This one I've watched again. Love Annie and George together. Cast was great, sweet story with a happy ending. Watch with your honey or group of girlfriends, you will leave with a smile.
6 Reviews
I missTaiwanese Drama
volunteerlady7 October 2020
Fantastic show!
misswritercreates7 March 2019
You cannot go wrong with a drama starring George Hu and Annie Chen. A great delight! I loved them both in Love Now! And was super excited to find they were in this show. Great acting from the two and rest of cast. I really enjoyed this show and recommend it!
good chemistry, show gets better as it goes along
talonjensen13 August 2018
I won't recap the plot as you can read the summary. George and Annie have good chemistry (supposedly dating at the time) and play characters that are quite different from each other which helps with the drama that does get better as the show goes along, although I found the ending a little weak.
I'm reviewing this with respect to other TV shows from Taiwan, if I were to review it in comparison to U.S. TV shows I would give it a much lower rating mostly because of the poor production values and insipid writing. However, compared to other TV shows from Taiwan it is better than average and sometimes I like the "old fashioned" simple story lines of good vs evil that is common in this genre and was common in the U.S. up until the 1960's. Current U.S. shows punch you in the face with every character having major flaws and the whole story line being dark and getting darker.
So, if you like simple stories with a minimum of physical contact, very little blood and mostly obvious good vs evil, then you will probably like this show. But, be prepared to put up with some minor lighting, sound and silliness issues. Part of the reason I enjoy these shows is a chance to practice my Chinese, even though it is Mandarin it is quite distinct from mainland Mandarin and the English subtitles help when I miss something.
I'm reviewing this with respect to other TV shows from Taiwan, if I were to review it in comparison to U.S. TV shows I would give it a much lower rating mostly because of the poor production values and insipid writing. However, compared to other TV shows from Taiwan it is better than average and sometimes I like the "old fashioned" simple story lines of good vs evil that is common in this genre and was common in the U.S. up until the 1960's. Current U.S. shows punch you in the face with every character having major flaws and the whole story line being dark and getting darker.
So, if you like simple stories with a minimum of physical contact, very little blood and mostly obvious good vs evil, then you will probably like this show. But, be prepared to put up with some minor lighting, sound and silliness issues. Part of the reason I enjoy these shows is a chance to practice my Chinese, even though it is Mandarin it is quite distinct from mainland Mandarin and the English subtitles help when I miss something.
different from the rest....
fdgrazie21 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I am a fan of two main characters to begin with here; George and Jet, both playing in my second favorite cute series as brothers. This one topped it, however. My main eye roll is not the silly and unrealistic but the constant misunderstandings and typical evil ex girlfriend vs stupid results from the lack of rationality in main characters. This one rolled right over these normal half way point plot turners and I fell for the character played by Annie for just this reason. I love the plot and the acting from all the parents (all whom I've seen in other Taiwanese series and loved) are really wonderful actors. My husband and I truly enjoyed this one.
delightful and even gripping despite its initial silliness
bruce-samuelson23 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Nine stars. Warning: may contain spoilers. As of now, there are just 43 IMDb ratings, and this is only the second IMDb review, with the first on 12 Dec 2017 giving three stars. I need to explain my nine stars.
Like the first reviewer, I considered quitting early. It wasn't so much the formulaic, unrealistic story elements that bothered me. I've come to accept those, if greater qualities outshine them, in this genre of shows from E. Asia. Even the best TV series and movies have significant shortcomings. What put me off at first about Love Around was the show's sugary sweetness and the excessive silliness of some characters, such as Zhou Zhen's grandmother and his younger sister. Also, Xiao Shu's father seemed like a meaningless wallflower.
The episodes improved dramatically in the series' second half. Delightful side romances of support characters emerged. Family histories, secrets, tensions, and dynamics disrupted Zhou Zhen's and Xiao Shu's romance and threatened to split their families apart. Major conflicts arose between most main characters. They had to decide between revealing the truth or concealing it to protect those they loved, and between loving a person through open affection or feigned disaffection for a higher cause. Zhou Zhen and his ex-girlfriend both faced this choice, and his father and Xiao Shu's father each had to make agonizing decisions. Would they be petty, selfish, and deceitful, or noble, generous, and honest? I know that these are formulaic questions, and that an Asian TV series that starts as a shallow romantic comedy couldn't possibly answer them. But somehow, for me at least, it did. I also appreciated how each romance was understated physically, although Zhou's and Xiao's rare kisses were a bit too much so.
Like the first reviewer, I considered quitting early. It wasn't so much the formulaic, unrealistic story elements that bothered me. I've come to accept those, if greater qualities outshine them, in this genre of shows from E. Asia. Even the best TV series and movies have significant shortcomings. What put me off at first about Love Around was the show's sugary sweetness and the excessive silliness of some characters, such as Zhou Zhen's grandmother and his younger sister. Also, Xiao Shu's father seemed like a meaningless wallflower.
The episodes improved dramatically in the series' second half. Delightful side romances of support characters emerged. Family histories, secrets, tensions, and dynamics disrupted Zhou Zhen's and Xiao Shu's romance and threatened to split their families apart. Major conflicts arose between most main characters. They had to decide between revealing the truth or concealing it to protect those they loved, and between loving a person through open affection or feigned disaffection for a higher cause. Zhou Zhen and his ex-girlfriend both faced this choice, and his father and Xiao Shu's father each had to make agonizing decisions. Would they be petty, selfish, and deceitful, or noble, generous, and honest? I know that these are formulaic questions, and that an Asian TV series that starts as a shallow romantic comedy couldn't possibly answer them. But somehow, for me at least, it did. I also appreciated how each romance was understated physically, although Zhou's and Xiao's rare kisses were a bit too much so.
Take a Pass on this Convoluted and Highly Unrealistic Show!
spasek12 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I've been watching a number of Asian shows lately, and most of them are good, while a some are even terrific.
I will point out that I didn't make it past the 12th episode. I couldn't believe what I was watching. The show is extremely uneven with the characters, and so unrealistic with some of the story elements, that I'd finally had enough!
The story is about Xiao-Shu a young woman in her late twenties who runs her own radio station. She's just caught her boyfriend cheating on her, and she quickly befriends Zhou Zhen, the son of a notorious gangster who's no longer in the business.
Xiao-Shu, the daughter of a retired policeman, despises gangsters and anyone who takes advantage of others by abusing their own power. She uses her radio station to lash out against such people, and thus, makes an instant enemy of Zhou-Zhen's father.
Meanwhile, Zhou-Zhen takes a job at the radio station to see what he can do to alleviate Xiao-Shu's feelings toward his father (even though she had no idea that they're related), and obviously, to also be closer to her.
This Taiwanese drama/comedy is highly formulaic, taking on the same character-types and plot developments that are in nearly every other Taiwanese drama. I've watched "Fall in Love With Me" and "Murphy's Law of Love," both of which are predictable but infinitely superior to this jumbled mess.
At one point, while Xiao-Shu and Zhou-Zhen are up on a mountain, a drunk driver flies down the path, nearly hitting Xiao-Shu. She hears a crash, seconds later, only to discover that the driver is drunk, and he's just hit a small boy, who lies unconscious on the side of the road. For a moment Xiao-Shu stares at the scene. Any normal person in a story that makes any kind of sense, would have had Xiao-Shu crying out with distress and rushing to help the boy. Instead, she completely ignores the boy and charges at the driver, who is trying to flee the scene. At one point, she actually opens the back door and jumps in.
That was it for me! Nobody with any brains at all, or with any sense of concern and worry over a child being hit by a car, would ignore the child completely and jump into a car to stop the driver! Nobody! Xiao-Shu had her phone with her, and she could just as easily have snapped a few pictures. Instead, we get a convoluted and contrived scene so that Zhou-Zhen is forced to help her. I ended it right there, barely five minutes into the episode. It was too amateurish to bear. How can anyone, calling themselves a "director" or anyone calling themselves a "writer" come up with such a mess?
If you're looking for something of much better quality, I recommend the two shows that I previously mentioned. The best drama I've seen yet out of the Asian market is still Korea's, "Descendants of the Sun."
Avoid this mess! It's just a waste of time.
I will point out that I didn't make it past the 12th episode. I couldn't believe what I was watching. The show is extremely uneven with the characters, and so unrealistic with some of the story elements, that I'd finally had enough!
The story is about Xiao-Shu a young woman in her late twenties who runs her own radio station. She's just caught her boyfriend cheating on her, and she quickly befriends Zhou Zhen, the son of a notorious gangster who's no longer in the business.
Xiao-Shu, the daughter of a retired policeman, despises gangsters and anyone who takes advantage of others by abusing their own power. She uses her radio station to lash out against such people, and thus, makes an instant enemy of Zhou-Zhen's father.
Meanwhile, Zhou-Zhen takes a job at the radio station to see what he can do to alleviate Xiao-Shu's feelings toward his father (even though she had no idea that they're related), and obviously, to also be closer to her.
This Taiwanese drama/comedy is highly formulaic, taking on the same character-types and plot developments that are in nearly every other Taiwanese drama. I've watched "Fall in Love With Me" and "Murphy's Law of Love," both of which are predictable but infinitely superior to this jumbled mess.
At one point, while Xiao-Shu and Zhou-Zhen are up on a mountain, a drunk driver flies down the path, nearly hitting Xiao-Shu. She hears a crash, seconds later, only to discover that the driver is drunk, and he's just hit a small boy, who lies unconscious on the side of the road. For a moment Xiao-Shu stares at the scene. Any normal person in a story that makes any kind of sense, would have had Xiao-Shu crying out with distress and rushing to help the boy. Instead, she completely ignores the boy and charges at the driver, who is trying to flee the scene. At one point, she actually opens the back door and jumps in.
That was it for me! Nobody with any brains at all, or with any sense of concern and worry over a child being hit by a car, would ignore the child completely and jump into a car to stop the driver! Nobody! Xiao-Shu had her phone with her, and she could just as easily have snapped a few pictures. Instead, we get a convoluted and contrived scene so that Zhou-Zhen is forced to help her. I ended it right there, barely five minutes into the episode. It was too amateurish to bear. How can anyone, calling themselves a "director" or anyone calling themselves a "writer" come up with such a mess?
If you're looking for something of much better quality, I recommend the two shows that I previously mentioned. The best drama I've seen yet out of the Asian market is still Korea's, "Descendants of the Sun."
Avoid this mess! It's just a waste of time.
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