Exploration Method of Love (2023)

Campy romcom has solid chemistry, with great FL and adorkable ML

For a low-budget romcom, this was pretty fun and entertaining. Gao Hanyu is adorkably hilarious playing the "cold CEO" who finds himself completely discomposed and thrown off kilter when his fake, contract actress girlfriend suddenly becomes a strong and fearless independent woman with uncanny knowledge about subject matters he is passionate about.

I am not always a big fan of romcoms, but I found myself snort-laughing out loud in every episode, especially during the first half dozen or so. Right from the opening scene, the antics and set-ups in Exploration are slightly over-the-top in classic romcom fashion without veering into the slapstick genre, so for me, it totally works. And of course, there is no need to quibble over points of logic or think too hard or too seriously about any plot holes -- these will be a given in this genre and calibre of C-dramas. The story does take a more serious turn, and there are a couple of small misunderstandings, but I didn't mind those or the developments in the last two episodes that bothered other viewers -- they're all short-lived and the ending is still a happy one.

Gao Hanyu isn't the most expressive actor, but he has great comedic timing, and exudes charm and charisma, making him a consistently entertaining watch. He also has great chemistry with his co-stars, and Song Yanfei is no exception. Overall, they are supported by a very likable cast. Unfortunately, the weakest link is around the secondary couple -- the little sister becomes extremely annoying pursuing Gao Ling. Given some of the great, healthy messages elsewhere in the drama, I wished they had followed an unconventional route with that storyline. (Aside: For those discovering Ryan Cheng for the first time, I recommend checking out the short-length mini-drama A Familiar Stranger.)

The drama could have been tightened significantly to 16 episodes instead -- a similar length as Dine with Love, which is the better of the two dramas. The pacing and momentum slowed down towards the middle and never fully regained its original footing. Even so, despite its flaws I thought it was an entertaining and easy binge.

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Fire chemistry with plenty of romantic tension between the leads

This drama is about the fake dating trope. The female lead takes her twin sister's place as an actress after she goes missing. The twin sister has a contractual relationship with the male lead and has to pretend to be his girlfriend/fiancee in the public eye. The two twin sisters are very different. The female lead is strong-willed and independent whereas her sister is told to be sensitive and timid. The male lead has no romantic feelings for her twin sister and only falls in love with the female lead.

POSITIVE:
- The chemistry between the main leads is what makes the drama worth the watch. There is plenty of romantic tension and I-like-you-but-I-pretend-I-don't vibes which I absolutely love.
- Story is mainly about the main leads and their fake dating.
- Comedy is top-notch. 10/10
- Male lead is a sexy, protective CEO and the female lead is a badass, independent geologist (pretending to be an actress). They not only connect physically but share a common interest in geology which creates a more mature dynamic. Both are kind of workaholics and don't have much experience in terms of love.
- I don't usually pay significant attention to the wardrobe but the female lead has one of the most stunning outfits I've ever seen in a drama.
- Not many business/work scenes which is good because let's be real, we only care about the romance.

NEGATIVE:
- Second couple is a bit underwhelming. Second male lead is mature and lovely but the second female lead is childish and immature.
- Last few episodes were a bit dull because they focused on more emotional and mature themes which didn't fit with the lighthearted and fun vibes from the beginning. I believe the story should have stuck with the comedy aspect until the end which would have made it a 10 for me.
- Subtitles are pretty bad at the beginning but you get used to it. The only hard thing to follow were the business explanations but there weren't that many and didn't make a huge impact on the story.

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An excellent series, romantic, with an intense chemistry

Story focused on 2 twins separated by parental divorce, 1 star & 1 archaeologist. The star (burn-out?) disappears one day and the team asks the archaeologist to take her place so as not to break current contracts, in particular a "girlfriend" contract with the CEO of a large group. (the ML).

PROS:
+ rhythmic, catchy beginnings. The viewer is hooked from the start.
+ Lots of bickering, great chemistry and lots of sweet moments (the 2 leads are only really together in episode 15, but their interactions are always intense).
+ I didn't know Song Yang Fei before, but she plays a strong FL, smart, super elegant, with a strong temperament, to perfection. (I really like her “boyfriend/hammer”).
+ Gao Han Yu is excellent in cold ML, focused on his business, but who is gradually becoming more human.
+ dynamic production
+ The OSTs accompany emotions well without being intrusive.

CONS:
- The Storyline is full of clichés and "dramaland" coincidences.
- FL2's love story is annoying and takes up too much screen time: she is supposed to be at least 20 years old (she has a job) but she behaves like a spoiled and sulky teenager, extremely childish. This character is annoying as hell. The ML2 has a lot of patience with this “mei mei”. Love letters written on children's paper are too much!
- I would have liked a different ending: the stubbornness of the FL is not convincing, the Happy End should have been longer, more detailed about their life after marriage.

=> I really enjoyed this drama, maybe I will watch it again.
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Story axée sur 2 jumelles séparées par le divorce des parents, 1 star & 1 archéologue. La star (burn-out ?) disparait un jour et la team demande à l'archéologue de prendre sa place pour ne pas rompre les contrats en cours, notamment un contrat de "girlfriend" avec 1 CEO d'un grand groupe.

PROS:
+ débuts rythmés, accrocheurs. Le spectateur est accroché dès le départ.
+ Beaucoup de bickering, une super alchimie et beaucoup de sweet moments (les 2 leads ne sont vraiment ensemble que dans l'épisode 15, mais leurs interactions sont toujours intenses).
+ Je ne connaissais pas Song Yang Fei auparavant, mais elle incarne une FL strong, super élégante, avec fort tempérament, à la perfection. (j'aime beaucoup son "boyfriend / marteau".
+ Gao Han Yu est excellent en ML froid, concentré sur son business, mais qui s'humanise peu à peu.
+ réalisation dynamique
+ OST qui accompagnent bien les émotions sans être envahissantes.

CONS:
- Storyline avec pas mal de clichés, de coïncidences "dramaland".
- La love story de la FL2 est agaçante et prend trop de temps à l'écran : elle est censée avoir au moins 20 ans (elle a un emploi) mais elle se comporte comme une ado gâtée et boudeuse, extrêmement puérile. Ce personnage est énervant au possible. Le ML2 a beaucoup de patience avec cette "mei mei". Les love letters écrites sur du papier pour enfant, c'est too much !
- j'aurai aimé une ending différente : l'entêtement de la FL n'est pas convaincant, la Happy End aurait dû être plus longue, plus détaillée sur leur vie après mariage.

=> Une excellente série, romantique et intense. J'ai vraiment apprécié ce drama, que je regarderai peut-être à nouveau.

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Chemistry between Gao Hanyu and Song Yanfei.

It started slow in episodes 1-2, but it started building up from episode 3. It’s a slow burn romance-comedy; we have to wait it out for the chemistry and romance to set in. 高瀚宇 (Gao Hanyu) has good chemistry with 宋妍霏 (Song Yanfei/Cecilia Boey). They both act well; it would be perfect if the script were tighter and if there was no dubbing.
I like this show primarily because of the chemistry between the two leads - they are comical together; although I must say it's at times very frustrating to see them deny their feelings for each other [well, more of FL (Su Ji Shi, 苏纪时) denying her feelings for ML (穆休伦, Mu Xiu Lun) and saying nasty things to him as a result]; and they look really good together. They are an eye-candy couple!
Despite that, the two leads did a fabulous job portraying the different emotions. My favourite episodes are from 14-16, where the FL finally did something for the ML and it was a lovey-dovey ride without all the complications.
I would love to see the two leads again in another drama, and this time with 宋妍霏 (Song Yanfei/Cecilia Boey) pursuing 高瀚宇 (Gao Hanyu) instead of the other way round.
I like 高瀚宇 since Love is Sweet (半是蜜糖半是伤), even though he was the villain in that series. He emotes well, plus he looks good. This is my first time watching 宋妍霏; I must say she can portray the multitude of emotions exceedingly well - anger, hurt, fear, shyness, humour, disappointment and concern.
For those who like a light and overall nice rom-com, this is a good option.

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Watch this due to boredom & don't know what to watch. Know the ML so just though to myself, let me check this out. So here I'm finished watch this drama...

What I like:
+ The chemistry between our lead. I can feel the tense, the building romance & everything these couple want us to feel it...
+ The tough FL. Even though she's not familiar with the industry & her sister job, she's not complaining much & just get the job done.
+ The proof that male & female can have platonic relationship. Haha... ML & his sister not the real brother & sister, but their feeling purely only sibling love without other feeling...
+ The supportive family. ML & FL parent is just supportive of their relationship without much trouble.
+ The cute relationship between Gao Ling (GL) & Mu Xiao Man (XM). The time GL take to consider their relationship is good. Cause you know sometimes is not easy to take the feeling from brother love to romance love. You need time to think and contemplating, to separate your feeling & thought, to really really think the difference between brother love or something else.

What i don't like:
- The crazy entertainment industry people. The manager, Fang Jie, just kidnap FL cause he didn't want her sister work to be stop. Yeah I know maybe like he usually said he just don't want all the struggle Su Jin Qing done to that point to be wasted. But still what he did is never OK, what ever the reason
- The crazy sister. To be just disappear from the beginning is never OK. You only leave letter to tell about your absence without much thought for other people it just not OK. Even if you stress out, you need to tell other people about your plan, especially if that's affect other people, like the case in this drama.
- The ending is kinda something amiss. I don't know what, & can't put my finger to think what is it. It just something feel lack....

Overall this just another drama to watch

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Not Worth Watching

So just like the synopsis explains Su Jishi takes over for her twin sister in order to help her out. Right from the get-go, she's kidnapped by her sister's management team who convince her to help out. Why did the writers bother with a kidnapping scene? Who knows, but it was honestly not necessary. It didn't do anything for the storyline. They probably did it to attract viewers after reading the synopsis.

As the episodes progress, you appreciate the FL and her defiant and rebellious ways of doing things but later, she becomes so-so. Eventually, you see the two leads start falling in love but of course they deny their feelings.

The SML, and the SFL get a lot of screen time. SML Gao Ling is the ML's secretary and SFL Xiaoman is the ML's younger sister. Half the drama is about them and I absolutely disliked their scenes so much I fast-forwarded through all of them. I just couldn't stand Xiaoman who was nothing but an immature, whiny, pouty character. Her sole purpose was to basically stalk the SML and then some, acting like a crazy, obsessive girlfriend when she wasn’t even in a relationship. She was clearly a nepo baby whose main job was to stalk her brother's secretary. Her character pouted through the entire series. Why C-dramas insist on always glorifying stalking, childish women is beyond me. I also hated the mother. I definitely wouldn't want to marry into a family with her as a MIL.

FYI, the kisses between the ML and FL are okay in the beginning but later as the series progresses, you'll see fewer and fewer kissing scenes. I think this show got heavily censored as it aired. There was so much time spent on the ML trying to get the FL to tell the truth about her identity that it was getting tedious. Her drunken confession scenes were such a cop-out from the writers. You start to dislike her as much as both leads' fashion attire. Whoever the stylist was, some of the clothing for scenes like the camping ones, were out of place. How hard is it to put them in casual clothes? Ridiculous.

As for the relationship between the two leads, there's just something missing. When the sister came back, they just wrapped it up easily and the ending was very predictable.

I definitely wouldn't rewatch this.

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Meeh

This was... okay I guess. The dubbing is awful, the filming feels really plastic/low budget and the plot makes no sense what so ever. Basically being another commercial for Chinas amazing development, and research of new energy, now focusing on minerals.

The female lead is pretty cool, she is smart and bas ass and forward yet makes the oddest incosistand desisosions.

The male lead is okay.. he has moments of respect and moments of wtf... but overall he is a rare mineral...

The second couples plot line is awful, a waste of time and just annoying.

Other characters had so bad and repetitive lines I felt bad for them...

At times I was entertained othe times I just wanted it to end... And honestly I did not care much for how it would end.

However there are a bunch if sweet moments and coolness that upped the score for this otherwise meeh, to just low quality dare I say lazy production.

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All About Gao Hanyu and Song Yanfei

I wanted to like this drama so much. I love the ML - Gao Han Yu is so attractive. The chemistry between the lead couple was electric but wasted by the screenwriter and the director. The second couple was underwhelming even though the SML was so charming and sweet, the SFL totally turned me off. I Was rooting for him to get his ex!

The story didn't make a lot of sense in parts. The continuity of the story arcs was choppy at best. There were several loose ends and plot holes.

This could have been such a sweet romance drama. Aside from the chemistry between the leads, there was pretty much nothing else. The opportunity to sidestep the censors and give us some PDA was sadly squandered. Maybe the director and the writer were sleeping when they were filming this.

I am hoping this lead couple will start together in many more dramas to come.

I might rewatch if I was bored and desperately needing a little eye candy, but only for Gao Han Yu.

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a great romance, but i was expecting more

I confess that I waited a long time - really a long time - for a Portuguese subtitle for this cdrama, especially because I love the two main actors. When it finally came out complete and fully subtitled, I was full of expectations.

What I have to say is that "Exploration Method Of love" was everything I expected, and at the same time, it wasn't.

I expected a fun mess, and obviously, I got that, but I also got a more mature, adult relationship.

I was expecting a more adult romance, and yes, there was that, but at the same time I felt like they cut A LOT of things. This thing about China removing kiss scenes - which, btw, is fcking annoying - already happened with the drama that the same ML actor, Gao Han Yu, acted in, "Dine With Love", which had GREAT Kiss Scenes cut out. This ends up discouraging me a little, I confess. It becomes frustrating, especially when it comes to romance dramas with characters in their almost 30s. Makes no sense to me.

Anyway

Well, the drama has this more realistic aspect of a romantic relationship; without annoying SL or FL and without annoying and controlling families trying to control everything, but, from another perspective, the series starts to get a little stuck and gets a little lost in the sameness: we have this cycle of the female protagonist being a little too stubborn in owning your feelings, and this happens over and over again.

In my opinion, it's a reasonable cdrama that I expected - a little - more kissing scenes and a better development at the end. The ending was REALLY pretty weak.

A couple more episodes to close with a flourish would be more interesting.

Other than that, I would recommend it, despite the negative points; especially due to the super healthy relationship and the wonderful female lead.

PS; very good chemistry between the actors

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Charming leads make for a fun drama

Exploration Method of Love is a (mostly) light and fun drama that wins my love because of the excellent leads. The FL, Su Jishi, ends up pretending to be her twin sister for completely ridiculous reasons - just leave your logic at the door - and discovers that she's expected to be in a contract relationship with the ML, Mu Xiulun.

Su Jishi is the complete opposite of her sister, which leads to many hilarious situations, the best of which are when dealing with Mu Xiulun. As time passes, though, our uptight ML starts to fall for this new version of his contract girlfriend. It helps that she's a geology PhD candidate and he's a mining company executive, so they both geek out over rocks and such. Many misunderstandings and miscommunications later, the truth is shared and they admit their feelings, leading to a wonderful, warm relationship (until a messy noble idiocy breakup for half of the final damn episode, pardon my cursing).

Song Yang Fei (Su Jishi) and Gao Han Yu (Mu Xiulun) gave amazing performances as our leads. They were both so funny - after seeing GHY in Love is Sweet it was a revelation to see him be adorkable. They also carried the more dramatic and emotional parts very well, and their chemistry in the kisses and skinship was excellent.

Drawbacks to this drama for me included the misunderstandings/miscommunications in the middle episodes, which were right up to the limit of what I can handle (admittedly, I can't handle much), the final episode separation that took half a star from my rating, and the infuriating second lead couple.

Now I must rant: the SFL, our MLs little sister, started out fun and then turned into the cringiest, whiny, obsessive, immature psycho who fully stalked and harassed the SML into a relationship. It was SO grating that I had to fast forward through all those scenes, which deprived me of precious Ryan Cheng in modern dress screentime. I hate that type of female character and I hate that I had to ffwd through Cheng Lei scenes, so this subplot took a star and a half off my rating.

Back to the good stuff now. Our mains, once they were openly in love, have a great relationship. So cute, so mature. Even when they fought, they would talk and sort it out and apologize like adults. Loved that. The transformation of the ML from uptight and cold to loving, respectful, and goofy was adorable. The way he understands, respects, and celebrates the FL is such green flag behaviour - dreamy!

There's several secondary characters who are quite fun, with my favourite being Su Jishi's sister's manager Feng Jie. I think he's a doll - caring, hard working, and just so funny.

The OST was nice, but not memorable. I will probably rewatch at some point for the humour, the pining before all secrets are revealed, and the sweet and supportive couple time.

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Had an interesting sibling swap premise but fell apart in boring trope land

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Chinese Romantic Comedy drama with 22, ~45 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Su Jishi (Cecilia Boey), a Ph.D. Geologist, is perfectly happy spending her days doing field work. Jishi’s identical twin sister, Su Jin (Cecilia Boey) leads a completely different life as a glamorous movie star. When Su Jin takes an unexpected hiatus and disappears, her manager asks Jishi to pretend to be her sister so all the things she worked for do not get taken away. Jishi agrees to pretend to be her sister not wanting her sister to lose her hard won status. A surprise is in store once Jishi is poised to fulfill the role, Su Jin is in a theee year contract relationship with Mu Xiulun (Gao Hanyu). Jishi finds herself not only trying to navigate the entertainment industry but also partake in a “pretend” relationship with Xiulun who happens to be the CEO of a company that has mining as a central business activity. Common interests and mutual attraction soon draw the two together for real. Is there a way forward given the underlying deception? Will Su Jin return and what happens when she does?

Review

Overall what can be expected from a modern Chinese drama. Typical flow and a lot of the standard tropes occur in this one. It was good but not great. The ending was happy enough and resolved the major plot lines. If you do not have too high of expectations then someone could enjoy this. I am pretty jaded at this point since I have seen so many outstanding series that the failings of this could be minor to others but are particularly egregious to me. It was slow in parts and ended reasonably happy with most major plot points tied up well. I would not watch it again though myself but would recommend it to those that like romantic drama series.

 

Spoilers

It started weird because the manager kidnaps her and she is just essentially okay with it.  Like yep, perfectly legit you kidnap me so I can stand in for my sister. Then after he kidnaps her, he tells her what is going on and asks her to stand in for her identical twin sister. So why didn’t he just ask her. There was no reason to kidnap her.

I liked the sassy main character. She did not cave to pressure and tended to do what she thought was right even if there were negative consequences. But, what I liked about her in the beginning became a source of annoyance in the last episodes. After getting with main guy and steadfastly staying with him through multiple conflicts, she decides that it is best if they break up so his company does not suffer from the scandal she and her sister created. As if the sister swap scandal is just too great to overcome. I am always annoyed when a character makes a decision independently without considering the viewpoint of the person they supposedly love. And, she makes this stupid decision without consulting him and it was over a year separation. So she did not go off stupidly on her own for weeks or months but for over a year. Even after the year, when he said there were no concerns with her coming back, she still did not. She stubbornly continued to say they should separate.  He just sort of accepts it.  Doesn’t like it but seems to accept it and just wait for her to come back or at least reappear. But instead of them getting married, or at least firmly on the path, there is this long completely pointless separation.

To fill up the time during the pointless separation of the main couple they switch focus back to the second romance which is between Gao Ling (Cheng Lei), Xiulan’s secretary and Mu Xioman (Lin Zilu) his younger sister. I guess they figured it was good timing to see the culmination of that second romance and it shows Xioman and Gao Ling’s wedding. That was a poor substitute as I found that couple incredibly annoying from the outset. Gao Ling originally said he didn’t feel that way about Xioman, he had seen her since she was young and felt more brotherly toward her but then suddenly did a complete reversal for no solid reason.  Him caving all of a sudden and professing to be madly in love with Xioman was completely unbelievable. Xioman, whom I had liked up to that point, became a whiner about him not liking her that way. As if Gao Ling owed her romantic love. She went from an interesting and spirited younger sister side character to a pouty petulant child woman. Xioman’s behavior seemed to more prove Gao Ling’s original point that she was much younger, and less mature, than him.  So we see them, who I don’t really care about, get married but do not get to see the main couple marry.  That was disappointing.  This was after we spent many episodes with the main couple seeming firmly together to the point of wondering what was left to happen with the plot.  It got boring they were so seemingly solidly together. But then, all of a sudden, there is the scandal and now, at the almost very end, they “have” to separate. And they are like all is not lost for love as now you can focus on 2nd couple. No thank you. I could not see how anyone would like her treat my like a Princess, you have to love me because I love you and whiny behavior. RUN while you can.

Then the main couple get back together finally, at the very end, and he surprises her at an award like banquet and she agrees to marry him (but she did before and then backed out so it is not definite). But no extravagant proposal or wedding just m’kay guess we will be back together now. not sure what they were trying for that. She’s some kind of strong, confident woman that doesn’t need a ring and a wedding. It was just weird to go through all of that and have such a soft reunion. I didn’t trust her. She promised not to leave him behind before, but then she did the minute the going got tough. She made a decision on her own. Nothing to say she would not do that again in the future. The quick reunion was less than satisfying.

#ExplorationMethodOfLove

#CeciliaBoey

#GaoHanyu

#ChengLei

#LinZilu

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