Mr. Honesty Review

Mr. Honesty (不说谎恋人) is an office romance drama with a twist in the unusual personality of the main male character. No doubt the male lead is not particularly well-known but I’m still willing to give it a shot as the male character seems unique. It is 31 episodes long which is not so bad although I always feel that many of these Chinese romance dramas could have been shortened to around 20 to 25 episodes. Anyway, the following is my Mr. Honesty review and my short verdict is it is an enjoyable one overall although frustrating at times.

My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 31
Type: Romance
Aired: June 2020
Images Credit: Tencent

The Cast Of Mr. Honesty

• Liang Jie as Xu Yi Ren
• Xin Yun Lai as Fang Zhi You
• Liu Hai Kuan as Li Zhe
• Luo Qiu Yun as He Yu Wen
• Wu Ji Feng as Gu Bo
• Chen Shi Min as Xia Di
• Wei Jin as Yu Qing
• Jiang Kai as He Yu Liang
• Liu Xu as Li Jing Hong
• Wang Sheng Di as Fang Shi Yu
• Cheng Hong as Fang Zhan Yang

Main Characters

Xu Yi Ren

Yi Ren is a kind and trusting young woman who is prone to telling white lies to keep the peace and minimize hurting others. Her parents died in an accident while she was young. She is brought up by her uncle and aunt but went through a painful childhood due to her aunt’s bias and being bullied by her cousin sister. Yi Ren works in an architecture company as a personal assistant to the boss. Her best friend is Xia Di while her ex-boyfriend is Gao Ming.

Fang Zhi You

Zhi You is a very talented architect with his own company called Circles And Squares. He has a cold and blunt personality as he never tells lies even white ones in a social setting. Zhi You had a distressing experience when he was a teenager that caused him to hate his father. His mother had passed away. He also has a 10-year-old sister whom he cares about.

Li Zhe

Li Zhe is the General Manager of Da Sheng, a big and reputable 3D modeling company. He has just returned from abroad and is Zhi You’s enemy due to a past betrayal which makes him revengeful. His father is a dementia sufferer. Li Zhe is also searching for a girl whom he saved from the woods years ago.

He Yu Wen

Yu Wen is Zhi You’s business partner and an Executive Assistant at Circles And Squares. She is hardworking and capable. Yu Wen has sacrificed much for the company and Zhi You whom she loves. However, the love is unrequited. She also has a poor relationship with her father, He Yu Liang. Her father’s student and subordinate, Qi Ming, has feelings for her.

Gu Bo

Gu Bo is an intern at Circles And Squares. He comes from a very rich family. His father is a board member of Circles And Squares while he is also a shareholder. However, few know about his background while he purposely hides his wealth in order to woo Xia Di.

Xia Di

Xia Di is a comic creator and writer. She is also Yi Ren’s best friend. Xia Di is independent and courageous but is fearful of her nagging mother whom she tries to avoid.

Yu Qing

Yu Qing is Yi Ren’s cousin sister. She is always taking advantage of Yi Ren with the support from her mother. Yu Qing has the habit of taking Yi Ren’s things and is a spiteful woman who is jealous of Yi Ren’s success. She has feelings for Li Zhe.

He Yu Liang

Yu Liang is Yu Wen’s father. He is also an architect and owns a big firm called Liang Shan. Yu Liang is a respected and award-winning architect. But he has a strained relationship with his daughter. Zhi You used to be his student.

Li Jing Hong

Jing Hong is Li Zhe’s father. He is in poor health and suffering from dementia due to an incident years ago when he was charged and jailed for fraud.

Fang Shi Yu

Shi Yu is Zhi You’s little sister. Although she is young, she is a very sharp and intelligent girl. Shi Yu could sense the feelings between her brother and Yi Ren and often dishes out love advice to them.

Fang Zhan Yang

Zhan Yang is a top lawyer with his own firm. He is a good father to Shi Yu but is not on talking terms with his son, Zhi You.

Synopsis

Zhi You exposes Yi Ren’s two-timing boyfriend in the lift which results in a break-up. Then, he also causes her to lose her job by telling her boss that she has lied about being late to a meeting. This infuriates Yi Ren and they start off on the wrong footing. But when Yi Ren applies for a job as personal assistant to Zhi You, Yu Wen decides to give her a chance. It is hard to get people to work for Zhi You due to his cold and blunt personality.

Yi Ren’s job is to smooth over his relationship with clients since he has the habit of offending others with his absolute refusal to lie even during small talks. This abhorrence of lies stems from his bitter past experience. On the other hand, Yi Ren’s childhood experience makes her adept at white lies to please others and protect them as well as herself.

As Zhi You and Yi Ren get to know each other better at work, they begin to fall in love. This happens with a jealous Yu Wen, revengeful Li Zhe, and toxic cousin sister and aunt in the background. Will they be able to navigate the pitfalls and make their relationship work?

Mr. Honesty Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

Mr. Honesty has a happy ending. There is a wedding scene and Li Zhe walks Yi Ren down the aisle. After their speech and vows, the drama ends with Zhi You and Yi Ren kissing. It is a sweet conclusion that should delight romance drama fans after their near break up in Episode 28. Zhan Yang begs Yi Ren not to tell his son about his fake illness. However, Yu Wen exposes Yi Ren’s lie to Zhi You which hurts and angers him. Ultimately, they reconcile after Zhi You suffered an injury while helping Li Zhe to fend off thugs. You can read my Mr. Honesty episode summary for a full recap of the drama.

Why Zhi You Hates Lies

Li Zhe’s father, Jing Hong, was accused of fraud 13 years ago. But he was scammed by his business partners. Zhi You’s father, Zhan Yang, is a lawyer. Zhi You and Li Zhe pleaded with Zhan Yang to help Jing Hong and he agreed. Zhan Yang told Zhi You to ask Li Zhe and Jing Jong to collect all the evidence and hand it over to him. But Zhan Yang lied when he used the evidence to defend the scammers instead. Jing Hong was convicted as a result. He attempted suicide with his wife. He survived and ended up with dementia. But Li Zhe’s mother died.

Hence, Zhi You hates lies because a lie had caused his best friend’s family to disintegrate. It is also why Li Zhe hates him and Zhan Yang and wants revenge.

Did Yu Wen Leave Zhi You?

Yu Wen lets jealousy consumes her to the extent that she is willing to steal Zhi You’s design to pass to her father. She doesn’t want Zhi You to win the bid for a prestigious project as winning it would seem like a perfect wedding present for him and Yi Ren. So, she steals the design for her father and then tells the project owner that Zhi You copied Liang Shan’s work instead.

However, Yu Wen changes her mind and exposes her father’s crime of stealing Zhi You’s current and past designs during the signing ceremony for the project. That is why Zhi You left Liang Shan with Yu Wen 5 years ago to set up their own company. Her father ends up with a stroke. Yu Wen is undecided about taking over Liang Shan but leaves Circles And Squares to travel with Qi Ming. She doesn’t love Qi Ming but is willing to let nature takes its course. Yu Wen and Zhi You part as friends.

Who Was The Girl Li Zhe Saved?

Li Zhe wants to look for the girl whom he once saved because she distracted him from committing suicide that day. The girl was lost in the woods and crying for help. It made Li Zhe stopped his suicide act and helped her. The girl is Yi Ren and the significance of the incident makes him feel a special bond with her.

But Yu Qing claims that it is her because she wants Li Zhe for herself. She begs Yi Ren to keep quiet about it which the latter did for a while. But Yi Ren has to tell the truth when she also wants the same out of Li Zhe in a plot to frame her and cause business trouble to Zhi You. After the truth is out, Li Zhe fires Yu Qing.

Did Zhan Yang Apologize To Jing Hong?

Towards the end, Zhan Yang realizes that what matters is his son after the latter got injured while helping Li Zhe to fight off thugs. Zhi You has been suffering and owes Li Zhe a great deal because of his deceit. Zhan Yang is also suffering from early Alzheimer’s. His public apology causes him to be disbarred. He also personally apologizes to Jing Hong. Zhi You and Li Zhe resume their friendship after that.

Did Gu Bo And Xia Di End Up Together?

Yes, they did. Although they broke up after Xia Di discovers that he has been lying about his riches, they manage to reconcile their differences. Her mother persuades her and makes her see that Gu Bo truly loves her and treats her very well. Xia Di is worried when she hears that Gu Bo is in the hospital. She thought he is hurt when the actual victim is Zhi You. It shows that she still cares a lot about Gu Bo.

Mr. Honesty Review – Surprisingly Enjoyable!

Ignore the cliches and the typical obsessive love rival and Mr. Honesty is surprisingly enjoyable for a breezy romance drama. If there is one word to describe the main couple, it would be sweet. I like that they accept each other’s past and weaknesses to make the relationship work as they support one another. This is the positive aspect that could be gleaned from Mr. Honesty.

The plot itself is nothing new. It is essentially an office romance theme with the only unique feature being the male character’s unwillingness to lie regardless of the situation. There is a backstory of why he hates lies which is integral to the overall plot. It is understandable to me why Zhi You turns out the way he did. But the story of the romance between Zhi You and Yi Ren itself is nothing extraordinary. Instead, what pulls in viewers like me is the interactions and chemistry between them. Their gestures are sweet and loving which are always essential to make a romance drama shine.

Chemistry Between The Leads

It is actually refreshing to see Liang Jie partnering a different actor after having worked with Xing Zhao Lin numerous times including the recent You Are My Destiny. I know many would prefer the Liang Jie and Xing Zhao Lin pairing but I think she still did pretty well with Xin Yun Lai in Mr. Honesty. Their interactions on-screen look natural and they managed to give off the vibes of a loving couple. The chemistry is evident although not as palpable as Dilraba Dilmurat and Johnny Huang in Love Designer. But the way the couple scenes were arranged and directed were very well done which helps to inject a stronger sense of romance for the viewers.

As for the acting, Liang Jie portrayed Yi Ren well enough as someone kind but lacking self-confidence at times due to her childhood experience. Her mannerisms and facial expressions fit the role which makes her easily relatable to me. Xin Yun Lai as the cold and serious Zhi You has an expressionless face most of the time and hence, some might end up being indifferent to him. But I’m fine with watching him as he can transform from serious to cute to sweet pretty effortlessly with his body language.

The story of the second couple is not too interesting as their chemistry is lacking to me. But the good thing is they have limited screen time which makes them tolerable overall.

Plot Holes

The plot is going well and I kind of enjoy it but somehow, they just messed things up towards the end. This is one complaint that I have for this Mr. Honesty review. The ending is not so bad like Please Love Me which is a complete disaster but it certainly could be better done and explained. I was left scratching my head over Zhi You’s father’s action regarding his illness as well as Yu Wen’s sudden change of mind in the last episode. It feels as if there are gaps that should be filled to make the whole story more complete.

My Verdict

I would recommend a watch for Mr. Honesty with a 7/10 rating. It is an enjoyable romance drama with a few caveats. Firstly, it has typical story lines that appear again and again in romance dramas. For instance, you have an unrequited love that turns to jealousy for the second female lead which also happens in Girlfriend and You Are My Destiny. It is an overused romance drama plot.

Secondly, it is either you can or cannot accept the female character’s lying habit. They are white lies but can be annoying. If you find them repulsive, then Mr. Honesty will not be your cup of tea. Lastly, as mentioned above, there are plot holes here and there. It is also weird that Li Zhe has to love the girl he saved that he kept hoping that it is Yi Ren.

Well, no drama is perfect. For me, watching Mr. Honesty is frustrating at times with the above weaknesses. But the sweetness and the mature way they handle their relationship make up for it which makes it enjoyable overall. It is a bit like Love 020 but just not as smooth-sailing. It is not a rom-com like Intense Love or melodramatic like Here To Heart. Mr. Honesty is just a light and breezy watch with a small amount of angst and a sweet couple. Watch it for the romantic scenes and couple’s interactions. If you can ignore the cliches and character flaws, then Mr. Honesty would be an enjoyable drama.

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