My first ever full review for a Taiwan drama and i'm really glad it's pleasantly surprised (ps I almost gave up completely in watching Taiwan dramas but pleasantly surprised went straight through my heart and made me feel amazing, climbing up into my top 5 favorite dramas of all time. Thank you drama for your existence (': )
This drama caught my attention when I first heard the story when it's on it's casting process, the cast don't exactly excite me as i'm unfamiliar with the cast (I did watch Puff's Just You but I couldn't finish it because I can't stand it's stupidity haha sorry). I really like the theme of the story, I like the teasers so I decided to try this, I waited for half a year before watching because I really hate the one week one episode thing which Taiwan dramas have... it's a huge torture if the drama is this good. (22 episode, once a week = almost 6 months!!!!!)
THE CHARACTERS
Puff Guo/Guo Xue Fu as Du Kai Qi
Du Kai Qi is a independent women whom loves being alone, she keeps some distance from almost everyone (she has a close friend though), she doesn't trust people easily, can be seen as cold hearted and mean but she actually has a reason for the way she is. She used to be a cheerful and warm girl when she met Zi Jie (Jasper Liu's character) when they were kids, she is the daughter of his family's nanny so she is really close to Zi Jie but she and her mother left their house and they lose contact so it took Kai Qi quite a few episodes to remember Zi Jie. I absolutely LOVE du kai qi, she may irritate some people though with her pushing people away and being mean sometimes but I can relate and understand her 100% (it's amazing to find a character in dramaland that thinks completely like you). She is really different from the usual Taiwan drama leads (Taiwan drama usually have candy leads that's like waiting for a prince to save her which is completely opposite from the independent Kai Qi), i'm really happy to see a character like Kai Qi and hopefully Taiwan dramas come up with more amazing characters like her.
Puff Guo did a A-M-A-Z-I-N-G job here, she did justice to Kai Qi and made her totally lovable despite her sometimes unlovable traits. She is natural on screen which was completely different from what i felt when i watched her in Just You last year, she was a little over acting there (and her character is pretty annoying at times lol). Kai Qi is completely different from Puff in real life haha, i watched almost all the behind the scenes video of the drama and Puff is so lively and bubbly which is everything Kai Qi is not. I can totally understand why Puff is so popular now, i'm a girl and i absolutely love her so so much now haha. Initially Puff was suppose to act in Fall in love with me together with Aaron Yan again but she declined due to filming conflicts with We Got Married but she accepted this a few days/weeks(?) later so i guess she received offer for this too so she decided on this instead of Fall in love with me? I've not watch Fall In Love With Me but from the reviews I've read, it looks like a drama for pure fan service for Aaron Yan's fans and it's not meant to be logical? haha i really don't know but i'm glad Puff chose this drama because she did a absolutely amazing job and the drama itself is close to perfect ^^
Jasper Liu/Liu Yi Hao as Fu Zi Jie
Who says nice guys always don't get the girl? This time Zi Jie got the girl and the hearts of countless girls that screams and giggle like a idiot upon seeing him on screen with his dimples *screams*
Zi Jie is actually known with 3 different names in the drama, Louis, Ah Jie and Zi Jie. (btw ah jie is a shortform for names in Chinese so he didn't exactly tried to hide his identity) Zi Jie came back from France after a long time and upon the request of his parents, he goes to work at one of their restaurant as a intern chef for a month despite his ability being even better than most of the chefs there, he met Kai Qi there unexpectedly and is surprised by her huge change of personality so he is determined to make her back to the old cheerful Kai Qi. He initially did this as a friend wanting her to be happy again because she used to help him when he is afraid but he ends up liking her in a different way so he ends up wanting to stay with her. Zi Jie's character is like the usual drama second lead character (daddy long legs) so naturally he is lovable in every single way. He is literally the perfect guy?? oh god....
Liu Yi Hao (i don't want to use Jasper cause it sounds weird haha) is so cute i want to cry T_T He looks cute in the first half of the show but looks like a mature handsome guy in the second half (change of hairstyle) but he looks so perfect throughout the show in every single scene.... perfection do exist :* He did a great job as Zi Jie and his dimples certainly help make Zi Jie even better hehe. WELL DEFINTELY WATCH ANYTHING WTH LIU YI HAO IN IT FROM NOW ON HAHA.
Lene Lai as Cheng Le Xuan
I was expecting Le Xuan to be a bitchy character that will annoy the shit out of me but i'm happy to say that Le Xuan is actually pretty cute and lovable. She started off a little bitchy but the show made her more and more lovable as the episode goes on which of course i'm happy (towards the end she even becomes good friends with Kai Qi hehe)
I always thought that Lene Lai looks familiar so i did some research about her and realize that I've seen her in Love Keeps Going (she's Mike He's ex girlfriend) but her role here is soooo much bigger than Love Keeps Going. She is really pretty and she do have good screen presence which make watching her a breeze.
Lin Jian Hong as Cheng Hao Wei
Cheng Hao Wei is Kai Qi's ex university school mate, he likes Kai Qi but misunderstanding occurred so they lost contact but he never stopped liking her ever since. This type of character can be done badly and spoil the story because his character is too nice so viewers may actually like his character more and ship him with the female lead but i'm glad to say i love Cheng Hao Wei and his existence certainly makes the drama even better. I like Cheng Hao Wei but not as much as Fu Zi Jie which i think this is well done by the writer, some dramas get destroyed due to the second male lead being much more lovable than the main male lead but this drama made both the male leads super super lovable but still viewers will still love Zi Jie more due to more exposure of his character (and much more mega cute interactions between the leads) and the writer knows how to rub viewers the right way.
Lin Jiang Hong did a great job here, nothing much to say but he did made me cry a lot haha.
Not going to talk much about the other characters but i just have to mention that i love every single one of the character in the show. The chemistry of the characters in the restaurant is also well done and all the characters are unique and memorable in their own way. This is the first time i LOVE every single one of the character in a drama and find them so special, i love the acting here too, usually i find Taiwan actress/actor over acting at times or being a little awkward but the whole cast did a fabulous job :*
STORY AND DIRECTING
Synopsis
Du Kai Qi is used to being alone and handles problems herself. Fu Zi Jie's over-friendliness only annoys her. But Zi Jie is determined to change her from "liking being a loner" to "liking to be with someone."FROM DRAMAWIKI
The story is absolutely amazing, i love every single moment from episode 1-12 but i find it so well done that i was really scared that they will come out with some stupid storyline to fill up to 22 episodes (its 1.5h per episode so longer than kdramas) but i'm pleasantly surprised (see what i did there... it's a pun!!! haha sorry for being lame), the second half of the drama turn out to be equally as good as the first half (even better honestly). Taiwan dramas tend to have corny dialogues and overly stupid storylines but this drama's dialogues are super well done and cute, the story is actually logical.... (but the characters aren't realistic though because the chances of someone as perfect as Zi Jie and Hao Wei existing is almost impossible in real life ok). I love how the story is light hearted and feels really sincere, the story manage to get rid of the usual Taiwan drama flaws but as much as the story is not perfect but it's close to perfect hehe. The pace is really well done too, the story doesn't feels like it's boring/pointless/laggy at any moment and it's 22 episodes which i'm surprised by the writer's great ability to pace it so well. I like how they put a little kid as part of the story too, the kid certainly help the drama move along and soften Kai Qi's heart and make the two characters closer.
*look at the way Zi Jie stares at Kai Qi!!!!!!*
IN CONCLUSION
hands down the best Taiwan drama I've ever watched (i stopped watching Taiwan dramas for a while already though), the show did better than many romantic comedy kdramas and can easily come out as one of the best romantic comedy in dramaland (to me at least) and the show certainly made it to my top 5 dramas of all time ^^
honestly the two leads don't have 5 star chemistry but the characters and their interactions helped make them a super memorable and absolutely cute couple (some kdrama really have to learn how to do this) My review does no justice to my love for this show so hopefully i at least convinced you to try this out haha.
Personal Ratings: 10/10 (if i can, i would give this a million out of ten hehe)
How much it deserves: 9.5/10
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