I didn’t really have great expectations on Mr. Fox and Miss Rose maybe because I’m currently having a Drama-dilemma phase. This was in my immediate watch list for so long, especially because I heard people raving about it quite abundantly. I hopped on it thinking nothing and I’m glad that I did that because I’m now pretty sure that even the slightest bit of expectation from this drama might have made me disappointed in it.

The plot is simple as it claims: A sweet girl who is the queen of a secluded tribe that holds some secrets which the female lead doesn’t know it herself. Suddenly her world becomes upside down when a man accidentally falls into her area and the tribe thinks that he should marry the queen because he is worthy enough(?!) as no one really can go to that place alive. The male lead is not really our typical C-drama ML who is straight, rude and spot-less. We see a gray shade of this man; he has ulterior objectives and pretty much deceives the FL and the whole tribe to get what he wants and escapes from that place. Cut to – the FL follows him to this present technological world that is very unfamiliar to her. They meet. Both unaware of what love means, develop feelings for each other gradually and realise them eventually making each other stronger emotionally. The basic plot is done right but the problem arises next - the way this plot furthers. As episodes run, the drama becomes more about the ML’s Jewel hunt background plot rather than the relationships - which is horribly executed. It has no story but is given importance. It is so dragging that you can just fast forward all of those scenes and you can still figure out what happened. Episodes pass but there will be no promotion in what’s happening. Result: you’ll lose interest. Rationally, I skipped all of that unnecessary sluggish sh*t and only halted at the places where the FL is (they are the only interesting scenes worth watching).

Weird comparison, but the first half of this drama seemed very oddly similar to the Korean drama ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’; maybe because I invested myself too much with the concept of the two leads coming from two different worlds, the female lead being absolutely innocent and naïve- completely unaware of the treacherous modern world, and then there is the male lead who is a player - he is slightly twisted (his past background being the reason; especially the mother sentiment element), he is a con man, his aim is to earn… nevertheless, a good kind-hearted young man who decides to save the female lead from all harm which primarily was caused by his own entry in her life as he feels indebted to her in the beginning and later because he loves her. In anyways, this is just an idea that ran in my mind but there is nothing to really compare and contradict here, I kept my eyes extensively to this drama only while watching.

What I really love are the characters of the leads. True to heart, C-drama FL’s can be really annoying with their over-the-top cute acting which is so cringey but thankfully our FL is not like that. She is the cute kind of cute (if that’s a thing). She is never annoying though she had to act like she knows nothing and she is sweet. The scenes that had her are the best ones. I wanted to see her more. The director did a great job with not making her look cringe. Zhang Ya Qin who played the role of Xing Yue did a superb job. She was endearing to watch. Coming to the ML: lovely character. I’m so happy with the fresh depiction of a con man, who is easy going, intelligent, a playboy and not typically your aloof ML impressed me a lot. Ren You Lun playing Gao Zhen He deserves all the praise. He was a natural. His expressions never looked like he tried or acted - he genuinely played Gao Zhen He effortlessly like a ball in his court. He played the dual role of the father too and that too with so much finesse that it almost looked like another person. I had to see twice to confirm that it was the same person. Meticulous job, I enjoyed seeing him! It’s my first time seeing both of the leads, they are good actors and I hope to see more of their works. Jie Bing as Chen Wen Quan showed his expertise buttttttt even his good acting couldn’t save the ambiguity of the character he was given. It was just too absurd for me. Special mention to Chen Xi Jun in the role of Yi Tian, he ate and left no crumbs. He did what was told to do and walked off with grace. But that’s it. I didn’t like any other character; so many unnecessary ones with hazy characters. I didn’t understand what they are like and for some- why they even existed. The actors gave satisfactory performances despite.

The chemistry was persuasive. I won’t say that it was super addictive that I would want to ship the couple; it cannot be left out either. Maybe the plot was at fault. It was simple kinda cute. There was still a sustained spark between the leads irrespective of the plot getting side-tracked from their romance story. The leads are very comfortable with each other. It felt like two friends graduating into a relationship. They looked understanding and the romance appeared simple, innocent, spontaneous and genuine. Nonetheless, it was pretty-pretty and cutesy.

Styling was such a let-down. I couldn’t bear to see the FL’s hair and her costumes – horrendous! 9with few looks being an exception) The FL’s tribe costume has weird black leggings and I couldn’t take my eyes off them. They kept distracting me taking me away from the concept. The other tribe members didn’t wear them, so I assume that they wanted to depict that the queen is reserved or something but that could’ve been done by giving her more exquisite jewellery or clothes and amongst all, the designers chose to give her leggings (┬┬﹏┬┬). Coming to the “western” clothes - The whole mix of modernity and that tribe thingy they wanted to bring out from the costumes was done wrong in every way. The Half and half curly hair and bun drew flames in my eyes with anger. It fitted the concept but not Zhang Ya Qin’s features. C-drama designers fu*k up styling the female leads in most of the modern dramas irdky (especially the hairstyles). Mainly when they want to portray the FL to be a cute one – I expect no good styling at all. Also, special mentions to Xia Na’s styling when they forced RED Beanies on to her head ruining the whole look. However, I’m satisfied by the make-up department. Giving the FL no make-up was genius which added to her image (but I expected a little more tint on her lips and cheeks – that would make her look healthy as she looked pale and ill in some frames with the monotonous colour on her face). The dark lip shades on Li An also was a huge plus to her character’s image. The sophisticated make-up on Xia Na brought her beautiful features into the limelight, she looked gorgeous. The make-up on the boys could have improved though!

I love the colour and art of the whole drama. It has brought the tribe and modern aesthetics really well. The sets were nicely made. I loved the wooden twig houses and that wooden cage in the tribe episodes. Xing Yue’s room with a round bed surrounded by fake plants reminding her of the tribe was cute as it showed Gao Zhen He’s efforts to make her feel at home. The camera angles were okay too. Overall, the cinematography department passed the test.

OST’s okay. It’s not a very memorable one but does the job so I won’t comment more.

The Re-watch value is meagre. I would rather watch fan edits on YouTube if I ever feel like I miss the cute chemistry of the leads. I’m never coming back to watch the series anyhow.

Finally, a one-time watch if you are bored and need a C-drama which is a no-brainer and can cleanse your palette with some cute leads.

P.S: Please watch it with little to no expectations, you’ll be good 😊