Klementine
This review may contain spoilers
Rising With the Wind - and my heart rate is rising because of the female lead
Rising With the Wind really surprised me. I was looking for a business drama with a romantic subplot and chose this because I like the poster - especially the autumnal color scheme with the brown, red and gray colors - as well as the fact that it's about a shoe business and focuses on the female lead and her personal growth.
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My highlight: The female lead Jiang Hu
She is confident, strong, goal-oriented, cunning and sentimental. The plot focuses mainly on her personal career path from a daughter of a wealthy businessman who lives in a gilded cage to a grieving and devastated woman who suddenly loses her father and has to watch helplessly as the family business goes bankrupt. She has to sell her possessions to avoid being left completely empty-handed. But she doesn't give up and manages to buy Teng Yue, the almost 100-year-old family business that is practically doomed to failure. She uses all her strength and her heart to save this shoe brand.
What I liked:
- Jiang Hu's style of clothing wonderfully portrays how she suddenly loses everything but at the same time gains a whole new self-confidence. In the first episode, we see her with a lot of make-up, styled hair, and wearing expensive designer clothes. Her entire demeanor radiates wealth, elegance, and arrogance. But after the fateful event, everything changes. She has to sell her clothes and, for almost the rest of the drama, wears only comfortable, ordinary everyday clothes, with a big focus on (oversized) sweaters, sweatpants, and sneakers. There's no more striking make-up or styled hair. And one thing I can say: This look suits her absolutely fantastically. She even attends business meetings in these clothes, and I love her for it. One scene particularly stuck with me. Jiang Hu is out jogging and is invited to a spontaneous conversation in a café by a potential business partner. Jiang Hu attends this meeting… in her jogging clothes!
- Jiang Hu and her love for Boss, the company dog. The scenes with the two of them were very sweet and wholesome.
- Jiang Hu learns how to best run her business and overcomes hurdles either on her own or in collaboration with other employees. It was nice to see how the company gradually gained a sense of unity. In the end, she had a really good relationship with the workers and came to appreciate everyone very much. Her character development is very satisfying to watch.
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My favorite romance: Jiang Hu and Xu Si
In my opinion, Rising With the Wind delivers a really well-done and natural slow burn. Jiang Hu and Xu Si start off as enemies or rivals. For the first ~20 episodes, we have an entertaining push-and-pull dynamic between the two. Jiang Hu is trying to save the shoe company Teng Yue, and Xu Si, as her investor, is constantly involved and often puts obstacles in her way.
What I liked:
- No love at first sight.
- A natural, slow, and heartwarming development from rivals to friends to lovers.
- Work was always the priority. Even after they started dating, they didn’t forget their respective duties. Sure, you could say it’s a bit disappointing when, for example, Jiang Hu cancels a date because she wants to keep working, but I found it so realistic that I had to applaud. Jiang Hu had embarked on a major mission, and just because she fell in love, it doesn’t mean she would drop everything for this man. The same applies to Xu Si. Even though he was the one who was sometimes saddened by her work focus, he also had a lot to do and fulfilled all his responsibilities. Both of them are basically married to their jobs. That’s how we got to know them, and that mostly stayed the same. I appreciated that in this drama.
- There was no love triangle and no toxic jealousy. We only learn that Jiang Hu had a childhood crush on Gao Yi, but it didn’t get in the way of her relationship with Xu Si. What I particularly liked here was the scene where Jiang Hu casually tells Xu Si about her former crush. That helped prevent more misunderstandings, and Xu Si didn’t need to be jealous.
- Xu Si pulls Jiang Hu into his car against her will in one scene, and Jiang Hu simply gets out the other side and walks away – queen behavior. I cheered so hard.
- No toxic relatives. Both leads have relatives who support their relationship and are quite happy about it.
- Beautiful kiss scenes (though sometimes a bit short) and, above all, very heartwarming hugs and hand-holding.
- In one scene, Jiang Hu and Xu Si are coincidentally wearing the same sweater, even though they weren’t together yet. Of course, there are some funny comments about it.
- At the start of their dating phase, Jiang Hu didn’t take much initiative. You could see that she was still unsure and wasn’t able to fully let herself go and embrace the love like Xu Si could. I found that very realistic, and it suited her character. She eventually warms up and you can see how deeply in love she is. It just took some time.
- The angst and breakup in the last quarter of the drama, in my opinion, were really well done, logical, and exciting. Finally, a 40-episode Chinese drama that, for me personally, didn’t get draggy towards the end. I was really rooting for them and was so proud of Jiang Hu for not letting herself be beaten down again. In the end, we got the well-deserved happy ending.
What I didn’t like:
- Two kiss scenes under the influence of alcohol. In my opinion, they were unnecessary and didn’t build any tension for me. What I found especially disappointing was the fact that Xu Si never revealed that they had kissed. Jiang Hu was always so drunk that she couldn’t remember it, while Xu Si was sober every time. He should have mentioned it but didn’t. At the same time, these flaws also make his character interesting. Xu Si, the red or gray flag?
- Jiang Hu and Xu Si often acted maturely and thoughtfully, so at times, I wished for better communication between the two after they started their relationship.
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My favorite friendship: Jiang Hu and Yang Jian
The friendship between these two was so cute. They initially met as enemies but eventually worked together and formed a wonderful friendship. Their scenes always put a smile on my face. Yang Jian was always there for Jiang Hu, especially in the second half of the series. Yang Jian was the only one Jiang Hu didn’t feel betrayed by after the collapse of her business. He was also the first person she reached out to again. He was the first to visit her in her hideaway, bringing her food and showing his support. I love these two so much.
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My least favorite romance: Yang Jian and Xiang Zhaoyang
This side couple didn’t need to exist, in my opinion. The two characters themselves were important to the plot, and I wouldn’t want to miss them, but they didn’t need to be placed into an additional romance storyline. I feel like Yang Jian – this lovable and selfless green flag – deserved someone better. Not much more to say about that.
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Last thoughts:
Overall, I really enjoyed Rising With the Wind. It’s a good slice-of-business-life story with an exciting romantic subplot that kept me hooked all the time. Jiang Hu has now become one of my favorite female leads. It was a pleasure to witness her journey.
Since I really had way too much fun with this, I’m giving it a rating of 9.5/10.
[finished watching on 9 September 2024]
---
My highlight: The female lead Jiang Hu
She is confident, strong, goal-oriented, cunning and sentimental. The plot focuses mainly on her personal career path from a daughter of a wealthy businessman who lives in a gilded cage to a grieving and devastated woman who suddenly loses her father and has to watch helplessly as the family business goes bankrupt. She has to sell her possessions to avoid being left completely empty-handed. But she doesn't give up and manages to buy Teng Yue, the almost 100-year-old family business that is practically doomed to failure. She uses all her strength and her heart to save this shoe brand.
What I liked:
- Jiang Hu's style of clothing wonderfully portrays how she suddenly loses everything but at the same time gains a whole new self-confidence. In the first episode, we see her with a lot of make-up, styled hair, and wearing expensive designer clothes. Her entire demeanor radiates wealth, elegance, and arrogance. But after the fateful event, everything changes. She has to sell her clothes and, for almost the rest of the drama, wears only comfortable, ordinary everyday clothes, with a big focus on (oversized) sweaters, sweatpants, and sneakers. There's no more striking make-up or styled hair. And one thing I can say: This look suits her absolutely fantastically. She even attends business meetings in these clothes, and I love her for it. One scene particularly stuck with me. Jiang Hu is out jogging and is invited to a spontaneous conversation in a café by a potential business partner. Jiang Hu attends this meeting… in her jogging clothes!
- Jiang Hu and her love for Boss, the company dog. The scenes with the two of them were very sweet and wholesome.
- Jiang Hu learns how to best run her business and overcomes hurdles either on her own or in collaboration with other employees. It was nice to see how the company gradually gained a sense of unity. In the end, she had a really good relationship with the workers and came to appreciate everyone very much. Her character development is very satisfying to watch.
---
My favorite romance: Jiang Hu and Xu Si
In my opinion, Rising With the Wind delivers a really well-done and natural slow burn. Jiang Hu and Xu Si start off as enemies or rivals. For the first ~20 episodes, we have an entertaining push-and-pull dynamic between the two. Jiang Hu is trying to save the shoe company Teng Yue, and Xu Si, as her investor, is constantly involved and often puts obstacles in her way.
What I liked:
- No love at first sight.
- A natural, slow, and heartwarming development from rivals to friends to lovers.
- Work was always the priority. Even after they started dating, they didn’t forget their respective duties. Sure, you could say it’s a bit disappointing when, for example, Jiang Hu cancels a date because she wants to keep working, but I found it so realistic that I had to applaud. Jiang Hu had embarked on a major mission, and just because she fell in love, it doesn’t mean she would drop everything for this man. The same applies to Xu Si. Even though he was the one who was sometimes saddened by her work focus, he also had a lot to do and fulfilled all his responsibilities. Both of them are basically married to their jobs. That’s how we got to know them, and that mostly stayed the same. I appreciated that in this drama.
- There was no love triangle and no toxic jealousy. We only learn that Jiang Hu had a childhood crush on Gao Yi, but it didn’t get in the way of her relationship with Xu Si. What I particularly liked here was the scene where Jiang Hu casually tells Xu Si about her former crush. That helped prevent more misunderstandings, and Xu Si didn’t need to be jealous.
- Xu Si pulls Jiang Hu into his car against her will in one scene, and Jiang Hu simply gets out the other side and walks away – queen behavior. I cheered so hard.
- No toxic relatives. Both leads have relatives who support their relationship and are quite happy about it.
- Beautiful kiss scenes (though sometimes a bit short) and, above all, very heartwarming hugs and hand-holding.
- In one scene, Jiang Hu and Xu Si are coincidentally wearing the same sweater, even though they weren’t together yet. Of course, there are some funny comments about it.
- At the start of their dating phase, Jiang Hu didn’t take much initiative. You could see that she was still unsure and wasn’t able to fully let herself go and embrace the love like Xu Si could. I found that very realistic, and it suited her character. She eventually warms up and you can see how deeply in love she is. It just took some time.
- The angst and breakup in the last quarter of the drama, in my opinion, were really well done, logical, and exciting. Finally, a 40-episode Chinese drama that, for me personally, didn’t get draggy towards the end. I was really rooting for them and was so proud of Jiang Hu for not letting herself be beaten down again. In the end, we got the well-deserved happy ending.
What I didn’t like:
- Two kiss scenes under the influence of alcohol. In my opinion, they were unnecessary and didn’t build any tension for me. What I found especially disappointing was the fact that Xu Si never revealed that they had kissed. Jiang Hu was always so drunk that she couldn’t remember it, while Xu Si was sober every time. He should have mentioned it but didn’t. At the same time, these flaws also make his character interesting. Xu Si, the red or gray flag?
- Jiang Hu and Xu Si often acted maturely and thoughtfully, so at times, I wished for better communication between the two after they started their relationship.
---
My favorite friendship: Jiang Hu and Yang Jian
The friendship between these two was so cute. They initially met as enemies but eventually worked together and formed a wonderful friendship. Their scenes always put a smile on my face. Yang Jian was always there for Jiang Hu, especially in the second half of the series. Yang Jian was the only one Jiang Hu didn’t feel betrayed by after the collapse of her business. He was also the first person she reached out to again. He was the first to visit her in her hideaway, bringing her food and showing his support. I love these two so much.
---
My least favorite romance: Yang Jian and Xiang Zhaoyang
This side couple didn’t need to exist, in my opinion. The two characters themselves were important to the plot, and I wouldn’t want to miss them, but they didn’t need to be placed into an additional romance storyline. I feel like Yang Jian – this lovable and selfless green flag – deserved someone better. Not much more to say about that.
---
Last thoughts:
Overall, I really enjoyed Rising With the Wind. It’s a good slice-of-business-life story with an exciting romantic subplot that kept me hooked all the time. Jiang Hu has now become one of my favorite female leads. It was a pleasure to witness her journey.
Since I really had way too much fun with this, I’m giving it a rating of 9.5/10.
[finished watching on 9 September 2024]
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