Dedra70

Till Death Do Us Part

This drama caught me by surprise. The twist and turns of how everything unfolds is interesting to say the least. It holds your attention and makes you think did Ran Shu need to go as far as she did with escaping her marriage. Was the ending what she expected.

When we first meet Ran Shu (Lu Yan Qi) she is in the bathroom cutting her hair, hiding a facial bruise that she has received once again from her husband. As she is staring at her reflection, she begins to think about the reoccurring dream that she is having more frequently. It is about her and her husband Zhang Zeyi (Chu Peng Xu), a glamorous photographer who she realizes is totally different in the dream than in reality.

In reality he is a violent, gloomy, cruel, horrific and an abusive husband. Ran Shu is feeling that this dream is starting to become real. In the dream, Zhang Zeyi wants them both to die on his 30th birthday by preparing a poisonous rose for her. The purpose for this is he wants to freeze love with death so that it will never wither. To complete this final photo, he grabs the poisonous flower as well and dies along with her, this is his last photograph--Ran Shu and Zhang Zeyi dying together side by side. Death will witness their eternal love.

This dream sets the stage for why Ran Shu decides to fight back against the life she was living.

You see Ran Shu grew up in an orphanage with her sister Gu Ru Ye (Wang Xing Chen). There was no love lost between these two sisters due to what Gu Ru Ye had done to her in the orphanage. Ran Shu was originally going to be adopted by a rich woman. Gu Ru Ye was bitter that her sister was going to leave her after she swore, they would be together forever. She disabled her sister and locked her up the day the rich woman came hence Gu Rue Ye was chosen. Leaving Ran Shu alone in the orphanage until she was of age to leave.

Meanwhile, Gu Ru Ye had become a big celebrity. You would think she was happy, but she still wanted to wreck and disassemble the life of Ran Shu. And that meant, taking her husband Zhang Zeyi whom she eventually seduces.

To escape this premonition of impending death, Ran Shu started a counterattack by enlisting the help of the famous writer Gu Yi Bai (Jin Jia Yu) by having an interview with him to discuss his upcoming book. During their first interview at Gu Yi Bai's house Ran Shu ask him if Gu Ru Ye, the famous movie star was his sister. He says she is. This is Ran Shu's sister unbeknownst to Gu Yi Bai.

She continues her plan by allowing Gu Ru Ye to seduce Zhang Zeyi, using Gu Yi Bai by showing faded bruises, leaving her purse in his car so that he had to return it and see the domestic abuse firsthand by her husband. Yes, her plan went along swimmingly. So, much so until Zhang Zeyi got the divorce he wanted, and Gu Ru Ye married him.

Ran Su was excited and finally happy to live her life. But we still had the impending 30th birthday of Zhang Zeyi at the exhibit. Now, that Ran Su was no longer his wife this was not going to stop him fulfilling his last photo. The stage was set just as Ran Su had envisioned in her dream. She came and confessed everything to Zhang Zeyi as Gu Ru Ye was already dead. She told him that the letter that he had in his pocket was not from Gu Ru Ye but from her. Zhang Zeyi begins to realize that Ran Su set everything up.

We also have Gu Yi Bai who on the eve of the exhibit sees a lady janitor with a box of letters which contained all the letters to Zhang Zeyi from Gu Ru Ye. He begins to investigate what this is all about. Meetings, interviews, domestic violence were these all lies? He begins to question if everything was indeed a lie by Ran Su.

Ran Su would not have done what she did to Gu Ru Ye if she would not have been constantly pressuring her along with the abusive treatment from Zhang Zeyi. She began stalking her sisters, so she already knew that Gu Yi Bai was her brother. She deliberately shook hands with Gu Yi Bai when Zhang Zeyi arrived at their interview to create tension. She placed the love letter written by her in Gu Ru Ye’s style into the coat pocket of Zhang Zeyi. Infidelity, affair. She dragged them all down into the abyss she created.

Just as she thought everything was going her way, Gu Yi Bai was not done. He knew what Ran Su had done and he began his own investigation. He found out that Ran Su was Gu Ru Ye's sister and was actually supposed to be adopted but his mother. But due to being injured she was not adopted. Looking back, each time they met, he was cooperating with her. Whether it was intentionally letting Zhang Zeyi misunderstand them, deliberately leaving her purse in his car, leaving her shoes out so that he could find her or the letter that she deliberately left. He began to contemplate and wonder if he had not met her that day, how would the outcome be. At last, he finally came to the conclusion that she set everything up.

He meets Ran Su and tells her the ending of his new book, “Everyone is a villain. Controlling people in the name of love. Severing the new life with dreams.” Ran Su stares at Gu Yi Bai and knows he knows what she did. But he tells her that is not the ending he is giving her. He tells her to turn herself in to the police.

Gu Yi Bai does meet with Zhang Zeyi who is in prison. He asked Gu Yi Bai what else does he want to know because he does not feel that he has done anything wrong. The reason why is that he felt his marriage with Ran Su was perfect. The domestic violence and abuse he saw it as him being protective. At a young age, Zhang Zeyi saw his father murder his mother. He was having an affair with another woman and told him that he would always take care of him as he left him to go to the other woman. Leaving Zhang Zeyi to call the police and stay with his dead mother. This led to him never knowing if he was really loved by anyone. He thought Ran Su was the woman that truly loved him even though he married Gu Ru Ye. He just wanted eternal love. If only her heart wouldn’t have changed.

Zhang Zeyi got 20 years in prison. Ran Su turned herself in accompanied by Gu Yi Bai.

So much went on in this drama but there is no romance at all and if that what you are expecting, think again. This is totally based off a woman trying to get out of a marriage as well as serve her sister for being cruel to her and giving them both what she felt they deserved.

As Gu Yi Bai said in the end of his book, "Everyone is a villain." The End!

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Don't Waste Your Time!

I honestly thought after reading the synopsis that this was going to be a good drama. You have the whole story about the girl having a disease which affected her face and body and a merman. How can you not like this? After watching, I Don't Want to Fall in Love with Humans, I thought this would be another good one just like that drama, boy, was I wrong.

An Xin Er,'s disease was based off of Yu Sheng (merman). Both he and An Xin Er were singing/playing guitar on the beach one day and some boys started bullying him. An Xin Er defended him and thinking the boys were still attacking him, Yu Sheng scratched her and hence her getting ichthyosis.

Her parents were concerned for her because she was living a secluded life and had no friends. She always covered her face with a veil because she was self-conscious of how she looked from the disease. Enter Ling Zhi who her parents ask to be a companion of sorts for her. Both parents eventually die. An Xin Er's father asked Ling Zhi to take care of her and she eventually became his fiancée. Now, you know there is always some sinister plan. Ling Zhi wanted to have full control of the movie studio that the father left to her. He was given shares but in order for him to run it completely, he need her shares. Being all nice, An Xin Er gave him the shares and he had the control he needed. But we know she couldn't stay around, so while on a yacht celebrating their engagement she falls overboard. Yu Sheng saves her.

Follow all that. Sounds pretty good, right? It did until they both came out of the water into his half-sunk spaceship in the ocean. Talking about going downhill fast.

This drama felt like it was on a shoestring budget and cheaply done. CGI...horrible. The fake long and short wig that the ML wears are both horrible and do not become him. Sometimes I really had to listen to what the ML was saying because I felt like he had a mouth full of marbles. The FL (which I like in the General's Lady) I thought could bring this up a notch. No, she added nothing to it at all. Except wearing jackets over her clothes that were too big on her. The SML (which I liked in Fall in Love) was about the strongest in this drama and that not saying much.

Then when they were talking sometimes you felt like they were in a well of sorts. You NEVER see him be a merman again. Now, I'm only at episode 8 so, there is hope alive since there are 10 episodes left that he will again. But he has been on land for a year studying to be an actor and model. Say what? They were separated too for a year and when she finally sees him, she doesn't really ask him why he didn't go home or anything else.

Oh, there is an aunt that they got rid of pretty fast and sent her away to have surgery. Then a princess (who has been engaged to Yu Sheng since childhood) who comes to Earth but get this, leaves after she said that she doesn't like him, and he can get with An Xin Er since she knows he likes her. Wow!

Trust me, don't do it to yourself. Save the time to watch something other than this. I have tried up to 8 episodes to see some light at the end of the tunnel, but it keeps just staying dark.

So sad honestly for a drama that I felt had so much potential.

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Start Out So Brightly and Just Faded

From the first episode, my thoughts were, “What a beautiful drama this is going to be.” Don’t get me wrong it was beautiful. It dealt with what we all like…young love. Yes, those days in school with the boy you like and hoping one day that you will marry him. This drama led us down those wonderful days of senior year in high school. Getting ready for exams that will eventually get you into the college of your choice and then out into the real world. Yes, this is that story. A hidden gem of sorts that started off so well in those high school years but flounder when going to the adult years with a too swift wrap up. But don’t let me get ahead of myself.

The drama revolves around Qing Ye (Guan Xiao Tong) who was pulled out of high school during her senior year due to a family emergency, so she was taken back to her hometown. Talk about a change. This girl was used to the bustling city, her usual hangouts and friends, but when she found out she was leaving her thoughts were you’re taking me where? To a seaside town? To be with who? My aunt? To say she wasn’t shell shocked was putting it mildly after coming from her pampered lifestyle. She was devastated.

The room was not to her liking, no air conditioning, no decent bathroom, where was she to wash her clothes, the food needed to have less calories, I mean she was a hot mess! She knew she was not going to have the lifestyle she had back home, so she knew either deal with it or leave. So, she opted to leave and go to the hotel. Well, that didn’t go any better either. No air conditioning, the guy next door was always doing “live streams” so, she couldn’t sleep so she had no choice but to go back. After getting over her “prima donna” act, she realized she needed to make adjustments to this new way of life. Starting with trying to fit in.

After Qing Ye’s brief meeting with Xing Wu, she was realizing that she needed to get along with him because he was the glue that held everything together, from his mother to his grandmother, friends and the community, she saw he was the person everyone turned too.

Xing Wu was very likable and always did not “want to owe” anyone anything, especially money. He wanted to pay his own way no matter what. After a school altercation, not wanting to speak up for himself, he let the school expel him. Xing Wu had his own reasons for doing that, it was his father’s gambling debts and paying back all the money that was owed. His friend Shu Han (Jenny Zeng) knew of his situation and provided him with the necessary work to help him and his family. Qing Ye eventually learned about this and much more.

As Qing Ye became more immersed in the day-to-day with her aunt, grandmother, Xing Wu and friends she was realizing what a family was and true friends. She was growing to like Xing Wu. She saw how he had done so much to make her feel welcome knowing how her life was before she came there. He tried to make her as comfortable as possible. Fixing the bathroom, her room with air conditioning she saw the soft side of Xing Wu, her attitude began to change—they became closer.

Xing Wu found himself changing as well. He wanted to be better to be good enough to be with Qing Ye knowing her family background and her life. She was the influence that got him to go back to school. Opening up his trunk of hidden dreams and to once again make them a reality. Friendships grew. Old rivalries ended. New begins. Flourishing joys and love their senior year.

Yet, like all good things, they must come to an end. This was brought about by Qing Ye’s father. He had cleared up his situation, and he wanted to take her back. Qing Ye now had a mind of her own and was defensive against her father wishes of returning. Everything was said and done. She left the seaside town and all the friends, her aunt, grandmother but especially Xing Wu.

There was a lot of devastations that happen to the family with the burning down of the salon but, the death of the grandmother. She passed while Qing Ye had already left and Xing Wu did not tell her due to him wanting her not to feel obligated to come back. That was very sad. Xing Wu did not pass his exams either. Leading him to take them again, and he eventually pass.

Fast forward, to being adults. Yes, we skipped over those college years and went directly to working. Qing Ye was now working for a company outside of her father’s. She wanted to make her own way. This led her back to the seaside town she loved. But going back was not only for her company but for the two friends from school that were going to get married.

We, of course knew that they would miss each other due to Qing Ye needing to go back to her company to handle another project she had been working on. Xing Wu arrived late due to a flight delay. We see both her and Xing Wu as they pass each other in taxis. Hence let the "near misses" begin until we could not keep doing that, so it was now time to get these two to meet.

Xing Wu’s colleague wants him to meet his sister only to find out that Qing Ye would be there. At last. But it was a very lame first meeting after all those years apart. No excitement. No recognition of knowing each other. Just awkwardness for not only them but for the brother and sister who had to watch it.

They do finally become a couple. Qing Ye father was still in disagreement with them becoming a couple, but Xing Wu did pay him back and with interest for the money he gave them after Qing Ye left. I think he respected Xing Wu and he would eventually come around.

The sad part for me, we did not see them get married. Just Xing Wu giving a speech to a new class on behest of one of his teachers that helped him and asking him to do the same for his class. Too many repetitive flashbacks in the ending episodes.

For something that started out so strong and so well, while enjoyable in the beginning. overall, to me it was not dazzling but more of a shimmer….

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Love Not the Same Stamp for Everyone!

Well, done! Bravo! Bellissimo!

I think if everyone goes in with the mindset of your "typical" romance that is your first mistake, which I believe we all did. Once you get past the first few episodes in everyone's mind, "WTH am I watching? This makes no sense." Right? Come on, you all know you did because I felt that way after episode 8. I'll admit it.

Something eventually "clicked" after really listening and paying attention to what was trying to be "translated" after that episode to me as the viewer.

The translation of love between them was not your "typical" love or love story. Fate brought them together as strangers. Then to eventually lovers. But all the baggage that they both had to decompartmentalize especially CMH, she had to do on her own. He had taken her far enough.

Chance meeting, fate, call it what you like but they figured out their translation to love.

Love does not have the same stamp for everyone; this drama certainly taught us that.

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