Autumn’s Concerto

Second time to watch Autumn Concerto and I’m still drooling whenever I see Vanness Wu‘s body! (Katawan pa lang, ulam na!) Oops. Kalandian aside, I have to say my reaction I had now compared to when I first watched it is fairly different. Yes, I still love it but there are just things I can’t make myself not to notice. This time my gushiness as a fangirl isn’t enough to make little flaws pass.

下一站，幸福 / Autumn’s Concerto

TTV/SETTV, 21 Episodes
Broadcast Period 10/4/09 – 2/28/10
Romance, Melodrama

First watched in 2011, Watched for this review in March 2012

Ren Guang Xi (Vanness Wu), a cocky law student, seems to lead the perfect life. He’s the sole successor to a huge and famous business and a talented ice hockey player with good looks and charisma to boot. But in reality, his lonely life lacks joy, laughter and motivation. That is until he meets Liang Mu Cheng (Ady An), the new bento seller at his school canteen. Although orphaned at a young age, Mu Cheng does not let her past affect her and lives life with great passion and determination. A harmless bet brings the two together and Guang Xi slowly changes as Mu Cheng teaches him how to give and love. Tragedy strikes when Guang Xi suddenly has to go through a major brain surgery, that would result in waking up with no memory of his past at all. His mother orders Mu Cheng to leave him and the latter has no choice but to do so. Later she learns that she already has Guang Xi’s child.1

Six years passed, Mu Cheng now lives a quiet life with her young son in the countryside while Guang Xi is now a successful lawyer and is engaged to He Yi Qian, the kind and beautiful doctor who took care of him after his surgery.2 On a sudden twist of fate Guang Xi was sent to the town where Mu Cheng and Xiao Le lives for a community service. A strangely familiar piano piece stirs Guang Xi’s heart as he struggles to recall his past romance with Mu Cheng. How will the couple make up for six years of lost time?

Director: Chen Hui Ling
Screenwriters: Chen Hui Ling, Zeng Yong Ting, Huang Ji Rou, Wang Yu Qi, Lu Yi Hua

Cast: Ady An, Vanness Wu, Tiffany Hsu, Chris Wu, Xiao Xiao Bin

Gosh. I’m totally captivated. Not by the drama but by Vanness Wu! I want to hug that delicious body! Yum. Haha. What? I’m still a fangirl you know. I can’t stop it. Seriously, I can say that my love for this drama isn’t as profound as when I first seen it. One of the things I let pass before was the plot. It’s almost similar with our local teleseryes. I don’t know if that’s a plus or what but I’m certain I’m not a fan of overly dramatic scenes and utterly stupid storylines.

Autumn’s Concerto‘s story is promising. I know the plot is nothing new; it’s one of the most used and abused storyline in our local dramas but this drama had so much potential. They happen to choose the right cast for the characters and the kontrabidas (villains) are not as evil as the kontrabidas we have here. It was nice, really, but there are some parts of the story I can’t tolerate. (This may contain spoilers. If you haven’t watched it and are planning to, you can skip this part.)

The Heartless Aunt with The Evil-Maniac Uncle and The Prince’s Matapobre ³ Mother: Our modern Cinderella cast is now complete. Is there any other most effective way of saying that Mu Cheng’s life sucks? This damsel-in-distress thing is distressing. There’s nothing wrong in using the Cinderella plot but it’s so predictable. Nakaka-umay na. Too much misery in a heroine’s life is annoying and simply unbelievable.

The Villains of the Story.

The Medical Condition: Guang Xi undergone a major brain surgery to remove a brain tumor and he managed to be one of the most celebrated lawyers in Taiwan after six years? And what more—he only suffered a reversible selective amnesia! WTF, seriously?! And guess how he was diagnosed? He had severe headaches for the past years which he disregarded and when he fainted a couple of times, they finally decided to have it checked. And the result? Brain tumor with a size that needs to be removed ASAP or he dies. Yeah, right. I know brain tumors can sometimes be undetected but. I don’t know. This just didn’t sit well to me.

The Escape and The Running After: When he was in the surgery room, on the OR table, after the nurse accidentally didn’t inject the anesthesia via the IV tube, he decided to run after Mu Cheng. And he successfully escaped not just the operating room or the surgical ward but the hospital wearing nothing but a hospital gown. Since when do we administer anesthesia via IV injection for major surgeries? Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I know, major operations often use epidural anesthesia. What happened to research? Where the hell are the hospital guards?

I enjoyed the first six episodes of this drama. It was interesting and the kilig moments are there. The story slowed down in the next few episodes and it picked up pace after Guang Xi had remembered his past. This was a long drama. I personally think that the story would fit in 12 or 16 episodes. Stretching it to 21 Episodes is just probably because of the ratings.

Let’s move on to the cast’s performances. As much as I love and adore Vanness Wu, I have to be honest and say that his acting isn’t exceptional. It’s too much. Too much twist of the face, too much projection, too much emotion. Everything is too much, it appeared unnatural. I Maybewe can blame it with the long dialogues?

If Vanness Wu’s acting is too much, Ady An’s performance is the exact opposite. She is so blunt—as in blunt affect. Whether she’s happy, sad, angry, hurt, her facial expression doesn’t change.

I’m torn between giving this drama a 3 or 4 Kiss Marks rating. My original rating when I first watched it was 4.5 (I was sooo in love with Vanness Wu back then). But the second time I watched it, the story, the unbelievable scenes and the a bit annoying acting got into my nerves. So I decided to give it 3.5 Kiss Marks. (The 0.5 is my fangirl side—Vanness Wu is swoon-worthy.)

Mediocre: I can tolerate it but I want more!

I’m giving 2.5 Drama Awards for the acting.

2.5 Drama Awards – Shallow.

If you are looking for a good Taiwanese drama to watch, Autumn’s Concerto is a must. I may not have enjoyed it the second time but this is still a good try specially if you are watching it the first time.

1 Wikepedia
2 DramaWiki
3 Matapobre characterized by disdain towards people considered inferior

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A semi-regular meme for reviews of series I’ve watched the second time.

Photo Credit: boonorbane, popularasians, f4misyel