Drama Review: Return of Happiness (幸福归来)
December 22, 2015
Synopsis:
Hoping to inherit the Ding's family business, Ding Chi purposely caused her niece Ding Aijia to fall from the cliff. But after knowing that her father will donate his entire fortune to charity, she searched for her to prevent that from happening. After finding her, Ding Chi decided to switch the real Ding Aijia with Yu Youmei, the daughter of the family that saved Aijia. Ding Chi staged everything and brought the fake Aijia back to the Ding family once she turned 16 while the real Aijia became Yu Youwei and lived with the Yu family after losing her memory from the fall.
However, Yu Youwei's love for the sea is destined to intertwine her fate with the Ding family. She initially wanted to join the Han's Corporation but because she started off on the wrong side with the CEO Han Ming, she eventually joins the Ding's Corporation. But Ding Chi will do everything to prevent Youwei from remembering and reuniting with the Ding family. How will Youwei regain her identity and return to the Ding family?
My Rating:
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 8/10
Mainland dramas are starting to get better and better in quality. I was not a big fan of Ron Ng when he filmed for TVB but because of this drama, I started really liking him. Same goes to Bosco Wong who filmed Destined To Love You (with Joe Chen and Jia Nai Liang).
I've started noticing the actress Li Qin after Shining Days, which has an emotional beginning but 80 episodes is just too long to sit through and I didn't like the second male lead or second female lead. The concept is similar to Shining Days, I mean even the person who switched the kids in both series is actually the same actress but she's more psycho in here.
The drama has an interesting storyline, well-defined villains, awesome chemistry between the two leads, and a well-paced storyline. Definitely worth to give this drama a try!
(-1) Too much episodes, towards the end, it got draggy especially after Li Xin's character "returns"
(-1) Unnecessary to villainize Li Xin's brother
(-1) Too much episodes, towards the end, it got draggy especially after Li Xin's character "returns"
(-1) Unnecessary to villainize Li Xin's brother
Cast:
Li Xin as Yu Youwei/Ding Aijia
She is pretty and a good actress! I really want to see her play other types of role besides the strong heroine struggling to regain her identity (Shining Days, Return of Heireiss). She was in Amazing Bride and that was a change. She doesn't look that bad in a short cut.
So in Return of Happiness, she plays the strong heroine who takes up the responsibility of supporting the family by working multiple jobs. Initially, she was offered a position in the Han's Corporation but because she tricked the CEO Han Ming, her offer was rescinded and she eventually ends up working at Ding's Corporation. Her aunt Ding Chi realizes that her niece has returned and urges the Yu family to prevent Youwei from working at Ding's since that was what the Yu has promised in return for Ding Chi treating their real daughter Youmei (fake Ding Aijia).
She eventually remembers after an accident and that starts her journey of returning home and regaining her identity. Besides her aunt who attempts to stop her, the fake Aijia also uses many means to prevent her identity to be exposed.
Ron Ng as Han Ming
Never was a big fan of Ron in TVB dramas but he is awesome in here. I think it might be because of his character and the chemistry he has with Li Xin. His character is well-written since it is not like the cliche hero who gets fooled by the second lead and decides to leave the female lead due to family pressure.
Han Ming and Youwei is a bickering pair from the start. Eventually, they fall for each other and he realizes Youwei is the real Aijia, his true childhood friend. The fake Aijia also loves him but he only has feelings for Youwei which causes her to become crazy and go all out to bring down Youwei.
I love the scenes where he tricks Aijia when he pretends to lose his memory and is secretly back with Youwei already, the scene where he splashed water at Aijia, the scene where he saves Youwei in the sail testing, the scene where he takes Aijia's credit card and directly tells her that he will give it to Youwei, and many more. I also love the scenes with him and his grandpa!
Elena Tong as Ding Aijia/Yu Youmei
I really hated her guts and I guess that means she did her job well. Her eyes really help when she shows that villainous expression whenever she is pissed or confused. I don't really pity her though many would since her fate was changed when Ding Chi decided to bring her back to the Ding family. However, she could have chose her own path afterwards but it's her fear of losing Han Ming and her luxurious life that brought her down. I am glad the ending didn't go the "learning her lesson" way since it's hard to imagine her as a good person after everything she has done from causing the death of her father, Youwei's real mother, and manipulating her real brother Shiwei.
Yang Yuting as Ding Chi
She is another great actress. When I told my mother she is the actress that played Li Xin's mother in Shining Days, she didn't believe me because she thinks Ding Chi looks much more beautiful. She is a beautiful actress for her age.
Her expressions, similar to Elena, are on par. She is the main villain for more than half of the series but she created the next main villain Aijia for the remaining half. We start to see how she goes towards insanity whenever Youwei ruins her plan of destroying the Ding's Corporation. She wants to destroy the business because she thought her adopted father Ding Huaiyuan pushed her father off the building since that was what she witnessed at a young age. Besides going against Youwei, she also has to fend off Aijia as she begins to have her own agenda and tensions form between them.
She is a versatile actress that can play the pitiful mother, the supportive aunt, the evil aunt, and even an evil concubine (Nirvana in Fire).
Guo Jiahao as Yu Shiwei
I've seen him in Nicky Wu's self-produced drama Incisive Great Teacher and The Wife's Lies. I have nothing much to say about his acting except there is a stark contrast between his character in the early episodes compared to the last few episodes and his expressions help show this change.
He is the supportive younger brother of Youwei who secretly harbors feelings for her since he knew from a young age that she isn't his real sister. He is supportive yet he is often hot-headed and impulsive. After an accident, he wrongly believes that the only way to win Youwei's heart is to have power and money to help her.
The writer just simply wanted to add in more drama towards the end once Ding Chi was arrested and made Shiwei evil. I don't think there was a need but at least he changed back since I mean he is not the evilest one.
Li Xin Cong as Liu Xiaomei
A friend of Youwei who loves Shiwei to the point that she will betray Youwei in order to save him. In the end, she decides to help Youwei to "wake" Shiwei up.
My Thoughts:
1. Not much to criticize about the cast since everyone did well. It's not a new role for Li Xin but she still excels. I really have to praise Ron and Elena's acting in this one.
2. The chemistry and the storyline between the main leads. Both can act and they also have the chemistry. The plot also helped since Han Ming was by Youwei's side no matter what even when his grandpa tried to break them apart.
3. I really liked Han Ming's interactions with his grandpa --- it was definitely one of the highlights that kept the last few episodes watchable. His grandpa's personality is also really adorable!
4. The drama can be long but compared to Shining Days, it's definitely much more watchable with less draggy parts.
5. There is a fine line between the good characters and the bad, at least in the beginning, which makes it entertaining to watch, seeing how Youwei succeeds and ruins Ding Chi's plans each time or how Han Ming never really fall for Aijia's BS.
6. I also liked the parts where Youwei regains her memory and begins fighting against Ding Chi especially that part when she walks into the board of director room and announces that she is delegated to represent Mr. Guang in voting. That was a strong scene.
Music:
Opening: Flying Bird and Fish (飞鸟和鱼) by Lindar Lu
Ending: (没那么爱我) Don't Really Love Me As Much by Tony Yu
3 comments
I love this drama...I have loved watching Ron Ng in TVB dramas. I agreed that TVB didn't really give him much great lead Roles, nevertheless; he is very charming :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever watched Chinese drama until I found Shining Days dubbed in Cantonese :-) I really like Li Qin. The roles suited her well.
I found Happiness Return because of her. Too bad I couldn't find the drama dubbed in Cantonese. Anyway the chemistry of You Wei and Han Ming is so captivating:-)
I kept going back to those parts of their "lovey-dovey" scenes. I am yet to find a drama that I am interested in watching after this drama :-(
I tried My Best Ex-Boyfriend but couldn't even watch one full episode even though Ron Ng is in it.
Also tried Return of the Heiress because of Li Qin but again couldn't bring myself to watch the drama.
So far I can say that for me, the Happiness Returns is the best even though it is so fairy-tale like, so who doesn't fall for unconditional love :-) LOL
Hi JoC, thank you for leaving a comment! This is one of my favorite role by Ron since most of the roles given to him by TVB are usually the hot-headed ones.
DeleteAfter watching numerous dramas where the male lead does not trust the female lead because of a simple misunderstanding created by the "other girl", I anticipate watching dramas where the guy would trust the girl through thicks and thins.
I did not try My Best Ex-Boyfriend since I wasn't particularly interested in the plot itself. I've tried to watch Return of the Heiress but I am a sucker for romance and this drama seems to focus hugely on Li Qin's revenge. However, I do like dramas with a strong heroine so I would most definitely attempt to watch the entire series in the future.
Li Qin is one of my favorite Chinese actress and I think she is underrated compared to other actresses that are currently popular in the Chinese entertainment industry. She is also typecasted in these "girl-switched-identity-then-return-home" roles so I am excited for her new drama with Zhao Liying, The Princess Agent.
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