Love Designer (2020)

An interesting first half and a draggy second half.

It's kind of funny that I actually enjoyed the drama for 26 episodes before finally realizing that I was watching it for the sake of watching it.
What I absolutely loved about the drama was the leads and their interactions with their best friends and siblings. They were axtual, mature individuals. Particularly, the lead Zhou Fang, who tried to put up against her mom's wishes for a quick marriage and actually wanting to settle down by herself first. Song Lin's relationship with his sister was another highlight of the show.
I loved Zhou Fang's perseverance.
Then came the business thingies, coupled with product placements. I actually liked the second couple at first, then got annoyed with their screentime and draggy stuff. Overall, it could've been a good drama, but wasted a ton of episodes on subplots. Pretty sure that it was a "me" issue and not the drama's fault. But, all I can remember now about this drama is the hotpot and coconut drink. Which is definitely not a good sign.

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It had everything but lost the charm.

I completed 32 episodes of this drama but decided to put it on hold, as I doubt I will be able to finish it. Initially, I loved the drama because both the female lead (FL) and male lead (ML) had strong and mature characters, and the storyline was simple yet enjoyable. However, the main issue was that the drama progressed too slowly, lacking enough hooks to keep the audience engaged in every episode. Even skipping some episodes didn't affect the overall plot. Additionally, the side story involving the second male lead (SML) and second female lead (SFL) lost its charm over time, and the writers seemed to be running out of concepts. Despite this, I continued watching due to the chemistry between the ML and FL, which was the only entertaining aspect. However, even their chemistry was not enough to motivate me to complete the drama.

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Let’s hear it for the immortal foxes in collaboration. Both leads have played rulers of the immortal fox tribe in different productions. Coincidence? I think…. Well, ok, probably.
What it has going for it:

1. Dilraba. Gone are the vapid expressions and cheese (Sweet Dreams) or dull, lifeless characterizations (Flame’s Daughter). She has blossomed into the epitome of elegance and grace in this. Well done, lady, I knew you had it in you.

2. The funny moments. For instance, the SFL calling the SML a misogynist. Let’s be honest, how many times have we wanted to hear a girl just say it???? (As an aside, there is only a token love triangle in this, so tbh I consider the SFL/ SML to be the MFL’s bff and her boyfriend. They really didn’t need a love triangle at all, but if they can interject a cliche, well goddammit you just know they’re going to.) Johnny’s woebegone expression when he’s ostracized during dinner. There are a few, those are just my two favorites.

3. It’s just ….watchable. So far there’s only one cringy “I can’t look at the tv right now” moment so far. Which brings me to...

What it does not have going for it:

4. The choices.
From the ringtone that absolutely everyone has on their phones (what the actual eff?), which gets monotonous to the point of wanting to throw all their cells to the ground and destroy them in a stomping fit of agonized rage.
To my cringe moment: the first kiss. Which had me run the gamut from being avidly interested in seeing how this romance would hit its flashpoint, to desperately wanting a literary, cinematographic and directorial do-over. It was so. Very. Horrifying.

5. Now I realize I have to take culture into account. After 50+ Asian dramas, that’s just a given. And really, Asia seems only 50 or so years behind in the women's equality movement, which just goes a a snail's pace anywhere. However. It seems glaringly obvious in this particular show that Chinese women are being actively encouraged to think of little more than clothing, jewelry, kids and their love lives. For instance, reading between the not so subtle lines, it seems it’s ok for a woman to be rich, but only if it's left to you by your parents... and you’re not particularly good at business anyway. It’s better for you to be more concerned with getting a worthy boyfriend, or taking care of the kids. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a confident, alpha male kind of man. But I want to see one that can handle having an equally capable woman at his side without demeaning her. I will say that I noticed the writing seemed to change periodically. It’s as if it was written in a committee, and there was one lone frustrated woman determinedly trying to write a semblance of independent feminine spirit into the otherwise male-dominated script. It comes, and then it goes.

Otherwise, this is a fun, cheerful and easy to watch show as long as you don’t get sucked into the subliminal messages, or are having fun analytically observing them.

Edit: Taking this down a star for the increasingly obnoxious and excessive product placement. It starts to become one long advertisement after a while :(

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The drama is really good to watch even the cast is also good. The chemistry between Huang Jingyu and Dilraba really awesome and I think they use the real voice isn't it??? and Huang Jingyu character is very cute in this drama and Dilraba's acting really really good. I start to know her in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms drama so I follow her until now. For the main lead, I really like his acting in Moonshine and Valentine so when I saw this drama, I really can't wait to see their acting. By the way, I really like the phone ringtone in this drama Xd. And I really really like motorbike so this drama really my taste. I really look forward for this drama. I really recommended this drama to everyone and good to watch in this quarantine season

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I have watched a lot of high rated dramas, but this drama is just different, it actually deserves to be high rated. the acting, the plot, the music, everything fits together. I am hooked up with it. never imagined myself to be this attached to a drama. I have also recommended it to my sisters and friends and they also liked. I really wanna thank those who also gave it such a high rating cuz it really deserve to be from the top dramas. I hope those who are searching for a drama to watch to not just ignore it because its new and there are only 12-13 episodes still. So basically I like everything about it, it reflects our society right now. as for the music, I find it quite matching with the mood of the drama. the actors are just on a different level. Dilraba's acting is just so good, to be honest this is my first drama for her. same for the main lead, I never watched a drama for any of the actors in Love Designer. I like the twists in there, they give you a feeling that anything could happen to the characters and not everything goes easy on them. its also good when both characters dont date quickly cuz it will lack a bit of rationality, so them not dating quickly is good to the viewers; make them feel like its more real.

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Very awesome love story

This is my first time to see that several viewers gave a perfect score to a certain drama. Thanks to these guys who made me decide to watch Love Designer. I could not give comments because it was all said by these co viewers. Actually, I haven't finished it yet but I felt that each episodes seems a refresher to me that makes me want to continue watching it. This drama really deserves a perfect score. May I know if this drama garnered high viewers rating in China?
1. Preety Rose
2. Shunine
3. Rachel Yee
4. annieyongannie
5. embyss
6. Ewatomi Abioduran
7. Daegon
8. Ressy1227
9. Yaman Asahi
10. tieayulianti

Thank you very much and god bless....

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This show is far from perfect, but the chemistry between the main leads were great. I literally watched like first quarter of the drama two times, because I watched by myself and then rewatched with friends.

The story was a little repetitive, because you get the main leads going through difficult times with their career, then it gets resolved and rinse & repeat kind of deal. But I think they did it for a reason, because it wanted to give us a message to never give up on your dreams and to keep moving forward when there's difficulties in life. Then you got the back and forth between the main couple and second couple, the moms were super annoying & overbearing, and the business stuff was so boringgggg.

But I must admit the acting was good, and I liked how the ending made me feel along with the moments I loved. And I like how they didn't force everyone to be coupled with someone. I don't regret watching this drama at all, but I really wish it wasn't this long, because most of it was focusing on the business aspect and shifting focus to second couple.

Overall, I gave it a slightly higher rating than my normal standard, because I'm able to overlook all the annoying stuff & it's really for how much I enjoyed the chemistry between the main leads. Also, I didn't watch the show in 1.5x speed or skip scenes.

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Yes, I think this drama portrays a realistic love story between two people who have had the chance to meet coincidentally and fall in love gradually. It is realistic in the sense that the emotions of the 4 main characters have been portrayed raw. They really happen to ordinary people. If we take out the fact that Song Lin and Zhou Fang both own their own companies and brands, the situations and circumstances that happened within their relationship is so factual that even an ordinary person like me can relate. The love stories in the drama are so simple that you'll get hooked with how they are entangled with each other. It is not overly done, nor overly dramatic. It has the right balance of getting you excited for the next episode and putting you at the edge of your seat during the whole thing. I'd give it a 10/10, if not only for the music that I think is lacking a bit. All in all, it is a good drama and the only one that has the best proposal scene this year, so far.

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IN LOVE WITH THIS SHOW

I WATCHED THIS SHOW LIKE 4 TIMES.
I RECCOMMEND YOU WATCH FOR URSELF.
I CAN WATCH ANYTHING BOTH LEADS ACT IN FOR ME BECAUSE IT COULD NEVER BE TERRIBLE.
I LOVED THE STORY OF THE LEAD FEMALE BECOMING STRONG AND DESIGNING AND NOT ALWAYS ACCEPT HELP FROM THE MALE LEAD.
THE SCHOOL LEADS WERE GREAT AS WELL.
THE SECOND FEMALE WAS TERRIBLE AND MANIPULATIVE AND ONT GET ME STARTED ON THE SCUM THAT WAS THE SECOND MALE.
THE LEAD FEMALES PARENTS WERE COMICAL ESPECIALLY THE MOTHER WHEN SHE KEPT INTERRUPTING HER RELATIONSHIP.
I LOVED THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE LEAD FEMALE AND HER BEST FRIEND.

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Overall, this show was a good one. You think it's your basic business/work life relationship but in the end it's truly not. You had one big corporate big shot and one small business both trying to make it in the world and the FL and ML met in a unique way that you would say is fate and the rest is history really. They go through trials and tribulations because that's what to be expected but the the thing about this drama is the theme is extremely mature and so it makes it really satisfying, but you'll get annoyed by side stories, the secondary characters and how fast things move in some aspects and how some people kind of just disappear so you're like meh.. but overall, it's a good show. I really liked the aspect of no huge complications, they go through some really adult things, such as misunderstandings but nothing major, they go through work overcoming their personal lives apart from work lives and that's just all really real when it comes to a relationship, how to balance work and play and etc.

I loved Dilraba and Johnny together; their chemistry was outrageous, this show was fantastic and overall you really commit to it because of them. They're great together and the skinship was spot on in this so it makes it worth it all. I also liked the sismace going on, it was sweet, but it fell short because I didn't care much for..anyone else except for the sister and nephew really. lol.

Music was nice and creative, definitely a decent ost.

Overall, I wouldn't rewatch it because it was a little long for me, but in the end, I'm glad I watched it, it was a good watch, took over some days, the kisses and skinship and romance was everything and more to me and you really just crave more and the story wasn't bad at all, nothing crazy, it was just really mature, I liked how they would talk things through and nothing was too overdramatic, it was a nice change of pace for me. But the downfall was of course, for some reason, in Chinese dramas specifically that I've seen, the secondary characters get so much screen time, you would think the show was about them and Dilraba nd Johnny were the side characters. lmao

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Great acting and amazing chemistry

Acting:
I’ve watched quite a few of Dilraba Dilmurat’s dramas and I thought historical dramas were what she did best, especially after Eternal Love. Boy was I wrong! Her acting in this was beyond my expectations! She’s so polished, confident, and smooth in this drama. After watching so many of her historical dramas it was quite refreshing seeing her in a modern setting. And of course Johnny Huang did an amazing job as usual. The whole cast were not only great actors but there was a lot of eye candy. Such a beautiful cast!

The romance:
Now I see why everyone talks about the main leads chemistry. It’s not just the steamy kisses or sparks flying between them. It’s how smooth and relaxed they were in scenes that would make most actors feel very uncomfortable. There’s were lots of kisses, cuddles, hand holding, foot rubs, back massages, princess carrying, and some serious flirting. And every time they made you feel like they’d been dating for many years in real life. It takes some serious acting skills to do that. And I also like that it took a while for the main leads to get together and you see them as they begin to have feelings for each other. It seemed like a more natural more realistic romance.

The story:
The fashion industry makes for an interesting setting and their clothes are beautiful. I liked that even though the main couple are faced with many obstacles on the path to happiness, nothing is drawn out too long or overdone. The love triangle in the beginning (thankfully) doesn’t stretch out for the whole drama as I expected it to. And each obstacle they face, once it’s handled it doesn’t keep coming back or get repetitive which kept the drama interesting. I also liked that this drama didn’t overdo the angst. It wasn’t overly melodramatic or overly sad. There is some conflict and angst but it’s nothing over the top or too upsetting. This drama felt more light and sweet to me which was refreshing. There are other couples and their stories are interesting. The family and friends were also very easy to like, even the crazy ones.

What I didn’t like was how heavy it got into work related issues for the last half of the drama. I also didn’t like how easily the main leads forgave all of the bad guys for all of the crap they pulled. It’s just not realistic. No one is that perfect. Other than that there wasn’t a lot to dislike about this drama.

Overall this is a really good drama with great acting, a diverse and interesting cast of characters, an interesting storyline and some really amazing chemistry. I’ll definitely watch it again.

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Just finished watch this drama and here is my review about this drama:

First, this is my first time watching Johnny Huang drama, and all I can say that he is such a great actor and he has an amazing voice (ps: the ending theme song: "ru guo shuo, hai ji de" for this drama is his song, and I really love it). and for Dilraba, we all know that she has a very pretty face but I just think that her acting really getting better from her previous drama.

Although this story is kinda basic, the story itself is still acceptable. A romantic modern business drama that everybody will like it. Female lead and male lead met because of lawsuit and then having some conflicts and fall in love. For the first episode until 15-20 episode, I can say that it is exciting and enjoyable, but after that the problems occurs again and again. And it really reminds me to "Our Glamorous time" drama.
I really like the characters for the male lead, he is straightforward, hardworking CEO, smart, too kind and nice to be true. He always there to help for the female lead when she need him, but still I feel a little bit disappointed for the female lead because she's not doing the same way. But, yet their chemistry is very real! Both of them done a great job to make us love this couple.

For the second couple, they were cute, and I just think that they have too many stories for the second couple and it make me got bored sometimes. Rather than the second couple stories, I prefer to watch more stories for Su Yu Shan and his wife, especially in the last episode we saw that actually he is not as bad as we thought.
Not to forget Zhou Fang's nephew and Song Lin sister's , both of them very cute and funny! Those two are my fav supporting character in this drama. I really like the scene that Song Luo always teasing his brother.

To recapitulate, I give 8/10 for this drama because it still an enjoyable drama with a great actors, productions, and good ost. Anyway, I just like their fashion for this drama, unlike other CEO in the chinese drama who wears a black suit and luxurious car, the main lead here wears leather jacket and ducati motorbike - really cools!

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