1
burhaa aadmi
Hic Sunt Dracones
This was my 33rd completed drama from mainland China. It is the 5th to score at least 9/10. It was really, really good!
Above all, it was the intelligent writing. This was a youth romcom, of which China seems determined to produce one for each of its 1.3 billion citizens. Unsurprisingly, most of them are indistinguishable forgettable clones when they are not excruciatingly awful. But when they get it right, they've REALLY get it right.
This drama respected and played by the tropes of the genre, but it did so with a gently amused and affectionate self-awareness. It had fun with the tropes, but it didn't mock them. It acknowledged the inherent silliness of the romcom tropes, but thanks to the chemistry of the leads and the gentle wit of the writing (at least as it came across in the subs I saw), this remained sweet and surprisingly insightful.
One of the obvious markers of difference for this drama is in the appearance of the female lead played by Wan Peng. Most of the cookie-cutter C dramas have interchangeable clones for their leads. At least eight out of every 10 female leads in this sort of drama looks like an ad for surgical perfection. Ms Wan on the other hand has a face which seems to have had little if any knife work, and perhaps even more remarkably she has noticeably imperfect teeth. I absolutely loved this. That she hadn't been airbrushed or surgically transformed made it easier to accept her delivery of her character, and it was a great character.
A lot of C dramas are at best patronisingly chauvinistic, and at worst misogynistic, in the way they treat the female leads – as delicate flowers who need to be protected. Often this is reflected in the excruciating dubbing that they use - some high-pitched childlike voice regardless of the actor's own voice or the appearance of the actor, the need to show the female lead is some sort of adult. This drama on the other hand showed the female lead picking the male lead up and carrying him on her shoulders. There was a whole arc in the middle of the drama celebrating the right of strong, fit, athletic women to be proud of who they are regardless of the narrowminded gossip that might be generated.
Right to the end this drama made me laugh and made me love the leads. The only reason I scored it 9/10 is because it should have been 20 episodes not 24. A little nip and tuck of the drama itself would have enhanced it. The other slight failing is not a much really a flaw just something I would have loved to have seen. I would have given the drama more points had the drama had a little bit more courage. It celebrated the strength of women who are strong physically strong athletic independent who can stand up for themselves and others. That was awesome, and I loved it. But the drama could have taken it a little bit further, could have really set itself well above the rest if it had demonstrated just a tiny bit more courage by doing something I have yet to see in this sort of drama.
There is a situation where the female lead faces a life changing challenge. Something happens that threatens her whole sense of identity and everything she's worked for. She gets through it, and the male leaders wonderfully supportive et cetera et cetera but it would have been really awesome if the lead who suffered that life changing challenge to their sense of identity in their goals and purpose in life had been the MALE lead. It's not that the male lead rescued the female lead, but she was the one that was threatened with losing everything that mattered most to and he supported her. Had the drama flipped THAT trope it would have been 9 1/2 at least.
In summary if you want to see what a romcom can be when it's done right, watch this drama!
Above all, it was the intelligent writing. This was a youth romcom, of which China seems determined to produce one for each of its 1.3 billion citizens. Unsurprisingly, most of them are indistinguishable forgettable clones when they are not excruciatingly awful. But when they get it right, they've REALLY get it right.
This drama respected and played by the tropes of the genre, but it did so with a gently amused and affectionate self-awareness. It had fun with the tropes, but it didn't mock them. It acknowledged the inherent silliness of the romcom tropes, but thanks to the chemistry of the leads and the gentle wit of the writing (at least as it came across in the subs I saw), this remained sweet and surprisingly insightful.
One of the obvious markers of difference for this drama is in the appearance of the female lead played by Wan Peng. Most of the cookie-cutter C dramas have interchangeable clones for their leads. At least eight out of every 10 female leads in this sort of drama looks like an ad for surgical perfection. Ms Wan on the other hand has a face which seems to have had little if any knife work, and perhaps even more remarkably she has noticeably imperfect teeth. I absolutely loved this. That she hadn't been airbrushed or surgically transformed made it easier to accept her delivery of her character, and it was a great character.
A lot of C dramas are at best patronisingly chauvinistic, and at worst misogynistic, in the way they treat the female leads – as delicate flowers who need to be protected. Often this is reflected in the excruciating dubbing that they use - some high-pitched childlike voice regardless of the actor's own voice or the appearance of the actor, the need to show the female lead is some sort of adult. This drama on the other hand showed the female lead picking the male lead up and carrying him on her shoulders. There was a whole arc in the middle of the drama celebrating the right of strong, fit, athletic women to be proud of who they are regardless of the narrowminded gossip that might be generated.
Right to the end this drama made me laugh and made me love the leads. The only reason I scored it 9/10 is because it should have been 20 episodes not 24. A little nip and tuck of the drama itself would have enhanced it. The other slight failing is not a much really a flaw just something I would have loved to have seen. I would have given the drama more points had the drama had a little bit more courage. It celebrated the strength of women who are strong physically strong athletic independent who can stand up for themselves and others. That was awesome, and I loved it. But the drama could have taken it a little bit further, could have really set itself well above the rest if it had demonstrated just a tiny bit more courage by doing something I have yet to see in this sort of drama.
There is a situation where the female lead faces a life changing challenge. Something happens that threatens her whole sense of identity and everything she's worked for. She gets through it, and the male leaders wonderfully supportive et cetera et cetera but it would have been really awesome if the lead who suffered that life changing challenge to their sense of identity in their goals and purpose in life had been the MALE lead. It's not that the male lead rescued the female lead, but she was the one that was threatened with losing everything that mattered most to and he supported her. Had the drama flipped THAT trope it would have been 9 1/2 at least.
In summary if you want to see what a romcom can be when it's done right, watch this drama!
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