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Falling in Love with a Rival chinese drama review
Completed
Falling in Love with a Rival
3 people found this review helpful
by NLE
Jun 21, 2025
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 6.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 6.0

A Decade-Old BL That Doesn’t Hold Up to Its Remake

After watching 4 out of 24 episodes of the 2025 remake Revenged Love (which I’m loving so far and is one of my favorites this year!), I decided to check out the original 2015 Falling in Love with a Rival to see how it compares. Let’s just say, it doesn't quite measure up.

The series is much shorter than Revenged Love (8 episodes at 20 minutes each + a 10-minute special), and while there are no snake scenes like in the remake (which I didn’t mind), it still doesn’t hold the same charm. The plot was messy and felt like scenes were just cut and pasted together, with no real flow. 🌀

The rooms and sets were outdated for a 2015 series—honestly, Addicted (2016) had better visuals. While I liked the chemistry between Chi Cheng and Wu Suo Wei, some of their movements were awkward and didn’t feel natural at all. Even their uncut kissing scenes were poorly shot. 😬

The second couple had only about 2 minutes of screen time, which was a huge disappointment since Revenged Love really focuses on them. 😞

Overall, while I did enjoy a few scenes, the remake is definitely the superior version. If you’re curious, I’d recommend checking out Revenged Love first!
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