Cheng Huan Ji (2024)

A wasted opportunity.

I came into this drama thinking it was a romance with a side of comedy but I was pleasantly surprise to find a family drama.

Everyone does a really good job in the roles they were given and have great chemistry but you should know this drama leans more into the realism of how relationships actually work in a chinese family nowadays than what westerns countries are used to consume.

I found myself surprised, really, to find this kind of story of a meddling mother to the point of annoyance and a family that would actually enable her actions, until the breaking point. And then when things didn't go her way, she made everything worse. It got to the point where no matter how much I understood she was coming from a place of good, there was no justification or explanation for her.

I have been watching asian dramas for decades now and it's been a long time since I find myself watching a drama with these family dynamics, which it's a reminiscence of early 2000s kind of story and, worse, outdated.

Another weak point, it's that this drama simply didn't have enough story for 37 episodes. If this would have been a 20 something episode long drama, focused more on leading lady's work life, it would have been far more interesting.

Citeste mai mult

Se puede pasar de largo

Un drama que lo definiría, sin pena ni gloria, es más, bastante aburrido y cuenta con 37 episodios En realidad como ya leí varias reseñas y coincido con aquellas que exponen que el drama se trata de la relación entre madre e hija y que Xu Kai tiene un rol secundario. Desde luego hay buenos momentos que hacen que uno, no llore por el tiempo invertido.
Jamás se me ocurriría volver a verla y creo que dentro de una semana ni me acuerdo que la vi.
Además, quiero destacar que esta madre protagonizada por He Sai Fei es tóxica, para todos los integrantes de la familia, ella es el centro y todos los demás son objetos de su pertenencia. Pero es un personaje débil que los demás integrantes de la familia, hija, marido y hermano la van llevando como pueden por el bien familiar. A pesar de todos los problemas que ocasiona. Pero podemos decir en su favor que es una madre que cocina y se preocupa por su familia.
El personaje principal interpretado por Yang Zi, es demasiado perfecto como para ser real, en honor a la verdad ella es la madre de su madre y también tiene un crecimiento importante como empresaria y como hija. Recién en el episodio 28, tienen una charla donde ambas se sinceran y pueden encontrar un punto para mejorar la relación, pero son muchos capítulos repetitivos de lo mismo que llegan a aburrir.
Muy linda la relación de la protagonista con su abuela protagonizada por Wu Yan Shu como
Chen Shu Zhen o Grandma Mai.
Xu Kai, como Yao Zhi Ming tiene una buena actuación, su papel es el que más crecimiento interno tiene. Hay algunas escenas románticas bonitas y él es muy atractivo.
El drama tiene comedia, pero nada que destacar, todo siempre subordinado a esta relación madre e hija, la historia secundaria acompaña a este drama, es una historia de sostén sin mucha importancia.
La actuación de todos es buena, pero el guion a mi gusto soporífero.
De acuerdo a lo visto mi opinión es que mires otro drama, demasiado hincapié en las relaciones familiares, que desde luego son importantes en la vida de uno, pero me parece que en China hacen un culto de ella.

Citeste mai mult

It’s not the best choice, but it’s a good choice to watch

It took me a while to accept that the protagonist's mother caused a lot of drama until the end of the series, being very unnecessary and disrespectful, not looking like an elderly lady, but rather a spoiled teenager with no limits, it's okay that with age we have to accept some difficult phases like the empty nest, seeing her children face their own problems, but she had no maturity, she just did what she wanted all the time, that was so ridiculous. What would this lady have to complain about? her daughter-in-law and son-in-law are honorable, decent, successful people who take care of their children, but she still wants to rule over her children and treat them as if they were children and do emotional blackmail until the end. Despite this unbearable character who had very few improvements during the episode, the other characters are well constructed, the relationships develop and create great connections. I really liked the drama. I liked the development of the story that served as the backdrop for the novel. It's a slow burn romance with a fun enemies-to-lovers twist. The two protagonists acted very well and are beautiful! I would recommend this drama with a very large dose of patience.

It's not the best choice to always choose to watch it comma, but it's a good choice.

Citeste mai mult

Annoying Supporting Characters

As much as I love the ML and FL, the mother of FL is the most annoying and irritating character.
It’s not about being poor and full of pride but she herself shows disrespect to her own family.
I have seen dramas that mothers can be annoying but this one is the worst!!!
I would skip parts of other shows to skip to the good part but this I skipped every time the mother is on scene.

XU KAI is really good!!!! Can’t wait for another show of him
YANG ZI is great!! They made so much excellent chemistry.

Again, this is a terrible plot for mothers that belong to “poor” or working class group belittle theirselves more for bad attitude.

Most mothers are protective- despite of being poor gives pride to the family. But from beginning to end, the FL mother is one reason not to watch the show.

If you want to enjoy the show- just skip the mother part. Plus the actor herself is not good either.

Citeste mai mult

Worth the watch!!

I actually completed a long time ago but its still a great watch! The story line is great, every character has something to say and the script writers did a great job, other than that the acting is fabulous both the leads did a great job in portraying their role, not only the leads but the parents, friend and sibling all did great. its a very realistic drama i would say and say's a lot about the Asian culture at first i didn't except anything i would say but by the last episode i was bawling my eyes out on how retainable the drama is! I would definitely watch it, i do think the overall rating didn't do justice on how good the drama actually is.

Citeste mai mult

Dysfunctional families

This is my first time watching both Yang Zi and Xu Kai in a contemporary drama. Their acting was convincing, and kept the plot going. In general, the supporting actors also did a credible job.

Ranking;
#1 Dysfunctional Family Mai... Mother
#2 Dysfunctional Family Xin ... Son, Daughter, Father, Mother
#3 Dysfunctional Family Yao ... Father

MAI family
Mother Liu Wanyu was overbearing and controlling, but she was emphatic and kindhearted occasionally. She was the nucleus of the Mai family. Her husband Mai, son Zao and daughter Huan were her satellites. The drama should have been named Story of Wanyu since she seemed to dominate the plot. The actress should have been attributed a Main Lead designation.

XIN family
A privileged family of four, lacking in ethics, but full of arrogance and condescension. Son was too clingy, trying to manipulate Mai Cheng Huan. Daughter was psychotic and condescending. Mother and Father were calculating.

YAO family
Ex-convict Mr Yao had his fifteen minutes of fame. The day he grew a conscience, was the day he died. That was cold, Scriptwriter! Yao should have lived, reside permanently at Xing Anli, and work as a host. Son Yao Zhiming realized too late that his father had redemption.

Citeste mai mult

If Mother/Daughter Dramas are you're thing, this is the one for you...

I loved this drama because of its heartfelt messages of love and family unity in helping to face the difficulties of life and family strife. These messages are conveyed in the story of Mai Chenghuan, who has dreams of excelling in her career, but has a well-meaning and controlling mother who gets in her way.

I think this drama hits home for many women, young and old, who've had moms like this. They work hard all their lives taking care of you and wanting what's best for you, but just can't seem to make the transition from raising their children, to being hands-off companions to their adult children. They get caught in the push/pull of what they believe will make their children happy instead of listening to what they actually need, making them horribly unhappy because they've grown used to being in control. This is where our story begins.

The mother/daughter leads are played masterfully by Yang Zi, as Mai Chenghuan, and veteran actress, He Sai Fei, as Liu Wanyu. These two actresses were phenomenal together. They took us into their tumultuous relationship, making us cry with their heart-breaking fights and making us cry again when they make up. They got their characters down pat and brought them to life on-screen. What an honor I can imagine it must have been for Yang Zi to work alongside such a talented actress that is He Sai Fei. I could see right off that she took all her younger counterparts to unimaginable heights. My hat is off to the director for guiding them all to go further in their performances. The ensemble cast were all wonderful as the Mai family. They felt like a very real family, supporting each other in good times and in bad. It is no wonder then that Yao Zhiming, wants so badly to be a part of it?

Xu Kai, as Yao Ziming, is the quiet loner who slowly becomes entangled with Mai Chenghuan and her family life. They both share a very important person in their lives and she is instrumental in teaching them that nothing is more important than love for family and doing what is right. She gently guides Yao to become more free and less transactional, employing the efforts of Mai Chenghuan in her endeavors. I was very impressed with Xu Kai's understated performance. He could be the cold CEO, but you could see that he had a big heart and that he was guarding it, not willing to give it away until he was ready. I appreciated that about his performance. He understood his character completely. That inner monologue was present and you don't always get that in less seasoned actors. He was alive, a rock for Chenghuan, but vulnerable at the same time. The rawness of his need for a family was palpable. All I can say is the noodle scene. Without giving anything away, that was the moment he won me over as an actor.

The weakest areas of the plot were at the beginning. The first few episodes felt disjointed and slow. I think the drama was still trying to find its footing and those first 12 episodes could have done with less cliches.

In a forest of Chinese dramas full of young, handsome romantic leads and cliche plots, this was a diamond in the rough because it doesn't just dwell on romance. There is much more going on and that is a good thing. Even the secondary romantic couple is well written and doesn't detract from the main couple or the principal situations. I highly recommend this one for viewers who like slice of life dramas, or want more going on than just the romance.

Citeste mai mult

Its good but very exaggerated mother daughter duo

I am very confused with this drama honestly.i watched it for xu kai, but ended up watching till the end. i just hated the exaggeration of a mothers obsession towards her children. i kind of did not like the unprofessionalism where a mother can randomly enter a daughter's office meeting and say to have lunch. They were a lot of unattractive points in the drama. but above all the ML and FL has carried the drama beautifully. Even FL's brother and Ex boyfriend did a good job projecting the relationship. It was sensible for a mother to be noisy in a daughter's relationship but it was really really not acceptable for a mother to be noisy in professional fields. I have a lot of mixed feelings towards this drama. Its a family drama with very weird obsessions. The granny was the best among everything.

Citeste mai mult