Friday, February 19, 2016

Review: In Time With You (2011)


Introduction:

On her 30th birthday, Chen You Qing received a video greeting from Li Da Ren, a good friend who managed to stick with her through the years. The message depicted "the symptoms of premature aging" to which You Ching considered as a bitter reality to her womanhood - a single, career driven independent woman but at the same time, longing for a man's love. Little to her imagination, Li Da Ren is sneaky in showing his true feelings for her that developed ever since they were high school students. But how was he able to hide his 14 years of affection towards You Qing? It was that one moment wherein You Qing asked if he likes her and to his defense, he blurted a mistake that is "I will not fall in love with you" in which convinced You Qing to believe that there is no hidden meaning to their companionship.

It is a story of love, friendship and finding yourself in between the roles that you serve in the life of one another. Both are hopeful to preserve the memories they spent together as good friends. Will they able to look for the person to spend the rest of their life with before they grasp their essence to each other's life?


Comments:

I am absolutely and passionately in love with how this drama was portrayed. Even though the premise is heading for You Qing and Da Ren, the supporting actors played by their family and friends was also involved in making the transition happen. Because of this, it has become one of my top 3 Taiwanese Dramas so far joining “Meteor Garden” and “In A Good Way” on that level. I even ask myself why it took me a long time to watch it, since it has been released for almost 5 years now. But I guess, it’s the proper timing for me to watch so I could relate to it more being a more matured person now. But I think I've always been this engrossed to adult related matter so if ever I've seen this when I was younger, I would still appreciate its worth. This drama is also an award winning series in the 2012 Golden Bell Awards that gave Ariel Lin her second Best Actress Award and Bolin Chen his first. Meanwhile, the drama was announced for the Best in that category as well. So I think that I am very glad that I stumbled upon it last December because it was worth my time and energy. It was also adapted as a Korean drama led by Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook which I was really excited about their pairing but unfortunately, I barely get through the first 10 minutes. So I just decided that perhaps I can check out the original one so I won’t let the spoilers from the Korean version to ruin it.


After this drama, I can't quite pursue to watch another one because I cannot get over the fact that it started and ended so beautifully. I was never a big fan of Ariel Lin but this drama proved me how versatile of an actress she is. We all know about ISWAK's huge success for her, where I find the character annoying and overacting. But in this drama, I totally did not expect that she'll deliver irresistibly, deserving of the best trophy of acting award. She was very confident and at ease with You Ching, as Bolin Chen to Li Da Ren. I couldn't believe these two didn't end up in real life because the chemistry was oozing and natural. They would make a great couple and a power couple in the industry if my wish was ever granted. However, Ariel Lin is now happily married while Bolin is a still bachelor.

I couldn't really pinpoint a favorite scene because I think I enjoyed the process of watching it as a whole production. It only has 13 episodes but the duration is an hour and a half for each so it is an equivalent to 20 episodes for a Korean drama. If you want to get into a Taiwanese drama, this is the drama that I can recommend because it caters to all ages and you can only catch those moments from this series. It is a profound offering to what love, friendship and relationships are supposed to be tackled. It can also be considered as a coming of age series since there is growth in the characters from the time that they met for the first time. Though you might get annoyed by both of them because they always try to love somebody else, you need to realize that there is more to what is being in the moment, which is the timing to make things right. That’s how the title makes sense, and it will make you comfortable in settling with fate when the story is as good as it gets. Ultimately, it will make you believe in prince charming and wanting to find one from your friends.



The OST was also very compelling in which Ariel sang "Wings" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7VHPhR8RIk) which is a heartfelt song about a person who will brave everything to be with her. I think that the song is the point of view of You Qing towards Li Da Ren who has served to be a good company to her no matter what she’s going through or what she wants to go through in life. On the other hand, Bolin Chen sang “I won’t Love You” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTa1Z8Dk4P0). It’s an emotional love song about Li Da Ren who won’t love her by trying to void himself of the strong feelings for her and by fooling himself around. Basically, he won’t fall in love because of certain traits that describes You Qing. However, deep inside, he’s really into her. The OSTs are good for reminscing and you will find yourself listening to them after you finished the episodes. You should also check out the others that were released because they all bring sense to the story. Basically, everything was instrumental in making a good foundation for this drama to work progressively which led to recognition for the artists as well.

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