As Beautiful as You

Some bad, but mostly All Good!

The FL quits her job at an IT firm after being shamed for reporting sexual harassment. She becomes an entrepreneur, learning to navigate all the ups & downs. She accepts the financial investment of a powerful CEO who happens to be a college classmate she hasn’t seen in 10yrs. As they work together, their bond deepens & romantic sparks fly. Will they find love amidst the attempts to sabotage them?

This isn’t a fluffy drama. It focuses on starting a business, finding your niche, dealing with rivals, & earning your place. But there’s humor, sweetness, & love too!

I adore the female besties. They never fight, have stupid jealous fits, or make catty remarks. They have the friendship where they compliment one another’s gowns & fix each other’s crowns. 👑 They’re strong women chasing their dreams & finding love along the way.

Now for the Leads… they (of course) had a communication misunderstanding which lead to them having no contact for the past decade. That made a negative impact on their opinions of each other, but neither of them use it as some excuse to vilify or torment the other.

The ML is aces & I love him. He liked the FL in college, but duty took him away before he could confess. He’s never forgotten her, though. He’s devastated when he learns she’s in a long term relationship, but after their painful & unexpected breakup, he gives her time to heal & move on before confessing.

He’s still very attentive & does all he can to be with her, though. Him waiting to confess does not mean he isn’t slowly & subtly pursuing her. And when Ms. Delulu tries cr@p, he shuts her down quick. I LOVE how he cut ties with her - a true “mess with my woman & I’ll mess back” type. 🫠 I swear I could just gush about him for awhile!

The FL is just as great. She goes through a LOT but it all makes her stronger. Through all the sly & underhanded attempts to foil her business’ success, to the personal heartbreak she experiences, & with all the new things she’s needing to adapt to & learn in this new career path she’s chosen - girl is a total boss & never lets anything give her a victim mentality. With every setback & hardship she faces, she perseveres & proves herself worthy of recognition for all her hard work. She truly grows to be the ML’s equal in the corporate world. And her affection for him is precious. She’s intent on never doing anything that’d harm him, neither professionally or personally.

Okay, having said all that, I do feel I should point out a few issues I had -
1) Whyyyyy would she go to her exes wedding? Not only that, he’s marrying one of her previous best friends! Totally broke the girl code there. Neither of them were honest with the FL about it, they just expected her to accept it after they were already together. And she did! I just didn’t like that. Wish them well if you must, but boundaries, girl!
2) Communicate! Their heartbreak could’ve been less harsh if they’d just been honest with one another. ML should’ve come clean about the business stuff before they started dating. FL should’ve spoken to him rather than breaking into his safe (especially since what prompted that was words from people she KNOWS want to hurt her.)
3) Act your age. Be mad & hurt & all the things, but don’t let it make you stupid. After all you’ve done to grow your business (not to mention all the hard work of your colleagues!) don’t make rash decisions in the heat of the moment as payback against your partner. Honestly, her decision didn’t damage him, it damaged her. And he totally saved her butt in it too by getting her business back from their rivals. Why do people turn to the known “villains” in those moments? Can we say petty & childish?!
4) Wardrobe. It really bugged me how much skin the FL had to show. Is that normal in China, for business women to wear what amounts to a shirt to the office? Can they not cover their legs or wear longer skirts/dresses? I always feel like they’re being made to use their bodies to help advance their careers, as if their brains aren’t enough. Can we like, stop normalizing that, please?! The guys are in multiple layered suits. If they can succeed while being fully clothed, don’t ya think women can too? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Okay. Done with my rant, haha! That list made it seem like I don’t actually like this drama but that’s so not true. I LOVED it!! I know others have different opinions & I’m completely fine with that. And it’s totally cool if you think differently too! 😉

Back to the Leads. I honestly love them. They’re perfect together, despite their mistakes. They both learn & grow from that experience, recognizing the things they did wrong & determining to do better in the future. When they come back together, they have an added layer of maturity to them, as well as a new level of devotion for & cherishing of one another. They’ve experienced what it’s like to be apart & they know it’s not something they ever want to face again so they put in the effort needed to maintain a healthy relationship. The ways they love, support, & protect one another are total couple goals. 💚 The ending is sweet yet leaves an ache. Definitely watch a bonus episode! It’s a HEA, but it’s THE END & I’m simply not ready to let them go yet…

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-⬇️ S P O I L E R S 🚫 B E L O W ⬇️-


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The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.22 💋
- Together : ep.24 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻
- BreakUp : ep.31 💔
- BackTogether : ep.36 ❤️‍🩹

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Good performances and chemistry between the leads

I hesitated to watch this show for a long time. The more recent efforts of both Xu Kai and Tan Song Yun in modern dramas were disappointing and made me very skeptical that this show would be any different.

But... I was pleasantly suprised to be proven wrong, which is why I'm glad I didn't give up on them just yet and decided to watch it. XK & TSY are remarkably well matched in this production. Not only are they both youthful looking in spite of their ages, they matched in their reactions to each other in an easy chemistry. XK's performance was the most subtle I've seen from him & there were many moments where he broke out of the boyish box I've described previously, that he seemed trapped in before. I was able to see his character this time, rather than just be watching an idol. Likewise, TSY brought a confident maturity to her own performance, portraying a very strong character who fights for her worth and who never betrays herself.

I won't analyse the story much as it had the usual corporate power struggles & toxic love triangles. What made it interesting was the "frog and scorpion" (or hunter and fox, in a very whimsical presentation in the show) relationship between the leads, and how they would overcome such a polarizing difference, requiring fundamental changes in each of them. The writing was decent and there were a few laugh out loud moments. But while the story only served as a backdrop, the real treat was in watching XK & TSY so comfortable in their roles, bringing to life a couple you could cheer for. And I was mesmerized by TSY's hair & office fashion, because she isn't a classic beauty but she looked fantastic.

All in all, an entertaining and light watch, with a nice, sentimental special epilogue ending.

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My second Xu Kai after Falling into Your Smile: a significant decrease in rating. Maybe my standards were left too high after seeing FIYS, but this drama was not my thing. I mean it's not bad but it's not good either. There was a little break in between watching when I gave up, but finished it in the end. Tan Songyun (Seven) and Xu Kai both did well in terms of acting, but the chemistry seemed a little off. Idk, they were good together but could be better. The fact that Ji Xing did everything so impulsively and left Han Ting with no time to explain annoyed me. The ending and especially the extra episodes satisfied me, depicting their married life and having kids was really nice to see. The secondary couple, Li Li (He Ruixian) going on to be with Su Zhizhou (Tang Zhenchao) instead of Xiao Yixiao (Luo Zekai) was one of the better decisions in this drama. I feel like Xiao Yixiao just couldn't give her what she needed in a relationship, so Zhi Zhou was the right choice although I didn't hate either relationship. A completely healthy relationship however was the one between Lu Linjia (Zhou Dawei) and Tu Xiaomeng (Wang Yilan). They were really cute together I feel like. One thing though about this whole mess of different relationships, was that Ji Xing's good friend Wei Qiuzi (Wu Shile) ended up with her ex, Shao Yichen (Gao Han) and even got married. The way they broke up was questionable, and the fact that Ji Xing even went to their wedding and was okay with it was crazy. If I was her I would be so annoyed and betrayed. But other than that, it was an ok show. The main enemies were gotten rid of and Han Ting and Ji Xing got their happy ending. (Ignore my rating for music, unless it's really good I just put a two for everything)

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Great story but can’t see the chemistry

Great story and some of the supporting cast have better acting skills (chemistry) than the main characters.
Xu Kai acts his little cotton socks off as usual but I just can’t always see the chemistry between him and Tan Songyun though there are plenty of sweet, intimate moments that are on point (the shaving scene for example).
The struggle to build a strong fledgling business is really obvious and the team the FL has around her are brilliant, especially the actors He Rui Xian and Tang Zhen Chao and you feel their struggles with both their private and corporate lives.
Cute little story but doesn’t pack a punch (for me) the way some of Xu Kai’s other work does. Perhaps it’s because it doesn’t run through all the emotions we often get in a c-drama or perhaps it’s because I just didn’t feel Tan Songyun was as good as he was.
Would I watch this again? No

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Good but has an explicit scene

The actors are so good for this! I love watching Xu Kai and Tan Songyun. But the story wasn't that great, because there was a flash-explicit scene. The OST is super good, and I've been listening to it over and over... it seems less modern somehow, more nostalgic. The whole show has a nostalgic vibe, now that I think about it.

The aesthetic isn't really vibrant (it's a far stretch from Xu Kai's other modern drama, Falling Into Your Smile). It's more based on muted tones, mostly corporate. I didn't really enjoy that, but it seemed to fit with the story somehow.

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Introducing a new love rival after the big break-up episode is certainly a choice......

If you've seen enough of these romance dramas, you already know to expect the dreadful break-up episode. However, I have to say, this is by far the worst break-up episode I've ever seen.

It already made no sense; FL knows ML would never do something without reason. He's known to be a great investor, with a spotless track record. He's invested in you, in your company and staff. After she found out about his secret company (her competitor, although she kept denying that, stating they had different goals), her thinking immediately went to betraying him. Why do this? She already asked him this question before; "Would you destroy me (my company) too if I got in your way?" and he said, "No, I won't!". After she betrayed him, he still fought to save her and her company, incurring a loss (his old company shares) in exchange for her company shares. She nearly destroyed her own company with her own hands, and he saved it. He then tried to hand the shares back to her, telling her she can still be in charge of her own company, if she wants. She refused!? Called him heartless, manipulative, a hypocrite...... Huh?!..... for stopping her from destroying her company!? What??

Anyway, to a certain degree I can understand it. She felt betrayed and wanted to betray him back. She didn't know any better. Since she just recently started a new company, she's still prone to bad influences and bad decisions. I'll allow it. But what I absolutely cannot forgive is, somehow the writers decided, this would be the perfect time to introduce another love rival for FL. Right after the big break-up with ML. It baffles me that they thought this was a good idea. This single decision nearly made me drop this entire drama on the spot, as soon as he showed up. Our ML is shown heart-broken, nearly drinking himself to death, while our FL is happily enjoying dates in Germany with the new guy. Way to almost ruin the entire drama for everyone. I'm glad at least FL rejected the new guy bluntly to his face, but imagine I never continued watching to see that happen. As they were dragging out their scenes quite long before that finally happened.

All in all, aside from those moments, I thoroughly enjoyed this drama. ML and FL had some fantastic romance scenes & chemistry. That bonus episode too, was absolutely amazing, and exactly what I've been waiting to see after watching so many 'happily ever after' romance dramas. It was refreshing to finally see a true happy ending in action, and not just words being thrown at you before the credits roll.

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A complete circle of life

If you’re in it for Xu Kai’s charm, you’ll get your eye-candy moments, but beyond that, this drama struggles to hold up. The plot feels like a stretched-out version of a standard rom-com, offering very little growth for the FL, whose character remains overly dependent and frustratingly immature throughout. The business storyline is weak, and the romance never fully delivers the emotional depth it promises. Add in the baffling “best friend breaking the sister code” subplot, and it’s hard to root for anyone.
Overall — watch it only if you’re a Xu Kai fan, because the story itself won’t impress.

A business rom-com about Ji Xing and her college mate, Han Ting, who lost touch for 10 years. Han Ting had a crush on Ji Xing and confessed his love for her while he invested in her startup company.

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Lack luster and tedious

LIKES:

Storyline: The concept of the 3D medical printing for which the drama was based on and the idea of a strong, intelligent woman in the business world at the head of a successful company. I liked how they brought the concept of the playing cards and ML’s interactions with FL, full circle to tie it all up.

Wardrobe: The suits worn by the male characters were all well tailored and sharp. And I loved the female antagonist CEO that wore the most beautiful green suit jacket.

Location: some familiar settings, but where they shot the office scenes for ML’s company and the trip to Germany, were good.

Colour pallet: good colour schemes throughout the drama.

Filming: inside the cars was decently filmed, and the drivers didn’t use the steering wheel like they were swerving left to right lol.

The cat: so sweet, patient and adorable. (Although sometimes I think they used a stuffed animal too).


DISLIKES:

Storyline: it started out interesting and then got confused. There was no AI applications shown, just 3D printing. There were too many speeches and long boring parts. As much as I like Xu Kai, not even he could make this drama interesting and the love scenes had no buildup or chemistry, so they fell flat. Others give more of a detailed breakdown of the little good and mostly bad plot. It was cookie-cutter office drama, with the usual tropes and cliches. Too much filler scenes and the side romances didn’t help add any interest.

Wardrobe: almost all of the females, especially the FL and 2nd FL were always dressed with skirts or shorts that were way too short to be considered appropriate business wear or even business casual. And the trendy online influencer girl and her love interest the bar owner, had mostly distasteful clothes too.

Timing/Pacing: some scenes were too long and often redundant; the board room or the group meetings. Then the last few episodes seemed overly rushed. As others have said, too many episodes and it could have done better cutting it down to 24 episodes instead of 40.

Filming: shaky camera syndrome happened again and some times the green screen was very noticeable.

OST: over played and sometimes too loud to hear what was being said in the scene.

Cast: Initially I thought they actors/actresses were well chosen for their characters, but I felt none of the couples had any chemistry, to the point of being cringy. The parents of the FL & Grandfather, Aunt of ML, added nothing to the story.

OVERALL:
I gave the drama a chance, because in other dramas I found Xu Kai to be a good actor, but not even he could save this one. I understand why others dropped it. It’s a bit tedious of a watch, but if you are new to C-dramas then this is an okay one to start watching and ending was well summed up although rushed. I don’t recommend it to others who have already watched a few office dramas. 3.5/10

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Good acting makes the not so-original story worth it

The story is not very original, quite the contrary – it contains a lot of well-used tropes. They are just scripted and executed without going "over the top", or kept at a more realistic level. And I would say the strong cast helps a lot too.
So: All in all this is worth watching if you like workplace romance dramas.

The "successful CEO helps woman in her career" story also felt quite familiar, but I can't quite pinpoint the drama it reminds me of.

The cast:
Tan Song Yun as the FL Ji Xing is good as expected. I find that she always brings great energy to her characters, and delivers strong and convincing performances.
Xu Cai is quite fitting as the ML Han Ting, except I sometimes thinks he looks a bit too young, lol. I kind of wish he could bring a little bit more personality to his character, though – he sometimes felt a little bit "flat", but that could also be how the character of Han Ting was interpreted.
Most of the supporting cast was also good in my eyes.

I liked how the characters developed and grew, and even though there were some predictable elements, it wasn't annoyingly so.

Thanks to me coming across a post about free viewing on Viki for a limited time, I binged this over a period of 2,5 days!

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Don't need to have the romance

Every young entrepreneur should watch this drama. It's excellent "teaching" for all young start-ups
There's also lots of life lessons from the second and third couples which is realistic,well written and mature
I actually prefer the second and third couples more. The main leads seems a bit mismatched, both acted very well but just mismatched with zero chemistry.

The stylist/dresser is extremely poor especially for the FL. Shorts and short skirt don't suit her, just have the skirt 2 inches longer and adding black lycra tights will totally transform her from ugly short legs to posh classy elongated legs (don't understand why Chinese and Korean like this look, no European designers go bare legs and up to the groin, it's fit for evening not work) and that Zeng Di wearing evening dress with huge pearl earrings for breakfast in Germany? Hello? Having said that,the menswear are all very good including the flamboyant Mr.Lu

Anyway I enjoyed the drama thoroughly but I needed to edit out the romance or lack of for the main couple. Other than that it's a good drama and I learned a lot about start up and investment

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Romance and Business

I enjoyed this series I found it randomly on Viki. I enjoyed the characters although I wasn't sure about the ML and FL initially with their chemistry. I enjoyed the series with all the other characters. Often times I find in these C and K dramas they always have one or two characters over act which takes away from the series. Loved the story and just wish the last episode not the Epilogue showed the whole group together as a couple - I know it ends with the suggestion everyone coupled off but would have loved to see them all together. I did enjoy the epilogue but do find that some of these series just abruptly ends and that's how I felt for the end of the series and the epilogue - you are enjoying the last few minutes and are in the moment and in the middle of it - it just ends. Maybe it's a cultural thing but drives me crazy. But. Overall I really enjoyed it.

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