Fine as a Stand-alone, but a Weaker Adaptation
For context, I’m a fan of the original manga and have been reading it since 2019 - I’m also not an avid drama watcher.Overall, I’d say that while this show was decently fun to watch, there are aspects of this show that diverged a bit far from the source material in a bad way that prevent me from giving it a higher rating.
The main couple of Zuo Qian Dai and Ye Qi were generally well executed and I found them nice to watch, although I did feel that some romantic moments were forced such as them falling on each other and them drawing on the windows (how they didn’t get in trouble with the staff, I have no idea). The two side couples on the other hand, had rather iffy moments that prevented me from getting truely invested in them, especially compared to the original manga counterparts. Jie Yue was quite OOC at some points, and the drama with her and Ruo Song at the end felt unnecessary and was not funny. With Lu Dao and Gu Zheng Xing, I gained the impression that the writers did not understand why they click as a couple - they tried to force them into a traditional romantic storyline which just doesn’t work for the two of them - more focus should have been put on Lu Dao’s face rather than her legs for example, which is more of a charm point for Hori in the original. I generally feel that they did not understand that the couple subverts gender expectations in behaviour as well as clothing. Ironically, the best couple was the one that was not a couple - I really enjoyed Yuyu and Ye Zhen’s interactions, even though they were different from the original. They were funny and rlly cute tbh.
The technical elements of the show was a bit rough as well. The acting was mostly alright - the big standout performance wise was Kenji Chen in the role of Qian Ye - but I found that at times there were some editing mishaps such as dubbed lines not being synced up with the actors and I found the costuming to be a bit hit or miss, especially for Qian Dai and Lu Dao - to the point that it even ruined some critical scenes in the show.
That being said, I don’t hate this show. It provided some good laughs and entertainment for a few hours, and if you’re not as much of a fan of the source material / just want to see Nozaki and Chiyo Fucking Get Together Already, then you’ll probably like this show.
Was this review helpful to you?
