Love in Time (2020)

How to ruin a cdrama

This drama has brought out the inner masochist in me . It starts of as a mediocre and typically bad drama type that surrounds a single plot plot line . 6 episodes in the story takes a turn for the better and the actual plot could have ended as any other terribly done dramas but the screenwriter gears up and adds life into the story by giving the FL individuality and highlights issues of how a person struggles to succeed and how a helping hand from someone can actually have negative effects some times .this brought my personal rating for this drama way up . But another 6 episodes in they recreated the story with a better SML and plot intricacies . Beyond that they ruined it again by showing the FL's individuality as selfishness. Last 6 episodes they essentially destroyed what they had created by making the SML's helpfulness as his way of interfering in the ML and FL's lovelife . The story is essentially a rinse and repeat once good once bad.

Let's talk about the acting , I usually tend to not like cdramas due to the overacting that was not a problem here they let me immerse myself some what without overacting. The ML played the domineering and jealous role very well but I feel his expressions during the romance scenes were lacking.
The FL played the internal struggle and need for individuality role very well but she had the expressions of a dead fish during the romance scenes . The plot for romance was steamy and decent but it was ruined by there lack of appropriate expressions .

I feel this drama had potential but was ruined by these factors .

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Gradevole

È una di quelle storie che ti guardi quando non hai voglia di pensare. Storia leggera, lui più bravo di lei non solo per il personaggio che impersona ma proprio per le doti di recitazione. Lei tende a sparire al confronto degli attori secondari. È una di quelle storie Harmony che ti accompagnano per qualche giorno. L'ambientazione, per contro, è spettacolare come i vestiti, le case, le città. Bella la fotografia.

Come tutte le produzioni cinesi è facile capire che cosa sponsorizzano e stavolta la cosa che fa più sorridere è che a casa di ricchi e pretenziosi capi d'azienda tu arrivi e loro stanno passando l'aspirapolvere. Solo per questo meriterebbe il massimo dei voti.

Diciamo che non è una storia che vi cambierà la vita ma si lascia guardare e non ha momenti stagnanti. Le puntate non sono lunghissime e quindi non è complicato finirlo.

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Thankfully this Chinese show was only 24 episodes, which is short, so they weren't able to drag things out TOO much. What I liked:
1) Chemistry between the leads. They had amazing chemistry and there was a lot of skinship, with no open-eye, dead fish kisses. I must say that I think the "candy kiss" is one of the best I've seen. Their height difference was really cute as well.
2) Ming Ren as Lu Bo Yan - he was a lovely character. He appears cold, but has emotions that run deep and are long-lived.
3) Cute, romantic scenes.
What I didn't like:
1) Can we talk about the dubbing? Why, is what I want to know. Most of the voices are so irritating.
2) The character of Su Jia Nan. I think Serena Cheng did a good job, because I really did NOT care for this character, overall. She was selfish, self-absorbed, immature.
3) Secondary couple - just irritating.
4) Obligatory "girl that wants the guy". He never had any feelings for her, but she just will NOT give up.
5) The getting together, breaking up, getting together, (you get my point). They never seemed to learn from their mistakes. So this constant back and forth made the show seem even longer than it was.

All that said, if you want an overall cute show, with a couple with excellent chemistry and not too much angst, you might enjoy this

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Coercion & Control != romance

I really tried to like this Drama, which is why I stuck it out for 8/24. But by then I had had more than enough of the ML physically dragging the FL around, locking her in the house, ignoring her views on EVERYTHING, taking control of everything and doing NOTHING for her.

This is a depressingly common setup in C Dramas, godlike ML who can literally do no wrong, and doesn't see anything amiss in treating the FL as his property, a vassal from whom unquestioning instant obedience is his right, and whom he can physically coerce if she doesn't give him the slavish submission that he deserves. It's Tsundere gone nuts, and if that mindset persists through 8 episodes of a 24 episode Drama, it's time to ditch.

If you LIKE the idea of a man dragging a woman around like a plaything, then you might enjoy this Drama. If, on the other hand, you kind of like the idea that a romantic partnership might have at least some SHRED of equity or balance, then this Drama is not for you.

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Contract romance between two childhood friends

Xu Jianan doesn’t want to inherit her father’s lingerie empire but instead wishes to be a writer. To escape pressure from her father she agrees to a contract marriage with Lu Buoyan, a childhood friend who is now the CEO of a successful investment company. Can their contract romance become real?

Opinion:
This rom com doesn’t tread much new ground but is still (so far) a fun watch, largely because of the chemistry between the two main leads. Also, I am a fan of stories where the male lead is deeply in love with the female lead but has to work (in a non creepy way) to get her to fall in love back.

Likes:
* A nice twist that female lead comes from a rich background and agrees to the contract marriage to help further her career goal of becoming a writer. My favorite moments of the drama so far have come from her efforts to get real life experience to aid in her writing.

* In laws that want the main couple to succeed as a couple, sometimes to the point of comedic embarrassment on the part of the female lead. For example, in ep 1, the father’s efforts to gift his daughter sexy lingerie and the MIL bursting in to fetch a “forgotten” purse on the wedding night to see if the marriage is real are fun.

* Great chemistry between the two leads. As in many Cdramas, the female lead is a bit naive when it comes to love and relationships (eg., never been in a relationship despite being 25 and beautiful). However, the male lead does a great job of conveying his long time frustrated love for her and it’s great to see her attitude towards him change over time. Basically, Jianan thinks it’s a contract marriage and they’ll part ways after a year but it’s clear from the beginning that Lu Buoyan would like their relationship to become real but is not sure how to get there. The fake marriage ends up serving as an artifact that allows him to spend more time together with her and woo her. The moments they spend together that are harmonious and not misunderstanding one another or fighting are really beautiful.

Dislikes:
* Catty second female lead out to destroy the couple. I know there needs to be tension but I hate this trope and the artificial misunderstandings introduced. (Why is honest communication so hard in Cdramas?!) I hope this will not be too much of a recurring theme throughout the drama.

* So many tropes. If I played a drinking game where I had to take a shot every time the female lead trips and falls into male lead’s arms during the first few episodes I’d probably need to get my stomach pumped at the hospital for alcohol poisoning.

* there are a lot of childhood flashbacks. For the most part I believe these flashbacks are appropriate for explaining male lead’s current behaviors and showing that he loved her (and her writing!) a long time ago, even when others wouldn’t have considered her stereotypically attractive. There is also an interesting flashback in one episode that hints at trauma in the male lead’s past that I hope we will learn more about in later part of the drama.

Overall: Enjoying this drama so far but withholding a final verdict until I’ve seen more. “Love in Time” could end up being a lovely solid rom com if it amps up the positive couple interactions and focuses more on the female lead’s dream of becoming a writer or the male lead’s backstory. However, this drama could also become a drop for me if it delves too much into the second lead melodrama and artificial misunderstanding territory. Hard to know which way it will go at this point. I know many recent contract marriage rom coms end up with the contract being revealed and then the couple breaks up for a while before getting back together. Not sure if this drama will follow that pattern but here’s hoping “Love in Time” will yield some pleasant narrative surprises, or at least make the journey fun and not miserable to watch.

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I don't know how I am going to make it through.

I agree with the other reviews, I am only sticking this drama out because of the ML. He is literally carrying the whole drama on his back. The FL isn't a horrible actress, I just think her character is really bad. I don't get the draw of having a grown woman act like a twelve-year old helpless child. They dress her like a child and it's kind of cringy how they want these lead actresses to be child-like. And her best friend is annoying too. And she looks like she is wearing a filter, either it's a filter or she is totally disguising her face and it looks a porcelain doll and not in a good way. I kept expecting her face to glitch and there be some old lady in her place.
Hopefully I can make it through all the episodes but I don't see myself ever rewatching it.

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Nothing new, watch just for the Lead's Chemistry

This series has same old same old story. ML and FL enter into contract marriage, fall in Love. A barrage of misunderstanding created by SML and SFL. They overcome everything and Love triumphs everything.

As I said in the headline, only selling feature of this drama was Lead's chemistry. After ep. 10 there was kissing scenes in each episode and every kissing scene was steaming hot. I guess this is what expected between 2 actors who are more than 30 years of age. They looked super comfortable in every kissing scene.

FL's acting was very weird. Only saving grace of this show was ML. He was pretty good from the get go. Again Ep. 24 (Finale episode) was lame. You will understand once you watch it. I mean i don't even know what to say, it was pretty unnecessary, anyway it was the last episode so I just watched it.

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Il problema più grosso di quest'opera è la protagonista: sembra un manichino in balia degli eventi del drama e quel poco di personalità che ogni tanto tira fuori la rende odiosa a livelli inimmaginabili. ML invece è abbastanza credibile e nonostante non mi piaccia a livello fisico (io non capitolerei mai ai suoi piedi) a livello di recitazione si difende bene. Il resto della storia sa già sentito e risentito ma come dico sempre i clichè piacciono se fatti bene e qui... ehm. Se all'inizio risulta cmq carina la storia e godibile, con l'andare avanti iniziano una serie di discorsi e incongruenze che lasciano il tempo che trovano.
Alcuni tagli di scene poi sono raccapriccianti.
Mi aspettavo di guardare un drama leggero e perchè no, che sapesse anche di aver già visto ma che mi facesse da comfort zone. Che errore!

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Secret Love towards Childhood Friend-Marriage Contract

At first the story looks like the plot in many comic books, but it's not. It's refreshing to see both ML & FL are from a rich family and both parents are agree with their sudden marriage.

The ML acting really good. He looks so tricky, so handsome and hot. See him in some drama as supporting role. Finally he got a lead role ❤️❤️ Hope him got more lead role in the future.

As for our FL, she lack of self confidence. So lucky to have the ML that support & help her secretly.

The parents really supportive in their relationship.....well of course since they know each other for a long time.

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