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You have to know a few things before starting this
==Breakdown==Background plot - 50%
Romance - 25%
Misc comedy - 25%
Background plot - From absolutely brilliant to insensitive, lazy, and terrible
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good sometimes, other times lazy and harmful
Production value - Excellent
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU WATCH: Before you watch this, please take their depictions of mental illness unseriously. Do not watch this thinking they did at all a good job with the illnesses and disorders they portray (they did not). Most are horribly harmful stereotypes of very serious, layered, complex disorders (bipolar disorder, as an example). The depictions were lazy and harmful and bad and inauthentic. I somewhat blame the actors they picked for these roles who obviously did no homework before playing their "crazy" characters. But I also blame the director. The script, when taken on its own, is not bad.
The only exception to this was the ML's struggle with having multiple personalities (aka dissociative identity disorder). This was the only disorder somewhat portrayed with any sensitivity, and only because of the obvious work put in by the actor. Many scenes which should be considered absolutely heartbreaking are played for convenient and lazy comedy, and I understand why. However, the ML actor always seemed to save these scenes with his earnest, honest, and raw approach to portraying this struggling character.
Also, the FL screams. A lot. It's irritating.
MAIN REVIEW: This is so hard to rate. On the one hand, it's well-acted, the script is good, the music is excellent, and the chemistry is great between all the main players. On the other hand, it perpetuated harmful stereotypes about very serious illnesses, contributing to misinformation and perpetuating ignorance / harm.
I guess, if you can disassociate yourself (see what I did there?) from taking this at all seriously, then go for it. But please know, this is not an authentic or realistic depiction mental illness. It's really bad. In fact, it's demoralizing. And that makes me sad.
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How do we get Li Yun Rui in more ML romance roles?!?!!?!!!!
==Breakdown==Background plot - 60%
Romance - 35%
Misc comedy - 5%
Background plot - Pretty good
Romantic chemistry - Outstanding
Misc comedy - fine
Production value - Good
Wow. Li Yun Rui should only be allowed to be the ML in romance dramas from now on. HE WAS AMAZING!!!
I also have to give credit to Meng Zi Yi for her layered portrayal of the FL. The story mainly revolves around her character and she carried the show beautifully.
My only gripe is that I wish they had more scenes together, but this is because I watch CDramas for the romance... so that's a "me problem."
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Bad pacing and direction overshadow excellent performances and great chemistry between leads
==Breakdown==Background plot - 70%
Romance - 25%
Misc comedy - 5%
Background plot - boring
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - fine
Production value - Good
The direction choices often had me scratching my head. There were so many scenes of them walking, driving, moving from one room to another, making food, etc. with no dialogue. Like, why do we need to see her walking down a full flight of stairs? And him driving four blocks in silence?
Also, the background plot was boring and nonsensical. The best part of the drama were the very few scenes where the two leads actually shared screen time. This drama would've benefited from being half as long.
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Ding Yu Xi's back must hurt from carrying this drama
==Breakdown==Background plot - 30%
Romance - 50%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Fantastic
Romantic chemistry - So incredibly disappointing
Misc comedy - Fine
Production value - Really good
So, here's the thing. I liked Yang Chao Yue in The Double and Fireworks of My Heart, but she was really bad in this one. The chemistry in Love You Seven Times felt one-side (all Ding Yu Xi', none Yang Chao Yue). He tried really hard. Some of his longing looks mid-way through the drama got me in my feels. But Yang Chao Yue gave him nothing. She was the romantic chemistry equivalent of a brick.
The story here was quite good! And the production values were excellent. The romance aspect-- which was the main storyline-- fell flat because of the FL, and it was such a shame. :-(
I still like Yang Chao Yue and will look forward to her dramas, but maybe she's not capable of being a lead in a romantic drama.
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Nothing special
==Breakdown==Background plot / palace intrigue - 65%
Romance - 25%
Random comedy - 10%
Background plot - Meh
Romantic chemistry - Pretty good
Misc comedy - Good
Production value and direction - Really good. The set for the palace was the best I've seen.
I've now watched enough Cdramas to know when a drama is recycled and just another retelling of the same story. This one was very similar to so many others. After episode 20, I fast forwarded most of the episodes looking for something interesting. Episodes 29-31 are quite good. The rest were sluggish / meh.
Xu Kai was fantastic as usual. He's an AMAZING actor. His group of friends were great and fun. This show made me realize he's a great crier and his performance makes me forget I'm watching a TV show. It really choked me up this time.
Jing Tian was very likable in her role when she was bantering or joking. The only issue is she's not a believable crier and that reduced the watchability of her more emotional scenes, making them quite boring. For example, the resolution with her father lacked any impact due to her subpar skills during the scene. I'm not sure I would've noticed if Xu Kai's performance hadn't been so much better in comparison.
Overall, it's a fine watch to pass the time, especially if you're a Xu Kai fan.
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Really good!
==Breakdown==Background plot / palace intrigue - 50%
Romance - 30%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Good
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value and direction - Good
Overall thoughts: This is my first drama with Zhang Wan Yi and my second with Wang Chu Ran. I *really* enjoyed Wang Chu Ran in Fireworks (with Yang Yang) and was excited to see her in a historical Cdrama. Zhang Wan Yi impressed me! He has such an interesting voice, I'm so glad he did his own dubbing as I think his inflections added a lot to the overall story.
Highly recommend for: Romance focused watchers in search of great chemistry paired with decent production values in a historical Cdrama.
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If you like cold, brilliant boy falling for earnest / kind girl, this is the drama for you
==Breakdown==Background plot - 45%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 15%
Background plot - Fine
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
If you're looking for a drama where the boy (eventually a man) is cold and brilliant and secretly smitten with the upright, good girl (eventually a woman) then this is the one for you. It's *almost* the best in genre (that I've seen so far) and the chemistry between the main couple is chemistrying 100% of the time. Both the ML and the FML were masterful in their scenes together and the romance that takes place on screen felt authentic.
The problem was the story. Or rather, the story is problematic. Usually (interestingly enough) I can easily disassociate and watch a problematic story with no issue. But I felt like the writers took extreme measures (from the middle to the end) to have the ML mistreat the FML to such an extent, I couldn't root for them to be together in the end. I actually wanted her to walk away and leave him in the dust. All I needed was one begging scene, one scene where he crawls for her, something like in 'A Love So Beautiful' when Jiang Chen begs Chen Xiao Xi to give him one more chance, and then he's openly smitten from that point forward.
Unfortunately, the writers never gave it to us, Lighter barely apologizes to Princess, and thus I ultimately felt unsatisfied.
But if you don't need a groveling scene in these kinds of scenarios, you'll likely love this drama. It might become your favorite.
For the record, 'A Love so Beautiful' remains my favorite cold guy falling for kind girl show. If you have any other recs, please let me know!!
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The best part of this show was the female lead
==Breakdown==Background plot - 25%
Romance - 50%
Misc comedy - 25%
Background plot - Boring
Romantic chemistry - She was great, he was terrible
Misc comedy - Meh
Production value - Not great
This show was frustrating to watch, mostly because I loved the FL-- the character and the actress-- but watching the ML behave so entirely tepid for the entirety of the show was incredibly frustrating. I completely understood why the ML would've fallen for her as the storyline dictated. At first, I felt their chemistry and waited in anticipation for him to show *some* emotion. But ultimately, by the end of the show, the acting (and directing) choices for the ML's character were so bad. I believed her feelings for him; I did not believe he had any feelings for her.
The story was fine. Very typical and predictable. Production values were also fine. Secondary storyline was extremely boring.
I hope Jiang Zhi Nan gets a better acting partner in her new show. I'll keep an eye out for her future projects.
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Middle episodes are the best
==Breakdown==Background plot - 40%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Good
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
This show suffered from being too long. It should've been 16 episodes instead of 24.
The first 5 are repetitive and somewhat boring.
6-12 are REALLY GOOD. The ML does a really good job pining for the FL. His acting during these episodes made them super enjoyable.
13-end are repetitive again. There are a few fun moments sprinkled throughout, but nothing memorable.
Acting was fine. Story was fine, nothing special. I might re-watch 6-12. Then again, I might not.
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Worth it for Ryan Cheng's bombastic side-eye
==Breakdown==Background plot - 60%
Romance - 35%
Misc comedy - 5%
Background plot - Excellent in some parts, rushed and sloppy in others
Romantic chemistry - Excellent for second leads, tepid for main leads
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Ranging from good to excellent
Ryan Cheng stole this one. Except a few crumbs stolen by Lester Lin, Ryan Cheng staged a heist and legit burgled the whole dang show.
THINGS I LOVED:
1) Every scene with Ryan Cheng (or Lester Lin) was captivating.
2) The fight scenes were awesome.
3) Cinematography and set design
4) Costumes
5) Background of story and set up of story
THINGS I DIDN'T LOVE:
1) I love Esther Yu and Zhang Ling He, but the script was not great and many of the scenes were waaaaaaaay to slow. By all accounts, Esther Yu and Zhang Ling He had good chemistry, but weren't given the scenes or the dialogue to demonstrate it. Their interactions were boring after a while (because of the pace and script), which was a shame because you could tell (with their expressions and eye contact) that they gave it their all.
2) Someone said in the comments that every scene was overly dramatic. I co-sign this statement. The panning to everyone's face to see their facial expressions and reactions would've been fine if it had been used as a device for one or two scenes, but it was waaay over used.
3) Not only was it slow, but the show had a huge amount of repetition, showing the same scenes over and over.
4) Also, this was weird: the show did this thing where they'd show a character once and then kill them (someone I'd never seen before or hadn't seen much of) and then do a flashback with that character for 20 minutes where we were apparently supposed to get to know them via a summary of their past and then feel sad about their current death. This never worked. I just fast forwarded these flashbacks after the 4th time this happened.
5) The second to last episode was absolutely nothing but exposition wherein the bad guy spent 45minutes telling us how he did it. That's just lazy storytelling.
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First contemporary CDrama, really enjoyed it
==Breakdown==Background plot - 40%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Fine
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
Was the story perfect or grounded in reality? No. No, it was not. Not at all. Maybe not even a little.
Were some the situations and dialogue cringe? Yes. Certainly.
Was it also a lot of fun to watch? Yes. Yes, it absolutely was.
Listen, this was unserious fun. I watched it for Dylan Wang who seems to have chemistry with walls, cars, all humans, and oftentimes plastic bags. He's amazing. I haven't seen Meteor Garden yet, but it's up next and I'm excited. I hope it's more unserious fun where Dylan Wang demonstrates how to have fantastic chemistry with inanimate and animate objects. I hope he never stops making shows.
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Romance was 7.5, Bromance was a 10
==Breakdown==Background plot - 65%
Romance - 20%
Misc comedy - 15%
Background plot - Fine
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
The romance was pretty good. The ML and FL had solid chemistry, but the ML's tragic story and his portrayal of it carried most of the show and took over / overwhelmed the romance.
However, the real star of this drama was the bromance between the two male leads. Their friendship and their scenes (and their friendship chemistry) stole the show. I ended up fast forwarding all scenes just to get to the friendship side story.
Of note, the overall plot is a little convoluted, but-- like I said-- the friendship plot completely charmed and made up for (mostly) the other deficiencies. Not that you asked, but I didn't care about or have a favorite of the two potential love interests for the friend male lead and, other than enriching his character, that part fell flat (for me).
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Difficult to rate
==Breakdown==Background plot - 45%
Romance - 35%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Meh
Romantic chemistry - Good
Misc comedy - Meh
Production value - Fine
First, the ML and FL and their chemistry were pretty good. The rest of the cast did a good job with what they were given. But the story was uneven, funny moments felt super forced, and the dialogue was often stilted.
I love a good fantasy / sci-fi romance, and in a fantasy/fictional setting, I'm open to the idea of a robot / human love story, otherwise I wouldn't have watched this kdrama. But this drama never fully committed to the idea, and thus it suffered. I wonder if it was the director or the script writer who had a problem with the concept. It felt like the story kept apologizing for the idea which undercut the concept and left the end ultimately unsatisfying.
I want to compare this one to 'I am not a robot,' but don't want to give any spoilers. Basically, the difference between the two is that this one seemed embarrassed by its own premise and that one fully committed to the idea.
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Overall worth a watch
==Breakdown==Background plot - 45%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 15%
Background plot - Good
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
I haven't seen the original, nor did I know this was based on a different drama until after I watched it.
This drama was binged over the course of two days and I have no regrets. Previously, I'd enjoyed the ML in Business Proposal and Dr. Romantic, and I'd loved the FL in Vincenzio, so I had high hopes.
I will say, the FL did just okay in this drama. Maybe if I hadn't watched Vincenzio I would've enjoyed this one more, but the scenes where she really shined in this story were moments where her character was similar to her previous role.
The ML was great in almost every scene and really sold the story.
I do have to note, however, that it seemed like the two lead actors never quite reached a level of physical comfort with each other because the affectionate scenes didn't come across well. I know both the ML and FL can do better, so this lack of chemistry between them (in this romantic drama) knocked off a full star.
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Cozy and healing
==Breakdown==Background plot - 20%
Romance - 70%
Misc comedy - 10%
Background plot - fine
Romantic chemistry - Amazing
Misc comedy - fine
Production value - Good
If you're looking for a cozy, sweet and sexy, lovely, feel-good drama, this one is it. The only reason it gets a 9.5 from me is because there is one plot element in the middle episodes that made me dislike the FL character for 2 episodes / made her appear petty and shallow. She somewhat redeemed herself, but the shadow of her actions never fully receded. (The kid in the hospital storyline... I was so irritated with her choices after that and thought she didn't deserve the ML; there's nothing wrong with being a single parent!!)
I will say, both leads in this drama are absolutely stunning. They're almost aggressively beautiful. I couldn't watch more than 1 episode at a time because it felt like an overdose of prettiness and sweetness. But 1-episode at the end of each day brought a smile to my face and was the perfect dose of this lovely drama.
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