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Only for Love chinese drama review
Completed
Only for Love
2 people found this review helpful
by Dori097
Dec 18, 2023
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 5.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 3.5
This review may contain spoilers

Basically a cute dumpster fire

I think most students learn to write summary statements for stories in elementary/secondary school, if I recall correctly; sadly, this one would be unbearably difficult to write one for. Perhaps it's the poor writing, or the combination of fluff scenes with no intention/purpose whatsoever and a typical, overdone romance plot... or is it the absolute empty-headedness behind each and every one of the supposedly intelligent characters? Regardless, these factors make for a drama with a storyline held together by a single thread and simply not worth watching.

Where do I even start? Ah, maybe the characters that are so easily contemptible...

The FL has got to be one of the most braindead characters I have ever seen. Going into the drama's first few episodes, admittedly, I was pretty interested in her- what's not to like about a smart, strong, bubbly, yet ambitious female lead? With most C-dramas portraying the FLs as weaker, cutesy (at best), and mellow (not that there's anything wrong with that), this one was a promising change of pace where the FL (Zheng Shu Yi) chased the ML and established herself in a difficult career... but oh. OH. Now, we're flopping. By episode 26, ZSY became absolutely unbearable. She did not represent any love or affection, loyalty or caring, etc. towards the male lead more so than a warning against all male audience members against similar women (oh, the woe). She ended up going out a couple times with another man during the 'break-up, cold shoulder stage of all C-dramas that we just can't do without apparently', who she knew harbored romantic interest for her. But of course, we have the ML to love her despite all her brainlessness and lack of morality...

The ML, Shi Yan, could easily be the subject of a tragic love story- one of unrequited love. While you could say some of the relationship faults (communication, etc.) were his, he probably didn't deserve what he got from the naive female lead. Furthermore, his lack of personality and development just did not make him stand out... at this point I remember only that he's quite good-looking and one of those 'tsundere' (in anime terms) characters that pop up here and there.

With that being said, the side characters do manage to salvage the show. The second lead couple is cute and depicted realistically, and over time, I just wanted more screen time for them and less for the main pairing. This one's worth watching, especially to get to know the lesser known female actress who does a beautiful job portraying the bubbly, warm, and affectionate Qin Shi Yue.

I guess that's about it for the characters. Moving on the story, it was more of a culmination of fluff scenes (with no real purpose in the development of the characters' relationships) and every dumpster-fire trope (love triangles, distrust, break-up and then back together, etc.) that's ever existed. It's not really worth paying attention to, and beyond the love story, there isn't much to explain about the story. It's not particularly memorable, either... actually, it's just pretty terrible. The holes and lack of logic is too much for even me (who fills in most logical gaps for shows because I notice them easily).

BUT, this drama does have a saving grace.

To those who love an eye-candy main pairing and cute scenes, some of the scenes are cute enough to watch separate from the drama and the two lead actors do a great job for what they're given. Bai Lu's wonderful (as always) and Wang Hedi portrayed Shi Yan handsomely (though it's not like I couldn't imagine another actor doing the job). The 2nd leads were wonderful as well (Shen Yu Jie particularly), and I would definitely look to find more of her shows.

The music isn't bad either, and reminds me of the typical modern-drama music. Nothing special about it, but definitely nothing bad either. The lyrics are pretty cute for what it's worth and the songs are not absolutely terrible to listen to : )

So, to conclude this long review (hopefully not to boring), you should watch this only if you like cute scenes between two very charming actors. Or, if you watch just the beginning episodes, it's bound to be nice. But if you want a drama that you remember until the end of time, or one with beautiful writing, or one with a realistic, logical love story, please, PLEASE do not watch this. There are better things to spend your time on.
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