![](http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae145/ockoala/TW%20Dramas/yhn15.jpg")
Leave it TW-dramas to allow the drama leading lady an official reason to grope her abtastic leading man’s bare chest in broad daylight. The look on Puff Guo‘s face as she’s stripping off Liu Yi Hao‘s shirt? That’s the natural expression from all ladies who appreciate a nicely rendered gorgeous male form, even Lene Lai is all like “can I touchy touchy, too?” The cast of the hit Friday night SETTV drama Pleasantly Surprised (Love Myself or You) gathered for a fanservice celebration after last week’s episode 4 broke 2 in ratings as the fantastic and easy-to-watch drama raked in the audience. It’s already gotten higher ratings that its Sunday night cousin Fall in Love with Me with Aaron Yan and Tia Li which is a rare feat indeed since the Sunday night time slot is the most coveted and always gets higher ratings since more people are watching TV that night in general.
I adore Pleasantly Surprised but have conceded that it’s not a drama that makes me want to write about it every week, hence my lack of impetus to recap it. What makes PS lovely is the synergy of everything working: leads Puff Guo and Liu Yi Hao have sweet chemistry and their characters are wonderfully constructed, the script is simple without being dumb, the directing feels effortless and pretty, and the eye candy cast has everyone doing their jobs without any bad acting stray weed sticking out. When I say eye candy cast, I really mean it and you’ll believe me when you check out the pictures below which includes one where all the male leads are shirtless and the amount of handsome faces and taut abs on display will curl your toes. The cast enjoyed a water fight outside of SETTV studios last week to celebrate the great ratings and give the fans some leggy ladies and buff guys to drool over. Thank you SETTV!
As the drama progresses I have to keep pinching myself over how lucky it was that two leads I like were cast in one of the best constructed OTP set ups in ages. Neither Puff nor Liu Yi Hao are enough to elevate the coupling if the characters of Kai Qi and Ah Jie (Louis) weren’t so wonderful, and similarly two great characters will fall flat in the hands of bad acting or lackluster chemistry. Here it’s the best of both worlds and such a treat to watch. They are each other’s equals in professional skill so that the opposite’s attract set up occurs on an even playing field without the usual rich/poor or successful/hapless dichotomy.
Kai Qi gradually warming up to Ah Jie is to be expected but she’s not the type to turn all warm and sappy just because she’s got a super sweet guy worming his way into her heart. Ah Jie is almost too perfect but that’s okay because he’s also down to earth and very relaxing to watch. Their pairing also comes with the usual first love trope but it’s more like first friends rather than some ridiculous childhood fixation leading to adult romance. It’s actually Kai Qi’s past history in college with second male lead Cheng Hao Wei that has all the hallmarks of a thwarted romance due to misunderstanding that could be rekindled.
What makes Pleasantly Surprised such a decent drama is the noticeable lack of extreme characters and situations. None of the leads have overwhelming personality quirks and each comes across as people with their own backgrounds and likes/dislikes that are understandable. Puff plays the cold serious Du Kai Qi perfectly, a girl who is so over forming new relationships because she sees feelings as fleeting and unreliable. She would rather rely on herself. Liu Yi Ha’s Ah Jie is a walking ball of sunshine that never comes off too cloying and his care for Kai Qi goes down sweet and smooth without too much hanging on the line. He sees an old friend and first love that is so closed off that he wants to reach out to her and show that he cares without any further ulterior motives.
Lene Lai’s Cheng Le Xuan is a capable and beautiful sous chef that bristles under the assumption that she’s a flower vase with no culinary skills. Her rivalry with Kai Qi is both bitchy and serious, both girls want to prove they are the best at what they do. It’s a competition not over a man but over a job and professional accomplishment. That’s so rare in drama land these days to have two female characters get the job-related plot line. Jolin’s second male lead currently hasn’t gotten a lot of air time but he’s immediately memorable, I loved his college flashbacks with Kai Qi and his return to her life will allow both of them to address what went wrong in the past.
In addition to dimpled sweetheart Liu Yi Hao leading the male harem in this drama, there is smoldering Jolin Jian as Puff’s college maybe ex-boyfriend, unexpectedly funny Sean Lee as the smarmy head chef, chiseled poker face Yorke Sun as the tough chef de aide with a super crush on Puff’s character, cute comic relief Stanley Mei as a fellow chef’s assistant, and Deyn Lee as the lunky waiter. Not to mention Lene Lai is playing the best second female lead I’ve ever seen from her as Puff’s rival sous chef, in a performance that isn’t bad at all considering how awful she was in King Flower. This drama is both a treat for the eyes and the heart much like the water fight is pure unapologetic eye candy.
Puff and Lene are totally like kids in a candy shop in the picture above, though they are also delivering the sexy girl fanservice with their short shorts to show off their leggy gams for the male fans out there. I love how they got the little child actor playing Xiao Yi to take his shirt off too LOL. I also love that his character is named Xiao Yi and that’s the same character name of Aaron’s character in Just You with Puff. Sly SETTV.
As an FYI, three of the male actors in PS are part of a foursome male idol group called 4ever. It includes Jolin (as Puff’s ex and Lene’s older brother), Yorke (as the white knight chef’s aide who likes Puff), and Deyn (playing the hunky waiter). The fourth member of 4ever isn’t in this drama but everyone who watched In Time with You will know him – he’s David Shu (nickname 拿铁 Latte) who memorably played baby-faced boy toy Nic who made a play for Ariel’s character in the beginning of the drama but ended up being a gay guy trying to climb the corporate ladder by hitting on noonas. Unlike the Lollipop or JPM groups foray into acting, I actually like all four of these good looking boys and think each can act so yay for PS showcasing talented new male entertainers.
WOW. Thank you. *drools*
I’m liking the drama…except for the 2nd female lead. She’s an interesting character but her voice drives me nuts.
I’m still waiting to see more of the 2nd male lead…so far he’s shown up in 1 episode. Come on ex college boyfriend/friend guy – make it into a real fight.
Thanks for this. Liu Yi Hao is a new discovery for me and I’m enjoying this so far, though Le Xuan looks like she could be moving into psycho territory soon.
I’ve been wondering what your thoughts are on Rock n’ Road. I see you’ve got it down as currently watching, but haven’t seen you mention it after it started airing. I found the first few episodes hard to watch because I found the female lead highly irritating. However, I’m really enjoying it now. i think it’s practically the only drama I look forward to these days. Is it just me or are all the dramas currently airing pretty poor and ungripping? It’s probably a good thing, so that I can watch the World Cup without distractions.
Hot guys in simple jeans and button down shirts with the sleeves rolled up (bonus that the shirts are white) is my favorite look ever. Nothing beats laid back and sexy!!! Puff and Lene are looking good as well and the little boy playing Xiao Yi is absolutely adorable. Love that he was right there with the big boys lol..I’m loving this drama and it’s just the thing to get me through my IAGW withdrawal
Abs aside (pfffft, as if!) this sounds like a fun, simple watch.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this show, koala! 😀
Puff is so prettyyyyyyy hahahaha
I’ve been wondering when u’ll post something on this wonderfully cute drama!! Yaaay! I’ve been following this series and I adore it to pieces exactly for the same reasons you pointed above 🙂 A-jie has the sweetest dimpled smile ever and I love how there’s none of the over the top villains that’s gets your eyes rolling. These are just normal people with their own personalities and insecurities trying to live life and achieve their dreams! I hope the drama continues on this way, and not screw up by making the second leads turn “evil” later on. I would hate to see that happen to lexuan’s character now that she’s starting to see a-jie in a different light. I really hope they continue to develop her character as a capable woman who is trying to make others recognize her talent and doesn’t turn her into psycho evil second lead bitch, cause that would b a total bummer! And yes, how come yihao went MIA after just one episode?! Bring him back and turn up the heat! ^___^
Once heechul finds out what XueFu has been doing in Taiwan, lol, he’ll probably be on the next plane to Taiwan to take back his wife (or probably just watch her get soaked with water from the sidelines haha) 😛 I wish they show these pictures to Heechul in WGM, or Puff’s kisses with Aaron- it will be a delight to see 😛 🙂
Hehe I know right? She’s so playful with Liu Yi Hao in the BTS too!
Oh hells yeah. I mean, yoga class has nothing on getting Hee Husband all hot and jealous over XueFu wifey pawing another man. XD Somebody email him these pictures! I don’t know why MBC isn’t hitting this gold mine, when Taec was with Gui Gui she didn’t have a currently airing drama to promote and still the show managed to show her making out with Aaron Yan in a drama just to annoy him. “WHO IS AARON YAN?!?” remains a classic!
Verrrrry easy to watch, this show. Perfect pick me up after a long week, with lovely food porn. BTS is super cute. I’ve only seen Puff in Inborn Pair, and she’s not bad here.
Thanks SETTV, though I don’t recall a show going this far- 7 bare chests for breaking 2? They have upped their game.
I’m super in love with this drama right now! I watched Aaron Yan’s drama, but the leading lady was so horrible at acting that I just could not continue. I’m really liking Puff Guo and Liu Yi Hao so much! Yi Hao’s smile is so bright and infectious!!!
There were moments where the second female lead was bitchy, but somehow I just can’t hate her because she’s still so serious about her job just like you said. I don’t know how this writer did it but I’m actually hating none of the characters EXCEPT for Xiao Yi’s dad and Kai Qi’s dad. SIGH. Also, I might be on my own with this one, but Lene Lai reminds me so much of Gui Gui!!!!!
Anyways, thanks for the post and all the wonderful pictures :D!!
I love Kai Qi! LOVE her. I actually am a bit annoyed with Ah Jie. He is very pushy and kind of self-righteous, thinking he always knows best, especially reguarding Kai Qi, how she feels and how she should actually be feeling. The idea that he’s here to change her for the better is really aggravating to me. I don’t think she needs to change that much. Yes she could do with learning to rely more on people and all that but there’s nothing wrong with prefering to be alone (loners unite!) or having a kind of pessimistic outlook. He is always forcing himself into her life. Like when he just entered her appartment and started drying the kid’s hair without asking. Or when the kid wanted to go to the beach he just said “let’s go!” and took the kid without even talking with her dispite the fact that she’d just said no. That’s not ok, learn your boundaries dude.
I guess what annoys me the most is when I read comments telling Kai Qi to lighten up and how Ah Jie is so perfect and nice to her so why can’t she see it??
FILWM is such a terrible drama *chokes*
I’m still watching it because I’m a masochist but then Pleasantly Surprised swoops right in every Friday as the sweetest antidote everrr.
I like Jolin’s character a lot so far, even if we haven’t seen much of him yet. Speaking of 4ever, David had a small role in Just You so he’s worked with Puff before ^^ All four hunks have worked with her now, ahaha. Lucky girl. (Or lucky guys?)
This is probably THE summer drama of the year for me – cute, sweet and fluffy without stupid characters or unreasonable plots. I’m enjoying it a lot and it’s great to hear that it’s well received in TW.
I love this show.
Love Puff.
Love the very pretty cast, especially Dimples.
(This is the third time I have tried to comment on this post. I hope this one sticks.!)
I love my Jasper Liu Yi Hao, I love his dimples, I love his abs, I love his smile, I love him, I love the pairing, I love this show. Too much love.
This drama is such a good, love the actors and the actresses and am happy dat its having high ratings coz it deserves it. Wish dem luck as dey continue d show.