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Basically a cute dumpster fire
I think most students learn to write summary statements for stories in elementary/secondary school, if I recall correctly; sadly, this one would be unbearably difficult to write one for. Perhaps it's the poor writing, or the combination of fluff scenes with no intention/purpose whatsoever and a typical, overdone romance plot... or is it the absolute empty-headedness behind each and every one of the supposedly intelligent characters? Regardless, these factors make for a drama with a storyline held together by a single thread and simply not worth watching.Where do I even start? Ah, maybe the characters that are so easily contemptible...
The FL has got to be one of the most braindead characters I have ever seen. Going into the drama's first few episodes, admittedly, I was pretty interested in her- what's not to like about a smart, strong, bubbly, yet ambitious female lead? With most C-dramas portraying the FLs as weaker, cutesy (at best), and mellow (not that there's anything wrong with that), this one was a promising change of pace where the FL (Zheng Shu Yi) chased the ML and established herself in a difficult career... but oh. OH. Now, we're flopping. By episode 26, ZSY became absolutely unbearable. She did not represent any love or affection, loyalty or caring, etc. towards the male lead more so than a warning against all male audience members against similar women (oh, the woe). She ended up going out a couple times with another man during the 'break-up, cold shoulder stage of all C-dramas that we just can't do without apparently', who she knew harbored romantic interest for her. But of course, we have the ML to love her despite all her brainlessness and lack of morality...
The ML, Shi Yan, could easily be the subject of a tragic love story- one of unrequited love. While you could say some of the relationship faults (communication, etc.) were his, he probably didn't deserve what he got from the naive female lead. Furthermore, his lack of personality and development just did not make him stand out... at this point I remember only that he's quite good-looking and one of those 'tsundere' (in anime terms) characters that pop up here and there.
With that being said, the side characters do manage to salvage the show. The second lead couple is cute and depicted realistically, and over time, I just wanted more screen time for them and less for the main pairing. This one's worth watching, especially to get to know the lesser known female actress who does a beautiful job portraying the bubbly, warm, and affectionate Qin Shi Yue.
I guess that's about it for the characters. Moving on the story, it was more of a culmination of fluff scenes (with no real purpose in the development of the characters' relationships) and every dumpster-fire trope (love triangles, distrust, break-up and then back together, etc.) that's ever existed. It's not really worth paying attention to, and beyond the love story, there isn't much to explain about the story. It's not particularly memorable, either... actually, it's just pretty terrible. The holes and lack of logic is too much for even me (who fills in most logical gaps for shows because I notice them easily).
BUT, this drama does have a saving grace.
To those who love an eye-candy main pairing and cute scenes, some of the scenes are cute enough to watch separate from the drama and the two lead actors do a great job for what they're given. Bai Lu's wonderful (as always) and Wang Hedi portrayed Shi Yan handsomely (though it's not like I couldn't imagine another actor doing the job). The 2nd leads were wonderful as well (Shen Yu Jie particularly), and I would definitely look to find more of her shows.
The music isn't bad either, and reminds me of the typical modern-drama music. Nothing special about it, but definitely nothing bad either. The lyrics are pretty cute for what it's worth and the songs are not absolutely terrible to listen to : )
So, to conclude this long review (hopefully not to boring), you should watch this only if you like cute scenes between two very charming actors. Or, if you watch just the beginning episodes, it's bound to be nice. But if you want a drama that you remember until the end of time, or one with beautiful writing, or one with a realistic, logical love story, please, PLEASE do not watch this. There are better things to spend your time on.
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Bai Lu is my favourite actress and one of the best actresses. This woman never fails to ace whatever role she plays. So excited for this ❤️ lets see what happens to next epsiode .
how she always takes on new challenging roles to grow as an actress. Every drama has been successful as well. 🥰❤Every time when Bai Lu films a new drama, she enriches herself as well. She learns new things, violin, horse riding, guitar, singing, dialect, etc. In some interviews/videos, we know that the practicing/preparation time is almost the same as the filming time. She practices so hard to meet the standard. She actually can choose the project not so demanding, but she intends to choose the project that is meaningful to her. Really admire her and support her!
Only Chinese actress who can act and Looks damn natural exactly knows how much to do without being over the top and cringy.Queen Of Versatility Bai Lu
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Bi Ruo Shan is so pessimistic it’s annoying. This could have been done in 24 episodes but now they’re going to throw stupid plot points in. It also makes no sense that no one knows they’re together when literally all of them work in the same industry and see each other constantly.
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WORST PAIR
THE MAJOR DRAWBACK IS THE CHEMISTRY PHYSICS OR GEOGRAPHY BETWEEN THE COUPLE.DYLAN WANG IS AN AWESOME ACTOR BUT HE CANNOT BE AN ARROGANT CEO - IT JUST DOESN'T SUIT. IF NOT FOR HIM I THINK THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN AN AWESOME ROMANCE BETWEEN THE CEO AND THE AMBITIOUS GIRL.
THE STORY IS OKAY BUT TOOO SLOW THAT I WANT TO QUIT WATCHING CHINESE DRAMAS AS A WHOLE BUT IF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR ANOTHER ACTOR I THINK THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN AN SUPER HIT DRAMA.
THE SECOND COUPLE AND THIRD COUPLE WERE AND ARE AWESOME. THE ROLES COULD HAVE BEEN CHANGED WERE YU YOU COULD HAVE BEEN THE MAIL LEAD AND GUAN JI IN YU YOU'S ROLE AND DYLAN IN GUAN JI ROLE OR JUST DROP DYLAN AND BRING SOME OTHER TALENTED ACTOR. DIRECTOR AND CAST PRODUCERS DID AN UTTERLY FLOP SELECTION .
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Sorry it's a fail ....
I am a big Wang Hedi fan & excited to see him working with Bai Lu .... Cast looked good....However the story is soooo boring.... Lazy, Lazy, Lazy writing....
The is boring, repetitive garbage of a drama.... The production team screwed over this cast....
Where to now? ....
Wang Hedi needs to go back to his root. This style of lead is not for him, it's for no one.... Wa g Hedi is full of energy and Fighting Historic dramas is where he is at home eg. Unchained Love, Love between Fairy & Devil, Evernight 2.... Get back to this theme....
Female leads, look you don't need a big female lead name, plenty good actresses out there eg. Zhang Rounan, Zhang Miao Yi so a Zhao Lusi or Yang Zi not required.... Just need right female lead with a script you are at home with.... That's how Wang Hedi recovers....
Bai Lu is fine, Kunning Palace drama doing well ....
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Cast is Not convincing at all
We are supposed to watch a drama where the FL lead who is a young professional falls In love with a serious and accomplished CEO. The chosen ML is not convincing at all. The male lead looks and acts like a young boy who does not know what to do or how to express himself with words. How are we supposed to believe that this scared boy is a successful entrepreneur?17 episodes in and I do not see any chemistry between the FL and ML. Some moments I even cringe because I see an experienced woman who knows what she wants approaching the scared and inexperienced boy.
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Just Look at the Leads Visual
The plot was just bad. They do a great job at writing the leads background job etc. but suck at writing character development. I still cant believe that Shu Yi get away with all the things she did to Shi Yan with that lousy apology. They drag the plot for like 4 episode and without any important thing happening beside the sides character relationship which i dont really care. Shu Yi BFF shan shan was just awful at giving advice, and although Shu Yi is really good at her job she just not ready for relationship i guess and instead show us a development of it they only show of how bad she is at it over and over again. when her mom keep matchmaking her she not even explaining things throughfully and it pissed me off lol. Shi yan at first also not being rational with all his doing by not giving shu yi any explanation of not accepting the draft she made. Its a shame bcs i know the actors in this is good at acting but the script is not. kinda waste my time watching all 36 episode because of it. The Leads visual was what made me finish this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
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This is your average CEO sits in his office for 30 episodes. The show does not look as good as it portrays. There were several scenes that made me very mad because of how the characters acted and the show itself is pretty boring. It's all about companies having problems and the main leads trying to fix it.Shi Yan's personality makes me mad. I just can't stand his arrogant person. He thinks that he everyone's deal and is super self centered. I understand that he is a CEO but not everything comes to you. Zheng Shuyi is the complete opposite, when Shi Yan and Shuyi are dating, I feel like it's Shuyi who does all the work in their relationship. It just feels like Shi Yan doesn't care and he puts in no effort at all.
The side casts are not really any better. Shan Shan makes me really mad, it's like she loves Guan Ji, but idk there like toys to each other to play around with. She doesn't care about his feelings at all and pretends she doesn't want him or love when she does everything she can to meet up with him.
This show took me almost half a year to finish because it was just boring and I didn't want to continue to watch it. If it wasn't because the main leads were Bai Lu and Wang Hedi, I would have dropped it a long time ago.
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This review may contain spoilers
A FL immature & disrespectful in her love life, redeemed by her good looks & work skills
If you like dramas where the Main FL character is aware of her beauty and flirts with the ML for half of the drama, initially for revenge purposes (she has been dumped by her previous boyfriend for what she believes to be his niece), gets caught in her acting and actually falls for him, while he is aware she’s acting, but likes her nonetheless because she’s a beauty and skilled at her job…then for 1/4 of the episodes, they will be apart because he discovers her lie, that it was for revenge, and understands she was not attracted to him per se, before she could confess her initial lie and true feelings…
When they are finally back together, close to the end of the drama, she resumes her princess pouty behaviour, to which he gives in… this drama is for you.
But even then, She keeps teasing him, and shyly (pretend) runs away when he seems to want more with her… then, she totally reverse her attitude when she ends up living at his place because of a hand injury (ep33/36), … She is no longer acting shy and she is surprised that despite her clear invitations, he doesn’t seem to be interested in sleeping with her… until at the end of ep. 34, she gets what she wants, because he sees her crystal clear exchanges with her best friend on the very topic of whether he may have a problem, explaining why they haven’t yet splept together …
I wish the story had been explained to me this way, I wouldn’t have wasted my time on this drama.
There are good moments, funny moments…
But all in all, it displays a very immature and disrespectful female character, who is forgiven her bad behaviour because of her good looks and professional skills…
Only the last ep. Slightly makes up for the above…
Not satisfying watch for me, even if I had low expectations…
the first 1/3 was enjoyable, afterwards, it became irksome, as there was absolutely no character development arc… I’m not into mischievous female characters, displaying a far from recommandable set of personal values in their private life. Not a good example to follow.
Even the 2nd lead couple broke up and was apart for the majority of the drama… because of fear of a serious relationship and commitment …
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Cute but very predictable
I enjoyed watching it. I bringe watched in within a little under a week. I liked and shipped all couples and everyone was absolutely beautiful. Such an attractive cast.The storyline however was super predictable and our typical “nobody talks to one another” drama that would have been solved with one easy conversation.
Still I was pretty happy overall, so if you just need something nonsensical non (too) frustrating with a pretty satisfying end, this one’s for you. Don’t expect a cinematic masterpiece though.
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Wang Hedi look great. Bai Lu was so pretty
It was becoz of these two I binge watch for 3 days and almost got headache. Eventhough there are a few illogical moment between ML and FL, this series really make me swoon and felt giddy² inside. And also let just not start discussing about all then hot scenes... #OmyheartWink*Truely amaze how the other couples made me rooting for them and want them to have a happy closure too. And just For that, this series deserve overall 8 star from me.
The house was a full studio set. How can that be? It so artistic and realistic. I bet the office is a studio set too. No wonder the lighting was spot on in every angle.
Am I going to watch the full series again? No
Am I going to just watch click bait /tt video scene of Shu Yi and Shi Yan? Oh definitly . You bet on in..
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Great chemistry between couples
Many people criticize Only For Love because of the constant miscommunication between Zheng Shuyi (Bailu) and Shi Yan (Dylan Wang). In my honest opinion, however, that doesn't really matter, because the storyline itself is great!While there are many times when I felt second-hand embarrassment (especially with FL), I really enjoyed this drama. The chemistry between ML and FL was amazing. Sure, the FL might be a bit proactive, but it builds up the story. The ML may be bossy, but we all have to admit that he played his role well.
The second couple (Qin Shiyue and Yu You) was also very sweet. Like the FL, Qin Shiyue may be a bit too proactive, and Yu You was fairly hesitant to be with her at first, but when the two do get together, the result is beautiful love. In order to see that, though, you'll have to dive deeper into the drama, and go through all the times that Yu You felt uncomfortable with Shiyue, but I'd say its fairly worth it.
Overall, IMO, this drama is great, flaws and all. Some people will hate it, others will love it, it's up to you to decide.
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