Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

The more I watched "Loving Never Forgetting", it felt like your traditional Qiong Yao drama with Jerry Yan as Qin Han 2.0.  Aside from my previous wish that Esther Liu were Wu Tong (she's a Liu Xue Hua 2.0), I think the story should have been in the 40s Shanghai.  So why did I think of setting the series in the 1940s? You have to consider that Wu Tong's character is something you can't find in today's China where women already know their rights, were all girls are allowed and women have a choice.  Wu Tong feels like your typical Qiong Yao protagonist - she suffers for some time for the sake of love.  She is always crying and overly martyr type.  Her typical scenario of being the overly martyr type would be more typical in 1940s China than in the contemporary setting it was in. That means, remove all the cellphones or any technology that didn't exist in the 1940s.  Maybe let Li Zhongmou live in the Lu Mansion in Romance in the Rain and let Wu Tong liv...

While watching "Loving Never Forgetting" I really had problems with Wu Tong's actress Tong Liya.  While Jerry Yan certainly can carry Qin Han's charm to the point my aunt calls him "Qin Han Jr.", Tong Liya just doesn't have the similar charm of Qin Han's leading ladies.  Knowing Barbie Xu may have retired from acting (she and Jerry Yan met each other again like Qin Han was reunited with Brigitte Lin)... now here's my possible picks. Esther Liu would have made a much stronger Wu Tong.  Why is that?  Even in Westside Story when she was underaged, she can freaking act!  Whether you need a comedic or dramatic scene, she can do it.  Aside from the Liu, she might be the best replacement for Liu Xuehua in playing leading lady roles.  I guess she can act every Qiong Yao character assigned to her.  Their age gap is 11 years (Qin Han and Liu Xue Hua were 13 years apart), it can work in a chemistry. The other possible leading lady is Liu Yifei which ...

Yes... be ready to cry buckets of tears! I've watched "Loving Never Forgetting" now it's time to give my thoughts on the matter.  The drama feels like a modernized Qiong Yao drama... Jerry Yan being a more modern version of senior actor Qin Han.  So what are my thoughts?  At first, it seems to be just an Autumn Concerto remake but this time, I always have the feeling I want to tear my heart out.  Autumn Concerto felt like a Qiong Yao drama but this one wanted to make me tear my heart out.  It almost feels typical to Qiong Yao's dramas... family conflict, love polygons and buckets of tears. So let's get it straight... like Autumn Concerto you have a rich man who impregnates an ordinary girl.  Autumn Concerto already had me crying buckets of tears for most of its run but it had a happy ending.  This drama has buckets of tears but reminds me of conflict within family.  I even feel like elements of Romance in the Rain were into it.  Two diff...