Cliche but cute light watch

As a long-term modern Chinese rom-com watcher, I expect storylines to be reused. But I'm just here to watch a feel-good rom-com. Chemistry between the leads is aight and they try to add the little twist with placing this drama in the dubbing industry (its not much of a twist lol). The OST, some cute moments, and no real pea-brained character made this drama a nice light watch. I would rewatch if I'm ever bored and looking for comedy with no strings attached. I'm only up to episode 22 but the writers have been playing it pretty safe so I don't expect a bad ending. Also, the acting isn't bad, Sun Yi Ning (Amy Sun) performs pretty well once again.
Basically, don't expect this drama to leave you shook. But it was a quality production (esp that OST) so this drama still ranks aight in my eyes.

update: I finished and my views stay pretty much the same

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a road trip of character development

Perseverance is what is needed for this drama. Just know that everything works out in the end. This is a drama that you will feel pain through angst and toxicity in the moment; but when you reflect back, you realize that it was just realistic. It takes a lot of work from others and self to turn a toxic bottomless pit into a productive/contributing/positive member of society.
I would have rated "story" higher (maybe a 9 or 9.5) because of its well constructed character development (also the FL and ML are mature but cute...nothing dumb about their love story), but I had to penalize for the internal pain the toxic characters caused me.
And while the story does live up to the "drama" genre, I don't think anything is exaggerated. If anything, maybe just the concentration of toxicity of several characters seems too coincidental.
As a warning, I wouldn't attempt to binge this drama in one go. You might accidentally punch your computer. But if you have patience and appreciate a realistic drama with believable character development, sit back and enjoy in small doses.

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Bomb storyline and peak comedy (for romcoms)

The set up of the story is really refreshing (characters and circumstances)...I would've been really upset if the execution wasn't there, but I think it held up for the most part. Some are saying that the FL is really dumb...and...I guess she is but I've seen waaaaayy dumber FLs and I feel like its really understandable for people to make not 100% rational decisions when their clouded by their emotions (literally tied to her loosing her second home) and then not know how to back-track.
The comedy was top-of-the-line for romcoms: it doesn't die down (maybe minutely only for a couple episodes in the middle)...I was pleased that I wasn't baited by the first couple episodes. Execution of comedy makes up for a very small issue of some parts of the storyline not flowing as well in-the-moment (there was probably just a handful of times where I would watch and think to myself "but what about this" but then continue watching and see the gaps filled later...not a huge issue though).
Actors fit very well, music was aight, rewatch value is higher-than-normal for that comedy and character design.
I have 4 more episodes to go...pretty sure it won't upset me though: its been consistent :)

update: completed the drama...man had to decrease 0.5 stars for the ending...it was just too cliche. Won't leave you disappointed and I usually don't take down points for clicheness...it just doesn't match with the unique story quality and comedy so far.

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Sweet and fluffy

Production was pretty good, music matched, actors were really great (esp the leads; I really like the FL); car sticker was from 2018 so maybe they filmed back then. But don't come here if you're looking for a good storyline. The story is 100% fluff (the business portion isn't really realistic and the girl has so much free time every day), but most of the screentime is on their relationship. Also, these kids really are from well-off families (the FL bought $5k worth of furniture (approx $1k USD) for the ML when they were barely friends???). There's also quite a long period of awkward "liking each other but not official" time but I think that's expected with many fluff pieces. The ending wasn't my favorite--it felt like a short web-drama type of ending, but it was still happy.
One thing that stood out to me was that unlike other fluff dramas, the CEO doesn't have zero EQ (he's a little awkward but he's nice to those around him) and the FL doesn't have zero brain cells (she's top of her class and great at baseball and drawing). Overall, this is definitely a good filler drama if you want to smile every episode (there's basically no antagonist) and well-rounded characters.

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MS. SHI IS A QUEEN

This is the best C-drama in the rom-com realm of 2022 so far (I was thinking this year was so dry up until this point). The story, the production, the richness of characters, wow. Now to explain my title: the most unexpected thing about this drama was the power of mentorship (especially female mentorship in a man's world). You can see it in Ms.Shi's company where her M:F ratio is amazing and she offers so much guidance.
On the story: it's hard to get past the first nearly third of the drama of how the FL is treated (especially by the ML) and how she just has so much bad luck. But she powers through (it was great seeing that she used her own strengths to stand on her own, but Ms.Shi actually provided her a lot of support that she needed; her friendship with her bestfriend was strong, and she's so loved by her family). We also see that ML's friends don't always agree with his ways...he doesn't get a free pass just because he's a rich boss. I really like the ML's best friend's character who is that thoughtful friend that considers others' feelings (classic nice guy but that actually gets a girl).
It was really enjoyable seeing the themes of mentorship, staying true to yourself and grounded in your beliefs, using your own strength to get back up again, and strong friendship ALL in a non-melodrama. This isn't the fluffiest drama but there are some real funny bits.
On the other parts: chemistry was on point, sounds like they tried to avoid dubbing (I love not having to hear an ultra-crispy voice), music was fitting to each situation...all good stuff. I'm so glad I finally have a favorite 2022 c-drama.

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All the gaming dramas mashed into one

If you've seen other chinese drama's on e-sports, it's basically a mash-up of most of them (particularly rom-com gaming dramas). So don't expect anything new...but it's still a good drama.
I've written out more specifics in a spoiler comment on this page so I won't write it out again. But expect to see bits of a range starting from the OG Love O2O to the most recently released Falling Into Your Smile.
This drama is really light: many funny moments, good bromance, cute flirting. Romance is a bit slow...takes over half of the eps for ML and FL *officially* get together (ngl I thought they were already together before it was official). Definitely not the slowest burn but with context it is a bit slow. No break ups or unreasonable misunderstandings in the relationship (other than a single one...I won't say spoilers, but guarantee no angst from it).
Overall, a solid mid-range drama.

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Unique set-up, aight execution

Wow, I have been watching this with the drop (am a few days late to the finale...and I'm surprised there is no other reviews). This definitely was an investment at 40 eps, but I liked the storyline...especially the set up, and it made me really curious at the beginning (ngl there was one minor revelation I wasn't expecting). Overall, there were quite a few cliches (bossy CEO who doesn't express, FL who is loving and caring, jealousy, love triangle, miscommunication, sabotage...the whole list). If you have time to fill, this drama will fill a lot of it. But if you don't have time, your not missing out on anything novel. But it was still a good time with laughs, second-hand embarrassment, and a few tears (the usual).

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Had high hopes but it ended up being another cliche

There are a lot of reviews and others have already pointed out some points I agree with but I'm not sure why they all gave a rating of 8, when this drama is a 7 at most. As another reviewer said, this drama is quite monotone (I never found myself excited/really happy/anxious). I really liked the set-up of the story with the fake amnesia. There were definitely going to be some tropes in there (rich CEO does what he thinks is best for the girl), but the execution/storyline was just plain and offered no twists, every possible basic cutesy scene somehow executed in a repetitive lame way (might be something to do with the chemistry or acting), and very uneven pacing (a very draggy middle and very medium-paced beginning and end).
If they somehow managed to pull of a unique storyline (which I was expecting) and cutesy scenes, it could've easily been a 8.5 or 9. One thing I did like was the OST, specifically the song at the end of each episode (can't tell if part of the reason is my eager to get through the episodes). If you have extra time and are comfortable with skimming/skipping through a few scenes in the middle, this drama might be for you. The beginning and end is good though, so at least you won't feel unsatisfied.

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Basic Chinese Rom-Com

There were many cute and a few cringey scenes, as expected, and some random plot twists. I have to say, the character development wasn't the smoothest characters (change their mind and "grow" from their stubborn ways quickly, which doesn't make sense). I do have to say I was confused with this mysterious twin part for longer than I expected. I am still not very impressed with the backstory but I enjoyed that there was no school-drama immaturity and not many dumb misunderstandings between the cps. Decent OST and decent acting makes it a light drama to watch, especially as there are only 24 half-hour episodes.

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tropes-galore, only good for that classic fluffy rom-com feel

Ok, I’m going to write my first ever review with spoilers.
This drama’s storyline is all the tropes wrapped up into a coherent drama. There is nothing novel here, no major plot twists, you could see what was going to happen for the most part, from the start. But you’ll have lots of laughs, second hand embarrassment, and an at least decent OST.
For everyone who wants to know all the tropes in this drama, I’ve tried to take note of them (hopefully I at least got most HAHA)
- The ones you could tell from the summary: twin switching identities, contract marriage to fulfill grandparent’s wishes (on FL side, for money), two love triangles, ML CEO & poor FL
- ML & FL first meeting is misunderstanding (FL thinks ML is rude)
- Accidental kiss within 1st ep
- Childhood backstory (ML & FL AND SML & FL)
- FL’s mom is in the hospital and she needs to pay the bills
- Ex-“good friend” of ML (I’ll just call her SFL) Comes back after “improving her social status” to match ML and tries to win ML over (and sabotages FL in the workplace and in FL’s relationship with ML)
- SML tries to convince SFL to not act crazy/manipulative (there are two different ways love triangles pan out)
- ML best friend/secretary paired with FL best friend
- ML falls for FL first while in the contract relationship (and has fits of jealousy…FL also gets jealous too later on)
- ML talks to FL under the guise of anonymous online friend
- FL get kidnaped, ML saves her
- ML finds out about FL’s secret on his own; and it causes split
- Princess carries, ML saving FL from drunk person, ML gets hurt saving FL and FL puts on medicine, kissing in the rain, cheesy romantic lines
There area a *few* non-tropes though…but I won’t write it all out.

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Not what I expected (truely)

I remember seeing the movie poster and trailer when this first came out...the movie poster looks a little quirky and idk why but the vibe of the trailer was romantic melodrama so I've never thought of watching this. But now its been a while and I read good reviews on it so I decided to give it a shot.
This definitely was not what I expected.
First of all, the production quality was fully there (although there were a few minutes of mismatched dubbing in the version I saw...but I'm just picky) the songs matched the mood, the cinematography was on point, etc.
Secondly, the actors were spot on...
Thirdly, the balance of comedy, drama, calmness of life was just right.

the ONLY thing I wished was that this could be a mini series (emphasize MINI) to give more time to cultivate the emotions in the beginning and see more of the second couple

I'm hesitant to watch Dating in the Kitchen which just released and is supposedly the TV series adaptation because I don't want to be disappointed.

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Cute rom-com with unique focus on Go and it's culture

I thought this was a pretty well executed storyline with nice graphics/editing and music/sound effects. I thought it was interesting how they sometimes visualized the games of Go like video game scenes (given, these aren't the cleanest edits I've ever seen but it was a nice concept). The characters were quite well developed, I especially like the antagonist's story...they were able to make him slowly sink his bottom line (like before he knew it, he was in the deep end already), it was very natural. All of the characters' judgements seem to make sense and the acting was really great for the most part. One character I wasn't the biggest fan of for maybe 2/3 of the drama was Jiang YuDa (you'll probably see him throughout the comments) but I'm pretty sure half his character was written in just as gov propaganda (raised abroad but wants to come back to his homeland, has tried all foods but thinks Chinese foods are the best, etc.). Another issue was that the ML's "greatness" I think was just overkill especially in the beginning of the drama...that was just unnecessary. Overall, a pretty decent watch; very medium-paced and sensible interactions/reactions (there were just a few things about the ML's ability that were very over-exaggerated in the beginning). Keep in mind, this is a drama, and not real life, so things are overexaggerated and this drama also follows the recent trend I've been seeing of dramas greatly overestimating social media hype (let's be real...not every bit of gossip can become a "hot search").

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Nice storyline set up, decent execution

Wow, am I giving a web-drama a rating higher than 8? Yes.
Don't expect this to blow your socks off, but I really did enjoy the storyline and the characters of this story. It's got a good balance of comedy (actual LOL moments), romance, and near-tearjerks (just the way I like it...not ripping out my heart but sad enough to feel something).
I was a really big fan of the character composition. Two main CPs: a more mature CP with deep love and loyalty for eachother, and a young CP with lots of funny and embarrassing moments. I'm a big fan of having those two CPs side-by-side (honestly, now that I'm thinking of it, it's really big brain bc dramas usually end up using a stoopid second CP to keep the mood up that everyone gets annoyed about. But with the age gap, it's all natural.)
Zhao DongZe plays the two MLs pretty well...the characters are quite different from each other despite their similar passions in art. Also, I really have no complaints about the execution of the Lu Ming-YouYou-Ma ZiXuan love triangle (I'm not calling this a spoiler...you can tell from like ep 1); which is quite shocking because it really could've been half-as*ed.
There weren't a whole lot of cliches, which is surprising for a web drama (the only one I can think of is a scheming SFL trying to win the ML. I'm not counting the love triangles bc the execution wasn't cliche).

Overall, enjoyable watch! I binged, but I can imagine pacing...I think a lot of the episode endings were minor cliffhangers so should be enough to keep you interested. Lots of things going on: kid getting into college for art, dealing with a new *situation*, and having a youthful romance; older guy battling sabbatoge at work and in his love life; all while they do this body switch thing (only a few times...not that much) trying to go unnoticed.

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Unexpectedly good

So...as of now, there is no eng sub and no quality trailer on youtube for this drama. I was looking for a 40-ep filler...and it was pretty good (to be clear, the version I watched has 39 eps total).
Unique, quality points of this drama:
- It is a unique story and set up (loyal and righteous small business owner in debt ML and his little family of friends; righteous silver-spoon acclaimed FL and her helicopter mom; ML and FL interact with different customers of different backgrounds)
- The character design was soooo good. In a basic drama, we have a classic "good guy" and "bad guy" and/or "good guy turned bad because of a series of events". This good vs bad is based on a basic viewpoint of what is moral and acceptable to society (tell the truth, do good for yourself and others, etc.) and what is not (stealing, cheating, manipulating, etc.). But this drama managed to create characters all along the spectrum, as it is in real life (people are all over the place, lets be real). You have lifelong friends that steal money, backstabbers that remain loyal for old times' sake. What a mess; but it keeps it exciting. All of the actions of each character make sense (and the lead and supporting actors are able to portray these oddly shaped morales for these unique characters).
- You would expect character development to be very strong over 39 eps to keep the story going...but there wasn't too much development. You can see the minor change in the last couple episodes, but it wasn't the focus. I think the focus was on different fully developed characters interacting with each other with pros and cons slowly rubbing off on each other.
- ML is a basic broke and loyal guy but he's not pitiful. He's smart enough to stay true to what he believes in, but loyal enough to bend backwards to help others. Minor thing I appreciate: while he is in debt, there is a lack of the basic loan shark that hunts him down. It seems that every story writes in a loan shark scene when explaining how broke someone is, but ML would be too smart to take a loan from a loan shark or anything sketchy like that.
- FL is a rich kid with talents, but seems like people care more about her background than her works. But her works aren't necessarily 100% spot-on the client
- The chemistry is so good, acting is on point
- Subtle witty jokes scattered throughout drama, otherwise it's just all drama #tea

What I didn't like:
- Some of these characters that have twisted morales are just uncomfortable to watch (for example swindling your own friend) and ML always gets taken advantage of...this doesn't really change...so if you have strong vigilante-like personality, then you'll be extremely frustrated
- You can't really tell what age they are...these are all good actors, but...real life age and drama age...you can only imagine so much. And I don't think they really spell it out for you either, but once in a while there are some lines that infer ages you may not have expected. Age isn't always important, but it's nice to have context (the more background, the better). It doesn't interfere with the storyline though.
- the ending...it was like another episode ended...nothing special except for the words "the end". But it's a happy ending. I really feel like an extra 2 or so eps could've wrapped up some things. But I wouldn't say ending was unsatisfying...it just wasn't grand. It's so odd because the pacing throughout was good...why couldn't they just also have a nicely-wrapped-with-a-bow ending? Maybe it's an ode to "...life goes on..."

Wow this is a very long review. Thanks for reading through.

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