This is not an idol drama lol, It requires proven acting ability for main characters. Most of them have or had…
Idol dramas are a category used to refer to romance dramas that usually feature young, good-looking leads. They often have stylish, aesthetically pleasing production and are targeted more toward younger audiences. Idol dramas can be either modern or costume. Examples include How Dare You, Love In the Clouds, The Prisoner of Beauty, The First Frost and Shine on Me. Youth/highschool romance dramas also fall under idol dramas.
Non-idol dramas usually have more realistic, heavier and grounded storylines. Romance is minimal or sometimes non-existent. Examples include serious political costume dramas like Nirvana in Fire, Republican-era dramas like War of Faith, suspense dramas like The Long Season, and slice-of-life dramas set in the 1970s–90s like The Bond.
Wuxia can be both idol and non-idol depending on the tone of the story and the amount of romance.
Why did they both use voice actors instead of their own voices? Honestly, the dubbing in this drama is such low quality... the voices don’t really match their faces. There are also so many scenes where the line delivery and voice projection don’t match their lip movements and facial expressions.
I’m only on episode 1 though. I was so excited for this drama, but now I lowkey feel let down. I guess I’ll have to turn a blind eye to this production flaw to enjoy the drama. I’ll watch a few more episodes to see if it holds my interest.
It’s been a while since I watched the OG Japanese version, so I don’t remember enough to compare, but I really enjoyed this remake.
Shin Shiah is so pretty and charming! Come to think of it, it feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had such a gentle, sweet FL in a K-drama/K-movie. I really love her here.
Unpopular opinion I guess but the breakup was what made this drama particularly memorable for me. If it ends with a happy ending for the main couple, I don't think this drama would hit me as much. It probably will become just another forgettable romance for me. It's precisely the "what ifs" and "what could have been" scenario that made the romance delicious. I find the first half really boring but I pushed through to see why people loved this drama so much.. and yep I finally got it.. the breakup scene, which made me cry, (one of the best breakup scenes I've ever watched) truly elevate this drama for me. It's heartbreaking in the best way.
I haven't finished the drama yet but I think the 8.9 rating came about likely because, despite the simple storyline,…
I feel like the cringe part is only in the beginning, during the high school phase when the FL is chasing the ML. But besides that, the FL actually has a very likable and charming personality. I think the drama has some real depth, especially after they grow up. I don't remember much of the plot details anymore, but I remember thinking it was a solid youth and coming-of-age drama—like Always Home. The drama is definitely targeted more toward younger demographics. It's a good drama for its own genre. I know a lot of people particularly loved it for the nostalgia of youth and high school memories it brings.
Your criticism of Love Between Lines is fair enough. I'm simply explaining how the rating may have come about, since you think the drama is severely overrated (in your own words).
I really don’t want to sound like a party pooper but this is a severely overrated show…. Love the leads down…
I haven't finished the drama yet but I think the 8.9 rating came about likely because, despite the simple storyline, there aren't really many huge flaws that are dealbreakers for most people. The main characters are well-written and well-acted, and the romance/chemistry is really great that it more than offsets the other minor flaws. Yes, the drama could have been even better, but the lackluster parts are almost negligible to many people.
Since almost everyone I've seen is collectively enjoying this drama and viewing it as a solid, decent romance, a lot of people are probably rating it somewhere between 8.5 and 10. Because the ratings are overwhelmingly positive, it rounds up to nearly 9. Usually, romances with final ratings of 8.5-8.7 have quite a few 6–7 scores mixed in. But this drama has nothing too bad to make a lot of people rate it below 7.
Just look at this director's previous drama, When I Fly Towards You—it's a very simple high school story with no groundbreaking plot and plenty of clichés, but overall It's still a well-made, feel-good nostalgic youth drama, which is why it holds a 9. Some people might think it's overrated or just a typical school drama, but while it's not a storytelling masterpiece, it's a good youth drama without any major flaws, so the overwhelming number of 8.5–10 user ratings holds it steady at 9.
The ratings show how much people are genuinely enjoying the drama as a whole rather than holding it to standards of near-perfect storytelling.
Even you yourself, with all your criticism of it, rated the drama 8.5, so can you imagine how those who thoroughly loved it would rate it? The final high rating is naturally expected. So I don't believe Love Between Lines is overrated; it totally reflects the majority consensus on how people feel about it, albeit the flaws it may have.
I've seen some people pitting Shine on Me and Love Between Lines against each other. Both are good romance dramas, period. And they're both good for different reasons! If you don't like one of them, that's totally fine—it's all based on personal preference. But can we stop acting like two or more good romance dramas can't coexist at the same time? There's no need to put one down just to lift the other up. I really don't understand people who can't praise their favorite drama without throwing shade on the others. Very cringe and immature behavior, I say.
I am ep 12 and she is still obsessed with that jerk. Idk why people are obsessed with jerk irl as well. Actually…
Meanwhile, I've seen a lot of people complaining about how slow and boring The Best Thing is, and how plotless it feels. If you could sit through the slow burn of The Best Thing, I don't see why you couldn't sit through this one, at least up to halfway through the drama.
Personally, I think Shine on Me is much more iconic and romantic than both The Best Thing and Falling Into Your Smile. But hey, to each their own.
I've finished the drama. Cute and sugary, but so unrealistic. The Best Thing and Snipe Butterfly are so much better…
This take is so unserious bc TBT and Sniper Butterfly are even more forgettable. Like there's nothing special about those two dramas. And funnily enough, I find ZLH's acting much more inconsistent than SWL's.
Good thing SOM is doing much better in viewership than the two dramas in China. SOM will remain one of the most iconic Gu Man adaptations while the two dramas you mentioned will be forgotten as the years pass.
It's crazy how flopped this drama is in China. Bc wdym the daily Yunhe view on the day where all the express episodes were out is only 19.15M??? That means each ep has less than 5M views???? 😭😭😭 This might be one of the floppest cdramas this year. No wonder it's not passing even 9k on heat index.
Sure if that's what you want to believe like she's never been criticized by the mass for her acting every time her drama airs. Talk about no improvement.
If you think Esther is a good actor, then no one's a bad actor at all lmao bc the bar is so fcking LOW. Like I've genuinely never seen this level of stiff and bad acting from any other actor before. Literally the worst acting I've witnessed in a long time. Even Cha Eunwoo, Park Shinhye, Yang Yang whose acting people always bash wasn't this bad and awkward.
Esther was good at the start of the drama but her portrayal seems awkward when they’re interacting—especially…
You're not alone. Pretty much everyone's watching for Jin Zhao. He's the one hard carrying the entire drama and chemistry.
It doesn't have anything to do with her character or censorship, girl just can't fcking act. She's never been taken seriously as an actor at home or abroad
I’m curious what was the point in this comment? So you claim nobody is watching for her but on Weibo that’s…
The criticism about her acting is anything but few. It's literally overwhelmingly.
There's no point. Just simply using my freewill to share what other people and I think about her. Guess you can't handle the fair criticism and the massive negative consensus on her? Or you secretly agree with the take on her bad acting but you prefer people to not say it in your face lol
I’m gonna tell you one thing listen to it carefully if Esther wasn’t in that drama we wouldn’t have known…
Talking as if she's the only popular actress China has. And as if there's never been drama with up-and-coming actors that end up becoming popular or a dark horse bc of decent story and production.
But I guess I can see your point. Because thanks to the controversies surrounding her and her family on top of her viral bad acting, this drama is on a lot of people's radar. She really make a huge contribution in that case.
Just saw this one post on Threads by a Taiwanese with 4K likes 雖然我不喜歡虞書欣的人品更討厭他的演技但這不妨礙我看雙軌因為何與…
That being said, her fans claiming she always boosts her MLs is such a funny and delusional take bc if it's not obvious, her ML is getting attention bc of his own character appeal, convincing portrayal and decent production. If anything, she's the weakest link. Replace her and this drama would be just as popular without any sorts of controversial takes.
China has no shortage of beautiful young actresses who can convincingly play a "lovely and spoiled younger sister" and bring the character to life in a far more natural and likeable way. Shen Yujie, Tian Xiwei, Lu Yuxiao, Guan Xiaotong, Song Zu'er, and many more. Anyone who insists only Esther Yu could ever play Jiang Mu or that the role was tailor-made for her, you're just straight-up delusional.
Just saw this one post on Threads by a Taiwanese with 4K likes
雖然我不喜歡虞書欣的人品 更討厭他的演技 但這不妨礙我看雙軌 因為 何與 真他媽帥
"Although I don't like Yu Shuxin's character, and I dislike her acting even more, that doesn't stop me from watching Speed and Love because, damn, He Yu is really handsome"
It's crazy how the past few days I've been seeing so many comments like "I'm ignoring FL to enjoy this drama", "SAL is quite fun if you can put up with FL's acting"
😭
Even Mandarin speaking folks can't stand her acting ijbol. No one's watching this drama for her FR. Anyone without rose tinted glasses can see how bad of an actress she is
Instead of being fully captivated by the FL character, people were instead just tolerating and putting up with her cause the ML and all other aspects were pretty enjoyable
Non-idol dramas usually have more realistic, heavier and grounded storylines. Romance is minimal or sometimes non-existent. Examples include serious political costume dramas like Nirvana in Fire, Republican-era dramas like War of Faith, suspense dramas like The Long Season, and slice-of-life dramas set in the 1970s–90s like The Bond.
Wuxia can be both idol and non-idol depending on the tone of the story and the amount of romance.
I’m only on episode 1 though. I was so excited for this drama, but now I lowkey feel let down. I guess I’ll have to turn a blind eye to this production flaw to enjoy the drama. I’ll watch a few more episodes to see if it holds my interest.
Shin Shiah is so pretty and charming! Come to think of it, it feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had such a gentle, sweet FL in a K-drama/K-movie. I really love her here.
Your criticism of Love Between Lines is fair enough. I'm simply explaining how the rating may have come about, since you think the drama is severely overrated (in your own words).
Since almost everyone I've seen is collectively enjoying this drama and viewing it as a solid, decent romance, a lot of people are probably rating it somewhere between 8.5 and 10. Because the ratings are overwhelmingly positive, it rounds up to nearly 9. Usually, romances with final ratings of 8.5-8.7 have quite a few 6–7 scores mixed in. But this drama has nothing too bad to make a lot of people rate it below 7.
Just look at this director's previous drama, When I Fly Towards You—it's a very simple high school story with no groundbreaking plot and plenty of clichés, but overall It's still a well-made, feel-good nostalgic youth drama, which is why it holds a 9. Some people might think it's overrated or just a typical school drama, but while it's not a storytelling masterpiece, it's a good youth drama without any major flaws, so the overwhelming number of 8.5–10 user ratings holds it steady at 9.
The ratings show how much people are genuinely enjoying the drama as a whole rather than holding it to standards of near-perfect storytelling.
Even you yourself, with all your criticism of it, rated the drama 8.5, so can you imagine how those who thoroughly loved it would rate it? The final high rating is naturally expected. So I don't believe Love Between Lines is overrated; it totally reflects the majority consensus on how people feel about it, albeit the flaws it may have.
Personally, I think Shine on Me is much more iconic and romantic than both The Best Thing and Falling Into Your Smile. But hey, to each their own.
Good thing SOM is doing much better in viewership than the two dramas in China. SOM will remain one of the most iconic Gu Man adaptations while the two dramas you mentioned will be forgotten as the years pass.
It doesn't have anything to do with her character or censorship, girl just can't fcking act. She's never been taken seriously as an actor at home or abroad
MAY YOU SHINE MORE IN THE FUTURE AND BE PAIRED WITH ACTRESS THAT CAN ACTUALLY ACT AND KISS PROPERLY
There's no point. Just simply using my freewill to share what other people and I think about her. Guess you can't handle the fair criticism and the massive negative consensus on her? Or you secretly agree with the take on her bad acting but you prefer people to not say it in your face lol
But I guess I can see your point. Because thanks to the controversies surrounding her and her family on top of her viral bad acting, this drama is on a lot of people's radar. She really make a huge contribution in that case.
China has no shortage of beautiful young actresses who can convincingly play a "lovely and spoiled younger sister" and bring the character to life in a far more natural and likeable way. Shen Yujie, Tian Xiwei, Lu Yuxiao, Guan Xiaotong, Song Zu'er, and many more. Anyone who insists only Esther Yu could ever play Jiang Mu or that the role was tailor-made for her, you're just straight-up delusional.
雖然我不喜歡虞書欣的人品
更討厭他的演技
但這不妨礙我看雙軌
因為
何與 真他媽帥
"Although I don't like Yu Shuxin's character, and I dislike her acting even more, that doesn't stop me from watching Speed and Love because, damn, He Yu is really handsome"
It's crazy how the past few days I've been seeing so many comments like "I'm ignoring FL to enjoy this drama", "SAL is quite fun if you can put up with FL's acting"
😭
Even Mandarin speaking folks can't stand her acting ijbol. No one's watching this drama for her FR. Anyone without rose tinted glasses can see how bad of an actress she is
Instead of being fully captivated by the FL character, people were instead just tolerating and putting up with her cause the ML and all other aspects were pretty enjoyable