Autumn's Concerto (2009)

Utterly Sublime

I was riveted by this drama from almost the first moment - BOTH times I watched, about 8 months apart. Excellent in every particular, I simply love it. I have seen perhaps 150 Asian dramas by now, and if I finished them, I pretty much loved them. Autumn's Concerto is definitely in my Top Three or me, along with Scarlet Heart Ryeo and Descendants of the Sun. Van Wu is still invading my dreams periodically, so talented and gorgeous. Superb drama; if you love a great story, great acting, a precious romance, lots of character development and adorable children, give this one a try.

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So much unnecessary angst and predictable story

I have to say I watched this drama 11 years after it's release. After reading the raving reviews, I decided to give this one a go.

The first few episodes were probably the worst part of the drama. There was so much angst, the type that made me not want to continue watching. It wasn't like intense and made me watch more, it was quite the opposite. I was yawning throughout.

After he forgot his memories, that's when I enjoyed it a lot more but I still didn't enjoy it hahaha
It was like a remake of The prince that turned into a frog. Very predictable story.

I was annoyed by the male lead's ignorance at the end. He just wanted split from her because of his own misunderstanding.

Watch it once but that's enough.

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You must watch this show!!!!

This is one of the bestest dramas you’ll ever watch because it’s worth your time and it has the sexiest actor/singer/entertainer/director and producer called Vanness Wu!!! In the drama, Vanness (also named as guang xi) has a very cute son called xiao le. This drama’s plot is amazing to me and it’s one of my favourite dramas. The ost of this drama is a wonderful song that I have it saved in my phone so I can listen to it whenever I want. I don’t really like the female lead (mu cheng), I mean she’s okay but is always caring for others not herself, that’s probably the reason why guang xi thinks that mu cheng doesn’t love him

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Frustrating watch

Let me preface this by saying that I never watched this before, and I'm coming in as someone who has high expectations due to people calling it a classic.

To contextualize, I watched this on June 2021, which is 10+ years after this was released. This is important because I feel like the story only worked for that certain time period, but now in 2021, it's kind of - quite frankly - bad. Maybe it was called a classic by people who grew up from that time, but aside from the 'nostalgia' factor I got from this, there wasn't a lot that would make me want to watch this again.

The female lead is an annoying liar. The male lead is frustratingly stubborn. The second male lead is pathetic. The doctor portrayed as a martyr was good, but she went along with the lies which cancelled everything out. The President mother and her relationship with the grandson was the highlight for me.

Their love story was shallow as well. You fall in love with someone because of their innocence and piano skills? Give me a break. And for him to feel that deeply that fast? Without any challenges to build that unconditional and sacrificial love? For him to throw everything? The only challenge they had was the who court thing where she was harassed by her uncle-in-law, but it all felt like a high school skit to me. College students defending someone in front of a school board? In what world? They needed lawyers, and they needed police. The uncle couldnt have escaped (his story wasnt resolved as well!!!) it they were in a courtroom. It was for publicity, but wouldnt an actual criminal litigation give them more PR? I'm sorry but it was too ridiculous for me and I hated being treated like I'm stupid.

There are a lot of things I dont like about this drama, and I feel like people dont have the guts to call this bad because of it being a cult classic with huge following. Probably the whole nostalgia thing is what made this popular, but then again, I watched this in 2021 so I dont have to abide by their standards

Wouldn't watch it again. It took me a week to finish when I finished dramas of similar length (that I liked) in 2 days.

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Does this drama have cliche spots? Yes. Do I regret watching it? Honestly no

I watched this for the first time ever just now (Dec 2022) and honestly I don't think it's a bad drama if you don't go into it holding super high expectations. I didn't expect much when starting Autumn's Concerto because it is a 2009 drama after all and honestly it was not as bad as some of the reviews are saying.

Yes it has cliche plot writing but I honestly didn'y it find it THAT bad of a drama considering that is from 2009. My only big annoyance with this show was that it took forever for the characters to tell Ren Guang Xi about what happened right before he got amnesia. The show could've gotten rid of so many scenes if they put this part earlier and I feel the audience could've gotten many more romance scenes between MC and GX towards the end of the show.

Overall, I wasn't mad at the drama nor do I think it was a waste of time. In the end, Autumn's Concerto was a cute watch to check off my list and if you're curious and have it on your list I'd recommend you do the same.

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I love this drama, I really do. It's by far I think the best Taiwanese drama that I've watched! It has romance, family, comedy and some suspense as well. I was not part of the group that was crazy about F4, so I didn't recognize Vaness Wu at first and his character, Ren Guang Xi is really annoying in the beginning, but I grow to like him as the story progresses. This is one drama that kept me thinking and want to watch over and over again. I cried watching some of the episodes, it's just filled with emotional rollercoasters sometimes. I would definitely recommend this drama.

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My kid introduced me to Korean Dramas, and my life was never the same again. I could not get enough, not to mention nothing gets done in my house anymore, but I digress. I am another one of those swear by Korean Dramas until I drop. However, because of Arron Yan, I checked out Taiwanese Dramas, and boy I did not know what I was missing. I watched Autumn's Concerto after another Xtreme must see Drama, FATED TO LOVE YOU. When you watch a quality drama like Autumn's Concerto, I, as a U.S. tv viewer, wonder why do I bother watching any of the garbage they now have in the states. Autumn's Concerto, sent me into such a roller coaster ride of high and low emotions. The story is basically a fated pair of star crossed lovers from extreme wealth and poor backgrounds. Drama had typical tyrannical mother-in-law, self-sacrificing but very frustrating to watch main female lead and HOT, Alpha, Gorgeous male lead. Bonus is the cutest and sweetest little child actor, you will ever meet. He was absolutely adorable!!! Drama will put you through the ringer of lots of crying moments, but I promise you a happy ending. Nuff said, Just watch it, Highly Recommend.

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Second time to watch Autumn Concerto and I’m still drooling whenever I see Vanness Wu‘s body! I have to say my reaction I had now compared to when I first watched it is fairly different. Yes, I still love it but there are just things I can’t make myself not to notice. This time my gushiness as a fangirl isn’t enough to make little flaws pass.

Gosh. I’m totally captivated. Not by the drama but by Vanness Wu! I want to hug that delicious body! Yum. Haha. What? I’m still a fangirl you know. I can’t stop it. Haha. Seriously, I can say that my love for this drama isn’t as profound as when I first seen it. One of the things I let pass before was the plot. It’s almost similar with our local teleseryes. I don’t know if that’s a plus or what but I’m certain I’m not a fan of overly dramatic scenes and utterly stupid storylines.

Autumn’s Concerto‘s story is promising. I know the plot is nothing new; it’s one of the most used and abused storyline in our local dramas. But this drama had so much potential. They happen to choose the right cast for the characters and the kontrabidas (villains) are not as evil as the kontrabidas we have here. It was nice, really, but there are some parts of the story I can’t tolerate.

I enjoyed the first six episodes of this drama. It was interesting and the kilig moments are there. The story slowed down in the next few episodes and it picked up pace after Guang Xi had remembered his past. This was a long drama. I personally think that the story would fit in 12 or 16 episodes. Stretching it to 21 Episodes is just probably because of the ratings.

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Autumn's Concerto unlike the name implies really has nothing to do with music at all. Music is not part of any theme in this drama nor is it mentioned often enough to warrant the name. Therefore I question the logic of this English name for the drama. It's Chinese name in fact means 'Next step, Happiness' which is a much more fitting name for this drama. Therefore be warned, do not watch this drama expecting something similar to 'Nodame Cantabile' with music as its theme.

Chinese and Taiwaness dramas of the few i watched have always followed a similar formula with regards to character creation, triangular relationships, and view of modern society. Autumn's Concerto is dime in a dozen and very closely follows this well trekked and guaranteed to succeed formula to high viewership. The formula is as below:
1. Rich/well off/successful guy (with an attitude) meets poor/innocent/pure/kind girl and finds her special
2. The rich guys' family disapproves of them together and thinks of various devious plans to split them up
3. Insert: Secondary male who is often the best friend of the girl, he is kind, thoughtful, helps her with problems, does not care that she is poor or has unfortunate family background
4. Just when it looks like the couple is about to get together, some kind of accident or tragic circumstance cause them to separate and split up
5. Separating for 'insert time period' often going to 'insert random city/town/village name' they meet again by freak chance
6. Various misunderstandings will occur without any of the characters trying to explain anything to each other causing episodes to drag on for a long period without anything seeming to be resolved
7. Just when it seems like things cannot get any worse, all the characters suddenly become smarter and realize 'wow we can just talk with each other and explain' which results in a hasty get back together, pregnancy and happily ever after

This is a phenomenal which appears to only occur in Chinese/Taiwaness dramas. Of the Korean dramas i've seen there appears to be much more creativity and uniqueness when it comes to character and story creation. However Autumn's Concerto should not be judged merely by it's adherence to the formula as it is not without good points some of which includes it's emphasis on familial love, loyalty to friends, and strength in females to overcome difficulties.

Watching Autumn's Concerto is one of the only time I was tempted to drop a drama in the first 5 episodes due to bad acting. With kdrama I don't understand the subtle nuisances in their words and matching facial expression, but I did not have this luxury with Autumn's Concerto because i understand Mandarin. One of the most upsetting thing while watching this drama is how sometimes the tone and meaning coming out of the actor/actress's lips does not match their expression at all and looks fake. In the beginning of the drama, I felt this way whenever Ren Guang Xi (Wu Vanness) was doing his playboy act and flirting with the girl he is interested in. After a while his act became more solid but I still can't give him high points for his acting.

Liang Mu Cheng (An Ady) did a much better job comparably. Her expressions and speech was always spot on and realistic without appearing faked or forced. She performed really consistent through the drama and so props to her. The bad acting is most obvious in the first 5 episodes, the side characters too were just off to a rocky start and overall I've never felt more tempted to drop a drama. Later on around the time of the time skip, the acting improved and it feels like the cast was finally getting comfortable with their character and story.

The music is really the highlight of this drama. The OST of this drama is composed of some old famous Chinese songs that felt vaguely familiar to me as i was watching, as well as some new songs by various artists all of which was really lyrical and soulful. More than once i found myself singing along to the music playing in the background. The music inspired the mood, often enhancing the scene playing on screen and was overall great choices for this drama. I usually rate music not by personal preference but by how compatible a fit it was for the drama and this drama's music is one of the best.

I don't plan to ever rewatch this drama. The good and sweet moments are few and far in between, if i really miss their romance (which i won't because the story dragged too much and killed the romance for me) it will be hard for me to find the specific scene that i miss since this drama is so long.

My last words are Autumn's Concerto is a worthwhile drama to watch if you have lots of time. Pros are the characters and music. Cons are the story which drag its feet and bad acting at the beginning if you understand mandarin like me. Overall a solid drama from one coming from Taiwan.

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