Wasted potential
First of all, what is this show about?
It’s Zheng Shuyi, a journalist who comes to know Shi Yan, an entrepreneur, as the uncle of her ex-boyfriend’s mistress. She gets closer and closer to him and sparks form, yet she still hides the reason of their meeting. At the same time, there are the love stories of Shuyi’s best friend, Shi Yan’s assistant, Shuyi’s boss and Shi Yan’s niece.
What can be said that’s good about this drama?
- Amazing cast. This show reunited some of the most famous and most recognisable Chinese actors, with Dylan Wang (LBFAD) and Bailu (Arsenal Military Academy) at the helm, accompanied by Wei ZheMing (Unforgettable Love) Jiang Pei Yao (Go Go Squid! 1), Zeng Li (LLTG) and many more. These are indeed also great actors, with Dylan Wang having grown majorly from his questionable acting in Miss The Dragon, although nothing could beat his acting in Love Between Fairy and Devil.
- Additionally, there seems to be quite a lot of budget for this series, with nice camera work, lots of closeups and flattering light. There’s also some pretty decor, background and overall good composition.
Now this is where everything will turn as this is the end of the positive aspects of this series.
What is bad about this drama? Too many things honestly. But what are the most apparent things?
- Storyline and bad use of time:
In the first part of the drama, the romance is dragged way too much, and there is little time dedicated to the progression of the secondary couples. It’s only when we get to the middle that we see the secondary characters become important. Near the end, we are disappointed and annoyed at the amount of couples that they tried to fit in this story. Some seemed natural, while others were completely forced and added nothing to the already heavy storyline. There are at least 6 couples shown in this, with more than half having little to no real screen-time.
- Lack of continuity:
They give us situations, that have obviously been filmed out of order, but when information has already been given to us previously, they go back on it or don’t know this information exists, as if some later episodes were written and filmed before the earlier ones.
-Rushed ending:
Near the end, they struggled to tie up the loose ends created throughout the series, and most were still open. They introduced so many storylines but didn’t do anything more to meaningfully contribute to the story. We are left with so many questions.
-Useless Characters:
They added characters out of nowhere, only to be used for one or two situations and then never be seen again, like a disappearing act. They were also used to force the main leads to experience the famous clichés (Jealousy, cheating, miscommunication, Rich CEO boyfriend, fake rumours…etc). One character appears in the end of the story, we’ve never heard of her, we don’t know where she comes from or why she’s here, but she doesn’t serve any use other than making the FL jealous and looking innocent.
- Main Leads personalities.
The ML was pretty basic, cold CEO who doesn’t like to talk much, and Dylan’s acting makes it a tiny bit enjoyable. What’s bad is the FL’s personality. It makes no sense. She is shy, yet courageous at the same time. And immature all the time, despite being an accomplished journalist respected by many. She tries to fit the mould of the soft, submissive female lead but all of her attributes fail to build a harmonious personality.
-Useless problems/intrigue:
The whole problem with the relationship of the main leads is the total lack of communication. And that the problem is resolved immaturely from both sides, and then forgotten.
To conclude:
This story tries to be the perfect overbearing CEO with a cutesy FL series, partnered with every cliché known to the CDrama industry. With the amount of budget it had, it’s disappointing story wise and doesn’t give us a proper ending.
It’s Zheng Shuyi, a journalist who comes to know Shi Yan, an entrepreneur, as the uncle of her ex-boyfriend’s mistress. She gets closer and closer to him and sparks form, yet she still hides the reason of their meeting. At the same time, there are the love stories of Shuyi’s best friend, Shi Yan’s assistant, Shuyi’s boss and Shi Yan’s niece.
What can be said that’s good about this drama?
- Amazing cast. This show reunited some of the most famous and most recognisable Chinese actors, with Dylan Wang (LBFAD) and Bailu (Arsenal Military Academy) at the helm, accompanied by Wei ZheMing (Unforgettable Love) Jiang Pei Yao (Go Go Squid! 1), Zeng Li (LLTG) and many more. These are indeed also great actors, with Dylan Wang having grown majorly from his questionable acting in Miss The Dragon, although nothing could beat his acting in Love Between Fairy and Devil.
- Additionally, there seems to be quite a lot of budget for this series, with nice camera work, lots of closeups and flattering light. There’s also some pretty decor, background and overall good composition.
Now this is where everything will turn as this is the end of the positive aspects of this series.
What is bad about this drama? Too many things honestly. But what are the most apparent things?
- Storyline and bad use of time:
In the first part of the drama, the romance is dragged way too much, and there is little time dedicated to the progression of the secondary couples. It’s only when we get to the middle that we see the secondary characters become important. Near the end, we are disappointed and annoyed at the amount of couples that they tried to fit in this story. Some seemed natural, while others were completely forced and added nothing to the already heavy storyline. There are at least 6 couples shown in this, with more than half having little to no real screen-time.
- Lack of continuity:
They give us situations, that have obviously been filmed out of order, but when information has already been given to us previously, they go back on it or don’t know this information exists, as if some later episodes were written and filmed before the earlier ones.
-Rushed ending:
Near the end, they struggled to tie up the loose ends created throughout the series, and most were still open. They introduced so many storylines but didn’t do anything more to meaningfully contribute to the story. We are left with so many questions.
-Useless Characters:
They added characters out of nowhere, only to be used for one or two situations and then never be seen again, like a disappearing act. They were also used to force the main leads to experience the famous clichés (Jealousy, cheating, miscommunication, Rich CEO boyfriend, fake rumours…etc). One character appears in the end of the story, we’ve never heard of her, we don’t know where she comes from or why she’s here, but she doesn’t serve any use other than making the FL jealous and looking innocent.
- Main Leads personalities.
The ML was pretty basic, cold CEO who doesn’t like to talk much, and Dylan’s acting makes it a tiny bit enjoyable. What’s bad is the FL’s personality. It makes no sense. She is shy, yet courageous at the same time. And immature all the time, despite being an accomplished journalist respected by many. She tries to fit the mould of the soft, submissive female lead but all of her attributes fail to build a harmonious personality.
-Useless problems/intrigue:
The whole problem with the relationship of the main leads is the total lack of communication. And that the problem is resolved immaturely from both sides, and then forgotten.
To conclude:
This story tries to be the perfect overbearing CEO with a cutesy FL series, partnered with every cliché known to the CDrama industry. With the amount of budget it had, it’s disappointing story wise and doesn’t give us a proper ending.
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