Missed opportunity for a great drama

Like most people are saying, I watched this for the pairing of Dylan Wang and Bailu. While they make a visually pleasing pair, I just didn't love this story. I also felt like the weak writing, directing and overall plot put a damper on both of these actor's abilities. We know both of them are capable of better because we've seen it many times before. They could've done a lot better with this drama in my opinion. Shiyan is a robot. The fact that a smart, strong, confident journalist like Shuyi would actually fall for a character like him just doesn't resonate with me. I get it that she was pretending to like him in the beginning for personal gains but he was so completely rude, cold and lifeless in their interactions. Even when he started to do little sweet things for her, it wasn't charming because he wouldn't talk or explain himself at all. Dylan has a great smile. I don't think we saw more than a smirk this whole drama. Also, her antics were cringey and it took forever for them to get together, just to break up soon after and drag that out too. All of the characters they brought in to create jealousy were not entertaining and annoying. Her ex bf seemed unnecessary and a waste of screen time. But the romantic scenes were passionate and well done, better than some other dramas people are saying, but not enough to save the whole show unfortunately. There were 2 side CPs, her best friend w Shiyan's best friend and Shiyan's niece w Shiyan's other friend/love rival for Shuyi/professor. Shuyi's best friend is emotionally damaged and thinks she is clever with men but she's not and it takes her the whole show to admit she loves the guy. The niece relentlessly pursues the professor, like stalker creepy and eventually gives him stockholm syndrome and he falls in love. Didn't care for these couples either although they were all stunningly gorgeous. That seems to be a theme of this show. Let's watch visually appealing people get together and say and do dumb things. The side story with the technology stuff was pretty cool and well done. I don't understand all of it but it seems like they put more effort into developing the career/business aspects of the story than the actual romance. They really took the lemons they had and squeezed them down the drain with this drama instead of making lemonade.

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Not terrible but definitely not a favorite

I watched this for Esther Yu. In LBFAD she started out annoying but grew on me bc she eventually matured. I thought it would be the same with this drama. But she stayed babyish and kind of annoying having very little character growth. Also the main plot is supposed to be about her being in a game and her having to "stay in character" that just stopped after episode 7. That was what made it interesting. And the main couple just wasn't completely convincing. There is definitely chemistry between the two but the romance was just okay. These two were together in Moonlight and I thought they were amazing in that drama. But here, I just wasn't sold. There were cute moments between them but all she did was cry instead of confessing how she felt when the moment came. And then, boom?, we're supposed to believe they're in a committed relationship headed for marriage? And then after that they acted more like buddies than a couple. The best acting and most emotionally moving scene for me was when Mu Yao found out Mu Sheng's true identity. And then the ending was just nonsense. Why make him the author? And then why not show them back together in reality after that or at least meeting? And what happened to everyone else?

What I did like was the friendship theme and how she changed the other character's fates by creating a bond between the 4 of them. Ding Yuxi's acting was fantastic per usual. Mu Sheng is still a great character with great potential. I believe it was simply the loose/lazy writing here that made the story fall flat for me. Not the actors' fault at all. Despite being babyish, I still find Esther hilarious and entertaining and will still watch her any day. She always does a great job with delivering her funny lines and her facial expressions. The 2nd leads were decent. Cuicui was better. The production was great. They did a n awesome job with the costumes, fight scenes, setting & effects and the music tied it all together. Nothing bad to say about any of that either.

Overall it was watchable until the end. No boring moments. But probably won't rewatch it and definitely not a top favorite drama.

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If you need a mental pick-me-up watch this drama!

I started this drama with 0 expectations on recommendation. I was hooked from episode 1. The first 5 episodes of this drama were so funny they had me laughing out loud so much that I had to keep rewinding because I would miss the next scenes. When Li Wei first met Yin Zheng and thought he was dying soon and prepping all the gifts for him was just comedic gold. Also, this couple pairing is perfect. LW is very independent, sweet and a total foodie. YZ is a genius striving to gain recognition and power in the palace but he is also humble about it, determined to make something of himself based on his own hardwork and honesty. What these two have in common is that kindness is second nature to them and they will always put helping others, especially each other, before helping themselves. They slowly start to depend on each other and become inseparable by the end. Watching these two strong characters fall in love was like watching a piece of artwork come together. YZ definitely fell first but when LW falls she actually explains why to her best friend. She loves doing the simple things with him like eating, reading, daily life etc...it was soooo sweet. They also give you enough romantic treats, such as a kiss by ep8, to make the slow burn worth paying attention to.

Acting:....This is my first time watching Tian Xiwei and I found her acting surprisingly good. She plays cute & silly but not too whiney. And her emotional scenes were heart wrenching when she cried. She's also undeniably and strikingly pretty so I found it ridiculous when they called her plain in the beginning... I don't think Bai Jingting's full talent was on display here but he made the character of YZ come to life and made him more loveable than any other actor could. He also has a nice voice and isn't bad to look at so that helps. Honestly, I find it more impressive sometimes when the two leads don't seem to like each other off camera, but are still able to create strong and convincing chemistry on screen. When watching the BTS you can tell they are comfortable and friendly with each other but they keep their interactions professional. There doesn't seem to be any BTS attraction or extra playfulness going on between them like you can observe with a lot of other BTS from other dramas.

Side characters:....This show is considered in the "feel-good, lighthearted, disney-ish" categories. There are no real love rivals for either the FL or ML, which is refreshing. Also there are many, many supporting characters of which none are really more important than the others but all still pretty loveable. All of LW's girls are awesome, especially Shan Guan Jing, Dong Hai Tang and Yuan Ying. Yes, Yuan Ying does come in as a potential issue for the main CP but they squash that immediately. As for the men the 3rd & 5th lord are both ridiculous people but sooo hilarious. In the end their sincerity and care towards their brother and their wives does make you love them. But my absolute favorite has to be Su Shen. He's not just YZ's butler but he's also like his parent and his number#1 fan. But this man is the definition of funny without trying to be. In some scenes he doesn't even need to be talking and I found myself laughing at his expressions and antics.

Main plot:...YZ's fight to climb the political ladder and LW's fight for women's rights are the main focuses of this story. Their goals often intertwine and bring them closer in the end. Both of these plots were both interesting enough but I could really care less about the women opening a restaurant together or YZ creating new currency. That got a bit draggy. But other than that I still do support the themes and there was justice for everyone in the end. The main villain is the 2nd lord and YZ's older brother. He is sexist, greedy and has no conscience. He's also really dumb and gets outsmarted by YZ, his own wife and his concubine constantly. He gets what he deserves in the end, which you could easily predict given his stupidity and predictability. As far as villains go, he's not the greatest or most memorable but it works for a light-hearted drama like this.

Overall, this drama is worth rewatching because it just makes you happy inside, which is more credit to the actors/actresses than the story but who cares. Also the visuals are stunning from the costumes, setting and the food looks delicious. SPOILER>>>there is a VERY happy ending and that made me VERY happy.

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DRAMA HACK: Watch this AFTER Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

This drama has been on my radar but I never got around to starting it. Wound up watching Love Game last month and it left a lot to be desired. The drama hack is to watch Moonlight AFTER you watch LGIEF because then you can just pretend that Ziqi and Miaomiao's relationship just continues in the real world ;P Even the bunny shaped apple slices make an appearance in both!

Actually, in all fairness, I do believe that this drama is good all on it's own. Ding Yuxi is such a dedicated and talented actor. He has one of the most expressive faces in cdramas. While I didn't care for LGIEF story that much, his acting is undeniably great in both of these dramas. You can tell he definitely puts his all into his acting and truly became Zhou Chuan and Mu Sheng. As for Esther Yu, I really love her singing voice and her comedy is always spot on. No one else can deliver the facial expressions that she perfectly nails every time. She just falls short in the emotional scenes in every drama for me. I think it's because she does so well in the funny/silly scenes that I don't take her seriously when she's trying to be sad. But her chemistry with Ding Yuxi is undeniable and I love watching them together all the same.

What surprised me with this drama is how engaging it was. I think what made me procrastinate on watching this was that the story didn't seem that interesting but the reviews were all good. The workplace story wasn't boring to me at all. I had no prior knowledge of the publishing process before and how intense of a job being an editor could be. The writing and pace were both perfect in my opinion. Every character's growth was both substantial and realistic, especially ZC and his father. Their ending scene almost made me cry. The balance between the comedy and romance while also portraying their career stories was done really well.

I also credit the actors for keeping it interesting. ZC was your typical grumpy tsundere but I felt myself siding with him. He hated most people but loved his dog. I think a lot of us are like this! To me, he was just an introvert and his reasons for disliking the people he did were actually justified because a lot of people in his industry were just trying to take advantage of him. I also really liked that Chu Li came off as sweet & silly but she was actually pretty straightforward, fearless and intelligent. Watching their love grow was so sweet from start to finish. The more you see them together the more it becomes apparent that they are made for each other. When Chu Li is in trouble at work or sad about anything, ZC scrambles to do anything he can to make it right and it's the cutest/sweetest thing. Throughout most of the show ZC is pretty strong and independent when it comes to his career but when the ghostwriting scandal comes up you can see how much Chu Li loves him because she cries more than he does when she sees him breakdown and become sad and vulnerable. Neither of them are perfect people but they really do make a perfect couple.

It's also nice to see that their are no other serious competing love interests for either of them. ZC only has eyes for Chu Li from the beginning and rolls his eyes at any other female attention. Chu Li only gets excited over the small things with ZC and gets so giggly when he does anything for her. Although his best friend seems to find her cute and interesting and openly confesses to wanting to date her, he's really doing it to agitate ZC and scare him into showing his true feelings. Also, Chu Li's reaction is more horror than her being happy or flattered and she quickly tells him she likes someone else.

Side stories: It's very rare that I don't find the side stories boring but I actually didn't fast forward these scenes. They perfectly weaved in Chu Li's efforts at building her career into the story and made it relevant to her relationship with ZC. The second male lead is also lovable and his love story is just as sweet, that and his bromance with ZC. I actually found him more likeable in Moonlight than as Liu Fuyi in LGIEF. He was adorable, caring and way more expressive as Jiang Yu Chueng imo. Liu Fuyi was too stoic for me to really care about.

The ending: The ending was beautifully done as well. I won't go into detail but they did a great job with closing every character's story. I also love that Er Gou stayed a relevant character in every episode and they didn't phase the pet out after some time like I've seen in other dramas. This drama was tasteful, heartwarming and satisfying from start to finish. Definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the two leads and definitely recommend watching it AFTER Love Game in Eastern Fantasy.

-----Favorite moments:
- when ZC gets drunk the night before and Chu Li teases him the next morning, making him think he proposed.
-also the following scene and how mad ZC gets when JYC is confessing to Chu Li
-when ZC finally gets his revenge on Chu Li when she gets drunk the night before and he makes her think they kissed. The scene in the living room is comedic gold and just spectacular acting from both of them.
-ZC & JYC's "big fight". Their friendship is as hilarious as it is endearing.
-ZC internet searching how to apologize LOL
-ZC internet searching how to not break up on vacation LMAO. He's so emotionally inept but his efforts are too adorable.
-ZC is doing research at Yuan Yue and Chu Li tasks him with listening to pitches from new writers. His reaction to the 1st horrible writer had me in tears. Needless to say the task was taken from him after that.

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