[TW DRAMA] Engagement For Love

warning: may contain spoilers

“Inside the 16:9 world, every second has hundred thousands of possibilities, including miracle.” — Do you mean falling in love with a guy 18 years older than you?

Engagement for Love is a drama set in the entertainment industry. Xing Tian is a talent agent who is famous for being strict and “sucking blood” out of its employees. Tiao Tiao is a youngster who dreams of becoming a talented director. Through Tiao Tiao’s friend, she luckily enters the entertainment industry as a staff in a drama set. There, she coincidentally meets Xing Tian and develops feelings with him thinking that he is Xing Tian’s driver. Meanwhile, Zhang Jia Bao is a hobo who came from Hong Kong to Taiwan. He was apparently cheated by Tiao Tiao’s little brother in the internet and he’s looking for Tiao Tiao to pay back the debt. Xing Tian meets Zhang Jia Bao and realises he looks exactly like Young, an artist in his talent agency who went in hiding without anyone knowing. Xing Tian made a deal with Zhang Jia Bao to impersonate Young. Zhang Jia Bao accepts the deal knowing that there’s money in exchange of this. A drama that revolves around Xing Tian, Tiao Tiao and Zhang Jia Bao. A story about love and deal.

Why do people always look at the lead actors, or look at the pairing in dramas? Honestly I was like this too, but through the Asian dramas that I have watched, I learned to change this perspective. Good dramas doesn’t mean good-looking actors only, but you have to look at the plot as well. There are so many dramas that really have good-looking actors, but the story line is crap. It’s as if those actors just sugarcoat the badly written drama. I’m not saying though that all dramas are like this, but I’ve already seen a few..

In all honesty, I was a bit skeptical with these three main lead cast. Lara really looked young for these two. Alex looks like her father or uncle while Ambrose looks like her older brother. But there’s nothing we can really do because that’s their role in the drama. Their ages in the drama were close to their ages in reality. I loved the fact that the scriptwriters challenged themselves to write a love story about a couple with a big age gap. I mean this is rarely seen in Asian dramas, and especially in Taiwanese dramas. We can’t deny the fact that there are couples like these in real life. Sad to say that many people still have traditional way of thinking..

The plot was nice even though it was a little ordinary. Many of the scenes were predictable especially in the last episode. It was a bit fast-paced for me during the latter episodes as everything happened too fast. Tiao Tiao finally realised that she likes Jia Bao and Xing Tian went back to Joanna. I wouldn’t mind if they dragged it a bit because falling in love with a person and forgiving a person aren’t easy to do.  I felt that 15 episodes was really enough for this drama, even though I think it was rushed during the last episode. I’m still thinking about how they were able to look for Young and his parents during the last episode when he was in hiding throughout the drama? He just suddenly appeared out of nowhere without any reason or what. I thought that they could have given some valid reason for his sudden appearance. Nonetheless, I still loved the ending because of the creative idea that they have. So instead of Jia Bao impersonating Young, who impersonates who? Find out for yourselves! Also, because Tiao Tiao ended up with the guy that’s actually suitable for her. I didn’t quite expect this, but it was a nice twist.

Characters:

Alex To as Xing Tian — I’m not familiar with Alex’s works, but I just know that he’s an actor from Hong Kong. I think this role, Xing Tian, was really meant for him because he has the look of a strict, blood sucking evil boss. I think he was really natural and he was great in leading his co-stars especially Lara. He doesn’t appear to be a veteran actor, but he tried to match himself with his co-stars’ level.

Lara Veronin as Xuan Meng Tiao — I always loved Lara as a singer as she has the sweetest voice. I was quite surprised that she’s challenging herself as an actress this time. One reason why I watched this drama was because of her. As it’s her first time acting, she was given the opportunity to act a lead female character. I didn’t think she wasted her chance because she did a great job. Maybe others would think why would you let someone take the female lead without any acting experience? Even if she’s a newbie, I think she did her best. Her role as Tiao Tiao was suitable and fit for her.

Ambrose Hsu as Zhang Jia Bao / Young — I haven’t watched any of his dramas, but just from this drama, I knew that he was a skilled actor. Portraying two different characters is difficult but he delivered these two characters with ease and confidence. I could instantly figure out who is Zhang Jia Bao and who is Young. I loved the character Zhang Jia Bao better though, because he seemed to be more ordinary, friendly and playful.

Other actors also caught my attention particularly Genie Chuo and Anthony. I’m familiar with Genie because she was the lead female in Rolling Love. It was great seeing her here as you could really see her potential as an actress back then. Anthony was also funny because he’s originally from Indonesia and he doesn’t speak perfect Chinese. His role was similar to his role in Frog Prince wherein he’s the little brother of the female lead.

Soundtrack:

Two songs to look out for.. One is the opening theme performed by Alex To entitled “Mi Tu”. It’s very soundtrack-y and you’ll really feel that it’s an opening theme for a drama. Alex To’s voice is really distinct and different from other male singers. Another track is the ending theme sung by Alex To and Lara Veronin. “Wei Wan Dai Xu” is a typical duet love song. I love the tune/melody but their voices doesn’t really blend each other as their voices are a bit high-pitched. Nonetheless, it’s a good ending theme.

Overall, Engagement for Love was nice for me. The plot was kind of different and the actors portrayed their roles very well. The story isn’t draggy, but it was very fast-paced. This series is more of drama rather than comedy, but there’s a little bit of humour! I didn’t understand why this drama was named as the lowest or probably one of the lowest ratings in idol  series. Maybe Taiwanese audience couldn’t accept a couple with a big age gap. Yes, they were awkward, but the good plot made up for it and you’ll find out who actually ended up with who. I actually recommend this! This drama is totally underrated.

Rating: 7/10