Qing Luo (2021) - Final Review
Final review/rating: Qing Luo (2021) - An average romcom that's a bit hit and miss
This is 6/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼
Overall rating: 6 Stars Plot: 5 Stars Acting/cast: 6.5 Stars Couple chemistry: 6 stars Music: 6 Stars Re-watch value: 4 Stars Enjoyment factor: 5 Stars |
Qing Luo (2021) looked promising. An original set up not usually seen in Chinese historical drama land (a single mom heroine!) with a very cute, precocious kiddo in tow. That and Liu Xiu Ye in his first starring role, ready to flex some comic muscles (and real muscles) had me giving this one a go.
Alas, the script and the comedy is largely hit and miss, and the eye candy that is Liu Xiu Ye (and the rather adorable father and son dynamic he had with Nan Nan) were the only reasons I managed to finish this one. It's not a complete train wreck but don't watch Qing Luo with too many expectations.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The problem with ho-hum chemistry
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| Wang Zi Wei's Qing Luo and Liu Xue Yi's Ye Xiu Du |
When you have a low budget historical romcom, what you really need is chemistry between the hero and heroine. That magic which makes you giddy and enjoy the tropes that are no doubt going to come thick and fast even as you roll your eyes a little at the absurdity of it all. Qing Luo is no exception. Some viewers may love the pairing of Wang Zi Wei's Qing Luo and Liu Xue Yi's Prince Ye Xiu Du, but alas, I was not in that number - I just couldn't feel the spark. That made 24 episodes feel rather long, because I was left with only the "com" in "romcom".
I persevered till the end, because I really wanted to see what Liu Xue Yi could do with as the main male lead, having seen him steal the show as an anti-hero god in Ancient Love Poetry and as the unforgettable villain in Love and Redemption.
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| Did I mention he has dimples?😆😍 |
I think Liu Xue Yi's Prince Ye Xiu Du was likeable enough as a roguish romcom hero and very easy on the eye. The role also allowed his comic side to shine - he had me laughing out loud when the amnesiac trope reared its head and Ye Xiu Du loses his memory, and all his latent narcissism comes to the fore, with much swishing of hair, swagger, and bombast. Ye Xiu Du also has a blood phobia (he faints at the sight of blood), which is kind of problematic for a martial arts hero 😆 but that does give the drama the excuse of giving him incredible blindfolded sword skills.
Dynamic duo: Father and Son
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| Father and Son Ye Xiu Du and Nan Nan |
If the hero-heroine couple chemistry was a bit lack luster, that between the hero and the cute kiddo Nan Nan was anything but.
From the first moment these two share a screen, they are undoubtedly the drama's dynamic duo.
The precocious Nan Nan takes on "Little Ye" as a disciple, in exchange for endless supplies of fried chicken and the two get on like a house on fire. Nan Nan is pleased as punch to have the cool "Little Ye" around (he craves a father figure) but at the same time, he's deeply jealous of any male that comes near his precious Mum. And since "Little Ye" is his disciple, any romantic shenanigans Ye Xiu Du and Qing Luo are, as he keeps hilariously reminding them, completely inappropriate. By Nan Nan's logic, Qing Luo is Ye Xiu Du's "granny", being the Mother of his shifu/master.
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| "Did I just hear the word "date"??" |
Most of the laughs in the drama come from the adults trying to sneakily romance each other whilst trying to escape the beady eyed Nan Nan's detection and failing abysmally 😂
And because we are in trope territory, it is entirely predictable that Ye Xiu Du does turn out to be Nan Nan's biological father (the back story is that Qing Luo's horrific ex-husband drugged her and set her up to be raped by a pervert so that he could divorce her, but somehow she ends up in the room of Ye Xiu Du, who has also been drugged up, and well, 9 months later, Nan Nan arrives. Evil-ex husband then uses the pregnancy as an excuse to drown her for adultery etc, hence Qing Luo's amnesia).
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| Dynamic Duo |
But I was glad that the drama had Ye Xiu Du loving Nan Nan and wanting to be his Dad and Qing Luo's husband way before he found out that Nan Nan was his child - it was really very sweet (and funny) to see their father and son chemistry.
Hit and miss comedy
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| Ye Hao Ren and Jin Liu Li |
Other comedy in Qing Luo is a bit hit and miss, with more misses than hits. Some great slapstick moments as well as tacky tropey comedy that falls flat.
Special mention should be made of the second lead couple though (Ye Xiu Du's younger brother, Ye Hao Ren and Qing Luo's best friend, Jin Liu Li).
The two have some very funny scenes - Ye Hao Ren is a bit of a weakling and inconveniently prone to hiccups whenever he lies, and it takes him a while to realise that he is actually head over heels in love with the feisty Jin Liu Li. She gets him back good though, especially the trick she pulls on their wedding night, when he lifts the veil to find the villainess of the drama waiting for him (it's actually Jin Liu Li in disguise, but before Ye Hao Ren cottons on, he promptly faints)😆.
Final thoughts
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| Family 💗 |
Overall, it was not a challenging watch, but you may have to be in the mood for trope and cliché overload to truly enjoy it. When cliché is done right in budget romcom, it can be hilarious escapist magic... but in my view, Qing Luo misses that mark and was just average.
It's not a complete train wreck, but I probably would not have finished all 24 episodes if it were not for Liu Xue Yi and his dimples. That and Nan Nan and the cute family vibes 😊
6/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮
