The Wolf

Episodes: 49

Synopsis: A young boy was raised by wolves and befriends the kindhearted daughter of the city general/lord, Ma Zhai Xing. Every few days Ma Zhai Xing would come up to the mountains to spend time with her beloved Wolfie. They shared memories of watching butterflies and sharing treats with one another. As rumors spiraled of a wolf demon living in the woods, Wolfie is blamed for being the murderer of the emperor's godbrother. Wolfie was hunted down and eventually driven off a cliff where he is later found by the warlord Chu Kui. 

Chu Kui recognizes the young boy's amazing strength, speed, and skill. He decides to adopt Wolfie and renames him Chu You Wen. Wolfie, feeling hurt and furious as he believed Ma Zhai Xing betrayed his trust and blamed him as a murderer, gladly went along with Chu Kui to start his new life. Using Wolfie as a military tool, Chu Kui successfully launches a coup and usurps the monarchy. He names Wolfie as Prince Bo of his kingdom. 

Eight years later, Prince Bo finds himself face-to-face with Ma Zhai Xing as he leads a massacre, killing her father and everyone else in her manor. From there on out, Ma Zhai Xing is brought to his kingdom to maintain the family's reputation and to strengthen city ties. Refusing to acknowledge his past identity, he purposely butts heads with her and makes her life harder as he lashes out past grudges. However, he cannot run away from his feelings and he finds himself falling in love with her again, learning of her situation 8 years ago, and forgiving her. The two are able to rekindle their romance and friendship. 

Things go wrong as a war breaks out between the empire and Wolfie is forced to be cold to the love of his life to protect her. At the same time, Ma Zhai Xing finds herself being pushed closer to Ji Chong and build new alliances. 

Review: 

We all waited so long for this drama to come out...and it was so disappointing. While I felt as though Wolfie/Lord Bo's casting was very well done, the lack of chemistry and all-over-the-place plot ended up ruining the show. 

To start, I wasn't really into the idea of a wolf-boy who had no understanding of civilization yet was so human and childlike around Ma Zhai Xing. I know that a lot of Chinese dramas play into characters being abnormally strong or having unrealistic martial art skills. However, the whole concept of him being a wolf-boy and surviving cliff falls because of his wolf instincts felt lame. Just because you were raised with wolves doesn't mean your physical capabilities match them (not to mention, wolves wouldn't even be able to survive a cliff fall like the ones shown in this drama). But considering many dramas of this sort are not the most realistic, I looked past it thinking it was probably a matter of personal preference. 

I got through the first few episodes and when things started to pick up (romance, action), I was like "okay, I can get into this. This is what I was here for...the entertainment." But that didn't last long. :(
Here is where I had the biggest issue with this drama: inconsistency and abuse. 

1. INCONSISTENCY: After the supposed loss of Wolfie, Ma Zhai Xing grows up to be more stubborn and strong-headed. She's not the same naive girl as she was in the first few episodes. Great! I love that. Character development. 
But then she begins to oscillate as she gets to know Lord Bo, recognizes he is Wolfie, and as things continue to happen to her. She's constantly asking why they can't go back to the past when both her and Lord Bo have grown to be fairly different from what they were like in their youth. She's whining and she tries to push Lord Bo to be her wolf-boy without any grasp of reality. Her strong-headedness and character growth that they attempted to show in the beginning got lost in these scenes, and she felt more naive than she did as a young girl. She often felt weak, defenseless, and in need of someone to rescue her which didn't seem like what the directors wanted her to be portrayed as in the drama. She did not feel like a strong and consistent character. 

2. ABUSE: Lord Bo is abusive as hell. Physically, there are scenes that resemble sexual assault. Emotionally, he stonewalls her, gaslight her, and manipulates the environment and situations to make her lose her mind. And every time she has an emotional breakdown due to his betrayals or actions, he's like "I had to do that to make you stronger." 
BOIIII BYEEEE 
This relationship dynamic combined with Ma Zhai Xing's weak protagonist vibe was just so draining to watch and it was pitiful watching her constantly go back to him the moment he lets his "kindness" show. 

There are definitely other sins this drama committed, and I hated so many aspects of this drama despite watching the whole thing. I can't remember them well enough though since I have blocked out these scenes from my memory. I do feel sad about the drama turning out like this since I was waiting on this drama for so long and was fairly excited about the casting. The screenwriters did the actors dirty, and the lack of chemistry is probably more due to the script than the acting ability of the cast. 

You Are My Destiny

                                                                                  

Episodes: 36 

Synopsis: This is a Chinese recent remake of "Fated to Love You." 

           Chen Jia Xin is an unassertive and easily overlooked woman. She is plain, simple, and easily fooled. In an attempt to cheer up her toxic boyfriend, she books a cruise ship bound for the Bahamas in hopes of rekindling fond feelings for one another. Unfortunately, her boyfriend had other plans such as ditching her throughout the vacation and cheating on her behind her back. Unknowingly, Chen Jia Xin is enjoying her vacation and meets Wang Xi Yi (the heir to a large toiletries conglomerate). One night, the two both were drowsy and under the influence. Jia Xin mistakenly enters Wang Xi Yi's bedroom (which was just across from her room), and the two have an accidental one night stand due to mistaken identities. They woke up in shock realizing that they did not spend the night with their significant other as they had thought they did. The two of them move on from this incident but become tangled even further as Jia Xin discovers she is pregnant after the cruise. 

          Thankfully, Wang Xi Yi is a fairly responsible man. Upon discovering Jia Xin's pregnancy, he realizes he cannot just be irresponsible and he also begins to face his grandmother's pressure to have a grandchild. Wang Xi Yi and Chen Jia Xin both recognize that this was not an ideal outcome, and agreed on having a contract marriage with a divorce clause. Once the child was born, the child will remain with Xi Yi and his side of the family. Wang Xi Yi is hoping that this works out smoothly as he has a long-term girlfriend named Anna. He's been waiting for her for years as she pursues her ballet career, and has been constantly stood up by her (including the cruise trip). In fear of how Anna would react, Xi Yi tries to keep the situation under wraps. 

            Chen Jia Xin and Wang Xi Yi have a tumultuous relationship/co-parentship. Wang Xi Yi would often be hot and cold, and with anger issues at times as well. As the two get closer over time, more problems arise as Anna comes back home from her ballet tour and the divorce clause is looming in the background. 

Review: 

            I was excited to watch this drama because this drama plot holds a special place in my heart. I decided to go down nostalgia lane with this drama, and I also rewatched 'Fated to Love you." (Fated to Love you is now on Netflix but it is called "You're my Destiny"). 

           This remake did follow the original storyline with a few tweaks to some details such as character names, situations, and so forth. Unfortunately, I felt as though the acting was subpar and there were many things that this drama cut out--making me less connected to the storyline as a viewer. I think the original Taiwanese version did a better job encapsulating the character identities, storyline, and also the character development. Not to mention, the acting was incredible in "Fated to Love You" but felt so shallow in this drama. The actors also didn't embody the character type they were given either. 

             I did appreciate that Wang Xi Yi was written to be a bit softer in comparison to "Fated to Love You" where Ji Cun Xi was constantly having anger management issues. However, I feel like the actor for Wang Xi Yi did not make me feel certain emotions or empathy the way the actor for Ji Cun Xi was able to make me feel. Hence, when the BIG SCENE happened in this remake, I wasn't as sad as I was in the original. (This says a lot because I still cry at that scene in the "Fated to Love You" every time.) I think the acting and some of the storyline changes really made the BIG SCENE lose its impact on me as a viewer and it failed to encapsulate how truly traumatic this entire experience was for our female lead. 

              It was refreshing to see Anna appear more despicable and get sh*t on more by the characters in this version though. The older version definitely went too easy on Anna, and gave her so many opportunities despite some of the really bad things she did to the main characters. 

All in all, I would recommend this if you're trying to go down memory lane (after watching Fated to Love You). However, if this is a drama you are just starting on with no previous comparison, I wouldn't recommend it. It wasn't a particularly well-acted, well-made drama. 

Definitely recommend the Taiwanese version from 2008.