Love, Now (2012)

When I read the synopsis of this drama, I was intrigued. I liked the fact that the male lead was already in love with the female lead at the beginning, as I don't particularly like when the love arc is dragged out in a story. I also found the fact that Yi-Ru was tricked by her family into believing she had a terminal illness- can you just imagine the hilarity that follows when Yi-Ru finds out that it was all fake?
And then i saw how long this drama was. 72 episodes? Does anyone want to sit through all that?
I still wanted to watch the drama, but at the same time I wasn't ready to sit through all 54 hours. So I came ti the solution that I would skim through this show. I watched it in linear order, but skipped through parts I deemed unnecessary or boring. That saved me a ton of time and I still found this show amusing and heartwarming.
Story: "Love, now" is unrealistic in it's views of love. But then again, most dramas are. This show kind of goes with the idea that people are destined to fall in love and love each other at first sight. But for the sake of this drama, i went with it. The writers weren't exactly skilled in the progression of showing how people fall in love, but the writers were skilled in showing how it changes people. I liked how as many characters found their better halves, they became better themselves. However, that isn't exactly enough plot to fill 72 episodes. Many episodes went by with little to no plot progression. Minor incidents were made to last longer than needed, and characters were sort of wishy-washy with their decisions simply for the sake of the plot. I remember in one episode, a male character said he knew his heart and wasn't in love with a girl, only to contradict the statement 15 minutes later.
Acting: The cast had really cute chemistry- they all felt like one big family. Annie Chen and George Hu had sizzling chemistry and it made me wish that they really were a couple off set. I also enjoyed the chemistry Bobby Dou had with the rest of the Yang family. The four of them made me smile at my computer screen. All the other couples of this show were really cute together, but it was the platonic relationships that really made you feel. I liked Qi Ming's and Yi Qing's brother-sister relationship and how they acted like little kids around each other. I also loved Grandma Lan's relationship with all the other characters. She was surprisingly bright and lively.
Music: My biggest pet peeve with the music was that the same song played before all the commercial breaks. Not to mention the commercial breaks sometimes cut in at the most dramatic moments. For example, one character might say that he/she has a terminal illness, dramatic music comes on, then BOOM- commercial break. That pretty much ruins any mood the show sets. One time I was seconds away from bursting into tears, and then the song comes on. That's like the equivalent of your parents getting you this amazing gift, telling you for weeks what an *amazing* gift it is, then giving you five dollars and a pack of gum.
Rewatch Value: The show has a lot of amazingly creative scenes. I will definitely rewatch those.
Overall: This show felt a little too long for its plot. It could have easily been compressed into 25 or 30 episodes. A tighter story and better directing would have done it wonders. I wouldn't recommend that you watch it ALL, but rather do as I did and skim it. But if you want to, then it's your choice. Overall, it was a nice story about people's lives and how love changes them. There aren't any serious challenges the main characters face in the first 60 episodes of the show, and after the main couple got together I sort of lost interest, but it was a nice experience.

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