I accidentally came across Autumn’s Concerto last Friday night, and man was I surprise to find out that Vanness Wu is the lead.
For everyone’s information, Vanness is like my first Asian star love. HAHAHAHAHAHA. As in he’s that special 🙂
Where was I? Oh yes, Autumn’s Concerto. After reading the plot, I knew that I’ll love the story, and after seeing the preview I was hooked ^^.
So I started watching AC ’til the latest episode (ep. 9) and all I can say is that it’s one of the best Taiwanese dramas I’ve seen.
I’ll try to be as honest and fair in giving my thoughts to the show (I’ll try not to be Van-biased).
First of all, I’m really glad to see Vanness act as a lead in a drama, yes he’d starred as a lead (please correct me if I’m wrong) before, but idk, I haven’t seen his other dramas since I kinda dread seeing his Mei Zuo hair (though I liked him since his MG days).
Second, I like the feeling that AC gives me. It looks a bit sad (the cinematography and all) but still I felt that I am in for a great drama.
Third, I like how Vanness and Ady have this chemistry between them. And Ady’s pretty, prettier when she has the curly hair ^_^
I absolutely adore the casts, especially Xiao Le, isn’t he lovely? And isn’t “fatherly” Van hot?
On to the proper review.
During the first few episodes, though I fairly enjoyed the scenes somehow I felt that the leads did not quite connect with the audience (or is it just me?). I felt that somehow, their acting was a bit lacking, I was hoping to see some pretty tense emotions from them, specifically Vanness. OKAY, I love him, yes, but I felt that he needed to exert more effort into acting out his character, please correct me, or maybe it is because I’m not used to see him acting as a lead >.< However, I do have to give my respect to him because he has improved a LOT. As in a LOT. I am so happy that he was finally given a big acting break (I’m not saying that what he has done before wasn’t considered big) where in he can show his acting potential.
As for Ady, her performance has been consistently great. No flaws whatsoever.
Now, let me redeem myself.
When I told that I found myself not connecting with the story, I only meant it during the first few episodes. But come the part when Ren Guang Xi (Van) discovered about his tumor and the episodes after that, the connection that I was looking for instantly came. I was taken by surprise on how great Vanness’ acting skills are. When I saw him in pain, I was like, whoa, that is an amazing display of emotion. And when the story shifted to the six years after part, I told myself that I am officially captivated by Autumn’s Concerto.
Everything went from good to brilliant after the six years part. If before, I didn’t shed a tear in a single episode, I then found myself crying because of Xiao Le, I guess having a cute child on screen can melt anyone’s heart. Plus the way the story developed during this time frame is enough to make one appreciate the drama entirely. From what I heard the drama will have 12-13 episodes, it is short but then I recently learned that Autumn’s Concerto was adapted from a novel, and there’s this person who has kindly translated chapters from the novel, from what I read, it’s more than enough for the drama to have 12 episodes because then we can’t expect overly dragging scenes right (but 15 episodes won’t hurt, right?)? And I’m so glad that the ratings for Autumn’s Concerto are incredibly high, a perfect rating for a perfect drama.
I hope to see more dramas from Van in the future (yes yes, it’s my fangirl self talking). But from what is happening right now, I’m sure we’ll see lots of Actor Wu in the future 🙂
As for everyone who haven’t seen this, I suggest that you do see it now, as in right now. LOL.
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04/5/10
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE SERIES
At long last, I finished watching Autumn’s Concerto (yay), from the intial 12 episode series to 20 and then it was extended to 21. Can’t blame the production staff though, with the ratings achieved by AC they just have to do that, but then again, as I previously mentioned, it would have been better if there were like 18 episodes? There were parts in the latter episodes that were unnecessary and dragging, yes. Or it may just be me, ‘coz I failed to tune in on the latest episodes.
However, I think almost all the dramas out there have that kind of flaw. Despite it, I still love Autumn’s Concerto, and if given the chance, I will absolutely adopt Xiao Le (can I get Guang Xi too?), he’s one of the reasons why AC became special.
And I ❤ the last episode. It was so sweeeeet. I wished there were more GX-MC scenes like that. And lastly, for our Actor Wu, there’s still a lot more room for improvement ^.^ I know you’ll do better in your future dramas 🙂
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02/17/15
FIVE YEARS AFTER
Almost five years after I have seen this drama and it still never fails to make me fall in love with it. If possible, I have appreciated and loved it more.
In my opinion, Autumn’s Concerto, is what one would call a complete romantic drama. Even if it is full of cliches (because you gotta admit that every drama has a cliche in it), everything that I am looking for in a love story is present (i.e. Cinderella type story, amnesia, time jump, second chance romance, unexpected pregnancy). Over the last five years, I have developed a distinct taste for stories (a taste that has been acquired through countless TV series and books), still, Autumn’s Concerto has me hook, line, and sinker.
Watching Autumn’s from a “matured” point of view, I noticed less of the flaws and began to appreciate the story. I believe that I have loved it more this time than when I first watched it. Suddenly, my issues with Vanness’ acting weren’t present. I think that he did a great job all throughout the series (sure there were still times that his acting seems off but they were negligible). I would further say that he was in his prime in this drama.
After rewatching this drama, my heart ached. It ached because I know that with Vanness married, my fangirl heart will never be the same again. The thing is, everytime I’m watching this, I could not help but feel that I suddenly want to have my own family (but Guang Xi needs to be the father, haha). Can I just also add that Xiao Le is the most adorable kid that I have ever seen in dramaland? He’s too cute for words, especially when he smiles (whether it’s intentional or not). One of my favorite scenes of him was when he was asking Guang Xi if he loves Mu Cheng or not (episode 17). He’s too persistent (adoooooraaaaabllllle).
To conclude, I would just like to illustrate how much this story means to me. I wish to be a writer in the future, and I honestly think that all of the elements that I want my story to have was shown in Autumn Concerto.
Linda said:
I have also been watching this and I am amazed with Van. I have cried alot with this drama.. and I have been at the edge of my seat with alot of scenes! Great drama so far!
hey you! said:
what!!! Vanness also my first Asian star crush! I even remember going to F4 concert just because of him hahaha. This is a surprise. I thought he already in USA. Anyway, I don’t have time to watch tis yet. Maybe later on hahahaha But this will go to my must watch list. hahaha I hope this coming holidays I can catch up with my backlogs of drama. hahaha
Annu said:
Hello to all autumn’s concerto lovers. because we share the same interest I started regarding as my friends. I am a great fan of autumn’s concerto too. I am hooked by this drama and ofcourse vanness wu. I would like to thank everyone who did the subbing of AC episodes and made my life easier coz I dont understand chinese at all. Well I dont understand any asian languages but I luv watching asian dramas n movies. U can well understand my addiction to AC from the fact that I even watch the episodes without subs as I did today. I watched episode 11 and I didnt understand half of it. I have to wait till wednesday for the subbed episodes. well wat more can I say. I gotta study. got my finals tomorrow. actually three in a row. god bless me n god bless AUTUMN’S CONCERTO and VANNESS WU. I am in love with him… virtually……….. hehe
mirika02 said:
Linda ~ yes! haha, it’s a great drama, and I’ve cried a lot too 😀
ate glen~ wee, we have something in common na 🙂 Naku, you should watch it now, as in now, di ka magsisisi, natutuwa nga ako kasi kahit papano nadivert yung attention ko sa you’re beautiful 🙂
annu~ yes, we’re friends ^_^. I consider everyone in the fandom world as my friends 🙂 As for me, I was planning to not watch the remaining episodes after each one’s subbed, ‘coz I don’t wanna be left hanging (I wanna watch it straight!), but I guess I can’t resist being left out >.> We are inlove with Vanness, and yes virtually, but do you know that I know someone who’s actually Vanness’ close friend? It’s a long story, tell me if you’re interested in knowing 😉
Annu said:
Hey Mirika…
U ask me if am interested? ????????? well damn if am not.
Yes. yes yes ofcourse yes. please share.
hey you! said:
YES! share him or her!
Annu said:
I meant I’m interested in knowing about the “long story” you were talking about………
Candy Ng said:
Um, I love Autumn’s Concerto… I think it’s great but I’m also really interested in the novel that its adapted from. If you know the title and author of the novel please tell me. Thank you so much. ^^
alee said:
i came across this drama accidentally as well. I was reading a list of the dramas one of my friend was planning to watch and i read the title “Autumn’s Concertyo” which left a big impression on me, that and and the picture that was posted [the same one you posted].
I looked it up and the storyline sold me. I gotta say most Tdramas I’ve watched are so corny and fantasy-like, always the same, so when I read this storyline it really catched my eye and I started watching it the next day.
Now i’m currently hooked and waiting for more episodes! ^^
mirika02 said:
Candy~ The novel’s by a chinese author, so it’s written in chinese -.-, but someone’s kind to translate the novel, here’s the link ->
http://subsbymin.viviti.com/
alee ~ yeah, lately, all twdramas that I came across aren’t exactly my cup of tea, but I’m glad that there’s Autumn Concerto 🙂
annu & ate glen – i’ll share the story some other time xD I’m in a hurry right now(sort of)
Candy Ng said:
It’s doesn’t matter if it’s in Chinese because I can read it. ^^ I just want to know where I can buy it.
mirika02 said:
candy~ here’s the link
http://www.yesasia.com/global/autumns-concerto-tv-drama-novel/1021445843-0-0-0-en/info.html
i envy you, i hope i’ll be able to learn chinese xD
mirika02 said:
about my story, though I’m a little bit shy to tell it, but here it goes:
When I was still in high school (i think I was a sophomore back then, not too sure), there’s this senior (a year ahead of me) of mine who has a cousin (I think???), & that cousin is actually the bestfriend (or one of the bestfriend, or close friend?? I’m not too sure) of Van, I think they became close while Van was still in America.
My senior, was courting one of my close friends that time & because F4 was then so famous in the Philippines, that senior gave photos of Van to my close friend, of course I got to see it, there were solo pictures of Van & there were pictures of Van with my senior&his cousin together. Know what I did? I managed to get hold of a picture of Van (he looks gorgeous in that pic, btw), haha, too bad there wasn’t any autograph.
And I think there was one instance where Van actually visited our municipality (it was kinda secret I supposed), I’ve seen pictures of him with our town mayor (I swear I did & i hope I wasn’t hallucinating or daydreaming about it), that time, I thought the news of him being in our town was just a rumor, plus my mom won’t let me go to the municipal hall since I was young.
And I don’t know if anyone noticed it, but I the Philippines will always be special to Vanness. 🙂
Looking through what I just said, doesn’t it all make sense? hahahahahahahahahaha.
sana101 said:
well actually, there are twenty episodes. i bet u already knew that. and i KNOW hwat u mean. daddy vanness is so freaking hot! seeing him and xiao le together just makes you sit back and silently appreciate that perfect bond. and xiao le is the most adorable thing i have seen since winnie the pooh! ❤ and ady is beautiful and her chemistry with both xiao le and vanness is awesome! but i felt that the beginning episodes were a just a little more.. well, special (for me atleast) than after the 6 years parting. the storyline is still great, the show is just as entertaining and sweet, esp now that xiao xiao bin is in the show but still.. i know the first few episodes: their perfect meeting, perfect love, his treatment and both of their pain.. it just struck a chord really deep and i truly truly began to love the show. right from episode 1. i mean, the girl is rich, guy is poor, parents are twisted and/or evil. cliched right? but autumn's concerto ended up being such a hit because it made this cliched initial plot into something otherworldly. ESP because of such a great cast
tswizzles said:
OMG its been weeks since i watched Autumn’s Concerto & i still remember EVERY single scene its kinda hard to believe because i usually forget dramas easily but not this one God its soo fuucken good and i prefer Van with his hair short because he reminds me of my cuuuzyo and i can’t be thinking about family that way. buuut thats not the point. This drama is so good i cried a buucnh of times man & i couldn’t stop crying for and hour straight over one scene and it was a short one too i didn’t even have a lot of lines in it. SPOILER ALERT:(the scene I’m talking about is when Mu Chen gets kicked oouuut by her step mama it was so wrong) anyways its a GRRReat drama! I recomend you watch it!
vanness #1 fan said:
cross out the mom the Uncute child.
i’ll just take the hot Ren AKA vanness.
i hope to really see more romantic drama that vaness will star in, on the up coming future.
*Totally agree with you that vanness long hair in metor garden fail to catch any of my attention at all.
But his role in autumn’s concerto really caught my eyes. I’m totally a vanness fan now and i think that he is currently hotter than all the other memebers of F4.
i can’t wait for his other bad boy dramas in the future.
gold said:
same here i love AC so soo much
JennyVeena said:
To all Autum Concerto drama fans, I would like to say that has anyone of u noticed the flower village which Muchen and her son stayed. What captures me most is the Flower Village (Hua Tian Chun). Wow, what a beautiful countryside and the nice house which they stay. I keep on seeing that episodes over and over again.
Geanne Hyacinth Fuentes said:
Damn it. No words can ever describe this Drama. Mu Cheng + Guang Xi = Xiao Le……….OMG…it’s fantastic! If there’s an adj. that’s beyond fantastic then that’s it!. It’s my nth time already watching it. The story plot is the best ever (so far) in Taiwanese Dramas’ history! I even love this more than Fated To Love You. IDK why the 2 leads have this magical impact on me, PROMISE! At first I wasn’t even interested watching or just viewing its review because I don’t like the title itself. I felt like it’s just a musical genre or something, but then when I’ve come to watch it..then I was like: Fine, I was extremely wrong on judging the drama w/o even trying.
For the record. GUYS THIS IS A MUST-SEE DRAMA. Learn to love it and be hooked just like me and the blogger! I highly recommend it especially for those doubting LOVE. hehehe ;))
jovic barquilla (@jovicB_kg) said:
tama…!!4rth time q na napanood ito and i have plan to watch it over again i’m so addicted to it.lol:)
Tiffany Hsu said:
Aiyo. ^_~ This is my best Taiwanese Drama of all time..I SWEAR! Can u imagine how high I was after watching this? I was like taking illegal drugs that I can’t even sleep right away thinking how great the storyline was. The acting was superb! There was no single episode that made me bored. Especially when that little boy Xiao Le came out on the episode it made me more hooked on the drama. I really love best when Xiao Le is calling his own mom by her plain name –MU CHENG..so adorable. Though I pity that Doctor turned fiancée of Guang Xi so much. She’s the loser in love here. It’s so memorable to me the episode when GX was breaking up w/ her & told her he isn’t mad at her but doesn’t mean he forgives her. GX added “the more you trust the greater the betrayal”. And the best line that Doctor said was: “Are you sad that I’ve hurt you? Or are you sad that she has hurt you and until now you still love her?”. That line was really a WOW!!! o.O Oh My Vanness Wu’s acting was really amazing! He portrayed the role very well and it kept me thinking he made me the perfect yearning father for his son and when he told Mu Cheng how hurtful it was for them (Xiao Le and him) to part when she (Mu Cheng) knew all along that they were father and son. A very fabulous drama! Go everyone, take time to watch this drama. You surely won’t waste your tears and time. ALL WORTH IT. It started out right & plain and ended up with just the way it should be. The storyline itself has its life. Bravo! ^_^
Geanne Hyacinth said:
@mirika02
I have been to this review page of yours twice already and this is my third time, it’s so stupid of me to not noticed what you have written on the first few posts of yours that u actually mentioned Vanness a close friend of your senior’s cousin. And luckily you’ve mentioned Philippines, are we on the same country? I hope so.
Oh well, wherever you are I’m just happy knowing we have the same interest (AC of course). BTW, thank u for sharing to us about that “long story”.
mirika02 said:
@ Geanne Hyacinth
LOOOOOOOOOL. HAHAHA. YUP! The connection’s a tad difficult to comprehend but yeah. Yes, we are living in the same country (#it’smorefuninthephilippines 🙂 and no problem ^__________^
Geanne Hyacinth said:
@mirika02
LOL… Palawan Puerto Prinsesa being one of the 7 wonders of the world. hehe. Anyways, it’s so funny of me whenever people would say to a certain Taiwan drama “it’s the best, nice plot, etc. etc…” and I always tell them “it’s good but not great, and u lookin’ for some dramas great to watch, go watch Autumn’s Concerto, it has every emotions u need to feel….” LOL to me. 😀
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Yam said:
YAAAAS! Autumn’s Concerto is just too good that it sucks that only few people are able to appretiate it here in the Philippines. Nagingn kalaban niya kasi from the other network eh yung Temptations of Wife. Di siya nabigyan ng dapat na attention sa ganda nito. Habang binabasa ko yung article grabe tayo ng balahibo ko, kinikilig ako. HAHAHAHA! Pareho tayo ng hinahanap sa drama, exaclty like Autumn Concerto. I’m so happy na may kapareho akong nakakaappreciate ng drama na to. 🙂
Cybermama said:
Well, I am a real late bloomer here. I discovered Korean drama about 3 years ago and has been on a binge since. I had watched Meteor Garden I and II because of Boys Over Flowers but it failed to make an impression on me. If I could recall, Meteor Garden II irritated the hell out of me. Recently, I started to watch Taiwanese drama again because of Aaron Yan and a friend recommended then recommended me to watch Autumn’s Concerto and wow, what a ride!
I got through the whole drama in 3 days and would be happy to rewatch it over and over. The story was great and the chemistry between the leads was greater. Of course, Xiao Le was absolutely adorable. The Vanness Wu in Meteor Garden was forgettable but the VU here is truly memorable! The role he portrayed really tugged the heartstrings of women of all ages (I am in my 50s) and I am a new fan and looking forward to his future endeavours.
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