Checking in with the Growing Awesome that is Office Girls
Sundays in Taiwan is now owned by Office Girls, which hit 4.6 in ratings this past weekend and I wouldn’t be surprised if it breaks 5 this Sunday. It’s that good. While In Time With You is the superior drama in every aspect, OG is the drama that simultaneously pushes every one of my happy and squee buttons. It’s funny without being inane, the office antics are interesting without being repetitive, and a few side characters are nailing their roles with such relish I can’t help but laugh at them (Stallone, imma talking to you, you insecure and strangely decent boss).
Above all else, the chemistry between leads Alice Ke and Roy Qiu is just out of this world. They are soooooo cute together, by not making any effort to be cute. They have such dry yet pitch perfect line deliveries that it’s a pleasure watching them banter. Plus their emotional connection is growing so realistically fast that I’m not waiting around for the shippy moments to come, because it’s coming fast and furious.
This drama keeps getting better and better with each episode that it caught me by surprise when I got all caught up on it this week. And since I haven’t been staking claims as often, just wanted to remind everyone that Roy Qiu = MINE. I watched all of Woody Sambo and Easy Fortune, Happy Life for him, so I clearly earned him. This is his best role and best performance to date. I’m not one to ship him onscreen with Tang Yen or his ex-girlfriend Chen Qiao En, each of whom he did two dramas with apiece. But I’m rabidly on the Xing Ren-Zi Qi bandwagon. All of Taiwan is adoring this drama, so jump onboard if you want to smile and giggle. Below I’ve embedded my favorite scene between the OTP so far in this drama, with my subs for the road.
First let me put this scene into context. In episode 1, Xing Ren first meets Zi Qi at the department store when she is wearing a dinosaur outfit and passing out balloons. Zi Qi is an ass and trying to pick up Kai Er (Tia Li‘s character) and starts bickering with Xing Ren because she’s in his way. During their back-and-forth, he says that if he becomes the owner of the department store he would fire her for her bad attitude. She huffs that he can’t possibly be the owner, she’s more likely to be his boss. He retorts that if ever she became his boss one day, he will put on that dinosaur outfit and dance for her.
A few scenes later, Zi Qi gets the lowdown from dad that he won’t be taking over the department store, but will instead be working as the lowest rung employee in the company and he has to earn his way up to the corner office. Zi Qi ends up in the services department where he becomes Xing Ren’s subordinate. She asks him to make good on his promise but he keeps delaying it with one excuse after another. Until now. Below is a scene where Xing Ren just quit her job, after accidentally breaking a case of extremely expensive wine bought at an auction. As she is leaving the department store, she runs into a dinosaur waiting for her…..
Dinosaur Dance and “I promise you….”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwJFFTsMe_Q
ZQ: You cheapskate. This is what I owe you, so I’m paying off what I owe now.
*Zi Qi does his dinosaur dance as Xing Ren watches and starts sniffling. He finishes and grabs a balloon with the words “Keeping Going!” on it and hands it to Xing Ren*
ZQ: How was my dancing?
XR: There is room for improvement.
ZQ: Shen Xing Ren, these days I’ve spent with you, I’ve discovered a few things.
XR: What things?
ZQ: Even though the food you cook doesn’t taste good, even though you are sometimes quite petty, even though you oftentimes are unreasonable, but up and down this entire company, only you have the qualification to be my boss. Can you please not leave? I promise you that I won’t be late for work anymore. I promise you that I will do whatever you say. I promise you that I will eat broccoli from now on. I promise you that I will wash my own clothes. I promise you that I will go learn to ride a motorcycle and take you to work from now on!
*Xing Ren hugs Zi Qi, and his dinosaur paw slowly returns the hug*
XR: Qin Zi Qi, thank you….. But I’ve already decided, and my resignation letter has been submitted. I have to go.
So there you have it! I can watch these two all day long. Don’t worry about Xing Ren quitting her job, because all that means is Zi Qi makes any excuse to follow her back to her mom’s place in the countryside and promptly becomes the apple of her mom’s eye. Watching them fall in love is like a breath of fresh air, so refreshing and satisfying.
It’s such a thrill to see Roy finally get the recognition he deserves in Taiwan as a leading man, which is really a cherry on top seeing Joseph Chang also hit ratings gold with Drunken to Love You, which was the drama that aired before OG. And Alice is such a wonderful actress with a natural screen presence, a great intuitive sense of line delivery, and physical acting that is never excessive. OG has turned out to be the black horse of the idol dramas, and one that deserves it’s popularity.
. And since I haven’t been staking claims as often, just wanted to remind everyone that Roy Qiu = MINE
whoa miss Koala does that mean kyoya is on the market for others?
ah i-m just kidding i know u lub him lol
HAHAHA good idea R.
Let’s steal them while koala’s distracted.
Not distracted in the slightest. Have my eye on my guys at all times.
I am so liking this drama as well and the leading pair. This Alice Ke for me is the finer version of the leading lady in Love Queen who can be overacting at times. This Alice is just fine. I am waiting for her to be dressed up in the drama so she can compete with the Closet Office Biatch.
The leading man ROY is also suave in his acting delivery! Think we have the same taste in this Ms. Koala. My much awaited drama after IN TIME WITH YOU which touches the heart.
No!! i placed dibs on him first!!! I’ve been going mad over him in “Love Awakens” although they’ve played him to be the perennial annoying indecisive noble idiot!
of course Jones Xu rocks my socks too :p
Oh I thought I was the only one following Ai Qing Shui Xing Le.
You are talking about that “one” right? The cdrama remake of the ever popular Wang Zi Bian Qing Wa.
Yup I’m officially smitten by Roy. Funny how I didn’t even recognize his name before.
OMG so glad you love this drama too. Sunday has officially become my favorite day of the week because of OG! Did the last episode make your heart flutter when he told her to lean on his shoulder? I literally burst into laughter after he broke that sweet moment with “$50 for each time” lol. I absolutely love their chemistry and like you said, it’s so effortless. They don’t need the corny and cliche “oops i fell on you, *hug* intense stare” type of scenes to show you sparks (Although I wouldn’t mind some. hehe)
By the way, ever since I found your website a few weeks ago I can’t help but check it at least 5X a day. Love your site! Glad you recap and talk about Chinese and Taiwanese dramas as well as Korean ones. Keep it up!
Roy is so good looking
But has anyone else noticed that his eyeliner is thicker than alice’s?
I adore this drama so much! It just kills me that there is only one a week – I’ve become way too spoiled, lol.
Dear Ms Koala you are the one who got me hooked and I’m even subbing for it now.Which led me to Waking Love Up and The Girl in Blue.
See what you started?He’s good and so is Xing Ren who is so sweet.Ep 6 was sweet and I can’t wait for the jealousy this Sun
hi! could please tell me what website you use to watch this drama? tks
it’s available at http://www.viki.com
Zi Qi is such a fluffy marshmallow of sweetness. I can’t say that I love this drama, the first episode about the wine nearly made me quit, but I’m so glad I kept going. It’s been a pleasure recapping the last few episodes. Xing Ren’s mother has the must infectious smile. I also love the scene you described. It’s so cute and not just because I love Zi Qi wearing a dinosaur suit, but because of the sweet words he says.
I love, love this show. Just a teeny weeny bit upset that you’re claiming Roy too. Sheesh. You have a closet full of hotties. The scene you chose to highlight was indeed one of the best. One of the funniest was in this last episode when she was wrapping his arm and poking him in the head. There he was, sipping his tea and smiling. I laughed hysterically. Great show, great acting – just wish it was on more than once a week…
Oh no you don’t! Roy is MINE. 是我的！
I’m loving this drama as well! ^___^. I love Roy Qiu- :O Koala Unnie oh no, what should I do? XD.I watched Easy Fortune Happy Life! Lol I liked the drama xD I love Blue and Jo.
Ah Office Girls is really entertaining. Episode 6 was the best so far. I love how childish he is towards her mom. It’s just so adorable how her mom favors him. I admit though I was a bit bored in the beginning, like the first 3 episodes. But I continued to watch it because it really seems promising. To be honest though, I think Roy can act with a piece of wood and still have chemistry with it x) he just has that undeniable aura that captures everything under his spell.
I marathon all 6 episodes and loving it… the drama seems so realistic… I have never seen Alice Ke before and she is great.. very natural… and Roy… love him in Easy Fortune.. in fact he was the reason why i watched that drama all the way through…. I am happy that he is the lead and he is doing an amazing job… love their chemistry… watched the preview for ep 7 and i can’t wait…
Roy looks like Orlando Bloom or maybe just me seeing it! lol! but boy! he is so good looking! but don’t worry koala his all yours ! lol!
^O^ no I agree! That’s what I first thought when I saw him in EFHL ^___^.
I have to say I love Roy hair style here! OMG…his hairstyle in the other ones push me away from him alot though I love him! HAHAHA…but here he’s HOT! So it makes u drawn into the drama even more!
totally agree with you ms. koala, exactly the reasons why i love this show so much. and i love the song that’s playing when they are hugging each other.
He’s CUTE !!!!!!!
I love this drama, I can not wait for Sunday to see “Office Girls” and “in time with you” <3
Ms Koala – so happy you are loving it too.
This is a series that isn’t so much addicting for me (I don’t pine over it during the week and wonder what’s going to happen next). But come Sunday night, I’m eager as a beaver to watch each new episode. I have loved all the episodes so far – I just love their interactions btw the characters. Ok- I can do without the “semi-evil” 2nd lady lead and her boss man. Kinda curious how James’ character is going to shake things up now that he’s back.. and judging by the preview, he is. The line that I remember the most in ep 6 is when STL asks how ZQ became so tight with XR’s mom, ZQ gives the cutest smile and says, “guess”. LOL It’s totally random line out of the whole episode but it just stuck with me the way Roy said that and then walked away. Super cute.
I am totally enjoying the OTP as well. Alice doesn’t really punch any one of my major buttons or wow’d me yet, but she’s really natural in her acting so I like that. I think they have very natural chemistry – people that I could actual imagine working with
Haha, I loved that “guess” line too. Roy is amazingly adorable in this. I also loved his smile after he was drinking the soup that Mama Shen gave him. C:
Yay, glad you’re enjoying this one too. It’s definitely been my twdrama highlight of the week. And even though I ship Roy with Tang Yan both onscreen and off, I’m still digging the Xingren/Ziqi relationship. Although I’ll probably still find it awkward when they inevitably kiss, lol.
After watching this, and Roy’s cdramas this year, I am definitely going back to watching his older twdramas. He deserves it; he is *that* good of an actor.
roy qiu is my 1st taiwanese actor crush! love him in this drama. now i have to hunt down his other dramas!
Roy is such a delight to watch.. Wasn’t he adorable when he was with that puppy in ep 4 (I think)? Their lines are just awesome. I like the female lead as well, no overeaction/ exaggeration, in other words, not naive or annoyingly loudmouthed! This is my favorite scene and th other was the bathroom scene (one if the funniest I’ve ever seen)!!
I love how Xing Ren’s mum complimented Zi Qi on his “eye smile”. It’s really one of the things that makes Roy Qiu so much more attractive than he already is.
I’m convinced Xing Ren’s mom is there as a stand in for all the female viewers of this drama. Since all she does is swoon over ZQ, her future son-in-law, the way we all are. She says what we all want to say – he’s just perfect. Swooooooon.
Yeah, I’m loving the cuteness that is Office Girls. Who knew that eating broccoli could be so darn romantic?
Yup. OG is my new addiction. It’s just too bad that we only have 1 episode per week. For now, I still have AQSXL for me to get my daily dose of the awesomeness that is Roy but this is going to end by weekend. Must find another drama soon.
BTW, do you know how many episodes OG is going to be?
You hit upon every reason why I love this drama so much! I love Roy Qiu and recognize that he is all yours! I couldn’t get through more than a handful of episodes of Woody Sambo and Easy Fortune Happy Life. The chemistry between Xing Ren and Zi Qi is so amazing. I love it when they give each other that deadpan-stare-esque look, sometimes preceded by a sharp intake of breath. Thank you so much for posting that scene. It’s my favorite scene so far in the series. I had watched it several times right after it aired and having the clip here is just so convenient to watch it many more times.
I don’t think I will ever encounter a drama that makes me swoon when the male lead talks about broccoli. When he said he promised he will eat broccoli, I was like =**) And then when he ate that broccoli at Xing Ren’s house– swoon!!!!
hello all~ not sure if i’m allowed to ask here but can anyone point me to dl this drama?
http://sugoikr.com/drama-2011/office-girls/
You can also get it off various video sites (YouTube, Tudou, etc.) if you have their downloaders or know how to download videos off them.
AGREE TTM. this is one taiwanese drama that does not have me rolling my eyes at every drama cliche or exaggerated acting. actually, it hasn’t had me rolling my eyes at all!! heheheehe.
Does anyone knows where to download this? =/
hi do u know where i can download the raws? torrents? pm me please….thanks…