There's only one bad acting from a supporting character, so it didn't affect the story. I liked how realistic the business feels (although it's still a drama), and how the events happened. I wish the main couple got together sooner because at some point the FL rejects the ML because of some misunderstandings, but he made it clear he wanted her, so there was no point avoiding him. But if we ignore this tiny detail, it's an amazing drama.
We have many steamy kisses and affection, I was so happy about that. I loved the leads and loved their chemistry.
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A must watch Cdrama in 2023!
"Here We Meet Again" is a captivating romantic Cdrama that left me thoroughly impressed with its amazing chemistry between the main leads. What truly sets this series apart is its portrayal of a strong, independent female lead and a male lead from a challenging background. The contrast between their lives adds depth to the story, making it all the more intriguing.One of the standout aspects of the show is the exceptional character development. As the story unfolds, we witness the gradual unraveling of misunderstandings and the building of trust between the main characters. The script beautifully captures the complexities of their circumstances, showcasing how burdens can hinder communication and create obstacles to their relationship.
The series effortlessly balances comedy and romance, providing plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The natural progression from friendship to a loving relationship is depicted in a way that feels authentic and heartwarming. The palpable chemistry between the male and female leads adds an extra layer of depth, keeping viewers engaged and rooting for their relationship.
I particularly appreciate the healthy jealousy displayed by the main leads. It adds an element of realism to the story, as they navigate their feelings while still maintaining respect for one another. This aspect adds complexity to their relationship, making it all the more compelling to watch.
Prepare to have your heart racing and your cheeks flushed as the male lead makes his grand entrance. That particular scene, where he appears and utters the words, "Do you really want him to see you like this?" is a game-changer. The chemistry between the main characters reaches its peak, and it's impossible not to be swept away by the sheer passion and emotion on screen.
I have to admit, I lost myself in that moment. The intensity of their connection, the raw emotions conveyed through their expressions and words, it all culminates in a scene that will make even the most composed viewer blush. It's a testament to the exceptional acting skills of the cast, who bring these characters to life in such a captivating manner.
"Here We Meet Again" has already secured a spot among my top romantic Cdramas. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a captivating love story with well-developed characters, engaging plotlines, and chemistry that will keep you hooked until the very end.
Note: This review is written by me, edited by ChatGPT for readability.
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Average Rom-Com story but likable.
Story is pretty straight forward. Boy and girl are old acquaintances who meet after long separation and starts working together. Later start relationship and fight together for their individual goals.While watching this drama, it feels like the story/ screen writer watched or read most of Guman dramas and clubbed them together. Both leads were gamers at some point of time and dated online (Love o2o). Guy wants to be Aerospace engineer but ends up working in a company (You are my glory - only in reverse order). Not only the similarities in the story, there are clipping too from My sunshine drama, being played behind as prop. Not to forget, the main leads were also part of these dramas.
Actors did a decent job. Not outstanding performance but okay. I can remember far better dramas from both ZBB & WQ.
What I liked in this drama -
1. The characters (not actors) know their capability. People are not extremely smart but are not at all dumb. They behave as they should in certain situation in this type of drama. People would act in certain ways which one might think is extremely dumb but given the role, they do not break character. They are supposed to act so.
2. Relation between the Main leads - Its fairly simple with no overcomplicated third party interruption. Yes, there are suitor for the lead, but not important. There were some misunderstandings in the past which do not compromise the story at all, in fact, strengthen their bond. And the good thing is we get to see both side of the story and why such situations happened.
What I disliked -
1. Story - The overall story is a big "question mark". The story happens surrounding the FL's family company which is infamous for recruiting people with connections and providing them various positions. The FL also being such a character, having no experience in handling a company is airdropped into the company branch office as team leader. And somehow she manages to do her job and jumps multiple positions too. And she somehow she does those job as well. And not only her, most of the people in the company have no idea what is happening, yet they are very busy... I can go on about the story but this review not thesis.
2. Pace - The drama is 32 episodes long and has many many many fillers, yet while watching, it feels like many scenes were cut in post production and do not match. Transition in between one scene to other is poor. Its like one thing happened. And something very different happens in the next scene. One has to imagine what must have happened and how much time has passed between them.
3. Background songs - As the drama starts, the sound track feels good. But they have used the same songs over and over, and overdid it. After sometime it feels annoying. Also there is no fading when the song starts or ends. It just starts as the scene begins and end with scene. And cut to the next scene. And if there is another song for that scene, it will just start without considering that they have already played a song or music track just 10 secs back.
Overall - I would recommend this drama to people who wants a light rom-com, without spending much thought to it.
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annoying bore
I saw the trailer on twitter right before the show aired and was so! excited because I knew the actor from "A Romance of the Little Forest" already (and because the trailer looked fun).Instead of getting a fun little office romance, we got an incredibly draggy bore that didn't seem to ever end.
- the nepotism: our female lead basically got every high position served on a silver plate. She didn't need to take care of her own resume, she got the team leader position upon entering the company, contract A (the best of the three within the company), got promoted to director after only 2 months, etc. She did work hard while in the company but she didn't work hard to get to those positions.
- female lead's character: girly was a little jumpy. Her reactions were unreasonable and childish at times, especially when it came to jealousy. When the male lead got jealous, she teased him but then she got unreasonably jealous as well, like ??? pick a struggle please.
- in favor of female lead's character (because we are fair here): Her getting blamed for Xu Yan Shi giving up the interview was so unreasonable. The one time she keeps something to herself for him to finally get what he has been waiting for, it backfires. Only because HE decided against the interview, now his teacher is blaming HER?? She didn’t even tell him the company was in hot waters, he found out from his boss. The teacher is being unfair and unreasonable here. She never said he should give up his dream for her to work in her family business. That was all his decision that he made WITHOUT telling her anything. The teacher should be mad him, not her. Telling her she is selfish and whatnot. That is the one time she wasn’t being selfish haha!
- the length: the show was too long and did NOT need 32 whole episodes that were quite long with almost 50 minutes. To me, the whole thing was super draggy and boring most of the time. In the last 10 or so episodes, I skipped a whole lot because none of the things that were happening interested me (and I did not really miss anything!)
- office politics: I found the office politics childish and petty. You're telling me we have some 40+ something men and women sabotaging some guy and his whole team (and the whole company) out of pure pettiness, simply because they're trashy characters? I don't know but the antagonists just felt dumb to me lol.
Overall, "Here We Meet Again" had a fun romance most of the time with actors that had great chemistry, but the story of some secondary characters as well as the overall plot just sucked. I am really disappointed in this show, but it is what it is.
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AMAZING CHEMISTRY ❤️
Why is this drama getting a perfect rating from me?THE CHEMISTRY, I thought I'd never ship any one with Janice Wu except Steven Zhang from skate into love but the CHEMISTRY in this drama was on the heights....they definetly make it to my top cps of 2023.
THE STORY. As much as this looked like a common plot I love how it wasn't filled with all the cliche plot lines, they got rid of the love triangle and we didn't have an annoying second female lead to keep wasting screen time rolling around male lead, the leads were given their screen time..the confusion between their relationship was cleared, those flash backs with both of their POVS and the balance between work and romance,I don't know why people were calling this slow paced..to me it was neither slow nor fast it had that perfect pacing to it..nothing felt rushed not dragged❤️
THE CHARACTERS, No doubt Xu yanshi joins Xie xhi Yao( Meet yourself), Song San Chuan ( Nothing but you) and Xiao Han( The forbidden flower) as boy friend of the year but I love how not necessarily cold but how calm mature and considerate he was written, yes someone you'd never meet in your life but definitely set standards...well done Vin Zhang on bringing him to life.
Janice Wu has always been an amazing actresses, her naturally flowing humour and absolute charm, her gutsy personality but at the same time not a damsel in distress...I loved her❤️
Side characters like the technical department, th female leads grandpa, the cute little brother and all the rest did their parts as well and I loved them❤️
THE OSTS..guys the osts..I swear it's rare for me to have a C drama where I love each ost from one to the last well except shining for one thing that drama had amazing osts but this had OSTS I loved each one of them❤️
THE HAPPY ENDING I don't think I need to explain since every one obviously loves a happy ending.
I don't know if iam supposed to write this here but for future viewers who are having doubt if they should try it out then please for the love of it do..it was a cute light romcom and I'd rate it 10/10 I don't give that rating because a drama was perfect I give that rating because a drama managed to get all these emotions out of me, managed to entertain me and managed to be that good in my eyes...so yes this is highly recommended on my side❤️
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What do you call a show with a chaotic start, a solid middle and a jingoistic ending?
This is an odd show. It has one of the most chaotic start but also a solid middle. It then ran out of puff. Becomes really jingoistic and flag waving towards the end. There is not a lot of substance to the main plot so I won't bother to dissect it. I’ll just list some pros and cons;Pros:
• It is angst lite. There are some family issues, business shenanigans and a hint of a love triangle but nothing life or death. There is a lot of misunderstanding early on which took many episodes to clear up. While the entanglement is a bit contrived, its resolution is surprisingly well scripted and plausible.
• There is quite a bit of swoon worthy moments once the leads are official. The skinship quota is also higher than usual and quite passionate. There are no fish lip kisses nor camera tricks.
• The acting is generally good. The leads have lots of chemistry. The FL is minx like and her growth is rewarding to watch. The ML is handsome and charismatic and he turns in a solid performance. The performance from the younger cast members are more uneven but it is par for the course.
• There is a recognisable gay support character. This came as a surprise to me because for the last couple of years all BL dramas have been shelved and male characters are decidedly masculine and unambiguous.
Cons:
• The start is chaotic and a bit silly. Lots happened but achieved very little. Too many side characters are introduced in a rush which leads to more confusion. I’m not surprise if some viewers dropped the show after the first couple of episodes.
• While the romance line is nice and sweet, the main plot is a bit thin. It is mostly tropey family problems, office politics and business shenanigans. Nothing unique nor original.
• PPL, so much PPL. They are hardly subtle. A rough count has the leads catching 4 or 5 colds just so that the cold medicine can make an appearance. Ditto various cosmetics and personal grooming aids. The scene with an electric shaver was so heavily scripted that it was laughable. This extends to a parade of new cars.
• This show reminds me of Flight to You where at times it feels like a glossy promo video for the new Chinese airliner (C-919). In this case, it is the Chinese owned global positioning satellite system called BeiDou. However, it is much more patriotic and jingoistic in this show. There is even a firebrand professor who lectures us on sacrifice for the greater good and why the world needs an alterative to GPS. This also means several characters (including the antagonists!) and related subplots are sidelined to make way for it. Your mileage will definitely differ.
This show is watchable once you get past the messy start. The romantic line is swoon worthy and the leads makes the most of it. However, the last few episodes feel out of place and the propaganda is quite heavy handed. While we got the HEA ending in the end, it feels flat to me. Peace out.
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Awesome chemistry
I enjoyed every minute of it. Such an awesome chemistry between the leads. I laughed with them, been sad with them, worried with them, so it's been a very good value for watching it.This time they didn't spoil it midway, but i feel it would be better without last 2 episodes, even though all vanilla ending.
Janice Wu and Vin Zhang made it worth from start till the end. I like how they were jealous of each other and how they sorted it out. I like they will be there for each other mostly of the times. The FL is nice, bubbly, smart and love her outfits, she is not whinning, baby voice or cuteness of a 6 year old. The ML i fall for him again, his low voice, his kisses and overall looking makes me become a fan and looking forward for his new projects.
It's not a new story or something you haven't seen, especially like me where i am heavy watcher of all Chinese, Korean, Thailand, Spain, Italian, Mexican, Turkish (you name it) for the last 24 years :), but is light warm and sweet. This is what i need after a working day - relax.
I will not write details about the plot, but i feel so good after watching it.
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Good leads chemistry, bad side plots
First of all, just know that you will finish this drama solely because the ML is SO HOTTTT!!! Lol… seriously. Can’t get enough. His role, his character, his chemistry with FL.. sizzling!! I’m not entirely sure Janice Wu suited this FL role. There were times she tried to act cute but it didn’t jive w me…The romance between ML and FL was off the charts. Very good from the beginning. The kind where they met when they were in high school, got separated, met online but didn’t know it, meet again much later and STILL - there is the undeniable attraction! (Spoiler- they only get together in Ep 20 but the anticipation was well worth it with the scene of their first kiss!! You can watch it on my Instagram;) ) Lots of cute, PDA, kissing hugging pull her close kind of scenes.. Third parties were not an issue. There was almost a break up for your own good, but it didn’t really last.
Now the PROBLEM with this drama was- everything else!! Hahahaha.. seriously.
1) The office at Velin- so boring!! All the office / business talk boring. The bitchy boss trying to back stab, ok a little interesting.
2) The side couple Gao Leng and Chen Shu- skipped and ff ALL OF IT. Pls writers- we are not interested.
The grandpa was kinda cute- he had a special relationship w his granddaughter. The last 10 episodes shifted and evolved quite a bit, and it did get a little more interesting. The ending was a bit weird. How long did she have to wait from the time she found the ring till he proposed? I couldn’t tell, it was too rushed. And the fact that they had to be apart from each other so often… not that great. But I suppose that’s life.
Yes yes YES!! Watch this and just FF all the boring parts ;)
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A fun, light and entertaining romantic comedy.
I finished this drama more than a month ago. This is a romantic comedy that is fun, light and entertaining to watch. There is great chemistry between Vin Zhang and Janice Wu (they have many kissing scenes and romantic moments), and they were able to bring their characters, Xu Yan Shi and Xiang Yuan, respectively, to life. There were some push and pull in their relationship due to misunderstandings, which can be frustrating at times. But the good thing is, these did not last long. I did not feel much chemistry between the 2nd ML (Gao Leng, played by Huang De Yi) and 2nd FL (Chen Shu, played by Nita Xia). However, on their own, I like both characters, despite their flaws (there are no perfect characters anyway). I like that there were back stories related to the main leads’ families, but I wish more could be said of the ML’s mother.Aside from family, the drama showed relationship dynamics and happenings in the workplace, both the good and bad, the realistic and unrealistic ones. I find the industry that the drama focused on, i.e., satellite navigation technology, quite interesting, so I did not get bored in the scenes where they talked about it. The opening and ending theme songs are good, they’re quite catchy! Overall, this is a good drama for me.
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A Healthy Relationship between Main Leads
The story is quite common. Highschool girl chasing the popular boy and then them suddenly losing contacts. Meeting again after ten years and falling in love.But i love how they executed the story. Watch this drama if you want to see a successful women.
For me, both main lead's acting is 10/10. Specially, male lead. I loved his subtle expressions in different situations.
Now if i talk about the story. Female lead is a strong independent women even tho she is a spoiled rich brat. She doesn’t give anyone chance to bully her. Sometimes in office dramas, the employee beefs kinda get boring. But it didn’t for me in this one. They solved every problem quickly and those corporate fights between higher up people were fun to watch.
About the chemistry, oh my god it was chef's kiss. I love how both the male leads know how to kiss. Also if you are finding a drama couple with a healthy relationship this drama is definitely for you. The osts were good too. Overall it was good. Loved an adult romance cdrama after so long.
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Amazing Leads Chemistry, likable supporting cast but only OK plot
Overall Rating - 8.25Subjective Romance Rating - 8.5
Objective Drama Rating - 8.0
Giving this drama an 8.5 is mainly due to the chemistry between Zhang Bin Bin and Janice Wu. Zhang Bin Bin looks so handsome in this drama. If you are a romance lover or a fan of either actor, I strongly recommend this drama. Otherwise, this is a decent one with equal parts business and romance. Most characters are likable and no one is too annoying or irritating. The villains are tolerable.
I am a fan of the leads, and that’s what prompted me to watch the drama. Because honestly, the business plot isn’t that unique and quite predictable. The part about ML’s pursuit of his dreams in the end reminds me of Yang Yang’s storyline in “You Are My Glory” but not enough for me to be moved like in “You Are My Glory”.
However, what shines are the characters. Zhang Bin Bin and Janice Wu are so lovable, fun and awesome together. They are both smart and petty (in a funny way). I feel like I am prying into their private lives when they are looking into each other’s eyes, having those lovely and realistic hugs and kisses. I enjoy the earlier episodes of their flirting and smart banter. Those earlier episodes are definitely a lot more fun. But the skinship (kisses and hugs) come in the latter half of the drama. The kisses are realistic but the camera tends to pan away and not give me enough close-up shots. LOL. Some might not like the long distance relationship but I find that pretty ok. Many dramas get boring after the leads get together, but at least the long distance relationship keeps things a little more interesting for longer.
Aside from the main romance, I love the fun relationship between FL and her grandpa. I look forward to their sarcastic, funny and witty conversations. Grandpa is one of the best in C-dramaland. On the other hand, ML’s sweet relationship with his little brother is also a highlight of the drama. It’s too bad we don’t see the kid enough in the last few episodes. That storyline ended quite abruptly. The co-workers/team chemistry is pretty good as well. All the team members are likable.
I appreciate almost all actors using their own voices and not dubbed. It seems like there’s quite a lot of live recording as well. I also like many songs played. There are just two love songs that are overplayed and I got a little annoyed. But as a whole, I enjoy the OST.
But the drama is not without faults. My biggest pet peeve is FL’s understanding/knowledge of all things technology when she first joined the company, especially since she’s a communications major and not an engineer. I have to suspend reality to enjoy those early episodes. The secondary romance isn’t exciting at all and didn’t bring anything new or add to the drama. I wish the ending for this pair was different. I also did not like FL’s hairstyles. They need to fire the hairstylists who gave Janice Wu such childish styling. I don’t feel that the pace of the drama is slow or that it drags in the middle episodes. That’s probably because the drama tries to put many subplots and filler plots within these 32 episodes. The result is that not all subplots are fully explored. I wish the drama had focused more on certain storylines and then removed some of them. If you don’t like China’s national pride in their aerospace technology, you might find this very preachy. At least it’s less than “You Are My Glory”. Lastly, this drama has a LOT of product placements! I didn’t think it took that much money to film this drama as there aren’t many elaborate sets, but there are so many advertisements - bottled water, Yakult yogurt drink, makeup/face masks, noodles, toothbrushes, etc.
Overall, this is a fun, office romance drama. Watch it for the leads chemistry and not for the business plot. It’s quite an easy watch and very bingeable.
Completed: 6/11/2023 - Review #317
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Sweet Romance, Great Chemistry but quite simple
This drama has it‘s main OST sung by Chen Xueran and if you have already watched a couple c-dramas then you know dramas with his OST all have a similar vibe and set up:Around 30-40 Episodes, High Profile Actors, lots of promotion, romance centered with quotable scenes and a smooth but overall simple storyline with a dash of "china-is-the-best" sprinkled on top.
And this drama is exactly that. It’s a nice watch as it has really good chemistry that is worth the build up and unlike many other dramas, in terms of romance, it’s actually *not* anti climatic and instead has a point where the romantic tension boils over.
It’s not outstanding in terms of story besides the romance, which was very sweet and wholesome, given the nice/calm ML and the chairmans-daughter-undercover FL.
If you really like romance with funny moments and steamy kisses then you might enjoy this a lot.
+ The FL can secretly pull strings within the company thanks to nepotism which was refreshing in a way, since she doesn’t have to back down from anyone.
Another plus point for this drama is no parents for majority of the drama, which in my books is always a plus… because when was the last time you saw parents that weren’t annoying in romance centered ones?
Negative Points (slight spoilers):
Overall the main couple is what made me like this drama but everything else will probably not stay in mind for long.
It did have a lot of supporting characters and side plots that came and went without much impact.
The whole Baidu Navigation system versus America‘s GPS was over the top and 2-3x it completely took over for half an episode, which went beyond a lil self praise to full on propaganda… but it’s a Chinese drama so what can I do besides roll my eyes maybe :')
Conclusion:
It’s a smooth but simple drama, without blood-boiling qualities and a truly swoonworthy, sweet ML. It‘s lacks a few ever so annoying tropes, which was nice but it also didn’t replace those so it ended up being a mid-tier drama with (probably) high budget that is nice to look at.
End note: I see dramas are getting bolder by sneaking in a fruity side character… even though he was stereotypical, he was cute.
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