Love in Shanghai (2020)

Give it a try!!

Personally, like very personally, I liked the series!
I think that the pace of the drama can't be categorized as slow or fast. The drama sort of follows its own pace. Sometimes it is reasonable, sometimes a bit fast but not rushed and sometimes not exactly slow but not fast either. It varies greatly and of course also depends on what is slow and fast for the viewer watching it.
Because it is not supposed to have spoilers, I will just say that all female characters grow and become better. Ren Ran's growth was moving for me as I loved how she learnt to let go, to accept (but maybe her new love life came a bit too early). Sun Yi He was such a bright character and despite the many drawbacks you will watch, you can still not stop liking her. Karen was also a nice character, strong and weak at the same time. Ding Ding was a very cute character with a mostly cute love life.
Coming to the male characters, I will only mention my favorite, Yu Tian! No matter what he does, as long as he is on the screen I smiled, even when he was heart broken. I loved his and Sun Yi He's friendship (sometimes more than the girl gang's friendship).
The ost was really nice, it actually went with the show . The acting was wonderful, maybe lacking sometimes, very rare times but still wonderful.
As compared to other dramas with female centered plot and female friendship (like Ode to Joy, Dear Missy etc) it may be a little dull... But overall it is a drama you can at least give a try, and if you are going to, please be patient for at least 5 episodes. Good friendship, good romance and good slice of life too.

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SLOW, melo writing with insecure leads

There seems to be an ongoing trend of trio or quadruple women-centric stories in C dramaland. Comparisons have been made by many users with the recently finished Nothing but thirty and newly aired To Dear Myself.

*What’s striking*
The four female leads are besties in the best sense. There are no misunderstandings or petty quarrel (like Twenty Your Live On, which was more coming of age). Here Yi He, Ding Ding, Karen and Ren Ran are very supportive of each other and spends time with each other- to an envious extent. The girls communicate over drinks, partying together, exercise sessions, heart to heart sessions, etc. Theres a running tagline that men can be gone after awhile but best friends are forever.
The four ladies friendship and their woes in love are the common ground. While all 4 are very different in character and background, you would come to realise half way through the drama that all of them are very insecure in their relationships. Most of this can be attributed to the current men in their lives.

Issues
The drama tries to project this as growth through navigating struggles in life and love, evident in the narration of every epilogue. However the writing of this drama drags alot, in a way it amplifies the problems in both the characters’ issue and their lack of resolve. This makes it too tiresome and the ladies to stay in a pitiful state for too long. Eg. YiHe (portrayed by Victoria Song) is happy, chatty and optimistic person but in love she hides her true self, stays in her bubble while constantly doubting her boyfriend who keeps a lot of secrets from her. She does not comfront and goes in circles in her love life for over 2/3 of the drama. When she finally admits she hates the person she becomes when she is with him..im like Sis, I’ve been waiting forever for you to see clearly. Similarly RenRan who appears the fiercest and hardiest, but this CEO is pinning over a man who cant prioritise her. Karen perhaps have the most poignant storyline, divorced, single-mother, ex-husband who is selfish, mother with terminal illness. She goes into a relationship with a limit, makes decisions on her own and resigned to never marrying again. DingDing, a rich second generation has a much more bland story that i find not as engaging.

Overall i would say the writing of this drama makes it a little too melo for too long and too many instances. I find it a shame that they didnt utilise more characters that had more oomph and more chemistry. YiHe and Chen Nan’s story should have developed better and sooner, so that their time later could be fledged out. The same with RenRan and YouTing. I can do with less scenes from Sam, Lu Hao, Ma Ke.. all these dudes don’t deserve their time OR MINE.

Acting wise Victoria Song and Frida Li stands out for me. They have some powerful scenes.
Music wise i didn’t pay much attention with the exception of the chorus of opening theme was nice.

In the end i used this as a filler drama for filling in my time waiting for new episodes from other currently airing dramas that I’m pursuing. Will not be rewatching either.

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