Aequitas
California/Texas
-----Story-----
The synopsis is highly, highly misleading.
The way the actual story goes is like...
A couple of episodes to set the stage for the story...
Skip all the way until like episode 20 something to continue the story...
Then after watching a few episodes, you can go ahead and skip some more.
About when you reach 40-ish that's when the story really picks up again.
The way the synopsis depicts this show is more like... the stuff after episode 40-ish is where the story begins.
Now to comment on how the actual story is... well, there's so much filler content that is simply just skippable and irrelevant.
Although I do have some qualms with how much this took from the show, I liked how they depicted two people deeply in love, the situation which tore them apart, and ultimately the way they found each other as confidants rather than never seeing each other again or forcing them back together somehow. This section of the story took about like 40 episodes.
The last 10 episodes contained the love story that everyone was actually looking for when they saw the main cast. I think... It's done interestingly. I can't deny I felt more feels during the last 10 episodes than the preceding 40 episodes.
The side characters Cheng Ran and Green Card's (Lu Ka) story... is really, just, really... questionable. It was kind of like... yeah... I don't really know what to say other than I didn't enjoy this aspect of the show at all.
-----Acting/Cast-----
The two main actors that everyone was looking forward to Tang Yan and Luo Jin performed very well! I liked them a lot. Although they were the two main characters, their romance was definitely not a main plot point in the show until much, much later. I feel like despite this, their acting in their respective roles and their somewhat exclusive story lines during the first 40 episodes was really great.
I really loved the two villains in the show. Their showing was really good. I don't have much to say besides this. I liked their performances.
I initially disliked Xu Lingyue's character but she grew on me later throughout the show. Her acting was pretty good, but at times, it felt a tad awkward.
Yu Jiwei was also a character I disliked a lot for the weakness of the character... but in reality, this character was one of the strongest characters. This character embodies the strongest, purest form of love and self-sacrifice. I really enjoyed the way he acted out the stories. Brought a couple tears to my eyes.
The other characters... are not so important to me.
However, I must say that this show seemed to cast quite stiff American actors... It may have just been the best they could get for this show which is primarily Chinese but set in America.
One big qualm I had was the classic portrayal of like Japanese being heartless and evil. Another big qualm was their depiction of an extremely ignorant and vulgar African American... I don't know what these castings were meant to do other than to fan the flames of stereotypes... I don't know why... But... They did it.
-----Music-----
Most of the music from the show is not very memorable. Yes, they have the background music which helps queue certain emotions like sadness, happiness, playfulness, etc. But those are largely subconsciously felt songs, rather than songs one would go off to listen to later.
The opening theme song was really bad and unfitting. Same with the opening video. Just bad.
What was memorable for me was the two renditions this show had of its song "Say Something" (pinyin: kai kou = open mouth). The first version was sung by Zheng Xingqi (female) and the second version was sung by Pin Guan (male). These were quite memorable for me. I actually went and downloaded the both of them the moment I heard them.
The ending theme song didn't really click with me until about episode 49. A little too late I'd say...
-----Rewatch Value-----
I do not believe this has rewatch value really. Besides some really good lines in episode 13 on love and then a few more in later episodes, all spoken by Ning Ming, I think there's nothing much to rewatch.
-----Overall-----
I think my rating of 7.5/10 is a bit high, actually. But I liked the show minus the fillers. I can attest that I did a lot of skipping. A lot, a lot of skipping. You don't miss much.
I'd say... give it a shot, feel free to skip around.
The ending was quite nice although questionable!
The synopsis is highly, highly misleading.
The way the actual story goes is like...
A couple of episodes to set the stage for the story...
Skip all the way until like episode 20 something to continue the story...
Then after watching a few episodes, you can go ahead and skip some more.
About when you reach 40-ish that's when the story really picks up again.
The way the synopsis depicts this show is more like... the stuff after episode 40-ish is where the story begins.
Now to comment on how the actual story is... well, there's so much filler content that is simply just skippable and irrelevant.
Although I do have some qualms with how much this took from the show, I liked how they depicted two people deeply in love, the situation which tore them apart, and ultimately the way they found each other as confidants rather than never seeing each other again or forcing them back together somehow. This section of the story took about like 40 episodes.
The last 10 episodes contained the love story that everyone was actually looking for when they saw the main cast. I think... It's done interestingly. I can't deny I felt more feels during the last 10 episodes than the preceding 40 episodes.
The side characters Cheng Ran and Green Card's (Lu Ka) story... is really, just, really... questionable. It was kind of like... yeah... I don't really know what to say other than I didn't enjoy this aspect of the show at all.
-----Acting/Cast-----
The two main actors that everyone was looking forward to Tang Yan and Luo Jin performed very well! I liked them a lot. Although they were the two main characters, their romance was definitely not a main plot point in the show until much, much later. I feel like despite this, their acting in their respective roles and their somewhat exclusive story lines during the first 40 episodes was really great.
I really loved the two villains in the show. Their showing was really good. I don't have much to say besides this. I liked their performances.
I initially disliked Xu Lingyue's character but she grew on me later throughout the show. Her acting was pretty good, but at times, it felt a tad awkward.
Yu Jiwei was also a character I disliked a lot for the weakness of the character... but in reality, this character was one of the strongest characters. This character embodies the strongest, purest form of love and self-sacrifice. I really enjoyed the way he acted out the stories. Brought a couple tears to my eyes.
The other characters... are not so important to me.
However, I must say that this show seemed to cast quite stiff American actors... It may have just been the best they could get for this show which is primarily Chinese but set in America.
One big qualm I had was the classic portrayal of like Japanese being heartless and evil. Another big qualm was their depiction of an extremely ignorant and vulgar African American... I don't know what these castings were meant to do other than to fan the flames of stereotypes... I don't know why... But... They did it.
-----Music-----
Most of the music from the show is not very memorable. Yes, they have the background music which helps queue certain emotions like sadness, happiness, playfulness, etc. But those are largely subconsciously felt songs, rather than songs one would go off to listen to later.
The opening theme song was really bad and unfitting. Same with the opening video. Just bad.
What was memorable for me was the two renditions this show had of its song "Say Something" (pinyin: kai kou = open mouth). The first version was sung by Zheng Xingqi (female) and the second version was sung by Pin Guan (male). These were quite memorable for me. I actually went and downloaded the both of them the moment I heard them.
The ending theme song didn't really click with me until about episode 49. A little too late I'd say...
-----Rewatch Value-----
I do not believe this has rewatch value really. Besides some really good lines in episode 13 on love and then a few more in later episodes, all spoken by Ning Ming, I think there's nothing much to rewatch.
-----Overall-----
I think my rating of 7.5/10 is a bit high, actually. But I liked the show minus the fillers. I can attest that I did a lot of skipping. A lot, a lot of skipping. You don't miss much.
I'd say... give it a shot, feel free to skip around.
The ending was quite nice although questionable!
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