The Rational Life (2021)

Dramatically realistic.

This drama has all the components of every typical office drama; the mean boss, the mean rival, office rival and of course the dirty office tricks used against the main leads. But somehow even when it sounded cliche, the story line does make you roll eyes.

Both Dylan and QL did a great job bringing out their character but the chemistry was a bit lacking. Don’t expect to see a lot of knight in shining armor scenes or even kiss scenes, there won’t be a lot of it. But if you’re in it for the strong independent woman vibes, then go ahead, start episode 1.

I think this drama is made for those who enjoy realistic kind of story, you’d definitely come out with another little outlook in life after watching this as the lines are so inspirational. Really teaches you the importance of good communication. There were barely any annoying misunderstandings, proving a drama can actually go without those.

I’d usually skip a lot when it comes to work or office scenes, but this time, I barely did and it was quiet satisfying when the main leads actually overcomes the dirty old tricks from the rival.

Leggi di Più

Es un drama maravilloso centrado en Shen Ruoxin, una mujer a la que otros critican y tratan de derribar por hacer bien su trabajo y desear superarse profesionalmente, en lugar de casarse y tener hijos.

Ruoxin es inteligente, profesional, amable y con hambre de conocimiento. Lo que más desea es llegar a sus objetivos por sus propias habilidades. Nunca tiene la necesidad de atacar a quienes la quieren destruir, simplemente deja que su trabajo hable por sí solo. Sin duda, fue mi personaje favorito. La manera en que se expresa, respetuosamente, pero dejando sus puntos claros, me fascina. Sabe lo que quiere, la forma en que desea obtenerlo, sin depender de nadie más que de ella misma.

El romance avanza despacio, pero a paso seguro, y no decepciona con escenas adorables de una relación donde ambos ponen de su parte para darse apoyo y hacerse sonreír. Ruoxin y Xiao caen poco a poco por el otro, con la convivencia que tienen al trabajar juntos, empiezan a admirarse mutuamente hasta que el aprecio se convierte en algo más.

Una de las tramas secundarias es sobre la mejor amiga de Ruoxin, que tiene problemas con su marido cuando éste habla de tener un hijo, aunque ambos habían acordado años atrás que eso no estaría en sus planes nunca. A pesar de que varias veces pensé en gritarle que dejara al marido, la historia es muy madura, con ambos hablando y dándose cuenta en qué momento del camino se perdieron y cómo pueden seguir adelante.

Otra trama secundaria es con un par de amigos y compañeros de la pareja principal. Ella, una completa dulzura de pies a cabeza, lo motiva para ser valiente y seguir con sus sueños.

Por último, necesito hablar de mi relación amor-odio con la madre de Ruoxin. Esa mujer sabe ser desesperante cuando se trata de influir en la vida de su hija, sin embargo, la ama como nadie más y no quiere partir sin estar segura que alguien estará para cuidar a Ruoxin. Terminé queriéndola, en especial porque la actriz tiene un encanto especial que me sacaba carcajadas sin intentarlo mucho.

Esta historia ha elevado mis estándares para los dramas chinos.

Leggi di Più

RuoXin is the Best FL

What I loved about this series is the FL Ruoxin played phenomenally by Qin Lan. This is the first series I've seen with Qin Lan but she nailed this part through and through.

Ruoxin is someone to aspire to be. She is a successful woman in her 30's who knows what she wants and won't settle for less. She never waivered in her beliefs and I loved that about her. When things got hard she worked harder to make them better and never threw people under the bus even though her boss and his minions were doing everthing in their power to discredit her.

Ruoxin's relationship with Qi Xiao was good and they built towards a common goal to love each other as they are even though society has issues with an older woman and younger man.

I really hated that RuoXin's first boss Mr. Lui and his lackey Mr. Ruan didnt get the comeuppance I was hoping for. Aside from that a really good series from beginning til end even if some parts lagged amd several characters incluidng RuoXin's mom, Mr. Yu and Mr Xu got ob my nerves. Mr Xu did redeem himself though so I appreaciated his character towards the end.

Leggi di Più

Very rich story with many different storylines woven together to form a solid arc

This drama is actually full of well-written mini-arcs. The main character has three coinciding: one is her career, one is her romance, and one is her relationship with her mother. All three mix together in a reasonable way that does not feel cluttered, because each obstacle within any arc is affected by the circumstances of the others. Following this, there are two side arcs involving the supporting cast that also contribute to the main story in a way that enriches the world the drama takes place in. Though there aren't very many characters, it feels like you're getting to know way more people with diverse backgrounds and motivations than truly depicted, which I think is masterful, because each point is delivered in an effective way.

The character of FL is very clever and full of integrity. It's hard to say what her flaws are, but that's not really the purpose of her character. She represents all women who aspire to be strong and capable while living in a world where their parameters are set at a disadvantage to men, whether it is from blatant sexism, traditional expectations, or flat out biology. However, this is not to say that this show derides men; there are honest, well-intentioned men such as ML. ML is equally clever and full of integrity. He is resourceful and persevering without being dominating, and watching the couple feels like they are truly a team, and they genuinely understand and care about each other.

Watching the show has been very thought-provoking, because the side characters bring their own perspectives to how a viewer might look at the main couple. FL starts off the drama as a single female professional in her 30s, who is stressed about her unmarried status and lack of prospects. She is reasonably concerned that her own standards were unrealistic, or there was something about her that repels men she would otherwise have liked. In contrast, her best friend starts off as a married homemaker who had given up her job to stay at home full-time, and it's evident in this show that this can come with its own challenges. Similar contrasts are made between older and younger people; older people may have more experience and wisdom, but younger people tend to have more unrealized potential which can make them more attractive to others in both personal and professional ways. No one has it easy, and this show does a great job of laying this out very painlessly for the viewer. It is a very comfortable show to watch, with one exception.

Every time FL's mother shows up, I really want to skip. She's supposed to be a teacher, and I'm sure there are teachers like her in the real world, but I've never seen one. For some reason, this actress decided to make her character a very solemn, kind of lethargic character who can't even make proper eye-contact with people and speaks in a voice that trails off toward the end like she doesn't have enough breath to finish a simple sentence. Even when she speaks to students or former students, she is like that. There is absolutely no authority in her posture or mannerisms and she's supposed to have taught middle school. It's actually really hard to watch her because this is a very classic representation of someone with major depressive disorder, but for some reason this show didn't acknowledge that, so I don't think the showrunners knew. If you met this person in real life, she would suck out all of your energy with her mere presence and make a birthday party as grave as a funeral. This mother also has a tendency to be incredibly shameless, doing the sort of embarrassingly passive-aggressive things that not only make her daughter lose face, but make herself lose face, in front of other people. Then she turns around and says something profoundly insightful, but the effect is ruined for me because it's always prefaced by something spiteful, all with her eyes lowered like she's too tired to lift her eyelids. She's actually more annoying than the antagonists of the show, because her character is inconsistent, and there's a manipulative aspect to her personality that the show never seems to acknowledge. I don't mind these character flaws on their own, but it seems like they were put there without knowing what they should entail, and she ends up with more screen-time than might be appropriate for her, and in a role within the story that I don't think is a good fit. She's kind of an oval peg trying to squeeze into a round hole, and she can kind of make it, but compared to other characters who are better written, it's always a letdown to see this depressed lady who looks too tired to go to work show up in a scene to do something frustratingly strange and have no one around her point out that this woman needs more than just counseling, she needs some Prozac and maybe a blepharoplasty so she can actually look at something higher than her lap. Unfortunately this lady does show up a lot and she drives some of the plot, so it's not really possible to skip her scenes, but man did I really hate how they utilized this character, which is why I can't give this show a 10/10. Still, you can sort of fast forward like I did so you get the gist of what she was supposed to do for the plot and then get to all the normal, interesting stuff, so, still 9/10!

Leggi di Più

wang hedi is the cutest

I didn't expect this drama to be one of those cliche office romance dramas. surely, I wasn't keen of office romance dramas, but this one's different. I wholeheartedly fell in love with wang hedi. I mean, who wouldn't love seeing a cute intern standing beside his boss and making sure she's okay every day? I really really can't move on from his character. Although I do think the drama is a bit draggy at some point and doesn't make much sense, I still liked it nonetheless. The romance between them is genuine. I rarely support couples with large age gaps, but they made a cute couple. I skipped sone parts near the ending, but that's about it. I'd gladly recommend this to my friends, but definitely not one of those dramas I'd consider rewatching.

Leggi di Più

Can never go wrong with Qin Lan

Disclaimer: I’m a huge Qin Lan 姐 fan and I watched The Rational Life (TRL) right after We Are All Alone (WA3).

Also a heads up. They get together really late in the show (eps 20+) but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. One, you get to cut the unnecessary misunderstandings. Two, they squeeze all the lovey dovey moments in the last few episodes. The buildup however is rather long and torturous.

Honestly when I read the synopsis, I was skeptical about how it’d turn out because the storyline sounds very typical and I’ve never watched any of Dylan’s shows. Also, how dragged out is a jiejie’s love story going to be over 35 episodes? It must be so lame and boring to have to watch through the perennial younger, lower-earning male partner issues over 35 episodes.

But I was wrong. First, I must say you will never go wrong with Qin Lan. She did WA3 so perfectly and this was no any less. She plays this rational (no pun intended), single, career-woman who is caught between office politics but she plays her politics well. Her expressions and 100% on point. You can see that she is a true professional actress and not just an idol + pretty face. Also side note, I love her calm voice. It’s probably the calmest tv voice I’ve ever come across.

Then her chemistry with Dylan. It’s impeccable. He plays this young, bashful but intelligent assistant who tries to protect and cover her from the mean office politics. And guess what? They actually make a really good couple! Their age gap in real life is 19 years. Their age gap in show is 10 years. Honestly, they only look 5 years apart to me. Qin Lan is ageless. Their scenes together are so sweet. I love watching how he takes the initiative all the time but as Ruoxin started accepting the fact that he is her boyfriend, she started taking the initiative and flirting with him herself.

I just gotta say though, Ruoxin’s mother is really psychotic. I wanted to smash my head every time she comes on screen. But I suppose that means the actress who plays her did a good job then.

As for the side character and stories, I honestly skipped them all because I’m really here just for Qin Lan. But I get that the side stories explore important societal issues, such as couples who cannot agree on whether to have a baby, couples with financial and career disparities.

Honorary mention is Boss Xu. As much as his character instilled a lot of fear and jealousy in me for chasing after Ruoxin and being arrogant about it, the actor who played him is really good.

Leggi di Più

Slice of Life Drama that is pretty realistic

It's one of the better modern day CDramas I have seen. It definitely gives the KDramas a run for their money. When I was watching this with my girlfriend, we both agreed the acting, cinematography, story line, and writing is top notch for a modern day CDrama. It's a big budget production so everything is done to make it feel extremely realistic. I wasn't sure about this drama because of Dylan Wang. My girlfriend made me watch Meteor Garden with her; I couldn't even stomach past the second episode of that show and dropped it. He did a pretty good job portraying his character in this series, in my opinion he's a *little too perfect* with being there for the main FL and anticipating her needs. That's a separate gripe I have with CDramas and KDramas in general on these "perfect" BFs.

It starts off fairly slow in the beginning and took a while for me to get into it, it's a slice of life drama that highlights the sexism and hostility women face in the workplace, expectations placed on them to conform, and the concept of "left over" women. The show also depicts how men such as Dylan Wang's character do not need to embrace standard norms of masculinity. He can cook, clean, sew, design jewelry, wash women's hair, take care of his widowed mother, and be an assistant to a woman who is strong willed and independent without feeling his manhood is threatened. He falls in love with a woman older than him. It challenges the general roles and norms what it is to be a man and what masculinity means.

While I didn't really get the vibes of a deep or gripping love story, I enjoyed most of the characters in this series, relationship portrayals, growth, and realistic issues in the workplace and society.

Some highlights:

The mother of the main FL, initially she was annoying which I think the show intended her to be. however the relationship between them evolves and while she's not a bubbly friendly character, she's a straight shooter who has a good read on people.

The romantic relationship that develops between the ML's friend and supporting female character was fairly realistic in how it shows the pressures faced by young professionals who don't have a financial foothold yet and are reluctant to get into a romantic relationship when they can barely afford to survive in a big city.

The main FL's boss who is the head of the EV division, did a wonderful job with his character. If I was an actor I would clamor for that role mainly because of how that character was written and how good the actor played that role. His character is not a good guy nor bad guy per se, he represents the side of masculinity that is the opposite of MLs personality and demeanor. One of my favorite scenes is where he spins the wooden top at a workplace dinner and gives his meaning for it.

Overall a good watch, not exciting but a slow slice of life thoughtful drama on society, norms, and toxic workplace culture.

Leggi di Più

Noona romance done right

story and characters: the drama is centred around a 33, soon to be 34, female lead who needs to navigate a difficult click based office politics while also facing pressure from her mother due to her age to get married quickly. The romance plot line is between her and a younger by 12 years assistant. I liked how she is portrayed as a strong but feminine female lead that doesn’t need to completely abandon what is considered traditionally feminine. She has ambitions but I like how she says that she only wants to advance her career as far as her abilities take her (that’s not to say she is not competent, she is really competent) but she knows when to step back and put other, more important to her, things first. She is very rational through the end. The male lead is cute and youthful but mature and provides exactly what she lacks. He is very kind, loyal above all else and likes to take care of people. She is also very loyal and takes care of people although for her this aspect is especially prominent in her work life. Overall they complement each other well.

There are two romantic subplots between the ML’s best friend and a female coworker of theirs and the FL’s best friend and her husband. I didn’t care much for the first and was partial to the second.
The first relationship is centred around a guy fearing to start a relationship amidst professional uncertainty and seemingly fruitless struggle to achieve his dreams which would then force him to leave Shanghai and settle for a safe and stable yet unfulfilling and boring (in his eyes) life in the suburbs.
The second romantic subplot deals with a couple coming to an agreement before marriage about their future way of life only to discover a few years later that their needs and wants have changed and they need to choose again whether they should stay together with one side settling for the sake of the other or they should part in order to satisfy both of their wishes separately. Overall I found the second romantic subplot more appealing mainly because they deal with more profound issues and issues that are slightly more relevant to me, while the first romantic subplot also seemingly had an interesting theme but was a little boring for me.

In general I think many Chinese contemporary dramas tend to spend too much time on subplots and supporting characters which leads to the main romantic relationships not being as flashed out as they could have been or to too much background noise (as I call it, which is basically everything that is unnecessary for the progression of the general plot). This Drama also has this sin although I gather many would still enjoy this show despite or because of it.

There is also a plot line revolving around the mothers of the two leads which in the case of this drama, was a breath of fresh air and one of the best portrayal of parents and different parents in CDramas that I can remember. They had very different personalities and you could see so much of them in their children. While one mother was always in support of her child the other was always in opposition but the parents’ motivations were always grounded and relatable. The had a fantastic dynamic together and it was enjoyable to watch.

Acting: the acting was great. I have no complaints about anyone. Dylan Wang truly acted the character’s age which is another aspect I liked.
Music: nothing memorable on that front.
Rewatch Value: Chinese dramas are long and while this drama was fun there was nothing so memorable as to require a rewatch (which I couldn’t say for “You Are My Glory’).

To sum this up, I would give ”The Rational Life” a solid 8. This drama truly lived up to it’s name and was wholly rational till the end and while I did get bored at times and maybe skipped trough some moments it was worth the time spent.

Leggi di Più

It's somewhere between almost boring and enjoyable.

The Good:
-The noona romance was great, at least when it finally started.
-The chemistry between the leads
-ML's airhead mom
-A "strong independent woman" character that actually works.
-The 12 years younger ML
-Non romance focused Asian office dramas almost always suck, this one is not great or anything, but better than anything else I've seen in an office focused cdrama.
-Even though there are quite a few nonsensical things, most of the time the show is pretty down to earth.

The Neutral:
-FL's low key horrifying mom
-The show has been extremely slow, borderline boring most of the time.
-The whole show is an advertisement for the electric car business. (It's not addressed, where the electricity comes from to charge them, just that they are AMAZING)

The Bad:
-The preschooler level solution that solved all the office problems in ep28.
-The juvenile & universally petty villains
-The invader in the last few episodes
-It took 3 forevers for the romance to start.

Leggi di Più

Does 5-12 romance actually works?

This drama is not the usual strong romance story but focusing mainly on the realistic world of a career woman in her mid thirties going through ups and downs in her career and how she progressed in the corporate ladder besides struggling on family pressure to settle down and get married. FL was not at all influenced by the pressure but by using her intelligence and perseverance in handling the office politics as well as her suitors, she managed to overcome all the obstacles tactfully.

FL understands what she wants in her life be it on career or even life partner. Throughout the drama, she turned down two (or maybe three) mature and successful men whom may be dream guys for many women in real life but chosen a slow-pace romance development with a younger man of twelve years. Love their chemistry even though they have a big age gap. Although ML is young, he holds a very reliable, understanding and mature characters which are very likeable by the gorgeous and mature FL. The ML mom character is also a big praise, being so supportive and open-minded on her son's May-December romance.

Qin Lan had always nailed the right dramas; always with practical, realistic, meaningful, no nonsense scripts which are very relatable to present day society.

Leggi di Più