Trouble-chan

@Major -- I've seen 'Marry Me Or Not' and I didn't really like it that much - not sure why, it just didn't make me root for anyone really and that's what I love about dramas that are my favourites - there's always a couple to root for, even if it's just Second Lead Syndrome and your going to be disappointed, at least you're rooting for someone.

Yes the back hugs can be annoying - especially when they happen over and over and the male lead STILL rejects the female lead and leaves her crying. I'm very much of the opinion that in RL he would've been toast long before those scenes usually happen because most real females do NOT wish to be treated like dirt - the old line of 'treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen' has long since been proven to be pathetically stupid and completely wrong. lol!

@Rin -- Agreed - for me it's about the chemistry between the leads. In this drama there isn't any really, it's all with Yi Mu; which is weird because he's the SECOND lead and she's not supposed to be with him.

But if the chemistry's there you really don't notice any lack of kissing or if it's just a hug and lip bump because the actors EXPRESS their feelings with looks, touches and words. For me that IS romance and I can completely sail my ship with them. :) But agreed, bad lip bumps just make me laugh! XD

I've seen 'Perfect Couple' I searched it out after watching 'Love Me if You Dare' and decided Huo Wallace was too good not to watch in something else. A friend I made on Kiss Asian recommended it so I tracked it down. It was really good.

But 'Love Me if You Dare', 'When a Snail Falls in Love' and 'Return of the Cuckoo' were all dramas that really imparted the deep love and connection between the main leads without ANY graphic sex and very little kissing (if any), etc. It was all down to, as I've said, body language, words, small touches and looks.

I ADORE Tang Tiffany, she's my favourite East Asian actress - I recently saw her in 'My Sunshine' with Chung Wallace and thought she was brilliant in that - just the right kind of lovable dork with a deep secret. She knocked Angelababy's version of the role, with her real life husband Huang Xiao Ming, into the ditch.

I think having a cut off point is much better - it's not like we don't get what's going on or what will happen next.....I think some thing's are just better left to the imagination and to concentrate on the romance/drama storyline. In most cases in western dramas/movies sex scenes are added to entice a certain demographic and usually just detract from the story as they're usually shoehorned in to the plot. It does drive me nuts, because it's usually obvious the story and the plot gain nothing from it. .

From what you've said I think I fit the East Asian culture much better than my own. lol!

Agree with all you've said and it only makes me feel more sorry for Sheng Peter and feel that Zhang Vin is such a little cutie. :) I also want him to finally win for once. Fingers crossed. I have to say though that if Sheng Peter is so uncomfortable in the limelight and struggling in main roles why stay in acting? I wouldn't want to stay in a job that made me miserable......

Chinese BL? Going to end tragedy - the Chinese BL ALWAYS, ALWAYS does.

Nice to see Lau Hawick back. :)

If I were the kids I would've been organising something so their poor mum could LEAVE and DIVORCE such a loser.

The guy who didn't talk to his wife for TWENTY years and yet had an EIGHTEEN year old son - so he must've made it clear when he wanted SOME things right? That aside I would've kicked his pathetic bratty tantrum throwing butt to the kerb faster than the speed of light! NO ONE deserves to be stuck with such a loser.

I agree with you and I'm the same. Although not of Asian descent myself, I feel that the kisses, etc are more natural and follow the traditions and such of the countries that make them.

Thank you for telling me that this is probably the way East Asian people also view romance - for me it would make the dramas seem more natural to me.

You're right, of course - so many dramas just have brief hugs (if that) that ANY kissing is a bonus. lol! Frankly, to be honest, though not a prude I prefer just kissing and hugging to the full on sex scenes we get here in the West. I mean most people understand what comes next in most relationships we don't need to SEE it when we're watching a movie/drama with our nearest and dearest in the room....red faces all round, right? lol!

Kdramas probably have the most natural kisses scenes, but only in ones with adults (such as 'Coffee Prince', 'She was Pretty' and 'Goblin'). ALL school/teen dramas across the board have just 'lip bumps'; which is understandable. Like you say, ANY kiss is better than none right? :)

Completely agree with you - I think though we need to cut Sheng Peter some slack as he's only 24 and has had few acting roles, especially main ones such as Pretty Li Hui Zhen'. He doesn't have the natural talent and easy, friendly personality that Zhang Vin has and so is probably struggling.

I agree about 'Go Princess Go' - he did struggle there but, for me at least, the gorgeous sets, cinematography and costumes really took your eye away from his struggles with his role and his stiff delivery.

I think Sheng Peter needs to concentrate on supporting roles for a while until he develops the skills and ability to be able to carry a main role.

Do really finish 'Love O2O' as Zhang Vin is the best actor in it. :) I haven't had a chance to see Ten Miles/Eternal Love yet, but it's bookmarked so I will get to it soon. :)

Frankly I will now watch anything he's in whether as a lead or as a supporting character - he reminds me very much of my bias, Saito Takumi, who can steal every scene he's in no matter how small the role.

I'm also chuffed to hear he's going to be starring in 'The King's Woman' with Dilraba as their chemistry in 'Pretty Li Hui Zhen' was literally off the charts - sadly it only showed up the lack of it with Sheng Peter, but them's the breaks. :)

As you say one of the more decent rising C-actors and he completely deserves the roles he's getting - he's just so good.

Ah right, thanks for the info Luyia! :)

So is it a sad ending - because, seriously, I am so DONE with those right now......so, please, I am BEGGING, is this a sad ending or not?

Back hugs make go all smiley. :) Piggybacks are cute, but for me back hugs ALWAYS win.

On Viki there's the ability to make real time comments on episodes and some of them are hilarious - especially with the spinning segment! XD

There's also many people comparing it to the Korean version there too. But I'm not sure it's fair as they are two different countries.

However, I'm wondering if this version has been played this way, especially with Sheng Peter, because of Chinese traditions, etc? I know the kisses being what I call 'lip bumps' because, frankly, that's all they are - there's no way it can ever be called a kiss in any sense of the word. But this is the same in EVERY Chinese drama - lip bumps all round; even after long separations, etc! lol!

So perhaps that's why Sheng Peter is so 'stoic' through most of it? Whereas the South Koreans are much more open and affectionate and so their version is much more emotional and their kisses much more convincing? Or am I being too kind? lol!

Yup, the continuity is shocking in this - I'm assuming the continuity editor is either unemployed or was taken out the back and shot! XD

I am SO on your side with this - SERIOUSLY, WHY, WHY couldn't they have done this? As you say, so MANY possibilities just IGNORED. T-T

I actually agree with all you've said there - even not having Zhang Vin as Bai Hao; it does make sense. I think the issues with Bai Hao (from Sheng's acting to the actual writing of the role) is why I think, as the series progressed, more and more screen time was given to Yi Mu.

I do like both versions of the drama and both have their strengths and weaknesses (of which we know two. lol!). But overall I agree with you about Bai Hao, true I've got 6 episodes to go so he could suddenly make a jump before the end - but I'm doubting it. I'm guessing that, unlike his Korean counterpart who became cute, clingy and dorky (which made us all adore him even as our hearts bled for Si Won), we won't be doing that for the Chinese Bai Hao as he won't be changing that much.

I bought the DVD of the Korean version - as soon as I was able actually. But whilst I think I will do the same for the Chinese version, it won't be as soon as I can and it won't be because I adored the WHOLE drama as I did with the Korean version. More that I adored SOME of it and PARTICULAR characters within it. As you say, that's down to the writing and direction as well as the acting.

I have to say right now the one thing I LOATHED about the actual filming was the spinning camera in one of the episodes - dear GOD, talk about motion sickness! I nearly lost my damn lunch! lol!

Yeah I almost dropped it for the same reason, BUT if you fast forward their bits and just stick with the bromance/BL side story with Zhang Vin it's SO much better. LOL!

A lot of people were saying the same, me included, about 'Pretty Li Hui Zhen' - Shang Peter began to get his stride by episode 31, but Zhang Vin hit it IMMEDIATELY. I know Shang Peter is only 24 and VERY new to acting, so you have cut the poor guy some slack; but I honestly think if they'd put Zhang Vin in the 'Bai Hao' role and said 'play it like you played KO in 'Love O2O' he'd have ACED it and made it so much more believable.

The toughest part is the female lead is so much more natural with Zhang Vin, her delivery's better and the chemistry between the two is off the charts - so, when you see her with her 'childhood sweetheart' who she's supposedly madly in love with and she's clearly stiff and awkward and her delivery is very stilted, it makes it VERY hard to buy into THAT romance - difficult when THEY are supposed to be who we're rooting for...... :$

Basically agree with all you've said about this except about Vin play Bai Hao. In the Korean version, although the male lead, Seong Jun, was still a jerk his emotional transformation as he fell for Hye Jin. So by the end you were rooting for them to be okay together.

But in this version Sheng Peter just didn't really make that transition and so we were left STILL really rooting for Yi Mu. If Vin had played Bai Hao similarly to how he played KO (only a bit more jerky in the beginning) he would've been EPIC in the Bai Hao role.

In the Korean version Seo Joon was able to really put across his character's desperation and frustration with the whole team and so, even before we knew why, we were curious as to why there was this sense of urgency to everything he did and why he was such a bully generally and also so evil to Hye Jin in particular.

In this version Sheng Peter didn't do that - there was no underlying feeling of urgency and so his attitude came off as narcissistic show off to the team in general and arrogant bully in particular to Hui Zhen. That was even why Yi Mu called him out on it when he kept on about their ideas - "you keep asking us, what about you?" I thought that was SO brilliantly done. I also remember crying when Seong Jun yelled at Hye Jin about the hole in her sock in the Korean version; I didn't with the Chinese one becaus Sheng Peter just made me irritated at his idiocy rather than angry to the point of tears at his bullying arrogance.

I think Sheng Peter REALLY needs to get more experience in minor roles for a while before tackling an emotional romantic MAJOR role like this again. Vin REALLY showed up not only Sheng's errors but also his general lack of emotional engagement with anyone - especially the girl he was supposed to have loved since a small boy; he rarely smiled let alone anything else. Vin laughed, glowered, smirked, looked heartbroken - his face reflected his feelings even if he didn't say anything. Sheng just looked like a robot most of the time. I also agree with what you said about his portrayal of Bai Hao, it really was VERY similar to his portrayal of the CP in GPG. Okay there, but NOT here.

But I think you're absolutely right; once he improves, I think Sheng Peter will be a very good and capable actor. :) You can see he's got the talent, just not the ability to show it well right now. More MINOR roles for him to gain experience will be a big help.

Oh me too.....I have the dvd and whenever I feel down I watch the Shin Se-gi parts and I laugh. He was epic and SO in love with Ri-jin. She should really have chosen him.....T-T

I will, thanks naccu. :)