JoJo
This review may contain spoilers
Too much of a good thing
First of all, I'm stunned I was able to watch 33 ~one-hour episodes of a love story that was resolved in the first few.
The story is mostly about nothing, except Chinese culture and gastronomy. It's more of a postcard with THREE group trips and not much else. The group dynamic was disturbing a lot of the times. Even I was embarrassed for all the couples. The group was funny but too nosy and always there.
The main thing I have to point out is why are 30 yo men after college girls? That was probably one of the things that irked me the most. I don't find it cute or appropriate. They're in completely different stages in life. That's how manipulation starts in abusive relationships. He doesn't let her do anything with all the "surprises". He didn't even let her savour her graduation and had to put the wedding and their relationship at the centre of such an important time for her. He was, many times, condescending and that upset me a bit.
The pacing in this show is non-existent. I'm surprised, tho, that they didn't have more flashbacks and were able to fill most of the time with new scenes. There were many cute scenes, many funny scenes and the cultural themes were interesting. They presented the world of voice acting and traditional singing quite well.
Besides being able, for someone out of uni, to think they'll be able to buy a house (is the Chinese economy that good?), the other hard thing to believe is all the cooking. It looks like Instagram reel cooking and not real cooking. Everything is fast. All the dishes are done in no time. Taking over a restaurant's kitchen instead of eating with his friends is absurd as is ending up cooking for her family when he was the main guest. Who invites someone for dinner and has absolutely nothing prepared? Where do all the ingredients appear from, is he like Jesus with the fishes? Why would they buy something they didn't know how to cook?
I'm not familiar with what more recent Chinese dramas are doing but waiting 19 episodes for a kiss when they've been dating since episode 8 is absolutely uncanny. It was mostly a friendship until then, only after it was pointed out to them that it was indeed like a friendship did things start to heat up between them.
There isn't much more to say about the story because there wasn't much of a story. Everyone is nice and everything is good and there are no obstacles and the obstacles that are probably what, in real life, would end this relationship - like the fact that someone who is a doctor who has a second job and a university student who doesn't study and is mostly a supermarket clerk - aren't shown to us. It's good to have a sweet drama but too much of a good thing isn't necessarily good. There was no need for 33 episodes.
The voices are amazing. The performances both of the voice acting and the singing are fantastic. It made me curious about that world. The male lead has a voice that can move mountains.
The story is mostly about nothing, except Chinese culture and gastronomy. It's more of a postcard with THREE group trips and not much else. The group dynamic was disturbing a lot of the times. Even I was embarrassed for all the couples. The group was funny but too nosy and always there.
The main thing I have to point out is why are 30 yo men after college girls? That was probably one of the things that irked me the most. I don't find it cute or appropriate. They're in completely different stages in life. That's how manipulation starts in abusive relationships. He doesn't let her do anything with all the "surprises". He didn't even let her savour her graduation and had to put the wedding and their relationship at the centre of such an important time for her. He was, many times, condescending and that upset me a bit.
The pacing in this show is non-existent. I'm surprised, tho, that they didn't have more flashbacks and were able to fill most of the time with new scenes. There were many cute scenes, many funny scenes and the cultural themes were interesting. They presented the world of voice acting and traditional singing quite well.
Besides being able, for someone out of uni, to think they'll be able to buy a house (is the Chinese economy that good?), the other hard thing to believe is all the cooking. It looks like Instagram reel cooking and not real cooking. Everything is fast. All the dishes are done in no time. Taking over a restaurant's kitchen instead of eating with his friends is absurd as is ending up cooking for her family when he was the main guest. Who invites someone for dinner and has absolutely nothing prepared? Where do all the ingredients appear from, is he like Jesus with the fishes? Why would they buy something they didn't know how to cook?
I'm not familiar with what more recent Chinese dramas are doing but waiting 19 episodes for a kiss when they've been dating since episode 8 is absolutely uncanny. It was mostly a friendship until then, only after it was pointed out to them that it was indeed like a friendship did things start to heat up between them.
There isn't much more to say about the story because there wasn't much of a story. Everyone is nice and everything is good and there are no obstacles and the obstacles that are probably what, in real life, would end this relationship - like the fact that someone who is a doctor who has a second job and a university student who doesn't study and is mostly a supermarket clerk - aren't shown to us. It's good to have a sweet drama but too much of a good thing isn't necessarily good. There was no need for 33 episodes.
The voices are amazing. The performances both of the voice acting and the singing are fantastic. It made me curious about that world. The male lead has a voice that can move mountains.
Was this review helpful to you?
