Hou Lang (2023)

a long review for a for a rollercoaster of emotions

I have a lot to say about this drama, so if you haven't watched it yet and want an opinion (beware of spoilers!) feel free to read my LONG review.

I'll say one thing: Gen Z is a good drama, but it suffered from repetitive and dumb script choices.

If there's Lusi and the topic interests me, I'm in. That's how I got to Gen Z. I thought about watching it while was airing, but I decided to watch it when I was ready to really dive into the narrative.

This cdrama was a rollercoaster for me. I felt anger, hate, sadness, pride, happiness, anger again, warm in my heart, and many other sensations.

I had never seen anything about Chinese medicine, and I found it very interesting. Despite a lot of information that I couldn't understand - about 75%, if I'm being honest - at various times I managed to apply the things that Dr. Ren taught, in my life. Although, of course, I think that not everything is beautiful and not all things in life you will achieve just by wanting and having faith.

Following the trajectory of the main character, Tou Tou, was my motivation to finish this drama, to be quite honest. Yes, the core of the family is interesting, but the lawyer and that envious poor boy got on the nerve. Until now, I don't know what Shen Pen saw in her, for God's sake. Well, he was the one who married her, not me, lol.

Anyway, I didn't find anyone outside of the family nucleus, apart from the best friend, interesting to follow. I thought there were so many people that it ended up being poorly developed. Interesting characters, like the doctor of Western medicine, or, as I said before, the best friend, could have been explored more than the annoying lawyer who, despite having evolved, was just annoying and a snob.

Now talking about unnecessary characters: Meng Meng.

I don't think her story wasn't important, but her existence within the plot had no use other than developing the ML's romance with the FL, and make he grows up as a person (and it's good that he became better at some point because, for the love of God, he was such a spoiled brat).

In my opinion, I would have had no problem placing her as a student or as a second female; I would prefer that to simply watching a huge disservice to psychological disorders by placing a character who clearly had a compromised mental condition to be stuck with a 25-year-old guy who basically played the role of her pseudo-boyfriend (and, no matter what you guys say, it did look like a boyfriend. sorry, guys).

There are a lot of things in this drama that I can tolerate if I try really hard, but not this one. There is no plausible and justifiable reason other than that they needed a way out for the two main characters to get even closer and decided to make the worst possible choice: creating a poorly developed female character that will only serve as a development tool for the male character. End. As always.

Like, why does she live in ML's parents' house without any psychological support? is there any logic to this? It's OBVIOUS that whoever watches it will be annoyed by the character, because there's no explanation for 27 episodes about what the hell could have happened with her!

Now, let's be honest: this drama was a representation of the patriarchal system in practice.

Basically, we had all men (the father, the ML, and the poor envious man) making mistakes after mistakes and having the women (whether the wife or the FL) wipe out and take the hit for them. This irritated me SO MUCH throughout the drama, but so much so that it got to a point where I just wanted to curse the writers.

In my opinion, the drama wanted to show that not all the wisdom and altruism in the world is a solution to pettiness. And that's exactly what pp's mother said: we give our best to strangers.

The father, basically, has all the ideas and dumps them in everyone's lap to solve them. my wife to clean it, the other one to lend it to me, this one to solve it for me, my disciple to solve the shit I caused by lying to two patients, and so it goes. Everyone smoothed things over for him, and I thought the words his son gave him was well deserved; He is extremely selfish, indeed.

The son is not left behind, obviously. He almost killed FL with his irresponsibility, he let her take the blame for him TWICE and it took the girl almost dying for him for him to become "a man". At least, he evolved, right? There are people, like the poor envious man, who spent the entire drama lamenting how difficult his life was, humiliated the FL, set her up, and other awful things but, of course, carried on as if nothing had happened, like ?????

Well, I've been through a lot of emotions with GEN Z at many, many points. I don't think it's a bad series, I just think that maybe it tested the intelligence of those who watch it a little, putting things that don't make any sense to the plots, actions without consequences (especially if coming from men), and endings without... Outcomes (?). To this day, I wonder whether or not FL is the successor.

The writers were like: Could it be? find it out!

Other than that, I loved it. I complained, but I liked it. I just thought it was kind of silly that the actor didn't kiss because he was an idol; There are so many idols out there who do this and it's fine, you know? He looks like that boy from Miss Crown and Mr. Lizard, who can't kiss because of his wife. If you want to become an actor and have these silly impediments, honestly...

Anyway. Watch it, give it a chance. Lusi puts on a great performance, we have good performances from other actors too, interesting reflections, beautiful people, hints of romance and a wonderful protagonist.

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It's one of the few love story dramas that I really enjoyed. I received electro-acupuncture treatment for a year so I am interested in this topic of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I really hope this drama inspires more young people to learn about it too. One of the best things I like is Ren Xin Zheng and his wife, they are so cute. The grandparents are also cute too. They are respectful elders with both wisdom and wittiness.
The drama has a good balance between reality and the usual perfection in the C-drama world. Each character has his/her own problem that is common in life and has a realistic ending, some are sad but overall are happy ones.

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Zhao Lusi was good, and everyone else was bad. A horrible and boring script

"Gen Z - Hou Lang" is a melodrama about Chinese medicine. I finished watching the drama today, and I must admit this is not a great script.

Zhao Lusi acted better than everyone else in this drama. Still, her screen times were low compared to other series because it is an all-star cast, and the character building is very slow.

Her onscreen chemistry with the ML, Luo YiZhou is not great (she had the best onscreen chemistry with Yang Yang and Wu Lei, imo.) Her characters in WRTW and LLTG are much better, stronger, and more complex than Sun Tou Tou.

I didn't know that this was Luo Yi Zhou's first drama, and he did a decent job. Although he and ZLS played love interests, there was no kissing scene at all, so it was disappointing.

I love Zhao Lusi and her acting abilities; however, I do not like the GenZ script and Wu Gang's and Jiang Shan's acting. The drama is disappointing and draggy. It could be better if it were cut short by half. Wu Gang has been typed cast in the same type of role. He is an overbearing father prideful and stubborn husband who does not talk or express his feelings. Grrr…. If it were not for ZLS, I would drop this drama a long time ago. The curveball about Sun Tou Tou being Ren Xing Zheng's daughter in ep 35 was ridiculous, and it took until ep 39 to explain that she was not.

Between episode35-39 it added the Covid situation into the drama, which was unnecessary. The wife who cared for Ren Xin Xheng, because he had Covid, did not use a mask or protective gear. Even though it has a happy ending, overall, the acting was boring, and too much TCM propaganda. Bad script, so I give it a 6.0 rating.

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Learned, endeared, and appreciated

This series isn't the type of series I would have queued to watched. I started watching this because of Zhao Lusi. It dragged for me in the beginning and i found it to be different from a typical series I have watched. Regardless of the story or theme, seies usually flowed showing relevant scenes. If once in a while I come across a "so-so" series, it'll have irrelevant scenes thats added as a filler & didnt make sense to be added...like it was a waste of time. This series has a lot of scenes like conversations within family, colleagues or friends that we can say not necessary but actually helped carry the series.
I found some comments here regarding romance in this series immature.
This series is not about romance. It is there but itll be slow and tho you know it is coming, it came towards the end - to me, it was placed perfectly.
It will be slow for viewers as they start watching it and you'll feel you are trying to hold on for something good but eventually you'll stick to it because you anticipate the next banter between husband and wife, talks between grandson and grandpa, naughty exchange of TouTou with her master, learning about Meng Mengs condition, techniques to help live, learn TCM, etc.
This series will guide viewers with open mind how to live better, and healthier. It is educational at the same time entertaining.
It is not a perfect series, but it is one that if you give it a chance, you will stay til the end.
The characters in this series evolved flawlessly and artists all did an exemplary job in each their roles. The casts meshed well with each other. Casting director deserved his paycheck for his work here.
Production was just awesome 👌 Location chosen were all 👏 that I cant help imagine the hardships production encountered.
Overall, it is a series I will highly recommend. Don't get impatient watching because by episode 10, you will pick up things you would try to help you live a better life even in a small way.

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Una storia che vi farà riflettere molto su voi stessi e sulla vostra vita

Inizio col dire che ero molto indecisa se iniziare questo cdrama date le numerose recensioni che lo definivano noioso, lento o altro. Dal mio canto, invece, l’ho trovato un drama incredibilmente interessante.

STORIA: Per prima cosa, i rapporti che si vanno a raccontare sono molto più ampi e variegati: non è la semplice storia d’amore tra due ragazzi, ma è una storia di amicizia, famiglia, amore, salute e senso ultimo della vita.
Non ci sono momenti noiosi o superflui rispetto alla storia generale: ogni personaggio porta uno specchio di vita in cui molti possono riconoscersi e le loro problematiche vengono affrontate in modo da permettervi di riflettere su diversi metodi di approccio e di risoluzione del problema.
È un vero e proprio comfort drama.

L’unica nota dolente per me sono stati alcuni approcci alle patologie che da professionista sanitario mi hanno un po’ infastidito. È una forma mentis che ormai è parte di me, quindi un po’ come uno dei protagonisti della storia per alcune cose mi sento di dissentire.

ROMANCE: molti si sono lamentati anche dell’apparente mancanza di romance, in realtà io credo che in GenZ venga raccontata una delle storie di innamoramento più belle, coerenti e con il giusto passo. Se siete amanti del trope “enemies to friends to lovers”, questo cdrama vi piacerà molto.

ATTORI: gli attori sono stati fenomenali. Ognuno di loro è riuscito a portare sullo schermo l’essenza del proprio personaggio, quasi a farlo sembrare una sorta di documentario o di storia vera. Zhao Lusi è una garanzia: il modo in cui riesce ad essere così spontanea ed emozionante in ogni suo personaggio la rende una delle migliori attrici cinesi attualmente. Il dottor Ren mi è sembrato un vero medico di medicina tradizionale cinese e anche la sua performance è stata impeccabile.

ATTENZIONE: ci sono molte tematiche forti (suicidio, morte, violenze, disturbi mentali), quindi fate attenzione e valutate se riuscireste ad affrontarle.

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It's nationalism all wrapped in pretty propaganda

Mehn, thank god for Zhao Lusi otherwise this drama would have been as dry as unbuttered toast. Prof Ren, with his never-ending lectures about EVERY-FUCKING-THING, is beginning to grate on my nerves.
Mrs Ren is supposed to be a doctor yet she's never been shown in that capacity; all she does is fold clothes or pack books for her husband. Rebecca is an I-want-to-stab-myself-in-the-eyes kind of boring. Li Quan is made out to be a bad person simply because he's poor and the way his father was depicted as being avaricious reeked of classism. I was not impressed with Prof Ren's indifference to LQ's homelessness.
Also, Prof Ren is a gold digger (yes, I said it) who married his wife for her parents' money cos that man has never in his life told his wife of 20+ yrs that he loves or appreciates her instead he went looking for his "long lost love" 🙄😤 The grandparents are dead paperweights in that their roles are given unnecessary importance yet the drama would have been fine without them.

Lastly, I cannot imagine a more unserious person than Prof Ren. Who resigns from a plush position as a uni dept. head without telling their spouse? Who decides to start a school without having a proper business plan or source of funding? Whoever wrote the script must have a mandate from the government to make TCM look attractive to the younger generation. If so, it's the height of dangerous propaganda because it'll make it seem like anyone can be a TCM doctor seeing as there's no entrance exam or requirements to qualify.

I'm at ep 20 and will continue to soldier on but I'm no longer as interested in watching as I was for the initial episodes.

Update June 5, 2023: I've lost interest and will be dropping this series.

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Inspirational

I honestly decided to watch this because of Toutou and Tian Zhen... if your looking forward to their moments, im sorry to disappoint you but they do not have plenty of scenes together. This show targets 'Traditional Chinese Medicine', family, son and father issues.
The parents of Tian Zhen, i love them. Their affection and love with each other are too cute.
I was mostly looking forward to Toutou and Tian Zhen especialy some clips ive been online.
After 25episodes... i kinda skipped a lot of part and mostly stayed on the couple's scene. But overalls, i love the drama. Very inspirational it also gave me some knowledge about TCM.
Started feb3 finished feb6 6:26am.
Still jetlagged lol.

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Same same but different ♨️

I just finished watching this drama. I saw this drama in Hindi dubbing . And that makes it very funny. I especially found Sun Tou Tou( Zhao Lu Si ) her character very funny. I found Ren Xin Zheng( Wu Gang ) and Sun Tou Tou( Zhao Lu Si ) teacher and student pairing very good and funny. Seeing them, I remembered Teacher Kim (Han Seok Kyu ) & Yoon Seo Jung ( Seo Hyun Jin ) from a Dr. Romantic . Not only that, I felt that this drama is a combination of that Dr. Romantic session 1(2016) and 2(2020). Only in this drama there is no such romantic matter. I liked Ren Xin Zheng( Wu Gang ) & Song Ling Lan( Jiang Shan )romance more than Sun Tou Tou( Zhao Lu Si ) & Ren Tian Zhen(Luo Yi Zhou). But it’s a good medical drama. If you love Dr. romantic then go for it .?????

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Very educational

I would say that Gen Z is a very good show, long winded but good to watch. This series, if you really watch in-depth has alot of life lessons taught. Combining with the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the life lessons you can learn, it is indeed an absolute wonderful series to watch. These aside, I would say the series is abit tad long winded, certain aspects (like some of the people reviewed here) can be done without. Romance factor is not a really big thing in this series. Yes, you can see romance slowly blooming between the male and female lead along with other side couples, but not big and sizzling. I really enjoyed watching this series, although I played the skip button alot on certain parts of the series - especially parts with Meng Meng and Zhao Li Quan (character names in the series). They should not have made these parts so long winded and draggy. I enjoyed watching the banter between Zhao Lu Si and her master, it is very refreshing. I love the relationship of marriage between the characters Ren Xing Zheng and his wife and also the relationship of their parents. It is so nice to watch.

I actually noticed this show for some time already because I was a really big Zhao Lu Si fan, however the total amount of episodes was what dragged me this long to bring myself to watch it. After watching it completely (finally), I can say it is a good series to watch - as mentioned, I really love the life teachings brought up in this series along with the TCM. Reminds me of my Grandmother, when she was alive back then, how she would tell stories etc about her life while growing up in China in the ancient times.

Overall, the entire crew + casts really did a good job bringing life to their characters and also the series. A big applause for them. Zhao Lu Si, as always, brought alot of fun, humor and laughter to her shows. Though the initial few episodes was quite fascinating when her master just "picked her up from the streets" to be trained. Luo Yi Zhou, the male lead, is not bad. If the info provided here is accurate, for his first series, I would say he did a good job. Alina Zhang was abit more difficult. I honestly hated her from the start because of her obnoxious and selfish ways. But she really did a good job portraying that character.

The music, for me, is just average. There are some nice pieces but not all is to my liking.

All in all, I would say give this series a try. Especially if you want to know more about TCM or the Chinese life teachings within. But it is abit too long winded for me to say / recommend a re-watch, unless you really love it from the first completion.

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request clarification / verification

i love this drama and i have found it to be eye opening for TCM cultures. I especially love Sun Tou Tou and Ren Tian Zhen character.

Kindly do not read or listen to any youtube channel w title :- 后浪：孙头头后颈胎记露出，灵兰竟哭得泣不成声，任新正当场认亲 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIa_Uw3Ly9c].

As mentioned and written, this is not misleading information. If you can't find the channel meaning someone report the uploader. That is good news, please do go clarify and verify whether the link valid or invalid before accusing me of writing misleading information when clearly I have explained above.

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