Odd Perfect Match Review

Title: Odd Perfect Match

AKA: Dan Shu Jue Pei

Genre: Idol drama, Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 21

Broadcast period: 2011-Sep to 2012-Feb

Cast: Godfrey Gao, Alice Cheng, Chen Zhi Kai and Xiao Man.

Ying Kai Tai (Godfrey Gao) is the son a multi-millionaire CEO, and the sole heir to that very firm. His entire childhood has been strict to the point where he wasn’t allowed to do anything even remotely close to his interests, but has been trained to become a heir and that involving learning bossiness from a very young age. This has led him to become cold, arrogant and selfish. When he returns from Switzerland he is confronted by his father about a book he has published, but finally fed up with his father’s ways Kai Tai decides to leave home and become a writer.

Yuan Huai Zhen (Alice Ceng) is a mathematician and a math teacher at a college where Kai Tai’s father had been sending donations. Her entire mind is wrapped up in logic, but that hasn’t stopped her from becoming empathetic. She has a taboo word that she hates and fights everyday: that is being left alone or “unwanted”. So she collects everything that can still be used or reused.

The two completely different people meet at an airport by accident, and as different as they are their personalities butt heads. Huan Zhen accused by misunderstanding Kai Tai to be a murderer, leading Kai Tai to be arrested and detained at the airport. After clearing everything up, fate brings them together once again, this time at the college where Huan Zhen works. And after she disses his book, Kai Tai decides to make the silly Huan Zhen his main lead in his book. Mission? To make a fool out of Huan Zhen, and let the entire world know. But after spending time together, the two become closer and closer, eventually each other’s best friends. Leaving Kai Tai in a confused state about whether or not to finish his book…

I heard about this drama a while back, but it had the most typical problem of all: no subs. But when I one day it was subbed, I finished it in a matter of 3 days. I might have had high expectations because it didn’t really go the way I thought it would, and the cast were a bit awkward: or at least some of the supporting cast and the main actress were so annoying to look at. Godfrey was great, really trying, but yeah he sort of lost his quality along the way as he was acting with everyone.

The storyline was quite brilliant, might be because I am a mathematician myself, but the idea of the “odd perfect match” and making it of two odd people, instead of two odd numbers was great. I kind of felt they kept it going through and through the entire drama,

So to sum up: good story with bit of lacking actors, but okay watch.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥ ♥ ♥ ½/ 3½ out of 5 hearts

Starlit Review

Title: Starlit

Genre: Romance, melodrama

Episodes: 22

Broadcast date: 2009-Jan to 2009-Apr

Cast: Jerry Yan, Terri Kwan, Alice Ceng and Chen Zhi Kai 

Cheng Yue (Jerry Yan) is a pianist, who once saved a girl from being hit by a car, which led him to break his hand. Everything seemed okay until he found out that he would never be able to have an agile hand again, which means that he’ll never be able to play piano again. His mother spent all her life trying to make him the best pianist in Taiwan, which only leads to him not doing anything else besides playing. After a huge argument, Cheng Yue leaves his mother and girlfriend, by running away and not contacting them again.

Two years past, Cheng Yue now a piano teacher, meets the girl he saved, Dong Xiao Lu (Terri Kwan), whom he now blames for all his mishaps, and ends up losing his job. Feeling guilty, she decides to help him get a new job at her company, and the two start to form a mutual understanding, and soon more than that. Cheng Yue confesses to Xiao Lu, but she rejects him telling him that she has never thought of him like that, but somehow her rejection seems halfhearted…

While I was watching the drama I didn’t feel the chemistry of the couple at all, even though it’s 22 episodes worth of screen time, which especially for a Taiwanese drama is long. Somehow the main actress annoyed the shit out of me, and made me want to yell “CUT!“ 50% of the time! Like there were times when I thought she was blind (like the actual physical form), but that was just because of the ridiculous acting.

On the other hand, she does a great job as a sick patient, and Jerry Yan does was he’s used to :P The drama reminded me of the Japanese 1 Liter of Tears with Nishikido Ryo and Sawajiri Erika, except it was adults and there was much more love story than illness.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Calling For Love Review

Title: Calling For Love                                       Genre: Romance, comedy

Episodes: 14

Broadcast date: 2010-May to 2010-Aug

Cast: Mike He, Charlene Choi, Chen Zhi Kai and Tracy Zhou.

Chen De Xing (Charlene Choi) left Hong Kong after her mother’s death in order to find her father, whom she had never met before. She doesn’t know his name either, and her only lead is a picture that is at least 25 yers old, but she is still optimistic and gets a job as a taxi driver. Her life is turned upside down when the super idol Bo Ye (Mike He) returns to Taiwan, and she winds up with his fans. Things heat up when she does a mistake and takes pictures of Bo Ye, infuriating him and his manager.

Bo Ye is known to be a star, but due to his father indebting him, his sister going to arts school, he became an idol, which he resents. When he’s finally able to pay it back, more debt seems to come up; his manager borrowed money from mafia, his best friends restaurant is not going so well, and his sister needs to go to Paris to continue her education. All this leads him considering going back to the job he hates, until he buys a lottery ticket and actually wins! But unfortunately he put the ticket in a book, which he had mixed up with De Xing! Now he has to get it back from her, without telling her about the winning price, 300 mio…

Yeah, I get why it didn’t become popular as Mike He’s drama usually are, it’s really not that good. The actual highlights of this drama are the cute interactions, which are rare, like RARE for a TW drama. The drama has the baseline that he has to make her fall in love with him so that he can get the money, but he falls in love with her; that’s a pretty good baseline, except the drama is thin as paper. The characters don’t do the actors justice, even though they aren’t that good actors, somehow it becomes boring, and 14 episodes feel like forever. I don’t mind push and pull as long as it’s done classy, which this is not even worth mentioning. I bet the director doesn’t even understand the concept of push and pull. On the other hand, you can watch it without the annoyance that most dramas like this have…

☆☆½ / 2½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts