We Started Dating From Marriage (2020)

A fun tongue-in-cheek look at common tropes

Oh Begin Again, how I love thee, let me count the ways. For a romance drama built on common tropes, it is quite self-aware and well-executed.

- The gender role reversal is so satisfying and hilariously well-done: the cold, business-like, domineering female CEO chasing the reluctant, shy, empathetic male doctor. They really commit to this -- Lu Fangning is a practical, badass businesswoman who sees something she likes (they even have her do the kabedon lol) while Ling Rui is sweet, warm, does the cooking for his mom and aunts, and cleans obsessively when he's upset. Of course, they soften towards each other as the romance progresses, but this dynamic is still rare in dramas and it's always nice to see competent ladies on screen.
- Interesting female characters with their own emotional arcs: of course, Lu Fangning is the lead with complex emotions and background, but even all the other ladies have distinct personalities and the relationships between women are complex but overall positive (FN with Tang Ping, FN with Cai Siyu, Ling Rui's mom and aunts, etc.). They all start in stereotypes, but they start to become more human and enjoyable over time.
- There are no "evil" characters: while not always executed successfully, the drama tries to avoid cardboard evil characters that are just there to be malicious. While there are antagonists and conflicts, actions come from mostly understandable motivations and the writers try to make all the characters 3-dimensional.
- The romance is sweet: while there are some eye-rolling and tropey moments, for the most part the romance is really cute - there aren't any serious threats from secondary leads, and their dynamic together is pretty adorable.

BUT these are all true up until the last part of the drama - then there is a turn that honestly doesn't make a whole lot of sense but is clearly there to create conflict for the end so that the writers can totally change up the dynamic. Then, they try to tie up a whole bunch of emotional arcs and loose ends, but without earning them, the last bit feels out of character and almost like these are totally different people. Although, at least they comment on how tropey it is, so they're self-aware!

Acting-wise, I thought the FL was great (and her dad too). I thought everyone else was fine, but maybe not as good (though the ML is SO pretty). The 2nd ML seemed so wooden that I fast forwarded through all of his scenes and his whole storyline/romance.

While this was still a romcom drama with all the tropes and cliches that follow, it was something fresh and surprisingly good.

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it's been a long time since i last rated a cdrama 10

let me share the things that i liked about this drama

1. despite the plot, it wasn't overly dramatic, like fight for custody, messy divorce, severe family issues. it maintained the fluffy, cutesy, little bit of drama, non-complicated issues.
2. their acting. the FL has portrayed a convincing domineering female CEO. Applause~~ They are a lovely couple. i just couldnt get enough of them. even if they were still a fake couple, they romance was already way over the top, loveeee!!
3. Not much business talk. altho there some problems with the business, the scenes were just at a right amount, not too much boring stuff. goodgoodgood
4. the secondary couples/support roles - i wished i had more of the leads but the secondary couples were also necessary.

(FOLLOWING ARE ALL SPOILERS)

like Peng Bo during the hospital auction, ESPECIALLY: Si Yu and Simon when the leads got back together but were still awkward with each other. It was really funny cause instead of solving their own problem, they just went on and talked about the other couple's issue. <3
- what i just didnt like about SiYu and Simon couple - it also took them 6 years to resolve their misunderstanding?? What, did Simon just continue to daze for 6 yrs while wondering if they really slept together that night??
5. i cried a lot -- the most heartbreaking scene for me was 6 yrs later when Ling Rui went back to the their old home and imagining how Deer left him. i pity him that time. also cried on the family issues, when the Deers gave up their shares and had a father-daughter confrontation. and lastly, when the dead sister showed up on the bday, in front of Gao. he didnt deserve my tears for what he did, but he was just so pitiful that time.
6. what i didnt like tho was that Ling Rui forgave her so easily. i was expecting more cutesy push and pull but i guess they have to prolong the drama if they were going to do that. so 35 episodes was just fine. i was also expecting that the father revelation would be more shocking. it was just stupid of the mom to say "How did you know he was your dad?" --- ugh he had a body-sized pillow with his face on it for 5 years.
7. another thing i didnt like (or feel indifferent about) Tang Ping (and her love line) - she's just so stupid. and she didnt even contribute that much to the couple's progress. even if she was in love with Ling Rui, she was just so ineffective during those times. but it was nice that she finally gave up and
8. Lastly, YOUYOU! who doesnt love him? i wish we had him sooner. he's so smart for a 5yrold. it reminded me of the cute son in Autumn's Concerto. and i noticed that he hugs a lot which is so cuteeeeeee.


there are probably more reasons why i loved this drama but these are the only things i could think of right now.
this deserves a higher rating.

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A forced contract marriage which blossoms into love between over bearing female ceo and cute doc

This drama was a solid one for me! definitely something that I enjoyed watching. First of all the male lead is super handsome and cute! The story was cliche but turned the other way lol

Female lead is a head strong, smart, and blunt ceo of the Lu company. She wants to keep her furniture brand " Infinity" alive. Her dad said she has to get married. She goes to the hospital and meets the male lead who is a doctor there. She sees he has a good physique, good personality. The male lead's aunt owes a lot of money to the Lu corp, so the female lead comes up with the contract marriage. Initially the male lead is very hesitant , but later he finds out he knew her from young., which changes his mind. The interesting part is the female lead initially was like the man of the relationship, being bold and making all the move., she even wanted to " make babies with him" ( lol taking the lead) She was actually very over bearing and selfish/ always lying in the male lead's eye. The male lead will not just make a baby , with out the love... They have their misunderstandings and then eventually make up and actually fall in love. The big turn in the story is when there is a person who the female lead trust a lot that betrays her. Turns out he was the boyfriend of her older sister. ( she died in a car accident when the female lead was 18) The boyfriend always felt it was the female lead's fault. At this same time the male lead has an offer to go to Germany...... To not let the workers under her lose her job and also to let the male lead go fufill his study, she leaves the company and him... Fast forwards its 6 year later. This was quite nice because it was a nice refresher..

I really really feel the tingle in my heart for their chemistry and passion. They kissed quite a lot. It was mostly the male initiating, and I aint complaining!!! He was very passionate towards her. Lol he's a good kisser. Their moments are really sweet together and esp when they have their kid. He's so cute!

I didnt care for the female's super red lips. I like her lip color after she stop working as the CEO. Her personality changed and I think she matured and became less selfish and over bearing. After the six years it was finally the male lead's turn to step up haha and be the man in the relationship

Some people were turned off by her " uncle" ( which basically she had no blood relationship too ) because he liked the female lead. I just didnt care for this character but the actor is pretty handsome( but not as handsome as the male lead)

It was cute to see the side couples get together, the second female lead and their couple, and the third female lead with male lead's doctor coworker.

Definitely would recommend!!!

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Far fetched

i will start with the good stuff: Both actors portrayed their roles great. The ML's change in character after the FL came back was very well done by Gong Jun as he managed to seem both aloof and afraid of losing the FL again at the same time. Also the scene where he cries in the apartement thinking of how much he got hurt in the past was very emotional. Honorable mention: the kid actor!!!! he is clearly a natural.
However i would not recommend this drama because of the turn the story takes. The FL decides to leave the ML with no explanation whatsoever because she "loves him and that's the only way he will go abroad to study". I wouldnt complain about this if it happened at a point when she couldnt leave her job, but it happens exactly when her business falls apart and she has to sell everything. Plus she decides to go abroad ANYWAY, just not with him. This does not make sense. After she leaves she finds out she is pregnant and simply does not tell him! The story takes us 6 years after that: the ML has returned from abroad and is now a professor (and a father, he just doenst know) and the kid (5yo) decides to take a plane and head back to find his father. So if the 5 year old hadn t decided to come back, the FL wouldnt. Anyway, they "begin again" after that and iit has a happy ending but it just seems to far fetched for me.
The music is nothing special.

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THANK god I found this to alleviate me from my slump

I THINK that the best dramas that could satisfy you are those which came in randomly.
This is definitely true. I only knew this drama because of the random ad by Iqiyi and just casually decided to watch. Men, I can't get off the drama after episode 1! Now that's how you get your viewers!
The casts are perfect, I really love the story (and the twists, of course!) So generally, the plot can be divided into two parts, episodes 24 below and episodes 25 above. For me, I really, really like the second part. The way they weaseled the 'return' of FangNing, I love that.
I'm not used in watching dramas of more than 20 episodes, but surprisingly, I finished this in 4 days. Lol. Once you start, you really can't get off.
Maybe I easily fell into the story because the cliche story of contract marriage broke my monotonous drama watchlist theme of crime-thriller. It's good to be back at watching romance, lol.
Lastly: I just want to mention that I found my new favorite person, it's Zhou YuTong
🙆🏼‍♀️

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Utter Rubbish!

There is a limit to how much one can suspend their brain, but this is asking too much. Just one person acting on a whim and everyone else pandering to them.
I tried to get through this, not being one to drop a drama just because... but this was mind numbingly painful to watch. I got to ep 26 trying to watch it while doing other things but, I just couldn't stomach the reunion ofter 6 years! Nonsense!

Though the actors were easy on the eye, the story it unrealistic to the umpteenth degree.

I couldn't stomach it any longer and I can't recommend it. There are so many other worthy dramas you can spend your time on.

Not sure what everyone else was watching but this is certainly not worth 8.3, it's a 5.5 at best.

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MR OMNIPOTENT AESTHETIC KING SINGLE-HANDEDLY SAVED THIS DRAMA FROM DISASTER. THANKS FOR EXISTING.

Simon Gong single-handedly carried AND saved this drama from utter breakdown disaster from me. I mean, I'll still do that, but he saved it from a sub-6 star rating; let's just say that much. Gong's heartbreak scenes... fuck, my heart can't take it. His character was such a good person and deserved so much that it was the absolute worst having to see him sad. Also, him with his child broke my ovaries. And I fucking hate children, but when I saw him with his son... my uterus is fucking shaking. The only reason I'd rewatch this is to see him with his kid. Actually the most adorable thing I've seen all year.

Now... THAT BITCH. She needed to grovel. 200%. Gong's character forgave her so fucking fast. She literally concealed the birth and existence of his child for six fucking years. And then when she sees him again, she STILL doesn't tell him the truth—only wasting more precious time between a father and his son. And to make it worse for me, his character didn't even yell at her; I would be fucking furious. I WAS! And it didn't even involve me. I don't know how in any part of that bitch's brain thought not telling him would be okay. I know I'm being mean to her, but I can't get over how she did that to him. The ML was the sweetest guy ever without being a doormat, and she really just pulled that shit on him. I believe he deserves so much better.

Also, couldn't she have gone with him to Germany?? Did I miss the part where she couldn't?

SML is a douchebag. But... he was fucking hot. Not more than ML though. That's why they had to add the scene with ML in his PJs with SML in a dress-shirt—needed to bring down ML a little bit (because Simon Gong is way too attractive). He redeemed himself eventually; his poor waist though!

Some people are way too attractive to be kept alive. I am not one of those people obviously. Simon Gong is though. He's an aesthetic and a half.

I repeat again: Simon Gong single-handedly carried AND saved this drama.

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Where's the communication!?!?

So, Chinese dramas are notoriously long. They tend to spread out over many more episodes than they need to, with some episodes being no more than filler. That's a big complaint of mine. However, that said, if I have to fast forward through a lot of stuff to get to the meat of the story, I will do so. I might rate lower because of all my wasted time, but not always. There were a few things in this show that I found problematic and ultimately unforgivable.

Wasted time/scenes/episodes
No chemistry between leads
Leaving for no apparent reason for years. I find this trope so maddening, because in this day and age, with everyone walking around with a phone in their hand, that someone could leave for five years is just irritating. First, them not having contact with one another for years completely negates all the stuff we had to watch to get them together. If you can leave without a word, you aren't really in love.
But the biggest thing for me - you have a child with this man and don't tell him?!?! That is unforgivable! I'll admit that the prudish side of me started watching Asian dramas because they were more pure than American TV. I got tired of the going to bed with one another without a commitment. Sadly, so many Asian dramas are jumping on the premarital sex bandwagon. I can deal with that, but there is absolutely no excuse for keeping a child from his father and vice versa. That was the kiss of death for me, as far as this drama was concerned.

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Not your average contract marriage romance

This is not your average C-drama. When I first read the description for this drama I thought this would be your standard fall in love and happy ever after kind of drama, but this had so much more depth to it that I would have thought.

The drama main problem with this drama is that the first few episodes started on a high. From the very beginning, it had a very promising theme, storyline along with some great actors. The problem with starting off well, however, is that if you don't keep building on that high it's super easy to slip and in this case, the drama slipped and fell down the rabbit hole of disappointment.

There was a lot that was done right during this drama:
1. Female lead was a badass – I kinda hate how in C-dramas in particular (but a lot of drama are guilty of it) make the females weak and helpless. We did not see that here! She had moments of vulnerability but overall she was a pretty strong character.
2. The scenes between the main characters were super cute throughout and as their characters grew these scenes matured but still didn't lose the cute fun-loving charm.
3. It's predictable, but there are few fun plot twists
4. We see some form of character development from nearly everyone – plus the supporting cast was super cute!

I 100% recommend you watch this drama, but to make it fair there were parts that were not so great, which you should be aware of:
1. Second lead syndrome doesn't exist here - the side couples relationships were not the highlight of this watch and didn't add to the overall viewing enjoyment.
2. The business politics part of the drama was kinda boring and honestly, I still don't really get what was going on, but I don't think it's super essential to the story (There is only one/two reasons why its needed but that would be a SPOILER)

This drama is really good and I would recommend it if you want to watch something a bit lighthearted!

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Saved by 颜值 of male lead

I had high-ish expectations of this show after reading good reviews and watching some clips online. But... this show fell flat...

Not a great drama because:
- storyline isn’t meaty in that there isn’t much story to watch or anticipate
- cast is raw in that they really cannot act well
- the other female leads can’t act and were painful to watch
- the little boy actor who acts as Ling Rui’s son is pretty annoying and he doesn’t look cute
- story gets draggy - drama can be completed in way fewer episodes
- female lead is kind of weirdly f up
- the ‘gender bending’ of sorts didn’t keep up
- some parts of the show don’t match up or make sense

I kept on going simply because of the male lead who acted as Ling Rui. He kept the show going because of his good looks and because he played a really good guy in the show.

Verdict: don’t waste time on this show. Watch something else instead.

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