Shine on the Photovoltaic and Health-Tech Industries.
4 points for chronicling and marketing the breakthrough of photovoltaic (PV) tech and the advancement of neuroscience and health-tech industries in China.
1 point for the story of this drama.
Makes 5 points in total.
Why? The two industries are pursuing just purposes in their individual field of work. One is focused on environmental sustainability, while the other is on solving crucial health problems. But the story in which their work was incorporated had no real purpose beyond promoting the industries, and maybe some business management skills. The story lacked depth and substance, and the characters in it were average at best. Perhaps it is safe to say the purpose of the story was to help put the achievement of these industries out there for the world to see.
Tiny feedback for other industries doing great work and want to use the drama industry to market themselves in the future. Please try to ensure that the story you choose to embed your industry in has as much depth and substance as the work you engage in. The story should be just as meaningful and founded on a just purpose as well.
I debated within myself whether I should write this review a few episodes from the end of the drama or if I should not bother. But after learning that the drama was more of a promotional effort for the PV and health-tech industries in China and then watching how the last episode played out, I felt I should write this review.
While the drama was running, I asked myself why there was so much detail about the two industries but no depth and substance in the story. I thought, how could the writer do such excellent work researching both industries to provide so much information about them, but then had very little going for the story and the characters in it. I was like, if only the writer had put as much effort into the story as she did for the two industries, the drama would have been fantastic. But in the end, it was a letdown, even with the hook of the male and female lead's loving relationship and the happy ending. Anyways, with what I know now, it all makes sense. The promotional effort was impressive, and both industries made it out unscathed. But the story of this drama, though, did not. By the way, the product placement for the other brands was also good.
So, in the end, this really was a marketing drama for me. Because going forward, I will remember the information about China’s PV tech and neuroscience advancement, but not so much about the drama itself except that it was a letdown. In fact, I have already forgotten what happened in some episodes because they were so boring and the pacing was extremely slow that I had to speed up some scenes. Especially those overly long flashbacks and some conversations that involved unnecessary details, and too much time was spent on them.
So many things were off in this drama but the main ones for me were the lack of depth, substance, purpose, and the poor characterization of most of the characters who all had no real development. The industries promoted had more character development than the characters in the story. Also, some themes and messaging in the story were contradictory, while others were self-defeating. Like highlighting the subject of ‘principles over emotions’ and then completely ignoring moral principles.
I have always loved how many c-dramas from ancient to especially modern times have made their male leads embrace the Chinese traditional relationship approach of the man treating the woman he loves with utmost respect, as invaluable or irreplaceable to him, and doing everything in his power to protect her moral reputation. The family of the girl/woman does the same. The man will not hold her hands even when they are friends, as depicted in this modern drama. So why is it that, after the leads in the drama fall for each other, the man who supposedly has great integrity and is somewhat naive in relationships could no longer control himself. And rather than propose to the woman he loves and marry her first, he takes her into his house and sleeps with her before any commitment is made?
Next was the chemistry between the leads. They did have chemistry, but the excessive kissing and PDA scenes drowned it out and left no room for the actors to show it in a natural and compelling way. The kissing scenes did not enhance their chemistry but were a cheap ploy to pander to people's lustful desires, luring and reeling them in to continue watching a drama that had little going for it in terms of depth and substance. (Explains the high ratings). Then the kissing started to take longer and ridiculously extended that it became irritating and unbearable.
Actors can actually have great onscreen chemistry and intimacy without any kissing and excessive PDA. There are a couple of c-dramas I have watched in which the actors were given the chance to display their chemistry beautifully and compellingly, allowing the audience to feel and truly appreciate their talent.
Then what was with the character and casting of the second male lead? The only thing that was believable about the guy's character was that he came from a poor background and was brilliant. Other than this, there was nothing else. The actor probably has some good looks, but even after he had started working at the bank, he was still made to be ugly, his haircut was a mess, and his wardrobe was still appalling. His overall appearance was just shabby. C'mon. At least give the male lead a fair competition.
Saying the second male lead became an investment banker was a joke because he looked like the mail boy in the office. Even his male colleagues looked and dressed better than he did. The guy had genuine emotional issues and other struggles but the story did not explore this in-depth as it should. Rather, the qualities his character was made to project were pride, arrogance and entitlement. Anyway, he was allowed to look pretty good in the last episode so thanks for that at least.
All was not lost in this drama, though, as some characters were a delight to watch and memorable. These were Xi Guang’s cousin, his father (Xi Guang’s uncle), and Lin Yu Sen’s mum. I had hoped to see them in the last episode but they were a no-show. Not even at the wedding for crying out loud.
For the leads, Xi Guang’s character had some flesh but the actress who played the role did not have much to work with. On the other hand, Yu Sen’s character was too unreal and the actor’s delivery was rather weak. But I loved his performance in Youthful Glory.
About the last episode and the ending of the drama. The last episode was focused on the industries again and the two leads. Only a few scrapings for some of the other characters. As to the ending? I have said in one of my reviews of other c-dramas that it seems writers in the c-drama industry do not know how to write good endings. And it is not about the endings being happy or sad but about them being bad. There have been a few exceptions I have seen, though, even in the past year 2025. But sadly, Shine on Me was just another c-drama with a bad ending.
It was like people have complained so much about the sad, horrific endings of many c-dramas that this drama was designed to shove a “happy ending” down everyone’s throat so we all SHUT UP. It was such a cheesy, clichéd and boring happy ending. Nothing creative or interesting about it. Then I could not help but notice that there was no genuine bonding between the female lead and her daughter. She treated her daughter as though the little girl were another artificial intelligence (AI) like the one her husband interacted with at the brain center. Lol.
Oh, I almost forgot. Please, what was with the OST? You are still singing, “...could we ever be close, you and me…our love is going to find a way…” for the leads when they are now married, living together, and even have a lovely little girl? They are inseparable and their love has already found a way! Those English songs did not work at all.
In all, this drama bears semblance to the typical old American soap operas with their clichéd themes of old money vs new money, family-owned conglomerates, infidelity, inheritance battle, rich kids being center of attention, splurging, etc., like The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, Dynasty, Dallas, etc.
Shine on Me had a lot of potential and opportunity to explore some strong, meaningful themes and messaging, but it did not take advantage of these. As a story, it lacked depth, substance, and purpose, with a weak plot and very loose subplots riddled with holes and no closure. What it had going for it were product placement, kissing and PDAs, overly lifting women, and fashion. Overall, it turned out to be another trite romantic tale, barely okay for passing the time during a holiday season.
By the way, I believe we should all be a light to one another in our relationships and in this world, rather than seek someone else's light to shine on us while we soak it all up. Seek to be a light in your own right instead.
1 point for the story of this drama.
Makes 5 points in total.
Why? The two industries are pursuing just purposes in their individual field of work. One is focused on environmental sustainability, while the other is on solving crucial health problems. But the story in which their work was incorporated had no real purpose beyond promoting the industries, and maybe some business management skills. The story lacked depth and substance, and the characters in it were average at best. Perhaps it is safe to say the purpose of the story was to help put the achievement of these industries out there for the world to see.
Tiny feedback for other industries doing great work and want to use the drama industry to market themselves in the future. Please try to ensure that the story you choose to embed your industry in has as much depth and substance as the work you engage in. The story should be just as meaningful and founded on a just purpose as well.
I debated within myself whether I should write this review a few episodes from the end of the drama or if I should not bother. But after learning that the drama was more of a promotional effort for the PV and health-tech industries in China and then watching how the last episode played out, I felt I should write this review.
While the drama was running, I asked myself why there was so much detail about the two industries but no depth and substance in the story. I thought, how could the writer do such excellent work researching both industries to provide so much information about them, but then had very little going for the story and the characters in it. I was like, if only the writer had put as much effort into the story as she did for the two industries, the drama would have been fantastic. But in the end, it was a letdown, even with the hook of the male and female lead's loving relationship and the happy ending. Anyways, with what I know now, it all makes sense. The promotional effort was impressive, and both industries made it out unscathed. But the story of this drama, though, did not. By the way, the product placement for the other brands was also good.
So, in the end, this really was a marketing drama for me. Because going forward, I will remember the information about China’s PV tech and neuroscience advancement, but not so much about the drama itself except that it was a letdown. In fact, I have already forgotten what happened in some episodes because they were so boring and the pacing was extremely slow that I had to speed up some scenes. Especially those overly long flashbacks and some conversations that involved unnecessary details, and too much time was spent on them.
So many things were off in this drama but the main ones for me were the lack of depth, substance, purpose, and the poor characterization of most of the characters who all had no real development. The industries promoted had more character development than the characters in the story. Also, some themes and messaging in the story were contradictory, while others were self-defeating. Like highlighting the subject of ‘principles over emotions’ and then completely ignoring moral principles.
I have always loved how many c-dramas from ancient to especially modern times have made their male leads embrace the Chinese traditional relationship approach of the man treating the woman he loves with utmost respect, as invaluable or irreplaceable to him, and doing everything in his power to protect her moral reputation. The family of the girl/woman does the same. The man will not hold her hands even when they are friends, as depicted in this modern drama. So why is it that, after the leads in the drama fall for each other, the man who supposedly has great integrity and is somewhat naive in relationships could no longer control himself. And rather than propose to the woman he loves and marry her first, he takes her into his house and sleeps with her before any commitment is made?
Next was the chemistry between the leads. They did have chemistry, but the excessive kissing and PDA scenes drowned it out and left no room for the actors to show it in a natural and compelling way. The kissing scenes did not enhance their chemistry but were a cheap ploy to pander to people's lustful desires, luring and reeling them in to continue watching a drama that had little going for it in terms of depth and substance. (Explains the high ratings). Then the kissing started to take longer and ridiculously extended that it became irritating and unbearable.
Actors can actually have great onscreen chemistry and intimacy without any kissing and excessive PDA. There are a couple of c-dramas I have watched in which the actors were given the chance to display their chemistry beautifully and compellingly, allowing the audience to feel and truly appreciate their talent.
Then what was with the character and casting of the second male lead? The only thing that was believable about the guy's character was that he came from a poor background and was brilliant. Other than this, there was nothing else. The actor probably has some good looks, but even after he had started working at the bank, he was still made to be ugly, his haircut was a mess, and his wardrobe was still appalling. His overall appearance was just shabby. C'mon. At least give the male lead a fair competition.
Saying the second male lead became an investment banker was a joke because he looked like the mail boy in the office. Even his male colleagues looked and dressed better than he did. The guy had genuine emotional issues and other struggles but the story did not explore this in-depth as it should. Rather, the qualities his character was made to project were pride, arrogance and entitlement. Anyway, he was allowed to look pretty good in the last episode so thanks for that at least.
All was not lost in this drama, though, as some characters were a delight to watch and memorable. These were Xi Guang’s cousin, his father (Xi Guang’s uncle), and Lin Yu Sen’s mum. I had hoped to see them in the last episode but they were a no-show. Not even at the wedding for crying out loud.
For the leads, Xi Guang’s character had some flesh but the actress who played the role did not have much to work with. On the other hand, Yu Sen’s character was too unreal and the actor’s delivery was rather weak. But I loved his performance in Youthful Glory.
About the last episode and the ending of the drama. The last episode was focused on the industries again and the two leads. Only a few scrapings for some of the other characters. As to the ending? I have said in one of my reviews of other c-dramas that it seems writers in the c-drama industry do not know how to write good endings. And it is not about the endings being happy or sad but about them being bad. There have been a few exceptions I have seen, though, even in the past year 2025. But sadly, Shine on Me was just another c-drama with a bad ending.
It was like people have complained so much about the sad, horrific endings of many c-dramas that this drama was designed to shove a “happy ending” down everyone’s throat so we all SHUT UP. It was such a cheesy, clichéd and boring happy ending. Nothing creative or interesting about it. Then I could not help but notice that there was no genuine bonding between the female lead and her daughter. She treated her daughter as though the little girl were another artificial intelligence (AI) like the one her husband interacted with at the brain center. Lol.
Oh, I almost forgot. Please, what was with the OST? You are still singing, “...could we ever be close, you and me…our love is going to find a way…” for the leads when they are now married, living together, and even have a lovely little girl? They are inseparable and their love has already found a way! Those English songs did not work at all.
In all, this drama bears semblance to the typical old American soap operas with their clichéd themes of old money vs new money, family-owned conglomerates, infidelity, inheritance battle, rich kids being center of attention, splurging, etc., like The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, Dynasty, Dallas, etc.
Shine on Me had a lot of potential and opportunity to explore some strong, meaningful themes and messaging, but it did not take advantage of these. As a story, it lacked depth, substance, and purpose, with a weak plot and very loose subplots riddled with holes and no closure. What it had going for it were product placement, kissing and PDAs, overly lifting women, and fashion. Overall, it turned out to be another trite romantic tale, barely okay for passing the time during a holiday season.
By the way, I believe we should all be a light to one another in our relationships and in this world, rather than seek someone else's light to shine on us while we soak it all up. Seek to be a light in your own right instead.
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