New crack drama alert: The Romance of Tiger and Rose. (+ some side philosophizing on why “comedy” doesn’t mean “shallow”)

I just love, love everything about this drama. It makes me giddy and invested – the kind of feelings you know you only have when you find a crack drama. It’s romcom that’s heavy on both the rom and the com. The romance here is oh so convincing, both from the writing perspective and from the chemistry between two leads. They had TWO meet-cutes, they bicker, they try to kill each other (no, for real), they tolerate each other, come to an understanding, then go through many trials and tribulations together, and fall in love.

The progression of their relationship is not just logical, it’s THRILLING and SO.DAMN.CUTE. Both the leads are smart people on their own, their only blind spot is each other (of course!). Their own stupidity when it comes to their relationship could have been frustrating with another execution, but here all it does is give us fuzzy heart-fluttering moments and howling laugh. I will never get tired of Han Shuo (ML) thinking Qianqian (FL) was madly in love with him only to be ignored the very next second. And I will always squeal whenever he tells her off-handedly that he loves her, only for her to be like, “what now?” LOL

The comedy here is also golden. I tried to find a gif or a screenshot to show you all, but it’s so hard because the comedy is so *situational*. What that means is the jokes build on the knowledge you have from watching a previous scene, episode, etc. That’s smart comedy. There’s also cheap comedy – tongue in cheek poking fun at romcom tropes (that they also fully uitlize), quips, puns, slapstick, etc. I’m pretty sure I had laughed every single episode for 12 eps so far – and as a big loyal fan of comedy TV (of all kinds, from Western to Asian styles), I know how hard it is to sustain laugh as plots develop, with some dose of drama thrown in.

Speaking of plot, there is one, and it’s good! Often with “silly idol romcom”, the plot is on life support, which is usually the rom part. Here, there is an actual plot, and there are a few key high stakes that we are invested in, because we already care about our lovely characters. All of them are working towards their goals (most of them life and death!), in multiple steps, and the steps are met as we move through episodes. Nothing is stretched out for too long, no misunderstanding dragged on for dramatic purposes. Things that make sense to get resolved, do. Will I watch a drama with no plot just to see the romance? Yes (e.g. Her Private Life…) But when there is a plot, it makes it that much more exciting! How will our smart characters get out of their predicaments? How will they attain their goals, while still being together, if their goals and being together could conflict?

In any case, as you can see, I love romcoms, and I love them even more when they are smart, well executed, and have that magical “it” factor created by a synergy of actors, directing, and script. Though, let’s be clear, this is on the lower budget side, and it is an idol drama. It doesn’t try to be any grand historical drama, nor does it slack off and forget that a story, no matter how cheap, needs sense (we all been there, haven’t we?) I just love it when a drama makes clear promises, and delivers on them, with fireworks. I have a lot of chip on my shoulders on how romcoms, and just comedies in general, tend to be looked down upon because it’s “simple” or “silly”. “Simple” is not “simplistic”, and “silly” is not stupid. A well-done story is a well-done story, and that’s that.

And that is what Romance of Tiger and Rose is – a well-done story 🙂