Spring Fever

Bittersweet Jiejie Romance

She’s a CEO in an artists company focused on classical music, engaged to a renowned music professor out of family interests. She wants the company that belonged to her mum (you know the trope, step mum/ sibling)
And there’s a piano wunderkind out of a working class family, his mum died in a hit & run, his father lies comatose in a hospital. He works several jobs just to get by, his place at the academy had to be given up.
And then they meet. There’s a chance for spring. Hope.


This is an outstanding drama. It’s a bitter sweet jiejie romance which is carefully layered with several motives (betrayal, deceit, duplicity, a spider web of interests). Music is a central part of the drama.
She hurt her hand and can’t play the violin anymore and he can’t play his instrument either, he lacks the means.
There’s Brahms, a genius composer in the romanticism, the ml draws a comparison between his hopeless love to Jiang and Brahms’ to the older and married Clara Schumann. They’re both damaged, wounded warriors in their own way.

Yesterday, I reviewed a drama and said “I don’t like melo.” That’s still true. But it’s as well true that some dramas are melodramatic and I love them because they’re simply excellent and not one note *same problem, no solution, rinse repeat* which is the reason why I dislike melo, but layered, intricately so. To enjoy it, expect a good Woody Allen movie vibe (yes, he’s a despicable human being, but e.g. Blue Jasmine is a fantastic movie).

You can’t help but watch what’s unfolding and though the leitmotif is melo, it’s so much more.

Is this a rave review? 😇 It is. When I’ve watched a drama and at the end want to rewatch immediately, just to catch nuances that escaped me the first time, it gets high marks in my books.

**MXY** surprised me with his range, he was sweet, naive and a dreamer. I nearly cried (rare). He has grown so much as an actor, I’m curious what he’ll do next.

And the fl **Jeana Ho** is a cold calculating CEO, experienced and jaded - her arc is an exciting one, she’s so detached and you may wonder if she’ll be able to build an emotional bond with this sensitive and trusting didi.

Very good performance from both.

*Quality* - high, all in all. And I won’t add “for a vertical” because we’ve all seen a pronounced upwards trend the last months.

**Recommendation**

Definitely. It’ll get you hooked and reeled in. But don’t watch when you want to forget what you’ve seen ten minutes later. It won’t work.

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An ambiguous drama between Younger man/Older Woman

I was excited when i watched this in this year since i found decent sub in this drama and it turns out it was decent. Even they claimed this drama had Hongkong style but i don't feel any Hongkong vibe at all (Maybe because Jeana Ho was Hongkong citizen).

The plot is about FL knows her fiancé was getting affair. She remained calm but actually she was slightly emotional, but simply went to drink and vent with family and friends. It was at this moment that the she met ML. And then ambiguous relationship between FL and ML started.

Their romance was captivating; the older sister was mature and charming, the younger brother innocent but emotionally expressive, and the age and social gap created a turbulent relationship. It was rare to see Ma Xiaoyu in younger brother role and the age gap in real life was real and the casting was right. Personally the chemistry between him and Jeana Ho were not overflowing but it was still sufficient to watch since they had ambiguous relationship at first they met.

The sibling relation between FL and her older sister are so strong and their dynamic seems decent to see. But i felt ML's younger brother presence was too weak in terms of acting while he was actually was the key of this drama.

The ending felt a bit ambiguous; it didn't clarify whether the ML died or not, nor did it explain the fate of the FL's father and FL ex fiancé. The cons in this drama the final stab felt a bit unnecessary.

Still recommended despite the flaws.

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