Love Between Lines

Love Between Lines: 10 out of 10. No notes. I loved every minute of this 28 episode cdrama about VR murder mystery games, architecture and love (Viki).

This show had something special… or, thinking about it, a lot of somethings.

For a start, Love Between Lines was brilliantly directed by Mao De Shu who also directed another very special cdrama, When I Fly To You. The drama's story was structured really well. I didn’t feel the need to skip ahead at any stage (unlike my experience with Shine On Me and its endless solar panel talk).

The show also boasts an impressive cast. Its leads, Chen Xing Xu as Xiao Zhi Yu and Lu Yu Xiao as Hu Xiu, gave compelling, heartfelt performances. I adored these characters and their growing relationship.

Like in Shine on Me, in this drama you have a bright and competent FL with potential to spare and a reserved green flag of a ML who is dealing / not dealing with past trauma and emotional boo boos.

Chinese dramas do this so well. Sigh.

Meanwhile, the role of slightly evil second ML was played brilliantly by Dai Xu. This type of character appears in many dramas, of course. However, I actually felt sympathy for Pei Zhen. He was a fully rounded character whose motivations, while not always good, came from a place you could understand.

Finally, I must mention the VR murder mystery game. Full disclosure, I am rubbish at computer games and VR makes me slightly nauseous. However, I loved the VR game scenes in Love Between Lines. Yes, from a practical standpoint, it is all a bit ridiculous. But it looked like so much fun ❤️

I can see myself rewatching Love Between Lines. My cdrama year has started strong!