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The Romance of Tiger and Rose chinese drama review
Completed
The Romance of Tiger and Rose
9 people found this review helpful
by brunhilda
Nov 8, 2020
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 5.5
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

Funny and superficial so I guess a bit fasfoodish?


As a parody of all the main character´s invincible halo and many other clichés of dramaland, it is nice. I did enjoy the comedy quite a lot in the first half, the acting is ok, the visuals also. I admit I did skip around ten episodes as they were not necessary – you know what will happen after the first (few) episode(s). I will maybe go back to them when I am really bored and in need of some background comedy.

*As for the characters or acting …. All is within the realm of genre. From the last servant to the ideal Mary Sue female lead. Their motivation or background are unnecessary and uninteresting, their portrayal ok. *

The story is simple and flat and not that well-made but considering it sets out to point out and ridicule those traits of its genre, there is no need to attack them on these grounds. They are well-aware of it.
I was wondering about the end – because in this kind of story there is only so much you can do. And they went for the most kitchy one! It is not bad – it stays true to the parodic tongue-in-the-cheek comedy vibe. Similarly, I did appreciate that the girl admitted in the end that the story is bull***t.
The funny thing is that if you don´t want to, you can ignore the parody and happily enjoy/be furious with the simple and clichéd romcom. This, I think, is also intentional. They put just enough jokes about the silly plotlines or stock characters etc. to retain the impression of self-reflection. Thanks to that, the audience can enjoy the romance, comedy and dramatic bits without being annoyed with all those clichés.

As for the feminism or gender equality themes that are addressed here…. Firstly, I think it comes as no surprise that it is done quite cheaply and simplistically. Yes, it points out some issues and absurdities and as a light-hearted start of this discussion can be somewhat accepted. However, the alleged cultural differences are used only when the plot allows it, the main leads stick to the classical drama-couple dynamic, there is not much of independence or value outside of their pairing, the ML saves the girl while the FL is the angel redeeming his soul (honestly, this is such ugly and dangerous trope the bad boy reformed through love!) etc. etc. On the other hand, it was nice that the original genre setting was so simplistic and childish, it went well with the female lead´s personality and writing ability.
Secondly, it seems that the theme is used mainly as a crowd pleaser. Not sure that the authors ever intended to contribute with anything worthwhile to the discussion about gender equality. Rather they just wanted to have something attractive for the audience – something that will address an interesting and popular topic and will create an illusion of difference (similarly the parodic bit can be viewed as an illusion of taking the audience´s intelligence into consideration).

Overall, it is light-hearted and simple romcom that uses all the clichés it is making fun of. All the stock characters, scenes, plot devices and solutions. It tries to distinguish itself from the horde by admitting to it by using the parodic angle. Yes, it makes the superficiality and hollowness of such stories obvious. However, it still stays within its realm… so what is the point? I suspect it is just to appease the viewer. This way their weakness becomes their strength and their, albeit short-lived, allure. It seems that more than being a critique of the low quality of (isekai, historical, fantasy,…) dramas it just wants to gain more popularity without actually doing that much extra work.

As some other reviewer already said – lower your expectations. Accept the cheap parodic bit and you have simple romantic comedy to watch during your lunch or before sleeping. Easy to digest, quick to forget. But don´t forget, same as with fast food, the nutritional value is quite low.
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