15 Comments On “Love Me, Love My Voice: Ep 30 to 33 Open Thread”
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Thanks @pkml3!
Well, there’s nothing much to add for the last 3 episodes, or in fact for many episodes from the concert and QQC’s retirement.
33 episodes amounted to a series of a many gentle scenes of people being nice. Although there was mention of scary fans, demanding cousins, strict parents and a fear of discovery, all these were ‘managed’ so that there was never ever any prolonged suspense or conflict. The only point of annoyance might be that people were too nosy in the first half of the series. Once that tapered off, there was nothing but sweetness and a slow moving forward of the romance in the midst of slice-of-life club stuff.
It was likened to a looooooong music video of sorts, but even an MV has more drama and plot than this show! LOL.
That being said, I feel that this show is the antidote to the poison of (and the antithesis of) all the violent dramas/movies that have been released. This is THE show to go to in order to slow down, to rest, to find hope, or to snooze, or when turning away from the bitterness of RL.
What I wanted more of:
*A more balanced give and take between the leads and even between Mo QQ and his friends. He seemed to be the one giving ad infinitum and most others just took what he gave. I wonder about a doctor’s salary (they are not paid much) and how he could afford to give as much as he did. Perhaps his voice dubbing gave the company enough to pay the voice actors and their professional sound engineer.
*A bit of conflict so that Gu Sheng could grow a bit. At least, couldn’t she have taken up a bit of cooking? She tells her grandpa that she wants to learn how to cook from him but we never see her cooking.
For a show that spanned the end of GS’s uni days with a couple of years of grad school, so little seems to have taken place. All was smooth sailing on a placid lake.
I admit to FFDing a lot, and even FFDing the kiss scenes (yes there were quite a few towards the end). They took forever to get lips to meet!!! But I did enjoy the music, the camaraderie, the warmth, and the sense of security that in this show at least, no one was going to get hurt or die!!!
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
I just realised that what I said at the beginning about how this show would cover 2 years is correct!!! Show started its time around Lunar New Year 2021 (the date on GU Sheng’s family store) and ends with GS’s graduation. MQQ says he had been waiting for her for at least 2 years.
Here’s the review, (I may have left it somewhere before) saying what I expected!
monmor
There was just too little conflict And the relationship development was so slow that I lost interest towards the end. Your mention of more kisses might encourage me to watch the last few episodes with fast forwarding.
I am trying to think how the drama might have maintained. It’s over all tone and Continued to draw in the audience. Many parts were very enjoyable, but there was for me not enough dramatic tension. It could have been shorter.
Stacy
Overall, I enjoyed the drama. Loved every moment that TJC was on my screen. Still enjoying the OST.
But.
It lacked the crack value that Hidden Love had. When I try to put into words why it was lacking, I find it hard to explain. On the one hand, it’s such a nice change to have a drama that doesn’t have love triangles, toxic parents, unnecessary misunderstandings, breakups in the last quarter of the drama, etc. ad nauseum. And yet…the lack of conflict often causes people to get bored. And I got bored, in spite of the lovely kisses and the sweetness overload. So what could the drama have done differently? Fewer eps, less filler absolutely. Other than that, I dunno.
I will probably go back and watch a few favorite scenes from time to time, but I doubt I’ll ever rewatch the entire drama.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Stacy, same here. Definitely less filler needed. All those long staring scenes got me FFDing immediately. I didn’t even stop the FFD for the kisses. I’m just glad that this counteracted TJC’s outing as Xiang Liu in Lost You Forever, where he NEVER kissed the girl and chose to let her go. Balancing these two roles made it easier to bear the blandness.
Monmor
I just watched the last episode rather quickly. I do feel disappointed and I really don’t care about the characters anymore.
Makes me think how we do need conflict in our lives- Not unnecessarily dramatic, but at least some conflict. It was as though the drama was just touching the surface of these people’s lives. I had never quite understood what Saccharin overload was but now I do.
That aside. I did love the music and some of the travel log.
Fern
Hello, all. I feel the same as you. It was like eating honey with a spoon for every dessert. I’m not sorry I watched however. It was a relief in the pre-holiday stress.
I felt there was a lack of variety. The first kiss took forever to happen, the ML seemed too omnicient and too good at everything, the couples seemed juvenile in their protracted reluctance to admit attraction. I was expecting the ML to be busted as a voice actor at work and finally get some conflict there. It didn’t happen – not even towards the end when he let people take selfies with him. (Surely they would post to social media.) At the hospital he didn’t have the trope of an emergency involving someone in the cast. The FL never met his parents and it seemed that she was just going to be his little helper in the kitchen forever. I never understood how the FL and her musician friends managed to pay the rent on their charming studio in the big city. Blooming corgi didn’t ever bark – that’s surely the most inaccurate thing of all.
All that being said, I enjoyed this as a postcard of some of China’s loveliest areas and cuisine, and I learned much about the voice acting industry and the cos-play groups which overlap.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
You’re so right @Fern. It was too much of a fairy-tale or a sweet dream and not enough of reality. I know that ML met FL’s parents only one at a time but there never was an official introduction of him as boyfriend to the parents… only to the grandpa and cousins.
Yes, I found it strange that we never got to see ML’s parents. He seems to live in some oasis of work-cum-hobby-cum-cooking where everything works out well all the time.
I did like the ‘travelogue’ bits of the show, seeing slices of the different cultures and knowing more about the voice acting industry behind the scenes.
At least it will be a good show to listen to and to relax by.
Fern
Yes. Also since watching this show I’m craving real Chinese food now – not the repetitive kind we can get where I live. My lucky husband is going to Singapore and from there to Hong Kong later in the month. I am jealous of his food options.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Yes, @Fern, your husband will be spoilt for choice! It’s harder to decide what to try when the selection is vast LOL. I trust he has a good visit!!
Didn’t you say that your husband was into spicy food?
If there’s one Singaporean dish that I’d recommend, it’s the chilli crab. I loved it, and I’ve been looking for it in the DC metro area without success. I can’t forget the taste. In fact, I’m thinking of making a quick stopover in Singapore either in March or in July just to eat it again.
Lol. There’s a restaurant inside the airport itself that serves it.
But if I can stay in Singapore for a few nights — on my own — then I may even do a restaurant hopping ala Anthony Bourdain just to try out the different Chilli crabs in the city.
And there was also bread that came with it that you use to scoop up the sauce with. It was that good.
Fern
Many thanks, @packmule3. I remember the suggestions that you should try it when you visited last year. I will let him know. Spicy food is indeed something he likes. But you are making me even more hungry, darn it!
@GB, yes, I imagine that he will have a great time there. He will be several nights there then will go to Hong Kong.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Fern, well I’m glad to say that your husband will be able to try spicy food from all over the region within Singapore. Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese (from several regions in the country), Indian, and of course Malaysian and Singaporean. I personally didn’t realise that the Chinese in China eat so much chilli, but I happen to watch bits of those travel shows and see many dishes with loads of chilli in the ingredients. He’ll never have to eat the same dish twice! 🙂
Fern
@Growing Beautifully, you can stop torturing me now. 😉😆 He’ll probably have a similar selection in Hong Kong, with Cantonese cuisine featured.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
LOL @Fern, I’ll just torture myself with cooking videos and recipes that I’m too lazy to try!!!
Thanks @pkml3!
Well, there’s nothing much to add for the last 3 episodes, or in fact for many episodes from the concert and QQC’s retirement.
33 episodes amounted to a series of a many gentle scenes of people being nice. Although there was mention of scary fans, demanding cousins, strict parents and a fear of discovery, all these were ‘managed’ so that there was never ever any prolonged suspense or conflict. The only point of annoyance might be that people were too nosy in the first half of the series. Once that tapered off, there was nothing but sweetness and a slow moving forward of the romance in the midst of slice-of-life club stuff.
It was likened to a looooooong music video of sorts, but even an MV has more drama and plot than this show! LOL.
That being said, I feel that this show is the antidote to the poison of (and the antithesis of) all the violent dramas/movies that have been released. This is THE show to go to in order to slow down, to rest, to find hope, or to snooze, or when turning away from the bitterness of RL.
What I wanted more of:
*A more balanced give and take between the leads and even between Mo QQ and his friends. He seemed to be the one giving ad infinitum and most others just took what he gave. I wonder about a doctor’s salary (they are not paid much) and how he could afford to give as much as he did. Perhaps his voice dubbing gave the company enough to pay the voice actors and their professional sound engineer.
*A bit of conflict so that Gu Sheng could grow a bit. At least, couldn’t she have taken up a bit of cooking? She tells her grandpa that she wants to learn how to cook from him but we never see her cooking.
For a show that spanned the end of GS’s uni days with a couple of years of grad school, so little seems to have taken place. All was smooth sailing on a placid lake.
I admit to FFDing a lot, and even FFDing the kiss scenes (yes there were quite a few towards the end). They took forever to get lips to meet!!! But I did enjoy the music, the camaraderie, the warmth, and the sense of security that in this show at least, no one was going to get hurt or die!!!
I just realised that what I said at the beginning about how this show would cover 2 years is correct!!! Show started its time around Lunar New Year 2021 (the date on GU Sheng’s family store) and ends with GS’s graduation. MQQ says he had been waiting for her for at least 2 years.
Here’s the review, (I may have left it somewhere before) saying what I expected!
There was just too little conflict And the relationship development was so slow that I lost interest towards the end. Your mention of more kisses might encourage me to watch the last few episodes with fast forwarding.
I am trying to think how the drama might have maintained. It’s over all tone and Continued to draw in the audience. Many parts were very enjoyable, but there was for me not enough dramatic tension. It could have been shorter.
Overall, I enjoyed the drama. Loved every moment that TJC was on my screen. Still enjoying the OST.
But.
It lacked the crack value that Hidden Love had. When I try to put into words why it was lacking, I find it hard to explain. On the one hand, it’s such a nice change to have a drama that doesn’t have love triangles, toxic parents, unnecessary misunderstandings, breakups in the last quarter of the drama, etc. ad nauseum. And yet…the lack of conflict often causes people to get bored. And I got bored, in spite of the lovely kisses and the sweetness overload. So what could the drama have done differently? Fewer eps, less filler absolutely. Other than that, I dunno.
I will probably go back and watch a few favorite scenes from time to time, but I doubt I’ll ever rewatch the entire drama.
Hi @Stacy, same here. Definitely less filler needed. All those long staring scenes got me FFDing immediately. I didn’t even stop the FFD for the kisses. I’m just glad that this counteracted TJC’s outing as Xiang Liu in Lost You Forever, where he NEVER kissed the girl and chose to let her go. Balancing these two roles made it easier to bear the blandness.
I just watched the last episode rather quickly. I do feel disappointed and I really don’t care about the characters anymore.
Makes me think how we do need conflict in our lives- Not unnecessarily dramatic, but at least some conflict. It was as though the drama was just touching the surface of these people’s lives. I had never quite understood what Saccharin overload was but now I do.
That aside. I did love the music and some of the travel log.
Hello, all. I feel the same as you. It was like eating honey with a spoon for every dessert. I’m not sorry I watched however. It was a relief in the pre-holiday stress.
I felt there was a lack of variety. The first kiss took forever to happen, the ML seemed too omnicient and too good at everything, the couples seemed juvenile in their protracted reluctance to admit attraction. I was expecting the ML to be busted as a voice actor at work and finally get some conflict there. It didn’t happen – not even towards the end when he let people take selfies with him. (Surely they would post to social media.) At the hospital he didn’t have the trope of an emergency involving someone in the cast. The FL never met his parents and it seemed that she was just going to be his little helper in the kitchen forever. I never understood how the FL and her musician friends managed to pay the rent on their charming studio in the big city. Blooming corgi didn’t ever bark – that’s surely the most inaccurate thing of all.
All that being said, I enjoyed this as a postcard of some of China’s loveliest areas and cuisine, and I learned much about the voice acting industry and the cos-play groups which overlap.
You’re so right @Fern. It was too much of a fairy-tale or a sweet dream and not enough of reality. I know that ML met FL’s parents only one at a time but there never was an official introduction of him as boyfriend to the parents… only to the grandpa and cousins.
Yes, I found it strange that we never got to see ML’s parents. He seems to live in some oasis of work-cum-hobby-cum-cooking where everything works out well all the time.
I did like the ‘travelogue’ bits of the show, seeing slices of the different cultures and knowing more about the voice acting industry behind the scenes.
At least it will be a good show to listen to and to relax by.
Yes. Also since watching this show I’m craving real Chinese food now – not the repetitive kind we can get where I live. My lucky husband is going to Singapore and from there to Hong Kong later in the month. I am jealous of his food options.
Yes, @Fern, your husband will be spoilt for choice! It’s harder to decide what to try when the selection is vast LOL. I trust he has a good visit!!
@Fern,
Didn’t you say that your husband was into spicy food?
If there’s one Singaporean dish that I’d recommend, it’s the chilli crab. I loved it, and I’ve been looking for it in the DC metro area without success. I can’t forget the taste. In fact, I’m thinking of making a quick stopover in Singapore either in March or in July just to eat it again.
Lol. There’s a restaurant inside the airport itself that serves it.
But if I can stay in Singapore for a few nights — on my own — then I may even do a restaurant hopping ala Anthony Bourdain just to try out the different Chilli crabs in the city.
And there was also bread that came with it that you use to scoop up the sauce with. It was that good.
Many thanks, @packmule3. I remember the suggestions that you should try it when you visited last year. I will let him know. Spicy food is indeed something he likes. But you are making me even more hungry, darn it!
@GB, yes, I imagine that he will have a great time there. He will be several nights there then will go to Hong Kong.
@Fern, well I’m glad to say that your husband will be able to try spicy food from all over the region within Singapore. Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese (from several regions in the country), Indian, and of course Malaysian and Singaporean. I personally didn’t realise that the Chinese in China eat so much chilli, but I happen to watch bits of those travel shows and see many dishes with loads of chilli in the ingredients. He’ll never have to eat the same dish twice! 🙂
@Growing Beautifully, you can stop torturing me now. 😉😆 He’ll probably have a similar selection in Hong Kong, with Cantonese cuisine featured.
LOL @Fern, I’ll just torture myself with cooking videos and recipes that I’m too lazy to try!!!