I see haters are already at work trying to malign this drama. Not just here, I'm seeing hate videos on Youtube too. Unfortunately, this happens in the world of Chinese dramas where producers are blackmailed into paying up, otherwise their dramas are defamed on social media. Apparently, the producer of this drama did not give in to blackmail, thus flaws were invented or those that are common in cdramas and would largely be ignored were exaggerated with this drama. The attacks got propagated to other sites including international ones.
But don't let haters keep you from enjoying this delightful rom-com.
Only For Love is about a beautiful and smart but rather quirky reporter, Zheng Shuyi (Bai Lu), and a hotshot mysterious young CEO, Shi Yan (Dylan Wang), who requests to be interviewed by Shuyi to publicize the vision of his venture capital company to help startups achieve their full potential. Shuyi has just caught her boyfriend cheating on her with a girl she mistook for Shi Yan's niece. Her boyfriend breaks up with her for the girl who promised to help him with his career. With her pride shaken, Shuyi decides to flirt with Shi Yan, seemingly to get back at her ex-boyfriend and to allow her to conduct a series of interviews with the much sought after bachelor CEO. Their constant meetings lead to romance. But what would Shi Yan feel when he knows the truth about Shuyi's reasons for pursuing him?
Shuyi is not the usual type of female lead in Chinese dramas. She is brilliant when it comes to work. But outside of it, she is somewhat clueless. Self-centered and shameless too. Her clumsy pursuit of Shi Yan is hilarious, showing how out of character she is at playing a seductress. But is it all play-acting? Might this seductress have fallen in love with her prey?
Shi Yan is being hailed on social media as the Chinese Mr. Darcy with his reserved and stoic demeanor as well as the dashing figure he cuts especially in a riding outfit. But he's also got a charm all his own. When he smirks at Shu Yi's clumsy attempts at seduction or when he looks at her with all the affection and sexual tension he oftentimes has a hard time keeping under wraps, your heart wouldn't be able to help dancing with excitement.
There might be some cultural challenges that could impact a non-Chinese viewer's understanding of the drama. For example, the joke about the cake in Shi Yan's uncle's dinner feast started with Shuyi mischievously texting "making love' to her ex-boyfriend's query about what she was doing. But when she noticed Shi Yan watching her composing the text, she changed her text to "making cake". The misunderstanding arose due to some texts not being subtitled. In addition, it seems "eat cake" has some sexual connotation in Chinese culture. So if you don't understand something in the story, try to join social media discussions and ask away.
All in all, this drama is pleasing to the eye and is quite entertaining. It starts off lighthearted but the characters turn out to be more than typical rom-com characters. These are multi-dimensional characters who are not all good but also not all bad. In short, they are human. Dissecting the characters and what makes them tick is fundamental to enjoying this delightful drama.
(Updated 12/04/2023 to add information about hate reviews)
