ivybis
United States
Recommended if you liked Hidden Love
Just finished this today and I give it a solid 7 stars. I liked this despite some flaws. The strongest part of this drama was the relationship between these two young lovers, played exceptionally well by Wu Lei and Zhao Jin Mai, while its weakest was in the elements of production.
Both leads were well-cast in this romantic drama and my biggest delight was watching them playfully enjoying each other's company and slowly letting each other in. Our FL is at first suspicious of our ML since she is inexperienced and away from home. Our ML is living and studying abroad having left behind a troubled past. He is living a relatively uncomplicated life, but the appearance of this pretty young lady makes him realize how much he is really missing. We are drawn into their relationship and are made to feel a part of it---every glance, every smile, every intimate moment. I basked in this youthful love, reminded of my own relationship with my husband when we first started dating.
Centered around this love story is the sport of billiards. Both are young athletes who are competing in billiards tournaments and although somewhat interesting, (I had no idea there were so many different types of billiard games---Snooker, 6 ball, 9 ball, etc.), it often detracted from the main focus of these two lovers. Many gorgeous people abounded in the cast and the talent was underused. I think a more compelling story would have been to give some of these young people more to do than just stand there and look beautiful. One example was Dai Si. The plot seemed to be going towards a possible triangle, but instead underused her in the name of not creating conflicts. In fact, the only conflict in this drama is within our ML and his troubled past. There is very little in the way of outer forces working against them which makes for a very benign plot.
The last few episodes were weakest because they dealt more with a national billiards competition that took away much of the focus of the two young lovers, but gave the ensemble cast more screen time. I think the goal was to produce a youthful, romantic drama for a younger audience with as little conflict as possible. The lessons/message being: love your person, love your sport, love your country.
I also appreciated the on location filming in Finland and getting to see some of the snowy sites. The extras were great and it gave our main leads an opportunity to practice their English.
OST was great. Perfect mix of youthful tunes with just a touch of edgy songs for the billiards competitions. The piano score played during the couple moments was my favorite. I have already added it to my Spotify playlist.
I recommend this title for those who want something similar to Hidden Love.
Both leads were well-cast in this romantic drama and my biggest delight was watching them playfully enjoying each other's company and slowly letting each other in. Our FL is at first suspicious of our ML since she is inexperienced and away from home. Our ML is living and studying abroad having left behind a troubled past. He is living a relatively uncomplicated life, but the appearance of this pretty young lady makes him realize how much he is really missing. We are drawn into their relationship and are made to feel a part of it---every glance, every smile, every intimate moment. I basked in this youthful love, reminded of my own relationship with my husband when we first started dating.
Centered around this love story is the sport of billiards. Both are young athletes who are competing in billiards tournaments and although somewhat interesting, (I had no idea there were so many different types of billiard games---Snooker, 6 ball, 9 ball, etc.), it often detracted from the main focus of these two lovers. Many gorgeous people abounded in the cast and the talent was underused. I think a more compelling story would have been to give some of these young people more to do than just stand there and look beautiful. One example was Dai Si. The plot seemed to be going towards a possible triangle, but instead underused her in the name of not creating conflicts. In fact, the only conflict in this drama is within our ML and his troubled past. There is very little in the way of outer forces working against them which makes for a very benign plot.
The last few episodes were weakest because they dealt more with a national billiards competition that took away much of the focus of the two young lovers, but gave the ensemble cast more screen time. I think the goal was to produce a youthful, romantic drama for a younger audience with as little conflict as possible. The lessons/message being: love your person, love your sport, love your country.
I also appreciated the on location filming in Finland and getting to see some of the snowy sites. The extras were great and it gave our main leads an opportunity to practice their English.
OST was great. Perfect mix of youthful tunes with just a touch of edgy songs for the billiards competitions. The piano score played during the couple moments was my favorite. I have already added it to my Spotify playlist.
I recommend this title for those who want something similar to Hidden Love.
Was this review helpful to you?
