When a fairy fallen from the sky meets the God of War

Are You The One is the TV adaptation of the chinese novel The Possession of My Beloved. It tells the story of Liu Mian Tang, a gorgeous woman who has lost the memory of the last three years of her life and Ciu Xing Zhou, a Prince unrelated to the Imperial Family who poses as her fake husband, the destitute merchant Cui Jiu.

Both make for an attractive pair, though the neighbors of North Street think the young is a good-for-nothing man.


THE STORY

The director managed to do a 40-episode drama from a 143-chapters novel by keeping some of the key points, but while needing to remove and twist around some of the source material.

Having read the novel, I think he was successful in his endeavor. The drama was both well-directed and written, which made for an enthralling watch. It's ascertained by the high ratings this drama got on multiple platforms


THE CHARACTERS

The characters had to be rewritten to fit a more visual medium and thus be accessible to a wider public.

Liu Mian Tang (LMT) is described as a beautiful creature descended from the sky who makes every head turn. She's presented as having been the favorite concubine of a famous bandit, but as she has amnesia, she is just the wife of a merchant who spent a great chunk of his fortune to heal her. This makes her grateful to her husband and leads her to handle household affairs but also becomes a shrewd businesswoman whose sole objective is to have her husband enjoy his life and hobbies without worries.
She's played by Wang Chu Ran, an up-and-coming actress who embodies the role and can be as sweet as honey or as cold as ice when it's needed.

Ciu Xing Zhou (CXZ) is a duc who rules over his fiefdom and having to fight with a spectacular opponent, Lu Wen. He's lucky enough to stumble upon the amnesiac favorite concubine of the latter. He acts as her doting husband to try and lure out Lu Wen.
It's Zhang Wan Yi, a young actor who is also an up-and-coming actor that some people might have seen in Lost You Forever.
I felt he really nailed his part here. As Cui Jiu, he was absurd, but as CXZ, he was more imposing.

The supporting roles were well-casted and interesting to watch. They didn't weigh down on the story. On the contrary, they brought different flavors. He Zhen and Marquis Zhennan were more of a opposite attracts while Miss Shi and Zi Yu were more of a couple whose love would go from a relationship of mutual trust and friendship.


This drama is an easy watch with high rewatch value. One isn't bored when they watch it. Though it starts slow because as an audience, we get to witness in real-time the love growing between the couple, its remains engaging. I eagerly waited each day for new episodes to release.

The drama is bright and not a stressful affair.

In fact, Are You The One is one of the three costume dramas that really kept me engaged in since the beginning of the year. The other two dramas are The Legend of Shenli and The Double.

I recommend this drama to those who love inner court dramas like The Story of Ming Lan and The Sword and The Brocade ;
smart heroines like the two precited dramas, The Story of Yanxi Palace and The Court Lady ; Love Like The Galaxy ;

As a novel reader, I'm really happy with this drama adaptation given the restrictions. It was first slated as a two-parts drama but to be able to release it in one shot, they had to cut it down about 10 to 15 episodes.

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Eve is first and foremost the revenge story of Lee Ra El (LRE) who witnessed her family being trampled on and killed by more powerful people. This trauma causes her to spend the following 13 years of her life etching on a revenge to take these people down and make them pay for their crime.


What Works :
The lead actress Seo Ye Ji of course. As LRE, she was perfect. This role enabled her to showcase different ranges from calm and classy to erratic and cruel. I hope this role will mark her comeback and enable her to work in great projects.

Yoo Sun as Han So Ra: She was really good and managed to make us feel sympathy for the horrible woman that was Han So Ra. She managed to show that this bratty tantrum-throwing woman also had another side to her that could make us temporarily root for her character.

The music: I loved it! Especially the title song "Hold Me Tight" which was daunting and really suitable to the atmosphere of the drama.

The story : Who doesn't like seeing rich and beautiful people showing us their ugliest side ? Hahaha
The premise was really good especially the seduction period between Seo Ye Ji and Kang Yoon Gyeom.



What doesn't Work :
The writing : We are promised a story about a 1.6 trillion won divorce battle but sadly, this was barely touched on by the author. The story is about the seduction of a married man leading to his obsession and subsequent divorce sure but it's first and foremost the story of a revenge.
Also, why have Kang Yoon Gyem and Han So Ra have two daughters when the eldest didn't have any role in the story ? She was never mentioned even when her parents were in a much publicized divorce and tearing each other apart.

The direction : I felt it might have added to the story if the audience discovered LRE's motive and background afterward. Wouldn't it have been more intriguing to see a newly arrived young mother who sets her eyes on the The CEO Kang Yoon Gyeom (KYG) while also befriending his wife Han So Ra ?
I feel it would have prevented the show to become repetitive at one point.

The camera work : I feel the Rated 19 scenes were wasted. It should have been filmed more sensually as it was about KYG letting loose and finally getting the object of his obsession.
Also the tango scene in which SYJ danced solo could have been better filmed imo. I think the aim was to show her sensuality and make her desirable but it fell flat because of the way it was filmed.

The characters : My problem lays with the assemblyman. Many shipped him with LRE but I personally thought he was cringy and borderline creepy. I understood the intent. He was supposed to be LRE's rock unwavering and sturdy in his support but the way they made him fall him love this desperately only after seeing her dance was cringy.
First because he knew her as a young girl when she was at her lowest and was thus her only support system now that they back in each other's lives.
Then because he kept referring to her father as family and thus giving off brotherly vibes
Finally because the way he fell for LRE could have been presented better. He was supposed to be perfect and want LRE for who she was and not for what she looked like.


As for the CEO, I know what they were aiming for by making him emotionless for 90% of the drama. He was someone who couldn't show his feeling as they could be used as a weapon against him. He was someone who never felt warmth from his family and despised his wife.
BUT! I feel they could have written him another way and insisted more on his being ambitious and wanting to be the real king and not a mere puppet.
I'll admit that I enjoyed his pairing with LRE though. It's a pity the writer didn't make it more of a psychological game between the two as they were both masterminds who put themselves and their personal goals first.




OVERRAL :
It was a nice watch. I'll personally won't rewatch it but I'll watch some scenes that I really enjoyed. This drama did have some highs and started off great but it was let down by the writing toward the end though there were still some great moments.

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This drama has an interesting storyline. Also, I think that the makers could have fleshed out the story and characters so that the episodes would have been longer.
I liked that they didn't shy away from showing us the ugly side of the relationship shared between the leads.

The actors did a really good job and where convincing in their roles. One actually felt for them.

I love the music. It suits the drama perfectly.

I give a 8/10 on rewatch value because though the theme is quite heavy and intense, the drama last overall 2h and is well-made. It would be easy to watch it again.

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Beautiful

It's a beautiful and heartwarming drama which delves into the lives of a group of elderly people.
What's interesting is to see the way each of them chose to live the remainder of their life as they know death can come knocking at their door anytime.

Each of the characters are portrayed with their flaws and quality which makes the drama all the more realistic.

We not only see them in their day to day life but we also get to see some of the moments that defined them in their youth -to help us understand the person we deal with presently.

I liked that each of the characters had their own identity without being cliché.

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