Love Myself or You: U Make Me Smile

I don’t know why I’m so picky of late. But I don’t want to watch melo, medical, thriller, or suspense. This leaves very few options from the current crop of dramas. A little romance, a little funny-bone tickling, a little piggybacking here and there. Is that too much to ask? But I’ve finally found one that puts a loony grin on my face. Even though there’s not an “Oppa!” to be heard. It’s the latest Taiwanese offering, Love Myself or You (AKA Pleasantly Surprised, but that title is too innocuous and irrelevant to the plot to be taken seriously).

It stars Puff Guo (currently appearing in the latest We Got Married: Global Edition) as the prickly French chef, Kai Qi, who relates more to the food she prepares than the living, breathing people around her. Enter the sunny, optimistic, and deeply dimpled new intern, Zi Jie, who is actually the wealthy son of the restaurant owner incognito (of course, he is). He remembers Kai Qi from a childhood connection, and makes it his personal mission to turn this touch-me-not back into a human being.

Don’t call me cute

I met the adorable force known as Puff Guo in last year’s scintillating Just You. Her chemistry with Aaron Yan registered super high on the Squee Scale, and I still bemoan their lost chance to repeat this duo in the currently airing Fall in Love with Me because of her We Got Married shooting schedule. *Mini-rant: I watch FILWM every week for two reasons: Aaron & Yan. But it’s kinda depressing seeing him sizzle up his half of the screen alone. His costar is adequate. Unoffensive. But it’s like watching two people try to move a couch when one of them is only pretending to lift their half. You just want to yell, “Would you please get with the program !”* I would love to see Puff and Yan together again, but I have to say that this part is way better for her. In Just You, she played the typical “Oops, did I do that?” kind of heroine with lots of charm and little brain matter. This Kai Qi character is crabby, driven, and rude to everybody. Seriously, I don’t think she’s cracked a genuine smile in two episodes. But she’s also talented, resilient, and fiercely protective of the ones she cares about. She’s got lots of love hidden somewhere. And I look forward to watching our determined hero peel her like a steel-armored onion.

Could you BE any cuter

Speaking of our knight in shining white apron, when this guy smiles I find the corners of my lips tugging up in a knee-jerk reaction. He’s just too, too adorable. It’s like his dimples shoot invisible, happy rays. Dramas repeatedly recycle the story of the plucky, positive girl saving the jerky, closed-off guy from his life of self-imposed isolation. It’s nice to see the gender roles switched for a change. He’s got a great relationship with his doting parents, lots of money, a fancy education abroad and no first-love trauma involving amnesia, cancer, or switched identities (at least, not so far). His character might not have as much meat from a development standpoint, but who cares. Look at the dimples!

Gourmet goes glamour shots

Any fans of the quirky, food-centered Let’s Eat should enjoy all the steamy, drizzly close-ups of French cuisine in this show. It may be fish eggs on a skinny piece of asparagus, but the slo-mo, camera work even makes that ludicrous combination look yummy. Since both main characters put their heart and soul into cooking, I’m hoping for some chemistry in the kitchen that doesn’t just involve hollandaise sauce.

Just Rip My Heart Out Already

I’m all about the romance, but a show stealing relationship may be the one between Kai Qi and the child of her deceased sister. She flatly rejects the idea of him living with her when the jerky father drops him off with grandma like an unwanted sack of potatoes. Kai Qi marches him back to his father’s place and insists he take responsibility. A heart-twisting detail is her nephew reaching out to her, but grabbing her purse strap instead of her hand, like he’s afraid to make contact. The deadbeat dad informs her that he’s getting married and wants children with his new wife, and she finally accepts the inevitable and takes her nephew back home. I love how she initially fights against any added burdens tooth-and-nail, but when she accepts the situation, she immediately does everything she can to take care of the little boy. Her personality lacks any natural warmth or nurturing, but she tries her best to make him happy in her own stilted way.

Hooray for Piggybacks

Any show that gives me a piggyback in the very first episode is already scoring major brownie points. But Episode 2 caught me hook, line and sinker with the elevator bit. Dimples (it’s so much easier to call him that) tries to make a connection with Kai Qi but is rebuffed at every turn, until he picks up on her competitive nature. He uses this to elicit actual human reactions from the otherwise robot-like woman, and starts making everything a challenge for her. The big showdown happens one morning at the elevator. He races to get in ahead of her, and presses the button before she can get to it. But Kai Qi does not give in so easily, taking her fingers and lighting up every floor on the panel. Then she leaves him to his neverending ride, and takes the other elevator. Her self-satisfied expression changes however when her car stops at the next floor to find that Dimples got out of his car and waited to hitch a ride in hers. Maybe I’m immature, but I stinking love childish stuff like that.

It’s been a long, dry spell in Dramaland the past few months. But Love Myself or You tastes like a sweet draught of lemonade with just the right amount of tart for flavor. I hope for many delicious scenes in the future.

We Got Married Global: First Impressions
Just You: Just For a Change

Just You: Just for a change

Ah, marathoning. How I missed you.

I remember the rosy beginning of my Korean fixation. Everything was new, with a mountain of dramas I could start and finish in two days flat. The sad thing about catching up with all the classic K-shows is that now I’m stuck watching the new stuff a week at a time. Ready to hit the fast forward when it feels like nothing is happening. (I’m looking at you Heirs.) But there’s no fast forward!

Therefore, I decided to give a Taiwanese story a try. Usually, I don’t care for T-drama. The few I’ve seen had an unbelievable, over-the-top quality mixed with the oh-so-convenient-wrap-up of their melodramatic problems at the end. And the language is soooooo different from Korean, grating against my ears like a linguistic Brillo pad. But somehow I found myself sitting down with Just You this past weekend. I think it was one of those sappy Youtube music videos that sucked me in. (I don’t understand why studios make users take them down. It’s free advertising! Who knows how many shows I’ve started watching because of them.)

So what’s the verdict? Is Just You unbelievable? Yep. Over the top? Oh yeah. What about the Oh-so-conveniently-wrapped-up ending? Guilty as charged. Did I like it? *Clears throat and whispers guiltily* I kinda loved it.

Meet Mr. Tighty-whities-in-a-twist 

The plot involves Qi Yi, an OCD, neat freak who buys a company and immediately hangs up a NO DATING office policy. The fact that he posts it in the middle of two co-workers getting engaged just shows what a Love Scrooge he is. The employees decide something must be done, and recruit their cohort Liang-Liang to make him fall for her and cancel his ridiculous rule.

Meet Ms. Drama Doppelganger 

Liang-Liang embodies the formulaic drama heroine. Cute. Clumsy. (In that fortuitous, oops-I-didn't-mean-to-land-right-on-top-of-you way.) And not too bright. She even falls for the evil ex-girlfriend’s typical argument “I-loved-him-first-so-if-you-just-go-away-we-can-be-happy-together-again.” Despite all of these eye-rolling clichés, I still like her. She’s spunky, resilient, and tends to fall for things because she has such a tender heart. She’s the type of girl that will sympathize with her kidnapper, talk him into taking her home, and make him buy her breakfast first. (I’m not making this up. I warned you this drama was unbelievable.) But her sunny personality is just the antidote for Qi Yi’s frostbitten heart.

Unwilling Roomies 

Oh, didn’t I mention these two have to live together. That’s right. Co-ed hijinks ensue when Qi Yi buys the foreclosed house where Liang Liang still has three months rent paid. Their first meeting involves him walking in on her wrapped in nothing but a towel, which, of course, gets caught in a drawer and falls off. This all happens before she finds out he’s her boss, but she still refuses to move and they’re stuck together for the duration of her lease. This leads to all sorts of fun like her accidentally poisoning him by seasoning his dinner with seafood, not realizing he’s allergic. Or when he slips on the toothpaste she didn’t clean up from the bathroom floor and smashes his arm against the sink. How is a poor guy supposed to wash his hair or shave himself with only one arm? She just HAS to step in and help. We should all have such problems.

It’s the little things that make a family

What other drama boasts a goldfish as a major player? One of the sweetest parts of the story comes when Qi Yi accidentally kills Shan Shan, Liang Liang’s pet of over ten years. This isn’t just any goldfish. Liang Liang talks to her, dances with her, and even takes her for a walk. This part is equal parts sad and hilarious. Qi Yi panics and even tries to give the fish CPR. Then he buys a replacement so she won’t be heartbroken, but Liang Liang notices right away it’s not her Shan Shan and he has to work long and hard to get her to forgive him. She finally accepts the new boy fish, Ming Ming, and they start referring to each other as his parents, taking him for walks together, in matching couple shoes no less.

The real reason you should watch this drama

CHEMISTRY. Qi Yi and Liang Liang spark like crazy. Enough to make you forget all the corny clichés, overwraught misunderstandings, and eleventh hour angst in the last few episodes. It’s not just the kisses, although there are several of those, I’m happy to say. One of my favorite scenes is near the end when the two are walking off together. They join hands and she plays with his fingers. He pulls her close then playfully pushes her head away. She keeps walking by his side. And their fingers link back together without their even looking. It’s difficult to describe, so I'm including a short clip and you can see for yourself. Simple moments like that really emphasize how cheesy the 360-degree camera swooping embraces are.


I still prefer Korean dramas, although I could probably get used to the T-versions pretty quickly if I tried. I’m thinking about it after Just You. As long as I can skip ahead whenever I like. That’s the great thing about marathoning. When you get to those annoying parts where the ex-girlfriend is wreaking havoc on the romance, you just fast forward to the next totally-ungrounded-in-reality, smexy situation, sit back, and enjoy.