Begin Again (2024)

"We all have the right to choose what makes us happy"

The life that is happening now. There is no frenetic action that leaves you anxious to see what will follow. Just bits and pieces of life. Just, as one of the main characters says, moments that remain to exist forever in parallel space-time, not linearly.
Both female protagonists have a fear of commitment, and both male protagonists strive to experience love.

It's a series that has sadness, tranquility, passion, trepidation, beautiful cityscapes, copious amounts of food, Macau - enchanting day and night, great music that reflects the frozen moments.

A series that looks at the place of relationships in life, of work, of family.

The actors are very real, the situations are not fictional, but ones that can be experienced every day.

Two main couples, lots of additional characters, in the second part of the series they added another bunch of characters whose relationships the viewer follows, but unlike other commenters, I don't think it hinders the series, on the contrary, it broadens the perspective.

Cinematically, the series is very different from the usual Asian series and is more reminiscent of a European series.

Some quotes from the series that reflect the authors' conception:

"We all have the right to choose what makes us happy"

"We all want to make money, but we don't make enough. So not enjoying your life, at the expense of making money, would be a waste."

" Our lives are hectic and every landscape we pass by is a unique little poem."

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Drama Travelogue

The main couple in this drama were interesting and Warm. He was lovely and natural. His character held the rest together. The female lead was a sad, work abused workaholic with no life outside of her job. I am hoping that she extricates herserl from her empty life. The second couple of pretentious characters were really boring and misplaced. It was like watching 2 separate dramas. I was sorry Elvis had such a boring role. The warmth of the lovely lead's family was really nice. Their restaurant was a meeting place for the community. I didn't undersatnd why there were so many glamourous females in the pretentious couple's story. Neither of them gave off any depth or significance Just thrill seekers. Sadly China seems to have caught up with the US in terms of workaholic , money chasing, fake people. That is sad. Chinese Period Dramas leave the present day life ones look shallow and overly westernised.

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Mediocre melodrama story, but good cinematography of Macau.

Begin Again is a melodrama about young professionals who crossed paths in Macau and found inspiration for the meaning of life and love for each other.

The story is mediocre, and the ensemble's acting is the same. I love Elaine Zhong and Elvis Han, but the characters they portrayed in this drama were not that exciting. However, I love the cinematography of the city of Macau; it makes me want to visit it since I have not been there.

Synopsis: In the bustling city of Macau, where glittering high-rises and traditional districts co-exist in the same space, there's always something interesting taking place. Free-spirited art curator Chen Jia Hui has lived in Macau for years but lacks inspiration. Unexpectedly, she crosses paths with professional race car driver Han Jun Hao, who's come to Macau to participate in the International GT Cup. Although he's past his career prime, he's finally determined to win – or lose – on the track. Ambitious, career-minded Mai You Ge travels alone to Macau due to an urgent task from her company. Still, setbacks have her questioning whether she's made the right choices in life. She meets "Macau know-it-all" Xu Jun Le, whose carefree personality seems the opposite of hers. Still, his upbeat demeanor might be just a front. Will the magic of Macau help them all find their place in the world?

My Reviews:
1. Acting: 7
2. Script: 6
3. Music/OST: 6
4, Production Quality: 6
5. Cinematography: 8

Overall Rating: 7

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Too many storylines

The drama follows the story of 4 main characters: Elvis, Joe, Mai and Le.
Elvis is a frustrated racer, who is starting to feel the weight of age without an substancial achievement in his career. Joe is an art curator that is scared of love. Mai is a workaholic whose whole lifestyle revolves around work. Lee is a laid back guy who seems to know everyone around the city. All of them are brought together in the charming city of Macao, where everything happens.
I very excited at the beginning, especially because it is directed by the same director from Fake it 'Till you Make it, one of my favorite dramas. Considering this, the scenes are beautifully shot and the soundtrack is amazing and able to convey the mood of each scene. However, from middle to end, the drama started to loose track of itself by the huge amount of storylines that are shown in such a short amount of episodes. The main characters are completely overshadowed by supporting characters that I honestly did not care about at all. We had episodes dedicated to them, and that made the main storylines loose their impact.

I will try to summarize my opinions in topics, so it won't be confusing:

- Casey and Frank's storyline felt out of place and weird. Although the show tried to portray some sort of mother-son/friendly relationthip, at times, it almost felt romantic, which was disturbing to me. I believe this happened because Frank does not act like a child and Casey does not act like an adult.

- Jia's parents' storyline was terribly boring. I just did not care at all about these characters that were introduced in the middle of the drama and completely destroyed the leads' screentime. It was also unberable to watch her father completely neglecting his current wife with his ex wife.

- Xu and Jia were a couple that I was not interested at all. The only good part about the screentime they received, was to solve the issues between Xu and his father.

- Xu and Le's parents were great. I only wish they would spend more time on them. The mom was amazing and very wise.

- Elvis and Joe were a boring couple. Because they started their relationship too early, it felt like there was no build up to their romance at all. At the end, Joe breaking up with him without allowing him to explain the situation seemed as a dragging plot device, especially considering that both had hidden intentions for starting the relationship. I also did not like how much they brushed it off Elvis struggles as a racer. Since they needed to add these new characters, his concerns about his career were shown in a very superficial way, which belittled the impact of his victory at the end.

- Le and Mai were the only reason that made me finish the drama and I was disappointed. The open ending they gave them broke my heart. They were the best couple in the show, with a perfect build up and such an amazing chemistry. He was charming and she was cute, and they were a delight to watch. I had butterflies everytime he looked at her and all of their interactions made me giggle. Also, I believe the complications of their relationship felt real. His laid back mindset was the complete opposite of her attachment to her lifestyle. That is why her rejection to his confession did not caught me off guard at all. However, I was not expecting their reunion as an open ending in the last minutes of the last episode. Especially because they spend the whole finale wrapping up the other uninteresting storylines.

In general, things felt rushed and superficial. If they had spent more time on the actual main characters and their struggles, the show would make more sense and the message would be conveyed in a clearer way. Half of the show seemed like a waste, and that made me very dissapointed.

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