About Is Love 大约是爱 [Drama Review]
December 26, 2018
Rating: 8.5/10
Cliche main storyline with hidden surprises and refreshing supporting storylines
Good acting and consistent characterizations
(-1) for cliche main story
(-0.5) for getting interesting only 3 episodes in for me
This story with the main male lead having some sorts of OCD has been done quite frequently throughout the past year but after watching the trailer, I wanted to give this drama a try. Looking at the promotional materials, there are three couples, which I dig since there wouldn't be too much 狗血 (dog blood) plot twists, and there weren't.
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| Looks rated R but they are only sleeping in the same bed because it is only when they share a bed that the main lead can sleep well without nightmares |
Before watching this, I've watched a little of Our Glamorous Times and after hearing about how the focus switched from first leads to the supporting leads, I've decided to stop watching because it brought back bad memories from Princess Agents.
This, on the other hand, is a hidden gem. It stars a relatively new and unknown cast and I can say, their acting exceeds expectations, especially the female lead Zhou Shi and second male lead Ning Fei. It also helps that the drama kept almost everyone's original voice (except the male lead's, don't know why, probably his voice doesn't have the dominance of a chairman?).
I would recommend this for the three storylines, the young (with good acting) cast, and interesting characterizations.
Synopsis:
The central story focuses on the relationship between the chairman of a company Wei Qing, who develops a disorder that prevents him from having any kind of contact with other human beings and an art student Zhou Shi who the chairman is immune to. They start off on a bad note but eventually become friends and begin their somewhat romantic journey together to help heal him. Taking on the back story are Zhou Shi's suite mates who also finds their own other half.
Cast:
Yan Xi as Wei Qing
Chairman of a corporation that has severe OCD due to an incident that happened when he was 18 - He changes girlfriend often in order to find a person that he is immune to and wouldn't cause his skin to become sensitive
Xu Xiao Nuo as Zhou Shi
A student who is currently studying art who eventually befriends Wei Qing. She has a crush on her childhood friend Li Ming Cheng for years but fails to reveal her feelings each time she tries to
Cai Yi Jia as Ning Fei
An art prodigy –– he is reserved yet he will protect the ones he care about. He doesn't say much but when he speaks, it's either amusing or thoughtful. In Chinese, his character is considered a 小奶狗, which translates to a young puppy. This term is used to describe a boy who is young in age, clingy, and likes to seek attention/affection (usually from older female friends).
Yang Xin Ying as Lin Fei Fei
A materialistic model with a strong personality. Her character's interaction with Ning Fei is always hilarious especially how she talks to him. Her character is referred to as a 御姐 in Chinese, which is somewhat the female equivalent to a domineering male CEO character. At some angles, she reminds me of actress Michelle Ye.
Li Xin Bo as Bi Qiu Jing
Referred to as the Goddess of Studying (学神). She learns whatever that intrigues her and considers love as something uninteresting and a waste of time. The way she speaks and the way she acts are equally hilarious; even the song she chooses to sing at karaoke is comical yet fitting for her character.
Hu Wen Zhe as Li Min Cheng
A straight-A student (学霸) –– Smarter than everyone except for Bi Qiu Jing. After learning that Bi Qiu Jing is a prodigy at Go, he befriends her online without her knowing his identity. All I have to say is him and Bi Qiu Jing were meant for each other from the start.
Fu Le Ying as Zhang Ran Yu
She impersonated as the one who saved Wei Qing but eventually got dumped after he found out she wasn't his savior. Ever since she got dumped, she wasn't willing to let go and continues to bother Wei Qing.
Zhou Yao as He Wei
Wei Qing's maternal uncle, who is only two years older. Often bullied Wei Qing when they were young, he has always envied the latter. Even when they are all grown up, they are business competitors.
Thoughts:
1. The Three Couples
The three OTP storylines are also unique and interesting in their own ways. The first one with the CEO and the poor girl have been overdone so many times so there is nothing new here. The only thing I liked was how their relationship turned 360 degrees where they actually became friends and she can "dominate" over him because she knows she is the only one he is immune to.
The last one with the smart power couple has rarely been done since majority of the time, there is always one person in the relationship who is always smarter than the other (usually the guy). Here, we have two equally bright people that have hilariously gotten together for a quite entertaining reason.
2. Douban rating: On Douban, this drama had actually reached 7 stars in the beginning but then it began decreasing and I noticed how many didn't really watch the whole series before leaving a review. I think the story starts picking up once Ning Fei (around Episode 3) moves in with the three suite mates and we start to learn more about the conflict between Wei Qing and his mother.
3. Production quality: Not exceptional but not poor either –– the quality exceeds my expectation especially various scenes that accentuates the production's creativity in cinematography.
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| Episode 24 |
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| Episode 24 |
a) When Zhou Shi finally confesses her true feelings to her longtime crush Li Ming Sheng, we actually see a scene between the young Zhou Shi and the young Li Ming Sheng. Zhou Shi wanted to confess to Li Ming Sheng on that very day when she received her first 100 but she dropped her test into the pool and failed to confess her feelings.
b) When Wei Qing flies to the United States to find out what actually happened when he was 18. He sees a colorless imagery of his father to show that his father is no longer there.
4. The villains are not despicable or won't always get what they want. I like using this to gauge my liking towards a series because it makes me think about how often I've gotten annoyed. In this case, not that often.
5. I am so glad it is a happy ending. It is an actual happy ending, not an open ending, which many production teams tend to do in order to continue with a season 2. In many cases, the season 2 leaves off with another open ending or even worst, there isn't even a season 2 in store yet *sigh*.
Spoiler Thoughts:
1. We are introduced to Ning Fei in Episode 3 who also has some sort of OCD. After Lin Fei Fei accidentally breaks a bowl his father made for him, he is unwilling to eat anything without the bowl because he was told to only eat things in the bowl when he was young. Every time he eats, we inevitably still sees his ceramic bowl. I like how detail-oriented the production team and how they didn't forget about this detail after the bowl breaking incident.
He speaks his lines in a monotone manner, which fits his reserved personality. And because of this, it makes the character unexpectedly comes alive.
2. The actress that plays Zhou Shi is not the most beautiful actress but she is easy on the eyes. She makes the character Zhou Shi more realistic and her acting does not lose to well-seasoned actresses.
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| All four of the suite mates dancing in artificial snow |
3. I've never ever liked a drama because of the chemistry between the female leads but this is the exception. I actually enjoy the relationship between Zhou Shi, Lin Fei Fei, and Bi Qiu Jing. The main reason is because each of them are unique in their own ways. One is clumsy, one is materialistic and mature, and one is a genius –– what a combination. And then add in Ning Fei to the mix and it becomes even more comical.
4. There are aspects I didn't like.
a) I didn't like how they close the story by having Wei Qing being the one who saved Zhou Shi when she dropped into the pool –– there was no need for this.
b) I don't think we need to give Zhou Shi superhero strength as it's unnecessary except to save Wei Qing at the very beginning. It's nice though to see scenes where Zhou Shi "saves" Wei Qing. Instead of the beauty being saved, the beauty is the one doing the saving!
5. It was somewhat hard to guess who Ning Fei's brother is but there were clues throughout. And it was no wonder why the child actor was chosen to act as Ning Fei's brother when they were at the orphanage. I like how his "brother" valued profitability over family because after all that is what a seasoned business person look for.
My favorite song is the ending theme The Us I Wished For (我渴望的我们).
I think this song communicates Zhou Shi's feelings towards her longtime crush.
5 comments
When I read that he cannot touch other humans, I instantly recalled the Korean drama I'm not a robot, but that is the only similarly between them. It seems interesting, I will give it a try. Thank you for the recommendation. Merry Xmas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! There are no English subs available now so I've decided to take on this project. Since it is a modern drama, the terms should be a lot easier to translate.
DeleteCan someone tell me the names of all the songs in this drama
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this show... I am having dreams about a romance between a rich older woman and me,every fucking night... I got to my brain...its like a new series getting created in my mind with me as a lead... ��I am starting to lose it.
ReplyDelete1)The meteor shower doesnt rain
ReplyDelete2)The us i yearned for
3)Love u more by jeric
its a beautiful drama. i feel actress is looking cute he is so handsome they compliment so beautifully.. a rain n cindrella scene in ep 22 is the most beautiful scene in cdrama acc to me... sooo fangirling