“Business Proposal” is coming to an end and we’re all looking for the next romantic drama to watch. I’m watching this Chinese drama, “Legally Romance.” @birdie007 recommended it to the blog and I agree with her. It’s a good Cdrama.
To be honest, I was hesitant to take a look because I don’t do legal dramas. But it was easy to circumvent my own directive by pretending that the main leads were working in an architectural firm, and attributing the more unlikely scenarios as idiosyncrasies of the Chinese legal and educational system.
Once I had my filters on, it was to enjoy the show.
Sure, it has weaknesses. Let me see…
The cinematography isn’t as polished as BP.
The actors aren’t as pleasing to the eye as Ahn Hyoseop and Kim Sejeong.
It has 33 episodes instead of 12. (Episode 24 is already out on Viki. The drama will conclude next week.)
For 22 episodes of those 33 episodes, we’re dealing with romance in a college setting.
It involves coma, time-travel, and dream fantasy. (like “Mr Queen)
And for those 22 episodes, the heroine is actually 10 years older than the hero. (Because she time-traveled to her college years)
But if you like
a. seeing a romance develop slowly,
b. the guy remaining steadfast for a long time despite knowing his love is unrequited,
c. Tom and Jerry relationship,
d. Mr. Knightley, that bossy, “I’ll-adore-you-quietly-from-afar” hero in Jane Austen’s “Emma,”
e. all of the above.
then you’ll like this one.
source: teatime tattle
Here are my notes on Episode 1. Spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
Episode 1
1. The interview
The opening scene is a foreshadowing.
The heroine Qian Wei (QW) sits behind a desk being interviewed about her illustrious legal career. The interviewer mentioned an herbal tea trademark case, and the ongoing plagiarism lawsuit between Ruo Mei and Morris, a game company that Qian Wei’s firm is representing.
Interviewer: Can you share with me one of your most memorable wins?
QW: It’s been 11 years since I chose to practice law. When I was still in school, I thought of lawyers as chivalrous heroes. I only realized later that, actually, we’re just the gatekeepers of the law. It’s because of the law that fairness and justice are upheld in society. So, for me, the advancement of the rule of law is the biggest victory for us as lawyers.
Interviewer: I heard that you’ve been single since you started your practice. When do you plan to get a win in your relationship status?
QW: (looking frightened) Excuse me, but can you ask a different question?
Then the hero Lu Xun (LX) walks in. This is his office, and this is his interview. QW was merely being a stand-in so she can go over the questions. Lol.
LX: Why should she ask a different question?
This brief opening scene encapsulates the major conflicts in the drama.
a. She doesn’t have any memorable wins.
If you noticed, she didn’t answer the interviewer’s question directly. That’s because LX has won everything. Going back all the way to college when they first met, LX has always been the winner and QW the second-place finisher. Their status quo is the perpetual source of her envy and discontent.
She doesn’t any memorable wins because LX wrests victory from her grasp.
b. The seat she’s occupying is LX’s seat, and it’s a seat that she covets.
When she “goes back” in time, her primary goal is to topple LX from his #1 spot and get it herself. Unfortunately, she’s so intent on being #1 in legal affairs that she ignores all signs that LX has loved her from the start.
And that’s the fun part of this drama. By Episode 24, when she emerges from her coma, it’s her turn to convince the Lu Xun that she’s had a change of heart and that she returns his feelings.
c. Her lengthy response to the interviewer about her reason for choosing law shows surprising idealism for somebody who’s been in practice for 11 years. To me, her answer foreshadows the crux of her love triangle with Lu Xun and her ex-boyfriend Li ChongWen (LCW)
Both these men are attracted to her idealism, but have a different way of “preserving” her idealism. For her ex-boyfriend LCW, it means sheltering and cocooning her from the seamy side of law and the hardships of life. He’s willing to compromise his ideals/ethics as long as he can provide her with the material comforts he thinks she needs.
For her mean boss LX, preserving her idealism – I believe he calls it “purity” – means helping her to stay on the righteous path. Although it hasn’t been easy doing the ethical thing, he manages to guide her through life’s quagmire, sometimes by nagging her, sometimes by using strong-arm tactics on her, sometimes by letting her suffer the consequences. But he does all these with the pure intention of improving her.
He says as much in Episode 2. He’s talking about the legal exam that she keeps failing despite numerous retakes.
QW: I tried my best, but I really can do it. Like you, a person who is always #1, you’ll never understand my feelings.
LX: Actually there are many things I can’t do.
He means making her fall in love with him, of course.
LX: (continuing) But passion is not a choice. In fact, I have no choice.
Meaning, when he loves something/somebody, he doesn’t have a choice but to do the right thing.
LX: (continuing) It’s very simple to be a nice person. It’s very simple. I just need to tell you that this hurdle can’t be overcome, and you’ll get over it. If it’s too painful for you to face, just don’t face it. But if I do that, your talent and capability will go to waste. So, I would rather be a villain who pushes you hard. I know that overcoming these difficulties will inflict pain on you, but I’m here for you. I’ll stay by your side and face everything together with you.
QW: (still looking at him resentfully)
LX: (hands her a paper origami he’s been folding while talking to her)
d. The fact that Qian Wei can profess to the interviewer that the “advancement of the rule of law is the biggest victory” for lawyers attests to LX’s success in preserving her ideals, and even strengthening them.
e. QW looks worried when the interviewer asks her about LX’s love life because she blames herself for his singlehood. She thinks she’s the reason for his being unmarried. And she’s 100% correct.
However, it’s not the ways she thinks it is. And that’s the funny part.
She thinks she accidentally caused LX to lose his “childhood sweetheart” because her twin brother poached LX’s girl. She doesn’t realize (till late in the game) that the reason for his lack of a dating life is because she was dating LCW. He loves her and he’s been waiting for her for 11 years. Lol.
Ever since college, she has misinterpreted his concern and care for her as his domineering ways. Meanwhile, he doesn’t correct her impression of him because he’s purposely hiding his feelings for her.
f. That said, Qian Wei isn’t intimidated by him. Since they’ve been together for 11 years, she knows that his bark is worse than his bite.
For instance, she wants a raise and she tries to butter him up. She enters his office with a coffee with a smiley face.
QW: Boss…
LX: No.
QW: But I haven’t said anything yet.
LX: Nothing good happens when you start the conversation by calling me that.
So she tries a different tactic. Plopping herself in front of him, she gives him logical reasons for a pay raise. Her voice remains soft and sweet. When he still rejects her suggestion after that, she reveals her true color and true voice. She nags him.
QW: Wait! Don’t you have any conscience? We were college friends for four years after all. Although I’ve been your assistant, my competency is widely acknowledged. In terms of my mental efforts, look where my hairline has receded to. I lost my hair by a handful. Those who joined the company after me, even those 2000’s kids have got a raise and a promotion.
LX: Even those 2000s kids have got a practicing certificate. Look at you. Have you passed the National Judicial Examination? You failed the National Judicial Examination and you have the audacity to come and ask me for a raise.
QW: (sulking) No. I really… I was childish back then, but I’ve grown up now. I’ve really changed.
LX: (placing his timer in front of her) Since you’ve grown up now, my fee is 5000Y per hour. Is there anything else?
QW: (grabbing his timer) No. Bye, boss.
Their dynamics is different from the regular boss-assistant romance because of their long friendship…or frenemy-ship, to be precise.
2. Lu Xun’s confidence in her
A note on the timeline: the timeline in this Episode 1 can be a bit tricky to understand. For one, the time shifts from the present to the past on several occasions, and it’s hard to follow. For another, Qian Wei breaks the fourth wall on a couple of occasions. Whenever she speaks to the viewers to explain the situation, it disrupts the flow of time because she’s speaking from EXPERIENCE that we have yet to see.
Qian Wei and Lu Xun met in college 11 years ago, in 2011. She only began working as his assistant at the Zhan Ying law firm for four years ago. Prior to that, she and her then-boyfriend Li ChongWen had their own legal office named after their first names: Chong Wei.
But it failed and LCW went overseas to train for another company. They agreed to have a long-distance relationship. He told her that he’d be gone for three or four years at most, and that he’d make lots and lots of money for them after his return. She was holding a dried leaf at their goodbye scene, and he took it with him as keepsake.
I thought the dried leaf was symbolic of their romance. It was dead.
And it’s the opposite of the coffee that she makes for XL.
In the present time 2022, QW and LCW have been exes for almost a year.
You see, upon LCW’s return from his three-year stint working abroad, he invited her to a formal reception thrown by his company, AES. His appointment as legal director was going to be announced at the reception. I think he would have proposed her that night, but she discovered that he’d been using her to get information for his company about the Morris case. Naturally, she broke up with him.
Despite the fact that she had inadvertently leaked info to the opposing counsel, LX didn’t remove her from his team. Later on, when it’s revealed that she compounded her mistake by losing critical evidence and handing over a forged design draft, their CEO chews Lu Xun out for not taking Qian Wei off the case sooner.
CEO: When I found out LCW had taken on Ruo Mei’s case, I already told you to remove Qian Wei from the case. How can you expect me not to consider the possibilities?
LX: (defending her) I know Qian Wei very well. There’s no way she would betray me at work.
CEO: The expired security footage in the law firm has been erased. Without evidence, how can you believe her? Can you prove that Mr. Wei stole it from the safe before he resigned? Mr. Wei has been gone from the firm for two weeks now. Where are you going to find him?
Lu Xun is correct to suspect another colleague, Mr. Wei, had stolen the evidence. On the night of the reception party for LCW, she returned to the office to lock up the important documents in her office. Mr. Wei was the only other person in the office to witness her storing away the files in her cabinet drawer.
CEO: (continuing) Tell me. What was once a winnable case is now a sure loser.
LX: Listen. There are multiple solutions to everything.
CEO: You can’t get around it no matter what method you use. The proof of originality of the game page and character designs!
LX: I’ll find new evidence then. I’ll find it in the end. I guarantee it.
The CEO further reminds him that he can fight a lawsuit for three years, but the client can’t afford to wait for three years.
CEO: We lost the key evidence. How is Zhan Ying (the name of their company) going to explain this to the client and the bar association?
LX: No need to say anything. I’m the lead lawyer. I’ll bear all the responsibility, all the consequences.
CEO: Lu Xun, even if you are willing to take the blame, can you afford the consequences? Zhan Ying can’t afford to accept a partner who loses the trust of his clients.
And that’s when Qian Wei walks in and tenders her resignation.
QW: It’s my fault for failing to secure and revise the evidence before the trial. It’s only right for me to resign. But Mr. Tao, I swear I didn’t do anything that goes against the ethics of lawyers.
She turns to leave. LX detains her by the wrist.
LX: I’m your boss. I didn’t ask you to quit. So you can’t leave.
QW: I’m just a legal assistant who failed her National Judicial Examination. Choose the lesser of two evils.
Then she removes her badge and places it on the desk.
QW: I’m sorry. You should get a better assistant.
LX allows her to leave. Methinks however, that he accepted her resignation for her safety. If the other company was willing to steal the papers, and replace them with forgery, it means that they’re desperate to win the case and won’t let anybody get in the way.
After she walks out of the office, Lu Xun starts shouting at his CEO.
LX: Why did you have to yell? You can yell at me, but how would she feel when she heard that? Why didn’t you consider her feelings? This office isn’t that big. Did you think she wouldn’t hear it?
CEO: How would I know she was right outside?
LX: You were yelling how could she not hear you?
See there? He’s upset that QW’s upset. Lol.
Note to myself: There’s a way to salvage the Morris plagiarism case. In a future episode, QW discovers the identity of the original artist. When the game designer sold his game to the Morris company, he didn’t credit his ex-girlfriend who drew the character sketches. The ex-GF didn’t want to sue him because she wanted a clean break from their relationship. She didn’t want any memories from their collaboration or monetary compensation. For Morris et al. to win the suit, she’ll have to be revealed as the real artist.
3. Falling down
This is a great plot device.
Another reason that Qian Wei is upset with Lu Xun is because he let her fall down. On their first meeting in college, she lost her balance on the podium, and Lu Xun didn’t bother to hold out a hand to save her.
Then, on the night of the reception party for her ex, she also fell unceremoniously in a pool because Lu Xun didn’t save her. Instead, LX grabbed hold of the evidence bag she was holding, and she fell into the pool.
On their way home, she railed at him.
LX: (wordlessly hands his jacket to her)
QW: (sobbing into his jacket)
LX: The jacket was for you to wipe your bag. There’s evidence in there.
QW: Are you human? I’ve worked for you for four years. You couldn’t be a human being for a second in front of my ex-boyfriend? You’d rather save the evidence than me. I’m telling you! If I had drowned there or gotten electrocuted, I would have come back to haunt you!
LX: I’m your boss, not your boyfriend. It’s not my place to save you.
This is an interesting comment for Lu Xun to make.
Why?
Because shortly before she fell in the fountain, Lu Xun thought HE was the boyfriend. lol. Qian Wei was arguing with her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend LCW. She was furious with him because she found out that he used her to get information about her team’s strategy on the Morris case when he was the lead counsel of the other party. QW told her boyfriend that from starting that day, “’We’ is you and Lan He (his female colleague), and me and Lu Xun.” And she wrapped her hand around LX’s elbow.
Ha! Lu Xun thought she meant a romantic relationship, so he whispered, “How come I’m unaware of this?”
I was expecting him to protest, “Are you crazy, woman?! What are you talking about. Yuck!” But he didn’t appear to be averse to the idea of having a romantic relationship with her.
She snapped at him saying, “I mean a work relationship!”
And he paused then said, “Oh. Work relationship.” He sounded disappointed.
That’s why I find his comment that he didn’t save her because he’s the boss and not the boyfriend, intriguing.
Both times then, Lu Xun refused to rescue her from falling.
Her third fall happened in Episode 2. Let me just talk about it now.
She was alone in prayer hall, complaining to the gods why none of her wishes came true. She then heard weird noises and thought bad people were coming after her. Afraid for her life, she fled the building. She ignored a voice (I think it was Lu Xun) shouting at her, “Qian Wei! Why are you running?”
This time, she fell in an open manhole.
This is how she’s transported back to 2011, the year she began law school with Lu Xun.
We find out later (but it’s kinda obvious, though, if you’ve watched “Mr Queen”) that she’s in a coma after her fall in the manhole.
MAJOR SPOILER…but if you’ve read up to here, I guess you don’t mind spoilers.
The whole month that she’s in a coma, Lu Xun keeps her company. He talks to her and tells her stories, some real and some made-up about themselves as a couple. He waits for her to regain her consciousness.
To me, it’s fitting that Lu Xun is the one to stay by her side when she’s fallen into a coma. In a sense, it’s an atonement. He might have not reached out and grabbed her to save her from falling in those other times. But when it matters the most, he’s the one to hold her and not let her go.
I wouldn’t be surprised too, @birdie007, if the hand squeeze (three times for “I love you”) is something that Lu Xun made up himself and told her while she was comatose. In real life, her father passed away too quickly for her to witness such loving interaction between her father and mother. Lu Xun was likely to create such a romantic story and weave it as half-truths in her memory while she was in coma.
4. The What-Ifs
At the end of this episode, Qian Wei stands at the bridge and reflects on what she could have changed in the past to make her present life successful. She imagines her dead father appearing to talk to her.
Ghost of her dad: My daughter is so strong. She doesn’t need any help. So you lost your job, go get another one. So you broke up with your boyfriend, go find yourself a new one. It’s not big deal. You can start all over again.
QW: How can I start all over again. I’m 28 years old. How can I turn my life around? I don’t I don’t even have a lawyer’s license. As a legal assistant, I lost my client’s evidence. I’m thinking that if I had focused on my studies, if I had stayed away from Lu Xun, and if I had spent more time with you, would I…
Then she turns around and discovers that she’s all alone again.
This is such a short scene but again I think it’s a neat way of outlining her goals when she travels back in time. If she could do it all over, she wanted to —
a. study harder,
b. avoid Xu Lun,
c. spend more time with her father before he passed away.
It’s noteworthy however that when she relives her college days in her comatose state, she accomplishes Goals A and C, but never B. She can’t avoid Xu Lun in her past any more than she can avoid him while she’s in a coma.
And that’s because XL is with her all the time.
5. Title: A Bad Start and an Instant Elimination
I have to keep note of the titles.
There are two interpretations to this one.
The obvious one is her dating relationship with LCW. His return should have been the start of something new (a happy married life?) but because of his unethical actions, he was instantly eliminated.
But it can also refer to her meeting with Lu Xun. They started off on the wrong foot (well…literally she fell because of him) back in 2011, and he was instantly eliminated as boyfriend material.
As a consequence of his action, he’s spent 11 years by her side as the second runner up to LCW.
So yes, he’s a winner in everything, except in love.
That’s it from me. I think @agdr03 and Fern will like this Chinese drama, too.
🙂
@Packmule3 – thank you this sounds fun! I’ve been watching this (albeit distracted by other shows) and would enjoy re-watching/watching and discussing it with others.
Yeay!! So happy you are watching this. I have to say that I was surprised to have liked it since I drop cdramas pretty quickly. Although I have fast forward because side stories are not so interesting to me. I figured that the first halfish was gonna be the past.
– I liked the set up
– tittles are good and provide good insight
I am anxiously awaiting g how they will tie up the second half.
Both the FL and ML have grown on me. As long as the main plot doesn’t drag out too much I’ll keep watching.
Thanks for the good analysis, it is good to see how things are tying up.
Thank you for the recommendation.
I’ll see how I go after ABP, 25/21 and FLAW. ☺️
Yang Yang’s Glory of Special Forces is coming out on April 5. But it’s 49 episodes. 😱 That’s a killer. 😬
Gosh, it’s ex-EXO Tao as the ML. I’m more used to seeing him being roasted in talent shows when he is a judge. This is so funny.
I just skimmed through a C-drama about lawyers – The Best Partner. It had a similar theme – of a senior lawyer and a lawyer wannabe who hadn’t passed her exams but was a genius in regard to knowledge of the written law. It had an interesting short segment about the evolution of the current laws in China. Jin Dong was the ML. He is quite charismatic, imo. It was 42 eps. I got bored after a while and went to the end.
Who? Who’s Tao, @Fern?
@packmule3 EXO used to have 12 members when they debuted. 6 formed EXO-K (aimed at Korean audiences) and 6 were in EXO-M (aimed at the Chinese market). Kris Wu, Tao (this Drama’s ML) and LuHan left EXO-M before their contract expired. They embarked on a legal battle to return to China and do their own thing. Kris Wu recently had a huge sordid sex scandal which led to him being “cancelled”. I never liked him. I always thought he wanted the limelight but he wasn’t particularly talented. Tao was the same. Tao to me seemed always conscious about how he looked and that annoyed me. 😂. Anyway, looks like Tao and LuHan both made a name for themselves in China. The rest of EXO merged and they mainly promoted in Korea after that I think.
😂😂 @nrllee.
Thanks. I knew she couldn’t have been talking of the tall ex-BF bec he looks klutzy. And the name of the balding CEO is Mr Tao.
But the male lead was an idol from a boy band group? I would never have guessed that either. 😂
He doesn’t look handsome at all! And the hairdo! What’s up with that weird buzz cut? And spiky top?
As for his acting, he’s not asked to do anything taxing. He doesn’t have to act a part or emote a feeling that’s different what he normally does day-to-day so there’s nothing that sticks out.
It’s a fun watch. I might ask for your help later to read a Chinese post-it note. I want to know whose name was on it. But that’s not till Ep 4 or something. I’ll post something to call your attention.
@packmule, Tao’s complete name is Huang Zitao. As a rapper he goes by Z.Tao.
Yes, @nrllee, Tao seemed very vain in old EXO videos. He was envious of Kris because people looked at Kris when they went out and not at him. But he who laughs last, laughs best.
@packmule3, I think the white-walls haircut is popular atm in China. It doesn’t look professional to me, but Chinese styling for men seems to be more adventurous than in many other places. The cut of suits in particular seems different from the classic looks that Westerners see on a day-to-day basis. There seems to be a lot of embellishment in the jackets. The men wear more jewelry than in the west and are more likely to wear makeup.
Thanks so much for this @pm3!
The first two episodes were harder to get into but thankfully I had downloaded the first 10 at once so I kept watching since they were there. When she goes back in time and immediately starts trying to change what happened with the water sprinkler I knew I was going to enjoy her shenanigans. I’m now up to episode 24. She’s woken up from her coma and so far I’m pleased with how it’s being handled/explained. By the time we reach their HEA it seems they will have earned it and believe in it.
A few notes:
1. I didn’t realize time travel was banned in China. After further googling, it seems it’s not completely banned, it just has to go through an approval process. They try to weed out the ones that alter historical events or any type of negative narrative on the government. I assume the drama Reset was allowed since it actually seemed a promo for the Chinese police.
This drama explains her “time travel” as the result of her memories and visitors talking to her during her brain therapy. I actually like that and it seems logical-ish
2. I had no idea who ztao was. Apparently his reputation isn’t the best because a.He started out in Korea b. Broke contract and his father who was alive at the time sued the company to let him out and start his own in China c. Doesn’t pander to his fans.
He seems to actually have talent in singing/songwriting/rapping but 🤷🏼♀️ When his father died it’s reported he inherited a fortune worth 2 billion USD.
I decided to stop digging into his story because I don’t want it to color my viewing of the drama. Also, he looks much better with a cap on.
3. The actress here reminds me of the actress in Goblin and yumi’s cells—she may not be considered the most conventionally pretty but her personality and acting ability completely charms me. She also jokes with the main lead about his awful hair cut and playfully calls out his lack of a set of 6-pack abs.
4. While waiting for the most recent episodes to come out, I went back and watched the first two episodes and it made much more sense. I
Yes, @birdie007,
The first two episodes — or 1 1/2 — of Eps 1 and 2 are easier to understand with context. They’ve been friends (and “frenemies”) for 11 years so most of the mocking things they say and do to each other have a background history.
Like when he asked her to fix his tie because only his assistant knew how to do it correctly. I raised an eyebrow when I heard that. But it was explained later in her dream while she was in a coma, that she offered to do it for him on their legal foray.
Now whether or not it actually happened, I don’t know.
But the important thing here is that for him, making her do his tie in public wasn’t meant to humiliate her but to show that their relationship, his and QW’s, went a long way back than LCW’s relationship with her.
To me though the image of her tying his necktie for him is very wifely.
This has been a fun read!
As a Mandarin speaker, I usually avoid Chinese dramas (from China) because:
A. I find a lot of the acting fake.
B. They are usually dubbed. (Maybe that’s why I find most of them “fake.”)
C. They are often unnecessarily long (over 16 episodes.) The plots seem to drag out…
D. Sometimes the “patriotism”/messages about wonderful the state is don’t sit well with me.
However, this drama looks fresh and the plot interesting. I might watch an episode at the beginning, one at the middle, and the last two episodes. If needed, read the recaps online if I like the story. Thanks for sharing!
@packmule3, Correct me if I’m wrong, it’s on Viki? If so, sounds good.
@packmule3 ask away when you need to.
Thanks for your post on this drama. I usually do not like “time travel’ dramas, but since it’s more that FL is in a coma and she have a dream, I will check it out as it sounds cute! I need to wait for the EDITED subtitles, though.
@OldAmericanLady- Yes, Legally Romance is on Viki.
I’ve just finished this drama. Don’t stop at the credits – stay all of the way through. Spoilers ahead:
The last episode was exciting, a good redemption and justice for all. Goodness, what a lot of child actors they had to hire. What was that about deciding future children’s careers at the wedding? Is that really a thing in China?
@packmule3, the ML is a rapper and not a singer, so he doesn’t need a melodic speaking voice. I have to say, I like him quite a bit more as an actor than as a pop idol.
🙂 Oh, is he a rapper?
Is that a meta joke then when one of the girl’s blind dates was a wannabe rapper, and the Lu Xun grumbled that he could rap better?? 😂😂
I don’t know him because I don’t follow kpop.
But I just told Alexa to play BTS so I’d be in the mood to write my Ep 2. 😂
Yes, meta joke. One of my daughters follows kpop so I hear about such things.
@agdr03 would be proud of your listening choice.
I tried, @Fern. But I kept telling Alexa to skip. 😂 I finally went back to my classical and acoustic music selection.
I think I listened to Euphoria, Girl of My Dreams, and Spring Day. 🙂
Hola! 😁
I totally missed out on the conversation because my mobile was dead last night and I didn’t bother charging it anymore till this morning.
Ok let me try this Legally Romance because you and @Fern believes it’s for me. 🤣
33 episodes? Wait, how come you’ve finished it already @Fern?
Did you try Mikrokosmos? 🥰 Those you listed are good ones.
Well done, Ma’am. 😄 Top effort. (I’m not familiar with those songs.)
I think that Z. Tao did well in this drama. Even towards the end, when he was saying lines in the court that could have sounded stilted or pompous, he managed to say them sincerely and naturally. You mentioned his gravelly voice. It is sort of endearing, imo.
I liked the FL, too. Neither of them is ever gorgeous; they fluctuate between being good-looking and not so good-looking. The FL has a cute Ado-Annie-type over-bite. I think that makes their characters intriguing, relatable and helps with the comic elements, too. The dirty hair excuse at the proposal was funny, but not as funny as his reaction.
I watched a few of the behind-the-scenes on YouTube. Mostly the FL is laughing at the ML: pretty typical.
Hola, @agdr03. I don’t really want to thank Covid, but being shut away at home for the last week meant that I had time to speed through this drama. I borrowed @packmule3’s trick of ff’ing through some scenes. Let’s face it, some C-dramas are really long and have a lot of side-dramas between people who are less interesting.
As you know, I’m not so into them, but I like Black Swan, but because of the video as much as the song. It was really different.
Yes! I’m glad I didn’t click out of my screen until after the credits ended or I would’ve missed it. This will definitely remain in my top 5 Cdramas. The last third was the least strong but overall it was a fun well-balanced ride. My major complaint is the brother/friend storyline once back in the present wasn’t very compelling.
I don’t like his hair, I don’t like rappers or rap parts in songs, he’s not that tall…I still can’t put my finger on it what it is I actually do like about him but ztao has charmed me and I even like the OST song he sings (and wrote and produced). I think the part in the court room during their mock trial when it started to play made a good impression. I don’t even find the poetry line he quotes cheesy!
Thanks everybody. I’ll be watching hing this drama and now will make sure to watch the credits in their entirety. I love those end addenda. What would I do without BOD. This blog is a great resource for Asian content.
Pingback: Legally Romance: Ep 2 Things to Watch Out For – Bitches Over Dramas
Hola, @agdr03. I made Ep 2 just for you. 🙂
@Fern,
I fast-forwarded through all the brother and friend’s scenes (don’t care. As soon as I saw her bestie chasing him on the field, after they did their punishment around the track, I knew QW got it all wrong and her bestie would end up with her brother.
I also skipped most of the legal scenes. (Don’t care. Don’t want to know.) But their mock court drama as pretend husband and wife was funny.
I also skipped the AES corporate shenanigans.
What else?
SPOILERS:
@packmule3, the last legal scene was important as was the mock court drama. The mock court, where he was willing to lose the debate was good because it comes up later.
Yes, the athletic bestie and the athletic brother were meant for each other – it was obvious then. (Twice around the 400m track seems like abuse – I have to take it with a grain of salt)
Yes, agree @Fern. 2.25 times around the oval, in squat position, carrying a seat on the head, on a sunny day?
The punishment doesn’t fit the crime. 🙂
I skipped the last legal scene. Was it LCW’s and the AES boss’ trial? I gather from Qian Wei’s conversation with ZiXin that LCW went to prison and he’s studying to be a doctor. 😂
Yes it was the last legal scene. LCW and the assistant went to prison as well as the AES boss. I wondered about the study of medicine. LCW had a sentence that was far too short for that to be possible. Maybe the translation was incorrect and he was just starting his study there.
@Fern,
Ep 12/13
I just watched the “mock debate” and the whole set up was so spurious. 😂😂
Who made those questions? Did Lu Xun put together those together with ShiYin’s help to make a public proposal?
But what had me laughing was when she threw the crane origami back at LX, then she and Shiyin hit him with a volley of crumpled papers. All that was needed was trash full of paper dumped on him.
Poor dude! For proposing to her! I thought that was funny because had she read what he’d written in the first place, then she could have ended it all a proper “no thank you.”
He did ask her for an answer.
Instead, she just made herself look more dorky and adorable with her rant about being a slow sparrow and ripping his feathers off.
And it’s cute too that he kept his cool and didn’t mind sparring with Qian Wei but once LCW stepped on the podium to confer with QW, he was loudly protesting. His jealousy is cute. 😂
Loved his mom and dad’s rapport too.
I’m on episode 2. ☺️
But who wouldn’t complain that no one tried to help her when she fell in the pool? 😂
His likes to say to her, “I’m your boss. I’m not your boyfriend.”
I think he’s rubbing it in that she should have chosen him to be her boyfriend instead of LCW.
Ep 3 is when he showing that he likes her in college.
Do you like the way he looks?
@packmule3, I suspect T. Zao probably had a ‘cool’ haircut written into his contract so no one can forget his other career. 😂 Not even 1 other person has an outlandish haircut in this drama, including the other rapper on the blind date.
Yes! It’s him rubbing it to her face that he’s not her boyfriend. 😁
I think he looks fine except for the hair. Every now and then I look at it 😂 but then it kinda fits him as well? Like it doesn’t look ugly on him. He can carry it. I actually like his voice so ( I hope it’s really his voice) I’m all good with his whole look. ☺️
@packmule3, I thought his mom and dad were so funny there. They had it figured out, right?
Spoilers:
************************************************************************
It seems a running theme that the rare times Lu Xun concedes to Qian Wei publicly, it’s to further his romance. When the office was running books on who would confess first, he kept denying. Qian Wei was determined not to be trapped into confessing because she perceived that he was staging a ‘love war’. I laughed because she nearly had him when she wore the red dress to work. That was the funniest scene. Also, she didn’t know that her own mother had already been conquered by Lu Xun. I have to applaud this director because he or she can really do the comedy side of the drama so well.
Awww he helped her with the frog jumping punishment. ☺️ That look when he was lying down though. ☺️
How could she just borrow money from him like that? 😂
I want those cute bandaids. 😍
Right, @agdr03? When he leaped down from bleacher… that was like Prince Charming jumping off his horse moment.
But even when doing a nice thing for her, he had to mock her for it. He heard her telling others that he was no Mr Nice Guy, and he wasn’t going to help them out. So to prove Ms Prophet wrong, he helped her.
Of course, he helped her because he likes her already. Lol. He wasn’t concerned when Mo ZiXin was struggling.
Yes. And that look he gave her…
And when he told her to sit closer to him after her brother said she had night blindness. Lol. The track was brightly lit!
He waited till the others were gone to tell her that she could sit closer to him, “a fist closer” would be fine. 😂 Did he mean she could sit five inches from him? But that was sweet.
Wait till you watch the haunted house scene.
She could borrow the money from him because that’s how she pestered LX in real life. She was always asking for more money from him, either for pay increase or taxi fare. In Ep 1, when she listened in on LX’s conference meeting, she wanted to know how much money the company was earning so she could calculate her increase.
So when she traveled back in time, she thought she could ask money from the KID with no problems too.
I laughed when LX grabbed her by the sleeve to drag her back to the dorms. She retaliated by grabbing his cap and tossing it away. Lol.
Note: he already piggybacked her twice.
To bring her to infirmary when she cut her hand
To bring her to the finish line when she didn’t want to do the punishment
There’ll be more, I think.
Yup, I laughed a few times already 😂
Yes! The piggy backs. She was dumbfounded when he said hop on his back to finish the punishment. She was like 😱😂
This actress is very good. ☺️
Yes, @agdr03. This actress is great. At first, I dismissed her a Rosy Zhao lookalike, but her face is actually very expressive. I like her.
This is the expressive face I wish Shin “Sucky acting” Se-Kyung has for her dramas.
Did you reach the part when LX saw the iced tea left by LCW at the dorm?
Sucky acting Se Kyung 😂 👏🏻
I’ll watch episode 5 tomorrow. Yup, the tea given by LCW. What did LX have in his hand though? A heat pack? I wasn’t sure. His look when he saw the tea. The guy can’t make it too obvious.
Oh the tie scene was funny, he kept staring at her but she keeps brushing it off. 😁 That’s where the tying started.
Oh Lusi and her are different in looks. I didn’t see any Lusi in her. ☺️
She’s got her own knack for expressions. ☺️
I don’t see Lusi in Song Zu-Er. To me, Lusi is prettier in general, but Zu-Er goes back and forth between being more pretty and less pretty. Her two room mates in the drama are both said to be prettier than she is, but she is charismatic and that makes a difference. Zu-er has great comic timing and facial expressions, imo. Same with Z. Tao and I’m pleasantly surprised by that – he can move convincingly as he speaks and reacts, unlike the actor who plays the ex- who is rather boring to me.
Yeah. I’m curious, too. Let me ask @Nrllee later. I wanted to see if LCW wrote his name on it, too.
In her flashback, the message on the iced tea was longer.
The message on the iced tea for the re-lived past was shorter.
Yes. The tie scene was cute. I also grinned when she “accidentally” smacked his face with tie to stop him looking at her like that.
I like how her dreams explained a lot of their current interactions and presaged their future.
Oh yes, the message was longer and the new one shorter.
But she’s gathered all notes from LCW on her past memory too.
The interactions which made her blind to everything that LX’s done for her. 😁
I can’t wait when she realises that he’s liked her for a loooong time. ☺️
Yes, @Fern.
When I first saw the Ex, my heart sank. I thought he was handsomer than the lead. (But that isn’t saying anything much bec the lead looked ugly to me. 😝)
As the story progressed, the actor playing the Ex looked more and more awkward. He wasn’t convincing as the Lead Counsel.
Meanwhile, LX looks more imposing.
I don’t find the roommate ShiYen pretty but I can see why ZiXin is considered a beauty. She can be made to appear ethereal. Their reunion at the bar. She did look like “the Dream Girl who popped out of the blue” just like the title indicated.
@packmule3, I think my subs called that episode ‘The Beautiful Interloper.’ The costume department really dresses her beautifully, too.
Speaking of dressing – At the beginning of the fancy event, LCW bought heels off a hotel employee’s (or AES employee’s?) feet because Qian Wei had been running to court all day and was wearing flats. LCW said to her, ‘You still don’t like to wear high heels.’ After the event, Qian Wei told LCW, “You’re exerting power over others? You think you’re so cool when you bought shoes back there? I hate high heels!” Then she threw one heel at him and one towards the water. I took it to mean that he kept trying to make her into something she wasn’t and that he never understood her. However, she wears high heels consistently at work. I can only guess that it shows she is rejecting LCW (and his patronising Prince Charming approach) thoroughly. I thought it was funny that LX offered her his pair of trainers to wear and she was fine with that (once she knew they were unworn) despite the fact that he let her fall into the water.
Kalimera Ladies,
I started watching this last night. I really liked it and thank you for informing us about this @birdie0007 and posting about this @Packmule3.
About LX and when he started liking her. I cannot say since I am far behind of you all. I can pinpoint though, while QW is in her dream state in episode 3, we get to see that LX is watching QW with tenderness after their punishment is ended and they are all sitting on the field of the stadium.
Seriously, his eyes are smiling brightly while looking at her.
How did she miss that?
I also read your next thread @Packmule3. Seriously, when I saw him looking for her at the desert shop in Episode 2 and listening what he told her, I realized that he genuinely cares about her and not only as her boss.
There are times, that we are so clueless that someone likes us that much. I mean how can you miss that? *facepalm*
Just started this drama and am immediately hooked. Will now read all of the past posts here. I don’t mind spoilers. Looks like our FL didn’t pass the Chinese equivalent of the bar exam, because of family issues. Glad to see that she’s brilliant. Looking forward to the plot twists and the fun.
Transferring our posts here, @agdr03.
*********************
Packmule3 to Agdr03: Well? Well? Are you liking Legally Romance? Isn’t he a sweetheart?
Agdr03 to pm3: Yes! Yes! Yes! Lu Xin is more than a sweetheart. If I put together all of his traits, patience, kindness, no expectations, loves without ever asking anything in return, he’s all out care for Qian Wei then he deserves to be in the Best Boyfriend at BODS too.
*******
Pm3 to Agdr03: I knew it! I knew you’d love him. That’s why I insisted you watch it. 😂😂
I like it too when he proposed to be her boyfriend during their debate, and he said he loved her in sign language… just like her dad taught her. (Wait. Did this happen in the drama or am I just imagining things?)
********
Agdr03 to Pm3: Wait, what sign language? I didn’t think there was anything sign language in the drama. 😂
But thank you! I love Lu Xin! 🥰
This pair is a good match actually. Over time, I really really liked them. Good thinking of whoever paired them.
I thought it’s funny how his parents always catch them in an awkward situation 😂 But his parents are sooo cool.
**********
Pm3 to Agdr03: Sign language.
Didn’t her dad have a special hand signal for “I love you”? He would spell it on the palm of his wife’s hand. It’s their special sign language.
Then, the guy Lu Xin learned about the sign language and he “scribbled” it on her palm after the debate.
I’m pretty sure it happened.
Or did I dream this all up??
***********
Agdr03 to Pm3: Oh wait, is it the three times squeezing /tapping on the hand? That’s what it was at the hospital. The parents did it too on their anniversary day. It focused on their hands squeezing it three times.
I think Lu Xin did that at the debate too but I didn’t think she knew what it meant then. 😁
When she finally went back to 2022 after failing to to meet Lu Xin to explain, I was heartbroken for Lu Xin. I was so happy that she did try to win him back. ☺️
*********
Pm3 to Agdr03: Yes! That’s it! I just checked Viki. It’s in Episode 13.
It’s her parents’ sign language for “I love you” and Lu Xin found out about it. (IIRC he was present in the room when her father told her about the signal so he heard it.)
So at the mock debate, when he said that he consented to be his boyfriend, he took her hand and squeezed it three times? to tell her that he loved her. He couldn’t say it out loud because they were in front of the whole school so he just did their sign language.
That was sweet. Because he loved her, he yielded to her demand so she’d win the mock debate.
*********
Agdr03 to Pm3: Yes, he was always there when her dad was in the hospital. Oh so she knew what it meant? 😂 I didn’t think she did because she was thinking that she didn’t need to complicate her life by liking her boss too 😂
Lu Xun (been spelling his name wrong) is a great guy. What a guy! I love the street message board, I love the lighted Ferris wheel and everything he did for her. ☺️
Oh I love their first kiss too after all the interruptions. 😂
***********
Pm3 to Agdr03: I didn’t see the lighted Ferris wheel. 🙁 Was it the snow globe? Was Episode was that on? I skipped some episodes.
I like the puppy. I can’t believe he kept that dog for what? 7 years?? With his allergies? lol.
Off to bed now.
**********
Agdr03 to Pm3: Yes, it was the snow globe (episode 18) but his new apartment had a view of a real Ferris wheel, it was pretty spectacular. ☺️ Episode 29.
Oh Cupid, the dog! That alone deserves an award for him. 🥰
Good night!
Which kiss, @agdr03? lol. I trust you to keep tabs on the kisses.
Was it the stolen kiss by the stairs? Was that their first kiss? I was already episode-surfing by that time.
Part of the fun — at least for me — of this drama is that we got the perspective of the male second lead going after the girl in an alternate reality (her comatose state) and winning the girl in the end because the girl “finally” figured out in her comatose state what the guy had been doing for her all these years.
I thought it was interesting concept.
She essentially had a do-over of the past seven years and it made sense. While she was in her comatose state, the guy was keeping her company by her hospital bed and explaining what happened all these years. So her brain was processing her memories and reorganizing them so she’d see that all along he was in love with her.
I’m just reviving this thread so it’s easier for me and @agdr03 to find. — pm3
Transferring @wapz’s post here — pm3
******************
Randomly came here to see what’s going to be covered next week but am totally delighted to see @pm3 and @agdr03 discuss Legally Romance.
It’s been a month since I’ve finished the show and I’m still not over it. It was amazing.
I’m leaving as a fan of Song Zu er but I think Huang Zi Tao was good enough too. It’s quite rare to find hilarious romcoms but this one was it. It reminded me a lot of The Day of Becoming you from last year. Both hilarious dramas with same age leads and squee worthy romances.
Thanks for transferring Queen! I think I did flood the other thread 😂
Was it stolen? 😆 Then if it was, Qian Wei surprised Lu Xun too. I’m glad she did. 😍
It was definitely their first kiss because he said there was only one way to check if she doesn’t feel anything for him because she kept running away. 😂
I agree that the concept was smart. The way it connected everything too. That’s why I was heartbroken for Lu Xun when he confronted her about liking him only because she found out all the things he did for her.
I’m so glad she went after him when she woke up from her coma. I said you better girl! 😂
I’ve finished it and it’s was cute with their set of twins. I wished they didn’t scare her about it on their wedding day though. 😆
I want to get myself those gold pigs too. I wonder if it’s going to cost an arm and a leg. 😂
@wapz,
I don’t know much about the actor/idol Huang Zi Tao but I think he chose this role well. It fits his personality/persona. I don’t think he was doing much acting at all — similar to how Han Hyo Joo acted in that last zombie-sort drama “Happiness” of hers.
Yes, I thought the romantic scenes were unique and memorable. Even the ending was offbeat.
SPOILER ALERT
I thought I would get annoyed with her running away like that. But he knew what she was about to do and he just showed up as the driver. I like what he said too. Something like the place didn’t matter because he’d marry her at each single place they ran away to.
hahaha. A pushover hero like him would typically annoy me but it works in this drama. 🙂
Their romantic scenes were very good and it just made me smile. 🥰
I’ll agree with @wasp, the pairing here is a great one. I even want to use the banned word that starts with c 🙅🏻♀️😂
It’s my first time watching both these actors and they got me. ☺️
Oh my gosh, sorry @wapz 😞
Right, @agdr03! I’m with you. It’s just fair that SHE pursued him after her coma. (Of course, I’m ignoring the improbability of a patient just running away like that.)
It’s funny, too, that he didn’t want HER to get the wrong impression that he was interested in their old classmate. He was very careful about NOT meeting with the girl in private, even if it’s all business talk anyway. lol.
Oh yeah running for him straight after 😬
But I’m glad Lu Xun resisted for a good while. The rain scene was great too! I was so touched by Lu Xun there but then it was just a dream. I was like, wow! 👏🏻
Loved his dialogue there, pretty much summed up the 10 years of him patiently ever waiting.
Like I said, what a man!
Oh yes! That whole sobbing in the rain scene was cathartic — for the viewers.
On one hand, I wish he was able to tell her all that. He needed to release all his emotions, too.
But on the other hand, I understood why it wouldn’t be right if he did. He was still a proud man. I don’t want to see him broken up like that in front of her. He had pride and dignity and he should be at least allowed to retain his pride and dignity all his years of being a second runner-up.
🙂
It was what he wanted to say to her but yeah, he can’t just say it outright. But she knew that he really is a special man. Her voice overs said so. Actually this might be the drama where the boy really loves the girl more than she loves him.
You know what I mean. 😊
Yes, I know what you mean. I agree. He loves her more than she loves him.
But…
If he didn’t love her “more” and they love each other just as much, then it still can be argued that he’s loved her the LONGEST.
I liked this drama. I thought that Lu Xun was not only patient, but was very strong with his patience and not in a stalker-ish way, but because he had absolute faith in their future together.
I thought the co-workers urging them on was so funny.
These posts are making me want to do a skim through rewatch. It’s been long enough since I’ve watched that everything seems a little foggy but I know it will brighten my mood to revisit. The two gold piggies are still clear in my head though, must find a cute imitation version.
What happened with the gold piggies?
I know he bought them for her. But what else is romantic about them? I was skimming through these middle episodes because I was rushing to see the end.
Did the piggies only appear in her dreamworld or in the real world too?
@pm3 they appeared in her real world too. Near the last scene i guess.
It’s so good to see I’m not the only one still excited about this show lol. I could relive the show through these comments and the post. LR is a very rare drama where everything works. Which is why I compared it to Day of Becoming You. Have the BODers seen that?
This was also my first drama of both actors and I absolutely loved SZE. She looks like Yang Mi, and her acting style is similar to Zhao Lusi but in both aspects I think she’s superior to these two women. In an industry where looking pretty is the priority she isn’t ashamed to give any weird looks for the sake of comedy. Plus she shines in the emotional scenes as well.
This was also my first time seeing HZT. Cdramaland has well, way too many actors. I think as you said @pm3, for him it’s a case of the role suiting him. He may also be doing similar roles in other dramas, however, it also takes good acting skills to do a role you’re stereotyped into well. He delivered and ultimately became swoony for me. I had issues with his hair but in the past timeline they were fine.
If I look at the show with valid criticism, its strength lied in the college scenes. When they were equals they had more Tom and Jerry dynamic. Plus, the show took the legal serious route very early after she woke up. That kind of hindered me from loving it fully. But my main takeaway from the show was how you can change your present without wishing to relive your past. And also loved the concept of giving the second lead the chance to win the heart this time. I’ve heard Shining for one thing cdrama was on a similar topic but with a serious tone. Did someone see that?
Also want to add, it’s kind of unfortunate that the show wasn’t that popular in China when it aired. At least to my knowledge. It aired alongsode Oath of Love that people had been waiting for since months or years so that got all the attention instead. The actors are already popular but this could’ve really been a breakthrough role for them.
Oh you win! Longest in loving her is perfect. I’m sure she’d reciprocate that love her whole life and beyond. ☺️
Hi @wapz, I agree that the University scenes where it’s main strength but I didn’t mind the present scenes too. If anything what I didn’t really like is the other love line between her brother and her best friend. 😁
I think the drama could be shorter if not for the other side story.
As a Zhao Lusi fan, I’ll agree to you again that SZE is more superior than Lusi and YangMi when it came to acting. SZE made Qian Wei very real for me. Same with HZT. ☺️
I haven’t heard of Shining nor Day of Becoming You. I’ll be watching Love Like The Galaxy with Lusi and forgot his name. 😁
Hey @agdr03!
I actually didn’t mind the second leads (brother and friend) but our lead couple was surely more entertaining. I wasn’t a fan of LCW and Lang He. FFDed all of their parts except for when QW would insult LCW lol. Even all this discussion on Legally Romance is making me giddy the same way as I felt watching the drama.
Plus, definitely check out Day of Becoming You. It’s quite a fun rom com, with a dynamic similar to that of these leads, funny but also more sensible.
@Agdr03,
This whole week, I’m free till 10am (my time) to do a rewatch with you, @agdr03. Are you free?
Just pick the day and the episode. Let’s start it at our usual time 6am EST (8pm Sydney)?
Pm3
Howdy!
Sure! I’ll tell you tomorrow which episode and which day ok. ☺️
I’ll have to go through the scenes that I really liked.
Thanks!
👍 Ok, @agdr03. No pressure.
I’m glad we can do it. For the love of a well made cdrama. ☺️
Howdy!
Episode 29, Thursday night Sydney time.
I hope that’s ok.
Thanks 😊
Ok! Thursday then. Thursday AM for me, Thursday PM for you. Ep 29. 👍
Oh your still awake. ☺️
Food coma? 😁