Jina
United States
A memorable drama with great cinematography, strong characters, and genuine heart
The premise is typical for a romcom historical, but the execution of this drama is perfect. This drama grows on you and becomes unexpectedly moving, sweet, and just incredibly beautiful. Don't give up on it in the early episodes! The ending is satisfying and happy.
This is a romcom historical with a personality and distinguishes itself in so many ways.
1) GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHY: I wonder if the cameras are different or comes from making films, because each episode really looks like a film. It doesn't have that look like other romcom historicals. It's really beautiful in the physical settings and the direction of the scenes.
2) STRONG SOUNDTRACK: I'm a believer in how a soundtrack can make or break a drama. Music is so important in building the right mood and tension. Although this drama doesn't have a lot of song variety, this drama does it right and use the music effectively, especially with the ending theme "Stealing Heart" where the vocals are perfectly heartbreaking and the music is moving.
3) LOVEABLE MAIN LEADS:
-Xiong Xiruo is your typical FL who doesn't know how to fight but uses her skills and cleverness to deal with situations. Of course, when she only solves something for the short-term, it can create a bigger problem in the long run...but that's part of the amusement and plot. At the beginning, she comes across as a bit annoying, and some of her actions is a bit too dramatic, but becomes more thoughtful as the drama continues. She becomes more sincere and becomes very adorable in my opinion.
-Li Hongbin is your typical cold ML who faces precarious situations with a calm, arrogant face. After he falls in love though, I completely forgot that that was his original personality! I mean this in a good way haha. He became so sweet and loving once he accepted his own feelings. He's capable and he becomes more thoughtful as well as the drama continues. Both the main characters grow and become very sweet together.
4) AND ENDEARING SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:
There's a lot, but I'll just highlight my favorite ones.
Li Hongbin's parents! Absolute favorites, hands down, from any other historical romcom dramas. They are so funny, so kind, and also just real? Like, they act like how a real, long-time married couple would act. They are very lovable.
Xiong Xiruo's friendship with the doctor is hilarious and also very nice to see. It's refreshing to see a girl/boy relationship that doesn't turn into love. They're like brother and sister, so they have a funny relationship.
Li Hong You is probably the character that I feel lacks a little bit. He is still a good guy and a good character, but doesn't get as much screentime as I hoped toward the end. However, I like that he isn't a conniving hateful kind of brother and instead wishes well for his brother and sister-in-law. I like his own backstory too and his previous loved one.
Li Hongbin's right hand man Amao: I adore him so much because he's hilarious and may look like a slapstick character, but is very capable.
5) A STRAIGHTFORWARD SERIOUS PLOTLINE WITH SWEET ROMANCE: It's only 29 episodes, so the serious plot doesn't get too complicated. There are a couple twists, but it gets resolved in a pretty satisfactory way. The antagonists get what they deserve (although I would argue that one got more than the other one...)
The romance is handled pretty well. Their misunderstandings is established well in the beginning and the lie between Xiong Xiruo and Li Hongbin doesn't last too long. As the summary already indicates, Li Hongbin eventually knows her truth but then the lie continues for the family and it's up to Xiong Xiruo and Li Hongbin to eventually come clean. I think this whole part of the drama is well done as we see that it gets more difficult for the truth comes out when you sincerely care about the people you lied to. The stakes becomes higher as Xiong Xiruo becomes attach to the family. Very well done!
One of my absolute favorite part of this drama was the wedding. It's quite unique compared to the typical Chinese weddings and also the wedding becomes another detail in showing how this city is a bit different from the capital. There are little details that show that this city--that is on the border--has some slight difference in customs, and so, the wedding was a bit different. Even, for example, Li Hongbin's look. I love the little square clip on his head. I don't think I've seen that on other historical male characters.
Note: The comedy is a little rough in the beginning--they had a few of those moments where they make fun of a fat character by making the fat character's entire personality about eating--but some of that crude humor goes away and the comedy gets refined.
It was interesting to me also that this was one of the first dramas where I saw multiple characters who were bigger in size/weight and that these characters were consistent in the show rather than just being one-dimensional one-off characters.
Li Hongbin's father is of bigger size and his main male servant is also of bigger size.
Anyway, this was an enjoyable, very sweet story. I really love the world of this story and how most of the characters really feel complex and have unique personalities. Most of all, I love the lesson of the drama: sincerity is more important than status or heritage. :)
This is a romcom historical with a personality and distinguishes itself in so many ways.
1) GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHY: I wonder if the cameras are different or comes from making films, because each episode really looks like a film. It doesn't have that look like other romcom historicals. It's really beautiful in the physical settings and the direction of the scenes.
2) STRONG SOUNDTRACK: I'm a believer in how a soundtrack can make or break a drama. Music is so important in building the right mood and tension. Although this drama doesn't have a lot of song variety, this drama does it right and use the music effectively, especially with the ending theme "Stealing Heart" where the vocals are perfectly heartbreaking and the music is moving.
3) LOVEABLE MAIN LEADS:
-Xiong Xiruo is your typical FL who doesn't know how to fight but uses her skills and cleverness to deal with situations. Of course, when she only solves something for the short-term, it can create a bigger problem in the long run...but that's part of the amusement and plot. At the beginning, she comes across as a bit annoying, and some of her actions is a bit too dramatic, but becomes more thoughtful as the drama continues. She becomes more sincere and becomes very adorable in my opinion.
-Li Hongbin is your typical cold ML who faces precarious situations with a calm, arrogant face. After he falls in love though, I completely forgot that that was his original personality! I mean this in a good way haha. He became so sweet and loving once he accepted his own feelings. He's capable and he becomes more thoughtful as well as the drama continues. Both the main characters grow and become very sweet together.
4) AND ENDEARING SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:
There's a lot, but I'll just highlight my favorite ones.
Li Hongbin's parents! Absolute favorites, hands down, from any other historical romcom dramas. They are so funny, so kind, and also just real? Like, they act like how a real, long-time married couple would act. They are very lovable.
Xiong Xiruo's friendship with the doctor is hilarious and also very nice to see. It's refreshing to see a girl/boy relationship that doesn't turn into love. They're like brother and sister, so they have a funny relationship.
Li Hong You is probably the character that I feel lacks a little bit. He is still a good guy and a good character, but doesn't get as much screentime as I hoped toward the end. However, I like that he isn't a conniving hateful kind of brother and instead wishes well for his brother and sister-in-law. I like his own backstory too and his previous loved one.
Li Hongbin's right hand man Amao: I adore him so much because he's hilarious and may look like a slapstick character, but is very capable.
5) A STRAIGHTFORWARD SERIOUS PLOTLINE WITH SWEET ROMANCE: It's only 29 episodes, so the serious plot doesn't get too complicated. There are a couple twists, but it gets resolved in a pretty satisfactory way. The antagonists get what they deserve (although I would argue that one got more than the other one...)
The romance is handled pretty well. Their misunderstandings is established well in the beginning and the lie between Xiong Xiruo and Li Hongbin doesn't last too long. As the summary already indicates, Li Hongbin eventually knows her truth but then the lie continues for the family and it's up to Xiong Xiruo and Li Hongbin to eventually come clean. I think this whole part of the drama is well done as we see that it gets more difficult for the truth comes out when you sincerely care about the people you lied to. The stakes becomes higher as Xiong Xiruo becomes attach to the family. Very well done!
One of my absolute favorite part of this drama was the wedding. It's quite unique compared to the typical Chinese weddings and also the wedding becomes another detail in showing how this city is a bit different from the capital. There are little details that show that this city--that is on the border--has some slight difference in customs, and so, the wedding was a bit different. Even, for example, Li Hongbin's look. I love the little square clip on his head. I don't think I've seen that on other historical male characters.
Note: The comedy is a little rough in the beginning--they had a few of those moments where they make fun of a fat character by making the fat character's entire personality about eating--but some of that crude humor goes away and the comedy gets refined.
It was interesting to me also that this was one of the first dramas where I saw multiple characters who were bigger in size/weight and that these characters were consistent in the show rather than just being one-dimensional one-off characters.
Li Hongbin's father is of bigger size and his main male servant is also of bigger size.
Anyway, this was an enjoyable, very sweet story. I really love the world of this story and how most of the characters really feel complex and have unique personalities. Most of all, I love the lesson of the drama: sincerity is more important than status or heritage. :)
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