Amidst a Snowstorm of Love

Anything with Leo Wu I'm in

Finished watching it 2 weeks ago but was too lazy to write a review.

The first C-Drama where they actually went abroad to film & didn't fake it.

Lin Yi Yang is a student living in Finland. He is reserved, not a big talker, good with people, hard-working. A snooker player who is good at his studies. He is studying communication but doesn't know how to do it in person.

It was funny to see the way Yin Guo was suspicious of Lin Yi Yang being a fraud & him showing her his IDs.

The way Yin Guo was saying that Lin Yi Yang wasn't that handsome & suddenly he suggested a place to visit was so funny.

The awkward silence between Lin Yi Yang & Yin Guo.

It was cute to see how Lin Yi Yang slowed his walking speed when he saw Yin Guo struggling to match him. And then he switched places with Yin Guo when he saw her struggling to walk.

Lin Yi Yang treated Yin Guo with expressive things when he didn't have that much money & Wu Wei getting annoyed with him. Also, he arranged everything for Yin Guo's room, even taking Wu Wei's things.

It was funny to see Yin Guo & Meng Xiao Tian so scared when they saw Lin Yi Yang & Meng Xiao Dong face to face.

Love the way Meng Xiao Dong talks, he is cocky, not the kind of brother who stops his sister from pursuing her love and even encourages her to make a move. Everyone needs a supportive brother like Meng Xiao Dong.

Loved Lin Yi Yang & Meng Xiao Dong snooker face off. Also, when Lin Yi Yang signaled Meng Xiao Dong to stop playing, because he needed to message Yin Guo.

Lin Yi Yang gets annoyed whenever his friends come & disturb his & Yin Guo moments.

Wu Lei shirtless Ufffffffffffff

Yin Guo gets shy & breathes heavily whenever Lin Yi Yang is close to her.

Meng Xiao Dong changes completely whenever he sees Lin Lin. And how Jiang Yang & Lin Yi Yang push him towards Lin Lin. I want a drama about them with the same cast, obviously.

I wished they had shown more about their friendship, brotherhood.

And I think steamy kissing scenes depend on the director & not because of restrictions of the government. Because there're many dramas where there are a lot of steamy kissing scenes, like Love is Sweet, Till the End of the Moon, Story of Kunning Palace, Dramas that I haven't watched, like Hidden Love, You Are My Glory Destined, New Life Begins and many more. If there was restriction by the government, these dramas wouldn't have steamy kissing scenes.

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The Best Masterpiece of 2024

Honestly, I went here without any expectations plus I'm not a big fan of Wu Lei. However, I've watched Zhao Jinmai before and she has impressed me in 'Reset'. Months before this show aired, I've read the complete version of the novel so I will make my judgement based on what I watch and read.

The plot, in my opinion, is quite simple. The story basically tells us about two strangers bumping into each other in a bar on a rare snowstorm night. Then, the ML starts having a crush on the FL when they shared the same apartment days later. He also learns that she is a popular nine-ball player and it sparks more of his interest towards her. Because of her, he starts over his already-retired career as a snooker player and becomes a famous player once again.

I can say that the chemistry between the leads is swoon-worthy. I found myself constantly giggling in front of the screen for no reason. Wu Lei and Zhao Jinmai really nailed the role and fitted the description of Lin Yiyang and Yin Guo. I can't imagine any other leads being them. They were just too perfect in being a green-flag couple. Special mention to the supporting characters too, including Meng Xiaodong, Jiang Yang, Wu Wei, Chen An An, and Meng Xiaotian. I also love the master-disciple relationship between Lin Yiyang and Mr. He Wenfeng. I'm usually indifferent when it comes to the angst. However, I shed some tears in Mr. He's funeral scene.

OSTs are quite nice and adds more sweetness in the scene. I like nearly all of the OSTs in this drama. Usually, I would've skipped the OSTs, but this time I'm all ears for them.

I seldom rewatch dramas, so I think I will only watch some clips and try to rewatch it if I have spare time. Kudos to all the casts and the production team. All in all, this the best modern c-drama I've ever watched (the best gift for celebrating Lunar New Year). This is the end of my review. Enjoy your day and happy watching!!!

P.S.
The drama follows closely to the novel except they changed the shooting location from the USA to Finland (and France for a brief moment).

As for the ending, the novel ends after Lin Yiyang proposes to Yin Guo after singing a song. However, in the drama, 3 years later, they return to Finland and take Jiang Yang's son with them. In the last scene, they go back to Redfish (the bar where they met for the first time) and listen to 'Love and Shine' again. The final scene shows that they've left Redfish and walked together side by side. Nevertheless, it's a HE and you won't be disappointed.

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such a good drama

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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

8.00

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. I'll be writing this differently then to how I usually write reveiws.

First half: 8.50
Second half: 7.50
Overall drama: 8.00
(yes, the beginning was really good, but if the end is subpar, 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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