Truth or Dare (2021)

Addicting and adorable, but ultimately disappointing

I was absolutely sucked into the drama in the first half, but found that I gradually lost interest in the second half because of where the plot was going.

I also had problems with the FL, who just seemed immature and annoying. She was also always described as someone who was so strong she could smash rocks, but she seemed weak in real fights? It was quite confusing. Honestly, I kept watching for the second couple, who I rooted for way more than the lead couple. I felt that they had more chemistry overall, and more development to their relationship.

The cast and acting were ok, as was the music, but I generally can't see myself rewatching any part of this.

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A Fateful Mix Up

She's the daughter of a street artist and is forced to marry a bandit. Another is the daughter of a prince and is arranged to marry a general. The brides are switched, all because of the misread of a simple character, resulting in the commoner marrying the general and the royal princess waiting to marry the bandit. It is this seemingly simple play of words/characters that has attracted my attention and drawn me into the story.

On that fateful day while waiting to be married off, both Xiao Wanzi (Li Gengxi aka Teresa Li) and Lu Yingyao (Sun Anke) are in their respective rooms in a motel until chaos strikes. In confusion, they run back into the wrong rooms because they misread the characters 竹 ("zhu") and 林 ("lin") which may look rather similar in certain calligraphy style. From there, they are sent to the wrong households as the wrong brides, and their fates totally change.

At the general's mansion, very soon Mei Shiqing (Huang Junjie) realizes Xiao Wanzi is an imposter. Nothing like a supposedly well-groomed princess, Xiao Wanzi is crass, has a common look and an illiterate. However, she is streetwise, honest, compassionate and upstanding as she protects others with her own life, and this is enough for Mei Shiqing to fall in love with her. He also has a secret identity as Ye Ling Xia that Xiao Wanzi idolizes. Like Batman, Ye Ling Xia helps the poor and weak. Numerous times, she comes forward to help him fend off the enemies, though he doesn't really need her help because he's a skilled martial artist and a superhero. But her selfless acts impress and attract him.

As Xiao Wanzi, Li Gengxi is very convincing with a lot of animated expressions, after all she uses to perform on the street and needs her vivacity for her acts. Many viewers find her not attractive enough, but for me, she fits the role well because Xiao Wanzi is supposed to be a very common looking girl with no sophistication.

Huang Junjie is very good looking and he looks extremely well as a wordless cold character. However, he still hasn’t grasped how to play such a stern character fully; frowning doesn't make him look serious but makes him look constipated. The only moments I find his acting perfect are when he tells people to “get out” in a stern voice, expressionless, and when he dresses as the superhero character with a mask.

I love the second couple here in particular Lu Yingyao who is well read, gentle and kind without the spoilt princess temperament. And she falls in love with the adopted son of the bandit, Xiao Bao (Ding Jiawen) who has a good heart. Under her coaxing, Xiao Bao eventually abandons his life as a bandit.

What seemingly two mismatched pairs become best of friends and love each other with no judgement of their respective backgrounds. Hanging around the mix up identities lurks something nefarious – smuggle, money laundering and conspiracy. The supervillain is not revealed until the final episode.

The Chinese title, “huā hǎo yuè yòu yuan” (the flowers are good and the moon is round), gives hints of the ending of the story. There are some pretty good OSTs here that I have enjoyed very much.

My Verdict
Though the storyline is not new, and can be tropey at times with predictable outcome, this is still rather a fun watch with a superhero protagonist, an animated first female lead, an intelligent lovable second female lead, an antagonist turns protagonist, and a hidden supervillain. The comedy is cute and sweet. For romance buffs, the two couples have never been separated since they first meet, and there are no misunderstandings that are not resolved quickly. There could be flaws here and there but the writing and editing are decent. Overall, it’s quite an enjoyable drama.

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This Story Goes South And It Stinks

This drama left me disappointed. The first few episode I thought they had a great idea but the lead female character did not convince me that she was a street performer or a rock crusher. She was suppose to be strong and fearless and she was immature, weak, and most of the time stupid. The lead male character could not convince me that he was this great general. The secret super hero did not work either It seem the writer just put him in the story because he could not think anything else. I like the second leading couple but I got tired of the game of whether she will marry the boss of the bandits or Andy the adopted son of the boss. The back and forth between the bandits and the general became boring. I enjoy when the second lead couple join forces with the first lead couple but then other things got thrown in and I could not wait for the end to come. The last episode was miserable and the twist did not work. All of the sudden the Emperor's brother wants to rebel and he was behind everything and he wants everyone dead but all the sudden they evidence to prove he wanted to rebel and WOW! everything is fix and the last 8 minutes of the last episode the Emperor agreed to have them marry who they wanted. OH!PLEASE. Can we get better writing then this. I feel bad for the actors because I believe they tried their best. But the story went south and it Stink.

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Disappointing ....

Okay this drama started off okay, but some where along the line the plot got lost.

The whole switch of brides and the fighting of good and evil was so predictable, the annoying FL who never listens and does her own stupid things only to be saved by the ML.

I love the ML and thought he played his role really well, he always looked good in his outfits and it did kind of reminded me when he did Dr Cutie. The FL however was really dumb and stupid and for just spoilt the whole drama, the second couple had no chemistry whatsoever, despite the second FL been smart and witty. The second ML came across as someone who just couldn't think for himself and was doing things for the wrong reason.

Definitely didn't like this series and found myself having to skip and fast forward certain scenes.

This is just my opinion.

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Princess and street perform identity swap and their love story?

The first three episodes were so good and promising !!!! arghh after that it was downhill. First there is not much character development, second inconsistent story line/ plot holes.

Female lead is a street performer who does the big rock against the chest! ( you use a hammer to smash the big rock on their chest) The female leads get sold into marriage to the Qing Long bandits, on the day of the wedding she tries to run away... At the same time the princess aka second female lead is about to marry the 3rd son of the Mei family. They are in the same hostel and they accidentally ended up switching rooms, resulting in the female lead street performer marrying into the Mei family, while princess will marry into the Qing long bandits.

The male lead has an undercover identity called Ye Ling Xia ( the night hero). Male lead turns into Ye Ling xia during the night to investigate his mother's death. He wants to find the culprit!

I liked that they make the male lead fall in love with the female lead almost instantly and their relationship starts out really cute even on the wrong foot. lol they have two acidentally kisses between ep 2 and 3. Afterwards it just becomes kinda dull, always them fighting arguing with one another. Female lead find outs he is Ye ling Xia pretty early on in the episodes. Ye ling xia is her idol lol! He finds out that she isnt the princess. He grows to fall in love with her but I dont like the personality of the female lead. She is simple minded and naive. She doesnt have much character growth nor development A lot she is a hinder for the male lead and often misinterprets him !

They could of develop the storyline of who was behind the male lead's mother's death could of been better. It was lacking in the cohesiveness. It didnt seem like a main focus that developed but more like boom... this is the person that was responsible for the death. Also after they have switched identities could they have done something else to help keep each other safe?

The hidden evil guy was too easy to guess who he was!

I wish they had spent more time between the leads to develop their relationship! like more sweet time together would of been nice. They make a cute couple but I dont think they have enough chemistry. Their kisses mostly are the male lead planting his lips on the female lead( female lead lacked emotions!) Really, no real kiss in the series :(.

Male lead is very good looking and female lead is very cute she reminds me of stephy tang!

Overall not my fave drama, but if you have time to kill, watch this drama!

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For those who wants a sweet, fluffy and easy going drama

The first time i’ve watched the trailer wherein Huang Jun Jie the ML is soaking to bathe in the bathtub and Li Geng Xi aka Teresa Li the FL comes in sleepwalking to drink water from the bathtub, i am totally hooked! LOL! I totally recommend this drama for those people who just wants to laugh, relieved the stress from the day’s work. Because of the funny encounters and cat and mouse relationship of the lead couples on the first half of this 30 episode drama. Huang Jun Jie is in his usual handsome element. While Li Geng Xi nailed her role as the funny, streetsmart and kindhearted female lead. Considering that this is her first historical drama. Her facial expressions are so on point and funny. Another thing i like about in this romcom is that both of the couples are most of the time in one frame so it saves me time from fast forwarding scenes that they aren’t together. I am so looking forward for Huang Jun Jie’ s comeback soon since i totally miss watching him more after the final episode. And hopefully he and Teresa Li could make another drama in the near future.

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Waisted opportunities - but good enough for a light hearted in between snack

The whole idea of switching two brides to be, of people with a double identity, of a couple from different social statuses, of solving crimes, uncovering past wrongs & identities, of atonement, of a wholesome friendship between couples and of them saving the world... is of course nice but you might notice, a bit full as well. Or, it would have have to be implemented in a way more clever way to make sense and be satisfactory.

There were just too many storylines and they didn't bring them to a good end or if there were, most were rather shallow. Basically a description for the whole show, it was really shallow. That's why I wrote it is a no brainer and you might enjoy depending on what you are currently craving.

I sometimes had the feeling, that the writers placed this story originally in a modern world and then switched to period drama in-between. I never had the feeling that they really tried to portray a story in the past. The actors were just wearing nice costumes to underline the story but did not necessarily adhere to any rules from "the past" - like they never really are really accurate but this was like they didn't even try XD

The fighting scenes were ok to nice.
There were a lot of filling in episodes which could've been used for other things. e.g. character development.

And yes, the female leads characteristics were nonsensical as well. Again like the writers started of with a strong independent female lead and then decided "naah, let's make her childish, dumb and euh... weak". But, as good as the male lead might've looked, he also had no real character.

The actors made the best out of this. They at least portrayed convincingly what they were supposed to be.
The last 5 episodes were the best :D

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DISCLAIMER DO NOT WATCH IF HAVE ANGER ISSUES AND U WERE HOPING TO WATCH SOMETHING AMAZING

First, the drama started off pretty okay and i quite liked the story and especially the second male lead ,his HOT LIKE REALLY HOT and the second girl lead is a really good person and very intelligent, HOWEVER, the female lead is EXTREMELY stupid, i have watched so many dramas and my whole life ive seen many different female and male leads, but this girl lead is the dumbest i have seen so far I CAN LITERALLY SET UP A TALK SHOW to talk bout how fucking dumb she is. 1. She keeps trying to help out but really, she has no brains, at least some female leads actually have abit of iq , well this FL has none, she really is just the biggest burden ever, if not for her , the guy could have done and completed alot of missions MUCH faster and MUCH easier, but cuz she cant fight, and has no brains, GUESS WHAT, the girl keeps insisting on helping but everytime she tries to, she either end up hurting herself or both the FL and ML ends up getting hurt and all of the guys efforts of trying to find out about things JUST FAILS, and they expose themselves too like she keeps insisting on the fact that his so called elder brother is good and is just a victim of some snuggling of illegal salt, BUT SHE LITERALLY SAW THE BAD GUY WALK IN HIS ROOM and only cuz this so called brother told her ONE thing, she straight up believed . OF COURSE, the guy being the fucking idiotic SIMP he is, went to save her when the so called brother kidnapped the female,SO BOTH THESE MOTHERFUCKERS GOT TORTURED THE FUCK OUT. BUT, cuz im honestly bias to huang junjie, I WILL CONTINUE WATCHING THIS DRAMA cuz i too lowkey hope the drama MIGHT get abit better and the girl just shut her fucking mouth and stop moving around with her ass brain and just stop fucking fooling around and being a dumbass. BTW, the drama didnt have parts of her using her powers yet cuz she is still fucking useless and this is just my opinion so do @ me with this. LASTLY, if u did wonder where i watch these episodes i can speak chinese too so i watched all on a drama website in chinese AND the only two reasons i am still watching this drama is cuz one i love huang junjie his hot as hell and two i like the side characters ALOT but if u have anger issues DONT WATCH.

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Surprised low rating! Must give it a watch! 10/10

The romance is cute and mostly shows the main couple which is what I want! Relationship is cute and there are funny scenes as well! The characters are well matched and cute!!!! I don't like long reviews! BUT MUST WATCH!
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a good light drama

CONTAINING SPOILERS
I watched it because the starting is interesting however it is lacking in the plot wise. i don't really supporting the main leads cuz how their relationship progressing was confusing, silly and keep the same trope for at least 3 times iirc. she suddenly mad when he was the one who supposed to be mad but he consoled her either way. he is too nice for her honestly but she still bad mouthe him saying mean things like how he is cold and mean when he's really nice.

the fl is so dumb. she always tried to 'help' despite everyone already warned her to stay put. everytime she's 'helping' the ml would almost always ended up injured because of her. she never listens to anyone. if the ml got irritated she would get upset and sulk. the ml is too nice so he would always surrender. the situations never be better when fl is on screen. she's also really useless. she can't even dodge attacks and needed ml to help her. the real princess despite a noble born also know that much and didn't make it harder for her partner at all.
well, her father is also irritating. even though they're moving in discreet he would still let out his loud voice. also, the past truth arc. damn he got someone killed and 'regretted' it a lot but then few years later his daughter was taken by the bandits because of the same reason again. while in the den, he drank, gambled like an idiot who never learns his lesson. i wish he would just die before the series end but lol lucky him.

2nd couple are wholesome. their story progressed well and make their love so genuine. while Xiao Bao indeed liked her bcs of her pretty and elegant appearance, as the story progress he fell deeper ( love ) because of her understanding, personality and all of her. he's also really nice to her since the beginning though he's a bandit. i like the real princess better and her character really suits her title. i love them so much. i have no complaints at all except for the ending. they was supposed to travel around the world, carefree as normal civilian but now that he is bestowed the position of Vice General, their dreams would not be able to be fulfilled anymore. that's a shame because it kind of makes the 2nd couple message gone. they're supposed to be "a noble born woman who gave up her title to be with a former bandit as a normal civilian and spending the rest of their life traveling around the world without any care about status"
now they had to stay in the capital, just like before. stuck in their manor. it's a pity

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Bride swap- princess and street performer? Hmm sounds interesting.

Started off very well, then started becoming pretty ordinary and maintained that.

Plot and characters: The first few eps were interesting, explained the base of the story, gave good laugh at times but that was soon gone.
Felt boring and draggy at times. Didn't really need 30 eps, could've done in 24.
There was no chemistry. But i understand why they started to like each other. The ML's split identity was the FL's idol, the fl was really kind to the ml. The sfl was pretty, good natured and wise, the sml was honest, good and dedicated to the sfl.
I liked the SFL more than the FL. She was actually calm, smart and not a bitchy princess, rather a good person.
I felt the FL to be annoying. She was supposed to be strong but in fights she is a useless burden to the ml. She is too noisy, super dumb and being a street person she has no complexity in her character. Her character is pretty flat and simple.
And that SFL's maid. Ugh. Like you don't even know where your mistress is but clearly know that she wanted to run away. Why bother trying to separate the ml and fl?
The ML is like really handsome but his acting isn't too good, just average.
The SML is pretty damn cute, he is a good guy in a bad place. I liked his dedication to the sfl.
What's up with the ML's dad? Why so violent and horrible? Ugh.
Nan Batian was a freaking pedophile and a vile and disgusting character. Eww.
What kept me going is the plot. I wanted to know what exactly was up with Situ Lin, the ML's mother mystery and how the 2nd couple will stay together. The plot was itself engaging but had too many unnecessary expansions. The worst part is that there is no character growth in any of them.

Music and production: production was okay, nothing amazing about it. The music was very good, i liked it a lot.

Okay for a one time watch, with going easy on the 2x button for people who got high standards for a drama.
If you're new to it, sure go ahead, you'll enjoy it.

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