Fall in Love

Watch This if You Love Smart Lead Characters

I love this one even though it still can escape from some ridiculous scenes. Like on ep 1 where the ML kills the spionage woman by slitting her throat, the wound is more likely a non deadly scratch with inappropriate amount of blood to make someone lose their life; plus his decision to hide the body under a bed with a wide gap... some ridiculous keep appearing, but... still forgivable for me

First of all, I love how smart both ML, FL and SML. I'm addicted to how strategic ML. Like when he gives the secretary position to the SFL, makes her pay for the position, but then loads her with responsibilities beyond her ability, just makes me clap. This is the first 2021 drama which not keeping me busy skipping some parts and just sitting to enjoy.

The FL is also a very interesting character. She's just as calm, mature, smart and strategic as the ML. She's my most loveable FL in CDrama. Though I find it weird coz when she's in a situation where she's supposed to express her feelings, she still remains calm. Like when she's under hostage, she's not even crying or in a state of shock, or looking scared.... she's just... tooo calm. Sometimes I think she's kinda a psychopath, lol.

I also love how calm all the characters. Since the SFL is the only "screamer" character, it is still acceptable to my ears. I will give this 10 if it creates a smart SFL, so that I can enjoy balanced competition.

Overall, this is my best Chinese Drama in 2021. I'm highly recommended this for you who tired of ML with claimed to be smart genius or wealthy CEO with all of "comic typical handsome boy" (calm, arrogant, stiff, rarely smile); and  FL who acted cute, immature, innocent (but more likely stupid), playful, tacky with childlike kind of acting. 

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You really will "Fall in Love"

I am not into C-Drama but this really got me interested and I even LOVED the story flow. This drama is not your average drama because of the suspense and thriller scenes. I always loved historical dramas so this is a must rewatch for me. For those curious about this drama, I recommend this drama guys! I could even bet my life with this. ❤️❤️❤️ This drama will really make you "Fall in Love" with history again.

As for the characters, they really did a good acting. Especially in the action scenes, it made me feel the thrill. For the drama scenes, it made me tear up. And for the romantic scenes, it REALLY will make your heart flutter.

For the production team, kudos! Their costumes really captured the 1930s-1940s fashion but in some scenes, their clothes are repeated.

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Avrei voluto una puntata in più

Finale un pochino affrettato. ultima puntata avrebbe avuto bisogno un seguito. o qualcosina in più comunque. sono rimasta un pochino con quella sensazione di...incompletezza...5 minuti risicati di Finale non mi sono bastati. però rispetto alle altre serie questa ha una storia molto ben sviluppata. il protagonista maschile fantastico. mi è venuta voglia di vedere altro. e delle donne finalmente ben scritte e non le solite ragazzine scemotte. Una serie dove muoiono anche i protagonisti... certo un pochino di propaganda per la rivoluzione comunista però abbiamo tutti una storia e la Cina ha la sua 🤷‍♀️

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Hidden Gem - LOVED this series!

This series didn't seem to gain popularity, and in my opinion it is underrated. I really enjoyed it, overall a well-rounded series with romance, comedy, historical relevance, action, mystery and intrigue.

PROS:
- Lead couple had strong chemistry; mutual affection, respect, strength, devotion and comedy. It was refreshing to see a FL that isn't weak, helpless or gullible.
- Pacing was good, was not draggy. I found myself skipping because of the suspense, I was eager to find out what happens next.
- The ending was so good - perfect ending to the build up throughout the series. And they ended it appropriately without trying to drag it out for several more episodes
- No unnecessary characters or subplots to fill up screen time

CONS:
- There was definitely an underlying theme of communist propaganda

Characters/Acting:
- ML - he is one of my favorite actors, and he nailed this role as well. He was believable with the different dimensions that his character entailed: bravery, honor, loyalty, tenderness, coldness, heartache, poker face, etc.
- FL - this is the first time I've seen this actress in a series. She's adorable, and definitely looked the part. While her acting wasn't bad, she lacked the depth to invoke utter sadness and heart ache. At certain gut wrenching scenes - the male actors had more tears and facial expressions than she did.
- The 2nd ML who played Xu Guang Yao was actually very likable. Usually those characters are made out to be the antagonist that gets in the way of the lead couple. But you really empathize with his character and I found him endearing and so respectable. The only thing that bugged me was his hairstyle - the weird bangs being held back by a stiff strand of hair.
- All the support characters did an amazing job, their acting was on par with the main characters. Except the ML's little sister. She was kind of annoying and her wig was terrible.

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Exciting, Intriguing and then, Hmm.

The first 1/3 of this drama was exciting. Plenty of things were happening and there was great excitement as to what would happen next! I thoroughly enjoyed the first 1/3 of this drama.

The second 1/3 of this drama was intriguing. There was plenty of suspense and I kept guessing as to what would happen next. I am pleased to say that I truly enjoyed the second 1/3 of this drama.

The third and last 1/3 of this drama was ‘meh’ and ‘huh’ and ‘hmm’ for me. After the exciting ride at the start, the last part of this drama was quite a letdown. Despite the ‘happy-ish’ ending, the final part and very last episode felt rushed and abrupt.

What I liked:
- plenty of excitement and intrigue at the start and middle
- good-looking actors (though still young and not the most able but good enough)
- many lovely characters like Gu Yue Shuang
- the female lead was intelligent, shrewd and resourceful - I like that she wasn’t a pushover and that she had a good, strong backbone

What I didn’t like:
- plenty of bloodshed but I understand it’s a war drama so …
- patriarchal attitude from the oldies
- Pei Shao Jun and Tan Sang Yu were insufferably annoying - every time they appeared on my screen, I felt great angst

Verdict: Can watch. Much better than other dramas out there but, viewer may wish to fast forward the third and last 1/3 of this drama.

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I Felt in Love !!

I rarely write long reviews, in fact, I barely write reviews cuz I'm a lazy type of person!

But as Fall in Love was my first watched Republican Era drama (I tried to watch Arsenal Military Academy, but I dropped. maybe I'll try again cuz I'm a huge fan of Bai Lu) and I enjoyed soooo much, I felt like writing!!

Why I enjoyed so much?!  Well...

1- The costumes catch my eyes and I have a soft spot for it (I'm a fashion photographer)

2 - The soundtrack is really cool.  The intro and outro songs got stuck in my ears and I found myself watching the end credits in almost every episode just to sing along (this never happened!)

3 -  A strong, intelligent and - often - ahead of her time FL, which is a rarity in chinese dramas and surprised me even more for being a period drama.  Okay, sometimes she was saved by ML, but that doesn't take away the merit.  I was very impressed with the actress, who is practically a newcomer and managed to deliver all the emotions of the role!!!  Hope to see her more often in other roles!!

4- The rhythm of the series caught me from the first episode!!  Each episode had a plot and ML always managed to anticipate it, even with several plot holes and also with some predictable ones the story developed very well and caught my attention from beginning to end

5 - The lead's chemistry is impressive...the fun and intelligent dialogues and the way they trust each other and grow together throughout the story.

What I didn't like was that the leads are always deviating from the schemes and they don't have a happy time together...the last two episodes could have been written in a way to let them spend more couple time together (a time skip, maybe , already with children...) I missed it!

Another thing: when the production crew are going to learn how to make fake blood???  Guys, with gelatine and food coloring you make fake blood that looks real!!!!  It's the easiest thing in the world!!!  I can't stand pink blood in a series that has war and a lot of scenes that involve blood, right?!  Also the war and fight scenes were pretty weak...

Overall I really liked it, it surprised me, I recommend it and, for sure, I will review it at some point!

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Great plot twist, to the point that will make you eyebrow furrowed

This is one of my favourite chinese drama. The plot twist in every episode is engaging.

Pros:
- Girl powerrr!
Though this movie surrounding military situation, but the women are equally scheming! Both right & bitchy way.
- Not corny at all. The comedy parts are really laughable.
- The casts deliver great acting, hard to miss anyone even the supporting roles are impressive.
- The sad scenes are really tears jerking. That's back to point 3:impressive acting skill.

But to be honest, the Cons:
- some of the twists are lack of logics.
- a lot of scenes weren't smoothly edited into the background like the fireworks, strolling view from within moving car, and some fighting scenes.
- if you know a bit of military perspective, a lot of scene are poorly excecuted to the extent that makes your jaw drop and shake your head in dibelief!

The soundtrack are easy listening but not so catchy. You get the vintage feel, but...not really worthy as playlist.
I dont speak mandarin, maybe that could be one of the things that makes me tilting my head when it comes to military decision & explanation.
I gotta try reorganizing my mind into thinking that these what happened in China (Shanghai) military situation long time ago. But still...
An officer would be fired hundred of times for taking impossible dramatical unlogical acts like ones in Fall In Love. >.<*

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Unexpected twists, and a lot of love

My first drama of this genre, and despite being the first I see of Chinese Republican Era, I could understand and enjoy the drama a lot, I must admit that I started it because of Zhang Jingyi and I ended up getting attached to all the actors of the cast, even the second lead syndrome was present because of the great chemistry they transmitted on the screen with Chen Xing Xu and Yan Jun, maybe at the beginning the side stories were not so much to my liking because I'm honest I just wanted to know more about the main couple, however, I did like them, the unexpected twists during the story were more interesting, the ending was good and painful, although I would have liked a little more of what happened next. The main character is not the typical girl, she always proved to be very intelligent, independent and self-confident, and the male protagonist was quite a case from the beginning, his humor and appearance were somewhat deceiving, but inside he knew what he was doing and pretended not to know anything when he knew everything, the story of the two of them very peculiar and beautiful, they gave me all the love I was expecting, 10/10.

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Not once did this drama bore me

I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this drama especially because I did not think I would enjoy Xing Xu's drama after the last drama I saw of his. He's an amazing actor, amazing at making me hate whatever role he's playing so I was surprised by his "good guy" role here, though there were times I hated him. I actually started this drama for Evan Lin after his role in Crush and I have never seen any of Jing Yi's dramas before, not that she's in many. But the casting for this drama was perfect and I LOVED all the characters, at least the ones that lived. I also loved that everyone got what they deserved. This is my first historical, non-fantasy drama where the villains get what they deserve and the "good guys" actually live to have their happy ending. At least most of them did.
This is literally the only drama where I was able to remember everyones names and it is really important to the plot that you know everyones names since it is HIGHLY political (and action-packed), the powerful families being: Mu (FL's family with all the money), Tan (ML's family that's power was taken), Xu (SML's family who killed and stole everyone's power) and the Pei and Su family (best friends of the SML and at some point rivals in war). The children of all these families stood by each other, became really god friends and even family with each other.
I hated almost all of the FL's family, including her father and I was so happy to see them get what they deserved. I also didn't want the SML so suffer any losses and I was happy that his loss was very brief and that he didn't seem to suffer as much as all the other characters did.

I really thought this drama will have a tragic ending, but it didn't. The one thing I was rooting for most was that Xu Guangyao lives to the very end of the drama and doesn't go bad. He was the most wholesome person in this entire drama, everything about him was good. Despite this drama being a lot about children paying for their parents sins, Guangyao was so beloved by everyone that no one truly blamed him for his fathers wrong doings and no one had him pay for it. I was so happy that he didn't get punished for his fathers crimes. His father was the biggest villain in this drama, but he was a really good father to his son, a better father than Mu Wanqing's father ever was to her and that was Xu Bojun's only redemption.

I loved the relationship between all our leads and the AMAZING chemistry between Xing Xu and Jing Yi. I was surprised by how quickly I shipped their characters especially because I came into this drama expecting to ship the FL and SML. Wanqing and Guanyao had a very sibling like relationship despite Guanyao being in love with Wanqing (the way he looked at her spoke so much), which I loved. I never shipped them romantically until I hated the ML for a few episodes for treating the FL really badly, I was so happy to know that it was all an act on the ML's part, I was terrified that he'd become the villain and that the FL would die. I also loved how the ML felt about the SML, he always found Guanyao to be "too good for this world" and he seemed to genuinely love the SML as a family since Guanyao was the Wanqing's "brother" and so his brother in law.
This drama really had me anticipating EVERYONE's death, I was terrified that someone I liked would die and literally the one person I didn't even think about (but liked), was the one person that died.

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Republican Drama that I actually really like! Not draggy n superb casts!

What I like:
- The casts! They did a good job in casting the actors, i like the mainleads n their friends... the villains also did their part... lots of people in this drama, even the cameos r familiar looking people that u often see in other good C-dramas...
- I like the leads’ characters, esp FL, she is so smart n independent, not the damsel in the distress type... yes ML helps her a lot by protecting her in secret, but she is still a brave person that doesn’t let people bully her... i also like ML, he is super smart n sometimes even cunning, but to be in his position n to protect everybody while dealing with the villains, it’s just something he needs to be to get the job done n IMO the actor played his role perfectly...
- The main leads’ chems is good... even from the start of the bickering till their happy ending, u can tell the progress of their relationship, not that slowburn, but not that fast either, it fits perfectly for me (they officially got together in eps17 I think)... n their relationship is just so good n healthy, they communicate n share everything... they somehow understand each other so well, that even in one bit angsty part when ML kinda being a jerk to FL n pushed her away to protect her, FL foundout why he did it n stood by him till the end...
- The SML looks so good in his uniform! Haha... I was a bit in dilemma at first coz he is just such a nice n standup guy who looks so dashing, who wouldn’t wannabe with him? But unfortunately for him, he was born as his dad’ son n his dad is the main villain who did most of the bad things in this drama, including the tragedies involving FL’s fam... plus eventhough he is such a gentleman in all aspects, he could barely stand up against his father, at least until the last part of the drama... IMO he also nailed his role, especially as a dilemmatic sad boy...
- The story n the plot is good... I like how the leads always work side by side from the start till the end... It doesn’t drag n I barely skip any scenes (just some angsty scenes between eps28-32)... n it’s a HE for almost all the good guys...
- I like the set, the wardrobes n the OST... it’s a Republican Drama, the genre that I rarely watch, but it’s just an enjoyable watch...

What I’m not too satisfied with:
- Why Tan Si dies? I cried when it happened... he deserves to have a good ending...
- That GY’s death is necessary I know, but that’s also such a sad thing... she n that funny friend also deserves a happy time together...
- I just don’t believe that all 3 evil warlords could have 3 nice n respectable sons... since the mothers weren’t in the picture I think, it means the dads raised them somehow n all 3 bestfriends turns out good? Don’t get me wrong, I like all 3 of them as characters n their developments, but IMO the possibility of that happens is just so unlikely...
- The ML’s sis... I know she is cute sometimes, but as character she is just mostly annoying... all thru the drama she just does almost nothing n only chasing PS... I know she finally got him, but to achieve that she is absent from school n even quit school for sometimes, then she moved to Beijing for him while doing nothing... she has almost no development n no important plot beside supposedly changing PS in a way... so yeah, I don’t hate her character, but I can’t say that I like her either...

Anyway, I really like this Republican Drama... superb casts, it has short angsty part, almost no misunderstanding coz FL is smart, not draggy, n happy ending for almost all good characters... I recommend this drama, just try it, u won’t regret it n will def enjoy it like me...

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