Only for Love

Another 10 for Bai Lu - Second review after watching only the main couple parts

I wrote a first review after watching the series for the first time and I never thought I would go back and change my review, but here we are. My rating went from 9.5 to 8.0 after watching again all the episodes focused only on the leads. I did that in parallel for Love is Sweet and Only for Love and the comparison was detrimental to Only for Love. I wasn't expecting my rating to fall so much. If you are interested in what changed, read the new review as well as the amendments I added for some of the things I listed in my first review.

Things I adored - Second review

1 The actress who played the niece. She was the best actress, she embodied her role and she was the only one to act as a mature person although she was the youngest.

2 Daniel Zhou. he gave once again a great performance and he was much better written than the ML. It's funny to me that the two youngest roles were the better written.

Things I loved - Second review

1 The relationship of the ML and his niece. This felt much more natural and I was looking forward to their scenes together. This tells me that the actor can act, but for some reason he didn't find a way to bring his character as a romantic lead to life.

2 The ML's family. I loved his sister and his father and his uncle. I enjoyed the scenes they were together.

3 The friend and colleague of the FL who got together with the ML assistant. She was a good person and good friend.

4 Some of the kisses in the last episodes. They were passionate enough to make he romance believable because otherwise it was hard to believe they were in love.

Things I disliked - Second review

1 The lack of chemistry. After watching the series for the second time I realized what was missing. Apart from the script that didn't do any favors to the main leads, I didn't find there was any chemistry between them. Sure it didn't help that their lines were cringe or nonsensical, I want to blame some of them to the translation, but I get what some reviewers said when they talked about him looking younger and their relationship like one of a older sister younger brother.
At first I was looking forward to their scenes together because I was hoping for some banter or electric chemistry like in Love is Sweet, but it was every time lackluster so after a while I didn't care anymore about their scenes together. Such a shame.
I hated that he called her by her full name because after a while it lose its cuteness. I hated that every time she said something stupid or not he answered with "Hm". There was no chemistry regarding the kisses etch but it was worse actually when they tried to communicate. I'm surprised how much these things stood up with this second viewing. I think the first time I was more lenient because other parts interfered and it wasn't so painful to watch their interactions. It was also probably the anticipation that it gets better, that they kiss, that they exchange more than two words.
It wasn't only the lack of chemistry the problem, but an overall feeling that there was no romance, no real feelings. As I said I was watching one episode of Love is Sweet and one episode of Only for Love and the contrast was startling, i was looking forward for the main couple to be alone from Love is Sweet because the romance was everywhere. from hey way they looked at each other to the smallest gesture. It was electric and believable. Not the same feeling while watching only for Love. It was weird and sometimes frustrating as hell.

2 The outfits. The ML had it worse since most of his suits were bad. They didn't fit him at all. Not to mention that the glasses they chose, and I love guys with glasses, weren't at all complementary to his looks. When he didn't wear them he was much more handsome.
The FL wasn't better, some of the outfits were hideous and most were for an older woman. The other two FL had better taste in clothes. Again, a shame they didn't manage to do well in that department.

3 I didn't like at all how petty both the leads could be like when Daniel Zhou's character called while they were in bed and the ML made it clear that they were together. Not cute for me, plain stupid. There were many other instances I felt both characters were far from endearing and when I watch a rom com I want my leads to be exemplary.

Things I adored

1 Bai Lu. She's my favorite romantic comedy actress and I'm a romantic comedy expert since I've seen hundreds over the years. Not a single actress comes close to her except maybe Sandra Bullock and Meg Ryan. She's great as per usual and this time she works with a character that isn't as adorable as the one in Lucky's Love or Love is Sweet. But she pulled it off, so kudos to her.

Amendment: She didn't really pull it off. I was wearing pink glasses the first time after watching her in Love is Sweet. She tried too hard to be cutesy and the writing didn't do her any favors. Also some lines she said or some thoughts she had didn't make any sense. Maybe it was the translation, but I'm sure it was also that the screenwriters tried to make it more intellectual than they should. She irritated me a lot and I think there were two reasons to that.
She wasn't a good person, which I noticed the first time as well, but what bothered me the second time it's the inconsistency she behaved. I was irritated by her coldness toward some of her colleagues, but also her constant cute remarks about her beauty. I could find that cute and funny if it weren't used too many times.
The second reason she irritated me were some thoughts about their relationship. She thought that kissing in public would be bad for children. Ridiculous thought from a smart modern woman. She was at the end of the day a very poorly written character and although I know Bai Lu is a fine actress and gorgeous, she wasn't the best here.

2 The SFL. The niece character was a rare case of loving so much a second character for me. It happened before once or twice, but this time I truly loved the actress and her character. So cute and charming and not annoying at all. Comparing her with the SFL of the Love is Sweet who got on my nerve more than once and ruined the series for me, I have to say that here the actress did a fabulous job to make her character adorable instead of annoying.

Things I loved:

1 The ML. I've seen better actors, I found him wooden sometimes, but all in all he did a good job and I was drawn into his character. I don't find him as handsome as some other reviewers seem to find him, but maybe that's because of his character. If he played a more emotionally available character maybe it'd work for me. I can't help but compare him to the ML of Love is Sweet who also isn't handsome for me, yet he embodied his character so well, I fell in love with him and now I find him handsome.

Amendment: I think he was the weak link of that series. Bai Lu's character was poorly written but she still salvage it somehow. His was poorly written and he made it worse with his acting. What is funny is that this time I got the handsome thing, but there were some many more things I didn't like. He also tried too hard to play the aloof CEO and he didn't do it well. The bigger issue wasn't even the wooden acting, it was that his lines were awful. Most of the times he stayed silent and it wasn't endearing. It was frustrating as hell. The kiss scenes weren't good either. There was even one scene that made me cringe bad when he entered the apartment and kissed the FL to show he was jealous her ex appeared at her doorstep. It felt more like a performance than a true passionate act.

2 The premise. I thought it was a great premise for a romantic comedy. Maybe it could be a little better executed but it didn't take out of my enjoyment.

3 The superior of the FL. Great actress and I loved her character as well. She's also such a beautiful woman, and her smile and voice fit with the characters I've seen her playing. Charming and heartwarming.

4 The ML uncle. I loved his character and the relationship he had with the superior of the FL. Realistic and sweet.

5 I loved the friendship between the three male characters.

6 I loved the friendship between the three female characters.

7 I loved the humor the SFL (the niece) brought in the mix. Her character allowed for many comedic scenes.

Things I liked:

1 I liked the relationship of the niece and the professor.

2 I liked the SML both of them. They had a good and interesting story both. They were also good people and none annoyed me at any time. I think it's the only series where none of the secondary characters annoyed me.

3 The antagonist of the FL at work. I didn't like her as character, that's clear. But I liked the dynamic her character brought and also that her rivalry seemed real and not like something pushed to create drama. I think the actress conveyed the character well.

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Extremely boring. Nothing moves forward. Characters are superficial.

>> Plot:
It's the typical problem of Chinese rom-com series set in the contemporary era. The plot lacks substance. I've watched 5 episodes, and there's no significant progression. If you're considering starting this series, you can save yourself time by beginning at ep.6. Maybe you can start at ep.10 with no problem, but I'm not gonna be here to prove it as it wasted too much of my time already.

>> Character Design:
The main characters are superficial, lacking depth in their minds. For example, the FL is cheated by her bf, but after being caught and FL already prepared to break up with him, it's apparently him who suggests breaking up with the reason that he wants a rich gf instead of her. And FL is just whatever.

The issue here is twofold:
1) The boyfriend serves merely as a plot device for the FL. He's there just to portray one point of FL as a popular girl with a cool personality. This bf is a character that lacks meaning and is unnecessary to exist.
2) The FL character itself has no grasp of emotions. She just cooly sits and stands >> this point applies to the ML and 2nd ML characters as well. There's no depth of feeling in any of these characters. They just sit, stand, and act cool.

The lack of emotional depth and character analysis is the perilous point of no return for all of these characters. These characters are uninteresting and fail to evoke any genuine emotion. It's become even more problematic when these characters are not just random extras but the main roles.

>> Dialogue:
The dialogue is also unhelpful. What they talk are not interesting at all. They just say whatever without any meaningful contribution, and what is said does not help moving the plot forward.

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Added note: After being disappointed with this series and deciding to drop it, I consecutively started 'Twinkling Watermelon.' Wow... it grabbed my attention within 2 minutes. The dialogue moves the plot, and the opening scene introduces an interesting point in the story. The characters aren't ordinary, and even the way extras play feels like they actually have meaningful roles. Everyone feels real.

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Strange but quite a good watch

This drama can basically be divided into three sections:
First section- episodes 1-9
This was bad.. the ML is your typical CEO, using his power to manipulate and mess with the FL’s career.
Second section- Epi 10-19
The storyline gets better, and now it’s clear the ML likes her, but I don’t understand why she’s hot & cold towards him? She will try to seduce him and when he tries to kiss her, she runs away? This whole vibe between them I found weird and strange, just couldn’t understand what the writers and producers were trying to achieve.
Third section- the rest of the episodes. So yes they get together, but they break up for about 5 episodes. Again, I couldn’t understand why, I mean yes the reason was because she used him for her revenge, but was it even that? I didn’t even get that in the beginning episodes. Maybe I missed it cos I did fast forward a bit here n there lol.

Anyhow, it’s not your typical romance relationship development, but the chemistry is pretty decent. Visuals of Dylan and Bailu are definitely on fire! I actually prefer the 2nd couple, but they didn’t have much screen time. 3rd couple was mediocre, boring development but Miles Wei was hot lol. Quite a few big stars in this drama, but I don’t think the storyline held up to expectations.

Should you watch? Yeah.. give it a go. Just keep an open mind and ff the boring bits ;)

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I gave up

I am not one to drop dramas. It takes a lot for me to consider it. But I really couldn't go on watching this one. I tried, I even adjusted the speed, even read spoilers to see when the story picked up again, and I really couldn't continue.

It's upsetting because I really like Wang Hedi and Bai Lu, and I was willing to put up with a lot of nonsense on their behalf, but even they couldn't keep me entertained.

The drama started off strong for me. It was entertaining and light, the cast was fun, and I liked the side couples as well as the main one. But around the 24th episode, I was starting to lose faith. By episode 27, I was completely over it. While the pacing was slow in earlier episodes, I didn't mind it so much because it felt like the writers were building towards something. But then by episode 24, it seemed like the writers were just making excuses for why the characters couldn't be together. While there had been some obstacles established early on and forgotten, by the time they were reintroduced, the characters were too interested in one another that those obstacles shouldn't have mattered. Combine this with introducing a new man to fawn over the FMC well past the halfway mark, it really just felt like the writers needed to fill extra episodes.

I think a 20-episode show would've been the perfect length, because the first twenty episodes were really good to me. It's after that that everything started to fall apart. Kudos to Bai Lu and Wang Hedi with doing a good performance while working with what they got, but they really deserved better. I'd love to see these two work together again, with hopefully a much better script. I think they could've had a really stellar drama had it not been for the very poor writing.

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Romance writers should be good at writing romances

still in the middle of it so I'll just lay out a few points. and they all come down to this:

Writing is important.

First: It's one thing to draw out the chemistry of the main characters before they get together. Tried and true development in all romance novels, tv shows and movies. It's quite another to drag it out and string the viewer on until so long until they no longer give a crap if they ever get together. Yeah, the phone ringing the first time right before the kiss is cute. But after the 6th time, the audience feels ripped off. Because they're here for a romance. This is the contract that you've made with them. You make the romance show, They pay to watch it and expect to get to see the romance develop between them. It doesn't happen here. And not in a refreshing way either. It's just odd. This one It reminds me of a riding in a car on a smooth street, then hitting a pothole. Then another. and another. After a while you just want to get off the road.

The cast/characters: Love the FL actress. ML actor was fantastic in Love Between Fairy and Devil. Here he plays the role of a men's starched white dress shirt. Attractive. Stiff. . He gives long stern looks. Lots of them. As a writer, you need to give the character a personality., especially one of the leads. The second couple is just sick mentally and she is desperate for trauma therapy. They only get together when they're drunk, and the third. Ugh. The third....young 3rd FL, stalking isn't ok because you're adorable. Stop throwing yourself at guys that you saw ONE TIME at a conference, showing up wherever they go, calling asking them out and buying things. It's so beneath you. Look around. You're a badass, smart, and charming.. Use your skills to go get a life. 3ML who is being pursued by this young woman, your buddy told you to tell her you aren't interested if you aren't, cuz what you're doing now is just toying with her. Instead, 3ML (who's 30) never says "Hey, young lady. I'm not interested.". He just sort of watches, confused.

The chemistry: there was some in the first few episodes. The pauses and long looks between the ML and FL. But his long looks wear thin. She's pursuing him but is getting nothing back. As in. no response whatsoever. He ignores her texts. Like the "shunning" that some religious sects do to punish someone. The fact that she keeps writing him and pursuing him when he doesn't respond, then when he is with her responds like an inanimate object, is extremely...curious.... and not at all realistic.

The romance: Are they or aren't they? Heck. the writers don't even know, much less the characters. And by episode 20 I don't' know or care either and am ready to drop it. In the middle episodes (12 - 17?) We think we're FINALLY getting somewhere.. But then we have sort of the micro-memory- loss portion of the story. Example, If I've held hands with someone, I'm thinking we've at least got something going on. But the characters, ergo the writers, seem to have the memory of a fruit fly,. Between one day and the next they seem to have no recollection of how much their relationship has developed the previous day. Example: in 20, he grabs her hand and holds it. She's stunned and doesn't know what to do.. Because they've never held hands before? Oh, no. They have. Several times. Very awkwardly, but they did. Apparently don't remember. Kisses: you know the kisses that were interrupted seven times up to now by a phone ring? She kissed him early on. Like, episode 10? (Oops, sorry, spoiler.) But every time he tries to kiss her now, she panics and runs away. Wait, are you twelve?? What are you running away for?

I might watch it till the end. Should you? If you have absolutely nothing to do, (fridge clean, garage tidied, sock drawer in order) then yeah. go for it. Would love to know what you think.

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Not worth it

Unfortunately this show fell really flat for me. I was really excited about the cast and there were characters I loved, but the pacing was terrible and all the awkward moments between ML and FL were too cringe. The soundtrack was also terrible. one of the songs sounded like Rick Astley’s “Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down”. So I was constantly getting rickrolled every episode. The other musical choices were equally as bizarre.

I wish there had been better communication between the ML and FL. He was barely ever saying anything useful and always leaving her hanging. It seemed toxic.

The best friend gave terrible advice. And then how weird was it she didn’t even tell ShuYi she was in a relationship with Guan Ji when she knew every detail about SY’s relationship with Shi Yan?

Basically I watched the entire series hoping it would get better and it just never did.

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Extremely mediocre with very little plot, the secondary romance though kept me watching for a bit . . .

What else is there to say that hasn't been said already about the primary romance? Male lead takes no action or initiative, Female lead bounces around the edges hoping he will take notice. Doesn't make for great chemistry or interesting watching.

HOWEVER, the secondary romance between Guan Ji and Bi Ruo Shan, is sexy, mature and intriguing. I really liked the intrigue there between two sophisticated people who have dated around. I also bought into the conflict! Two people used to being slick and superficial having trouble being vulnerable makes sense to me. But, in the end, this relationship wasn't given enough screen time to keep me watching . .

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What if it could be better

I put a rating of 7 for now because I am a fan of Dylan Wang and Bai Lu but not in this Drama.

The story so far is more than ordinary and doesn't allowed to the ML and FL to be at they full potential ! I agreed with most of the ''negative'' review so far unfortunatly. The stylist is really bad and doesn't bring all the beauty of Bai Lu and the nice silhouet of Dylan. I will not speak about his glasses. I will find out by ourself. I have to admit that ML suppose to be older than the FLbut it doesn't reflected that way at all and what to say about the niece of the ML who look like tha same age has him ?!?

This is really sad because I have watch some modern drama of both of them (Dylan and Bai Lu) and they really can play it really well. This one doesn't suit the talent of these actors. They really do what they can with the role they have been given but still I don't know if I will drop it...

So I will continue to watch it maybe I will change my mind.... I really do hope !

What if it becomes better......

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terrible script

The acting is fine i love Dylan wang and the female lead but in the drama, its getting tiring to watch. very frustrating i might have to wait until its finished because not only did they reduce it from 2 episodes a day to 1 but the build-up is horribly slow. why is Shu Yi FL so childish? She hides from her best friend holding hands with Shi Yan Ml but she tells her all the tea and asks this same bestie for advice?? why are you being secretive on top of that how long are we going to drag this misunderstanding can someone reveal something like i don't understand how three love interests could be intertwined so closely and have no clue at all it makes no sense you do not know your uncle's friend that's fine hes a grown man but guan ji and the best friend have no real issue they do too much and what is she hiding from him for being so dramatic like she caught him having sex with someone? shu yi's mom could easily stop trying to set her up if she had sent a real picture of shi yan instead a horribly angled Google photo. she always kills the vibe talking about work with shi yan they have literally nothing in common they barely go on dates and shes always doing sneaky shit at this point the drama has no idea the direction its tryna go fr bc so many dots should've been connected a long time ago and who is this new guy with this random unnecessary crush on shu yi you don't even know her whats to like fr imma finish the drama but i need a week break so that something can give.

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Une très belle histoire moderne

J'aime beaucoup l'histoire et le jeu des acteurs, très innovant(e)s et très bons acteurs. La mise en scène des acteurs principaux est superbe et participe aussi grandement à l’intérêt pour le film.
L’intrigue tourne beaucoup plus sur des personnages qui ont été déçus en amour et qui veulent encore y croire dans leur quotidien où ils se retrouvent plongés.
Le contenu est professionnel et naturel, notamment pour éviter de compliquer l’action. Le spectateur se sent impliqué émotivement et voudrait connaître la suite de l'histoire, ce qui lui permet de se divertir, sans trop y réfléchir en ayant du fun. Trop belle ambiance et félicitations Only For You.

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