I've gone back to watching Chinese dramas, and My Dear Guardian is going on my rewatch list, probably because it had lots of action, as well as a solid, talented cast from the leads right down to the minors. I will say that the forty episodes tend to be convoluted and over-complicated as far as the plot goes, as well as being rife with the usual gung-ho for communism government propaganda, but despite this everyone in the series did their best to embrace their characters and give an amazing performance.
The story is kind of unexpected, too. From the moment they meet during a terrorist hostage crisis, Army Captain Liang Mu Ze (Johnny Huang) and resident heart surgeon Xia Chu (Li Qin) seem destined to hate each other. After that rocky start their relationship becomes a series of coincidences that loudly hint they're fated to be together, as is common in most Asian dramas. The problem is they don't like each other, and their personalities are so different the whole business seems doomed. Yet gradually (and quite realistically) they begin growing closer through conflicts and challenges, and soon fall in love -- which is only the start of their headaches.
Like many viewers at first I got something of a Descendents of the Sun vibe that made me think this series was just another knockoff, but it's actually based on a novel that was published long before the Korean series aired. I think the age-old romance trope of military hero and medical heroine is just one that tends to be popular across all cultures. Johnny Huang and Li Qin did their best with their characters, both of whom are difficult people, but had a natural chemistry together that made me think that off screen they might be good pals.
The cast for this series is quite large and there are a lot of characters you get to know, but I prefer that to minimal casts. While the propaganda is annoying I'm getting used to it enough that I can ignore it now, especially when the actors are this good. I think the plot could have been simplified and the story would have had more oomph, but I like complicated stories and had no trouble following along. There isn't a happy ending to most of the secondary conflicts, which I understand -- it makes it seem more like real life, especially on the hospital side -- but that could have been balanced a little better with a tad bit more optimistic wrap-ups here and there.
I have to mention one of the secondary actors, Jiang Yuan, who played Liang Shao Xue, Mu Ze's mentally unstable cousin. She probably had the most difficult part in the series, and had to pull off more emotional damage than any other character. She not only nailed that, but she made an extremely unlikeable character almost loveable in her craziness. In the midst of making everyone miserable she falls in love with Mu Ze's stoic, poetic lieutenant, Tian Yong (played brilliantly by Zhao Xun) and these two mesh together so well they almost steal the whole series. But this is one subplot that could have used a little better balancing, and the resolution was kind of cruel, actually.
My Dear Guardian isn't for everyone, but if you like a natural romance and don't mind excessive plotting and lots of characters, this is one of the better long series to watch. Available to watch on Viki.com.
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