Bella
This review may contain spoilers
The emotions are not quite there
First of all, out of all the versions of this drama, this one had the best couple in my opinion since I've seen their chemistry in The Eternal Love 1&2. While watching though, I couldn't help but compare it to the first and original Taiwanese version (I rewatched this 4 times already).
Characters: I liked the characterisation of the male lead better in this version because he made up his made earlier on and he wasn't a complete jerk like in the Taiwanese version and blamed everything on the female lead. This was also because he wasn't drugged by her relatives so he couldn't blame it on anyone. However, since he was portrayed as a better character, that also meant that Anna was portrayed as more of a bad person. Of course, I liked how his aunt and cousin were also portrayed to be not as bad as in the Taiwanese version but this also meant that there fewer complications that give the drama some depth. Dylan as the second male lead was more significant in the Taiwanese version and had a deeper connection with the female lead since she always went to him for relationship advice. He also backed her up more and gave her justice by exposing the truth prior to the car accident scene.
Emotions: What this version did well was the storyline was not draggy and it was straight to the point, especially at the start. But at the most important scenes such as the car accident, it was too rushed and I didn't feel the emotions. For example:
1) the Taiwanese version had more emotional soundtrack played in the car accident scene
2) their dialogue was shorter and less significant before she got hit by a car (in the Taiwanese version, he ONLY made up his mind who to choose after he realised how much the female lead actually sacrificed for him on the day; that's what made the car accident more emotional)
3) there were no flashbacks
4) the overall events leading towards it was rushed and didn't unfold more dramatically in comparison.
Overall, it was not the lead's fault since their acting was great but in this version, the emotions, in this case, were lacking because of other effects and layout of events.
Still, I decided to give this version an 8 star-rating because if I didn't watch the original, I wouldn't even notice these flaws. It is a creative attempt to recreate the original with a more well-characterised male lead and good twists in some events.
Characters: I liked the characterisation of the male lead better in this version because he made up his made earlier on and he wasn't a complete jerk like in the Taiwanese version and blamed everything on the female lead. This was also because he wasn't drugged by her relatives so he couldn't blame it on anyone. However, since he was portrayed as a better character, that also meant that Anna was portrayed as more of a bad person. Of course, I liked how his aunt and cousin were also portrayed to be not as bad as in the Taiwanese version but this also meant that there fewer complications that give the drama some depth. Dylan as the second male lead was more significant in the Taiwanese version and had a deeper connection with the female lead since she always went to him for relationship advice. He also backed her up more and gave her justice by exposing the truth prior to the car accident scene.
Emotions: What this version did well was the storyline was not draggy and it was straight to the point, especially at the start. But at the most important scenes such as the car accident, it was too rushed and I didn't feel the emotions. For example:
1) the Taiwanese version had more emotional soundtrack played in the car accident scene
2) their dialogue was shorter and less significant before she got hit by a car (in the Taiwanese version, he ONLY made up his mind who to choose after he realised how much the female lead actually sacrificed for him on the day; that's what made the car accident more emotional)
3) there were no flashbacks
4) the overall events leading towards it was rushed and didn't unfold more dramatically in comparison.
Overall, it was not the lead's fault since their acting was great but in this version, the emotions, in this case, were lacking because of other effects and layout of events.
Still, I decided to give this version an 8 star-rating because if I didn't watch the original, I wouldn't even notice these flaws. It is a creative attempt to recreate the original with a more well-characterised male lead and good twists in some events.
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