Fated To Love You

Finally, after more than 2 months of waiting, I finally finish Fated To Love You (24 episodes) since I joined the hype when it aired the 12th episode in Taiwan and since then it’s pure torture to wait for ONE episode per week…

Fated To Love You Synopsis: (from Dramawiki)
A really unfashionable working class girl Chen Xin Yi has the desire to tie down her handsome boyfriend to be with her. Due to certain reasons, her boyfriend gets her to go on a love cruise and she started to ponder on how to lose her virginity and tie down her boyfriend. Xin Yi ended up taking cold medicine which made her drowsy and went into Ji Cun Xi's room. Cun Xi is the sole male heir to his family's company and has been in love with his girlfriend, Anna, for a long time. He planned to propose to Anna on the boat but she didn't turn up on the cruise. An island owner added drugs into Cun Xi's drink and Cun Xi became disorientated and returned to his own room. Xin Yi and Cun Xi end up having a one night stand. Xin Yi later finds out that she's pregnant and Cun Xi's grandmother forces them to get married. Will a couple forced to marry for the sake of their unborn child find love with each other?

Cast:
Chen Qiao En as Chen Xin Yi
Ethan Ruan as Ji Cun Xi
Baron Chen as Dylan
Bianca Bai as Anna
Tan Ai Zhen as Ji Wang Zhen Zhu
Na Wei Xun as Anson

My comments:
Hoho…I was very curious about the hype surrounding Fated To Love You because it broke all rating records in Taiwan and it’s now the highest rated series, dethroning its previous record holder Prince Turns Into Frog, starring the same main actress. I even read the novel version before watching the drama and when I started the drama, the impatient me read the comic version to ensure that it’s a happy ending. I really like the novel, it’s short and sweet and the drama followed faithfully the book until the miscarriage part.

I absolutely loved the first 14 episodes but the last 10 episodes gave me a headache most of time. It dragged a lot at the end and the story just turns around in circle. Fated To Love You is still a Cinderella story but it’s more mature than most of Taiwan’s idol dramas. It’s a shame that it started so powerful and mature but ended so childish, lame and corny. I agree that since Cun Xi treated Xin Yi like dirt at first; therefore, he should suffer a little and must have a hard time winning her back but the way it played out is just tiring. The drama could have ended in 18 or 20 episodes since a lot of scenes could be omitted and it wouldn’t hurt the drama (eg. such as Steven Chou’s second mistaken abduction, Cun Xi pretending to be blind, etc…~roll eyes) However, I was all teary when Cun Xi and Xin Yi finally had a proper wedding at the end.

The biggest discussion of the drama is who should Xin Yi end up with: Cun Xi or Dylan? I’m a supporter of Cun Xi right from the beginning although I do think he’s a jerk sometimes. When he’s a jerk, he’s really a jerk; when he’s sweet, he’s really sweet. When he’s with Xin Yi, you see the chemistry and sparks whereas Dylan and Xin Yi seem more like siblings to me. So when Dylan and Xin Yi were temporarily together, it just didn’t seem right to me. Character wise, Xin Yi is a character that I can relate to, physically or behaviorally. I just cried with/for Xin Yi a lot of times whenever Cun Xi treated her badly. She’s sometimes too selfless that it can be annoying. Cun Xi is one flawed character. He’s wishy-washy, indecisive and acts sometime like a kid. I just want to knock his head for being so indecisive that he ended up hurting both Xin Yi and Anna. I don’t really agree with his way of handling things such as being engaged to Anna and “chasing” Xin Yi at the same time. Dylan is like the most perfect character; however, because he’s so perfect that I don’t have much feeling for him. I just find it funny the way he walks, like he’s going to throw a fight anytime. I believe Anna is not evil, she’s just selfish and manipulative. She’s not the sole responsible for the miscarriage incident because the parties involved had a certain responsibility to it. She won a bit of my sympathy at the end. All the side cast seem like they came from cartoons, their performances are so animated (or exaggerated) that can be tiresome and irritating. Maybe that’s not my type of humor.

I wondered if Fated To Love You would turn out to be my #1 Taiwanese drama…but I guess not. The top spot for me is still Mr. Fighting!

* Themesong of the drama