“Hi Venus” is a Chinese contemporary romantic comedy lead by Joseph Zeng and Liang Jie.
It follows Ye Shi Lan, a paediatrician sent by her hospital to work at a village clinic. There, she meets Lu Zhao Xi, the newly appointed director at her hospital, who she mistakes for a fraudster, starting their relationship off on the wrong foot. Once back to the city, Ye Shi Lan discovers her mistake when she is appointed as his temporary assistant. Moving past the misunderstanding and working closely together, the two start to fall for each other.
This drama features a cute healthy relationship, with a very considerate and romantic male lead and no dramatic twists. It was a simple romance with no angst. However, it was 24 episodes… 24 episodes of basically nothing happening.
I was interested after the first couple of episodes, wondering how the leads would become a couple. But once the misunderstandings were worked out, I was just bored. That’s why I rated it a 6.5/10.
There was so little plot that I find it difficult to even come up with a review about the drama, so I will just briefly give my opinion. (spoilers)
My Thoughts
The relationship
On the contrary to what it would seem from the first episode (where the female lead accuses the male lead of being a fraudster, and acts very harshly towards him), by the end of episode 2, the two are already friendly with each other.
Over the course of the next few episodes, when Ye Shi Lan starts her work as Lu Zhao Xi assistant, there is some friction as they find balance in their new roles, but they soon enter a supportive friendship where they don’t hide anything from each other. Shortly after, they start developing feelings, and at around the halfway point of the drama they are a couple, full of respect and admiration for their partner.
It was a straightforward and healthy romance, which I would have enjoyed if the plot had been more developed. The supporting characters also did not interfere or tried to keep them apart: Lu Zhao Xi’s ex-girlfriend helped them get together and his rich parents were very open-minded and just wanted the best for their son – something which is rarely seen in Chinese dramas (and that I appreciated).
The boredom
Now, if I enjoyed the romance, why did I rate “Hi Venus” so low? The flimsy barely existent plot.
On the leads side, they became a couple very smoothly and with no conflict. Their time on screen was just them getting along and going about their lives. Once they confessed their feelings, the romantic tension (the curiosity about how they will get together) was gone, and the last 1/3 of the series became even more of a slog than it already was.
There was a hint of a plotline, which initially gave me hope: one of the managers at the hospital trying to scheme against Lu Zhao Xi (super cliché trope seen in almost all kinds of office dramas). However, it took up so little screentime and had so little consequences on the leads, that it might as well not have been there.
And I understand: this is a series more focused on the characters and their relations, instead of the plot – I even like a lot of character-focused dramas. But here the personalities were lacking: the leads were boring, there wasn’t a lot of depth to them – so a show based on character exploration was failed from the start with such bland leads.
Also, random thought about someone that knows nothing about hospitals: is it normal for a paediatrician to start working as the director’s assistant because her manager isn’t giving her shifts? To me, it seemed ridiculous – and it was the whole set-up for the story.
To conclude, if you are a big fan of the actors or just want to enjoy a healthy romance with no angst, you probably will enjoy this. Whereas I, being neutral about the actors and preferring a more exiting plot, thought this was just a slog to get though.
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