Jerry Yan and Tong Li Ya Embark on a Deliciously Tortured Love for C-drama Loving, Never Forgetting

There is a genre of Chinese dramas called nie lian (孽恋) which basically translates as tortured love or tormented love. It’s probably a genre that closest aligns with the makjang K-melodrama. Tortured love C-dramas are all about the dysfunctional love of the OTP that involves lots of screaming, pulling, pushing, accusing, yelling, angry kissing, basically everything bad you shouldn’t do to the person you like is done all in the name of a love that hurts so good. Some extreme tortured love dramas even throw in the dreaded R word, i.e. rape, and the one that always pops into mind first is the sick drama that so many fans secretly love Sealed with a Kiss. The upcoming C-drama Loving, Never Forgetting (恋恋不忘 Lian Lian Bu Wang which means Love Love Not Forgetting) stars the elusive TW-actor Jerry Yan with the stunningly gorgeous C-actress Tong Li Ya. This isn’t Jerry’s first C-drama as his last drama was the 2011 C-drama My Splendid Life, the remake of the K-drama Shining Inheritance/Brilliant Legacy. That drama was poorly conceived and nowhere near as fun and watchable as the original.

This one actually looks ridiculously addicting in that “bad for you” sort of way. It’s tortured love with unending amounts of angry romance but no raping so I’m willing to give it a shot. Jerry plays a rich heir and company president who discovers one day that a one-night stand with an ordinary girl played by Tong Li Ya that he forgot about five years ago has produced an illegitimate son. It spawns an angry custody battle that pits the rich cold-hearted man against the poor plucky heroine who just wanted to raise her son quietly but is now dragged into his complicated world. Thrown in the mix is second male lead Denny Huang playing a family law lawyer who takes on Tong Li Ya’s custody case solely to spite his rival in Jerry but then falls for her for real. The two men turn out to be secret half-brothers who hate each other because both blame each other’s mother for stealing their mutual father’s affection. When watching the preview, I got a kick out of Jerry looking hot in suits and playing a rich dickhead type of character that totally screams Dao Ming Si if he hadn’t met Shan Cai and gotten normalized early. This one snuck up on me and premieres this Monday on Zhejiang TV.

Short preview for Loving, Never Forgetting:

Long preview for Loving, Never Forgetting:


Comments

Jerry Yan and Tong Li Ya Embark on a Deliciously Tortured Love for C-drama Loving, Never Forgetting — 57 Comments

  1. from capt. k summary above , it looks like a worthy watch!
    jerry yan is my Asian actor first crush too outside of our local entertainment. looking forward to this drama. i love turtured love romance. heheheh

    • Wow, Jerry Yan finally has a new hairstyle!! Standing ovation. Still, I somehow feel that he has too much hair on his head… :O

  2. LOL, Mz Koala I’m definitely one of the fans who secretly enjoyed and love SWAK (Sealed it with a kiss) I think it had a lot to do with the fact that Hawick Lau was gorgeous and I would even say ‘hot’ in that drama. I’ve never noticed him until then.

    This one looks interesting so I’m going to give it a go 🙂 Thank you for the recommendation. You have good taste!

      • I started watching SWAK after reading your comment about tortured love. It was intense. The actor was riveting!

      • Oh I hear you Mz Koala! I mean I would never condone such a relationship in real life but my eyes were glued to this drama. During that time I checked everyday to see if the volunteers had finished subbing it in english. I think there were only two dramas that I followed religiously and I would even say I was a ‘fan’. SWAK & Bu Bu Jing Xin. I have my own views our revenge drama & tortured heroes. In my opinion, it’s a little easier to swallow if the main actor is very good-looking. Yes I’m afraid I’m rather superficial, Mz Koala. Eye candy first, morals and ethics later… 🙂

      • SWAK was never on my radar because I wasn’t attracted to the plot or the actress (nevre watched her in other shows before). Although there was Harwick, who I really like, my tv time was filled up by other gorgeous faces paired with more captivating plots.

        But now, with an ongoing drama drought, Ms Koala, your post got me to actually start watching it! Totally agree with what you mean. It’s urber dysfunctional, but I couldn’t stop watching. And like many above, it helps that the sick psychotic lead is handsome and has a sad backstory to tell. It helps that Harwick’s acting was quite nuanced. In spite of the violent behaviour and quick change in temper, small actions and the tones of speech revealed layers to the character.

        But this is one drama I won’t recommend my friends to watch, if only out of fear that I’ll be judged for liking such a horrible story.

        T.T Why wasn’t it a happily ever after ending? They deserve happiness. I’ll take it even in the form of Tong Xue getting back together with Xiao Shan, but no, they denied us of any trace of happiness.

  3. Jerry with a kid won me over in Down with Love. I would like to see this one.

    I not-so-secretly loved Secret and folks said it reminded them of the Thai Lakehorn drama without the r word.

    Here is my selfish question: is some kind soul subbing it?

    • Totally forgot DWL and Jerry being a substitute daddy. Here he is a realz daddy for a change. I hope someone subs it for you guys!

  4. Ohhhh! I’m always on the look out for new potentially interesting c-dramas and I had no idea about this one. Thanks for always giving us heads up regarding upcoming c-dramas that seem worthy to check out, I’m definitely gonna give this a try! 😀

  5. Oh my goodness! What happened to Lu Xing?! He used to be so hot in My Bratty Princess. I thought that he would’ve had bigger roles by now.

  6. I’m liking it!!! It’s funny how the long preview is basically the summary of the show. Even the family picture showed that this drama is a happy ending.

    • Jerry’s always had a big head while Tong Yi Ya is tiiiiiny with what the Chinese enviably call a very small face (i.e. head) which is why there is such a visual mismatch in the first pic.

  7. I believe, this drama is based on a c-novel. I read this novel before. I like their kid in the c-novel – a very intelligent kid who later in the novel tried to match-make his parents.

    However, the story is a bit angsty as it depicts the love-hate relationship of the leads.

  8. this drama sounds a lot like the vanness wu autumn’s concerto drama. I read jerry yan passed on autumn’s concerto and it eventually went to vanness wu and he got a lot of positive reviews for it one of those reviews came from vic zhou. i’m thinking this is jerry yan’s second chance to do a drama slightly different version of autumn’s concerto.

  9. Thank you. I have a soft spot for Jerry Yan and this type of drama is my guilty pleasure.

    I find the second lead’s dancing eyebrows distracting though.

  10. At first I was like Can this drama be even crazier I’ll never watch this. But then I kind of realized it’s the adaptation film of a novel I used to read.

  11. Yay Jerry is back! All throughout the long preview I only understood the word “mama” but seems good though. I could only hope there is someone out there with a good soul who could sub it in english. =/

  12. I really hope some kind soul(s) sub this in English! And posts the link here through Koala’s page! I’m so curious, I’ll even watch this unsubbed ! 🙂

  13. I just started watching this yesterday afternoon and I’m already on episode 6. So addicting!! This is definitely much like Sealed with A Kiss but so much more complicated with the love triangles/rectangles. Once I started watching it I knew that Ms. Koala would have something about this! Thanks for the fantastic overview! I cannot wait to continue watching to see the plot unfoil! Love Jerry Yan even more now (grown-up Dao Ming Si)

  14. assisti o drama com Jerry Yan mesmo sem intender o idioma, adorei ele abandonou a imagem de garotão para passar a imagens de um arrogante rico CEO, com direito a luta para conquistar o amor….so gostaria que que fosse legendado PT……..

  15. this drama is really good..2 thumbs up..and so addicting..even bought an LEd tv just to keep on watching it in my room..dont want to miss it..recommendable for those drama addict 🙂

  16. Congratulations Jerry Yan! You did a great job. Wishing you all the best in your career and find a true love partner in happiness forever. Loving the way you are from the very start of your stardom. Stay humble and handsome.

  17. I love this drama, I don’t like meteor garden he looks weird… I love her new haircut too and her partner Wu tong and the baby boy jon2x…

  18. Jerry Yan YOu are absolutely, amazing one and ONLY actor I really adore…you made me believe of a happy ending..I hope the story applies to reality…I love you Jerry Yan! Liya did a great job too! Great Tandem!!!

  19. I really love this movie so much, it’s amazing and great with the love team,They act awesomely I’m looking forward for them to have a another movie again.A family movie and they did it well,I’m your Filipina fan in Philippines.Good luck and GOD bless both ofyou.

  20. a very nice drama. i love to watch it. I love Jerry Yan and Tong Li Ya love team. Jerry Yan is a very good actor.I hope they will have a movie together…good luck and God bless!

  21. i really love this drama series of jerry yan and tong liya just like what everyone have said..it’s so addicting..i can’t do my household chores just to finish the episodes i’ve already started specially if the scenes are very touching i can’t resist on leaving the episode..i hope that zsjtv who made this can come up a season 2 which will show the wedding of wu tong and li zhoungmo..tnx very much for this and i’mhoping that our request would be granted co’z here in the phil.we love jerry yan and tong liya as well..

  22. hi there,
    i was wondering whether there are any other c dramas that are the 孽恋/ tortured love genre. This drama was an interesting watch, so i am looking for other dramas with a similar tortured love genre in it. I’ve also watched sealed with a kiss and that was also good.

  23. Because Jerry Yan was known to be an elusive actor, I really love all the movies and TV series he performed as the leading man. If the story of the movie/TV series offered to him as the main character doesn’t sound good, he’ll turn down the offer. That is the reason why he was the highest paid actor in taiwan before. And despite of his outstanding performance as an actor and singer, he seldom appear on television series and on big screen. So, if you happen to see Jerry as the main cast in any tv series or movies, watch it. It’s worthy of your time. ??

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