Unapologetically a comedy, but a good one!
OVERALLAlthough clearly targeted at a relatively young audience, this drama has fresh elements and a nice buildup that will keep you wanting more, whether you consider yourself young or not! Watch it if 1) extra comical dramas are what you live for, 2) you prefer your dramas short (24 episodes is short in Cdramaland!), and 3) you like it when the ML likes the FL first. If 1) you are looking for lots of (or smexy) couple scenes, 2) you hate discussions of gender, or 3) plot holes drive you crazy, then maybe skip.
THE STORY
I started this drama sometime ago and dropped it 15 minutes into the first episode because I thought it had everything I hate in a drama, especially blatant incoherence (eg. main girl dresses inappropriately for the setting at first) and bad humor (I absolutely feel too old for slapstick, in-your-face jokes). But I decided to give it another go last week and guess what? Binged it all in 2 days!
The Strengths: The best thing about this drama is the setting - the FL lands in a city ruled by women, but the city where the ML comes from is ruled by men. At first, you don't think much of it, but the idea is absolute genius. It allows for a whole commentary on gender relations and the meaning of equality that is efficient but also fun because the drama can play around with the usual clichés. Another positive point is that the romance, which is pretty central to the story, starts quite fast and doesn't stagnate. A final but important strength is that although this is definitely meant to be a fluff comedy, the drama has several scenes that truly get you emotional; the love triangle isn't all that bad and the political intrigue, while not deep, is still gripping.
The Weaknesses: Strangely, they're all linked to the strengths. First, the drama leaves the setting hanging. There is no conclusion to the discussion on gender or to anything happening in the fictional world, actually - which is a HUGE plot hole (unless a season 2 is confirmed, but not sure it is). Also, while teasing some deeper themes like character agency (versus writer's decision), the drama never really dives into them and FL can be a bit incoherent at times. It feels like the writing could have been a bit tighter. Secondly, while the romance has a nice pace, there isn't much that happens between the leads; I'm not just talking skinship, even just normal "spending time as a couple in love" scenes barely take place. It almost feels like Romeo & Juliet: the ML and FL are ready to die for one another but barely do anything together. The last thing is the comedy. I'm not a fan of the recent "youthful" comedies that kind of feel a bit...immature? And this drama has LOADS of it (especially at the beginning, it settles down a bit later). It does have fun scenes though, and the comedy being extra didn't stop me from watching until the end, so it's not THAT bad, but still. The drama would have been 100 times better without it, in my opinion.
THE ACTING
In general, I would say it was fine. I first saw Zhao Lusi in The Long Ballad, and I found that I liked her more in this one (probably because her character has more spark). It was my first time seeing the ML so can't say much about him. I particularly liked the 2nd ML's acting. Although I loved the OTP he made me feel bad for him 85% of the time. About chemistry... It's hard for me to feel sizzles in the OTP when the overall mood of the drama is kind of childish, but there are a few scenes in which I felt that the lead actors had good chemistry. The only downside is that some characters felt too much like cartoon characters - not sure if it's acting or directorial choice.
THE MUSIC
Oh My General vibes, 100%. Too much background music, all the time. The actual songs weren't bad though.
REWATCH VALUE
I think I might rewatch this, because it was a fun ride overall. Definitely a good way to pass time. But with some dramas I get the urge as soon as they end, it was not the case with this one.
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Highly entertaining
I liked this drama a lot, because of the good acting and the comedy. Even though it seems low budget, every actor performed their role well. Other than the leads, I especially like the FL mom's acting and the FL/ML assistants. Sumo was funny when he was being flirtatious. The romantic scenes were well acted, sweet and believable.The parting scene in the last episode was well done and reminded me of an american movie - Somewhere in Time, w/c starred Christopher Reeves. Waiting for season 2.
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Go in with low expectations and you'll be pleasantly surprised
I started with low expectations and came out pleasantly surprised.It's a relatively low budget drama, so there wasn't much to expect in the first place, but this show is consistent.
The random injection of humour here and there makes the almost absurd plot easier to stomach, and everyone stays in character. The premise of the plot is the typical time travel/rebirth troupe, but with its own unique spin towards it. One great thing about this drama is that it was wrapped up nicely and neatly, unlike some other dramas that throw some bat-crazy sh*t at you near the end!
Overall, not great, but not terrible. At least this isn't a drama that'll you'll be itching to drop after a certain point. Watch this if want to watch a light but decent drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Not sure what it was
I'm not sure why this show has such high ratings. The story had no direction and the characters were unlikable. FL was spineless, whiny, had no motivation, and made incomprehensible choices over and over. ML just keept following her and trusting her after she repeatedly disappointed him and broke his heart, cuz reasons.The first half was funny and even interesting. By episode 15, it became a directionless mess. Nobody communicated anything. Characters didn't stand up for themselves or their convictions. Qianqian just ran around doing random crap without any clear motivation. She obviously liked Han Shuo, but she tried to set him up with someone else. And then, everyone was suddenly in love with her. Pei Heng showed up 20 times to "save" her, without her actually needing saving, and repeatedly got his ass kicked by Han Shuo. Chuchu became a villain for no reason and started doing absolutely obnoxious schit. It's ok for shows to be funny and have a simple plot. Not everything has to be deep. But, this was just painful. Thank god the show only had 24 episodes.
I did like the ending. It was very sweet, reminded me of Fushigi Yugi.
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Although it's one of the most intriguing aspects of the story, the drama doesn't explore the city ruled by women vs city ruled by men until the end. Instead, the story mostly centers around who will become the next City Master, and the contenders are Chen Qian Qian and Chen Chu Chu. Chu Chu is adopted and feels like despite being more skilled and working harder, their mother will always favor Qian Qian, who is always getting into trouble. Meanwhile, the oldest sister Chen Yuan Yuan is disregarded in the running entirely because she is disabled. I really dislike Yuan Yuan's storyline, and wanted to see other characters acknowledge that her disability didn't make her useless, that she still had her strengths and could be the next City Master.
Han Shuo and Qian Qian were fun to watch for most of the drama. Han Shuo trying to win Qian Qian over was cute, and the dynamic between their two right hand men was also hilarious. But in the end, Qian Qian falls for the same old tired drama cliche and hurts him to save him. Come on! As a drama writer, she should know that always backfires. The worst part is when Han Shuo attempts to sexually assault Qian Qian. This is never addressed afterwards, Han Shuo never apologizes and it's like this terrible, traumatic incident never happened??? I'm so disturbed by this.
I had planned to rate this higher because overall it's creative, funny, and original, but I just can't overlook the red flags.
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Han SHuo x Qianqian ftw!!!
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The chemistry between Xiaoqian and Han Shuo is wild. Both very talented young actors playing very believable roles. The plotline is also very unique, and the whole "stuck in her own script" discussion with fellow storytellers thing added so much fun to the story. My most hated drama trope -- where people lie to each other to be considerate of each other but end up hurting each other -- is used but also thoroughly made fun of. I also love how the fruit analogies stuck til the end and really made me laugh (you'll see what I mean).
I accidentally spoiled myself watching a Taiwanese critique of the drama before finishing the drama, so I was on the lookout for the points the YouTuber discussed -- the social commentary. It's very obvious what the scriptwriter wanted to tell us regarding gender equality in the last few episodes. And I think that the element worked very well in this drama, not only because it makes the audience think, but because it was also a point of consideration for Xiaoqian's own scriptwriting (hence served an important role in the plotline).
I would totally go rewatch all those cute scenes again. Including the ending oh my god it's the best. Looking forward to season 2.
PS: heart rate monitor best cameo.
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Heavily Recommended For A Light Watch!!!!
This show has literally EVERYTHING that you'd be looking for in a fluffy cute romcom!! I was hooked from the start and will be definitely rewatching it in the future once the second season is released :)Story; Although the plot is somewhat generic with the modern/historical mixed storyline, the writers managed to put their own twist to it which makes it both enjoyable, touching and comedic. Forget the dragging and slow-paced historical dramas that some of us are used to, this romcom is both fast-paced and direct - getting straight to the point and focusing solely on the relationship between the main leads with no unnecessary conflict nor complicated love triangles (i won't forget to mention all the kissing and affectionate scenes that were thrown in almost every episode). One thing that I LOVE about this show was that it constantly pushed the idea that women are in charge, allowing the female lead to constantly be in the spotlight with the male lead persistently supporting her the whole way with no questions asked
Acting; Honestly, there is no critique that I can think of about the acting/casting of this show; IT WAS PERFECT!! With Zhao Lusi, the boss of historical romcoms who never fails to put a smile on our faces, and Ryan Ding, who is both charming and adorably mischevious in the romance genre. These two put together combines for almost the most insane and crazy main character chemistry that I have ever witnessed. Also it's impossible to not mention how hilarious this couple are!! I don't want to go too much into it so you guys can see for yourselves :)
Overall, this has to be one of my favourite dramas now. The production quality of this show is insane, and the variety of OSTs used throughout are beautiful and sucessfully convey each and every emotion as you watch.
Anyways, time to fall into a slump for the next few days :l
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A pleasant easy to watch romcom
When I read the reviews I expected this to be kind of silly and funny with a little bit of romance. And it did start out that way in the first few episodes. But as the drama progressed it got deeper and there were more conflicts. So I was worried that this would be one of those typical cdramas that starts out as a romcom and turns into a melodrama. But I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t do that. Even though there were conflicts they weren’t overdone and didn’t last long. And the great comedy was sprinkled throughout each episode. What a pleasant surprise to have a romcom stay true to its genre right down to the end.As for the comedy, it was perfect. It was a little silly but not overly silly. And there wasn’t too much of it either. It was scattered about here and there to relieve the stress and make you giggle which I did quite often. And that’s saying a lot because it’s not easy to make me laugh and I hate goofy silly slapstick style comedy. But this comedy was perfect.
The romance was sweet with lots of skinship and several kisses and cuddles. One minute it would be cute and fluffy romance. Then the next minute it would be all sexy romance. (In one scene he sweeps everything off of the table and kisses her on it.) The romance was very nice.
The story taught a valuable lesson about equality between the sexes. It was an original storyline that was much more believable than I expected it to be. The characters had growth and depth. And I liked how they answered all of the questions and tied up the loose ends. My only complaint would be is that it gets just a little draggy in the middle of the drama. You get tired of the conflicts with the second female lead and her antics as it focuses on her a little too much. But it does get better if you hang in there. The whole equality of the sexes theme starts to kick in then it gets much more interesting.
Overall I would highly recommend this drama to those that like light sweet romantic comedies with a decent storyline and not too much angst.
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I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it.
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Dragged down by cliches and weak plots towards the ed
Romance of Tiger and Rose started out strong but towards the last few episodes, the weak plot and the cliches thrown in really pulled down what could have been a really fantastic story. In the end, it felt as if the series was 4 to 6 episodes too long (in the middle between episodes 15 to 20) and the screenwriters had to pad those episodes with a sheer abundance of crap and utter nonsense.1. Characters and acting
The main leads started out strong and really had a lot of chemistry with one another. I loved the idea of Rosy Zhao as Xiao Qian / Qian Qian, the screenwriter who travels into her own story and had to navigate the plotline that she created and the chaos that she inevitably creates by interfering. Her romance with Han Shuo (played by Ryan Ding) was great and there were scenes at the beginning that moved me to tears. But, in towards the end, the extremely prevalent and recurring trope of the spunky, clueless but adorable female lead really began to grate. I questioned the incredibly silly plans that she made which I felt was incredibly brainless and so typical of all that really tiresome Chinese female lead stereotype that seems to lurk in every single Chinese rom-com. Her indignation when Han Shuo gets upset with her a certain times really irks me no end. Could we please stop with the typical silly, brainless Chinese female lead?
Ryan Ding, however, was fantastic. He played the black-bellied, ruthless male lead, tinged with that gentle, adorable side when he interacted with QQ was just great. A great juxtaposition of two extremes. My favorite character in every single way. Cool when he needed to be cool, cute at the right times and just, overall, so good-looking and so great!
Most of the supporting roles were so unlikeable, i felt. Pei Heng (played by Sheng Ying Hao) was such a hypocrite that I really hated the scenes where he was on. Zhou Zi Xin (as Chu Chu) was so one-dimensional and predictable that I was rolling my eyes at every instance. The really side characters such as the three storytellers, Bai Ji (Han Shuo's manservant) and Zi Rui (QQ's manservant) were hilarious though. So kudos to that.
2. Storyline
The pivot about the gender inequality was interesting at the beginning but again, that got tiresome towards the end. It became silly and the fact that Qian Qian really relied so much on Han Shuo for everything sort of threw that whole "women are the equal of men" out the window -- how can you talk about equality when QQ uses all these "weak female" ruses to get Han Shuo to listen to her? When she throws tantrums and cries to get her way? When she justifies everything by saying that she is following the plot? Ugh. Like I said, the few episodes towards the latter half (ep 15 to 20) was such a chore for me to get through ... It gets better in the end but oh, wat a pain to get there.
Suffice to say, the parts you will love the most are the sweet moments between HS and QQ. You will absolutely hate the conflicts and plot twists due to how artificial they are and how most twists just don't make sense at all. Just grit your teeth and get through those sections until you hit the sweet parts again.
3. Production
I loved the sets and the costumes that they used throughout the show. A friend was remarking that this was a "low budget" show and I really couldn't feel it. The special effects (like fireworks) didn't look bad and everything seemed polished and nice. Perhaps my only complaint was that he hair pieces did seem a bit fake, looking very much like wigs. And I can't get past the fact that Han Shuo's eyebrows are this weird brown colour but his hair is completely black.
4. Music
Generally, the music was light and very rom-com. Suited the scenes at certain parts but I did get bored of the opening theme which is surprising since I generally like most opening and closing themes.
5. Conclusion
Watch this if you want to watch something light and nonsensical but don't expect superb quality in the storyline. If you are discerning in any way, the one-dimensional villainess, the plot holes (like how does QQ as a scriptwriter manage to fool so many people when she is supposed to be this clueless, silly girl) and the tiresome tropes will get you down. So give it one watch and hope that Season 2 will be much better and that they will finally get everything (plot, QQ's character and the like) right.
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Super fun
I haven't laughed this hard at a drama in a long time — and it came at such the right time because I was getting so sick of slapstick humor. All the characters (the main leaders, and especially Zi Rui) had the most amazing comedic timing.This has my favorite type of female lead — you don't have to be the best at everything and physical fighting to be smart and make good decisions, and of course, it has my favorite type of male lead that's lowkey a badass but goes soft for her.
The chemistry between the main leads was so good and I just love the relationship that the two of them had together. The sidekicks were hilarious as well and worked so well with our main characters and with each other. And it really felt like all the characters had their own personalities no matter how small their roles were.
I do think I enjoyed the first half a little better when it was our main character trying to navigate the new world and all the subplots that were going awry. I felt like some of the magic was lost a little near the end (especially after the goddamn noble idiocy!) because it was reduced to the main plot around government control. It also seemed to reduce a lot of characters to their cliches, and I had loved that they subverted the tropes in the beginning.
Nevertheless, I really like how this show's plot turned to a darker tone without ever really losing its style of humor. Sadly I can't really say if it surprised me — I'm still mad at myself for obsessively watching clips on YouTube before I decided to binge it in a day — because I knew the scenes already. But overall the plot is still really clever.
Overall, I still had a really fun time watching this — I cannot wait for season 2 even though I have to wait an entire year!
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