Obsession and Possession
Enthralling. Intriguing. Mind-blowingIt is probably the perfect three words to describe this drama.
The whole drama narrates the story of Lou Qianyi and Hou Youze's relationship after an avalanche that renders Qianyi amnesic and how Qianyi tries to figure out her identity.
Initially, the plot of this drama is not straightforward and kinda complicated, which may leave your mind and train of thought all over the place. However, as the plot progresses, you will be able to gradually grasp the background and motivations of the various characters and understand the past incidents that shape current events.
The show is not draggy, you might get hooked unconsciously after watching a few episodes!! If I'm not mistaken, this drama was initially planned to have 40 episodes, and I am glad that they cut it down to 29 episodes. 29 episodes are the right number, it is not draggy and it is well-paced too. The pacing is well-paced and the drama also transitions seamlessly between suspense, tragedy and thriller with a few twists and reveals mixed in.
What makes this show spectacular is of course the male lead's acting. Ou Hao acted as Hou Youze, an obsessive yet pitiful person. His acting is spectacular!! He managed to bring Hou Youze role to life through his gaze and nuanced micro-expressions. I can't help but feel a bit scared while watching his acting. I watched a few of Ou Hao's dramas before, and he is really versatile, a quality which hopefully garners him more varied roles in his future projects!! Victoria Song's acting has also improved much!! She managed to play 2 different roles so well, she is getting better and better in each drama she stares in.
The background music and sound of this drama fits in perfectly with the whole ambience. The background music makes you feel the suspense and your adrenaline rushing. Though I feel like the background music was excessively used in some parts to the point that the background music is dictating you what you should feel. As for this scene, suspensive background music is used, therefore, you should feel suspense. But regardless of it, they still managed to make me feel the suspense and be on the edge of my seat while watching the drama.
As for the flaws, there are some scenes where it lacks logic and coherence. For instance, how can someone who just suffers a heavy accident and need to go through cosmetic surgery look so normal in just a month?! But if you don't really care about all the small details, you will love the drama!!
Another flaw is the CGI used during the avalanche, the CG looked so fake that I can't help but laugh a little, the cuts and CG used in the avalanche scene does not do justice to the quality of the storyline. But it is only a small part of it so don't mind too much!!
You might like or hate the ending. But for me personally, I think that ending is a perfect ending for this drama!!
Lover or Stranger is probably one of my favourite dramas of 2021!! It is rare to see a Chinese drama that takes on this genre, and in the future, I hope to see more kinds of Chinese dramas with this genre!! Give it a try, you might love it!!
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This review may contain spoilers
Not your typical love story
This is going to be a short one.The actors are good. Oho Ou is definitely a versatile and good actor.
The story is strange and mysterious and grabs your attention. It is comprised of lies on top on lies and we see how the mountain created out of lies comes crashing down testing each player to see who still is a human that has remorse for their actions.
The ending however, was quite disappointing. The series should have ended at episode 28 or make them get together in episode 29.
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First, loved the story. I like how the plot unfolded piece by piece with each episode. It kept the series really interesting. I never got bored or thought of dropping this at any point.
Incorporating children into the series also lightened the tone subtly, which was nice.
Characters and acting are both good. No cringe-worthy moment.
If there are areas to nitpick, I would say:
1. The romantic element could have been better.
2. The pace was rather slow althought this was not a problem for me
3. There were a bit of flashback, althought not excessive.
All in all, I recommend for anyone who likes a good story.
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Could've been A LOT better if they did the avalanche scene a justice
I expected a lot for this series because of the amazing trailer and the director on board. Unfortunately, iQIYI clowned us BIG TIME with the most important scene. It's too bad. That was so cringey. It was a very important plot devise. :( Overall, I loved the premise, the suspense, it was an okay watch. But really could've been better. If iQIYI compressed this to say, 24 episodes, and make it "Light On"-ish, it would be SO MUCH BETTER. You really cannot trust any romantic contemporary dramas lately.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
As the story unfolds....it becomes more enjoyable.
Spoiler for Episodes 1-3 then a final review once I've finished the drama.First episode
I have seen 2 of Victoria Song's dramas and I've dropped them both (for various reasons), but I'm willing to give this one a chance. This is the first drama starring Oho Ou that I've ever watched and after only the first episode, I can tell I'm gonna love his acting.
I'm unfamiliar with the rest of the cast except for Ryan Zhang (from Love O2O and Eternal Love/TMOPB).
It's extremely sinister. Youze is made out to be a monied stalker who has fabricated their love story. This actually reminds me of that Netflix movie with Brenda Song (Secret Obsession). However, our guy here might not be the villain with the way things may go after episode 1, there will be a lot of misunderstandings and putting our trust in the wrong people—people who may have led to Qianyi's mountain accident—and definite mistrust in Youze. So, if the music continues in this way (which I think it will), I might not like the main lead all that much at first.
Even though as the story unfolds things will become clearer for the audience, Qianyi is about to manipulated into believing Youze is a dodge dodge person.
Second and third episodes
Yes, he should have hidden some of the truth for so long. Yes, locking her up against her will and refusing for her to do anything by herself if unfair and wrong. I aagree. He needs to work on his trust and fears and have more faith in her ability to remember. He needs to give her her freedom back. All of it. If he continues in this way, he will push her out of his life.
Now, on to a more pressing matter: At this point, we can't trust anyone else besides Youze.
I don't, for one second, find Dr Fang inconspicuous. Is he the person sending her the lavender letters?? Isn't she allergic to lavender?? It can't be the peanut butter, can it?????? There's no way Youze wouldn't know that! It has to be Dr Fang or that violin teacher or someone else!
If only she would voice her concerns more. That talk at the dinner table about what she wanted to do and how she wanted to move forward after their "heated discussion" was perfect. I wish she'd asked him about the lavender letters. *Sigh*.
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why no allergy tag??
This ALLERGY thing is so common in dramas, mostly in those abt twins/ doppelgangers/ hidden identity, as it is uncommon in real life! SO MANY characters end up on a hospital bed because of some severe allergy, and SO MANY villains use it against our poor favourite characters, that it should have a BIG TAG of its own! Can't you just come with something new??This romance drama - on a weird note - makes use of some well-employed tropes like amnesia, hidden identity, plastic surgery... And it's nicely executed all in all. But? At some point it becomes dragging - chinese dramas are always so long anyway - so i put it on hold for now.
Interesting idea and cast, you just gotta be in mood for it.
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