Zui Dong Ting De Shi

This graceful little show is for fans of romance.

This is my second foray into Chinese entertainment with a modern-day setting. This is my second time scratching my head. Why? Because, once again, I liked this show despite the many flaws.

For one, this show is relaxing to watch. Some would say it's slow, however, I kept choosing it over other shows because it was strangely soothing. The 24 episodes are just 40 minutes each, so they pass by quickly.

The premise is that a television producer, Mr. Yu, must find a last minute replacement💘couple for a show in which real-life couples compete. When things are desperate, and we need a big favor, whom do we call? Either best friends or family, right? So he calls his uncle, "Ye" Shuwei, who happens to be younger than him. Single, and very available Ye, is half of a couple. So Lizi, the co-producer, prevails upon her best friend, Erduo, to appear as the the other half.

Erduo. Played by the luminescent Lusi Zhao (The Romance of Tiger and Rose-9.8, Who Rules The World-7.5), she's an aspiring voice actress with a goal to work in animation. Her dream is to study in Japan. As Erduo does not come from a wealthy family, she works several jobs as she tries to save up for school. That is precisely why she agrees to do the show: She'll make in 6 weeks what she would otherwise work 2 years to earn. Erduo is petite and as cute as the cartoon characters to which she lends voice. She doesn't come up to Ye's shoulder. She is smart and friendly, with a ready smile... while Ye seems like the very definition of a wet blanket.

Ye (Riley Wang from Back from the Brink), who crafts violins for a living, is a musical genius. Like many prodigies, he seems to be the brooding type. He isn't economical with words; he's downright stingy. Though handsome, he presents as condescending, bristly, and dismissive. As he comes from a wealthy family and is exceptionally talented, he hasn't had to look up to many people during his lifetime.

In part due to Ye's surprisingly convincing improvisation, Ye and Erduo are an instant hit with the audience. Unfortunately, they were not so much of a hit with eachother. In order to compete convincingly, and to dispel rumors that they aren't a real couple, they must scramble to get to know each other better.

Once Erduo meets Ye, she clearly never considers the possibility of a romance between them. /She don't like that /jerk/. It's very charming to see how Ye takes a liking to Erduo while she's oblivious to his feelings as well as her own shifting inclinations. As it turns out, Ye's a total playa. He really pulls some moves to close escrow. I was impressed. When Ye softened, he won Erduo over, and he won me over as well. While Erduo is admirable and adorable, Ye made me a fan of the show.

Erduo's friend, Lizi, wisely pivoted her life and then got to fiddle around with romance herself. As Lizi is a wonderful friend to Erduo, viewers will certainly be happy for her.

Here's some of the 'needs more practice' list:

The episodes don't appear to be split naturally. They seem to be chopped up at 40 minute intervals regardless. {I've since learned that many C🇨🇳 shows are just one long movie, so this is no longer a criticism}

Wardrobe. Much of it is off. Some of Erduo's outfits are dreadful. Some are cute, though she tends to be overdressed. She asks her mom one time why she's dressed so formally- did she go to a wedding? Her mom was wearing a casual, businesslike suit. Awkward. To be fair, Lizi's outfits are classy. Ms Richbich, Lulu, always looks amazing. Mr. Yu's suits are over-the-top colorful. He's extremely handsome. There's always people that can get away with outlandish clothes. His confidence and looks put him in that category.

His apartment is awful, which brings us to....

Sets. Chinese entertainment can have odd modern day sets. Ye's house is impressive, but the decor could be so much better. (A trash can next to the coffee table? Really?) Erduo's mom's place has flea-marketish canvas paintings lined up about 7 feet high, straight across an entire wall. Kids, pictures should be put at eye level, with varied heights, or a limited structural layout. Long straight lines are for molding & borders. Lizi's place, and Ye's workshop are very sharp and the best put together sets.

Lastly, The Ending. The ending was not an ending. It sort of drifted off like all the other episodes. We can see that they are going to be fine, but they are still in the middle of so much, and things are largely left unresolved. They could have allowed for one more episode to wrap it up more smoothly. I was actually surprised to see the show had ended b/c I had lost track of the episodes.

Nevertheless, I can confidently recommend this to fans of romance. The pluses easily outplay any negatives.

QUOTE📢

(Ye rejecting his childhood gf) "You will find your own happiness. You don't have to save it for me.

〰🖍 IMHO

🎬7 🤔5 🎭7 💓8 🦋6

Age 11+

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

🎎 - C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4, The Sleepless Princess 9.1; Under the Power 8.6, The Rebel Princess 9.1, The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style), The Rise of Phoenixes 9 K🇰🇷: My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy; Mr. Queen 8.5; My Sassy Girl 8.5; The King's Affection 8.3; Mr. Sunshine 9

🔮🐉- C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9; Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5; Douluo Continent 9.4; Handsome Siblings 8.7; Eternal Love 8.3, Ancient Love Poetry 8.6; Love and Redemption 10

Japanese🇯🇵 lite romcoms: Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, Toradora-8.5

💓 - K🇰🇷 : A Witch's Love 7.8; Love To Hate You 8.9; Touch Your Heart 8.2; Crash Landing On You 9.1; Oh My Ghost 10; It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9; Hospital Playlist 9; My Mister 9.5;

Romance junkies only: My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks); Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max; The Bride of Habaek 7; Heirs 7.3; That Winter, The Wind Blows 7; Something in the Rain 9; C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love 7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine; You are my destiny 6.8 cute, sweet & 1/2 padding; A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5; Find Yourself 8.9;

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩💏

It was a good show but it would be nice to see the end of the love story hopefully there will be a season 2.

If you like the ups and downs of falling in love then you will definitely enjoy this series...

I just have to simply say that I have not watched a television show more engaging and emotionally moving in a raw, real, natural way in years. Once one episode ended I had to immediately start the next episode. I cant wait for season 2.

I am still deciding whether it was the casting or the scripting that failed this drama. The show makers created a very interesting charachter Ye Shuwei, a violin maker who, for reasons unknown to me, takes a part in a couple's reality show where he competes against other couples. They couple him with a friend of the show's producer, Bei Er Duo, who is an aspiring young voice actress. The problem is that they are the only fake couple in the show and you dont have to be a genious to see that. And just like the lack of the couple's chemistry in the reality show, the couple desperately lacks chemistry 'in real life', on the screen of i hear you, too. Why am i saying this? I hear you asking.. Er duo, while very sweet and kind, is way too childish, she is like 12 years old thrown in the world of adults. Shuwei on the other hand is too mature, almost oldfashioned, with an incredible ability to compose himself no matter the situation. There is nothing going on for Er Duo as a woman, the only thing i can thing of is her child like innocence and vulnerability. Is that enough for an adult man to fall in love??? You tell me... The plot isnt strong enough, and although the episodes are on the shorter side of things, you will find yourself skipping a lot of interactions between uninteresting characters that do not help to develop the plot in any way and are just the fillers really.

There is a wcene that i particularly mind as out of order, that is where Shuwei gets drunk and Er Duo takes him home. She drops him in his bed and starts undressing, when he suddenly gets on top of Erd Duo wanting to kiss her, right... and here, instead of Er Duo being at least a little flustered she has a small fight with him, when she finally pushes him away with an anger and disgust in her face. Er duo demonstrated no feelings whatsover, if she did fancy him, this would have looked differently. And so on, and so on.. I actually enjoyed the supporting characters storyline more, more relatable, for an adult anyway.

All and all, i am giving 5 points, and just like the couple's relstionship in love in progress was fake, so was it in i hear you.