biased
This review may contain spoilers
Jiayou, this is the best drama
I don't think I should be reviewing it 10 minutes after watching the last episode but here I am, this is my first review on MDL and my face is still wet from all the crying since I watched the last 4 episodes in a row. This one is gonna be a long one.
Since this is my first time I'll write it as I feel it. Also English is not my natural language so please be patient.
Music: according to last.fm I listened to 坚强的理由 168 times last week :) I cried a bit when it played for the first time in that hotel scene. First bc I recognized Eric Tsai's voice (and I love him so much -listen to Fool and Idiot, guys); second, the lyrics and third, the was a sad scene and we were so warm with HZY and FZ travelling together and all. I'm also a fan of Wu Qing Feng who sings the opening song. Shout out to Fish Leong <3; Ma Si Chun and Deng Lun, I didn't know they could sing. The OST is really great.
Dubbing: as important as the actors on screen, dubbing can ruin everything. Just like those scenes you know you're supposed to feel sad, the actor on screen is suffering with his face but then he sounds like Marvin, the paranoid android and all the feeling is lost. This one is dubbed at some few lines maybe to correct sth and it's dubbed by the same actors so it's okay, it's not cringey and it doesn't affect the acting on screen.
Acting: I judge acting simply by how the actor makes me feel and if it matches the scene.
I came here for Ma Si Chun. She's my girl crush and I'm 100% biased by her. But I have to say I wasn't expecting her to be this good. Ma Si Chun came to a point in acting where you can't see her, you see FZ and FZ only. She didn't try to look good on camera, she was just her character. On the other hand, at first, I was negatively biased by Deng Lun. I'm really sorry but because of 'Ashes of Love' I thought he was overhyped. I didn't expect him to be a good actor... I expected him to be like HZY, a good looking so-so idol actor. I'm glad to admit I was wrong.
All the cast was superb and natural. They responded well to each other and their adlibs were really funny. They broke character A LOT and it was AWESOME. I'm happy the director made the best of these moments.
Characters: I liked all the characters (even if I hated NM sometimes). Fu Fangshu was my favourite. I'm a sucker for soft tsunderes. The way he welcomed HZY, his love for FZ, the bickering with NM, the brotherhood with GDP. Lao Fu is a wise man who sacrifices for the ones he loves without wanting anything in return, he's just happy and caring and grumpy. The character development of all of them was really good. To me, the best ones were: Jiajia and Niu Meilli.
Romance: the romance is not what some people might be expecting. HZY and FZ are really cute. They care for each other, HZY is loyal like a dog, FZ devotes 3 years of her life to him, they bicker but it's not aggressive, it's light and warm, the confessions are cheesy :} but it's not 8-camera-angles-kiss... Tbh the kiss was a peck and that was it.
Story: 44 episodes, 45 min each, less than 15 characters... It dragged at times. The synopsis is okay, that's the story. No surprises. You get yourself rooting for them and being frustrated when something goes different from what we expected. This happens a lot until it hits you... That's life. We expect it to be a drama and everything going according to what we see in dramas but that's a genuine slice of life with some elements of fiction.
TL;DR: Warm. Well acted. It drags but you can skip scenes. Character development well executed. Really good music. Funny bickering. Actor breaking characters at its best. Rough start to friendship to life time partners. Worth it.
Since this is my first time I'll write it as I feel it. Also English is not my natural language so please be patient.
Music: according to last.fm I listened to 坚强的理由 168 times last week :) I cried a bit when it played for the first time in that hotel scene. First bc I recognized Eric Tsai's voice (and I love him so much -listen to Fool and Idiot, guys); second, the lyrics and third, the was a sad scene and we were so warm with HZY and FZ travelling together and all. I'm also a fan of Wu Qing Feng who sings the opening song. Shout out to Fish Leong <3; Ma Si Chun and Deng Lun, I didn't know they could sing. The OST is really great.
Dubbing: as important as the actors on screen, dubbing can ruin everything. Just like those scenes you know you're supposed to feel sad, the actor on screen is suffering with his face but then he sounds like Marvin, the paranoid android and all the feeling is lost. This one is dubbed at some few lines maybe to correct sth and it's dubbed by the same actors so it's okay, it's not cringey and it doesn't affect the acting on screen.
Acting: I judge acting simply by how the actor makes me feel and if it matches the scene.
I came here for Ma Si Chun. She's my girl crush and I'm 100% biased by her. But I have to say I wasn't expecting her to be this good. Ma Si Chun came to a point in acting where you can't see her, you see FZ and FZ only. She didn't try to look good on camera, she was just her character. On the other hand, at first, I was negatively biased by Deng Lun. I'm really sorry but because of 'Ashes of Love' I thought he was overhyped. I didn't expect him to be a good actor... I expected him to be like HZY, a good looking so-so idol actor. I'm glad to admit I was wrong.
All the cast was superb and natural. They responded well to each other and their adlibs were really funny. They broke character A LOT and it was AWESOME. I'm happy the director made the best of these moments.
Characters: I liked all the characters (even if I hated NM sometimes). Fu Fangshu was my favourite. I'm a sucker for soft tsunderes. The way he welcomed HZY, his love for FZ, the bickering with NM, the brotherhood with GDP. Lao Fu is a wise man who sacrifices for the ones he loves without wanting anything in return, he's just happy and caring and grumpy. The character development of all of them was really good. To me, the best ones were: Jiajia and Niu Meilli.
Romance: the romance is not what some people might be expecting. HZY and FZ are really cute. They care for each other, HZY is loyal like a dog, FZ devotes 3 years of her life to him, they bicker but it's not aggressive, it's light and warm, the confessions are cheesy :} but it's not 8-camera-angles-kiss... Tbh the kiss was a peck and that was it.
Story: 44 episodes, 45 min each, less than 15 characters... It dragged at times. The synopsis is okay, that's the story. No surprises. You get yourself rooting for them and being frustrated when something goes different from what we expected. This happens a lot until it hits you... That's life. We expect it to be a drama and everything going according to what we see in dramas but that's a genuine slice of life with some elements of fiction.
TL;DR: Warm. Well acted. It drags but you can skip scenes. Character development well executed. Really good music. Funny bickering. Actor breaking characters at its best. Rough start to friendship to life time partners. Worth it.
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