The Love You Give Me (2023)

A show that made me mad and happy at the same time

I'll be honest, I dropped this show three times while watching. It took me more than 3 months to finish this show even though I'm on a career break and have lots of free time. All this because it gets too annoying and trope-y for me at points to just ignore and power through.

Having said that, there are some things that I like.
- First, the child actor and Cindy. Some really great acting by both their characters that had me wishing for more screen time constantly. They make you grow fond of the characters which are simply fun and easy going. It's characters like these that make the show an easy watch.
- I also enjoyed the way they handled the topic of sexual harassment at workplace. By their initial ignorance to the issue from Min Hui's perspective, I was mad. It was just another East Asian show where this was going to be a given and nobody does anything about it. But they way she pivots when here junior is affected, take actions, counsels her and makes sure the perpetrator suffers for her makes me so proud and so happy. They have aptly covered all aspects of this issue - how the survivor is conflicted, how they feel, how they can overcome it, their options, and the best the support provided when they voice out their story. Absolutely proud that this was handled so sensitively and nicely. Though a little trigger warning before the episode with her junior would've been nice considering how it was depicted in detail.
- As a Li Chuan fan, might I add that I loved his character and acting. I think he was the one with the most character development and I'm all for it. The way he improved as a person/lover for Zi Zhu is amazing. Though it still blows my mind how easily they've shown him recover from a love of four years. I do not believe in bullshit like you can't unlove someone so easily. People fall out of love just like that. There are all kinds of people. But some story development would've been nice to make it seem more realistic to many people.
- Lastly, both the leads were fantastic in their acting. I just have so many problems with their characters that I can't just overlook that and appreciate the actors more. Plus their chemistry did not seem natural to me at all and seemed very forced for the most part. Like, I can't believe I was skipping kissing scenes. Come on, I live for those!

Now the things I absolutely hate:
- Lack of consent, privacy and the glorification of stalking. The male lead quite literally did not take no for an answer when Min Hui told him she's not interested in taking whatever they have forward. It's like the same argument harassers give that she did not mean it. No one cares if she meant it or not, it's for her to decide whether she meant it or not. Not for you to test it out. He literally acts like a stalker by crashing her dates, using their son and also lying to get her attention. This blatant ignorance of consent has made me very very angry.
- Min hui dragging out the entire denial for so long. After a point it just feels useless and just a torture for the ML which she seems to be enjoying quite clearly. Like, you love him, just admit. Why make him suffer unnecessarily? It's not always cute acting too hard to get. You have a kid together, you're not some 16 year old teenager to pull off nonsense like this. It makes me so angry at the unnecessary plot.
- The drag that this show is. This show did not need 28 episodes. It could have been very nicely wrapped up under 20. Just every little plot/trope was so dragged out in this story with lots of filler content. Like the last two episodes are literally so extra.
- The unrealistic expectation of majority people here to demonise Min Hui for not telling him about his kid, Just donating your sperm (in a way, just giving an analogy) does not make you a father. The guy literally was angry with her (I'm not saying that his anger was not justified but at the end of the day he was beyond pissed), refused to talk to her or hear her out and then vanished. The woman learns of her pregnancy. What do you expect? She should travel 7 continents to find him? What load of crap! She gave birth to the child alone, faced the pregnancy alone and was taking care of a sick child alone. She deserves the right to decide if she then wants to involve the father in his life or not. It is very easy to sit on the other side and say she should've told him but do you even realise how difficult it is to do so? She was scared he would take away her only family, the child was already sick and was clearly very dependant on her as his mother - she had to consider everything before she simply revealed to him who the child is once they met again.

All in all, the good overshadowed the bad for me. I went through the entire show more for the secondary couples than our lead couple here because that just got way too boring for me. Also, the business storyline in itself was pretty addictive for me to just ignore. If you can overlook some red flags, the show is an easy watch with lots of cute moments between different couples and an intriguing business plot. Would recommend watching this with your brain kept aside to not question every single thing. Happy watching!

Lire davantage

Familiar tropes, but entertaining

Don't expect original plots – this script contains a lot of the familiar ones, but it is still rather entertaining. It also covers some more serious topics, like harassment in the workplace, but it isn't a serious, heavy drama. You have to watch it on the right premise; I kind of remember it as a hybrid of a romcom and a drama.

The kid is an absolute charmer, and he almost makes this worth the watch on his own, lightening up the show with funny scenes and "adorableness".

I like that the FL is strong and independent with a career in what some might think of as a more male dominated area.

The cast is quite good, and the two main leads interactions are often spot on.

Lire davantage

Divertido e atual

Confesso que, mais uma vez, maratonei um c-drama porque eu simplesmente não tenho limites e fico imersa na história.
O começo é muito divertido, eu dei muita risada com os personagens principais, o ator mirim Cui Yi Xin simplesmente rouba a cena toda vez que aparece. O papel dele na trama é muito bem escrita, as tiradas, as interações, realmente me surpreendeu.
Mas o casal protagonista tem algumas falas que podemos dizer que são problemáticas no quesito família, mas nada que seja tão inapropriado. Já no quesito química mandaram muito bem, mas os beijos até o final foram bem mornos, foi meio brochante, afinal de contas já haviam uma história de 5 anos e um filho, poderiam ter caprichado um pouco mais, ainda mais por ser o segundo dorama que atuam juntos.
O casal secundário é simplesmente fantástica a química desde o início, e apesar do Chen Jia Jun ser mais novo que a Mu, no quesito maturidade emocional em um relacionamento ele foi melhor. Ela, como citou que todos os antigos relacionamentos também eram assim, no primeiro sinal de problema foge.
Já o médico Ru Ji e a Zi Zhu torci muito por ele na roda gigante, era meio previsível que ele ia se tocar que gostava dela naquele momento, mas o papel é bem lento como ele mesmo diz.
O final, simplesmente pularam 6 meses até a volta dele depois de um breve sumiço, mas poderiam ter mostrado um pouco mais a preparação em si para a cirurgia, acho que daria uma comoção a mais no final. Gostai das cenas de todos os personagens aproveitando a vida juntos.

Lire davantage

And our little family is finally together!(:

What a cute and fluffy ride! When I want to watch something lighthearted, sweet, and easy, I always pick cdramas because they know how to do light and fluffy best. I don't think this is a masterpiece of a drama at all, but it's definitely cute and satisfies my sweet tooth so nicely! Quanquan is the cutest little boy and I love the main couple's chemistry sooo much. I love seeing our little family get pieced back to together, episode after episode. In the later half of the drama though, I was definitely missing scenes of little Quanquan. The family got put on a backburner as we finally started to resolve all the issues and get rid of the troublesome people who have been annoying since the beginning of the drama. I do have to say that, even though the resolution of these annoying pests was satisfying, I wish we got more from it. I just feel like we spent so many episodes tolerating them, with small wins here and there, only for them to be quickly dealt with in the end. I also have to say that I really didn't care for the other two couples. I just didn't care for their SOs and the relationship seemed random and a bit shallow. I wish they took the time to develop their relationships more or just not have it at all. On the other hand, the friendship between the FL and Cao Mu was so freaking great and I loved the little bromance blossoming between the ML and Zhou Ruji.

Overall, even though this drama has its flaws, it was still pretty freaking cute and sweet so I'll give it a pass. Thanks for reading this review if you got this far, bye for now!

Lire davantage

So many thoughts! Some spoilers~

I really, really enjoyed this drama and I would definitely rewatch! I even thought the music was beautiful and catchy; I hardly ever skipped the intro. I was so surprised by the chemistry between the main couple/family, and I am happy to have found out that Wang Yuwen and Wang Ziqi have worked together previously — their other drama is definitely going in my queue! I *adored* Cui Yixin as Quanquan. This little boy did such a fantastic job playing the son; his character was smart and quick-witted and often scolding the adults around him, but he got to play and whine and act like a child as well. The writing and the actor himself did such a great job balancing that. He was so cute and the glue of the Min-Xin family.

As far as his parents go, I really enjoyed the character arcs they endured. Both characters are very strong and even stubborn, but Xin Qi quickly falling deeply in love with Min Hui was a great choice. While Min Hui fell in love, she was more cautious and quick to set boundaries. I appreciated that through his growth, he had to learn to differentiate between infatuation/possessiveness and true love, and learned how to show up for MH as she needed him. MH also learned how to soften and open herself up to real love after healing from traumatic events, and went through a journey of forgiveness (for XQ and Lin Xiyue) and justice (Cheng Qirang, Ding Yifang, getting her work recognized).

As for the other characters:

I love her best friends Zhou Ruji and Cao Mu. I enjoyed Hardy but I also feel like he was underutilized; same with Cindy. I wish she introduced to the series earlier, and I also wish we could’ve seen her become friends with Cao Mu.

I didn’t love the romance between Cao Mu and Chen Jiajun. I think they were cute at times and I feel like there’s always that one side couple that moves faster and shows more affection than the main couple — they were that for this drama. But I felt like Cao Mu deserved better and we could’ve explored her backstory a little more, especially her reasoning for being against marriage. I often fast-forwarded through their scenes so, admittedly, I may have missed some interesting moments, but I look forward to seeing these actors in other projects for sure.

On the flip side, I enjoyed Zhou Ruji’s character a lot! At times I felt annoyed and burdened by his pining for MH, but I think that really drove the point home of feeling possessive and longing for someone out of habit. (I also enjoyed how they showed how much he was really there for MH and especially Quanquan, and learned how to care for them.) ZR, XQ, and Cheng Qirang are different sides of the same coin and each have their respective lessons to learn. Ruji needed to learn that liking someone out of habit and doing kind things to quietly persuade someone’s feelings is not how you get someone to love you beyond platonic feelings. He could never be straightforward to her; however, I appreciate how he confessed despite his feelings changing. That was such a wholesome moment that you don’t often get to see in shows. He got his closure after spending so much effort on his one-sided crush for years, MH had the opportunity to address it directly as well since I’m sure she realized his feelings, and they got to maintain their friendship. I really enjoyed his relationship with Yao Zhizhu. She was actually a really sweet and fantastic addition to the side characters and storylines. I could also see her being great friends with Min Hui and Cao Mu. While she did kind things and looked out for ZR, she was more honest and direct about her feelings and steadfast in her approach to trying to win his favor. Likewise, she never disparaged and even admired/rooted for MH, despite her being the object of Ruji’s affection. I like, also, that when Ruji realized his new feelings, that she set her own boundaries and made him work for her affection/their relationship. I enjoyed that she wasn’t easily won over when he had his realization! They ended up being such a cute and pure couple. I liked how Ruji became a golden retriever for her and I loved how much they doted on Quanquan as uncle and auntie figures in his life.

Overall, I very much appreciated the themes of this story. All the women were strong in different ways and were amazing at declaring their boundaries and moral values. Even Zheng Yiting, who had purely a business mindset and **tempuous** relationship with her husband, was strong against her husband and uncompromising for the most part, and in the end joined the right side to save her family’s legacy. Lin Xiyue, though she was manipulated into the wrong side for most of the series, she also was smart, cunning and tactical on her own. In the end, she sought forgiveness from Min Hui and regretted most how her wrongdoings hurt a former friend and other women in general.

Min Hui — all that she went through and displayed throughout the series was wonderful. A strong, independent, single mother in STEM and entrepreneurship, who stood up to toxic masculinity and corruption without fear, and often in alliance with other women. I *adored* her as the female lead, and I would even consider her the main lead of the series above Xin Qi. Wang Yuwen did an amazing job portraying her and she was the core of the success of this story!

I’ve seen some opinions saying they didn’t like how all the women ended up in relationships and it contrasted their feminist design… While I get where they’re coming from and I don’t seek to invalidate anyone’s opinions, I do want to explain how I saw it. Firstly, feminist and empowered women deserve love too; they don’t have to remain independent to represent feminist values. It was established that Min Hui was always in love with Xin Qi and despite their conflicts, she never forgot her first love. She showed herself to be efficient and capable and chose to never pursue love as she raised Quanquan on her own but didn’t deny herself of the option of love when Xin Qi came back into the picture. Of course, their relationship took a lot of work too and she didn’t just settle right away either. XQ had to learn what Min Hui really needed in order to be in her life — she always refused his overt affection, his money, his help, and etc. It wasn’t until she heard him talk about how he simply needed to be by her side, to go through life with her, and appreciate her strengths and her abilities to work things out, that she truly allowed him in. He finally realized the kind of love she wanted. Think about Cheng Qirang: he did everything in his power to force MH to be with him and he was never going to understand that *any* woman doesn’t want to be undermined or thought of as an object. XQ, in his own way, needed to learn the same exact lesson, but the difference is he was willing to listen and grow!

Zhou Ruji and even Chen Jiajun were allowed to be with Zhizhu and Cao Mu, respectively, because of their willingness to rid themselves of toxic masculinity and stand by these women in the way that they requested and deserved. There were two scenes towards the end, in the aftermath of the convictions of Ding Yifang and Cheng Qirang, that drilled the core themes of the show home for me. After MH and ZQ take care of Zhong Meimei, he is so angry about the hypocrisies and the systemic nature in which women are harmed — that no matter what women do, there are toxic men that figure out how to get away with hurting women. He says something like, “I’ve known ridicule and violence but not to the degree that women have.” But then he trails off because he knows he does not need to explain any of this Min Hui, and his rage at this point is futile. More good men can’t just be mad and silent, they need to put in the work to call out and shame this behavior rather than putting the burden on victims to be brave on their own. Likewise, in another scene, the Be Agile staff are voicing their disgust at the situations and one girl responds, “men can be harassed too.” While this topic wasn’t brought up directly throughout the show, this is a good point too. Though none of the men in the show were sexually harassed, how many of them were hit or bulled by CQ and DY? They never could speak up either. He Haixiang, the manager, even protected DY and only sided with the women when it was convenient for his business matters. Men need feminism as well, and they need better systems in place to defend *all* people who become victims of oppression, harassment, and violence that too often gets swept under the rug.

All in all, this was interesting and different take on a romantic comedy/drama, and I clearly loved it. I could expand further on my thoughts, but I’ll leave it here. ^_^;

Lire davantage

its bad its good

pontos bons: é um ótimo dorama pra curar a ressaca, os três casais principais são muito fofos e tem química grande, cada um do seu jeitinho, óbvio, eu gostei de como eles trataram de assuntos importantes e sérios, é bom ver representatividade nesse tipo de série, é bom também que foge um pouco do padrão dos cdramas, não tem muita dor de cabeça, com mulher gostando do protagonista, é uma paz que só
pontos ruins: primeiramente, vamos falar do casal principal, é um pouco desgastante toda vez que eles tão criando algum tipo de vínculo aparece algum ser enviado do inferno pra estragar minha felicidade (e a deles também) acho que isso aconteceu umas três ou quatro vezes, ver ele tentando reconquistar ela toda vez era tão desgastante, e ela ainda era muito dura na queda, pra piorar tudo, foi insuportável, sem contar que dps que eles ficaram juntos acho que esqueceram que tinham um filho (?) o menino quase não aparecia mais, virou figurante.
segundo casal, eles são tão lindos, tão lindos juntos, mas eu passei muita raiva com eles, tipo aquela mulher lá simplesmente não lutava pelo amor deles, toda vez, a cada briga/desentendimento deles dois era motivo de término pra ela, mds não tem amor que que segure o cara desse jeito, parecia até que a mulher queria terminar mas não sabia como falar, por isso achava os motivos mais bestas pra terminar com o homem
terceiro casal, meus favoritos né, tiveram erros? sim, né, o único defeitos dos meus bebês foi demorarem dms pra ficar juntos 😭 mas eles são lindos e fofos juntos, amo muito

Lire davantage

Almost wore out my fast forward button

What I liked:

1) Cui Yi Xin as Quan Quan. What an adorable little boy!! He was absolutely the highlight of the show. I didn't like his tendency to call his parents by their first names, but his interactions with them were cute.
2) The main couple, when they weren't fighting. They were sweet together, not fire chemistry, but no fish kisses.
3) We got a wedding!

Not so much:
1) Wow! So much extraneous stuff. I didn't care for the two side couples. This one went on entirely too long
2) The sleazy sexual predator males.
3) All three women seemed like they took turns "playing" their boyfriends. Stupid reasons for breakups (2nd couple), stalker (3rd couple), the FL decides arbitrarily that she doesn't want to see the ML anymore for no apparent reason and makes him jump through hoop after hoop to try to win her over.
4) Dubbing. A couple of the ladies sounded like Minnie Mouse on helium.
5) The doctor has liked Min Hui for years, then suddenly he likes the irritating woman that has been stalking him.
6) Small, yet irritating thing. They weren't wearing their wedding rings in the scenes following the wedding.
7) He went to another country for six months to have surgery, but she didn't go?! However, their reunion was cute.
8) Way too much "we're together", "we're breaking up", we're together.

I realize I'm in the minority here, but I can't recommend this one, except for the little boy.

Lire davantage

Don't we all love Wang-Wang couple?

I watched for the pair. Like many of you here, I watched Once We Get Married and was ecstatic to find that they were paired up in another romcom.
I'm not looking for mindblowing plot or award winning series, I'm in for the good feeling and romance. Call me shallow and get in the line.
Our main leads are very natural that a tiny bit of me wishes that they were a real life couple.
There is no ridiculous angst. The (somewhat) SML is respectable, triggering some jealousy in our ML but not for long because we know he is not a serious contender. Quanquan is a witty kid, I wonder how they brief the young actor to deliver the character because he doesn't even seem like he's acting. Very well done.
The other couples are entertaining, I appreciate Cao Mu and her good looking younger boyfriend, but my favourite is the doctor and the ballerina. Once the dynamic changes between them it's just precious how doc is now desperately trying to convince Zhuzhu that hey! He likes her too, so much!
This drama is not petty in skinship either. They kiss like normal couples do. Good morning kiss, happy kiss, random kiss, thank you kiss, sexy kiss, you name it they do it. I hate it when a drama is so lacking in romantic gestures that a couple doesn't even kiss on their wedding day! *Cough* Road Home *cough*

Overall, it is worth binging on a weekend.

Lire davantage

Worth the binge

i absolutely loved this drama! it was so cute and it had me giggling, and hiding under the covers all night. the main male lead annoyed me in the beginning bc he was acting rude with the main female lead due to their past, but i love how the plot ended up making him actually realize what he did wrong and realize that he needed to make up for it. he showed great character development in my opinion. and for the main lead, i love the fact that she stood her ground, in her love life and her daily life. the show also adds the silliness of their son quanquan, and the assistant hardy. absolutely recommend this drama. everyone be sleeping on cdramas, but they live up to the romance hype that everyone wants!!!

Lire davantage

Temporary Review

First of all, I'll apologize in advance if my English is a little messy, because I'm not a native speaker.
this is also my first time writing a review.
this review is only temporary, considering that the drama is also not over.

but as far as I've watched so far, nothing has disappointed me and I'm still curious about how it'll end.

What I love about this story , Xin qi found out in the beginning of story that he had a child.
not like other dramas where it was only discovered in the middle of the series.

And don't forget the wang couple chemistry! There's no doubt about their chemistry!, I've liked them since the drama Once We Get Married!

I hope that this drama will maintain its plot and not create a climax with disappointing ending, like other dramas that start out good but end up disappointing.


hopefully!

Lire davantage

Don’t watch it.

You want a good C-Drama? Don’t watch this. The story is rewinding itself so much and up to 18~19 is where it goes more downhill than it is. Honestly I don’t know how people like this. Too repetitive, no story that actually works and the only sane person there is Quanquan. Min is the most dislikable character there and my poor boy Zin can’t say one thing before she says something outrageous and doesn’t let him explain. She may come off as a powerful fl that doesn’t need a ml but she literally does, her character redemption happens every other episode and Zin has to chase after her every time while having mistakenly every conversation be cut off so he looks like the bad guy. Let my bro free man 😭 Min is a bitch, Zin needs somebody who actually will trust him, and quanquan needs to shut Min up entirely. I HATE HER SO MUCHHH RAHHH (don’t recommend for ppl who have low patience)

Lire davantage