Blossom In Heart Review

I have to admit that I didn’t really relish watching the entire 52 episodes of Blossom In Heart (海棠经雨胭脂透). This is because a love story with that many episodes tends to be a drag. But the main leads are an attraction and this helps me to overcome the reluctance of giving this drama a go. Once I started watching, I also had to complete it to do this Blossom In Heart review for the benefit of my readers. Is it so bad like many people have commented online? Well, yes and no. It is skippable but there are also mitigating factors that might garner some fans along the way.

Episodes: 52
Type: Romance, Family
Aired: October 2019
Images Credit: IJQ TV

Where To Watch

Blossom In Heart is available on Amazon Prime (affiliate link). They offer a 30-day free trial at the time of writing.

The Cast

• Allen Deng Lun as Lang Yue Xuan
• Li Yi Tong as Gu Hai Tang
• Hanson Ying Hao Ming as Lang Yue Ming
• Zhang Ya Zhuo as Long Mo Hua
• Alex Fong Chung Sun as Boss Lang / Lang Si Nian
• Carman Lee Yeuk Tung as Mrs. Lang
• Howie Huang Wen Hao as Boss Shi / Shi Ji Zhou
• Cai Yi Jia as Gu Xia He
• Gao Yao Ping as Lang Qing Qing
• Li Bao Er as Shi Di Wen
• Shi Ning as Commander Long / Long De Shui

The Main Characters

Lang Yue Xuan

Yue Xuan is a charming and smart young man. He is the youngest son of the Lang family but is adopted. However, he cannot remember anything from his past prior to his adoption due to a head injury. Yue Xuan is a great help to his father in the family business. His adopted mother, Mrs. Lang, also treats him like her own son.

Gu Hai Tang

Hai Tang has a talent as a make-up artist and knowledge in developing beauty products. She is kind and gentle but can be strong-minded when she is sure of what she wants.

Lang Yue Ming

Yue Ming is the eldest son of the Lang family. But an accident when he was young caused him to have a scarred face. As a result, he has a low self-esteem and hides himself from the public. He has a good relationship with Yue Xuan.

Long Mo Hua

Mo Hua is the daughter of Commander Long, the military ruler of Kunyang City. She is a spoilt girl with a huge sense of entitlement. She loves Yue Xuan and wants him badly. Mo Hua is also a good friend of Hai Tang.

Boss Lang / Lang Si Nian

Boss Lang is a fair-minded businessman whose family business is in the cosmetic industry. Lang Li Chun is a century-old brand name and the Lang family is one of the richest in the city. Boss Lang shares a special bond with Yue Xuan despite the latter being adopted.

Mrs. Lang

Mrs. Lang is a devoted mother but can be bitter and fierce due to her own personal frustrations. She has a civil but loveless marriage with Boss Lang due to an incident from years earlier. Her daughter-in-law, Miao Lan, often becomes her target of dissatisfaction. Being a religious and superstitious woman, Miao Lan was taken in as a child bride for some good luck when Mrs. Lang’s second son was gravely ill then. However, her son still died and Miao Lan is already a widow when she was still a girl.

Boss Shi / Shi Ji Zhou

Boss Shi hates Boss Lang and they are business rivals. His company is Shi Hang Lu and his ambition is to see the downfall of Lang Li Chun. Boss Shi has old scores to settle with Boss Lang and he will not hesitate to use unscrupulous means to achieve his aim. He has an adopted son but they do not get along well as he sees his son as a failure.

Gu Xia He

Xia He is Hai Tang’s younger brother. He is obedient and a good student. In school, he befriends Lang Qing Qing after an initial period of misunderstanding.

Lang Qing Qing

Qing Qing is the Lang family’s youngest daughter. Being young, she is impulsive and playful. But she can also be naive and immature.

Shi Di Wen

Di Wen is Boss Shi’s adopted son. He is kind at heart but is often forced to do his father’s bidding. Di Wen lacks the smartness and looks compared to Yue Xuan but they are good friends despite their families being enemies. He has feelings for Mo Hua but he also knows he doesn’t stand a chance with her.

Commander Long / Long De Shui

Commander Long is a greedy military ruler of Kunyang City. He often extorts money from the merchants including Boss Lang and Boss Shi to fill his own pocket as well as to finance his army. Commander Long is also a womaniser with a few mistresses but he only has one child in Mo Hua. That is why he often spoils and tries to please her as much as he can.

Synopsis

Hai Tang settles in Kunyang City with the intention to look for her long lost father. Her father left for a job on her birthday years ago and never returned. She bumps into Yue Xuan but they started off on the wrong footing. To earn an income, Hai Tang does make-up gigs for rich ladies and gets to know Mo Hua. Through Mo Hua, Hai Tang then gets acquainted with Yue Xuan and starts working at Lang Li Chun’s workshop. Yue Xuan and Hai Tang then start to develop feelings for each other.

When Yue Ming comes across Hai Tang, he quickly falls in love with her. Due to his scarred appearance, Yue Xuan does his duty as a brother and tricks Hai Tang to marry into the Lang family. Hai Tang thinks she is marrying Yue Xuan only to find out on her wedding night that she has married Yue Ming. This causes deep resentment in Hai Tang towards Yue Xuan as she has no feelings for Yue Ming other than friendship and sympathy. On the other hand, Yue Xuan feels incredibly guilty over his role and tries to make up for his mistake with Hai Tang. This results in a complicated web of relationship involving Yue Xuan, Yue Ming, Hai Tang, and Mo Hua.

On the business front, Boss Lang has been competing with Boss Shi for years. Boss Shi’s intention is to destroy the Lang family and the hatred goes beyond mere business. So, what is the history between Boss Lang and Boss Shi? What happened to Hai Tang’s father? Who would Hai Tang choose in the end? If you want a detailed story, you can check out my Blossom In Heart episode summary.

Blossom In Heart Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

It would be a bit hard to swallow if you have a sad ending after sitting through 52 episodes of a romance drama. So, luckily it has a happy ending with Yue Xuan and Hai Tang seen kissing as a married couple in the last scene. Hai Tang is in a coma-like state for a year after hitting her head against the kerb as she tries to save Yue Xuan from being shot by Boss Shi towards the end. Yue Xuan lovingly takes care of Hai Tang until she wakes up. She is touched by his love and devotion for her.

What Happened To Hai Tang’s Father?

Hai Tang’s father was killed by Boss Shi. He wanted her father’s formula for a facial cream but was refused. Boss Shi then hits Hai Tang’s father on the head. He fainted and was woken up by a young Yue Xuan. They ran out of the house together with Boss Shi in pursuit. Hai Tang’s father gave a pendant to Yue Xuan and asked Yue Xuan to give it to his daughter before he was killed. But Yue Xuan fell down and ended up in the waters while on the run.

Who Are Yue Xuan’s Parents?

The young Yue Xuan lost his memory after he fell into the waters and then hit by Boss Shi. Yue Xuan’s biological mother is Yan Zhi who used to be a maid in the Lang household. But Yan Zhi and Boss Lang used to be lovers. When Boss Lang was away on a business trip one day, Yan Zhi was driven out of the household by Mrs. Lang.

Yan Zhi ended up marrying Boss Shi. But she was already pregnant with Boss Lang’s child on her wedding day. That child is Yue Xuan. This causes the deep hatred in Boss Shi towards Boss Lang, Yue Xuan as well as Yan Zhi. When Mrs. Lang found out that her husband was still seeing Yan Zhi, she went to confront her out of jealousy. She pushed Yan Zhi who fell and hit her head on the table. Yan Zhi fainted while Mrs. Lang dropped her hairpin during her rushed exit. She bumped into Boss Shi who picked up her hairpin. Boss Shi took the opportunity to strangle Yan Zhi to death. Yue Xuan witnessed the murder from the door.

Hai Tang’s father was hired to do make-up for Yan Zhi on the day she died. Yue Xuan saw him getting hit by Boss Shi and woke him up to escape together. Using Mrs. Lang’s hairpin, Boss Shi informed Boss Lang that his wife is Yan Zhi’s killer. He blackmailed Boss Lang to take in Yue Xuan as an adopted child. With Yue Xuan having lost his memory, Boss Lang also kept quiet about the boy’s real identity from his family due to the sensitivity involved. Yan Zhi’s death also caused a barrier between Boss Lang and his wife throughout the years.

The Fate Of Yue Ming And Mo Hua

Yue Ming’s inability to get Hai Tang’s love transforms him into a narrow-minded person. He is also jealous of Yue Xuan’s good business sense and his father’s presumed preference for his brother. This drives Yue Ming to cooperate with Boss Shi with the mistaken assumption that it would enable him to take control of Lang Li Chun. In the end, Yue Ming realized that he has been duped. Boss Shi takes him as a hostage when he is surrounded by Commander Long’s men.

Yue Xuan and Hai Tang try to save him from Boss Shi. Eventually, Boss Shi is shot to death by the soldiers. Yue Ming is unhurt. Eventually, he leaves Kunyang City to go abroad to learn more about the cosmetic industry as he also regrets what he has done to his family. Mo Hua sends him off. She has let go of her feelings for Yue Xuan. Both of them can see the depth of Yue Xuan’s love for Hai Tang as he cares for her while she is in a coma. Mo Hua is also sad over Di Wen’s death as he had tried to save her during a kidnapping attempt by her father’s enemy.

Blossom In Heart Review – Why Many Don’t Like It

I can see a few reasons why Blossom In Heart is a disappointment and many can’t sit through the whole drama. Firstly, the story can seem over the top. You have Yue Xuan who is willing to give up the girl he loves to his brother. When the marriage didn’t work out, he decides to compete for her affections too. As for Hai Tang, she also wants to give up the man she loves to a friend. So, you can say that it doesn’t really make sense for Hai Tang to be angry with Yue Xuan for tricking her because she is planning to do the same until fate intervenes and Mo Hua is dragged back home by her father.

Secondly, a large part of the drama is really slow-moving. The story only picks up and gets a bit more interesting at around episode 28. Hence, you must have the patience to sit through more than half of the episodes. That is if you have managed to get over the not so realistic plot by then. Lastly, if the plot isn’t that great to start with, you will need really good chemistry between the male and female lead to make the drama watchable. Here To Heart is a good example of such chemistry which really helps to lift the drama to another level despite the slow-moving story. I’m not saying that Allen Deng Lun and Li Yi Tong have no chemistry at all but there is nothing off-the-charts here to save this drama from being mediocre due to the slow pacing and storyline.

What Makes It Worth Watching

Frankly speaking, I watched it for Allen Deng Lun. It is just my personal preference but in Blossom In Heart, he does look very convincing as a sweet-talker and rich young man. He gives the character a very charming persona that is appealing and likeable. On top of that, there is more than just romance in the drama. There is the family aspect that should appeal to a wider audience rather than just those into romance genres.

There is a bit of suspense thrown in here and there to make you chase after the story. For example, we don’t know what happened to Hai Tang’s father and whether his disappearance is related to Boss Lang. We also don’t really know why Boss Lang and Boss Shi have such animosity towards each other as things are just revealed bit by bit as the story unfolds. While they are predictable, we don’t really have confirmation until towards the end.

My Verdict

I wouldn’t recommend you to watch Blossom In Heart because it is just too slow-moving. If you are looking for something more compelling, you are better off watching Love And Destiny. And if you want overflowing sweetness like what you would get with Love 020 or even Go Go Squid!, then you can also give this a miss.

There will be parts in the drama whereby you would experience angst or hatred towards certain characters. The storyline would evoke that kind of feeling in viewers. Some people like it because it is more dramatic but if you don’t, then it is another reason to go and watch something more light-hearted. Unless you are a die-hard Allen Deng Lun or Li Yi Tong fan, my overall recommendation is to skip this 52-episode drama for this Blossom In Heart review.

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