To Be With You (2019)

 Written and Directed by LIN JI DONG

Lin Meiya and Du Ruonan
as played by CHAI BIYUN

The Central Characters, Lin Meiya and Ou Yang
As played by Chai Biyun and SUN SHAO LONG

WAN SI WEI plays LI DONG, the second lead
(and I have that second lead syndrome here...good thing their choice was "justified")

WHERE TO WATCH TO BE WITH YOU
KUKAN
Free (sub)
MZTV
Free (sub)


The series is composed of 65 episodes.  If I watched it by Television, I would say 65 episodes is "nothing".  Let's face it.  There are times when we say to ourselves, "When will this end? " Yet, there are times when you have #sepanx (separation anxiety) and wouldn't want it to end.  

It's different when you're binge watching.  The "normal" number of episodes should only be 16 at most because you have other things to do.  LOL.  

When youtube suggested this to me, I clicked it.  I had no idea what it was, but when I saw the Eiffel Tower, a girl baking cakes with a smile, her Shifu...well, her handsome Chef (Ben), smiling at her...and then later this Chinese teenager(who was probably around 18-20 in my mind) who was running away from a gang, and was able to jump so high without hitting the baker...then a fight scene followed with terrific moves from everyone, well, it kept me going and going and going, until I realized it was not a teaser(silly me, didn't look at the length of the video).  I googled it and then read the reviews on MY DRAMA LIST.  I read some spoilers(believe me, even if I already knew about some of the things, I still liked the scenes they mentioned when I finally watched the rest of the episodes), and some of them didn't like the scenes of the second half of the series, but I still got interested.  Then I looked for other reviews and found these two:


ODE TO DRAMAS REVIEW:

First Impression: To Be With You (2019)


AND 


Chai Biyun, an amazing uber talented actress and Mixed Martial Artist(I just think she is because of her moves in this series...or at the very least, a professional kickboxer...or just very athletic).  She made me believe that she's two different people(Du Ruonan and Lin Meiya) with two different personalities.  She actually reminds me of two beautiful Chinese twins I've met in my teenage years who are in their late forties right now(I am older than they are).  They too have different personalities, as night is to day, so it was easy to know who's who. 

Back to Chai Biyun...

She has great chemistry with Sun Shao Long(Ou Yang/Yang Yang...in other translations his name is Ou Lin) and Wan Si Wei(Li Dong/Dong Dong).  She also has great chemistry with Zhang Tao, who plays Chen Zhe, the guy who betrays Lin Meiya(one of Chai Biyun's roles in this series) for seemingly "greener pastures",  but in reality, for vendetta.  

The story is not exactly new, but the way they dealt with the trials and joys gave us new flavors to taste.  Some were like bitter pills in our mouths, but some led us to degustation heaven.  The long and short of it there were three best friends who started a business.  Only one of them became so FILTHY rich and powerful.  Since he became rich while sacrificing his feelings for his true love(Chen Zhe is almost exactly like him---his true love(spoiler) is Lin Meiya, but he was so greedy with power and he wanted to avenge his folks, he had to hurt his favorite Xiaoya), and even his friendship with one of the two was marred because of this greed.  He betrayed him, sent him to prison for something he didn't do, stole his rich and powerful wife(So was he legally married to her or not?  Did they get a divorce when he was in prison?  Maybe it was answered, but I missed it.), and their daughter, et cetera, et cetera.

The twists are pretty interesting, but at least one reviewer said, the roads are meandering leading to nowhere(or a maze without an exit or exits).

When Ou Yang learned why Lin Zhiguo (The man who adopted Lin Meiya, did everything to cure her Congenital Heart Disease, and loved Lin Meiya as his own.) was not in favor of him, he was crushed.  Sun Shao Long was able to convey to us every emotion Ou Yang felt, and you can't help, but to feel bad for him.  Why in the world did Lin Zhiguo wait for that crucial time?  He had many, many chances, but he didn't say so until it was too late.

There are many movies and series where the reason is real, and many scientific proofs to show how real the reason is, but there are more that prove false in the end.  When the said reason is real the characters get depressed. Some get locked in mental institutions, and some actually kill themselves.

As Lin Meiya pointed out, even if God told a big crazy joke, she's still blessed because they weren't outrageous...something like that.  I only know a few Mandarin phrases so  I am very dependent on the subtitles.  I guess I got lost in translation somehow.

Since I have the second lead syndrome for about 3/4 of the series(yes, I did change my mind somehow because of the "justification"), I wanted the reason to be REAL as real can be, but somehow I knew deep in my heart that it couldn't be true, just because...

WANG YUAN HUI(Xu Si Yu) and SHAO TAO RAN(Li Wei Wei)
The Queens of Role Reversals. ;-)

There were many scenes that made me smile and laugh, and most of those scenes were because of Li Wei Wei(Shao Tao Ran).   At first she was really annoying, but after what they went through in Thailand, she became a different person.  Well, she's still bratty and all, but she learned to appreciate the little things.

As for Xu Si Yu, since I read some spoilers, I was very wary of her character, but in fairness to her, she did ask if...

Sigh...

🎡

My favorite FUN scenes were shot in SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND where Li Wei Wei, Li Dong and Lin Meiya had so much fun.  When I was watching those scenes, my second lead syndrome intensified.  What else could Lin Meiya ask for her?  Her "future sister-in-law" adored her, and Li Dong was definitely her knight in shining armor in so many ways...then I remembered scenes in PASTA where Seo Yoo Kyung had two admirers.  One of them loved her for three years.  He's handsome, rich and very kind, but she fell for the grumpy chef.  Of course, I understand Seo Yoo Kyung's choice.  As for Seo Dal Mi in START-UP, I really...Argh, I am digressing.  LOL.  





Honestly, it could have been shorter, but since I was enjoying it very much, I did not mind the length of the series. I was able to si Li Wei Wei grow...I was able to appreciate and admire the many talents of the actress, Chai Biyun. I also noticed the resemblance between Wan Si Way and Shao Tao Ran.  They really look like brother and sister, and I really like how these two people, Li Dong and Li Wei Wei, really, really loved each other.  What about the central characters?  Yes, the development of their story is great as well, but I couldn't help feel sad for Li Dong, most especially that scene held at his fight club where he vented his frustration in front of Li Wei Wei.


I also admire everyone in the Li Family.  They do not look down on people, and they are all wonderful.

Mr. Xu, Si Yu's dad, is also someone to be admired.  He admits he has spoiled his daughter, but he doesn't fall short of reminding his daughter about the realities of life.  He loves his daughter very much, and of course, since he loves her, he can't help, but get hurt, if someone hurts her. 

FOR OTHER INFO LIKE CAST AND CREW AND WHATEVER, PLEASE CLICK ANY OF THE LINKS BELOW:





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