A Romance of the Little Forest (2022)

Watch it for the Fashion, not for the plot.

I’ve had A Romance of the Little Forest on my watch list for a while and I was looking for a cute rom-com to watch with husband. The reviews were mixed, but to my surprise it started out pretty cute.

This is the first drama I’ve seen with Yu Shu Xin since Love between Fairy and Devil. I know she gets a bad rap for her high pitched voice and sub-par acting, but she didn’t disappoint. She’s pretty consistent, in the sense, yes, she still has a high-pitch voice and her acting is a bit over the top, but she kind of makes it her own.

If you aren’t a fan of her, then you shouldn’t attempt this drama because her acting style is pretty over-the-top and some may find it annoying. At times I just thought it was comical.

I’m a major fan of Vin Zhang, he has an understated kind of acting style that is so effortless but effective. He didn’t disappoint in this one and his chemistry with the FL was pretty good. There isn’t much skin-ship in the drama, but plenty of tension.

The best part of the drama was the FASHION. The female lead NEVER REWEARS A SINGLE OUTFIT. I’m a big fashion buff and that was a HUGE enjoyment of the show for me. I know it’s silly, but it’s the little things.

Like I said, the first 20ish episodes were really cute and I got the typical C drama rom-com I wanted to get sucked into. Then the plot gets dragged out and we get a silly conflict and it kind of just makes the show a little sluggish.

I can see why the reviews are mixed. On one hand I really enjoyed half of the show, a lot and on the other hand, I was highly disappointed on the other half and kind of gave up. If it wasn’t for the fashion, I probably would have fast forwarded a lot more.

The drama didn’t need to be 35 episodes, a good 10 episodes could have been edited out. The secondary story line with the best friend and CEO was a little silly and his hair cut! Oh my gah, it was pretty awful. I couldn’t get into the secondary couple. Sorry.

Overall, watch for the actors, watch for the fashion, but you will be a little disappointed with the script.

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Cute Romance

Overall I really like the story, the romance is slow but good. There were things that were annoying within the plot.

The female lead character was really enjoyable out all the characters I like her the best.

The male lead was not that enjoyable at first but he became likable trough the show.

I think that the main leads romance was slow but really cute. It felt like they had a lot of chemistry.

One thing that I didn't like was the second couple. I found their romance a little bit disturbing and honestly at times it felt like they had to much screen time. Hate it.

The "villain" reasons to hate the female lead were stupid and honestly didn't make sense to me.

Overall I recommend this drama for the main story but honestly if you feel like skipping the second leads I don't blame you.

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a fun romantic COMEDY drama

Yes, I caps all the "comedy" word in the headline because I couldn't stop laughing while watching the drama. As many people can relate, or someone read my reviews, I lean towards mature character & relationship between leads more. However, the actress Esther Yu, who played the lead character Yu Mei Ren has childlike voice, which creeped me out in the beginning.
But, as I watched the show further, it became heavily comedic, to the point where, I thought Esther is the perfect actress to portray the female lead.

The story definitely has a potential to become one of the best romantic comedy drama, however, due to some lack of story-telling, it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I will discuss some of the things that could've been improved. (some of them are more of a rant. So, bear with me :") )
- I feel like the main lead story was abandoned (it's the correct word to describe it). But instead, the screenwriter chose to focus and giving more scenes to the supporting role couple, which I think is the least interesting plot in the drama. I don't really know why the writer chose to support the trashy couple more than the main leads.
- Which brings me to: how this drama could've been a 20 episodes mini-series, or 35 episodes with 20 mins each. I think they can do a 35 episodes with 40 minutes each and focus more on the main lead couple because they don't have enough scenes for me to actually grasp the whole situation between the leads.
- I feel like the main lead couple lacks resolution too. In the story, the FL is pretending to be dumb and uneducated, but turns out, she's an honorary PhD student, who could've been working as a professor, or a scientist. I was waiting for so long for the FL to admit to ML that she is actually smart and educated. I was also looking forward to the ML's reaction to all of the FL's background. I don't know if I accidentally skipped the scene, but I couldn't find the scene. Instead, I was guessing myself all the time on each episodes like: "oh he knows already the FL's situation".
- I know it is a drama and it was supposed to be fun, but I was annoyed watching Jin Xi and Tian Tian couple story. For some reason, Jin Xi pretended he hurt his legs and went around in a wheelchair. In my opinion, the comedy for these scenes are very shallow. Disability is not supposed to be joked around with, especially when the party is pretending to be one. I automatically has the impression of them "mocking" and felt uncomfortable watching the couple's story, which leaves a bad aftertaste, hence I skip most of their scenes.

What I genuinely liked about the drama:
- The chemistry between Male and Female lead is excellent. I became a big fan of Vin Zhang after watching the drama - as I include him in my list as "one of the most good-looking actors in China". I also love both lead's acting too, they portrayed each characters very well. I think they are perfect for the roles.
- I find the Female Lead's behaviour (and yes, as wrong as it is: stalking) really funny, because I think she did it on purpose to push the Male Lead's buttons. --> she played him
- Also love the relationship between FL and ML's little brother, though it was brief (I think it only lasted for 2 or 3 episodes?)
- I love that the 2 leads are equally successful in their own ways and they are very smart and passionate about their jobs too!
- I love that; though the FL is making baby noises, doing cutesy stuffs, she can be scary and put together when needed. There was a scene where the FL confronted Xia Zhi for her bullshit and I was in love.

To conclude, I think the drama is decent, but definitely has areas for improvements. However, it's not totally unwatchable, as I think it's worth the watch. The comedy between the 2 main leads is the sole reason why I can keep watching the drama.

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aa typical sweet cheesy cdrama...but with improvements

is this your absolutely typical sweet cdrama featuring cold hero and bubbly heroine? yes. but Mary Jane she is not!!! she is beautiful, famous, and has a Ph.D?! hell yes. also lots of great commentary about beauty as a construct and makeup as a tool for empowerment not because of shame...like honestly mind blown a bit there for this being a chinese drama.

a lot of corny and unnecessary drama, particularly a whole couple episodes worth of the leads working undercover and a very annoying "villian" character that i think the show could have done without so plot wise sometimes felt clumsy towards the end, but overall a nice refreshing watch.

also 10/10 to the writer who kept making very self aware rom-com drama jokes and references

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worth the watch, but beware of the 2nd couple

Before reading, the reason why I dropped the drama: the 2nd cp started to take up too much time and the plot kinda spiraled from there. I was also studying for exams at the time so I decided to drop because it wasn't keeping that grip on me anymore. That being said, the following are my rambly thoughts (90% positive) while I was actively watching!

its a VERY serviceable romance drama (really reminds me of it happened one summer with piper and brendan).
i think its actually sooooo good for multiple reasons
esther is sooo cute as yu meiren <3 she’s so adorable and not annoying.. she walks the thin wire between over the top dramatic and so true and genuine in her character !! like i LOVE her character cause she’s so pretty and can be a little airheaded and dumb BUT she also has a phd in ornithology and she’s a woman in stem!! and knows she can be smart and dumb !! someone who can do both i love her

you dont think esther and zbb can have any chemistry but you would be dead wrong.. the way they shot this drama and the details they show the ML and FL falling for each other (the FL getting slow-mos of the ML being attractive and hot, and the ML reaching out instinctively when he thought the FL fell.. and trying to play that off… man and then him waking up earlier than her and still holding her hand in the cave… and pretending to be asleep and continuing to hold her hand) THE DETAILS ARE WHAT GETS TO ME and like when meiren was pretending to be someone else with the bucket on her head and zbb’s like…. shy (?) smiles where hes like just SOOOOO in love with her quirkyness and even tho shes not wearing make up (one of her insecurities) he doesnt mind and his gaze is so 宠溺 its making me melt like his smiles are so…

zbb’s voice is so good. like its so deep and has the right amount of grain + rasp without it sounding like he needs to drink some water and it feels so comfortingly deep + cozy + safe -> 安全感max like

like its such a serviceable drama and i think its on par with you are my hero (for me its better but idt mom would like it) because i just love how yu meiren is smart but unapologetically dumb and a little brainless (exactly how i want to be) and is also at the same time so charming without being annoying !!!!!! so good

also looking at some of the kisses and behind the scenes videos…. about to be in for a spicy ride (also the kiss poses are so awkward poor zbb lmao)

but yeah you never wouldve thought that i would like a esther yu drama and with zbb like (i think wang hedi and ysx have more chemistry irl but zbb as zhuang yu is soooo charismatic and fits with yu meiren so well)

the actors make their characters feel real and the plot + writing makes the characters come alive and it feels so real…..

cons: there is a little bullying in the beginning (the guy thinking she’s stupid, standing her up, being a dick) but i think the redemption in the latter half is gonna make up for it so i think its okay rn (but that is also why i like it… but some ppl might not like the uh. asshole ML).

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The Side/Second Love Story Is Atrocious

I would give this show more stars except I find the side story for the second couple so horribly awful.
I find the kind of lies and manipulation going on there appalling, and not at all funny or cute. It doesn't make sense either. I find it kind of mind boggling that the writers and producers went forward with this. I think the couple could be quite cute together if it weren't for this messed up storyline.
I have an extension on my browser that lets me speed up videos, so I'm using it to speed through the scenes with the second leads. But this storyline is honestly making it hard for me to continue watching the rest of the series, as it's taking away from my enjoyment of the main storyline.

I don't love the "white lies" told in the main storyline, but at least they're not on quite the same level as the stupid, appalling, and horrible lies the CEO is telling in the side storyline, and the reasoning behind them does make some sort of sense. I find the chemistry between the main couple enjoyable. While I'm not a fan of the cutesy, babyish ways of the female lead I don't find it annoying either, and it makes sense for the storyline. When the ML assumes she's stupid because of the way she looks and behaves she decides to double down on that impression, hiding her true intelligence from him. Slowly the ML seems to realize there's more to her than his snap judgment initially led him to believe.

For me the best thing about this show though is the scenery. It's so absolutely beautiful. The way this has been filmed is really great too. Visually this series is very soothing and peaceful to watch.

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Light and refreshing!

I’ve been putting this drama on hold for sooo long, and I regret not watching it earlier *sigh*. It’s something light and refreshing to watch, not much villains, also funny especially at the forest and dinner with Wei Shan’s parents after Zhuang Yu just came back from overseas, that scenes cracked me up. I couldn’t think of any other actress to play Yu Wei Shan because this role was perfectly suited for Eshter Yu. Any funny, cute and quirky characters really suited Eshter Yu, just like in the LBFAD and Moonlight drama. Not to mention Zhang Vin character were he was initially upright but consistently sided with the FL's antiques lol.

However, I agree with other people saying the second lead couple screen time was too much to the point the story seemed dragging to me. The drama could have made it a 26-30 episodes. Anyway, the drama was decently good, funny, the FL was truly a drama queen, loved her for that.

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typical love story

Almost nothing special about the show. Typical FL have a crush on ML when she was in school then met ML again etc. etc.

Female lead character is meh.. nothing out of the box. ZBB acting is good and nice to look at.. but character is also meh. I am not sure if Yu Shuxin's role here is supposed to be exaggerating but it seems very "loud". their chemistry is much better off screens as compared to the drama. Both of them also shine better in other drama.

However, this show is still very light and fluffy and have abit of humour elements in it. Both them also have a fair bit of lovey moments and development is also ok. Would still recommend to watch to kill time.

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*Family-friendship-comedy-sentiment*

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No words to describe
All episodes are great
Especially 35 episode is hilarious
Some times ~Esther Yu~over acting irritates you
Tremendous job done by
Actor & actors are Taylor fit Acting
Director
Cameraman
Editor
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Can You Believe An Internet Celebrity With A Botany Professor ?

A Romance Of The Little Forest

I believe you will doubt when you’re reading my headline. Why I said that ? Because I’m dumbfounded when watching this drama at first. But when I knew about the storyline, it wasn’t weird at all ~

▫️Main Point
~ A girl crush to a man during her study at a university and she was a nerd, not pretty and just normal person like others (doesn’t have anything special about her).
~ Later, she met him again when she was a totally different (a bit pretty, cute and clever) then she wanted to seek a revenge by making him fell in love with her then dumb him.

▫️Opinions
~ Well, for me this kind of drama was totally my cup of tea! It’s my pleasure to watch and review about this drama. So, let’s do my best (;
~ I love how the writer choose to make story about a girl crush to a man and she was brave to confess her feelings even she knows that she might be rejected. This was rarely happened in the drama. Mostly, the man will have a crush to the woman first.
~ I want to pin a point where she was cute but not too pretty. But when she wore a pretty dress and have a full make up, she was a bit pretty. But then, when she was repeating herself about “she was so pretty”, I think it was so hard to accept that sentence. After all it’s ok I think the writer want to create a confidence in that woman so let’s just accepted it.
~ The plot of the drama was beautiful and a bit cliché as she met him again after a long time. They’re come across together in botanical garden where she mistakenly believe him was her partner in a shoot for advertisement. Zhuang Yu was so handsome, gentlemen and intelligent man which could melted any woman including Yu Meiren. But only Yu Meiren could melt his heart!
~ Yu Meiren was a clever woman since she has a doctorate. She likes to take a photo of birds and keep it in her Weibo during her free time. But she was an internet celebrity who doing a livestream about fashion.
~ Tiantian was a sweet little woman. She was Yu Meiren’s best friend and she also was a sharing friend for Yu Meiren. She will advise her and tell her what she needs to do in other to take Zhuang Yu’s heart.
~ The second lead was just a supporting in this drama. He was handsome but I don’t think we need his character in the show. Literally, he just a fool man and his parts just to make ML a bit jealous lol


▫️Characters Intro
~ Zhang Binbin was a long waited hero and I watched him during he was in Pretty Li Huizhen. He was a handsome and sweet man and he was a good actor. I respect him for being too humble in this industry. He was not arrogant and not too picky. I always want to watch him acts in this kind of drama. He was so professional and too deep in acting the character, Zhuang Yu as I really thought it also was his character outside the drama.
~ Esther Yu was acting as Yu Meiren. No doubt, she was suitable with this character. I admires her for making the drama so interesting and lovely. Even I am not her fan, but I don’t have any comments regarding her acting. She was cute and suitable with this character.

▫️Overall
~ The storyline was sweet and adorable for the audiences. The location of the drama was beautiful as they act at beautiful scenery like tea garden, grape garden and also at beautiful homestay. Others, you also can watch how Yu Meiren flirt with Zhuang Yu and finally she was winning in capturing his heart. Even she was a little bit annoying with her character but she was cute. I think the audiences will like this kind of drama.

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The storyline would be good, if Yu Shu Xin wasn’t playing the main girl, I don’t know if it’s the way her character is written but she’s childish and annoying as hell, in the way shes trying to pretend to be more stupid than she actually is I don’t really understand the logic there, and why the screenwriters would come up with something like that. I couldn't finish watching Fairy and the Devil for this exact reason, because her acting was just the same in that too. I’m not certain if that’s the only ways she can act or if she’s always given parts like this but so far what I’ve seen from her she’s only able to play this kind of role, the silly, whiny little girl who’s always acting cute, regardless her old age, it may sound sour of me saying all this, but I don’t think she should be acting if she can’t be versatile regarding her emotions. A good example of this is Raba, she’s great at being cute and not in a cringy way, but also able to play in a strong stoic warrior, or even go as far as to pretend to be a boy. She’s never the same by the end of each series, her character development is always massive, and I don’t only mean this by her getting scripts with roles where she’s got great character developments in the end. But in the way she plays each roles different by the end. While with Yu Shu Xin I don’t see this at all, I’m fact she never changes. Her character always stuck in that naive, childish way, even if her character is supposed to be going through something tragic, such as when she was playing in Fairy and the Devil, her characters doesn’t come though genuine when she’s trying to be stoic to me, for some reason.

On the other hand, Vin Zhang is an amazing actor, and as I said the story would’ve been great to watch if the female lead was played by someone else.

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