Wo qin'ai de 'Xiao jiepi'

I had higher expectations for this drama. I loved the main lead on Meteor Garden and On a love so beautiful, but this drama seemed so plain and fake. I didn't feel any chemistry between the leads ( or the rest of the couples for that matter). Anyhow, watch ot if you want something silly and lighthearted to watch when you can skip whole parts of the show without miss anything important.

This is a somewhat unlikely love story between a mysophobe and a messy young woman. The set piece of the "accidental" kiss on the elevator is so fake it's embarrassing. The lead actress has the same surprised expression on her face with every encounter - she is the same in every series I have seen her in - she is a poor actress with no acting range.

She also has an annoying habit of wiggling her head about and the strangest shambling run that looks so clumsy. The camera keeps focussing on her mouth - and it really shouldn't because it is not an attractive shape.

With regard to the Asian way of life I find it very odd that young people think it their duty to support male relatives who are perfectly capable of working. I had no sympathy for her alcoholic father who should have taken responsibility for the family he made rather than sponging off them.

Jasper Liu does his best - and is an attractive male lead - but one gets the feeling that this female lead always gets similar parts for the simple reason that she is short of stature and makes her male co-stars look big and heroic. He deserved better.

There follows the usual conflict regarding parents prejudices and historical events between them.

I am curious to know why this series showed the very last scene after every episode. Why bother to watch it after the first episode if we already know the ending?

This is mostly about three romances. Of the three I found the romance between the influencer-bodyguard/assistant to be the most interesting. But, the main romance isn't bad. The CEO of a cleaning company falls in love with a low-level employee of the company. I actually liked the fact that she is not a classic beauty, but is full of personality.

The CEO is a germophobe (as many translated shows do, they use a much less common, but slightly more accurate synonym - mysophobe). He actually is so attracted to her that he can overcome most of his symptoms around her.

The main thing I didn't like about the show is when they show flashbacks of the grandfather's treatment of the CEO when he was young. This has directly led to his germophobia. Everyone refers to the grandfather's treatment of the young CEO as "strict". I take great issue with that. The grandfather's treatment of his grandson was verbal abuse! There is no other way to characterize it.

At pushing 70, I am not some young woke snowflake. It would have been abuse 60 years ago and it is still abuse today.

Near the end of the show the grandfather suddenly becomes a nice person to all around him. A not very believable, sudden transition. The therapist starts off misusing his position, but also, more subtly, transitions into a better person.

Other than the issues with the grandfather, I found the show fine, with more modern production values than most Asian shows. And, a tiny disappointment that the bad guy never gets his comeuppance.

As I got into this the story line seemed very familiar. Then one of the reviews here pinned it: If you've seen the Korean series "Clean With Passion for Now" you'll already know the basic theme of this series. There are some story differences, but the basic theme is identical.

I really like RomComs, so when I say that the romance overload in this would throw a diabetic into a super-sugar coma, I'm not exaggerating. There are three romances going on at the same time, in pretty much the same "laced with problems" manner.

If the viewer loves repeated kissing scenes, this series should suffice abundantly.

Basically this is a 12-episode series done in a long, drawn-out 24 episodes. Much of it is interesting, but there are several bits in which I found myself looking at the time to see how much longer the episode was going to go on. Some parts are more than a little drawn out.

I'm not the only reviewer to note this: the chemistry between the two lead characters just doesn't quite catch. The female lead does a great job, but the male is pretty two-dimensional. And the dialog just goes on... especially in the final episode. Just how long can a profession of love take and when are they going to move on? I enjoy romance series, but there's only so much saccharine script one can handle.

In addition there were "itchy" points throughout the series. First we have a psychiatrist who might be accused of malpractice and lose his license for messing with his client's head like he did. He did everything BUT help his client... all out of selfish motive. Then there's the question that (in the U. S. -- I dunno about China), the entire story might bring up questions of workplace sexual harassment. (I note others mention the same thing.) When conducting a workplace romance-- especially if you're the CEO-- one must tread VERY carefully. There are corporate guidebooks on such matters. This is really tricky legal ground.

So okay, it's an imperfect script. Admittedly most series have some issues. Just be prepared for this going in. This is a long series with a whole lot of filler and some incredibly bad dialog in places. In other places it's a lot of fun. I found the actors and characters interesting and the bad guys properly rotten. But a couple of times I actually fell asleep during some of the slower drag-along moments. That's never a good thing.

It's worth a watch, but if you've already seen the Korean version there's really no need to bother.

Not much under the dressing, although the dressing itself was enough. I really enjoyed the whole show, completely binge worthy. The chemistry between all three couples alone makes the show worth watching.

PS: Jasper Liu is the one entity 'made in China' that I would happily import.