Perfect Match

How to train your husband

This drama's all about men and women learning to cohabitate together in marriage and not try to one up each other in a relationship. It starts rather fresh, without too obnoxious villains or usual political intrigues, but by the second couple's story (1st sister+scholar) it devolves into some sort of moronic circus, full of convoluted bs and very unnecessary decisions, like noble idiocy, for the sake of angst.
And by the second couple you can start seeing a certain plot pattern. The plot goes on a loop akin to this till the end:
- one of the sisters' gets yet another smug, unlikable guy in her crosshairs;
- they go round in circles until getting married through tricks;
- the guy mistreats that sister and threatens with divorce to a point of actual divorce;
- she goes crying to her family;
- the family concots schemes to turn things around and make the guy come crawling back converted into a docile husband material;
- in parallel, the family is also battling some stupid villains who are after their money, husbands or just to bully them.

I also didn't appreciate how women and marriage here were presented like selling and reselling cattle. No, I think people treated their cattle better than some of those women.

P.S. Also, why everybody slept here wearing their full get up - dresses, hairdos and accessories? It was very ridiculous 🤣.

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Low stress and funny watch.

My fave couple was the youngest sister and her husband. Loved how she beat the shit out of him and his aunt. Unfortunately, I didn't like the forced angst in the end with the separation.

After that, the 2nd youngest sister and her husband. For once, the amnesia plot worked well for the plot and the relationship. Love that she was smart and helped deal with the court cases. Plus, they dealt with their issues with the quickness.

The story with the 3rd eldest sister was good, but they also got annoying at the end with the angst.

I shall not be talking about the eldest sister, coz she most certainly got the short end of the stick with her husband. Definitely my least favourite couple

Comic relief from the 2nd eldest sister and her husband was gold. We didn't get much from the daughter-in-law and the son who came back after they thought he was dead, but that's neither here nor there

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Warm and witty

This is one of those shows that you come back to rewatch because it's just a warm place to relax for awhile. Each sister gets her turn at being the romance focus, and each story is given its share of attention, without rushing or skipping through obstacles. In fact, the obstacles serve to highlight the real strength of the story, and that is the supportive family bond among the women. I enjoyed seeing the women affirming each other's worth and ensuring each of the male leads knows what a gem he is getting as a spouse. I also appreciate how the sisters honor their mother and appreciate all she has done for them. I particularly enjoyed the playful scenes of the brothers-in-law banding together for mutual goals and for survival! (A special shout out for Wang Xingyue who played the first romantic lead with so much charisma and chemistry!) It stretches historical believability at times, but not enough to really disrupt the flow of the story. Overall it's a well-paced mix of romance and humor in beautiful costumes and sets.

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A Romance Series of Mini-Series

Madam Li raises her 6 beguiling independent daughters, fighting her dead husband's relatives who prey on their property all alone. What kind of woman must she be? What kind of daughters did she raise?

Plot. In short, this is how 5 plus 1 adopted daughter found true love in a pedantic, patriarchal society with strict expectation for ladies. Unexpectedly, they all land with strong dependable men who become their perfect matches. In the end, while women are expected to marry, they also have the chance to choose who to marry.

Characters. We start with the first to the last love story.
1. Second Daughter (Fu Hui). In the beginning, it is revealed that she didn't want to face her family because she didn't want them to know what a scumbag she married. Yes, Fan Liang Han comes from a rich family but he is spineless and had to depend on his mother and cousin for his decisions in life. However, because of a scheme the Li family did, he learned to treasure and love his wife. He ends up prioritizing the Li family over brotherhood.
2. Third Daughter (Kang Ning). Among the daughters, she is the most scheming. This is how she got the attention of Fan Liang Han's cousin, Chai An who is business tycoon. Lu Yu Xiao and Wang Xing Yu are good actors, however, this drama is too basic for them. And their story is not as impactful as it means to. They love each other and they know it but they just can't sit down to talk about. Instead, they end up scheming against each other and waiting for others to fix their ending. TBH, I was quite disappointed.
3. First Daughter (Shou Hua). Now, this is where things get more interesting. Shou Hua is a widow who didn't have the choice but to marry Du Yang Xi, the third-rank scholar their family decided to sponsor. Being the first daughter, she was responsible and trained to handle household affairs. So, taking care of Du Yan Xi's mother and friend was a basic task for her. However, on their first night as a couple, Du Yang Xi didn't talk to her and went to sleep on the settee. The next morning, he was gone and continued to be gone for months. This was understood because he felt cheated by the family. He thought he would get the third sister, but was swapped to another. Time soon brought him home and that's where he saw the kind of wife he had. He soon regretted his negligence and started pursuing Shou Hua. This time, she doesn't make it easy for him. Added to this mini-revenge, we get to know Shou Hua's past marriage where she loved her previous husband dearly. When they reconciled these problems, conflicts then arose with Du Yan Xi's true lineage. Instead of telling Shou Hua the truth, he pushes her away and divorces her trying to spare her from getting the same punishment. He wins the trial against his father and soon comes crawling back to Shou Hua.
4. Fourth Sister (Hao De). Hao De describes herself to be the middle child who doesn't have much talent like her sisters, but she was an honest girl who preferred to solve conflicts face on. She was forced to stand for her family when distant relatives claimed that they had step-brother who would be legible to inherit the Li property because she was the eldest single member. This leads her to face Judge Shen who was previously shown to be very stiff and strict with the rules. Because of the trials, Hao De falls in love with the judge. She confessed of her admiration to her family and soon they found matchmakers to propose to the Shen family which was accepted. Unbeknownst to her, Judge Shen was against the marriage. He went to her on the wedding night and broke things off saying he was forced. Hao De was so hurt she ended up walking home, crying, and losing her shoe. Just when Judge Shen thought he succeeded, Hao De enters their mansion saying that they were not divorcing. So, they make a pact to stay married for a year and break apart. One day, Judge Shen gets attacked and loses his memories. Hao De then steps in to take care of him but was honest enough to say he didn't like her. They eventually fall in love and as you would guess, Hao De regains his memories, but how could he return to being all stiff when love already stepped into his life. With open and honest communication, they get back to each other and decide to love, after all. This is my best match. I love how there's no pushing away as a form of protection kinda thing.
5. Fifth Sister (Le Shan). This is the enemies-to-lovers kind of story. Both are headstrong and stubborn. Yang Xian schemes against Le Shan by swapping his bride to her. When Le Shan find out, she explodes. Eventually, they both fight against each other and none has a peaceful life, ever. However, as time passes, Yang Xian's side of the story is shown and we get to understand why he behaves the way he does. Family problems occur and Le Shan soon gets to be Yang Xian's helper. They fall in love. Yang Xian matures. He works his best to get the approval of Le Shan. Then, the family gets impacted by royal family affairs and their title is seized. Madam Li comes in to the rescue offering her home. Things settle. Yang Xian works his ass off but the Li family soon decided that Yang Xian is not mature enough yet so they force him to divorce Le Shan and only allowed him to return if he is able to make a man of himself. Honestly, this was a crap plot! It was unnecessary. What are they even trying to prove? In the end, of course they reconcile, but only after Yang Xian returns to the capital a rich man. It makes me kinda think all this time, all the family is after is wealth and power.
6. Sixth Sister (Qiong Nu). She is an adopted daughter and betrothed to the third master Li who was supposedly dead. He miraculously appear in the end being the adopted son of a military family. They turn out to still be loyal to each other.

Overall, my score for this is 8.5 because I had fun with it. At least I got 5 stories in one and the cast is superb. My favorites are Liang Yong Qi and Ke Ying! On the other side, minus 1.5 because the storylines are either repetitive or expected.

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5 dramas in one

I really love this concept of having multiple main couples. It was like watching 5 different dramas in one relatively short c-drama with all the tropes and feels of any regular show. Each couple had their own struggles before rly finding each other and while at times the misunderstandings were beyond annoying, I appreciated how the conflicts always got solved and didn't last forever like in some other shows. The show has its flaws, but it really shines when it comes to the character and cast.

The mom was my favorite part of the show. She was absolutely hilarious throughout and held such compassion for all her son-in-laws except for when they did her daughters dirty. She is such a mama bear cuz even when she was afraid after her husband just died and people where taking everything from her family, she learned how to stand up for herself and her family and since then, she did not take no bs. Even when people called her crude, shameless, or vulgar she did not care as long as she was protecting her daughters. She raised all them on her own with such strong principles, she never wanted them to settle for anything less than what they deserved and that is why all her daughter had such successful marriages(eventually😂). The actress for this character was SOO freaking talented. Her comedic timing and facial expressions rly made any scene she was in. Missing Madam Li terribly and hoping to see her in more dramas

The reason I even started this drama was because I loved Lu Yu Xiao in Blossoms of Adversity(which i totally recommend if u haven't watched already), and Wang Xing Yue is fine shyt. Their relationship was a great start to the show, always bickering like a married couple even before getting married. It gave enemies-to-lovers with both plotting on each other's demise. I love kang ning for standing up for her family and not marrying Chai An when his mom was being so disrespectful. Loved seeing the mother beg for kang ning to marry her son afterwards. I enjoyed seeing their domestic life throughout the drama, and their scheming antics being used to protect the li family.

Now the most trifling couple in this show was du yangxi and shouhua cuz he treated my girl so badly so many times. They get married he ignores her and when he finally realizes his wife is a baddie(duh she's from the li family), he starts being jealous of her DEAD ex-husband like bro ur so corny. He had the nerve to be like "i could never kneel to my wife" and then ended up kneeling to gain her favor but after doing all that to make her love and trust him, he divorced her in the most embarrassing and degrading way ever. This girl has asked nothing of him but to stay by her side and he couldn't even do that. I guess his redemption arc was fine but my Shouhua was too good a wife to be treated like that, she wasn't even as hostile as her sisters and he still treated her like that, I can only thank God he now treats her like the Queen she has always been. Anyway, loved HeYi in The Princess Royal and was so hyped to see him paired with Liu Xie Ning(loved her in Story of Kunning Palace).

Now my favorite couple was haode and shen hui cuz their chemistry was unmatched. I was skeptical at first because when Shen hui was advocating for the death of yangxi I rly wasn't fcking with him, he also just looked weird a majority of the time. Idk if it was just me but he looked like a robot and his eyes were always bulging out and it was so weird cuz he's good looking when I see photos of him but in the show he just looked off for some reason. Anyway, this ship was the cutest. The amnesia plot didn't bother me at all(shockingly) because haode told him the truth immediately. She is an absolute cutie, no wonder shen hui couldn't resist falling for her. I loved how she made him a more empathetic person. They were so perfect together and I need to see them in a modern drama together.

While haode and shen hui were my favorite couple, leshan was my favorite sister and her relationship was very entertaining to watch. Yang xian can actually go to hell tho. Cuz what did u think would happen when you did that on her WEDDING DAY!! Also, people praising him for saving haode and the rest doesn't sit right with me especially since my girl had to beg before he even considered going to save them. All the male leads did things that made it hard for the audience to forgive them but yang xian was genuinely so hard to forgive cuz he was genuinely evil. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him get beat up by leshan. So glad she didn't change her violent ways once she got married and started falling for him cuz it was refreshing to see a woman in a historical drama that shamelessly demanded respect in that way. I appreciated how she was given the power to punish the yang family even beating her elders into submission(queen sh*t fr). Anyway, I was glad to see their happy ending, they were rly enemies-to-lovers. Tian Tian did such a good job in this role I was beyond shocked to find out she was a minor. SO glad they didn't make her be intimate with her significantly older co-star

Lastly, I appreciated them completing Qiong Nu's story and giving her a love interest. Her story as the adopted daughter was sad but I could understand both sides. Madam Li did treat her as a daughter but it was hard to forget her son whenever she looked at Qiong Nu and at the end of the day she is already doing her a favor by adopting her on top of having to raise 5 daughters on her own. I also empathize with Qiong Nu being abandoned by her family, losing her betrothed, and feeling left out as the adopted daughter. I'm glad they were able to actually talk it out together.

Overall, I loved all the character and all the ships. I could see why people found it hard to watch, the male leads were mad toxic. But I don't agree with people saying the wives were being abusive, they never beat their husbands without ample reason(cheating, lying, scheming). Fu Hui was being disrespected in her own home by her husband, she was 100% justified in beating his ahh. Now he is the obedient husband to a beautiful wife. I deeply respected the girls telling their mans they will not be allowed to get a concubine unless the wife is unable to conceive by the age of 40 which is impossible since their family is so fertile. That is actually so iconic. Also I was shocked to find out 3 members of the main cast were in kpop groups. Wdym fuhui was in WJSN, Shouhua was in gugudan(with god sejeong), and yang xian is in NCT. Like how did I not know any of this till now. Anyway, while imperfect, this show was so great, totally recommend.

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I am the newest sister looking for a perfect match

I love love love the found family aspect and the connections between all the couples. The plot was engaging, but it heavily pissed me off during the eldest sister arc. All the other arcs were fun for me and I enjoyed all the relationships + chemistry.
When I was watching, I kept recognizing actors and was like "I KNOW YOUUUU". I liked the casting choices yippie! I was surprised to find out that Winwin was a part of this show too.
Here is my couples ranking!!!
1. Kangning & Chai An
2. Haode & Huizhao
3. Leshan & Yang Xian
4. Shouhua & Du Yangxi/Fu Hui & Fan Liang Han
Anyways I would rewatch just to see my fav couples again. <3

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Enjoyable and worth watching

I'm really surprised at the low-ratings this Chinese drama has received on certain platforms. It deserves better. Yes, it's uneven in places, it drags at the end--and the acting chops of the numerous characters range from overly-dramatic to reasonably competent to blanked out, poker-faced bots. BUT...by and large the female leads are magnetic, energetic, and convincing as the five clever and spirited Li sisters-all of them in the market for a marital match made in heaven.

What the ladies get instead is a plethora of trouble, involving in-laws and outlaws and just plain craziness, as each daughter, in turn, finds what appears to be the "perfect match," but in fact--is not.

Mother Li (played by an outstanding actor) has her work cut out for her. For each of the five, she has to find an appropriate husband, with a modicum of wealth and a propitious astrology chart–someone belonging to a socially respectable, congenial family. And, of course, she has to provide each of her five girls with a sufficient dowry.

Is Mother Li looking for someone her daughters will like and get along with? Strike that last requirement. Personal compatibility was pretty low on the priority list in that day and age.

Not to worry, though, these incredible women are all resourceful, capable, and able to finesse the various situations--marital, familial, and legal--as well as the chauvinistic society they find themselves in. Not all of their shenanigans work as planned and the plot isn't always believable. In fact, the fifth daughter's marriage situation was so ridiculous that I fast forwarded through most of it. Shades of "I Love Lucy" reruns in some of the antics. Her attempts to whip her would-be spouse into shape (and I do mean "whip") went on waaay too long. Personally, I don't find marital abuse funny, no matter how richly deserved or who's doing it.

It would have been nice if the servants were depicted as real human beings instead of props for the nobles to use as they saw fit.

But the costumes and hairdos are to die for. And the absolutely delightful "lion contest" in episode 32 made up for a lot of the cheesier moments.

Who knew that 1000 years ago the Chinese city of Bianjing was such a nest of vipers?

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Inspiring

The story and meaning behind this drama, in my opinion was definitely a good story.

A single mom raising daughter's, is basically a tough thing to do in any century, the challenges a mother face, the hardship she endure, the endless fighting she does, just to ensure her girls are well matched. For me this story showed unity within a family, the struggles they go through and challenges they face together to overcome any obstacles is truly unique in their strengths.

This shows unity with a family is by far more rewarding in heaven's eyes.

Something in today life and generation is lacking.

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Charming and Funny, with Some Flaws

To be absolutely frank, I watched this hot off the heels of The Double and only because it had Wang Xingyue in it. Good actors tend to choose roles and scripts wisely, and so far, he hasn't disappointed. I watched him as a villain in One and Only where he was outstanding.

So, I went into Perfect Match expecting another great show, and he didn't let me down.

Perfect Match is a light-hearted comedy with rich characters and some unbelievable plot twists. It's a period drama NOT, for once, set in the imperial court and there are no court politics to navigate. That by itself makes it different from all the other costume dramas I've seen so far. The story is about a widow with five daughters, four of them unmarried, and her prime goal in life is to marry them off. Reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, there are misunderstandings, schemes, and issues of class and income to overcome with each match. One by one, however, the Widow Li finds the perfect match for the different temperaments of each daughter.

It's not all perfect, however. There are some things in some of the stories I found annoying. (Warning, SPOILERS AHEAD!)

For example, the second match of Du Yangxi and eldest daughter Shuhoa was just fraught with issues from the get-go. He's secretive and scheming, laying plans and executing them on his own, and she's mistrustful, giving him 'tests' of his feelings for her. Given how they began their marriage, the distrust was to be expected, but I found their storyline too unbelievable to like them as a couple. The youngest daughter was married off to someone who once threatened and bullied the entire family. THAT was a major red flag. No matter how they tried to explain it away (he was young and had unsavoury companions who led him astray--can you feel my eyes roll as I write this?), this was an appalling match. And the fourth daughter married a robot masquerading as a man until he had an accident and suffered a bout of--of all the tropes--AMNESIA. That apparently set him straight, turning Pinocchio into a real boy.

Perhaps the only two matches I was totally on board with (and I admit, I'm biased) were the third daughter and the stepdaughter. They rushed through the storylines of the youngest daughter and the stepdaughter, however, (six episodes for both, whereas the others each had ~10 episodes per couple) so these weren't properly fleshed out, sadly.

On the flip side, the sets are meticulous. The attention to detail with everyday life during the Song Dynasty is top-notch. The atmosphere is beautifully designed and, overall, if you don't take the crazy too seriously, Perfect Match is fun to watch. It's low-stakes and comedic, the acting is crisp and funny; it will draw you in, and before you know it, you'll be invested in the characters and will HAVE to watch the series till the end.

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Strong potential, alas, left me disappointed

I'm conflicted on what rating to give this drama. On one hand, it made me stay up until 3am, unable to stop watching even though I had to wake up in an hour for work. It made me go into fits of giggles, laughing in public like a madwomen.

On the other hand, I had to completely skip 10 episodes to be able to continue and, at the end, it gave me such a disdain towards the Lin family and it's brothers-in-law that it made me begin to doubt all my previous feelings towards the show as a whole.

I found the plots overall to be highly entertaining and well done. I don't care much about cliché or out of pocket stories, I think complaining about that is like if I were to complain about murder being in a thriller or magic being in a fantasy movie. That's simply the genre of the show. I liked the acting and the chemistry of most couples.

However, as I mentionned the cons of the series just were so big it truly turned such a good experience into contempt. I love real characters, characters with both flaws and merits. Yet, when a show portrays a flaw as a merit, it is unacceptable to me. Throughout the show, the Lin family is known to scheme. And a lot of the time, it is for good reasons or for a good moral cause. But not all the time. And when they hurt people and cause harm with the schemes, the show still portrays the scheming in a good light, telling us they had good reasons to do so. After a couple of uncomfortable moments, the way they handled Yang Xian was the final straw. It just made the whole family extrenely unlikeable, to the point that I wasn't rooting for them. I needed at least one scheme that showed them a lesson that they can't just play with people's feelings and lives just because they are uncertain about them.

Then there are smaller negatives about the show, such as the 2nd cp that was unlikeable to me as their foundation seemed very weak to me. A proud man who denies any women for his focus on his career and who is unhappy with the marriage, going as far as openly disrespecting his wife, changes his whole character once he glances at his wife. I know they slid in a "he read her poetry so it's not only about her looks", yet he didn't actually change his attitude until his eyes laid on her. Another one, is how we don't see much of the couple's dynamic after their episodes end.

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