The Romance of Tiger and Rose

Episodes: 24 

Synopsis: 

Chen Xiao Qian is a screenwriter that has been getting more attention and traction as her work is being turned into a drama series. She has created a world where the female lead comes from a kingdom that is extremely matriarchal while the male lead comes from a kingdom that is extremely patriarchal. The clashing of mindsets and having to adapt to one another in an enemies-to-lovers story would allow for an epic tale that has never been seen before. However, when her work is criticized by the starring actor for having an illogical relationship jump out of nowhere and for not being able to see the independence/uniqueness of the female lead, Chen Xiao Qian returns home to feverishly rewrite. 

      After overworking herself for hours, Chen Xiao Qian ends up falling asleep and wakes up as a side character in her own story. She has become the Third Princess, Chen Qian Qian, an insignificant side character with a horrible reputation and a short lifespan. Chen Xiao Qian begins to try to do everything in her power to change her fate within the story while also trying to maintain the original plot. However, in her attempts to change the story, she catches the attention and affection of the main lead over time. 

Review: 

This drama had a fairly strong start in the way they highlighted a matriarchal society in Chen Qian Qian's universe. It was so strange yet interesting to see the roles reversed in a traditional time period. Men were not allowed to apply for government positions and had to rely on marrying into a good family to have a good fate. Men were also viewed as inferior and unable to carry down the family name. Some men had to be kept in brothels and viewed as even more inferior to the average man. I thought this was an interesting premise to show why the female lead is so bossy and so dominant. At the same time, it still appealed to our societal understandings of the past as the male lead comes from a kingdom that is traditionally patriarchal. It was such a good set-up for a fantasy romance drama, and it was very cute and comedic. The acting quality wasn't always the best but it was amusing. 

        However, I feel like it started to lose the initial appeal as it went. For instance, I was really annoyed when they kept dragging the storyline where Chen Qian Qian is constantly saying things like: "Oh this isn't supposed to happen because she's the main lead" without even realizing her story has completely shifted to her being the main lead. It was frustrating because we had to sit through so many episodes where the guy is chasing after her and she's pushing him to her sister. Then the drama started to get messy as well with the sister starts becoming evil and twisted over the male lead (ironic since her character was so steadfast throughout her original storyline), when the relationship between Chen Qian Qian and Han Shuo was on and off, and so much more. 

I find these comedic fantasy-based dramas really cute to watch. I feel like our female lead is very pretty and fits her role very well. However, I found that I never really rate these dramas that well because I prefer dramas that are a bit more focused on story/character development and world-building. I feel like this drama had the potentiality to feel less like a Wattpad fantasy world and that it would be able to have more story/world-building that would feel more serious at times, especially over the span of 24 episodes. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations--BUT IT WAS A CUTE WATCH!