Touching story about tricky personalities
Presumably this is a “love story” but thankfully there is more to it than that. An excellent performance by Leo Wu, demonstrating that a child prodigy from a difficult background is not naturally blessed with good communication or emotional management skills. Zhao Jinmai likewise shows that an over-protected, pampered prodigy princess can be a good person who is also a terrible whiner and painfully immature at the same time; FL and ML are almost polar opposites. By the tail end of the series I had heard enough of her pre-schooler-in-a-shopping-trolley whining voice, even wondering if it was dubbed.(I have noticed in C-drama there are a lot of female characters acting like spoilt children and whining to get their own way or worm their way into someone’s good books; not doing women’s equality any favours with these nonsensical portrayals, but they could be doing exactly what the director told them to do). By the time the episode of the family restaurant scene came about, I didn’t want to watch anymore, even though I knew the character portrayal was faithful to the trajectory of her childhood development. I was too irritated to care anymore. I kept watching to see a secondary relationship develop with Wang Xingyue’s character (among others) and I was sadly disappointed when that did not occur. Good acting, nice music, interesting plot lines, worth watching. I won’t re-watch though.Was this review helpful to you?
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Disappointing for me.(:
You know that feeling when, after watching a series, you regret that you started watching it? So this is exactly my case. I'm quite surprised how many people love it and how highly rated it is online. It was too slow and boring. Chemistry of the main characters nothing-much. Wrong choice of the main actress. I find her so childish, emotionally immature! The series suffers from many boring parts, individual episodes could have been cut into the usual half-hour pieces. Somewhere after the eleventh episode, I simply gave up on the series. I'm sorry, I don't like to write bad reviews and I usually try to cover it up but....Was this review helpful to you?
Good chemistry simple plot
This is a show that you should watch when you have nothing to watch in particular. You can just do your other chores while watching it in background. It is slowburn but pleasing especially in the beginning. There are all the normal tropes like family drama, sizzling chemistry, beautiful cast, foreign location, good score...yet it lacks in storyline. You will feel it after sometime. In the beginning you will be in trance the way FL and ML interact and believe me it is pretty real. Every little interaction, those subtle fidgeting moves and talking through eyes will definitely melt your heart but that is all. What lacked for me- I do not really connect with this sport (snooker/billiards ) first of all. For me it is a rich people's game like golf and I just don't feel any sports vibe from it. There is no adrenaline that you usually feel in this genre. Plus side cast is as usual pretty bland. They are there so that they can play the cupid for main lead. I was especially irked with FL's brother the way he was so obsessed with ML especially in the beginning, if they had put a bl tag I would have totally believed his actions in that way. Let me tell you NO BROTHER in this world would behave like that the way he was behaving. He was literally forcing the ship between his sis and ML. Anyway, you can give it a go to see the chemistry, or if you are the fans of main leads or just to enjoy beautiful location of Finland. There is nothing amazing or boring about it. It is a simple romantic drama with a touch of sports genre.Was this review helpful to you?
Interesting bits and pieces but mostly slow and boring
Sorry, can't finish this one. I've really enjoyed other drama by these 2 mains but this one falls flat for me. Feels contrived and uber slow.I see romantic gestures, words and actions; he says sweet things, he is very dedicated, straightforward, and captured with love of first sight. But as another reviewer said... "Leo Wu so stiff & expressionless, like he doesn't know what to do with his character, trying to portray someone deeply pained [and unknowingly lovestruck] but not quite getting it." He comes across creepy with stalker vibe looks. He's slightly less creepy once they start dating. Unfortunately, he continues to question her relationships and outings without talking to her directly. He shows up unannounced out of jealously or inconveniences others by borrowing money to put up a false sense of self (i.e. you can barely afford to eat out or travel but you cull favors to let her think you have no limits or issues) is not great in my opinion. Honestly comes out more later but I'm already bored so will leave it as is for now. If I ever finish this and feel otherwise I'll come back to update this review.
For now, I'll wait for Leo's next project. Still a big fan of his, just not a fan of this drama.
The FL is talented and much more likable and prettier here than she was in her previous dramas but still finding her a bit dull. She's cute and all but something - not sure what keeps me from being a true fan. I loved Princess Royale and quite enjoyed one of her 1st lead roles in ALTCFL. She's so surprisingly young. She has a lot of potential for her age.
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Just perfect
This show was so good! the leads' chemistry, the story and the supporting characters....the romance, gahh the romance, was so good, but also the perfect balance of fun and entertaining! Even the sport scenes were perfectly melded with the story. It really was a no skip show ! A whole healthy, green forest relationship that DOESN'T boring down the line.Was this review helpful to you?
where is the oomph
oh i wish that was shorter. it was cute at first but then it really dragged on the 2nd half to the point that it became boring for me. i wish they made the billiard competitions way more exciting than that to balance it out since the romance has been pretty much easy and again, we got 30 eps! it's too long for a story like this. listen, in real life, i love that of course lol but as a drama watcher, i would love to be entertained with a little angst and drama here and there. i just wish the couple is more playful than that. they're athletes! i feel like there's so much potential here but they didn't do much. honestly, this male lead is sweet and he's a provider alright. i've never seen someone down that bad so quickly omg. i do think the writers gave his character more depth and personality than the female lead which disappoints me. i just wanted more from yin guo as a character. so yeah, visually beautiful couple. i do think these actors have chemistry. decent acting. but the writing, romance and characters didn't have that oomph ya knowps: lin yi yang did not have to sing in front of everybody in the end tho omg lol i can take the other pda stuff but oof.... thank god that was a short scene hahaha
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This drama is 100% worth it
Honestly, I’ve seen so many negative reviews about this drama, but for me it has been one of the best I’ve ever watched. The main couple may come across as awkward, yet that makes them incredibly relatable, especially since it’s clear they both deal with social anxiety. I found that level of realism refreshing compared to other shows. There’s no unnecessary breakup or love triangle, just a genuine romance that develops naturally. It fits my criteria perfectly, and I honestly wish it would never end.Was this review helpful to you?
BEST CHINESE MODERN ROMANCE DRAMA!!!
I have watch Chinese modern romance drama, but this is the BEST. From the actors/actress, story line, acting and the beautiful places. A drama worth watching again and again.Leo acting is superb, his love for Mai, I can feel it while watching it. The way Leo look, kiss, hug & take care of Mai, is every girls dream from a guy. LEO IS A GREEN FLAG.
After watching the first episode, I was already hook and can’t wait for the next episode. A breath of fresh air from common Chinese and Korean drama.
There is no typical 2nd lead actress that would fight for Leo’s love to Mai.
Highly recommended drama. I can watch it all over again.
Please another Leo & Mai modern drama. More kisses, joke!!!
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The First Chinese Drama I Rated Perfect Stars
Role's Character - All the actors play their roles well. Personally, I like the character Xiaodong here. In the first 5 episodes, I thought he would strongly oppose his sister's relationship with the main lead. But unexpectedly, Xiaodong's character actually has a significant role in the development of the main relationship.Sports - They took the sport theme seriously. The author embeds many details related to Billiards so that viewers can enjoy the sports aspect of this series. People who are not familiar with billiards will be enthusiastic to learn about this sport. For instance, we realize that the author has an additional goal of raising public awareness about this underrated sport that hasn't gained much popularity. Since watching this, I've started looking into billiards, such as the basic rules during matches and the playing techniques.
Romance Development - I love how there's no unnecessary love-conflicts in the main role's romance development. Where you used to waatch series with triangle-love, unrequited love, couple that still lingered in their gloomy past, family conflict, extreme parental opposition, etc. Istead, this series shows so much green light vibes that make audience enjoy the watch. No stressful feeling is what i like the most about this series.
On-going relationship - The story is beautifully written by the author and neatly executed by the producers. There are tiny details that related to our real life. sleepcall & making a private account/second account to confide about love-life is something that we often to do in real life when we have a crush and lowkey want to talk about them in your private account. You couldn't find much about this detail in other series i bet.
Musics - I'm not too concerned with the songs in this series. However, there are some background music and instrumental tracks that are very pleasant to listen to and soothing to the heart.
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This show should be entitled, 'Leo Wu Being Ridiculously Romantic For 30 Episodes'
I don't have many complaints except the title doesn't do justice to the actual content of the show. This show is really just Leo Wu's character being ridiculously romantic and dreamy-eyed for 30 episodes. Yes, there was also a compelling, cohesive story/plot. Also yes, everyone else / the rest of the cast did a great job, the direction was great, the cinematography was great, the script/dialogue was REALLY great. Overall, great show.The first 5 episodes, as others have mentioned, are a bit slow. Episodes 6-14 pick up the pace regarding the romance. Romance is the story, so billiards and pool as the background canvas for the story felt secondary but not an afterthought. It was executed well and I learned a bit about the sport.
But everything was a far, far second place to Leo Wu wooing the FML. If you enjoy romance as the main story, this one is your absolute best bet for 2024 (so far)
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This review may contain spoilers
LOVE LOVE and LOVE
For the first 3-4 eps, the story is quite slow. But gradually the pace slowly picked up!! and once the pace is nice, you just cant stop watching it.. like 1 ep to another just keep making you dont wanna stop. I love the chemistry between the ML and FL.. i love how the casts are selected, like they are all goodlooking fellass.. especialy Meng Xiaodong.. I love his look and his character. Sadly they didnt get him with Lin Lin at the end. I was waiting for their part tho. And I expected them to have children already after that 3 years of Marriage.Was this review helpful to you?
