My Neighbour Can't Sleep (2019)

"Never Risk Your Future in a Man's Heart" (Song Bei Jing, English sub)

I was interested in watching this drama when I saw the trailer and read the synopsis. Once you pass the quirky sentence of the synopsis: "Song Mi Duo who's been single since birth..." (and she is only 18 turns 19, lol), the phrase "unique sleeping arrangement" will definitely catch your attention. So the start sounds promising with unique plot and catchy trailer... not so for the content of the drama though, and I definitely blame it on the directing and editing. Overall it is a light-hearted romcom without paying attention to the quality of production.

Like:
- The why and how the 'unique sleeping arrangement' happen are actually pretty reasonable once you watch a few beginning episodes to understand.
- Prologues of in the beginning of next episodes explain what actually happen during the previous episodes
- The strong friendship between Mi Do, Xiao Mi, and Yi You is one to be envied for, as they go through thick and thin with Mi Do relating to the famous Xi Song.
- The drama does not end with the girl following the boy. I love Mi Do's parents objection and advice to their daughter (hence the title of my review above).
- I am satisfied with the 'fate' written for the supporting characters (Xiao Mi, Yi You, and Su Li).
- Xi Song giving house keys to Mi Do symbolizes trust in relationship
- Good acting of actress Chen Yi Xin as the cutie pie and childish Song Mi Do. Despite dislike comment on her appearance, I think red curly hair is quite rare for Asian female movie/drama roles but it's unique and fits very well with Mi Do.
- Good acting of actor Wang Zi Xin as the aloof yet sincere Xi Song. You may think Zi Xin act is stiff, but it fits the role he played. Once you know about Xi Song's background and condition, you understand his childlike traits and why he does not have the amenities other people do. Also, the same reasons why Liang Ge and the housekeeper overprotect him.
- Good acting of both actress Yang Ke as sassy Xiao Mi with big sister heart, and actor Xue Cheng as the lovelorn yet loyal Yi You.
- Great acting of Mi Do's parents. The chemistry between Xi Song and Mi Do is good, but the chemistry between Mi Do's parents is sizzling! Her parents are hilarious and shows PDA everywhere. The actor/actress who play the parents acted comfortably with each other, probably due to them having more experiences in acting than the young cast.
- Mi Do's gorgeous mom
- Mi Do's cute accessories and stuffed animals

Dislike:
- Bad directing and editing as I mentioned above. Probably bad screen writing too, but I cannot really tell due the the English sub
- For a modern day drama has unrealistic scenes that may make you cringe, just give you some examples:
1) A famous pianist is treated like a pop/rock idol star by the young college kids and public??? Not that I look down on classical music or classical musician's fame, but Xi Song is treated as some sort of deity to worship that Mi Do is harassed and bullied because of him.
2) Mi Do's parents do not care at all on their daughter's whereabouts after her birthday party??? Despite her best friend Yi You urging them to call the police. And Mi Do's does not call her parents informing that she will be late...
3) Xi Song's dad pinches Mi Do's cheek at their first meeting??? While she and her parents does not know who he is and the housekeeper does not even greet him...
- Some draggy conversations and filler scenes, typical Chinese dramas.
- The drama does not tell you about Mi Do's accomplishment in writing novel, only a brief mentioning during Xi Song and Mi Do's conversation in the last episode.
- The choice of wardrobe for Xi Song ( martial art-type of clothing)

Lastly, kudo to Yulia Chan from Youtube for completely subbed this drama. Although Mandarin and English are not her native languages, her sub is not bad as we get to understand the story-line and she took time to make a praise-worthy effort.

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To be fair, this show is one of those shows where you have to shut off your brain and just let it happen. It's really cute and sweet and literally has no context and I kind of like watching something like that here and there sometimes because It really is just sweet. I like that the FL is just goofy and pretty sweet, the ML is handsome, pretty sweet and a simple guy tbh. I liked the friends, I like the family, I liked that there wasn't crazy insane drama and even if there "was", it wasn't terrible and it was just a fast and easy watch. Good story, nice acting, easy to like, good show overall.

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