Hello Mr. Gu Review

Hello Mr. Gu (原来你是这样的顾先生) is a typical romance drama that is meant to be simple and fluffy. While I’m not against simple romantic stories, they really need to have something extra or unique to convince me that they are worth the time. This is because there are too many of this kind of productions and after a while, they tend to become repetitive. So, will this particular drama be able to offer something special to the viewers? Hopefully, my Hello Mr. Gu review below will be able to give you some idea if it is worth a watch.

My rating: 6.5/10
Episodes: 30
Type: Romance
Aired: March 2021
Images Credit: Tencent

The Cast Of Hello Mr. Gu

• Chen Jing Ke as Gu Nan Zhou
• Yan Zhi Chao as Zhou Jian Qing / Qing Qing
• Guo Yun Qi as Zhou Zi Xuan
• Zhu Dan Ni as Su You Xia / Su Su
• Xin Rui Qi as Jiang Jing Xuan
• Vesta Ding Jia Wen as Zhang Yin
• Zhong Wei Lun as Jiang Xiao Chuan

Main Characters

Gu Nan Zhou

Nan Zhou is the CEO of the Gu Group and its subsidiary, Xing Yun Animation. He is a workaholic and domineering man. Nan Zhou also lacks sensitivity at times and is clueless when it comes to relationships. He gets panic attacks when he is surrounded by crowds.

Zhou Jian Qing / Qing Qing

Qing Qing is a talented anime artist and university student. She is a strong and resourceful lady who works hard to support herself. Qing Qing has a positive and cheerful attitude.

Supporting Characters

Zhou Zi Xuan

Zi Xuan is Qing Qing’s elder brother. He is a chef and protective towards the people he loves although he may seem uncouth.

Su You Xia / Su Su

Su Su is Qing Qing’s best friend and classmate. She comes from a rich family but is courteous and soft-spoken. Su Su is secretly in love with Zi Xuan.

Jiang Jing Xuan

Jing Xuan is Nan Zhou’s trusted subordinate. She is the Vice President of Xing Yun Animation. Jing Xuan has feelings for Nan Zhou and is a jealous woman.

Zhang Yin

Zhang Yin is Qing Qing’s classmate and assistant for her anime works. He loves her secretly and is always supportive of her.

Jiang Xiao Chuan

Xiao Chuan is Nan Zhou’s personal assistant. He is also Nan Zhou’s relationship advisor.

Synopsis

Nan Zhou runs an animation company while Qing Qing is an anime artist. They bump into each other due to work but starts off on the wrong footing as he mistakenly accuses her of plagiarism. However, it turns out that Qing Qing’s father had once helped Nan Zhou’s father in his business. In his late father’s will, Nan Zhou’s father instructed his son to marry and take care of Qing Qing as her family has fallen into hard times. Her parents are dead but have left behind a large amount of debt.

Qing Qing agrees to get into a contract marriage with Nan Zhou in exchange for his help to pay off the debtors and ease her brother’s burden. Gradually, they begin to develop feelings for each other. But misunderstandings soon arise as love rivals create jealousies and rifts between the lovers. Will the couple be able to overcome the obstacles put in their way?

Hello Mr. Gu Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

Hello Mr. Gu has a happy ending. Nan Zhou proposes to Qing Qing and they are a happily married couple in the last scene. His company has got over all the obstacles and their animated production which he has worked hard to realize has also received due recognition. Qing Qing also has success of her own as her anime comic is selected to be adapted into an animation.

What Is Nan Zhou’s Psychological Problem?

Nan Zhou is afraid of crowds as they bring back painful and scary childhood memories. When he was a kid, his elder brother died in a stampede after ensuring his safety. Nan Zhou feels extremely guilty over the incident as he didn’t listen to his brother not to run ahead while they were in a very crowded place. Now, whenever he is surrounded by large groups of people, he will feel breathless and faint from the panic.

Is There A Break-Up?

Yes, Qing Qing requests for a break-up in Episode 27 after getting together in Episode 15. She breaks up with Nan Zhou because she is afraid that he only wants to be together with her because her late father has 5% of the Gu Group’s shares. Together with his equity, this 5% is enough to allow him to have a controlling say in the company. Nan Zhou’s father had quietly given the shares to Qing Qing’s father who had helped him in the past. Both men have passed away and this shares transfer remains unknown until a rival shareholder wants to acquire a controlling stake in Gu Group.

The rival shareholder uses Jing Xuan to create a rift between Nan Zhou and Qing Qing. Then, he lets Qing Qing know about her father’s stake in Gu Group and sows doubt in her mind about Nan Zhou’s sincerity towards her. As their relationship is already on the rocks due to Jing Xuan’s schemings, the shares issue pushes Qing Qing to break up with Nan Zhou for good.

However, they get back together in the end as they still love each other deeply. Qing Qing also finds out that Nan Zhou was facing intense pressure because of business troubles during their break-up period. When a company wants to adapt her comic into an animation, she wants Nan Zhou’s company to be the partner to help him out. By working together, it gives them the opportunity to reconcile.

What Happened To Their Love Rivals?

Jing Xuan sabotages the company which causes them to be sued for copyright infringement. She wants to create more work for Nan Zhou so that he will have no time and energy to entertain Qing Qing. In the mean time, she deceives Qing Qing that Nan Zhou is spending time with her. But Nan Zhou eventually finds out that Jing Xuan has caused all the troubles in the company and confronts her. Jing Xuan confesses her feelings and explains why she harmed the company’s interest. Bu Nan Zhou tells her that she means nothing more to him except as a valued employee and he will re-consider her position in the company.

Zhang Yin tries to confess to Qing Qing that he loves her. But she is obviously not into him and hence, he brushes it off as a joke to her relieve. Zhang Yin accepts that Qing Qing only loves Nan Zhou. Although he is disappointed, he only wants her to be happy.

Is There A Second Couple?

Yes, the second couple is Zi Xuan and Su Su. Zi Xuan has tried to maintain his distance earlier due to their different social status as Su Su comes from a rich family. But he couldn’t resist his feelings when Su Su is pressured to go on blind dates by her mother. So, they eventually end up as a couple although they have to hide their relationship from Qing Qing initially as the latter thinks her brother is always bullying Su Su.

Hello Mr. Gu Review – The Usual Romance Drama Tropes

Does Hello Mr. Gu has anything new to offer overall compared to the usual romance dramas? Unfortunately, no. You will get the same old accidental kisses, childhood link, domineering male lead, and jealous love rivals. I guess this type of dramas has such a wide following and they are cheap to produce which means it makes commercial sense to keep churning them out. For Hello Mr. Gu, I wouldn’t say that it is all bad but be aware that it is full of cliches before you dive in.

A Very Domineering Male Lead

One of the first signs of dissatisfaction that I have with Hello Mr. Gu is how the male character is being projected. Nan Zhou is a very domineering lead to the point of being controlling of his girlfriend which reminds me a little of Be With You. I understand that he knows Zhang Yin’s intention towards Qing Qing and is jealous but to romanticize his behavior just doesn’t resonate with me. I’m into more rational male leads who understand mutual respect like the one found in Forever Love.

However, to be fair, the character growth is there and Nan Zhou knows his faults. He slowly changes and is also prepared to apologize when he is in the wrong. I guess you just have to sit through at least half of the drama to get there. In that sense, patience is needed to see the change. While I can go along with the ride, the plot then starts to become predictable and the couple’s immaturity annoying to a certain extent.

Lame Plot

The main couple’s misunderstandings are a big part of the plot. It has all those petty jealousies as well as unhappiness because he has no time for me kind of storyline. The jealous second female lead wreaking havoc is also nothing new. We have seen that in many romance dramas including You Are My Destiny and Mr. Honesty.

In short, Hello Mr. Gu is not a drama that you want to watch for the plot. It doesn’t even do a good job in tying up some of the loose ends like Jing Xuan’s fate. It starts off like a typical rom-com with an escapism feel just like Intense Love but fails to carry it through with jealous characters doing a lot of damage to the couple’s relationship as well as plenty of unnecessary bickering.

Chemistry Saves The Drama

I think the one thing that saves this drama from being unwatchable is the leads’ chemistry. The acting isn’t superb as Chen Jing Ke and Yan Zhi Chao are new in the industry but at least, they know how to generate some sparks in their interactions on-screen. They look comfortable with each other during the sweet moments and like a typical bickering couple during disagreements. The chemistry did help me to sit through this drama till the end. Otherwise, I might have dropped it midway through just like what I did with One Boat, One World.

My Verdict – Okay If You Don’t Mind Cliches

If you have watched a fair share of mainland rom-coms and romance dramas, you should know what the cliches are. Basically, Hello Mr. Gu is a contract marriage with a controlling male lead as the drama theme. It doesn’t have the same level of sweetness as Perfect And Casual which also has a contract marriage storyline or as passionate as Love Is Sweet. Some might even find Nan Zhou and Qing Qing’s relationship toxic due to the bickering, distrust, and domineering male. Hence, you really need to see this as pure escapism and discard your prejudice towards a controlling male character in order to find this couple romantic.

In other words, if you prefer a healthy, respectful, and supportive relationship for your romance dramas, Hello Mr. Gu is not the one to watch. For that, you will be better off choosing Sunshine Of My Life or Go Go Squid 2 whereby there is more maturity in the couples’ relationship. Hello Mr. Gu is more for youthful romance drama lovers who don’t mind the tropes and the immaturity of first love whereby petty jealousies and possessiveness may seem endearing. It really depends on your taste of what makes a couple romantic.

For this Hello Mr. Gu review, I would give it a score of 6.5/10. It is nothing special to me and I wouldn’t watch it again. It is not funny either as it doesn’t have a rom-com vibe as the drama progresses. But you can give it a try if you enjoy watching young bickering couples and seeing how they grow and improve their relationship over time. Furthermore, Hello Mr. Gu is also a short drama that is easy to sit through as each episode is only about 30 minutes long. Thus, don’t be fooled by the 30 episodes listed!