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Dropped: Chinese Style Relationship (中國式關係) (2016)
I didn't think I would enjoy this show, but I gave it a shot because my mom enjoyed it, and because the cast was stacked. But this show is very much a soap opera through and through. If you are not into dramatic sopa operas, this is probably going to be frustrating.
Let me summarize the points I liked and didn't like about this show.
The acting in this show was terrific. The dialogue was also well written, though I may have felt that way because of the great acting.
I think I didn't like this show mostly because I don't like soap operas. In each of the two episodes I watched, each had at least one major argument. As well, the drama also spent a lot of time on small gags, which felt like such a time waster. And in the first episodes, Jiang Yinan was such a #girlboss that it was very difficult to want to watch her.
It's a pity that I'm dropping this show so early on, because I really do like the actors, especially Chen Jianbin, Zhao Lixin, and Dai Xu.
Basically, if you like soap operas, I would recommend this. Otherwise, the story will make your blood boil lmao.
Story
Based on the opening theme, I originally thought this would be an office drama, with romance on the side, but based on what I've seen, that working relationship between Ma Guoliang and Jiang Yinan has hardly been about the plan for the senior home at all.
Based on the first two episodes, I think the show would be about Ma Guoliang and Jiang Yinan getting together, while the ex-wife Lili got together with Laoshen.
The writing for the dialogue has been good. Like I said, the actors may have been the reason for that. But I've found that I was actually interested in the conversations. It was only after those conversations played out that I would realize that what had happened was completely inconsequential to the main story line.
Production
The acting was terrific. Even though the story is very overdramatic, I could've continued watching just for the acting, because the actors made this show watchable and believable.
The audio for this show was very strange though. I got the show off of Youtube, and the dubbing would be extremely quiet, but the music and other noises (such as phones ringing, etc.) would be very loud. I don't know what the deal was with that, but it was distracting.
Characters
Ma Guoliang was very clearly the main character of the show. He was your typical conservative man. He was confident in his job, but maybe a little self important.
Jiang Yinan was the female lead, and she was a girlboss. In the time on the airplane and in the taxi, she was very self-important as well, but without reason. She kind of stuck her nose into everything. Now, I understood that she just wanted to talk business with Ma Guoliang at the dinner party, but she did not know how to play ball. While the dinner party was not important to her, it was an important part of doing business, and I find it difficult to believe that she would not have done any networking this way her entire career. So it was her unsociable attitude that made it so difficult to like her.
Lili was the wife, who was having an affair with Laoshen. She wasn't a very willful person, and kind of timid, which was probably why she still hadn't built up the courage to bring up divorce with her husband.
Laoshen was Ma Guoliang's coworker and Lili's lover. Laoshen and Lili were high school friends. Laoshen had requested a transfer, probably so that he wouldn't have to see Ma Guoliang all the time, but he held it off after Ma Guoliang included him on a project. The thing about Laoshen was that he was also a very timid person, so that was probably also why this affair of theirs had gone on for so long. On Douban, one of the discussions said that Lili and Laoshen would eventually get divorced, so I guess this really is melodrama lol.
Lili's mother was the more willful one between her and her daughter. She was often getting into spats with Ma Guoliang, just about various things in the house. And it was her who fought back against Ma Guoliang when he'd yelled at Lili for having an affair, though the "whatabout-ism" wasn't exactly a great defense.
Ma Xiaoyi was Ma Guoliang and Lili's daughter. She was allied more with her mother and grandmother than Ma Guoliang. I took a look at Douban, and apparently some netizen(s) thought that she was a very selfish child. I can sort of see this, where she was on bad terms with her dad, and only took money from him, not saying thank you, and when she saw her parents getting into a fight, she just ran away. I mean, she is just a kid, but also, she wasn't helping the situation.
I was so surprised when I saw Dai Xu in this show and I was excited! He played Guan Qiang, who was just a guy trying to hustle, pretending to be some big corporate guy when he really was just pretending. Anyway, I was really looking forward to seeing more of him because he was pretty funny!
Overall
If you like soap operas, this show would actually be great! The acting is terrific! But I cannot sit through 36 episodes of this. That's over a month of time for me, since I watch about 1 episode per day lol.
Let me summarize the points I liked and didn't like about this show.
The acting in this show was terrific. The dialogue was also well written, though I may have felt that way because of the great acting.
I think I didn't like this show mostly because I don't like soap operas. In each of the two episodes I watched, each had at least one major argument. As well, the drama also spent a lot of time on small gags, which felt like such a time waster. And in the first episodes, Jiang Yinan was such a #girlboss that it was very difficult to want to watch her.
It's a pity that I'm dropping this show so early on, because I really do like the actors, especially Chen Jianbin, Zhao Lixin, and Dai Xu.
Basically, if you like soap operas, I would recommend this. Otherwise, the story will make your blood boil lmao.
Story
Based on the opening theme, I originally thought this would be an office drama, with romance on the side, but based on what I've seen, that working relationship between Ma Guoliang and Jiang Yinan has hardly been about the plan for the senior home at all.
Based on the first two episodes, I think the show would be about Ma Guoliang and Jiang Yinan getting together, while the ex-wife Lili got together with Laoshen.
The writing for the dialogue has been good. Like I said, the actors may have been the reason for that. But I've found that I was actually interested in the conversations. It was only after those conversations played out that I would realize that what had happened was completely inconsequential to the main story line.
Production
The acting was terrific. Even though the story is very overdramatic, I could've continued watching just for the acting, because the actors made this show watchable and believable.
The audio for this show was very strange though. I got the show off of Youtube, and the dubbing would be extremely quiet, but the music and other noises (such as phones ringing, etc.) would be very loud. I don't know what the deal was with that, but it was distracting.
Characters
Ma Guoliang was very clearly the main character of the show. He was your typical conservative man. He was confident in his job, but maybe a little self important.
Jiang Yinan was the female lead, and she was a girlboss. In the time on the airplane and in the taxi, she was very self-important as well, but without reason. She kind of stuck her nose into everything. Now, I understood that she just wanted to talk business with Ma Guoliang at the dinner party, but she did not know how to play ball. While the dinner party was not important to her, it was an important part of doing business, and I find it difficult to believe that she would not have done any networking this way her entire career. So it was her unsociable attitude that made it so difficult to like her.
Lili was the wife, who was having an affair with Laoshen. She wasn't a very willful person, and kind of timid, which was probably why she still hadn't built up the courage to bring up divorce with her husband.
Laoshen was Ma Guoliang's coworker and Lili's lover. Laoshen and Lili were high school friends. Laoshen had requested a transfer, probably so that he wouldn't have to see Ma Guoliang all the time, but he held it off after Ma Guoliang included him on a project. The thing about Laoshen was that he was also a very timid person, so that was probably also why this affair of theirs had gone on for so long. On Douban, one of the discussions said that Lili and Laoshen would eventually get divorced, so I guess this really is melodrama lol.
Lili's mother was the more willful one between her and her daughter. She was often getting into spats with Ma Guoliang, just about various things in the house. And it was her who fought back against Ma Guoliang when he'd yelled at Lili for having an affair, though the "whatabout-ism" wasn't exactly a great defense.
Ma Xiaoyi was Ma Guoliang and Lili's daughter. She was allied more with her mother and grandmother than Ma Guoliang. I took a look at Douban, and apparently some netizen(s) thought that she was a very selfish child. I can sort of see this, where she was on bad terms with her dad, and only took money from him, not saying thank you, and when she saw her parents getting into a fight, she just ran away. I mean, she is just a kid, but also, she wasn't helping the situation.
I was so surprised when I saw Dai Xu in this show and I was excited! He played Guan Qiang, who was just a guy trying to hustle, pretending to be some big corporate guy when he really was just pretending. Anyway, I was really looking forward to seeing more of him because he was pretty funny!
Overall
If you like soap operas, this show would actually be great! The acting is terrific! But I cannot sit through 36 episodes of this. That's over a month of time for me, since I watch about 1 episode per day lol.