Now before I get into the meat of this review, I must preface it with this comment: this is one of the first dramas I ever saw. When I first saw it I thought it was great, but that was four years ago. Now coming back to it and seeing it again, I see a few things that I missed the first time around that I shall address as I come to them. Now, on to the cast.
- Angela Zhang as Mai Qiu Sui/Huang Fu Shan (Xiao Mai)
- Wu Chun as Nan Feng Jin
- Calvin Chen as Nan Feng Cai
- George Hu as Nan Feng Lin
- Lee Ang Lin as Nan Feng Ying
- Gu Bao Ming as Huang Fu Xiong
- Genie Zhuo as Gong Mo Li
Moving on to the brothers. The Nan Feng boys are arguably the most memorable characters, mostly for their widely varying personalities and opinions about what Huang Fu Xiong (whom they call "Emp") is putting them through. First of these is Nan Feng Jin, played by Wu Chun (or Zun, depending on the translation). He is a very interesting character, mostly because he's the only one who's willing to stand up to Emp and fight back against a future that he doesn't want for himself. Wu Chun is, for the most part, a very talented actor and singer, and I think that's pretty obvious in this drama. He has his great moments and his moments that are just good, but he does have moments when it feels like he might have been trying too hard. Overall, still a good performance with no particularly bad moments to mention.
Next is Nan Feng Cai, played by Calvin Chen. Now, I have no doubt that Calvin is at least a good actor. Also, having become familiar with his actual personality and habits, I can say I have no doubt he's a good playboy as well (playboy is a general term here; I don't mean that in a derogatory way AT ALL). He's probably the one that gives the most solid performance throughout in this drama, having no real changes to his character or personality overall (that's not counting the second half of the drama; SPOILERS). He gives a good performance as the polite playboy that's not only interested in bedding women (if you know what I mean). He actually seems truly interested in getting to know them as people first, women second. This also goes for Xiao Mai, but I'll get to that later.
The third member of the Nan Feng foursome is Nan Feng Lin, played by George Hu. Now, I am a pretty decent fan of George Hu; I've seen him in a couple of other things since I watched this drama, and I'm fairly certain in this assertion: he's capable of better acting than this. Before anybody gets mad at me for saying that, let me say I do understand that this character is supposed to be childish and immature. I get that; however, there are some scenes in which the acting from this dude is just a bit...how shall we say...over the top? I don't have anything against this character or his acting in this drama, but I just think some of it is a little bit overacted and just the slightest bit annoying for that very reason. Overall, good performance and I still really liked the character.
The last one to round out the group is Nan Feng Ying, played by Lee Ang Lin. Okay, people who have already seen this will understand me when I say, I don't really know what to say about this guy because he's hardly in this at all. He's really only there to pad out the cast (that's my opinion; he does have a pretty good running gag though; ANGELA!!!). He doesn't do anything in the story that I know of and I don't really know why he's in this in the first place. But from what I do recall of his acting, it's good. He's a decent actor (I've seen him in another series where his role was far bigger). Nothing bad to say about him.
Another key character in this story (in fact, he's the driving force of the whole plot pretty much) is Huang Fu Xiong, played by Gu Bao Ming. This is one of the few older actors that I can actually recognize because he's been in a few other things I've seen (like Down with Love). Huang Fu Xiong, whom I shall call Emp from here on out, is one of those characters that you don't really know if he's good or bad. He just is. One minute he's doing something to make Xiao Mai hate him, the next you find out that he did that for her own good. He simply exists to please his granddaughter and run his business. With a character like this, I'm convinced Bao Ming is a really good actor. He can make you hate his character and feel sorry for his character AT THE SAME TIME! That, my friends, is one of the marks of a great actor. Great performance from him.
The last character that's really worth calling out is a really annoying pipsqueak named Gong Mo Li. She's played by Genie Zhuo (or Zhou, or Cho...I can't keep track anymore). Her acting in this is good, but I've gotta at least mention I've seen her in far better roles than this. She plays wonderfully in a serious drama. She's good at being REALLY irritating as well, but I think the fact that she pops up at the least opportune moment and causes such a fuss (again, spoilers) is most of the reason why I didn't like her in this drama.
Okay, moving on. Writing. Oh, my word. I mentioned before that I saw this drama four years ago. I was in a different frame of mind and not quite used to what to expect from a Taiwanese drama. Thus I did not see all of the flaws I am about to point out in annoying detail. This series is, on the whole, decently written. The dialogue isn't ridiculous or recycled or at all stupid (like it could be; OH DEAR it could be SO much worse). The situation, while a bit spontaneous in the light of the circumstances of the first episode, is somewhat believable and I gotta give it credit for that.
I do have some serious bones to pick with this series, however. Firstly, about the whole long-lost-granddaughter thing. I know it must have been difficult to come up with a reason for Xiao Mai to have been lost in the first place that wouldn't be so ridiculous as to be laughable, but really, people. Try a LITTLE harder. The scenario is that she was kidnapped when she was three years old by the "mortal enemies" of the Huang Fu family and abandoned on the side of the road to be found by the person that delivered her to the Mai family. Okay, I can buy that...I suppose. I'm just asking for a little more creativity on the writers' part.
Okay, so maybe that was a little nitpicky, but my next point is DEFINITELY not. In the first few episodes we are led to believe that Xiao Mai is romantically interested in Cai, if only a little bit. Yah, I don't think so. That vibe is totally not there. My personal opinion is that this is because the two actors, while good in and of themselves, have little to absolutely no chemistry together. I'm not faulting either of them. I'm just pointing out something that I'm pretty sure could have been avoided, but given the circumstances is difficult to get around. It really takes away from the "love triangle" element that could've been there if only the two of them had had more chemistry together (or any at all for that matter).
Lastly, I have to point out something about the flow of the story. This is kind of more of a general observation than anything else, but it really annoyed me through the course of watching this series again. There are some MAJOR plot points that feel really contrived and the flow of the events is just kinda...sticky. I don't know if that's the writers' fault or the editors' fault or whatever, but whoever is to blame for that, it really bugged me for most of the show.
All right, enough of my ranting. There's not much to say as far as warning people. There is a TINY bit of innuendo in some parts, but it's mostly played for laughs or played up so much as to be ridiculous. There are some parts that are obviously meant for adults in terms of complicated business stuffs or grumpy grandpas doing things to make life difficult for young people (again, spoilers). There's nothing really noteworthy, in other words.
On the upside, the message of this drama is mostly focused on being who you are regardless of your situation and living your life the way YOU want to. A lot of it is focusing on a couple of the characters getting out from under Emp and making their own way in life. There is a little bit of a focus on family and who qualifies as family, but that's mostly in the early episodes.
On the whole, I have to say that after watching this through a second time with a different point-of-view and a bit more perspective, I still like this drama. It's not great, but it's not bad either. I'd have to recommend this to people that like big businessy type stuff and romantic melodramas (it's a soap opera, basically, but without most of the ridiculous crying and bad acting). I also really like this drama's view of the whole "I wish I could wake up one day and suddenly be rich" sort of thinking that a lot of people seem to have. This drama shows that, no, it wouldn't be that great because you'd be taken out of your old life (family, neighborhood, etc) and thrust into a new one that might not be so great as you imagine. Anywho, if none of that appeals to you, watch it for Wu Chun and George Hu. That's a good reason to like a drama, isn't it?
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