Summer's Desire Drama Review

Initially, I decided to try Summer's Desire just because I wanted to see something more lighthearted and happy (a girl can only take so much after watching Three Kingdoms 2010... 80+ episodes of nonstop war, blood, ruthless schemes). And since Summer's Desire was a Taiwanese production and some would say an "idol drama", naturally I thought "Hey this should be an easy, relaxing watch. The typical love triangle, two handsome capable men, normal girl, throw in some memory loss, breakups... blah blah blah...."

Heh...

Boy was I wrong...

In a good or bad way?

I guess both.

Title: 泡沫之夏/ Pao Mo Zi Xia/ Summer's Desire

Genre: Romance, Drama

Episodes: 14 (FTV)/ 25 (HunanTV)

Broadcasting Network: FTV/HunanTV

Cast
Barbie Hsu (Da S) as Yin Xia Mo
Huang Xiao Ming as Luo Xi
Peter Ho as Ou Chen
Kris Shen as Yin Chen
Patrina Lin as Shen Qiang
Serena Fang as Jiang Zhen En


Summary:

"Xia Mo and Luo Xi were both orphans adopted by the same family. Their closeness made Ou Chen, Xia Mo's rich boyfriend, increasingly jealous. He forced their separation by sending Luo Xi to study abroad. However, his overbearing behavior only pushed Xia Mo to breakup with him. Heartbroken, he got into a car accident and lost his memory. Five years later, Luo Xi returns as a super star. He reunites with Xia Mo and helps her succeed in the show biz. Just when their relationship seems rosy, it begins to crumble as Ou Chen regains his memory and does everything he can to get Xia Mo back. "

-DramaWiki

(That's the summary I read. You can't blame me for expecting a really typical plot with boring characters.)

 CoAige's Rating

Overall: 8/10

Plot: (8/10)
Ok.What I really loved about this drama was the intertwining of flashbacks. Slowly, the pasts of the characters unfolded, explaining how their motivations, reasons, and how their personality came to be. Its kinda pathetic. All three leads had horrible childhoods. I would hate to be them. It's no wonder why all of them turned out to be so dysfunctional. Questions like Why did Luo Xi leave so suddenly five years before? How did Ou Chen lose his memory? What caused breakup between Xiao Mo and Ou Chen? are not answered until later, leaving the viewer engaged. I don't know if it was just following the plot of the book...but it was a  really nice touch to drama plot.

Generally, many typical romantic dramas start getting draggy in the middle, just because their isn't enough complications that can be added, aside from the threats of the second leads. Summer's Desire, however, didn't really suffer from this, mainly because it was hard to distinguish the main lead. Both Luo Xi and Ou Chen seemed like main characters, and up until the 10th episode it was hard to decide who she was going to end up with. This was also a smart choice in the plot, keeping the viewers guessing and analyzing. Though I felt the characters had NO CHEMISTRY whatsoever. So XiaMo&LuoXi vs. XiaMo&OuChen...I didn't really give a darn.

Countless times I've dropped Taiwanese romance dramas because their so corny,unrealistic, and lighthearted for my taste.(Devil Beside You, Bull Fighting, Romantic Princess...just to name a few). In contrast Summer's Desire, the romance is overplayed, dramatic, and waayyyy to exaggerated. I mean, come on, how serious can you be about love when you're a high school senior twelve (that's when Ou Chen fell in love w/ Xia Mo). Enough to stalk the girl for the rest of your life? By the middle of the drama I was pretty much done with the romance in the drama. It was very frustrating. Talk about obssessive, selfish guys. Man. I was starting to feel for Xia Mo.Thank goodness the drama wasn't all about romance. The drama mainly dealt more with the need for love rather than romance itself. It explored the love between parents/children and sibling love too.

Like all dramas, there were some slow parts that got repetitive and boring. But the last two episodes were great. [Spoiler] I think it was necessary for Yin Chen to die. It was a turning point for Xia Mo and really taught her to start relying and trusting people other than herself. It taught her how to love again. [End of Spoiler] The last two episodes showed each character's growth in personality. And FINALLY....THE GUYS LEARNED HOW TO STOP BEING SO POSSESSIVE AND SELFISH. Both Luo Xi and Ou Chen were really sweet and supportive, helping Xia Mo through her time of need. I was happy watching the last two episodes. Nice wrap up.

*If you're looking for a sweet, cute romantic drama...definitely skip it. Looking for something engaging with major character development...give it a try.*


Characters/Actor's Performance: (7/10)

Barbie Hsu (Da S) as Yin Xia Mo (3/5)

Truthfully I admired Xia Mo's character the most. She was actually normal. Besides, who can't admire her strength and perserverance. She's like the perfect female lead: caring, capable, and beautiful. And she does it all without being annoying. I personally admired her dedication to her brother and her willingness to give up everything to provide for his medical bills and schooling. Just a character as likeable as her can easily be ruined by the actress....

Bleh. Barbie does an average job. My mom personally hates her looks acting. She's so bland and her face is pretty emotionless. A character with Xia Mo's emotional depth deserves someone better. I could name a hundred actresses that can do a much much better job...*Sigh* if only, if only. It's a secret regret of mine.

Huang Xiao Ming as Luo Xi (4/5)

From various websites  and comments I've read, it seems like most people agree with me that Luo Xi was better than Ou Chen...BUT only in the beginning. Luo Xi is charming (it's Huang Xiao Ming afterall) ,but as the story goes on, the viewer realizes his insecurities. He was never able to fully trust anyone since the day his mother abandoned him. I really did hate him, everytime he questioned Xia Mo's loyalty to him. Thank goodness he realized this himself, and was able to change himself by the end.
Huang Xiao Ming has never impressed me in any drama he's done. Sure he's handsome but I find his acting immature and stiff. But surprisingly, I loved him here. He portrayed his character per-fect-ly. The one point I took off was just because there were some points I wanted to strangle Luo Xi.

Peter Ho as Ou Chen (4/5)
At first glance Ou Chen is not as charming as Luo Xi but by end of the drama, viewers can't help but say "Aww. I wish I had someone as devoted to me as Ou Chen." No kidding. This guy is like a dog. Everything he does is for Xia Mo. He's like her secret guardian, watching over her. His tactics and things he did to obtain Xia Mo *cough*forced marriage*cough*  were sometimes really low, but you can't blame him considering his lonely childhood. Xia Mo really, was the only one able to fully understand Ou Chen. [Spoiler] The part were Ou Chen found out how his mom suicided and that his "parents" were just a random couple payed by his grandfather to pretend to raise him was heartbreaking [End of Spoiler]
Peter Ho did a great job. Like Huang Xiao Ming I never really was impressed by his acting but here I was quite pleased. His crying scenes are the best. Yea. Only real men cry.

Kris Shen as Yin Chen (2.5/5)

Xia Mo's younger half-brother. Many of Xia Mo's major decisions are because of him including her decision to enter the entertainment industry to pay for his schooling and medical bills as well as agreeing to marry Ou Chen in order for Ou Chen to donate a kidney for Yin Chen's kidney transplant surgery. Xia Mo considers him the most important person in her life. Funny considering there are two other guys fighting desperately for her love. Anyways he is a bland character. Sweet, obedient, and caring. Glad he died

Kris Shen does a horrible job. I disliked his acting. His lines were delivered stiffly and his facial expressions are forever void of all emotion. None of his scenes got any speck of emotional feeling from me.

Music: (7/10)

I rated it a seven, just because I absolutely adored the instrumentals and piano songs in here. Some instrumentals didn't fit at all though, making the drama sound more like a mystery thriller. At first Peter Ho's I remember I loved didn't really appeal to me, but it caught on eventually. As for the rest of the songs, like Diamond by Barbie and Little Black Cat and Milk by Huang Xiao Ming, had catchy tunes but the singing and lyrics were just average. What I learned...Barbie and Huang Xiao Ming should just stick to acting.

I Remembered I Loved by Peter Ho...

A remake of the Korean Song Like Being Hit by a Bullet by Baek Ji Young.

Overall, It was a pretty good watch. Not fit for everyone's taste, but alright for mine.