This review may contain spoilers
Love the main character interactions
I started watching this because of Yu Shuxin. When I started watching, I realized that the main male character was K.O in Love o2o. Zhang BinbinThis drama is a fairly simple romance story. The love story of 2 geniuses in the field of Botany. One really likes plants, and the other likes birds. Meiren, who is very cheerful, turns out to have trauma with her appearance. And Zhuang Yu who falls in love with any side of Meiren. The appearance of the 3rd person doesn't really create a big conflict. I like it because I don't have to worry too much about the character's relationship breaking up. I'm more frustrated with those whose communication is quite complicated.
I'm quite fascinated by Zhang Binbin's smile, because his role in Love o2o has minimal interaction. And here we can enjoy Zhuang Yu's smile when he starts to fall in love with Meiren.
And the way Zhuang Yu proposes to Yu Meiren is very epic. I like it
I like the OST. They both also fill the OST together. And I like it too.
Quite like the CG quality of the rare birds.
Those who like botany will definitely like it.
I think one day I will rewatch this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
anything for my love esther
If it wasn’t for the second lead story, this would be a 5/5 stars. They just took up too much space to be honest, and it was very annoying. The main couple were chef’s kiss though! I loved them: they were fun, cute and entertaining to watch and especially in the last episode… sigh… I nearly shed a tear, too cute (yes, despite Esther Yu’s baby voice, you get used to it… why her character had to act like a child sometimes… that’s something else). Anyway, now I lowkey want a botany professor who likes no one but me. Meh. *cries* (edit a couple of days later: the opening title is such a bop, I can’t stop listening to it, it makes me so fucking happy<3)Was this review helpful to you?
A bumpy ride for me
Copied from my Viki account:This series was overall just okay. The acting was excellent in many areas. I thought Esther Yu shined the brightest when she got to play the comedy up for her character. Vin Zhang seemed to be genuinely holding back laughter in some parts. However, the storyline and themes were a bit disorganized. The set up was kind of messy and unclear, which I'm sure is in part because some things seemed to be lost in translation. It hit a bit more of a stride toward the middle, though. It was stronger when it focused more on topical issues of beauty, intelligence, and the unfair standards and assumptions people can make about others—especially women. I felt like the narrative romance between the two main characters would have been stronger if the series focused in more on those issues as they related to Yu Meiran. They should have let Vin Zhang's character be more fallible in this respect to make the overall message stronger. Basically a missed opportunity.
But I think C-Dramas tend to suffer from these binary gender assumptions/roles a lot; there's an effort to challenge it, but so many times the writing falls back on this idea that 'men are smart and strong. women are dumb and weak'. Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time I heard a character say 'women are this way and men are this way'.... And even if you do have a 'smart and strong' female character, they become 'maiden-ized' to give the male lead opportunity to play his role as the chivalrous romantic partner. That's when I think they take an interesting premise and interesting characters and make it boring and lose the plot.
Was this review helpful to you?
Too Youthful
This show is pretty good, and romantic. It shows everything you want in a normal Chinese drama about older characters. But, because the character are in their late 20s/early 30s, I thought it would be more mature. It was aimed for people around my age, late teens/early 20s, and it was shown in the characters' personalities. But towards the end, there was some character development and the characters became more mature and relatable. I would definitely suggest this show to someone who likes high school and college dramas.The music, however, was very good, I have already downloaded the soundtrack. I always look for a catchy or tear jerky soundtrack, and this was both, 10/10!
I give it a 7.0 as the overall score.
Was this review helpful to you?
i want another story like this!
hear me out: i want another story like this, but maybe a bit more mature?I watched this show in 2024, and i find it was still so fresh!
i love the character's stories and the blend of science/ influencers. i think the full potential of this story was still untapped.
the part i hoped to see more of... is their complicity! even in early episodes we can appreciate their connection in a way that the ml was sensitive to her but still annoyed. when their complicity was put forward, it was probably the best times!
what we realize in the end is that the FL characterizes a free soul, and a resilient flower, something that inspires a lot. i liked the imagery and the evolution of the characters, but i think a more mature take in the early episodes could have been better!
Esther is among my fav actresses, but i am often perplexed by her acting! she is more witty than expected and held her dynamic character well. ( although in the beginning it was too much!!)
it was the first time i saw the ML and i'm surprised i haven't seen him before!
i think these two together make one of the best on screen couples i've seen in cdramas!
lastly, a perfect remake would be with 70% less of the second couple story... it was borderline interesting but all the coverups were just tacky, i didn't connect one bit!!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
In my opinion, the drama was interesting and very enjoyable to watch. I really liked the focus on botany and animals (especially birds). I’m not usually interested in that kind of thing, nor have I watched any dramas with a similar theme, so it definitely felt fresh and intriguing. I liked how we gradually got to see the male lead’s perception of Yu Mei Ren change over time. The chemistry between the main couple was absolutely wonderful. As the drama went on, I was worried that this chemistry would go to waste - there hadn’t been a single kiss for so long that I started thinking maybe one of the actors had refused to do those scenes. Thankfully, we finally got the kiss scenes, and they were beautiful. I also liked the contrast between the leads - he was calm and composed, while she was more wild and full of life. Over time, though, he learned to embrace a bit of her “craziness,” while she learned to be calmer and listen to others. I was also really happy when, at the end, we saw the main heroine’s brother meet a girl who could become his love interest. Those kinds of details are often skipped, and such characters usually end up alone - so I really appreciated that addition.Another huge plus for me was the parents. There’s not much to say about the heroine’s parents - they were wonderful, and I watched every scene with them with a smile on my face. But the male lead’s family was a pleasant surprise. Usually, wealthy parents in dramas are portrayed as cold and calculating, caring only about social status or benefits from a relationship. But in this case, his mother turned out to be a genuinely kind person who, instead of opposing their relationship, was actually nice to the female lead and even thanked her.
Now, let’s move on to the secondary couple. I’m a bit conflicted about them. At first, their relationship was interesting to me, but as the story went on, something started to fade. I stopped feeling the same spark between them, and I think the writers lost some of the potential that was there in the beginning. In my opinion, the storyline about the male character losing his leg was unnecessary - it felt forced, as if it was added just to create a reason for their reconciliation.
Aside from that, there were a few other things that didn’t work for me or felt like flaws:
→ The male lead leaving for a year to the U.S. without even saying goodbye to the heroine was just stupid. On top of that, he didn’t contact her at all during that entire time. Saying that he didn’t do it because she blocked him is a ridiculous excuse. He could’ve done anything to explain himself - written her a letter, asked a mutual friend to talk to her, or called/texted her from someone else’s phone. But he did absolutely nothing.
→ The lack of communication between the main couple. Too many secrets, too many things they didn’t talk about - and when the truth finally came out, they tended to brush it off instead of actually addressing it.
→ The lack of confrontation with Xiao Fang. She was the heroine’s assistant but turned against her because she convinced herself that Mei Ren caused her to get fired (once again, lack of communication). It all ended up feeling like filler material to give Xiao Xue more room for her schemes, but I really wanted to see Xiao Fang’s reaction when she learned the truth.
Was this review helpful to you?
Worst screen writing ever!
the most rubbish, non sensical screen play that have been written with not that bad casting. writers have a mind of a 5 year old boy or a caveman, literally. you'll see. just put your hand on the forward button cause the only worthy moments are the Chemistry between the leads. even that is like 10% of the show.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Slow burn, fake dating, cute, angsty, giggling the whole time!
I suffered for 20 episodes ?? The fake dating arc couldn't help much either. Then he went abroad for bloody 3 episodes. Though I was obsessed with the way he pursued her when he came back just for her!!! AHHHH!! I LOVE MY BABIES!! I only got the last 3 episodes of them actually together. It wasn't enough!!!!! 😭😭😍😍🤭🤭😫😭🥰🤌🤌😍💙The whole reason I watched the show was because of the clip of the ML laughing and I fell in love with his laugh. THAT SCENE HAPPENED IN ONLY THE LAST EPISODE!!!!!! I suffered 34 episodes just to hear his laugh 😭😭🥺😭 Although i am obsessed with his smile as well. And the FL is soooo pretty and cute and I just love them together!!😍😍🤌🤌🤭😍😫😭😭😍
His younger brother was adorable and sarcastic and I loved him. I skipped a lot of scenes of the second leads, her boss and best friend. I wanted them not the SMLs so I just skipped most of their scenes🫣😂
The second hand embarrassment killed me at times but I got through it for them. DID I DESERVE JUST 3 EPISODES FOR THAT!!!?? NOOO!!! WHY DID IT TAKE 34 EPISODES FOR THEM TO FINALLY KISS???!?! I DIDN'T DESERVE THIS SUFFERING!!! Also found out from a comment/review below that they cut out a kiss scene from episode 20. WHY??!!?!??? It would have been worth it and then 15 episodes of them together after suffering for 20!!!! But NOOOOOO!! 😭😭
p.s. going to watch that cut scene now lol. OMG JUST WATCHED IT AND I AM OBSESSED!!! WHYYYYYYY DID THEY DELETE THAT!!! IT WAS PERFECTION!!! The passion, the chemistry, I died! They could have glossed over it as her being drunk/sick/ill but atleast we would have been satisfied. It was the best kiss out of the whole drama and they deleted it 😭😫😭🥺
They are PERFECT together! Looking back on it the slow burn was kinda good and I was giggling and blushing around the fake dating trope and it was so satisfying to see him gradually falling for her 🤭🤌😍
Was this review helpful to you?
Super cute and low stress - I recommend you don't take the bad reviews to heart
I just wanted to say I really enjoyed this series. I think Ms. Yu did a fantastic job with her role. She is so cute (and beautiful :-) and does a super job being cute and "girly" as we say in the U.S. without making it at all cringey. She really steals the show, I'll look to watch anything she is in. All the actors did a great job.The story is fun, low trauma, and a good diversion after a long, hard day.
I'd also Like to call out Ding Guan Sen for doing a super great job also. His expressiveness felt so real to me that nailed his role so very well.
My recommendation, if you want something sweet and cute, watch it!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
stupid but cute
Really interested to watch this for see the chemistry between Vin Zhang & Yu Shu Xin. The plot itself kinda stupid in some part, but overall drama still consider cute for me. So yeah I succeed watch till the end and you can say I quite like it... Haha.....The stupidity:
- The way Jin Xi (JX) fall in love to Li Tian Tian (TT) is one of the most stupid way to fall in love in drama world. Just because TT give umbrella to him when it's raining he instantly falling in love with her.
- How the man (JX & Zhuang Yu [ZY]) never really learn from their previous mistake. Like JX that lying to TT about his leg...
- The one year break for both man (JX & ZY). Whatever the reason the drama give us, the one year break is just stupid.
- The easy forgiveness the woman (Yu Mei Ren[MR] & TT) give to the man (JX & ZY). Especially TT give to JX. Just because of his leg, after that lie & the one year disappearing. Too easy baby....
- All the flirt that MR did. It's like MR did have the score, it's gonna be more interested if we can see MR like did the scoring or whatever. But the trick like ZY said, later on, useless since he already use it on MR too... Haha...
- All the 'cuteness' that MR show in the drama. Like when she kinda force the cuteness. Like when she left alone in the library.
- The stupid concept of make up. MR things she completely different without make up. Hey you're not in the superman movie, where Clark Ken took off his glasses & become superman he is unreckoned by anyone else.
What I like or consider cute:
+ The positive attitude of the woman (MR & TT). Like TT said about MR being the FL, "It's because you're able to reflect on yourself. Most people in the world would like to take the credit for themselves when succeeded, but blame others when they fail. You'll dread when you succeed, while reflecting on urself when u fail. That's why you are the leading role."
+ The cuteness is stupid, but still cute in some scene. Like when MR pretend to be village witch or what (the one she use basket in her head). It's somehow cute.
+ ZY just so cute... From the first we can see how jealousy he is. But it took him a whole year to realize his own feeling. And after that his attitude toward MR just so cute & protective. I like it... Haha...
+ The chemistry between Vin Zhang & Yu Shu Xin not so disappointed. I really like their interaction.
+ The little cut scene at the end of each episode...
Overall: This one cute little drama to watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
It’s not what you would expect
Overall, the main leads were great and so really good chemistry however it would have been a lot better if they had more screen time and most of their kissing scenes were edited out. The storyline was a little be confusing at so parts but not that hard to follow along. I avoided any scenes involving the second couple as their story wasn’t connected to the main leads at all and took up way too much of each episode! I would rewatch but would have to keep skipping because of 2nd couple scenes. Don’t get me wrong I like the actress in the 2nd couple but her character took a lot of screen time away from the main leads. Hope there is a chance we here these main leads get another drama togetherWas this review helpful to you?
Light-hearted romance fluff you can watch if you wanna feel good!
I've been seeing a lot of mixed reviews about this show but AROTLF will hold a special place in my heart.As a newbie watcher of C-dramas, this was a good watch! Plot was definitely not that new BUT the characters made it memorable because of their chemistry. If you're a fan of 'She fell first but he fell harder' trope, give this a watch! Plus, this definitely reminded me of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha! The scenes from the girl MC's hometown were beautiful and calming to watch accompanied by the fluff romance. Would give this a solid 10 but was a bit disappointed how the main leads was overshadowed by the second couple - now they owe us a season 2!
Nevertheless, I could see myself re-watching this if I just wanna feel happy and uplifted!
Was this review helpful to you?
