Only for Love

So it’s over
And personally I don’t think it was as bad as everyone considered but that’s just a personal opinion. Maybe it’s also because I do my best to not take logic too seriously when it comes to Dramaland (actually, I even tend to throw it out by the window when I do : one of the first rules I’ve learnt to enjoy Dramaland !)
It’s definitely not epic : it’s a cute, lighthearted fluffy romance, just the kind of thing we need when we don’t want anything too serious (and god knows I need that sometimes with my anxiety problems) and that does the job
Unlike many people, I do think that all of the cast did a really good job. The main couple had cute scenes, good skinship and a strange chemistry which somehow still works out. I wouldn’t call them my favorite ship (I’m just too obsessed by Xie Wei and Jiang Xuening right now) but I think they’re definitely cute to follow
I do have a big crush on the niece’s character who starts off as an annoying spoiled imbecile to then grow mature and decisive
Again : it’s definitely not epic, and it’s not the c-drama of the year. For example, it’s sometimes too repetitive, goes around in circles with no real reason. I do think it should have been shortened by at least 10 episodes (especially with the arc where the main couple was having a fight : this took way much time and place, and came way too late)
I so think it’s more of a 6,5 but I’ll go to 7 because I do have a guilty pleasure for this
But in my opinion, it does fulfill the main purpose of a drama, which is make us have a nice time when watching it and that is enough for me

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For Wattpad lovers looking for a cliche old-school type of entertainment

I'm gonna be honest, just like everyone else, I watched this purely for the pairing of Dylan and Bailu - which did not disappoint. The most poignant strength of this show was the chemistry between the leads, and even the 2nd and 3rd pairings too. This show had almost 0 plot, and whatever plot was going on with the work stuff was more boring than watching paint dry. There were definitely funny moments, and I quite enjoyed the interactions between the pairings. Some satisfying moments, but this really is just for Wattpad lovers. Most, if not all, of the moments in this show was super cliched and old-school and doesn't at all feel like it's a drama released in 2023. So if you're looking for a good plot, this show is not for you. If you're looking for anything new and refreshing, this show is not for you. If you're looking for a very respectable and clear display of "true love", this show is not for you.

But if you're looking for a good palette cleanser, a cute workplace romance, or simply just a chance to stare at Dylan and Bailu's insane face cards, this show is for you!!! Despite my objective rating, I honestly quite enjoyed watching this show. It was super brainless and nonsensical and so absurd that I'd burst into laughter out of disbelief, but it was still an enjoyable watch. I liked the chemistry between Dylan and Bailu, and one thing the show did RIGHT was the kiss scenes - I replayed them many times and had to hide my face behind my hands sometimes because damn both of them can KISS. Those were 100% done excellent, absolutely 0 fish kisses or one party not reciprocating. Some moments, though old-school and perhaps cringey to some, made me giggle and kick my feet in spite of the cliched-ness of it all - but I'm also someone who enjoys this as a guilty pleasure LOL. So if you're looking for good chemistry between the leads (and the side pairings too), this is for you.

In all honesty, I skipped all of the plot stuff on the ml's part (aka all his work meetings and discussions) because I did not gaf. This show has a LOT of pairings though - there’s a total of 5 including the leads. I really enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd pairings (aka Shi Yue and Yu You; Shan Shan and Guan Ji), and if I'm being honest I loved Shi Yue and Yu You's moments more than the main leads towards the end (from about ep28 onwards)... the tropes are kind of mildly toxic? Because (spoiler) Shi Yue is basically just borderline harassing Yu You in the beginning and the relationship progression is not well fleshed-out, he just went from rejecting her advances over and over again to being super concerned about her and suddenly liking her. So it doesn't make any sense, but I was willing to look over that because they're just so so cute together. I really loved them both together and I want to see them in another pairing together as main leads because the chemistry is there!! As for Shan Shan and Guan Ji, I thought their trope was quite refreshing with both of them being players, but I was not a big fan of the constant push-pull, it felt repetitive and boring, but I will admit that they were very cute once they got together (esp with how clingy they both became, it was such a 180 from their previous relationship and it was amusing and adorable). 4th and 5th pairings were barely given screen time but mentioned in passing, had a few cute scenes together though I don’t see what value they added to the show LOL, probably just to max out the number of CPs they could milk out of the show?

There’s not much to say about music and styling, they weren’t worth mentioning much but they weren’t terrible. Music was typical of a modern workplace romance drama but styling fell flat, the only thing carrying the visuals was Dylan and Bailu's lethal face cards. (And for personal preference... Dylan looks way better without the glasses he always wears in the show - but he's still fine no matter what HAHA) I REALLY loved Shi Yue's styling and makeup and hair - exceeded Bailu's styling by an insane amount. Also Dylan had like 3 outfits at most - always suits, though he absolutely rocks them so no complaints really, but personally I would’ve loved to see him in a casual at-home outfit (aside from the apron) more often, I think we only got to see that once or twice?

SPOILERS! The breakup was soooo dragged out that it got really infuriating, it lasted from ep27 to ep31 which was just so entirely unnecessary, the miscommunication trope never miscommunicated like THIS before and I was ready to tear my hair out and punch the screen. It could’ve (and SHOULD’VE) been solved in ep29, when she got drunk and he sent her home. Also fl pissed me off so bad when the entire thing was just HER FAULT and when shit hit the fan she just backed away like a coward and stopped trying to explain things to him and instead threw an entire pity party for herself, and the ml was just constantly having to be there for her when she got drunk, got sick etc. Even in ep31 when they got back together she barely apologised or explained enough for me - in that moment I truly felt that the ml was way too good for her. It's a good thing I don’t care that much about their relationship in detail and just watched without a deep connection to them to enjoy their interactions and cute moments, so it didn’t bother me as much since I didn’t care. But there’s definitely a lot wrong with this show in terms of cultivating a healthy relationship. I also feel like their relationship progressed really quickly and it felt unnatural? In some way? So definitely don’t watch this show too seriously, it's a great show for a cute brainless palette cleanser but it doesn’t in any way, even remotely, show what a healthy love should be - their love did NOT even come close to touching my heart, I didn’t feel like they were truly IN LOVE (because the progression wasn’t done well enough, I didn’t feel like they’d have good reasons to be this in love with each other). I won’t bring up other shows in this review, but there’s definitely other shows out there in which the relationship progression is done so well that you feel yourself falling in love with the ml as the fl and the fl as the ml, and thus their love makes sense to you. So if you’re looking for LOVE like in Disney films, this is not for you.

Overall, though my review was mostly negative, I did enjoy this watch, especially the second half of the show (probably ep20 onwards). I didn’t go into this show with many expectations at all because I’ve seen the bad reviews, but I WILL watch ANY show for Dylan (and Bailu is an incredible bonus). The acting wasn’t incredible at all but both Dylan and Bailu are excellent actors without a doubt - this show, however, is not their best work by far because the plot and characterisation didn’t give them much room to show off their abilities, only their face cards. Nonetheless, it’s a decent entertaining watch, and my personal rating of this would be 7/10. Rewatch factor is solely for moments when you’re craving a brainless Wattpad watch again, as I do sometimes LOL. I do hope they’ll be paired in another show together (historical!!!! xianxia!!!) because their chemistry felt like wasted potential in this plotless show... would LOVE to see them in a xianxia drama together because I personally believe that that’s their strength, they shine more in historical shows.

To fully appreciate Dylan's acting skills, watch Love Between Fairy and Devil - that’s his BEST work to date by far, with the styling and micro-expressions... he outdid himself and I am in LOVE. Will write a review on that show too, it’s my favourite and my #1 forever. For Bailu, do watch One and Only, and Till the End of the Moon.

All in all, worth the watch if you go into this with no proper expectations and just want to have a good time staring at the eye candy cast LOL. Bonus points for the 10/10 makeout scenes.

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Dragged out story

I started reading the manhua recently but it is still ongoing, then found out that it has a c-drama adaptation so I jumped into watching it immediately.
This drama could have ended at 20 episodes if only they lessened the time allotted to finance stuff that nobody really cares about (I skipped most of this scenes). It is truly a wasted potential to see both amazing actors paired but have a complicated characters. The female lead is smart career wise but makes really poor decisions when it comes to romance. Still can't believe that she writes good headlines and talk professionally to different businessmen but can't even make a proper apology to the male lead. I think it took almost 5 episodes just for them to reconcile, which should have just taken one episode instead if ONLY they learned to properly communicate *sighs*. 36 episodes is too dragging, they could have already started their relationship early if those COUNTLESS phone call interruptions didn't happen.
This is my first time watching Bai Lu and I am now in love with her.

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I didn’t enjoy this drama, I suffered it

I'll start by saying that it's not a bad show. In fact, it keeps you hooked to see what comes next. And I loved the chemistry between the three couples.

But I have so many things to say about this, so let me start with a question: is this about a journalist who doesn't understand the importance of good communication? Really?

Isn't discernment (the ability to evaluate what is good, and what is bad) one of the essential skills of a journalist? However, the female lead blindly followed the awful advice she got from her best friend. Did she really believe that starting a relationship with lies and pretending was going to have positive results in the future? I think that's what bothered me the most about this series.

And I really hated the friend. With so many tricks, secrets and lies in her relationships, she didn't deserve a happy ending.

Another thing that annoyed me was that sometimes the FL was very bold and when he responded, she ran away like a scolded puppy.

Now, let's talk about the second female lead. She was so cute and persistent. I understand that the idea was to fight for what you want, but to what extent do you have to “beg for love”? To what extent do you give up your dignity to try to attract someone who is not interested in you, even pretending to be something you are not? Was the idea to pursue him until he accepted out of exhaustion? In any case, I liked the evolution of her character, going from a shallow girl to a woman with interests and goals.

On the other hand, there are the three male characters, which I thought were good, and I loved how they looked together in one of the scenes in the lasts chapters.

The ML was pretty deadpan, but I guess that's how the character was written. The teacher was my favorite, with his serenity. The third, who carried a certain sadness within him, matured as the plot progressed.

Another issue that bothered me about the series has to do with journalism. I don't know what it's like in China, but as a journalist, you don't give the interviewee the draft of the interview to approve, unless it's an advertorial. You're also not afraid to interview someone because you might suddenly fall in love if you get to know him better. This is just a professional interview, not a date.

In any case, it is better not to analyze these professional issues too much and enjoy the drama.

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What a shame

I tortured myself till episode 12 because I didn't want to believe that this drama could get worse and worse. I love Bai Lu, she's a superb actress and she even tried to give some facial expressions to this disappointing role. It's embarrassing to watch her in such a self-depreciating story. What a shame. An actress of her caliber should be able to choose her roles. The main lead Wang Hedi carried the same expression - his Godfather-like mafia boss nothing can touch me face - throughout all episodes trying to sprinkle in a slight movement of half of his lips probably symbolizing a smile, usually when his character had trapped the FL in one of his misogynist plots. In general I can see a slide in the new modern popular C-dramas towards more powerful men, just being rich and vengeful and more and more FL roles giving the impression of being very youn, inexperienced, cuuute, dependent and dumb. Once again what a pity !!!

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Cute but the chemistry is meh

I decided to watch this drama for a romantic scene on insta and also bc of dylan ,so i give it a try its cute ,slow burn and fun to watch but the main lead shi yan doesn't even for once had a genuine smile ,until episod e18 . Also until now there's no deep talk have alot time together but only they talk about nothing or about work it's frustrating for me maybe they will develop their chemistry in the upcoming episodes idk 🤷‍♀️. The cutest couple for me now are shi yu and yu you ,the worst one shan and guan ji i hate every thing about them really 😅 .For now i like to watch it but not over the moon with it or can't wait to know what will happening i just wanna finish it (i will update later when i finish it ).

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It couldve been better....

First off, this was ok. I liked the potential of the plot and the acting was amazing. However, I dont think it needed to be 36 episodes long... especially if you take into account that most of it was filler... And I hated the filter they put on it that made them look even paler.

The plot had a good base, but it was executed poorly. It had potential, but it was lost. I mean, Zheng Shuyi got with Shi Yan to get back at her ex and the homewrecker. The ex out of nowhere wants her back, and the homewrecker has some weird hate for her. They couldve spent more time on that rather than the side characters getting into relationships out of nowhere. Miss Homewrecker couldve tried to ruin her career when she realized the ex still liked her. She couldve found out sooner and tried to ruin her relationship with Shi Yan. Or the ex couldve. There were so many options... but what we got was... eh...

I find it crazy that out of every adult in this show, the only one with SOME sense is Shiyue. Like girl knew how to communicate, express her love, and she didnt hold back. Its so odd that a 22-23 year old can do that but not a 25, 27, and 30 year old. AND OLD PARENTS.

Even Yi Yang was better at doing that, and he just saw everything as a competition with Shi Yan!

What I also found odd was the strange plotline of Mr. Guan (Shi Yans friends dad) and Ms. Tang (Shuyis boss)... like why are they a thing? Why is it important enough to be a plot? Because I dont see it.

Another thing I hated was the fact that Shuyi was an idiot. Youre telling me that youre listening to your single friend, who only has flings for relationship advice? WHEN EVERY PIECE OF ADVICE SHE GAVE YOU ENDED UP MAKING THINGS WORSE!!!

And now when its all gone to shit, shes like... "maybe you shouldve confessed sooner..." WHEN SHES THE ONE THAT SAID IT WAS A BAD IDEA. Like oh my god. No hate for the friends relationship history, but cmon now... shes never had a boyfriend... But even if she never did, she wouldnt have been that bad if she gave SOME solid advice.

The only good thing about this show was the cute scenes, the beginning bc at least it was interesting, when Shi Yan and Shuyu found out thr homewrecker was a liar and Shiyue. Overall, the actual plot got lost.

And they patched things up out of nowhere... I was confused... But Ive spent my time watching 32 episodes... so Im going to watch the rest.

Dylan and Bai Lu nailed their characters though, and carried out the show amazingly despite the questionable script.

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Disappointing Script. Great Actors.

It's frustrating to see the leads with such extreme split personality of hot/cold, nice/mean, flirty / awkward stranger between scenes, it's too forced and looks like chunks of scenes are cut between what is shown. The sudden emotional flip flop is hard to relate to and follow in both leads.

Typical Chinese drama scripts to have the leads unable or unwilling to communicate, constantly lies and manipulate others, to create the misunderstanding and tension, to drag out the storyline, no smart plot to solve their misunderstandings or show how the couple grow closer together until the last 5 eps. This same-old script formula is waaaaay over-used.

It's too unrealistic how intellectually and emotionally mature adults would handle situations so badly. And why would anyone stay in love with someone who constantly lies, manipulates and use you??? It really shows the screenwriter's lack of life skills and low emotional IQ. Character development is a disaster. Director is in the bad as well.

Bai Lu and Dylan Wang are great. Screenwriter and Director are the worst. So overall, not worth watching. If you love the leads as I do, just watch the last 5 episodes. Skip Ep 1-31.

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They could have done better

I cannot understand that I’m already on the 15th ep and the FL and ML are still flirting - that’s at least 40mins per ep “spent” watching the leads flirting and flirting and flirting. Character development is non existent. Story development is extremely poor. The personality of the FL is confusing if not incomprehensible. I understand not all chinese drama could be at par with Hidden Love, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, The Love You Give Me - and these dramas I mentioned have areas for improvement still - but I hope they make ones that are at least not too cliche and engaging for the viewers. They spend money to produce these dramas anyway so why not take an extra step or two or even five to make them good.

You are not missing anything if you decide not to watch it. You may feel like you missed (reads: waste) time that you could have spend on other things if you decide to watch - lest finish - these drama.

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selling artificial sugar

the writing of this drama is so so bad.... Obviously it's only relying on selling romantic slow motion scenes between main couple. Story wise, it's just a mess, unnecessarily drag the storyline just to make the drama longer, characters written so inconsistent. Financial journalist, acting so clueless and made very stupid choices all through the episodes. FL and her friends were all like high schoolers with googly eyes trying too hard to act as an adult. Why can't writers just write a normal independent modern woman that knows what they want and mature enough to make their own choices. Not gonna continue to waste my time on this...

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