Only for Love

Disrespectful to all working women

The FL's overtures to the ML in the begining are to get an interview ; she is advised to and keeps the conversation simmering at flirty inappropriate advances to ensure she gets ahead. Ifthat is not perverse, I dont know what is.. Her late night inappropriate messages if dotn by any man would have made us run screaming SA to high heavans. I am sorry if this is how things are done in China, maybe there is a cultural subtext I am missing, but to me it just sounds plain wrong that a woman needs to do all this just to get an.....interview. There are literally millions of hard working women winning milestones and getting ahead without adopting any of the coy tactic adppted by the FL..... and they are the real heroes who deserve to be lauded.

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Boring

I havent read the original book series.

For the show as a standalone, I found it very hard to sit through. The central romance plot is a guessing game/ misunderstanding. In this quest sometimes it seems as if the FL is trying to scam the ML. This plot point was dragged throughout the show, when they should have wrapped it neatly earlier on and then focused on something else. And the score make everything worse, adding a 'humour' sign to everything. I was cringing and face palming almost the entire time. There was a lot of 2nd hand embarrassment that i felt because of the FL. Someone had commented that the title of the series should have been "only For Work" instead, and i agree. The makers tried to portray FL and ML as aspiring hard working career driven people, and so the viewers have to sit mostly scenes about their projects, and work related drama. It seemed like how they show random hello world code and keyboard tapping to represent programmers and hackers. aka, im not sure of the credibility of the info, so how is it of any use to me? Is needed tutorial on how to take a business interview, run a large corporation or write a economics article i would be looking it up elsewhere, not watching your show.
We have 3 couples in focus. 3 girl-friends and 3 guy-friends. The friends give wrong advice, and misunderstandings keep getting prolonged. The 2nd lead couple has some commitment issues. The 3FL is a little naïve but has her heart in the right place. There are some other side couples too, and everyone is falling in love.

The FL doesnt really have a personality, she's just reacting to things happening in her life, and taking bad advice from her friends. Its almost as the makers made it such that the target audience may live vicariously through the FL (almost?).

The ML is a kind of secure man, who is very calculative and smart. Which makes the misunderstanding plot device more frustrating because the whole humour point is supposed to be "you thought he didnt know but he knew all along" type. He is a man of a few words, little snobbish. "Always watching you from behind", "got your back" kind of attitude towards the FL. And there is a lot of manhandling in the show. It is supposed to appear romantic.

I gave it a chance only because of Bai Lu and Dylan Wang.

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Lacking

Unfortunately there was no chemistry between the leads which is literally the single most important thing in a romcom (obviously there are others as well but this is extremely important).

Also the directing and screenwriting felt somehow off, even though the plot seemed interesting.

It saddens me, as I am a fan of both of them, but despite the main leads usually being magnificent actors, this time it felt like they failed to properly portray and embody their characters. I personally believe that what really matters in a series/film is for it to be enjoyable or memorable or generally to evoke something inside the audience (be it happiness, saddennes, or whatever the director, writer and cast is trying to portray). Whats the use of having a great and very popular cast, if firstly there is simply 0 chemistry between them and secondly the directing and screenwriting is awful.😖 With better directing and screenwriting it would have definitely been better. But to be completely honest and fair, the main leads' extreme lack of chemistry is a huge problem. Seriously, they should've done something about this. I am saying this as a fan of both Bai Lu and Dylan Wang. Since it's not working out there's no need to force it. There is literally a plethora of other actors who could've filled either of the spots, most of which might not be as popular, but possess equally good acting skills . I much rather watch a good series with actors whom I don't know, rather than a mediocre one with my favorites in it. It literally does more harm than good to the cast's, writer's and director's reputation.

All I have to say is that I am disappointed. It's not like the drama is uwatchable. It's just that the expectations were way too high and they were not met. I'm on ep 21 and the drama might get better, but it still does not change the fact that up until now, it has been kind of a let down. What saddens me even more is that I've read the book and even though I found it kind of tiring at times (as I'm quite particular with slice of life plots, I either like them very much or I find them very boring, depending on how they are played out) I enjoyed it and was excited when I learned that this was its adaption. I like the base plot but its development and pace here were draggy and tiring. The 2nd couple (the fl's bff with the ML's friend) had way more chemistry even though they had a messy love story.

It's also worth to be mentioned that Bai Lu is simply gorgeous (the entire cast was filled with visuals), but I personally believe the stylist- makeup artist didn't fully showcase her beauty. I get that the FL's style was supposed to be on the simpler side, but they could've at least used some more eyeshadow or eyeliner idk just something especially when she was supposed to be going on a date. Also half the time (if not all the time) she was wearing oversized blazzers. Which again is not bad, I actually find it quite stylish and pretty, but she could've had a change and wore something slightly different at times.

IDK hopefully this gets better 😅 I'll come back to update my review when I finish it.

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I'm So Disappointed

While I'm not familiar with the lead actress, I'm a big fan of Dylan. So, I was very confused at his stiff and dry acting in this drama. I kept hoping for something to get better but everything was frustrating me. The dialogue was just dragging so much and often times just didn't make sense in relation to what I was thinking was the plot. But then there's that -- I really didn't understand the plot.

The business part was absolutely nonsensical. It's obvious that not only were the actors very much not familar with the topics, but also whoever wrote the script. The acquisition vs investment bit was just comedy. That's not how any of this works. Same with the part about trying to get a talented highly sought-after person to work at a startup that's in dire needs of funds with a timid CEO-founder leading. They were just spouting off a bunch of vague jibber-jabber. Much like kids would do when playing pretend.

Once I realized I was paying more attention to my phone, as well as skipping past painful scenes of pointless staring and the FL talking out loud to herself, I decided to drop.

I could ignore the goofy business stuff if there at least was a cute romance dynamic happening, but even that was nonsensical. Just not a show for me. Out of all of Dylan's dramas I've watched, I've only not liked "Miss the Dragon". So this thesecond one to make the dislike list. I guess I really can't expect to like every show he does.

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A rare show. Meant to be treasured by some and disliked by others

This is actually a really brave & rare show. Brave because its the kind of show that could kill careers if it does badly. When you do a more safe, conventional show, even if it does badly, people will still say you are a decent director, actor, etc... Whereas a show like this gets you in director jail, actor-cannot-act hate, etc...

Good news is: You would know within the first few episodes. If this show is for you, it will be something you treasure. Its a proper farce that commits to its tone and flawed characters. Not just for the silly & over-the-top parts. Its also not afraid to really make you feel raw frustration & angst when necessary. It even has some thoughtful things to convey about love, making it work, and how it can give life meaning, even for people who may not necessarily deserve it

That being said, its entirely natural to dislike this show. For some, you may even feel a visceral hatred for the lead characters immediately. If that's your gut feeling, you should stop watching, because what you hate about it is intentional and it won't get better

TLDR: I am over-analyzing and making it seem too intellectual. Whereas, you should just watch a few episodes and see if you vibe with it. If you do, likely you would love it

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so enjoyable and sweet

Both male and female leads have played their character the best. Its the little nuisances that fill the details of characters. Dylan wang as Shi Yan is not a big sharer, actor plays the character well through his eyes and movement of his fingers to express emotions. Where on other hand, shuyi is inexperienced in behavior for relationship, and keeps us engaged at times frustrated with her nuisances. The story takes leaps n bounds jump in emotional development and character development of the leads relationship after they patch up. So patience is the key, but the end of story is completely satisfying. Especially the extra episode of their wedding!!!

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It was good to me.

Really good. I liked all the characters and especially shipped the main couple. I really didn't like the professor and the intern getting together. Their relationship was sorta cringy. Not because of the age gap but because she was so invested that she came off as a stalker at times. I feel like he just gave in because she wore him down. Another thing was I didn't think they should have done that to the ex-boyfriend. I understand he cheated because he thought the other girl would be able to help him more but he saw before long that he wasn't happy with the other girl. They could have just left him to wallow in his grief.
I was also liking that the main couple wasn't falling into tropey plots until the break up and I thought that one was a real force at that time. Especially when he blocked her but got mad when she deleted his contact.

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This series could have been so much better but was unfortunately disappointing

This series could have been so much better but was unfortunately disappointing. Very long, drawn out and slow paced...... I personally do not understand why it was produced this way but it must be due to the screenwriter, as the Producer has produced a number of very good shows such as Mysterious Lotus Casebook. It could have been done in at least 24 episodes to have a better flow and keep the viewer wanting more. I wanted to skip / fast forward at times but watched with eng subs so it wasn't doable.

The actors did a good job and Bai Lu and Dylan Wang did not disappoint. Their chemistry was on point and affection believable. The side couples also did well and their storyline was better than the Main couple's. The main couple's storyline was at times clouded by clichés and downright childish misunderstandings and miscommunication.

Story had flaws and its too tedious to go through everything.

Ost wasn't memorable

Production and Visual FX : 8

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Not recommended if you hate slow pace

I started watching it after I watched a few shorts on it, also the FL and ML are good actors so I decided to give it a go, honestly it drags on a lot in the beginning, its painful to watch the FL's actions, also to the story is a bit muddled, so many things which honestly do not make sense, main couple and third couple are bearable and enjoyable at parts asw but the 2nd couple ie FL bestfriend, I just skipped their parts, and all the dumb advice that she give out, seriously, so frustrating to watch. There are a few interesting scene but yeah that's about it . You need a ton of patience to actually make through this drama. I felt that ending was rushed but yeah overall a mid one time watch story.

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