Perfect Match

Perfect Match: A Series That Lost Its Spark

This is essentially the story of a mother trying to marry off each of her many daughters to the right partner.

In my opinion, a lot of the backlash stems from the male leads not being as engaging and compelling as the audience had hoped for.

The issue is that Chai An and Kangning, the two main characters we are introduced to first, are the focus in the beginning. We get to know them, see their love develop, etc. However, after episode 10, they disappear to make room for a new couple, which the audience feels little connection to. Instead, viewers want to continue following Chai An and Kangning’s married life.

Splitting the series into arcs, rather than focusing on just one couple with supporting characters, was a risky choice. A series like New Life Begins also introduced multiple couples but maintained a central couple whose growth we followed, and that proved to be the best approach.

Now, I find myself feeling detached and uninterested in the new couples and their arcs in Perfect Match. It just doesn’t have the same appeal, and the disappointment of not being able to follow the original couple actively has taken away from my enjoyment of the rest. I truly believe this format was a mistake, and that's ultimately why I dropped the series – out of boredom.

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Witty comedy of manners with a great ensemble cast

This show was exactly what I was hoping for : a blend of screwball comedy and matchmaking goodness. It's very witty, I laughed a lot, the ensemble cast is so, so good, I had a grand time. So glad I didn't sleep on it or listened too much to the early bad reviews. It's a clever comedy of manners about very human men and women treading the muddy waters of seduction and love in dangerous times. First couple is your classic her pride against his prejudice affair with a business war setting, second couple are sweet but stubborn scholars down on luck who overcome tragedy, third couple (my fav) is a mix between romantic comedy and legal drama with a side of amnesia, and fourth couple is a more shakespearian taming of the shrew with a twist and lots of adventure. It's varied, very well paced and they let talented lesser known actors shine. My only gripe is that I feel the last romance's third act was unfairly hijacked by their need to wrap up the story, and I also feel second sis was neglected (the lack of commentary in the conclusion for her couple was sooo awkward) and it did end the drama on a slightly sour note, but overall it was a very fun show that I enjoyed tremendously.

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if you love family dramas.....

I watched this primarily for Lu Yu Xiao because I loved her acting style. That short preview on Netflix also made me curious

Saw good reviews for this cdrama and I wasn't disappointed. It had the right balance of comedy and drama. Each sister had a chance to showcase their talent through their individual love stories. They also had great chemistry with their partners.

Out of all the stories, I loved 3rd sister's and 4th sister's the best. Loved the progression..

The dynamics between the siblings reminds me of my relationship with my sisters so this drama now has a special place in my heart.

If you are looking for a family oriented drama, I encourage you to try this one...

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Feisty females

June 2025
Overall a decent watch and I liked the cast; Wang Xing Yue and Liang Yong Qi are actors I like.

The fact this centres around a widowed woman who has single-handedly, and pretty successfully, raised 5 daughters, is already a bit different.

On relocating home, due to adversities, they arrive in the town where one already married daughter lives. The in-laws look down on all of them.

Once settled, the mother's sole purpose is to make money, provide doweries for her girls, and get them married off to as wealthy/successful/up-and-coming men, as possible. This is basically the drama's plot, with all the adventures, adversities, and comedy, built around it.

They open an establishment that goes through several incarnations, until becoming a kind of tea/snacks house come gift shop and meeting place, for want of a better explanation.

The episodes focus on their daily life, plus each daughter's story taking centre stage, as the drama progresses. There are challenges, conflicts, drama, crime/investigations, accusations, and in one episode, an attempted sexual assault.

The attitudes of the majority of the women of local wealthy families, to the mother and girls, is mostly unkind and snobbish. It's pretty infuriating, as it's not like the mother chose to be a widow! Family of the departed husband, just wanted her home and possessions. They are ruthless and aggressive, hence the family packing up and leaving.

The earlier episodes see characters more combined, but the latter becomes about the remaining, individual daughters, with several other characters taking a noticeable back seat. I was less keen on that.

It was a pretty fun watch, with every female in the family being resilient, resourceful, intelligent, and with different strengths. However, there were a number of occasions when it dragged on far too much and got very silly.

More than once I found myself disliking the actions of specific daughters; some I thought deserved their partners and others I felt didn't. What was put up with, I suppose, fit with the era; I'm sure there were hen-pecked hubbies even back then, although I'd imagine it was rare and probably dependent on familial power, or possibly just a man being besotted.

A decent filler, rather than one to binge (which I didn't). Not one I'd choose to rewatch, but would if someone hadn't seen it and wanted to watch together.

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Light hearted entertainment

because there were so many couples to cover, each couple only had a few episodes worth of content. this made the show fast-paced and entertaining. the transition from one couple to another was also smooth and logical.

every couple in the show depicted different types of couples in real life.

1. the older lady / widowed lady with a younger man - this couple challenges social stigma. why did female lead make things so difficult for the male lead? because she rather live a peaceful life than to go through emotional rollercoasters again after losing a loved one.

2. strong wife, weak husband - provides a diff pov on why some wifes are just so fierce... simply because they think their husbands are not strong enough to take care of them, so they must act to ensure life gets better in future

3. rich man, poor woman - eventhough both of them are equally matched intellectually, outsiders (parents included) will always think the poorer side is trying to leach the richer side off

4. girl likes guy first - perseverence will pay off. how many guys can resist a beautiful girl who opens up about liking them first?

5. i hate you at first, but fall in love later kind of relationship - isn't that life? opposites attract

6. the grow up together couple... rare now but used to be the common thing in the past

i liked how the couples reflect the different types of relationships in society and liked how some of them had solid plots in their relationship development despite only having a few episodes of air time.

all in all, an enjoyable watch. ost not strong... at least i dont remember any outstanding songs

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The sisterhood of the traveling romance!

At first, I was only really interested in this because I have come from a family of 5 sisters myself. The story of family always hits home with me because I have a strong relationship with my parents and sisters. This did deliver on that front because the show was able to showcase the intense relationship the sisters have with each other as well as to their mother. I really liked how far they would go to support, protect, and even defend each other especially in times of crises and danger.

This show was pretty extensive because it covered the love stories for each of the five sisters! And it did it in 5 arcs as well. The episodes were broken down into parts that were dedicated to the romance and stories for each of the sisters. I think that made sense that it gave the focus to one couple and their love story. But since the whole series was about the family and the sisters, it still gave us glimpses and bits and pieces of how the other sisters and their lives are like as each sister and couple came back home. It does show how family dynamics work in a huge family, as well as how the personality of each sister really affects their relationships not just with their sisters and mother, but with their spouses and their family, too! It was pretty entertaining and I particularly liked some couples (like Li Kangning and Li Haode's story arcs).

I generally liked the entire series. It was enjoyable and refreshing. There was a good mix of romance and comedy, as well as suspense, action, and some drama. It did get a little predictable for each of the story arc. You get the same kind of plot for each of the couple - love/hate or enemies to lovers (something like that), then some family drama about the groom's family not being accepting of the bride and having to drive her out of their home, the groom being accused of something and having to give up the bride, wanting to or drawing up a divorce letter of some sort, then of course, getting back together... It kind of gets exhausting at the end because it happens about 5x. So in the end, it gets kind of boring and towards the end of the series, you just keep wanting it to just end. And honestly, since there are 5 stories, we really don't see all of the stories developed as much. We miss out on the details on the relationships of the other couples because they jump from one to another.

Overall, it lacked focus and depth because the storylines were all over the place. Would I still recommend the series? Yes. If you like some lighthearted romance and family drama and do not mind watching 36 episodes, try it out.

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Excellent watch

An excellent watch with a nice set of story plots. Narrated / Highlighted Sisterhood at the best.

Try not to bring your righteousness against the characters as they have flaws too, but the misunderstandings / flaws are cleared / handled pretty fast / smooth (or took a comedic undertone which compensated the hard plots).

Character Growth!! Yes, it was there for all the 5 male leads, but the characters of the FL were straight up (not much changes) from start to end of the series. 4th sister had some character growth being a weak to being a strong willed lady which was smooth adding to the sharpy smoothness of the story.

You can feel with the First sister couple, enjoy the bickering of the Third Sister couple, like the couple bonding / innocence with the Second sister couple, live the excitement of the adventures through the Fourth sister couple and at last love the kiddish fights / budding fondness of the Fifth siter couple <3

An overall power-packed series without any dull episodes throughout - Enjoyable to the core!!

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Surprisingly a great watch, quite relaxing, feel good drama

There was never a dull moment in this feel-good kind of drama, my only regret is that it ended. I wish there were more siblings to get married or 20 more episodes😂 That's my wishful thinking.

The 3rd sibling was shown as quite eloquent and her pair were an exceptional match, while the 5th one was too funny when she beat people around her, wish she had shown more love to her pair, her way of showing love was beating people to pulp. The 4th pair was good when it came to character development, though it could have been better for the 1st and 2nd pairs. The second-pair guy was funny. The romance between the 1st and 2nd pairs was never shown well. The romance between the 1st pair seemed lifeless — it didn’t feel convincing, and the characters felt stiff. It felt like a disappointment because I was really looking forward to it.

Having said that, you will eventually love all the characters for sure, because the minor things I listed don’t take away the charm of this drama.

The wedding clothes were beautiful and pretty, however, the everyday clothes were quite dull for everyone and repetitive. Wished they had more costume.

Cons - the last 2-3 episodes felt rushed, they could have shown some more romance between the 5th sibling and her pair. Also the romance between the sixth pair seemed non-existent, they were suddenly brought together, if she was adopted then why did her mother-in-law not treat her well from the start and show some love, the mother-in-law started looking after the adopted one only after she made a mistake, Anyways they could have shown some more affection towards the adopted girl

Music — non-existent, although background soft music was a good choice in most scenes.

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One Cozy Costume Chinese Drama

This female-centric show was so warm and cozy. It had the perfect mixture of comedy, familial relationship, romance, business, politics, sad moments, happy moments.. everything!

This drama features the story of Mrs. Li as she settles down with her family in Bianjing and seeks suitors for her 4 (or 5) unmarried daughters. The story was well-written and well-paced with several episodes allotted to focus on the story of each daughter.

The first part of this drama focuses on the third daughter's story, which includes the second daughter's marriage problems, as well as the Li family settling down and building a business in Bianjing. The second part of this drama focuses on the first daughter's marriage followed by the third part focusing on the fourth daughter's marriage. Then comes the story of the youngest daughter's marriage. Lastly, we get to see how the Li family's adopted daughter gets her happily ever after with a twist in the end.

I love how each woman in the Li family has their own unique personalities and we can see clearly how their stories connect in this drama. My favorite scene in this drama is when the Li sisters or the Li son-in-laws would meet to discuss their game plan or confide with one another. The Li sisters scenes are definitely empowering and gives me a pump of adrenaline because I always look forward to the creative ideas they have to solve their problems. Whereas the Li son-in-laws scenes are hilarious (even when the story is actually sad) because they're so soft for their wives and they bond over the Li women domineering traits.

One thing I wish they could've improved is to add more scenes of the growing Li family in the end. This drama closes with the family celebrating Madam Li's birthday and a new storefront sign for the Li business. I wish they could add more scenes of the grandchildren playing around and the big family celebrating together instead of only showing Madam Li, the daughters, son-in-laws, one granddaughter, and staffs just staying still celebrating the birthday and the new signage. However, this was just something good to have as the ending of this drama was already pleasant and cozy.

I have to also give credits for the production. The color grading, set, outfit, hairdo, makeup, sfx, everything was done flawlessly. The producers also did a very great job at the casting because each actor suits their characters so well! The actors also did a great job at bringing their characters to life. Ni Hong Jie was definitely hilarious as Madam Li. The actors playing the Li daughters and son-in-laws each did a great job at portraying their respective character's unique personality. Not to mention, other supporting actors also did a great job as well. I am quite surprised that Zeng Shun Xi played the emperor though. The casting was definitely high-quality!

All in all, this was one cozy, heartwarming, and funny drama that I personally enjoyed a lot. Definitely recommended for those wanting to watch a rather light family drama over food or while snugging in your favorite blanket.

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Perfect Trash

What a colossal waste of talents! The writer and director have managed to turn what could have been a lovely drama into an unbearable mess. By Episode 17, the idiotic script and nonsensical plot twists became too much to endure. It’s heartbreaking to see such talented actors and actresses squandered on this trainwreck of a production. They should rename this drama *Perfect Trash* because it’s anything but a *Perfect Match*.

I’m genuinely baffled as to why Netflix chose to feature this when there are countless superior C-dramas out there. This is a disservice to viewers who expect quality and sensical content. Such a disappointing letdown.

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