El pretendiente perfecto

A mother with five daughters doing all that she can so her children can prosper. Enemies to lovers, plenty of drama, twists and turns. Amazing sets, beautiful costumes, hairstyles and adornments. Perfectly chaste with so much expression through the characters' fine eyes. Each daughter has a well-defined character and the familial love between them is one of the best parts of the show, they are resilient and look after one another no matter what. I'm obsessed and eagerly await each new episode. If you like period love stories, this is the one for you! A wonderful experience for my first c-drama!!

I had high hopes for this drama, especially since the dashing star of the Double was the main male lead. Unfortunately, my hopes were not realized because of the poor screenwriting and direction of this drama. I gave it five stars for the actors who worked hard to make it what it could not be-an outstanding drama.

The problem centered on the obnoxious mother and her interfering mannerisms. She was why her girls were single, or if married, unhappy. Money and prestige were her main aims in finding suitable husbands for her daughters; compatibility and affection were of no consequence to her and their single state. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

I'm really surprised at the low-ratings this Chinese drama has received. It deserves better. Yes, it's uneven in places, it drags at the end--and the acting chops of the numerous characters range from overly-dramatic to reasonably competent to blanked out, poker-faced bots. BUT...by and large the female leads are magnetic, energetic, and convincing as the five clever and spirited Li sisters-all of them in the market for a marital match made in heaven.

What the ladies get instead is a plethora of trouble, involving in-laws and outlaws and just plain craziness, as each daughter, in turn, finds what appears to be the "perfect match," but in fact--is not.

Mother Li (played by an outstanding actor) has her work cut out for her. For each of the five, she has to find an appropriate husband, with a modicum of wealth and a propitious astrology chart-someone belonging to a socially respectable, congenial family. And, of course, she has to provide each of her five girls with a sufficient dowry.

Is Mother Li looking for someone her daughters will like and get along with? Strike that last requirement. Personal compatibility was pretty low on the priority list in that day and age.

Not to worry, though, these incredible women are all resourceful, capable, and able to finesse the various situations--marital, familial, and legal--as well as the chauvinistic society they find themselves in. Not all of their shenanigans work as planned and the plot isn't always believable. In fact, the fifth daughter's marriage situation was so ridiculous that I fast forwarded through most of it. Shades of "I Love Lucy" reruns in some of the antics. Her attempts to whip her would-be spouse into shape (and I do mean "whip") went on waaay too long. Personally, I don't find marital abuse funny, no matter how richly deserved or who's doing it.

It would have been nice if the servants were depicted as real human beings instead of props for the nobles to use as they saw fit.

But the costumes and hairdos are to die for. And the absolutely delightful "lion contest" in episode 32 made up for a lot of the cheesier moments.

Who knew that 1000 years ago the Chinese city of Bianjing was such a nest of vipers?

In my opinion this TV show has an interesting setting with a family full of woman and their mother trying to find husbands for her daughters.

Especially the woman in the family and their "helpers" are very good actors. The mother is just great and being so enotional she is really great at expressing her emotions.

There are a few characters which might be a bit overacting, espacially in moments which are supposed to be funny. This maybe might be a bit too much, but I think it is a common thing in chinese series.

There are a lot of sympathic characters also among the "potencial" husbands.

In my opinion it is a very good mixture of comedy and a bit of drama too. Without becoming to esagerately dramatic like many other Chinese series, luckily. Therefore it is always entertaining and I'm waiting each day for the episode being published the next day to continue watching it!

Of course there are a few typical moments too, for which you would say them to be unrealistic and in which people in reality would just clearly talk with each other and clarify them. Where you sit there and just say; come on! Just tell her! Or tell him what you think! But to create artificially more drama they don't. But those are just small things in the overall great and entertaining series!

-> If you aren't a person who wants to have a fully logical series and who says that is not realistic for each single thing, but if you just want to have fun and to be entertained, this will be the right series for you.

From me a full recommendation!

Set during the early period of Imperial China, about a mother and her five daughters who move to a respectable noble town and open a fancy tea shop, going up against Master Chai and his elegant restaurant. In between all the squabbles, the Mother Li attempts to find suitable suitors for her daughters, but competition is tough with expensive dowries out of their reach. It is a decent Chinese soap drama with lavish production values, amazing traditional hairdos, and gorgeous slow motion shots of loving stares and admiration between the sexes. A bit amateurish in the set-up, but be patient as it kicks in midway of episode 2, and vastly improves by end of three as the Master and third daughter have something brewing. The five sisters have the Jane Austen's about them (as does the story - Pride and Prejudice), and are enjoyable feisty ladies with modern sensibilities in this enjoyable and campy Chinese TV soap drama...