An utterly hilarious romcom that actually respects the intelligence of its audience
This show has all the perfect ingredients for a successful romcom:1. Acting
Leads’ chemistry on crack? Check. It’s Zhao Lusi after all, who excels in this genre. Ryan ding is also surprisingly great at being devious AND also adorable. Although sometimes QQ veers ever so slightly into annoying troublemaker territory, ZLS redeems her with lots of charm and cuteness. HS doesn't lose his brains while in love and stays true to his black-bellied roots, balancing it nicely with besottedness.
Lovable side characters? Check. The main villain isn’t even that detestable and the servants are the best I’ve seen at being loyal stans of their masters. The servants' constant bickering can even count as comic bromance.
2. Storyline
Of course, the most unique setup I’ve seen that even parodies all the usual drama tropes eg “hero saving the beauty”, "death by poisoning", etc and placing a comic spin on them. This is the first female centric drama with tongue in cheek social commentary and actually deals with the gender divide really well while still maintaining that light-hearted feel.
Fast-paced and non-draggy without unnecessary conflicts or rambling? Check. Every plot line is resolved within 2 episodes and twists and turns make for an enjoyable ride. Misunderstandings are quickly resolved and serve to push the story forward, even any short period of angst is satirized into a funny and absurd lovers' spat!
3. Production
Good music is actually not really necessary, but the sets and costumes are appealing enough to make you continue watching although it’s not the usual visual spectacle of dramatic masterpieces like other genres. This is a romcom after all! We just need the production to look sufficiently pretty and the leads will shine.
This show had me laughing through every episode from start all the way to the very end!! This rollercoaster does not lose steam and delivers all the way to a happy ending that is logically satisfactory as the only acceptable ending. It even manages to include insightful analysis of male-female relationships within the drama industry and in our modern world, which is enough meta for me to appreciate the intelligence of the scriptwriters. Even my brain cells are tickled. Watch it with your eyes and mouths wide open in joy and laughter!
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Hilariously Funny Great Watch
This is another Isekai story whereby a female scriptwriter goes into her own story with her male lead and both fall in love with each other in the parallel historical female centric world. Imagine a historical world that has the male and female roles switched. Just the idea itself is enough to engage any viewers.The crazy logic and plot holes here and there - all these would have been considered poor script writing and poor editing in other dramas, but for this drama, they're done on purpose and left unedited and such, have made the series absolutely lovable and funny.
The drama has a mixture of modern day directness and historical day indirectness. There are hilarious misunderstandings and strong tendency in jumping into conclusions, creating even more hilarious moments that can really make the viewers laugh out off their couches. What seemingly crazy plans always work out perfectly for Chen Qian Qian (Zhao Lu Si) and people would praise her for thinking out of the box; her mishits become perfect solutions. Han Shuo (Ding Yu Xi) has always tried to maintain his dignity and honor but with our crazy Chen Qian Qian, whatever dignity left is utterly gone because he's so hopelessly in love with her. All the dialogues are simple, childish and most of the times, illogical, but putting together, it's just so hilariously funny.
Zhao Lu Si's portrayal of Chen Qian Qian is absolutely adorable with a modern day teenager charisma. Her acting has improved tremendously in this drama. She is natural, authentic, relaxed, spontaneous and yes, very comedic. She's a perfect "Sha Bai Tian", literally means "Silly, Fair and Sweet". Zhao Lu Si is simply one of the cutest actors around.
Not particularly handsome comparatively but oh boy, Ding Yu Xi (Ryan Ding) captures hearts. He is an amazing actor, versatile in any roles from being a high school teenager to an accomplished professional. As Han Shuo, seemingly cunning and calculative, at a next turn, becomes the most silly and childish boy. It's like watching the most fearsome tiger which can suddenly turn and become a little fearful mouse. Ding's portrayal is absolutely fantastic and he brings life to the character and makes viewers truly empathize and love him.
All the side characters are brilliant in particular the two male servants of Chen Qian Qian and Han Shuo. They are stupidly cute and add enormous colors and comedies to the scenes. All their silly dialogues and facial expressions just make viewers laugh out loud, love and care for the characters.
With only 24 episodes, this drama waste no annoying fillers. Every episode is a page turner. Everything is concluded well in the end. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and hope new viewers will do too.
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The comedy here is also golden. I tried to find a gif or a screenshot to show you all, but it’s so hard because the comedy is so *situational*. What that means is the jokes build on the knowledge you have from watching a previous scene, episode, etc. That’s smart comedy. There’s also cheap comedy – tongue in cheek poking fun at romcom tropes (that they also fully uitlize), quips, puns, slapstick, etc. I’m pretty sure I had laughed every single episode for 12 eps so far – and as a big loyal fan of comedy TV (of all kinds, from Western to Asian styles), I know how hard it is to sustain laugh even as plots develop and get more complex, with some dose of drama thrown in.
Speaking of plot, there is one, and it’s good! Often with “silly idol romcom”, the plot is on life support, which is usually the rom part. Here, there is an actual plot, and there are a few key high stakes that we are invested in, because we already care about our lovely characters. All of them are working towards their goals (most of them life and death!), in multiple steps, and the steps are met as we move through episodes. Nothing is stretched out for too long, no misunderstanding dragged on for dramatic purposes. Things that make sense to get resolved, do. Will I watch a drama with no plot just to see the romance? Yes (e.g. Her Private Life…) But when there is a plot, it makes it that much more exciting! How will our smart characters get out of their predicaments? How will get attain their goals, while still being together (some of their goals conflict, and also with their romance), since they gotta be together!
In any case, as you can see, I love romcoms, and I love them even more when they are smart, well executed, and have that magical “it” factor created by a synergy of actors, directing, and script. Though, let’s be clear, this is on the lower budget side, and it is an idol drama. It doesn’t try to be any grand historical drama, nor does it slack off and forget that a story, no matter how cheap, needs sense (we all been there, haven’t we?) I just love it when a drama makes clear promises, and delivers on them, with fireworks. I have a lot of chip on my shoulders on how romcoms, and just comedies in general, tend to be looked down upon because it’s “simple” or “silly”. “Simple” is not “simplistic”, and “silly” is not stupid. A well-done story is a well-done story, and that’s that.
And that is what Romance of Tiger and Rose is – a well-done story
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This review may contain spoilers
If you are interested in a self-aware romantic comedy that doesn't take itself seriously and is refreshing in its use of cliches, then this is the drama for you. If you ain't about that life and don't like anything silly, best to walk away now. This drama is truly a pleasant surprise! I thoroughly enjoyed every episode and felt each one had something to offer. The FL and the ML, of course, are the absolute best part of this drama as they keep you interested in the story and their overall developments. You see growth in a lot of characters, some smaller than others. But hands down the love between FL and ML is true and true. There was a cliche Noble Idiocy moment, but for me, it worked better than most because the situation was calling for it. What I truly loved was how they solved their problems. The ML was not a complete idiot with Tsundere Syndrome, and the FL wasn't an idiot either. I adore the FL, she is a scared-y cat who when it matters most won't let you down. ML is also one to root for as he falls for her and starts changing his way of thinking. He was LOYAL to his love even when he doubted her actions, you knew his love for her wasn't shallow. This couple is who you freaking ROOT for.
Now on to other things....Of course, you do have you classic SFL (aka was suppose to be the originally FL in the novel this takes place in) but you slowly watch her descend into her crazy. I feel many viewers were rooting for her to change her ways, but other than admitting that she was wrong near the end, don't be too hopeful!
SML was legit annoying as fuck. I actually found him more annoying than SFL, who had at least reasoning behind her. This guy got rejected time and time again and still tries to get close to FL with his love. He also keeps believing ML doesn't love the FL which an intelligent person can tell you that HE FUCKING LOVES HIS WIFE. So he was frustrating to deal with but I did like that he changed the prejudice and became Minister.
There are so many side characters who played their roles, and the story really doesn't giving you much care for them because they are the side characters and in a breaking the fourth wall kind of way, tells you "Nobody cares about the side characters". It still gives you side character stories and development, nonetheless. It is just up to you to see if you like it or not. I enjoyed some of them.
The FL & ML are so freaking good though, that its hard for others to compete, at least, it is hard for me. THAT ENDING, thank you.
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This review may contain spoilers
Oh boy, strap yourselves in for this review.It seems I’m starting to have a type for Cdramas: Modern Woman gets Chucked Into Chinese Ancient Times - A World Full of Hot Men.
Kinda crazy when you think about, imagine diving into your own fanfic (every girl’s dream)
However, this drama was the definition of a mess. On paper, the premise and plot sound interesting (it's what drew me to the show after all) but watching it was a whole other story. There are so many flaws I don't even know where to begin.
The biggest problem in this show is the female lead. Chen Qian Qian is so ditsy, I found myself cringing at her actions 90% of the time. She spends so much time trying to make the story go exactly the way she wrote it in the script. Always trying to play wingman for the male lead and her sister and referencing the original storyline she wrote. All I wanted was for her to finally have an epiphany like ‘Omg, things can go different from the original story!’ What a concept! She wasn't dealing with a Back to the Future situation where she had to fix the past - this is a FANFIC. A story can go in ANY DIRECTION and I wished that she would just go with the flow rather than constantly trying to make things go her way.
I was also surprised how quickly she adapted to feudal life, she literally went from 21st century norms to historical China (or a made up version of it at least) and she was like “oh this is what’s happening, okay”. The only thing that separated her from everybody else in this world was how she kept trying to keep the plot on track. Speaking of, I don't understand her reasoning behind this. She has this idea that by making the story come to its written end, it will just magically plop her right back where she left off in the real world like some bad dream. Where is her logic behind this???
But what I missed from her character is she never has any 'modern' moments. For example, her saying something contemporary only we would understand (but would sound like gibberish to everyone else). I guess what I’m trying to say is: apart from her awareness that she is in a fake world (that she wrote), you wouldn’t even know she was a modern woman. She never has any times where her modern (future) knowledge comes in handy. For e.g. in ‘Moon Lovers’, Hae Soo helped the crown prince who had eczema because she recognised the symptoms and knew what would help his condition. Or Xiao Tan from ‘The Eternal Love’. She made endless modern references, forged a scooter, had a Victoria’s Secret fashion show, did a fun public dance in the street - she was iconic. I guess I just consider it wasted potential for Qian Qian's character.
Speaking of wasted potential, I need to talk about the second female lead: Chu Chu. I was so upset that her character regressed into the typical bitchy second lead (to the extreme I might add). At the beginning of the drama I found it so refreshing for the 2nd FL to be nice! After such a kind sisterly relationship in the beginning, it was such a let down to see it turn sour (especially when a lot of it was related to stealing a man). It hurt to see Chu Chu totally embrace the dark side, she has some major insecurity issues when it comes to Qian Qian.
I should also add, can the writers stay true to what they've written please? This whole time the plot has been centred around which princess will become the Young City Master, the heir to the City Master position. We are led to believe the City Master is the one in control of Huanyuan. But after some major political changes as everything is falling apart, the audience's concept on who controls the city does a full 180. Wasn't the City Master the one who had all the power and made the rules? But apparently the Minister of Defence has the power to instil laws and make political moves as well?? Like, how does a Minister of Defence get to decide on the city’s dress code??
And can we take a look at the logistics of this whole world please. Is EVERYTHING in this world written by Chen Xian Qian? Every character? All the backstory and history? She’s only a scriptwriter, I swear the drama script she wrote wasn’t that detailed. So…does the world just fill in the blanks? Because I don’t understand how this entire world was written by her, yet she knows nothing. For e.g. she wrote traitor Su Zi Ying’s character right? Yet she had no clue how Qian Qian’s character treated him badly when they were kids. How can that be? Did she write that in the script or not? Or what about the gasoline that was discovered under the mines? Total shock to her. How much of this world DID she write? Or is this universe just making its own rules and history? So many questions
Now, onto the couple. We all know that it's practically inevitable for a couple to have one of those forced breakups. Especially the ones that involve telling hurtful lies, secretly for their partner's ‘own good’. What I've always hated about this trope (apart from the obvious) is they can achieve the SAME RESULT by communicating with their partner and saying what needs to happen. Qian Qian could have literally told Han Shuo: "hey can you go to a secret location for the time being? I have a feeling a storm is coming and I want you out of harm’s way." it's THAT simple.
Another thing in regards Han Shuo: his heart condition. I feel like I need to voice the words of Dan Oh: “I have heart disease, why am I coughing?”
Where do I even begin with Han Shuo. Look, I love him a lot and he has many great moments. He is a loyal partner and supports Qian Qian wholeheartedly. His devotion to her is true, I completely acknowledge that. BUT there is something that happened that I feel like everyone forgot about. BIG red flag here.
There is a scene where Qian Qian is under house arrest (under Han Shuo's order) and he tries to sexually assault her. He keeps going until she just bursts into tears, it’s so hard to watch. He stops and you know what he SAYS? “You ruined my mood” yikes, yikes, yikes
And then he comes out of the house to see Mr 2nd lead out who's out in the rain and says “Do Chen Qian Qian’s screams sound nice?” Is it possible for my skin to crawl even further?
(I do know he had his reasons behind it - but even if he wasn't planning on going through with it, does that make it okay??)
I also understand that they eventually heal their broken relationship afterwards, but it was such an impactful scene (in all the wrong ways) that I couldn't forget it.
Another thing about their relationship is how Han Shuo calls himself her husband, but it feels so weird because did they REALLY get married?? They skipped literally every tradition and ceremony and didn’t consummate, so what DID they do to earn their marital status exactly?? And especially considering it was a marriage of kidnapping, does it really count?
(( And did they have their first time in a jail cell of all places? Ouch ))
Okay I should talk about what I did like about the story though so it's not just a review of negativity lol
I loved the idea of these 2 cities which the story is focused around. Xuanhu: where men is the superior sex. And Huanyuan: the other where woman are superior. It’s interesting to see a world where the roles are reversed and the women are in control. I was entranced by the beginning where they showed Huanyuan's social norms and history (where it's a blessing if the baby is a girl and a disappointment if it is a boy. A city where only women could study, have important positions, be soldiers, be the head of the household, etc). There is SO much to unpack with this concept. Unfortunately we only scrape the surface for the majority of the drama and only in the final 3 episodes do we finally get to see Xuanhu city. It's only then when we start to get into some good stuff like gender equality and comparing the two cities. I wish there was more focus on this!!
(And along the way there's a reveal that Han Shuo is Mulan’s son??? Say what? What IS this universe lmao)
Honestly... why do I feel like my favourite thing in Tiger and Rose is the costume department? XD
Chen Qian Qian had the most gorgeous clothes!!! Everybody has exceptional clothing, did all the budget go towards this hahaha
On the whole: the premise for Tiger and Rose was intriguing. However, it needed to be properly executed for it to be a drama worth giving credit to
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This review may contain spoilers
Guilty pleasure.
Eventhough I didn't give this drama a very good rating, I have to admit that I quite enjoyed it. The story was interesting to watch as it took a lot of unexpected turns (maybe even too many). The leads' acting was very good; they both have comedic talent. Overall, there were a lot of cute and funny moments.Still, the drama has a lot of significant flaws in my opinion. The story started out very light-heartedly but got rather twisted in the last 6 episodes. From that point on, I also noticed quite some minor and major plot-holes (especially concerning the ending which was still satisfying to watch, though).
From episode 18 on, the leads got in a lot of quarrels for no reason. In general, they didn't seem to be in a healthy relationship for the most part of the drama which was quite frustrating to watch and at one point even made me question whether or not it was appropriate to ship them.
Also, I quite liked Chu Chu in the beginning because she seemed like a strong character but she sank into self-pity and became more and more shallow as the story progressed. On the contrary, I was positively suprised by Pei Heng's and Lin Qi's character development. I would even go as far as to say that those two ended up being my favorites in the whole drama.
Another thing I noticed was that there were three supporting characters in the drama whose only purpose was to provide comic relief. Generally, I'm not a opposed to some dorking around in a fantasy rom-com which doesn't try to be historically accurate whatsoever but three characters is just... a lot. For me it felt like the overuse of comic relief didn't leave enough room for the more serious scenes to really have an impact.
In summary, the drama is ideal if you're searching for a cute, entertaining and slightly over-the-top fantasy rom-com but not the right thing if you expect a well thought-out story with three-dimensional characters.
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This show is mediocre at best
The quality of web dramas has increased over the years, but some still had lazy writing such as this. There was absolutely nothing new and fresh that this show brought to the table, nothing that I haven't seen before. The cast didn't display strong acting skills as well. I was very uncomfortable watching the ML all throughout the duration of the series in all honesty. The story was also messy and like my favorite phrase, it was all over the place. There was no direction nor a clear end game. The choices that the FL made didn't make sense and just plain stupid.But, it's not all that bad. At least there was occasional humor. But that was it. I cannot even say anything good more than that.
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Firstly, for the storyline, it is technically not the freshest as there is quite a few similar travelling into book kind of shows. However, this honestly has the best execution I have ever seen!! The script was done so well and the character's lines are so funny and punny. Some scenes are just totally not as expected and bring you laughter ALL THE TIME. To be honest, this show is those few shows that I did not skip A SINGLE PART as you never expect whats coming next. It is so funny/sweet that I even had to rewind a few parts just to enjoy the moment a little longer! Really recommend if you like romcoms with depth that will get you hooked the entire 24 episodes.
For the acting, the actors did so well in portraying the characters!! The entire show is just filled with very good expressions, regardless of funny/sad/happy scenes. The characters all have distinct points to them and all add colours into the show, none are redundant. The leads are amazing! Han Shuo was portrayed so well in every scene regardless cute/cool which I was quite shocked knowing that he is a rather new actor. Zhao Lu Si slayed as usual with her cute and quirky exterior and for emotional scenes as well. The chemistry was really good too!! I found myself squealing so many times HAHAHA. In all, everything was perfect in terms of the delivery of scenes and it definitely gets me hooked and fall in love with them.
As for music, honestly its nice but not anything memorable. Maybe I was just too into the show and the characters that my brain just ignored everything else... (EDIT: Ok I was wrong few days after watching and I still find myself randomly humming the song HAHA)
In all, I would really REALLY recommend this show! Its sweet, funny, cute, quirky, yet still tugs your heartstrings and is really touching. Highly recommended for anyone looking for some joy in life and a show that will leave you satisfied with everything after watching. No complaints! 10/10
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With such an interesting story line the drama has always grabbed the attention of audiences. The plus point is the chemistry between leads i can't explain how much i loved there characters. Han Shou is indeed a tiger n chenchen is a rose with thrones they are well suited couple. All in all i want q season 2 at a cost.... Please!!!!!!!!!
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️??????❣️❣️❣️❣️????????????????
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Firstly, the ACTORS! The main leads are nothing short of perfect. Their acting, their looks, their CHEMISTY...man, do they have chemistry. This was my first Ding Luxi drama and I can tell you, I'm going to be looking out for more of his stuff(already started intense love and he has great chemistry with his female lead here too). I've seen Zhao Lu Si's dramas before but the only one where she was the main lead, she played a very meek and squeaky character which is the complete opposite of her character in this drama. The actors feed off of each other and they act so well that it feels like they're a real couple. Their little cute and cheesy moments literally made me squeal like a 14-year-old girl at a one direction concert...I'm 21?. The supporting characters were also wonderful. Both of the first leads manservants never fail to make you laugh and the "villain" did her job really well because I hated her guts.
The story was well written and executed. I have almost nothing to gripe about-that's how great it was. I've never seen a historical romantic comedy done like this before. Throughout the drama, they maintained their humor. They would crack jokes even in the most serious and daunting moments and I never failed to laugh.
The story never got dry..which I guess could be attributed to the fact that it's unfortunately only 24 episodes long(I WANT A 2ND SEASON if you can't already tell). There were no filler plots, the writing never fell off and got confusing-as most dramas do. My one issue is how they handled the "villain"- I say villain, although nobody else in the show but Han Shuo(the male lead) would call her this because they're always giving her second, third, fourth chances and excusing her actions any way that they can and it honestly frustrated the hell out of me. It gave me big Love and Destiny vibes when the female second lead was obviously psycho but everybody kept letting slide until it got to a point where they couldn't anymore. This would be my one recommendation for what to change if there is a 2nd season.
If you're looking for something fluffy and fun but still with a good storyline and a spectacular cast...this drama is for you. It's a simple and sweet show that deserves its flowers.
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Perfect Web Drama!
I finished the series in just 2 days!I personally enjoyed watching shows that have good storyline from the start to the end, with equivalent amount of exciting, funny and emotional scenes in between :)
Well.... but the sad part wasn't that sad, it just turns out to become funny, so probably you should not be expecting this drama to make you cry haha~
I loved the main leads chemistry and Han Shuo's devoted character! Just made your heart flutters!!!!
It might not have massive production like big war or hidden conspiracy but as a small web drama piece, it is just PERFECT!
I will definitely REWATCH IT!!!
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Cutest C-costumed Drama!
This one of the cutest Chinese Custome Drama-Romcom I've ever watched!! The script and scenarios were smartly written. That scene on Pastry Kiss on episode 8 definitely the best one!! The storyline is light and very good stress relief in this such depressing time with pandemic and all of ther depressing events.. Good to have something as refreshing as this drama!I can't stop laughing at hilarious scenes on every episode except for episode 18, 19 on which the 2 main leads conflicts are in peak. I can't stand the heart breaking scenes on this two episodes.
Zhao Lu Si and Deng Yu Xi acting are superb here!! I also love 'Pei Heng'! Good job, Sheng Yi Hao!
Can we have another drama which starring Zhao Lu Si and Sheng Yu Hao as the main leada in the future please? ?
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