Perfect Couple/金玉良缘

45 episodes 

Synopsis:

This is a comedic/historical drama. Yu Qi Lin is a young girl that came to the capital alone hoping to find her foster mother's son and bring him back to meet her. She runs into the arrogant young master Jin Yuan Bao who is the son of the very wealthy Jin family. After a series of events, Yu Qi Ling accidentally marries Jin Yuan  Bao under a false identity. They started off constantly bickering and judging one another. However, as the story progressed, the two begin to develop feelings for one another. However, it is then, that the original girl that was supposed to marry Jin Yuan Bao comes back. Yu Qi Lin and this girl must continue to weave the intricate lie they created. They all must go through a lot while Jin Yuan Bao's cousin greedily tries to sabotage the family to get the power he wanted. They suffered many different situations and the two even had to go through emotional hurdles upon finding out Yu Qi Lin's true identity. 

Review:

       I truly liked this drama. It may not have been the best drama but it was light hearted enough to watch for fun. I thought it was just such a pleasure to watch it. Of course many people complained that the storyline was dragging toward the end...but I didn't think so. I loved the way the characters interacted and the romance the main leads built up. Also Wallace Huo and Tiffany Tang just have this onscreen chemistry that is hard to look away from. The characters and how they were set up all played a role in how the story would progress. I mean, seriously...45 episodes means a lot of character development if not relationship drama. 

         Jin Yuan Bao is a famed inspector working for the capital during the Ming Dynasty. His family is the wealthy and powerful Jin family and they have blood relations with the Empress Dowager. This gave the reason as to why Yu Qi Lin and Jiang Xiao Xuan (the original girl that was arranged to marry Jin Yuan Bao) were so scared to reveal the truth about the switch of identity. By going against the empress's wishes, death is the only answer awaiting Yu Qi Lin. This also caused the couple to have a lot of heart wrenching moments where Yu Qi Lin should leave for the sake of everyone but none of them wants to part from the other. 

          I liked that Yu Qi Lin was skilled in martial arts. She was better at fighting that Jin Yuan Bao which is great because typically these dramas usually depict women as weaker or of equal skill to their male counterparts. This drama made it so obvious that Jin Yuan Bao couldn't fight as well as Yu Qi Lin and it was amusing to watch. However, I was disappointed the writers seemed to forget how skilled she was because they started to make Yu Qi Lin weaker. I think it was to make the characters seem more pitiful but it's kind of hard to view her as the weak, pitiful girl when she started off so strong and independent. I wished they continued with that. 

         And did I mention the chemistry? Oh, the chemistry! The chemistry between the main leads was off the charts. Wallace Huo's piercing gaze and Tiffany Tang's large eyes made me fall in love with the characters over and over again. The characters also did them justice because they were so likable. They had comedic scenes in the beginning and it gradually got serious overtime but the characters didn't lose their original charm. Their personalities still remained pretty consistent in how they treated others and how their relationship worked out together. Also a lot of the scenes were beautiful and humorous--their kiss scene, their journey to his birth mother, the manor, their room, etc. It was just a beautiful set, a beautiful couple, and beautiful cinematography. 

        As for the minor characters, it's harder for me to say because my view on each of them varies. I liked the acting of Jin Yuan Bao's cousins but I couldn't bring myself to like them 100% (especially not Liu Wen Zhao). I struggled with Liu Qian Qian at first because I just knew that she was going to be the catty little brat that causes problems for the main leads. She was the cousin of Jin Yuan Bao and she had this lifelong dream of marrying him. However, I came to like her overtime and when I watched this drama the second/third time, I simply felt a tad annoyed. Her character kind of just calls for you to get annoyed of her but you can see that she's only a girl. She's young and naive and being born into a rich, powerful family meant that she expected things to be handed down to her. In truth, she's probably one of the most pitiful characters toward the end because she has to watch her brother become this crazed, destructive maniac which also caused her demise. Liu Wen Zhao's greed was the main reason as to why he was the antagonist throughout the drama. He wanted everything that Jin Yuan Bao had because he felt looked down upon. He was looked down upon in the beginning which is understandable where his contempt came from. However, he became obsessive with becoming the heir to the Jin family's fortune and power. It came to a point where he started hurting his family, the people he cared about, and the people he didn't care about. He became a dangerous character and one that might have needed some psychological help. Jiang Xiao Xuan and the doctor character were minor characters I enjoyed watching. They were so soft-spoken and gentle characters. They made a cute couple together which made you happy that she switched places with Yu Qi Lin.  

        I really enjoyed the character development of the story and I have this guilty pleasure for all the sappy moments in historical dramas. It's just so endearing to watch. I absolutely loved this drama and the characters in it. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to watch something light-hearted. It's not the best drama but it is still pretty good.