HangInThere2023

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)

Something interesting is going on. Not only am I watching historical events in this drama, something historical might also be happening relating to its broadcast.

This drama follows a group of students from top universities in China who witnessed their schools being bombed or occupied by the Japanese during the second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945. They followed their teachers south to establish the Changsha Temporary University and eventually the National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming.

I'm not a fan of war movies/dramas but this completely engaged my attention with its well-recreated historical events and interesting characters, including famous historical figures like poet Wen Yi Duo and Tsinghua University president Mei Yiqi.

This drama can foster patriotism from Chinese citizens and expatriates. Might the intended audience just be the Chinese community then? Might this be the reason no official subtitles are provided, no matter how much international viewers have been clamoring for them? The timing is curious, considering what's going on in the world today.

What makes it doubly interesting is the reception from its intended audience.

As an international viewer struggling to understand the Youtube auto-translation of the drama, I've been deeply moved by the powerful historical portrayals like the bombings of Nankai University and Changsha, the passion of the teachers and students to serve their country and the depiction of how much residents' lives changed during the war. I've been crying since the second episode.

Yet, comments on Chinese social media are more concerned about the airtime the male lead is getting compared to other characters, the love triangle, deleted scenes, and other gripes about the production that, considering the subject matter, are petty and nit-picky.

Nitpicking is a common strategy to sabotage a show. Or, might this be reflecting the Chinese people's low interest in being dragged into a war at present? It seems like they are more interested in fantasy dramas and other forms of escapism than having their patriotism stoked.

I found this movie as engaging as other western-made ensemble movies like Love Actually. Entertaining, poignant and funny, it presents different kinds of love - between a commitment phobic businessman (Mark Chao) and a single mother (Wei Zhou), between the businessman and the single mother's son, between the businessman and a beautiful model (Qi Shu), between the model and her sugar daddy (Doze Niu), between the model and a hotel server (Ethan Juan), between the hotel server and his sister (Ivy Yi-han Chen), between the sister and her best friend (Amber Kuo), between the best friend and her boyfriend (Eddie Peng) and between the best friend and her father who is the model's sugar daddy.

As a commitment-phobic jerk with a hidden soft heart, Mark Chao engaged my attention the most. People's Magazine, your next Sexiest Man Alive is right here. If you need more proof, check him out in Eternal Love (Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom).