Double Love (2022)

Made for Mindless Binging

Double Love is a good pick if you're looking for hearty laughter, fluffy romance, and fun engaging characters.

Adapted from the novel "Master, your wife is AFK again" by author Da Ju Mao, the story centered around Lu Wanwan, a female actress who is trying to make her mark in the acting industry without counting on backdoor connections, and Han Jingmo, a star, and expert game player.

The plot itself was the usual idol drama - a bumbling yet bright and warm rookie actress meeting a cold but admirable popular male artist and how they fall in love online and offline. There were cliches like past encounters leaving a deep impression on one of the leads and the usual show business shenanigans like scheming actresses trying to sabotage the FL's career and get between the two leads.

The storyline may not be new, but the show was fun to watch. The main CP's love story was endearing, and I love watching their journey to success in their careers and personal lives. The humor and wit were on-point, and the interactions between the characters were so heartwarming that they pulled me into the drama. Plus, issues and misunderstandings were resolved quickly, making it an easy watch.

Unfortunately, the show suffered from some terrible editing, and key scenes were cut, leading to viewers' frustration and confusion. I strongly recommend looking through the comments for links to the cut scenes for a better understanding.

The CGI for the game was pretty good, and I enjoyed watching the matches and the characters. There were some hilarious setups in the virtual world, especially when juxtaposed against the characters in real life.

The chemistry between the main couple as well as among all the characters was organic and engaging. I was rooting not only for the main CP but also for the low-key relationship with BL undertones between another pair. I adored the dynamics of the Lu family and the sibling relationship between Wanwan and her brother Lu Guang Han. They were hilarious, teasing and bullying each other but also so supportive and protective of each other.

Zhang Sue Ying was the highlight, honestly. Her character was full of energy and spunk and brought so much life to the show. ZSY's acting was so natural and realistic, like she became one with her character, Wanwan.

As for Bi Wenjun, he was somewhat stiff in the beginning, but he got much better in the later episodes. I was not wild about how they styled him as the top star Han Jingmo, and I preferred his look in the game. However, he was still eye candy, and together with ZSY, they made a great-looking couple, especially during their scenes on the red carpet. Han Jingmo was the perfect ML - faithful and consistent, always looking out for Wanwan...although he can be childish at times.

In general, the cast was great, and there was a fun rapport among them. I did find the side couple's story unnecessary and uninteresting. I would much rather them show more sweet moments between our main CP.

The OST was awesome. I never skipped the ending credits because of the song, 'I Wanna Be Your Love' sung by Bi Wenjun. It is a sweet song played during the main CP's romantic scenes. The opening song, Tiptoe, by Xu Mengjie, was catchy too. For posterity, I listed the song list at the end of this review.

Overall, do give this show a try! It would be a shame to miss out on the comedy, fun and satisfying ending. Whether you need to cure bad-day blues or just a distraction, watching this show might just do the trick!

OST List:
* Bi Wenjun (毕雯珺) - I Wanna Be Your Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztJE7NwDhOg

* Xu Mengjie (徐梦洁) - Tiptoe (踮脚尖)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLq-5sam6O0

* 打扰一下乐团 - Fearless (无畏)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uFefnf9A9o

* Jin Wenqi - No Trace (无迹可寻)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umsk7wFO8Bo

Album on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/52w5EV0C36g1EsEmGX4nDK?si=mX8-ZjeRQBiiMuPIBNS-cA

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It could´ve been so much better!

Ok, I´ve finished watching it. I doubted before I started to watch because of all the posts about the bad editing, which is absolutely awful. Too many fundamental scenes were cut and made my heart ache because this drama had a great production and the plot had many great highlights to explore.

What was missing:

- The first kiss of the MC in episode 6 when ML was drunk
- Also at the end of episode 6 when ML proposes ingame and FL asks to the FL how she wants to be called (Wife, darling, honey etc) and she says if he agrees to have a real relationship she will pick one.
- Confession in episode 16... Come on!!! WTF??? how do you miss that???!!!
- When ML discovers his boss is FL´s older brother.

What could have been better:

- If the writers wanted a "love triangle" for the FL, then director/production please cast someone that could´ve been seen as an opponent to BWJ, not an actor close to an uncle. Or if you wanted an older suitor, please mind you are filming an Idol Drama and cast someone aesthetically coordinated with the rest of the cast.

- ML´s grandpa was adorable, he could have had a couple of scenes more sprinkled in the last episodes.

- Writers: did you try to make a SC with Lu Guang Han & Gu Qiao Bei a bromance, a BL, a mentor/disciple or a dage/didi relationship? Because you hinted all that and finally we didn´t have either. I think could have been better if you didn't force a girlfriend for LGH in the last episode and just leave it open for viewers to interpret.

- Please send a red fat envelope to "S**ting Stars" because the hidden top actress/absent mother and the assistant/mean top actor we´ve seen it last year and better done.

- First drama I´ve watched with Bi Wen Jun and Zhang Xue Ying and for me, she ATED IT. Cute without being dumb or sickly sweet, quite natural. BWJ flunked the first half for me because his "tsundere" was lacking personality. Few actors can pull a tsundere without being confused with a brick. Park Seo Joon in "What´s wrong with Secretary Kim?" set the bar too high for me and quite difficult to reach for the majority of idol actors. The second half when he starts to pursue the FL more out in the open and he warms up is where he starts to shine. When he ends up as a cute henpecked boyfriend in the last couple of episodes he takes the crown.

- Regarding what is missing in edition, is not the first time government makes cuts in dramas, but is the first time the production didn't fix it properly. I don't remember any other drama where the editing was so lame that made the plot lose sense at some point. Oh... I forgot "She and her Perfect Roommate".... sorry "Husband". After all the cut scenes between YM and XK we went from a chocolate cake in the trailers to a pudding when it was released, but at least the plot made sense.

Is it worth watching?

The production and the game scenes were on point. Red carpets and awards ceremonies were also great. The ending was one of the most satisfactory for me in the recent same niche rom-coms.

The chemistry between the leads was good and ended even better. The the dage/meme relationship was insanely well done and fun to watch. Is one of the highlights of the drama.

The conflicts were solved quickly and the evil-doers got the reward they deserved.

If the writers polished the script and the editing was done better after the government review, this drama could have been easily a "Love O2O" 2.0. Had the storyline, the actors and the production to reach the same level or top it. BWJ is not yet at Yang Yang´s level, but his FL was far better than Zheng Shuang, at least for me. So that makes the MCs even.

If the viewer is warned about the missing scenes and wants to watch a good quality production rom-com, worth the try if there isn't another drama on queue.

Rewatch Value:

Yes, I probably will rewatch it. I don't know yet if it is because I really enjoyed the good points listed above or because my brain is still trying to put all the pieces together.

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Very good drama!!!

A good choice for who's looking for much fluffy romance without any complex intrigue. The ML's are actually very compatible despite what I thought at the first episode.
I liked that public confession, at least the show didn't go for more cheesiness by having the audience yell "Forgive him" :D
Poor brother, manager and PR folks LOL
I really like this show, but I would like it even better if it didn't feel so incomplete. It is like they cut out so many scenes, etc. (I am not just talking about the confession scene, either). I feel like they rush scenes and there is so much we miss that would make this drama so much better. Some of the scenes they do put in feel so inadequate.

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Turn off your brain and enjoy the Cuteness and the Fluffiness.

I would only recommend “Double Love” if you are looking for some mindless romantic fluff. You can’t use your brain, otherwise you will hate it and question yourself why you wasted your time. I tried to turn my brain off, enjoyed the first half of the drama and then the poor editing finally got to me. Don’t watch this for gameplay, because there are barely any scenes. They do hang out and chat in the game a lot. I’ll try to keep this review short.

What I Like:
1. Siblings relationship - That’s the best part of the show. Love the interaction between FL and her brother. They have more chemistry than any of the romance storylines.
2. Bromance (CEO Lu and Actor Gu Qiao Bei) - The weird bromance and if you look closer you could find BL undertones. But, no, it’s just pure friendship and they are interesting.
3. CP visuals - Our leads look good together.
4. The songs are nice.
5. FL looks pretty inside the game. Love all the outfits in the game.
6. Good or bad, I quite enjoy the friendship inside the game.


What I Don’t Like:
1. Scenes edited out? Where is the confession scene? How did ML discover FL’s true identity to the CEO? Who is the hacker friend? How did FL know of her and contacted her for help? WHERE ARE THESE SCENES?? I am not sure what happened to the second half of the drama but I don’t want to be TOLD what happened after the fact. I want to WATCH all these things happening.
2. Makeup - I find all the female characters makeup a little off.
3. These superstar actors don’t seem to have trouble hanging out in real life. No paparazzi and rumors, not problem living a normal person’s life, until the plot demands them to be exposed on social media. Not very realistic.
4. For only 24 episodes, I still find the pacing to be slow. Not a whole lot happened in the drama.
5. Too many slow motion close ups. Not my personal favorite, but might be yours.
6. Kisses are meh. I’ve seen ML did a better job in “Sweet Teeth”.

*edit* Random Observations:
It's quite weird to see Zhang Xue Ying and Dylan Kuo in such a comedy. I last saw Zhang Xue Ying in "Princess Silver" and Dylan Kuo in "Ever Night". The roles are so different from this rom-com. It's a weird surprise and it makes me like their sibling relationship even more.

Completed: 1/21/2023

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Cute Mindless Show with Choppy Production

This is a web-novel adaptation about a couple of actor/actress that got entangled in both virtual and real life, thus the drama have a ‘game’ portion and ‘reality’ portion.

Story: Decent plot but they could’ve give us better narratives. A lot of weird/ confusing scenes if you did not read the novel beforehand. The production did a terrible post-production work - a lot of choppy editing that SHOWS. A lot of hidden (cut down, i think) parts that further confuse viewers. I personally got so annoyed i decided to read the entire novel online, halfway into the series. Generally they stick to the novel but cut out a lot of important scenes (God knows why) and entirely exclude the later chapters of the novel. Ending is true to the novel.
I personally love the female lead’s personality and her realistic relationship with her brother. Very heartwarming to watch. Male lead is written as a tsundere character, but comes off as stiff as a stone. His acting is so stoic, I skipped some of his solo scenes altogether. Supporting actors did a decent job, though i think they casted the wrong actor to play Zhangxing.

I think the ‘game’ portion of the story is actually more compelling than the reality parts. Male lead looks WAY better in costumes, too.

All in all, a cute mindless drama to pass time. Don’t dwell on the logic and we’ll be fine.

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Very enjoyable to watch!

One of the main reasons I like this C-drama and gave it 10 stars, when it might have only deserved 9, is because it managed to avoid a lot of the things I hate about C-dramas...or at least toned them down so that they're not annoying as hell. I think we actually managed to complete 24 episodes without a social media scandal that caused FL/ML to get fired or break up! Amazing - especially considering that both leads were celebrities. It reminded me a lot of 'Be My Princess' - another C-drama that I absolutely love. In both, although the leads were actor/actress, social media scandals were toned down, and their relationships were, for the most part, accepted by fans. So refreshing!

I like this particular actress very much. I first saw her on Princess Silver, and I liked her maturity. In Princess Silver, she was a much more serious character, but in Double Love, she's playing the upbeat, cute personality type. However, she manages to be cute without being annoying! No pouting or baby talk! Bravo! Also, despite her 'cuteness', she is fairly mature. She doesn't take the bullying crap from the cocky chicks or the netizens, and when she gets mad at ML, she almost immediately wants to forgive him and only delays doing so because her brother tells her to make him suffer longer. Not only that but she's mad because of a very good reason (not some arbitrary childish offense), and it's the same reason the FL on 'You've Got Mail' should have gotten mad but didn't. Still, this short-lived anger did lead to my favorite scene in the whole drama - ML outing their relationship in front of the whole world...or at least those at the festival and those watching at home. So refreshing to see celebrities openly admitting to a relationship instead of hiding it like they're a couple of criminals. Celebrities shouldn't be afraid of their fans. They are entitled to private lives, which include having a girlfriend/boyfriend and marriage. Being a Westerner, I don't understand why Asian fans feel entitled to dictate their idol's private life.

As for ML, this actor played the same kind of role he usually plays - the tsundere. It would be nice to see him get outside his comfort zone (or type cast) and play a light-hearted, rascally character so we could see the full extent of his acting skills. I did enjoy seeing him with lighter colored hair, and I would encourage him to eat some food - he's much to thin for his height. I know FL said he had a nice figure, but honestly, he's a bean pole. However, the Chinese costume designer, for once, clothed him well in long coats and turtlenecks - very classy, very chic. I liked his steady, quiet presence, and he didn't have any childhood sweethearts clinging to him nor any previous relationships to cause angst except for his long lost mom showing up briefly at the end. He did, however, have a psycho chick obsessed with him, but she wasn't as annoying as most of the C-drama psycho chicks because he didn't give a crap about her nor did he have any previous or present interaction with her beyond work (she was an actress in the drama he and FL were a part of). In the game, apparently, it was a delusional rumor among players that they were a couple, but I saw no evidence of it. He was only ever interested in FL, both inside and outside the gaming world.

Also, this drama manages to focus almost solely on ML/FL's relationship. We didn't get a lot of side relationships, which waste the viewers time (well, at least, I feel it wastes mine). We did have an odd relationship between FL's brother and the actor, Qiao Bei, but it didn't consume too much time, and honestly, I think Qiao Bei had more reason to get mad at the brother concealing his gaming identity than FL had getting mad at ML for the same time. The brother wanted to sign him as an actor and pretty much harassed him - nicely harassed - but still harassed. Qiao Bei told him over and over again, he wasn't interested, but the brother kept pursuing him so I guess the brother was a male psycho chick. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the relationship FL had with her brother - they had good sibling chemistry.

Parents did not factor into this drama much and caused very little angst. They were actually pleasant, what little we saw of them - one episode, I think.

There were some characters, however, that were simply unneeded and sort of ceased to exist at the end. For example, FL's brother's friend, Zhao Jing Xing. Honestly, I really liked this character as a love rival for ML. He wasn't as handsome as ML, but he was damn cool. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out what he really wanted and why he was even in the drama. He told the brother he only viewed FL as a sister yet he behaved as though he was romantically interested in her. He acted down in the dumps when ML outted their relationship so I'm confused at what he really felt or wanted. Also, Yiwei, ML's childhood friend, who apparently had a one night stand with Jing Xing in the past? Not sure. All I know is she pursued him like a psycho chick - all the way to Europe. Why he was in Europe or where he got his money - I don't know. Then she (Yiwei) re-reappears at the end at the award ceremony without Jing Xing so I have no idea where that relationship went, if it went anywhere. So, Jing Xing was a very mysterious character, whose only purpose was to make ML jealous. FL's best friend's character was pretty useless as well...but at least she wasn't the typical dingbat bestie. We saw very little of her. Also, at the end, we see ML/FL married with children. However, they're totally focused on the girl while we're left to assume that the little boy is theirs as well. They don't acknowledge him at all, other than to pick him up and carry him inside. Is he theirs or not? We had one other 'romance', and it was practically non-existent. At the end, a bitchy actress that joined the drama halfway through is suddenly brother's girlfriend. So glad I didn't have to watch the details of that relationship.

I did like how they handled the game portion. I like that they spent equal time outside the game as they did inside the game, and I liked how all the game characters were real people outside the game so there was no leaving fantasy ML behind, etc. I liked how ML/FL got 'married' in the game - just like in Love O2O. My only complaint about the game is that we got to see the real person behind the game character with the fan, but we didn't get to see the real person behind the game character that became FL's disciple. He was part of their group and should have been on the video call with everyone else.

So, the drama wasn't perfect, and there was some loose ends that never got tied, but overall, I really enjoyed watching this drama because it wasn't annoying like a lot of C-dramas who over exaggerate 1) social media scandals, 2) obsessed love rivals; and 3) tyrannical parents. It was just a very enjoyable romance.

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Sweet, light and feel-good "double romance"

Rencontre, puis love entre 2 acteurs (ML = star reconnu et FL étudiante débutante, sœur d'1 directeur d'agence/producteur). Les 1eres interactions sont tendues, et elle devient son assistante pour un temps.
On apprend peu à peu qu'ils sont dans la mm guilde d'1 jeu (mais ils ne le savent pas), qu'ils se sont déjà rencontrés enfants, etc.
Le jeu en ligne prend une bonne part à l'écran, mais c'est très bien fait.

C'est un drama très agréable, addictif. On a à la fois la romance (très très sweet), les embrouilles de l'entertainement, la team de potes en ligne, la romance dans le jeu.
L'histoire est bien écrite, légère, réconfortante. Il y a bien entendu un peu de "dramaland" (les méchants sont punis, les malentendus sont dissipés, et le CL gagne sur tous les plans,... à la fin) mais ça passe bien.
Les acteurs sont très bons (je suis une fan du ML) y compris les rôles secondaires dont les histoires sont bien développées.
La réalisation est vive, avec d'excellents cadrages et les indices bien amenés. Les OST sont bien, sans plus.

Je regarderai peut-être à nouveau certaines parties dans quelques mois, quand j'aurai envie de douceur et de réconfort.

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Wow, this is the first drama I watched that has A LOT of plotholes. The drama is great, I love the storylines, I love the casts but the missing plot gave me a headache.
1) where is the first kiss? they did mention their unintentional kiss but there is nowhere to be seen. someone said the kiss is in a deleted scene from episode 6.
2) Suddenly they are both in a relationship? where is the confession? just a flashback?
3) how come the ml suddenly knows that his boss is his GF's brother? I wanna know his reaction.

Overall it's a good drama. just the plotholes were unbearable.

P/s: Sorry my English sucks.

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Relaxing drama

I still can't believe it that I like this drama so much. The story was light and full of humour. The acting of main actor and actress were so good and natural. Wenjun is really potential actor. He could act really good as an unfriendly and loveable person on the other hand. It was my first time watched Xueying and I straightly loved her acting The support roles also played well. I really like the music theme of the game that they played. That game also told about friendship. I really like that they highlight it. The costumes of the game were so pretty too.

Worth it to watch! After you watched it, it likes you already filled up your energy ^^

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True love and friendship never leaves you

THe hilarious is flow throughout the drama i'm fully enjoyed and laughed after long time thanks to this drama
The story is not an unic one we watched it before in may outstanding dramas this is also one of them
The story becomes outstanding it leads to be watched it because of the artist flow of the character's
That makes all to sit and watch it for me the Enthusiasms of the drama from Start ---> End the of the episode's
I fully enjoyed the Direction, cinematography, the editing team make some compromised in some scenes But it worth the Times to spend here to watch this drama in acting casting company picked the artist is tailor fit with the character's
The hero he has an really unci personality Bi Wen Jun [ Han Jing Mo ] i think he is a magnet he delivers same acting in many Dramas but the chemistry with heroine's is fantabulous see in this drama he and her --Zhang Xue Ying [ Lu Wan Wan ] wowoo
Really he is something he had awesome chemistry's in all dramas

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Plothole central and censorship

The show starts off interesting, aspiring actress meets her idol through particular circumstances, and it just goes haywire.
 
ACTORS:
Bi WenJun plays ML, and I have to say it suits Jim pretty well, though the fake blond hair is horrible to look at.
Other actors are well cast, I like Gu QiaoBei's actor, Guo XiaoTian the most as both his real self and videogame self are different yet similar and he did a really good job on a shifty character with bad character arcs.
One actress that was totally out of place, was the FL, Zhang XueYing. She did her role well as an assistant, but when it came to her being an actress, it didn't suit her. She didn't have that spark of an actress nor did her looks fit the role of an actress that would become famous very quickly.
 
STORY: (THIS PART HEAVY SPOILERS)
 
Along the way, more and more plot holes appear in the series that never get explained nor talked about (might be censorship, but I'll talk about that later).
First of all, why would FL, who's been a hard-core fan of ML for many years, just completely hate him over a minor misunderstanding? Especially one as stupid as water dropping from a ceiling. They created conflict out of nowhere to give us that "ennemies-to-lovers" storyline but failed miserably.
 
The endless jealousy, especially with the random actresses that show up to get together with ML. There are atleast 3 characters used for this same role, all that give no depth to the story or the relationship.
 
Moving on, we have the blatant queerbaiting between FL's brother and ML' bestfriend. You can see they try to create a sort of bromance that could lead to romance if it were not for China's guidelines, but they keep on creating baseless conflict (the acting jobs, the videogame identity) that force the characters out of their roles.

Not only that, the storyline between the ML’s childhood friend and FL’s fake brother is completely out of place. We don’t even know how they met (must be cut scene). But the MLCF still obsesses over this useless man that could be better off not being in the story.
 
Also, the whole videogame part of the story was useless to the relationship. I know they adapted this from a novel, but I imagine that the novel must've done something more than just an immature fake break-up. There was also a big faux-raccord problem (when images and scenes don’t match up.
For example, there was a scene where both leads were shown in-game playing, but when they cut to the real life characters, only one of them is shown in their phone. This happens quite a lot and their are mostly problems concerning the online/offline plot line.
 
Lastly, despite this show being about shooting movies and TV shows, it has nothing realistic about it. It is possible for all of the actress scandals to happen, but the fact that they paired ML and FL a second time, that's not credible, then they almost paired 2ML aswell, that's even less possible. Nevermind the lack of staff when the director's shooting or just giving a bad image to cinema.
The only realistic thing was the nepotism.
 
 
CHARACTERS:
Already talked about the useless female characters only used to induce jealousy, but there were some characters that were worth diving into more.
For example, the FL's brother and ML's best friend. They could've been super interesting if not for the bad storyline.
The ML's assistant that comes out of nowhere? Same for the mother that comes out of nowhere in the last few episodes?
What about the ingame friend they make but never meet? He’s seen once in a video call near the last episodes, but we’ve waited all 24 episodes to have a bit more communication. A simple dinner or hangout would’ve sufficed. What about the other ingame friends? We only meet one of them.
The older actor that we meet once to make ML jealous, where does he come from? We see him again at the award show, but he was introduced for no reason.
 
CENSORSHIP AND EDITING:
Now I don't know what happened; if the series was censored or if they just had to cut scenes because of the budget, but these cuts made us lose important parts of the storyline.
 
The CONFESSION! they cut the confession. We know they shot it and it exists because of the flashback and dialogue, but we don't even realize their change in relationship: it just happens and we don't know it.
 
Other scenes seem to be cut, like the ML finding out FL and FL's brother's link and other small scenes that would be crucial to the viewer's understanding of the show. Some things they talk about in dialogue but we’ve never seen it.

COSTUMES:
One big positive point were the costumes for the in game characters. They were nice to look at flowy, not too many accessories. Overall I really enjoyed the outfits, even for the secondaries. The colors all matched the characters and their personalities as well as importances and the hats were really nice!
 
CONCLUSION:
Mess of useless characters and storylines and censorship that create a nonsensical show that could've been good. Also, show probably very much inspired by Love 020 but disappointing.

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