Rose in the Storm (2020)

Don't give up after the first Eps, it gets better!

1. Story
First of all, I'm really into business dramas and I don't mind business talk at all - I have alredy read that there was going to be a whole lot of business in the storyline, yet I need to say that still I was surprised about how much it actually made up of the story. I almost dropped it after Ep.4 - but I didn't, which was definitely a good choice!!!
I really enjoyed the story behind though, but some cases were way too draggy, for example the very first one with Wan JiaHe, which didn't need to take up that many Eps as it did. But all in all, the storyline develops very well, expecially in the second half (!!).
I've read reviews where people found the love story between the first lead couple too much of "back and forth", but to me, honestly, it didn't feel that way. Yes, there COULD'VE been less of it, but nothing relly felt like it was forced to me, and regarding the fact that this drama has 40 Eps, the "back and forth"s were needed to keep the story going.

2. Characters
Well, finally a drama where I enjoyed every female character! No clumsy, childish characters - instead we got smart, strong and independent women - not only the first and second lead (Lin Wo & Alisa), but also Sun Miao and even Zheng WanYing (though she was indeed getting a lot on my nerves in the first half haha).
What also surprised me in a good way was the second lead couple: They were not "only" supporting roles, but each had their own stories - really nice to watch! And I loooved Su Yuan, he developed to such a nice character and became really enjoyable to watch :)
Also a big praise to the stylists! I loved the outfits, especially Lin Wo's business outfits, and needless to talk about Hu YiTian in suits.. ;)

3. Acting & Cast
To me, the first lead couple didn't miss any chemistry, besides they look really well together.
I am really impressed with Qiao Xin's (Lin Wo's) crying scenes, they looked very real to me - except some scenes around the end where it was a bit too much for me - but I could get the emotions she was trying to portray.

The music was nothing special to me, but it did what it should and matched the scenes very well.

All in all, a drama worth watching if you don't mind too much business! Personally, the second half was way better than the first, so I'd recommend everyone to just "bear" some scenes in order to get to the more interesting parts!
The story is indeed a more mature one, the drama contains some dark scenes, facing such topics like suicide and family problems; the love story of the first leads is also more mature (which was definitely pretty enjoyable to me!).
( Little plus: Lots of slap scenes of Gao Shan (Hu YiTian), really entertaining to watch.. I love him tho lol)

-- very small spoiler --
.. aaand last: Yes, I get why everyone is hating so hard on Bei XiaoRong, but honestly.. Wasn't it already pretty obvious that he is not gonna win over Gao Shan? :) So why not lean back and enjoy some more drama in the making..? ;))

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