A Romance Of The Little Forest Review

I watched A Romance Of The Little Forest (两个人的小森林) expecting more from the female lead, Esther Yu. Her xianxia drama with Dylan Wang in Love Between Fairy And Devil attracted lots of attention and rave reviews that I thought I should give another project of hers a try. After all, it has also been quite some time since I caught any of Vin Zhang’s dramas. But after completing all the 35 episodes, I have to say that this is only a so-so production. If you are wondering why, you can scroll down to check out A Romance Of The Little Forest review of mine below.

My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 35
Type: Romance
Aired: September 2022
Images Credit: Douban

The Cast Of A Romance Of Little Forest

• Vin Zhang Bin Bin as Zhuang Yu
• Esther Yu Shu Xin as Yu Mei Ren
• Li Jia Qi as Li Tian Tian
• Ding Guan Sen as Jin Xi
• Jerron Wu Di Fei as Lv Jian
• Liu Jie Yi as Yu Mei Nan
• Cui Yi as Mei Ren’s mother
• Li Ye as Mei Ren’s father
• An Ge as Old Li
• Gao Rong Fang as Xia Zhi

Main Characters

Zhuang Yu

Zhuang Yu is an associate professor in botany. He is a stern-looking man who is very serious in his research work. He rarely smiles but attracts lots of attention due to his good looks. Zhuang Yu is very intelligent and used to be a top student in school. He is fair but would not indulge those he regards as fools.

Yu Mei Ren

Mei Ren is a beauty vlogger and influencer with a huge following. She is attractive but will still try her best to put on her best appearance at all times. Mei Ren is smart and witty with a PhD in ornithology but appears as naive and girlish.

Supporting Characters

Li Tian Tian

Tian Tian is Mei Ren’s best friend from schooldays. She grows grapes and sells them for a living. She is a kind and trusting soul who has a hearing problem in one ear. Tian Tian is a huge drama fan and also Mei Ren’s love advisor.

Jin Xi

Jin Xi is the President of an entertainment agency and Mei Ren’s boss. He is a playboy who is never serious with the woman he dates until he meets Tian Tian. But Jin Xi is a good boss who is always supportive of Mei Ren.

Lv Jian

Lv Jian is a rich man’s son who takes up botanic studies to spite his controlling parents. He is Zhuang Yu’s student but has a nonchalant attitude towards his studies. Lv Jian is sociable and upfront with a crush on Mei Ren.

Yu Mei Nan

Mei Nan is Mei Ren’s younger brother who likes Tian Tian. He helps his parents to run a homestay in their hometown. He is a cheerful and sincere young man.

Mei Ren’s Parents

Mei Ren’s parents operate a homestay business at the countryside. They are a loving couple despite her mother being the dominant one in the household. They are also conservative parents who prefer Mei Ren to hold a stable job and has a good marriage partner.

Old Li

Old Li is Zhuang Yu’s senior in the university botany department. They are good friends and colleagues.

Xia Zhi

Xia Zhi is a new beauty products influencer who sees Mei Ren as her greatest rival. She is jealous of Mei Ren’s success due to their past connection.

Synopsis

Mei Ren and Zhuang Yu were from the same high school and university but he has never taken notice of her. While in university, Mei Ren asked him for a date but was stood up. She thought he saw her as stupid and simple-minded.

A few years later, Mei Ren is now a popular cosmetic products influencer and vlogger. She was bullied as being ugly while in school and hence, she feels more self-confident with perfect makeup on. Zhuang Yu is now an associate professor in botanical studies at the university. When they meet again due to work, Mei Ren is determined to make Zhuang Yu fall in love with her as revenge for the way he rejected her in the past.

Hence, Mei Ren goes out of her way to woo Zhuang Yu. He doesn’t seem interested initially while she starts to develop feelings for him. But as his heart slowly melts for her and they seem to have something going on, he left to take up research work in a prestigious lab abroad. This causes Mei Ren to feel that she has been stood up again and is repeating her past mistake.

A Romance Of The Little Forest Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

A Romance Of The Little Forest has a happy ending. Mei Ren is supportive of Zhuang Yu’s work although it means they have to be apart due to his research project. At the end of Episode 35, Zhuang Yu proposes to Mei Ren and she accepts. The drama ends with the couple kissing in a field of flowers.

Prior to that, Mei Ren and her family also met Zhuang Yu’s mother who is approving of the relationship. She is happy that Mei Ren has changed Zhuang Yu for the better as he used to be very uncommunicative.

Xia Zhi is played out by her own boss when her old photo is published to show that she has had plastic surgery done to ruin her career. She thought Mei Ren did it out of revenge but it was not so. Xia Zhi’s boss sacrificed her to save the company after their plan to discredit Mei Ren backfired.

When Did The Main Couple Get Together?

Mei Ren and Zhuang Yu didn’t officially start dating until around Episode 33. She has an inkling that she may be falling for him when their lips accidentally touched in Episode 13. They started to get close within the next few episodes but Zhuang Yu didn’t know how to tell Mei Ren that he has to leave for research work abroad until it was too late in Episode 20.

After Zhuang Yu returned home a year later in Episode 23, he tried his best to woo back Mei Ren. In Episode 27, he helped her to catch bird poachers as he knows protecting birds is something very close to her heart. They pretended to be a married couple to fool the gang. During the mission in Episode 28, Zhuang Yu told Mei Ren that he owed her a confession and that he will properly confess his love for her after they have nabbed the criminals. He was shot in the arm in Episode 29 when he used his body to block the bullet.

Mei Ren was touched and started taking care of him due to his injury. He pretended to be hurt when he has already recovered to continue getting her attention. Later, Xia Zhi’s attempt to break them apart failed in Episode 33. Zhuang Yu readily assures Mei Ren’s parents that he is her boyfriend after Xia Zhi maliciously spread rumors that Mei Ren has had plastic surgery by posting an old school photo. He also revealed himself to be a conglomerate owner’s son in Episode 34 and stands up for Mei Ren before they officially become a couple with a kiss.

Is There Any Breakup?

Mei Ren and Zhuang Yu broke up in Episode 20 before they actually got together. By then, they have developed mutual attraction for one another. Mei Ren has planned to confess but Zhuang Yu flew off on an urgent basis due to his research work in a foreign university. He wanted to tell her the night before that he has to leave but she ended up drunk. So, he left before having a chance to explain his whereabouts. By the time he landed in the US, Mei Ren has blocked him from contacting her.

Is There Any Love Triangle?

There is no love triangle as the main couple is very sure about who they love. Lv Jian confessed to Mei Ren in Episode 13 but she turned him down. She told him again that she loves Zhuang Yu in Episode 19 to stop his pursuit. She treated him as a friend throughout.

Xia Zhi also loved Zhuang Yu and expressed her feelings for him in Episode 23. She told him that she has been in love with him since their university days. However, he wasn’t interested in her at all. Xia Zhi tried to break Zhuang Yu and Mei Ren apart in Episode 32 after she got hold of Mei Ren’s notes. These are step-by-step plans on making Zhuang Yu fall in love with Mei Ren as an experiment for her revenge. But Zhuang Yu didn’t mind at all and thought it was good that Mei Ren was giving him such attention in Episode 33.

Second Couple

Jin Xi inadvertently blurted out that he likes Tian Tian in Episode 18. She accepted his confession and they became a couple. But his deception to make her stay with him angered her. Hence, she broke up with him in Episode 22.

A year later, Jin Xi was still trying to woo back Tian Tian. He apologized to her in Episode 25 but she was still adamant on not giving him another chance. However, she was still affected by him secretly.

Tian Tian finally forgave him completely in Episode 30 after learning that he has had a leg amputated due to an accident a year ago. He was driving back to the city after waiting the whole night for her following the breakup. He was too tired and lost control of the car. They were a happy couple after the reconciliation and going to get married in the last episode.

Mei Nan also had feelings for Tian Tian and tried to confess to her in Episode 29 before she got back together with Jin Xi. However, she didn’t hear what he was saying. He gave up then as he didn’t have the courage to open up his feelings again. He was contented as long as Tian Tian is happy with her choice.

A Romance Of The Little Forest Review – Too Long!

Some viewers may find A Romance Of The Little Forest to be very sweet but I had little patience to sit through all the 35 episodes. It is just too long for a simple love story. What could have been accomplished with the standard 24 episodes have been stretched by more than 10 episodes. I think this would have been more enjoyable if the pace is quickened. You have a girl who is blatantly chasing the guy in the initial stages just like in Thousand Years For You and Begin Again. While she did it out of pettiness for being stood up in the past, they gradually fall in love with each other as expected.

Slow Burn Romance (Spoilers Alert!)

There is no doubt that this is a slow burn romance. It takes 20 episodes before they are sure of their feelings and think of confessing after spending a lot of time together. But the confession didn’t materialize because the guy left the country. So, the separation further drags the drama along. After a year, it is now the guy’s turn to woo the girl instead as she is now angry that he left without telling her beforehand.

To me, this back and forth is overdone. Some communication between these two matured adults would have solved a lot of problems much earlier. Even when they clearly have feelings for each other, they don’t talk about it but simply muddle along. They are like a couple but not officially a couple. Hence, you have to wait until Episode 34 before they start kissing for real and hold hands.

I guess if you are into ambiguous romance whereby the guy is reserved and the girl is shy about their true feelings, this would be sweet. They are together a lot but don’t officially become a couple until very, very late in the drama. I don’t mind that so much but I just wish that the whole process could be cut shorter. Some people do enjoy that lengthened process though because of the wooing that goes on and the anticipation that follows. So, it is a matter of personal taste of what you find sweet and romantic.

Side Couple Story

The other complaint that I have regarding A Romance Of The Little Forest is the amount of screen time devoted to the side couple. Their story is okay but it dominates some of the episodes especially midway through the drama. There is nothing really exciting about their romance and chemistry to warrant such attention to me. This is also partly why the drama becomes draggy especially if you have little interest in this secondary couple. This is when you wish romance dramas could just focus on one couple and perfect it like in You Are My Glory instead of splitting the screen time between two couples but ends up being worse off.

Overall, whether it is the main or second couple, the plot is an average one. Everything is very predictable and have been done before. So, what is left to make it exciting would be the chemistry between the leads to give sparks to the romance and drive the drama forward.

Acting And Chemistry

Esther Yu is being Esther Yu in A Romance Of The Little Forest. If you enjoy watching her in Moonlight, you will most probably enjoy this one. She has the same girlish voice and demeanor with an appearance of cuteness and naivete to fit the character. I suppose you can regard this role as being tailor-made for her as I doubt other actresses can pull it off as naturally as she did. But I also think it is high time she takes on other roles as I’m beginning to see a stereotype emerging in her projects.

Vin Zhang is also rightly chosen to play a cold and reserved associate professor. He did his part well with a serious look but with a change in facial expressions along the way as his character begins to get affected by the female lead.

The chemistry between Esther Yu and Vin Zhang is palpable but not exactly sizzling in my eyes. If they had turned up the flame a little bit more, they would make a really compatible pair of on-screen lovers. Maybe Esther Yu’s drama with Dylan Wang which has just been aired as well automatically induces a comparison and the chemistry is blazing there. Hence, the difference is noticeable to me.

My Verdict – Sweet Enough To Watch But…

Personally, I think A Romance Of The Little Forest is sweet enough to watch but nothing spectacular. Using a common plot for rom-coms, it depends very much on the acting and chemistry of the leads to carry the show. Therefore, if you like this pair, then this would be worth your time. If you don’t, it will turn out to be pretty boring with a slow relationship progress. The high amount of screen time allotted to the second couple will make it worse if you don’t care for their story.

This is not the usual romance drama whereby the couple will start dating by the middle of the story. So, loads of patience is needed to see them get together officially as a couple just like in Master Of My Own. As such, you won’t get to see any kisses of the main couple until the last 2 episodes. One particular intimate scene in Episode 20 was snipped off and it is highly noticeable in the editing. I guess they wanted to avoid any controversy as the girl is drunk and hence, the guy will appear as if he is taking advantage of the situation in that scene. In short, it is a long wait if you are after the couple’s kisses and lovey-dovey moments.

For this A Romance Of The Little Forest review, I think 7.5/10 would be a fair score. Anything above that would be too generous given the average plot and draggy stretches. To me, it is also treading a fine line between sweetness and silliness (or is it childishness?) with the mannerism of the female protagonist. Thus, if you are looking for a satisfying matured romance like Dine With Love and The Oath Of Love, this is not it. Instead, treat it as a typical rom-com and you are more likely to see its sweet side.