Wu Ru Fu Hua (2023)

Totally underrated urban professional life romance revenge and crime story

It had me sitting up over here in Europe every night, combing the net for the next airing of new episodes.

Although it took some getting used to the FL squeeky voice I do love the main couple and found them convincing since episode one.

The couple fights huge social gaps. This drama actually shows a piece of how some of the working class people in China live. The expectances they face. From their families and friends. The shallowness they are met with when it comes to money high society people.

Wang Ju An, heir to a share of a group called Ansheng is called back to China to be Anshengs new CEO at Shanghai.

He faces internal and external oponents, has to clean up and rationalise overcome company structures, eliminate devious employees.... and accidentally meets the woman he falls in love with.

Su Mo, a uni graduate who messed up her own brilliant carreer opportunities by taking the blame for her former boyfriend's cheating in exams, can only make ends meet as a sales person at a dress shop. When she loses that job she applies at Ansheng. And finds herself rejected at first.

As she is upright she faces Wang Ju An and explains. But neither humiliates herself. Nor ask for extra favors. Impressed - nobody dares to stand up to him- (which he neeeds so badly!) he hires her. And that's how it all begins.

Bad acting, other reviews say. WHAT bad acting? It's Vengo Gao at his best. Sporty, nonchalant refined society man... so convincing. Foil fencing like a mad devil! Jumping the carpet in 3 leaps just to mark a point. Competitive, bold, secretive, scheming... vulnerable, loving, protective... it's all there.

The rest of the cast is not less convincing. FL stands her ground when CEO is being "emotionally stupid". She gets his feet back to the ground. And stands by her miserable beaten and framed man, when he is at his lowest.

They are toooo ollld... reviers say!
"Crap they are!" I say. To be a CEO at a huge company it takes a certain age. The Cdramas China is so used to with teenage CEO's and giggeling secretaries are much, but neither interesting, nor convincing. Nor real.

"The Outsider" shows mature actors, cinvincing characters... who sometimes do act foolishly. But WHO of us... doesn't do that every now and then?

I like the lead couples interactions. Second leads are funny oposites. Until tragedy hits. Wang Jian is starred in such an endearing manner... everybody would like to have a little brother like him. Developing from lazy beans into determined young man. Deeply in love with the brainer cousin of Su Mo.

I loved this drama. Do give it a try. To see Vengo Gao have mimics, smirking, sneering, being shy, being coy, being angy, menacing, concentrated, cooking, fencing, DANCING, (yes, he dances!), tearing up, (yes, he is emotional here, showing the entire bandwith of emotions involved with the grandezza of a great actor), going down on one knee, is already worth it all.

The way the actors are being dressed was great. Wang Ju An can wear anything, from that needle stripe business suit to his fencing outfit... and last but not least that sand colored outfit with those matching Chelsey boots... he wears them all to perfection. Cudos to Vengo Gao being an international Haute Couture model.

To me this is a "watch and repeat". Definitely.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Lire davantage

True bond between brothers is not by blood

What a story full of anxieties and surprises. I like modern dramas like this with strong female and male lead characters, Su Mo and Ju An. Don't let eps 1-16 make you think you should drop this drama. At first that's what I was about to do but thought I should give it a try to understand why the title was The Outsider, I was very curious. Having seen all of the individual character development, I understood why. IMO script writing was good on this, I have seen urban related dramas like strong female centered plots, and this is the reason why I continue liking them. The supporting male leads are also interesting to see how their characters mature in the story. The only thing I disliked was the villainess who's always in all Chinese dramas, scheming to get Ju An away from Su Mo, didn't need this in the story. Also flawed early proposal or love confession from Peter to Su Mo was ridiculous. I also liked that Mo Wei Qing was enlightened. I thought she would be the weak mistress until the end. I'm a fan of Vengo, he's a good actor. Not a perfect 10 score but still, I will recommend this if you like this genre.

Lire davantage

Strictly based on my preferences I rate this very highly. Here’s why:

The story here is a plot line seen way too many. CEO, cold, strict, recently returned. Woman is poor, tries to make in competitive business world. They meet, clash….yes! That’s the premise of this one, with the schemers in background, family secrets, etc. I’ve seen so many idol cast dramas of this sort the plots become very predictable. The difference for all these business/office genre is the cast and makeup of the story. The cast!

The main leads are older. Depending on individual watchers, as an older person this was a refreshing change. (not that I don’t watch idol star casts). Wei Gao (Wang Juan) and Zhang Qi (Su Mo) as leads were nicely paired. Their chemistry could be better but they did well enough i didn’t mind it. It’s just a nice change. Side characters who were the leads supporters are just as awesome. They complimented the leads by way of friendship. The supporting younger cast, Tianlu (Ren You) and Wang Jian (Zhang Mo) added depth as they were the peacemakers, the alternative voice of reason. They were great. My all time favorite though is Zhong Sheng (Zhao Yao) She was a strong character that portrayed a young woman who studies hard, and expresses and follow suit with wise judgment.

I enjoyed this a lot and really think you will too.

Lire davantage

Midway through the series (Review)

*This drama is for fellows who seek an urban, visionary, and pragmatically-driven plot, featuring a cast of mature-looking East Asian actors and actresses.*

I am currently eagerly binge-watching this series and eagerly anticipating the release of each new episode. From the episodes I've seen thus far, I can confidently say this drama is considered the "better" Chinese series you can watch and eagerly look forward to.

Most Chinese dramas in the romantic genre tend to cast young East Asian actors and actresses who, in hindsight, appear significantly younger than their actual age. While I usually don't concern myself with this, I have gradually found this disparity to be absurd when it comes to portraying love, sexuality, and adult themes with extremely youthful-looking adults.
Although I am aware that many of these actors and actresses are already adults, I often find myself struggling with this perception.

When I discovered this series, I was initially intrigued by the choice of actors and actresses who appeared more mature-looking. Finally, I thought, they are casting individuals who have a more age-appropriate appearance.
I understand that everyone has a different perception of facial features, and some may still find these cast members either "too young" or "too old" for their scripted roles. However, despite individual perspectives, this series aligned perfectly with my personal taste and preferences.

Furthermore, in most series, I rarely focus on supporting roles other than the main characters. However, this drama opened my eyes and captivated my attention toward the supporting roles and their individual stories. Consequently, I did not skip or find any parts of this drama dull or uninteresting.

Overall, I am excited to see what the upcoming episodes have in store!

Lire davantage

nothing great about this drama

it started on a good note. although I find the female lead very odd and also her voice is very odd, she was shown as an impulsive and hot tempered woman in the beginning and then I thought she wud be shown maturing as the drama progressed. I jumped from watching 13th episode to directly 28th as I really did not feel the storyline progressing in a good way. it basically boiled down to the stereotype drama. I found the qing and cong interesting. also tialin proposing as soon as she had a break up is just something which is so stupid. no person falls into another relationship so soon. they take time to get over the previous one. I want to ask the writer about this if they wud have done the same thing. the storyline turn into ridiculous thing after few episodes. not worth the watch and the time

Lire davantage

CEO drama with mature cast

This is not an idol drama but a mature one that's why some people didn't like it. Vengo Gao was the right fit to play the ML or the CEO in this drama but Zhang Yu Qi not that fit to played the FL who is 27 years old because her look is too mature to be a 27 years old (imo), if they set the FL age to 30 it will be more acceptable. The acting of all the cast is really good and the chemistry between the lead is there. I really like the bromance and bickering between the 3 brothers.

The story is fast pace and it balance between business, family problems and romance but there is a little downside when they played the love triangle trope where the chairwoman niece comeback from abroad and try to take away the ML from the FL and caused unnecessary brake up.

Overall I really enjoy this drama and I hope they produce more drama like this.

Lire davantage

Excellent Office drama with good pace and twists... only one miss... No passion!

It was refreshing to see a CFO of the correct age in this story.... Real CFO's are never 20 something... and Real business is conducted like this.. with ups and downs, investigations and constant work/ adapt and move to the next idea.

This is what I liked about this story.... it was real... even the gossip between employees was real.. it happens like this.

Gao Wei Guang (Wang Ju An (CFO)) is very good. As CFO, he is hard, calculating but fair. As a man being in love for first time, he is simply... adorable. Having said this... it is hard not to compare him with his role as emperor in Eternal Love. I missed his long white hair look... probably this will haunt him for the rest of his career.
While he is impeccable actor... I failed to see love emotions in him.
At a certain point, when problems arises, he is away from his loved one... Sorry but if you are in love of someone, and that person leaves you, I want to see you devastated, crying, angry, etc.... Yes he had a bit of that.. but I was not convinced.

Zhang Yu Qi (Su Mo) is OK. I liked how she portraits a working, intelligent woman, with real emotions and passion for her work. But 0 passion for Ju'An. I mean.. even if you are in your late 20's.. or 30's., or 40's.. love is real, exciting, groundbreaking. She was very leveled.... no passion there.

I mean... Love story really starts after episode 20.. there you see an emotional development very real. I liked that.. It was not like "we get together.. THE END"... the writers let us get into their day to day world. It was nice and refreshing.

HOWEVER, I mean.... 38 episodes and I only saw 1 kiss. Seriously?

The supplement stories around them were also interesting and added to the whole story. I loved all of them. And some of them were more courageous under their circumstances. This is a nice plus.

So, overall...I think this is a benchmark on how office love dramas should look like. Real, with a hint of goofiness' and yes, misunderstandings and issues came up but were sorted out relatively quickly and successfully.

BUT, you can not have 2 "mature" individuals falling in love with a deep connection in a platonic way, without any chemistry.
That is the big miss here.... No butterflies in the stomach between main leads.

Lire davantage