Love the Way You Are (2022)

It has it all, except chemistry haha

OVERALL
This drama is an adaptation of the Korean drama "Something in the Rain". I can't say it's better than the original, but it works! Watch if you are looking for 1) lots of cute and sweet lovey-dovey scenes, 2) an interesting secondary couples, 3) many funny scenes. Think twice if you 1) want to see sizzling chemistry, 2) want to see ANY chemistry, 3) can't stand lazy writing.

THE STORY
"Something in the Rain" put the "Melo" in "drama". It was WAY too melodramatic for no reason. That being said, I rewatched that drama twice because the chemistry between the leads was EVERYTHING haha This drama is the opposite. The leads literally have ZERO chemistry, but the drama found the perfect ratio between rom-com and drama (60/40, sometimes even 70/30) and is super generous in "happy together" scenes. Also, this drama does a better job of giving substance to characters and conflicts. The obstacle to the OTP is not only their age gap but also the fact that they're step-siblings, Female Lead's previous relationship ended for an interesting reason and not just because her ex got bored of her so there's more character development, and Female Lead has a bit of a growth arc. No need to skip the secondary couple too (but maybe it's just because a kid is involved and I'm a sucker for single-parent romance haha). So the drama is technically fine, I would even say as good as the original...if it wasn't for a few things.

First, the drama has a weak beginning and a weak ending. Female Lead looks ditsy at first even though later she turns out to be a mature and nice character, and her encounters with Male Lead are so forced. The ending feels rushed and abrupt, with lots of unnecessary flashbacks (they clearly did not know how to end the drama well). Secondly, I'm not a fan of the dynamic between the leads. Except for one time, Male Lead is always the savior, Female Lead always the damsel in distress. It's just too old-fashioned, too unoriginal, too lazy writing. Finally, this is a rare case in which I feel like the drama did NOT give enough screentime to the secondary couple. Towards the end, their storyline was SO rushed, literally everything happened out of screen, which is ridiculous! Ultimately, these are bearable flaws, I would say. The biggest issue, the REAL issue, is that the leads have no chemistry (they look like somebody forced them to act like a couple or else haha) and their scenes together are cute but also cringe, and not in a good way.

THE ACTING
Yeah...The veteran actors did their thing, they were great, but I got to say, most of the main cast did not impress me. To be fair, this is the second drama of Angela Baby I watched (first one was General and I) and I did like her better in this one, so maybe she improved?

THE MUSIC
Meh.

REWATCH VALUE
I'll rewatch it, I know, but it's not top of my list.

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Pursuit of love and second chances.

Almost halfway with Love The Way You Are and while the storyline is nothing new, it has this innocence and vulnerability that is just captivating. I am drawn in from the first episode.

The ML embodied the youthful innocence. He had this quiet confidence. He is effortlessly serving us “boy next door”. Him and Angelababy really looked good together and I think this type of roles suit her better. I really liked Angela here and you can see the conflicting emotions in her face. While they are unrelated by blood, their family relationship adds a complexity to the budding relationship of these two characters. There is this underlying feeling of hesitation and longing.

We are 12 episodes in, so at some point there will be some angst in the story and I’ll probably need tissues for it. I hate to say this but as the story goes, the ML may end up with the worst heartbreak of his life. Nevertheless, the ML and FL are already giving me the feels with their pursuit of love and second chances. I am all in for both of them.

This drama is a visual feast. I love the melancholic mood and simplicity. What a picturesque Shanghai. The cinematography is on point and wherever this neighbourhood is, I want to be there.

Above all, what makes this show extra special is the beautiful OST. Every single song sounds so precious. It just completes the drama and gives us mood and feels.

A lot of people were saying that this is a remake of the korean drama, Something In The Rain. I for one, personally haven’t seen SITR, I think I dropped it after the first episode. It just didn’t capture my attention. I think the leads in LTWYA are way more captivating.

Oh, and is it just me, but the ML looks like he can be Xiao Zhan’s younger brother.

Overall my noona romance meter is high off the charts. It is visually stunning and emotional. I cannot wait for the next lot of episodes.

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A Loose Adaptation of K-Drama "Something in the Rain"

If you've watched "Something In The Rain", then this is pretty much the same storyline with a few changes. Instead of the ML being best friends with the FL's brother and the FL being best friends with the ML's sister, the ML and FL in this drama are step-siblings. The ML's mother and FL's father are married. I personally think this relationship is actually worse than the original version because it's just way too close for comfort.

The storyline has a few changes but all in all, it is similar. Unfortunately, IMO, I was only a fan of the first half of "Something In the Rain" and I thought the last half of it, just made the drama fall apart so depressingly. There were a lot of reviews that also agreed with this. We have yet to see if this drama will re-write the direction the original storyline went and hopefully learn from the former's mistakes.

So far, in this drama, (Love The Way You Are), I think that the build-up of the love story is lacking. Compared to the original, the ML spends time with the FL and starts to slowly fall in love with her, but in this adaptation, it feels like the ML has a crush on her instantly for whatever reason, which I can't see why. Especially since the FL has a boyfriend in the beginning that ML knows about.

Anyways, I don't find that the FL leads looks so obviously older than the ML, (7 years difference), and the way they call each other "brother" and "sister" in the first few episodes, made me cringe because you're constantly reminded that they're step-siblings.

I'll continue to follow this but I'm already finding myself fast-forwarding scenes of the secondary characters, especially the annoying ones. You'll have plenty to choose from! I'm wondering if this drama will be able to keep up the pace because I'm already finding it draggy. I'm not particularly looking forward to how their relationship falls apart knowing the storyline already.

I'm at ep 12 atm and I'll update my review if it's worth it.

Update:
By the time I got to EP 17, I was starting to fast forward. The whole kid issue with the SML and SFL was just in bad taste and his confession outside in a fountain area where lots of people just happen to be standing around watching was terrible, terrible, terrible. I felt sorry for the extras having to participate in that scene. Seriously. I basically fast-forwarded until ep 20 and by then I had enough... The FL and SFL are supposed to be "strong women" but how? Who the f*ck knows. Apparently, men just come in and do the save-the-damsel-in-distress trope over and over again.

Then I was just confused as to whether or not the main leads actually slept together because they edited and strung scenes together that made no sense. If I hadn't watched Something In The Rain, I wouldn't have figured it out. At least SITR was clear about it. It was so confusing.

And still, all the other side characters are just pathetically annoying as well. Especially the youtube gal. Why do a lot of C-dramas have an annoying character like her? The girl that tries to be cute but she's just unlikeable and annoying as hell with stalker-like and possessive traits?

Also, the father still wants her to be with her ex even though the ex almost killed her. What kind of father is that?

I'm done. Dropping this because it's just way too draggy and lacks substance. I highly recommend that you DO NOT waste your time on this one. I've changed my rating from 5.5 to 3.0.

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Skipped A LOT!

I’m a fan of older woman/ younger man storylines, but this one did not cut it. Both leads are indeed very good looking, so the visuals are a plus point. The chemistry however was sorely disappointing. This is the first drama where I actually skip and ff some scenes where they’re hugging, kissing or talking intimately. Can you believe that??! A good kiss scene I would normally rewatch a few times!! :):)

The ex- bf, the over controlling father, the over protective brother, the b**ch in the office who wants to bring you down... all the typical tropes. Second half was getting dry and draggy, less episodes could have made it more bearable. It’s an open happy ending, no break-up & not a lot of bad vibes drama. Only Epi 20 I would say gave me the most angst!

Side characters were not very interesting. Music also not memorable in my opinion. There’s so many better dramas out there- wouldn’t recommend this one.

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Were we allowed to see a piece of world improvement by two crazy female authors?

We see boring 30 episodes in which an older woman emotionally exploits a boy in order to break away from her domineering and abusive fiancé.
With the help of the handsome understanding boy, she achieves her goal. She makes a career instead of marriage.
On occasion, she sends away the badly in love, somewhat perplexed boy who expects a life perspective with her, on a job in far away province.
The plot is obfuscated by a lovey-dovey script to make this lousy piece of romance look nicer and smoother.
There is no one real ending, such as marriage. Of course, the wonder-woman YiKe probably wants to make other career leaps.

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I love my fair share of Noona romances, but this somehow didn't work for me, and it's not because of the step-siblings factor (that didn't bother me at all), but I felt the drama so uneventful that it lulled me to sleep half of the time. Fast forwarded most scenes with the second and third pairings, they were too dull for my taste. Only watched this for the main couple until I realized later that this was a remake of "Something in the Rain" after the iconic "hand under the table" scene.

Sure it didn't have the annoyingly repetitive soundtrack of the Korean version, but it also didn't have the same nostalgia as the original. The Korean version at least tried to get a pluvious motif running, although sluggishly executed. I couldn't connect to the characters that are mostly one-dimensional, and there's not enough meat in the story for me to rate this higher. It seemed to me that the insertion of many plot arcs are just fillers, with no real contribution to the drama except for hitting the 30 episode quota they set for themselves.

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Love the Way You Are: More Like Love the Original, Please!

Look, I came into this drama with the biggest anticipation for a "Something in the Rain" reimagining. But let me tell you, this was a disaster .

Sure, it was watchable (hence the 5 stars, because hey, I finished it), but it did the original NO justice. They took a story I loved and...well, let's just say they fumbled it.

And the step-sibling twist? Big yikes. Is that a normal thing?

If you've seen "Something in the Rain" and loved it, do yourself a favor and skip this one. Go rewatch the OG masterpiece. This? This doesn't even hold a candle to Something in the Rain.

Final verdict: Watchable, but forgettable. Unless you're a glutton for punishment (or somehow enjoy awkward family dynamics), then maybe give it a shot? But I wouldn't recommend it.

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Good ingredients but bad chef

I think this is the edited version of Korean drama, edited to typical Chinese format like,
1. Over obsessed ML, day and night he keeps on thinking of FL, he keeps on texting the FL and keep on looking at the mobile phone for the reply text.
2. Coincidentally ML and FL keep on crossing their paths, like if she go to other planet he will be there at that planet at the same place and at the same time without any reasons.
3. Always trying to make fun in all situations, their childishness I feel like mentally retardants. The most worst part is the background music, in all situations it express fun only.
This is the best drama to compare how much good and matured Korean directors are and how much immature and brainless the Chinese director’s are. May be the direction team have read the story only, they didn’t seen the drama, because it could have become little better if they have watched the drama first before directing this. All the episodes (12) are so plain and blunt, in emotional scenes, romantic scenes, while confessing also. If they have seen the Korean version at least these things could have executed in a better way.
According to my experience Chinese director’s are not at all suitable for noona romance type, they are only suitable for old history type like one and only, The long ballad, the blue whisper etc. for family, romance or corporate romance kind they are not at all suitable.

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So far on episode 9 and not bad

So far on episode 9 and it's not too bad.

It's hard to believe that the FL and her best friend are both single. These are the most beautiful women on the screen today and it's impossible to not be distracted by their beauty each time they appear on the screen. The fact that they are single makes this show more fantasy than a wuxia TV series. Watching them wear shorts walking around is a feast for the eyes. Absolutely gorgeous and both are stunning in terms of body shape.

ML is pretty good. Not an idiot character that' for sure.

I was speed watching from episode 18-30 because it started to feel really draggy.

Overall, I think it was OK. Not bad but not great. I enjoyed looking at the FL and her gorgeous best friend along with Ms. Xue, the head of the game company. 3 absolutely beautiful stunning ladies and dressed to perfection each frame.

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Love how DUMB you are!

I´m one of those people that really liked the original version of this series. So when I read comments saying that they liked the Kdrama, but they prefer this version better because of its lighter or fluffier feel, I get a little suspicious of people´s taste. It is impossible for someone who claims to have really liked the kdrama version to find this one better or half as good or even passable. It just makes no freaking sense. Here´s my reasoning:

In the Kdrama, Something In The Rain, the FL goes through a self-discovery journey. When she starts to hang out with the young ML her path to transformation begins. Even though he is much younger he is also more mature and assertive due to his harsh circumstances early on in life, he lost his mother at an early age and his father remarried leaving him and his sister to care for themselves. Later he goes to USA for 3 years for work. So it is not surprising that he has had more life experience than a sheltered 35 year old woman that is still living at home. To this point the FL has only dated horrible men that never respected or loved her, so her self-esteem is on the floor. In the workplace is no different she is mistreated and sexually harassed by her superiors. At home she is an unworthy daughter because she isn´t marrying a socially qualified and wealthy man. She basically just takes it from everyone, unable to stand up for herself.

When the ML returns from abroad he also brings back a different set of values that challenges hers, he says early on something along the lines that in order to be professional you need to break taboos. They constantly joke around age, how she is older and should be the wiser, but it is clear that she isn´t, so this dynamic among intricate characters, smart writing and intimate directing is what makes this series interesting.

In my opinion the cdrama version is not grounded, it lacks depth in all aspects. The main characters are just your typical leading couple in the majority of cdramas; FL can´t hold her liquor ML gives her a piggy back ride, FL needs a drink ML shares his coca cola, FL gets a superficial paper cut ML provides a Band-Aid, FL loses her lipstick ML picks it up. Are these situations supposed to be bonding or romantic???? This type of childish behavior was a big NO NO in the Korean version, that´s the main reason why I liked it. Obviously the Cdrama creators when doing the remake totally missed the point; they only focused on one aspect of the whole, the older woman younger man. That´s it! And they copied frame by frame some of the intimate scenes from the Korean, whereas in the kdrama made total sense versus the Cdrama where these scenes just feel empty.

This show is totally droppable, I first got a hint in that early scene at the airport when ML returns from years of hiatus. He spots the FL and sees how she drops her lipstick, he picks it up, but never tries to call her. She is his family, someone that he is supposed to have a crush on and doesn´t say ¨hey it´s me your step brother¨…. Silence, he picks up the lipstick and carries it around like a pervert waiting for the ¨perfect¨ time to give it back. And what is even more mind-blowing is when the FL fails to recognize her own step brother, they share a cola and eat side by side. Seriously in what universe you´re unable to recognize your own brother??? Yes, he is her step brother, but he is still her brother. I know that for some westerners all Chinese, if not familiar, might look the same. But they are Chinese and family for God's sake!!! This whole scenario very far from setting up the romantic vibe it just presents two very dumb leading characters and the dumbness just continues as the story progresses…. So I only had one and only choice.... to DROP THIS SUCKER!!!!

P.S. I´m very sick and tired of drunk FLs in cdramas that always need piggy backs from MLs or SMLs. If Cdramas are a reflection of society, then society needs to do some social work and teach girls not to get shitfaced, it is not safe or sexy.... Especially NOT SAFE!

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I just can't...

I'm going to preface by saying that I'm a fan of older woman/younger man stories but right off the bat, I wasn't feeling this drama at all. Here are my initial thoughts and a few reasons why I couldn't watch more than 2 episodes...

1. They're step siblings?! I'm sorry, but I'm just so weirded out by this - even if they are not blood-related and did not grow up together, I still count this as incest. It's especially creepy when the ML picks up a random lipstick in the airport scene and just assumes that it belongs to the FL, and instead of giving it back to her, keeps it in his pocket. So weird and creepy. He didn't even say anything when he found out her name and obviously pieced together the fact that she's his step-sister. Ugh.

2. ML's bad acting. I started this drama because I love Angelababy - I think she's an amazing actress and always acts effortlessly, making all of her roles very natural and HER. Despite this, I couldn't continue watching because of the deer-in-headlights look that is permanently plastered on the ML's face. I get that he's extremely young and a "rookie" actor, but bro, can't he give us more than 3 expressions? Being cute can only get you so far - someone give this kid some acting lessons.

3. Lack of chemistry. Yes, I only watched 2 episodes, but I don't sense any chemistry and I also don't understand HOW the ML started liking the FL. At no point in time did the FL do anything to make the ML fall in love with her besides maybe....drop her lipstick???

I want to close out by saying if you want to watch an older woman/younger man done right, I highly highlyyyy recommend "Rational Life" - it's one of my all-time favorites in the category. A strong female lead who couldn't find love, and a young man who is just starting out in his career but is very mature and smart and finds his way into the FL's heart. Their story gradually develops and takes the audience in for a ride with laughter, so many emotions surrounding the taboo of dating a younger male in China, and many sweet and funny moments. The romantic scenes don't seem forced and the ending is *chef's kiss*.

Sorry for going off on this drama, but seriously, the difference between the two dramas is wayy too tangible. Maybe my expectations were too high because of Angelababy but even she couldn't save the wet napkin that is the ML.

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A ideia do enredo é boa, mas o desenvolvimento ficou comprometido. As escritoras deixaram muitas brechas em várias situações, principalmente, no tocante ao desenvolvimento empresarial e a finalização é de péssimo gosto (nesse quesito o erro
também é da direção). O romance dos protagonistas é fofo, não tem idas e vindas e um amontoado de mal entendidos, isso é bastante agradável. A parte cômica dos coadjuvantes é bastante satisfatória.
Os erros de edição são muitos, não houve atenção em relação aos figurinos usados na hora de montar o drama, algumas cenas estão, visivelmente, deslocadas no contexto e a finalização tirou todo o brilho do trabalho duro do elenco.

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