Male leads like this should be illegal!
OVERALLThis drama is cliché, and not the good kind. Watch it if 1) You're really, REALLY a fan of the actors, 2) You're a masochist in love with jerks, 3) You love seeing women debased by men. If you're not, then do yourself a favor and skip.
THE STORY
I gave this drama a try because of Seven Tan, who I liked in The Sword & the Brocade. Unfortunately, this drama turns out to be one of her many projects I simply can't get behind. The only positive thing I can say about this drama is that it starts well. I like how Female lead is introduced, as a total boss who knows her stuff and is in control of the situation. That lasts about...five minutes. Then we move on to Male Lead being a jerk, and more Male Lead being a jerk, and (yes, you got it right) more Male Lead being a jerk, while Female Lead just takes it all. By episode 7, he's still a total jerk and Female Lead is...somewhat into him? Like what? There's ABSOLUTELY nothing to be attracted to! This type of drama drives me mad because under the pretense of a "male growth" drama it sells the idea that guys can do and say whatever they want to girls and girls are just supposed to put up with it. Male Lead is really HORRID, as bad as the king in Yanxi Palace (if you know, you know!), if not worse, and this is a modern drama. It's TOTALLY unacceptable!
To be fair, the problem is not only Male Lead. Female Lead's submissive behavior bothers, her inability to see things coming (when she was so good at it in the first 5 minutes) too, and then you have the overused, triggering cliches like the glasses removal (oh, now that she has no glasses, she's SO pretty! *eyeroll*). I came, I saw, and I gave it up. Save yourself the trouble, skip.
THE ACTING
Ok, but not mind-blowing. I saw some people in another platform say main leads had chemistry. I must be blind, because I didn't see any.
THE MUSIC
No comment.
REWATCH VALUE
Nonexistent.
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Just a decent filler
OVERALLThis drama is nothing out of this world, but it's worth the watch if 1) you're looking for a drama that delivers romantic scenes and isn't false advertisement, 2) you like super sweet and nurturing male leads, 3) you dig assertive female leads. Still, if you 1) get super annoyed by clichés, 2) find age-gap romances hard to swallow, 3) are looking for lots of comedy, maybe skip.
THE STORY
Not sure why the last few dramas I've watched were all just kind of average. My Fated Boy isn't bad at all, but I wasn't dying to watch it before I started, I wasn't dying to keep watching while I did, and I'm not dying to rewatch it now that it's over. On the positive side:
1) Female lead has a backbone. She can stand up to herself.
2) Male lead is very sweet and nurturing towards female lead, which is really the best way to pursue a girl, in my opinion.
3) the drama has super nice and caring parents, no crazy in-laws.
4) the friends (well, at least one) have interesting stories of their own that you won't feel like skipping.
5) the drama gives the OTP some cute scenes and coherent development.
On the negative side:
1) the drama is literally just a mashup of clichés. Everything about the OTP feels like something you've seen or heard five hundred times, all age-gap conflicts and their resolution are super predictable.
2) Female lead is deep but the drama doesn't give her a good backstory to explain her depth or give her any character development.
3) Male lead doesn't exist as an individual, all he cares about is Female lead, which makes him super flat.
4) the drama really goes full on with cliché, two-dimensional female stalkers that can't take no for an answer and make everyone's life miserable. There's just one after another.
5) the best of the OTP is the "falling in love" part, the "being together" part feels lackluster.
THE ACTING
Ok, I guess. Wasn't super impressed but I think everyone did well enough, given that it's not a drama to show extraordinary skills. I must say though, that after the last few dramas I've watched with scenes of crazy chemistry between the leads, the OTP in this one feels a bit tame. Not forced though, they still look fine. There just isn't as much chemistry between them.
THE MUSIC
No comment.
REWATCH VALUE
Not really high. The drama's fine to watch, but it's just too average for rewatch. I only rewatch dramas with unforgettable, gripping, emotional or thrilling scenes. This one had none of the above.
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Trying characters
OVERALLGive this drama a try if 1) you have high tolerance for annoying characters, 2) you like dramas with heavy second-hand embarrassment. Skip if 1) you can't stand the above and 2) you are looking for a realistic, well-written love story.
THE STORY
I recently noticed that C-dramas sometimes don't start well but redeem themselves later on, so even though it's not my style, I really tried to push it and watch as much as I could of this drama, despite not being impressed by episode 1. I toughed until episode 5. Why? First, there is absolutely no likeable character in this drama. FL is a mess who takes one bad decision after the next. Although she's good at what she does, there really isn't any aspect of her character that would aspire love so it's hard to understand why ML suddenly (really, out of nowhere) seems to be falling for her. ML is just your typical cold and aloof guy, but with a negative twist: he's also clumsy and kind of...silly? So he's also not that likeable and you're also not sure why FL suddenly starts to care about him. FL's friends are absolutely HORRID, of the worst secondary characters I've ever seen in C-dramas. I wasn't able to care about anybody in this drama. Second, the humor is everything I hate in dramas. Lots of second-hand embarrassment, mostly on FL's part but also on ML's part. Some slapstick too.
On the positive side, I love how good FL is at her job, and all the scenes linked with cooking were the best. I also have a feeling FL is meant to start the drama on the low and grow into a better person, learning to break away from the bad influence of her nasty friends. In that sense, the drama is quite promising. The problem is that she's starting too low, and I have low tolerance for second-hand embarrassment. This is the end of the ride for me.
THE ACTING
I suppose it's okay. No chemistry between the leads, from what I could see, but I also just saw the beginning.
THE MUSIC
Too much background music, all the time. Childish quirky sounds too. I think it wasn't helping.
REWATCH VALUE
Low.
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Serious vibes, superficial writing
OVERALLWatch this drama if you 1) are looking for mature, serious vibes, 2) you dig family drama, 3) you want to have a look at Chinese daily life in the 70s-90s. If you 1) are looking for well-developed love stories, 2) have low tolerance for lousy characters, 3) are craving fun scenes, then definitely skip.
THE STORY
The beginning of The Bond totally gripped me. Not in a "wow so innovative!" way, but in a "gosh I really want to see these poor kids happy" way. The problem is, I went over more than half of the drama, and you never quite see them happy. Not even close. It's just one depressing moment after another. After 20 episodes, it got old. One particular issue I have is the fact that there isn't any character growth, from any character, and the kids fail to change the way they deal with some situations (the biggest one being their lousy dad). Another major issue I have is with the fact that the drama keeps omitting major stuff. I don't care if a show doesn't have lots of skinship, but romance needs to flow naturally. Love stories can't go from "we're friends" to "she's pregnant" without any on-screen development. Also, if someone has a trauma, you can't go from "oh I can't do any of this" to "I'm over it" in the blink of an eye.
It's sad, the beginning of the drama was really promising, but all of these problems got the best of it. I lost my interest and ended up dropping the series.
THE ACTING
Quite good, from what I could tell. I was especially impressed by the child actors. They were so amazing! It's a zero in the chemistry department, though.
THE MUSIC
Quite good! I just love that it's not the typical pop stuff we hear in dramas, but it was to be expected given how the drama is set in the late 20th century.
REWATCH VALUE
Very low.
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I just can't with Male Lead
OVERALLGive it a try if you are really tolerant of crappy Male Leads and desperate for a good mystery. If you're not any of the two, skip.
THE STORY
I have to say, the premise of this drama is pretty interesting (and not to mention, very realistic). Female Lead's husband dies and suddenly a whole bunch of problems arise in her life, making her realize that he kept many secrets from her. Although the drama does not make you fall in love with Female Lead, you do feel a bit bad for all that she has to go through. I also got hooked right away trying to figure out what exactly happened in her husband's life and whether he was a good or bad guy. I still want to know, but I had to give this drama up because it's yet another C-drama with a simply insufferable Male Lead. He's mean, rude, disrespectful. I just can't.
Oh, I'm sure they'll find a way to excuse his behavior. My guess is a crappy childhood and trying to get revenge or something. I don't care. I'm sick of Male characters being a-holes and Female leads taking it in (or worse, swooning over it). It's particularly painful to watch here because Female Lead LITERALLY just lost her husband and he's constantly going off on her. So I'm out. If you're like me, save yourself the trouble and skip. If you're not, then go ahead and watch. The suspense is actually pretty good.
THE ACTING
Ok.
THE MUSIC
Ok.
REWATCH VALUE
Null.
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