Amidst a Snowstorm of Love (2024)

such a good drama

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Unexpected disappointment

I usually don't write reviews here, I use my twitter account to simply send my random thoughts during the watching party, but I am afraid this one deserves a greater explanation than 2-3 sentences I can squeeze in a tweet.

Back when this drama was airing, many of my friends were watching and praising it. I was asked on multiple occasions why I don't give it a try, and at first, it was because I was busy, but later on I found out it's a sports drama which is usually not my cup of tea. Lately, I've been more into cdramas so I decided to finally give this drama a try. Everyone and their mothers loved it, I should too, right?

Hah, how wrong I was.

I won't lie, the first 2 episodes were actually entertaining, I loved the idea of a guy who randomly saw this pretty girl and fell in love with her at first sight. I found their initial awkwardness around each other cute and realistic, but as time progressed, instead of dissipating, that awkwardness became more and more evident.

There was too much staring and almost 0 communication between them. Every time they had one of their staring parties, I had to divert my eyes because I was physically uncomfortable with it. The lack of communication between them was also killing me because how are you so madly liking someone, but not knowing anything about them except the basic info? They could be a total nuthouse, as opposed to their good looks, aren't you interested in finding out more? They even brought it up multiple times, asking each other why are they so quiet and that raised my first red flag because they literally had so many things to talk about (billiards, moving from China, uni life, adaptation to new surroundings, heck even weather talk would do), but they opted to keep their mouth stuffed with food with a sprinkle of bizarre staring on top (the lack of music in staring scenes made it even creepier).

We got a glimpse of ML's traumatic past which could possibly be a reason for his rather cold and seemingly unbothered behavior, but at the same time, he seems to get along with everyone - every random character that spawned out of nowhere had nothing but good words about him, treating him and taking care of him. So, if you managed to make them like you, why are you now blanking in front of the girl you like? Math ain't mathing.

FL's behavior also didn't really make any sense, but I guess it had to be like that for the sake of the plot. Moving in with the first guy you met on another continent seems like the start of a horror movie to me.

And my last, and probably the weirdest reason I dropped it is the age gap. Now, I watched HL before, and for some reason, I didn't really mind the age gap, but I just can't get over it here. I tried multiple times to forget it, but it just kept pestering me to the point that I started associating their lack of talk with their age difference which made me hate it even more.

I know I dropped this early and that there is plenty more room for it to get better, but I literally can't force myself through it anymore. I had a really high expectations and they weren't met so I should stop torturing myself and ruining the image for the people who actually loved it. The cast was actually good, I loved Zhao Jinmai in Reset and this whole review has nothing with them, but their characters, but even they couldn't make me stay. OST and pretty city shots are also a bonus, but they're not the ones I am ready to sacrifice 25 hours for.

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Very awkward romance

Full disclosure. I stopped after the 3rd eposide.

I usually give shows a fair chance to build characters and engage me. But in 3 full episodes, there was zero development, and zero character growth. The worst part, is that in a romantic drama, you want to see the attraction between the leads develop and grow. In this show, they seem to fall for each other by the 2nd episode, with absolutely no reason provided. All we get from them are quiet awkward conversations from the beginning. So when you add the fact that there is no other ongoing story line, i just gave up.

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Details: Pretty Cool. Big Picture: Extremely Underwhelming

7.75

I started watching this in November. It is now nearly April, and I've finally finished it. This drama taught me something: Good chemistry doesn't make up for a dull plot. This is a special drama, so I'll be reviewing this differently to how I usually do. This is because I watched in December-January, but then put it on hold until recently.

First half: 8.50
Second half: 7.50
Overall drama: 7.75
(yes, the beginning was really good, but if the end is bad, that means that they didn't make a good overall story and that is more significant to me)

Details (akaActing/Cast/Visuals/Scenes et):
-very cute "married couple chemistry"
-lots of cute romance scenes, especially in the beginning, but less near end
-individual acting of both Wu Lei and Zhao Jin Mai fit their characters really well
-styling was really good
-sets were great
- there were some really well shot sport scenes, also quite visually pleasing
-a few cute bromance scenes
-***extremely*** green flag ml
-ending was anti climatic, but happy nonetheless

-for the kisses, they either avoided doing them or used weird camera tricks which makes me feel cheated
-side characters were under developed. (e.g. fl's best friend gets virtually no screentime, and she ~supposedly~ matters)
-time skips was just too much. Like, I just lost track after the third one...
-some people said they found this drama realistic. Well, read the first point in Big Picture.

Big picture:
-This drama is labeled as a sports drama. If you come expecting a ~good~ sports drama, you ~will~ be disappointed. They do a lot of "tell", instead of "show" when it came to, especially the ml (Lin Yi Yang/ LYY)'s, progress in his sport. And the fl (Yin Guo/ YG) didn't seem to make any progress. She was great in the beginning and she was great in the end. These showcase how little importance the sports had to the overall plot and what the director/screen writer wanted to show us.

-It also seemed that LYY had a complicated past with the group of sports people. It was really confusing and hard to follow. They needed more flashbacks. Heck, they just needed more screentime and effort to really showcase this struggle and past, but they simply neglected that plotline.

-pacing really makes want to face palm. Like, we don't need to see every action play out. It's more important to spend screentime on developing the characters. Personally, after watching this, I feel like we went only ankle-deep when understanding both leads. (Though Wu Lei did a great job with trying to show depth, but we need actual stuff to show that, not just good acting). They both don't have any deep side to them. Yes, they have a personality, but thats kinda it...

-things were to happy. Like, there were no actual obstacles. Like we are a 100% sure that everything will be the most happy. There is no real struggle when it came to anything. You know, when I was first watching this, I compared it a lot to Love Me, Love My Voice, but this drama is even more low stakes than that one...

Music:
-some of the songs were ok
-but they repeated them wayyy too much
-I don't like English songs in dramas....

Rewatch:
-some scenes were really cute, so if I was feeling down, I'd definitely rewatch a few ep in the first half

Overall:
I didn't hate this drama. By all means, there were many scenes that made me smile. It just wasn't interesting enough to really devote one's time on. Like, there are plenty of dramas out there to watch. This one, I'd recommend to watch if you want something slow between other dramas. Very low angst. Yeah, I'd call this a filler drama. Hope others enjoy!

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The drama itself is very slow-paced, yet it absorbs with its narrative

I started watching ASSOL without any background information. At the beginning of the first episode, I thought that the blizzard city could be from Finland (by default, some place in China). After a while, I realized that the series was partly filmed in Finland. The cities of Helsin and Hel(l) in the story is Helsinki. Thus, as a Finn, the interest in drama rose all at once.

The drama itself is very slow-paced, yet it absorbs with its narrative. The male lead in his role is very convincing. The female lead is certainly a talented actress, but the image of women in Chinese dramas is annoying, to say the least, from such a European perspective. This time, shyness has been taken to extremes. Extra points for the following points: Due to Arctic conditions, this time there has been no need to look at the microskirts of female actors. In addition, the number of soft toys is kept to a minimum.

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Apenas o melhor cdrama de romance que eu já assisti

Amidst A Snowstorm Of Love é um drama que para mim, é perfeito. Promete um bom romance, e entrega um romance maravilhoso! Porque esse drama é como verdadeiramente deve ser um drama de romance, fofo do começo ao fim, 30 episódios de puro romance, porque além de não ter enrolação, não tem brigas bestas, o drama entrega um casal com tanta química que você vai ficar 30 episódios sorrindo que nem uma boba e desejando ter um relacionamento assim. Todos os detalhes desse drama são perfeitos também. A fotografia é lindíssima, porque o drama se passa, além da China, no inverno da Suíça, e é tão lindo os cenários, os lugares, a vibe de inverno que (apesar de ser frio hahaha) aquece o coração! As osts são tão fofinhas e são exatamente a vibe do drama. Não tem um episódio ruim, todos me deixaram empolgada e envolvida com tudo.
Acho que não falei o suficiente sobre a perfeição do casal principal, que não se deixava abalar por nada e eram sempre tão lindos! O modo como o drama trabalha a questão de que Yin Guo salvou Yi Yang e o fez amadurecer como pessoa e atleta é tão lindo, o modo como ele olha pra ela... e spoiler! Tem um dos pedidos de casamento mais lindos que eu já vi nos doramas.
Além do casal ser perfeito, adorei como o drama desenvolveu a história de Yi Yang e trabalhou no amadurecimento do personagem. Assim como adorei o aspecto sobre família, que também é tratado no drama. Eu adoro dramas que envolvem esportes, então é claro que eu adorei o plano de fundo sobre sinuca, os problemas enfrentados pelos atletas, as competições, tudo é tão interessante e empolgante. Poderia ter mais 30 episódios que eu assistiria sem reclamar (na verdade até agradeceria).
Foi definitivamente o melhor cdrama que eu já assisti e nossa, com certeza vou reassistir sempre que sentir vontade de aquecer meu coração em meio a uma tempestade de neve de amor (eu não podia perder essa piada hahaha).

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une si grande attente....pour rien!

Ah mais je l'attendais. Depuis Nirvana in Fire, je suis une admiratrice inconditionnelle de Wu Lei.
Il en faut bien. Après tout, cette année, mon chéri Nam Goong Min ou bien les soeurs Hong ont été mes plus grosses déceptions... Je pense, et ce n'est que mon avis, que ce type de rôle ne vont pas du tout à Wu Lei....
Des choses positives? hum....les premiers épisodes sont loin d'être mauvais et j'ai fort apprécié le début de la romance. Les personnages secondaires étaient amusants et drôles.... et puis, au bout de 10 épisodes, voire avant, je me suis rendue compte que cela tournait en rond...
Passons donc aux choses négatives :
La romance! c'est le GROS point noir de ce drama. Mais punaise, l'auteur (si vous m'avez un peu lu vous devez savoir que j'ai aimé "Go Go squid", "scarlet heart" et surtout ADORE " One and Only") a vraiment écrit une mauvaise romance... TOUT dans ce drama tourne autour de ce couple, qui est loin d'être de ce que j'ai pu voir de meilleur dans dramaland. La romance est ennuyeuse, c'est fou, les conversations sont d'une banalité incroyable et les interactions sombre sans aucune alchimie....Pas un seul instant je n'ai cru à leur histoire ou n'ai voulu les voir ensemble. Pire, le couple passe son temps à s'embrasser, à s'enlacer, à se toucher, à se regarder dans le blanc des yeux....AHHHHH mais c'était juste horrible! Je n'ai rien contre un drama 100% romance, mais ici je me suis sentie gênée, les scènes nous implique dans une intimité un peu malsaine. C'est un couple où il. ne se passe RIEN pendant 30 épisodes. Pas d'obstacles. Pas d'évolution. Sans aucun intérêt si ce n'est leur coup de foudre mutuel./ Il n'y a rien à raconter, rien à voir. Et c'est horrible de voir un personnage masculin qui se jette sur le personnage féminin à la moindre occasion : l'embrasser alors qu'elle se refuse, la toucher toutes les minutes, la coincer dans un coin.....Je n'ai rien contre un badass qui se montrerai un peu trop entreprenant (Xiao Liu!), mais ici, c'est too much.... C'est dans tous les épisodes. Je ne compte plus les nombres de fois où la nenette dit "non", certes un peu faiblard, mais un non reste un non...J'ai donc trouvé le comportement Lin Yi Yang trop déplacé et pas vraiment respectueux de Yin Guo....Il a 27 ans, elle en a 21.... Et si Yi Yang est un peu lourd en tant qu'amoureux transi, Yin Guo est la personnification même de la nana qui m'horripile le plus : parfaite, pure, gentille, chouineuse, soumise qui ne connait pas la défaite...j'avoue que sa façon de pleurer et parler m'a vite taper sur les nerfs...
Si vous vous attendez à des scènes intenses durant les compétitions de billards, passez votre chemin. Ici, le billard n'est qu'une façade, une scène pour nos tourtereaux. On n'apprend rien, mais strictement rien du billard. Un peu de "pin pong life" n'aurait pas été de refus, c'est à dire quelques petits explications sur ce monde aurait été le bienvenu. Et les personnages? ahahahaha. Ils sont tellement parfaits, des champions, que cela soit Yin Guo ou Yi Yang, je ne vois pas l'intérêt de parler de joueurs à qui tout réussi.... Ils sont aimés de tout le monde, ils jouent à la perfection, ils sont le couple parfait (sans disputes, sans malentendus, sans rivaux...), Mr et Mme parfait! Aucun intérêt en ce qui me concerne.
Bref, c'est en ce qui me concerne un drama dont l'ennui a eu vite raison de mon envie de voir Wu Lei jusqu'au bout. A la place, je me jette sur le drama de Yang Zi, "love endures" qui sans être la romance du siècle a au moins le mérite de me faire rire aux éclats.

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Novelinha que começa interessante mas se arrasta no final

A temática de campeonatos de jogo de bilhar e chineses morando em país estrangeiro é bem feito e curioso de se assistir. O choque de culturas é muito nítido e a direção acerta muito ao mostrar isso nos mínimos detalhes, os personagens agem de forma super recatada e formal quando estão na China e de forma mais irreverente e solta quando estão em outro país, demonstrando que a China é um país bastante conservador. Contudo, nos últimos 4 episódios, a série fica saturada e o que era envolvente no início passa a ser um sofrimento que não acaba mais. O casal principal está de parabéns pela atuação, inglês impecável, especialmente a Angel demonstra ser uma atriz completa. Mas não assistiria de novo, se tivessem enxugado o número de episódios, talvez tivesse tido um timing e um final melhor, ao meu ver.

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Romance delicinha!

A China está apresentando cada vez mais dramas de romance que valem muito serem vistos. Depois de Hidden Love (Amor Oculto) o sarrafo ficou alto. Mas muitos estão seguindo uma linha parecida bem interessante. Foi outro bom drama chinês que assisti depois de um Amor Oculto
Aquela boa e velha história clichê mas muito bem construída de amor e superação que aqueceu meu coração. É daqueles dramas com construção bem lenta bem água com açúcar que para quem gosta como eu, é prato cheio. O enredo, embora familiar, foi executado com uma boa falta dos velhos clichês de romance. Não havia ex-namorados, nem triângulos amorosos, nem personagens secundários irritantes para desviar a atenção do romance central. Não sei como foi recebido na China, mas eu fã internacional aqui do Brasil, adorei.
No entanto, achei que eles se concentraram muito nos protagonistas e se esqueceram dos personagens secundários. E eram tantos talentos que poderiam ter sido mais explorados e ficaram esquecidos na construção. Eu simplesmente amei Jiang Yang e Meng Xiao Dong interpretados por Chen Ji Ke e Wang Xing Yue. Em vez disso, o foco permaneceu diretamente na evolução do relacionamento dos protagonistas, Leo Wu vivendo o maravilhoso Yin Guo e a belíssima Lin Yi Yang sendo vivenciada pela atriz Zhao Jin Mai. Os dois juntos, deram um verdadeiro show de atuação, mostrando uma química insana e uma interpretação fluida.
Um destaque importante foi o cenário deslumbrante de locais estrangeiros, filmados predominantemente na Finlândia. Mesmo com a transição da história de volta para a China, os locais escolhidos mantiveram seu charme diferenciando dos demais dramas chineses.
Coisas que me incomodaram: Eles retrataram o personagem de Yin Guo muito pura e tímida, que achei em certos momentos até exagerado considerando a idade da personagem e também por ser uma mulher viajada que conhece outras culturas. É estranho que ela se esquive do beijo 90% das vezes.

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