Just finished this and honestly, i don't regret watching this. I'm a fan of the original novel, i've read the manhua and watched both the drama and movie version of this. I wouldn't say this remake was amazing, but imo it did pretty well.
watch this if you like- alpha males, possessives male leads, love triangles, melodrama, boys over flowers+ soap opera feel
don't watch if you don't like- fake angle kisses& dead fish kisses (this irked me the most , melancholic female expressions, miscommunications, lack of trust
Story-
This started off really well, with a few scenes here and there changed, it stuck to the original story line; although they also added a business element to it.
Summer's Desire is a drama centred around its title- whata summer (XiaMo) wants. There are 3 main leads - XiaMo, Ouchen and Luoxi; you can't be certain of who she ends up with until the very end. For me, i rooted for her and Ouchen through all versions of this novel so this wasn't any different- despite the fact that watching this, realistically- i'd rather she not end up with anyone.
Anyway, back to the story. XiaMo and Ouchen are highschool sweethearts,dating, and Luoxi is someone who later ends up staying with her family. Ouchen is manipulative and alpha male possessive, while Luoxi is supposed to be secretive& bad boy dangerous. Luoxi then ends up falling for XiaMo so you can imagine the amount of melodramatic scenes in this.
With 36 episodes, a lot of details were included, and i particularly love the addition of the 2 brother-like friends they had added next to Ouchen. What i did not like about this story-line was the fact that they did not include much scenes of her and ouchen in their earlier years, nor the fact of how they met, that was pretty disappointing. I wanted so much more of her and Ouchen, as the later scene were so Luoxi infested. This also could have done away with some of the things that happened later in the epsiodes. The one scene that made me cry the most was the last episode when her brother was talking to her. I cried buckets.
Acting
Ouchen did not look like what i had expected but his acting made up for it. Qin Jun Jie really made the character Ouchen his own- out of all the versions ive watched, this is my favourite one. When he was happy, angry, mad, jealous, pained, etc. they were wonderfully executed out and that is one of the main reasons i rooted for him no matter what. As for XiaMo's character, there were times her acting was well done, then there were times when it was really plain, stoic and so melancholic. then we have luoxi, the fake and playful vibe were acted out really good, so were the pained expressions. i just didn't know how to feel when he really smiled lol.
Anyways, the acting for the rest of the casts are well done.
The music for this gets stuck the more you listen to it. I loved the opening songs, and they matched the songs well with happy/sad scenes.
Rewatch? Only for ouchen and xiamo parts;_;
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Ou Chen and Luo Xi's actions were really problematic - manipulative, controlling, petty. It's difficult to say who was worse, but I couldn't root for either of them. I also frequently felt like I did not understand Xia Mo's feelings. I liked the addition of Simon and David (they were not in the 2010 version) as they helped humanize Ou Chen and provided comic relief, but Simon's storyline became too ridiculous in the latter half. There was a villainous character whose storyline was unnecessarily prolonged and then magically resolved at the end. Apologetically, I was not invested in Yin Cheng (the younger brother) or Zhen En (the best friend). The best character is hands down Pan Nan, who is both rational and loyal.
My other issue is with the storyline/writing. The last 5 episodes take such a rapid turn, it just felt too sudden and rushed. There were 36 episodes, plenty of time for things to develop at a pace that made sense! In comparison to the ending, the last few episodes just move way too quickly. There were also storylines that would be introduced and then forgotten or resolved inadequately.
The OST songs are still stuck in my head, but I just cannot recommend this drama. There's better out there.
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I have watched the 2010 original version and I wasn't overly happy with it, plot, character or acting wise for that matter but somehow I was happier this time around as I thought that in general it was better than the original, a feat that is more often than not, not the case.
Xia Mo, a woman who becomes an orphan with her brother following their parents accidental deaths, re-encounters the two men that had had a huge impact in her life - Luo Xi, who loved her and was jealous of her with her then boyfriend & Ou Chen, the boyfriend who was jealous of the relationship between Xia Mo with Luo Xi - re-creating the love obsession issues that she thought she had left behind.
The tone of this remake was lighter and brighter which contrasted nicely with the saturated, annoying plot and the shenanigans of Luo Xi whom, I could not and still cannot stand. He literally drove me up the wall the entire time! At one point I wanted to scream at my screen to his assistant "can you please get him a psychologist appointment so that he can get over his Xia Mo obsession?" It's too much! He needs to get a life! Truly annoying, the character that Huang Sheng Chi brought nicely to life amidst the ever-present compulsive, dominating, controlling, addicting, tormenting, pathological puppy love of Luo Xi.
Ou Chen, on the other hand stole the show for me as I felt that from all Summer's Desire characters, he was the only one that evolved throughout the series. Yes, he was highly paranoid and devoted to Xia Mo in the beginning but throuought the drama the character grew and grew and grew on screen to become a decent, kind, trusting and warmer human being. That says volumes and the credit is all Qin Jun Jie's.
Yin Xia Mo had no depth whatsoever, regretfully. I was kind of hoping that the script this time around would portray her as a warmer character rather than a bland, insipid persona with barely any noticeable changing facial expressions except those seen in key moments. It's as if Sophie Zhang was asked to model the character 90% of the time and act the other 10%. It didn't really work.
The supporting cast was solid and the love stories were well developed and contextualized. The drama didn't have any accessory characters just there to fill the blanks, which is something that I liked and that I'm grateful for. All had a purpose and advanced the action rather than distracting the viewers from it. The same went for the music that supported all that action well from beginning to end.
Re-watch value, well it's a 6. There are better dramas to re-watch if one wants to watch the main cast in action, albeit separately.
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This review may contain spoilers
I don't like male Xiao Mo. Althought the actress who play main role is really pretty,but ,I don't like her role...She is stupid. She doesn't know how to cherish main lead...
He loves her very much,but she doesn't care...She only think about herself...
Second lead...I really doesn't like him .He is childish playboy...
They are really good for each other...He of course cheated of her too...I really feal suprise...That's sarcasm...
That's all...
PS(If is did some gramma or orto mistakes please forgive me.It's not my first lagugage)
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I am writing this as a massive fan of the original Taiwanese version. That one is hard to top and this version certainly does not.
However, I felt like it was a fun drama if you skip over a few boring parts. Whether the story appeals to you is something else because I enjoy romance, angst and tragedy rolled into one. The story is not light, and watching this version gave me the same thoughts I had about the original one.
Story: I highly recommend this if you are a fan of love triangles. This is one of the best-written love triangles in drama land. The story is a bit outdated and circa 2000s so ignoring that, it can be remade many times. The story is a bit frustrating and unrealistic at times. The characters are hard to relate to and hard to like - and that is what makes it fun. The protagonists are flawed, dark and trying to have an epic romance while living their very terrible lives. (I think I might be turning one off by how I am describing it). However this version much more airier and upbeat to look that. The camera quality and filming is much better nowadays so I am glad they didn't film it in the dark with depressing filters.
Acting: I felt like the acting was okay. I haven't seen the leads in any of their past roles but I feel like they have potential. The main actress is beautiful to look at and the guys are both handsome. At times the male actors were better than the female lead but I feel like she was more convincing than Barbie Hsu in the original one.
Ending: The ending is quite fine although some dose of nonsense tragedy makes it not the most perfect show. The story has flaws and I feel like they could have made some changes to make it a bit less depressing. No one watches the same kind of melodramas like they did years back. So in some ways it is not very fitting or a trendy show for 2018-19.
However, if you like love triangles, possessive male leads and tragedy then show is for you. The ending isn't awful so it's quite fine to invest your time and emotions into the story because at least the leads have a happy ending lol.
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Just as problematic as the Taiwanese original :/
Ok so I only watched this because I watched the original Taiwanese versions so many times (which I think I only ever really liked because it was the first Mando-language drama I ever watched). I was really hoping they wouldn't repeat the same ultra problematic coercive control theme for this version, but they have. To more or less the exact same degree as the original which is a shame (and hence the low rating).Otherwise, I do feel like this version has a couple of things going for it. First, I am so grateful they changed the story timeline for this version. Because holy moly, the amount of flashback scenes in the original Taiwanese version was incredibly jarring and confusing. This version tells the story more or less chronologically which has saved a lot of grief.
Second, I liked how Ou Chen was written in this version compared to the Taiwanese. No shade on Peter Ho, I think this was a case of scripting rather than acting. Personally I found this version of Ou Chen a lot more believable than the Taiwanese one. He's also a bit more likeable/human in this version because has his business partners alongside him (rather than the Taiwanese version who was a clear loner).
Luo Xi's character I found more or less on par with the original. Other reviews noted that he seems to be younger in this version but if anything, I think that actually might work better in explaining his character's level of immaturity.
I know I said in my review of the Taiwanese version that Barbie Hsu was a bit lacklustre as Xia Mo compared to other roles she's done. But that said, the one thing she did get spot-on was the 'ice princess' side to Xia Mo's character profile. I found Zhang Xue Ying to be a solid all-rounder though without any real stand out moments.
A couple of things I was really disappointed by were, first, a secondary love story that did exist in the Taiwanese one but only as subtext (not being specific to avoid spoilers). Honestly, it should've stayed as subtext because I skipped most of that storyline in this version of the drama. Second, the music in this version was pretty poor compared to the Taiwanese version. The key difference there is that Barbie Hsu and Peter Ho are professional singers and so were able to contribute their voices.
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Some good and not so good : a potential not fully exploited
Being a fan of the novel and the Taiwanese drama, I was very excited when I learned that there would be a Chinese drama. The actors were all unknown to me, so I was watched their previous dramas. The only one who really worried me was Zhang Xue Ying, whom I had seen in a rather thankless role in Fifteen Years of Waiting For Migratory Birds. I thought she didn't have what it took to convey the grace and complexity of the character.And to be honest, she proved me completely wrong: Zhang Xue Ying is fresh, graceful, natural and touching in this role and she is now one of my favorite actresses. I even find her superior to her predecessor, Barbie Xu who was very imposing but did not give off enough emotion for a woman in love, unlike Zhang Xue Ying who remains strong but nevertheless accessible to the viewer because she notably shows more passion and naturalness. . Moreover, she has very good chemistry with her partner Qin Jun Jie who plays Ou Chen.
Qin Jun Jie is also a pleasant discovery of this drama. Many compared him to Peter Ho, his predecessor, by saying he was less good. But let's be honest, Peter Ho was just AMAZING in this part and it's hard (almost impossible) to reach such a level, especially in the same part. In addition, the scriptwriters sought to soften his character, which makes it impossible for Qin Jun Jie to act exactly like Peter Ho and to fully exploit his acting. So There's no need to compare him to Peter Ho. Qin Jun Jie is touching and natural, and he has a promising future.
But although I have nothing to reproach Qin Jun Jie for his representation of Ou Chen, i do have something to say about the representation that the screenwriters made of the character.
The story is originally rather dark and the three main characters have a bit of a twisted side (Xia Mo with her coldness, Ou Chen with his possessiveness and scary temper and Luo Xi with his manipulative side). The Taiwanese drama had managed to convey this atmosphere full of tension, with characters who had been abused or neglected by their parents and still bore the scars of it.
But here, we don't find that tension or that touch of madness in them: the setting is full of bright colors and Ou Chen’s character was softened and we don’t really feel the lack of love and the loneliness he suffered, which is supposed to explain his obsessive love for Xia Mo. Terrible mistake because the character of Ou Chen is incredible because he has a ruthless and crazy side, especially with Xia Mo and here they make him lose what characterizes him the most . In addition, the evolution and the final redemption that the character goes through at the end loses its meaning here since it is much less important and unexpected because of him being softer.
In addition, the scriptwriters used a different chronological sequence from the novel and the drama: they just told the events in the order of the chronological sequence, a simpler solution but more boring for the plot, whereas the novel and the Taiwanese drama had revealed to us what happened with flashbacks, giving the viewer a sense of suspense and mystery that makes you want to know what happened between the characters and provides a sense of climax when everything is finally revealed.
But we find none of that in the scenario of the new version. Neither the mystery, nor the tension, nor the touch of madness of the characters. Besides, I don't see the fake angelic appearance of Luo Xi that he has in the novel but, it was already the case in the Taiwanese version which also rathered to focus on his cunning side (a choice that I don’t necessarily approve but okay). In addition, they added a lot of useless subplots that weigh down the story (like Fang Jin Hua, resentful journalist whom they try to present to us as attaching despite her villainous side, without succeeding). The whole thing frankly turns melodrama (I really have the impression that they were inspired by Korean makjongs which I hate) and it's more boring than anything else (ex: when we see Ou Chen following Xia Mo everywhere just to annoy Luo Xi).
Finally, the staging choices are not always terrible either: either they are ordinary, or they are clichés (ex: the rain when Ou Chen confronts Xia Mo in his old house : seriously ? 😓), or just plain badly done with too much slow motion or bad background music choices that don’t seem to have anything to do with the scene (ex: we often have soft and soothing music for a sad or tense scene and the result is weird).
Also, Huang Sheng Chi who plays Luo Xi lacks a little of natural (but I find that it was also the case of Huang Xiao Ming, his predecessor), especially when we compare him to his partners but after all,he is young and far from being bad: in short, he has potential.
In summary, this version of a brilliant and original story is nice to watch, and introduces us to a patch of very good actors, but it's not epic either because of the screenwriting choices that were made. It's even less awesome compared to the Taiwanese version, but it's still nice to watch.
In itself, it's worth a 6/10 but I put a 7/10 for the actors that I was happy to discover and because this story holds a special place in my heart.
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I remember physically watching the TW Summer's Desire in 2010, but honestly didn't remember having any particularly good or bad memories of it. As I watched the remake, certain main plot points (more towards the beginning) made me remember the original version, but overall I was essentially watching this as a brand new drama. The story itself is a fairly basic domineering alpha male who gets jealous because of a new guy that joins the female lead's family - as a starter at least. Eventually the change into present day with Xia Mo trying to enter the entertainment business, etc. obviously adds some new elements to a somewhat familiar story. While I didn't dislike the story in general, I do think that certain areas felt unnatural or just weird to me. Basically the development of all the relationships.
Normally when I watch dramas I can see the buildup of the relationship or at least the turning point when you realize that they truly care for each other. I honestly don't get that from this story. I don't remember when Xia Mo actually started to care for Luo Xi romantically (which makes it hard for me root for the relationship). And I don't remember the turning point for when she gets together with Ou Chen (the actual one yes, but not the emotional one). And even with that, by the end of the drama I didn't feel like she ACTUALLY cared for the person she ended up with, but more that the drama writers just decided "this is the OTP, so just go with it." I think part of that leans on the writing/directing of the drama, but the rest is probably more on the acting.
ACTING:
Zhang Xue Ying - I think I enjoyed ZXY's acting overall, but had issues with her character (which is a common issue I seem to have with dramas lol.) Her character was never a very openly showy/emotional type of person, so her somewhat coldness, I think ZXY did a good job at portraying (whether or not she was supposed to, idk). For the most part, because Xia Mo was a more reserved person, it seems a bit hard to judge ZXY fairly because if you don't understand the character, she just seems a bit lifeless and emotionless at times. She gave me a good impression overall though and I most likely will watch her other dramas in the future.
Qin Jun Jie - I have somewhat of a bias because I didn't really care for Peter Ho in the original TW drama, so I think that leaned over into this drama of me not caring for Ou Chen as a character. Overall I just can't get behind Ou Chen's personality. The alpha, domineering rich guy is not a new role, but something about Ou Chen specifically I just really dislike. I think this bias against the character really biased me against QJJ's acting honestly because I skipped through most of his scenes, so sorry Qin Jun Jie. Maybe I can give you a more fair review from another drama in the future.
Huang Sheng Chi - In the original drama and in this one as well, I definitely preferred Luo Xi over Ou Chen. From the beginning, he had that mysteriousness and suaveness to him, but obviously still had his faults. Comparing HSC to Huang Xiao Ming, I think HSC was much more lacking. Whether it's because of his youth or the writing, This Luo Xi just felt very childish at times and didn't have that weird pull that HXM had in the original drama. Did he do a bad job? No, I honestly rooted for Luo Xi and Xia Mo more than Xia Mo and Ou Chen, so I think he was fine, but again, maybe it's a youth thing that I just didn't really LOVE his acting, but didn't hate it by any means.
REWATCH/OVERALL:
I honestly probably wouldn't rewatch this drama. It wasn't bad by any means, but the story itself isn't one I particularly care for. I definitely have a bias towards historical/wu Xia dramas (because they always have so much more going on), but this wasn't a bad modern drama by any means. I do think overall this younger cast of characters didn't have the emotional pull that the more experienced 2010 TW cast had, so if you liked the story, I'd probably recommend the TW version over this new remake.
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This show had me anxious until the last minute
I really liked this drama. I binged it in a few days, and literally did nothing but watch this show for those days just so I can get to the end. I haven't been this invested in a drama in a while. This is the kind of love triangle drama where you genuinely don't know who the FL is going to end up with. They went back and forth so often that when my ship started to sail, I didn't believe that it will last and I had to see it to the end.I loved Ou Chen, especially over Luo Xi whom I hated until the last few episodes which is when I finally forgave him for all the s*** he pulled because he finally apologised. Luo Xi is the one charecter I never understood because he has the mentality of a child. When he first came into the drama he didn't like the FL then almost immediately fell head over heals. But she disliked him and didn't care for him at all. She was also already in a long term relationship with her boyfriend whom she loved. But Luo Xi did everything to break them up and later hates the FL for not resipricating his feelings for her in the past (and present). He had no right to ever hate the FL or want to seek revenge against her when she did nothing wrong, she can like whomever she wants. I blame him for a lot of the misfortune the FL had to suffer and he didn't deserve the love of her or her family.
Ou Chen was such a sweet character and his relationship with the FL did seem a bit toxic at first, but then again we never actually got to see how their relationship was before Luo Xi started messing around with their heads. Because before he showed up, their relationship was going in a nice flow (not at all toxic), which is why the first episode was so good. I wish we got to see more of their relationship at the start. Their story is so sweet especially how they met, we're not really told how they started to date, but it can easily be assumed. I felt like since the beginning, they were always meant to be together, and the other ML is the villain if anything.
The acting was good especially for both ML's but I didn't particularly like the FL's acting. I couldn't tell whether her lack of expression and lack of emotion was because of how her character was written or because of the acting. At first I thought it was just the character, and I liked having an FL that comes off as cold, cold because she wanted to protect herself. Which is what she essentially said that she did. But even in some really emotional scenes (plot wise), she shows no expressions, she does everything in a poker face. I understand that her character comes off as a bit depressed, but she can't even pull a sad face. However, her character started to show a lot of emotions in the last few episodes. I cried through the last 2 episodes because her character was so pitiful and I didn't notice just how pitiful her character was throughout the drama until the last few episode. It was like her emotional barrier finally broke, but it would have been nicer if it had broken earlier.
The actor who played Ou Chen did an amazing job. His charecter came off as both cold and warm somehow, and I was in love with his charecter since the first episode. He did so much for the FL without actually telling her how much effort he put in. He was a very straight forward and reasonable person similar to the FL, but he looses all of this when it comes to the FL and his relationship. I just wish he told her how much effort he put in especially with his gifts because a gift is all about the thought, and he hand made all the gifts he gave her, but he never tells her this. He also had some of the best character development and I loved his friendship with Simon and David, it was my favourite friendship in the entire drama. I loved watching the trio work together and have conversations with each other, because usually it would be two of them agreeing with each other and one of them talking to himself (usually Simon) or just zoning out (Ou Chen).
The ending seemed a bit rushed, especially for such a long drama that dragged the relationship between the FL and Luo Xi. I wanted the FL and Ou Chen to have a romantic relationship for longer in this drama, but the ending was rushed and didn't show me as much as I wanted to see of their relationship. The ending was also very emotional and the last minute twists were pointless, I hated the back and forth relationship of the FL and ML's, you litterally have to watch the drama until the last minute to see who she ends up with, even though you already know who it will be at around episode 30. But I was really satisfied with the ending. It's the ending I wanted, and at least I got that. And I didn't really care for any other romantic relationships but I loved all the friendships in this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
DO NOT WATCH! AT YOUR OWN RISK.
This drama was good at first. I loved the storyline. I liked it when she was with Luo Xi even if they fought sometimes they were cute together and they were happy. BUT THEN THIS B HAD TO GO TO Ou Chen and BROKE UP WITH Luo Xi. LIKE WHYYY. I hated the whole drama after that. LET ME TELL YALL DONT WASTE YOUR TIME! She DOESNT end up with Luo Xi. I hate I hate it I hate it. Ou Chen LITERALLY treated her like she was HIS LITTLE TOY. I HATE ITTTT! Even though Luo Xi was also toxic at least was upright about it. The best partner of this whole drama was LITERALLY the music. I better not see the writers on the street or we’re gonna have a few words and maybe some punches to exchange. 😒😤😤.In conclusion don’t waste your time but the osts were good. They’re on YouTube by the way, if you wanna listen to them.
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Both ML are AWFUL! Can't believe people think this Romantic.
I was hoping she would turn lesbian and just go with A Nan. I loved her character she was strong, loyal and smart. For some reason the show introduced this mean girl who hated Xia Mo in college and that hate was NEVER explained!Then she turns up 14 eps later, still jealous, hell bent on destroying her career. She's found out by Ouchen's "Friend" who is supposed to be the comic relief but he never once tells Ouchen nor Xiamo about this evil girl's plots and plans. The only saving grace is he at least "foils" this girl's mechanations. But she's never found out or is confronted by Xiamo.
I tapped out at Ep 3. I just couldn't take the 2 MLs abusive behavior. Then I started at ep 9 and they never got better. Ouchen was still controlling her even though he lost his memory. And Lou XI ONLY came back because he was angry and wanted revenge on both of them. Even though he was a huge star.
We eventually find out Lou Xi was abandoned as a child, but so freaking what? I understand childhood trauma and all that, but that doesn't give you a free pass to be an lying, controlling, toxic Ahole to everyone around you for the rest of your life. Ouchen's vile behavior is NEVER explained. I guess we're supposed to just go, "well, gee he's rich" so it's fine.
I did watch the final 2 eps and thought killing the brother was utterly pointless and seemed done just to give all the bad guys their moment of regret for treating the FL so poorly the rest of the series. Their "redemption" weren't earned and she instantly forgave everyone who spent all the previous eps mistreating and bullying her. All the actresses who abused and bullied her, the 2 male love interests, etc. It was all instantly forgiven and everyone came together to help her overcome her grief.
I love it when bad people redeem themselves and shows end on a happy note, but I just want them to earn it. At the very least apologize and even if they apologize I think people need to face consequences, otherwise that apology rings hollow.
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