Prince + Princess 2

Taiwanese title: 王子看見二公主

16 episodes

Aired on CTS
From 2008 December to April 2009

Main cast:

Annie Chen as Zhao Ke Rou

Dylan Kuo as Ning Huan Yu

Hong Zi Han as Zhao Mu Fan

Michael Zhang as Li Chen Xi

Ma Shi Li as Liu Xiao Yue

Miao Ke Li as Ning Sheng Nan

Zhu De Gang as Zhao De Qiang

Qian Yu An as Money

Ring Hsu as Zhao Xing An

Ken Hung as Xia Kuan

Peggy Tseng as Zhang Qi

Samuel Adam Whitman as James

Notes:
- That poster is terrible.
- I almost did not recognise Michael Zhang. I was wondering why I was attracted to that guy when I realised he was the Other boy in Down with love, with a different styling and attitude. I guess that makes him a very good actor.

Review: +

Title: There's a reason for this title but it has two problems. 1/ It makes it look like a sequel. 2/ It makes it look more cutesy than it is.

Girl: She's a tomboy who wants to be a fashion designer. She's humble but driven, loyal and hard-working. I really liked her. She's also the second of three sisters (hence the title).

Boy: He has no ambition, tends to whine, is immature, has no style... yes I still liked him. First, he is portrayed by Dylan Kuo who's so good-looking and charming that inflicting that hairstyle and clothes on him is criminal. Second, he is actually kind-hearted, quite smart and determined when he puts his mind to it.

Other girl: She could have been a cliché but I like her and felt for her. I wish her the best... yes, I know she's fictional.

Other boy: The nice guy who is in love with his girl friend. I'm starting to know why this drama is a plus because I really liked him too. He doesn't exhibit the traits I hate in this trope. He's not pushy and his life doesn't revolve around her loving him.

Other boy: Arrogant type A but you guessed it... I liked him too.

Relationships: It helps that Annie Chen has the right type and right amount of chemistry with each of her co-stars. The romantic entanglements are believable and the reflection of the characters' personalities. This is also true of their actions in general.

Family: Girl's family is crucial to the proceedings. I enjoy seeing a relationship between three sisters and the dynamics.

Funny factor? Yes. But some "jokes" are terrible. Please do not make a throaway joke about pretending to have been assaulted.

Music: I liked it.

What the...? He worked at Wall Street. Yeah, right. Everything related to how business works. There are a character and a set that disappear at some point, never to be heard of again. There is no excuse for the set, as for the character, it was caused by the illness of the actor/actress but still, they could have written some explanation in the drama.

Bottom line: I like the characters, even despite some questionable behaviour because it is ackowledged in the drama and because we tend to accept more from charming people. Everyone is charming, has an interesting personality, the plot doesn't make them act out of character, I was invested in their stories. + !

Down with love

Taiwanese title: 就想賴著妳 (就想赖着妳)

16 episodes
Aired on CTV
From 2010 January to May

Main cast:

Jerry Yan: Xiang Yu Ping 項羽平

Ella Chen: Yang Guo 楊果

Kelly Huang: Yang Duo 楊朵

Michael Zhang: Qi Ke Zhong 齊可中

Chen Zi Han: Ding Hui Fan 丁卉凡

Amanda Chou: Xu Yan Ling 徐雁玲

Gu Bao Ming: Yang Bo Tong 楊伯通

Yan Yi En: Liang Zhi Hao 梁志豪

Notes:
Many familiar faces: Hello Vicky Chen and Amanda Chou who I had seen in The legend of Brown sugar chivalries! Hey Renzo Liu who is always playing lawyers and the cutest little boy ever Xiao Xiao Bin... both of them were in Autumn's concerto.

Review: +

Title: Generic. Shared with a movie starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger. No relation, storywise.

Girl: You know the drift. Plain, not particularly smart or educated but nice and energetic. She's passive -but that can be explained by her always having been bossed around by her sister (passive!)- and insecure -but not in an annoying way.

Boy: I won't put Jerry Yan on that list but he would top a list of actors with the best facial expressions. Actually, he would BE this list. I could go to tumblr and find some gifs to illustrate my point but I'm afraid I'd fall into a rabbit's hole and come out tomorrow morning...

Ok, I just went and I'm already back because... there's nothing! How is it possible? Internet, you have failed me.

Um, let's go back to his character. I labelled him "Arrogant jerk" because that's what he's supposed to be but real quick, it's obvious that he's a marshmallow. He's a lawyer, if you care about his occupation.

Other boy: He's an interior designer. He's so charming and how can he be so perfect?

 

Other girl: Narcissistic actress. I didn't like her, in case you were wondering. It was intentional, I think, but why does he like her?

 

Other girl: The aforementioned Girl's older sister. At first, she was a caricature but in the end, I liked her the best. Though she's throughout a very funny character, her personality is straightforward and really strong. She would be terrifying in real life. As a non villain, she's an unusual character.

 

Plot/ Relationships: I was watching the 14th episode and thinking: "How can they be two more episodes?" I have no idea how they managed to make 16 episodes out of this story without ever boring me. So that's a good point. Another one is that the drama doesn't commit the two cardinal sins I've been complaining about recently: out of place parallel story and overstuffed finale. However, I wish the drama hadn't rush that much at the beginning, taking a very cliché narrative shortcut and dropping in a cavalier fashion what I thought was a promising premise.

Romantic, friendly, family connections are mostly well done. The characters don't evolve but they reveal more shades.

 

Other characters: They are everything: Girl's best friend, Other Girl's manager, coworkers, the kids... even one who grated on me at first turned out to be a good addition.

 

Music: WANT.

 

Funny factor? Yes. That may be a reason why this is a Plus. This drama is funny till the end, thanks to its characters.

 

Most egregious cliché: Kids scaring away nannies.

 

What the... ? People coming in and out at during work hours. Super busy lawyer not working at all.

Bottom line: I hesitated between a + or a +/-. In the end, it's a + because I didn't hate anything too much. The good weighted more that the bad. Faint praise, I know. I guess I'm tired of +/-.