Love the Way You Are (2022)

Love confidently, a sweeter & lighter version of its original story

Before I begin my actual review, yes, FL & ML are non blood related step siblings. Though FL & ML knew each other as kids, they didn't grow up being raised together. It seems as if the parents married much later while the ML was abroad for many years. Even when he returns, it doesn't feel like a family dynamic. There are no family pictures with him at home nor does he have a room in the household. He speaks to FL's father, his mom's husband, like a neighborhood uncle & vice versa just like FL speaks to ML's mother as an auntie rather than a mom. Regardless, I know that it can still be weird for some (& I too would've preferred they didn't have that connection) so I wanted to clear that up for those that would feel uncomfortable watching.

When I first saw that this was a SITR remake, I wanted to stop watching as that drama left a bad taste on my mouth & I was worried this drama would do the same. However, though certain plot points were the same or similar, the feeling was entirely different. The tone of this drama stayed light, even when conflict was happening, and made this drama easy to watch. I think part of the reason was because of how the leads communicated & solved problems together rather than lying & attempting to do things on their own, like in SITR. Another reason is because of the way this drama was directed - it didn't have that dragging & dull feeling that SITR had nor unnecessary scenes of scenery & such. There were a couple of transitions from scenes that were choppy but nothing too jarring. As for the music, while it's nothing that I will go out of my way to make a playlist for, it sounded nice, there was different songs used, & they actually fit the scenes/drama. Basically, what I disliked about SITR was fixed here. The only thing that was better in SITR was the acting & the passion of the relationship, though I would say it actually works better here that they kept the relationship sweet instead. (Also, I'm only comparing it to SITR for those that are wondering how is this different from it.)

I was dreading having an overbearing horrible character like the SITR mother but, thankfully, there was none! While FL's father made me roll my eyes with his comments about her work & marriage & he crossed boundaries, he actually cared about FL & thought he was helping her. (No, that is not to excuse his actions but rather I was noting how I didn't get that feeling from the SITR mother.) His wife made a comment that his bark was worse than his bite & that accurately sums him up. He has reasonable reasons for objecting to her relationship but they have a heart to heart & he listens to her words & respects her decision. As for ML's mother, she was always on FL's side & supportive so that was great to see.

However I feel about the relationship, I liked that once FL made up her mind that she wanted to be with him (which didn't take too long) she stuck to her decision & didn't waver. (In SITR, even though they were loved up, FL gave the feeling of seeming not to be too sure or really not being on the same page as ML.) Their relationship made her trust in herself, as well as in him of course. She didn't hide things from him but was honest with him. Though they helped each other solve their individual problems, it never came across as them doing so because the other was helpless. They genuinely respected and believed in each other, which was a reason why they were able to stay strong, not breakup, & convince others of their love (her father really being the only one that they needed to convince.)

While the leads were cute, I will admit that I liked FL's friend, Yi Ran, & ML's boss, Chen Ye, more. I wish we would've gotten more screen time for them (they should've got Xiao Mian & Yi Bo's screen time). I think their story had potential to better be developed but it was okay as is & I quite liked seeing them together, especially with Chen Ye's son. As for the other couple, Xiao Mian was so annoying & a useless character so I didn't like her with Yi Bo. Yi Bo didn't need her as a lover when they could've only focused on his livestreaming career. Their scenes together were ones that I didn't care to watch.

Once the majority of conflict was solved, the last 6 episodes did begin to feel a bit like filler episodes - like they needed conflict to have content. It wasn't necessarily bad, nor was I bored, because that's when we got Yi Ran & Chen Ye together. I would say the only thing I didn't like that happened in those episodes was how they lowkey tried giving FL's ex a small redemption arc, but I didn't buy it & it didn't last long so it was whatever. Fans who loved SITR may feel a type of way that others like this version more but some of us prefer something that isn't as intense, doesn't have an unbearable parent character that brings down the show, & has an end that is more satisfying. So, if you didn't like SITR or dropped it, then I would say don't let that stop you from watching this version. I won't say this drama is the best but I think it's a drama worth giving a try if you have time & want something that is an easy binge watch. (In case you're wondering about my ratings regarding the acting/cast & the rewatch value, overall the acting wasn't excellent but it was okay enough for the characters they were playing & I rarely rewatch dramas so that's my standard score, unless I love/hate a drama then it will be higher/lower.)

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Visual leads with cute chems… no breakup! almost no angst!

What i like:
- The visuals of the leads is just something… come one, have u seen them? N the chems is cute… i’m not a big fan of a noona romance, but Angela Baby looks so young n beautiful, so i have no probs in that dept…
- No breakup once they get together… the relationship between the leads is just so healthy… yes he’s younger by 7years in the drama, but he doesn’t act like it, he is very mature n such an adult, especially in the relationship with her… ML is honestly how a perfect BF should be like…
- I like almost all characters, everybody has plus n minus n redeem themselves eventually, even the father… except FL’s ex, he’s just something else… he didn’t take the villain route though, so there’s that…
- No real villains, not even the ex… no real SFL either, lots of girls like ML, but noone annoying or playing tricks, their luv is strong…
- Almost zero angst!
- The side couples r cute too… FL’s BFF with ML’s boss (he has a kid, so that plot is funny) n FL’s lil bro with FL’s colleague/ML’s friend… all HE…

Why i was a bit conflicted:
- The relationship was a bit complicated… ML&FL r not related by blood, n even though they r stepsiblings, they were never raised together… he went abroad for a long time then they met again when they r adults… he fell for her first, then after a while they got together… i personally don’t think it’s wrong, but somehow i wish they weren’t step siblings, it’s still weird in a way…
- Again i’m not a fan of a noona romance… but since i like both leads, n they look so cute together, so yeah, i enjoyed watching them…
- There were a bit boring parts in the drama, but it was ok portion… i wish they could show more of them being together in front of other people n not being cute only when there’s noone around…
- The working plot wasn’t that strong either…

Overall i really like it! I’d def recommend this for people who like a light romcom n don’t mind a bit complicated background for the leads… n it’s a HE…

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Much better than "Something In the Rain"

I Binge-watched this drama. This drama was unexpectedly interesting!!!

In my opinion, "Love the way You Are" is a lot better compared to "Something in the Rain" (Korean drama) for the below-mentioned reasons.

In SITR FL's Mother role was very annoying. That's why I gave a low rating for that drama. However, In "Love the way You Are" instead of an annoying mother there is a very understanding and supportive mother character.

It didn't take much time for leads to convince the family about their relationship. Initially, the FL's father was hesitant about the FL & ML's relationship for obvious reasons. But that got resolved quicker than the time I thought it will take.

In SITR, FL was a habitual liar.
Here, both FL and ML don't hide anything between them. They face everything head-on.

In SITR, FL's ex was a jerk. In LTWYA, he is not that worst except in that accident part.

Appreciation-worthy cinematography. Good OST background music.

Good chemistry between leads. Cute-looking ML.

SITR drama focuses too much on the work environment than on the relationship between leads.
"Love the way you are" more focusses on the relationship and love story between Leads without undermining the work-related story.

Other positives of LTWYA:
- More Comedy Compare to SITR.
- No Breakup.
- No misunderstanding between leads.
- No awkwardness between leads.
- HAPPY ENDING.

Some negatives:
• Less romance compared to SITR.
• I didn't like that streaming girl at all she is solely responsible for my one less rating for this drama.

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Phenomenal and addicting! So damn good!

I personally love this drama cause it's rare to see perfectly matched couples. It's a must-see drama for drama beginners and watchers who are waiting to see Chinese youth romance dramas. Currently, the drama has a low rating, actually, the drama has some flaws, and some might say it's a typical drama, but because of the chemistry between the 2 main characters as well as how the writers dealt with the main message of the drama, I personally really am enjoying watching it! Episodes are flying soo fast even without me noticing!
This is one of the best dramas I've watched in a while

In the end, I think the great elements of this drama outweigh all of the negatives making it a great and even a rewatchable drama(A little bit)!

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I've just finished the series and come to the comments to find.....this is a remake of "Something In The Rain"????? No. Maybe it started that way, but this is completely different, imho.

Mainly, what I want to say is that the acting was phenomenal! And wasn't I surprised to find out that the ML was a former member of Wanna One??!! I never paid attention to the members of that group, except for Kang Daniel, one of my fav K-pop idols....but I just watched 2 of Park Jihoon's 2022 dramas (Worth it!) and I was like, cool, now I am familiar with 2 of the members! But now I'm watching a C-drama....and oooh, isn't he such a good actor, let's find out more about him......uh huh, Produce 101....season 2....hey, that's when Wanna One was created......OMG how did I happen upon another member??? And how is he ALSO such a great actor?? LOL. (Yeah, I know. My kids also call me a dork. It's fine. Haha) (Edit: I totally forgot about Daehwi! Oops! So Lai Kuan Lin makes my FOURTH Wanna One member! ROFL! I'm learning, slowly but surely!)

But I digress...

Seriously, I looked and looked for the leads to be out of character or awkward with their lines and acting and NEVER found it. That's especially interesting since they are so far apart in actual age. But honestly, I give props to all of the actors. They all did such a fantastic job. And, though this wasn't the most exciting of shows, it was good. Funny at times, heartwarming at times, unbelievably sweet....

My only complaint was the end. It just ended. I was watching the episode, then I was watching the actor interviews. I kept waiting for a final scene. And maybe they planned it that way, to say that this love doesn't end....but that's corny even for me. (Much as I hate that word, it is what it is.) Regardless, I enjoyed this drama and I fell in love with quite a few of the characters.

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A comparison to the Kdrama Something in the Rain

Knowing that this is a remake of the Kdrama Something in the Rain, I have to say this had some better parts and some worse parts.

Better:

OST - OMG this drama had waaaaay better music than SITR. So grateful I didn’t have to hear the equivalent “Stand By Your Man” refrain over and over. ThisCdrama OST felt light and refreshing

Evil parent - So glad there wasn’t the equivalent of Jin Ah’s crazy and whiny mom whose reasons of being against the relationship was just so lame. In this drama I could actually sympathize with Yi Ke’s dad since the main couple’s relationship was one of also being step siblings. Though not related by blood, the Asian conservative culture would def frown on their love. Parents would definitely have been gossiped about with neighbors, friends and extended family.

Stronger FL - I love Son Ye Jin but her character, Jin Ah, was way too meek and a complete pushover. Angelababy’s Yi Ke, though meek, she definitely wasn’t a pushover. Even at the beginning she was very competent at her job; she just wasn’t good with office politics. In the end, with Guang Xi’s confidence boost, Yi Ke developed more self love and self confidence and was able to fight her way back to the top and bring along her entire team too. Jin Ah wouldn’t have been able to do the same imo.

The ex-bf - Ze Lin character was def better than the ex in SITR. Ze Lin had realistic faults while the latter felt like a caricature of the standard slimy pathetic ex boyfriend.

Worse:

Sorry but no one else can pull off the younger suitor better than Jung Hae In in SITR. His acting was far superior than Lai Karan Lin. JHI was able to pull off loving nurturing bf while also managing the emotions of the pissed off fed up bf. Besides JHI’s smiles left this noona’s pulse racing heart in a puddle of her own drool. 😉

No real strong conflict - the leads in this Cdrama were able to overcome their difficulties just too easily imo. SITR tackled more serious office difficulties like sexual harassment, male chauvinism, and the boys club atmosphere that’s rife in many office environments (and even more so in Asian workplace environments).

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Watchable noona romance saddled with a lazy, transparent script

On the positive side, this drama has a decent cast, and you can't fault the visuals of the OTP. On top of that, the CP has good chemistry, some sweet swoon worthy moments and a decent amount of skinship. It is also relatively low angst and has no silly breakups. The two secondary couples are fine and did their duties occupying some of the screen time.

To distinguish itself from similar shows, the OTP are step siblings, but not blood related. I don't have any issue with that but some might.

Now we need to look at the other side of the ledger. What stood out for me is the lazy and transparent writing. This is evident right from the start. For instance, the ML recognised the FL immediately at the start of the show but pretended not to. The FL was clueless which was odd because she has been living with his mum for years. It is true that he has been studying and working overseas for some time but why doesn’t his mum have any recent photos of him at home or on her phone? No video calls, ever? Sure, it sets up the meet-cute but if you pause for 2 seconds you can see how problematic that is.

The show is also prone to parachute in characters and plots just because it can. The 3FL(Xia Xiaomian) is a young adult just arrived in a major city with no relatives nor friends, but she magically knew where the ML lives and latched onto him. I do find it a bit farfetched for c-drama.

The script writer likes to telegraph plot development way in advance as well. The FL has a boyfriend but he has to become the EX-boyfriend for the show to progress. To pave the way, we were presented with a laundry list of hints why they are incompatible. We have the co-worker who became a trophy wife but is treated more like a servant and her husband is a womaniser. Ouch! The BF shows up time and again with flowers even though the FL is allergic to them, and she told him so. Consider they have been together for 4 years; you’d think he should know. Similarly, she is portrayed as an ambitious career woman and all he talked about are his goals and how she can quit work and be a good housewife and so on. Was it a big surprise that she ditched him?

All the secondary CP’s are preordained. Yes, there are the usual push-pulls and misunderstandings, but their love lines are on rails. It is all nicely done but it is hardly original.

The pacing of this show is languid. Most plot developments are clearly sign posted in advance. The dreaded mid show drag is real and its length can do with a decent pruning.

The ending with the actors talking about love and how it relates to their characters is nice but is that a sign that they have run out of material and needed fillers?

Acting is mostly fine. Some roles like the FL’s father is very stereotypical. The younger actors is a bit rough around the edges but they earned their keeps. The FL did a lot of the heavy lifting, but it is hardly a breakout role. The ML is nice and handsome, but his delivery seemed a little stilted.

All in all, it is a decent rom-com. Its straightforward plots and low angst makes for easy viewing. There are better noona romances out there, such as My Fated Boy, so it is not high on my rewatch list.
OST is serviceable, nice but generic.

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Lovely show, but it has barely anything to do with "Something in the Rain"!

People in the comments keep saying, "It's better than the original", "It's not as exciting as the original" etc. In my opinion these comparisons are a bit senseless, because the setting & the plot are fundamentally different. I don't mind too much though, let's hop on the meta train!
Something in the Rain had like 8 brilliant episodes, 2 mediocre episodes & 5 horribly bad episodes. Opposed to that, Love the Way You Are produced 20 good episodes & 1 bad episode(just about) & 9 almost good (the above mediocre tier) episodes, well that's pretty much the end of this comparison. There are two important things that they've taken from the "original", namely the red umbrella & the iconic hand holding scene. The first one doesn't really work, because with the completely different cinematography the original artistic intent is completely lost. The hand holding scene felt a bit whelming, perhaps it should've been re-shot, but that's not all, they completely changed the aftermath of it, I was mildly disappointed about that if I want to be completely honest.
So as I said, makes little sense to compare these, moving on...

China has been killing it lately with Noona romances, this one may not be nearly as good as "My Fated Boy", but the drama holds its own, the overall impression is very positive. We could call it a generic low-stress noona romance, but the execution is mostly great. The leads looks fantastic together, have good chemistry, that has become extraordinary nearing the later episodes. The fluff is top tier. There is some angst here and there, but things are resolved relatively quickly. I liked the side couples as well, there is nothing bad I can say about them, perhaps Xiao Mian could've gotten more screen time..
Triangle haters can safely watch this show, the ex gets dealt with relatively early on & as stupid as his redemption ark is, he's been bearable.

FL's father is a rather horrible character, but whenever I started feeling too angry about him, the writers adjusted his stance, or his behavior. I'm not a fan of character adjustments in general, but in the grand scheme of things this is not too bad. (Compared to Pretty Noona's mom he's a dorky angel)

The corporate plotlines have never gotten too annoying, which is unusual in itself, since cdramas that have corporate plotlines can rarely avoid ridiculous happenings. Here we had one plagiarism plot that just fizzled out, the rest is not too bad.
Of course, these work life things are not very well written, the plot involving the semi villainous characters just meanders. One episode she is the devil, in the next "It's fine, it's just a minor test, I don't feel like destroying them" okay Karen, thanks for appearing in this show. Also YiKe's former boss could have gotten dealt with in a more serious way. I would have preferred the cdrama specials over what we've gotten, which is one scene in which YiKe lightly shames him.

The last 6 or so episodes get a bit draggy, not because of excess fluff, but rather the focus shifts onto meaningless work related things that can be fast-forward buttoned without penalty. The ending may not be the closure of the decade, but it's fine.

9/10 may be a bit of an over-exaggeration, but I enjoyed this drama a lot, so it is what it is.

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A cute and light noona romance, about confidence and self-esteem

Excellent series with a dream cast ! I expect to see Lai Kuanlin again soon in new dramas...

I really love the CL ❤❤❤ . They are super cute and have real chemistry. The age-gap given the physique of the actors, is not obvious. Moreover, I don't see why the father reacts so strongly since they are not blood-related and did not really grow-up together.
- I like the character of Yi Ke, her tenacity when she decided to be responsable of her life and her own choices.
- Nothing to say about Guang Xi, he is adorable, attentive, respectful... The ideal boyfriend!
At last, a drama where there is no "break-up to protect you", no love triangle with an evil rival, I really appreciate.

I don't really see the relationship with "Something in the air" apart from the age-gap and the dominating father. The Korean version was sad, painful, sometimes hard to watch. "I like you, it's OK" is more about healing, growing-up, confidence, self-esteem.

Secondary romances are also well highlighted, with current situations/problems.

The narration is dynamic, you don't get bored for a second.
The OSTs are modern, without being particularly memorable.

I will watch this series again with great pleasure!

Finally, a really cute noona drama to watch !

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The love between a pair of brothers who are not related by blood is wrapped in a pretty good story

I think the story in this drama is not bad and I think it should get a rating of 8. I don't know why on this website, ordinary good dramas only get a rating of 7 while trash dramas get a high rating of 8-9. this drama doesn't have any clashes that make ml and fl break up, there are just a few skins that make me feel they should be more firm in taking action and not be too naive or kind because in the real world maybe they wouldn't do something like this which I mean is too good of a character against the enemy in this drama. I watched non-stop for 3 days and until episode 26, I skipped a lot to episode 30 because I felt the story was a bit boring because it tells a lot of characters, which doesn't mean the story is bad. Chinese drama always has a lot of episodes, so there are lots of scenes that just waste time. I watched this drama with enjoyment even though I skipped a lot of SML and SFL in the last episode. Overall I give a rating of 8.

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Noona romance

"Age is just a number" is a phrase overused by people who enter relationships with a huge age gap. While this is acceptable in some cultures - this kind of age gap is still frowned upon in other cultures.
I say this because viewers need to arm themselves with a good understanding of cultural norms because even though this is a work of fiction, the behaviours portrayed aren't too far from the truth. Without a thorough understanding of culture, viewers will easily question the motives of the characters portrayed in this series.
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The way this kind of relationship was portrayed was well done. I liked how they toned down the bullying and sexual harassment unlike the original which seemed to dwell on the abuse more than anything else.
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Now the elephant in the room - non blood related step siblings. ML's mother married FL's father. I'm not going to detail what the domestic arrangements are because this aspect of the story will be a hit or miss. Others in the comment section are already turned off by this taboo-like situation. I say taboo-like because again there will be cultures out there who will not be bothered by this so I chose to suspend my disbelief so I could enjoy the show at peace.
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Regardless of the situation our main leads had to go through, at its core this is still a perfect example of a noona romance which I wouldn't mind rewatching in the future.

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