Reviews

Not for everyone

I really wanted to like this, believe me. Five episodes in, heck, TEN episodes in, I was convinced this would be the next big cdrama that would be talked about for ages. It was still a 10/10 for me then. But now I've miraculously finished and I feel like an 8/10 is already quite generous.

The good things first.

> Acting was without question, probably the BEST thing this drama has to offer. Every actor gave it everything they got and what I couldn't understand from pure dialogue, I understood from their eyes, demeanors, and attitudes. I have to praise Hu Ge for his acting as Mr. Bao in particular, as well as Ma Yili as Ling Zi. I enjoyed their acting the most. Li Li was a frustrating one for me, but that's probably because Xin Zhilei was just doing her job! There are also many other side characters such as the waitresses from the restaurants on Huang He Road, the cigarette stand owner, Mr. Bao's friend group, etc, who are lovely to watch. Mr. Fan also gets a special shoutout for being so humorous! 10/10

> The music took me back to the bygone era of Chinese rock in the 80s. These were the songs my parents had listened to, and songs they played for me growing up. I've seen on the net that netizens felt like the music was also reminiscent of Hong Kong movies from the past and I fully agree with that. This really puts you in the right headspace of Shanghai during China's reform and opening up. But I have to admit that by the end of it, it felt like it was just the same three songs playing over and over again. I wish there was more variety. 9/10

> I wish that cinematography got its own category in the MDL ratings because this would also score highly. I'd give it a 10/10 if there weren't just a little too many scenes that were too dark. Otherwise, the saturation and COLOR bring a great nostalgic factor to this drama. It just feels like one looooong Wong Kar-wai film. 9/10

> Story: I really really really love that this drama gave the spotlight to such a unique time period of China's modern history. It's also a realistic telling of what ordinary Shanghainese were going through and what the place looked like during economic reform. I thought it was historical fiction at first (which I guess is still true). Most characters also had GREAT character development, like Mr. Fan and most of the women leads. I rooted for them the most. Shoutout to Mr. Bao's friend group - they were perfect for showing the Shanghai culture of banter and family. They carried the Shanghai social culture for this drama, 100%.

> Characters: I read in another review that they liked that these characters weren't one-dimensional. I have to agree on that point. These people were as realistic as it got. The good guys had dark sides and the bad guys had.. well, they weren't all bad. In fact I wouldn't even go as far to say that there were "good" or "bad" people. They were all just PEOPLE. Good or bad only comes from what's shown in the drama and what's relevant to the plot. Economic reform begs societal change and I loved to see these characters adapt to challenges, emotional or monetary or both. Again, I absolutely adored Ma Yili as Ling Zi. She is my spirit animal! The other female characters are all commendable as well. Character development did not escape minor characters either. I'm happy to see them struggle to find themselves in business and work for THEMSELVES. Female empowerment <3
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Now onto the reasons I say that this drama isn't for everyone...

> Romance: I feel like it's my responsibility to warn you that this drama will disappoint you in the romance department. Trust me. It's better you know this before going in because I made the same mistake. Wikipedia listed Romance and Period Drama as the genres and I got my hopes up. Don't be like me. Do not get your hopes up. You will appreciate knowing this "spoiler" before you get emotionally invested! They should not have marketed this as a romance either because now I have to dock more points. (Minor minor spoiler: Mr. Bao, literally out of NOWHERE, seems to have the most interest in X with no reason at all. Let me just say he has the worst taste in women, if we can even call it "taste"...) The little bits of romance that exists have no rhyme or reason in my opinion. Romance was done so badly.

> It is heavily business-related. In fact, it's 90% about business and Mr. Bao's clever plans to outwit his competitors. If that's your cup of tea, you'll love this. If it's not, and minimal business talk gets you woozy in other dramas, maybe don't tune into this one. While I like how clever he is, I appreciate wittiness more in the form of social consequences, like in The Story of Yanxi Palace. I don't really sympathize with the money folks - it just feels like legalized gambling to me. While there were some moments where I was on the edge of my seat, I definitely prefer romance to business.

> My bone to pick with this story nearly 100% has to do with Mr. Bao. And it's hard to find *any* bone to pick with this guy because he truly is the most righteous and "good" person in this drama. Unfortunately, as the male lead, he's also at the center of all the romance troubles and like I said, there is virtually no romance. You can see why I'm frustrated with him. Although he does right by all the women at his side, he cannot and does not satisfy them in the way they want him to, and as the audience, my heart breaks for them. You have been warned!

> PACING: Oh my lord, what the hell was this pacing. I haven't read the book and I really don't have the desire to either so I'm just at a loss at how they split the book up. What even was this ending? There was maybe a bit of a slow start but things started picking up by episode 10 and it was a pretty smooth ride to episode 20. Then it was just a SLOG with new characters and reappearances of some old ones and I just found myself losing interest. (Mostly because of the lack of romance.) One of the main characters even straight up disappeared for about five episodes! Like what is happening? I pushed myself episode by episode hoping for this person to come back (and they did, thank god) but by then, I had lost hope for them to have an ending that does them any justice because there were only a few episodes left. Then the last episode just crammed everything in, without even proper closure for my favorite character. Just a complete mess with the timing.

> Rewatch? Even if it came out again with English subs, I don't think I'd dedicate so much of my time to this again. Maybe just to fully understand the business dealings but certainly not for his relationships, or lack thereof.
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OVERALL

> Outside of my gripe with the complete mess they made with the romance, I appreciate the aesthetic quality of the drama and the story. The title makes a lot of sense by the time you finish the drama and I guess I can say it was bittersweet. This had so much more potential and because I haven't read the book, I don't know which is to blame.

> There really is much to like about this drama. The characters are interesting and multifaceted. The story is pretty strong. The aesthetics were fantastic.

> Rounded up, 8/10.

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Well, Well, Well... I didn't expect this film to be that good after reading the synopsis, but I was pleasantly surprised. Considering that this was one of the first films the young actors had played in their acting was spot on. With this kind of film it could be easy for them to go over the top and become unlikeable horrible teenagers but I found them relatable and more importantly likeable.

The storyline was good, it had be guessing at the murderer all the way through and wasn't obvious. The film was just right in length, short enough to keep the thrills up and long enough to tell the story without confusion.

Watch this if you love a good mystery but with a bit of comedy and doesn't take itself too seriously.

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Unexpectedly Underwhelming :)

Great cast, veterans from other BL shows, a premise with a hint of lots of interaction and sex. What could go wrong?

PLOT: Let’s say the basic concept is pretty interesting, the different members having connections or history with each other, seeing different ships mixing together, this idea would make the show not boring. Well, the execution is quite different. The different plotlines are not detailed enough and also pretty boring, that even the actors can’t make it better. I thought it would get interesting at some point but I noticed that in later episodes I just started skipping some parts because I was so bored with some side plotlines. By the trailer it seemed like a 18+ show, however, let alone some strong and truly hot scenes in early episodes, it gets so soft and boring later that it feels like a Turkish soap opera.

DIRECTION/PRODUCTION: The casual GmmTv issues are present regarding the production: weird sounds/voices, poor sound quality in outdoor takes. The setting sometimes feels a bit contracted.

ACTING/CHARACTERS: This is the heaviest issue for me. The cast is pretty good, well-known faces, good actors. However, it generally feels like poor acting, but I think it’s because of the bad direction and writing. I think the only exception is Khaotung (Ray) who seems to be the most complex character and also the actor is putting all effort into showing us. His performance was outstandingly good compared to others, despite this actor really not being my favourite in the BL world.
Outstandingly bad performance was associated with Force (Top). His plain expressions make it feel like it’s a production from a highschool afternoon acting club. This kinda worked in A Boss and a Babe, but doesn’t work at all in Only Friends. Let alone some good emotional moments in later episodes when his character cries, which is some decent acting.
-After watching the last episode, and the post-credit funny scenes, I realized these actors have so much energy and personality inside them, half of it wasn’t shown throughout the show. These last funny BTS scenes really show a contrast between what could have been and what was.

CHEMISTRY: Chemistry between Top and Mew didn’t really work for me, the other couples and mix-ups had some really intense moments, even some believable drama between each other.
So... Steamy scenes: 9/10 ; Drama: 6/10

MUSIC: The opening is kinda cringy in my honest opinion, but the title song is SO COOL, I never get bored of it, I really recommend you find the whole song on YT and give it a try, it’s pretty catchy. The other musics during the episodes were alright, they didn’t really bother me but also nothing special, however sometimes I felt like I’m listening to a “Teamfight_3” music from Dota2 Music Pack 2018. :D Actually there are some free stock musics from YT, but they are not disturbing at all.

ENDING: Underwhelming. Rushed. Empty. Could have been some real drama. The only exception is Boston’s ending which I found sad but realistic and well-deserved.

VERDICT: I find this show such a wasted potential, with such a great cast and promising premise/concept. Underused cast, lame writing, average, boring plot. A slightly better than average show for me, but maybe I expected too much, therefore I'm giving it a 6.5/10.

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typical contract relationship story but with 0 chemistry

PLOT :

the plot is pretty typical contract relationship with less drama than usual dramas like this. but the less drama doesn't mean that it's good imo it was quite boring & most of the time nothing interesting was happening. now usually in dramas like these we expect great chemistry between the characters so the boringness/lack of plot won't be that big of a problem (example put your head on my shoulder) but in here literally no one had any chemistry whatsoever. the main couple looked awkward as hell all the time even after they were apparently in love. the FL's best friends relationship was a mess too they were WAY too toxic and had no chemistry & FL's sister & ML's friend's relationship was the most forced relationship ever. and that old grandpa was one annoying ass dude idc he WAS annoying and the FL's cousin deserved jail. the only good thing was that they actually talked about their problems with each other unlike most drama's couples who keeps hiding their problems from their bf/gf.

ACTING/CAST :

FL : she just CAN'T act. her acting was really bad and one of the main reasons why there was 0 chemistry between the main couple. and her character was way too naive and that really annoyed me.

ML : his acting was not bad & his character was the typical cold career focused male lead but only difference was he was really calm & collected and never got mad at the FL which i liked

the rest of the characters are pretty annoying & their acting was bad to mediocre except for the lawyer ig but he was quite annoying at first too

MUSIC : there wasn't any song in this drama that caught my attention / fit my music taste.

REWATCH VALUE : would never in my sane mind rewatch this lmao

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Strong start but I fear it's losing steam!

I was absolutely hooked on the first six episodes of this drama, and I really loved it despite its cringe Wattpad moments, but the last two episodes have become a bit too much for me. I expected a bit of a lack of realism, but certain actions taken by characters are completely illogical and unrealistic (like against the laws of physics unrealistic) and some of the characters who are supposed to be likable have begun to irritate me with their demanding things from the FMC. The MMC is unlikeable and cruel at times, and really the second lead is why I still stick around because he is amazing. It's going to break my heart when she doesn't pick him though :(

Overall, it's chaotic and fun, but also unrealistic and cringe at times and you have to turn your brain off a bit to enjoy it. I hope to raise my rating in future episodes as I'd originally rated this 8, but we shall see!

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A Snack for a Rainy Day

In 2015, a Korean drama Hyde, Jekyll and Me received a great deal of attention for its quirky premise. At the time I was a fan of the actor who played the male lead, Hyun Bin and thought the premise intriguing -- a man suffering from dissociative personality disorder and both personalities competing for the female lead. The result was a mixed bag. Hyun Bin was great in the dual role but the script was weak (the world building was half-hearted) and aspects of it ridiculous. I can well imagine too that it’s a challenge to find a satisfying resolution to a love triangle that involves two people sharing the same body when the female lead shows a distinct preference for the secondary identity over the core one.

Several years later, someone else has taken another stab at the subject matter and the result is also a mixed bag. Again it’s mainly the script although performances vary across the board. Here the female lead Jing Zhixia (Joey Chua) meets the alternate personality Lin first and it's love at first sight. Some time later the two indulge in a steamy one night stand and the core identity Fu Zeyi (Xiao Kaizhong) wakes up the next morning wondering what his alter had gotten them both into and then takes off without so much as a by your leave. The poor girl is left ruminating for a year about the charming musician that swept her off her feet then left her high and dry.

While Joey Chua has a knack for the comedic, her character Jing Zhixia, though badly used by the two personalities is not exactly well written. This is the definition of a trashy rom com but even so how a woman of her limited ability (or limited interest in the business) can be allowed to be part of the management of a 5-star hotel boggles the mind. I'm not sure I'd even trust her with a small-scale B and B. Certainly it’s understandable that the show doesn’t want her to be the stereotypical Cinderella figure in a grumpy, arrogant CEO drama. Instead she’s a materialistic spoilt rich girl who decides to sell off a portion of her shares in the family business so that she can go gallivanting. This of course plays into the much more capable hands of Fu Zeyi who wants the land that the hotel is presently sitting on.

As soon as he gains management rights to the hotel, the two lock horns in true rom com fashion. Suddenly she’s all about family loyalty and her father's legacy. On the one hand she’s sure he’s the guy who loved her and left her a year earlier, on the other hand, he vehemently denies it knowing full well that his alter has been up to some serious hanky-panky in his absence. Besides, dissociative identity disorder is a shocking secret borne out of a childhood trauma that he'd rather not share with the world. Aside from the fledgling romance, there's also the succession issue to consider.

Fu Zeyi, as one might expect, is a right royal jerk at the start. It is hard to root for him at first because he is trying hard to keep Zhixia at bay while making sure his secret is safe. Soon, however, he finds himself inconveniently attracted to her and starts acting territorial, doing all kinds of odd things that wasn’t previously in his programming. Even his rigid and cantankerous father notices the make over. Zhixia is obviously confused by what she sees as capriciousness and more so when Fu Zeyi and Lin make her the trophy while they vie aggressively for her affections.

Xiao Kaizhong who plays both isn’t bad in the role. It's at the very least much better than what I had expected. He certainly has a roaring good time with the mayhem of the Yi-Lin dialectic without overdoing anything. He and Joey Chua have good chemistry but they are definitely underserved by the script.

Despite the obvious budgetary limitations imposed (The fabulously wealthy Fu Zheyi has only a handful of suits to strut around in), the one thing that this show does better than its Korean predecessor is to show how Zhixia gradually cottons on to the deception which sends her running. at first. Gradually, however, she works out that the arrogant Fu Zheyi is the one that she loves not because he is her ideal but because he tries to push himself beyond his limits for her sake. Fortunately for us, she has something of a growth arc and demonstrates the capacity to be much more than what she first presents herself to be.

The relationship is fraught with all kinds of moral and ethical issues in part because of the deception and in part due to the fact that the mental health issue is more of a benign plot device for the push and pull rather than a genuinely serious obstacle to two people’s happily-ever-after.

Even rom coms need villains apparently. Although Fu Zeyi was bordering on being one in the beginning as he plots to acquire the hotel, that title is reserved for someone else — someone close to him who’s out for blood but the motivation for his entire revenge scheme makes no sense except that he’s evidently gone loopy. The 20-year wait to exact vengeance makes no sense either.

What saves this drama for me is the finale. It wraps things up as well as a half-hour 18 episode web drama might be expected to. There's no lack of the nonsensical in it but at least there's resolution for Fu Zeyi and Lin. More importantly, for me at least, there's an acknowledgment that Fu Zeyi is the core personality and Lin was always just an identity that emerged to protect him. He was a by-product of a mental health dysfunction. It's a crucial piece of the romance that had to be addressed. Lin was always the fantasy never the reality -- the delusion that Zhixia was in search of and Zeyi wanted to be. The reality as represented by Fu Zeyi is about a man riddled with deep-seated guilt at what happened in the past and who was always seeking his father's approval while weighed down by all kinds of emotional baggage that he never allowed himself to express. Falling in love... it can be said... broke the shackles.

The finale is surprisingly fitting and therefore makes the entire journey worth sitting through. There's a lot that doesn't make sense and it does fall along fairly predictable lines but at least there's enough fan servicing to snack on to keep one coming back for more.

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I have found it! A drama that makes me happy every single scene. Well, if not happy all the time at least not actively hating any of the character.

The couple was cute. They had an immediate attraction, but they took their time becoming a couple. They never broke up over stupid reasons. They never took the Noble Idiot route. No one got amnesia. There weren’t any evil relatives or exes conspiring to split them apart. Even the second lead was adorable, but not an actual threat at any point. I mean, was this even a K drama?!
Why yes, yes it was. Because there was cute, there was drinking, and there was lots of Koreans speaking Korean. Plus, just because the relationship was a healthy one without plot devises messing them up, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t drama.
There was lots of drama. Interesting drama that I was invested in. And I loved that it didn’t make me want top throw my phone across the room. (Ahem…Heirs)

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Strong on character but short on plot.

A Lonely Hero's Journey is about a young man's brave and lonely resistance to Japanese occupation. It is set in Suzhuo in 1941, just four years before Japanese forces withdrew from China. At the time, Suzhuo was administered by the Wang Puppet Regime; which was formed by a faction of the KMT that defected to the Japanese. The Wang Regime called themselves peace seekers and didn't have much authority but are regarded as traitors in history. While Suzhou was not the epicenter of resistance against the Japanese, it is a gorgeous and culturally significant historical city in China. This drama highlights the scenery, architecture and culture of Suzhou, including authentic famous Suzhou ballads. Its not your typical highly trained spy vs spy espionage story but rather about the defiance of ordinary people.

Gu Yizhong is a Western educated architect and the young master of the prominent and patriotic Gu family in Suzhou. On a rescue operation went awry, he gets framed as a Japanese traitor and is isolated and condemned by friends and family. He infiltrates the Suzhuo Secret Service station run by Zhou Zhifei to find out who the real traitor Cell 8 is. Zhifei of course knows who the real Cell 8 is and doesn't trust him for one moment. Zhifei and Yizhong are parallel characters that at a high level, share a common hatred for the Japanese. As individuals they are pushed to make difficult choices at pivotal moments of their lives. To survive they both have to be flexible; sacrificing a father, or a a son and their first love. Somewhere along the way Zhifei lost himself and became corrupt whereas Yizhong manages to hold on to his beliefs. In Yizhong, Zhifei sees the better man that he could have been but is not. In the guise of a mentor, Zifei goes after him like he is exorcising a ghost; destroying all that Yizhong values to bring about his moral downfall. Zhang Songwen is compelling as this selfish, dark and diabolical character, who occasionally allows glimpses of his lost humanity to shine through in his dealings with the two women he loves, his son and his mentor Mr Li.

This drama is very well cast and in addition to Zhang Songwen, is anchored by impressive portrayals by veteran actors Zhang Fengyi and Zhang Yao. In fact I think Zhang Fengyi's Gu Xixing stole the show. The drama starts to go downhill when Xixing exits and completely falls apart after Ou Xinping exits. The younger cast also delivers credible performances against the older actors. At times, Zeng Shunxi's portrayal lacks intensity and could be nuanced with inner conflict when it comes to how he feels about Haimo and Ruotong. Instead, he gives us nothing there so the way they ended left me scratching my head.

One of the best features of this story is how strong all of the women are in their own ways. Ou Xinping is not just a survivor, she is a killer with immovable convictions. Zhang Haimo is cool headed and calm, someone who is motivated by personal connections and loyalty rather than ideology. Unfortunately Haimo's character is destroyed after her walk away is walked back almost as an after thought to try to salvage the shipwreck of a storyline. This is Chen Duling's best role to date and I must commend her effort in even matching the lip movements of the very hard to sing Suzhou ballads. At sharp contrast is the passionate Xiao Ruotong who is far more emotional and willing to sacrifice for her ideals. Wang Yuwen's acting feels very genuine, evoking a moving picture of a young girl somewhat overwhelmed by the tide of history.

Despite wholehearted performances from the cast, this drama is strong on character but short on plot. The plot arcs lack logic and don't hold up well against close scrutiny. It is debatable whether Yizhong needed to make such immense sacrifices to isolate himself as a lonely boat that infiltrates the Suzou Bureau. His codename 孤舟/Gū Zhōu or Lonely Boat is too close a homonym to his surname Gù/顾 he may as well advertise that he is the CPC spy. The identity of Cell 8 is too obvious, diminishing the sense of suspense and is uncovered without much help from him. I was ready to fling my wine at the TV when the enemy simply allows Yizhong to walk away with the only key piece of military intelligence he obtained because he shamed his country for occupying China! After Japan lost WW2, it was absurd that Zhifei still stuck around simply to try to frame Yizhong rather than fleeing like the rat he is. But I guess in these kinds of stories the bad guy doesn't get to sail off into the sunset with his ill gotten gains. This is one of those dramas that can only be enjoyed if you watch the character stories and completely turn off your brain when it comes to the plot.

Even though this starts well and the acting is good, it starts going downhill just before the halfway point. I can only recommend watching this if you are a fan of any of the main actors or if you are interested in Suzhou culture. If not, there are too many better Republican spy dramas out there with tight and suspenseful plots. My overall rating 6.5/10.0.

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not a BL, thank you!

What a powerful story. While it may be confusing at times, everything will get clear the closer to the finale you get.
The acting and cinematography was top notch, the story could be a bit more clear for the viewers even when you will understand it at the end.

This is not a BL, it's a drama, with gay characters. One who denies his past and his pain and the other one who is trying to help his love even when that not always works out as intended. They deliver an emotinal rollercoaster which makes you shed some tears but also depicts how hard a relationsship can be because of all the baggage you have collected in your past and how to communicate to clear the air, to solve misunderstandings, to overcome your faults and your past and make it so you will truly understand each other.

After "Love in the Big City" and "Gray Shelter" we have the third Korean series not fitting in the BL catagory. While BLs can be fun, I personally like realistic, complicated, sometimes painful gay dramas a lot more because they also educate the viewers, that nothing is black and white but shades of gray and that relationsships are complicated and not easy to do especially when your emotional baggage is huge and the world was never kind to you.

This is a must watch for everyone who can cope with painful stories and is willing to give a real drama a chance.

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Total waste of time

This may win the award for worst Korean BL. I'll start with the positives:

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Well, one of the guys takes a shower and he has a nice body. There's that at least.

On to the negatives.

The main characters have zero chemistry. Actually, it's below zero. It's a black hole of chemistry. They're so uncomfortable even hugging that it looks like they're sexually harassing each other. Their kisses are the worst I've ever seen.

The plot is cliched and nonsensical. Again, one guy has been in love with the other for most of his life, blah, blah. I don't even need to say the rest because you can predict everything from there. The story is based entirely on totally implausible miscommunication, lack of communication, and downright taking the opposite meaning of what someone says, jumping to conclusions with zero evidence and 100% the opposite of what is totally obvious or explicitly stated.

One can say directly to the other "I like you and want to be with you", and the other's voiceover says "He's obviously in a relationship with his female editor who he can't possibly be dating because I'm with him 24/7".

Speaking of voiceovers, whoever adapted this forgot it was live-action and not a manwha and so EVERYTHING is voiceover. I suppose it has to be because the acting is so bad.

This feels like it was a porn story that was stripped of sex and is left with something as meaningful as the dialog with the pizza delivery boy before the sex.

I wouldn't waste any time on this - it's just frustrating and boring to watch.

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It could´ve been so much better!

Ok, I´ve finished watching it. I doubted before I started to watch because of all the posts about the bad editing, which is absolutely awful. Too many fundamental scenes were cut and made my heart ache because this drama had a great production and the plot had many great highlights to explore.

What was missing:

- The first kiss of the MC in episode 6 when ML was drunk
- Also at the end of episode 6 when ML proposes ingame and FL asks to the FL how she wants to be called (Wife, darling, honey etc) and she says if he agrees to have a real relationship she will pick one.
- Confession in episode 16... Come on!!! WTF??? how do you miss that???!!!
- When ML discovers his boss is FL´s older brother.

What could have been better:

- If the writers wanted a "love triangle" for the FL, then director/production please cast someone that could´ve been seen as an opponent to BWJ, not an actor close to an uncle. Or if you wanted an older suitor, please mind you are filming an Idol Drama and cast someone aesthetically coordinated with the rest of the cast.

- ML´s grandpa was adorable, he could have had a couple of scenes more sprinkled in the last episodes.

- Writers: did you try to make a SC with Lu Guang Han & Gu Qiao Bei a bromance, a BL, a mentor/disciple or a dage/didi relationship? Because you hinted all that and finally we didn´t have either. I think could have been better if you didn't force a girlfriend for LGH in the last episode and just leave it open for viewers to interpret.

- Please send a red fat envelope to "S**ting Stars" because the hidden top actress/absent mother and the assistant/mean top actor we´ve seen it last year and better done.

- First drama I´ve watched with Bi Wen Jun and Zhang Xue Ying and for me, she ATED IT. Cute without being dumb or sickly sweet, quite natural. BWJ flunked the first half for me because his "tsundere" was lacking personality. Few actors can pull a tsundere without being confused with a brick. Park Seo Joon in "What´s wrong with Secretary Kim?" set the bar too high for me and quite difficult to reach for the majority of idol actors. The second half when he starts to pursue the FL more out in the open and he warms up is where he starts to shine. When he ends up as a cute henpecked boyfriend in the last couple of episodes he takes the crown.

- Regarding what is missing in edition, is not the first time government makes cuts in dramas, but is the first time the production didn't fix it properly. I don't remember any other drama where the editing was so lame that made the plot lose sense at some point. Oh... I forgot "She and her Perfect Roommate".... sorry "Husband". After all the cut scenes between YM and XK we went from a chocolate cake in the trailers to a pudding when it was released, but at least the plot made sense.

Is it worth watching?

The production and the game scenes were on point. Red carpets and awards ceremonies were also great. The ending was one of the most satisfactory for me in the recent same niche rom-coms.

The chemistry between the leads was good and ended even better. The the dage/meme relationship was insanely well done and fun to watch. Is one of the highlights of the drama.

The conflicts were solved quickly and the evil-doers got the reward they deserved.

If the writers polished the script and the editing was done better after the government review, this drama could have been easily a "Love O2O" 2.0. Had the storyline, the actors and the production to reach the same level or top it. BWJ is not yet at Yang Yang´s level, but his FL was far better than Zheng Shuang, at least for me. So that makes the MCs even.

If the viewer is warned about the missing scenes and wants to watch a good quality production rom-com, worth the try if there isn't another drama on queue.

Rewatch Value:

Yes, I probably will rewatch it. I don't know yet if it is because I really enjoyed the good points listed above or because my brain is still trying to put all the pieces together.

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Definetly unique from the usual C-dramas

I realised Man with a career and Women with passion are super sexy .

This drama is mostly about the business world out there, this revolved around companies and investments, how the market works and how is the market competition like. This is 60% business and 40% romance.
I Love watching dramas where leads are 2 grown up mature individuals who have their own career to focus on, this mixed with inspiration and growth is totally my cup of tea.
I saw many dramas where leads go through diffult times and BOOM , without focusing much on their struggle and growth they achieve success, i am telling you this series explained the struggle and cruelty of enterprenuership in much detail without compromising on the romance .

Oh gosh the leads chemistry was LITTTTT!!! . I absolutely loved how they wrote their characters. Xu Si this man is a perfect portrayal of an investor and loved watching him though i was kinda annoyed by his choices and overpowering behavior.

Now lets talk about our inspiring and bold female lead Jiang Hu, she is a character that we can look up to. Tough initially we saw how broken and dejected she felt, she picked herself up, banged on every possible door looking for opportunity and did her best to stand on her own feet again and proved that no matter where talent goes it will standout.
Loved the leads together, though i was kinda annoyed by Xusi in the ending few episodes and the situations around JianHu , there was no single episode that disappointed me . Oversall this is satisfying and worth a watch

Things i dint like -
--> The abrupt and unnecessary cuts
-->ZhaoYang and YangJian's relationship, i have my own prejudice against them and no possible reasoning can convince me to change my opinion on them

Points worth mentioning -
--> How they designed Gao Yi's character and his story , was satisfying
--> If you are here for Zhe Ming especially someone like me who watched him as ML and liked his dramas , dont expect much screentime here as mentioned in casting list he has a support role
--> The osts are worth listening to, just concentrate on the lyrics they are just lovely and inspiring.

It is definetly not the place/ company you are in that matters, its your attitude and confidence that will make you shine. - BY ME😄

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Underrated

I understand the reason why some might dislike this drama. Yes, the soul swapping with a grandfather is a bit iffy but if you can get passed that in a similar way to a 1000 year vampire, a 3000 year goblin, then this might be enjoyable for you. Although you might still be a bit disappointed. The drama certainly kept me guessing.

I enjoy these types of genres so it was quite a fun ride. The writers did have me worried though. I wasn't sure if they would be able to give a reasonably good finale but it was quite heart-warming with lots of sweet moments. I found myself tearing up at times and smiling at other moments.

Looking back Martin Wong delivered a really good performance. I liked the two distinct versions that he played and he pulled it off quite well. The other cast members were great as well. I might even do a rewatch now that the show has finally concluded.

The OST is also quite enjoyable!

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