Please Call Me CEO (2022)

Interesting Business, Character Development, and a Mature, Slow-burn Romance: Give it a Try :)

I absolutely loved this drama! I loved the business, it was mostly understandable for someone who doesn't have a lot of knowledge in this area. So many things I loved about it.. I don't know how to write reviews but I am jotting down my favorite things about the show. If you appreciate any of these things, give it a try:

*ACTING: The actors did a great job portraying the many emotions, especially Tan Song Yun! I also appreciate a show where the men are vulnerable and have crying scenes. All the crying scenes were great, not cringe at all, it felt so real I wanted to cry too lol! Also love the no dub, I HATE DUB!
* CHARACTERS: The women in this show are all so powerful and diverse in their abilities and positions in life (stay-at-home girlfriend or CEO)
* The mature characters, not 22 year olds as CEOS but people in their 30s-60s! Casting was amazing :)
* PRODUCTION: Some nice camera-work moments that I don't usually see when I watch c-dramas.
*The music is nice, but I didn't really pay attention to OST at all. I liked the music they played during heavy moments though.
* THERE IS ROMANCE, but the main focus isn't love but the relationship between the main characters. I loved their dynamic, they were very interesting to watch and I didn't need any fluff for them as they are mature adults. If you do care about romance, just pay attention! Anyone who likes fast, fluffy romance, this is the opposite, slow and mature!!
*CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!! Usually in dramas we have characters that attack the main-leads for no reason and are just the hated relentlessly by fans but I didn't hate any character (maybe the villains but you'll soon learn who the bad guys are and who the regular humans with emotions are)..
* REALISM: We don't see mary sue characters who never fail, but we don't see any quitters! They are always fighting and it is very inspiring. They have ups and downs like normal people.
*THE SLIGHT FORESHADOWS: Many shows show a picture of something or make a character do something weird and leave it unexplained, but in this show, each moment has a purpose. I feel fulfilled after watching. I was worried near the end they wouldn't explain this character or something, but they cover most of it.

I really enjoyed this show and wish I can find more Chinese shows with strong, realistic, mature characters, an interesting plot, and of course a lovely romance! I don't usually re-watch slow-burn romance shows, but I would re-watch scenes of the leads together or certain moments when I need some inspiration.

*The plot is not the same at all but I loved reset, it came out a few months ago and it is also one of my favorite c-drama with a well thought out plot with amazing characters of all ages. I hope people enjoy this show!

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A feminist unexpected delight, a champion of dreams and redemption.

Never in a million years would I have thought that one of the best stories told by women and for women would come from China. For a country that tends to gloss over issues this drama dealt so beautifully with corruption, sexism, abuse and abuse of power, but with all these heavy topics it never lost its heart and was never anything other than highly entertaining.
I fell in love with all the characters, and felt compassion for both the goodies and the baddies, a sign of how good the script truly was. But obviously my favourites were the two leads and the journey this took them through - and that was the greatest strength of this drama, the idea of a journey and a process that we all need to go through for our dreams and romance to come true.
If you are looking for a smart drama that wants to teach you something and isn't just your average rom-com than this one is for you. There is romantic in this one and it's lovely, but it isn't the sole focus and purpose because the FL Ning Meng knows she is worth more than her romantic status.

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funny, inspiring, moral lessons and entertaining

Love this drama. I like the plot and the many life lessons about friendship, loyalty, family values, and personal growth. I like the fact that Seven tan portrays the strong female character "Ning Meng" who did not give up her dreams in spite of all the struggles, problems and people who tried to stop her from doing what she wants to do. Seven Tan played the character very well and her acting performance is so amazingly natural and convincing. You can feel all of her emotions when she was happy or sad. there were many funny moments as well as touching scenes that made you feel her frustrations. I also like the pace of the drama how the main leads develop their friendships , trust and love as they work together. I also like the strong character of Ning Meng (female lead Seven tan) who didn't give up her projects and trust her own feelings about the value of the projects and did what she can to resolve the issues to make it successful. Everybody who works with her trust her because they know she is trustworthy, honest and has integrity in the business world. She never cross the line and will stick with doing what is right.

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Charming with a very strong female lead

This is the first drama where I wrote a review before I've finished a series. Yes, this series is THAT good. And now that I completed it, I still say that this is a recommended watch. I thought there would be some kind of revenge from the FL to the ML to spice the story up but there was none. I love how grounded this drama world was, introducing us to the world of investment while teasing us with the relationship of the leads. I also admit that I am a fan of go-getter FLs and Seven Tan as Ning Meng doesn't disappoint. The FL has no illusions about herself but was not afraid to test her limits. When she felt that the ML is bullying her, she tried to hold her peace but did not just take it lying down. This girl was no doormat, she gave as good as she got. She's loyal too and never burned any bridges during her career growth. Kenny Lin as Lu Jiming was also great. He played the brilliant but temperamental boss perfectly. His words were sometimes too harsh that I want to slap him myself. His childishness was so much part of his personality base that when he's jealous, he became petty. His micro-expressions ranging from confused to secretly happy/proud were so good that I can believe that he was already in love in the first few episodes but did not know it yet. That he's actually softhearted and caring was teased during the first episodes but was clearly shown in the last episodes.

I also liked that LJM started to encourage NM once he discovered her motivations in becoming an investor. They became the catalyst for growth of the other, without them even trying. I would have liked more scenes of them being a couple but I'm still satisfied with the ending.

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For me, this drama was irritating

Positives first:
1) Tan Song Yun as Ning Meng was excellent. Her growth from secretary to investment person was interesting to watch. This was a character that depended upon herself to succeed. She wasn't whiny, stupid or over-the-top in any way.
2) The character of Ning Meng (when she wasn't making bad relationship decisions). She was not the typical damsel in distress character.
3) The clothing that Ning Meng wore. Mature, classy.
4) The friendship that ultimately is developed between the ML and FL.

Unfortunately, the list is short for the positives. The negatives far outweighed them.
1) The character of Lu Ji Ming. I think that Ling Geng Xin did a good job portraying him, but this man was abusive, plain and simple. They made a point of saying, multiple times, that she had worked for him for three years, so she'd been putting up with this for quite a while. He was mean, and the name calling was terrible. He called her stupid, saying she had no talent, and could not be successful at anything other than being his secretary. It's bad enough when it's just the two of them, but when he bad-mouths her to her new boss, I thought he'd progressed to a new level of low. Then he basically stalks her and tries to convince her to come back and work for him!
2) The excessive amount of push and pull in their relationship. It was just one drama after the other designed to keep them apart. An editor would not have been remiss here. I mean, it seemed like filler just to complete the "required" number of episodes. Each time there would be a glimmer of hope, I would look at what episode I was on and think, "Okay, what bad thing is going to happen next, they've got a bunch more episodes to fill." This would have been so much more enjoyable with half the episodes.
3) To call this a slow burn romance is not correct. They finally got together in LITERALLY the last five minutes of the last episode. There was no burn, no sizzle, no spark, no flicker. Personally, I think to call this drama a romance at all is misleading.
4) I appreciated their chemistry once they became friends. I liked that the FL was the one to come to the aid of the ML and to stand by him. However, since I watched this show looking for romance, I was sorry to not see any romantic chemistry between them.
5) The handling of the physical and/or verbal abuse. There is never an excuse. I really didn't like the turn the writers took in trying to explain away the ML's verbal abuse "I was raised that way", etc. Just once, I'd like to see a character realize how wrong he was and sincerely apologize.

For anyone that has been patient enough to read this review, I'd say, decide for yourself whether to give this drama a try. Typically, I don't love C-dramas because of the length, dubbing, characters being apart more than they are together, ridiculous costuming, etc. I have seen a couple of C-dramas that I really loved, but most, not so much. So, if C-dramas are what you gravitate to, you might like this one.

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Almost forget about this drama existence, but fortunately YouTube sometimes know me so well.... Haha... So here I come watch this drama. Let's discuss....

This drama about dream, friendship, love & still true to yourself. The message this drama want to give actually good. But the plot or maybe how the scene shape or how the actor/ess involve act or maybe just me being in the edge of cliff of Drama Slump somehow make me don't give a sh*t about the drama overall. But once again because of Seven Tan & Kenny Lin I still endure enough to watch till the end, with double speed & fast forward button still....

What many times make me raise my eyebrow:
? how they portray the investment company. Is it actually like how Ning Meng (NM) work, or is it just her being busybody that like to involve in her client company...? I like the approach they took, but really if everyone that involve like NM I also think it's a little bit too much for investment company or not... Haha...
? No one envy NM at her new company at Shi Ying, especially because the boss really like her & kinda rely on her.

What I like:
+ The positive energy NM give out & how till the end she never sacrifice her principal & stay true to herself. Of course that's also influenced by her parent.
+ The way NM still consider for Su Wei Ran (WR) feeling by making space with Lu Ji Ming (JM) when they're in relationship.
+ They never really forced the relationship between NM with WR & JM, and all that unnecessary jealousy scene, they really let the time flow & take care of the things.
+ What make me frustated yet adorable is JM. OMG seeing him make me want to slap his head or face sometimes, especially at the beginning of the drama where he still have no manner & so rude to NM. Don't know how to feel about the end of JM feeling for Han Yi Meng, good or bad. Bad because it's a little bit too good to be true, It's just like something that so easy to be end. But the good thing about that it is just like our life, sometimes we don't realize how we just hang on to the MEMORY of our feeling instead actually still have that feeling.
+ They show us the good & bad side of human being. Like WR, how he at the end fight between the demon and angel in himself.

Overall this one mature drama with not much of drama in it's plot or too much romance. If that's what u looking for, I think you'll gonna like this drama

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Not the romantic comedy I expected, but overall good series

This was not the typical romantic comedy I was expecting, but it was an good series overall. I am huge Kenny Lin (Lin Gengxin) fan so I want to watch all his work.

Storyline:
- Overall it was good. Interesting view into the world of investing in China's market. Good pacing and I'm glad they kept it at 30 episodes rather than dragging it out. But all the hype build up to the main male and female leads...seemed extremely rushed and wrapped into the very last episode. It was very interesting how the story intersected w/ the FL as lowly assistant rose to success as the ML godlike success came crashing down. While both the ML and FL did an outstanding job w/ their acting - they as a couple lacked chemistry. There was more chemistry between them as boss/employee and co-dependency in each other lives, rather than romantic chemistry.

Acting / Characters:
- Kenny Lin as the ML Lu Ji Ming was great. He was able to portray a very powerful rich, arrogant, chauvinistic jerk on the exterior while deep down being a very ethical, loyal and caring person at heart. And later he was able to portray the despondent, humble person who fell far from his pedestal. With every character development / arc in the series, you are just drawn to his charisma.
- Tan Son Yin as the FL Nin Meng - this was the first time I've seen this actress in any series. She did a great job playing the nerdy, lowly assistant. And her gradual growth into success was well done. Her happy go lucky, can-do attitude was so charming w/out over doing it w/ the cutesiness. And her quiet sadness scenes broke your heart. She's not the typical tall, eye-catching beauty that they usually cast in these types of roles so it was a bit 'off' casting alongside Kenny Lin who is really tall and good looking.
- Supporting actors that all did great and great chemistry: Ceng Yu Hang - ML's best friend. He was not good looking but he played his charming, funny, down to earth rich kid role well. Xu Si Tian who started out as the villainess was so hateful and petty and became adorably charming as part of the friend group. And one of my favorite support characters was Shi Ying, the FL's mentor and boss. Her calm, empathetic yet powerfulness was portrayed so well by the actress.

Music:
- not bad, but nothing memorable. But one of the instrumental songs seems like it was the same song in another recent Kenny Lin series (To Love).

Overall:
- Good series, but I don't think I would re-watch it

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Strong Female lead

I am a Tan Song Yun fan. As an Actor she plays diverse roles. This drama is no exception. The Producers and writer finally got one right. The FL (Ning Meng) is not a weak minded person, who cowdowns to ML. Lu Ji Ming is the typcal Chinese drama character. He is arrogant, no female can't do it by themselves, demean a female at any given chance person. I really this doesn't turn into a romance. There is so much going on now, it's not needed.

The cut throat Invester industry is exposed. What greedy folks will do to get to the top. Lu Ji Ming will want to make a person want to reach in and slap him. Ning Meng is a driven to suceed person. She knows what she want and she is going for it. You can feel the hurt she has as she is blocked at every turn. It's the way Chinese dramas are: the man gets to be a douche throughout the series to the female. Then about midway he says sorry and changes and the woman that has been disrespected, demeanded and yanked around forgives him. They end up together at the end.

This drama isn't a romance drama per se. It's about Ning Meng coming on her own. Mix in her life is romance. It's who should I choose, the School Crush or the demeaning Domineer Ex-Boss. The subplots are great and some are funny. When you find out that your best friend's bf is cheating how do you handle it? This was addressed in this drama and it was done well. The ups and dones in this drama is outstanding. It wll make you pay attention, because if you miss a part you will have to rewatch that portion. If you don't you lose out. This drama runs the gambit. It has Love, Hated. loyality, betrayal and you feel it all. It will give a glimspe at the inner working of the invest industry, a bit hollywoodish.

The Writer, Producers and Directors did a fantastic job on the Drama. It was well writen and played. The episodes fit together, there were only a couples of spots where it seem to drag. The ending was alright. It would of been better if the FL did not pick either one of the men. This is NOT a romance drama. The Cast and crew were great, with great chenistry.

I recommend this Drama to everyone and I will watch it again.

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An Underrated Series

This drama is relatable. This series brings up the psychological upbringing of any Asian families with an overbearing stubborn parent & how we see parents never expressing how they really feel. How parents never apologizes when they know they’re wrong. How kids can be mentally traumatized by verbal abuse of behavior. This is the first series that has a root cause and effect of how people’s upbringing differs from the social norm.

The way I see it, it gives value in the choices we make and what those consequences can entail. Kenny Lin did a great job portraying how an abused child can take effect as the years go by. I’m pretty sure no one picked that up. It’s not your typical rich boss scenario like all the others I’ve seen in a drama. His character had to unlearn those bad habits.

This series is very underrated.

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Worthy of re-watching!

Love how the male character develops as the show progresses. LGX aced his role, once again!
LGX once again showcased why he is the ideal lead-man for this show. His portrayal of a tough boss who seems only result-oriented and totally selfish is so believable that many netizens hated him, to the point that some of them cited his character as being the reason why they want to stop watching the show! This only cements his ability to accurately portray his character!
As the show progresses, you can see that while the ML seems to always be tough with the FL, you can actually see from his facial expressions that he cares for the FL very much, and was actually trying to help her indirectly.
The chemistry between the ML and FL is great, and their characters development in the show from being boss/worker to business partners to being lovers in the end is totally believable and nicely played by both.
Aside from both the leads, the supporting actors and actresses also did a good job with their characters. The FL’s good friend at LGX’s company who replaced her as LGX’s secretary is both funny and cute.
Overall, a very enjoyable office drama, that is worthy of re-watching!

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