feels incomplete in certain scenes.Only the leads has their story told throughout the series. The doctor and his lover just disappeared after some eps. So yeah overall a mid series but the story idea was coolWas this review helpful to you?
Projekt jistě není úplně top, ale pobavil mě, někde malinko ztřeštěný, vtipný, lehký a roztomilý v tom, jak do určitého fyzického kontaktu včetně "ošahávaček" herci šli naplno. Herci - sympaťáci a ta přítelkyně tam hrála čtvrté housle. A ještě jedna zajímavost. Ty různé povídačky, jak je to s uncut verzemi, mám i ty střihy, ale jedná se o pusinky, mazlení. Seriál totiž byl snad poslední před známým zpřísněným čínským nařízením, a po něm si už projekty s BL a gay tematikou moc neškrtly ... velká škoda.
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Falling in Love with a Rival — A Huge Disappointment for Fans of the Novel
I was incredibly excited when I heard that one of my favourite BL novels was being adapted. Finding good BL stories isn't easy, and seeing one finally reach the screen felt like something special. Unfortunately, after watching Falling in Love with a Rival, I couldn't hide my disappointment.My biggest problem is how little it resembles the novel.
The original story isn't just about revenge or comedy. It's about two people who slowly discover feelings they never expected to have. The romance develops naturally, and that's what makes it so interesting. Here, most of that emotional journey disappears. The adaptation feels rushed, simplified, and often disconnected from what made the novel so memorable in the first place. Instead of feeling like I was watching the story I loved, it felt like I was watching a very loose summary of it.
The acting doesn't help either.
None of the performances are terrible, but very few scenes feel emotionally convincing. The chemistry between the leads never reaches the level needed to make me believe the relationship, which is a serious problem for a romance. Several emotional moments that should have been powerful simply pass by without leaving much of an impression.
The production is also clearly limited. With such short episodes, the story barely has time to introduce the characters before moving on to the next plot point. Everything happens so quickly that it's difficult to become emotionally invested. Rather than adapting the novel, it often feels like it's skipping from one important scene to another without allowing any of them to breathe.
Despite all that, I can't completely dislike the series.
Simply seeing a BL novel adapted into a television drama still feels exciting. There aren't many opportunities to watch stories like this, and I genuinely hope productions such as this encourage more creators to bring BL novels to the screen. Even if this adaptation didn't satisfy me, I still want the genre to continue growing.
Final Thought
Falling in Love with a Rival isn't the adaptation I was hoping for. As someone who loved the novel, I found it far too rushed and far too different from the original story. I'm happy that BL novels are finally beginning to appear on screen, but this one deserved much more care than it received. I just hope the next adaptation remembers what made the original so special in the first place.
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The acting was believable and I loved the kisses. The actors made me swoon at certain points. The title song made me feel snug and warm on the inside.
Will be rewatching while I am in recovery from surgery. It's so short just imagine you are watching a movie and finish it in a few hours.
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goofy ML vs stoic/horny ML
Overall: this is based on the book Counter Attack by Chai Jidan which I haven't read and I reviewed the series on its own merits. 8 episodes of 17 minutes of actual show (21 including intro/end credits). No official international release.Content Warning: non con touching multiple times
What I Liked
- the dynamics of both the main and side couples
- how one ML wasn't a damsel in distress, had some pluck
- showed that it wasn't a platonic relationship
- when the wig was gone
Room For Improvement
- made fun of a person with a disability in eps 1/8
- the side couple vanished
- plot was pretty choppy, guessing it was due to low budget and/or censorship
- the final episode didn't have one of the MLs in it which was strange
- (neutral) the friend, he was sometimes helpful but other times he was not
- 2 minutes and 20 seconds was too long of an intro for only 17 minutes of a show (didn't include the end credits), I didn't take off points for this
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Not bad.
I watched this today because i am watching Revenged love and wanted to see how much they are alike.The remake Revenged love is in big lines the same (i've seen 8 ep. now, waiting for new onces to air) but it's way more extensive than this version.
This version is not bad, I might have enjoyed it more if i hadn't seen the stunning remake.
The chemistry between Chi Cheng and Wu Suo Wei is good, the visuals are also ok.
The editing is a bit messy, a lot of scene's felt cut off.
Nice to have seen for one time, but i won't watch it again.
In comparison to the remake Revenged loved of wich i have seen the first 8 episodes already several times.
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Sweet concept. Doesn't do enough though.
TLDR; From sheerly the summary, this captured my attention with its simple charm, but sadly the delivery wasn't up to par with what can be read, to me at least.Fair disclaimer: I have preferences, which most would likely not agree with, and that is fine. As a subjective reviewer, I am not trying to down-rate this title or undermine the good reviews.
I do not think this was a high-budget or spectacularly prepared show, so obviously I will keep the quality comments to the minimum here.
With all that being said, here's my fleshed-out opinion dump on this very "mid" show:
STORY:
Unlike my overall review, I have given this quite a high rating because, while in idea the whole "trying to make your ex jealous, but it backfires and now you're in too deep with their new partner" isn't anything groundbreaking or new, it still is and will always be an interesting, possibly hilarious or heartfelt endeavour. In this case, however, I cannot say any of this was true.
ACTING/CASTING:
I had no problems with the casting. All-round good-looking and fitting people for what and whom they were chosen to portray. Handsome male leads, sweet side male character, and the ladies were greatly picked especially.
As for acting...
Overly goofy acting makes even the most intimate and/or slightly emotional moments wholly unrelatable and un-serious, which could work in standard comedy show circumstances, but to me, it just seemed too much at times here; comedy without tact or skilful application, if you will. While, again, I do concede this entire show is a low-budget comedy, it just simply doesn't justify its low-effort acting. The two main characters especially apply here: no chemistry, way too abrupt and unreasonably developed feelings for two strangers, etc.
I did like the actresses behind YueYue and the Auntie, though. I feel like they knew they weren't entirely the focal points of the show, but still managed to sell their characters and their behaviours to me, despite some instances of the storyline making us viewers feel no sympathy or relatability to them— they still kept it real enough and interesting.
MUSIC:
Rated this lowly purely because it was 99% stock music I've heard a million times in YouTube skits and videos all around the web before. Unless I missed something, there was little-to-no OST here. I understand it comes down to budget issues again, but the score remains, as I couldn't bring myself to give something so basic a high score out of kindness haha.
REWATCH VALUE:
I suppose if you're into schlocky comedies that don't necessarily grip you in any way, just casual watch to veg out on the couch for, it's decent enough. However, if you want a proper, well-put-together, interesting and still funny comedy show, I wouldn't recommend it, personally.
Once again, I have the need to apologise, as this is just a personal opinion much like most other reviews, but I just don't seem to see any bad things written about mid-to-low-tier shows, so I feel as if I'm a bad guy here for saying anything...
I do appreciate that better/good reviews will probably get bumped to the front as to recommend shows/films and encourage people to form their own reviews, but still. It's tough to write opinions out when they aren't good ones haha
<< OVERALL: 4.5 >>
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so disappointed
I was soo excited when I found out that this was a drama as I have read the book but I was soo disappointed when I started watching it that I couldn't even finish it. comparing this to the novel, this drama adaptation was a huge letdown. there was soo many elements missing in the drama adaptation that was relevant to the overall plot of the novel. so much so that it left holes in the drama adaptation of the plot that could only be understood if you have read the novel beforehand. and don't get me started on the relationship between the two male leads. the drama didn't catch the essence of the characters let alone any of the other characters. the drama also felt so rushed that the story left me feeling soo empty and the quality of the drama feels like a low-quality drama with very little effort put into it; like the drama was made because the novel had a large audience but the people producing the drama could care less about it. would not recommend watching it ever. you will be soo let down like your soul has left your body. I would recommend reading the novel instead.Was this review helpful to you?
