Lovely Swords Girl (2019)

Story: The plot in this story is pretty straightforward. It's all about love. How some people love but couldn't let go even when that love ended. How others love but for the sake of that person, had to let go. It's about love and how each of us love differently. There's the sort of love that transcends death. There's the sort of love that became stories of legend, but how much of it is true? There's the sort of love that thrives in simplicity - in the everyday life together, in the smiles of your loved ones, in the silly and petty arguments. There's the sort of love that forms from adversity -having faced life and death together. There's the sort of love that comes from familiarity - being comfortable with that person and having him or her beside you for the rest of your life. And there's the sort of love that stem from compassion, friendship and trust. The female lead in this story is married to a man who became a simpleton because of a poisoning episode. At first, she disliked her husband and the predicament she was in, but slowly came to appreciate the simple and innocent kind of love her husband has for her. Into this picture entered a young man who had loved her since childhood. He had always cherished the memories of their childhood and had always wanted to marry her. For her, he would do anything, including giving his life away for her - just to see her smile. Faced with the dilemma of an innocent love and a passionate love, our female lead is truly stuck in between these two men. There are also the love stories of side couples that will keep you rooting for them too. Even the evil mastermind in this story has a love story to tell - which is the reason why he became what he is. This drama tells a story about love from so many different perspectives. I like the 'maturity' in message about love in this drama. To those of you who is wondering if it's a happy ending - well, it depends who you are rooting for. The female lead has to choose between two perfectly good examples of men. It is no wonder she's confused and frustrated. I would be too! However, I do agree with her choice. Love is not about doing all sorts of things for that person, but to trust that what you and that person had experienced together is enough to secure his or her love for a lifetime. On another note, I love the comedy in this drama. It's not the at-your-face- type comedy. It's nicely weaved into the story and its characters.

Cast/Acting: I do not know any of the actors and actresses in this drama. They are all newbies. However, they can act. At least sufficiently to bring the emotions across. What I find problematic is how the drama is edited in some parts - you can clearly see it's an edited part as it didn't flow as smoothly from the previous scene. This is no fault of the acting crew - it's the lack of experience of the editing and production crew. It's a waste but these odd parts of the drama are few - so it's tolerable. Another problem I noticed is how some of the fighting/action scenes came across as awkward and unpolished. Again - not the fault of the acting crew. This is the fault of the directing and production crew. Perhaps they lack the funding to employ a good and experienced action director - hence, had to rely on simple action scenes.

Music: Not much to comment here. Some people like the ending OST, but it's just average to me.

Re-watch value: There are many romantic and sad scenes between the female lead and the two men. I also like the scenes between her and her husband's second brother - who I believe, had a secret crush on her as well, but did not act on it. It's in his actions and the way he looked at her, but he had to stay away from her coz she's his sister-in-law. They ended up as besties, which I think is another good conclusion to love. I actually like their chemistry better and I think the second brother is actually the handsomest actor among all the actors in this drama. This drama has a strong re-watch value. With only 24 episodes and every episode has a sweet or sad love scene with no draggy story telling, it won't be long when I would re-watch this drama again.

Overall: I give this drama a 8.5 out of 10. It's a surprisingly good drama, despite the many directing and editing faults. The story and script writers are clearly the strength of this drama's crew. Witty conversations and comedy mixed well with some deep truths about relationships and love. I would recommend you to watch this drama. It may not be the excellent type drama or a big production, and has a rather weird and nonsensical title, but it is surprisingly good.

Read More

Love is All You Need

Here's another example of Chinese tv series that are 100% light and binge-watch worthy, Lovely Swords Girl. I've completed all episodes in one day without using the fast forward mode, it's that good.

Summary:

The story is centered around the love life of Sheng You, only daughter of the leader of a medical sect that possesses a code that can conquer death. She is allowed to choose a husband from three sons of the distinguished Gong family, because her father cured their father, but also to create a strong alliance in the pugilistic world.

The moment the Gong brothers present themselves to her, Sheng You recognizes the eldest as her savior from an accident in the streets. Gong Yuanxiu is a real champion fighter, and beautiful to boot, so she eagerly vows to marry him. At the wedding night however Sheng You discovers she has been tricked into marriage with a total idiot. Gong Yuanxiu seems to have lost his wits due to a strong love potion from a lady suitor.

At first Sheng You wants to annul the marriage that hasn't been consummated by the childish Yuanxiu, but her witty mother-in-law convinces her to try him out for two years. She's confident her eldest son will win his wife over, because he's so different from his arrogant, aloof brothers, and he has only eyes for Sheng You. It's not difficult to appreciate Sheng You as well. Soon the "lovely swords girl" has a lot of fans and two other suitors that are aiming for her heart. Each one of them has his own merits, and a different kind of love. Also there's a difference in their own need of love. Main question is which man will she choose, especially with dangerous times ahead.

The cast:

I appreciated the choice of the cast, all new, unknown actors who did a good job. They made it easy to follow the story. I liked the female lead Jiang Zhen Yu and the actress playing her mother-in-law, Vila Fan. Both played a support role in Hello Debate Opponent (2019) so I've put that series on my Plan To Watch list. Support actor Xu Kai Xin (Mengfei Comes Across) not only played second brother, but also outplayed his first brother here, delivering sound vibes of second lead syndrome. I hope he'll get the chance to play a lead role in future series.

The good and the bad:

Beside the actors I appreciated the well mixed feelings of joy and pain in this series. I could relate to all the characters with all their mistakes and different choices to cope with life, and love. It almost made me forget the bad editing and poor choice of cliches that seem to be chronic in c drama. Really... how many times do I have to see the emphasis on bodyfat, make-overs, memory loss, and evil characters that are wearing a mask.

Overall:

Still this series has some unique qualities. The characters are fleshed out, their dialogues, interactions, and inherent contradictions, make them more real and endearing. The story shows that love has many faces, more than other series I know. Not only is there a love triangle that isn't cliche at all, but also there are love stories of side characters that pulled at my heart strings. So, if you are a sucker for romance and a fan of the harem-in-reverse theme, this is for you.

Read More