Romance on the Farm (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Romance on the Farm (2023) - Not much romance but there is family melodrama aplenty 

This is 7.5/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         7.5 Stars Plot:                       7 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   8 stars Music:                    7 Stars Re-watch value:      7 Stars Enjoyment factor:   7.5 Stars

When I saw that Romance on the Farm (2023)  was headed by big eyed cuties Zeng Shun Xi and Tian Xie Wei, it went on my to-watch-while-airing list.  What's not to love about a historical slice of life drama set in a rural farming setting?  Historical/period dramas on commoners are far and few between, and there is an interesting twist in this one in that the female lead is a modern gamer testing a VR farming game.  Besides, having just watched Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023), I wanted to see Xiao Bao again and that cute doggy Hu Li Jing also makes an appearance as Dai Wang in this drama...    

However, Romance on the Farm (2023) is not what I expected. Although the name, trailer, and marketing gave off a fluffy romcom vibe, romcom this definitely is not.  The Chinese drama title 《田耕紀》"Farming Chronicles" is more apt. If you watch this one, be prepared for what can often be a melodrama that makes your blood boil because Man'er's extended family are a toxic bunch and their machinations would not be out of place in a palace drama. I also think the drama would have made more sense without the VR gaming premise.  

However, despite the family melodramatics and some rather obvious logic flaws linked to the gaming premise, the drama (and Zeng Shun Xi and Tian Xie Wei) kept me watching till the rather sweet play-on-words ending. 

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Romance on the Farm (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Romance on the Farm 

Chinese title:  田耕紀 (Eng translation: "Farming Chronicles") 

Episodes: 26 + 1 short special episode

Genre: Slice of life, romance, historical

Original network:  iQiyi

Release date:        14 Oct  2023

Airing schedule:    14 Oct 2023 - 25 Oct 2023

Synopsis:

Lian Man'er enters a farming VR game set in ancient China as a tester, and soon finds herself on the Lian family farm.  To successfully win the game she needs to earn 1000 golden taels.  

When Man'er meets the mysterious Shen Nuo, she ropes him into helping her in various farming and business ventures.  As they work hand in hand, romance blossoms. But making 1000 taels is no easy task as they are repeatedly thwarted by events outside their control, as well as Man'er's problematic extended family. Shen Nuo is also not who he seems, and has a secret quest of his own to achieve.

  

Wrong Carriage, Right Groom (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Wrong Carriage, Right Groom (2023) - Cute and clichéd romance on a familiar trope 

This is 6.5/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         6.5 Stars Plot:                       6 Stars Acting/cast:            6 Stars Couple chemistry:   7 stars Music:                    7 Stars Re-watch value:      2 Stars Enjoyment factor:   6.5 Stars

Wrong Carriage, Right Groom (2023) is a fluffy cheap and cheerful 24 episode romance, that is entirely predictable.  It is a remake of the original 2001 drama of the same name which I have not watched, so I can't compare this 2023 version to the original and can only judge it on its own merits.   

My verdict is that if you are wanting a fluffy low stakes drama that you don't have to engage your brain to watch, this one fits the bill. Both sets of leads are very cute, especially the Ao Rui Peng and Tian Xie Wei pairing, but this drama is definitely well within their comfort zones and does not stretch them as actors (which is understandable given the genre). The second pairing of Bai Bing Ke and Zhao Shun Ran have much less screen time, but also turn in competent and cute performances.  

Worth a watch if you are a fan of Ao Rui Peng and/or Tian Xie Wei but don't expect it to rock your world - it gets a bit draggy and repetitive in the middle and would have been better with 20 episodes or less.  

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Wrong Carriage, Right Groom (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Wrong Carriage, Right Groom

Chinese title:  花轿喜事 /  花轎喜事 (Eng translation: "Wedding Sedan, happy occasion") 

Episodes: 24 

Genre: Romance, romcom, historical

Original network:  Youku

Release date:        28 Aug 2023

Airing schedule:    28 Aug 2023 - 14 Sep 2023

Synopsis:

The powerful Du and Li families arrange marriages for their daughters, who are both reluctant to marry their chosen grooms. Li Yu Hu is to marry General Yuan Bu Qu, who is rumoured to have caused the premature deaths of two wives, whilst Du Bing Yan is to marry Qi Tian Lei, the sickly 3rd young master of the Qi household, who is rumoured to be at death's door. 

Both brides set out on the same day by sedan to their respective weddings, but due to a bout of rain, they both take shelter at a temple, where they meet and become sworn sisters.  

  

Ms Cupid in Love (2022) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Ms Cupid in Love (2022) - Frothy romcom that is watchable if a little bland

This is 6/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

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

Ms Cupid in Love (2022) is a romcom typical of the genre - delivering cheap and cheerful clichés galore with a sprinkling of angst.  

It's nothing to write home about, but then again, when episode 1 has a handsome immortal literally falling out of the skies in a 'meet cute' moment with the heroine, complete with floating rose petals, you may find yourself watching in spite of yourself (or because you are looking for light frothy romcom).  

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Ms Cupid in Love (2022) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Ms Cupid in Love 

Chinese title: 姻缘大人请留步 (Eng translation: "God of Love, please stay around")

Episodes:  24 + 3 extra episode

Genre: Romance, historical, comedy

Original network: Tencent

Release date:      28 Feb 2022

Airing schedule:  28 Feb 2022 - 21 March 2022

Synopsis:

When the aloof immortal Bo Yan inadvertently messes up the red strings of fate that decree the love and fate of mortals in Yue Yang City, he is sent there to make amends.  After literally falling from the skies, he meets the City's number 1 matchmaker Shangguan Ya (aka Xiao Ya to her friends and family).  

The bright and bubbly Xiao Ya is determined to restore the city's faith in love and marriage again, and she and Bo Yan (who takes the name of Chu Ye) team up to make an unlikely but formidable duo. As the two work towards their common goal, they grow from mutual dislike to mutual affection, with fate playing a key role in tying them together.  

With friends at their side, and one or two mortal and immortal rivals in affection along the way, Chu Ye and Xiao Ya must overcome obstacles in the quest for true love, both theirs and the city's.    

  

Final Review - Be my Cat (2021)

Final review/rating: Be my Cat (2021) - Fluffy, short, Cat-centric romcom

This is 6/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         6 Stars Plot:                       5.5 Stars Acting/cast:            6.5 Stars Couple chemistry:   7 stars Music:                    6 Stars Re-watch value:      5 Stars Enjoyment factor:   7 Stars

There's nothing to write home about in terms of plot or acting with Be my Cat (2021), but this short 16 episode cat-centric fantasy romcom is a nice way to unwind if you need a break from more serious angsty dramas. 

I think you have to be in the mood for light fluffy nonsense to enjoy Be my Cat.  There's plot holes and inconsistencies aplenty and no real attempt to tell a coherent story.  But cat lovers (and those with a sense of the ridiculous) may warm to this one.  It's one of those a dime a dozen, low budget, fluffy and short fantasy romance dramas with tropes a plenty.  

SPOILERS AHEAD

  

Be my Cat (2021) - Synopsis

 

Drama info:

Title:  Be my Cat

Chinese title: 我的宠物少将军 (Translation: "My pet, the young General")

Episodes:  16

Genre: Historical, Fantasy, Romance

Original network: Sohu TV

Release date:      8 Feb 2021

Airing schedule:  8 Feb 2021 - 1 March 2021

Synopsis:

Pet store owner Su Xiao He (whose name is literally "Peppermint") goes on a quest to find her missing older brother.  In the process, she comes into possession of the Blue Soul Orb - a magical artefact that also accidentally awakens a Cat Prince, Mo Xiu Ren from the faraway Cat planet.  

Mo Xiu Ren finds himself trapped in the body of a General and is contractually bound by the Blue Soul Orb to have Peppermint as his owner and master, much to his dismay.  But as the two embark on a sometimes dangerous quest to find other Orbs and to send Mo Xiu Ren home, Mo Xiu Ren finds that perhaps he doesn't want to go home after all.