MulanHua
I stumbled across this show on Youtube and I have to say, it's scary how well Youtube knows me ...
I absolutely adore this show! In the beginning it felt very much like the stereotypical Asian young-love-drama (e.g. how the two protagonists meet), however, it's done in such an over-the-top way that it's ironic and funny again.
The story is very light-hearted with almost no drama, and definitely no melodrama. The characters are well designed and wonderfully flawed - all of them. Even the male lead (who often is portrayed as flawlessly perfect in dramas) has a number of weaknesses that are believable. Sure, some of those are a bit cliché (the anti-social science genius with an 187 IQ but no idea who the Four Heavenly Kings are; neither in mythology nor pop-culture), but it's still done in a fun and adorable way. A great part of the show is actually about Gu Weiyi trying to eradicate his weaknesses in secret in order to appear cooler and more appealing to Situ Mo. These are often shown in little extra scenes at the end of (almost) each episode and are absolutely fun to watch.
I had a few miniscule issues with the show though, the biggest one being the portrayal of the rigid and overall nasty "Haigui" (=Chin. slang for people who return to China after studying abroad). According to most C-dramas, Haiguis are usually arrogant and aloof. Since I've seen this so often I guess there must be an iota of truth behind this stereotype, though I believe if you're an arrogant Haigui you probably were arrogant before going abroad ... The level of rigidness the Haigui in this drama displays tops even the infamous German rigidness - take it from a GBC ;)
Oh, and lights ... I've seen way worse, but still: PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS WHEN YOU LEAVE A ROOM! And if you're working at a laptop, and all the overhead lights are on already, do you really need to turn on another desk lamp? #SaveTheEnviroment
Sorry, I got side-tracked ... Here are my top 3 reasons why I recommend this show:
3. All characters are well-crafted and have their individual flaws that they try to overcome, which makes them all the more loveable and relatable. And like in real-life, there are no cartoonish evil people.
2. Since I am horrible at detecting on-screen chemistries, I'll say this instead: the two lead actors work very well together and are visually a cute couple. What's also great is the way they used some of these actors' features like the immense difference in height between the two for comic relief.
1. It has one of the funniest love-confessions I've seen so far, although you'll have to wait till EP 11.
Wow, I wrote way more than I intended ... if you made it this far, THANK YOU very much for reading! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get a Roomba and name it Yuanyuan (find out in EP 7).
I absolutely adore this show! In the beginning it felt very much like the stereotypical Asian young-love-drama (e.g. how the two protagonists meet), however, it's done in such an over-the-top way that it's ironic and funny again.
The story is very light-hearted with almost no drama, and definitely no melodrama. The characters are well designed and wonderfully flawed - all of them. Even the male lead (who often is portrayed as flawlessly perfect in dramas) has a number of weaknesses that are believable. Sure, some of those are a bit cliché (the anti-social science genius with an 187 IQ but no idea who the Four Heavenly Kings are; neither in mythology nor pop-culture), but it's still done in a fun and adorable way. A great part of the show is actually about Gu Weiyi trying to eradicate his weaknesses in secret in order to appear cooler and more appealing to Situ Mo. These are often shown in little extra scenes at the end of (almost) each episode and are absolutely fun to watch.
I had a few miniscule issues with the show though, the biggest one being the portrayal of the rigid and overall nasty "Haigui" (=Chin. slang for people who return to China after studying abroad). According to most C-dramas, Haiguis are usually arrogant and aloof. Since I've seen this so often I guess there must be an iota of truth behind this stereotype, though I believe if you're an arrogant Haigui you probably were arrogant before going abroad ... The level of rigidness the Haigui in this drama displays tops even the infamous German rigidness - take it from a GBC ;)
Oh, and lights ... I've seen way worse, but still: PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS WHEN YOU LEAVE A ROOM! And if you're working at a laptop, and all the overhead lights are on already, do you really need to turn on another desk lamp? #SaveTheEnviroment
Sorry, I got side-tracked ... Here are my top 3 reasons why I recommend this show:
3. All characters are well-crafted and have their individual flaws that they try to overcome, which makes them all the more loveable and relatable. And like in real-life, there are no cartoonish evil people.
2. Since I am horrible at detecting on-screen chemistries, I'll say this instead: the two lead actors work very well together and are visually a cute couple. What's also great is the way they used some of these actors' features like the immense difference in height between the two for comic relief.
1. It has one of the funniest love-confessions I've seen so far, although you'll have to wait till EP 11.
Wow, I wrote way more than I intended ... if you made it this far, THANK YOU very much for reading! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get a Roomba and name it Yuanyuan (find out in EP 7).
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