Here to Heart (2018)

(6/10) Story: Maybe this story wouldn't have fit a typical 90-120 minute film; however, 46 episodes was super unnecessary. There was unnecessary screen time for other characters, especially the second female lead [who sometimes takes 90% of the screen time of an episode]. I'm all for the development of characters other than the leads; however, most of the time, there was no development. If there WAS development, another misunderstanding or miscommunication would hinder any type of character growth. I think this could've been a 16 episode drama. I'd compare this drama to My Sunshine (2015) which had an extremely similar storyline with 32 episodes. The only thing that kept me watching was the fact that nothing better was airing.

(10/10) Cast: I was so happy when the cast was revealed. Seeing Hans Zhang and Janine Chang reunite was awesome. The last drama I've seen with them as co-leads was The Four (2015). How unfortunate because I gave The Four a 10/10 rating but this drama was a disappointment, though it isn't the actors' fault.

(10/10) Music: Not something I really noticed or cared about. I don't think the music would bother anyone though.

(1/10) Rewatch Value: Totally not worth spending 46 hours on. Even if there is nothing to watch, this was too frustrating. But it did give me something to waste my time on which is why the overall score I've given is a 7.

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This drama is not that much bad as everyone says because according to its genre it showed its essence. This may be not that excellent out standing drama but a sitcom which we can watch when we don't have much interesting things to watch.
since i am a hard core fan of Korean dramas , comparing this to them can be make this one pathetic. but after seeing all those thrillers, fantasies, etc etc from Korean side we will definitely need a break with something like this. especially for a girl like me. where , a multimillionaire lost love, coming back to his life , all negative characters, witches, after at end everything will be a happy ending yes sounds to be common but sometimes somewhere many likes this and that's why they are making these types of dramas.

Don't get high scopes but it is ordinary, i do skipped many parts still i completed the episodes. you can skip unwanted scenes and save time but actor and actress done a very good job even though you wont to skip they wont allow us.

for me i liked it even though it was common may be because i like these kinds of dramas. so this doesn't deserve so much negative comment

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?Just I have finished this drama, I did marathon all the episodes back to back over 4 days. It’s a romantic light melodrama, The story concept is good but the details were unfortunately not perfectly engaged ! I believe it would be more than enough for this series to be 20 episodes because in my opinion the prolongation of the story over 46 episodes were unnecessary at all ! It’s almost a typical story of a couple struggling on their relationship due to secrets from the past. Honestly if it wasn’t for the great performance of the main lead Zhang Han, the couple epic chemistry ???????????????? , sure I would have dropped out this series. I admit that I had to skip many scenes & still was able to understand everything till last episode ???? Deserves mentioning; The natural acting of the actresses Janine Chang, her perfect style throughout the series , the soundtracks & the high quality production ???????? Over all; it was a wonderful ride, thanks to the couple acting & chemistry.


?SPOILER ALERT ????:

?What was mostly frustrating is that the negative character of the female lead in which she wasn’t courageous enough to fight for their love till the very last episodes ! so unfortunately we couldn’t have many scenes of the couple together! I wished to see a more focused detailed story of their love with more depth & reflection from their past & present !

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Sooo i picked up this drama because i was such a huge fan of Boss & Me which also starred Zhang Han who also happens to be the lead male character in this drama. I didn't really have that much expectation because for me, c-dramas either take really really long episodes which are usually pointless and dragging or they may be really substantial but give out bad endings. So i was kinda halfhearted when i watched this. But then, during the first few episodes, the chemistry between two lead characters were really worth watching and waiting for so i continuously watched the drama.

Acting wise, there is no doubt, Zhang Han and Janine Chang were really good. Janine was really superb specially with the waterworks (tears) although there were times that she seems really expressionless, i guess its really part of her character. For Zhang Han, he was good with the really emotional scenes too and yusss lets all admit, CEO personas is really fit for him (his hair seems like it can stand any typhoon and still look the same lol). One thing that bothered me though was that Wen Nuans character was really weak, like she was always pulled into troubles here and there and she wouldn't defend herself, always keeping the troubles within her and concealing the truth, basically martyrdom. It can be that it is really her character but it was superficial and annoying. The rest of the characters were either unstable, annoying and evil. Only my boi Old Gao was the stable character who had wisdom within him (my babyyy).

Story line kinda sucks cause the writers keep on extending the drama with useless episodes i guess because the ratings were really skyhigh? But meh i think it would've fit into 16 eps or even less. Of course the story line included really cliche scenes like the mom not liking the girl and turns out it was all a huge misunderstanding lol (nothing new to me).

Cinematography was good! I loved how they picked London to be their Opening and Ending scenes. The country is really nice and had so much good picturesque for drama scenes.

I really need to mention though how i loved the wardrobe of Wen Nuan and her sister. I was always looking forward to their office outfits and purses. For the guys though i need to give Old Gao a special award for always looking good and having the right color of suits. The rest of the guys had suits in checkered and purple or like weird colors which was cringe-y for me. Shout out to Yixin and Nan Xian's character for having strong Gucci and Chanel gaming.

OSTs were good. Immediately downloaded ZH's Without You


To sum it all up, i did enjoy the whole series because i was always looking forward to the chemistry of both leads. Probably won't rewatch it but definitely recommend it if you have nothing to do and want a drama to frustrate you and make you mad but still get a happy ending lol.

Still hoping to watch C-dramas with strong women characters :)

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Intense Love Story and for me it hit the spot.

I watched Here to Heart on Netflix during COVID and I loved it. I was very fortunate to watch two Chinese dramas’ that hit the spot and I really fellj in love with. The first was Ashes of Love.

Here to Heart in my own opinion is such a beautiful love story. I felt it was not a cookie cutter story.
I loved the intense emotions between the leads. I could feel the love, anger, jealousy and other range of emotions between Zhan Nanxian and Wen Nuan. At the end of the day they only had eyes for each other.

They did a very good job with the flashbacks, to give us a great picture of their previous relationship.
I also liked his relationship with his turtle :).

I could understand Nanxian’s hurt, angry; at the same time not willing to let Nuan go. Bottling up his intense feeling's until he felt he might lose her (episode 29-30). It was really nice when the finally opened up to each other.

I really like Nuan, I appreciated her personality, I understand why she did not tell her why she broke up with him.

I like that fact that she was smart, beautiful and had self-respect. When Nuan felt Naxian was in a relation with Yixin and he did not really show interest in her she let go. I truly believe love is a gift you can't force it from a guy.

I loved the songs they were beautiful and, full of emotions.

I personally don’t like the idea of trashing the wedding. It would have been better if they had a real conversation before the wedding.

I personally like the novel’s ending better the dramas.

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Series revolves around a female lead who experiences a situation and grief. She returns home after a long time overseas and tries to pick her life up over again. The series would have been better if it made more sense. The acting was absolutely amazing. The cast fit their roles perfectly and the scenery was fitting for this show however I have never rolled my eyes as much as I did while watching this show. The reason for this is I am absolutely annoyed by these sacrificial females and this long lost love cliché. I absolutely do not know of any person who broke up with someone and waited for them for seven years and not moved on. This is a pattern that I have noticed with a lot of these K dramas. you have a boyfriend or girlfriend that you loved and you never fall in love again until you meet them 10 to 15 years later. It’s absolutely unrealistic and although I know this is TV drama I wish that they would make it somewhat more realistic. This is a fair warning you will be annoyed with the amount of drama between the two leads. And I don’t mean crazy drama I mean extreme mellow drama where someone’s always crying or heart broken or sad. It’s frustrating because they create their own drama, and sadness with the choices they make and then they’re sad which is almost like they have no common sense. Male lead did things without being clear or communicating with the female lead and expected her to understand and love him anyway even though the things he did would cause the average female to distance themselves or not even communicate with them. But the writers completely disregarded the males ridiculous and sometimes rude behavior and gave an exception to it because of his love. Sadly love this not look like that so it made no sense to me. They gave no explanation as to how the female lead ended up overseas or how things really took place unti it was nearly done. I do not recommend this for any hopeless romantic‘s or any romantic comedy viewers at all .
This is not a sweet romance. This is not a romantic drama. This is a bucket of self inflicted grief and ridiculous reasoning. If you’re into that sad type of love you may enjoy this but I most certainly did not.

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Here To Heart is one long drama for the romance genre. Compared to K-drama rom-coms such as Her Private Life and Something About 1 Percent, this mainland drama is indeed more long-winded and melodramatic. You must have the patience to sit through it because there is a lot of back and forth in the push and pull relationship between the 2 leads. However, the acting of Hans Zhang and Janine Chang is full of emotions and their chemistry is evident. An example is a scene whereby they sang the Here To Heart drama song, Without You, during a karaoke session. The tears just flowed. Without this on-screen chemistry, this drama could well be one big bore.

I guess the producers of this drama probably wanted the viewers to be able to feel deeply invested in the love life of the characters. So, they dragged out the interactions between Wen Nuan and Nanxian as the 2 characters explore their feelings and start a guessing game as to what the other wants. It’s kind of frustrating to watch at times because they could have easily solved their problems by having a heart-to-heart talk like adults rather than torturing themselves unnecessarily.

However, I suspect that the novel probably contains a lot of internal dialogues that describe what the characters are thinking and feeling. This is pretty standard in romance novels. Hence, you can understand their motivations and relate accordingly to each of the scenes as you read. But on-screen, it is hard to make viewers fully understand merely from facial expressions and conversations. So, the drama feels long-winded as the different characters interact. Because it could not effectively flush out all the internal dialogues and emotional turmoils within the characters, you may end up being frustrated over Wen Nuan’s insecurities and scratching your head over Nanxian’s actions at times.

Should You Watch Here To Heart?
I won’t go so far as to say that I wasted my time watching it because I like the chemistry of the 2 leads. But I definitely won’t spend another 40 plus hours to re-watch. If you like a slow burn kind of romance drama, Here To Heart might be your cup of tea. A lot of patience is needed to follow the ups and downs of this love story. You can fast forward or skip certain episodes as you won’t lose the plot. But you won’t feel as emotionally invested in the characters then. This is because certain scenes might seem boring but they are done to slowly build up on the sufferings of Wen Nuan and Nanxian and how much they love one another in the viewers’ mind.

So, if you plan to watch it, I would suggest that you dedicate over 40 hours of your time to watch it from start to end. I don’t think the drama would be able to bring out that kind of emotional satisfaction and flavor if you skip some episodes even if it seems long-winded. It would also make you understand Wen Nuan and Nanxian’s relationship a bit better. The bottom line is Here To Heart is a long-drawn-out drama that aims to bring you on an emotional rollercoaster. So, be prepared for a long ride with some boring stretches in between once you get on!

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Prepare your gallons of patience

If not for their chemistry, I wouldn’t finish this, but even so, I found myself skipping scenes in episodes. I love angst, but this one takes the cake. They really took the misunderstanding trope to the next level and dragged the story on and on. It could have been a shorter drama. You should prepare to have a LOT of patience. They brought the characters to be smart and all, but they really dug in to the “love can make you dumb” trope. The push and pull really isn’t it for me.

If you want angst and a slow story, then go ahead. But honestly, the main leads get annoying with their problem. The antagonists are smarter and not to mention there’s a lot of plotholes. Sure, they have their cute moments, but what’s that compared to the amount of irritating scenes?

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The long journey of two hearts towards each other

This is a wonderfully compelling story of the love between a man and a woman as they experience the pain of a seven-year separation. Seven years in which their hearts reached out to each other, seven years in which nothing was forgotten and nothing could go away, even though she was gone from him and oceans separated them.

The story shows the deep experiences of Zhan Nanxian and Wen Nuan and their beautiful longing love.
A man whose tenderness and protection is beyond the mundane - wonderful acting by Zhang Han, whom I first saw in this series and fell in love with. Usually men can't play love well, but Zhang Han's acting touches in a very special way.
Janine Chang manages to build the image of a fragile, feminine and lovelorn woman who is left broken after leaving the man she loves but has never forgotten him.

All the actors do a great job with their roles, not just the main cast.

In this series, I also discovered the absolutely adorable Ji Xiao Bing, who I can't stop watching because of his cute pure appearance.

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A slow burn, second chance romance with business maneuverings as backdrop.

So I finished Here to Heart more than a week ago. This drama had been in my watchlist for some time already, but I finally gave it a go because I just needed more of Zhang Han and Janine Chang after The Four. It's good overall, there were many heart-touching scenes – between lovers, sisters, parent-child, and friends. It also showed aspects of the corporate world, such as the business competition, maneuvering and strategizing. However, there were really frustrating moments, some parts dragged on more than they should, and there were some annoying characters, but I expected these after reading some reviews (I guess I have prepared myself).

What really shines for me is the cast, especially Zhang Han as Zhan Nan Xian and Janine Chang as Wen Nuan, who brought their characters to life, not to mention they have great chemistry! They have sweet and passionate moments together, but I can also feel the push and pull, and the tension between them. They showed a certain depth in their acting, and they're very good in the emotional and crying scenes.

My other favorite characters are: Zhu Lin Lu (Jing Chao), a friend who truly cares and is there for Wen Nuan during some of the lowest points in her life; Wen Rou (Zhou Qi Qi), a loving and supportive sister, loyal to Wen Nuan and one who would defend her and speak her mind; and Gao Fang (Ji Xiao Bing), Zhan Nan Xian's confidante, one who truly understands him and gives the right advice at the right time.

One character that I dislike is Yi Xin (Jenny Zhang), who is scheming, manipulative, and insecure (in terms of her background and relationship with Nan Xian) even though she is successful and famous. But I must admit, she is not all bad, and she has some moving scenes in the drama, such as those with her father.

The soundtrack is good! While watching this, there were days that I had last song syndrome of the opening and ending songs.

Final Verdict: You need patience to watch this drama, but if you like melodrama and slow burn, second chance romance, with business maneuverings as backdrop, then go watch this.

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When I read this drama summary ,I found interesting ..but it is not such interesting ,a big disappointment with this drama ..drama start with after 7 years passed they broke up (lead actor and actress). According to summary ,she left him without a word and he was very angry because he didn't understand the reason about their breakup and took a revenge From her he announced his marriage with someone else.but actually story is different with the summary .story start with after 7 years passed when they broke up ,they meet again I thought he must be angry and revenge start but he still loved her and pursuing her and marriage is just a rumour and he himself told her that don't be misunderstood me with her ,she is just a friend ..then the reason because of it they get separated get weaken after 7 years but still she didnot let him know the reason. Then they meet ,separate ,then meet , separate and finally meet at the last episode..this drama has some good part of story like other two couples love story ,their stories were straight ,then the emotion, lead actor hold make connect with the drama .only I decided to see full drama to let know what is the reason of break up.otherwise I didn't find story of drama interesting.

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Heartbreak drama

Here to Heart was my Go-To Drama for May 2018. It started out very favorable, owing to the participation of Hans Zhang and Janine Chang, who are engaging actors. As the drama progressed, with the characters remaining in a rut, I began to notice the bipolar, depressed, weepy and/or deluded characteristics of several characters. Midstream, the weepiness began to wear on me. By the end, I was too worn out, to cry during the lovers' emotional reunion.

Story: 6.5
A credible romance plot with too much weepiness, depression, delusion. By the middle of the story, I had no empathy and sympathy for the two lovers, Wen Nuan and Zhan Nanxian. Their persistent weepiness and inadequate communication skill made me indifferent to the lovers' plight. While the supporting characters were beautiful to behold, their mini stories also seemed to drag on forever.

Acting/Cast: 8
Credible acting by the main and supporting casts! Janine Chang's range of emotions was impressive, but she was wept her way through this drama, and that was depressing. Hans Zhang exuded charm and elegance on screen, but his weepiness was depressing. My favorite character was Gao Fang (… actor Ji Xiao Bing), who was the only rational, normal person.

Music: 9.5
The incidental music was beautiful. I wondered if the Winter Sonata composer composed the music. The theme song was overplayed too much; two or three times in the episodes. Once is enough, during the opening credits.

Rewatch value: 1
I was too depressed, watching the depressed, bipolar, deluded characters. Never again!

Overall rating: 6.5
If the drama had been trimmed to 30 episodes, with a tighter plot, less drivel, less weepiness, less depression, it would have been awarded the title of Ultimate Romance Drama to challenge the K-drama, Winter Sonata, sitting at the top of the Romance Drama chart. The Writer, Director and Actors put too much emphasis on the MELODRAMA, versus DRAMA.

Wardrobe notes:
Janine and Hans wore the most beautiful fashions, but some of their wardrobe should have been rejected. Nanxian wore checkered pajama pants and a tailored black tuxedo jacket and bowtie, and loafer shoes that looked like bedroom slippers, at his wedding in episode 45. Wen Nuan's red dress in the final London scene looked ill-fitting. It was loose and ready to fall off her. Yixin was an extreme fashionista, wearing elegant or tacky outfits. In general, all the actors were subjected to the whims of the wardrobe department.

Observation:
I felt that HTH had the tone of Winter Sonata, in story, characters and music. Lost love, love rivals, lost memory, interfering deluded parent, lack of communication, dream house, weepiness, depression, delusion! There were similarities between the four main characters of HTH and WS. Wen Nuan (=Yu Jin), Nanxian (=Joon Sang), Linlu (=Sang Hyuk) and Yixin (=Chaelin)! The HTH characters had more depth of character and job responsibilities.

The final montage of the couple in their State of Happiness was unnecessary. The drama should have ended at their final reunion by the River Thames.

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