ashley
This review may contain spoilers
Why I Rated ABAY a 7/10
Okay, it's been a while since I wrote a review but here we go. I started watching this show with very high expectations. As an avid Chinese drama viewer and a fan of Xu Kai, I must say I came with pretty high expectations.
What was good?
1. Acting
The actors did an amazing job! I loved the cast, they were very true to their characters, and overall did an amazing job portraying the characters.
2. Music
The score for the show was really good as well, a sign of amazing shows. Th opening OST is on my playlist already and was mostly fitting for any situations they played it during the episodes.
Why the show was a led down?
1. My primary reason for why this show was a let down was the frustration that an amazing cast was stuck between some politics/ deliverables they had to meet beyond the screen AND it showed. I'm not sure what it was but it felt like even minor roles had to be portrayed across as major roles. This meant UNLESS you were someone who likes to be invested in every single one of their story and romance, you're not going to enjoy this. The plot was not exciting, especially during the first half of the show. This had nothing to do with their slow romance, but all those Filler scenes with mundane conversations, drinking alcohol, etc. There was numerous times when Ji Xing and Han ting will be on screen for literally 30s and they just wave to each other and there's a very obvious cut. This plot and this Novel could've been executed much much better! It's overall a 7/10 kind of show for me. I would not recommend it unless you're someone who enjoys having to watch three couples with equal interest.
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2. Reason one led to shorter screen time for the main couple. The first twenty episodes, I swear the main leads(the couple) did not even have 5 minutes they were on-screen together as a pair. Like there was absolutely no conversation between them about getting to know each other except for the part they would talk about her startup(or more specifically when he was giving her advice on how to do business)
3. This brings me to number 3. I don't know if it gives you the ick or not, but in an era where it's all about female empowerment, I like to see that on screens. Having Han Ting being literally the same age/closer in age to Ji Xing and yet being eight galaxies away in terms of intellectual abilities was sort of a turn-off for me. They made him the knight in shining armour for the lousy business decisions that came along at times.
4. The Dialogues? Who even wrote these lines? Like the amount of very obvious propaganda between the Lines was just argh and those speeches he gave... not to mention the lines he was saying during the fights? But this wasn't a big deal. You can still watch past this.
5. One of the worst parts of the show(FOR ME PERSONALLY) was the makeup. I get the different beauty standards, but man the way they put on Edward Cullen make up on Xu Kai every time he wore a suit was not appealing at all. I've watched plenty of shows, chinese ones, and I see this often but with so many things being a let down in the drama, I would've expected for this to be a saving grace but it wasn't.
P.S. This Is just my very Own take at the show. I have watched other shows such as Meet yourself, here we meet again, Go go squid, put your head on my shoulder and so many like that and enjoyed them so so so much more than this one. I've watched a couple In a similar genre as well and none of them were this bad. This is just yet another let down, also please don;t come at me with the IMDB ratings. MDL is a more reliable site for asian shows than IMDB. there's like 70 people who've rated this on it, and It's safe to say they're all probably Xu Kai fans. MDL ratings reflect more on the quality of the show. Honestly it's not even a 8 for me, but sure.
What was good?
1. Acting
The actors did an amazing job! I loved the cast, they were very true to their characters, and overall did an amazing job portraying the characters.
2. Music
The score for the show was really good as well, a sign of amazing shows. Th opening OST is on my playlist already and was mostly fitting for any situations they played it during the episodes.
Why the show was a led down?
1. My primary reason for why this show was a let down was the frustration that an amazing cast was stuck between some politics/ deliverables they had to meet beyond the screen AND it showed. I'm not sure what it was but it felt like even minor roles had to be portrayed across as major roles. This meant UNLESS you were someone who likes to be invested in every single one of their story and romance, you're not going to enjoy this. The plot was not exciting, especially during the first half of the show. This had nothing to do with their slow romance, but all those Filler scenes with mundane conversations, drinking alcohol, etc. There was numerous times when Ji Xing and Han ting will be on screen for literally 30s and they just wave to each other and there's a very obvious cut. This plot and this Novel could've been executed much much better! It's overall a 7/10 kind of show for me. I would not recommend it unless you're someone who enjoys having to watch three couples with equal interest.
-----------------------------------<>
2. Reason one led to shorter screen time for the main couple. The first twenty episodes, I swear the main leads(the couple) did not even have 5 minutes they were on-screen together as a pair. Like there was absolutely no conversation between them about getting to know each other except for the part they would talk about her startup(or more specifically when he was giving her advice on how to do business)
3. This brings me to number 3. I don't know if it gives you the ick or not, but in an era where it's all about female empowerment, I like to see that on screens. Having Han Ting being literally the same age/closer in age to Ji Xing and yet being eight galaxies away in terms of intellectual abilities was sort of a turn-off for me. They made him the knight in shining armour for the lousy business decisions that came along at times.
4. The Dialogues? Who even wrote these lines? Like the amount of very obvious propaganda between the Lines was just argh and those speeches he gave... not to mention the lines he was saying during the fights? But this wasn't a big deal. You can still watch past this.
5. One of the worst parts of the show(FOR ME PERSONALLY) was the makeup. I get the different beauty standards, but man the way they put on Edward Cullen make up on Xu Kai every time he wore a suit was not appealing at all. I've watched plenty of shows, chinese ones, and I see this often but with so many things being a let down in the drama, I would've expected for this to be a saving grace but it wasn't.
P.S. This Is just my very Own take at the show. I have watched other shows such as Meet yourself, here we meet again, Go go squid, put your head on my shoulder and so many like that and enjoyed them so so so much more than this one. I've watched a couple In a similar genre as well and none of them were this bad. This is just yet another let down, also please don;t come at me with the IMDB ratings. MDL is a more reliable site for asian shows than IMDB. there's like 70 people who've rated this on it, and It's safe to say they're all probably Xu Kai fans. MDL ratings reflect more on the quality of the show. Honestly it's not even a 8 for me, but sure.
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