cdramawho's vertical cdrama ranking (adaptations)

First up is Guo Fen Ye. This "Guo Fen Ye" (过分野) by Niao Song Mi (鸟松米) is of course a web novel and it is a romance novel at that. As a big fan of vertical cdramas, I am someone whose whole page is committed to these dramas and Guo Fen Ye is arguably my favorite romance vertical drama. Here, I will break down a bit about each version and give some small spoilers/warnings as well as rank the romance itself in each version that's currently listed on MDL. 

Story: In Guo Fen Ye, the main character Song Shuang Xu is a discarded illegitimate child from the wealthy Song family. Having been taken in by the equally wealthy Shen family, she develops an unhealthy attachment to her adopted brother, Shen Yu. Once this attachment/crush is discovered and exposed, she is sent abroad to avoid a scandal. 5 years later, she returns and the scandal becomes the hot gossip topic amongst the circles in which she runs. As her adopted brother, Shen Yu, gets engaged, this causes some tension in her adopted and biological families - though they seem to be the only ones really worried about this. Now that she's back, Song Shuang Xu enters into a sort-of contract relationship with one of her adopted brother's childhood friends, He Ting Zhou and the two fall in love. 

Genre: Romance/Drama

1. Guo Fen Ye 

Starring Jin Jia Yu and Huang Yun Yun, this version is the original story and is by far my favorite version. Personally, in my own head, Huang Yun Yun is an actress I know as being good at romance. When I think of her, I think passionate romance and passionate kisses in her dramas. Any time I see a drama with her in it, I know it's going to be good. The same can be said for Jin Jia Yu. With that being said, they do have some very passionate kisses in this series. Where other versions of this web novel have some sexual relationship to them, this one moreso builds on the romance entirely and while we have our passionate kisses in this version, there's really no sexual relationship in this one. It's entirely romantic. 

This is a big reason for me liking this version as well. Without even a sexual-based relationship, these two give off such good chemistry together and deliver the romance us romance fans adore. This one is my number one. I give it a 10/10 every time. 

2. Guo Fen Ye Zhi Ting Shang Shuang

Number two on this list is Guo Fen Ye Zhi Ting Shang Shuang. This adaptation stars Lan Bo/Sun Jia Qi and Sun Qian Yu, with the 2ML being Qin Yi. Again, I'm mainly ranking these based off the romance aspect as that is 99% of the story itself outside of the drama of it. That being said, I ranked this as number two since the leads' chemistry was soooo good. It took me a long time to pick my number two between this one and number three though, considering they're both incredibly good. In this version, SPOILER: There is a strong and graphic attempted SA scene and personally, I did not like that about this version. I personally felt the scene was too much and that it lasted far too long before she was rescued. With that aside, again, this version is very steamy. The kisses are great imo and that's one thing we romance fans really enjoy about out romance novels/dramas. The two had great on-screen chemistry that really sold the romance to the audience. 

3. Tai Zi Ye Ta Guo Fen Ye

Starring Han Yu Tong and Zeng Hui with the 2ML being Li Hao, this one ranks at third for me personally. As I stated previously, it was extremely difficult for me to rank the first 3 considering they were all SOOO good. The chemistry in this one as well gives a lot of what romance fans are looking for. The kisses are passionate, and the on-screen chemistry is amazing. For anyone who doesn't know, the two leads are actually a real-life couple and i feel that really gave this the extra romance edge, personally. I've seen a lot of this couple's collabs and they're always very good together in romance stories. Han Yu Tong's performance as the FL felt very genuine and raw and Zeng Hui did amaze with his own character. Another version I'd give a 10/10 rating. The romance aspect really was delivered well here. 

4. Lian Nian Bu Wang

Starring Cao Tian Kai and Zhang Shan with the 2ML being Gao Wei, this version was equally as difficult to place as the story is so good that all crews/versions were amazing but it ultimately ranks 4th in my list due to a lack of the more complex storyline that's revealed in other versions. 

5. Affectionate Acacia 

This adaptation ranks 5th on my list solely due to Zhang Yun Tao carrying the romance. While I equally adore Zhang Yun Tao and Fang Lei as leads, the kiss scenes were VERY awkward. I'm not sure if it was Fang Lei who just doesn't like these passionate kiss scenes or what went down in filming to make them so awkward, but that's the only word I can truly find to define it. All other aspects were SO GOOD. It gave just as much good chemistry in the romance department, minus the kiss scenes. It probably would've been ranked higher if not for the sheer awkwardness. 

6. I'm Waiting For You to See Me

Starring Chen Si and Liu Xi Yu, this version/adaptation was also particularly good! I enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads and it gave me everything I wanted from a romance drama. This was again 10/10 portrayal of this story. 

7. Stealing Kisses  

This adaptation stars Wang Kai Mu and Wang Yun Yun. These two absolutely delivered the romance and it should have a higher spot on this list for chemistry alone but despite their good chemistry, something always felt off to me about the romance plot/chemistry outside kisses in this version. All in all, I'd still give it a 10/10, personally. 

8. Lure Step By Step

This version stars Bao Zhi Yu and Zou Ke Jun with the 2ML being Gu Ming Han. As with the others, I felt that this one gave us the desired chemistry between leads and was phenomenal in performance. It ranks so low simply because it was not in my top favorite versions. Otherwise, it was just as good as the other adaptations. Again, I'd give it a 10/10. 

9. Pregnancy Before Love

Starring Chen Yun Ting and Wang Xiao Yi with Wei Ruo Chen as the 2ML, this version was VERY good as well. Simply, this version seemed to go a bit off the rails and detach from the story at points. It felt more like he was begging for her to even look at him in this version compared to all others. Where the on-screen chemistry and kiss scenes were good, it felt wildly disconnected from the plot at times. This is the only version where she ends up pregnant and makes pregnancy a part of the plot. Her unplanned pregnancy and resistance to the ML despite already being pregnant with his baby is mainly what makes this one the bottom ranking. Other than that, the chemistry itself is top-notch, and I did feel this could have been one of my top favorites if the script was handled differently. That was maybe the only thing I didn't like about this version.