Gong Zi Bu Ke Qiu (2023)

A Ventriloquist in an Isekai

“Catch Up My Prince” is an isekai story in which the main characters enter into a game world and experience various events including falling in love. The ventriloquist here refers to Liu Yichang’s way of speaking. As this is not a serious historical palace story, the tone here lacks the usual palace decorum. The female lead behaves and speaks just like a modern-day youth, and a Cinderella story whereby a lowly maid becomes a prince consort. It’s quite an enjoyable watch which I had not expected.

Lu Ranran (Xu Ruohan) is a young doctor. One day while playing a virtue game in an ancient world, she is somehow trapped in the game world and unable to return to the real world until she completes the task of marrying one of the male characters. In the ancient world, she meets 4 princes. While searching for the one whom she likes the most to marry, she finds herself falling in love with the 4th Prince, Zhao Chenyi (Liu Yichang). Having spent a lot of time with Lu Renjia (Xu Ruohan), Lu Ranran’s character name in the game, Zhao Chenyi finds her different from other girls and begins to fall for her too. However, when Lu Renjia checks her dashboard for the princes’ fondness of her, she finds, while all princes are very fond of her, Zhao Chenyi’s fondness score remains at zero. No matter what Lu Renjia does, his score continues to stay at zero. Out of desperation, she agrees to marry any prince so that she can get out of the game, which she comes to regret and replay the game.

Though not a breath-taking beauty like other more popular actors, Xu Ruohan exudes an aura of modern-day youthfulness and optimism. Watching her feels natural and soothing, and her portrayal of Lu Renjia is lovable and convincing.

Looking cold and indifferent, Zhao Chenyi is actually a romantic and affectionate person. He puts up a front as a playboy so that he can be considered as useless by his enemies and stay away from palace politics. Hidden, he is waiting and planning to avenge his slain teacher together with the teacher’s surviving daughter whom he had rescued. Constantly he faces assassinations from his enemy. To safeguard Lu Renjia and to prevent her from being embroiled in his scheme, he repeatedly rejects Lu Renjia and sends her away to live in his brothers’ palaces so that she can be protected.

Visually, Liu Yichang’s portrayal is very good. Unfortunately, he lacks the appropriate facial expressions especially when he speaks; he is like a ventriloquist, speaking without moving his lips. Having said, I do like the Zhao Chenyi character though Liu Yichang’s performance is lacking.

There are multiple very interesting characters in the story, such as the Crown Prince and his beloved wife, the second prince who is cold and nasty but devoted to the Crown Prince, the eleventh prince who is inventive, playful, pure and innocent, the villain who is in love with Lu Renjia’s best friend, etc. The actors give an impressive performance with their respective roles.

My Verdict
As the story mainly revolves around a game, whatever plot holes there might be, they can be taken as deliberate, just as stop-start and replay in a game. Though not shown for some, most characters face their consequences at the end. Some plots remain open as the game continues even after the drama has ended. Whenever Lu Renjia makes a mistake or gets a result she doesn’t like, such as the death of a character, she presses replay and returns to the point where she could change her choice or the scenario, hence an alternative outcome. In the real world, we don’t have such luxury; when a choice is made, good or bad, we’ll have to face up to the consequence.

A fun and non-serious watch. Recommended for the fun.

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Light and fun romance drama!

Catch Up Your Prince is a lighthearted, fun and fluffy romance drama!

Catch up your prince had an interesting plot that exceeded my expectations. This drama is a little more on the "low budget" side, but it doesn't bother me at all. The story is like an "Otome" game inspired, where the main girl gets stuck in a virtual world and has to choose a route, which of these men is she gonna try to woo.

STORY
Lu Ran Ran is a intern doctor who befriends a patient of hers, Yun Zhu. Lu Ran Ran has heard of this new game that lets the players actually experience the game. In the game you are physically able to feel pain, eat food and overall just be there, it's no different from reality. The game is a historical game, where there are 4 possible routes of romance. You can pursue any of the 4 princes. Lu Ran Ran and Yun Zhu agree to see each other in the game. When Lu Ran Ran logs in, she wanders around and notices two men fighting. She gets caught up in the middle, during their fight she gets thrown inside a building and the building caughts on fire. She tries to log out but realizes that she can't. She is saved by the 4th Prince, Zhao Chen Yi.
When she wakes up, a figure appears, he is the games guide, Qin Shou. He tells her that she is the only player stuck in the game and that she can't log out,so best bet is to complete the game. She takes on a name "Lu Ren Jia"

SPOILER PART OF THE STORY:
If Lu Ren Jia dies in the game, she actually dies, So Lu Ren Jia tries to go for the 4th prince and falls in love with him. But while she gains favorability points with the other princes, 4th prince stays at 0. She still persists on going after his route. As she plays more, she gets missions and help from the game. She saves crown prince and thus she gets to be a female physician. She gets close to all the princes just by being herself and 11th, 2nd and 4th prince fall in love with her. 4th prince shows her love, but this confuses her because of the favorability score. He proposes to her. She thinks that he is pretending to love her and decides to leave him. When she faces trouble and gets thrown into jail, she gets to decide the final ending route. She decides to marry the crown prince, since she only loves 4th prince and besides crown prince is in love with the crown princess, who is pregnant with the help of Lu Ren Jia. Unfortunately on their wedding day, crown prince, crown princess and the unborn child die. Lu Ren Jia can go home, but instead decides to reload the game back to the moment she was in jail. She has to choose again which of the four she is going to marry.. She decides that the only option left is the 2nd prince, since she sees 11th prince as a brother. With the help of 2nd prince, her name is cleared and she is given a marriage with the 2nd prince, as a concubine. She and 2nd prince's princess consort get married to him on the same day. Lu Ren Jia can finally go home, so she goes to see 4th prince one last time, after hearing from the consort that the 4th prince saved her and that he did really love her. When confessing to each other, soon appears angry 2nd prince. He tries to hurt the 4th prince, but Lu Ren Jia pushes him out of the way and gets stabbed instead. She falls into a pond and she leaves the game.

But while she leaves, only the 4th prince seems to remember her. He searches for a girl "Lu Ren Jia" but no one seems to know her. Sometimes some people have recollections of a "junior physician" and "a maid who taught them how to cook malatang" but no one knows what she looks like or what her name is. Only the 4th prince remembers.

Lu Ren Jia comes back to real world to see that her friend Yun Zhu is gone from the hospital and goes to search for her. There she meets Xu You Zheng, the games villain. He explains to her that he trapped his friend Wang Chen Yi and his sister Wang Yun Zhu in the game, because he loves Yun Zhu and wants her to be able to see. Yun Zhu was in the hospital because of her eyes. Wang Chen Yi is the 4th prince, Zhao Chen Yi. He realizes that he needs to honor Yun Zhu's opinion and decides to get Yun Zhu and Wang Chen Yi back to the real life. He goes back into the game with Lu Ren Jia. Her mission is to find 4th prince and he will go find Yun Zhu. Lu Ren Jia is now Princess Lu Jia Ren. Soon she has to get engaged to the drastically changed 11th prince. While trying to search clues of how to end the game and where to find the missing 4th prince, she doesn't realize that the 4th prince is actually her bodyguard, who is undercover. When 4th prince tries to stop 11th prince from getting married to Lu Jia Ren, he helps her escape and tell her that he can't watch his loved one get married to another. He tells her that he knows her and she then recognizes that he is the 4th prince. When on the run, they face many obstacles.


My Opinion:
The story felt a little generic in the beginning but i learned to like it a lot. Lu Ren Jia naturally has obstacles in her life there, especially now that she has the attention of the 4th Prince. I feel like the only thing that really bothered me was the villain of the story Xu You Zheng. In the game he even killed Lu Ren Jia once. Xu You Zheng was also a real villain in the game, so i'm a little confused as to why Xu You Zheng didn't help Lu Ren Jia leave the game but instead tried to get rid of her. In the later episodes he says things like that he hopes Lu Ren Jia to finish the game quickly, because she doesn't belong there. What especially bothered me was how easily he was convinced by Lu Ran Ran to bring back Yun Zhu and Wang Chen Yi to reality.
I was hoping for a better villain, but i get it. Ending could have been more clearer. Did they get engaged in the game or in real life, since he proposed in the game? guess we'll never find out.


CAST:
Xu Ruohan as Lu Ren Jia/Luo Ran Ran/ Lu Jia Ren,
She was not my cup of tea in the beginning but i started to enjoy her acting a lot more. She wasn't being overly naive and overall was a good pick for this.

Liu Yichang as Zhao Chen Yi, the 4th prince/Wang Chen Yi, A great pick for the 4th prince! He was flirty and funny! I think his facial expressions lacked a little bit but overall he was a really nice and enjoyable!


I highly recommend if you want something light and fluffy!

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Isekai with Big Heart

The drama is upfront about the fictionalized world and characters but despite that, I ugly cried for much of the sad parts. The story, both inside the game world and the overall drama story, were that touching and well fleshed out. That said, the comedy was definitely on point as well and I never forgot that it was light with lower stakes, just that I was very invested despite the lower stakes.

This was my first drama with Liu Yi Chang and I immediately started looking for more things he was in. His voice has a hypnotic ASMR quality and I live for the way he calls the FL. His character's love is so pure and beautiful.

The supporting cast were all excellent. Once the big reveal happened, there was definitely a good "aha" moment when a lot of things that were puzzling before made a lot of sense. There's no stereotypical villain since the driving forces are more how things are not under the characters' controls and I enjoyed that as a plot device. My heart broke with the FL multiple times over characters that she and I both knew weren't "real."

My only complaint, as is usual with a lot of dramas, is that I wish the happy ending was more fleshed out.

Overall, an absolute top tier costumed rom-com.

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Sweet and entertaining.

It was a light story, but the plot was deep enough to keep it entertaining. The side characters were well done, and I felt for them during their own struggles. Yes, a few scenes are quite heartbreaking. She could have wound up with any of the princes and it still would have been a cute story- each of them had their own charms. I like the nicknames she had for them.
There was a little too much “Well, you tried to kill me and I won’t tolerate that again but, of course, I forgive you this time”. I’m always annoyed by that.
Overall, it’s a fun story that would be good for a rewatch on a rainy day.

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This drama follows the isekai plot of portal fantasy and science fiction having real people been transported into a video game set within a historical period. This drama might be more attractive to younger viewers or those interested in video game features within a drama like changing into alternate endings depending on the outcome of some game choices (when the female lead sees that her choice lead to someone dying, she re-sets the game to get an alternate outcome) and so on. This is not a drama with a serious plot since the female lead is just trying to get out of this virtual world and she “plays” around with 4 male characters to achieve her most favorable scores to end the game. The male lead, an NCP on this game, is highly misunderstood by the female lead because he lacks score points and she assumes that he doesn’t love her. Due to the nature of how these real life characters make it into the game, the story gets complicated sometimes and basically ridiculous at other moments. The ending is quite insipid because, even if it is a happy ending, deciding to live happy moments in virtual reality instead of real life, is quite absurd; most likely to please game players with a wishful thinking that they could live life by resetting outcomes and changing the consequences as they see fit. The leading couple has a nice and fun chemistry but their romantic scenes lack zest. Still, it is a nice watch for a video game generation and viewers looking into something cute and sometimes funny.

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HEARTWARMING AND VERY DEEP EMOTIONS, A REAL MASTERPIECE

Liu Yichang is wonderful in this drama ❤️ The story seems calm, but it can really get straight to yout heart. Wonderful OSTs, well-rounded and well-developed characters, and a story that immediately captivates. The chemistry between the two protagonists is on fire, tremendously strong just right away. Each Prince has his own characteristics despite everything, and there is no real villain, but a "grey" character with motivations. Liu Yichang portaying Zhao Chenyi does a very great and perfect job, making the Fourth Prince as serious as kind and passionate, and immediately after I adored the Second Prince, stiff but deep down very sweet. The admiration for the Crown Prince is immense, he is a splendid character who fights against his own destiny just trying to be happy and to see others happy. The Eleventh Prince who behaves like child is endearing, but he is a character who reveals a deep side throughout the story.
The two that I loved the most are the Fourth and Second Prince, with tremendous depth, especially the Fourth Prince.
Xu Ruohan portraying the role of the protagonist Xiao Jia is very cute ❤️ strong-willed, but also feminine, sweet and naive.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess 😭 I loved them both so much, a wonderful couple in love for whom I cried a river. He's not someone who steals your heart, but you can't help but admire him.
Just over halfway, there's a plot twist that greatly changes the whole story. Every character, even the secondary ones, mature a lot, especially the Eleventh Prince, who changes completely. As VR Game style, it's one of the best, and ranks among the top places among the best dramas of 2023. The second part of the story is a little darker, but also very romantic. I loved the development of the theme not only of the game, but also of social relationships. "If you love someone, you respect their decision, forcing them is not something I would want."
The story drags you from start to finish, completely enthralling you.
Happy ending, where the details must be understood because it is a bit open, but catching the details makes it clear (even in the final time skip).
I suggest this drama a lot and very strongly, even for the topic of the medicine and vowing to help others.
FOURTH PRINCE AND XIAO JIA FOREVER

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