Don't Think Twice, Love's All Right is a good drama dragged down by the limitations of its industry
One only need to look at the comment section to see my commitment to this drama (/Shrug/ Li Yi Tong fan). Obviously, I had and have major incentives to declare this to be the best thing since grilled steaks. Alas!I was minutes away from finding out if the site has a 'zero' rating. Thankfully, Chinese drama writers after their obligatory sacrifices to tragedy managed to guide my 'ship' to port. Now, instead of being angry, I am merely annoyed.
The show is set in a large town where everybody is one acquaintance away from knowing each other. Essentially, there are four stories within:
1. The titular romance between our leads. Call this Pretty Woman with Chinese Characteristics. Contra those who avoided it purely 'cause of the male lead, in its first half, it is by a far the best thing about the show. It is truly heartwarming. Watch to episode 19 and stop!
2. The second romance is between a Legalist (The Chinese political theory of governance) and a broken-hearted romantic. Their romance is the funniest part of the show. Now I would totally watch a time-travel drama where a love-lorn romantic finds themself in Qin China. I didn't quite agree with the ending, but it was not all bad. It is the second-best part of the show.
3. The show starts to get weighed down by the other arcs. The usual drama, typical of C-dramas, involving scorned lovers and orbiters was generally weak and, in my view, unnecessary. But the man who broke our romantic's heart was charismatic enough to be a stand-out.
4. The absolute worst part of the show is the arc between Chinese Chuck Bass (When you see it, you'll see it) and Blair Wenwen. It has to be industry malpractice that allowed it to survive the cutting room.
The show tries to execute a complicated pirouette after episode 19 when it seems that our leads are sailing into a life of domestic bliss. They try to pull back the curtain and show life after the initial romantic glow fades. In my opinion, everything after that ruins the show. Episodes 1-19 were riveting television for me. After, it became a chore. I disagreed with every decision and typical of C-Dramas, they introduced far too many moving parts, dumbed down characters and engaged in aggressive acts of 'filler'--long pans, multiple flashbacks. The works!
This drama has many truly astounding actors. Li Yi Tong puts in the most charismatic turn I've seen on screen all year. I've got no beef with them. The writers, the production crew, the director and needlessly long drama seasons ruined what would have been an excellent drama. What-ifs aside, I cannot in good conscience recommend that you put in 30 hours on this. You won't be bored. That much is true, but I doubt you'd love it.
P.S
1. C-Dramas need to bin the whole 'scorned second woman' trope. Guaranteed cringe every time.
2. If you watch this, then after episode 19, skip to the opening scene of episode 37. Li Yi Tong manages to be both very cute and incredibly beautiful (there should be a word for that) and I don't think that is very fair.
3. Apple and Lenovo seem to have been major sponsors of this show. As far as I'm concerned, they are to be blamed for the post ep-19 clusterfucks.
4. https://mydramalist.com/35155-nodoka-no-niwa is the show that many of MDL users thought this would be. I'm tempted to watch it too, but the Japanese dial things up to 11 and I think I need lighter fare now.
5. C-Drama writers, tragedy is overrated. Happy endings and many babies for everybody; it won't kill you, you know.
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This actually is really good and enjoyable drama to watch! It’s different in a good way.
This drama is actually really good with a highlight of the casts’ acting especially the leading couples. They both are brilliant in turning a simple story line to be really exciting things to watch. This did make me smile a lots :-). This mature love story drama is actually much better than many cheesy romantic Chinese dramas of inexperienced young good looking cast which perhaps are dominating the Chinese TV industry. Moreover, we should admit that Li Yi Tong is a great actress nowadays who is beautiful and sweet. Here, she even look more gorgeous :-). So, why people complaining about age difference issue, Li Yitong is very versatile actress who are good to pair with top male actors, even one with a great acting and vast experience like Chen Jianbin. They were wonderful together! Watch it, it’s fun!Was this review helpful to you?
If you love me, don't think too much
I finished this drama some weeks back, but couldn't quite put into words how I feel about it. Before you proceed on to read, please take note this is totally my POV, my understanding on this drama after I completed it. If you do watch this, you might have a different perspective.The story premise is really interesting. It attempts to explore the insecurities and doubts of true love from the man's perspective. ML is very rich and desires for true love (he has been hurt many times by women who loved him for his money); 2ML has been hurt in earlier relationships as well, and now wants a clearly defined dating process govern by contractual terms; 3ML is about to be married, but is hesitating because this is his first love and the passion is wearing off....
The characterizations on the female roles in this drama are quite weak. We don't really understand why are they attracted to these 3 men (like, there are better men out there, why these guys?). But the exploration into the love insecurities are quite well-written and fun to watch. I have enjoyed this drama, especially in the 2nd half, where there were no romcom cliches like in the 1st half. I only wish the theme of this drama could have been better explored and more deeply written.
The acting is very commendable-- Chen Jian Bin and Pan Yue Ming are veterans, and Li Yi Tong is very refreshing here.... she has never played such a good-hearted bitchy character before. If you are familiar with Jiang Xin, this role is 100% suitable for Jiang Xin (a role she has done many times). But Li Yi Tong made Xia Ke Ke comes alive-- kind-hearted and sassy, opinionated and understanding. It was a marvel to watch her Xia Ke Ke. Alright, I am a Li Yi Tong fan, so I am a bit biased here. Moving on to the really weird and odd stuffs about this drama.
If you look at the names in the production, the executive producers are the top cream of Chinese dramas-- these producers were involved in Nirvana in Fire, Longest Day in Chang'an, Min Ning Town, Nothing But 30, etc.. This is not base on an IP novel, but is an original screenplay, and the odd pairing of Chen Jian Bin with Li Yi Tong.... It gave me the impression that this would be a thought-provoking and groundbreaking drama. And it is, indeed, quite thought-provoking but didn't manage to reach the heights of its initial intentions (or the depths that the production team might have intended). You can see some good writing in the story, then odd chunks of idol rom-com cliches.
But most of all-- the costume design, set design and the songs. I find it quite unbelievable that this was shot in 2016, '17. The design gives the feeling that this story is set in 2000s.... Other then the title and ending songs, it keeps playing Zhang San's Song throughout the drama. Although this is a good song, choosing this song for a contemporary drama supposedly set in current times is very, very odd. Zhang San's Song is released in 1986, fyi ?
In conclusion, the drama left me dissatisfied. It showed some sparks but failed to deliver as a whole.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is not your typical fluffy romance. This is a more mature romance. The drama deals with a more mature subject that is maybe not to everyone's liking. I liked Li Yi Tong's acting in Royal Nirvana plus I wanted to watch something different and this one has an interesting story. However there is just too many side characters and none of them are likeable. The drama could do with less episode and actually cut those second, third, fourth, fifth storyline and I would give it a higher score. Those other storylines and characters other than the two main leads are a pain to watch, especially Bu Quo Jiang with his never-ending chase of women even though he already has a girlfriend who adores him and his way of testing their love by cheating on the girlfriend is a super weird concept to me and I really hate his character. After all that, he still dare to ask his girlfriend to marry him? He is despicable with no redeeming quality! I also do not like Zhao Wenbo character, who cheats on his wife and very arrogant and selfish. Mo Heng, although quite okay is very weird, the way he treats his relationship with a woman with a contract, like business dealings. I thought that's very weird, although I do understand where he's coming from. But in the end, he is quite sweet to his girlfriend. Now, on to the good part. I really enjoyed the main leads, I like how their relationship and character develops. I like their bickering and despite all their bickering, I can tell that Lao Li slowly really cares about Ke Ke and he can be so sweet at times. Overall, it's a good watch, especially the first 7 episodes before it focus more on those other sideline characters. Was this review helpful to you?
