Waking Up Love

爱情睡醒了 / Ai Qing Shui Xing Le

Cast:

• Roy Qiu as Xiang Tian Qi / Liu Xiao Yu
• Tan Yan as Liu Xiao Bei
• Xu Zheng Qi as Ji Ru Feng
• Qiu Wei as Mu Zhi Qing

Year: 2011

Episodes: 40 (45 mins)

Ratings: 1.16

Opening: Waking Up Love (爱情睡醒了) by Yuan Chang Jie

Ending: Ru Guo Ai Wang Le (如果爱忘了) by Qiu Wei

Story/Synopsis:

Essbee’s Opinion

75%

So I think that the Chinese drama industry is in a remake mood. After Rainbow Sweetheart, we got this drama which is a remake of Prince Turns to Frog. Since this is a Chinese production, all the voices had been dubbed :[. There's another drama I will be reviewing on soon: My Brilliant Life (Shining Inheritance) with Jerry Yan which is also a Chinese remake. I decided to watch the drama because I loved the original version and both the lead male actor was in my favs of Taiwan.

Anyways, so let's get in to the actual drama. First, if you have read some of my other posts, I am a great fan of Roy Qiu. Just seeing him in a drama makes the plot awesome already. But when everything is like a perfect little fairy tale, I was totally obsessed. In fact, it is a very romantic story between a poor, but optimistic and talented girl and a rich CEO (what else ehhh...? ) As the CEO had lost his memory, she would take care of him and fall in love. This is the only resemblance to Prince Tuns to Frog at this Point. Actually, I have to say that I'm really sick and tired of guys losing their memory. I mean, COME ON!! But I'll forgive this drama, since it is a (very original) remake.

At first, I loved all the characters, except that Chou manager. But actually, I really didn;t care about that jerk. As the story went on, the Eric that I liked a lot became very selfish. In fact, he became the one who blocked the relationship between Xiao Bei and Tian Qi. But at the same time, he was selfish for the girl he loves, so I thought that he was still good. However, we he became a totally other person. That became really annoying. Isn't always pretty fake when someone becomes crazy as he seeks for revenge?

So Tian Qi is obviously the rich CEO who only cares for money. He is actually arrogant and really hateful, but we assume that he is really nice in the deep inside. While he loses his memory, the name that was given to him was Liu Xiao Yu. During this period, he was the most caring guy, and yet still intelligent as the 'real' him. When he and Xiao Bei met the first few times, they hated each other. However, since Xiao Bei never came to know his real name, she could only keep him in her house. These two would go through a sweet relationship... until everything got turned around. He got hit on the head and gets back his memory, but at the same time, forgot his days with Xiao Bei.

In fact, if you saw the trailer, some scenes go beyond episode 20. However, the way they edited the trailer made the story seem completely different. But, if you have seen Prince Turns to Frog, you'll do expect a complicated future. I was quite surprised at the ending. I never thought that their mishaps would stay till the very end.

After I have seen so many dramas, I must admit that this drama is not getting to me that much. The plot is too common and we can expect everything that would happen. However, this also brought be back to my younger days, when I would freak out when they kiss. Also, as I mentioned, the drama is much like a fairy tale. If you have kept a child in you, you will be able to enjoy this drama. In the first 10 episodes, I found myself stuck to the sceen. As the plot goes on, I still enjoyed the story in general, but I just found there were too many useless events happening. Things took so long to happen and I started to get annoyed. What I'm trying to say is that the general story line stays VERY good, but they should stop adding so many scenes for nothing. If I was the writer, I could have cut off a good 10 episodes to make the drama shorter, and better.

The OST is... complicated. There are actually ~30 songs apart from the opening and ending. These songs were mostly from JJ Lin and By2. They were not performed for the drama because some of the songs were released many years earlier. I will list them eventually. I will just mention that the ending song is amazing. I have been listening to it on repeat for quite a while. Also, I would mention 'Protagonist' by JJ Lin. This song was played while Xiao Yu and Xiao Bei danced on the show together. It was totally unrealistic, but I loved the dance and cannot help myself thinking of that dance everytime I hear this song.

Again, Roy Qiu just made the drama a plus. Very handsome. Every time he was on screen (which is at least 90% of time), I was on a fan-girl mode. Anyways, I will complete this review after I finish the 40 episodes. Also, I am very interested into a drama called "Xiao Jia San Qian Jin" which had the same important actors as this drama. I have heard some good comments on that, so also to come. :]

Trailer 

So be careful with the spoilers that go up to more than episode 20.

Also, what’s with Roy’s hair in the promo picture? I am now very confused.