Must Watch - Peaceful and Healing Drama
if you love both main characters who are mature and have wise life experience, peaceful drama that don't have any heavy conflict and smooth story line, slowburn romance, flirting with each other but can make you blush; you should watch this. Just my two cents suggestions, if you like this drama you should try fake it till you make it, run on (kdrama), dinner mate (kdrama). If you have any drama recommendations that have the same vibes as this drama, please tell me yea. ignore this because of the words minimumWas this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Be your own scriptwriter
It is like finding your first love in your thirties.I think this line summarizes the series very well. Honestly, I first started the series dreading the pace and how it was going. I don’t really like corporate series, nor do I know much about the cast. I probably watched one series of Elvis but the storyline was confusing, so I didn’t get very far. I have never seen any FL work so I was not sure if I wanted to proceed. But I saw an edit and I knew these two had amazing chemistry, so I had to give it a try.
I’m glad I did. Like every good story, you just need to get over the introduction of the plot. It starts out with FL living in a competitive world for lawyers trying to make ends meet and later meeting ML. Their coincident meetings blossom into a friendship with FL confessing later to ML. What I love about this series is that it is a mature love with a lot of corporate work but very relatable. You get to see that love does happen even when you’re in your 30s. As I mentioned earlier, I had never seen any of FL but I adore her soft demeanor but strong justice character. She always fights for what she thinks is right. She plays her character just right so I might start watching more of her stuff.
The ending sums up pretty much the whole drama “The city is still bustling, and it won’t stop for anyone. Just like life. Recalling every person I met, who didn’t start with trying to get ahead? Between the gaps of pretense, giving oneself another shot of adrenaline. Boss. Subordinate. Rival. Friend. Trapping yourself in one role after another, saying what you should say and doing what you should do. And believing that this is our life. But they, as if they had agreed, when they have perfected their act, they see a layer of truth. Happiness, success, and joy can’t possibly be the result designed by the scriptwriter of life. It can only be your own tangible experience. I’ve met many people in this city and they eventually taught me that the world is big, too big to imagine. So walk your own path, not according to the written script. Throw away the script and struggle to find your own life. It’s okay to fail. It okay to take the wrong road. Live freely. Isn’t that the most stylish thing?”
I thought this was just a corporate love story, but as you watch the ending, it reflects back to each character she met and the growth or fall of each one. I can’t help but love how the series unfolds. The one thing I love about this series is that there weren’t a lot of episodes and that the pace of the story was just right. Live life how you want. Because at the end of the day, you are your own scriptwriter, and finding the true key to happiness, peace, and your needs is within yourself. You never know what will be thrown your way so cherish each moment.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a mature corporate love story. It has great chemistry between the leads, and you can’t help but fall in love with the female lead as you watch her grow. Knocking off one star because it was just slow at the beginning for me. But every great story is always slow, to begin with :D
Was this review helpful to you?
Worth to watch
Suddenly found this gem when scrolling. First episode and I got hooked. Story were written well and I would say it is more to real life experience. As someone who has experience in working as a employee Yes, this drama got some fact like you gotta always or sometime bootlicking your boss, sometime your director or manager shove his/her work to you, sometime reality is different from your fantasy (e.g: you fantasy or dream to get good boss / good life balance but reality over 90 percent you will meet those boss that donot show sympathy, yeah you can hate them but it is reality), other thing that I really like is most people only watch your position, money, and value for them. Last word I think sometime the thing you love to do may not be the most suitable for you if you want to survive and take care of yourself I mean like take some vitamin, jogging, and donot get yourself sick cause I also have experience it and it doesn't feel good.Really recommend this drama for those who love slow burn romance, a little bit toward real life, working related, slice of life (day to day as worker).
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Their love story was fascinating, their professional lives not so much
Found this drama while looking for Chinese dramas with mature love stories.What I like
1) Elvis Han is very handsome. There is a scene where he wore a white tshirt and hung out with Tang Ying at the kitchen. He was hot!
2) 14 episodes only
3) Tang Ying and Xu Zi Quan's first encounter was cute. A proper meet-cute! I also like that they started out as friends then later progressed as lovers.
4) The camping trip
What I dislike
1) I struggled with pacing of the story. An episode in a typical Chinese drama lasts 45 minutes but in this series, each episode is up to 1 hour.
2) Their professional lives were interesting at first but halfway through the series, I feel like "work conflicts" were created to keep viewers engaged. I got bored and disinterested and I feel that their careers were not seriously threatened.
3) I find Lin Xin Zi's story especially when she was with the creepy boyfriend doesn't align with mature love story theme that this drama represents.
4) I feel disconnected from Tang Ying and Xu Zi Quan's love story. Often times, mature women in Chinese and Korean dramas are portrayed as serious and non-sensical all the time. Wish I could see Tang Ying's softer and playful side.
Favourite scene
When Tang Ying invited the girl who couldn't accept Xu Zi Quan's rejection, to come to their apartment and gave a stern warning about harassing her man.
Was this review helpful to you?
Best Chinese Drama in 2023
Best Chinese Drama in 2023 And all time best drama in my list !!!Unexpectedly Excellent well-written scripts & solid sharp dialogues ,, all leading actors’ acting are so naturally portrayed and perfect.
Especially main lead actor and actress are full of chemistry and best CP.
This is a drama without cheesy cliche plots.
All plots are so realistic and relatable with our real working environment.
Memorable dialogues are as below:
“..Love is not a noun, it is a verb…”
“So walk your own path.
Not according to the written script.
Throw away the script and struggle to find your own life.
It is okay to fail. It is okay to take the wrong road.
Live freely. Isn’t that the most stylish thing?”
There are many good dialogues and plots about relationships and our working life……..
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I thought that with only 14 episodes, I could blow through this without a hitch. But I was wrong. The drama started out strong; I especially loved the flirty friendship between the main couple. Elvis Han has the suave financier down pat, while Elvira Han oozes smarts and sexiness as the hardworking, no-nonsense lawyer. And oh, the sizzling chemistry between Tang Ying and Zi Quan really lit up the screen. But that’s about it. Because when both are at work, they’re being played by their colleagues, supervisors, and both seem to work on projects that failed (through no fault of their own, but by the machinations or neglect of other people). Setbacks are inevitable, as they are part of life, and it’s how you overcome these obstacles thrown your way that counts. The show imparts more than a few nuggets of wisdom, but by the 10th life lesson, it became too preachy.
The drama also introduces so many random characters, but none of them really fully fleshed out. Most are one-dimensional, like the bratty sister whom I cannot stand, and her cringey boyfriend. She only became interesting towards the end when she ditched her possessive BF and moved in with a younger guy (her landlord). I feel the drama brought in all these randos just to prove a point, like the sugar daddy equates women with useless barns or the socialite who sinks her teeth on Zi Quan once she learns he’s no longer single. The main leads used a lot of these side characters as teachable moments, especially when they aim their gaze at the audience. But mostly, I was so bored to death that I couldn’t fake liking it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Para quem não curte muito dramas com tema forte de negócio talvez essa não seja uma boa escolha
O romance existe, mas é bem slow burn, então se prepare para ter paciência. O bom é que os personagens principais flertam muito, então é bem gostosinho de acompanhar o desenvolvimento da relação deles. Os personagens não são bons nem ruins, todo mundo tem seu lado negativo e positivo. A trilha sonora é muito boa, combinou demais, e tudo é muito bem feitinho. Me irritou um pouco a prima/irmã da FL, ela é muito esnobe e gananciosa, apesar de eu gostar que ela pega os caras todos e não tá nem aí. Foi bom ter uma representatividade de personagem feminina atacante.Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing OTP! So much chemistry!
The OTP were what made the series for me. I loved watching their love story play out, going from acquaintances to friends to lovers. Their chemistry was fire!My second favorite parts of the show were the FLs relationships with her sister and her 'bosses,' especially the second one.
The rest wasn't bad. I just wasn't too big on all the work bits. I wouldn't have minded less of those bits and more ML/FL scenes.
Overall, I'd recommend giving it a try. Watch 2/3 episodes and see what you think before deciding whether to continue or drop. It's worth a shot.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
a mature romance slice of life typo
i'll be quick in this review, cuz i don't think i have to much to say or complain about, lolok. this is a really good series, but only for slight-and-slow-romance office-trope lovers. if you like to see action and things happening fast, "fake it till you make it" it's not your choice right now.
we have a excellent chemistry between the main couple and a interessing sexual tension happening during the drama. not to metion the realistic way things develop between them; It's actually more believable the way it happened, normally, I can't believe people fall in love so quickly like they do in most dramas I watch.
in this series we have two grown adults discovering together what means to really love and accept someone, so you'll be frustrated, angry, sad, excited and happy at the same time, cuz i think this is what really means to be in love with someone. people are not just one thing.
i loved to watch them flirting, i miss this in dramas sooo much; i miss the tension, touches and the moments "before" they got finally together, you know? and "fake it till you make it" delivered that to me.
the office part was a little bit boring sometimes, but this is normal. despite not being able to understand most of what it means, I still managed to have fun
The others characters were interesting, I liked that there was no such thing as "good people and bad people", everyone has a negative and positive side. although, tbh, I was irritated with the FL's cousin the entire series, she is very snobbish and spoiled.
ok, that's it. my verdict is that it is a good cdrama, with an interesting romance and great production, but it may bore those who enjoy quick development and big plots.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good lesson about work life balance because hard work may not worth it if one lost love and health.
"Fake It Till You Make It" is a 14-episode drama about the riches and the ordinaries as they try to co-exist in a business legal firm based in Shanghai where not everyone is genuine. They have to fake it till they make it.I greatly enjoy this drama, and Elvira Cai and Elvis Han's onscreen chemistry is great. I like their intelligence, pretentiousness, and non-committal Conversation/relationship. They are both too proud and stubborn to admit that they like each other, and they are playing pretentious games with each other and with others they are interacting with.
It is all about money talk and showing off one's possession of material things to feel accepted in the highly rich society in Shanghai. I have watched 8 episodes already and can't wait to see the last 6. I give it an 8.5 rating.
It is a good and relatable drama about hard work and is it worth it in the end? It is about work life balance because har work may not worth it in the end if one has to loose love and health.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The main romance in this drama is pretty good, so is the chill moody atmosphere, but everything is else is very strange. Review over, thanks for reading!
Since there is a minimum word count on MDL for reviews, let me elaborate a little bit what I mean by strange. For starters this show has an incredible amount of social engineering / agendas in it. These only become really jarring around e13, but they can be felt from early on. There is also the sister character, she has an incredibly hard to tolerate trashy personality (don't mean to criticize her for being promiscuous or anything like that) in the first half of the show, but then she becomes a much better person out of nowhere & gets together with a young guy, well *inserts shrug emoji* alright. Then there are a bunch of incredibly crappy people at work that also transform, getting "very well deserved" redemption arks.
The writing is also super weird in the sense that the show has several -perhaps even many- brilliantly written and really cool scenes, but these are not integrated very organically into the show, the flow of the story is just really odd. For all I know it could be that actually brilliant writers failed to properly navigate the maze of written and unwritten Chinese censorship rules & my feeling of strong dissonance is a direct result of that, I don't know. I just think that trying to justify -even malicious- authority- with all those redemption arks I mentioned earlier could also be explained by trying to please the censorship body.
Despite these issues, `Fake It Till You Make It` is still quite entertaining & most Chinese dramas with the business tag are usually far far worse than this one, because at least I never felt very annoyed in this one. Had some minor frustrations with Da Wang early on, but even that is nothing compared to what usually happens in this genre.
Was this review helpful to you?
Arrêter les faux-semblants et vivre en toute liberté…
Délaisser les faux-semblants pour s'occuper de son travail et de soi-même. Trouver son point d'équilibre entre sa vie professionnelle et sa vie personnelle. Rencontrer l'amour, aussi. Être ordinaire, mais vivre libre.Fake It Till You Make It se divise en deux thématiques. La première, le milieu professionnel. La seconde, la romance. Il est question de droit et de finances, donc cela se place dans des bureaux avec le jargon, les longs débats et les réunions. La partie professionnelle permet aux personnages d'évoluer et d'apprendre, bien qu'on entre dans une répétition au bout d'un moment. Ensuite, il y a la romance. C'est ainsi que l'histoire trouve son équilibre. En jonglant de façon réaliste entre les genres. Après tout, nous passons plus de temps au travail qu'à la maison et nous côtoyons plus souvent nos collègues que notre entourage proche.
La romance est magnifique. Simple et intelligente. Douce et mature, mais aussi sexy au point d'avoir le cœur au bord des lèvres. On est loin des clichés d'une comédie romantique quelconque. Pas de grands drames ni de parents diaboliques. Quelques femmes aux dents longues, mais rien que FL ne puisse pas gérer dignement et calmement. Mais aussi des baisers tendres, réconfortants et chaleureux, sans qu'il n'y ait besoin de plus. Quoiqu'il en soit, la romance met en scène deux personnes intelligentes et patientes qui prennent le temps de réfléchir et surtout qui prennent plaisir à communiquer.
Il est évident que le casting est pour quelque chose dans la réussite de ce drame. Elvira Cai (Tang Ying) dépeint une femme solide et aspirante dans sa carrière. Elle est indépendante et ne semble pas chercher l'amour après un échec passé, jusqu'à ce que l'amour vienne de lui-même. Elvis Han (Xi Zi Quan) dévoile un homme charmant et playboy sympathique et intéressant. Avant que ses barrières ne s'abaissent au fur et à mesure, ne perdant pas de son charme originel, au contraire. J'ai adoré la façon dont ils étaient inconnus, puis méfiants, amis et enfin amants. C'est progressif, réaliste (oui, encore) et honnête. Lin Xin Zi (Bao Shang En) est la demi-sœur de Tang Ying. Elle est totalement différente de sa sœur. Elle veut le meilleur pour elle, se marier et être dorlotée comme une princesse. Sa façon de concevoir l'amour vient créer un immense contraste avec FL. Pour moi, Lin Xin Zi est une jeune femme immature qui pense que le bonheur et l'amour ne sont que des consommables. Son histoire est prévisible, mais légère. Je ne l'ai pas détesté, mais elle m'a rappelé la superficialité de beaucoup de relations dans les drames chinois.
Les situations des personnages (tant professionnelles que personnelles) sonnent réalistes. De la frustration d'un échec au travail, de la colère de devoir assumer une faute qui n'est pas la nôtre, jusqu'à avoir le sentiment que notre vie personnelle ne mène à rien. On apprend chaque jour un peu plus, tout comme on se découvre, c'est un processus long et fatigant. Et ce drame ne tente pas de le cacher, bien au contraire. Dans un monde qui nous en demande toujours plus et en moins de temps, il est difficile de tenir la cadence. Et c'est ce que l'histoire nous fait toucher du doigt. Travailler, c'est bien, mais travailler jusqu'à s'en rendre malade n'est ni un objectif de carrière et encore moins un objectif de vie. Le travail ce n'est pas la santé.
Réaliste et mature, Fake It Till You Make It est un voyage initiatique qui s'intéresse à l'essence même de ce que nous sommes avec deux personnages imparfaits, mais réalistes, qui mêle le travail et l'amour, sur fond de solitude et réflexion.
Was this review helpful to you?
`
