Love Scenery Review

I watched Love Scenery (良辰美景好时光) after completing 2 historical dramas in a row including The Sword And The Brocade. So, I longed to go back to modern dramas and picked this one because it seems to have a light theme. I know many people watched this because of Lin Yi and I’m curious too how he would fare here with Lulu Xu. Apart from the leads, I have no idea what this drama is all about before I began. Well, did it offer a nice surprise? Read my Love Scenery review below to find out!

My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 31
Type: Romance
Aired: April 2021
Images Credit: Tencent

The Cast Of Love Scenery

• Lulu Xu Lu as Zhu Liang Chen
• Lin Yi as Lu Jing
• Hu Bing as Ding Jia Yun
• Harry Hu Yun Hao as Sun Bin Yu / Taro
• Zhong Dan Ni as Ma Shan Shan
• Wang Ting as Liu Yi Qing
• Jiang Yu Wei as Yuan Ke Ke
• Wang Cheng as Zhou Dan
• Wang Rong as Liu Er
• Zhong Zheng as He Ye
• Fu Wei Lun as Gu Fei Ming
• Wang Lu Qing as Qi Qi
• Bella Du Yu Chen as Meng Lan Zhi
• Yue Yao Li as Grandpa Lu
• Xue Shu Jie as Grandma Lu

Main Characters

Zhu Liang Chen

Liang Chen is a popular singer who has made it as an idol through hard work and talent. She is a positive-minded and confident woman but can be girlish at times when it comes to her crush.

Lu Jing

Lu Jing is a 4th year computer science student at university. He is a top scholar and has won numerous awards in his field. Lu Jing is also a popular live streamer for an online game. He is good-looking and has many admirers. Liang Chen is his idol as well as senior.

Supporting Characters

Ding Jia Yun

Jia Yun is a well-known veteran actor. He is a matured and unassuming man. Jia Yun is Liang Chen’g good friend but he has loved her secretly for a long time.

Sun Bin Yu / Taro

Taro is an actor. He is a thick-skinned and comical man. Taro is a friend of Liang Chen and Jia Yun while Lu Jing is his neighbor. He has also admired Shan Shan for a long time.

Ma Shan Shan

Shan Shan is a comedian and actress but prone to depression. She is an unhappy woman who can’t put the past behind her. Shan Shan and Liang Chen used to be classmates and best friends at university.

Liu Yi Qing & Yuan Ke Ke

Yi Qing and Ke Ke is Liang Chen’s manager and personal assistant respectively. Both genuinely care for Liang Chen and are supportive of her.

Zhou Dan, Liu Er & He Ye

The 3 men are Lu Jing’s dorm mates. All of them look up to Lu Jing and follow his lead as he is too smart for them. They also care about him in their own way.

Gu Fei Ming

Fei Ming is Lu Jing’s university mate. He can be egoistic and sees Lu Jing as his love rival. Fei Ming is in love with Qi Qi but she prefers Lu Jing instead.

Qi Qi

Qi Qi is studying in the same university as Lu Jing. She has a crush on him but the feeling isn’t reciprocated.

Meng Lan Zhi

Lan Zhi is a singer and Liang Chen’s rival. She will resort to underhanded tactics to compete with her.

Grandpa & Grandma Lu

They are Lu Jing’s grandparents who are eager for their grandson to find a girlfriend.

Synopsis

Liang Chen is an idol singer and has accepted an endorsement contract to promote an online game. As a result, she has to learn how to play the game. Her friend, Taro, hooks her up with Lu Jing who is a popular gamer and online streamer. Hence, Liang Chen and Lu Jing connected online but he has no idea who he is playing with although she is his idol.

When Lu Jing finally finds out his game partner is Liang Chen, he boldly pursues her but faces competition from her friend and well-known actor, Jia Yun. In the mean time, Liang Chen is trying hard to sing more rock n roll songs rather than ballads but faces criticisms. She is then diagnosed with vocal chord polyps which could end her career.

Love Scenery Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

Love Scenery has a happy ending. Lu Jing proposes to Liang Chen at the airport after a harrowing flight. He is an exchange student and has been studying abroad for 6 months. The flight he was on experienced severe turbulence and they were lucky to escape. So, he proposes to Liang Chen immediately after he landed and she accepts. The last scene shows Liang Chen’s concert. She pulls Lu Jing up onto the stage with her as she sings with the rest of their friends joining in.

Although there is a proposal, there is no wedding scene in this 31-episode romance drama. However, neither is there a break up between Liang Chen and Lu Jing. They got together and shared their first kiss in Episode 20. The other 2 hot kisses are in Episode 25 and 28 whereby they spent the night together.

Did Jia Yun Confess To Liang Chen?

Yes, Jia Yun finally confesses to Liang Chen in Episode 21 during his birthday dinner. But she has no romantic feelings for him and she is already dating Lu Jing then. Hence, he gets rejected. It takes him awhile to get over it. By the end of the drama, Jia Yun has moved on and is happy when Lu Jing proposes to Liang Chen.

The Second Couple

Taro and Shan Shan end up as a couple. He has been patiently pursuing her despite her reluctance to put the past behind her. Taro slowly encourages her to move forward bit by bit and resume her love for music. Shan Shan was cheated by her ex-boyfriend who also stole her composition while in university. She was devastated and quit her studies which left Liang Chen to struggle on her own as they used to be a team. That is why Shan Shan is embarrassed to face Liang Chen when they meet again.

After the break up, Shan Shan does not have the will anymore to make music and becomes a comedian instead. But she has never been happy until Taro slowly makes her come out of her shell. In the end, Shan Shan picks up music again and shares the stage with Liang Chen.

Love Scenery Review – Reminds Me Of Love 020

One of the things that strike me when I watched Love Scenery is its similarity with Love 020 especially in the beginning stages. Both dramas have a gaming theme and the way the game is presented is also the same. Rather than showing viewers computer graphics, the leads take on the game characters instead. Hence, there is some fun and flirting going on during the game sessions which is unlike Go Go Squid! whereby the gaming aspect is much more serious.

Personally, this kind of presentation is interesting initially but after a few episodes, it starts to get repetitive for me. If you like how it was done in Love 020, you most probably would like Love Scenery as well. But if you don’t, I guess you can skip these scenes or use the fast forward button and not miss anything much. The good thing is the online game will take a backseat once the leads know who the other is behind the username.

No Groundbreaking Plot

Love Scenery is not the type of romance that you watch for the plot. Basically, the story is nothing extraordinary. In fact, some might even find it boring because there is really nothing much going on throughout the 31 episodes. There is hardly any bickering unlike Hello Mr. Gu. So, if you like more “drama” to your romance, Love Scenery is not the one to watch as it is more towards the plain sailing type just like My Little Happiness.

There is little angst and anxiety in the story which makes it a great choice if you want a stress-free drama that feels sweet. Even if the girl is older than the guy in the story, the age gap is not the focus of the drama. Just like in Go Go Squid 2, it does get mentioned but it is never a hindrance to the romance.

Thus, the love story of the main couple is more towards finding out each other’s identity followed by the wooing phase and then getting together. Once they start dating, the focus shifts to the 2 lovers learning to get along and supportive of each other with sweet moments in between. With no extreme ups and downs to the romance, it should resonate with those looking for a simple love story.

Chemistry Between The Leads

Many viewers are raving about the great chemistry between Lulu Xu and Lin Yi in Love Scenery. So, if you can feel the sparks between the leads, it doesn’t really matter anymore if the plot is light and thin. After all, a romance drama’s selling point tends to be the leads’ chemistry rather than the plot.

For me, their chemistry is sizzling in some scenes especially the kissing ones, but not in others. It is pretty obvious that she is older than him which is fine with me though which is why I could sit through all the way to the end. But if you are not into an older woman and younger man romance, Love Scenery might just fall short especially when he keeps addressing her as senior in the drama. That takes away some of the chemistry for me too although overall, they did well enough to make me cross the finish line.

My Verdict – Nothing Special

I think 31 episodes is really stretching things a little too far for this drama. With a thin plot, the last few episodes aren’t really necessary to me. It is not a drama that I would re-watch as it is kind of forgettable after the last scene is over and done with. While the chemistry is good, Love Scenery is really for those into plain-sailing romance who just want to watch a couple simply falling in love and dating and nothing more. There is some comedic element provided by the supporting characters to lighten the mood further for a rom-com feel but the focus doesn’t really run away from the main couple’s relationship.

Personally, I would prefer to watch Lulu Xu and Zhang Han in Sunshine Of My Life. This is because there is more to the story there and the romance feels more realistic and matured although the progress is kind of slow. I guess it depends on your liking for more youthful romance or otherwise. I would think Love Scenery will resonate more with the younger crowd with a college student being the main male character compared to a CEO in Sunshine Of My Life.

For this Love Scenery review, I think a score of 7/10 would be fair. I can’t give it any higher with such a thin plot. Watch it if you like simplicity in your romance with no toxic third parties and parental disapprovals. If you can also feel the chemistry between the leads, that would lift the drama up considerably and makes it worth the ride. Otherwise, it could be a boring one to sit through.