Monday, June 21, 2010

Devil Beside You (恶魔在身边)


Devil Beside You
恶魔在身边 (E Mo Zai Shen Bian)

A girl is desperately in love with a guy in one of her classes, and one day, she finally finds the nerve to give him a letter. She tries to give it to him as he passes by, but when she looks up, she finds herself handing the letter to the wrong person. Qi Yue (Rainie Yang) finds herself face-to-face with Jiang Meng (Mike He), whom she later finds out is a trouble making freshman. Not only that, Qi Yue later finds out that her widowed mother is dating and is engaged to Jiang Meng's dad, who is the chairman at their university!

As the four of them try to live as one family in one house, Qi Yue and Jiang Meng constantly find themselves at odds, but later realize that they have feelings for each other. What makes it more complicated is that the guy whom Qi Yue previously liked also has feelings for her. And later on, it is also revealed that her best friend has feelings for Qi Yue's former crush. To add to that, it is also revealed that Jiang Meng's good friend is crushing on a girl who has a crush on him. Ai-ya, everything seems so complicated!

As the story progresses and it seems the main love pair are doing well, other complicated things get in the way like people who are trying to ruin their relationship, or personal problems between the couple or as an individual. It's a secret that only a few know, and the couple find it hard to reveal their feelings to their so-much-in-love parents.

This drama series is definitely a funny but also highly dramatic one as the characters in the story are involved with so many personal problems in the family, but who also try to act as if nothing is wrong on the outside with their humor-filled quirks. An interesting theme tackled throughout the story is the importance of the family. From the very beginning, the problem is underlined, will a relationship between step-siblings be allowed by society? The characters in the story try to get around that problem as they live life with their friends in their youth-filled world. But of course, this problem needs people who will look at the issue maturely, and will tackle the problem as wise adults who've considered the consequences of their action.

If there is one thing I think is wrong with the series, that would probably be the consistency of the depth of the characters. It seems as if most characters are just shallow parts within the story. There is no real consistency to their personality. At times, it's frustrating to watch how they act with each other. Though the story does underline an important issue, the characters could do better. Some of the episodes in the story seem so unrealistic and it makes it difficult to compare oneself to the story or the situations. Also, for the most part, the drama leaves you hanging, as if there could have been more.

Dialogue and story could have been expanded even more and given more detail, but for a short series like this, it was generally okay.

Episodes: 14