This review may contain spoilers
Swoony, emotional, non-toxic, green flag ML, and one of the best vertical dramas
Vertical dramas are never really meant to be taken too seriously. That's the only way this increasingly popular format gets away with some of craziest, dumbest, and most toxic, nonsensical romance/revenge/sacrificial/misunderstanding plots you'll ever encounter -- recycled, over and over and over -- and still hook viewers.
I've watched a few dozen verticals at this point, and part of what makes Xin Dong Huan Qing Gao Su Wo stand out in an ocean of toxic verticals are the two leads, whose chemistry really make this "love after marriage" trope plot work. Lin Qian has lived her entire life as her family's punching bag and pawn. She obediently and demurely played the filial daughter, then becomes the docile and deferential wife to Fu Yuchuan, to whom she's been married for two years (not four as another reviewer stated). She tried to nurture a relationship with her husband, but this was a marriage arranged by Fu Yuchuan's evil stepmother, who already tried to kill him once years earlier. Because of this suspicious arrangement, Fu Yuchuan has always kept his distance and put his guard up against Lin Qian, while his brother and secretary kept an eye on her movements and investigated whether she was acting as a spy for his stepmother. They urge him to divorce once he secures his position as head of the company. Despite his wariness, Fu Yuchuan has always respected the institution of marriage and takes his vows seriously; divorce was never a consideration. The married couple has spent the last two years being polite and distant roommates; he is away on business trips for months at a time, turning the family business into a successful company while she waits dutifully at home for him.
All this changes when she receives a shocking diagnosis: she has advanced-stage cancer with only about half a year to live. With nothing left to lose, she decides to live freely as she's always wanted and wastes no time ticking off the items on her bucket list of 100 things she wants to do before she dies; she is defiant and brutally honest against her malicious in laws; she no longer puts up with her useless and spoiled brother; she stands up to her abusive parents; and she stops playing the compliant wife and plans to divorce. This sudden change in personality draws the attention of her husband who is both confused but intrigued. He can't help but be drawn to Lin Qian's new-found strength and suffer-no-fools forthright manner, and begins to care for his wife. Lin Qian is not immune to his change in behaviour either. Without realizing it, they fall in love -- two isolated islands connect and form a place called "home" -- as the epilogue describes, navigating the obstacles of an abusive family, delusional rivals, and ultimately, a disease that will invariably bring heartbreak.
Spoiler: It's a happy ending. But for a vertical, they do a pretty good job building the suspense of how this love story will end, and for the most part, viewers are generally not left too frustrated or feeling like they are being unnecessarily strung along for kicks.
This vertical also sets itself apart because it keeps viewer hooked not because it has an abundance of steamy scenes to fog up your screen, or a toxic, abusive alpha male who force kisses the female lead into submission at every turn (or worse) and somehow still gets the girl at the end. And while it has its share of popular tropes, it shockingly does not include some of the most recycled vertical plot devices: the one-night-stands, the aphrodisiac drug that someone slipped into one of the lead's drink, and virgin sacrifices to pay a dying parent's exorbitant hospital bills. The male lead is about as green of a flag as one can hope for. He is respectful of the female lead and *actually asks permission* to sleep with her. This is pretty much unheard of in verticals, where even rape doesn't stop the abusive, selfish, loser from ultimately getting the girl in the most toxic of storyline examples. To be clear, this is not weakness, but strength -- only weak men use physical strength to get what they want. And despite this wholesome, non-toxic approach, the romance is still swoony and the sexual tension is still there. Fu Yuchuan lets Lin Qian go when he knows its what she wants, while still fighting for her in his own private way. Again, this is not weakness, but strength.
I give this a solid 7.5, which for my personal ratings scale, is by far the highest I've ever rated a vertical, and on the higher end of my ratings for short-length dramas in general. (I put a 1 for music only because you can't submit otherwise, but I don't actually have a rating for the music since I watched this on YouTube, where the background music and ambient sounds are removed in the vast majority of these short-length and vertical compilations.)
I've watched a few dozen verticals at this point, and part of what makes Xin Dong Huan Qing Gao Su Wo stand out in an ocean of toxic verticals are the two leads, whose chemistry really make this "love after marriage" trope plot work. Lin Qian has lived her entire life as her family's punching bag and pawn. She obediently and demurely played the filial daughter, then becomes the docile and deferential wife to Fu Yuchuan, to whom she's been married for two years (not four as another reviewer stated). She tried to nurture a relationship with her husband, but this was a marriage arranged by Fu Yuchuan's evil stepmother, who already tried to kill him once years earlier. Because of this suspicious arrangement, Fu Yuchuan has always kept his distance and put his guard up against Lin Qian, while his brother and secretary kept an eye on her movements and investigated whether she was acting as a spy for his stepmother. They urge him to divorce once he secures his position as head of the company. Despite his wariness, Fu Yuchuan has always respected the institution of marriage and takes his vows seriously; divorce was never a consideration. The married couple has spent the last two years being polite and distant roommates; he is away on business trips for months at a time, turning the family business into a successful company while she waits dutifully at home for him.
All this changes when she receives a shocking diagnosis: she has advanced-stage cancer with only about half a year to live. With nothing left to lose, she decides to live freely as she's always wanted and wastes no time ticking off the items on her bucket list of 100 things she wants to do before she dies; she is defiant and brutally honest against her malicious in laws; she no longer puts up with her useless and spoiled brother; she stands up to her abusive parents; and she stops playing the compliant wife and plans to divorce. This sudden change in personality draws the attention of her husband who is both confused but intrigued. He can't help but be drawn to Lin Qian's new-found strength and suffer-no-fools forthright manner, and begins to care for his wife. Lin Qian is not immune to his change in behaviour either. Without realizing it, they fall in love -- two isolated islands connect and form a place called "home" -- as the epilogue describes, navigating the obstacles of an abusive family, delusional rivals, and ultimately, a disease that will invariably bring heartbreak.
Spoiler: It's a happy ending. But for a vertical, they do a pretty good job building the suspense of how this love story will end, and for the most part, viewers are generally not left too frustrated or feeling like they are being unnecessarily strung along for kicks.
This vertical also sets itself apart because it keeps viewer hooked not because it has an abundance of steamy scenes to fog up your screen, or a toxic, abusive alpha male who force kisses the female lead into submission at every turn (or worse) and somehow still gets the girl at the end. And while it has its share of popular tropes, it shockingly does not include some of the most recycled vertical plot devices: the one-night-stands, the aphrodisiac drug that someone slipped into one of the lead's drink, and virgin sacrifices to pay a dying parent's exorbitant hospital bills. The male lead is about as green of a flag as one can hope for. He is respectful of the female lead and *actually asks permission* to sleep with her. This is pretty much unheard of in verticals, where even rape doesn't stop the abusive, selfish, loser from ultimately getting the girl in the most toxic of storyline examples. To be clear, this is not weakness, but strength -- only weak men use physical strength to get what they want. And despite this wholesome, non-toxic approach, the romance is still swoony and the sexual tension is still there. Fu Yuchuan lets Lin Qian go when he knows its what she wants, while still fighting for her in his own private way. Again, this is not weakness, but strength.
I give this a solid 7.5, which for my personal ratings scale, is by far the highest I've ever rated a vertical, and on the higher end of my ratings for short-length dramas in general. (I put a 1 for music only because you can't submit otherwise, but I don't actually have a rating for the music since I watched this on YouTube, where the background music and ambient sounds are removed in the vast majority of these short-length and vertical compilations.)
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