Falling in Love with a Rival (2015)

The project is certainly not top-notch, but I was amused, somewhat crazy, funny, light and cute in the way the actors went all out in a certain physical contact, including "hands-on". Actors - nice guys and that girlfriend played fourth fiddle there. And one more interesting thing. The various stories, what about the uncut versions, I have the cuts as well, but they are meringue, cuddling. The series was perhaps the last one before the well-known stricter Chinese regulation, and after it projects with BL and gay themes didn't make much of a cut... what a shame.



Projekt jistě není úplně top, ale pobavil mě, někde malinko ztřeštěný, vtipný, lehký a roztomilý v tom, jak do určitého fyzického kontaktu včetně "ošahávaček" herci šli naplno. Herci - sympaťáci a ta přítelkyně tam hrála čtvrté housle. A ještě jedna zajímavost. Ty různé povídačky, jak je to s uncut verzemi, mám i ty střihy, ale jedná se o pusinky, mazlení. Seriál totiž byl snad poslední před známým zpřísněným čínským nařízením, a po něm si už projekty s BL a gay tematikou moc neškrtly ... velká škoda.

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Sweet concept. Doesn't do enough though.

TLDR; From sheerly the summary, this captured my attention with its simple charm, but sadly the delivery wasn't up to par with what can be read, to me at least.

Fair disclaimer: I have preferences, which most would likely not agree with, and that is fine. As a subjective reviewer, I am not trying to down-rate this title or undermine the good reviews.

I do not think this was a high-budget or spectacularly prepared show, so obviously I will keep the quality comments to the minimum here.



With all that being said, here's my fleshed-out opinion dump on this very "mid" show:


STORY:
Unlike my overall review, I have given this quite a high rating because, while in idea the whole "trying to make your ex jealous, but it backfires and now you're in too deep with their new partner" isn't anything groundbreaking or new, it still is and will always be an interesting, possibly hilarious or heartfelt endeavour. In this case, however, I cannot say any of this was true.

ACTING/CASTING:
I had no problems with the casting. All-round good-looking and fitting people for what and whom they were chosen to portray. Handsome male leads, sweet side male character, and the ladies were greatly picked especially.

As for acting...
Overly goofy acting makes even the most intimate and/or slightly emotional moments wholly unrelatable and un-serious, which could work in standard comedy show circumstances, but to me, it just seemed too much at times here; comedy without tact or skilful application, if you will. While, again, I do concede this entire show is a low-budget comedy, it just simply doesn't justify its low-effort acting. The two main characters especially apply here: no chemistry, way too abrupt and unreasonably developed feelings for two strangers, etc.
I did like the actresses behind YueYue and the Auntie, though. I feel like they knew they weren't entirely the focal points of the show, but still managed to sell their characters and their behaviours to me, despite some instances of the storyline making us viewers feel no sympathy or relatability to them— they still kept it real enough and interesting.

MUSIC:
Rated this lowly purely because it was 99% stock music I've heard a million times in YouTube skits and videos all around the web before. Unless I missed something, there was little-to-no OST here. I understand it comes down to budget issues again, but the score remains, as I couldn't bring myself to give something so basic a high score out of kindness haha.

REWATCH VALUE:
I suppose if you're into schlocky comedies that don't necessarily grip you in any way, just casual watch to veg out on the couch for, it's decent enough. However, if you want a proper, well-put-together, interesting and still funny comedy show, I wouldn't recommend it, personally.



Once again, I have the need to apologise, as this is just a personal opinion much like most other reviews, but I just don't seem to see any bad things written about mid-to-low-tier shows, so I feel as if I'm a bad guy here for saying anything...
I do appreciate that better/good reviews will probably get bumped to the front as to recommend shows/films and encourage people to form their own reviews, but still. It's tough to write opinions out when they aren't good ones haha


<< OVERALL: 4.5 >>

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so disappointed

I was soo excited when I found out that this was a drama as I have read the book but I was soo disappointed when I started watching it that I couldn't even finish it. comparing this to the novel, this drama adaptation was a huge letdown. there was soo many elements missing in the drama adaptation that was relevant to the overall plot of the novel. so much so that it left holes in the drama adaptation of the plot that could only be understood if you have read the novel beforehand. and don't get me started on the relationship between the two male leads. the drama didn't catch the essence of the characters let alone any of the other characters. the drama also felt so rushed that the story left me feeling soo empty and the quality of the drama feels like a low-quality drama with very little effort put into it; like the drama was made because the novel had a large audience but the people producing the drama could care less about it. would not recommend watching it ever. you will be soo let down like your soul has left your body. I would recommend reading the novel instead.

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This just wasn't my type of BL. What kind of BL is it? Adult, rom-com, with a touch of revenge, and a guy who just fell in love not with with a title but with a person who was just a man. It has slapstick situations and a doctor with a cowlick <-- only saving grace. Oh and this glass of water with a lemon in it. <--- don't ask but I really liked that glass of water and it made me thirsty.

Was it that it was an adult BL? I have been on this kick of teen BL admittedly. It all started with Love Sick. Not just teen to be honest, but also college (Sotus, comes to mind). After seeing Love Sick I think I keep looking for that sort of depth in a story line. The first story I ever had before Love Sick and I took a long hiatus since then was Addicted---I saw Addicted when it first came out (RAW).

I can watch adult dramas, it's clear the adult ones aren't a problem since I have watch HIStory ones that I will be reviewing that I love. I saw Advance Bravely and loved that one. I think the guys here are great. I think the men were stunning. I think the story was horribly written. I just think it was a really bad story and it made no sense.

The interaction of the characters made no sense. The Co-Pilot (doctor BF) role made no sense and his relationship with the other rich made no sense and I wasn't sure if maybe that was to wait for a second season. But I felt to always cover your base to have it in S1. I mean it was just sloppy writing and sloppy editing. Oy...mental reasoning to steal the guy made no sense and the Co-Pilot's advice made no sense. Lord have mercy.

The acting was on point for the trash they were given though. I have no idea how they managed that.

Was it Rom-Com that bothered me? <-- This might be the closest issue. I feel so far that I'm not so keen on Rom-Com BL's. Love Sick is not a Rom-Com BL. I know I dislike Make It Right <---Because it is definitely a Rom-Com and I can't stand it. I think I like it when boys seriously questioning their sexuality as something serious and not as a joke or the scenario as a joke. Don't get me wrong MIR does have it's moments of seriousness---but they do make light of it more than take it seriously. While Love Sick had it as serious, the issues of love man woman, man to man, and how that affects your relationship with other people. It's the same thing with Addicted, ditto with HIStory: Obsessed, A Round Trip to Love...and on and on and on and on...

Was it the revenge? <--- Yeah this too....stupid and pathetic. Let me get the boyfriend of my ex to fall in love with me even though I'm not gay but he might be. What?! Does that make sense? I'm poor and he's rich, but I'll work it out...WTF?! Yeah, when I say stupid. Just stupid. I mean I guess that means something.

I went to watch this by all the acclamaitions everyone put out there for this drama. I regret doing this to myself. Just horrible decision. The story didn't even have anything hot. Even the uncut scenes were lackluster. HIStory Season 1: Obsessed was hot; even Love Sick was hotter than this; definitely Together With Me was crazy hotter than this.

Was it the adult make questioning his sexuality? <--- Nada. I don't care if you're adult or youth. Questioning the title of straight or gay is always a plus in my book since I don't subscribe that one can be born gay, or straight for that matter. Nor do I believe that someone is gay, nor that someone is straight for that matter. You think you're one thing for a long time and then bam..you see this one person and you're like crap...I'm not. That happened to my Mayor's wife in NYC. She is an African American. During the 70s she wrote about being a proud African American LESBIAN feminist. She was an advocate for Lesbian rights and wrote several articles and on and on. Then she met our Mayor, DiBlasio (a man of course). Married him and gave him two kids <--- never looked back. She went from thinking she was born being a lesbian to being a person.

I would have liked this aspect of the storyline explored more...maybe an S2 might have given us that. However, that wasn't the premise of the story---so it was white noise and would never have been a focus. This was one of the kickers of disinterest and lowering the quality of the story for me.

I won't be rewatching this drama. The only sexual scenes are on the uncut scenes and to be honest I didn't care for them. There was nothing hot there. It again, wasn't like I was watching Addicted or Obsessed or A Round Trip to Love (they didn't show me anything the noise and shadow was enough). All I did was roll my eyes. This was utter crap.

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