spicyeggroll
This review may contain spoilers
If you like seeing the FL chase after her dream with support from the ML
This drama made me a huge fan of Eleanor Lee. Well, this one and Fake Princess. I love love loved her roles in both dramas and she really understands the assignment. Her acting is phenomenal, at such a young age, and I'm blessed to have been introduced to her (and she's talented in other stuff too!). The 2FL is also funny and fierce in this one, although her romantic storyline was a little tiring. Overall this is a cute and cozy watch with the usual illogical situations/misunderstandings of CDramas. I'm superrr impatient when it comes to misunderstandings, but I have to say the cute OTP moments are VERY worth it, as the leads have GREAT chemistry and are so cute together.
PROS
❀ Eleanor Lee's character (Nuan Nuan) is awesome and we get to see her go step-by-step towards her dream | Despite failing as an idol, I loved watching NN's journey in testing out different roles and settling into one that suited her. The different roles do become cyclic/repetitive at some point (enter new role, other colleague jealous of her, she manages to perform well, rinse, repeat), but tbh that's pretty satisfying to me. We love successful heroines chasing after their dreams!! Eleanor's acting range is so incredible and her character is pretty fun, too.
❀ Sha-la-la-la chemistry with the main leads | I think I read that the main leads are friends irl, and I buy it. I loved the chemistry between the main couple (hardworking, creative designer x genius, stone-faced visual director). I do think NN outshone Han Che, but he kept up as a supportive ML that wanted to do right by the FL. At first he's pretty unlikable but once he realizes his feelings for her (around ep 8 I believe), he becomes adorkable. And when they're together, they're fire!! His pouty faces are so cute and her antics with him make you want to laugh and smile. I think he does his fair share of groveling to make up for his mistake in the beginning by helping the FL throughout the series. Also great (and numerous) kissing scenes, bless.
I also liked how Han Che's emotion immaturity was partially explained by his hyperhymesia, which is the rare ability to remember everything in life with precision. The show explores its drawbacks, including physical ones like headaches and more mental ones like not knowing how to behave in social settings. BUTTT I wish the show utilized more of his psychiatrist!! Why bring those scenes in when he's not even going to open up to the psychiatrist? :') I feel like that was a bit of a lost opportunity as it could have explored mental health in a way I haven't seen in dramas.
❀ Great OST; very sweet and upbeat | There's a reprise that continues throughout different songs that I really like, but I think the original one is from The Best of Luck sung by Eleanor Lee herself (she's so talented... y'all I hopped on her train so fast LOL). It's a beautiful song, features a gorgeous melodic line, and I think the show did a wonderful job in bringing it into different tracks.
❀ Cute addition of a shared pet! And cohabitation *heart sign* | Got some great tropes mixed in, including a cat named hotpot and the leads acting cute while living together.
❀ Happy ending with basically 3 couples | The secondary couple talk about getting pregnant, the main couple is about to get married, and the evil couple are kinda getting it on (tbh idk/idc about them).
CONS
✕ Kinda useless evil ML (EML) and evil FL (EFL) | I disliked how the main couple and secondary couple remained friends with them until the end. Like yuh... homegirl acted up on yo mans AND betrayed y'all after 4 years of being trainees, and y'all gonna let her in on hotpot?? I skipped most of the scenes she was in. The EML was good-looking but had cardboard acting so I couldn't empathize with him. The end of the drama made it seem as if they be getting feelings for each other (they = EML + FML) but honestly I couldn't see it. Both actors were pretty wooden-faced throughout everything and the script didn't help.
✕ Secondary couple (fierce, emboldened ex-trainee x nerdy, helpful little brother) was a bit tiring | Their whole subplot was "I can't like him because I see him as a lil bro" and "why can't she see me as a man," thrown in with a (maybe) pregnancy. I feel like this subplot was written a bit immaturely and I found myself watching their scenes in 2x speed. Don't get me wrong, I was rooting for them and they were cute, but their antics were a lil 2much4me.
✕ Misunderstanding level: 7/10 | Other than the main misunderstanding, for the sake of the plot (where the ML hides his identity as the guy who helped the FL fail in becoming a star) there are small misunderstandings too. I remember two small ones instigated by the EFL, and in both times the supposedly smart (but emotionally stunted, I guess) ML jumped to conclusions. There's a break-up around ep 17 (confrontation of the big secret in the beginning) but the ML is chasing the FL all the way until they get back together in ep 20, and then other stuff due to the ML's wayward protectiveness happen too. Tbh the boundary between their relationship (i.e., "we're together" vs. "we've broken up") isn't really explicitly stated whenever they get together, but I guess it's the audience's assumption that they know the other's feeling of liking them. (If that makes sense. Lol, I promise the cute moments between the two are worth the slight ambiguity.)
OVERALL
I feel like 7.5/10 is such an ugly number, and feels low, but it's also just below a 4/5 which is not bad at all. I think this drama used one too many misunderstandings, BUTTT the main couple's chemistry and Nuan Nuan's character in general elevated the story and made me keep watching. If you're a fan of seeing the FL grow and find her dream through trials and tribulations, along with supportive side characters, you'll like this one!
(Note: My rewatch value is set to 5.0 always as a default as I'm not the type to rewatch dramas EVER. Thus, I do not take it into account when calculating overall score.)
PROS
❀ Eleanor Lee's character (Nuan Nuan) is awesome and we get to see her go step-by-step towards her dream | Despite failing as an idol, I loved watching NN's journey in testing out different roles and settling into one that suited her. The different roles do become cyclic/repetitive at some point (enter new role, other colleague jealous of her, she manages to perform well, rinse, repeat), but tbh that's pretty satisfying to me. We love successful heroines chasing after their dreams!! Eleanor's acting range is so incredible and her character is pretty fun, too.
❀ Sha-la-la-la chemistry with the main leads | I think I read that the main leads are friends irl, and I buy it. I loved the chemistry between the main couple (hardworking, creative designer x genius, stone-faced visual director). I do think NN outshone Han Che, but he kept up as a supportive ML that wanted to do right by the FL. At first he's pretty unlikable but once he realizes his feelings for her (around ep 8 I believe), he becomes adorkable. And when they're together, they're fire!! His pouty faces are so cute and her antics with him make you want to laugh and smile. I think he does his fair share of groveling to make up for his mistake in the beginning by helping the FL throughout the series. Also great (and numerous) kissing scenes, bless.
I also liked how Han Che's emotion immaturity was partially explained by his hyperhymesia, which is the rare ability to remember everything in life with precision. The show explores its drawbacks, including physical ones like headaches and more mental ones like not knowing how to behave in social settings. BUTTT I wish the show utilized more of his psychiatrist!! Why bring those scenes in when he's not even going to open up to the psychiatrist? :') I feel like that was a bit of a lost opportunity as it could have explored mental health in a way I haven't seen in dramas.
❀ Great OST; very sweet and upbeat | There's a reprise that continues throughout different songs that I really like, but I think the original one is from The Best of Luck sung by Eleanor Lee herself (she's so talented... y'all I hopped on her train so fast LOL). It's a beautiful song, features a gorgeous melodic line, and I think the show did a wonderful job in bringing it into different tracks.
❀ Cute addition of a shared pet! And cohabitation *heart sign* | Got some great tropes mixed in, including a cat named hotpot and the leads acting cute while living together.
❀ Happy ending with basically 3 couples | The secondary couple talk about getting pregnant, the main couple is about to get married, and the evil couple are kinda getting it on (tbh idk/idc about them).
CONS
✕ Kinda useless evil ML (EML) and evil FL (EFL) | I disliked how the main couple and secondary couple remained friends with them until the end. Like yuh... homegirl acted up on yo mans AND betrayed y'all after 4 years of being trainees, and y'all gonna let her in on hotpot?? I skipped most of the scenes she was in. The EML was good-looking but had cardboard acting so I couldn't empathize with him. The end of the drama made it seem as if they be getting feelings for each other (they = EML + FML) but honestly I couldn't see it. Both actors were pretty wooden-faced throughout everything and the script didn't help.
✕ Secondary couple (fierce, emboldened ex-trainee x nerdy, helpful little brother) was a bit tiring | Their whole subplot was "I can't like him because I see him as a lil bro" and "why can't she see me as a man," thrown in with a (maybe) pregnancy. I feel like this subplot was written a bit immaturely and I found myself watching their scenes in 2x speed. Don't get me wrong, I was rooting for them and they were cute, but their antics were a lil 2much4me.
✕ Misunderstanding level: 7/10 | Other than the main misunderstanding, for the sake of the plot (where the ML hides his identity as the guy who helped the FL fail in becoming a star) there are small misunderstandings too. I remember two small ones instigated by the EFL, and in both times the supposedly smart (but emotionally stunted, I guess) ML jumped to conclusions. There's a break-up around ep 17 (confrontation of the big secret in the beginning) but the ML is chasing the FL all the way until they get back together in ep 20, and then other stuff due to the ML's wayward protectiveness happen too. Tbh the boundary between their relationship (i.e., "we're together" vs. "we've broken up") isn't really explicitly stated whenever they get together, but I guess it's the audience's assumption that they know the other's feeling of liking them. (If that makes sense. Lol, I promise the cute moments between the two are worth the slight ambiguity.)
OVERALL
I feel like 7.5/10 is such an ugly number, and feels low, but it's also just below a 4/5 which is not bad at all. I think this drama used one too many misunderstandings, BUTTT the main couple's chemistry and Nuan Nuan's character in general elevated the story and made me keep watching. If you're a fan of seeing the FL grow and find her dream through trials and tribulations, along with supportive side characters, you'll like this one!
(Note: My rewatch value is set to 5.0 always as a default as I'm not the type to rewatch dramas EVER. Thus, I do not take it into account when calculating overall score.)
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