Photo: Maoyan

 Following recent trends, another female-orientated TV series has been released on a Chinese streaming platform. While other similar programs have floundered, this dark horse has rushed to the top of the charts for Chinese mainland TV dramas shown in the later half of 2021 through excellent reviews and word of mouth.

Delicious Romance, directed by Leste Chen and Hsu Chao Jen from the island of Taiwan, has earned an impressive 8.4/10 on Chinese media review platform Douban since its release on November 26, an impressive achievement among recent mainland TV series.

The 20-episode series follows three urban women whose lives reflect to varying degrees the intimacy between contemporary men and women. Similar setups have been used in many previous works such as 2020's Nothing But Thirty, which has a 6.6/10 on Douban, and even 2016's trending drama Ode to Joy, which has a 7.4/10 on Douban. But what helped Delicious Romance surpass these former dramas?

Although the differences in their jobs range from food blogger to corporate powerhouse, the three lead characters, Fang Xin (Zhang Hanyun), Liu Jing (Li Chun) and Xia Meng (Wang Ju), have all had experienced hardships in business, oppression at the workplace and setbacks in their romantic relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The character portrayal in the series is successful as the three roles truly represent the range of ordinary women who are fighting to make a living in big cities. 

"When I watch them laughing and crying in the series, I feel the same way. What they experience is what I am experiencing or have experienced in reality," one 28-year-old viewer working at a Beijing real estate company told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

The character Liu faces pressure from parents to find a partner and get married as soon as possible, but she has different ideas and often quarrels with her parents. This is a true portrayal of the pressures many urban Chinese women who are close to 30 years old are under.

Xia, who is her boyfriend's boss, is trapped in a dilemma facing many powerful women. Her higher income and status in the workplace make the man feel insecure and finally the couple breaks up.

When Xia falls in love with another man, she wants to learn from her former failed relationship and so pretends to be a low-income delivery person to avoid giving the man pressure.

"Why should women always show weakness in a relationship to keep it continuing? I think it is unhealthy," another female viewer based in Shanghai told the Global Times.

The series tackles women's dilemmas such as being cheated on, sexual harassment at the workplace and an unhappy sex life with light comedy so that the issues can be explored while not feeling heavy-handed. 

Besides these common issues, the series also talks about some social problems such as the dilemmas facing the LGBTQ community.

Many reviews that recommended the show say that its success shows that movies and TV dramas do not need superstars to succeed so long as the stories and characters are relatable and can resonate with audiences. 

Photo: Maoyan

 Following recent trends, another female-orientated TV series has been released on a Chinese streaming platform. While other similar programs have floundered, this dark horse has rushed to the top of the charts for Chinese mainland TV dramas shown in the later half of 2021 through excellent reviews and word of mouth.

Delicious Romance, directed by Leste Chen and Hsu Chao Jen from the island of Taiwan, has earned an impressive 8.4/10 on Chinese media review platform Douban since its release on November 26, an impressive achievement among recent mainland TV series.

The 20-episode series follows three urban women whose lives reflect to varying degrees the intimacy between contemporary men and women. Similar setups have been used in many previous works such as 2020's Nothing But Thirty, which has a 6.6/10 on Douban, and even 2016's trending drama Ode to Joy, which has a 7.4/10 on Douban. But what helped Delicious Romance surpass these former dramas?

Although the differences in their jobs range from food blogger to corporate powerhouse, the three lead characters, Fang Xin (Zhang Hanyun), Liu Jing (Li Chun) and Xia Meng (Wang Ju), have all had experienced hardships in business, oppression at the workplace and setbacks in their romantic relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The character portrayal in the series is successful as the three roles truly represent the range of ordinary women who are fighting to make a living in big cities. 

"When I watch them laughing and crying in the series, I feel the same way. What they experience is what I am experiencing or have experienced in reality," one 28-year-old viewer working at a Beijing real estate company told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

The character Liu faces pressure from parents to find a partner and get married as soon as possible, but she has different ideas and often quarrels with her parents. This is a true portrayal of the pressures many urban Chinese women who are close to 30 years old are under.

Xia, who is her boyfriend's boss, is trapped in a dilemma facing many powerful women. Her higher income and status in the workplace make the man feel insecure and finally the couple breaks up.

When Xia falls in love with another man, she wants to learn from her former failed relationship and so pretends to be a low-income delivery person to avoid giving the man pressure.

"Why should women always show weakness in a relationship to keep it continuing? I think it is unhealthy," another female viewer based in Shanghai told the Global Times.

The series tackles women's dilemmas such as being cheated on, sexual harassment at the workplace and an unhappy sex life with light comedy so that the issues can be explored while not feeling heavy-handed. 

Besides these common issues, the series also talks about some social problems such as the dilemmas facing the LGBTQ community.

Many reviews that recommended the show say that its success shows that movies and TV dramas do not need superstars to succeed so long as the stories and characters are relatable and can resonate with audiences.