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:
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Oh wow Dao Ming Si looking all grown up...this I got to see. Jerry Jan will always be my firt crush hehe...
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
Wait, so he cut his hair short. Not really short but still... Looks interesting. Maybe I will watch it.
Wow, Jerry Yan finally has a new hairstyle!! Standing ovation. Still, I somehow feel that he has too much hair on his head... :O
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 couldn't stop watching SWAK either, it was baaaaaad but I couldn't stop if I wanted to.
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.
Lol I too watched SWAK after koala's comment hahhaahaa
looks good!
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!
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! :D
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.
They look so good together but these sorts of dramas always drive me crazy.
CRAZY crazy or crazy but can I have some more crazy? :-D
This is too like. wow. the plot is. wow.