Title: 海派甜心
Genre: Romance, comedy
Episodes: 14, approximately an hour each
Average Rating: 3.29% nationwide in China
Where to watch: Youtube, Viikii
Main Characters:
Show Lo as Xue Hai/Lin Da Lang:
–About: Show Lo is an actor and singer. Well that’s basically all I know about him. I have never heard any of his songs except the ones he sings in dramas. I’ve only seen him in 2 Taiwanese dramas, with one being Hi My Sweetheart and the other one being Corner With Love.
–Character in drama: Xue Hai is the only son in his family. His parents died when he was little, so his two older sisters take care of him. He was born into an extremely wealthy family, and because he is the only son in his family, he is the heir to all that wealth. His oldest sister finally lets him go to this city in China (forgot what it’s called) to go to college. In order to make sure that nobody takes advantage of him, his name is changed to Lin Da Lang, Da Lang because that’s Pink Panther’s best friend (if you watch the drama, you’ll understand). Lin Da Lang is a very poor boy, the opposite of Xue Hai. Another thing about Xue Hai/Lin Da Lang – he dresses like a big nerd with huge glasses, suspenders, and an “ugly mushroom head”.
Rainie Yang as Chen Bao Chu:
–About: Rainie Yang is in my opinion, a very talented actress and singer. If you watch her live performances singing, it will assure you that she does not lip sync. If you watch the various dramas that she’s acted in (Meteor Garden, Devil Beside You, Miss No Good), then you can also see that she can act a whole range of characters, from the innocently weird to the intensely terrifying.
–Character in drama: Chen Bao Chu doesn’t have any friends. She was also born in a rich family, but her parents are divorced and always fighting. Her parents are always busy as well, so she doesn’t see them much. In the past, she was accused of stealing other people’s things, which labeled her as a thief; thus, nobody wants to hang out with her. Despite her fierce look, she is actually very lonely.
Lee Wei as He Yan Feng:
–About: The only other drama I saw Lee Wei in was My Lucky Star. In my opinion, he isn’t that good looking, but then again, some say that he is. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion.
–Character in drama: He Yan Feng is Chen Bao Chu’s only friend. They met in high school at the judo club. He Yan Feng actually wants to be more than friends with Bao Chu, but she only sees him as her high school senior. Despite this, He Yan Feng still waits for Chen Bao Chu. He’s probably the nicest person in this drama – he doesn’t force Bao Chu to be with him, and whenever she has her own love problems, he helps her out.
Maggie Wu as Mo Li:
–About: This is the first drama where I ever saw Maggie Wu.
–Character in drama: Mo Li is one of the “Three Beauties” in the college that Xue Hai attends. In fact, her father is the principal of that school. Mo Li befriends Xue Hai at first because her dad is friends with his oldest sister, but she later starts to fall for him because of his innocence and his simplicity.
Synopsis (from Dramawiki):
Xue Hai was a certifiable dork when he first arrived in Shanghai. After his schoolmate Bao Zhu saved him from bullying, she became his first love. Then, a misunderstanding caused them to lose contact when she moved back to Taiwan. He thought she dumped him. So he transformed himself from a dork to a hunk in order to seek revenge.
Review:
Because of the appealing synopsis, I started to watch this drama. I really wanted to see Show Lo’s transformation from a dork to a hottie x] However, who knew that I would actually start to like the dork more than the hottie? I’ll explain more about that later..but anyways, continuing with the review. The beginning of the drama got me hooked. I loved how the innocent Da Lang would always be so friendly to Bao Chu and how she slowly started to become nicer and nicer. I also liked their Pink Panther dance- it was really funny. Every time I saw them dance to it, I started to laugh uncontrollably. Yes, indeed, weird things are funny. I really liked it when Xue Hai (sorry for continually changing names) was always so nice and kind to everyone; his outer appearance didn’t matter anymore because his inner character makes up for it. Later, when Bao Chu “leaves” Xue Hai, he decides to completely transform into a handsome man that everyone wants to date. And indeed he did become so much better looking. I couldn’t even BELIEVE that both the characters of Xue Hai AND Lin Da Lang were acted by Show Lo! The transformation was incredible! But the good character he had before went down the drain. He became a player who never sincerely went after anyone again. I liked this drama, but I think it could’ve been better. There were too many misunderstandings, and Xue Hai should’ve stopped lying to Bao Chu (after they met again). I would’ve also liked it if the “new” Xue Hai kept his kind attitude..that would be nice. But I must say, another thing I liked about this drama was its OST (: Hi My Sweetheart would’ve been a big hit if it just didn’t get so draggy later on..Like many dramas, it started out great, but went downhill D: But still a must watch! You must at least watch the first few episodes because the Pink Panther dance is hilarious. ^^
Rating: 3/5
A great drama; too bad its unique synopsis started becoming more cliché as the drama went on..
