Bromance (2015)

campy, chaotic, completely charming

If it weren't for the incredible chemistry between the main leads, the soundtrack, the shattering of stereotypes (strong female characters and healthy masculinity for the win!) and the absolutely stunning, intimate relationship of Du Zifeng and Pi Yanuo, this drama would've received less than five stars from me. Don't get me wrong, I love drama. But I think that they tried to fit way too much of it into this show. And at random moments too. The cheesiness is just off the charts.

Though I appreciate the relationships between Zifeng and his father, Nana and Qingyang, Qingyang and Zifeng, Yanuo and Zherui, and Nana and her father, the story that accompanies all of this is too plot heavy and often takes away from the beautiful relationships the show is set up for.

The fight scenes are pretty awesome since the actors do a lot of their own stunts, but definitely more funny than serious.

The the over-the-top drama is well-placed in Zifeng and Yanuo's actual relationship, though. The rooftop scene, the food truck scene, the paint gun scene, etc. Melodramatic and funny as they are, some of the dialogue exchanged between DuPi in these scenes is just so heartwarming and shows how genuine and strong their bond is. I could talk about their relationship for hours, because they are so in love with each other no matter background, gender, or circumstances.

I truly love this drama and have watched it at least ten times. I’ve practically memorized it in Chinese. It's one of those feel-good shows that you watch when you just need an incredible romance or something that will make you smile. As bad as it is, I will never hesitate to recommend this show that really helped me in trying times.

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I haven't been very impressed with the Taiwanese dramas I have seen lately, but this title turned it all around. I don't mind cheesy, cliched dramas as long as they don't take themselves seriously, and this one fit the bill. It was just so funny that you were able to forgive imperfections in the writing.

I will start with the relationship between the MLs which is the best part of the entire show. Two people come together during unconventional circumstances and manage to make their relationship work. The beauty in this is watching our hero accept his love for the object of his affection without reservation. He doesn't dwell on whether others will accept it, he doesn't shy away from it, just accepts it and follows his heart. He is mature about it. This earns the highest marks from me. It shows and usual amount of respect and integrity in the writing not often found in these types of comedies. The show was heartwarming and hilarious, there are plot holes but the airtight writing around the main characters allows you to overlook that.

The show is full of cliches and ridiculous behavior. It can be over the top and cheesy in a very funny way, supporting characters disappear for large lengths of time without explanation and some story lines did not have adequate wrap ups. I think the sub story lines were just not as important to the writers as the MLs were, so they didn't spend a lot of time on fleshing them out. In my opinion, they had some really good characters which I would have liked to have seen more of but, perhaps the focus remains where it should. Just watching the MLs flirt shamelessly with each other is a treat given their excellent chemistry, I wouldn't be surprised if these two wound up falling in love in real life because that's how good they were. (I was able to catch some of their behind-the-scenes banter and the chemistry and fun they had was present there as well. You could tell they were 150% comfortable with each other.) Our MLs are beautiful and I just want to run my fingers through Baron Chen's hair just once! His hair is amazing! Kudos to the costumers and makeup team who made them look cool and stylish.

I recommend this show for anyone who is tired of watching shows with immature, dysfunctional couples who behave like idiots. This show makes you breathe a sigh of relief that there are artists out there interested in actually writing something more realistic. It's funny, romantic, and rewatchable. The music is one of the best parts of this show. Bii's "Back In Time" is played often throughout the series. He has a nice singing voice and has a part as the secondary romantic couple opposite Katie Chen.

I will be adding this series to my rewatch list.

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A gender bender that's so cheesy it's good

It's the kind of drama that you would like to hate but can't stop watching just because. Many lines made me cringe. The logic behind why the FL must be a man was loony. Situations for love development were engineered tropes. I did not particularly like the two CPs other than main one as I find the second FL to be too needy, the second ML too emotionless, the third FL too bossy and the third ML too comedic bordering on parody. But man, the chemistry of the main CP is just through the roof that I can't believe it was only acting. Their romantic and kiss scenes have pure electricity. Their story was not love at first sight but was built because of experiences together. I like the fact that the FL was not just pretending to be a man but IS a man that's actually a woman. She can also stand on her own in a fight. As for the ML, he was really a good, reasonable and kind person. No wonder the FL can't help but fall for him. Even when I thought he would be angry, he wasn't, he always try to understand the other person. And he loved the FL as a person not because of her gender.

So if you are not averse to cheesy romances, give this a try.

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Bromance (Taiwan) (2015) - I like this drama. To think na nay nag ask sako regarding this drama, I think it’s quite famous compare sa other Taiwanese drama na ako nakita. What I like is that convincing kayo ang girl ani na laki, ang iyaha features kay murag jud pud og laki, which is pakpak kayo ko. Gamay ra ang maka portray ana nga role na maconvince jud ang mag tan-aw (*and she won best actress because of this role). This drama is really engaging and I think it’s because the main leads did really showcase their roles, I like their roles as well, not common. Although ji bet jud ang mga side characters ani nga drama, sige nalang. Overall I would gladly watch this again if I have time.

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What makes me decide to write this review is because of the actors. Baron (i find him so attractive) and Megan for me are one of those superb in acting, and what a great chemistry they have. Often times when u watch a story with cross-dressing you would somehow feel a little aback because of how the plots gets a little dificulty to convey the chemistry of the leads to the viewers, but not in this drama. The chemistry here for me is so powerful that the leads can show love pretty well and does not matter what gender or if you are straight or not, as long as LOVE is there and it grows each and everyday.
Again for me it is worth watching, i love the characters and actors in this drama, a heart warming story...
❤❤❤

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I feel like I'm 12 again

because this drama sent me back to the days when I used to binge cheesy romance novels on wattpad. Like another user said, this drama is definitely like makjang in the sense that NOTHING makes sense. And that's kind of the point. Since the very first episode until the very last this drama was crazy silly, crazy cheesy, and crazy fun. However, there were definitely issues with pacing, since a fairly fast paced plot lost a lot of its traction in the second half when there wasn't much else for the couple to do besides being lovey-dovey together. Additionally, I admit that I really disliked the female side characters. Zihan seemed like your typical toxic girlfriend, while Nana was too whiny and got very easily upset. I think the male side characters and the great main leads made up for those characters, so at the end of the day, I wasn't too upset. I think this drama set the record for the most amount of times I cringed while watching it. As per usual cheesy rom-com style, our leads were put in countless crazy and embarrassing situations, and I got second hand embarrassment every single time. Overall, this drama is a wonderful mindless watch and ended up growing on me after the first few episodes. Besides the mind-numbingly boring second half due to a lack of plot progression, this will be a super entertaining watch.

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I dithered between 7 and 8.5, finally deciding on a 8 because I don't do halves！A 8 is a good drama and rewatchable and anything higher than 8 is good, rewatchable and something I must own.

I want to own this series because it was a feel-good drama with comic relief, a low level of suspense despite the mystery and mob background of the storyline. The cast chemistry was excellent especially between Megan Lai and Baron Chen.

I deducted points because of the plot and cliches. Though these negatives had its own charm, I felt there was no enough substance to maintain the pace of the show. It might have been better to make the series a few episodes shorter. tightening the sub plots.

I would recommend this for its sweetness, and how they treat the subject of same gender love, for the chemistry between the leads and for the laughs. But do not expect anything substantial.

PS: I >might< still decide to own this series. =^_-=

How I rate
---
5 = okay, but will never watch again
8 = good with rewatch value
>8 = good with rewatch value and must OWN!

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I watched this for the chemistry of the main leads. I'm not going to lie. I am a romance junkie. As others have said before, the story is super cliche and drags in places. The two main leads, however, basically smoldered whenever they were on the screen together. It was tough to get into the story. It took me a good 3-4 episodes before I was hooked. That being said, after a while I felt that the two main leads were written to be 'too perfect' if that makes sense. They always did the correct thing or said the correct thing in any situation which made them not very realistic imo. The secondary characters were also charming and helped keep me watching as well. I adored both sets of parents and all of their friends. However, I didn't really care for Nana's and Quinyang's story, just how I felt personally.
I wouldn't rewatch the whole thing, but I admit to already rewatching the kissing scenes. *fans myself*

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A different kind of gender-bender. This particular concept is not a new one, specially in Asian dramas. In-fact, it's a well exploited plot to create humourous scenes. However, unlike the majorities out there, where the reason behind the gender facade is to mainly get close to the other lead, the reason here was a very different one. Therefore, it quite hooked me up, to know, how the story would progress. And it certainly didn't disappoint me. It was refreshing and quite good. But I certainly wouldn't put it up in the 'great' category. I must say, the story had a huge potential so great work by the writers.

The overall story was good. A little refreshing with the female lead, Yanuo, being disguised as a boy since a very early age, hence, she is quite accustomed to the living style of a male. She doesn't make stupid girlish mistakes or fumble on her speech from a male's point of view. Her acting is quite natural. The male lead of Zi Feng was played quite well by Baron Chen. But he could have done much better. The development of romance was natural and nice. The chemistry between them was certainly there but I don't know why, it didn't attract me much. It was like at some places I could feel it but at other, I simply couldn't. What was more picking on my mind was that the female lead from nowhere gave a vibe of 25 years old. What's more is that I couldn't feel any femininity on her, even when she actually revealed her true self to the hero. It was like, I could feel the sexual tension sometime, there were great kissing scenes but the whole love attraction felt missing.

Other pros of this drama were the secondary characters. I actually loved them more than the leads. The love feeling from the side of Zhe Rui actually felt better than Zi Feng. However, all of them were great. I like their OST shoot. All white, dashing and beautiful. It felt bang on to the vibe of the drama. The locations used were good.

All in all, a good drama. The different storyline makes it worth watching and creates anticipation. But I won't go for a rewatch.

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This was another series that started off good but by the 6th episode I was bored or really started to lose interest. Yanuo grew up as a boy but she constantly behaved like a girl which was actually annoying and would be uncharacteristic for someone in her position. I mean this curse she's had to live with up til now would make her more cautious not less even if she was falling in love for the 1st time.

The positives of the series is that the friends and family were accepting of Yanuo and Zi Feng's relationship from the onset even if they were uncomfortable at first. Those aspects of the series were done really well. And we did get some comedy gold out of a lot of the innuendo and compromising positions.

Another really great part of the story was the father/son dynamic between the villian, Han Sheng and his father Wan Hao. Han Sheng was unlikeabke but you understood his motivations. Surprisingly enough I found the climax to that storyline sad but meaningful and well acted.

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE:

The Na Na character was super annoying. I guess we are supposed to like her b/c she is dying but she came across as rude and obnoxious from the onset and I couldn't even care enough about that storyline. I only watched some of those scenes b/c Qing Yang was so damn cute and that was the only way for me to see him.

I also didn't like Du Zi Han sexually harrasing Yanuo or treating Guang Chao like shit just b/c he worked for her. Then they end up together. Definitely didn't like that either not b/c she treated him like shit but b/c she "saw the error of her ways" so that makes it all better but it was just a stupid couple. Not everyone in these thing have to get together.

The soundtrack was too repetitive and the same song seemed to play over almost every scene.

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Absolutely bizarre. I honestly can't remember much about it, which is a shame, but this is set within the same universe as "Refresh Man" and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It had me laughing and smiling throughout the whole thing, and it was a refreshing change from Korean drama, which generally makes the women either incredibly hot-headed and irritating, or weedy, girly things. This MC did a great job of maintaining the balance between being too irrational and bad-tempered, and sticking up for herself, all without compromising her femininity.
It's definitely worth a watch, and you'll probably know after the first couple episodes if you'll like it.

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The cast is something. The actors that they chose to play each one seems to be chosen carefully. They played out their parts perfectly, especially Megan Lai (Pi Yanou) and Mandy Tao (Du Zi Han). The way they expressed each character must have been hard. Also, the gender bender for Megan Lai was apparently common as she played a lesbian in the movie “Cafe Waiting Love.” I think the story plot was good, the only problem is how many coincidences there were. (Yanou saving Zifeng as a child, Nana just happened to live around where ZiFeng worked, etc.) It is not a gay drama! It’s just a gender bender, Yanou is actually a girl. This is not a spoiler, because in the first episode, she explains her situation. I would definitely watch this drama over but I don’t really have the time ???? The music hit me hard, I loved it, especially “Quietness” by Miu Chu and Andrew Tan and “Tender Love.” Fun fact, the opening song, “Epochal Times,” “Back In Time,” and “Tender Love,” were written by Bii, Wei Qing Yangs character. Andrew Tan, Bii, Dino Lee and Ian composed Epochal Times together. Sorry, I’m dragging the songs on. Anyway, yes it’s a good drama but their is a lot of tension at the end. It might make you a little anger too. It’s a great drama, please watch it!

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