Are You the One (2024)

Xueji stole my heart in this show.

Very unique drama, the females in here ruled, which I didn't even know I needed in my drama watching life since all we get is damsels in distress most of the time.
It's an easy drama to watch, many hilarious and also heart tugging scenes in here,
I fell out of touch with this drama at some point, there was a jump that disconnected me but Empress Xueji kept me watching it and I'm glad I did, it was genuinely refreshing to see a human empress not focused on making life for the harem populace miserable. I have high hopes for this actress.
Good show. I recommend.

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Wonderful first half

the story started off nicely i was curious and loved its angstyness but after she found out i guess the show I found it boring and its pace was off.They intoduced a lot of characters in the second half of the show and failed to utilized them well ,they lacked any arc whatsover.The story was typical the end very very typical nothing new.
However the acting was great ,the ML delivered ,he is a found new fav for me.The Fl however wasntg likable and i didnt see any chemistry between the leads. Thee second leads were poorly written they were just there for the vibes not character development or arc for them,Lazy writing. But I loved the story of the king and empress i loved how they came to trust and loved it other.

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We stan for a power couple!

This was a good watch.
Gotta say, I'm always weary of 40 ep dramas, since  usually there is a whole load of dragging,  annoying second leads, misunderstandings and break-ups involved with a bunch of filler scenes.
While all of the above mentioned was still present in this one, it was done in a more bearable way. The premise of the story is interesting, a seemingly simple amnesia trope with a twist.
The leads are evenly matched and their  multidimensional characters are written quite well.

It's my first time seeing the actor who plays the ML and I really loved how he captured his character. I got to see how his walls gradually crumbled against his ''wife'', and I cracked up how his web of lies always backfired almost instantly haha it's a perfect illustration of ''killing with kindness''  loool.  He portrayed a cold and calculating persona very well , and eventually became completely disarmed by the FL. His comedic timing was great, I found him hilarious on numerous occasions.

It's also my first drama seeing the actress that plays the FL, and I really loved her. Her character is a very smart, strong woman who can be utterly devoted and strives to be her partner's equal in every way. She is no damsel in distress for sure. I like that she made the ML work for his redeeming, because while I understand his motives for deceiving her, it was still very wrong of him to do so, and I appreciate that the FL  recognised that and was not so forgiving. However, I am not a fan of her stabbing him, I don't think that was necessary, it must be a new trend in dramas where FLs stab their ML...

Once we get over this arc, their real relationship starts, and they're goals. We stan for a power couple !! 
Also,  can I just say the FL is a queen for establishing boundaries with her mother in law, that was amazing!! 

All in all, beautiful directing, smart dialogues, hilarious comedic reliefs,  amazing costumes and strong, intelligent leads, as well as great supporting characters ( the ML and his bestie is the chaotic duo I never knew I needed lmao), and a proper wedding as well as a happy ending? Sign me up!!
Although for me the story became a little bit boring after the leads wedding and I skipped a lot, still, a pretty solid watch.

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Watch this from MDL 2024 Watch Challenge and also for Zhang Wan Yi & Wang Chu Ran. What a fun ride.

Story about Liu Mian Tang (MT) & Cui Jiu (CJ). Our story started when MT woke up from a coma, and she forgot everything in a period of time, the medical term is selective amnesia. MT forgot about the 3 years period of time, the last thing she remembers is that she’s going to marry a man named Cui Jiu. And as it happens, Zhao Quan called our ML as CJ, so MT just assumed he is her husband. But soon we found out, CJ is not MT's husband but Lord Huai Yang & he happened in the pursuit of a criminal & thinking that MT had connection to the criminal, so CJ just played along with MT and pretended to be her husband.

That’s the beginning of our ML & FL story. Yeah, it all starts with a lie. But as the story went forward, CJ started to have feelings for MT when CJ felt that MT really can understand him & his thoughts. And over time, MT also helped CJ when they went to war. Together they accomplish and do a lot of stuff together, making their feelings, especially CJ deeper and also build up a lot of guilt over time.

One day, MT’s memory returns, she remembers everything. And as it turns out, MT’s identity is not as simple as CJ thought at first. And that complicated their relationship & in the end they just separated. And that’s the first half of the drama….

Move forward to the next step. CJ & MT meet again. CJ still can’t forget MT & start pursuing MT again, this time to make her as his real wife. But CJ also had a greater love rival, which is the Emperor himself. So, how in the end this love trial moves….

While CJ, MT & the emperor had relationship problems, at the same time, they also had one common enemy. So apart from the love problem, we also start to dig deep into political schemes.

That's pretty much the story without giving any more spoilers. Now what I like and don't.

What I like:
+ The chemistry between Zhang Wan Yi & Wang Chu Ran. I like how CJ & MT have mutual understanding, respect and support for each other. It’s so funny to see how they easily & have no need for words when they need to role play that they fight with each other, but the truth is the opposite. Like when they tackle the critique when MT first comes to CJ home to greet the elder.
+ He Zhen (HZ) & Zhao Quan (ZQ), is one cute second couple. It’s something unpredictable but yet so predictable. Never expected they would go together, but after watching, yeah seeing how ZQ respects HZ, no wonder that HZ’s heart will melt for him.
+ Shi Xue Ji (XJ) is an amazing empress. She’s really fit for the role. Her tacit understanding of Zi Yu (ZY) is really admirable.
+ Mutual respect that is not that easy to gain. Hm… don’t know how to put it into + or -. But the way the writer wrote about mutual respect is more of something (+). Like, how MT in the end gains respect from CJ’s mother, or XJ & ZY, or HZ & ZQ, or ZY & CJ.
+ The way they plan to trap the bad guy. That's one pretty scheme

Overall this is one good drama. I think it’s been a long time since I really enjoyed watching dramas as much as this one & also many scenes of this made me laugh.

Below I'll write what I don't like, but that also means SPOILER ALERT!!! Read it at ur own risk.












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SPOILER ALERT!!!
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What I don't like:
- The political scheme is a little stupid & unclear sometimes. And the worst when ZY suddenly become the emperor. What happened to the queen mother and child emperor…?
- The confusing time stamp. Like when MT separated from CJ, how long it’s been. I first think it’s been a few years, cause it’s also happened the same time ZY became emperor. But the woman that gave birth, her child, is just a few months old. In my opinion that’s a little impossible to achieve. But yet like I wrote in the first point, the political scheme is a little stupid & unclear sometimes.

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Slow slow slow

A testament of a good drama is one that can keep me awake into the wee hours of morning to chase down the end. Unfortunately, this one didn’t.

What was good were the sets, cinematography and good looking actors. I can’t believe how they lost an opportunity to create a wow reveal by having the synopsis state upfront that FL was the leader of Yang Shang so you already knew she was Lu Wen from episode 1.

I like the meaning behind the crab roe rice and how it pops up in various parts of the drama. I like how the FL didn’t cling to the ML and she was her own strong person. I like how she spotted the people around her that were planted by the ML. I am confused by the 2 waterfall scenes that seem to pop up in the drama without revealing how they got to that place. The first one was more out of place as it suddenly talked about her not wanting to hear the truth from the ML…

Too much slow motion to create romantic moments especially during the episodes when he was at war. Also during this time, the FL became uncharacteristically less intuitive. How can a first timer soldier have access to a horse to break away from the main marching unit, just to ride back and meet up with the FL who was following them?

What was a nice surprise was the Empress - loved seeing her as a foodie and how tactful she was in conveying her point of view to the Emperor. The double meaning behind gifting a bird to the Empress Dowager was very nicely done. I am happy to see her and the Emperor have their happy ending as well.

If I didn’t think too much, I could have enjoyed this more but since the pacing was slow, I found it draggy instead. The last episode took me more than an hour to finish as I had to keep rewinding it as I fell asleep many times. And it wasn’t even very late into the night, just barely past midnight. An interesting drama can keep me going till 3am.

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Fun watch but really draggy storyline

i just finished this drama and overall i liked it but there’s just a few things i would like to say that bothered me. first of all i was so unsatisfied by how little the relationship developed between the emperor and empress went the writer could’ve developed their relationship better the potential was there for their relationship to be way better written. also this drama was wayy too draggy from the FL taking a century to forgive the ML after all he did was lie to her that he was her husband and used her to get his arch nemesis.but he still kept her virtue intact and he never slept with her while she didn’t have her memories in fact he always avoided it because she meant that much to him. also the ML shouldn’t have been stabbed by the FL that was just wayy too much it’s not like he killied someone related to her. also there was soo many characters that shouldn’t have been casted why was the aunt and cousin even casted ?? they brought nothing to the show honestly. also the villains were so undeveloped and there was just so many plot holes which i hated. but nevertheless the chemistry between the ML and FL was amazing also the chemistry between the empress and emperor was really good even with the baldy developed romance.also i loved the last fight scene between the ML AND FL overall this drama is a solid 8 very fun in the beginning but draggy towards the ending.

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What's the problem here?

What's the problem here?

I thought about it for a long time, why this show is not as good as it could be.
I personally have no problem with actors. (I wouldn't watch a series just for their sake, but I think they did a decent job.) The story is interesting, so I keep watching, but somehow I still don't really enjoy it.
(I also read the novel, to see if I can figure out what's wrong with the series. The novel is adapted almost one-for-one. So the fault is not to be found in the series)
The problem, I think, is that the political and military thread should be the main thread, and the love thread should be a secondary thread. Here, however, the focus is on the love thread. In this case, the writer subordinated the action to the bickering of the main characters. And it's boring, drawn out and pointless in many parts.
A literal adaptation of this story is a mistake. In 2024, this is already the 3rd Chinese series that either should not have been made into a film, or the original idea should have been reworked into something faster and more spectacular.

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Watchable

Positive aspects of this drama:
- All the leads are interesting and well written, the scenes of the secondary leads don't feel like they're taking time away from the main couple
- The two main leads are really good looking
- Overall, this drama has pretty good pacing for 40 episodes (they're definitely too many though, but that's cdramas for you).
- The story starts from a VERY interesting premise: she's lost her memory and he pretends to be her husband. Seeing this kind of dynamic unravel is so good. There is also a cool plot twist along the way, and REALLY funny moments especially around eps 25-29.
- Finally, the main reason I never dropped this drama: Xueji's story. She was my favorite character and I wanted to watch her storyline until the end. Even when I stopped caring about the other leads towards the end, I was still sticking to this drama for Xueji and wanted to see how her story with her love interest progressed.

Negative aspects:
- The skin smoothing. Omg. I've never seen so much skin smoothing in a drama in recent years. The combo skin smoothing + heavy makeup makes Zhang Wanyi look like a corpse, and he doesn't need any of that?? He'd look so much hotter with less of the damn filter and a little bit of melanin showing.
- Abrupt cuts in the plot that left me a bit confused. There's a time-skip at one point where you're left wondering "how the f did this happen??" about a certain plot point.
- There are many technical aspects that are due to budget that don't really make this drama look high-quality: recycled Hengdian sets, no money to show actual battles and armies, very standard and bland cinematography for the most part. Costumes are also just okay looking.
- I didn't love the ML's acting in sad and tragic scenes. He's much better in comedic scenes though.
- [MILD SPOILER] In the second half of the drama, the main plot point around which the FL and ML's story revolved is no more, and a hundred very boring and predictable typical drama plots start (jealous love rivals, court schemes...), so the drama becomes just a very bland and standard one.

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A refreshing look at WuXia costume drama focused on loved story rather than politics and fighting.

Are You the One is a historical wuxia drama about the love story of Liu Mian Tang and Cui Xing Zhou when she suffered from amnesia and afterward. This is a cute love story and a non-traditional costume drama. Less of fighting and political scenes, which is refreshing.

Synopsis: The clever and decisive Liu Mian Tang, as the first lord of Yang Shan, led the people of Yang Shan to punish the wicked, promote goodness, and uphold justice. However, she suffered serious injuries under the attack of various evil forces. Cui Xing Zhou, the Prince of Huai Yang, rescued her. When Liu Mian Tang woke up, she had no memory of Yang Shan, mistaking Cui Xing Zhou for her husband, Cui Jiu. If their identities were finally exposed, could they face all that honestly while enduring hardships?

My Reviews:
1. It is not a typical Wuxia drama; instead, it is focused on politics, fighting between kingdoms, or internal kingdom conflict. It also focuses on the relationship of the main CP.
2. It is a love story between Liu Mian Tang and Cui Xing Zhou during and post-amnesia.
3. The plot is slow and draggy, and not much excitement after she recovers from her amnesia.
4. Wang Chu Ran's acting ability is mediocre, but Zhang Wan Yi's acting is much better. However, their on-screen chemistry is good.
5. I don't care about the 2nd and 3rd CP, especially the reigning emperor and empress (3rd CP). Their lives are depressing, but they comfort each other and eventually show love and care for each other.
6. However, I must warn you that the plot loses its charm and becomes tedious after the amnesia recovery.

Overall, it is a watchable, refreshing look at costume drama. I enjoy it and give it a 7.5 rating.

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