Because of Love (2022)

Mature and heartbreaking romance + great chemistry & acting

Completed - 2/2/2022 - 8.25 rounding up to 8.5

"Because of Love" has all the ingredients of a mature melodrama - first love, lost love, tragic pasts, revenge and illnesses. This drama is not for those who are looking for a fast-paced, fluffy, sweet romance. This is about life, hardships, tough decisions, and heartbreaks.

What I Enjoy:

1. Amazing acting - Everyone delivers great acting in this drama, ranging from the youngest and most adorable child actor, to all the veteran actors. We hear a lot about Wallace Chung (ML) and Li Xiao Ran (FL) and they are both awesome in portraying their respective characters and showing a range of emotions. LXR's eyes speak volumes and you can see her determination and stubbornness through her big, teary eyes. Wallace's heart-wrenching cries and emotional scenes are no joke. Both actors are not idol-pretty in this drama. They are tired, gaunt and depressed, esp. for Wallace, a completely different look that fit the character so well. Additionally, the second lead couple, give off a totally different vibe compared to our main couple. After watching Wang Yang in "The Rebel", I am again attracted to his charisma. There's just something about him, who is not super handsome in a traditional sense, but he just sucks you in. It's my first drama of Tian Lei Xi, and she is so pretty and refreshing to watch. But I have to mention two of my other favorites: Morni Chan who played grandfather Nie Dong Yuan, and child actor Mi Ke who played Sun Ping. It should not be a surprise to see veteran Morni Chan playing such a divisive character. I want to hate him for putting our leads through all that suffering, but I can't help understanding where he came from. Little child actor Mi Ke has got to be one of the most adorable kid. I've seen cute kids in dramas before and they are mostly very outgoing and act cute. But Mi Ke's character, Sun Ping, is not. He's just a quiet and intelligent regular kid. He is using his own voice and delivers the lines so well. He's such a precious angel!

2. Chemistry (1st half of the drama) - The chemistry between Wallace and LXR in the first half of the drama is amazing. When ever they came across each other, you feel the angst, torment, longing, passion.... a mixed bag of emotions! I can't help but want them to stop suffering and fall into each others' arms. They have two very passionate kiss scenes - so much emotions!! The teen version of the leads also delivers solid acting. In contrast to the darker adult romance, their younger selves are warm and adorable. They brought some lightheartedness to the drama (before things go south). On the other hand, our second leads have a cat-and-mouse type sizzling chemistry. They are flirting but not flirting and it's incredibly hot. These two romances have very different feels to them. Unfortunately, I only feel this way about them in the first half of the show.

3. Past and Present - This drama uses many flashbacks in its storyline telling. However it's seamless between the past and present. You won't get confused and oftentimes, I feel like I am watching a parallel time line. This is probably the first drama I watch that I don't mind flashbacks and would like to see more of.

4. Realistic sets/costumes - A large portion of the drama takes place inside a hospital. This is probably one of the most realistic, normal-looking hospital I've seen in Asian drama. Many hospitals in dramas look like they are for the high society and look too modern and high tech. But this hospital looks like it's for regular people, even the VIP rooms. Moreover, the area where FL lives also look appropriate to her socioeconomic status. All characters dress the part. ML's slouch-walking and casual wear fit his depressed mood, even though he's a successful cardiac surgeon.

What I don't quite enjoy:

1. Main romance (2nd half of the drama) - The angst and passion seem to have disappeared in the second half. At times, I can't tell whether FL is still in love with ML (though I know plot wise, she is). ML becomes a lovesick, smitten puppy and the torment and longing seem to have disappeared. The romance becomes... normal and calm. Once they sort of got together, there isn't enough romantic scenes to feel happy for them. Maybe this is a mature romance that feelings don't need to be shown as much. I just miss how I feel about the romance in the first half. This is why I did not give this drama a solid 8.5.

2. Loud BGM - The OST is fine and not extraordinary, though I do like the opening theme song. Music is not overplayed but at times the background music is too loud. It's so loud that I can't hear the dialogs and have to resort to reading subtitles.

3. Last few episodes in the business world seem to be out-of-place. The tone of the drama changes. Maybe a few more episodes should be dedicated to develop that part of the plot to build up the drama a little more.

Other Observations:
1. It took a little while to get used to Wallace's accent but I like it. I will take the actors real voice anytime over dubbing.
3. I thought the kid has a GPS bracelet, how come they can't find him?
4. There are no true villains. I might not agree with their actions but I understand why they act that way.

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Maybe She Will Defrost on a Warm Day!

This is my first review!

Watching Because Of Love was like going through a real-life experience in a short period of time.
I've watched many K/C/J/T dramas but none of these dramas affected me as much as Because of Love.
What was it about?

A young couple very much in love was forced to break up because the male lead's father wanted his son to be ready to take his place as CEO.

Because of this, the romance was severely stopped and from that point on the female lead had extreme anger against both the male lead and his father. This anger lasted almost until the end of the drama. To make the situation worse, the young couple got pregnant and a son was born, unbeknownst to the young man.

A lot of anger, revenge, sexual frustration, the feeling of unrequited love, and most importantly the lack of forgiveness on the part of the female lead was carried throughout the drama.

Both of the main leads suffered tremendously for seven years until finally the last episode #30, almost everything got solved and peace was made.

About the actors:
I feel that Wallace Chung essentially made this drama successful. I think his father did an excellent job on his part also. Of course, the child was adorable. I do have my doubts about the female lead - perhaps too stoic, too unforgiving, too uncommunicative. I felt that she didn't add too much to the drama and instead she subtracted from it. Her stoic facial expressions rarely changed throughout the drama.

Others had their own side stories with excellent acting on each of their parts.

As far as the story goes, it was excellent halfway but drowned on the beach toward the end. Ok, they were husband and wife at the end but no visual satisfaction for the viewer. Almost until the end, she had the same stoic face and he was still dependent on her love to make him happy. Good luck to him. Maybe she will defrost on a warm day!

I give this an 8 mainly because of Wallace Chung's excellent acting. One deeply felt his pain, his joy, and his sorrow.

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