Hello Again is surely my most favorite romantic comedy EVER! Movie, TV show, Asian drama, you name it! This one has all the feels, with ups and downs aplenty as our couple make their way to a somewhat corny but pretty satisfying happy ending. The romantic leads have perfect chemistry, the writers having created two likeable characters and a storyline full of laugh out loud comedy, moments brimming with romance, and scenes of heated argument between the two where it's tough to take sides. I've been watching it over and over again for a couple of months and in these Covid-19 times, it's diverting, funny, and uplifting all at once!

An excellent drama like Hello Again has all three required elements that combine to make it such a success. Start with 1) good writing that creates 2) compelling characters in a storyline that is brought to life by 3) talented, attractive actors. The formula is well worn: high school adversaries meet later in life where circumstances have changed and they make their way toward the expected happy ending (not really a spoiler alert but OK). But honestly the real reason for me to have fallen in love with this series is the man crush I have on the male lead, Bruce He (HaoChen). It was a YouTube video on the subject of certain Taiwanese men going shirtless in dramas (https://youtu.be/8rWWXd-NPyM) that led me to Hello Again actually and I'm so glad for it! He is absolutely drop dead gorgeous and is surely one of the most beautiful men I have ever watched on ANY screen and brings to light that the real reason I enjoy watching these Asian dramas is for the most superficial of reasons: eye candy. Give me a gorgeous man playing someone with resolute character who's fighting for love and shaping circumstances with all sorts of tribulations along the way and I'm hooked! First was Dylan Wang in Meteor Garden, then on to Marcus Chang (LiAng) and now Bruce He! He is truly one of the most stunningly beautiful men I've ever seen! Handsome as hell with the deepest dimples when he smiles, a deep sexy voice when he's taking charge, AND a tall, decently muscular gym body that is frequently showcased with him leaving the bathroom post shower and tying his robe just enough to make sure his abs and pecs are evident. He's played a few comic roles and knows how to get the laughs in Hello Again. In previous works his smile and even his body revealed his underlying attractiveness and charm, but he tidied up his looks (was it the cameo in Ex-man?) and is in pure handsome as hell leading man status now! He is just perfectly cast as the guy whose love is so sincere, supportive, and longstanding that you can't help but root for him to successfully woo his down trodden love interest.

Our main man looks dashing in a suit too. Playing a young department store executive he clearly looks the part and must have access to all the best designer looks as his character has a beautiful wardrobe of three piece and double breasted suits that he wears strikingly. Broad shouldered, tall, and lean, he cuts a v-tapered silhouette and loves to stand in a Superman posture with his hands on his hips screaming alpha in charge here even though that's not always the case! He may have even brought turtlenecks with a business suit back in style! As mentioned above he's often shirtless, almost gratuitously, including in one of the kissiest, most initimate love scenes I've ever seen in an Asian drama. The director knew she had a beauty to work with and opted to use her gorgeous dimpled hunk to maximum appeal with plenty of closeups and I'm certainly not complaining!

In YZH, the writers have also created a character of privilege who's a filial son and sees his executive role as more than just making money and ordering around subordinates. He's not just some rich jerk but a fighter who wants to make his parents proud, his customers to have a unique shopping experience, and his employees to have a chance to grow and be successful. He is even willing to apologize to those employees when he's made a mistake. He truly cares about his company and its people. He also seeks to challenge CKA to be her best and believes that she too can change her life circumstance and through hard work create a brighter future for herself, a future that he completely intends to be part of. The positive message of personal empowerment is uplifting and I also love that he believes in her intelligence and is so turned on by how smart she is and not just her physical attractiveness. He romances her by giving her more and more challenging opportunities at work to show she's just as capable as any college grad and giving her the chance to prove it, especially to Tiger Mom.

YZH is handsome beyond belief but certainly no player. He's got no experience nor interest in dating and neither does he know how to woo his love interest beyond coercing her into his proximity by having her make his breakfast every day or dropping by her house when he know she's off work. He uses his position as boss to come up with excuses to stop by her sales counter to make quasi-business demands on her time. Of course he's also the typical heroic male lead, catching her when she's falling, fighting for and protecting her from assailants and building up her debt of gratitude to him to the point that she feels she has to acquiesce to his demands, no matter how childish. But his childishness, which is noted in multiple situations, is part of his charm and what makes the drama so fun to watch. He knows he's like a high schooler and likes pranking her, but he's also the boss, and when they finally get back together for real he states out loud that she won't be able to get rid of him now no matter how childishly he behaves, which starts the next morning when she has to carry his briefcase weighted down with dumbbells to finally start making good on a bet. In fact, he actually only wants to support CKA because he loves her and owes a deep debt of gratitude himself and believes that someone who was a top student is capable no matter what. He states out loud a few times that there's nothing she can't succeed at and seeing a man absolutely supportive and in love with someone who's smart AND beautiful is heartwarming.

Finally (spoiler alert!), there's a major subplot with a lesbian character that is handled beautifully as she is also a love rival for the affections of CKA. She pursues CKA on the sly until she can't take it anymore and confesses her love after a kiss out of the blue and explaining that her love is more than friendship. This same lesbian is also pursued so sweetly by YZH's male cousin and fellow vice president. The cousin falls in love with the lesbian even telling her he'd become a woman if that's what she'd want. We don't know how they end up but we do get a real love scene with morning after embarrassment and ensuing complications! There's also another single gay father who's captivated by the uber handsome YZH and he's right in there with the women gushing and dishing over the boss. I love that there is zero homophobia around either of these characters and as a gay man myself I pay particular attention to how such characters are handled.

Clearly I LOVE Hello Again and Bruce He as the romantic lead. This excellent, high profile drama has absolutely springboarded him into other work as leading man, but it will be hard to top this breakout role. In the meantime it's fun to scour the internet to see how beautifully he's evolved though his body has usually been something we get a good glimpse of! In the meantime we can always enjoy Hello Again and the smiles and laughter it will always bring‼️???❤️??