Flawed Characters Done Well, Amazing Show
I've mostly avoided modern C-Dramas because of a common trope that they used to love: cold, aloof male leads who act dominantly and somewhat aggressive towards the female leads paired with overly cutesy almost childlike female leads. I found these type of dramas cringe and unwatchable.Recently, I've been pleasantly surprised by modern C-Dramas though and "Lighter and Princess" is one of them. Here are the points I really enjoyed and why I'd recommend it:
(A few Spoilers ahead)
- Flawed characters who aren't squeaky clean, pure and perfect as in many C-Dramas:
The male lead is not your typical C-Drama hero; even though he is cold and aloof as in many other popular dramas, he's annoyingly arrogant, know-it-all, socially awkward and snarky. He's too blunt and although a genius, he openly looks down on everyone. He doesn't care if he hurts someone's feelings. But there's a self destructive energy to him which makes him almost eager to prove everyone who hates him right. It's like he wants to say "yes, I'm as bad as they say I am. In fact, I'm even worse." He doesn't want to be liked and even says to the female lead "I don't like you" straight to her face. His attitude makes perfect sense for a gifted genius from a poor family; someone who's to smart for his own good. He struggled from early age and accepted his fate, and everytime life gave him a second chance fate took a different turn so he developed a coping mechanism to protect himself from disappointment. It's very understandable that he keeps everyone at arm's length.
- Female lead with attitude
The ML meets his match because no other girl could handle a guy like him than a spoiled but smart and kindhearted girl. Her instant attraction paired with dislike against him was very relatable and the way she enjoyed fighting with him was very fun to watch. She's the type of heroine I most like in dramas: girls who are brave, speak up and smart at the same time.
- A love story that makes sense
She was emotionally intelligent to see through his armor, she was self confident enough to not be his lackey and that was exactly the reason why he even spared her a second glance. Their love story made perfect sence because a guy like him and a girl like her could have anyone - it's obvious they'd be interested in each other. They were a perfect match because she's way too smart for most guys, and he's not only book smart but street smart and she can look up to him. She's smart enough to understand him, even when he doesn't say things out loud. She grew up rich and spoiled, so material things don't matter to her - both her and him want to fight for a bigger cause, and that's why they also click so well. Their connection goes beyond just cutesy stuff, they actually have very compatible personalities which is shown in the way they enjoy teasing each other but also working together. They're a team.
- The conflicts make sense
We all hate badly written plots with stupid misunderstandings that could totally be avoided. But Lighter and Princess has a conflict arc that makes total sense. Li Xun was most likely experiencing something like post-traumatic stress syndrome due to the grief and had something like a tunnel vision. He knew what he needed to do and he also knew he didn't want Zhu Yun to suffer any damage from it. When Li Xun met Zhu Yun's parents it seemed like a small part of him had hoped for them to believe in him but instead he noticed they were never going to accept him. When he acted up in front of Zhu Yun's parents he was releasing the frustration he felt of being looked down upon, and knowing that people like her parents would never want to understand people like him (different social classes). I could understand his frustration and why he'd rather not face the humiliation of trying to please Zhu Yun's parents. Maybe he was smart enough to know it was a losing game. He also felt self destructive, and this is a trait many geniuses share. They self sabotage. The whole conflict between them seemed pretty realistic to me.
Also the build up of the one sided rivalry that Old Gao felt for him was very well done and it made complete sense that he would turn on Li Xun, and it was even Li Xun's own fault for being way to arrogant and too blunt in his way with his friends.
-Enemies to Friends to Lovers trope well done
I love how they had this trope multiple times because of their conflict and their breakup. Also their dynamic was so nice that even after they were in a relationship, he still kept being a closed book and kept her guessing, which was also realistic because he wouldn't just change simply because they were in love. So it was still not boring to watch because there was still a struggle for her to deal with, even after they confessed.
-The styling was realistic
I honestly struggle with some of the weird clothes the male leads wear in modern C-Dramas and I loved how they styled both of them - it was super realistic, especially with regards to the years the storyline was takin place in. Sometimes, especially in K-Dramas, they still dress characters in pretty modern clothing even though the story is in the past (Lovely Runner is a good example - they wore modern clothes instead of clothes from 2007/2008 fashion). But here they dressed Li Xun in simple 2012-style, especially with the skinny jeans for guys, and then later on he was styled according to 2018 fashion. With Zhu Yun they also managed to give her a college girl aesthetic and then style her in an elegant grown up way when she was 25. They did a great job!
- Overall message
I also enjoyed that this drama had an actual message and wasn't just a cute fluffy romcom. The way it adressed themes like justice and lack of justice (especially for male offenders), friendship and jealousy (and the way girls dealt with jealousy/envy vs. the boys - that was interesting), how choices impact your whole life, what to do with your talents (do good vs just earn money), living your life vs living out your parents' expecations, etc. I really enjoyed the diverse topics.
All in all, I loved it! And the acting was great too
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