Oh yeah! A drama to blog about. This is a Chinese romcom so it’s light and fluffy.
1. Doraemon
Welcome to the club if you’ve never heard of Doraemon prior to this drama. Here’s the blurb from Wikipedia:
Nobita Nobi is a young boy who suffers from poor grades, frequent bullying and negative emotions like sadness and jealousy. Many years in the future, one of his descendants sends the robotic cat Doraemon back in time to protect and guide Nobita. Doraemon has a four-dimensional pocket in which he stores innumerable items known as gadgets, which range from toys and medicine, to technology from the future.
Examples include the Bamboo-Copter (Japanese: Take-Koputa), a small piece of headgear that allows flight and the Anywhere Door (Japanese: Doko Demo Doa), a door that opens up to any place the user wishes.
Nobita’s closest friend is Shizuka Minamoto, who also serves as his romantic interest and eventually becomes his wife. Nobita is usually tormented by the bullying Takeshi Goda (nicknamed “Gian”), and the cunning and arrogant Suneo Honekawa.
A typical story consists of Doraemon using one of his gadgets in order to assist Nobita in various ways, often causing more trouble than he was trying to solve.
source: Wikipedia
Here’s Doraemon the futuristic cat and the young boy Nobita.
I don’t know if the relationship between Si TuMo (aka Momo) and Gu WeiYi is analogous to that of Doraemon and Nobita but undoubtedly Tumo and Weiyi’s first encounter was a disaster.
Fu Pei had called up Momo, but Momo dropped the phone with its Doraemon case, and broke its glass screen.
Fu Pei came to pick her up on his bike to bring her to her interview. They looked like campus sweethearts but we know they weren’t because Si TuMo introduced him as her friend.
Their bike scene reminded me of Xiao Nai and Weiwei’s campus bike ride except Xiao Nai was a gazillion times more handsome than Shar-Pei, I mean, Fu Pei.
haha. Another gratuitous gif from Love O2O. 
In a voice-over, Si TuMo narrated, “I always thought that our relationship would become closer one day. So I was waiting for the day to come when unexpectedly…” Fu Pei collided with Gu WeiYi. Fortunately, nobody was hurt but Momo’s skirt got caught on the bike. WeiYi ripped it to free her.
Now if I were a suspicious sort of person, I’d think that the Fates were conspiring against Momo. First, she dropped her phone when Fu Pei called, breaking its glass case. To me, that signaled bad luck. Then, they crash into Weiyi’s bike and she fell off the bike. To me again, this foreshadowed the impact of Weiyi’s appearance in their lives. Literally, Weiyi ploughed into them. Figuratively, he “cut in” on Fu Pei’s path and upset his future plans. Last, Weiyi’s forceful tug on Momo’s skirt to untangle her from Fu Pei’s bike symbolized his lack of hesitation to wrest Momo from her heartache over Fu Pei.
lol. See that? In less than 15 minutes of the show, we were given a preview of this romcom’s conflict.
That’s why I’m glad Si TuMo drew a Doraemon on the chalkboard while Gu Weiyi worked on the physics test. It gave an auspicious start to their relationship and countered the bad omen of her break-up with Fu Pei.
From Episode 2
2. Gu WeiYi
Of course, no character can come close to Xiao Nai and all my metrics for handsome Chinese dudes have been ruined by Yang Yang. But this actor, Lin Yi isn’t so bad-looking as long as I don’t fixate on the tip of his nose.
His nose reminds me of Cyrano de Bergerac, the play by Edmond Rostand, about a man with a big nose.
hahaha.
An aside: Cyrano de Bergerac is the only sappy French drama I like to watch. The ending’s sad, too. If you can catch a live performance, I recommend it.
To continue: I like Gu WeiYi for being attentive to Si TuMo/Momo.
When their bikes collided, his first concern was whether she was injured. Fu Pei, on the other hand, had a delayed reaction and didn’t realize sooner that Momo was on the ground, too.
When he brought her to the hospital, he insisted on wheeling her in on a wheelchair. lol. I’m sure that, ordinarily, he wouldn’t have wanted to be in the spotlight himself. However, since Si Tumo was injured party, he didn’t mind going overboard.
Then, when Fu Pei rushed off to the pharmacy, leaving Momo behind to maneuver the wheelchair by herself, he noticed her dejection and immediately stepped in to help her. He knew she was crying but he pretended that it was sweat instead of tears that he saw. I liked him, then, because if I were Momo, the last thing I wanted him to feel was pity for me.
Another thing that struck me as cool about this character is his lack of temper. Because of a bag mix-up with Momo, he couldn’t take a critical test to enroll in a widely sought-after class. But he didn’t get angry or take it out on her. He didn’t blame her and acknowledged that it was his fault.
Same when she accidentally erased his unfinished calculations on the blackboard; he didn’t shout at her that time, too.
Thank goodness! Foul-mouthed, lanyard-pulling, bad-tempered male leads repel me.
Like this guy —
Nope. So unprofessional. From “She’s so Pretty.”
Or this guy.
Nope. You touch my chest, I’ll report you to HR Dept. From “Her Private Life.”
Or this kid.
Nope. I don’t care if his IQ = Genius if his EQ = Orangutan. From “Mischievous Kiss.”
So compared to these other “heroes,” Gu WeiYi isn’t bad.
Plus, judging from the way he was sitting pensively while there was a children’s birthday party at a nearby table, I predict that he was either an abandoned or lonely child when he was growing up. That’s probably why he’s attracted to Si TuMo. She fulfills his need to be needed and to protect someone. Hence, the title “Put Your Head on My Shoulder.”
Interestingly, when Fu Pei asked if he found Momo pretty, he thought of the moment on the bus when Momo became drowsy on the bus. Twice, her head dropped on his shoulder and twice, he pushed it back up.
On the third time, however, he laid a tissue on his shoulder and he let her head rest on him. To me, this indicated that he was fastidious about staying neat and clean. But with Si TuMo around, he had no choice but to get dirty and he was already resigned to it.
Just like how he stepped on the puddle when he crashed into their bike. He couldn’t avoid that puddle either.
The final thing that I like about Gu WeiYi is he doesn’t make promises, like Fu Pei. He just does what’s necessary. For instance, Fu Pei promised to accompany Momo to her interview then he blackmailed WeiYi to take his place because he had to play basketball.
Fu Pei also promised to buy Momo a dress to replace her ripped skirt.
He didn’t of course. He only made the promise to get out of waiting for her at her interview and to play an online game with a friend instead.
Gu WeiYi didn’t promise to repair her broken phone screen. He just did it while pretending that he wanted to learn how to repair the modle of her mobile phone. He paid for it, too.
3. Si TuMo or Momo
I’m beginning to understand Chinese/Taiwanese dramas now. After skimming through “It Started with a Kiss,” “A Love So Beautiful,” “Fated to Love You,” “Down with Love,” and “Smiling Pasta.” I understand how the couples are cast. It’s all about contrast. The handsome, rich, genius male lead is matched with an ugly, down-on-her-luck, and dumb female.
As a self-confessed shallow person, I wouldn’t have lasted more than an episode, if Momo had been an eyesore like the female leads in “It Started with a Kiss” and “A Love So Beautiful.”
I’m with her.
What I find refreshing about Si TuMo is she can get the better of Gu WeiYi on some occasions. For instance, she used reverse psychology to get him to answer the test questions. She said that Weiyi wouldn’t be able to solve the rigorous graduate-level examination since he’s only an undergrad. She knew that Weiyi would bristle at the idea that he wasn’t capable enough.
Take another instance when she teased him for getting her sanitary pads.
He wanted to explain why it was missing from her bag but she simply laughed it off with, “Forget it, just take it as a gift.” Obviously, he had no need for it and said so. She retorted, “Give it back to me then” and he was left speechless. Her joke must have bothered him because he ended up going to the store to buy her a replacement pack.
4. The dating scene
This ambiguous relationship between Momo and Fu Pei was popularized in a hit kpop song about 5 years ago.
Wait a second – is that Kim Dasom??!!
Some
by Soyou and Junggigo
Lyrics translated by popgasa
Sometimes, I get annoyed without even knowing
But my feelings for you haven’t changed
Maybe I’m the weird one, I thought
As I struggled by myself
While tossing and turning alone in an empty room
The TV plays reruns of yesterday’s drama
As I hold my phone that doesn’t ring until I sleep
These days, it feels like you’re mine, it seems like you’re mine but not
It feels like I’m yours, it seems like I’m yours but not
What are we? I’m confused, don’t be aloof
It feels like we’re lovers, it seems like we’re lovers but not
Whenever you see me, you act so vague to me
These days, I hate hearing that I’m just like a friend
I want to open my eyes to your text every morning
I want to fall asleep with your voice at the end of the day
On the weekends, I want to hug you in front of a lot of people as if I’m showing off
These days, it feels like you’re mine, it seems like you’re mine but not
It feels like I’m yours, it seems like I’m yours but not
These days, I hate hearing that I’m just like a friend
I don’t like you, don’t like you these days
But I only have you, I only have you
Clearly draw the line for me
Don’t pull out but confess your love to me
Pretending that we’re just friends, acting like we’re lovers, don’t do that
The more I think about it, I get more curious about your real feelings
Girl you’re so ambiguous, I can’t do anything or maybe I’m expecting a miracle, lotto
I want a clear sign but I forget all about it when I see your smile
These days, it feels like you’re mine, it seems like you’re mine but not
It feels like I’m yours, it seems like I’m yours but not
Don’t just laugh like you don’t know and stop this now, be real with me
Don’t put me in your heart and look elsewhere
Why don’t you stop acting like you don’t know when you do know?
Don’t give excuses that you’re tired but hurry and tell me, I love you
I can understand Si TuMo’s frustration. Why would she stick around waiting for Fu Pei when he had constantly denied that there was anything more than a casual friendship going on between the two of them?
I was cheering her when she told him that he was ugly. He is, too!
5. Fake dating
Poor Si TuMo!
With Fu Pei, she ended up waiting for him to declare publicly that they’re dating. On the other hand, with Gu Weiyi, she ended up being his pretend girlfriend because he declared publicly that they were dating even when they weren’t.
The Youtube translation was awkward so let me re-do it.
Professor: Gu Weiyi. What’s your final decision after giving it a thorough consideration?
Weiyi: Sir, I’m dating so I’ll leave it behind first.
Youtube subbed it as “Sir, I’m in a relationship” but I think Weiyi wanted the professor to leave him alone as he was out on a date. He didn’t want to discuss his selection process at that time because he was supposedly out on a date. He was telling his teacher that he was intruding on his date.
Momo: On a date? With me?
Weiyi: That’s right. Do you have a problem with it? (giving her the look, and she understood.)
Momo: Yes. we’re dating.
The professor sat down. Look at Si Tumo’s smile here.
This isn’t surprising because ever since she fell of the bike when he crashed into them, she’d been smiling at the thought of him. She admitted as much when her roommate asked her why she was smiling when she had a terribly unlucky day.
Then, the professor turned to them again.
Professor: Hello. I’m Gu Weiyi’s lecturer.
Momo: My name is Si Tumo.
Professor: I approve of your relationship especially since Gu Weiyi’s dating.
He probably meant that he approved of Weiyi having a normal social life, outside of the lab.
Momo: Thank you.
Professor: But we have an important selection examination two days ago, and Gu couldn’t take the exam because he didn’t bring his student ID card. I didn’t understand why he would make such a mistake like that. Now I fully understand it when I see you today. It’s understandable that someone might make mistakes when they’re in a relationship. Is his student card with you?
Weiyi: Sir, please don’t disturb us.
Professor: Last one, we have arranged it to give him the last chance but he claimed that it’s unfair to others and refused to meet Professor Jiang so I…
Weiyi: Last one, right? There’s no point in you telling her about it. I’m the decision maker.
Momo: Says who? (cat and dog sound tracks) I’m a decision maker, too.
Professor: Try to convince him. Advise him. I’ll leave now. Please advise him. Please advise him.
The second time he met his professor at the restaurant with Momo and Fu Pei, he lied again because he was angry at the way Fu Pei was treating Momo. Momo was hurt that Fu Pei denied her as his girlfriend and was drinking nonstop.
Momo: Fu Pei, what kind of girl do you like?
Fu Pei: Why? Do you want to get one for me? There are many girls in your school. Please get a girl for me.
Momo: Okay. I’ll get a silly girl for you. (smiling brightly)
Teacher: (surprised to see them again) Yah! Are you Gu Weiyi? Are you on a date with Si Tumo?
Weiyi: That’s right. (and he put food on Momo’s plate).
Fu Pei looked at Momo in shock.
Later when he and Fu Pei talked it outside Momo’s dorm, he explained.
Fu Pei: What’s the relationship between you and Momo?
Weiyi: You asked me to accompany Si Tumo to an interview that day. We met Mr. Xu on the way. He wanted me to meet Professor Jiang so I lied that I was having a date with Si Tumo. I just didn’t want him to disturb me.
Fu Pei: But you already finished the examination paper. Why did you lie again?
Weiyi: I just wanted to teach you a lesson.
Fu Pei: What do you mean?
Weiyi: You’re trying to avoid Si Tumo’s feeling.
Fu Pei: We’re just friends.
Weiyi: Is that so? Then, why are you questioning me right now?
Fu Pei: Well, stay away from Momo.
Weiyi: I’m alright. You should ask yourself whether you can control me.
Weiyi’s parting line, “I”m alright….” is a bit confusing with the subs. I don’t know if Weiyi was saying that he was correct in his assumption that Fu Pei was avoiding Tumo’s feelings, or if he was saying that he was unconcerned about(Or he’s okay or fine with) Fu Pei’s warning to him to stay away because Fu Pein can’t stop him anyway.
6. Translation needed, please?
What does her to-do list say? Thanks!
Edited to add @ridiculody’s translation. Thanks!!
1) take a supplementary course on advertising
2) graduate successfully
3) find a job that I like
4) go camping with friends
5) want to have a nice relationship and date happilyhope this helped!
1) take a supplementary course on advertising
2) graduate successfully
3) find a job that I like
4) go camping with friends
5) want to have a nice relationship and date happily
hope this helped!
Awesome! Thanks.
I admit that I’m enjoying this show more than I expected. It’s not too silly or superficial for a webdrama with young actors. They are in fact more than adequate for their roles and generally a pleasure to watch.
I re-watched for details and found myself noting my likes and dislikes.
*The likable Gu Wei Yi* – As far as male leads in OTPs go, Gu Wei Yi has the superficial appearance of the tsundere male, unsmiling, aloof, serious, seemingly indifferent, but this hides the fact that actually he is observant, thoughtful and takes action when he is concerned about another person. He helped a friend retrieve keys from the class that Mo Mo was attending, for instance. He remembered that Mo Mo’s phone had a broken screen and changed it for her. He passes up his meeting with a friend to help Mo Mo who is injured and in a quandary.
GWY notices that Mo Mo looks down after her interview. Although he wants to eat a bun, he agrees to eat with her. He plays tops with the bratty kids in the fast food restaurant. He notices that she’s upset at the steamboat dinner when FP is on the phone and when he outright says she is not his girlfriend. He pours the beer from her bottle into his own cup, maybe to reduce the quantity she drinks. All this is done without fanfare and without needing any reward.
Pity Mo Mo was not paying as much attention as us viewers, or she’d have seen straightaway what a great boyfriend he’d make!
What I like about Si Tu Mo – She does not take advantage of the guys’ good intentions. She held off letting GWY fix her phone for as long as was reasonable, she did not want FP to be troubled to accompany her and she never played the “poor me” game with any of her friends. Inspite of being robbed and injured, she did not feel unduly sorry for herself. She even discarded trash for her roommate while in bandages.
She is not dumb, (it will take several episodes to see if show makes her dumber in order to make the guys look smarter, a common ploy in shows, but I don’t think so in this case as GWY is already of genius level), but she does not plan ahead as seen from what her Whiz Kid girlfriend says. However she’s not stupidly blind and pining for FP. She knows that her ‘frequency’ and Fu Pei’s don’t match. She does not put any faith in what Fu Pei says. She knew FP was lying about buying the dress, as shown by her remark later that Fu Pei should not use another poor excuse.
She’s an independent thinker and not a follower. She gets GWY to play tops with the kids and does not mind that he continues playing on his own while she eats.
She’s in a world of her own and did not know FWY is well known throughout campus and considered a great catch.
Hearing that GWY is considered arrogant because he did not bring his pass and couldn’t take his exam, she takes action to right that situation. She’s able to convince Prof Jiang to give GWY a chance (not by playing the pity card, but) by suggesting that he would regret never having discovered GWY’s abilities.
I think Mo Mo makes a great friend!
Some instances showing how GWY and Mo Mo are well matched already
He was able to convince her to go the hospital by playing on her fear (ie by painting a worst case scenario of infection, with the risk of amputation) LOL. She was able to convince him to take the test by playing on his ego.
They seem to like very similar black bags.
They enjoy listening to the same audio broadcast.
They can rely on each other. He stays to wait for her at her interview. She stays awake while he does the test and cleans the blackboard for him. (Both so unlike Fu Pei who cannot be depended upon).
What I like about the show
The little epilogues where we get to see GWY being embarrassed or doing something embarrassing. That drunken ‘military’ video was actually quite cute (props to the actor, Lin Yi for making a fool of himself).
The first epilogue with the silly salesperson going on about choosing the sanitary napkins made me cringe. How she could not tell that she was driving him away with embarrassment by asking him to touch the napkins is beyond me! 🤣 She’d have made a sale if she’d left him well alone!!
I’m thinking later epilogues might have a different focus, though, but these first 2 were fun. 🙂
I agree!
At first, I wondered if he was a pushover because the other guys in his dorm room seem to take advantage of him. As you mentioned he retrieved the keys for a friend, he passed up lunch with a friend to rush to Momo’s side, he was coerced to escort Momo to her rescheduled interview, and in Episode 2, Fu Pei was ordering him to bring another pair of basketball shoes since his own shoes were wet. I don’t even know why Fu Pei has that incriminating video of him in a soldier’s uniform asking to be part of Albert Einstein’s squad. What a geeky thing to do!
But when it came to his lab work, however, he’s very firm about what he wants and doesn’t.
Yes, I also liked that scene when he was scribbling computation on the ground while waiting for Si TuMo. Fu Pei would have been on the phone yapping to his friends and inviting them to a basketball scrimmage. But he was fine being by himself and thinking of his work. I like that scene because he doesn’t need to be entertained to be happy. He doesn’t get restless with his own company.
Yes, I like that scene too when she realized that GWY was being made into a “bad example” of how arrogance could ruined genius. She just resolved it quickly and energetically. Like an Energizer Bunny.
She knew the back story: GWY accepted his responsibility for the bag mix-up and he didn’t want to pull strings to get into the Professor Jiang’s class. And she knew that she was the best person to break the impasse between GWY and Prof Jiang. The two men were both stubborn in their own way but they gave in to her. She convinced Prof Jiang to give her the grad test by appealing to his logic and sense of fairness, and she got GWY to take the test by using reverse psychology on him.
I thought it was cute, too, how easily she adapted to being known as “Gu WeiYi’s girlfriend”. From being nobody’s girlfriend, she suddenly became “Gu WeiYi’s girlfriend.” That’s why I thought the dinner in Episode 2 was so satisfying. On one hand, we had the waitress asking Fu Pei if his girlfriend would like beer as well, and he quickly corrected her saying, “She isn’t my girlfriend,” before answering, “She doesn’t drink beer.”
Then, on the other hand, we had the teacher pointedly asking Gu WeiYi, “Are you out on a date with Si Tu Mo?” but he didn’t deny it. In fact, he even demonstrated it by plopping meat on Si TuMo’s plate. That was a very boyfriend-ly thing to do: make sure the girl is eating well.
So we have one guy rejecting her publicly, and one guy claiming her publicly. If I were her, I’d know which guy I’d go out with. I wouldn’t want to be devalued by agreeing to be his “unofficial” girlfriend.
And worse!!
I forgot! Didn’t he just ask her to get a silly girl for him, too?! What a jerk! When you think about this, he basically asked her to be his pimp.
Yes, the ‘pimp’ deal was the absolute worst! He was dead to me as bf because not only was he pretending he wasn’t interested in her, he was making it out (an outright falsehood) that she wasn’t the kind of girl he would like.
He really did not ever need to correct the waitress … he could just have asked Mo Mo what she’d like or if he had to cut in as the man in charge, he could have just said no beer for the lady. But he’s been adamant about denying her gf status (yes I watched ahead so I know) from long ago.
I’ve got a bunch of thoughts on what I dislike about Fu Pei. This ‘pimp’ thing takes the cake, but there’s other stuff, as you mentioned too. I’ll post it below.
Fu Pei (at the moment, the Somewhat Unlikable FP)
My impression of Fu Pei is that he’s super immature, self-centred and without much integrity. With Si Tu Mo, he wants to have his cake and eat it. He wants a best friend and a girlfriend but without committing himself to what these friendships entail.
Even as a so called best friend, Fu Pei has failed by his putting his own interests before hers repeatedly. Lying about buying the dress, just put a nail in the best friend relationship coffin.
His lies go a step further, making him two-faced, when he openly refers to Mo Mo as his girl to GWY, but refuses to acknowledge this when he speaks to Mo Mo. In the past, he tells the old classmate that he’ll not date Mo Mo after graduation, then has the gall to claim that he didn’t mean it.
He speaks without thinking. Like you said, @packmule3, he makes promises he can’t keep … careless, far-reaching, random promises like: ‘I’ll do any favour for you no matter what.’ Thoughtless and careless… (just the opposite of GWY).
He’s insensitive and unobservant (again the opposite of GWY). Forgetting Mo Mo when he fell from the bike with her, failing to see all those times he spoke and was hurting her feelings, forcing her to accompany him (usually by physically dragging her along).
He claims to know how Mo Mo she feels, but remains hurtful in his attitude. He still won’t admit that he knows she wants a proper bf-gf relationship. Even if he had a good reason for not wanting the same, he chooses not to address it openly, to talk it out, to give Mo Mo a chance to walk away. He’s just holding on to her by his silence and expectations, as if he has any right to any.
I don’t like that he resorts to threats to get GWY to comply to his demands or that he keeps getting him to run errands.
I’ll rejoice when we come to the part where he’s out of our couples’ hair.
Fortunately or unfortunately, as this is a breezy, feel-good kind of show, even a weak character like FP will have a happy ending. I hope that he grows in the process and gets to deserve the friends he gains!
I’m watching because Gu WeiYi and Mo Mo suit each other and they are cute together even with their height difference. It’s my number 1 must reason for watching any drama. 😊
Episode 13 and 14 are funny! Gu WeiYi’s courting and trying to understand her made me laugh 😂 He is cute as you said just don’t look at his nose 😬 Xing Fei is pretty! Their chemistry works for me. I’m looking forward to when they officially become a couple. ☺️
Fu Pei annoyed me straight away and I just put an I don’t care wall for him 😁
Thanks for the info on Doraemon! Cute cat! 😍
Off topic- Always love reading your insights on drama and characters.. hopefully you watch her private life and have time to write about it.. heee
😂
Are you bribing me? I’m cheap. My going rate is 2 cookies 🍪🍪 per post.
I have finished Ep. 1-2 and I am enjoying this lighthearted drama. I really like Gu Wei Yi character. He may be more interested in physics than anything else, but he is very observant and thoughtful toward others. I like that he is not mean or cold and distant like so many of these “genius” character types. He is very sweet. I like Momo character as well-she is intelligent and self reliant, which is a welcome change from the usual “cute but dumb” female character types that seem to dominate Chinese rom coms. I only hope it will last for the whole drama. Second lead Fu Pei is charming but thoughtless, immature and selfish. He’s the unreliable one, contrast to Gu Wei Yi as rock steady. Afraid of commitment, which will cost him the love of Momo in the end. From the end credits, I think he will find his own journey toward love and maturity with Momo’s roommate. I’m glad to see that. I like more the dramas that have multiple couples rather than the love triangles.
Thanks for the information about Doraemon the cat. Going to wait and see how these Doraemon references relate to the drama. As always, your posts @pm3 are informative and the comments here are insightful. I’m agreeing with everyone on their analysis of Fu Pei, Gu Wei Yi and Si Tu Mo characters.
I’m looking forward to the next episodes!
Glad you can join us. I heard from @lovebangwon that the drama is already finished in China but I don’t mind watching it slowly. I miss a lot of details when I’m rushing. 🙂
Another friend recommended Cdrama called Le Coup de Foudre. It’s also on viki. It seems like I’m on a kdrama slump but the cdramas are taking up the slack. But just this morning, while I was sorting through old DVDs, I saw an old favorite cartoon, “Howl’s Moving Castle.” I’m thinking of watching it this weekend.
Yes, Doraemon will be a metaphor for GWY.
I’ve seen Howl’s Moving Castle and it’s a great one. It’s my first Japanese cartoon and I love it. ☺️
I’m actually watching Sweet Dreams, another cdrama.
Are we on Cdramas now? Sweet dreams? Where? On viki?
I already watched 2 eps of “Nice to Meet You.” 🙂 Trying to schedule my write-up for it. It’s Mother’s Day weekend so we’ll probably drive to beach and can watch other dramas on the way.
I didn’t know whether to consider Howl’s Moving Castle a children’s story or an adult story masquerading as a children’s book. I read the book first, you see. It’s my first and last Japanese cartoon.
I know right? Cdramas are taking over 😄 Sweet Dreams is on Viki too.
I’m excited that you’ve watched Nice To Meet You. ☺️ I’ll look forward to your insights on that one too. Yey!
Ooohhh I did not read the book of Howl’s Moving Castle, only watched the cartoon. I’m sure the book was much better.? Yes, I think it’s more the latter. I also liked Spirited Away. Those two are my faves.
Advance Happy Mother’s Day to you and to the other Moms here. Flowers for everyone. 💐🌷🌹🌺🌸🌼🌻
@packmule3 I mentioned the cdrama Le Coupe de Foudre to my friend, @Snickers and this is what she told me: “Le Coup de Foudre. Direct translation from Chinese is “I like only you” or “I only like you”. It’s semi-autobiographical.
From Viki:
Zhao Qiao Yi (Wu Qian) [the girl] and Yan Mo (Zhang Yu Jian) [the boy] may have been high school classmates but the only thing they had in common was the desk they shared in class. One a top student, the other failing miserably, these two couldn’t have been more different and yet, it doesn’t take long for a strong bond to form between them.
Promising to study abroad together after high school, this unlikely pair seems to have the world before them. But when an unexpected family emergency forces Qiao Yi to back out on their plans the two drift apart and eventually lose touch.
Four years later, the long-lost friends are reunited and old flames are quickly rekindled. Finally willing to accept her feelings for Yan Mo, Qiao Yi moves to the city, determined to pick things up where they left off all those years ago; but with Yan Mo already in a relationship, Qiao Yi’s love seems destined to fail. But is it really?
Unbeknownst to Qiao Yi, Yan Mo hasn’t forgotten his old friend, nor the feelings he has for her. Unable to express those feelings, Yan Mo chooses to keep his actions and his feelings a secret. Always moving in the background, he works tirelessly to take care of his high school friend; but how long will he be able to keep this up before she realizes the truth?
Based on the popular Chinese novel, “I Don’t Like This World, I Only Like You” by Qiao Yi, “Le Coup de Foudre” is a sweet adaptation you’re sure to love.”
We were thinking that the poor current girlfriend of Yan Mo will be made to be an unlikable character in order to get the audience to root for Qiao Yi, although in effect she’s the 3rd party to break up the couple. How it is done will determine if we can really like and enjoy this show.
We were thinking that the poor current girlfriend of Yan Mo will be made to be an unlikable character in order to get the audience to root for Qiao Yi, although in effect she’s the 3rd party to break up the couple. How it is done will determine if we can really like and enjoy this show.
uh-oh. The guy already has a current girlfriend? Yes, the writer will really have to paint current girlfriend as the manipulative, scheming, evil girlfriend from hell or this story isn’t going to go down well.
Wait! I think there’s a Taylor Swift song for this one, too. @agdr03, where are you?
“You Belong with Me”
https://youtu.be/VuNIsY6JdUw
Are Chinese screenwriters secretly making stories from Taylor Swift’s songs?? lol.
Can’t you see that I’m the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can’t you see
You belong with me
Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time
How could you not know
Baby you belong with me
You belong with me
Are Chinese screenwriters secretly making stories from Taylor Swift’s songs?? lol.
I’m here! Laughing ☝🏻😂 I like that song. Very catchy! 😁
I’m not sure where I read this but I thought the author of this cdrama said that this story was based on her real life experiences with her husband. From high school to university up to their married life. Maybe I’m confusing it with all the cdramas that’s popping up on Instagram. Or wait I think I read it on Soompi. 🤦🏻♀️
Here, I found it. ☺️
https://www.soompi.com/article/1321158wpp/8-ways-the-premiere-of-c-drama-le-coup-de-foudre-made-us-fall-in-love-at-first-sight
“You Belong with Me” is the only Taylor Swift song that I heard my son and his football team singing in the locker room after homecoming game.
Not kidding. If you understand the culture of high school football here in the US, you’ll get why.
There’s one football game during the Fall that’s called a “homecoming game.” It’s a big event because the whole school attends, including family members and former students who “come home” for old times’ sake. For the athletes, it’s a MUST-WIN game because they have a big crowd in attendance. Homecoming and Seniors’ Night (that’s the night when the seniors and parents are given special recognition) are the two big game days in high school.
There are two big student groups involved too in the event. On one side, we have the glamorous, clique-ish, and select team of cheerleaders, and then there’s the… band.
Anyway, after the game, there’s the Homecoming dance. Since football games are held on Friday nights, the Homecoming dance is held the next night, Saturday. So for that Taylor girl to be part of the band, and to stay home on a Saturday night — studying — meant that she had no social life.
oh! Thanks @agdr03!
Thanks, @pm3! Yes, I believe PYHOMS finished in China this week, but the subbed episodes are still being posted on the YT channel. I understand about being on a K Drama slump. Luckily, other Asian dramas can take up the slack. There are a lot of good C Dramas and TW Dramas out now. I’ve heard about Le Coup De Foudre over on Viki. The plot is nothing new, so I’m going to wait a while until I hear more information about the production and performances to decide if I’m going to check it out. The quality of C Dramas are hit or miss, and C Drama also is notorious for crappy endings, so I like to proceed with caution. Another reason I’ll wait on LCDF is I don’t like to watch dramas on Viki until the episodes are edited and released for all languages. Otherwise, the translations often contain spelling or grammar errors, sometimes the translation can be clunky or confusing to me. So I like to wait until the editors are done for the best experience. Unfortunately, the editing process over at Viki can take a very long time, depending, since they use volunteers. I’ll stick to PYHOMS as my “school days/college” rom com for now.
I’ll be interested to hear your impressions of “Nice To Meet You”. I thought it sounded interesting, taking place in the jewelry world. However, the 53 episode count is making me pause.
Thanks @agdr03 So that’s what is meant by it being semi-autobiographical. The writer herself became the wife … only I wonder if in real life she was the ‘3rd wheel’. Nice details about brother and friend. Seems like a feel-good show on the whole. I may just be up for it!
Wow! I believe you! 😊 Homecoming game sounds very thrilling and the dance exciting. ☺️ Did you record them singing? 😁 Would have been cute.
We don’t have that here but Aussies definitely love their sport. My sister played cricket for years and I was her driver. 🤣 I got my licence and I was off driving under the Sydney Harbour Bridge at 16 😬 It was scary but I had to toughen up. In the end I had all the experiences to drive better and long distances. 😊
I heard about that Moonlight drama with IU which was a remake of a Chinese drama with an unhappy ending, and I was invited to watch along. But I said no. 🙂 (That would be insane.)
That’s true about the subbing at Viki. Sometimes they’re good, but when they’re bad…I take screenshots. lol. To document that it wasn’t MY fault that I misunderstood the story.
@Table122000 I hear you when you said Nice To Meet You is 53 episodes and it made you paused. Personally I think it should have been great at 40 but I finished it. I really enjoyed it because of the straight chemistry of the main leads. I just read the synopsis and jumped in. I’m glad I did. It’s a family affair and not as light hearted as others prefer. I cried a couple of times. 😁
Why don’t you watch the first 2 episodes and decide then? Sorry I went on and on now. 😂
I hated driving on bridges, too — and tunnels. If I knew I was approaching a tunnel, I would either slow down a bit so someone would overtake me or speed up so I was tailgating somebody.
lol. As long as another vehicle was in front of me, I was fine. I focused on its trunk or rear window, and ignored the sides. But if there’s empty space, I felt as if the sides of the tunnel were closing in on me and I was going to ram the wall. Weird, huh?
With bridges, I learned to stay in the inside lanes so I wasn’t glancing over the edge.
Anyway. I couldn’t run away to New York City when I was teenager because of that darn Lincoln Tunnel.
Yah! I could see why you cried.
We shouldn’t watch sad movies together. You’d be crying beside me while I’d be laughing at you being emotional.
BTW, do you go on soompi forum often? Do you know what happened to USAfarmgirl? She suddenly disappeared. Weird…. I hope she’s alright.
@agdr03 I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed “Nice To Meet You.” I will keep it on my watchlist, although I am still leery because of the huge episode count. I also heard negative things about the main leads characters and that the plot dragged and was stupid. It’s good to hear your perspective. I find that C Dramas often are bloated with repetitive flashbacks and filler scenes, and the dramas get very draggy a lot of times, especially in the modern dramas. Unfortunately, the industry pays by the episode, so these long episode counts are the norm these days. Here’s and article about the issue:
http://www.dramapanda.com/2019/03/water-injected-dramas-that-are-dragged.html
That being said, there are a lot of good C Dramas being made, but you just have to
choose wisely.
@packmule3 I don’t know what is going on with USAFarmgirl. She was very active in the Brownie couple forum, but I notice now all her posts have her name deleted and says Guest. I ask in Brownie forum if anyone knows is she OK? Hopefully she is all right.
Thanks for checking, @Table122000. Yes, I hope she’s okay and simply needs a breather from kdramas for a while.
I just tried the first episode of Le Coup de Foudre and have a bunch of positive vibes about it. I was laughing out loud quite a bit. The ‘interview’ style breaking of the fourth wall was different too. For the catchy tunes, sweet relationships and new way of telling what should just be the ‘same old’ story, I’ll be giving this one a try.
12 episodes have been subbed, and 18 out of 35 episodes have been aired. Fingers crossed it doesn’t just drag out the conflicts to fill in the many episode count!!!
Okay! Another drama for our blog then. Thanks! I’ll wait till more episodes have been subbed.
@GB Thanks for sharing your first impressions of Le Coup De Foudre. I hope the drama stays good throughout and doesn’t get draggy. I’m trying to catch up on my drama watching, so I’m going to put LCDF on my watchlist for later. Viki has finally finished editing all episodes of Chinese Youth drama When We Were Young, so I’m going to check that out this weekend as I’ve been waiting for that one. Lots of positive buzz for this drama, and people say it reminds them of Reply 1988 for nostalgic school days vibe and the trailer I watched looked good.
@packmule3 and @Table122000
I checked When We Were Young – there’s the 2018 (24 Ep) Romance, youth, school.
Another one 2017 (32 Ep) about mystery, romance, youth and an older one 2016 which did not look like a youth drama.
I gather you’re referring to the 2018 show?
= = =
About Le Coup de Foudre, I binge watched up to Ep 9. To add to my first impressions, while there were light-hearted and laugh out loud moments, especially in the early episodes, it also has mild Reply 1988 vibes (very slice of life style) and took a more serious turn at the one third mark (of a 35 ep show) with a look at family problems. Most of the episodes are set in the past, but the comforting thing is that we already know the couple situation in the current time (2018), because our protagonists are telling us their story.
Show manages to be engaging and to draw us into wanting to know how the kids got to be the adults we see. The family and friend relationships are gold. We get their detailed backstory making up the bulk of the show in these first episodes, with the assurance that things work out ultimately. 😁
Actually you’ll find that the Sydney Harbour Bridge is not bad to drive through because one edge of it is a train line and the other is walkway for pedestrian so you won’t even see the edge. 😊
Where do you think I cried in Nice To Meet You? 😊 Have you never cried while watching dramas or movies? I’m a cry baby, I can admit that. 😄
Sorry I’ve never had conversation with USAfarmgirl. I’ve only been to 3-4 forums in Soompi. Most of the time I just check the updates and news.
@Table122000 , thanks for that article. So true what you’ve said about the amount of episodes in cdrama. The first cdrama that I watched was Martial Universe at 60 episodes. I only watched it because of Yang Yang. NTMY was 53 but I said it could be better at 40. The first episode grabbed me so I stayed. I tried to watch that Ashes of Love and first episode was boring so I stopped. 😬 I’m watching Sweet Dreams now and it’s dragging too but I want to see how the male lead will pursue the girl after everything. 😄
Anyway we all have our preferences so I agree, just chose wisely and most importantly something that will make you happy. ☺️
Sorry. I meant the longest cdrama that I watched was Martial Universe at 60 episodes. ☺️
My first cdrama was Meteor Garden 2018 which had a crappy ending. 🤦🏻♀️ And after that was my fave, Love O2O. 😊