Party A Who Lives Beside Me (2021)

Inspiring for Entry Level Career/Business, but Lost in Translation

I picked this one as my first drama of the 2022, purely out of expectation. It has a less than 8.0 rating, so I was ready to drop it even before started watching it, lol. However, I finished Episode 1, and ended up keep watching one episode following by another. My guess why it has a low rating for such a pretty good romcom, is: one, poor translation from MangoTV, which is the main issue; two, misleading synopsis; three, no popular cast; and four, Chinese romcom drama watchers have had toothaches from all sweet Cdramas being released last year. Let me address the main issue first, the second issue in the Character section.

MangoTV produced quite some good Chinese romcoms, unfortunately many are machine translated, including this drama. This is very unfortunate, since business term and Chinese idioms/slang get mistranslated or even no translation (especially for notes, emails, text messages, etc). Luckily, if you watch in their official YouTube channel, there are kindhearted people who translated the non-dialogue part. As I put in the title, this drama is especially inspiring for audiences who are at their entry level of career of business, since there is a lot of uplifting advice given to motivate people in their career development. Unfortunately, the inspiring life lessons are watered down with inadequate translation. So, unless you understand modern spoken Chinese, or can read between the lines of bad sub, probably don’t bother to watch this drama.

STORY: In my opinion, there are two plots that run side-by-side: the romance and the work/business plot, both intertwine harmoniously between Party A and Party B (hence this drama title). Party A/Party B is a legal term when two entities get involved in business.

The main couple’s plot starts from both ML and FL being bickering strangers (short term), to being landlord-tenant, neighbors, two business-related company representatives , friends, best friends, lovers, to being engaged (short term). It’s a slow burn romance, they don’t get together until the ¾ quarter of the drama! However, their friendship and teamwork development are amazing to watch. Even before they get together, they’re so comfortable with each other, like an old married couple. The second couple plot actually has more sparks as their romance develops faster, so it’s quite interesting. Their romance starts about half of the drama. The third couple romance is a filler, in my opinion, since it’s quite short. There is also a married couple.

I actually am more interested in the work/business plot, unexpectedly since I don’t like business drama. I think because of its advice given to working adults. ML and FL both go thru work problems each encounter, from insider sabotage to sexual harassment. They work together to solve those problems. Misunderstandings don’t get prolonged in their relationship, they clear up their issues pretty fast. There is also the main theme of chasing dreams of most characters: people leaving stable jobs to start business, moving to big city to pursue career, changes job to a different company, working on your dream job instead of just-a-job, saving and investment, life priority, etc.

PRODUCTION: The scriptwriting is pretty good. The writer, which at this time I don’t know their name, managed to write a flowing transition on the main couple’s love story and the Female Lead’s prowess development. There are witty dialogues too, that make the plot development and the characters’ growth enjoyable.

CHARACTER: The scriptwriter also did a good job in creating likable main characters and some key supporting characters. The FL, Ye Xuan (weirdly in the end is translated into Michelle Ye), freshly graduated, comes from a smaller city to metro Shanghai. She’s hopeful and energetic, but faces the reality of the workplace. She is lucky enough to land her first job at 88Ed, what I called a dream company. Although it’s small and has problems, it ends up to be the ideal company in dramaland. Her other luck is ML, Li Ze Nan, who is not only her landlord/neighbor. The company where he works, Aoke, is also 88Ed’s major client.

Now this is where I want to correct the misleading synopsis I read at this moment. It says that Li Ze Nan is “the domineering Party A” but he’s not. He has been in the big city and has worked longer than Ye Xuan, so he gives her work advice but he’s not domineering. In fact, when they become a couple, I see sometimes Ye Xuan is bossy towards Li Ze Nan. Starting their relationship as a landlord-tenant, he’s actually has been supportive to Ye Xuan all along. He also comes from a poor background and works hard his way up at his workplace. He is not an ML who “has been making things difficult” to FL, since he makes her grow and become stronger as a working adult. For example, when he knows she has worked hard on a business proposal for his company but her company doesn’t credit her, as a client he has a power to fix the mistake but he doesn't. Instead, when he finds her crying in disappointment, he gives her a cotton candy and later tells her to be strong and try harder. Another misled term is that the couple’s relationship starts with “endless bickering” but I see they just tease and playful with each other, and actually the second couple starts with “endless bickering”.

Important to mention in romance drama is the secondary characters who potentially ruin the main couple’s relationship. There is none. Second FL is ML’s ex-girlfriend, but they broke up because pursued different dreams. Although when she shows up initially ML and SFL are a bit uncomfortable with each other, there is no hate/love feeling left for both parties. SFL ends up becomes their company’s business client and FL’s friend. Second ML is FL’s co-worker. He and ML have a healthy competition for FL’s attention, but when SML sees that FL, subconsciously, prefers to be with ML he backs off and becomes supportive of their relationship.

A bonus: the director, Sha Wei Qi, also made a guest role appearance as a fake director, lol! The scene with him in it is the most hilarious in the drama! He also directed some decent Chinese romcoms (rating 8.0+) such as Gank Your Heart (2019), A River Runs Through It (2021), and To Fly With You (2021).

VISUAL: The location of metropolitan Shanghai is always a charm. I like the adjoining balconies where ML and FL often seen chatting at night after work. I also like the company setting where FL works though. It’s a renovated warehouse building made of bricks and has a warm and casual feeling.

OST: Nothing stands out.

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Started with 0 expectations but actually started to like it.

I started this drama with absolutely no expectation. But to be Honest i liked this so much. This is exactly the type of romcom drama i look for & i prefer. I wanna remind you this is a romcom. Of course there will be some cliche & unrealistic parts but i personally feel the cliche parts are very less than the other romcom cdrama currently airing right now. I dont find the main leads cringe at all. Infact they are much natural & i like Their chemistry a lot. FL comes to work in a broke advertisement company "88 ED" as intern. While ML is the marketing director in "Aok group". What amazed me is ML isnt a jerk at all. Not a cold distant guy like they show in other dramas. He is actually easygoing & social. Not to mention very funny as well. FL may seem clumsy to you for 1st 2 ep but she is actually a hard worker. She accepts her flaws & tries to improve Herself. & also its not like that she isnt capable. She is actually very very talented & a capable desinger. Coming into big city to work as intern is definately not easy. Not all of us get the big job right at the 1st stage of life. Specially in big city where there is diff of ppl to deal with, high elites to deal with. This is something i could relate to. Not just work even in educational life we face this. This shows Both ML's & FL's work-life, their struggle & how they try to help each other to solve the work crisis they face. ML helps FL to cheer up & give her advice from his personal experience he faced when he also came in shanghai for job as a newcomer. I wouldn't give away much spoiler but u gotta watch the drama to know more about their " party A & party B relationship". Now lets talk about FL's broke company "88 ed". I actually got attached with the every few employees ( 6 actually) working in that company. They are very friendly & liverly. FL's appearance & hard work made em united to improve the company. The CEO really plays a father figure to each & every employees. 88 ed company isnt just a workplace. It became a family. It actually touched my heart when FL & the others gave up their salary of one month to help out the CEO & company from a critical moment. To find out more u gotta watch the drama. i would like to add Male lead's ex gf appears as well but she is super cool & not delusional like they show in some dramas. Everybody actually shares a healthy relationship.Overall I am liked this drama. Fun, romamce, slice of life. One more thing i would like to add there is no break up scene. The ending scene was so freaking good. Omgg the proposal. Literally one of the best. The romance was balanced enough for me to keep my interest till the end.I enjoyed the drama a lot.

About flaws :

The female lead may seem clumsy to u in 1st 3 ep. But trust me she aint dumb. She will grow from her clumsiness. She is just too lost in big city & not able to keep up with the pace.

U might hate the scene of her lying to her mom about li zenan's house being hers. But im telling you there is character development. There is a character development of each corrects. This is a drama where nobody is perfect. Each have their flaws. The best thing is they admit it & sort it out soon.

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A tacit agreement for an enjoyable fluffy romance

1. Adorkable Main Couple
The main couple is one of the most adorable, yet dorky (“adorkable”) duo in the romance genre for 2021! They started as socially inept with each other which helps to seal their friendship prior to becoming a couple. It was also refreshing to see the ML smiling towards the FL during their courtship. I also lost count the number of times the leads smiled to each other across the balcony!

2. Manageable External Relationship
No ridiculous annoying love triangles, crappy in-laws, and nasty co-workers. The relationship between the ML and the FL has no competitors. Well, there was, sort-off, but it lasted a microsecond.

3. An Actual Strong Female Lead
The FL is strong throughout the entire drama and did not change her awesomeness when she entered the relationship with the ML.

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OMG BEST ENDING FOR A ROM COM EVER EVER EVER

I will start off this review with the ending. Honestly i am sick of all the anti climatic ending i have watched over the past years. The usual wedding ceremonies with forced comedy, not a single ROMCOM has done a better ending than this series ever EVER. They teased my emotion then make me smile like crazy hahahah. I really love this. I am writing this right after i have just finished the series and i have never felt so enthusiastic about an ending before. Maybe its because of all the boring endings i have watched for a long time.

Thanks for the perfect ROMCOM to end year 2021 for me. I havent had a good ROMCOM for a long time and this is the perfect dose. There is so many things i like about this drama. From the main couple interaction, their chemistry to the friendship with 88 co. colleagues. There are some tear jerking moments but its the warm and loving kind.

I had watched so many dramas and this is 1 of the best i had. I never felt bored throughout the whole series and really love the pacing of it. They basically encounter problems after problems and solve it over and over again. In the process learning and growing together. You will slowly feel love for all the characters in the show because they have their own unique personalities and is always kind and loving in their own unique ways. I like all the couples interactions as well. They are all different but refreshing to watch. If you want to watch a good ROMCOM that makes you smile like an idiot be sure not to miss this gem.

Also there are many wise and meaningful lines in there which i repeated a few times and to grasps the wisdom. LOL. The main couple started off bickering as usual but they are cute and funny. The male lead seems cold but is actually really nice and warm towards the female leads not bullying her but never fail to tease her when the opportunity arise. He is soft hearted and kind but try to act otherwise. However it is so obvious he is a good hearted person that he doesnt look cold at all even if he really tried. Anyway.... It highly recommend this if you love ROMCOM. PLEASE DO NOT MISS IT :D

OH BTW, i love the female lead acting. She can really cry "uglily" but you will just find her cute. I am serious, ugly but truly cute. I have watched her past drama before but i think she done so much better than her past series.

ciaos.

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Silly, Funny and Cute Rom-Com - Life's challenges of a New intern!

Completed - 2/23/2022

A silly, funny and easy-to-watch romantic comedy with a focus on career and life choices of an intern and her colleagues and friends. This is a pretty short 24-episode drama broadcasted on Mango TV. And it’s no surprise that the English subs on their YouTube channel are horrible, and maybe that’s why we don’t see many watchers and reviewers of this drama.

I would recommend this drama for those who:
1. Are new graduates or just got their first jobs.
2. Enjoy a no-stress silly, sometimes a little over-the-top and cute romantic comedy
3. Interested in the advertising and public relations industries
4. Doesn’t mind MangoTV’s awful subs and blurred background music/songs on YouTube

Our female lead, Ye Xuan, is a new intern designer at the start up advertising company 88 Ai Ke. She is full of passion and dreams in making it big in Shanghai. The drama is about her challenges as a new intern and her career development into an independent and strong woman. Along the way, she met some awesome friends and colleagues, and of course her romantic partner. I am not sure how realistic the workplace politics and procedures are for an advertising firm, but to an untrained eye, the plots are enjoyable.

Our male lead, Li Ze Nan, is a successful Sales Director of a big advertising company. He’s also our FL’s landlord, Party A, mentor, friend and lover. He might come off as cold and stoic at work, but is indeed warm and funny as well.

Our leads have good chemistry especially when they are bickering. They have a healthy friendship and relationship - supportive of each other, open and honest communication, no misunderstandings. This is a slow burn romance and they don’t get together until the last quarter of the drama. But once they get together, they are sweet, cute and funny together. There’s no shortage of fluffiness and skinship towards the end (though their kisses are not good at all) to make up for the long wait for their relationship to start.

The secondary and tertiary romances are just OK for me, esp. the tertiary romance between two colleagues. It happened too late and too fast, and doesn’t add much to the plot. The secondary romance between Hu Ya Nan and He Yu Cheng is kinda cute, but could have used a little more development.

This drama is definitely not a masterpiece and there are some inconsistencies in the plot (e.g. no cooking rule is out the door, no way FL has enough money to make an important purchase). However, I enjoy it for what it is - a sweet and fluffy rom-com.

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Cute Dimple Li Zhenan With His Tenant, Ye Xuan

A Party Who Lives Beside Me....
A rom-com modern drama about Li Zhenan, Party A with Ye Xuan, Party B in the city.

▪️Main Point
~ Two people met in the city because of work's requirement and same neighbourhood.

▪️Opinions
~ To me, I preferred to watch rom-com drama since I liked some nonsense that production and writer put in the drama. I always liked to watch this kind of drama since it can made me cheerful all day.
~ Li Zhenan coincidentally mets Ye Xuan when she first arrived at the city and find the house to live. They started their meeting with bickering since Li Zhenan doesnt help her when she's needed. Then, Ye Xuan rents Li Zhenan's other house without his knowing and later they became closed as a neighbour.
~ Their bickering doesnt last long since they always helped each other. Li Zhenan also was Party A for Ye Xuan. It because, Ye Xuan works at 88 ads and become Party B for Li Zhenan. Thus, their relationship were improved day by day.
~ What I loved about this drama because there was no clingy ex boyfriend or girlfriend. Even Li Zhenan has an ex before but his ex was peacefully accepted their relation as a stranger. They were good and positive to each other.
~ There was no third people between the FL and ML. Even SML was seen to like Ye Xuan at first but later when he knew she did not have any feelings to him so he decided to move up by himself. Then, he also has his own partner which was Li Zhenan's ex.
~ The apartment of Li Zhenan and Ye Xuan were really strategic and suitable for the couple. They can live near and convenient to each other.
~ It was so pity the drama has short episodes. I want to see more sweet scenes between FL and ML and also other couple too.

▪️Character Intro
~ Wang Zixuan was a sweet actress. She acts as Ye Xuan. Ye Xuan was a brave and active girl. She went to city and found the job there. Even she was an intern, she also good in doing her job. She was determine and does not give up in anything. She fell in love with Li Zhenan after becoming closed to him.
~ Xie Bin Bin acts as Li Zhenan. He was cute dimple guy. I loved to see him when he's smile. He was a good neighbour and tenant to Ye Xuan and really likes to help her in working. He was so so handsome ^,^

▪️Overall
This was a bit different from the other modern drama. The production includes some of story about the workplace, clients and business. Even the romance was short but I liked to see how they managed the relationship between colleagues and how they deal with the clients. It was good to see the rom-com drama since it was so light.

Hoping to see the best ending between ML and FL. They were so cute and sweet when they're into the relationship.....For sure, I recommended all to watch this drama without skipping or dropping.

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Slightly different opinion than the others

Maybe because I read other reviews and had higher expectations.... The drama was honestly kinda disappointing. First off all its a 24 episode drama. The relationship should happen before the midway point ep 12... but it doesnt. Its like ep. 18 and they still arent together. It's like a waste of time.

The male lead has feelings for the female lead and the female lead has feelings but they seem to keep it bottled up. Not too many scenes that make your heart skip a beat.

The female lead rents a house and the male lead is the owner. In terms of their jobs , the Female lead is an advertisement industry designer, while the male is the other party. The female lead is a rookie in her company. Her clients all seem pretty crappy.

the storyline is quite boring and the female lead's character/personality doesnt stick out too much.

I am just contemplating just dropping this drama and watch the scenes sweets on youtube.....

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The good point is no misunderstanding and no villain. this is the best part.

but the story is quite boring, I mean the story is running to make TVC and OVC. I was in that field, i know that, but this drama is so so, u can watch, or u can skip both.

The issues are the story is too slow, they can focus on something else, like more they time, the second lead get more time together than the main lead. this is saddest part. we didn't get proper time, sweet time with them.

The last 5 episodes is everything, u can skip first all episodes, sometimes its too boring, for me its just OK, if u have time give a watch, if u want something sweet u can watch

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Easy, Fluffy, Low-Key Drama Binge

I found this drama funny and adorable yet confusing at times. Most of the confusion came from the business storyline. To be fair this could be due to poor subtitles but I have a feeling that even with 100% correct subs, the business side would still be slightly confusing.

The main leads are really great together. The ML is slightly cold but warms up and becomes pretty goofy. He really steals so much of the show with how adorable he is when he's with the FL.

One of the things I love is that the FL is very witty and wise on her own. I don't find her to be dumbed down or whinny. Even when she's whining about something I don't find it annoying.


**Spoilers Ahead**


I love that we get to see the leads actually be a couple. This drama delivers a healthy relationship trying to work on their careers while growing as a couple. They support each other unconditionally. Sometimes in dramas once the couples finally get together things get a bit stale and draggy but seeing these two be a couple and interacting as a sweet new couple would is truly adorable and mostly realistic. Also, the proposal is hilarious.

Another thing that's kinda of great about this drama is that there isn't any dramatic tropes. No crazy moms or scheming exes. No amnesia. Nothing wild. Any drama or issues that does arise is pretty swiftly dealt with.

The episodes are only about 35 minutes so this is an easy, fluffy, low-key drama binge.

Would Recommend
Maybe Re-watch

Side note: As a fan of Gant Your Heart I enjoyed watching Wang Zi Xuan, Liu Zhe Hui & Hu Yun Hao in another drama together.

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Rom-com de bureau assez "classique" mais très bien interprétée

Grow-up drama sur 1 FL qui débarque comme stagiaire dans une petite agence de pub à Shanghai, loue 1 appart (dont le ML, directeur du marketing d'une grosse boite de pub, est proprio).

Ils vont peu à peu se connaitre, s'aider, devenir amis puis lovers (ép. 19 ou 20 !!! Très très slowburn). Une 2nde romance assez cute, avec des personnages + intelligents et plus vifs.

Quelques défauts :
- la réalisation est étrange, avec des scènes "sautées" qui reviennent longtemps après en flashback, des coupures bizarres, etc.
- des coïncidences "dramaland" peu réalistes,
- l'évolution psy des personnages pas toujours crédible.
- les engsubs sont visiblement parfois inadaptés (meilleurs sur Youtube, mais les épisodes y sont dans le désordre :( :( )

MAIS :
- très bons acteurs,
- CL attachant avec bonne alchimie & complicité,
- ton résolument Comédie.

Série très sympa dans l'ensemble, qui donne envie de voir d'autres œuvres avec le CL.

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