The Flowers are Blooming (2021) - Final Review

Final review/rating: The Flowers are Blooming (2021) - A lighthearted fluffy romance with architecture and teamwork thrown in

This is 7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         7 Stars Plot:                       7 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   6 stars Music:                    6 Stars Re-watch value:      6 Stars Enjoyment factor:   7 Stars

The Flowers are Blooming (2021) is a cute and fluffy watch.  There are no major surprises (only a mild dose of angst and no tiresomely drawn out love triangles).  One of the best things about it is the creative premise of the CP being in a construction team, so along with romance, you also get interesting architectural cases and building projects into the bargain.  

SPOILERS AHEADS

A cute construction adventures based plot and (thankfully) no annoying love polygons

A CP with shared interests and skill sets

Having only recently finished a rather exasperating drama (yes, I'm talking about Rebirth for You (2001) and it's seemingly endless love rival deluded shenanigans), I was rather leery of a similar Princess-who-is-also-good-at-crafts set up, with the potential for love triangles, squares, or polygons galore.  After all, we are talking about a construction team of eight, so a web of romantic entanglements seemed unavoidable. 

Thankfully, The Flowers are Blooming (2021) does not have any annoying love polygons - there are some mild love triangles, but nothing that will have you wanting to smash your tv screen or gnashing your teeth.  I actually rather approved of Miss Zhao, who was unafraid to honestly express her feelings to the uninterested Qing Feng, and who was more then gracious in defeat. 

The Flowers are Blooming is a classic fluffy princess-meets-hero opposites attract scenario (see my spoiler free synopsis 👉here), with two good looking leads in Xu Jia Qi as the gamine Princess Lang Yue and Huang Sheng Chi as the aloof/tsundere hero Qing Feng.  While their acting leaves something to be desired when called to portray depth, on the whole they are watchable and cute as the bickering leading couple who find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. 

Much of the dramatic tension is predictably tied up with Lang Yue's secret identity as a princess and the trials that the couple have to overcome in order to be together, despite their different stations in life and Lang Yue's responsibilities to her country, which call on her to sacrifice her personal happiness for the good and safety of her people.  

What rescues The Flowers are Blooming from ennui is the cool setup of the lead couple (and six others) being part of a construction company.  So we get to see a number of interesting building cases, for example:

- the charitable redesigning and construction of a Granny and granddaughter's old family home

- the design of a lavish pavilion (and the prevention of a related double suicide of a pair of star-crossed lovers);

- the refurbishment of a "haunted" house (and the cracking of a cold murder case);

- the creative designing of bunk beds to solve the problem of space at a local orphanage;

- the creation of the most beautiful house in the world for an amnesiac lady to help her remember her lost love;

- the creative design of a chain bridge, both within budget and fitting for its intended use

etc...       

A loveable Team😊

These adventures bring the Team of eight together, changing them into a close knit unit that is family in all but name.  

All of them, from Miss Zhao (the red-clad lady patroness who has an unrequited love for Qing Feng) to the laconic undercover Guard Huang Sheng, pitch in as a team to pull off one final engineering feat so that Qing Feng and Lang Yue can have a happy ending.  

By the end of the drama (and it is a very happy ending with many happy CPs), I was a little sad to say goodbye to the loveable Team and their construction adventures. 

Final thoughts

🐼: This is a short and sweet drama, with minimal angst, and a fresh premise.  While the romance and the acting did not exactly sweep me off my feet, the construction cases and the Team's many adventures along the way made The Flowers are Blooming a satisfying watch.  

24 episodes is just about the right length.  Much like the Chinese title, with clear winds (Qing Feng) and a bright moon (Lang Yue), the timing is right for a pleasant, feel-good drama to bloom.  

7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮