Forgiveness Love and Redemption
Weĺl this is my very first review, been watching cdrama for awhile, my last day of my 4 days off and i am happy that eventually i followed my instinct and watched this drama, i read some reviews as well, it is indeed a very long 41 ep it needs patience and time to watch, what i love about this show are the playfullness of both fmale leads and male leads, sure tears will flow, get upset with few characters but i love most the character transformation between the 2 leads, their journey to heal each others pain and eventually falling in love, sure there are no extravagant proposal at the end but they are together, it is an open ended ending, a happy one, what he said to her that whenver wherever she goes he will go, he will follow, he wants to watch the sunset with her till they are old, beautiful love story, the music is so sweet and yet sad to listen, definitely highly recommended ....Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Wanna emotionally torture yourself? Go for it
Firstly the poster is misleading because Zhang Yun Long who is part of that poster is barely in drama, not even in one quarter… so if you are going to watch it because of him then please don't lol you'll end up being disappointed.This was supposed to air 4 years ago… so to this date, it's quite outdated in terms of almost everything. The title is a bit weird and definitely gives melodramatic vibes.. well yeah it's actually a melodrama but leaned towards business and the business politics. Even I'm not in much favor of the original title 佳期如夢之海上繁花 same as the novel having literal meaning "Variety Flowers at Seaside"
Talking about the story… it's just meh, so tropey cliche-filled and absolutely nothing special or extraordinary to offer, though it had some engaging factor in the start that made me give it chance being honest I'll say.. to endure it. The story being okay-ish, it could have been better with proper execution but that never happened. Jumping from one scene to another, uncoordinated time jumps its pace, the development it failed by every means. To be specific, there's one scene that's related to the second leads.. after 8 months time jump happened, and then it was shown that they were talking about the incident that happened 8 months ago as if it happened yesterday… okay so who talks about the relatively insignificant incident that happened a very long time ago lol what's wrong with editing they would have shown it before time jump.
The characters don't have their own identity they just react as the story needs… most of the time they are out of their character behaving totally differently. I'm annoyed by characterization, at the end I stopped caring about anyone coz they behave stupid.. teens know to behave better lol
One of the very few things that can be considered as good was acting, not the best but decent. I didn't notice any song other than the opening so no comment on the soundtrack. It's back from 2016 so don't really expect much from cinematography, styling, or aesthetics.
As this is a hate-to-love trope… where the male lead has a prejudice against the female lead due to one incident.. (the synopsis is wrong, the drama doesn't even include anything about one-night stand) so the hate and misunderstandings in the start seem forced. Now talking about the part that I really liked was the friendship between them it felt natural, easy to watch, and very good in terms of relationship dynamics. I like when friendship is shown before Romance starts as friends talk with each other… but then, of course, there was big trouble in front of them that messed up everything and after that out of nowhere they are in a relationship (I'm not talking abt having feelings for each other but there wasn't any scene that there's the conclusion where they get into the relationship) now that's the worst part, that made me think this even don't deserve Romance as a genre, coz it doesn't exist. Male lead doesn't know there's the thing called communication exists in the world, he does things as he wants without explaining to anyone... I mean what? I'm supposed to endure that nonsense? But yeah as anything can happen coz this is drama he just has to behave cute and clingy for some episodes then everything is fine.
The supporting roles are the worst and very annoying.. almost every character is unlikable and that includes even leads... I wouldn't recommend this at all, this is just pure torture, that'll end up giving you frustration. If you are a diehard fan of Li Qin and Shawn Dou.. that you can endure any nonsense and trash plot for eye candy I won't deny it sure has good-looking leads then you can go for it.
I'm not being any generous towards rating, why should I?
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
4 couples, 4 different ways to deal with love, social background and values
First of all, I'd like to say that this drama is really powerful, with very good actors and musics.At first I came into this drama because of the poster showing three of my favorite actors. I really thought that it was a love story involving 2 guys in love with the same girl.... But there is nothing like that in this drama ! It's so much more interesting !
4 couples with 4 different love stories and different bonds between them. It's all about love, friendship, money, power, social backgrounds, social pressure and achievement. Can you do whatever you want to gain prestige and money ? Can you make people love you just because you want them to love you ? Can you make decison on behalf of others without even discussing it with the peolpe concerned ? Can you forgive ? Can you let it go ? Can you let bygones be bygones ? Can you confess your mistakes and pay for them ? Can you really know your heart and real desires ?
Those are some of the topics that you will find in the storyline. Love is one thing but most important are the decisions you make when you are in love and when things don't go as you wish.... certainly the message in this drama is that love can make you a better person as long as you take the right decisions and spend most of your time to cherish the one you love.
I really enjoyed watching Li Qin and Shawn Dou together again (they were so pityful together in Princess agent because of the onesided love). Are they a much better couple in here ? Well yes definitely, even though you have to wait till the last ten minutes of the drama to find the outcome.
One last word for actor Li Ting Zhe (Lin XiangYuan) : he plays the bad guy pushy and unscrupulous that we love to hate,... this actor is amazing and has got the most interesting role and character.... no spoiler but we finally cannot hate him.
So many good points make us forget script flaws, I recommend this drama because it is never boring and has a good pace : isn't it what we are looking for in any show ?
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Very emotional, but falls off a cliff
This drama starts out impactful, and I immediately fell for Shao Zhen Rong. He and Du Xiao Su were so cute together and they have one of the strongest chemistries I've ever seen. They really do justify the words that love doesn't develop based on the amount of time couples spend with each other. Their perfect romance is the reason why it becomes all the more devastating when Zhen Rong dies. Shawn Dou and Li Qin do a spectacular job acting out their characters' grief, especially Li Qin. The scenes that she got emotional in made me cry, and I felt like a mess right alongside her. During this time, she and Lei Yu Zheng start interacting more, and watching them heal together from their loss of a loved one is very beautiful. Life still moves on, and they both help each other move towards the future.Now, what was bad?
In the first 10 or so episodes, the story was mostly between the 3 main actors, and all three of them had outstanding chemistry. However, after Zhen Rong died and Du Xiao Su and Lei Yu Zheng dealt with most of the aftermath, the drama turned into a stereotypical business-politics with terrible side characters. I wasn't really invested in any of the side characters, the show just focused on them more and more, and Shawn Dou and Li Qin got less and less screen time together. Quite honestly, this show is held up by the two main characters at this point, and they're the reason why I watch this show.
I will update this review when the drama finishes, so if they do happen to give the main characters more screen time again, I will be sure to state that. This being said, the story is still quite good in the first 10 episodes, and they have high rewatch value too. It was a huge disappointment that the later episodes didn't match the emotion of the first few, but what was done well was done really well.
Overall, if you're looking for a sad melodrama with a few modern vibes I'd still give this one a shot. Just feel free to drop it around the halfway mark. :)
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Such a long wait for such a poor result
STORY:1) Business part: 7/10
Lei Yu Zheng deals with people who want to remove him of his position as CEO and take over his company. Their inside man manages to do the job and Lei Yu Zheng falls into disgrace. After some times in limbo, he recovers and find a way to fight back. The part is quite entertaining with good protagonists and schemes coherent with the world of business investment, without being too complicated. Fun A-team concept to fight the bad guys.
2) Romance part: 3/10
Nice part between Xiao Su, Zen Rong. Their meeting and their dating as a couple is cute. Yu Zheng appears caring and unbiased. Then Yu Zheng deals with Xiao Su after the tragedy. Their past together is unclear and don't justify their antagonism. Their confrontation is short lived for no reason. Yu Zheng just suddenly changes his attitude towards her in the most unexpected manner and it makes no sense. Them getting close seems forced with the usual tropes (bet, drunk, old story, I misunderstood you, using kids of course... ). Their relationship is made of push and pull and lack of communication that make no sense compared to what they do for each other. They have few moments together for a long time. Only in the end there is a little bit of spark between them.
3) Family part: 0/10
During the second half, the drama becomes dripping with good values, good morals, good people who behave nice with the parents, the elders, the friends, the wife, the sick one, the family.... bla bla bla... It is like the writer decided to lecture the audience with BS good moralization. And the worst in this, it is that to convince the audience, he is going to change some key characters' nature in a complete U-turn. Meh.
CHARACTERS:
- Lei Yu Zheng : the guy cold and business oriented who suddenly starts to woo his ex future sister in Law. Makes her his gf, then he hides everything to her in the name of Love. That tortures her but he comes to say sorry. Cool. Shawn Dou did quite well. Just that the character sucked as a boyfriend. He showed good comedic sense in the last part. Should do comedy drama.
- Du Xiao Su : I liked her evolution from daring girl totally in love to fighting and persevering working girl to independent business woman. The story with the younger brother (two best friends in fact) is credible as she idealized him too much and they got together too fast. Her story with the older bro would have been credible if it was not farfetched, out of the blue and became a torture for her and for the viewers. Li Qin did well portraying a kindhearted and hardworking character.
- Shao Zen Rong : Poor bad guy.
- Jiang Fan Lu : Poor spoiled daughter becomes the perfect wife.
- Zou Si Qi: Terrible friend and a gold digger who left her boyfriend to date a playboy in the face of her ex to be awarded with 1500 USD handbags.
- He Qun Fei: Poor guy who took back his gold digger gf because she is the only woman he ever had in his bed.
- Lin Xiang Yuan: super playboy and great buddy and sidekick for Lei Yu Zheng . My favorite.
- Liu Si Yang: One cool guy from the A-team.
In short, most of the secondary characters were either uninteresting or just annoying because they took a huge screen time when I could not care less about their life, their story or their moralizing speeches.
MUSIC:
OK overall but terribly bad during the long speeches about behaving to be nice with the parents, the elders, the friends, the wife, the sick one, the family.... bla bla bla.
REWATCH VALUE:
- 6/10 but it means : No.
OVERALL
- Waste of talent of Shawn Dou and Li Qin who looked a very cute couple on screen and they showed good acting skills for me. The romance was too poorly written full of clichés and usual tropes. No surprise. No sparks. I don't recommend with drama.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Love it
After TROTAR last year, this is the 1st 2021 drama that captures my attention. The love story of ML and FL, how they spend their time together and their sweetness as a couple before ML dies is my ideal love story. I thought i will cherish their memories expecting for longer screentime for them both, i dont know how long I cried for them. The acting is Superb, each character did very well for their role and i didnt stop watching till i finished 36 epi as of this writting. Looking forward for LinQin and Zhang Yunlong future project as their chemistry is great. I still want to watch this in the future if i want to be inlove again.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
A long and painful one
So I knew that I was going to have to sustain 40 episodes. I knew it was going to be a marathon. But it was so disappointing. The story starts well with the FL falling (literally) for a handsome doctor. But then, when he passes away following a rescue mission Du Xiasu’s world falls apart. She gets acquainted with the Lei family as a consequence and Yiusheng in particular. The handsome brother. Now that can be a nice drama right? Wrong. The episodes are endless conjectures about the family business. Xiasu disappears from the whole story. The second and third leads are boring and when FINALLY at the 41st episode, the two leads are finally reconciling it’s lukewarm.The acting from the leads is ok. Although I didn’t find any particular chemistry between them.
I was so disappointed …
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
A long descent into hell.
This drama was off to a good start. The story was well structured and you could see where the plot was heading.Then, along the way, the drama takes a 180 ° turn. The developed plots lead nowhere and are replaced by an assemblage of boring, incomprehensible and lengthy scenes. We follow more the secondary couples than the main couple. It's to believe the staff preferred them while they are toxic, unbearable and redundant.
The story presented at the beginning, the initial personality of the characters, the theme of the drama, all of that is changed along the way. We end up with a drama that makes no sense, everything is confused, we spend ten years on the same actions without going anywhere and nothing is moving forward.
It's more than a disappointment, it's a shipwreck. I have never seen a drama like this and yet I have waited for it for years and I love these actors. But there nothing can be saved. The script, the edition, the romance, the secondary couples: everything is horrible, disastrous, very poorly done and so on.
Music gave me a headache. At times it is very loud (almost louder than the voices) and does not match to what is happening.
Best advice I can give: don't waste your time. Life is short, you can invest your time on things better than this drama.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
It started out great
I found that episode 1-21 were great. The FL meets the 2ML and you truly feel their love. When he died it was extremely sad and very well played out.The ML first hated the FL but slowly starts to like her when he sees that FL really loved his brother. However, the series totally forgets about the 2ML after episode 24 or so. You would think they would go to his tomb on his anniversary but no.
After episode 23 the show is not about overcoming the brother’s death instead it’s about everything else that is irrelevant.
If the series would have been 24-30 episodes it would have been great. Also if they would have focused on the main couple instead of everything else.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
START TODAY OR NOT
this is my first time to write drama reviewstory 6/10
- for me this drama is really good start ep1 until ep12, u will cry your ball out in this episode, after that it becomes too flat and they put something unnecessary things, and there not much sweet scene between FML and ML, when LYZ had to get in prison it take like 3-4 episode, and why they had to make SZR died too early, he deserved more screen time in this drama
but some scene keep me confuse, like why LYZ hate DXS when he meet her first time in rain, i know DXS running from LXY her senior when in college but it just not makes sense to hate her because she drunk and LYZ fall in love with DXS too early there not much revenged , DXS just have to find money for DXS and SZR house , but after he see her hardwork he just give that house to her
but i love to see when DXS open her own studio,for me yess she sucess and im proud to see her that way
acting 9/10
- for acting i can say all of them make a great job, u will cry and laugh with them, but i hope to see liqin and leon in other drama after this, their chemistry is beyond our imagination, we will craving for their both scene
music 10/10
- oh my god this drama sound track is really good and sad i keep repeating this ost playlist in my youtube rip my battery phone
friendship 8/10
- all friendship in this drama is really good SQ and DXS, i hope i can have this kind of friendship even though SQ quite annoying as a girlfriend but this how world work now, we will not get married until we stable in every aspect on our life
i also admire friendship LYZ and all his friend, start from QF his assistant,his little brother(cousin) SZR , her prison mate and also SHH(i dont remember his name, that one guy with siqin before) they teamup to settle LYZ company issue
i dont want to have too much spoiler, but this drama is good to try ,
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Do not waste your time
By trying to show Chinese culture of forgiveness and forget made this drama so bad. There are no words that can describe how badly the writing was for eps 30-41. It truly was an overdone drama where the writer was trying to portray forgiveness no matter what happened to the characters. There were so much more mistakes besides the forgiveness being pushed in this drama that it would be more wasted time to explain it all. Compared to other Chinese dramas, we all know there will be a breakup episode/scene or 2. FL and ML literally spent no time together for there to be any ounce of love or even romantic feelings. There wasn’t a cringy part throughout the whole entire drama.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Really draggy plot
The front episodes started well with interesting plot but the main plot of the story only comes in at a later part. 40 episodes which can be shortened within 20 episodes. Had to skip all the unnecessary scenes and fast forward the show because the plot was really draggy. ML had a prejudice for the FL after an one night stand but he didn’t judge himself for taking advantage of FL when she was drunk. They didn’t even filmed the one night stand. ML then went to jail for something he didn’t commit and he didn’t fight for his rights within the 8 months. He only fought for his rights after 8 months and same goes for the side characters. The side characters are kind of annoying, especially FL best friend being a gold digger. Also the relationship between the other 2 couples didn’t make sense. They can marry with one sided love and the female suddenly wanting to get a divorce. She brought this upon herself when she was given a choice to pick who to marry. FL rejected the male lead many times because they had a different background and the fact that ML went MIA while going on a mission but accepted him in the ending without any trigger. Good looking leads. Good acting in the front but onwards the plot made their acting mediocre. The screenwriter is simply ruining the show. You can watch it but you will find yourself skipping half the show because the 4 side characters are simply annoying.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
