Love Is Sweet (2020)

The Leads Carry This Series

I think a lot of other reviewers mentioned this, but the two main leads were really outstanding in their roles here. They had chemistry and I genuinely laughed out loud during several moments of this series. However, the story was lacking in my opinion, which made watching it a bit of a slog. This is so unfortunate as the lead actors were really amazing. What frustrated me the most was that the premise of Jun's character having an allergy to tears, though somewhat absurd, could actually be viewed in such an interesting light, but didn't quite get realized in the story.

My thought on her tear allergy at first was that it was an obvious shortcut to create tension for Jun's entry into the investment banking world. But there were a couple of interesting points that were brought up but never really challenged that made me think that this tear allergy/inability to cry could have been an interesting way to explore some of the dynamics, especially gender dynamics, that were at play.

Yuan tells her early on that the kind of work they're doing is so difficult, time consuming, and often soul-crushing that only about 20% of the people working in investment banking are women; essentially, he says that this job is so difficult that a lot of men can't hack it, but especially a lot of women. Because, apparently, women are inherently mentally and emotionally weaker. For Jun, having an allergy to tears makes this kind of work dangerous to her health and well-being; apparently, women cry all the time when things are hard, and Jun doesn't even have that luxury. There's obviously some very patriarchal ideas at play here. Obviously, Jun proves that she can succeed because she's not the same 'weak and timid' girl Yuan knew in their schooldays. She proves that she's learned how to control her emotions better and that Yuan needs to get to know her again before making any judgments. But I thought it would have been interesting if the narrative challenged this initial premise in a more nuanced way.

For one, the idea that crying proves some kind of mental or emotional weakness, especially for women because, apparently, men don't cry (mmmhm) could have been looked at more closely. And, secondly, that the reason for a lack of gender parity in this field is that the majority of women are somehow too weak to handle it could have been examined through the lens of the first point.

For Jun to succeed in this field, she must prove that she won't cry; at least, that's the standard that Yuan holds her to at first. This is the part that seems the most absurd to me; the metric here being that if one sheds tears because things are hard, that one is unfit to deal with those hard things. For both men and women this type of gendered idea about crying is especially heinous for reasons I don't think I should have to get into. The narrative somewhat challenges this by showing that Jun is not just capable but talented in her work; even if she cries because something terrible happens to her (the mugging that happens early on for example) she can still do her job and do it well. But, I think the crux of this very idea about whether crying is acceptable or not gets lost in the premise of Jun's tear allergy. If she cries, it's literally dangerous to her, which lets Yuan's character and the audience off-the-hook for thinking she's unfit because of her "feminine emotions"; he's just concerned about her well-being. So, instead of facing the very idea of crying as being both inherently feminine and a sign of mental/emotional weakness, the narrative avoids it entirely.

Secondly, the lack of gender parity that Yuan cites early on was something that should have been challenged more in the narrative. Is it that women are just not as fit to do investment banking or are there very gendered conditions that exist that are the real reason? The narrative touches on the truth here in so many ways without even realizing it. For example, there's a storyline early on about workplace sexual violence. Jun discovers that a young woman in an entertainment company is the victim of sexual violence by the CEO. They use this to oust him from his role there. Another example happens later on when a colleague forces Jun to entertain and drink with a client. While toxic drinking culture isn't inherently gender-based, gender still comes into play here. Jun isn't just targeted and forced to drink exorbitantly by this client for being the newbie, but she's also sexually harassed in this scene as well. This hazing takes on another layer because she's a woman; they treat her as though she should act as an escort to their male client. But this touches on an important aspect about women in the workplace; sexual violence and harassment are a very real issues in many industries. Such issues make those workplaces unfair, toxic, and even dangerous for women to work in.

Then there's the underlying issue about working women, in general, and romance. When one of the other characters finds out about Yuan and Jun's relationship, she warns Jun that they should be careful; if it's found out, Jun will be the one who has to leave. Later, towards the end of the series, Yuan pressures Jun to resign because she's being so overworked her health is suffering as a result. While, Yuan walks this back later on, both of these points in the series illustrate one of the key issues at play here. When it comes to love, marriage, and starting a family, Jun's career can and should be sacrificed, because her first priority should be being a wife and mother. There's too many compounding and complex issues related to this very idea that I won't go into, but it does speak to the reality for many women in the workplace: that women are treated like they don't actually need to be there.

But rather than really explore some of the themes laid out initially, the series deviates through so many predictable and flat storylines, love triangles, and side couples. Jun doesn't even get to participate in the most consequential storyline related to her own character; once again, the men take charge and leave her out about finding the truth about her father's death. Instead, Jun is forced to navigate petty jealousy from colleagues and really... nothing else. She holds back her tears, because crying is weakness in this shark tank of a business (but also she has an allergy!!!1!). A lack of gender parity in a workplace is sometimes not because women can't do the job, but rather because there's often a gendered culture that is prohibitive towards women even being there. But if you cry about it? You're just proving them right.

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Cotton Candy Drama - Fluffy and Sweet

Yes the plot is fluffy and forced at times...but the leads poured on the sugar and made this drama so sweet.

I must admit, I watched this for LY after watching him in Ashes of Love. It was just what I needed to cleanse the bitterness from watching RY's character being run into the ground in AoL. And, to my surprise, BL as the FL did not disappoint, helping to cleanse the sourness of YZ's performance in AoL.

Sweet Things
- Watching LY in a light-hearted role (compared to AoL)
- LY and BL were cute as a couple
- Strong FL character (not sickeningly helpless)
- Music was good and fit really well with the scenes

Bland Things
- Last 5 episodes were unnecessary (didn't like how they made the 2nd ML more immoral due to his obsession w/ FL)
- 2nd couple romance was unnecessary

The short and sweet of it is: If you like realistic dramas, this is not for you. If you are ok with fluff and want to just enjoy a light-hearted, comedic romance, then give this a try.

Looking forward to watching BL/LY in Till the End of the Moon and LY in Immortality!

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You will feel like ypu are watching them in real

I had just completed furst romance and i was searching riley wang's drama. And found this one , i must say if you love to watch your crush changing from childhood to an educated and a gorgeous adult then you should watch it means it have all the things we genrally do,. We used to bully them for theri attention ya they also. We used to hate them for their time ya they also.
So many things is best about this drama, the actors are just living the real life means they are doing the great job man, their expressions, dialogues are so well to hear and to see .
Damn sure, after watching thus you will gonna fall for them ❤

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WANT TO LEARN ABOUT FRIENDSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS MANY MORE? MUST WATCH THIS!

OKAY! So this is my very first review and I actually finished watching it last month and I just tried to write a review about this CDRAMA because I just can't help myself but to share my feelings while watching it.

I don't know where to begin but I will say that I really love the casts lol. Honestly I thought I wouldn't like this at first because knowing that the FL and ML are both childhood friends, you know that kind of relationship is a bit cliché , but I was WRONG! haha I just found myself wanting more every episode of this drama.

*Characters & Story*
The first time I saw Du Lei, honestly I was shocked with his visuals, he looks like someone who came straight out of Anime. But I really love this drama of course because of the ML, Leo Luo haha I was surprised that he really looks like Ji Chang Wook (that's my opinion tho~ ^-^ v) When he smile ~ okay I can't help but smile too. I really love the part when he started do some aegyo HAHAHA so cute. I love how Bai Lu, portrays Jiang Jun's character. It was my first time to watch them in a drama but I was amaze already to their acting skills. I never felt the cringe-feeling when they are acting cute to each other.
I was just felt bad to Xu Li's character, a girl who chases his crush, who only wants to do is to focus on his project. Though I can relate to Li Xiao Chuan as I am an IT student, if you're working on a project all you have to do is focus on it to finish. (really guys it's hard to be in a relationship if you're an IT/CS student. idk but well kudos to those people who can still manage their relationship & studies HAHA.) LXC is kind of person who really don't like to share what's on his mind. He has many things on his mind but can't express it well (love his character, it's really realistic HAHAHA)

Well the character I pity the most is Du Lei TT TT. I mean why did they choose to turn him like that. I thought they will be friends but then *that* scene came. WUUAA I feel bad to Jiang Jun.
But well all I wanted to say is, I really love how realistic they mindset is, how Yuan Shai protects Jiang Jun at all cost. uwu I wanted to have a boyfriends like HAHAHA (ok not to be more delulu, even just his personality, that's enough TT^TT ) He sacrifice a lot for Jiang Jun, imagine those 10 years of waiting. OMG. To how he understand and respect each others decisions. Tho~ it's really hard to decide and manage your career, relationship and health, good thing they both handled it very well by trusting each other. What I love the most in this drama is they prioritize to trust each other, although they doubt at first but manage their feelings and emotions professionally. (coz you know most of the dramas we watch is full of doubts, mistrust, miscommunication and so on..) I know it's just a fiction drama but it teaches us some lessons. Idk if you feel it the way how I feel it while watching this haha. We have different opinions so I don't force you to agree with me. I hope you respect my review.

*OST*
YOW! THIS DRAMA HAS THE BEST OST FOR ME. HAHA I MEAN AMONG THOSE CDRAMAs I'VE WATCHED 'LOVE IS SWEET's OST WAS THE BEST. It fits really well to their story.

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Definitely one of the best C-Dramas of 2020

So, I just finished all the drama yesterday and I'm in love with the drama. Like I'm constantly re-watching the episode clips on YouTube. YS is just so sweet that you might even get diabetes from watching him. And don't even get me started on their chemistry. Leo Yunxi and Bai Lu just have so much chemistry that it would make you ?.

So, below I'll list what I liked about this drama and what I didn't.

Pros:-

1. The lead couple have so much chemistry together that you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from loving them together.

2. The OST was so damn good. I am listening to it on the loop since I finished watching the drama. I think maybe this is the first time I liked the whole OST of a drama instead of a single one. But yeah I do have a favourite song and no points for guessing that it is Things I Do for Love.

3. No long separation or break ups. I definitely was tired of watching the leads in C-Dramas seperating for years just because of some stupid misunderstandings. They do break up for a episode or two but they get back together almost instantly. There is almost no time gap in between their break up and patch up.

4. Almost non-existent love triangle. Our FL had never shown any interest in SML. Like never ever. It was completely one sided.

5. Realistic couple. The main couple were so realistic. Like their relationship wasn't exaggerated for a single bit. The drama showed a true realistic couple in my opinion.

6. Career or Love. The drama showed that we don't have to sacrifice our careers for love. And I loved how our ML supported FL in her career. He never asked her to choose between him or her career. Yeah, he did suggest that she resigned but it was only because he cared for her health. But in the end he understood that she very much loved her job so, he supported her every decision. JJ had both a successful career and a very supportive partner.

7. The SFL. I first thought that like in most of the C-Dramas, the SFL here was also going to be an obsessive lover. But I loved how she never jeopardized our main couple's relationship. She liked our ML but she also understood that he never had any feelings for her. So she never comes between the main couple.

8. Wan Shai. Who was the most adorable character of this drama? Without any doubt it was their dog, Wan Shai. I freaking love her so much that I had to make a seperate point for her.

9. Lifelong crush. I loved how YS waited for JJ for so long. It was like he knew that fate would bring them together again. Well, I don't know about everyone else but I definitely loved YS's devotion towards JJ. He continued to love her even when he had no idea if they would meet again. And I also love the flashbacks from their highschool and elementary school.

Cons:-

1. The SML's obsession with FL. He was literally obsessed with JS. It was scary watching him being so obsessed with a woman who had never showed any interest in him. I never had any Second lead syndrome while watching this drama. I didn't like him from the start and I despised him in the end. His character was the worst character in this drama in my opinion.

2. The second couple's story in the last 6 episodes. I didn't exactly love the second couple's storyline but in the last 6 episodes it was not even watchable. Before the last 6 episodes I atleast didn't skip their scenes but in the last 6 episodes their scenes were illogical and you wouldn't feel bad for skipping them.

3. The 2 years time gap. The time gap didn't make any sense to me. It wasn't exactly bad but they could've shown us some flashbacks for the skipped 2 years.

4. The lack of YS's family. I wanted to see JJ meeting YS's family for the first time. The lack of YS's family presence was something which disappointed me. Like they showed us the bonding between YS and JJ's mother but there was no interaction between JJ and YS's family.



Well, that's all I could think about right now. But I can guarantee that you wouldn't regret watching this drama. And if you're single like me then you'd definitely feel the lack of a partner more than ever after watching this drama ?.

If you are looking for a sweet rom-com then you can definitely give it a go.

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Love is sweet and slightly naughty

This has been in my watchlist for so long. Now that I've finally finished it I can say that it might have been slightly overrated but I'd still recommend it for the steamy kiss scenes, strong FL, dreamy ML, and a fluffy story of success in both love and career.

The ML bullies the FL to make her mentally strong, so she will not cry easily in the future and trigger her tear allergies, this is his way of protecting her. He has been crushing on her for 10 years but she was oblivious and thinks he was just mean. After seeing that he is not a 'bad wolf' in the investment industry, she began to have feelings for him. When they got together, their love is truly sweet with lots and lots of kisses, and naughty times (especially in the office ?).

Another thing that I liked was that the SFL was very relatable. She can be jealous but she was not evil. One of my favorite scenes was when she caught the main CP in one of their moments and they had to pretend to be cleaning.

Just for the SFL and chemistry of the main CP, I really wanted to give this a perfect score but sadly I can't because the tropes used felt contrived and manipulative. Maybe I am just not a fan of the idea that when you like someone, you can make decisions for their life for 'their own good' without their consent and characters in this drama does this a lot. There was also forced cohabitation and while this definitely drew the leads closer, drama conveniently forgot that the ML rented an apartment that he just kept empty. Also, when the issue about the FL's father's death was resolved, the vibe in the series changed and the next few episodes felt like fillers, an afterthought arc for the SML and mostly PDAs of the main CP. Frankly, I was like 'i know your relationship is good, get married already!'.

I actually felt kind of bad for the actor who played the SML because his character was just there for convenience. Need to increase the tension of the main CP through jealousy? Enter the hottie but bad SML. Need a villain who will sabotage the main CP's jobs? Enter the bad and sneaky SML. Need a helpmate for a ML to resolve the FL's trauma? Enter the reformed SML. Need to prove the relationship strength of the main CP for the filler episodes? Enter the jealous SML who became bad again! He reformed again but his ending felt lackluster. He was really not developed properly and there's no real development with his loveline with FL either. It was quite hard for me to accept that he loved the FL so much because their interactions were so few and not really that meaningful. His angst was not fully explored. It would have been much better if there were tropey scenes like the FL and the SML going to important places in the SML's childhood, or just anything that actually showed the FL helping the SML with his resentments.

The second CP also did not help this series as their interactions were boring and had no chemistry. You have to believe they're in love just because of some lighting changes and because they said so. Again I felt like the girl was forcing the guy to like her by doing all kinds of nice bordering on masochistic things for him. If I will rewatch this, I'll skip their scenes and just focus on the main CP.

Overall, this is a good watch if you have time to spare and want to see an adult relationship realistically portrayed.

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THIS DRAMA IS A MEDICINE AND IS FILLED WITH SWEET LOVE

1. This drama is more different than any other modern rom-com dramas unlike Love Designer which I liked the most.
2.Cast was good including the supporting cast like Su Chang,Qiao and Yuan ji which had made it more funny.
3.Story is good and almost not filled with any bad things which made the drama more positive and appealing to the mind.
4. Plots and sub plots were good but were bad in the last 6 episodes.
5.This drama portrayed JJ's character well as she becomes sucessful woman in banking in a positive way which is not seen in other dramas

Everyone must see this drama because it shows how to care for others in a very hardworking life

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Wish the love was sweeter in Love in Sweet

Cute storyline and I enjoyed Bai Lu in this drama, but I don't know why...it just got really draggy for me. It had a really promising premise, but it just felt like the storyline didn't flow as much as I thought it would.

One of the characters that I actually really enjoyed was Du Lei and I even had the second-lead syndrome, until they decided to give him stalker-ish vibes! He deserved more credit and more sweet scenes with Jiang Jun earlier on in the piece.

The drama was also very unnecessarily long at 36 episodes. It really could've been finished at 26 episodes. Not too sure why the high ratings, but it just wasn't my cup of tea....

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