I didn’t have much expectations coming into this drama. I didn’t know any of the casts except for Gong Jun who I met in Begin Again just a few months back. I am familiar with Gao Zhi Ting and Miles Wei since I saw some feeds featuring them but I haven’t seen any single drama which they starred in. I am literally very new to Cdrama, just started my journey in June this year, although I saw some few dramas in the last three years mostly those that are only available in Netflix. I don’t have any background about Rising With The Wind when I picked it up, only the basic info you could get in MDL’s Details section.

(*By the way, I watched Elaine Zhong in The Furthest Distance back then though I didn’t realize she was the same female lead in Rising With The Wind not until after a few episodes I got curious and checked out her MDL bio.)

THE STORY:
I couldn’t rave more about the story. It is simply one of the best narratives I watched in Cdramaland. It perfectly weaves business intricacies, fall from grace and redemption arc, women empowerment, and romance enough to capture my interest from the get-go. It started with Jiang Hu’s fall from her high horse compounded by betrayals left and right from people she thought she could trust which will leave you asking how she was able to survive all this mess. Her journey towards reviving a century old national brand depicts real life scenarios of a bumpy ride these entrepreneurs encountered when faced with numerous problems from production, material, logistics, marketing and of course the biggest headache of all – the people (workers). There are also opportunists along the way who are very eager to pounce on you at the slightest weakness you show. I also love that the characters here are all flawed in their own ways which makes them very relatable and somehow you can see yourself in their own shoes. You will be able to feel how they felt and understand where they’re coming from.

The way the story was told is so unique, it was the best! Hidden arcs that will give you the wrong impression at first and then when the grand plan was revealed, you can only clap your hands at how brilliant the director/screenwriter executed the plot. The director was also able to bring out the best from all the actors. The main leads’ chemistry is top notch, explosive to say the least, that even their stares are enough to melt me inside. Their witty banters are so entertaining that it feels like you are also a part of it and not just an audience. The best part is this drama has very minimal cliches if there’s any. It doesn’t follow the normal tropes where when FL falls, ML is there ready to catch her with all the slow-mo and multiple angle shots to capture the moment. The portrayal of romance, though slowburn, is something new for me because I couldn’t guess what would be the next move given a typical situation like when ML forced FL to get in the car or when ML secretly followed FL. You can see these plots in almost every romance drama there is but in Rising With The Wind, there is distinctiveness in the way these scenes were executed, you couldn’t guess they would do it that way.

THE ACTING/CASTS:
Simon Gong (Gong Jun) and Elaine Zhong (Zhong Chuxi) are the perfect Xu Si and Jiang Hu, there could be none other except them. Simon’s portrayal of Xu Si as the ambitious and cunning investor who fell deeply in love with his business partner is so on point like this is how I imagined the character to be. His microfacial expressions and eyes that can display a wide range of emotions are perfect for our Xu Si. Elaine is just so wonderful playing opposite characters, first as a Disney princess and second as the struggling entrepreneur of the nearly bankrupt company. She aced her acting here giving me the impression that if it’s an Elaine drama, this must be good. Our second leads Gao Zhi Ting and Wu Xuanyi as Yang Jian and Xiang Zhaoyang is another beautiful pair. From having a brother-sister relationship (YJ is XZY’s stepbrother after her mother remarried to YJ’s father) to becoming lovers, their romance is more of a mellow type where SML is silently helping and cheering on our SFL on the sidelines, just supporting her even if he was not the one in her heart (or so we thought). The way the actors portray their roles are spot on that I couldn’t help watching out for their scenes as well.

MUSIC:
This is one of the rare dramas out there that has wonderful OSTs. In the other dramas, I find myself liking one or two songs but in RWTW, I love all songs in the soundtrack with Song of Faith by Wu Xuanyi (yes, our beloved Zhaoyang sang this song) as my favorite. The melody, the message, the voice, all these complemented so perfectly. I wish these could be available in Spotify because I would love to listen to these on loop. Anyone knows how can we petition for this?

REWATCH VALUE:
I already started with the rewatch party right after the final episode ends. I couldn’t get enough of this drama. Sepanx is REAL for me that I couldn’t move past RWTW at the moment. There might be scenes I missed in the past in my eagerness to know how the story unfolds. I couldn't be thankful enough to the director and screenwriter of this drama for giving me the best birthday gift I have for this year (I’m a November baby). I love their tandem! Hands down to all the actors and production crew for this masterpiece that has been my daily dose of happiness for the past few weeks.