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Only for Love chinese drama review
Completed
Only for Love
0 people found this review helpful
by xinclouds
15 days ago
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 6.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

For Wattpad lovers looking for a cliche old-school type of entertainment

I'm gonna be honest, just like everyone else, I watched this purely for the pairing of Dylan and Bailu - which did not disappoint. The most poignant strength of this show was the chemistry between the leads, and even the 2nd and 3rd pairings too. This show had almost 0 plot, and whatever plot was going on with the work stuff was more boring than watching paint dry. There were definitely funny moments, and I quite enjoyed the interactions between the pairings. Some satisfying moments, but this really is just for Wattpad lovers. Most, if not all, of the moments in this show was super cliched and old-school and doesn't at all feel like it's a drama released in 2023. So if you're looking for a good plot, this show is not for you. If you're looking for anything new and refreshing, this show is not for you. If you're looking for a very respectable and clear display of "true love", this show is not for you.

But if you're looking for a good palette cleanser, a cute workplace romance, or simply just a chance to stare at Dylan and Bailu's insane face cards, this show is for you!!! Despite my objective rating, I honestly quite enjoyed watching this show. It was super brainless and nonsensical and so absurd that I'd burst into laughter out of disbelief, but it was still an enjoyable watch. I liked the chemistry between Dylan and Bailu, and one thing the show did RIGHT was the kiss scenes - I replayed them many times and had to hide my face behind my hands sometimes because damn both of them can KISS. Those were 100% done excellent, absolutely 0 fish kisses or one party not reciprocating. Some moments, though old-school and perhaps cringey to some, made me giggle and kick my feet in spite of the cliched-ness of it all - but I'm also someone who enjoys this as a guilty pleasure LOL. So if you're looking for good chemistry between the leads (and the side pairings too), this is for you.

In all honesty, I skipped all of the plot stuff on the ml's part (aka all his work meetings and discussions) because I did not gaf. This show has a LOT of pairings though - there’s a total of 5 including the leads. I really enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd pairings (aka Shi Yue and Yu You; Shan Shan and Guan Ji), and if I'm being honest I loved Shi Yue and Yu You's moments more than the main leads towards the end (from about ep28 onwards)... the tropes are kind of mildly toxic? Because (spoiler) Shi Yue is basically just borderline harassing Yu You in the beginning and the relationship progression is not well fleshed-out, he just went from rejecting her advances over and over again to being super concerned about her and suddenly liking her. So it doesn't make any sense, but I was willing to look over that because they're just so so cute together. I really loved them both together and I want to see them in another pairing together as main leads because the chemistry is there!! As for Shan Shan and Guan Ji, I thought their trope was quite refreshing with both of them being players, but I was not a big fan of the constant push-pull, it felt repetitive and boring, but I will admit that they were very cute once they got together (esp with how clingy they both became, it was such a 180 from their previous relationship and it was amusing and adorable). 4th and 5th pairings were barely given screen time but mentioned in passing, had a few cute scenes together though I don’t see what value they added to the show LOL, probably just to max out the number of CPs they could milk out of the show?

There’s not much to say about music and styling, they weren’t worth mentioning much but they weren’t terrible. Music was typical of a modern workplace romance drama but styling fell flat, the only thing carrying the visuals was Dylan and Bailu's lethal face cards. (And for personal preference... Dylan looks way better without the glasses he always wears in the show - but he's still fine no matter what HAHA) I REALLY loved Shi Yue's styling and makeup and hair - exceeded Bailu's styling by an insane amount. Also Dylan had like 3 outfits at most - always suits, though he absolutely rocks them so no complaints really, but personally I would’ve loved to see him in a casual at-home outfit (aside from the apron) more often, I think we only got to see that once or twice?

SPOILERS! The breakup was soooo dragged out that it got really infuriating, it lasted from ep27 to ep31 which was just so entirely unnecessary, the miscommunication trope never miscommunicated like THIS before and I was ready to tear my hair out and punch the screen. It could’ve (and SHOULD’VE) been solved in ep29, when she got drunk and he sent her home. Also fl pissed me off so bad when the entire thing was just HER FAULT and when shit hit the fan she just backed away like a coward and stopped trying to explain things to him and instead threw an entire pity party for herself, and the ml was just constantly having to be there for her when she got drunk, got sick etc. Even in ep31 when they got back together she barely apologised or explained enough for me - in that moment I truly felt that the ml was way too good for her. It's a good thing I don’t care that much about their relationship in detail and just watched without a deep connection to them to enjoy their interactions and cute moments, so it didn’t bother me as much since I didn’t care. But there’s definitely a lot wrong with this show in terms of cultivating a healthy relationship. I also feel like their relationship progressed really quickly and it felt unnatural? In some way? So definitely don’t watch this show too seriously, it's a great show for a cute brainless palette cleanser but it doesn’t in any way, even remotely, show what a healthy love should be - their love did NOT even come close to touching my heart, I didn’t feel like they were truly IN LOVE (because the progression wasn’t done well enough, I didn’t feel like they’d have good reasons to be this in love with each other). I won’t bring up other shows in this review, but there’s definitely other shows out there in which the relationship progression is done so well that you feel yourself falling in love with the ml as the fl and the fl as the ml, and thus their love makes sense to you. So if you’re looking for LOVE like in Disney films, this is not for you.

Overall, though my review was mostly negative, I did enjoy this watch, especially the second half of the show (probably ep20 onwards). I didn’t go into this show with many expectations at all because I’ve seen the bad reviews, but I WILL watch ANY show for Dylan (and Bailu is an incredible bonus). The acting wasn’t incredible at all but both Dylan and Bailu are excellent actors without a doubt - this show, however, is not their best work by far because the plot and characterisation didn’t give them much room to show off their abilities, only their face cards. Nonetheless, it’s a decent entertaining watch, and my personal rating of this would be 7/10. Rewatch factor is solely for moments when you’re craving a brainless Wattpad watch again, as I do sometimes LOL. I do hope they’ll be paired in another show together (historical!!!! xianxia!!!) because their chemistry felt like wasted potential in this plotless show... would LOVE to see them in a xianxia drama together because I personally believe that that’s their strength, they shine more in historical shows.

To fully appreciate Dylan's acting skills, watch Love Between Fairy and Devil - that’s his BEST work to date by far, with the styling and micro-expressions... he outdid himself and I am in LOVE. Will write a review on that show too, it’s my favourite and my #1 forever. For Bailu, do watch One and Only, and Till the End of the Moon.

All in all, worth the watch if you go into this with no proper expectations and just want to have a good time staring at the eye candy cast LOL. Bonus points for the 10/10 makeout scenes.
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