odetodramas
I enjoyed the first third of this drama, with its intriguing premise about a scriptwriter (played by Zhao Lu Si) waking up in the very story she wrote, in the fictional city ruled by women as the second princess Chen Qian Qian. I had just dropped Ding Yu Xi's other drama that was airing at the same time, Intense Love, and was pleased to see him in a more interesting character here as the male lead Han Shuo. I was also glad to initially see a second female lead, Chen Chu Chu, with a pleasant, supportive relationship with the female lead! (Sigh, it didn't last.) Unfortunately, I lost interest in the middle third, and then things became extremely messy in the last third.
Although it's one of the most intriguing aspects of the story, the drama doesn't explore the city ruled by women vs city ruled by men until the end. Instead, the story mostly centers around who will become the next City Master, and the contenders are Chen Qian Qian and Chen Chu Chu. Chu Chu is adopted and feels like despite being more skilled and working harder, their mother will always favor Qian Qian, who is always getting into trouble. Meanwhile, the oldest sister Chen Yuan Yuan is disregarded in the running entirely because she is disabled. I really dislike Yuan Yuan's storyline, and wanted to see other characters acknowledge that her disability didn't make her useless, that she still had her strengths and could be the next City Master.
Han Shuo and Qian Qian were fun to watch for most of the drama. Han Shuo trying to win Qian Qian over was cute, and the dynamic between their two right hand men was also hilarious. But in the end, Qian Qian falls for the same old tired drama cliche and hurts him to save him. Come on! As a drama writer, she should know that always backfires. The worst part is when Han Shuo attempts to sexually assault Qian Qian. This is never addressed afterwards, Han Shuo never apologizes and it's like this terrible, traumatic incident never happened??? I'm so disturbed by this.
I had planned to rate this higher because overall it's creative, funny, and original, but I just can't overlook the red flags.
Although it's one of the most intriguing aspects of the story, the drama doesn't explore the city ruled by women vs city ruled by men until the end. Instead, the story mostly centers around who will become the next City Master, and the contenders are Chen Qian Qian and Chen Chu Chu. Chu Chu is adopted and feels like despite being more skilled and working harder, their mother will always favor Qian Qian, who is always getting into trouble. Meanwhile, the oldest sister Chen Yuan Yuan is disregarded in the running entirely because she is disabled. I really dislike Yuan Yuan's storyline, and wanted to see other characters acknowledge that her disability didn't make her useless, that she still had her strengths and could be the next City Master.
Han Shuo and Qian Qian were fun to watch for most of the drama. Han Shuo trying to win Qian Qian over was cute, and the dynamic between their two right hand men was also hilarious. But in the end, Qian Qian falls for the same old tired drama cliche and hurts him to save him. Come on! As a drama writer, she should know that always backfires. The worst part is when Han Shuo attempts to sexually assault Qian Qian. This is never addressed afterwards, Han Shuo never apologizes and it's like this terrible, traumatic incident never happened??? I'm so disturbed by this.
I had planned to rate this higher because overall it's creative, funny, and original, but I just can't overlook the red flags.
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