well...
i was rly looking forward to this bc of all the leaks and bts but i was so disappointed... the last 6 eps were cute but not enough for me to forgive this mess. i only continued bc i like wang hedi and bai lu. honestly i would sue the production team and the director if i was them bc wtf is it with all the weird angles and the questionable scriptthe good: the ost is so good and catchy and whd and bl's chemistry is good + their visuals!!! and the second couple was so cute
this drama would've been a whole lot better if it was like 24~26 eps instead of 36 and if the third couple didn't exist like i'm sorry but i rly did not gaf about them ?
also i hate how you could literally see the 10 pounds of foundation on them and zsy's outfits were so disappointing and she (and her bff) was so annoying... shiyan and shiyue were the only likeable characters honestly
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Cute dumpster fire that I couldn't summarize even if you asked me to
One-dimensional characters, unresolved love triangles, miscommunication break-ups, foolish FL, typical CEO ML, cliche plot done badly, know-it-all BFF who knows nothing, dragging, dragging, dragging plot...If you like this, I don't know what to tell you. If you don't, you probably shouldn't watch this drama unless you're trying to support some of the actors (who honestly did fine, the script was just... unbearable).
I did like Qin Shiyue though, and I liked how Shen Yujie portrayed her. Will keep looking out for this rising actress because she's adorable : )
These dramas make me wish that good actors and actresses could genuinely get good, thought-provoking plots sometimes. You know?
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the stylist....
I wonder why the main female character's clothing style is really unattractive? I know her character was created as someone simple, but that doesn't align with the image built in the drama. Because simple doesn't mean it doesn't look attractive.the color of the clothes is very flat for Bailu's character.
I often find things like this in Chinese dramas and it makes me keep cursing the drama stylist, because I see the male characters' clothes are fine.
Even though the clothing brand is expensive, if the colors and combination are not good, this will make it unattractive on screen. Don't forget Bailu's hair style, why not try to make it look more professional like the other characters?
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This review may contain spoilers
Nearly Perfect Series about a Very Un-Perfect Couple
This will take a while. There’s a lot to unpack here.I admit that this is a very polarizing series. And it’s really a shame, as this series has so much going for it: A fantastic cast, great OST & Background music, clever photography and a strong novel to base the screenplay on. But I guess it’s understandable, given how unusual this series is and that it requires the viewer to appreciate it from a different perspective. I find this kind of ironic, as the one constant here on MDL is how members are quick to criticize rom-com’s for being ‘tropey’ or meme-like or, the ultimate insult: a cliché. So along comes this series, closely adapted from the novel, which is anything but a cliché. Sometimes you can’t win though, and sure enough a lot of the negative comments here revolve around how ‘weird’ the leads are and all the familiar plot elements the viewers are expecting…. don’t happen. This series is the typical “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
I’ll take a step back here, now that I’ve mentioned the novel. If you get a chance, and you want to understand this series better, read it – it’s readily available on-line. The series borrows HEAVILY from the book and entire scenes are completely lifted from it. The book omits all the corporate stuff and much of the Three Musketeers angle. It focuses on our leads and especially her. FWIW, I feel that Bai Lu did an excellent job of putting a human face to ShuYi: in the book, she is not that likeable of a character. And the same can be said for Dylan, who actually makes him an even worse character because we can see how bad a person he sometimes is. So, essentially she made her better, and he made him worse: both because they both humanized the book’s characters.
Anyways, back to the series. Instead of the idealized and beat-to-death “Cinderella Rescued by the Rich Guy” story, with at least one nearly-perfect “green-flag” character, we get Zheng ShuYi and ShiYan, both of whom are very realistically flawed people.
On one hand, we have the young, intelligent, beautiful and award-winning journalist, a ‘career-girl’ who is totally focused on her professional life, to the point of only having one friend outside of work. At 25, she resists efforts by her parents to socialize with other men, as she feels she’s not ready for a committed relationship. Recently dumped by her boyfriend (I doubt there was that much going on there, given her dedication to her craft) she’s not ready for dealing with ANY man in the near future. And she has a deep character flaw: her inability to tell the truth in settings either mundane or important, no matter who she’s talking to: her parents, co-workers, boyfriend, etc. Despite being self-confident in her professional life, she is extremely insecure, so she keeps much of her personal life secret from everyone she knows. I’ve known women like ShuYi, they ARE real and no one bases rom-coms on them. And yes, they are VERY difficult to have a relationship with.
On the other hand, we have the equally intelligent young CEO, who broke away from his father’s company to make his own mark on the world. He is as insecure as she is; but with him, it comes in the manner of being self-centered and very introverted. This behavior, especially manifested in his lack of communicative skills, has hindered him in both his personal and professional growth. His reputation suffers because of it, as common wisdom says he deserted his father’s firm when it was going thru hard times, when in fact, he made sure his brother-in-law was competent enough to run that company before he left. He too is self-confident in his professional life; too much so, as this comes back to bite him as his lack of communication skills can’t back up his actions, which alienates the public, his investors, and the elders on his board who are gradually losing confidence in him. He too is coming off a relationship (with an actress) that fizzled out because he was unable to keep up with her needs on a personal level – his personality simply can’t handle such things. And he has a dark side: We will see how intensely jealous he is and he also has a cruel streak. He even acknowledges this near the end of the series to the main female antagonist when he warns her in Ep 32 that he is “not a very good person”. Shi Yan is anything but the typical ‘green-flag’ young, rich CEO boyfriend. He is a force to be reckoned with and must be treated with extreme caution.
So, we have a romantic comedy bringing together two very different, flawed, realistic people. Who have neither time nor interest for romance in their lives. Both of whom are consumed with furthering their careers and have little to no life outside of work. This has brought them success in that aspect of their lives and emptiness otherwise.
And because they are realistic people, they make mistakes in dealing with each other; LOTS of mistakes, the worst of which are committed by her. In fact, their relationship begins for the wrong reason: her desire for revenge on her ex-boyfriend by dating and marrying the man she thought was the uncle of his new girlfriend (all this based on a confused premise on her part). While the TV series soft-plays this aspect leading up to the breakup, it is more dominant in the novel. The fact that she is continually dishonest as to why she was attracted to him creates doubt in his mind and mounting guilt for her. This eventually dooms their relationship, much as she feared.
Another common criticism of this series is that it’s a ‘slow-burn’ but I argue that it needs to be – it’s about 2 people who accidentally fell in love despite their differences and inability to be open with each other as True Love requires. (In fact, “Accidental Love” was supposed to be the series title [as the book was named] and not the more generic “Only for Love”). Although he falls for her first, he correctly mistrusts her because of her inability to be honest, and she is so full of doubts about everything that she can’t open herself to him, even though she knows she should.
So we see two people who probably shouldn’t have anything to do with each other, becoming attracted to each other and trying to form a relationship with a lot of bumps along the way, thanks to their insecurity, mistrust, and inability to effectively communicate with each other. They make mistakes, stupid decisions, and listen to bad advice. Their love affair sometimes resembles ‘blind-man’s-bluff’ as they feel out each other and their mutual feelings. And this is why this series is so special and different. Because this is how life is and how people in the real world behave and try to find a mate to love and live with. It’s devoid of all the fantasy-people that populate most rom-coms who gloss thru life and go from meeting to marriage in 16 episodes. Our leads need time to tell their story.
Whether or not they should have been together is up to the viewer – there’s no right answer here. More to the point is the question of if they deserve a “happy ending” to their story. And I’ll be honest, I do love a ‘happy ever after’ ending in my rom-coms. But those stories and characters are not like this one. We’re constantly told that communication is the key to the leads in any love story, and that is certainly NOT the case here. Frankly, I don’t think they deserve a Happy Ending. They’ve done nothing to deserve it and both are too immature or just-plain screwed up to make a functional relationship that would last. Given how much richer the series is vs. the book, I would have written the series differently and made their breakup in Episode 27 long-term. They would have parted ways and lived their own lives, although he would still carry a torch for her and keep tabs on her career, despite knowing he shouldn’t. I would time skip and move 15 years into the future, on the eve of her 40th birthday. We see them now, somewhat older and presumably wiser too. While in the intervening years she would go on to marry and eventually divorce Jackson Yi, she would be left with nothing to show for their marriage. While her career would continue to flourish and she advances up the ladder at Financial Weekly, her personal life would wind up as empty as it was after she broke up with ShiYan 15 years prior. He would concentrate on growing Yuanchang, until his Brother-in-Law retires and he then merges Yuanchang back into his Dad’s company and becomes the CEO of Mingu Bank. His personal life would be non-existent, much to the distress of his family.
That evening, at a Shi Family dinner, his niece, who still works at FW and maintains contact with ShuYi (and suspects her Uncle’s continued feelings for her former mentor) mentions that ShuYi’s birthday is the following day. She tells him they are having a big party at the office and wouldn’t it be nice if he sent flowers and a card wishing her the best? “Hmmph” he replies and we see the wheels turning in his head as his niece looks on. And that’s where Part 2 of the series would take off. Would they be able to reconcile after all these years? Can she overcome her insecurity and be able to open her heart to him and love him fearlessly? Can he forgive and forget and try to reset everything while becoming a more patient and less-jealous boyfriend? That’s where the story should go, I think. Can they really learn from their mistakes, or are they doomed to repeat them again?
Well, given the reaction so far to this series, that would probably be down-voted too. As I said at the beginning of this review, “sometimes you just can’t win”.
And FWIW, I’m not saying this series is perfect. The editing leaves a lot to be desired and a lot of material was left on the cutting-room floor. Obvious scenes are missing, and they had to create a 15 minute special epilog to cover the wedding. Instead, they should have recovered the lost footage, and just gone for a 37-episode series with their wedding at the end. It’s the only negative thing I have to say about this show.
Thanks for reading.
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This review may contain spoilers
A FL immature & disrespectful in her love life, redeemed by her good looks & work skills
If you like dramas where the Main FL character is aware of her beauty and flirts with the ML for half of the drama, initially for revenge purposes (she has been dumped by her previous boyfriend for what she believes to be his niece), gets caught in her acting and actually falls for him, while he is aware she’s acting, but likes her nonetheless because she’s a beauty and skilled at her job…then for 1/4 of the episodes, they will be apart because he discovers her lie, that it was for revenge, and understands she was not attracted to him per se, before she could confess her initial lie and true feelings…
When they are finally back together, close to the end of the drama, she resumes her princess pouty behaviour, to which he gives in… this drama is for you.
But even then, She keeps teasing him, and shyly (pretend) runs away when he seems to want more with her… then, she totally reverse her attitude when she ends up living at his place because of a hand injury (ep33/36), … She is no longer acting shy and she is surprised that despite her clear invitations, he doesn’t seem to be interested in sleeping with her… until at the end of ep. 34, she gets what she wants, because he sees her crystal clear exchanges with her best friend on the very topic of whether he may have a problem, explaining why they haven’t yet splept together …
I wish the story had been explained to me this way, I wouldn’t have wasted my time on this drama.
There are good moments, funny moments…
But all in all, it displays a very immature and disrespectful female character, who is forgiven her bad behaviour because of her good looks and professional skills…
Only the last ep. Slightly makes up for the above…
Not satisfying watch for me, even if I had low expectations…
the first 1/3 was enjoyable, afterwards, it became irksome, as there was absolutely no character development arc… I’m not into mischievous female characters, displaying a far from recommandable set of personal values in their private life. Not a good example to follow.
Even the 2nd lead couple broke up and was apart for the majority of the drama… because of fear of a serious relationship and commitment …
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This review may contain spoilers
The most boring drama
It's the worst Chinese drama I've ever watched, too slow, it was hard to finish it and needs strength to continue after each episode, FL and f support role are too boring. fl met someone not long ago and showed up at her other house without invitation and she accepted, even riding bikes together lolllll and there is this Shanshan who irritated me the most in this series.it was a waste of time, 36 episodes for what? i enjoyed only the last three episodes.
A lot of unecesary scenes, it would have been better, too bad.
The screenwriter and realisator need to learn for next time.
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This review may contain spoilers
I can't stop rewatch this drama
I really like the story, actually i watch it randomly because I am bored, but it turns out fun. I never watch drama that the FL is the antagonist, at first the story made me curious but later I am being trapped with the sweet love story and there are many quotes about life that I can relate. Again watching it again and again is not boring rather it make me wanna watch it again and again. The actress and actor is amazing too, I am type of person that focus on expression and voice of the actor, for me in this drama they did really well. I feel like I am not watching the drama but I am being there with them playing the drama because I can feel all the emotion in the drama. I think they just lack in some common sense like when the intern pour water in keyboard but the monitor is the one that shutdown, about the phone and people can hear it I still can relate with it, because nowadays phone have high volume in their load speaker. For the production at first I think its weird but as time goes by, I find it interesting because I like detail so I think its not a problem. The OST is easy listening and my favorite is Emotion Remote Control by Meng Jia. That is all, Thank you Only for love :))Was this review helpful to you?
Wang Hedi look great. Bai Lu was so pretty
It was becoz of these two I binge watch for 3 days and almost got headache. Eventhough there are a few illogical moment between ML and FL, this series really make me swoon and felt giddy² inside. And also let just not start discussing about all then hot scenes... #OmyheartWink*Truely amaze how the other couples made me rooting for them and want them to have a happy closure too. And just For that, this series deserve overall 8 star from me.
The house was a full studio set. How can that be? It so artistic and realistic. I bet the office is a studio set too. No wonder the lighting was spot on in every angle.
Am I going to watch the full series again? No
Am I going to just watch click bait /tt video scene of Shu Yi and Shi Yan? Oh definitly . You bet on in..
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Misunderstanding of 2023
Looking at such a good and talented cast really mislead a person to watch it.......but the storyline (no comment)Bai Lu and Dylan Wang did performed their respective roles but what is a description of the role.......the same old overbearing CEO,who, for God's sake or for what reason fall for the female lead and is so forgiving......like is he for real. The proactive female lead who is workaholic and seductive. I don't have any problem in these kind of roles as they are cute sometime......but the storyline made my soul left the body
Then still thought the supporting cast will be my last resort.........but never mind.
The only thing which is high throughout the show is the VISUAL SCALE or maybe the plot of uncle and niece+misunderstanding
Hope you find this review helpful for your drama journey
...
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The best cdrama I've watched so far
Why is it 7.9? It needed to be 8.5 at least. The drama is so interesting and the main leads' chemistry is on another level. I've watched all at of dramas with the CEO tropes, but trust me this one is different, It will hook you up from the first episode* ⠀⠀⠀. . ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀☄️ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀. . ﾟ . . ✦ , .
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Love as a Catalyst for Change: A Heartwarming Journey of Healing and Transformation
In this series, every episode had my heart melting a little more. From the captivating soundtrack to the brilliant performances by Bai Lu and Dylan Wang, I was completely hooked. Their portrayal of a love-struck couple was both authentic and compelling, bringing their characters’ vulnerabilities and chemistry to life.The drama beautifully explores how love can become a catalyst for personal growth and transformation. Through the journey of Zheng Shu Yi and Shi Yan, the storyline dives into the realistic struggles faced by young professionals who are trying to balance their careers with the demands of a meaningful relationship. Despite misunderstandings and the ups and downs of embracing one another’s differences, the lead couple learns to find strength in their vulnerabilities, ultimately creating a love that’s both heartwarming and profound.
The series also shines in its depiction of how healing and forgiveness can be powerful enough to break through the barriers a couple might face. It shows the beauty of opposites attracting—where each partner’s strengths uplift the other, bringing balance and harmony. The entire cast was perfectly chosen, and each character felt relatable, adding depth to the story. I found myself falling deeply in love with this drama, and it has definitely earned a spot as my new favorite!
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There’s no saving a bad script
This was torture. WTF with the “misunderstanding” lasting virtually the whole series? It’s tiring to watch stupidity last all episodes. Trudged through it for the actors but… what a disappointment and wasted potential. The script was just too weak and flimsy and flawed. So much so that even the lead’s star power can’t save this drama. Enjoyed the second leads more than the main leads.This was torture. WTF with the “misunderstanding” lasting virtually the whole series? It’s tiring to watch stupidity last all episodes. Trudged through it for the actors but… what a disappointment and wasted potential. The script was just too weak and flimsy and flawed. So much so that even the lead’s star power can’t save this drama. Enjoyed the second leads more than the main leads.
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